#plus I'm a little more familiar with Japanese

[rosizoitsa]

Wakeman Labs' Robot Girl Safety Matches

Inspired by vintage Japanese matchbox labels.

#My Life as a Teenage Robot #mlaatr #Roz's art #eyestrain tw #this was supposed to be more inspired by a combination of historical Chinese art and Art Deco #but unfortunately it didn't work out so well #since Art Deco movement apparently wasn't big in China #I also wanted to use Chinese script #but I don't really know jack about Chinese language #plus I'm a little more familiar with Japanese

[ohhnorr]

Genshin impact is so painful now

I love this game to death, the open world and its lore, the dragons, the gameplay, and the land of liyue reeled me in. And ofc Kaeya was one of the major reasons I started playing. I've been playing the game like maybe a month since it was released. So, like the launch era (yes I take pride in that it was the best era).

Mondstadt was an amazing introduction, to the familiar buildings of Germany. And the beautiful design of the culture mixed with the signature of genshin's design made the characters brilliant. Now the first story event (reconciling stars??) made me heavily excited about all the lore that was hidden ingame.

When I got to liyue I was glued to the game, forever, I thought. This was china from a whole nother perspective for me as a Moroccan. And to see such an elegant (not heavily sexualized) character like Ninguang in that cutscene. Yo, I fell in love. Childe was cute too, but then the man that got me everything or anything related to excitement and admiration came upon us. Zhongli. Oh, he was the package, with a beautiful outfit reminding u of the Chinese culture as it has its own modern genshin signature twist. Stunning. It's such characters that get me obsessed with games. Next to all of the intricate details and lore plus gameplay.

To finish off, Inazuma. That was one beautiful region, from the flora to the architecture. The temples and that beautiful quest. Ayaka's design is by far one of my favourites. Her design has her culture written all over it and it's beautiful. In Inazuma, we have so many characters inspired by their Japanese ancestry and it looks stunning and recognizable.

But then the sumeru leaks dwindled along. I was super excited for sumeru, that was my downfall.

After seeing these 3 beautifully represented cultures i was so naïvely excited for Sumeru. And thats expected right, i was rightfully excited to see the beautiful culture of the middle east, north africa and SEA being equally represented like the other three.

But thats when i heard al haitham an important arab figure whose name is now being occupied by a white buff tech man with a fandom who couldnt even pronounce his name right and call him habibi ?

ATTENTION: REPRESENTING. SWANA

Unrecognizable. In no way was the representation of Sumeru as intricately thought out as with the other regions. We have been colorised, orientalized and sexualized once again.

I'm gonna start with the one hurting me the most, Dehya.

(Listen i only heard her name and i was so excited to see my culture in this game i was jumping and ecstatic to see representation--- wait she is a cat girl warrior tf)

Dehya's name is inspired by Dihya, the name of an Amazigh Algerian military queen (Kahena). So quite a name to live up to. The Imazighen (us North Africans) barely get any representation as it is. And when we do, we become drawn out as barbarians or savages (for example another "name" for us is Berbers which the Romans called us).

Now what does Dehya look like huh? Yes indeed she has been revealed to be some warrior cat with an wild and savage look. And as an amazigh i hoped to see at least a little of our beautiful culture respresented. Yet i didint recognize any cultural aspects in comparison to litteraly any character in this game.

While we actually wear alot of beautiful jewelry! And we also have beautiful tribal tattoos, and Dihya herself is such a stunning figure to take refrence from.

But instead we get practically nothing. So we are now standing up for her. And yet there are people complaining against us saying that sexualization happens to every character. But Dehya is litteraly oversexualized on such a level that no cultural aspect is recognizable nor a point of interest.

Look im aware of the sexualization of female characters in games especially in gacha's. And its mostly the reason why i dont play alot of them. Yet in genshin its more mild and the design still upholds cultural aspects. Like with Inazuman characters; https://www.reddit.com/r/Genshin_Impact/comments/o7eifv/inazuma_characters_design_analysis_spoilers_for/

And alot of Liyue characters;

This is why i ask of the bare minimum. To analyze and take interest in the amazigh culture. So Dehya's design could be oh so much more elevated and still badass. Because we as well would love to see a badass cat warrior with actual amazigh tattoos, clothes and jewelry.

Unfortunatly she isint the only problematic character.

Nilou, is an Persian dancer. Whilst having culturally accurate horns from the Sassanian period and a burst move from the gorgeous Persian dance. She has still been sexualized and orientalized. Dancers have always had their stomachs covered. Its culture, it's beautiful. By exposing the belly it's unrecognizable as Persian and becomes mixed with the Arab belly dancing outfit. If they want to sexualise her that badly then exposing the belly is the worst move- it erases the culture, it mixes with another culture, it sexualizes and orientalizes. It becomes a problem.

(Cr: demonscallme on twitter)

Tighnari, an amazigh name supposedly Moroccan. With ears from the fennec an animal from the western desert. Other than that his outfit and design is all over the place. In genshin they are more than capable of making modern day clothing mix with cultural themes. Yet this is not working at all. Nothing is recognizable nor representative of anything amazigh nor arab. Its just a jumbled mess. Disappointing in comparison to the modern clothing and cultural mixture of design with for example zhongli.

Dori is the worst of all the characters. She is orientalized and sexualized. No one encounters representation except seeing a  fucking joke. She has no cultural aspects that are recognizable instead she is the spitting image of an orientalized character. They have a huge region and countries with countless cultures to take interest in. Yet they went with none and followed stereotypes. Her clothing is also grossly sexualized for a child model. It's disappointing how we are being spat on, our cultures are being treated like a joke.

Now a major argument against anything related to the word orientalism had been "it's fictional".

Stereotyping and racism are stated under orientalism. When we say it's racist, stereotyped, and so orientalized it is wrong, it should not be spread around as if it's nothing. It hurts to see and it's disrespectful. So we SWANA deserve just like the german, Chinese and Japanese to be respected and upheld with the same input into our designated region. This game isin't so fictional anymore.

Colourism, all characters until now are pale. Not denying it. We have in the swana region, people of all colours. If u are gonna represent characters from that region we expect different skin tones. To be recognizing oneself is an amazing experience. And it would be representing swana perfectly. It does not hurt it only embraces. That's why we are speaking up about this. Look I'm willing to wait, to take this back, the moment we get a broad set of people from different skin colours. Its not hard to do, it does not contradict anything. So why are people still pressed? Aren't we supposed to break free from the stupid standard of the pale is elevated. There are white Arabs yes, I'm not saying we can't have any pale characters. But with a region as broad as the swana region. There are bound to be some different skin tones and that should not be ignored.

To conclude,

we want to have equal input into our region as there has been done with the previous three. We want people to see our beautiful cultures. And above all, we want to be respected. Yes, we cannot have everything, but it does not hurt to try. It does not hurt to speak out. And you who are against this notion, you are not achieving freemogems out of this. You are not changing our minds. You are not the only one in the world. Broaden your perspectives. For the sake of an exceptional game.

#genshin impact #genshin impact inazuma #genshin #genshin impact liyue #genshin impact leaks #sumeru #genshin leaks #genshin impact sumeru #sumeru leaks #genshin impact dehya #dehya #genshin impact haitham #al haitham #Tighnari #Dori #Nilou #Collei #genshin sumeru

[desultory-novice]

Noir's Field Trip - "Starting Out"

"...Thanks, you two."

-

Ahem! Following in the footsteps of several other Kirby OC contest peeps, you may send in asks for [Noir]!!

(...But I'm SUPER busy so it may take until May to respond! ^^;;)

[Notes/Rules About Asks:]

-I'm iffy on back-and-forth style dialogue-based RP, due to the complex interplay of pseudo-linearity in an amorphous situation plus my autistic-self often being unable to figure out what my RP partner is actually trying to say tone-wise or what they are thinking and then-I-answer-them-wrong-and-embarrass-myself...!!

That and long post-chains make me a little nervous. ^^; Asks in the form of questions Noir can answer in-character are preferred.

(You may also ask me generic "What does your OC think/do when...?" style questions, such as those from THIS detailed OC ask meme!)

-You can also send an ask for Noir from your OC, if you'd like to find out how the troubled teenage boy would react to meeting them! (These may or may NOT(!!) come with art, depending on mood, time, and a variety of circumstances. Tourney OCs will generally get preference. If I AM inspired to draw said meeting, I may request additional information/clarification before going through with it.)

Again, I'm pretty autistic, so if you are going to go this route, it'll help if I have something more than "Hiya, Noir!" to work off of - else he'll just react to you the same way he does to Marx.

(Not that you can't go places from there! XD)

-You can also prod Noir about his traumas if you like! XD Note that asking for details about certain things (the "murders" on Shiver Star or his hatred of physical contact) may result in responses with TRIGGER WARNINGS, if I decide to answer them.

-Tournament!Noir is currently in his own similar but separate timeline from Mainline Apologies Noir. However, events during this contest MAY influence his fate and the fates of those he holds dearest!

-Noir's latent cross-dimension sight means that you can ask him about his various other timelines or Kirby games he was not alive for and probably get some pretty unique/funny/strange answers.

-I almost assuredly won't be able to get to every ask/comment. Some I may avoid answering due to complexity, uncomfortableness, them not fitting tournament!Noir's narrative, or me just not having any good ideas. Please don't take this personally.

-Lastly, please leave space between sending multiple asks. ^^

omg I'm so nervous about this. I want to draw lots, for me and for others (!) too if I can but I want to follow the flow of the tournament and not JUST go off on my own crazy thing, except that I'm not even completely familiar with what the rounds will be like?!

[Non-Ask Notes:]

-The flowers in the BG are the forget-me-nots that Adeleine drew for him on his birthday and that he received in this post. That post was also the inspiration for Tournament!Noir. (Although he retains the corruption + the collar here.)

PS: In addition the song that post is, you know, named for, Noir + the forget-me-nots also makes me think of the lyrics: "Since the day I met you, there's never ceased to be music in this hell of mine" from the opening to Sousei no Aquarion.

