#My main inspiration was the Ghost miku

[sunnyeggoup]

jellicent deserves more love

[xxri]

tell us abt ur prsk unit....

it seems i ahve been found by prsk oc tumblr helloo. girl band with something very wrong. more under the cut i guess

helloo.... garden of eden posting.... vkei band that mostly plays vocarock and metal (i dont really know specific genres Heart emoji.) very much inspired by leia by yuyoyuppe I LOVE LEIA.

they don't really shoot for a huge goal like the other units they are all learning to love playing music for themselves and not for fame or whatever. they play together just for the sake of it ^_^ ive posted everyones profiles but here are their ref sheets

they have a cover song list here ^_^ (many of these would be rearranged but do u see my vision....)

and voice claims . i kind of designed all four of them with the singers in mind i am a #Big fan of all of them. ruri, tsubaki, kanna (1 / 2) (she is so greedy she has two), sumire

also vaguely inspired by musicians i like . i wanted there to be more obvious references in their unit outfits but i guess i can do that for card sets (if i ever design any)

as for story ......... idrk how to summarize their story on a surface level WHAHA . ruri is a vocaP and recruits the others to form a band for fun. tsubaki is her childhood friend, sumire is a huge fan of her music and brings kanna along (BAD IDEA) 99% of the problems in the band are caused by kanna arguing with everyone over nothing

at first the focus is on tsubaki and the others helping her search for her true passion before she graduates. she joins the band to spend time with ruri, she doesn't actually gaf about music (she doesnt gaf about anything) but slowly learns to love it and enjoy being in the band.

everyone else has their arcs, kanna is very annoying and pretentious and wants to be popular while the other three are like "hey man. maybe being in a band isnt all about fame ^_^;;" sumire is a total beginner at music and is seen as "weird" but finds friends who accept her, ruri arc happens much later cuz everyone else is just learning things she already knew. but she learns to be more honest with everyone.

basically they all join for superficial reasons and eventually learn to really truly love music ^_^ also the sekai is haunted mansion ish and the vocaloids are all ghosts Here is miku and flower probably. i am very indecisive on how they will look

ermmmm Idk what else to post. relationship chart and ruri and sumire instrument models (Ruri stolen from toko kirigaya #I LOVE MORFONICA!!!!!!) idk anything about drums or violin models so they just get whatever. their main motif is flowers i guess but they're not very flowery that's mostly just ruri's influence being a big flower fan. ok i will not make this post longer than it needs to be Thank you for asking i love my daughters ^_^

[hamsamwich23]

Well hello there!

Howdy! My name is Sam and/or Mort.

I'm a 20 year old queer-asexual demiboy who uses he/they/it/xe pronouns. I am polyamorous and have one partner whom I love dearly💛

My main hobbies right now are creative writing and photography, but I also enjoy video games, roleplaying, cooking/baking, and reading in my spare time.

My bigger interests right now are Hello Puppets, 1nv&d³r Z¹m, Doki Doki Literature Club, Undertale/Deltarune, Cats Are Liquid, Pressure (Roblox), Regretavator (Roblox) and Cult Of The Lamb.

Video game interests (or games I Enjoy): Milk Inside/Outside A Bag Of Milk, Sucker for love! Games series, smile for me, Amanda The Adventurer, Undertale Yellow, Happy game, Night In The Woods, Limbo, Inside, *Omori*, The Dog Island, Minecraft, Needy Streamer Overload, *Bendy and the ink machine*, Yo-Kai Watch (1st and 2nd games), Hollow Knight, Okami, Backrooms games, Sonic Frontiers, I'm On Observation Duty, Among Us.

Show/series interests: Don't Hug Me I'm Scared, Adventure Time, Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood (just started), Tuca and Bertie, Nexo Knights, Ninjago, The Mandela Catalogue, Angel Hare

Music interests: GHOST/GHOST and pals, Lily Vane, RIProducer, Jack Stauber, Vocaloid, Peculiar audios, Penelope Scott

Misc interests/just stuff I like: Welcome Home project, Liminal Space, Moths, Space, The Backrooms lore, SCP Foundation lore, stickers, plushies,

*- I do not support the creator(s) behind these. And if anyone behind above listed interests has done something that I am unaware of then feel free to inform me.

I dabble in Self-shipping sometimes...I'm perfectly fine with sharing f/o's just don't be. Like. Weird or nasty about it? Like be chill be respectful and we're all good

My DMS are always open to mutuals who want to talk, or anyone who's interested in my AUS or wants to talk about mutual interests, however please note that I have physical and mental health issues as well as work a full time job and am not always active or able to respond. I just appreciate any patience when it comes to talking to me.

My Two current main AUS at this moment are:

Unreality Au: A multi-fandom AU inspired by weirdcore and horror themes where the world has been overtaken by a unknown curse caused by dark magic. OCs and Characters from Hello Puppets, Doki Doki Literature Club, Undertale (somewhat), Fetch from mf Fazbear frights, MAYBE pressure (as a little treat) maybe Regretavator dashed in and Hatsune Miku. This story so far is planned to be told through one shots and short fanfiction. Not every fandom listed here is part of official lore but is implied to exist in the same universe for my own little fun

If interested, you can follow my blog: @unreality-au-content-hoard

Dimension 2020 AU: Revamped I/Z au featuring my Z¹msona/OC Twenty rewritten (as when I was younger the au was poorly written/executed). The new summary of this story is as follows:

"After being lost and found as a mere smeet, Twenty is finally able to move past the incident from years ago and live a normal life among other young irkens within the academy. Everything is going very well...until one day..... everything begins to go wrong."

While I will post links to the official fanfiction when it is started as well as updates on Instagram, I will not be posting anything about it on Tumblr for my own comfort.

Aside from these projects, Writing commissions and trades are CLOSED for an indefinite amount of time, as I am too busy to fulfill any more work. However, requests for Unreality one shots or suggestions are usually open.

DNI

While I am fully aware that people will most likely ignore my DNI boundaries, I am still going to put them out here that I will just block you if I see anyone in my DNI interacting with me. I may even end up blocking people out of paranoia or due to compulsions. I very much utilize the block button.

You will be blocked if you are- bigoted in any way/shape/form, pr0sh¹p/c∅msh¹p/similar, ship discourse focused blog, LGBTQ+ discourse focused blog, Rad-exclusive, a pro-harassment antishipper, people against self-shipping and/or OC x Canon, support use of AI art and AI content, support creators like Viziepop and JKrowling (or anyone I'm uncomfortable with), people who believe "black washing" is a thing and/or defend whitewashing, L∅l¹/sh∅t& con supporters/enjoyers, people who call themselves "M.A.Ps" (pedos. You're pedophiles), and anything similar to what is mentioned above

Though technically, even if you are none of the above, I still end up blocking people out of paranoia or if they give me bad vibes. I understand that it is irrational, however it is for my comfort and mental health.

