#and then he did that and now he's a solid role player and an excellent penalty killer and has 10 shg in his career +3 shg in the playoffs

[i-got-hit-by-a-planet]

Slimeriana Top Gun AU

okay so surprisingly, people are interested in this AU so here it is - it’s only half-baked for now so details may change in the future (: hope you enjoy

I’m having the most problems with names/callsigns so if you have any ideas please reblog or send an ask!

the cast would look something like this:

naturally Charlie and Mariana are Maverick and Iceman, since I love icemav and also they fit into the roles so well. Charlie is Mav, the reckless pilot who doesn’t care about the rules and needs his RIO to keep him in check. Mariana is Ice, stickler to the rules who considers Slime dangerous, and is his rival for the Top Gun trophy

I’m putting Jaiden as Charlie’s RIO, bc I really like their friendship [: she gives me Goose vibes (and he's my fave so !!) and it would make so much sense to make Roier Jaiden’s husband with Bobby as Bradley but I really want Roier to be Mariana’s RIO. The other option for Mariana’s RIO would be Missa since I think the two of them hang out on the server? but I also want to make Missa Spreen's RIO. we’ll see

I’m thinking of making Osito and Pato the instructors - Osito “Cucurucho” as Jester, the instructor who plays the enemy during hops; and Pato “Duck” as Viper, the other instructor. I think it’d make more sense than putting other players as instructors, since the only other person I can come up with as an instructor is Quackity

and I actually want to make Alexis “Quackity” a pilot, in place of Hollywood. His RIO would be either Wilbur “Soot” or Luzu “I have no idea for a callsign” - I’m not really sure yet. 

the plot would be very similar to the movie - naval pilot Charlie “Slime” and his RIO Jaiden “Jay” are picked for TOPGUN, after a meeting with two hostile MiGs causes the previous pick for the program, Spreen “Bear”, to resign. yes, they still flip the MiG off while inverted like Mav did in the movie bc i love that scene

there will be no romantic relationship between Rubius (in the role of Charlie) - the civilian contractor and Slime. They’re good friends, but no romance

so instead of Rubius, Slime meets Osvaldo “Mariana” and his RIO Roier “Spider” at the bar the day before the first day of classes. There is no serenading but Jaiden introduces them because they went to flight school together. Slime and Mariana immediately establish a rivalry since Mariana was friends with Spreen and blames Slime for Spreen resigning. Charlie decides Mariana is hot as fuck and falls for him on the spot - he’s into this rivalry stuff lmao; Mariana notices Slime is his type but 1. he’s too dangerous, and 2. getting the Top Gun is more important

Charlie spends the whole time flirting with Mariana but nothing happens until Slime abandons Q in the air to go after Pato during Hop 19; Mariana is all pissed off at Charlie’s recklessness and corners him in the locker room after the hop. they get into an argument and Charlie kisses Mariana to shut him up

they Do Not start dating, I’m thinking something like rivals with benefits - they sabotage each other during classes and try to sneak away from the group during outings at the O-Club to make out. Unfortunately for him, Mariana falls in love with Charlie, how can he not? Slime is an excellent pilot, brilliant and funny. He wants to tell Charlie before a hop where they are paired together but he doesn’t have time and they put it off until after the flight. Yes fellas, it’s Hop 31 and so

Jaiden Fucking Dies

and here is where my thoughts for this AU end for now - there is some more vague stuff like Mariana taking care of Slime after the hop but nothing solid yet, will let yall know once i have something out [:

#this is the first AU i'm actually posting anywhere jkhsgh i hope it's coherent #these are just some random thoughts for now #will i write a fic for this? #maybe #top gun au #slimeriana #fliporiana #qsmp #luka talks

[faroreswinds]

Hi, I know you're interested in Tears of the Kingdom right now, but I was wondering if you wouldn't mind hearing my take on Hopes and answering a few of my questions. I bought Hopes during the christmas sale, and have now completed all routes 3 times.

First of all, for GW it's a real disaster indeed.

As for AG, it was very good in part 1, but I find it performance decreased in part 2 after completing the basis of the story in part 1.

As for SB, everyone says it fixed all of Edelgard's problems, but I don't see that. Hopes has improved some of her causes of war, but the world-building still contradicts her claims, she is still a contradictory character, and still all characters do not contradict her or question her actions. To be honest, Edelgard in Houses was just a plot device, she is responsible for bandits in prologue, the unrest in part 1, starting a war in part 2, and even in Dimitri's story. Just all her problems lay in not fully revealing her background and having characters question her about the reason for her actions. In Hopes, instead of fixing her problems, they decide to destroy Claude's character and make him a clone of her, throwing Rhea away and turning her into a punching bag. Even Dimitri was at many moments contradictory or OOC for her in AG part 2, in Zahras, and in GW for her clone. In the end I find that Hopes kills off any chance for Fodlan to have a golden route due to confirming that conquest is an essential part of Edelgard's character. If Intsys is considering awarding Fodlan a golden route, they should make Edelgard an OOC.

As for Shez, everyone also says they're better than Byleth and have personality, but Shez just proves that even if they were a full-voiced protagonist, it didn't change that they were poorly written. They cannot be considered to have a personality if their writings have contradictory features, since in their support with Lysithea it contradictory in being frank and direct. Not to mention their revenge story, which made me feel like Shez is just a drama queen, but no, they're just poorly written. I simply feel that Shez is a character who has no role or meaning in a story. Shez was throughout the story just a camera for the player's perspective, they had no foundation in story or lore. Ironically, Byleth excels at these points, where they have a solid foundation, while Shez's sole foundation is to be a foil to Byleth. However, people still say they are way better than Byleth, which makes me wonder how much western fans hate silent protagonist, and then I wouldn't be surprised if Shez became a hated character in Japan because of westerns like Gatekeeper.

Then we have Arval. Even knowing the devs' desire not to reveal too much about Sothis and the Nabateans, did they really have to cram a character like that into lore. Despite Sothis being just a plot device in Houses, Arval is much worse (even Sothis is even worse at Hopes than Houses). Why does he make us sympathize with cartoon villains? Why does no one from Slither recognize him, although we later learn that Thales was knew him, but the only person he knew was a character whose name I don't even remember. We see him during the War of the Heroes where he supposedly fulfilled his burning desire to kill Sothis, yet he still wanted to kill her even before she awakens inside Byleth. Speaking of the rest of the Nabateans, why doesn't he recognize them even though he fought them face to face in the past. Arval's problem is just like Shez, he should be a foil to Sothis because Shez should be a foil to Byleth in every way, since his character is a copy paste of Sothis (I don't know if he speaks in a special way like her is in jp).

I also have a lot to say about devs, so excuse me.

First with Kusakihara and the writers, even though they were the creators of Houses, just made the same mistakes as Neil Druckmann, demolishing what they built thinking they were introducing interesting ideas that fans would like, without sitting back and thinking about how it would affect a previous game.

Then I have Hayashi, this guy with the worst ideas, deciding to replace Byleth because they were the only one who didn't do anything wrong, in a game that wasn't even morally gray, only to end up writing a character who didn't do anything wrong either. Edelgard is bleached, and makes Claude wrong for taking advantage of his imperial allies, but he made no mistake in his invasion of the kingdom and his killing of Rhea. Hell, even Count Gloucester was bleached.

In one of the interviews Eng: "We decided to put Byleth in a third person perspective in order to delve deeper into their character." Delve deeper into marginalized character who only have 2 support. In an interview with Jp: (Convey my thanks to renisfan for translating) "Hopes intended the scenario to be 'what if the house leaders didn't meet Byleth'", but the answer is the route that Byleth didn't choose. "We don't want to nullify the endings of Byleth, so we have to make Yuri give his mother's precious ring just in exchange for a whistle".

They also said in one of the interviews that the development team wanted to complete what they couldn't complete in Houses, but should they have demolished what they built? Couldn't they have thought of a story that takes place between the events of Houses, like Cindered Shadows or Thracia 776? Why did they have to replace the protagonist? Didn't they think fans would hate it and feel the irony? I also don't want Byleth to be the central character of the whole thing, and it's nice to see the characters develop without them, but did they really have to replace them? Because it made me feel that what should have been a sequel to Houses couldn't be considered one because of that difference.

As much as I hated the decision to replace Byleth, I have to admit that there are some positives from it, such as changing your and other people's opinion of them, and realizing that they weren't the cause of all the Houses problems. Or maybe you'd think of them worse if they were still a protagonist in awful Hopes story.

It's clear that the KT devs' goal of Hopes is to make more money, as they admit that they were originally planning a sequel to the first FE Warriors, but changed their minds when seeing the success of Houses. They took the opinion of western fans over japanese fans, because sales were higher in north america. But what I didn't understand, is that if KT sales are only in Japan, while overseas sales are by Nintendo, does KT really depend on what sales Nintendo will have? Or profit sharing? I ask because I have no experience in this field.

Well, sorry for the inconvenience, especially if you were sick of Hopes discourse. I got emotional and my talking got out of control, but Hopes really made my blood run hot. I'm lucky to buy it on sale, otherwise I would have regretted spending my money. Again, I'm sorry for the inconvenience.

It is not an inconvenience, anon. Sometimes you just need a place to vent. Someone to hear you. I totally get it. Don't apologize for the ask.

On your points

First of all, for GW it's a real disaster indeed.

Absolutely. I don't understand how anyone can call it good. Even if you like Claude's character (which you are allowed to like this version), narratively none of it makes any sense when you sit down and think about it for two seconds.

As for AG, it was very good in part 1, but I find it performance decreased in part 2 after completing the basis of the story in part 1.

I can agree. Part 1 is great. Part 2 is better than GW part 2, but taking Edelgard away as the threat did a disservice to both her and Dimitri's stories. Since the war is framed as a righteous and just action by the game, the only way they could effectively make Edelgard come out of Dimitri's route not looking like the villain was to remove her agency and make the Empire literally monsters. I mean, even worse than usual. Burning their own people type of thing. And hearing the characters beat themselves over "invading another nation" over and over again starts to get grating.

As for SB, everyone says it fixed all of Edelgard's problems, but I don't see that.

Well, they kind of do. What they effectively did was take away a lot of the bloat.

Edelgard's character in Houses was a mess. Her justifications and her logical thinking was less like a straight line and more like that conspiracy board you see from Charlie Day.

For instance, explaining why she has such a focus on Crests. She hates them, because she believes they give nobility their status. And she hates nobles because she feels that only those who are best for the role should be chosen for power. She feels this way because she got a second Crest due to nobility greed and manipulation of the Empire royalty. Which led her to hating the Church, etc etc.

It's bloated and confusing. If she hates Crests because they make nobles, then what about Crestless nobles? What about their power? Etc etc.

What Hopes did is effectively streamline this. Edelgard in Hopes focuses more on bloodlines. She still talks about Crests somewhat, but it makes more sense. Crests prove a bloodline, and it is bloodlines she hates.

Furthermore, her chapter 3 plan is honestly pretty good all things considered. Her plans in Houses are convoluted and make no sense. Here, I can understand what she is doing and why. Drive out the Slithers and the corrupted nobles. Boom, easy. Gather her forces, then invade the Church. Easy. Logical.

But this improved writing doesn't make her any more right in her war. If anything, I felt it made her even more wrong than ever. At least in Houses you can justify that maybe, just maybe, she has someone watching her every move or whatever. And that she cannot trust anyone with her plans because she cannot know if they are a Slither.

This is no longer viable in Hopes. She drives out the Slithers. She is firmly in charge. Her war is her own. And her not being able to trust others? Well, she trusted Claude well enough. How does she know if Claude isn't a Slither? Hm? She never even questions it.

And her war is still one of conquest, which is made even more clear. In Houses, it's easier to argue that it's one of liberation (I don't believe it is at all, but with how the writing of the game is it is easy to find ways to make that justification). Hopes removes that as well. It's absolutely one of conquest. No question.