-This, and the tag name, was inspired by @Graycoin's comment "Noir gets to go on a field trip. I hope he has a good time : D " (then I saw Starflung had the same idea to send her OC off with a backpack! Haha! XD)

-The fish bone is a gift from Gooey. He's doing his best. Adeleine is also doing HER best. ("...A comb? Really?" "It's unbreakable!")

-As to the bento box, I'm not sure if I mentioned this before (?) but the Fontaine children are French-Japanese...on their mother's side.

-Why yes, that IS a cellphone in his backpack! I wonder who might call him...?

#Noir's Field Trip #Noir Fontaine #Kirby OC #Kirby OC tournament #I'm trying hard to include more refs + care in my art #Also testing out a style I might use for the DL3 arc~ #(What's that? Apologies getting a DL3 arc after all?!) #long post

[randomvarious]

Today's compilation:

Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974 - Japanese Edition 2012 R&B / Doo Wop / Soul / Rock & Roll / Funk / Jazz / Blues / Pop

Alright, well, I had originally planned for this post to dovetail quite nicely with the end of Black History Month, but when you get a virus, it has a way of setting things back a bit. But then again, Black History should obviously be celebrated in every month, so either way, without further ado, here's a massive end to my foray into the history of Atlantic Records: a deeply comprehensive recounting of its first 27 years in the record business called Atlantic Rhythm & Blues: 1947-1974.

Now, maybe because of how this label is currently constituted, you think of Atlantic as being among the amorphous blob of major record labels whose fingers are seemingly in the pies of every popular genre, and the quality of the output is barely distinguishable from its other competitors. Like, who cares who's on Atlantic these days, right? A major label is a major label is a major label. They all basically feel indistinguishable from one another at this point, don't they?

But here's what you may not know about Atlantic in particular. For about two decades, until they started signing rock bands like Led Zeppelin, they were almost exclusively dedicated to nothing but secular, black-made music. And that's originally how they ended up making a name for themselves, as an independent label for black musicians that actually had a reputation for usually compensating their artists fairly.

So in 1985, the first iteration of Atlantic Rhythm & Blues 1947-1974 hit the shelves. It consisted of a whopping *186 songs*, chronologically spread across 14 separate records or 7 cassettes. And then in '91, it was reissued on CD in an 8-disc set, with an extra 17 songs mixed within.

But this edition that I have for you all today is a much, much rarer one that was issued exclusively in Japan in 2012. And what it consists of is the same eight discs from the 1991 reissue, plus two more, which have songs on it that were handpicked by Japan's own super selector, Keishi Suzuki, who ends up supplying 52 more songs—a lot of them rarities—bringing the total amount of tracks within the release to a grand total of *255*! 😯

Now, obviously, that is a whole lot of music, and I'm not gonna write an ungodly amount of paragraphs to cover it all, but regarding the first discs in this box set, what I'll say is this: these are must-listens for any old school r&b/soul/doo wop novice or junkie out there. These CDs do a wonderful job of allowing you to take a bird's eye view of this label that managed to develop itself into an indefatigable powerhouse for popular black music. From its earliest days of jazzy and jump-bluesy instrumentals, to its deeper endeavors into soul, you can trace this label's contours and get a feel for just how eminent its entire existence has been upon the history of popular music writ large. From its first star Ruth Brown—who helped earn the label its clever, Yankee Stadium-inspired nickname of 'The House That Ruth Built'—to Ray Charles, to The Drifters, to Otis Redding, to Wilson Pickett, and to the Queen of Soul herself, Aretha Franklin; it's all in those first 8 discs.

But those final two Keishi Suzuki-curated CDs are the ones I'm here to write about especially today, because a whole bunch of these total obscurities are, really, absolutely phenomenal.

Like, maybe you're familiar with 60s soul-man Don Covay, who had a solid number of Billboard Hot 100 and R&B chart hits in his career, and also penned Aretha Franklin's own mega hit, "Chain of Fools." But did you know that Covay actually started out under the name of 'Pretty Boy' and performed with a raucous Little Richard-esque rock & roll flair? Suzuki provides "Bip Bop Bip" here, an energetic tune with scratchy, throaty shouts, mashing hi-hats, and an electrifying saxophone solo. And it was actually produced by Little Richard himself!

Then there's Lawrence & The Arabians (what a fucking name, man), a short-lived all-white group, who in 1967 released the outstanding "I'll Try Harder," a fully uptempo and poppy piece of horn-heavy blue-eyed soul that sounds partially cut from some type of Motown cloth. Delightful gem right there.

And lastly, we have Peggy Scott, a pretty well-known southern soul and R&B entity in her own right who managed to make the American top 40 thrice in the late 60s. But after she stopped charting, Scott ended up releasing just one single on Atlantic—through their Atco sublabel—and in 1972, on that single's B-side, she showed that she could still more than hack it with the fantastic "One Night Is All I Need," on which her voice is striking all throughout, but is especially so whenever she goes for that gravelly passion 😌.

And these final two discs in this set have more underappreciated stunners on them too, but we're done here. This is such an excellent release that I shelled out a pretty pretty penny for, and I'm ultimately glad I did, because while the easier-to-find editions of this thing are cheaper and deeply satisfying themselves, nothing beats the thrill of being exposed to underheard gems that not very many other people know about. And in that regard, Keishi Suzuki knocked his task way out of the park.

A magnificent album, both for its extensive chronologizing of one of the most important labels in the history of popular music, as well as its extra 50+ songs that get some much needed light shone upon them too.

Highlights:

CD1:

Ruth Brown - "So Long" Joe Morris - "Anytime, Anyplace, Anywhere" Ruth Brown - "Tear Drops From My Eyes" Joe Turner - "The Chill Is On" Joe Turner - "Sweet Sixteen" Willis Jackson - "Gator's Groove"

CD2:

Ruth Brown - "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean" Ruth Brown - "Wild Wild Young Men" Ray Charles - "Mess Around" Joe Turner - "Honey Hush" LaVern Baker - "Soul On Fire" Professor Longhair - "Tipitina" The Drifters - 'White Christmas" The Drifters - "Whatcha Gonna Do" Joe Turner - "Shake, Rattle and Roll" Tommy Ridgley - "Jam Up" Al Hibbler - "After the Lights Go Down Low" Ray Charles - "I Got a Woman" Ray Charles - "Greenbacks"

CD3:

Ray Charles - "A Fool for You" Ray Charles - "This Little Girl of Mine" The Robins - "Smokey Joe's Cafe" The Drifters - "Ruby Baby" The Cookies - "In Paradise" Ray Charles - "Drown In My Own Tears" The Coasters - "Down In Mexico" Ray Charles - "Lonely Avenue" Clyde McPhatter - "Without Love" Chuck Willis - "C.C. Rider"

CD4:

Chuck Willis - "Hang Up My Rock and Roll Shoes" The Coasters - "Yakety Yak" Ray Charles - "Night Time Is the Right Time" The Coasters - "Charlie Brown" Ray Charles - "What'd I Say" The Drifters - "There Goes My Baby" Ray Charles - "Let the Good Times Roll" The Coasters - "Poison Ivy" Ben E. King - "Stand by Me" LaVern Baker - "Saved"

CD5:

The Mar-Keys - "Last Night" The Falcons - "I Found a Love" Ben E. King - "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" Booker T. & The MG's - "Green Onions" Doris Troy - "Just One Look" Esther Phillips - "Release Me" The Drifters - "Under the Boardwalk"

CD6:

Otis Redding - "I've Been Loving You Too Long" Wilson Pickett - "In the Midnight Hour" Otis Redding - "Respect" Percy Sledge - "When a Man Loves a Woman" Wilson Pickett - "634-5789" Sam & Dave - "Hold On, I'm Coming" The Capitols - "Cool Jerk" Wilson Pickett - "Land of 1000 Dances" Eddie Floyd - "Knock On Wood" Otis Redding - "Try a Little Tenderness" Wilson Pickett - "Mustang Sally" Sam & Dave - "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby" Arthur Conley - "Sweet Soul Music" Aretha Franklin - "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You" Aretha Franklin - "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" Otis & Carla - "Tramp" Wilson Pickett - "Funky Broadway" Booker T. & The MG's - "Hip-Hug-Her" Sam & Dave - "Soul Man"

CD7:

Aretha Franklin - "Respect" Aretha Franklin - "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman" The Bar-Kays - "Soul Finger" Aretha Franklin - "Baby, I Love You" Aretha Franklin - "Chain of Fools" Wilson Pickett - "I'm in Love" King Curtis - "Memphis Soul Stew" Aretha Franklin - "(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You've Been Gone" Otis Redding - "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" Archie Bell & The Drells - "Tighten Up" Clarence Carter - "Slip Away" Aretha Franklin - "Think" Clarence Carter - "Too Weak to Fight" Donny Hathaway - "The Ghetto" Tyrone Davis - "Turn Back the Hands of Time" Les McCann & Eddie Harris - "Compared to What" Aretha Franklin - "Call Me"

CD8:

Aretha Franklin - "Don't Play That Song (You Lied)" King Floyd - "Groove Me" Clarence Carter - "Patches" Wilson Pickett - "Don't Knock My Love" The Beginning of the End - "Funky Nassau (Parts 1 & 2)" Persuaders - "Thin Line Between Love and Hate" Aretha Franklin - "Rock Steady" Aretha Franklin - "Day Dreaming" Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway - "You've Got a Friend" Betty Wright - "Clean Up Woman" The Spinners - "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" Roberta Flack - "Killing Me Softly With His Song" Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway - "Where Is the Love" The Spinners - "I'll Be Around" Roberta Flack - "Feel Like Makin' Love" The Spinners - "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" Blue Magic - "Sideshow" The Spinners - "Mighty Love"

apparently you can have too many hyperlinks in a post...will include the rest in a reblog...

#r&b #r & b #rhythm & blues #rhythm and blues #doo wop #soul #soul music #rock & roll #rock and roll #funk #jazz #blues #the blues #pop #pop music #classic rock #classic pop #oldies #music #40s #40s music #40's #40's music #50s #50s music #50's #50's music #60s #60s music #60's

[chimmychuu]

Looking for K-Pop Roleplayers

Hi! After my Omegle adventures came to an end, I'm on the lookout for fellow roleplayers to write some stories with. I only ask that you are 18+ and used to writing in the third person.