Kink/NSFW blogs are okay to interact, but if you're pr/ship or make fetish art of minors/siblings/ect then uhhhh get lost

Please do NOT talk to me about Ship Discourse, LGBTQ+ Discourse, The Walten Files (ill allow it if we're mutuals) I.Z Fandom Discourse, HazbinHotel/HelluvaBoss

Tags

Tags I would recommend blocking if they make you uncomfortable are:

woah sam that's REALLY gay - suggestive tag for future just in case(?) I doubt it'll ever be used but it doesn't hurt to have a warning

morts sad time - vent tag

If you're interested in my works or talking outside my Tumblr, my socials are below!

Discord: hamsamwich23

Instagram: hamsamwich23

Wattpad: hamsamwich23

SquidgeWorld: hamsamwich23

And most importantly...

This blog stands with the people of Palestine, Congo, Sudan, and the many other countries that are suffering and struggling right now. Below me is a post linking to resources to help these countries and more.

This master document was originally created by Seaweedlagoon on Twitter/"X" and reposted on Tumblr by user eggyolkperona3000

Thank you for reading!!

[rock-candy-prosekai-fan-unit]

Hello there everyone! Im very excited to introduce you to my (@geeangrey2004)’s fan unit for the rhythm game “Project Sekai feat. Hatsune Miku”, Rock Candy. This blog exists both to show off my lil ocs, but also to keep this large project and all of its materials separate from my main blog, for organization purposes. Alright, let’s get started!

Rock Candy is a metal and rock band whose members are anonymous, going by the names of the characters they portray on stage. They perform their concerts in costume, masks, and very heavy makeup to conceal their identities. Think along the lines of Ghost and KISS. Out of universe, the group was inspired by the anime “Anonymous Noise”. The group performs at an underground night club, but has dreams of going pro one day. The band consists of four main members: The Phantom (Cole Smith), Mariposa (Ame Ohta), The Infamous Faust (Hotaru Sato), and Sugar ‘n Spice (Sakura Suzuki).

More general information about the blog will be under the cut.

What will this blog post? (Subject to change):

Either the main story transcripts or links to the main story transcripts on AO3

Event stories and summaries

Card art

Card stories

Character introductions

Character art

Background art

Kizuna ranks

Menu lines

Area conversations

Answers to asks

Asks?

I will answer any asks about the group as well as individual characters, as long as the answer doesn’t contain spoilers.

Content Warnings (will update as I get further into the planning process):

These are all the content warnings for the band’s story. I’ll do my best to include content warnings on each episode. Please be mindful and take care of yourselves.

Body image issues

Transphobia

Bullying

Child abuse

Drunk driving

Death

Death in car accident

Hospitals

Comas

Thank you all for the time! Im excited for y’all to get to know Rock Candy.

[fmpnalogirlypop]

Fatal frame researching part 3

Synopsis

After surviving a car crash which killed her fiancé Yuu Asou, freelance photographer Rei Kurosawa remains in mourning for him and takes to photographing reportedly-haunted locations. She is assisted by her flatmate Miku Hinasaki, who lost her brother Mafuyu to supernatural events. While photographing the ruin of Kuze Shrine, Rei sees a vision of Yuu and follows him into a place later dubbed the Manor of Sleep. After encountering the hostile ghost of a tattooed woman, Rei returns to reality. That night she dreams of the Manor of Sleep, waking up with a tattoo growing across her body. She begins investigating Kuze Shrine with the help of Miku and Kei Amakura, a friend of Yuu and uncle to Mio who lost her sister Mayu.

It is revealed that Kuze Shrine was the site of a ritual where a chosen priestess received tattoos emblematic of a person's grief, eventually being impaled in a sacred chamber so her spirit would carry the grief into the afterlife. The last priestess, Reika, was in love with the banished Kaname. When Kaname tried to rescue her, he was murdered in front of her, causing the tattoos' power to overwhelm her.

Rei manages to reach the heart of the Manor of Sleep and defeat Reika, reuniting her spirit with that of Kaname and sending the two off into the afterlife. This lifts the curse and allows the spirits trapped in the Manor of Sleep to depart. Yuu appears and takes the tattoo curse from Rei before passing on. Both Rei and Miku wake from the dream, deciding to continue living despite the pain of their losses

Gameplay

Fatal Frame III: The Tormented is a survival horror video game that has players taking control of three different characters−Rei Kurosawa, Miku Hinasaki, and Kei Amakura−who explore the supernatural Manor of Sleep, fighting hostile ghosts through photography using the series' recurring Camera Obscura. The game uses fixed third-person camera angles, with the Camera Obscura using a first-person view.

The game is split between the Manor of Sleep—set in the characters' dreams—and the real world where players control Rei in her apartment. In the real world, Rei researches events assisted by Miku and Kei, with passive ghosts appearing in Rei's apartment later in the game.  While in the Manor of Sleep, the goal is to explore its rooms, finding items which can either be used to solve puzzles or reveal aspects of the game's backstory.

Character health and the standard film type are restored to default levels upon leaving the Manor of Sleep. Progress is saved either at lanterns within the Manor of Sleep, or in Rei's apartment using the Camera Obscura.

Combat, carried over and expanded from earlier Fatal Frame titles, involves using the Camera Obscura to fight hostile ghosts, with damage being based on distance, the angle of the shot, and current film type. These factors also dictate the number of points awarded for a shot.

Combat points are used at save points to purchase items, and upgrade the Camera Obscura with lenses that increase damage or add special abilities. Passive ghosts can also be photographed for points, adding them to an in-game album.

Each of the characters have different abilities impacting gameplay. Rei is a balanced character with more upgrade opportunities and a "Flash" to knock ghosts away. Miku has stronger attack power and the ability to slow ghosts temporarily, but cannot use upgraded lenses. She can also explore different areas of the Manor by fitting through small gaps and crawl spaces. Kei has weak attack power, but high health allowing him to survive more hits and the option to hide from some stalking ghosts. He can also move heavy objects to open new paths.

I chooses Fatal frame and their series of the games for my own inspiration, it for the ideas to make the main character have flashbacks or deju vu to show what is the causes of the plot and aswell the ideas of the colours on the flashbacks on the game.