It's just the game frames this conquest as good.

As for Shez, everyone also says they're better than Byleth and have personality, but Shez just proves that even if they were a full-voiced protagonist, it didn't change that they were poorly written.

I've said this before, but Shez is just as bland as Byleth, just with a voice. They are plain, shounen protagonists. Written moment by moment, and not as a real person. In one scene, they will be horrified by bloodshed. In another, they will relish in it and itch for a fight. It's whatever sounds good in the scene, and not about consistency.

And you are right, they basically have no role in the story. They are just there. Their interesting backstory they talk about a lot? Nah, we will never explore that. It's just noise.

Then we have Arval. Even knowing the devs' desire not to reveal too much about Sothis and the Nabateans, did they really have to cram a character like that into lore.

Arval is a mess. He is treated as a foil to Sothis. Like, you are led to believe that he is somehow some ancient god with a feud with the goddess Sothis.

But no. He's just some ancient office worker with a grudge who figured out how to do a soul transfer.

They wanted this large mystery box, but never opened the contents. It's like the more interesting story is in the background but we are forced to do the boring war story instead.

I also have a lot to say about devs, so excuse me.

I won't say too much on this myself, because what else can I say that I haven't already? Honestly, I think they just missed the mark. In so many ways. It's no wonder the game was not well received.

Which is a shame because I did enjoy seeing my favorite characters again, and seeing more character building between them. That is the value I got out of Hopes. Mmmmm, Dimidue content.

But yeah. This was basically a cash grab for a successful FE game, by someone who wanted to make a Three Kingdom's story when honestly Houses was never a successful Three Kingdom's story to begin with. That's why Claude and Dimitri insist they start a war with the Empire, when honestly it was Edelgard that pushed them into a corner. "Surrender or get conquered" is not really much of a choice.

Edelgard forged the hammer but Dimitri and Claude speak as if they were the ones who poured its metal.

#Three Hopes discourse #Three Houses discourse #anon asks

[ramboodina]

Fall In Love With Emotion In Design

Tapping into emotion is a should for a successful design, regardless of the marketplace, the enterprise, or the man or woman. If you can't connect with your target audience there's no opportunity of reaching out to your clients, making a sale, sell a logo, selecting up a new consumer, or making an impact. That's the important thing issue, tying your thoughts with the person on the alternative aspect, impacting their lifestyles and making them assume.

Good designers, in any market vicinity and at any degree, will constantly reflect on the consideration of invoking the emotion of their consumer base. In a cutting-edge society, one saturated with technology, it's far something often forgotten or misused. Emotion should be at the apex of each commercial enterprise, developing an identity. Top designs, emblems, brands, adverts, packages, and applications attain emotive hyperlinks with their consumers through adducing positive feelings.

In the case of coverage organizations, their venture is to recognition on consumer rapport, self-assurance, approachability, and optimism. Tech groups, their approach specializes in the wearability, usability, interface, and sturdiness of products. In the example of sports activities brands, their focus is on the power, electricity, and backbone that goes hand in hand with sports enthusiasts and players. In many cases, while the layout ignores how their target market sense, the audience will forget about the product. Emotion abuts incredible design; as a courier, messenger, and approach.

The landscape of the use of emotion in website design

The emotional layout has emerged as a powerful device in growing exquisite user reviews for websites. However, feelings did not use to play such an important position on the Web. They did not use to play any role at all; alternatively, they have been drowned by a flood of rational functionality and efficiency.

We were so busy looking to adapt to the World Wide Web as a new medium that we lost sight of its complete potential. Instead of the usage of the Internet on our terms, we adapted to its technical and, at the start, impersonal nature. If it wasn't for visionary contemporaries inclusive of Don Norman or Aarron Walter, we would still be focusing on improving tactics, neglecting the potential of the emotional layout. Attractive merchandise triggers our creativity and in the long run enlarges our intellectual approaches, making us greater tolerant of teen problems. Attractive merchandise makes problem-fixing simpler, which makes them truly critical.

User revel in clothier Aarron Walter contributed an exceptional ebook to this new technology of layout: Designing for Emotion. In this e-book, he defines emotions as the "lingua franca of humanity," the local tongue that each human is born with. He describes how crucial emotional stories are due to the fact they make a profound imprint on our long-term memory and create "an enjoy for customers that make them feel like there may be a person, not a system, at the opposite stop of the relationship".

Foundation of excellent design

A couple of things from the inspiration of any proper design, whether the design is emotional or not. Why are we speaking about the foundation of a design right here? Think of the development of a house. First, you need a solid basis; then, you may begin to plot the division of area and build partitions. In Web design it's equal; you want to know your inner design desires, who your customers are, and in what context they'll use your website. Once this foundation is executed, you could get began with the layout.

Internal design desires

Before you get commenced on whatever, ask yourself what your own goals are. This does now not suggest you should put yourself in the middle of attention for the relaxation of the technique, but it's far more important to understand what picture you need to talk about, what your values and visions are, and how you want others to peer you. With this knowledge at hand, you are armed to be very clear and constant no longer handiest in your moves, but also your appearance. A certain quantity of continuity and predictability provides for your reliability, that's critical for getting human beings to decide on a relationship with you.

Prospective users

Know who you're designing for. Your destiny customers may be those who buy and use your product or internet site,

so make sure you know what they want. General demographics will come up with a difficult image of who you're targeting. By d

rawing a clear image of their dreams, how they're going to apply your website, and what topics and don't count number to them,

you will discover ways to target your customers. Without understanding your prospective users, designing something relevant this is both usable and fulfilling will be quite problematic.

Context of use

Finally, reflect on consideration of the context of use. Knowing the conditions and occasions wherein customers may be journeying your internet site is valuable. Consider feasible emotions that are probably worried, and discover which position you and your users play. Be conscious that knowing the context of use will make it easier a good way to apprehend your customers the moment they go to your internet site. It will assist you to reach out to your clients and speaking with them extra effectively.

Conclusion

A key message to gain from this publication is to now not obscure the humanity of design with other needs coupled with branding, commercial enterprise, and merchandise. Of direction, the technicalities must be focused, advertising techniques located and the stop-points envisaged however usually go away space for emotional input. Emotional intelligence is a clothier's critical functionality. Technical, business and advertising savvy come second.

#finalyearprojectcenterinvelachery #finalyearprojectcenterinchennai

[seventhrounder]

postgame interview | mtl vs wpg | 6 june 2021 | round 2, game 3 [x]

#joel armia #montreal canadiens #playoffs 2021 #mygifs #thinkin about how in finland he was an offensive minded goal scorer #who people saw as a liability in the defensive zone but he was young and scored a lot so it was mostly excused #but it didn't fly in the ahl/nhl and he had to adjust his game if he ever wanted to be a regular #and then he did that and now he's a solid role player and an excellent penalty killer and has 10 shg in his career +3 shg in the playoffs #and i'm that meme with 'that's my baby and i'm really proud'

[unpopularly-opinionated]

I don’t play WoW but I used to play Overwatch and Diablo and this touches on just the general issues that are inside of Activision Blizzard right now regarding the major decline of World of Warcraft and how they’re losing to Final Fantasy XIV, how if the latest WoW expansion or Overwatch 2 flop as they’re projected to do then Blizzard’s most definitely going to pivot almost entirely to mobile games, and how the differences in age demographics are actually dividing the company into multiple camps.

It’s important to note two things: 1) this could be fake but also 2) the link came from Grummz, a former team lead on WoW and producer on Diablo II and Starcraft. It still could be fake despite this, but if he’s sharing it then I feel like there’s at least some measure of truth in this.

Transcription below in case this gets deleted and/or you don’t wanna click the link. Warning, it’s fairly long.

“I’m dropping this here after getting chewed out for three hours over shit the chewee did at work so fuck it. Assume larp and let me vent.”

>Shadowlands is a shitshow. Critical response, Player drop off and just about every engagement metric outside of cash shop have been catastrophic. No higher up expected this because of their “we are too big to fail, if we built it they will come” mentality. They refuse to accept their focus on the world being a begrudged mechanic to funnel players to raiding is not appealing to the player base at large because it appeals to them. They have spent the last 4 months trying to course correct but there is no solid direction and the response to 9.1 has only made things worse.

>Sylvanas is planned to replace the Arbiter despite so many people in the company and god knows how many online saying this would be a total replication of Kerrigans storyline in Starcraft 2 that killed none competitive interest in the brand entirely and you can only go “no, no they WILL like it eventually” for so many real world years before its time to change course. Thus far that has not happened.

>The elephant in the room is FFXIV. To the people in charge they are acting like this came out of nowhere and don’t even seem to understand why its drawing players away in their tens of thousands. We have all tried to highlight things it is doing that are clearly appealing to an mmo audience and not, in my opinion, focussing more on mobile game style retention traps to keep MAU users and habit forming personalities logging in. Its not that they don’t care. They just seem so pig headed and digging their heels in with their fingers in their ears thinking all the problems will go away because WoW is “too big to fail”, there will never be real competition and “they will keep coming back”. But they aren’t coming back anymore. Not in the numbers they used to.

>The people making the spending choices know this. The new model for WoW is market the hell out of a expansion pack for a huge quarter then use 6 month lock ins to pad numbers for the quarters after that. Even if corona had not happened 9.1 still would have been dropping after the initial 6 month subs expired to “keep the chain holding”.

>The mood in the company is tense but also very much “its just a rough transition period”. Activision has been pushing hard for Blizzard to release more regular product and to generate more income per user. As far as i know this is going to be a transition over the next 5 years to a much larger mobile/tablet gaming focus. By all accounts not just WoW but Overwatch was intended to be the moneymaker in the interim but once again someone had the bright idea to kill a game casual players loved on the alter of e-sports hoping for another Brood War. From what i hear the “told you so’s” were loud and a lot of people walked beyond Kaplan.

>The sentiment that was shared quietly in private but being spoken more often is simply that the leadership at Blizzard are not bad people, nor incompetent people but people who had to fill seats left when the old guard jumped ship wether they were suited for it or not. Brack is a genuinely good man out of his depth, Ion is a fantastic raid designer put in charge of designing a virtual world he has no interest or real ideas for and so on. They have been taking form the roles they excel at to be put in positions where they get to do far less of that purely because there is nobody left with the experience to do so and the trickle down is a lack of concrete direction, ambition and focus.

>2021 has seen the playerbase, media and gaming at large “turn” on WoW to a degree i don’t think the leads in their “positivity dojo” bubble considered possible. Its gone from people going “This is how Blizz needs to fix WoW!” to “WoW is no longer salvageable, time for greener pastures” and i think on some level this was never considered as a possibility so there have never been any major plans beyond the usual “try and minimise player drop off by arranging releases around competitors launching updates/products”. The official forums being filled with talk of FFXIV and worse “why do we actually pay a sub?” hasn’t helped.

>There have been some testing the waters lately from certain higher ups if we can remove the line “No King Rules Forever”. Read into that what you will.

>There are still arguments going on about the Kael’thas Voice actor shitshow. I don’t know much about it but i know its heated, wouldn’t be the first time a knee jerk reaction only seemed to generate bad press. We lost a noticeable amount of pvp engagement after the Swifty thing.

>The Preach interview was treated as a disaster and there was talk of more strongly vetting interviewers for “bad actors” and only engaging with a list of questions Blizzard provides. Some pointed out that could just be used to create some form of Fireside Chat akin to the FFXIV “Live letters” but that fell on deaf ears.

>The two sentiments right now among the team are either “we really need a win” or “theres a dedicated cabal of internet trolls out to kill WoW”. Right now we are crunching hard to get 9.2 ready to wrap up the jailors storyline so we can get an expansion out early 2022. If that doesn’t happen there are talks of major shakeups coming down from Activision that have been threatened for a few  years now. Its an all hands on deck feeling thats been around to some degree since the “Is this an out of season April Fools Joke” Blizzcon. A make or break deadline is coming closer and things like Diablo 4 were not planned before then. Blizzard needs a significant win not just in initial profit but consumer goodwill. Nobody likes working at what the public now seems to see as “the bad guy” of the mmo industry.