We can brainstorm ideas together or you can dazzle me with your existing plots! While I prefer Canon Universes, I'm also down for AUs. However, there are a few AUs and tropes that I've had my fill of or are a bit too far out of my comfort zone. Here's my list of "no-gos":

Toxic/Dark relationships between our characters (I don't mind if it is with YC plus someone else/not MC).

Hybrid AUs

High School or University AUs (except for the student x teacher dynamic, which we could do!)

Step-siblings or step-parents

Age gaps when one character is a minor

Canon character x OC as the main pairing (OCs for the plot are cool)

Super-heroes/super-hero x villain

Heavily kink-based NSFW

Little AUs

Here are the groups and ships I am looking for:

BTS : Open to any pairing—I've got experience writing for all the boys.

TXT : More familiar with Yeonjun, Soobin, and Beomgyu.

SKZ : Chanlix, Hyunlix, Minsung. Experienced writing for Felix, Chan, and Jisung.

SVT : Jihao, Jeongcheol, Jihan, Verkwan, and Meanie. Experienced writing any member in any of those ships.

I'm also open to crossovers, interactions, and exploring multiple ships at once.

More info:

Time Zone: GMT-3

Languages: English, Portuguese, or Japanese—whichever you prefer!

Platforms: Roleplay can happen here, on Discord, via email, or on Amino.

Response Rate: Expect at least one reply a day.

Always up for tweaking or discussing a new plot if things start to lose their sparkle.

You can send me a DM if you are interested! I look forward to chatting :)

#bts #bts rp #bts rp ad #bts roleplay #omegle #roleplay #skz #stray kids #seventeen #vkook #taekook #vmin #jikook #yoonkook #namkook #namgi #namjin #yoonseok #sope #yoonjin #kpop #jeongcheol #verkwan #chanlix #jihan #minsung #hyunlix

[ofinkandpaper]

An Unknown Possibility

Chapter Four

I'm not sure I'll ever be to thank y'all enough for how patient you've been with me in getting these chapters out! I really hope you enjoy this one, I decided to go for a different POV this time~

And as always, reblogs are greatly appreciated and preferred, thank you ❤️

Chapters: First / Previous / Next

Content Warnings: Canon typical violence, swearing

Word Count: 3,142

As the fog cleared, his lips curled into a smirk. Danny felt the familiar, comfortable weight of his knife in his hand; the solid wood and once polished - now nicely worn - leather of the handle. A rush of adrenaline and power shot through his veins as he twirled it between his fingers, spun it in the air, and deftly snatched it back. If he were being completely honest, he was still a little surprised that he hadn’t caught it by the blade yet. Maybe that was one of the perks of being here for as long as he had; practice makes perfect and all that bullshit.

With the knife back in his hand, he flipped it around and crouched, letting shadow surround him and veil him from detection. Really, the longer he was in these realms, or whatever people wanted to call them, he found more and more things to love about it. The thrill of being undetected while stalking a hapless victim was already a plus, but being able to strike them down with one blow? Well, sometimes it was a plus, and sometimes he wished there was more of a chase. His smirk widened - no one could give him quite the chase like they could. He really hoped they would be in this Trial; he had to give them some kind of punishment for leaving him like they had. He had told them to stay where they were, and what did they do? Ran away with their little friends and that jackass German.

He snarled at the thought of that man, almost loud enough to break his cover as he prowled around the grounds, keeping an eye out for one stupid survivor or another. What did that asshole have that he didn’t? They were about the same height, and he was sure as shit that he was stronger! Was it that he was a survivor? His accent? His Hair?

Nah, definitely the accent. Had to be. Even he couldn’t deny a sexy accent when he heard one.

Danny shook his head and took a breath. He had to focus and catch these little assholes before they could get away. He’d give himself bonus points if he was able to kill three of them before the-

A generator off to his left blew, and he almost laughed. Sure, people could say that it "happened to the best of us" (the 'us' being the survivors), but regardless of that, they just gave away their position, which in turn made his job - and life - that much easier. With a widening grin, he made for the blown gen. Danny absentmindedly wondered if whoever it was had run away from it the moment it blew in their face, or if they were just dumb enough to continue working on it. Sure it wasn't an entirely stupid idea considering most killers had their Terror Radius loud and proud at all times, but there were still a few - like him and Michael - whom that little piece of info didn't quite apply to.

As he got closer, he nearly laughed out loud when he heard the gen being worked on. Sneaking around, he tried to find the perfect place to peek out at them for maximum stalking. From the sputtering sound of the gen, whoever was here had just started working when they had fucked up. When he finally found a good place to stalk, he bent around the corner to peer at the survivor - make that survivors, plural - working; one was that annoying talk show host lady he never bothered to remember the name of… when did he ever really remember these poor saps names? The other was a small Chinese girl - or was she Japanese? Korean? He couldn't remember, and - again - didn't bother to try to. He settled himself for a good stalk, trying to catch their hushed conversation over the slowly progressing noise of the generator.

"You really believe they would be into someone like him? Please! They're way out of his league! Not to mention he's a killer; why would they like him if he's constantly killing them and their friends?" The smaller of the two rolled her eyes hard enough that her head rolled with them. Talk about dramatics. The other woman huffed and shook her head.

"I can’t argue with you about them being out of his league, but there also aren’t many romantic options around. As for sexual options, well, there really aren’t many of those either.” This made the smaller woman snicker as they continued working, a curse flying from her as she - once again - fucked up what she was trying to do, though this time the gen just shuddered a little instead of fully blowing in her face.

Their topic of conversation was definitely something he kept on the back of his mind as he snuck up behind the closest of the two and slashed his blade down her spine. She screamed as the force of the slash pushed her forward against the generator and further still onto the ground to the side. The gen blew for a third time and her partner fled like the coward they were. He snickered and wiped his blade before passing it over to his left hand while he picked the woman up with his right. She grunted and whined as she struggled to get out of his grip once he started walking towards the nearest hook; he rolled his eyes at the attempts. Unless one of her little friends decided to play hero, there was no way she was getting out of his iron grip. The thought brought back his smirk as he came to a stop to bring her down onto the hook. Her scream was like music to his ears!

There was a moment, though, where he paused mid step away from her now limp form before turning his head to look over his shoulder at her.

“By the way - not that it matters too much - who were you and the other little lady gossiping about?” The smirk on his lips widened beneath his mask as he noted the sudden look of worry that crossed her face before she started to glare at him. Her expression told him that she wanted to say something - what it was, he could only guess - but at the same time, didn’t want to give him the pleasure of a response. Well, whether she remained silent or not, her expressions were response enough to make him laugh, “What? Can’t a guy join in on gossip every once in a while? The other killers aren’t much in the way of conversation.” He rolled his eyes hard enough to roll his head - a mock to the other survivor earlier - and laughed again, beginning to walk away once more.

“Better hope your little friends can actually hold a conversation, or else I’ll be bored. No one likes me when I’m bored.”

Well, as far as he was aware - as he stalked away to try to find another survivor to torment - no one liked him whether he was bored or not. Not that it mattered. Save for his darling, he really didn't give a single fuck as to what the rest of the survivors thought of him. Though it did just barely puzzle him as to why he was so caught up on how they thought of him.

Ghostface paused behind a tree, clearing his mind and listening for any trace of a survivor near him - whether it be from walking around, rummaging through a supply chest or fixing a generator. It didn't take long, however, before the Entity so kindly alerted him that someone had gotten that one survivor down from the hook. He paused a moment before moving, deciding if he wanted to go back and see if he could down catch two for one. With a shrug, he moved off in a different direction, wanting to play with someone else instead of Boring Betty.

It didn't take long before he found a new… his own heart beat hard in his chest from excitement as he peeked around a corner to find someone blessing a totem. It was Them. The Entity really did bless him today, hadn't she? He stalked for a moment before walking over and kneeling right behind them, giddy that they were going to spook right into his arms.

"I didn't say you could play with my toys, did I?"

Just like he thought, they jumped with a yell right back into his chest. He took the opportunity to wrap his arms around their center and hold them close. If he hadn't been wearing his mask, he would've shoved his face right into the crook of their neck.

Their body was stiff against his, and it gave him an odd thrill that he could not only feel their heart pounding from fear, but they could possibly feel his heart pounding from the mere thrill of seeing them.

"Playing with things that aren't yours on top of not listening to what you're told to do? Such a naughty survivor, aren't you?" He chuckled and brought one of his hands up to rest on their cheek, his thumb brushing over their lip as the pressure from his hand pushed their head closer against his. His excitement dwindled when they remained silent and stiff, though in its stead, his curiosity started to peak as their face felt warm through his glove… were they blushing?

He laughed, hugging them a little tighter as he stood, before daring to remove his arms from around them. Somehow, he was startled when - the exact moment he retracted his arms - they bolted away like a frightened deer. This was nothing like how they had behaved around him before…

The confused expression he had under his mask swiftly became that of annoyance. There was no doubt that the other survivors' little warnings about him had wormed their way into their mind and heart. Of course, he knew it was all bullshit, and they were manipulating them to keep them away from him! As he chased after them, annoyance started to turn to anger - his thoughts going back once more to Mr. Tall, Blonde and German. It was obvious he was the one orchestrating the entire thing, even having all the other survivors in on it! Maybe if he cut a deal with the Entity, she could let him keep them with him, away from everyone else… yes, that was the only solution he could think of.

The chase didn't last long, and with his mind so focused on formulating the perfect plan to steal his baby away from the other survivors, he struck them down and hung them on a hook without a second glance or word. He would have more time to talk to them later, and if he performed well during this Trial, surely he would stand a better chance at getting what he wanted from the Entity. Though it did hurt him a bit to hear their cries and whimpers of pain, it was for their own good. He figured this was a good enough punishment for what they had done before - for now. Sure, he wanted nothing more than to take them down, hold them and tend to them… but he needed to be strong. How else would they learn? He shook his head to clear it before returning to the hunt.