[digitalvenusss]

: ̗̀➛ blog introduction & info ✩

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚

my name is venus, i made this blog to share my digital art.

fandoms im in:

- vocaloid

- project sekai

- ghost & pals

- needy streamer overload

- danganronpa

& more but those are the main fandoms im in

im just here to share my art and my love for fandom

you can use my art as a profile picture/header with credit

i will be blocking all ai “art” accounts i come across

also, if i left a comment on a post that you disagree with please just ignore it or block me, i do NOT want to be involved in online fights!!!

thank you for reading

[my username is inspired by this song ↓ as well as the whole theme of me and my account being “digital”]

[cliffather]

A family of Protagonists by Cliffather Via Flickr: Warning! WALL OF TEXT! 

 My M.C. William & family in Dynasty Warriors8empires1040 L to R: Safire(5th child twin of Ishaq), Berney(3rd child of Wilma Sue), Kedward(2nd child), Will Jr(1st born), William(father), Wilma Sue(mother), Wilona(Will Jr's wife), youngest child Justin and Ishaq(4th child twin of Safire) They are from the royal bloodline of their Patriarch primogenitor, Wildestaar Savyer www.flickr.com/photos/cliffather/26353123024/in/dateposted/. See the their Antagonist family here: www.flickr.com/photos/cliffather/26399078564/in/dateposted/ UPDATED!

 I planned back in the '80s for Wilma Sue(mother) to have two kids, Will Jr & Kedward, after watching "Spiderman & his Amazing friends' in my 'tweens, her children's list started to get larger. 

 The reason why I decided she would have a lot of boys was because of the '80s mindset of MEN being superheroes. Please remember most '70s/'80's CARTOONS had one or no superheroine with SEVERAL male superheroes: Superfriends( not including the made for tv female characters), Silverhawks. Tarzan. The Herculoids, Dangermouse, The Flying House, Superbook, Thundarr the Barbarian, "Teen Force" of SpaceStars, SINBAD JR. AND HIS MAGIC BELT,

 Popeye - The Sailor-man(The All-New Popeye Hour), Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids(Brown Hornet), He-man ad the Masters of the Universe, Smurfs(until season5), Blue Falcon & Dynomutt, Jabberjaw (reruns limited viewing), Wacky Races(reruns limited viewing), Speed Buggy( reruns limited viewing), Batman and Robin(animated), The New Adventures of Zorro(animated), Chip 'n Dale: Rescue Rangers, the Centurions(tv), Space Ghost, Blackstar, Battle of the Planets, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, StarBlazers, The Transformers, and LIVE-ACTION: Ambassador Magma (aka SPACE GIANTS).

 First, THANKS to the '80s Jem and the Holograms, Thundercats, Scooby-Doo(re-runs), Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, Josie and the Pussycats(reruns), The Mighty Orbots, Pound Puppies, Pole Position ('84 TV series), Dungeons & Dragons('80s cartoon), The ROBOTECH series (My middle brother's quest to collect the complete series on VHS started his buying Anime in the'90s) The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show(Re-runs the inspiration for Tyra's & Wordsworth's Time travel stories), Laff-A-Lympics, Shirt Tales, Bionic Six, Tiger Sharks, GI Joe, and She-Ra was one part of my female inspiration. 

 Second, WATCHING ANIME during the '90s such as Battle Angel Alita, Nuku Nuku, Armitage III, TENCHI MUYO{started my anime collection in '95 to aid my middle brother anime collecting by getting the other anime series he couldn't get}, Hyper Police, Magic User's Club, Devil Hunter Yohko, Vampire Princess Miyu, Genocyber, Galaxy Fraulein Yuna, Gunbuster, Neo Ranga, 801 T.T.S. Airbats, Luna Varga, Maris the chojo, Sukeban Deka, Bubblegum Crisis, Battle Athletes, Battle Skipper, Wanna-Be's, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, Iczer one/reborn, metal fighter Miku, Patlabor(My catgirl /AD&D character is named after the main character).

 Sailormoon(bootleg), Magical Knights Rayearth, MOLDIVER, Phantom Quest, Project A-ko, Burn Up W, Super Dimension Century Orguss, You're Under Arrest, Oh my Goddess, The Dirty Pair, Hyperdolls, Cardcaptor Sakura(bootleg), Ghost in the Shell(The ORIGINAL ANIME movie), 3x3 Eyes, GALL FORCE, Silent Möbius(series), Virgin Fleet, Key - the metal idol, Saber Marionette J, El hazard, SLAYERS, Cutey Honey, Ayane's High Kick, Sakura Wars, Sol Bianca, Dangaio and Gunsmith cats where females were the main character or main action characters despite some of these anime having "fan service" in them(Anime WAS aimed at young males btw) was the second part of female influence. www.flickr.com/photos/cliffather/1286716235/in/dateposted/ 

 Lastly, Streetfighter II's CHUN-LI, KOF's Athena Asamiya(Mai Shiranui), Soul blade/Calibur's Sophitia (Cassandra) Alexandra, Darkstalkers' Felicia, Samurai Shodown's Charlotte, Dead or alive's Kasumi, Waku Waku 7(import) Arina Makihara, Phantasy Star(series), Rival Schools' Hinata Wakaba & Kyoko Minazuki, Fighting Viper's Grace, Battle Arena Toshinden's Sofia, and World Heroes' Jeanne D'Arc were the third part & great influence (some of my OC's personalities or names comes from them)

 Note; Unlike the 2010s' SJW's influenced shows/movies/games, they didn't insult/weaken male characters or make the female characters look/act like men. Because of these shows, games & *mostly ANIME* I started creating MORE females and improving my created FEMALE characters.

[noroalia]

please please pleaseee tell me about video game graphics

thank you zero, i owe you my damn life

a side note: i only have experience in Blender when it comes to shading, rendering and similar things, and Dreamy Theatre 2nd is the only Project DIVA game i’ve ever played. i am nowhere near an expert, and this is just a rant so this may or may not be inaccurate oops

OKAY SO. project DIVA. love those games, have been a fan of them since like?? i first found them when i was 12?? so seeing the fact that it now has a Switch release made me really happy, and i’ve been thinking of buying it, since i dont want to clog up my brothers PS3′s memory just for an old PD game, right? the other day though, i stumbled across this video, which compares 4 of the games World is Mine PV’s, right? and i kid you not that when i understood that the Switch version was the top right one, i got. so surprised. because it looks like a downgrade from even the PS4 one, which i personally believe that in this case was a downgrade from the PS3 one. 

turns out, Mega Mix uses toon shaders, which can be really good when used right! but from what i’ve seen in MM, it just looks so weird. 