>This has also made new hires decline. Not significantly but the “you WANT Blizzard on your resume” line doesn’t seem to have the appeal it used to. This has lead to more hiring via friend of a friend, to some rumblings about nepotism, and people severely lacking in experience “because they get great twitter optics”.

>On the topic of Twitter we are not being told to “disengage” from it. Multiple employees like Nervig and Holisky publicly attacking paying customers because they got too heated and couldn’t keep quiet is bad press that could have been avoided. A email reminder has gone around more than once lately stating “if you are not customer relations you should not be representing the company to customers, especially if you cannot remain professional”.

>Lastly the biggest elephant in the room is “yo’ boy” Asmongold. The newer hires cannot stand him. They have used terms like “toxic masculinity” and “dogwhistles to dangerous males” while some of the oldest crowd still remaining have called him “based” or “telling it like it is” which has lead to friction to put it mildly. People are told not to talk about him and the recent FFXIV stuff only made it all worse. The idea that an outside element can have such an effect on the product genuinely upsets people. Like Zach is engaging in some malicious act of cyberwarfare. Many of us have point out the now famous quotes by Naoki Yoshida about understanding that players will drift and we need to make something worth coming back to because they want to but some people for lack of a better word see out customers -or “consumers” as they refer to them nowadays- as some kind of antagonistic relationship where the goal is not being an entertainer putting on a show for a crowd but some kind of game hunter trying to trap a large, profitable kill. I wish i could blame Activision but this is a sentiment from more of the younger crowd than the “tech boomers”. Which personal opinion is probably why so many folks like Metzen and Morheim left.

>Before you ask, yes the topic of “wokeness” has shown up in group talks. Its not all some grand sjw conspiracy, people really do want to feel welcome and represented. However the “we need everything veto’ed by people not working on it to see if its inoffensive and bland enough” rubs some of us the wrong way. Like anything in life you can take something too far and lose sight of the core ideals and with everything gone on since Blitzchung it feels like people are forming little factions to pull people in different directions to decide “What Blizzards identity is now” and how to appeal to new players. There has been some drop offs with “go woke go broke” as the only answer in the survey when unsubbing but honestly we are losing subs in unforseen numbers anyway and still making more money than ever through cash shop “heavy users” so it honestly doesn’t make an impact.

>All in all things are rough right now. Blizzard doesn’t have the love of the customers anymore, is no longer treated as an industry giant and while D4,D2R and Immortal aren’t going to kill Diablo even if they fail the sentiment for World of Warcraft and Overwatch 2 are a lot more tense and stressful. The phrase “it might be good to brush up on your mobile development portfolio if we get another underperformer” has been doing the rounds a lot. If Shadowlands continues its stark decline and Overwatch 2 is looking to underperform like its current projections suggest i think the Blizzard of a few years from now will be imitating King a lot more than trying to learn any lessons from Square Enix’s mmo division.

#random #video games #Blizzard #Activision #WoW #World of Warcraft #Diablo #Overwatch #Starcraft #Activision Blizzard

[engekihaikyuu]

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu - The View from the Top 2

What’s In Tokyo Interview Translation with Daigo Kotarou, Akana Ryuunosuke, and Kiyama Ryuu

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“The View from the Top 2” will be the closing chapter in Engeki Haikyuu’s five-and-a-half-year history. As the performance draws nearer and nearer, what is your current state of mind?   Daigo: Since this will be the final production for Engeki Haikyuu, we’re definitely more enthusiastic than usual, and I’m so excited I’m thinking, “Can we get started already?”   Akana: We’re working very hard at rehearsals and really putting everyone’s strengths together to show people this incredible climax for Engeki Haikyuu. We want to deliver the best show we can. Ryuu: I haven’t been back since “Fly High,” when I made my appearance as a representative at the national youth training camp. This will be the first show to feature Kamomedai High School and the first to feature a match of ours. When I think that this will also be the last time, I get a little sad. I don’t want to have any regrets, so right now I’m just exhausting myself giving it my all everyday at rehearsals.

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Full interview and more photos under the Read More! Please do not repost my translations

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Daigo: Ryuu-kun hasn’t been with us for about a year and a half, but just like the last time we were in a show together, he is a kind senpai who looks after me and speaks to me very candidly. When I mess around and drop honorifics like, “Hey, Ryuu!” he’ll just mess around right back and say, “I’m your senpai, you know!” (laughs)   Ryuu: It’s already a running gag now. (laughs)  

Daigo: Ryuu-kun has always had such a welcoming aura ever since we first met, so it doesn’t really feel like there’s any distance between us. I can ask him for advice about anything. But this time we have the Kamomedai High cast in addition to Ryuu-kun, and so I keep carefully probing around to see when it might be good to talk to them (wry smile). But Ryuu-kun always bridges the gap, and I’m very grateful for how attentive he is. Also, Ryuu-kun's movements and dancing are really clean and precise. I kind of want to mimic him, so I’ve actually been observing him in secret for research. He hides such amazing potential! I’m talking about all this because this is an interview... but I don’t actually want to admit all this. (laughs) Ryuu: Kota doesn’t praise me like this at rehearsals so I’m really happy to hear that! Man, interviews are great. (big grin) Everyone: (laughs)

Since starting rehearsals, what’s the teamwork on Kamomedai been like? Ryuu: We haven’t yet managed to gather everyone in the cast yet. But when it comes to the cast members who are at rehearsals right now, we’ve been trying to define our individual roles little by little, and gradually in response we’ve been getting more coordinated as a team.  

Kiyama-san, do you have a specific image in mind of what kind of team you want to create? Ryuu: I talked about it with our director, Worry Kinoshita-san, and with the elements we aim to show on-stage, we'll be a team that’s a sort of hybrid between Shiratorizawa and Aoba Johsai. This the Spring High National Tournament quarterfinals, and we’re the powerhouse team that stands in Karasuno’s way. So the image we’re aiming for is, “When they’re strong, they’re strong, and when they’re excellent, they’re excellent.” And I want to really get into that aspect.  

From your previous experience, do you have any particular advice for your teammates?   Ryuu: The parts that you create as a team make up a huge portion of Engeki Haikyuu, and the way we craft this play is very different from other plays. At the very beginning, I did tell them, “It’s going to be tough, but it’s important that you get used to the Engeki Haikyuu method first. Let’s work hard!”  

Daigo-san, Akana-san, this will be your 4th time with this production, so how has the Karasuno Team powered up compared to before? Akana: We’ve become a really solid unit! Things like, “Right now, we should have this,” or “Now is the time when we have to do that.” Any one of us can just give a little comment like that, or judge the atmosphere, and we get to work. We don’t even have to talk, we’ve gotten to a point of incredible mutual understanding.   Daigo: We’ve spent so much time together, so now we don’t even have to talk to be in unison on counts or with timing, so rehearsals proceed really smoothly. Of course we discuss the acting portions with Worry-san, and I hope that we can have a nice friendly rivalry with everyone on Kamomedai as we work to create this play.  

I feel like this will unfold into a really speedy match that keeps us on the edges of our seats, but how are you personally thinking of crafting all this? Daigo: Rather than a series of scenes with really hectic matches, we want to draw focus to individual emotional moments... In particular with Karasuno Ace, Azumane-san, but each individual player’s emotional journey too, and Hinata and Hoshiumi’s “Battle of the little giants.” We’re going to show our relationships with all of our past rivals even more we did before. It’s going to be a little bit different from how we’ve presented things up to now where it’s felt like a festival no matter where you look around on-stage. We’re paying more attention to the drama of it, and I feel like this is turning into a production with an appropriately dramatic ending.   Akana: From last spring’s “The Strongest Challengers,” we’ve been steadily progressing with all of the Spring High matches. Even if it’s a really tough match, in their hearts, the players are having fun just playing volleyball. That’s the image we’ve portrayed, and for those of us on that stage, we’re also feeling the exact same and having fun. So I just want to look the Kamomedai cast in the eye and together enjoy the fun of volleyball.

What about you, Kiyama-san? Ryuu: As a team, we’re being very conscious of becoming one cohesive unit, and for me as Hoshiumi Kourai, I’m thinking about how much influence Hinata and Kageyama will have on me and how best to show that. I also personally want to be able to push Nosuke and Kota with my acting. As an actor, the biggest aim is to master the role and see how much you can move people’s emotions, and this is of course essential for Engeki Haikyuu as well. So that’s what I really want to focus on.  

Now I know that Engeki Haikyuu rehearsals can be particularly rigorous, but do you also add on additional voluntary practices and training? Daigo: I do 100 shuttle runs every time we finish rehearsals. I sweat it out, go home, eat, take a bath, prep for the next day, and then go straight to sleep! It’s basically exactly the life of an athlete on a team. (laughs) Akana: Everyday after we finish rehearsals, I go with Yamamoto Ryousuke (Tsukishima Kei’s actor) for extra weight training. Normally I do a bit of weight training on my own even during rehearsals, but in order to make my body even bigger than before, I haven’t skipped a single session. I’ve also been very conscious about my protein and carb intake.   Daigo: It’s crazy how much he can eat. On Nosuke’s desk at rehearsals, there’s basically a mountain of rice balls.   Akana: Yeah. Even if I feel like I’m gonna throw up, I make sure to eat every bite. (laughs) Ryuu: After “Fly High,” I actually started training with a parkour instructor in order to prepare for our match against Karasuno. Akana: Ehh?! That’s insane! Daigo: That’s why all your movements are so clean!!   Ryuu: Parkour is a sport where you eliminate all unnecessary movements, so adding my parkour training, I now have more variation and range in what I can do for this show. All of the ways in which I can express myself have expanded thanks to other shows as well, so I would like to keep on this track.  

And now I’d like to ask about your memories from past tours. Can you tell us about a particular scene or a particular line that left an impression on you? Daigo: For me the tour that left the biggest impression on me was our most recent one, The Battle of the Trash Heap. It was so fun to be in a play together with Nekoma’s Takato-kun (Kozume Kenma’s actor). Even after the tour, we continue to contact each other in our spare time, and I’m really happy that our relationship has progressed to that point. He motivated me so much, and because of him I now aspire to become someone who can also influence everyone around me the way he did. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Takato-kun is an inspiration to me.  

Do you have any motivational or supportive words from that beloved senpai then? Daigo: I was honestly so happy that Takato-kun, whom I admire and respect, said to me, “I love Kota’s acting.” And I’m sure that he’ll come to see this tour as well, and I don’t want to disappoint him, so I’m really keeping his words close to my heart (laughs). I want to face this play with complete sincerity and with all my heart.  

Akana-san, do you have any scenes you can’t forget? Any lines that are precious to you? Akana: This isn’t a specific scene, but what’s precious to me is Engeki Haikyuu itself, because it really taught me how precious it is to see something through to the end together with your teammates. We move around so much it’s absolutely exhausting, but the sense of accomplishment you feel when you safely accomplish a tour is incredible. And it makes me happy because every time I can also really feel how much I myself have grown and improved. I feel like this production hasn’t just helped me establish the baseline for my acting career, it’s taught me important things for just life in general.  .

And for you, Kiyama-san? Ryuu: The tour that left an impression on me is “Fly High.” For “Fly High,” I was part of the youth camp and even with just that, I was like, “I have this much stuff to do?!” So it was rough, but the Karasuno cast had about double the amount we had to do, and even so everyone was just at heart having fun with volleyball. That left an impression on me. I can pound my chest and say that we made a really fun show! The fact that we pulled it off and met our goal is a source of pride and confidence for me.  