With his mood down the shitter, Danny wasn’t in the mood to play his usual little games with the survivors in his trial. That, in turn, caused the trial itself to become much shorter than they usually were which - in turn - caused his mood to dip even further. By the time that there were two survivors left, he hadn’t cracked a single joke or given a hint of mercy. Normally, at least a kill or two would be able to lift his mood, so now he was not only a mister grumpy pants, but also confused as all hell about whatever the fuck was going on in his head. It would probably be simple to just chalk it up to his lovely doll refusing to really acknowledge him beyond sabotaging his shadow cloke and keeping out of his sight and grasp. He paused then, standing for a moment as his mood began to sink further with how his mind ran with his thoughts.

He hadn’t seen that last survivor all trail.

That thought alone had his blood boiling just thinking of who it could be; contemplating what he would do with them once he found them - he was so sure it was the German Bastard. Probably sweet talking his doll and enforcing the idea that he was nothing but a heartless, psychopathic killer, which he was not! If anything, he was a heartless, sociopathic killer - there’s a difference!

It pained him to say that it startled him when the final gen popped and the gates buzzed as they were activated. With a growl, he began to make his way towards one of the doors, hoping to either find the mystery survivor and kill them as brutally as he could or his lovely favorite and try to get them to actually talk to him. It had become increasingly irritating that they were trying so hard to stay away from him now when he and them would come together so easily like magnets, or other things that always went together - like coffee and donuts! Who doesn’t love a good coffee and donut combo? Okay, if he were being completely honest, he was more of a chocolate muffin kind of guy, but that was besides the point. The point was, he wanted to see them really bad and he was ready to throw a tantrum if he didn’t get to.

As he came up to the first door, he didn’t see anyone around immediately. He was thankful that he was cloaked so that his radius didn’t give him away, but he also didn’t want to spend too long peeking through every little corner to try to find someone when it was just as likely that both survivors were already opening the other gate. So, as a little compromise with himself, he did a quick scan of the more obvious places someone would hide before making his way towards the final gate they could be at, having to release his cloaking so that he could move faster and get there sooner. There was a small tickle at the back of his mind, like a metaphorical pinch and pull of his ear… but his brain. He grumbled and swatted the air around his head - he knew he needed to focus, the Entity poking at him wasn’t really helping. Finally, after what felt like hours, he finally made it to the door which was, in fact, just about to be finished opening.

And there they were. Both of them.

His darling was holding the lever down and, much to his relief, the survivor next to them was that little scardy cat that was always tucking himself away in lockers. Not much of a spine on that guy, so he definitely wasn’t someone he needed to worry about - and he wasn’t even that attractive. Had that boring midwestern look to him… Michigan, maybe? He wasn’t sure but he also didn’t have the time to really care.

Danny chuckled and cloaked again, sneaking around as the little nobody scanned through the trees behind the two of them. He almost clicked his tongue at his darling not looking around either - surely they knew better than to keep their eyes forward, even with someone at their back!

Once he was in a good position, and just about to be spotted by the little lookout, he lashed out and gave him a good, deep gash down his side. The punk cried out and immediately ran off, leaving his ‘friend’ defenseless. It was tempting to go after him, but he didn’t want to waste the time - the door buzzed loudly and started to open. He whipped around to see them rushing the door, muttering under their breath for it to open faster. He grunted and lunged forward, grabbing their bicep and pulling them toward him. His frown deepened as they fought against him, trying to pull away from him and get to freedom. He finally let himself click his tongue at them and shook his head, holding them tight enough to let him get his arms around them.

“Don’t be like that, I just wanna talk!” He chuckled, though he was glad he was wearing his mask because he just was not in the mood to even smirk, “Why haven’t you even tried to talk to me all trial? It really hurt my feelings, you know?” He sighed as they didn’t respond, only hitting against his chest and trying to push him away. He shook his head again and dug his knife into their hip, pulling their attention away from escape and to their pain. And, with that settled, he leaned down a little and lifted them onto his shoulder; maybe some time on the hook would serve them well.

“Not really sure your little buddy there is gonna come back for you, ya know? Open door, and,” He paused, grunting as he tossed them up onto the hook again, watching for a moment as the Entity’s claws came down to start trying to get at them, “A killer standing right in front of you? Wouldn’t make for an easy save, that’s for sure.” He crossed his arms and looked away for a moment towards the door, raising a brow when he saw the little guy from earlier just… standing there and watching. He almost growled, his lips silently coming up into a snarl before turning his attention back to his darling once more before heading toward the gate to get that little fucker.

“Meet me in the forest after you die. We need to have a talk.” Danny reached around the arms of the Entity to pat their cheek before turning back towards the door to see if he could snag that little shit stain - also counting himself a little lucky for remembering to give an offering to the Entity that let him kill at least one of the survivors by his hand - healthy or not. He didn’t plan to let this fucker leave so easily.

And as he made his way to the gate, he hoped that they decided to meet with him like he said. It would be quite unfortunate for the next trial’s survivors if they didn’t.

#dbd ghostface x reader #ghostface x reader #dbd ghostface #dbd fanfic #ghostface #reader insert #dead by daylight reader insert #dead by daylight fanfiction #dead by daylight ghostface #dbd x reader #dead by daylight x reader #slasher x reader #slasher fiction #slasher fanfic #slasher reader insert

[cursed-anime-figures]

Birthday Blues

Alright, here it is, albeit later than I intended to post it: the Inumaki birthday one-shot/character study I've been working on! After months of writing and editing, plus a final coat of polish from my beta reader, I can truly say that I'm extremely proud of my very first completed piece of fanfiction. I hope you like it as much as I do!

Notes: OC(Mayuko)/Inumaki, takes place during JJK:0, all of Inumaki's past and family situation is headcanon based on information from an interview with Gege

Warnings: mentions of emotional abuse and neglect (let me know if I need to add anything else)

~~

~~

Sometimes, when he was totally sure no one could hear him, Inumaki Toge would speak; less out of desire than necessity.

Shoko had commented during his admission physical that she was surprised his voice hadn't 'up and died already' given how little he spoke. 

"With your situation, it's understandable that you wouldn't want to talk all that much, and the loophole you found is pretty genius," Shoko snapped off her latex gloves and tossed them into the trash. "But staying practically mute isn't gonna do your cursed technique any good."

Toge tugged his collar back up and eyed her skeptically, a look which she returned with a raised eyebrow. She took out a pen and pad of paper and started writing as she spoke.

"From now on, I want you saying at least three sentences every week, outside of whatever you consider normal conversation. Doctor's orders."

"O-Okaka! Takana-"

"I know what I'm saying; if no one can hear you, no one can get hurt. And don't use your riceball language, you'll drive yourself insane."

Shoko finished writing with a flourish, then tore out the piece of paper and shoved it into Toge's chest.

"Three sentences a week. Actual Japanese. Don't skimp out on me, kid. I'll know."

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

It had been almost half a year since then. He still had Shoko's 'prescription' pinned to the corkboard in his dorm - a dorm which had started feeling less and less comfortable as the seasons slowly shifted and the leaves began changing colors.

Toge lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling. He lazily clicked his phone on. 

October 23rd, 12:03 am.

He turned it back off.

"Today... is my birthday. I'm seventeen years old now. And..." He rolled over with a quiet sigh. "Like usual, I'm going to be spending it alone." His voice sounded rougher than the last time he used it. Shoko was going to get on his case about that later. 

But later is later, and now is now, and right now, Toge was starting to feel a familiar dread creep in on his mind. 

It happened every birthday he could remember; the reminders, warnings, and disdainful looks were the only thing he could truly count on. Like clockwork, he was ignored even more than usual. Even his parents avoided him unless absolutely necessary. He thought his first birthday away from the clan compound would be different. 

Toge pulled on his headphones and cranked up the volume on his music, hoping the bass would drown out the voices beginning to cut through his thoughts; the voices that sounded just like his family, the voices that clicked at him in disappointment, told him that he was shameful just for existing, that he was worthless, dangerous, shouldn't have been born--

"To-chan, are you awake...?"

He bolted upright at the familiar voice that filtered in through the pounding glitch-hop, so different from the hissing ones filling his head.

Mayuko was standing in his doorway. She looked excited, until the scene before her registered, and her face fell into an expression of concern. She shut the door behind her and walked over to take a seat on the bed beside him.

Toge hadn't realized he was crying until he felt Mayuko carefully brush away the tears and slide off his headphones. She didn't ask any questions, just took him into her arms, held him tight, and traced delicate circles on his back. The feeling of comfort, something he was so rarely afforded, was overwhelming. Tears were stinging at his eyes again. A wave of unfamiliar warmth settled over him like a blanket and he felt himself break, sobbing into Mayuko's shoulder with his hands balled tightly into the back of her shirt.

"Let it all out, shiro-an... You're okay."

She sat with him like that for who knows how long, running her fingers through his hair and softly murmuring words of comfort, until the sobs finally subsided into an occasional hiccup. 

"Take some deep breaths for me, that was some pretty hard crying you just did..."

Toge was reluctant to part from the hug, fearing he might fall to pieces the moment he was out of her arms, but gingerly left anyway, sniffling and rubbing at his face with the heels of his hands. He forced himself to breathe slower, wincing at the harsh sounds accompanying each inhale. Eventually his breathing evened out, prompting a small smile from Mayuko.

"There you go. Feeling any better?" 

He nodded after a moment's pause, not trusting his voice.

"Do you... wanna talk about it?" Mayuko nudged his shoulder with hers. He took the invitation to lean into her again, grabbing one of her hands and lacing their fingers together. A wave of calm washed over Toge at the feeling of her hand in his. 

"... Okaka."

"Okay."

Mayuko squeezed his hand and caressed his thumb with hers as she leaned over and nuzzled against his platinum blonde hair.

"Would you maybe be okay with seeing the others in a minute...? Maki, Panda, and Yuuta are waiting out in the common room. We've... got something that might cheer you up a bit?"

"Uni...?"

"We can put it off until morning, if you want. They'll understand."

Toge thought on it for a few minutes. On one hand, he wasn't exactly feeling up to the kinds of late-night antics Panda liked to pull. On the other, he really didn't want to be alone with his thoughts right now. 

"Okaka, takana."

"Are you sure you want to go?"

"Shakē."

"Alright, come on!"