i just wanna preface by saying that Future Tone is the game that looks the best overall to me; the shaders and effects highlights the models and sets really well, and uses textures (look at Miku’s clothes in Rolling Girl. they’re plasticy, the light reflects on them and the different textures on her models help highlight what is what. and i think Rolling Girl in FT looks REALLY BAD compared to some previous iterations. look at how it compares to F 2nd and how much the atmosphere is ruined in FT. by the looks of it, F 2nd also uses toon shaders, though im not sure)

toon shaders can be extremely effective. they make the characters more cartoony, overriding any textures and making everything look plasticy and smooth. MMD uses toon shaders - and it causes that unique, classic MMD look!! and i love that look!! but the MMD models were made with that in mind. Mega Mix’s models look like direct ports of the PS4 game, aka they weren’t made for toon shaders.

of course, the context of the song and the pv changes the situation drastically! i’ve seen songs like Arifureta Sekai Seifuku where i actually believe the toon shader enhances the colorful, bouncy nature of the song and PV! thats where i think the toon shaders fits, in bright happy songs! the issue is, that very rarely are there PVs like that. most of them use darker tones, grittier sets or just duller colors. for songs with effects, the PS3 triumphs, but overall the PS4 just looks so much better. just look at ODDS & ENDS. F 2nd still holds up, FT looks amazing and then. MM is just. she’s flat. it’s almost as if any sort of color filter or light bounces off her.

my main issue with the toon shader in this case, is that Miku looks washed out. any texture, bump or feature dissapears, in favor for a flat, bright look. note how you can’t see her nose at all? its small, and that makes it blend in. it drowns. any texture in her hair is replaced with a bright shine and an even, uniform color. look at how well the toon shader is utilized in Ghost Rule, and this was made in MMD. the toon shader in MM leaves no room for things like bloom, reflection or shine. it all looks like its absorbed into Miku, and that she exists on a different layer compared to her surroundings.

this was intentional, from what ive heard! SEGA wanted it to look kid friendly, which means cartoony, 2D inspired and simple. but thats pretty stupid, right? when i was 12, i was drawn to the PD games both because of the gritty songs, but also the bright, happy colors. hell, look at PoPiPo! i remember this PV so clearly because the bright colors and the look made me happy, and this was achieved without toon shaders! and its achieved in Future Tone too, like. Look at World’s End Dancehall. It’s all neon colors without a single dark shadow in sight. and that video came out this year, and because of it, i assumed that this was the Switch port! i was wrong, obviously. still the PS4 release.

i’ve seen some people argue that toon shaders were used because the Switch isn’t a powerful console. first of all, it runs games like Witcher 3, BOTW, and so much more. I agree, the Switch isnt the most powerful console! but it could easily run a game like F 2nd, which still has complex effects and shading. and toon shading is still heavy on the CPU and GPU! there’s even a video where they’ve removed the toon shader in Mega Mix, and it still runs well and looks super good. you can see the textures, the small details and it does her model wonders. you can see the wrinkles in her clothes!!!! and this is still on the switch! it looks straight out of Future Tone. and that game is almost 7 years old. the switch could 100% run it with no to minor problems.

but as far as i am aware, the Project DIVA department has been merged with other departments in SEGA, so its very possible this was made because of budget cuts as well. after all, the toon shader probably takes less effort to slap onto a song, especially since it virtually looks the same on every song, and the game itself is basically a smaller port of Future Tone.

this is the only thing ive been able to think about this week honestly, it makes me kinda sad ngl

[anyway-heres-enderal]

i couldnt shut up about enderal right now if i wanted to so here’s that prophet ask meme with my prophetess fleur

blank

1. The basics – name, age, etc…

her name is fleur! i don’t know her last name but that’s okay because she’s kind of abandoned it. both of my vyn protags have line-of-sight, musically-inspired names so after that fuckin nightmare intro scene i had to name her as an homage to the song that was playing in my head the entire time it was happening (warning: disturbing imagery, abuse of some sort that is not shown but is strongly implied)

she’s 26 years old, half-kilean and bisexual.

2. Describe their appearance.

there’s a picture up there but a few other specifics: her hair is actually white, not just very light blonde, and she has blue eyes

3. How do they like to dress?

she jumps at the chance to wear nice clothes. she never got to back in ostian.

4. Do they have any markings (scars, tattoos, birthmarks)?

she has a few scars from a couple scuffles she got into back in nehrim. one of then is pretty gnarly-looking but it’s a diagonal from her lower chest to her left hip so once the events of enderal started rolling nobody who had seen it was still alive. word to the wise: don’t try to 1v1 a thunder lizard when you’re 14.

5. What are they like? Describe their personality (use whatever tools you like- MBTI, D&D alignment, astrological signs, Hogwarts house, words/phrases):

first of all, the only one of those tools that i have even a remotely decent grasp on is d&d alignment. she’s neutral-bordering-on-chaotic good. i don’t make characters with messages behind them (esp if they’re not for anyone’s consumption but mine) but hers would be “optimism with a dose of realism is probably the healthiest way to see the world”--she has the good sense to know when a situation or a person is beyond help but until that point she will try everything to help them. she desperately wanted to be wrong about adila and even as he was preparing his kamikaze attack she tried so hard to talk yuslan down.

to temper this, though, she takes things too seriously and she’s a bit of a crybaby (ok, not just a bit. alessia, my shadowgod, cried three times over the course of the entire main quest. fleur cried three times over the course of the very first quest that didn’t take place inside a trauma nightmare), although you could argue that she just has like. a normal human reaction to trauma, and everything that happens to her in enderal is EXTREMELY FUCKING TRAUMATIC.

since i have an easier time using tools like the ones described in the question to describe personalities, if she was a disney character she’d be rapunzel from tangled but less naive and with meaningful agency and if she was a social link/confidant in a persona game her card would be the star.

6. How would they describe themselves?

she has really low self-esteem but she doesn’t like. outright hate herself so she’s dismissive of any notion that she’s special or pretty. this probably sounds extremely sue-ish but a) i don’t give a fuck and b) every diy protagonist is at least kind of a mary sue simply because they’re the big special chosen one who all the romanceable companions have feelings for.

7. Education level?

uh. Not Any, Formally Speaking. School Of Hard Knocks. Worked For A Historian In Her Late Teens-Early Twenties And Learned Most Of What She Knows That Isn’t On The School Of Hard Knocks Curriculum That Way.

8. What are they proud of in themselves? What are they embarrassed about?

like the one notable talent that she’ll accept having is that she’s really smart and even before the Everything That Happened On The Ship Headed To Enderal she was a really quick learner.

she has ZERO prior experience with romance (she’s not in any way aromantic, she’s just never been in a romantic relationship) and she doesn’t like to tell people that, especially people she likes. she feels like they’ll think there’s something seriously wrong with her and that’s why she’s never been in a romantic relationship at age 26. 9. Do they know any languages other than Inal?

she knows like. kindergarten-level kilean.