Kiyama-san, what’s the most important thing you’ve received from your time with Engeki Haikyuu? Ryuu: “Don’t leave people behind.” In any sequence, if even one person loses count, everything comes to a halt. And when that happens, there are people who will get appropriately upset with you. It might feel like they’re being strict and unforgiving of your mistakes, but it’s because they think of you as an equal, and so they have expectations of you and love for you. And that is why I’m able to get a grip and never give up, no matter how rough it gets.   Daigo: I feel like if you go through the Engeki Haikyuu experience, it really improves your social skills and thoughtfulness. “Even if it’s hard, don’t run away.” “What should I do to best foster my relationships with these people?” These are things above and beyond what an actor normally thinks about. But if you hold back for even a moment and slip up, people get hurt. We have acrobatic routines that are that precarious, so it's really important to be constantly communicating with each other and to never let up our focus. I feel that through Engeki Haikyuu, and of course other shows too, I've really taken to heart that this level of consideration is necessary for everyday life too.

And lastly, please give us something that those of us who are looking forward to the show should keep an eye out for.   Ryuu: This work is going to cram in a huge amount of content, so it may be difficult to grasp everything on one watch, but there is a very important them eat the center of all of that. I think that it’ll be a production that fans of the manga will enjoy, of course fans of Engeki Haikyuu, and even people who may be watching for the first time. We’re in the midst of putting all of our effort into making sure of that. Please come to see our gallant figures one final time.   Akana: The focus will be on Hinata and Hoshiumi’s “Battle of the Little Giants,” on the bond between Hinata and Kageyama, and the relationships between Karasuno High and all of the rival schools that we’ve defeated to get here. As Ryuu-kun said, this production is going to have a lot of things to keep an eye out for. Engeki Haikyuu is about Passion, Courage, and deep Emotion, so I hope that people will come to see us at the theater and take that all in. Daigo: In the manga, there’s a famous line that Coach Ukai says during the Shiratorizawa match: “Volleyball is a sport where you’re always looking up.” We hope we’re able to convey all of the emotion behind those words to the audience, especially given the current circumstances. We’ll try with all of our might to do so through this play. Engeki Haikyuu began about five-and-a-half-years ago, and the time that our generation has spent running with this baton is about two years. Engeki Haikyuu is popular around the world, and this production is one where I can pound my chest and say, “It’s fun! It’s interesting and great!” I think I will be able to convey that to many many people.   I would love for you to see that with your own eyes until the moment that the final curtain falls. Please look forward to it!

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You can read the original Japanese interview here: (x)

Please do not repost my translations!  This includes screenshots of bits and pieces taken out of context, especially if they don’t link back to this full post. If you appreciate the work I do for this blog and want to support my translation efforts please consider donating a ko-fi! (x)

#Haisute #Engeki Haikyuu #Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu #Final Show #View from the Top 2 #interview translation #translation #akana ryuunosuke #daigo kotarou #kiyama ryuu

[gojifan97]

Dads For Deku: Pride

Ground Zero lay at Stain’s feet, bleeding, paralyzed, helpless. Despite this he continued to glare at Stain and utter futile threats. Stain raised his sword. Time to cull another false her-

“Stendhal!” a familiar voice cried out. Stain turned around.

“Or should I call you the Hero Killer, Stain,” said a masked young man in a dark costume, one that looked like it could belong to either an underground hero or villain. But he was neither, he was Izuku Midoriya, Stain’s prized pupil and vigilante-to-be.

“You finally figured it out,” Stain said.

“I should have sooner. Stopping your killings for a while was smart, so was committing what murders you did do in areas far from where we were staying. But still, the signs were there. I should have seen it from the start. But I was blinded by the opportunity to learn how to fight villains and save people, blinded by living my dream (even outside the law), blinded by someone supporting me, and I didn’t want to see it,” Izuku said. “But now I do. And now I’m here to stop you.”

“Do you really want to fight me?” Stain said.

“No. That’s why I’m giving you a chance. Sheathe your sword. Stand down and give up your murderous ways.”

“No. We both know I won’t do that. To create a world where good and evil do battle, pure and unvarnished by the vanity of the current heroes or the petulance of the current villains, to create a world where they are true opposing forces and not mere players on a stage, I must cull the unworthy!”

“And what about me? I just told you how my personal feelings stopped me from acting. I’m unworthy.”

“You weren’t trying to assume the role of a hero then. I was still training you. You don’t have to do it now either. Walk away, and you’ll be left unharmed.”

“We both know why I will never do that.”

“Are you sure about this? You don’t even want to fight me.”

“Maybe not, but to protect those in need from evildoers, from murderers, I have to. I want to save people. And the person I need to save is him. All Might once said, the essence of being a hero is sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong and I’m sticking mine here!

“Who are you, hero?” Stain said.

“No One.”

Stain smiled. “Very well, No One, you’re free to try and stop me. But remember, even if I try not to kill you, I will not let you succeed. Battles can be very chaotic and unpredictable, even one not seeking to take a life may end up doing so.”

No-one’s eyes hardened, “I know. But I’ll still make sure I don’t take yours.” He pulled out his metal escrima sticks and charged. He would be on Stain before Stain could strike a reliable death blow on Ground Zero. Stain moved his sword into a defensive position.

The two clashed.

No One fought offensively, unleashing a flurry of blows while using his escrima sticks to parry Stain’s attacks. Stain could barely keep track of his movements, but years killing Pros had given him excellent instincts, allowing him to block most of the attacks. Those he didn’t were weak enough to not do much harm. Stain lashed out with his sword, trying to cut No One and draw his blood, but Stain had trained him well, No One blocked each blow with either the escrima sticks or his armored gauntlets.

No One was faster and stronger than Stain and began forcing him back (off and away from Ground Zero). Stain wasn’t sure if he was better than Stain had been in his prime, it would have surely been a good fight, but that didn’t matter. All that mattered was winning this fight here and now. All Stain had to do was land a cut and lick the blood, and it would all be over.

While holding Stain’s sword to one side with one escrima stick, No One attempted to swing the other at Stain’s head. Stain blocked the blow, drew the knife in his sleeve, and cut No One’s wrist.

No One dropped his escrima stick, then grabbed the hilt of the knife before Stain could lick it. He kicked Stain in the stomach, causing Stain to stumble and drop the knife. He let go of Stain’s arm. An attempt to make him fall. Unfortunately for him, Stain kept his balance. Now all he had to do was get that knife.

No One threw a desperate swing at Stain’s head, which Stain blocked with embarrassing ease. No One parried the sword aside while lashing out for a with an awkward looking pun- No, with his Taser!

Stain dropped his sword and grabbed No One’s wrist before he could strike him with the Taser. He tried to wrestle No One away, but No One wasn’t giving up. He kneed Stain several times. Stain managed to kick him with his spiked boot, and throw him off. It had only been a glancing blow, but enough to cause pain, and to draw blood.

No One whirled around and charged at Stain again. Stain dropped to the ground, wiped his finger against the blood on his boot, and brought it to his mouth.

No One lunged.

Stain licked.

Stain rolled to the side as No One collapsed to the ground. Paralyzed. “You fought well No One. That feint while you drew the Taser was good. But it was not enough. Now-“

He heard movement behind him.

Stain turned around to see Ground Zero shaking off his paralysis and leaping to his feet. “DIIIEEE!” He blasted himself forward and swung his arm to fire a massive explosion at them both. Stain grabbed Izuku and leaped over and around the flames. Using a small knife, he cut Ground Zero in the shoulder as he passed. He licked the blade. Ground Zero was helpless again.

Stain walked toward him, trembling with fury. “You fake! He risked his life to save you and that is how you repay him?! By nearly blowing him up in a futile attempt to bring me down?! YOU EMBODY EVERYTHING WRONG WITH THIS WORLD! You fight for your own self-aggrandization, while stepping on those you perceive as unworthy! You harm true heroes so they can no longer threaten your fragile ego!” Stain stopped talking and panted heavily with rage. Soon he had regained control. “I will enjoy culling your blood most of all,” Stain said, readying his knife to end this filth.

Footsteps approaching.

Stain looked up in time to see No One lunging forward, Taser in hand. Stain swung the knife toward his wrist. No One blocked it with his gauntlet. Stain grabbed his wrist and twisted the Taser out of it. No One punched Stain. The two began brawling. Stain tried using another knife, but No One knew how to counter them. He blocked it with his gauntlet and twisted it out of Stain’s hand. Then he began grappling with Stain. Stain had trained in grapples, but No One had focused on them far more. Submission holds were more important when you were trying to defeat your opponents non-lethally after all.

Stain would not give in. Either Ground Zero would die, or Stain would. He squirmed and managed to throw No-One off of him. He raised his head, only to see the Taser going for his neck, too late for him to stop. He hadn’t thrown No One off after all, No One had merely seen an opportunity. Stain felt the Taser press against his skin, followed by the electric shock.

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Katsuki tried to look at the bastard who’d just defeated Stain. It was hard with this damn paralysis, but he wasn’t one for giving up. Out of the corner of his vision he saw him tie up the Hero Killer with zip ties, pick up some weapons, wipe the sword off, and walk away.

“WAIT!” Katsuki said, “WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?”

“Isn’t it obvious Katsuki Bakugo?” the vigilante said.

That voice, it sounded almost…familiar.

“I am No One.” He walked off.

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Stain awoke to the sounds of sirens and voices.

“-o idea. The blood on the ground’ll be too contaminated to use, even if it does belong to whoever did this. We don’t have any solid blood samples we can use.

So, he managed to defeat me non-lethally after all.

Ground Zero was still alive, Stain was still alive, and he was being arrested. Stain should be furious but a part of him felt…happy. He’d succeeded. He’d given rise to a new hero. A real hero.

“ONLY A TRUE HERO MAY KILL ME!” he said. “NO ONE ELSE HAS THE RIGHT! NO ONE, ALL MIGHT, AND LEMILLION ARE WORTHY!”

“Only two people huh? Tall standards,” said one of the police officers. But it didn’t matter. Let him remain in ignorance. Because another police officer was saying, “We’ve got too wanted villains tied up three blocks down. They have no idea who did it.”

Still doing hero work, not even an hour after defeating the mighty Hero Killer. Like a true hero Iz- like a true hero No One.

Stain began to laugh. Around him the police and heroes stared, but he didn’t care. He knew the truth of this night.

This night.

A hero was born.