~

Hand in hand, Toge and Mayuko walked through the dark hall, until the lamplight from the common room bled into the peaceful scene. Maki and Yuuta were sprawled on the couch, boredom and worry beginning to glaze over their respective gazes at the ceiling, and Panda was nowhere to be seen. Mayuko cleared her throat. 

"I got him."

Maki's eyes shifted over to where the other two were standing in the hallway, and she cracked a grin.

"There you guys are. I was about to make Yuuta go check and see if something killed you."

"You were?!" The dark-haired boy jumped in his seat and shot an anxious look at his classmate. 

"Panda, they're here," Maki called, ignoring Yuuta and inclining her head toward the kitchen.

"Finally!" Excitement buzzed in Panda's voice, which was followed by several muffled thumps. "Stupid human-sized kitchen-- Inumaki, close your eyes and don't open them until we say so, okay~?"

Toge looked cautiously at his friends, who each nodded or gave a reassuring smile. He took a deep breath; let it out. Trusting them wasn't hard, not usually at least. The uneasiness he'd come to expect today still wriggled in the back of his mind, but he forced himself to ignore it. He closed his eyes.

As he stood there, Toge heard his classmates shuffling around, frantic whispering, and tape ripping. He didn't think to question it much, tuning out the little voice that told him to peek and see if he was still safe. The five of them were all their own style of weird; it was one of the reasons they'd become so close. They were all considered outcasts in one way or another. 

"O-Okay, you can look now!" Yuuta's voice, shaking with a hint of anxiety, cut through the sudden silence.

Toge opened his eyes, and, for the first time in his life, found himself truly at a loss for words.

Brightly colored paper chains and streamers had been hastily taped to the walls of the common room. A home-made banner, emblazoned with his name and paper rice balls, crookedly hung above the TV. His classmates were all grinning.

"Happy birthday, Inumaki!"

The final hit was the platter in Panda's paws. It held a large strawberry cake that Toge could only assume the four of them had made by hand. The trim icing was wobbly and falling off in places, the decorative fruit was spaced unevenly, and the numeral candles were from two completely different sets. 

It was the most wonderful cake he'd ever seen. 

For the third time that night, Toge felt his eyes welling with tears. This time, however, instead of the usual gaping hole in his chest, he felt warm, and whole, and so, so happy to be alive.

He was right in the end, it turned out; this first birthday away from his family was different. For the first time, there were decorations and cake. For the first time, he was surrounded by people who cared about him and put in effort just to see him happy. For the first time, instead of being treated as a burden, Inumaki Toge's existence was being celebrated. 

He swallowed the lump forming in his throat.

"Te--" He paused, then shook his head ever so slightly. This was something he wanted to say in real words, when he was totally sure everyone who mattered could hear him. He tugged down his collar, a smile creeping onto his face as the happy tears rolled down and dripped off his chin.

"Thank you."

#inumaki toge #inumaki jjk #jujutsu kaisen inumaki #oc/canon #oc x canon #mayuko post #inoshishi mayuko #inu-o

[gorematchala]

Playing PLA again I'm reminded of the prerelease era when we were seeing leaks of the new pokemon, particularly the regional starters, and my slow acceptance of what has become one of my favorite pokemon, Hisuian Samurott. Samurott itself being one of my least favorite. A lot of what I love about the Hisuian version is how little they changed, which served to confirm all the problems I had with the original design so I had grounds to tell gen 5 stans I told them so

My problems with Samurott were many. Primarily that its built like a mic stand. It has 4 big chunky legs splayed out at a weird angle, and a long thin neck supporting an obnoxiously huge *thing*. Having not been in on the ground floor of gen 5 I saw the design separate from the Pokémon's name and assumed that the head thing was supposed to be a ship mast or something and that the beard was like an old timey ship captain beard. Realizing that it was meant to be a samurai I had questions like "huh?" And "what?"

It has swords hidden in its arm guards which protrude at an angle that would be impossible for its three fingered fat fuck flipper hands to reach, and it would have to fight on 3 legs because its back legs arent long or thick enough to support its gigantic upper half, but it has two swords?? It also has weird lines on its chest that I think are supposed to be muscles even though they dont look like muscles. It doesn't look powerful, or sturdy, or agile. I can't envision in my head how it would look in a fight. It's just kind of a mess.

HISUIAN Samurott shows up and says your daughter calls me daddy too. My only criticism of the this design is that the shape of its beard makes no sense, but I can overlook that because this guy is Water EVIL type. Its a ronin. It's a Bad Dude.

What they did is make the whole thing thinner overall, which does a lot on its own. They shrunk the helmet, they made the shape of the armor panels more interesting, they turned its feet backwards which makes it look more like a sea lions rear flipper feet and makes the whole Pokémon look sturdier. The horn and its swords are now wavy flamberge style blades which IS dumber, but dont forget that he is a BAD GUY. And you know he's a bad dude because there's what looks like an arrow stuck in its helmet, which I assume is a reference to a story about a samurai that I'm not familiar with.

They also removed the weird chest muscles and changed its eye shape. A recurring design element I hate in gen 5 is the anime eyes they put on everything. Terrakion, Shamin Sky, Virizion, and original Samurott all have just like anime human eyes and its weird. And I know what youre thinking but theres something different about Voltorb or Shiftry. Gurdurr has gen 1 Pokémon eyes, Terrakion has a human face stamped on a cow body. Hisuian samurott has a more angular cool eye shape, and the bright red accents contrasting with its dark blue and black is much more visually impressive than the originals ocean blue, tan, black, and orange.

Hisuian Samurott looks proud and strong and if it slapped my girls ass at the ancient japanese bar thats his girl now. And you can't fuck with a move called Ceasless Edge. Especially because at the end of the day it is just Samurott plus edge. But the result is a Pokémon I like vs one that I don't

#pokemon #samurott #pokemon legends arceus #character design #analysis #long post

[refinedstorage]

Just a little personal rundown I shared with a moot a while back, if you're looking to get into the Yakuza franchise but don't know where to start bc it's a bit overwhelming in terms of chronology and remasters/spin offs

Disclaimer so many gamers so many opinions etc etc but here's my personal take:

Tldr; start with Yakuza 0 or Judge Eyes/Judgment 1 Japanese dub

Also if you go in expecting a progressive romp don't be surprised if a game series about the literal patriarchy hits you with the literal patriarchy

The series peaked with Y0, it doesn't get better from there so that's the best entry point in my book you need to experience that ending and realize Majima is nothing like what fandom makes him out to be

I could gush on about the tight combat and cool retro vibes but this is peak Yakuza and if you want to experience the series at its best start here

Kiwami 1 and 2 are mostly why mainstream fandom is The Way It Is, I don't recommend starting with those, they're at the bottom of my personal list even tho they feature neat characters (also K2 Majima Saga will emphasize the discrepancy between early games comedic foil Majima and later games Majima)

Y1/2 would make for the more authentic experience I guess, I think the PS2 era retro vibes are extra 👌✨

Y3 is a bad entry point because it's the jankiest and oldest of the bunch and it revolves heavily around Kiryu in the close proximity of children which is a total crime but it does have the absolute Character of All Time so there's that

Y4 is the dryest but I say that affectionately and while the plot gets flak for demanding some serious suspension of disbelief it has amazing character moments and personal faves. Overall a weird in the middle kinda affair technically and in terms of presentation, also quite janky still, but has amazing character moments

Y5 is in my top 3 it's just too much fun but it's quite a bite due to its scale and can be an overwhelming first. Would pay money for a skip Saejima's chapter mod.

You think you don't like J-pop shenanigans you have not played Haruka's chapters. Also Shinada ❤️

Y6 is the last (allegedly, at the time) in the lead character's saga (who is not a Nice Man btw, don't let fandom fool you) so that's a bad entry point too because none of the references will make sense or have full impact, plus it just lacks the series' previous thunder

It just felt superfluous to me, idk I just went through it feeling totally apathetic but that was mostly because the faves had less than 5 minutes of cumulative screentime and the antagonist were not that interesting and the rest is just Kiryu being irresponsible and boneheaded. Someya coulda been So Neat but ended up a being a total nothingburger. Technically a solid game tho.

Y7 I just can't get through I keep rage quitting I can't think of a single nice thing to say about it at this point but your mileage may vary if you like turn based RPGs and if the main characters and story click for you. I just don't vibe with this title and cast and tone at all 🤷‍♀️

Yakuza Ishin is great, beautiful combat, and Hanpeita the main attraction I'm so sad they'll replace the actor and fiddle with the combat system for the upcoming re release. Also not the AU you'd expect it to be, just a stand alone story with recognizable faces & voices. I really thought they'd put more relevance towards the character's AU counterparts but there's not 🤷‍♀️

killer OST tho, great fun all together

Judgment 1/Judge Eyes is great fun and you get some of the best instances of Kamurocho. It also paints the most realistic version of the underworld right up until when the plot takes a deep dive into silly territory. Some pacing issues too. I had high hopes for this spin off series coming out of J1 but then J2/Lost Judgment happened and it's just atrocious with some neat moments and characters scattered throughout. Still I think you'd get more out of J1 if you were familiar with the mainline series first 🤔

J2 I can't recommend, the combat is great fun but they reduced Yagami to ridiculous levels of all round video game swanky man and the story/pacing is horrid and ppl call it grounded and gritty but in terms of tone and chummy vibes I consider it the josh whedonification of yakuza ~~and I'm not even taking about the completely mismatched English dubs~~

so yeah just my personal recs based on my Yakuza journey! With a series this broad and long running different entries will cater to different tastes but honestly you can't go wrong with Y0 and J1

#half rec list half vent post i guess 🤭 #txt #yakuza #*yakuza

[mannatea]

Break Open the Sky, a Tales of Symphonia ‘fic (Chapter 4)

Current Word Count: 28,360 Summary: What kind of “Hero” of Regeneration would she be to leave an infant to fend for itself? Someone had to have left it here for a reason. The question was, of course, why? But as she lifted the little thing carefully into her arms, the motion reminding her of nights so far in the past, now, the why seemed almost tragically clear: this baby was of mixed blood. Chapter Summary: Raine and the girls make it to Palmacosta. Pairing/Characters: Raine, Original Characters, will also feature Genis, Regal, and Sheena. Endgame is Regal/Raine. Extra Info: This is technically an Accidental Baby Acquisition story, but I liken it more to “Doorstep Baby” literature because it sure ain’t cute. Rating: Mature, for themes. Genre: Eventual romance, gen, family, character study.