10. What, if any, aspects of their mother’s culture influenced them growing up?

she didn’t really “grow up” with her parents, they died when she was six, but she has a strong belief in the importance of diplomacy and that’s pure Mom right there.

11. Name a song (or a few) that remind you of them.

i hope you like obscure musicals and vocaloid because that’s what you’re getting

In All My Dreams I Drown - The Devil’s Carnival Cast

Starchild - Ghost Quartet

Tears To Shed - Corpse Bride

Ever Lasting Night - Hitoshizuku-P (specifically the Miku character)

Lemonade - Sophie (sorry 4 mood whiplash)

12. Speaking of songs, can they sing? What is their voice like? How about instruments?

she’s hopeless with instruments but she’s not a bad singer by any means. sorry 4 relentless youtube links but she kind of sounds like Gelsey Bell

13. What was their life like before coming to Enderal?

it wasn’t good, i’m not going to lie. she and sirius spent a pretty decent amount of time roughing it because towns and cities kind of got progressively more dangerous as time went on, and Because Of Reasons I Won’t Go Into Here they both had pretty good reasons to avoid anyone affiliated with the temple of the creator

14. How did they decide to leave Nehrim?

it was too fuckin dangerous to try to make a life there anymore

15. Describe their relationship with Sirius.

they were siblings in all senses but blood. he got her out of a pretty bad situation when they were kids and she just stuck with him until they had been through so much together there was no other way for them to describe their relationship than “family”

16. Who do they blame for what happened to their family?

herself. survivor’s guilt is a hell of a drug and it doesn’t help that things only got worse afterward. she like. knows the temple did it, but since she doesn’t know why she’ll always wonder if there was something she could have done to stop it.

17. Apart from stowing away, have they ever broken the law?

she would be considered an accomplice to murder because she helped hide a body once (don’t worry, the victim without question deserved it)

18. How honest are they? Under what circumstances would they lie?

basically the only person she directly lies to is herself; if she’s dishonest, it’s usually by omission. the rare occasions she does outright lie it’s usually to protect someone or because there’s no way anyone would believe the truth.

19. Worst memory(s)? Best memory(s)?

Too Heavy For This Post and uhhhh. getting to spend time with her two BFFs/crushes on the Gertrude before everything started really going to shit was an extremely good memory for her.

20. Fight, or flight?

fight unless they’re like. demonstrably stronger. running away from an enemy she had a chance of defeating has always just come back to bite her. she wanted to fight the steel bird in the star city.

21. Describe their combat style.

Best Defense Is A Good Offense, Also Axes = Good. (original playthrough was greataxes and heavy armor but i’ll probably switch to war axes and light armor [or unarmored if i can swing it] when the steam release drops because apparently half-kileans are equivalent to bretons in normal skyrim terms and i can’t abide having played a heavy armor + two-handed breton twice)

22. Have they ever killed before? What is their reaction to combat?

she’s hunted animals but she’d never done more to a human than injure them enough to scare them off prior to enderal. she tries to only harm people in self-defense and may have cried a little bit (ok, quite a bit) after she had to kill firespark.

23. How do they react to having magical abilities? Do they use them?

magic makes her head feel “gross” somehow (read: she’s uniquely sensitive to arcane fever) so she doesn’t use it

24. What do they think of Enderal?

the scenery’s beautiful but the fact that it’s a theocracy and the notion of being stuck on a certain “path” depending on the circumstances of your birth freaks her out for reasons of “hey remember the oppressive religious regime that was responsible for all of your childhood trauma and continued to make your life hell before a mysterious trans power couple plus their direct superior group of outsiders instigated a rebellion that brought the whole thing down? now it controls the whole continent and everyone thinks it’s Good, Actually”

25. Did they do the Biggest Egg Hunt Ever quest?

she would have if my dumb ass hadn’t completely fuckin spaced it out and forgotten about it until it was too late. next playthrough, i swear.

26. How do they feel about joining the Order? What do they think of Arantheal?

she was not in favor of it (see: opinion of theocracies) and basically clung to the green shirts until she was inducted as a keeper. arantheal makes her uneasy but the threat of looming armageddon does a lot to help her shove that uneasiness to the side.

27. What is their opinion of the gods (or lack thereof)?

she’s not inherently against the gods but she doesn’t like organized religion

28. Wine, or pipe?

wine!

29. Do they spare or arrest Hallys, the farmer-turned-bandit in the quest, Deus Ex Machina? Why?

she arrested him after she found out where the money really came from. if it hadn’t been Stolen From A Fucking Food Bank she probably would have let him go.

30. What are their feelings and opinions about the Undercity?

uh...she hates that ark has a “slum district out of sight of the Good And Honorable Rich People” because having been poor and homeless basically until she came to enderal she can’t help but empathize with the residents of the undercity.

31. How do they react to the beggars of Ark?

if tumblr doesn’t stop refreshing the page and deleting my answers every time i switch tabs to look at the wiki or change the song i’m listening to i’m going to throw my laptop off the porch.

she usually reacts by sparing some change because she can relate

32. Where and how do they spend their time when in Ark?

she really likes the museum in the south quarter. she likes learning stuff and looking at relics of the past.

33. What would they do with three wishes?

just...stop the fuckin cycle

make the black stones inert so nobody else gets hurt because of them

this is basically deliberate repression so it’s 100% unhealthy but she would gladly wish to forget everything that happened before she was seven if it would put an end to the nightmares

34. How do they feel about death? Do they fear it?

uh. yes. she very bigly fears death. she kind of had a complete breakdown after the keeper exam until calia reassured her that just because she heard something during her harrowing doesn’t mean it’s true.

35. What (else) do they fear?

deep water (predates game events). also i dont know if it’s necessarily a fear but she hates being surprised.

36. Do they have any secrets?

uh. Yeah. her dad really was as bad as the dreams show. a few other things.

37. How is their behavior around people they like? People they dislike?

she’s about as friendly and affectionate as her shyness will allow with people she likes. it takes a LOT for her to be actively hostile but she’ll only attempt like. the barest superficial politeness to people she dislikes. 38. What is their relationship with the companions? Who, if anyone, did your prophet romance?

they’re her very good friends who she is also crushing on hard. yeah, both of em. she ended up with jespar kind of by default because i wasn’t making an effort to specifically target either of them but i kind of like the contrast between them so i’m gonna leave that in the Canon Playthrough Bin.

39. Was there any non-companion character that they were close to? That they particularly disliked?

does ryneus count? she would have taken him back to the sun temple and had the few green shirts left alive help her build some method of locomotion for him if she could have. also she had a crush on lishari. she didn’t have anyone she strongly disliked other than obvious shitbirds like taranor.