#My hero academia #Dadsfordeku #hero killer stain #midoriya izuku #katsuki bakugo #vigilantism #vigilante deku

[businessbois]

i'm here on daggryet's suggestion to ask how you'd currently rank the five mcc teams? 😄

oh boy oh boy alright so i’ll do my placements and then explanation below the cut, these are just initial reactions honestly i can see any of the top three flipping around

1.) Green Guardians

2.) Orange Ocelots

3.) Lime Llamas

4.) Red Rabbits

5.) Yellow Yaks

green guardians- obviously strong, but having 2/3 of the dream team is obviously not historically enough to secure a win. however, they are a very powerful duo and teamed together, dream and george have never gotten below 4th place. 3/4 of this team has an advantage of having been training together even before teams were announced and regularly playing minecraft together. the captain and dream have been together, they work well together, i don’t imagine this team will have any issues with chemistry or communication. skillset wise, an advantage this team also has is being not super dependent on games. obviously dream is your s tier “carry” whatever you want to call him, he’s a superstar. george is solid all around. the captain is a good player, very experienced and good at the game. and quackity while not excelling in the past has been practicing lately and honestly all he has to do is stay alive for a decent amount of time in most games and not even worry about kills/at least finish the course if it’s a movement type thing. like maybe rocket spleef or buildmart is their worst game? but like half of them are good at rocket spleef and then is anybody good at buildmart really (/hj)?

orange ocelots- okay hear me out. consistency is so important in this tournament. this is why orange and lime go above red. three experienced, consistent players plus one team leader is a better team composition in general. people are saying that quig has been doing worse ever since mcc12, but it’s not like he’s fallen off. he’s been practicing a lot and he’s still really good at the game. and he’ll have a solid, supportive team to help him out. shelby’s played in a lot of the top teams for the tournament. she can hold her own just fine and would be super good in dodgebolt for these guys. eret and kara are similarly experienced and also have been in high placing teams, they were actually in the 1st and 2nd scoring teams last mcc. i put orange above lime because i just think the players on orange score the tiniest bit higher (again everything will be dependent on the tournament itself but just looking at averages) quig- 3168, shubble- 1935, kara- 1937, eret- 1705 VS fruit- 3167 (yes one single coin less), false- 1954, cubfan- 1698, ren- 1662.

lime llamas- similar ideas to above but with hermits. these guys are solid. fruit is also one of the best mcc players. he’s been top two for the past four tournaments. false is good. ren and cubfan can definitely support the team as well. these guys also have the advantage of playing together often, notably false ren have done every single tournament together except two, but everybody on this team has done mcc together. i think only ren and cubfan haven’t done a dodgebolt together so like crazy strong stuff here with this team. they’ve had similar team makeups to this before and gotten 1st. they go third because they’re a little bit weaker than the lime liches, a little bit weaker than the mcc12 lime llamas, a little bit weaker than mcc10s orange ocelots, a little bit weaker than the similar teams they’ve had before. again though numbers aren’t everything. maybe i’m only putting them third because i really want to get the captain a win and also josh fruitberries walking off the side of the bridge in skybattle is flashing through my mind right now. but yeah third here because the other guys are the slightest bit stronger i feel. i wouldn’t be surprised to see them in dodgebolt though.

red rabbits- i adore these guys. super talented all around. but again all these teams above them have consistency over them. vikk is very good at the game, has not played mcc in particular in a hot sec. i mean i don’t suspect he’ll have too much trouble readapting, especially if he’s willing to train beforehand on the training server. niki also hasn’t played in a sec. they go third because this team has good players and while niki hasn’t excelled in the tournament, she brings great vibes and a supportive atmosphere to the team. also she’s been practicing so im ready for her to get revenge on georgenotfound. tommy is good when he’s not worrying too much about everyone else. i think this team is good for that. tubbo doesn’t need too much guidance, i think he can operate on his own and pop off. vikk might need a nudge but i don’t think he’ll need as much as a newer player. im thinking of mcc12 red rabbits right now where niki and big q would have similar roles and then vikk and wisp. i think vikk would need less help than wisp did in that tournament. they’re a well rounded team. no chemistry issues. i don’t think niki lets the game get to her head and i think that’ll be good for tommy as well. pvp games would be fantastic for them and the real make or break for how high they score.

yellow yaks- 2/4 coral carolers lets gooo. sylvee and krtzyy are very experienced. dave’s an a tier player. i believe sylvee could pull like around 20-25. dan is new but a good player, top 15 potential for sure and honestly would have made that if it wasn’t for the buildmart finale last tournament. sb i’m not as familiar with but i’m pretty sure he’s a top 15 player as well. he’s steadily improved each tournament he’s played in. they’re a good team but i don’t really see as much chemistry in their favor as these other teams and no s tier which obviously doesn’t actually mean anything, but just looking at things it helps to have someone like these other teams have dream, fruit, and quig (and vikkstar)

#i rambled #i hope it makes some sense #just a few sense

[mutatismutandisx]

Shadow and Bone (Netflix Series Review)

No Spoilers!!!

"Be careful of powerful men" - Genya Safin

Welcome to the Grishaverse!

Shadow and Bone is Netflix's big gamble for young adult fiction mega-success, the kind we haven't seen since Jennifer Lawrence volunteered as tribute almost a decade ago, adapting Leigh Bardugo's popular Grishaverse novels (her debut trilogy Shadow and Bone and serving as a prequel for the Six of Crows duology), anchored by an incredibly diverse cast (mostly newcomers) and a huge production budget, showrunner Eric Heisserer, alongside Bardugo who serves as an executive producer, aim for Hunger Games and Harry Potter level phenomenon with their own fantasy epic.

To Heisserer's credit, he manages a great adaptation of Bardugo's novels, even if he falls prey to the same story tropes that made Bardugo's debut novels seem so derivative, Heisserer brings the Grishaverse to life in a (mostly) successful run of 8 episodes, and even if his grand tour of Ravka isn't the most organized or well planned, most viewers will still fall in love with this world.

Heisserer's boldest creative choice, and biggest deviation from the novels, is the introduction of Kaz Brekker and his Crows, Jesper and Inej, in this opening chapter to the story, characters that did not appear in Bardugo's original Shadow and Bone trilogy. Creatively and business-wise, his decision is an obvious one, Bardugo's Shadow and Bone novels, while a solid debut, are the typical young adult fodder that is bombarded to consumers every year, a largely derivative yet charming "chosen one" story that teens and tweens eat up every year and then mostly forget about when the next one comes around (less Percy Jacson and more Divergent if you will), truth be told Bardugo's Grishaverse only became a phenomenon after the release of her superb Six of Crows duology, featuring Bardugo's very own Suicide Squad, a ragtag group of crimials performing incredible, mind-bending heists in the tough streets of a fictional Amsterdam (and beyond!), all anchored by what is (to this day) Bardugo's best creation: Kaz Brekker, a Batman-meets-The Riddler machiavelic genius with a flair for theatrics, Six of Crows and it's follow-up Crooked Kingdom are surely the main reason Netflix even greenlit this series to begin with. And just like in the books, Brekker and his Crows provide a much needed bolt of manic energy to an otherwise very by-the-numbers storyline. Not to discredit Bardugo's talent as a writer, but her skills had simply not been honed at the time of her 2012 debut, a shortcoming that Bardugo would fix later on, in her follow up novels, through ambition and sheer force of will.

And yet, Heisserer stays extremely faithful to the books, whether it's to Bardugo's best ideas or her least creative ones, he adapts it all, while attempting to add his own flair into the mix (with varying results), take our main protagonist for example, Alina Starkov, to those unfamiliar with the novels, Alina is the Katniss Everdeen of this story, a mostly ordinary young woman who, by a struck of destiny, finds herself thrust into the spotlight in the hero/savior-of-her-people role (a most unflattering one might I add), and thus becomes an unwilling symbol to a cause she hardly understands, saddled with all the responsabilities and power that comes with the job, and with the inevitable political players and adversaries that may take advantage of her power for their own gain ("Be careful of powerful men" one of Alina's confidants warns her in episode 5). And did I mention she happens to find herself in the middle of a love triangle? Indeed Bardugo's original novel isn't the most creative, and yet Heisserer doesn't have much to offer as a way to reinvent the character, the best he can come up with is changing Alina's ethnicity (originally caucasian) to that of the fictional Shu Han people (read: China), and yet, nothing is really done with the change, it just sits there, (similarly to Alina everytime a background character hurls xenophobic abuse at her), it's not explored and hardly touched upon, which begs the question why introduce the change in the first place? While I commend the showrunners for casting a female lead of asian descent on a blockbuster property such as this, I would remind them that true diversity is more than simply ethnic tokenism. Perhaps there will be a bigger payoff for the creative change in future seasons (if we get them, season 2 has not been greenlit), doubtfull but I'll remain optimistic.

Tokenism aside, the diversity of the cast truly is commendable, and as expected with a young adult property, it's a very young and very attractive cast, on the one hand it's understandable, they need to appeal to their core demographic, on the other hand they commit themselves to one of the most glaring faults in Bardugo's Grishaverse series, Ravka doesn't seem to have soldiers, politicians or grisha over the age of 25, it seems like a huge oversight on part of a country (and Leigh Bardugo) to have the entire power of the government and the military reside upon a group of teenagers, but be that as it may, most of the cast, while young, is very talented, even if their characters aren't fully developed, they do their best with what they are given, some of the standouts are Jessie Mei Li as Alina, Mei Li is saddled with a character and plot that's as derivative as they come, and yet she finds nuances in her perfomance that are lovely to watch, she brings a sense of joy and determination to Alina that lesser actors couldn't even imagine much less portray, all that helps her stand out from most, if not all, the crowd of chosen one characters that have come before her, and even tho Mei Li doesn't reach Jennifer Lawrence levels with her performance, she certainly surpasses the Kristen Stewarts and Shailene Woodleys that have come before.

Ben Barnes is a surprise as General Kirigan, at first glance you might think him miscast (too young, too pretty to be believed as a stone cold, battle hardened general) and yet he still manages to make the character his own, a possessive, demanding, controlling, master manipulator who always seems to have the upper hand, Barnes is blessed with a tight script and he never misses a beat giving a subtle and nuanced performance. And then there is Kit Young as Jesper Fahey, sharpshooter, playboy, criminal with a heart of gold, Young is a revelation, he is as good in his role as Robert Downey Jr. is as Tony Stark, and that's all you need to know, Young was simply born to play Jesper, anchored by a strong script, he steals every scene he is in and far overshadows his fellow Crows. And as for the other Crows, Freddy Carter acts his heart out as Kaz Brekker, committing to a very physical performance, from scowl to limp, he embodies Brekker visually, but after the first 2 episodes you get the feeling the writers simply don't know what to do with his character, losing the spotlight to other actors blessed with better material, never did I think Kaz Brekker would be overshadowed by one of his fellow Crows, yet here we are. Carter's talent still shines through and his perpetual, omnipresent scowl as Brekker is a beauty to behold, even if his limping is somewhat inconsistent, which makes me hopeful he will improve when given more to do, still it's a shame to have the master strategist/evil genius Bruce Wayne replaced by a lowly con artist and not a very successful one at that. As for Amita Suman, while perfectly cast as Inej Ghafa, her character is severely underwritten, from her past work in The Menagerie, to her faith, to her interactions with Brekker, it's all done in the broadest of strokes, Suman isn't given much to do and therefore doesn't have the opportunity to excel as The Wraith.

You can feel the writers straining for time between developing this world and the large cast of characters they have to work with, inevitably some characters fall of the wayside, through none of the actors' fault. Daisy Head as Genya Safin is all untapped potential, even more underwritten here than she is in the books, which make later revelations about her character (the color of her kefta and shifting allegiances) barely register, hopefully they correct that going forward. Sujaya Dasgupta is another victim of a weak script and little screen time, Dasgupta is simply miscast as the powerful, acerbic, steely-eyed Zoya Nazyalensky, long gone is the regal, no nonsense, silver-tongued Grisha general, in Dasgupta's hands Zoya is just a watered down Grisha version of a Mean Girl, faltering every scene with the exception of one moment, as she makes her way through party goers at the Little Palace and she corrects Inej's ethnicity to a bystander, (her one good line reading in the entire show) "She's Suli", she declares, with all the strenght and defiance that's sorely missing from the rest of her performance, moving forward let's hope a stronger script can lift her performace off the ground, because right now all the wind is gone from this Squaller's wings. And as for Malyen Oretsev played by Archie Renaux, he is the Gale Hawthorne of this story, the undignified love interest, and Renaux is as boring in his role as Liam Hemsworth was in his.

Lastly, Danielle Galligan as Nina Zenik and Calahan Skogman as Matthias Helvar, are equally terrible in their performances, from their accents to their interactions, none of it rings true, and it's particularly jarring when juxtaposed with the talent portrayed by the rest of the cast, we spent way too much time with Nina and Matthias, for absolutely no payoff to their story (yet! Fans will recognize them as 2 future members of Brekker's murder of Crows), but their little side adventure is so disconnected with the events of the main plot that I can't help but feel their story was better reserved for another time, hopefully with some better actors playing the roles. A lovely moment of playfulness between Nina and Matthias while they tread along in a barren, snowy hill, is the only glimpse of hope for Galligan's and Skogman's performances, maybe there is talent to be tapped but it certainly wasn't in display this time around.