The title is the link to Ao3 for Chapter 4! If you read it please feed me a little comment. I love you x4. 🤍🤍🤍🤍

Notes below the cut:

Finally, Genis is here! There might be a little bit more to that Meltokio party than meets the eye, but we'll get there eventually. In the meantime, Genis gets to be the voice of reason—and he is necessary to temper Raine's anxiety.

Not that she can be expected to think super clearly when she's so stressed out and in pain, but she already felt that the incident in Meltokio was her fault and a pretty big deal. Like wow, way to be a terrible friend to someone you actually really respect and value!!

Regal is probably the #1 most eligible bachelor in the world, so maybe Genis is right and something like a good night kiss hardly even fazed him. He gets a lot of attention and another tiny speck of it would be unlikely to make a difference. Plus, if they're still exchanging letters it's doubtful he's holding it against her.

But for Raine it's still that thing where letters are easy and being around someone in person is harder, especially when she worries her presence might remind them of something she did ages ago.

--

Before anyone can ask, I'm going with brassiere as a term because I feel like it. I imagine Raine isn't the sort to care much for looking pretty and would opt for something functional and plain and probably loose/adjustable.

So here are a couple of things that I had in mind for this two second mention of Raine wearing a brassiere that got me lost in archives online for hours:

--

Locke Hill Creek & Locke Hill Crossing are here:

--

Yellow gingham (for anyone who might not be as familiar with the term/pattern):

--

Something I really like about the game's treatment of Raine is that they allow her to be a terrible cook but never really dig into the (extremely exhausting and rage-inducing) trope of it being funny because she's a woman. They just let it be a problem she has and leave it at that to joke about on its own terms.

They also don't go out of their way to act like she has no domestic skill at all, which is a huge relief.

I think it makes sense that she might be pretty good at sewing, if only because she would have had to get good at it, and I suspect she might have been the one to make the clothes she and Genis wear in-game; they're so specifically elf-styled (to help them blend in/lead credence to their lie) and with no elves out and about in Sylvarant, it only really makes sense that she is the one who made them (as she's the only one with memories of what they should even look like).

--

Genis references the "My Sister" skit. I recommend watching with the Japanese voice acting here because it's soooo good.

She's obviously very touched by him saying that but doesn't show her feelings outwardly very well.

This becomes more important later, but Raine isn't exactly ignorant that she's not very good at processing emotion or showing her feelings. She still struggles with it, though, and now that she's looking after more children does try to make an effort to be more naturally/casually affectionate out of almost a fear of setting a poor example. (Like the scene where she tries to comfort Lila and Marcie and goes out of her way to touch them.)

--

Speaking of Genis again, he was a bit tough to get "right" in this chapter due to the large timeskip (five years is a long time for him). He's 17 going on 18 and we missed some of those formative teen years. I like to think he's still a bit of a sassy brat, but has learned how to watch his mouth a little bit and act more maturely.

I also feel a really strong connection to Raine and Genis's relationship due to my own relationship with my youngest (extremely gifted) sibling, whom I helped to educate (early in life) and raise, and who once told me I was like a second mother to her. I sort of modeled Genis's behavior after hers from around that same age, though only in conversational maturity and studiousness. ;)

It's not that he's not surprised at the situation Raine's found herself in because he is; but he's trying to respond to that in a way that won't also encourage Raine to distance herself from him. They did travel together for 3 of the last 5 years, so he's no stranger to her particular behavior quirks.

Also, there's something to be said for...you know...the fact that it's not as if what has happened can be undone. Now he's just gotta roll with it and try to help!

--

OC ROLLCALL:

Baby (infant left with Raine; not named)

Lila (10 years old, powder blue hair, blue eyes, half-elf, adopted by Raine)

Marcie (8 years old, ash-blonde hair, hazel eyes, half-elf, adopted by Raine)

Cynthia (half-elf in a merchant caravan who assists Raine briefly)

--

Next time we head to Altamira! On a ship! 🤢 I'm sure Raine will be very excited for it.

Thank you for reading! If you have time please do take a moment to leave a little comment on Ao3! 🤍

#tales of symphonia #raine sage #mannafics

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #1032: Teaching Inari Pocky (Persona 5)

1:45 p.m. at LeBlanc Café.......

Yusuke: (Stares at the Three Mini Sticks Futuba is Holding in Front of Him) What am I looking at exactly?

Futuba: (Smiles Brightly) Pockies! They're Japanese treats that can shared with two partners. (Starts Twisting her Feet Around and Looking Away in a Shy Manner) Annnd I figured since today is a holiday dedicated to the whole thing entirely, that...we could celebrate the occasion by...eating one ourselves. (Blushes a Little) Just the two of us.

Yusuke: I see.....(Gives Futuba a Neutral Smile) Well, seeing that you're more familiar with the custom than I am, i wouldn't mind it if you were to give the proper instructions.

Futuba: (Happily Nodded) No problem, Inari, I got you. (Smirks While Wiggling Her Finger From Side to Side) You just gotta call me Sensei first~

Yusuke: .....How about I just call by your name instead? I don't quite see you as the actual teaching type.

Futuba: (Places her Hands on Both her Hips With a Pouty Look on her Face) Um for your information, Mr Five Star Artist, I happen to be an excellent at teaching things. Last week, I taught the kiddos at the mansion how to execute the inputs on the Raging Demon perfectly and three of them didn't lose a single round ever since!

Yusuke: That is an admirable feat, I must admit. (Crosses his Arms) But I believe my point of the matter still stands on the matter.

Futuba: ('Groans') Fiiiine. You don't have to call me sensei if you don't want to, killjoy.....

Yusuke: (Went Back to Smiling Again) Spendid. Now, shall we begin with the tradition?

Futuba: (Smiles Brightly Again) Yep! First things first though: (Pulls Up the Three Pockies in her Hands) Which flavor you wanna try out? We got strawberry, chocolate, and caramel.

Yusuke: (Grabs his Chin as He Stares Closely at his Choices of Pocky) Hmm.....The choices here are already tempting enough as they are.....but in the end, I afraid i would go for the flavor of strawberry for now.

Futuba: Strawberry it is then. (Places the Other Two Pockies Back in the Mini Box Before Taking a Bit of a Deep Breath) Okay, so....after we've chosen the flavor of pocky, we now have to start eating the stick from each sides without having come off from our mouths. Oh and we have to take it slow, so no speeding through this!

Yusuke: Ah, so it's like a friendly competition of sorts?

Futuba: Yeah. Something like that.....(Takes One of the Pocky into her Mouth) You ready, Inari?

Yusuke: (Nodding Once He Already His Mouth on the Other Sode of the Stick)

Futuba: Great. Uhh....L-Let's begin!

And so, the duo begins to eat each sides of their pocky stick as they slowly approaches each other.

Futuba: (So....this is it. I'm actually going to kiss Inari. On the lips... With no turning back or anything....('Groans') Come on, Futuba, get a hold of yourself already! Inari kissed you on the cheek once, and sure, you might've blushed like a tomato after that, but you still survived from dying of flustration after that!.....If that's actually a real word or now, but whatever! All you have to do is wait for the perfect timing for the Kiss, YOU GOT THIS- Wow, his lips looks shiny!....Has he been wearing lip balm or something? Should I start putting some on my lips too? I mean, obviously, mines aren't anything to write home about, but-)

Before Futuba could finish fleshing out the recent thoughts in her mind, her and Yusuke accidentally bonk foreheads with one another.

Futuba: Ow! Damnit! (Winces in Pain as She Starts Rubbing her Forehead) That might leave a mark or two....You alright, Inari?

Yusuke: (Sighs While Rubbing his Forehead as Well) Somewhat....My apologies for headbutting you like that. I was too busy admiring the taste of the pocky that I've started to lose focus.

Futuba: Nah, don't worry it. I got myself distracted along the way too. On the plus, neither of us let the stick out of our mouths.

Yusuke: So the challenge ended in a draw?....(Simply Nodded at the Realization) Hm. I suppose that's something I could get behind- (Suddenly Felt a Viberation in his Body as He Takes his Phone Out of his Pants Pocket and Takes a Good the New Message That Was Sent to Him Before Sighing Again) As much as I would love to stay here a little more longer, I must get going. I promised Hades I would paint a portrait of him for his annual Hellfire Party next weekend.

Futuba: (Grabs her Chin With a Smirk on her Face) Ahhh...now you're doing commissions for the Underworld God now? You've really moved up in the world, Inari~

Yusuke: I wouldn't exactly say that I am, but it is nice for my artistic skills and mindset to gain more attention nowadays. (Toss a Golden Ring into the Air Before Expands into Giant, Dimensional Hopping Transport in Front of Him) Are we still on for Anime Night this evening?

Futuba: (Smiles Brightly at Yusuke) Yep! We're starting off with Chainsaw Man at 7:30. (Wiggles her Finger Around While Winking at the Up and Coming Artist) Don't be late~

Yusuke: (Smirks Fondly Whole Letting Out a Chuckle) I wouldn't dream of missing it.

As she watches Yusuke walk into the giant ring before it starts spinning out of existence, Futuba begins to walk away to the csfé living room and sits down next to Morgana, covered in blue lipstick all around his face, on the Sofa, letting out a huge, heavy sigh in the process.

Morgana: How's the Pocky game with Yusuke went?

Futuba: As well as you expected......

Morgana: (Turns to Futuba) Unsuccessful?

Futuba: (Looks Up at the Ceiling) Yeeeup. We headbutted each other at the last second.

Morgana: Yeesh. It didn't hurt you guys too badly, did it?

Futuba: Nah, it was just an unexpected bump is all. Though, I did thought about how shiny Inari's lips really are up close, so......it's not an (Starts Blushing Again)...entire loss I guess....

Morgana: (Puts on a Bit of a Semi Weirded Out Look on his Face) If you really wanna put it like that....(Gently Pats on Futuba's Knee) Just try not to let it discourage you too much, yeah? There's always next time.