40. How do they feel about myrads?

she thinks they’re Big Cute Dog Monster Boys

41. What dreams or ambitions did they have before coming to Enderal? What about afterwards?

she wanted to be an archaeologist! she kind of got to do archaeologist stuff during her time in enderal but she wishes that she’d been able to do it without an apocalyptic sword of damocles hanging over her

42. Do they like cities? Or do they prefer the country? Is there a region of Enderal that they like or dislike more than the others?

she doesn’t necessarily dislike city life because she often gets lonely so living somewhere with a big population is always a tempting thought, but if she could take everyone she loves and go live somewhere peaceful where there’s no oppressive government or looming apocalypse she would.

her ideal Cottage Away From All The Bad Things would be in the goldenforst but she loves the crystal forest even though if she gets too close to the crystals it makes her feel like her brain is trying to vibrate out of her skull.

43. What do they do to lower their considerable stress?

go on walks in one of the numerous beautiful locations in enderal. take apart inactive mechanical constructs and try to understand their inner workings from their guts. press flowers.

44. Describe their perfect day off.

wake up from a nightmare-free sleep (you said “perfect”), go on a nice walk around the city (paying a visit to the museum of course!), meet up with her friends and find something fun to do that won’t put them in mortal danger, get drunk at the dancing nomad when it gets too dark for wandering around outside the city to be a good idea, and then watch the stars.

45. List three of their favorite things. Three things they hate?

likes:

sugar bread

the color gold

nice scenery

dislikes:

cooked cabbage

mead

bugs

46. What’s in their pockets?

emergency healing potion

herbs for making another emergency healing potion

at least one apple

random flowers that look cool

a ton of those vendor trash crystal coins you find in pyrean ruins. she just thinks they’re neat!

47. Pets? Mounts? Treasured possessions?

she’s never really had a lot she could hold on to and the thought of prizing a short-lived animal or an item that’s easy to lose is frightening.

48. How are their cooking skills?

NOT FUCKIN GOOD

(she can cook meat alright but anything more complex than that? no)

49. Do you consider any particular quest or side quest to be definitive for your prophet? Which one(s) and why?

i bulldozed through the main quest on my first playthrough; i’ll probably be able to answer this question better once the steam release drops and i can replay the game.

50. How forgiving are they? For example, if they were yelled at in a brothel after searching high and low for this little sh*t, how would they react?

first of all, everyone has a different reaction to traumatic experiences and sometimes that reaction isn’t “palatably sad and helpless” so jot that down. that being said, fleur was extremely upset about that because a) she’s also not an “uwu soft helpless cinnamon roll” kind of trauma survivor, b) some of what he said was generally hurtful, and c) that entire mission had already been one big long anxiety attack

but she’s too hyperempathetic to hold a grudge, especially when a) she knows where the person who hurt her was coming from, b) she gets a sincere apology, and c) she is more than a little in love with the person doing the apologizing.

51. What do they think of the Veiled Woman?

uh. mixed feelings. for what it’s worth, her feelings are mixed because they started out negative and then once she actually got to talk to the veiled woman her opinion strongly improved but like...sirius still died right in front of her because of this woman’s actions so they’ll never be fully positive.

52. If they had been a victim of one of the black stones, how would it have affected them? What would they have used its power to accomplish?

[slams huge portfolio of ideas i’ve had about this exact scenario on your desk] well y’see fleur as she is in canon is a brand of yandere that only technically qualifies as such: she won’t kidnap or murder people who reject her advances, but...uh...don’t harm her loved ones and expect mercy.

fleur under the influence of the black stones...well. it’d be very much like this except not Literally Directed Toward A Fucking Relative. esp the “well you found out now all i can hope for from you is to see your face one last time as you kill me” ending. not quite full yuno gasai love-me-or-i’ll-slaughter-you giggling while hacking someone up but. you know. Something Adjacent.

53. What was their reaction to the Black Guardian’s revelations? Do they accept or reject his offer?

she just kind of emotionally shut down. it was a lot to take in, esp for her. she took him up on his offer because by that point she was desperate for everything she’d gone through to mean something.

54. How does their story end?

credits rolled on her sitting on the edge of the star city with jespar. while the credits rolled i was staring into the void thinking about my life. not sure if that’s canon, next playthrough i’m gonna do a hard save before the final decision point and see if catharsis leaves me feeling less empty inside.

55. Do they change over the course of the story? In what ways?

she becomes a lot more confident and sure of herself and even though she never stops being an optimist she learns to stop setting herself on fire to keep others warm.

56. Anything else you’d like to share about them?

she’s so cautiously positive because she was written as a foil to my shadowgod alessia, a textbook nihilist who only got worse after the events of nehrim.

57. Bonus: For you- what are you most excited for in Forgotten Stories?

VEILED WOMAN BACKSTORY

[princessmtt]

the thing about having ocs is that ya gotta talk about them first if people are gonna be interested but idk how to do that so I’M JUST GONNA LIST THINGS AND HOPE FOR THE BEST

Corinne is white/Japanese. Her father is Italian (hence the surname Salucci), and her mother is a second generation Japanese-American.

her FCs are Young Mia Fey and Tifa Lockheart.

Her birthday is October 10, 199X. The barrier had been broken the summer before her 23rd birthday, and she began working as Mettaton’s assistant after she turned 24.

one of her main duties as his assistant is to drive him places; Mettaton is too tall to fit in any driver’s seat (being 7′5″), and taking a limo everywhere is just tacky.

which he is and he knows it but he is tasteful about it thank you

Corinne was originally conceived as his private agent, but that job didn’t give her a solid enough background.

She was born in Rosemont, IL, but moved to Los Angeles with her friend Gabriel for their careers. and also because she hates winter.

Corinne and Gabriel both work in the dance industry as instructors and choreographers; Gabriel is the spearhead of the studio, and Corinne is his second in command. they also run a dance group Pollyana, though Corinne is currently more of a reserve member due to her new job.

Gabriel has worked with celebrities before, and worked with/created dance routines for Mettaton before Corinne got the assistant job. He is the one who referred her to Mettaton in the first place.

Corinne’s main inspirations for her dance style are Kamen Liar 217, Asibuto Penta, Miume and KoRock. She’s one of the most flexible dancers at the studio, and is also the best at tutting. She also has a high school history in color guard.

Mettaton and Corinne met once very briefly before her job interview, but Mettaton isn’t aware of this. She plans on telling him about it eventually, but isn’t rushing about it.

Mettaton calls her “Connie”, unless he’s being serious.