The Grishaverse is simply too large and complex, so understandably Heisserer and his writers room have a lot on their plate, but while the character work is largely uneven, his world building is quite solid, based on the impressive foundation Bardugo set out for them, the showrunners are able to bring the world of Ravka to life, the costume design is stunning, from soldiers to Grishas, to royals and diplomats, the costume department does a fabulous job with every piece and every character, one of the high points in the series.

The VFX team also does a lot of the heavy lifting for Heisserer's world building efforts, realizing the different power sets of all the Grisha in a fantastical manner while still maintaining a realistic quality to them, ("you'll believe a man can fly"), but even with a huge production budget, Heisserer strains with this world-spanning adventure, so even though the set and production design is mostly impressive, some sets simply fall out of range for the show's budget, case in point, both Ravka's Royal Palace and the Little Palace are not fully realized, viewers are given a single outside shot of the Royal Palace (and from very far away at that) and the throne room is only visited once, and as for the Little Palace, it's stripped from many of the books most sprawling details, the training grounds, the Grisha school, the fabrikators workshop, the dining room, the palace's towers, all falling victim to obvious budget restrains. Not to mention both palaces are devoid of the classic Russian influences that permeate Ravka's world.

But Heisserer's skills for world building show the most limitations on the lore of the Grishaverse, the three Orders of the Grisha are never properly explained, with Fabrikators getting next to none screen time, Heisserer is never capable to establish a clear view of the world these characters inhabit, most viewers will be very confused about Ravka's shifting borders, the civil war tensions between East and West, and the adversary foreign nations (an inclusion of a map in the opening credits of every episode would have gone a long way), the sociopolitical elements that Bardugo has infused in her books are decidedly complex and the show doesn't do them justice, unfortunately. Perhaps most glaring is the very clear disagreements on what a Ravkan's diction and accent should be, since every actor has their own interpretation of it, an oversight that I hope is fixed in future seasons.

As the few completely negative points of the show, alongside Galligan and Skogman, the sound mixing is terrible (you will need subtitles to watch this show) and the cutaway flahbacks are quite sloppy.

To conclude, Shadow and Bone is a lovingly crafted, beautifully realized, world building adventure, it has a couple of missteps along the way (like all adventures do), but the final product is strong enough to overcome some of its creative faux pas, with a solid script and anchored by a (mostly) talented cast, Shadow and Bone doesn't reach Catching Fire levels of greatness but it far outpaces the rest of the young adult fantasy competition.

#my writing #review #series review #writers on tumblr #writersnetwork #writblr #bookaholic #bookworm #book blog #book review #shadow and bone #leigh bardugo #siege and storm #ruin and rising #six of crows #crooked kingdom #king of scars #rule of wolves #alina starkov #sankta alina #the darkling #ben barnes #mal oretsev #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #jesper fahey #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy #grishasworld #grishasnetwork

[smokeybrand]

Smokey brand Movie Reviews: Free City or Liquid Suffering

Free Guy is an exceptional movie and you should go watch it right now. It’s worth every penny. I wanted to get that out there up front. That’s the review. The rest of this thing is going to be me just gushing about why i think it’s one of the best films of the year. If you’re curious as to why i loved it so much, read on. But you don’t have to if you don’t want because I'm telling you, right here, right now, up front, Free Guy is totally worth everything. Its exceptional. Go f*cking watch it right now! Also, just to clarify, the title of this love letter to Free Guy has a double meaning. Free City is the name of the world in which the movie takes place but it's also the name of a pretty dope St. Lunatics album. Batter Up!

The Outstanding

I have to say, the execution of this idea was fantastic! You’ve seen this the of movie before in films like the new Jumanji joints and Ready Player One, but you’ve never seen them executed like this. I was thoroughly surprised by how entertaining, how original, the Isekai Video Game Experience was presented. F*cking outstanding!

With that in mind, credit has to be given to the director of this spectacle, Shawn Levy. He has a strong vision because this f*cking thing definitely passes the eye test as a video game. It Feels like walking into the world of Saint’s Row III, the only thing missing being giant dildo swords.

I also have to mention how brisk this thing moves. There is next to no fat on this plot an it gets you to where you need to be with purpose. I appreciate that, not because i don’t like a slow burn, atmospheric, feat for the eyes but because that type of film making wouldn’t work with this type of film. It’s long, don’t misunderstand, but it never Feels long. I never needed to pause it and take a break or try over and over to start it. It’s a solid watch that, by the end credits, will have you absolutely enveloped with the pathos onscreen.

One of the stronger aspects of this thing was the cameos. A lot of the recognizable people, like Channing Tatum and Chris Evans came through and did their thing, for sure, but a lot of the streamers made an impression, too. Color me surprised when i is aw Pokimane and Ninja. Now, I'm old as sh*t so i only have a cursory knowledge of who these people are but for Gen Z and the Alphas? I imagine they were stupid excited seeing their versions of celebrities up on the being screen like that.

Speaking of cast, i just want to give a nod to Lil Rel Howery and Utkarsh Ambudkar as Buddy and Mouser, respectively. They were great as the supportive third string partners. I was particularly surprised by Lil Rel because i generally can’t stand him in stuff but he never overstayed his welcome in this. Well done.

Ryan Reynolds is Ryan Reynolds. You know what you’re going to get in a starring vehicle for dude. Mileage may vary but I'm a fan of the motor-mouth, super quippy, schtick. My favorite superhero is Spider-man so of course i am. That said, his Guy is very earnest and likable. Even when he’s moving down player after player, he’s still just that Blue Shirt Guy. It’s real hard not to like him.

For me, the stand out of this flick was Jodie Comer. I love this chick. I was put on to her way back when i stumbled upon Killing Eve an have been absolutely enamored ever since. Her Millie the Molotov Girl is a fantastic character and she is great in the role. It’s so different from what I've seen her in and it’s testament to he skill. I’m glad she’s getting bigger roles and can’t wait to see what she does in Thor IV. I’m actually curious who she’ll be since we already got a version of the Enchantress in Sylvie. Plus, i just really like hearing Jodie’s speaking voice. It’s cute.

What can i say about Taika Waititi other than he’s Taika Waititi? Dude is doing Hitler from Jojo Rabbit but as video game company CEO named Antwan and it absolutely works. Antwan’s not even villainous, he’s just a petulant, corporate, shill, obsessed with profits. So, basically, EA but, you know, a person. Which is kind of genius because if you ask any gamer, they’ll tell you the final boss is definitely companies lie EA, Activision, and Take Two. F*ck those guys and f*ck Antwan!

I’m more than on record of loving everything Joe Keery does. From my initial introduction n the excellent first season of Stranger things, his amazing growth in the second, and becoming the best f*cking thing about the show by the third. I loved him in Molly’ Game and was shocked by his range in Spree. I can’t say he flexes his acting chops so much in this as the unrequited love interest, Keys, but he’s still fun to see.

I think the best thing about this film, though, is how much genuine heart it has. This movie is chock full of emotional nuance. I was surprised by how much i cared about the characters by the time this thing ended and all credit to that has to go to the writing. In order for these performances to present such complete relationship arcs, that sh*t on the age had to be on point and believe me, it was. Hats off to Matt Lieberman and Zack Penn. Those two mad lads delivered something really special.

The Verdict

I already said it up front. Free Guy is fantastic. It’s loaded up with great performances. Rich characters, a wonderfully world, and striking visuals. This thing Feels like a video game and movies that try to do that rarely pull it off. Like, Ready Player One does a great job articulating that same Feeling but it’s not something that is so easily capture. Free Guy does it better than that one, better than Spielberg. While all of that sh*t i said makes this thing more than worth the price of admission but, for me, it’s the overall writing that gives the movie legs. It’s incredibly well written and smarter than you’ think based on such a pedestrian premise. I’m really enjoyed my time in Free City and I'm glad it got made. Fox was playing with house money when Ryan Reynolds dropped this into their laps. They basically gave him a budget and told him to create because why not? Sh*t would be Disney's problem after the merger, right? Well, surprise-surprise, free of corporate meddling and financial projection, Free Guy turned out to be an amazing, entertaining, original, IP that everyone should support.

[natsumi-no-hotaru]

Chihayafuru #48: A crazed fangirl’s guide to the finals Part 1 - What am I still doing here?

AKA. Arata is ebil, ebil and Taichi is the most frustratingly adorable self-sacrificial dork to ever walk this earth.

[Previously: For you I would forget the pain and give my all.]

I could barely stop my heart from jumping out of my chest the entire time! I mean, of course this episode would be freakin’ awesome, what with such promising matches - the ultimate battle between 2 karuta masters and Taichi’s battle to graduate from class B and catch up with Chi-chan - but it’s still mind-blowing how good it is! What’s most amazing about Chihayafuru #48 is that no matter how much you think you know these characters, they still find ways to exceed expectations and bring something completely new to the occasion. And that’s what I love so much about Chihayafuru after all - the wonderfully vibrant characters and their well-written character development, delicately woven into the fabric of the story. Characters in Chihayafuru drive the plot and not the other way around, and that’s what makes it such a special series. 

Take Coach Sakurazawa for example. I want to talk about her right away before devoting this post to the matches because I love how her character is given so much depth through little things like this. 

Technically, her role is to be the “spartan” coach of Fujisaki school karuta club and provide the occasional but insightful commentary on the players’ strength, weakness and psyche during matches. Unfortunately, she also features in that pervert captain’s erotic fantasies but thankfully, that is just her image as filtered through that Emuro’s lens (lmao, fittingly enough, he also wears glasses? or was the author playing into the stereotypical casting of a megane boy as the resident closet pervert? Tough call but this is beside the point), for she is nowhere else sexualized, either by other characters or through the viewing experience. What I want to draw attention to is that her character could remain confined to this mold and it would not change the plot by any considerable degree. So why is there a need to portray her as more than just a pragmatic coach of a rival school?  

“I’ll bring Yamashiro over to apologize later.” 

I think the answer, in part, has to do with the mangaka’s decision to flesh out all characters, especially minor or support ones, as best as she could in the limited screen-time allotted for them. They may serve as plot devices at times but there has never any doubt that they are not their own persons, with stories and struggles independent from those of the main characters, even if they may not be bestowed with lengthy flashbacks. 

“My coach said that, in most cases, the injuries are caused by the player’s own bad swing.”

The care and attention Coach Sakurazawa extended to Chi-chan is hinted at in previous episodes when she took out one of the twins out of the team, reasoning that he showed signs of intense knee fatigue. She knew well of the pains of over-exertion because she was a top player herself and was big-hearted enough to offer support to young karuta players of note, who are not in her charge, like Chi-chan. Compared to those staid oji-sans (and women, I suppose) from the national karuta committee whose interests are within the narrow range of the individual tournament and the possible dethronement of Master Suo, Coach Sakaruzawa is a much needed breath of fresh air in the karuta world. Her ties to Fujisaki neither dictated her every action and concern, nor did they blind her to the bigger picture of karuta-dom.

She’s truly an excellent coach and a top-notch support character (my heart can’t stop going kyah kyah at well-written female characters!!!). I would love to talk about her more, especially the solid advice she gave Chi-chan at the beginning of Chihayafuru #49 (ahaha, you caught me, I couldn’t resist watching ahead the next episodes ahahaha...) but it is beyond this episode so I’ll stop here for now. 

“Why are you smiling about playing the Queen?”

Before moving on to the finals, here’s Chi-chan presented with the biggest dilemma of her life so far. 

“He’s the one who wanted Ayase to focus on practicing for the Queen match. He would tell you not to come see him.”

I hate it when Nishida is not wrong. Both of these matches are important to Chi-chan, albeit in very different ways. It was a hard choice but in the end, there’s only one answer that could sit wholly right with her, as the person with the most team spirit out of them all. 