Futuba: Yeah, but I rather try doing that mushy stuff again for at least a year or three. But enough about me. (Turns Back to Mona With a Cheeky Smirk.on her Face) You certainly had a better pocky experience than I did~

Morgana: (Chuckles Lightly While Rubbing the Back of his Head Back and Forth While Blushing) Yeah.....But that's only because she was able to figure my motives behind the game by reading my mind at the last second.

Futuba: (Starts Snickering) Getting find out by telepathy, ain't that some crap.

Morgana: (Snickers as Well) Right? But anyways, after that happened, she decided give me multiple kisses all over the cheeks and forehead in exchange. (Starts Smiling in a Dopey Lile Fashion) Which doesn't bother me in the slightest obviously~

Futuba: ('Heh') Yeah, no kidding.

??????: Oh Mona-Chan!~

The duo turns to see the youngest Velvet Girl giggling and happily waving at her boyfriend.

Lavenza: Happy Pocky Day, my dear~ (Blows a Kiss at Mona) I'll be back in the momnet~(Giggles Some More Before Making her Way Upstairs)

Morgana: (Places his Hand on his Cheek While Blushing a Lot More Than Previously) "K-Kay~

Futuba: You really love that girl, don'tcha?

Morgana: (Lays Himself Down on Futuba's Lap) With all my heart and soul~

Futuba: (Giggles Softly While Gently Ruffling the Top of Mona's Hair) Good, good. 'Happy for you, lover boy. (You crazy kids have more luck in romance than I'm having right now....)

Happy Berated Pocky Day Everyone!

@keyenuta

@cyber-wildcat

@princekirijo

@albion-93

@ma-lemons

@caleb13frede

#persona 5 #futaba sakura #yusuke kitawaga #morgana #lavenza #hades (mentioned) #humor #cute romance #morgana x lavenza #futaba x yusuke #maybe (???) #pocky game

[ap-kinda-lit]

4) Chinese Tenten & Japanese Neji

Part two of this ask

{"<Quote>" is Mandarin "*Quote*" is Japanese}

As much as Tenten missed Beijing, she really loved Japan. It was beautiful, there was so much to see and do, she was learning so many cool things, and a lot of the people she had met were wonderful. Her Japanese might have been far from perfect, but it didn't spoil the whole adventure. Overall, she was glad she had chosen to study abroad here. Her trip came with another perk, one unexpected but very pleasing. It came in the form of a young man she regularly saw on the subway. She didn't know his name and had barely said anything beyond 'hello' to him, but Tenten swore he had to be the most ethereal looking man she had ever laid eyes on. Long, silken mane of chocolate brown hair kept immaculately together in a low ponytail, steely pearl-colored eyes that bore right through her, flawless ivory skin, a chiseled face and build...how could Tenten not enjoy seeing that almost every day on the train? She wanted nothing more than to speak to him and maybe even score a date with him, but that angelic beauty and aristocratic demeanor vaporized any confidence she had when she approached him. What if she embarrassed herself? What if her poor Japanese screwed her? What if he thought she was just some obnoxious tourist? Tenten couldn't face the shame. So she resigned herself to pining in agonizing silence. Fortunately, she got her opportunity to vent her frustration and pent up admiration. On the train, her friend Sakura called her on the phone. Tenten was eager to talk to someone from home, certainly someone who knew Mandarin, the language she was very familiar with. At first, it was a friendly chat with Sakura asking about Japan, but Tenten's gaze wandered back to the impossibly beautiful stranger sitting across from her. "<I'm sorry, Sakura, I'm having a little bit of difficulty focusing right now. I think an actual angel is sitting next to me right now.>" she said. "<What?>" Sakura responded with. "<It's a guy I see on the train.>" "<Really? Tell me about him. If you're calling him an angel, he must be good-looking.>" Tenten scoffed. "<Just 'good-looking'? Sakura, he's absolutely, positively gorgeous. He looks like he was sculpted out of marble by the gods. No, scratch that, he looks like a god.>" Sakura laughed. "<Wow! Have you asked him out?>" "<Ugh, I don't even know his name. I wanna talk to him so bad, but I turn into such a scared little girl when I come within a few feet of him. My Japanese is still crappy. Plus, what if I end up looking like an annoying tourist and he hates me?>" Sakura sympathized with her friend. From there, the two continued talking about Japan and back home in China until Tenten's stop came up. As Tenten got up, a hand got her attention. "*Excuse me?*" a deep but smooth voice said. Tenten froze when she saw it was the stranger. "*Oh, uhm, hello, sir.*" she spoke in her best Japanese. "*Forgive me, but I couldn't help but overhear your conversation.*" he said. Wait, did he mean...oh, no. Tenten's stomach dropped and her mouth hung open. He must have realized what she was thinking because the stranger then said, "*Yes, I know Mandarin. I won't keep you for long, so here.*" he handed her a folded slip of paper. With that, Tenten got out of there as quickly as she could. She had never felt so humiliated. How she wished a train would crash into her and end her right then and there. Tenten's shame was so much, but she mustered up the strength to read the note he had given her. In neat handwritten Japanese, it said: 'Hello, I am very sorry for intruding and I wish I introduced myself sooner in a better way, but I mistakenly assumed you did not understand Japanese too well and I did not want to come off as a creep. That being said, my name is Neji Hyuga, and I would like to get to know you. My contact information is written below. I hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.'

#nejiten #neji x tenten #fanfic #fic #drabble #my work #naruto #ask #ask game

[fuckinorangecat]

part 2

Abysmal. There is a character limit, I can't believe this madness. Anyway.

We walked through a bunch of claw machine/gatcha shops and played a little bit. It was nice and I saw a very dedicated lady trying her absolutely hardest trying to get a golden kamuy figurine. She got it in the end, I was so happy for her. I was gonna attempt myself and if I got it I would've given it to her. She looked so close to giving up. Ahh, human perseverance. After that we got tired and went to a cafe where we waited for another addition to the party. A scottish JET, we outnumbered the American 3:1, fuck yeah. After meeting up with walked around further and went to a retro game store called Super potato or some shit. It was actually really cool lol, they had a claw machine for random ds/psp games and just a bunch of niche but cool japanese titles that we never saw in the west. One day I'll be able to read and play them properly. After that we found a fucking kebab stand, me and the friend I was staying with went ballistic, much to the american's confusion. Also the way americans say kebab is hilarious lol. We instantly buy some wraps and devour them, although it made me sad because it didn't hit the same as home. Guess it'll never be the same. Straight after I bought takoyaki, it was a very fat day but we walked like 30,000 steps by the end of the day so it should be fine - plus im on holiday. I'm not actually the biggest fan of takoyaki btw, too fucking heavy of a food. It's like eating a small rock every ball. After that we decide to find an izakaya and wind down. We find a place with outdoor seating and a perfect 6 seats, we were expecting two more JETs. Two more americans which unfortunately bring the numbers even. When they arrived, it was lovely. We all just spoke about random shit I can't even remember and drank. It was a great night. We bonded and exchanged instagrams, the Osaka JETs loved me and I them. Before going home we went to a conbini and I bought ice cream along with this other JET who LOVES ice cream. She bought one earlier too so I thought I'd join her this time. We ate ice cream and went on our merry way home. Two of the JETs go on the same train as us so we mingled a bit more. The girls all decided to have a twilight binge together, they invited me too but damn I smelled like shit. Ain't no way I'm polluting someone else's house. Especially after she showed me how nice her little place was lol. It'd be like a hotbox but instead of weed it's dutty fuckin' pits and tbh whole body. It was hot ok and I suffer in those conditions. 35 degrees celcius and crazy humid. Also we were exhausted since we've been running on 5 hours sleep. SO WE GO HOME, shower and sleep pretty much straight away.

The next day I woke up, packed up early to meet a former coworker from the UK. He was in Japan for a couple of weeks and I promised I'd meet him, that was actually the whole reason I came to Osaka. I said goodbye to my friend and went straight to the station my friend was arriving to. Travelling around Osaka was easy, it was pretty much identical to the tube. Just with better trains (airconditioned). I reunited with my former coworker and it was great lol. It's felt good speaking to someone I've known for a pretty long time, even though realistically we've only been apartment for like just under two months lol. Not much to actually write about but we did some touristy things! Went to the aquarium, which was actually the biggest aquarium in the world when it was built in 1990. I remember reading it on wikipedia before I was here randomly. I didn't realise it was the same one till I got there and felt a hint of familiarity. After that we met up with the rest of his friends which was amusing, a total of 6 black people and me so everyone was looking at us. I couldn't stay long but I helped them find a restaurant and order, talk a small bit, exchanged instas and left for my dreaded 7 hour journey back home. My friend actually walked with me to the coach station, bless him and i almost missed it too lol. I was very panicked and annoyed, thank you D for putting up with that. I hope the rest your trip to Japan was great.

The coach journey itself was fine, this time I actually slept most of the way unlike last time. I couldn't wait to be home and when I got home I was greeted by my neighbourhood cat Pochi. I was happy.

AWAY THAT CONCLUDES THE OSAKA ARC AND IM LAZY AGAIN

love, J-sensei

#diary #txt #thoughts #personal

[viewfromplanetx]

Samurai-ish movies and shows you might enjoy

Rick and Morty Samurai & Shogun - An homage to Lone Wolf and Cub, they reenact many of the iconic scenes from the movies with over the top blood spraying of course.

The Mandalorian - Lone Wolf and Cub a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Complete with floaty pram and “child”, armor, swords, and plenty of melee fights. No blood though, as it’s made by the feckless bellends at Disney.

Witcher Blood Origin - A familiar Samurai plot—seven estranged uh… strangers band together to fight corrupt and oppressive bullies. What makes this show truly enjoyable are the one-cut fight scenes. The camera never stops rolling—no jumpy quick-cutting. Although it has a handheld feel, it’s far from your ubiquitous shaky cam. You get to really appreciate the fight choreography blow-by-blow, attacks, blocks and dodges. You understand why the characters react the way they do and see their different styles. My only complaint is that Michelle Yeoh gets too little screen time.