During the first few months of working for him, a gossip mag had started a rumor mill that Corinne and Mettaton were sleeping together. While finding it absolutely hilarious and weirdly flattering in a way, Corinne was positive Mettaton would fire her because of it.

He did not, and was actually really mad about it for her sake more than his (those kinds of rumors were nothing he didn’t expect to happen for himself, but).

flash forward a while later, the whole ordeal inspired Corinne to create a wall of some of the hate mail she’s gotten because she finds it that funny. It’s basically this picture in the form of a collage. Mettaton hates the wall.

In the span of time since she started working for him, Mettaton has accidentally injured Corinne three times:

first was on a small outing to Muffet’s new bakery. while having Corinne taste-test some pastries for an event Mettaton was hosting (needing a human opinion), his battery began to glitch and he temporarily shut down. not knowing what to do, but knowing that his body was worth more money than her entire existence, Corinne tried to catch him before he completely fell to the ground; he ended up bruising her entire left shoulder. when he was up and running again, he told her to just let him drop next time.

second was an involuntary reaction; Mettaton was playing a game and had such a strong emotional response to a cutscene that he smacked Corinne in the face. again, she thought it was hilarious.

third was a technicality. while it wasn’t actually Mettaton himself that did it, a commemorative tin box in the shape of him ended up falling on Corinne’s head. it broke skin and gave her an awkward cut on her forehead for a week

Corinne routinely checks online forums and blogspots dedicated to Mettaton for the purpose of finding fanwork (he loves that stuff), and likes reading different theories people have on how he works.

debunked theories are: his feet (he has them), his sex drive/interest in sex (he has none), what’s in his pants (also nothing, giving birth to the inside joke “Schrodinger’s Genitalia”)

the strongest attribute of Corinne’s soul is Patience. It’s something she’s known for a while, and it’s something she has mixed feelings about.

conversely, her weakest attribute is Bravery. she thinks that makes perfect sense.

ironically, Corinne’s unusually high Patience was one of the core reasons Mettaton hired her in the first place--he knew he needed someone who would not only be able to keep up with him, but also put up with him.

the other reasons were her genuine kindness to Napstablook and Shyren, and the fact that he wanted someone that reminded him of Alphys, since no one kept him in check better.

this isn’t to say Alphys is dead or anything she’s just super busy rip

Corinne talks anime with Alphys a lot, and has given her and Undyne some recommendations. Undyne is very passionate about Bleach.

Mettaton once paid Corinne to take Alphys to an anime convention for her birthday.

she also got Papyrus into Layton. she’s really mad at how good he is at it.

She had somewhat figured out Mettaton was a ghost on her own, but after a night of unfortunate battery malfunctions has since been formally told about it.

like seriously dude you keep calling Naps your cousin?? you aren’t the same kind of monster??? what kind of conclusion did you think she’d come to after that

Mettaton finds it hilarious when Corinne curses because he thinks she has excellent delivery.

Corinne is allergic to chocolate.

As long as they’re both alive, Corinne always ends up working for Mettaton, no matter the time line.

this also applies to AUs (except fell bc I don’t got time for that)

in Underswap specifically, Corinne and Gabriel’s dance group are the official performers for Napstaton’s concerts. Napstaton hired her themselves to help Mettaton adjust to his new body, and also to work as his author’s assistant.

Corinne routinely teases Mettaton with Safety Bot. Mettaton hates it because he thinks it’s genuinely funny but he never sees it coming.

“Safety Bot” is one of the many names Corinne has given Mettaton in her phone contacts. Other names include “Big Boss”, “Tiny Box Tim”, “I AM D’BOX GHOST”, “Shoop-Shoop-I-Dub”, and “MY BRAND”.

Mettaton is her favorite meme

the only reason Safety Bot became an inside joke was because Corinne found out that Mettaton and Sans would quote The Baby Is You to one another without knowing the context. which she had to provide.

this means Corinne has had to explain Homestuck to Mettaton.

his favorite kid is Jane.

Sans likes Rose.

She's gotten Mettaton to watch a few animated shows, and play a bunch of video games. They have game nights now.

he played Hatoful Boyfriend and cried. as do we all.

she has also roped in a few games of Cards Against Humanity among the monster crew. she has to read out all the cards that Mettaton doesn’t want to say aloud. The most infamous and understandable one was, of course, “Pacman uncontrollably guzzling cum”. she does, however, have video footage of Mettaton defeatedly saying “titty sprinkles”.

“Connie-darling, what’s ‘pixelated bukkake’?” “Lemme ask you this, boss, do you know what a “money shot” is?” “Unfortunately.” “Multiply that by a factor of 10.” “Ewwwwww.”

on Superfight! night, the two of them got into a heated argument about who would win in a fight between A Baby Assassin Holding Another Baby or Voltron Whoopi Goldberg. Corinne won with Whoopi.

Mettaton frequently goes to Corinne for explanations on how human bodies operate on a personal level (knowing how they work scientifically). In return, he tells her how monsters operate in the same vein. Good learning experience overall.

A lot of his questions do tend to revolve around human sex and sexuality, since sex isn’t a thing that monsters do. as such, fairly obvious innuendos tend to fly over his head. Corinne usually has to explain them in post. it is a thankless job, but also funny to see him so scandalized.

She’s declared herself first in line to fight Mettaton for Hatsune Miku’s hand in marriage. Mettaton has honored this.

only they know how much they’re joking about it

This is them in 10 years.

Corinne considers her relationship with Mettaton one of the closest she might get to having a brother.

Mettaton is her hero.

This would genuinely surprise him if he knew.

[iadmethods]

3. Design in the everyday context (09.03.20) 1/3

Starting from now there will be a presentation each week. Today’s was Design in the everyday context. Aathmigan covered “Design in science-fiction and Andreas focused on the meaning of “home” and “everyday”.

1. Design in science-fiction presented by Aathmigan

2. Everyday and home presented by Andreas

3. Readings; Design in the everyday context

.......................................................................................

1. Design in science-fiction presented by Aathmigan

First the definitions were made. He kept them simple and easy to grasp.

-The purpose of science fiction is to imagine a possible future. Characters are made to entertain.

-In design we have Personas, they help to describe a possible function, purposes and scenarios.

-An Interface is the part of a system used for communication, and a user-interface is the space where interactions between users and machines occur

Later on, Joelle added that entertainment and function don’t have to be exclusive, that something can be both. As an example, a function which entertainment can have is to speculate how culture could evolve in the future, test ideas and technologies and do this with a complete open mind, as there are no boundaries or restrictions on what we could imagine.

Another thing Joelle mentioned was that fiction is about challenging our thought process, how we project ourselves onto the future and about challenging our future role. Examples for this are utopias and dystopias. Utopias being an ideal possible society and dystopias being society we don’t want.