Taichi vs. Rion: Let not the mist hide the sakura in bloom 

I miss you so much, Taichiiiiiii

It was quite shocking, a little unnerving even, to see Taichi in such a contained state of calmness. Normally, he would give off this aura of buzzing activity and pay constant attention to his opponent and surroundings, down to the smallest details. This time around, he barely gave any indication that he was about to take part in a make-or-break match, which is most unusual, for there’s more at stake here than just his graduation from class B. What would happen to his self-esteem if he again met with failure when he was already so close to the goal? How could he sit so still and look bored out of his mind, with such a burden weighing upon him?

Who is even this person??? I have never met him!

Strangely enough, even after soundly beating Retro-kun, a rather persistent rival of his, by 18 cards (!), Taichi seemed to find no cause for joy or excitement. The cause for this overcast of dissatisfaction and despondency is none other than the pent-up frustration of having yet to graduate from class B, even though he has more than enough skills to play on equal terms against class A players. The non-stop loop of self-berating questions speaks volumes as to the desperation Taichi must have felt from lagging behind Chi-chan and Arata.

“What I am doing here? Why haven’t I been able to defeat 5 class B players in a row?”

And topping off this emotional quagmire is the resignation dripped from his dead-certain claim that Chi-chan would choose watching the match between Arata and Shi-chan over coming over to cheer him on. Boy was he so wrong. 

I could not be more relieved on seeing Chi-chan and Kana-chan sneaking in. So relieved and happy!!! Thank the good lawd the ladies are all here.

Seriously, baka Taichi.

I love how the girls supported one another to sit down! One of those lovely small details that just makes me go squee - it’s just so heartwarming!!

“Right now, I care the most about Taichi making class A.”

A shipper can hope, right? Right? #taichihayaFTW

I wanna be in the circle tooooo, pls pls pls. 

“I have to win this match as quickly as possible. I need to take a huge lead so Chihaya can watch Arata and the Queen play!”

Arrgghh, for crying out loud, can he be more of a self-sacrificial idiot than this? 

I mean, I wanted to give a real good shake so much, just so that he could stop thinking of his match and progress as something not worth Chi-chan’s attention. He won against Emuro fair and square, who was a strong opponent even for Arata! It was so evident that he had grown a lot since the last tournament so it was really aggravating to see him belittling himself like this. 

That he did. That he did. *sigh*

Leaving Taichi with the girls and the Empress for a bit, it’s time to take a quick peak at the first moments of the Queen’s match against her formidable rival. 

Interlude: Shirata - the side of him only she brought out 

It’s undeniable that there exists an unique kind of chemistry between Shi-chan and Arata. For someone whose interactions with Shi-chan are mostly limited to brief encounters at tournaments and between matches (with the exception of this particular tournament), Arata has frequently shown to have a good grasp of Shi-chan as a player and a person. Be it the jovial and relaxed way that he converses and laughs with her (and at her), or his successful persuasion of Shi-chan to go watch the team tournament, Arata has treated her like an old friend, returning her aloofness and sarcasm with empathy, compassion and warmth. His illuminating insights on Shi-chan’s ardent love for karuta and her solitude are likely rooted in attentive and detailed observation of her over the years, not just as an aspiring Queen, but also as an acquaintance he has come to treasure. 

“Shinobu-chan has a somewhat unique card placement and memorization method. She must have been playing with these cards by herself all this time.”

While Shi-chan may not consciously consider Arata as anything more than a worthy long-time rival, she truly rejoiced at his return to karuta and eagerly looked forward to their match. Shi-chan herself may pass off her intervention into the passing of Arata’s punishment (getting his possible ban from the individual tournament reduced to writing self-correction essays and not watching the team tournament) as saving her chance to play against him, but her impassioned plea for him to not disappoint her further hinted at a deeper connection and understanding between them than that of mere rivals. 

I can’t recall if I said this before but I love Shi-chan’s voice so freaking much, and her VA’s delivery in this episode is just on point every single time. The gentle cadences, measured rhythm and melodic intonation truly bring out Shi-chan’s  sophistication and her captivating elusiveness.

“Neither you nor I need any friends.”

Shi-chan probably saw something of a kindred spirit in Arata - how they are made for the most “serious” pursuit karuta, to vie for its highest glory, and certainly not for team competitions. It must have been quite shocking for her to see him almost get kicked out of the individual tournament because of his floundering about in the team competition, and to know of his respect and fondness for team matches and players. And I think that’s why she was so keen on proving the superiority of individual players, not by herself but with him, at a match between 2 lone wolves who do not belong to any school team. But as Shi-chan would find out, the Arata in front of her was set on the path of defeating and exceeding all expectations.

Who are you and what have you done with that sweet earnest boy called Arata?

To my utter surprise, Shi-chan’s half challenge, half provocative attempt at camaraderie brought about an expression the likes of which has never graced Arata on screen. A smirk on Arata’s face, accompanied by that nonchalant badass retort no less!? This is the first time that he responded to her goading with that playful and mischievous look on his face, instead of his signature indulging smile. Amused as he was by her antics, he was serious about facing her, though interestingly enough, without the overly serious and candid demeanor he usually showed against other opponents.

Naturally, Shi-chan was thrown off by Arata’s response. She sought to dominate the match from the start and it looked like things were going her way but...

... they actually hit the cards at the same time. Shi-chan won them because they were on her side, not because she was faster. 

A guarded expression appeared on Shi-chan’s face while Arata remained unperturbed, with the curl of a mysterious smile on his lips.

“Her incredible speed in every direction and her accuracy haven’t changed a single bit.”

Staying true to his grandpa’s teachings, Arata launched his counterattack against Shi-chan. After all, she is not the only one who has speed on their side. 

Arata quickly proved himself a worthy opponent of the Queen as he pitted his smooth-like-water, direction-changing swipes against Shi-chan’s precision homing strikes. The animation is so well-done that a distinction can be made between their styles, even though my eyes can barely keep up with the speed of their attacks. Not even five cards have been read but Shi-chan already started to feel the mounting pressure. 

“Defending every card is risky. I’m sorry, everyone.”

It must be rare indeed for Shi-chan to be forced to deviate from her usual strategy so early in the game. For someone who always strives to get every single card read, choosing to “save” some cards over the others in order to secure victory seems uncomfortably close to a betrayal to her way of karuta. It certainly spoke highly of Arata’s skills that he was able to push her to this point. 

OMG, he’s so ebil, ebil! A hundred times more devious than Suou-san!! 

Let’s be frank. No one so far has brought out this side of Arata but Shi-chan. Just look at that face! That smirk and that self-assured voice, as cool as a cucumber!! I got shivers and goosebumps all over - this is so so unexpected, like who would have thought of Arata having such a mean streak??

I’m so in love with this ebil!Arata, fyi. So freakin’ heads over heels. #shirata4FTW

Heart attack: Under pressure and outta luck!

pretty much me for the rest of Taichi’s match

Yup, it was that bad. Both Taichi and Rion were completely off their usual game, as each simultaneously struggled with pressure of their own and one far-from-reliable reader. 

Lawd, you test me. 

On looking back, it was quite a hilarious coincidence that not only the players were put to the test but also the reader, possibly also in order to move up to reading for class A. But I suppose it was needless to say that I didn’t find it so funny when I was watching the episode. 

More like driven out of my mind with worry - jesus, the man even fucking coughed!!! *sharpen throw knives*

Horrendous reader screwing up the rhythm aside, it was still imperative for Taichi to not add extra pressure to an already difficult game. Rion is not the kind of opponent that he can hope to secure a win just by breezing through the game. Perhaps it is a bit of a moot point to raise but would Taichi really have had an easier match in the absence of Chi-chan; after all, there would be no need to rush? He was so calm in the previous matches and now he became such a flustered mess.

Though suffering a huge set-back because of the reader’s abysmal rhythm, Rion held on to the resolve to win at least the B individual tournament for her school. 

Rion started to gain ground, thanks to her acute hearing and lightning speed, and Taichi once again fretted about his opponent’s talent. The question of “what does X have that I don’t” made a reappearance, to the joy of absolutely no-one.  

You can’t let Yama-chan get in a groove, Taichi!

Just when things couldn’t get any more dire or more agonizing to watch, Taichi thankfully managed to pull himself from the downward spiral and regained not only the composure and cool head prior to the match’s start, but also the clear, logical thinking that so defines his karuta style. 

I’m tensing up because I’m comparing her to Master Suoh. Compare her to Chihaya. 

Random but Tsutomu-kun is in the background!!!

His desire to face Rion as if she was Chi-chan reminded me of those times he would compare his opponent to Arata and be disheartened or encouraged, sometimes even simultaneously. While Chi-chan arguable holds a more special place in his heart than Arata, I think it makes sense that he would find both pleasure and pressure in trying to catch up to her in karuta. 

By splitting the cards starting with similar syllables, Taichi prevented Rion from targeting his cards so easily and started winning 3-syllable cards. 

“There’s nothing flashy about his playing style, but he’s taking cards from opponents with good game sense!”

Taichi got back into his groove and off went those processor chips like rapid-fire. 

Strategy formulated. 

Game plan thought out and executed flawlessly.

“Give up on all of the one-syllable cards. Doesn’t matter if I look lame.”

He has grown so much from last year, back when Nishida called him out for not practicing his strikes out of embarrassment. His overly self-consciousness is now a thing of the past and he has learnt to play karuta with his body, and not just his mind. 

“Masuge-kun, karuta comes down to talent and game sense. However, at the same time, karuta is about taking 10 cards from your opponent...”

And finally, finally he let go of the self-imposed pressure of securing a landslide victory to give Chi-chan time to watch the class A final. It sure took him long enough to come around to the tried-and-tested approach of one-card-at-a-time.

And that one card that sealed his victory against Rion was no other than the Chihayafuru card. Paired with his declared goal to win against Chi-chan one day, it makes for some very beautiful and rich writing. What better way to issue a challenge to Chi-chan than by taking her best card?

YES, YES, YES, this is precisely what I was hoping for when I think of Taichi moving up to class A!!! His victory has to so deserving that it is to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind of his superiority over his formidable opponent in everything - skills, experience, stamina, and mental fortitude. It must be won with sweat, tears and toil, and certainly not merely conferred upon him as a consolation prize for his effort.

A happy ending for the boy who tried so hard

Taichi may have considered his match insignificant compared to the rare opportunity to watch Arata and the Queen play but that was not what Chi-chan believed. Taichi is really ... a big idiot here but I can’t help falling for Taichi even more. For someone who likes to keep his distance from most, it’s just overwhelming to see him put Chi-chan’s needs above him over and over again.

I’m super glad that Chi-chan was here for him and reminded him of the huge achievement he just attained and cried tears of happiness for all those times he struggled. 

Just kill me softly with that smile, why don’t you?

That smile was truly worth all the heart attacks and frustrations not just of this episode but all the episodes till now. It has been tough to see him being so hard on himself, failing and picking himself up, putting Chi-chan’s goals ahead of his own. But now, on looking back at all of it, it’s a very well-written story arc for Taichi. There can be no easy way back for quitters because they have to learn to treasure the things and people they lost and now regained. 

Congratulations, Taichi. Congratulations. You’re so amazing. *dab tears*

Until the next time then, folks!

#Chihayafuru #chihayafuru anime #chihayafuru season 2 #chihayafuru s2 #chihayafuru marathon #natsumi talks #natsumi watches #Chihaya Ayase #ayase chihaya #Mashima Taichi #Taichi Mashima #taichi x chihaya #taichihaya #taichimashima4tw #Wataya Arata #Arata Wataya #Shinobu Wakamiya #Wakamiya Shinobu #Omi Jingu #karuta

[kyndaris]

Familial Bond

With video game releases that I’m interested in few and far between (or delayed), I felt compelled to make a proper dent in my pile of shame. In truth, it was just a simple excuse for me to pull out in order for me to finally finish Kiryu’s saga by playing through Yakuza 6: A Song of Life. Unlike the last two titles in the series, Yakuza 6 returned its focus on our favourite civilian-who-looks-like-a-yakuza, Kiryu Kazuma. There would not be four characters all vying for my attention with their separate narratives that would collide in the last chapter. Would there still be some strange government cover-up bullshit? You bet! So, without stopping to wonder if I should play something a little more light-hearted after finishing The Last of Us Part II, I dived head-first back into Kamurocho.