Mad Max Fury Road -  Believe it or not, this is yet another story of seven outcasts who go up against a cretinous villain and his band of retards. They could’ve really shit the tub on this one, but it turned out perfect in my (ed: not so) humble opinion. It’s pure action with just enough reprieve to catch your breath and care about the characters. Charlize Theron as Furiosa, gotta love that name, kicks major ass and Tom Hardy plays the best Max ever. The fantastic and truly menacing vehicles are real and they use as many practical effects as they can. Kubrick was right, film is both entertainment and art. This movie is brilliantly both, so watch it more than once. The Black & Chrome edition is pretty damn cool.

Cowboy Bebop (live action version) - I like that it's close enough to the animated series without slavishly following the source material. What's Samurai-ish about it? Sword play, death and mayhem, clans, themes of honor and duty, hot chicks, and plenty of retards (ed: you need to stop using that term) yeah, but… (ed: yeah but nothing). However, quite unlike many Samurai flicks there's plenty of hilarious dialogue, such as

Jet: ...we’re gonna need Woodcock. 

Spike: I'm praying that’s a person. 

Extraction - A Chris Hemsworth showcase. He plays an angsty mercenary contracted to rescue the kidnapped nerdy son of a crime lord. Once again we have incredible one-cut fight scenes—long single shots that follow the action even through buildings and streets. So many retards eating shit in so many different ways. LoL

Extraction 2 - Starts right where the first one ended and it's even better.

Close (2019) - The amazing Noomi Rapace plays Sam, a former badass for hire turned unwilling nanny. Trouble ensues when she’s assigned to watch over Zoe, the spoiled brat of a corporate Überbetch. Things escalate quickly after Sam thwarts an attempt to kidnap Zoe and returns to her badassery. Expect the usual high-tensile steel action, things blowing up, blood, guts, hot chicks, and plenty of retards. Strong female characters always a plus.

ZVP - Zatoichi vs Predator. Enough said. Find it. Watch it.

Conan the Barbarian (1982) - Although it has plenty to attract Samurai movie fans, this flick was very much inspired by Japanese horror. There are creepy molesty spirits and hot lusty witches. The Snake Clan is all about possession. If you can get past the cheese ball characters with 80s hairdos (James Earl Jones has bangs) it's an enjoyable watch with plenty of action, minimal dialogue, hippy-dip retards, amazing landscapes, and pretty horses. One of Schwarzenegger's best roles. He actually worked with a Kendo master for the film. Costar Sandahl Bergman won multiple awards for her portrayal of Valeria, who is much more than just eye candy or love interest.

And… I’ve recently been told that the term “retard” is somehow derogatory of idiots, morons, and imbeciles. So, from now on I’ll be using the term "tard," which is French for "retard." Sorry for any confusion. Just think “retard” to yourself. I don’t want anyone to think I’m insensitive to the feelings of you tards, so even though you can't read (ed: pretty sure they can) feel free to assume that I sincerely apologize to anyone I’ve offended, if it makes you feel better. 

#samurai #movie review #action movies

[syncrovoid-presents]

ooo I just saw the formatting on your blog, and it looks so cool!!! My ask: since you say you know random knowledge, what is a fun fact you could share? :D

Aa thanks!! I caught myself some HTML and CSS for the formatting of my desktop blog. I still need to update it but there's a few hidden secrets @:o)

HMM I have so many I would like to share! It depends on what sort of knowledge you seek and how much detail you want! Like how butterfly wings have scales or how mummies are rare because they were used in paints and consumed.

BUT because it is something I have been thinking about, I shall tell you some funny coincidences and the cycle of time (it is fun and curious! I find it very fascinating)

There is something quite interesting about how centuries ago and ranging to thousands of years (depending on the culture and how well it was documented) there were many mentions of not-quite-human people. Like for instance (I shall talk about Scottish folk lore here, for it is one I am familiar with) there are the Fae folk.

The seelies and unseelies and how there were ways of telling disguised Fae apart from regular old humans (count the teeth, check the fingers. Are the ears unusual? Is the voice unusual?) If I'm not mistaken, there's also a form of this with some Japanese Yokai too? I am not 100% sure. There are similarities too with certain Slavic and Native Americans beliefs too, and African if I'm not mistaken. But regardless, this is something that exists in all sorts of folk lore from all around the world.

(I will briefly mention that some of this could stem from when certain illnesses were a lot more serious (consider rabies for instance) or from ableism. So it isn't all fun and interesting, but I thought I should add that!)

It is interesting how as society (mostly western for I am not 100% knowledgeable about how other societies have evolved over the centuries) has evolved towards a greater understanding of the world through hard sciences and generally separated from folk-belief how this has transitioned into aliens.

Aliens that could walk among us but act a little funny, or their smiles don't look right (count the teeth, check the fingers), how they come at night and leave mysteriously, with lights and colours and technology like magick.

(Again, I shall mention that sometimes these beliefs are used to defend various types of bigotry. I do not support that and find it quite gross)

And then now, another hundred or so years after the rise of aliens (there is still more people are finding! More mysteries, more unexplained phenomenons!) those same rules now have transitioned into AI artwork.

Have you seen some realistic AI artworks of humans? You must count the teeth, check the gands. Are the joints all wrong, bending too far or there are too many? How many fingers are there? You must count them! Check the ears, check the faces. Are they humans or something just pretending?

Of course it isn't quite the same, it never is and never will be, but I can't help but find it fascinating that certain beliefs from centuries or decades ago can now transition into practical advice for something that absolutely would have been considered magick to those folks. How science and folklore beliefs don't have to be pitted against each other, and how time can be quite cyclical in nature.

Plus not to mention the similarities between the "Hitchhiker Effect" and the curses of various folklore creatures of millennias past, both coming from worlds beyond our own but in different ways, both explanations of the impossible through the lens of current knowledge.

And who can say how this could change when AI develops further? Though AI isn't truly intelligence, the name is actually quite misleading, when programmed right and given the correct uses it can be a wonderful mimicry of such. Imagine AI generated realistic 3d models, using generated voices and generated dialogue. Would you count the teeth? Check the hands? Would there ever be a point in our lifetimes where that would even be possible?

Regardless, I find this all quite interesting!! I can talk further but I shall limit myself to this. I don't quite know if my ramblings about the roundabout nature of time and humanity and the development of belief falls into a fun fact or not, but it was very fun to answer this ask!!

#ask.txt #syncrovoid.txt #the hitchhiker effect is actually relally interesting regardless of whether you believe it to be true or not #i find all of it interesting in a “i am watching it from afar” sort of way #i am neither against nor pro aliens or the supernatural in general (how much of a difference between the two is there anyways?) #i just find it all very curious regardless of how true or fake it is!! #how there is so much left in the world that is unexplored or unexplainable or simply unknown! #there are so many species of bugs no one has classified (does that mean they are unknown? #does that mean classification isnt a real reflection of the world we live in? who knows who knows!) #it is like the generational pendulum effect where certain extremes from one generation becomes the opposite extreme in the next #(it is not guaranteed plus (at least here where i live though it could pertain to any country) fhe oldest generations were severly #traumatized and lived in conditions with all sorts of damaging things. like lead in the water that overtime could lead to brain damage #these things pass down through DNA. little packets of information to help the next people survive #(like how certain animals may become more prone to certain avoidances if their parents had bad experiences. evolution!) #how much of that remains? how hurt are people still? these things i do not know yet find myself pondering them still #like how families that survived famine are more likely to maintain body weight or how the babybooms rebelled agains their current societal- #norms. #how does the seeking for the familiar change these bahviours when one grows old? how can one understand what they've never known? #ANYWAYS i will stop my rambling before i hit some rambling limit! #thank you for the very fun ask and have a lovely day/night!!!

[fmp2emilycywinski]

The 50 Best Comics For Kids

For today, I wanted to research some kid's books so I can look at the art styles. I wanted to look at these so I can look at other styles instead of the ones I chose for my FMP (Final Major Project).

Looking back at my blog, I realized that I didn't look at a lot of art styles. So looking at these would hopefully make up for that.

AMERICAN BORN CHINESE

This art style is very cute, I was about to say that it has a Japanese or Chinese art style to it...and then I saw “American-born Chinese” written in the book. It's very sweet looking and quite simple too. I like art styles like these, it's an art style that is quite common for children's books or very short and simple Webtoon comics.

ALL’S FAIRE IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

This art style is very cool, it looks like my art style but with more of a cartoon style. The lines are quite sketchy which isn't my favourite art style sadly, It just looks messy.

EL DEAFO

This art style seems very cool, however, I can tell it's an art style that can be done in Illustrator which is a drawing software that uses shapes. This art style is very simple which would work on software like Illustrator.

I like it but sadly it's not my favourite, and I hate it, I hate using Illustrator as well because of how confusing it is and the art that comes out of I'm because of its lack of detail.

SISTERS

It's just smiley faces... It's cute and simple and perfect for children's books, however, I just don't like how simple it is.

MOON GIRL AND DEVIL DINOSAUR

This is cool, I love the art style, it's got a 3D sort of style. It looks like Disney's animations to me for some reason, maybe it's because of the lighting and the softness of the skin on the character. This is an art style I would probably never be able to do because of how complicated it looks but it's still very cool.

BLACK CANARY: IGNITE

This art style is so cool! I love this art style, it's cute and reminds me of my art style and also a few art styles I see on Webtoon comics.

The detail and the colours are just so cool and I just really like it, this is an art style I would love to work in if I made graphic novels or Webtoons.

DRAMA

This is an art style I could see that I probably grew up with be use it's just so common for children's books. Simple, small, cute, not much detail, all of these feel so familiar to me.

However, this is an art style that I could see as something I would never allow myself to work in, however, that doesn't mean I don't like it, it just means I will never do an art style like this.

THE WITCH BOY

This is a cool art style! Again it's so, etching you might see on the Webtoon app. I love the line art and the way they draw faces.

The colours also look cool. I love these types of art styles because of how similar it is to my art style, but at the same time, I'm not sure why, it's just so appealing to me.

MEGA PRINCESS

This one looks cool, I love how stylized it is, plus it also looks like a kid's book that Disney might come out with the use of how stylized it is.

In a way it reminds me of My Little Pony, not sure why, it's just the vibes it's giving.

It's very cute and sweet looking, and I like it a lot, I like how they draw line art and colour too.

#research