Yakuza 6 starts right at the end of Haruka throwing away her cherished dream because she could not continue lying about her family. Despite Haruka’s best attempt at reuniting with both the other orphans at Morning Glory and Kiryu, her father-figure is almost immediately arrested on trumped up charges of assault. With Kiryu’s decision to cleanse himself of his sins, however, Haruka is left at the mercy of the media. Unable to deal with the negative press, she then flees Okinawa to allow her pseudo-siblings the chance at achieving their own dreams without casting a shadow.

The motivation felt incredibly shallow as it all played out, considering that Haruka barely called the other children during her three years stint away. When Kiryu returned, it was understandable that he would be somewhat outraged to find Haruka gone. I’m not entirely sure who looked after the rest of the orphans. Maybe Ayako? But where would they have obtained the money to be properly fed and clothes? Were the subsidised by the government? Plot holes aside, Haruka’s disappearance was enough to spur Kiryu back to his old stomping grounds to find out what had happened to his young charge.

In Kamurocho, however, many things have changed. Increased tensions between the Tojo and the Saio triad now pushing into the area have put people on edge. But as Kiryu wanders around, hoping to find clues on the whereabouts of Haruka, he is informed that she was involved in a hit-and-run. And SURPRISE! there’s now a baby in the mix.

With such an odd beginning, it took some effort for me to properly click with the story. Like many, I had placed Haruka on a pedestal. The fact that she became pregnant and had birthed out a son seemed unfathomable. And then for the child’s father to have been a member of a small yakuza family in Hiroshima AS WELL AS THE HEIR TO THE SAIO TRIAD was a bit much to take in.

As such, it was imperative that I distracted myself with almost all the substories and side activities that were on display. And there were many. From being the manager of a baseball team to ousting a corrupt gang from the streets of Kamurocho. I very much liked the spearfishing elements as they brought a new dynamic to the gameplay that I was accustomed to when it came to the Yakuza series. The reintroduction of Pocket Circuit Fighter was also a fun distraction. 

But, of course, how could I forget Ono Michio? Though it was widely out of character for the usually serious Kiryu to don a mascot outfit with a huge tangerine head, I found these moments of levity enjoyable. They also proved to be a great distraction from a plot that only picked up steam in the latter half of the game, which was prone to spamming players with copious amounts of revelatory cutscenes in the last two chapters.

And yes, why has NO ONE ELSE ever thought to use SKI MASKS to hide their IDENTITY BEFORE? Once they were pulled out of the proverbial hat, it made little sense that none of the main characters ever thought to use such a disguise in their more nefarious crimes. 

Also, chucking Haruto around like he was a football IS A TERRIBLE IDEA! THIS IS A BABY WE ARE TALKING ABOUT!! True, he might have enjoyed being thrown up into the air, but one does not simply pass him around as if it was a game of rugby. Honestly, story writers, do you have any lick of sense?

Then, of course, the narrative had to force Kiryu into trying to dig deeper into the ‘secret of Onomichi.’ Though Haruto’s life was not in any further danger, Kiryu’s endless curiosity to find out more served to elongate the story for a couple more hours - with a final confrontation that saw Kiryu shot three times and losing consciousness with Haruka bearing witness to his ‘final moments.’

Overall, the narrative was serviceable in that it allowed for a proper send-off to Kiryu Kazuma. After ten years of playing as the Dragon of Dojima, it was appropriate that Yakuza 6: A Song of Life made so many allusions to the previous titles - mostly in the character arcs. Unfortunately, since the title was solely focused on Kiryu, many of the other characters that fans fell in love with such as Daigo, Majima and Saejima took a backseat. I also disliked how even as the story focused on Haruka’s disappearance and her child, she remained in a coma for most of the chapters.

Unfortunately, Doctor Emoto and Komaki were absent. And I missed the silly revelations.

The underlying message of family and the bonds between people left a strong impression on me. After the previous game’s very strong hammer of DREAMS, I was relieved to see that Yakuza 6 kept it subtle and a little more tasteful. In fact, the comparisons between the Lo and Iwami family were excellent in highlighting the importance of understanding one’s children and maintaining a good relationship. I also liked how families were also not solely defined by blood ties. This was particularly evident in the adoptive family feel that came from the Hirose Family and Kiryu’s own experience of growing up as an orphan and seeing Kazama Shintaro as a father-figure. 

Gripes aside, I enjoyed the new songs Yakuza 6: A Song of Life brought into the world. My favourite was ‘Today is a Diamond.’ My least, ‘Fork in the Road.’ But that was mostly due to the game not reading my inputs. After searching on Google, I discovered that I was not the sole person that had encountered the bug. I also very much liked the gym portions of the game and scouting out hidden cats around the cities.

The one side activity that I was a little hesitant to repeat after completing it once was the live chat. Kudos to the translators that played an instrumental role in making some of the dialogue hilarious. Truth be told, however, it was the less savoury moments of the game and I am glad that I never discovered the photography section of Yakuza Kiwami 2. 

What I also liked was the Chinese. Gone was the halting and incorrect pronunciations from Tanimura. The truth is, though, they probably actually hired Chinese actors to give the Saio Triad proper lines. While some of the translations were not exact, they still managed to accurately portray the meaning behind the words and phrases used. 

The combat was also very reminiscent of Yakuza Kiwami 2 with experience points separated into strength, agility, spirit, technique and charisma. It was a little annoying that normal mobs could still reduce my health by such a large amount, but it did feel balanced. I doubt it would have been fair if I just blasted through every fight with just one punch. Although, that would have been entertaining to see.

Yakuza 6: A Song of Life proved to be a decent send-off for one of my favourite characters. Though there were stumbles along the way, it was a solid adventure that kept quite a bit of intrigue. As a writer, however, the plot did feel quite contrived in places, but I swept it aside.

Now with the pending release of a new generation of console, I’ll need to hurry if I want to remain on the front-lines of not-gaming-journalism. Of course, with Yakuza 7: Like a Dragon still on the horizon, it won’t be long before I’ll be back on the streets of Kamurocho. Then again, I still have Judgment to get through...

#yakuza 6: a song of life #yakuza #video games

[wormwoodmn]

it’s been approximately five hours since the submit closed, i’m coming out of a bit of a coma, and i’ve FINALLY come to my final decisions regarding acceptances. not only was this time dedicated to choosing between apps in the same skeleton (which, trust me, you guys did not make it easy), but also dedicated to giving those i didn’t accept solid and objective reasons why they were rejected. after all the work you guys put into your apps, i owe you that much. if you weren’t accepted and want to know why, just hit me up and i’ll tell you ! 

on that same note, i want to thank you guys for applying, and for all the kind anons in my inbox. this has been a labor of love, but the work is just beginning. 

speaking of the work, for those of you who were accepted, you have 24 hours from now to enter the discord server (if this link doesn’t work, lmk asap!) and introduce yourself so i can match you with your role, and 48 hours from now to get your intro into the server. if not, your spot will be re-opened.

dani ramirez as THE AMARANTH

dani’s harrowing story had me hooked from the very beginning, literally on the edge of my seat. not only that, but i can already tell dani is going to be an incredibly active character, an unstoppable force, and i’m so excited to see what becomes of her. 

cameron lamb as THE BACKUP 

we love a man who says “direct action”, truly. i love to see his motivation to expose the unjust continue throughout the application, all the way from the growth in his interest in hacking to his motivations for finding sam. 

skip mun as THE BREADBASKET 

skip delivers everything i expected of the breadbasket, and so much more. from being self-conscious of his lack of book smarts, to his accidental slide into becoming a drama kid, skip is fun, kind, and far more complex than i truly gave this skeleton credit for. 

leigh hallewell as THE CHRYSALIS

again, animal handling was one of those skills i expected a muse to just be born with, but the fact that leigh actively nurtured this skill to combat her lack of human connection ? owie. i also love how a part of her tragic backstory bleeds into her need to find sam, to give him a voice, even if she’s not exactly noble herself. 

emmet ericson as THE CLEAN SLATE 

every time i read emmet’s application, it haunts me more and more, especially the line “she’s got to prove to someone, anyone, herself, that people are worth looking for.” i can’t wait for her to break my damn heart over and over and over again. 

saaleha davis as THE EBULLIENT 

just the fact that she was too much of a team player to excel in gymnastics is just... a fucking god tier interpretation of the ebullient skeleton. saaleha won my heart over easily, as she does with so many others, i’m sure, and i can’t wait to make her suffer see her thrive !! 

cyrus blackwell as THE GAMBLER 

cyrus is a fucking incredible mixture of both brashness and low self-esteem, and by the time he was being shuffled off to wormwood in shame, i was absolutely in love with him. at least to me, he’s too much heart and too much loneliness, and i can’t wait to see how he develops. 

nigel giocondo-jones as THE GRIFTER 

if you were to peek at my notes for this app, the first thing you’d notice are the words “THIS FUCKS”, underlined three times. nigel’s story had me reeling from the very beginning, and he is every bit as broken and devious as i could wish for him to be. 

cain jacobs as THE HELLION

you had me at “loan sharks”. no but seriously, cain’s lifelong struggles and distrust of the justice system ( his shitty father being the chief of police ?? fucking oof ) makes him the perfect hellion. also the fact he was a loan shark’s foot soldier, that’s just... zoinks, is all i can say. 

ava moore as THE INSIDER 

ava’s app left me out of breath just reading it, but honestly, that’s the kind of energy i want from the insider. she comes across so airy and light, and the visual of her rollerskating away from a tough conversation while popping a lollipop in her mouth is truly the most insider thing i could think of. 

natty darnell as THE LOVELACE

not only is natty kind of silly and just a little bit dramatic, she has some hidden depths to her that make her so much more intriguing. that fear of impermanence, the need to romanticize, and her almost cartoonish nature tie together so perfectly. i can’t wait to welcome her to wormwood! 

joshua min as THE METALHEAD

josh embodies both the single-minded focus and the overwhelming practicality of the metalhead so fucking well. even just how he ended up going to wormwood is perfect. also, don’t worry; i’ll be adding an auto shop for josh shortly. 

juno goulart as THE MISANTHROPE

juno captures the general alienation of the misanthrope skeleton so fucking well. everything from her penchant for numbers, to her distaste for rules and authority of all sorts. i also love how you went full kierkegaard and managed to weave questioning religion in with all the themes that make her up. 

daniel molina as THE RHYTHM 

empathy is one of those special skills i expected an applicant to say their muse was more or less born with, but the fact that daniel had to actually learn it after falling from such great heights is pretty incredible. i’m gonna love watching him grow. 

adrianna deveaux as THE SABOTEUR

this one was, by far, the toughest decision i had to make, but in the end, adrianna just fit the skeleton so fucking perfectly. she pursued finance out of spite, she went to wormwood because she didn’t want to be just another number in the ivies, and the fact she heard about sam going missing and thought “finally, something fun” ??? she’s the worst, and i love her. 

raf bensaïd as THE WISEACRE 

this was one of the tougher choices i had to make, but raf’s own hubris leading to his downfall ? and his downfall being wormwood ? pure chef’s kiss. also his ambiguous but incredibly intense connection to sam... brittney spears vc yeah. 

#accepted. #there is a 50/50 chance that i will crash after i post this #so if some of the notes are nonsensical.... its bc those are the last things i did fkjdsakjkjakjs #and my brain is a tad fried #bUT THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH FOR APPLYING MY HEART IS FULL