An example which springs to my mind is the novel “the giver” which we read in secondary school. It’s a dystopian novel about a futuristic society and in this book, all pain and fear has been eliminated from society. On paper this idea sounds nice, however when you read the book or watch the movie you most likely feel that this is not a world you would like to live in. I really think the book did a really good job of highlighting the pitfalls of an idea which seems nice when you first hear it.

All of that being said, there is a lot which we have learned from and created with science fiction being the main source of inspiration.

Some examples which Aathmigan mentioned were;

-Volumetric projection

This is a 3D visual (similar to a hologram) which is used for communication, navigation, medical imaging.

Pepper’s ghost floating in space, in the movie “Forbidden planet” (1956) was the inspiration which lead to volumetric projection.

Some more examples of volumetric projection are seen in Star Wars - a new hope (1977), Iron man 2 (2010), Matrix reloaded (2003), and Avatar (2009)

An example which I thought of, was there being real life concerts of a fictional character “Hatsune Miku”.

-Gestures

Gestures are used in Re-Embodiment technology, touch screens, and canonical gesture (E.g. a hand gesture)

Some examples are;

Wave to activate in “Johnny Mnemonic” (1995)

Push to move in “Ironman 2” (2010),

Turn to rotate in “Firefly “Ariel”” (episode 9, 2002)

Swipe to dismiss in (Johnny Mnemonic 1995)

Point or touch to select “Chrysalis” (2007)

Extend hand to shoot “The Incredibles” (2004) and Ironman (2008)

Pinch and spread to scale “Johnny Mnemonic” (1995)

These have influenced the smartphones nowadays, as seen in the Iphone X 2018, where you can swipe up from the bottom edge to go to the home screen. More examples are the Wii and Microsoft Hololens.

-Augmented reality (this is enhancing a real-life environment with computer generated elements)

An example of AR used in daily life would be (most) snapchat filters.

-Sonic interfaces (an interface which uses sound to communicate) E.g. Siri

Joelle also added that another strong influence on Interaction Design has been Startreck. The utopian vision to explore space and meet new people and form connections is prevalent and many innovations have also stem from this.

My personal thoughts on the first presentation:

-I think it was presented very clearly, there were no tangents and no room for confusion, everything was kept short and precise but at the same time there were many examples and it was entertaining.

-In one of the previous texts the point that limitations draw out creativity and push us to find solutions to work around those problems was made. However, I would definitely like to experiment with sci-fi ideas with no limitations. Being a student who has not yet acquired a bachelor in any field and having extremely limited programming skills for the time being, sometimes when we’re asked to make something I do feel like I could come up with something much better without having to work around my current lack of expertise. Not all the time, but now and then I think it would be fun to come up with bigger things and pass off the missing tasks to people in other fields.

-The point that there are jobs like a Disney imagineer, who invents possible future scenarios peeked my interest and after this lecture I felt in the mood to write a sci-fi story myself.

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 1/25/20

Again!!, Vol. 12 | By Mitsurou Kubo | Kodansha Comics – For better or worse, Again!! has always been unpredictable. I appreciate that it didn’t always follow the expected story beats, but at the same time, the inconsistency has been frustrating. For example, Imamura’s fluctuating dedication to the Ouendan had him proclaim at one point how much he wanted his grandma to see him cheering, and had that occurred it would’ve been a heart-tugging moment. But it didn’t happen. Instead, Imamura returns from another do-over (this time, flashing to a future in which his death inspired the other characters) with an apathetic attitude that eventually prompts him to return to 2014—a future where his grandmother is dead—without apparently a single pang about it. The ending is also kind of abrupt and ambiguous. In the end, I find myself wishing this had been more predictable, ‘cos at least it would’ve been more satisfying. – Michelle Smith

Chihayafuru, Vol. 18 | By Yuki Suetsugu | Kodansha Comics (digital only) – This volume is full of choices for Chihaya. It’s time to complete another career survey, and this time she fills in a more realistic goal than becoming Queen. It’s also less ambitious, however, and thus her karuta advisor comes to see her play at the Yoshino Club Tournament to ask someone with more experience whether Chihaya really has the potential to become Queen. Happily, she’s playing with more precision and focus than ever, but her next opponent is Haruka Inokuma, a 4-time former Queen, so her chances really hinge on how she fares in that match. (I suspect Taichi vs. Arata is in the offing, as well.) Too, the school trip conflicts with the Master/Queen qualifiers, and Chihaya must choose which side of herself she wants to cultivate more. I seriously love this series and am eagerly anticipating the next volume! – Michelle Smith

Dr. STONE, Vol. 9 | By Riichiro Inagaki and Boichi | Viz Media – Perhaps being interesting was too much to ask, but Taiju and Yuzuriha are at least contributing now that they’ve been added to Senku’s team—Taiju by being a literal tank soaking up damage, and Yuzuriha by apparently taking all the statues that Tsukasa smashed and sewing them together, presumably so they can be revived. If this seems farfetched, it’s no more so than finding the hospital where Tsukasa’s terminally ill little sister was located and unstoning her, which apparently also cures her illness. That said, Tsukasa may not be the end boss, as there’s another who’s been waiting for the moment to make his debut as a Big Bad. This continues to be ridiculous but also cool. – Sean Gaffney

Hatsu*Haru, Vol. 10 | By Shizuki Fujisawa | Yen Press – Best Couple get the cover, and I continue to be more interested in them than I am Riko and Kai, who are cute and all but also somewhat predictable. The four of them go to the hot springs, mostly as Riko is too nervous to be alone with Kai, and Takaya learns that Ayumi leaves herself wide open. After a cute but slight Valentine’s chocolate chapter, the best part comes when Ayumi gets a bad cold and Takaya visits, meeting her parents and finding out she’s actually pretty rich and her family are famous film creators. Ayumi is not yet ready to reciprocate Takaya’s feelings, but she does open up to him about wanting to seek her own path. It’s great to see, and we have three volumes left after this, so I’m sure it will work out. – Sean Gaffney

ROADQUEEN: Eternal Roadtrip to Love | By Mira Ong Chua | Seven Seas – While not technically manga, ROADQUEEN will likely still appeal both stylistically and thematically to readers who enjoy Japanese comics. In particular, the volume makes an excellent addition to Seven Seas’ catalog of yuri titles. ROADQUEEN originated as a short online comic, followed up by a much longer multi-chapter sequel. Both of these stories and an additional bonus comic are collected in this volume. Leo, the prince of Princess Andromeda Academy, only has eyes for Bethany—her motorcycle. At least until Vega arrives on the scene and steals Bethany away. Vega promises she’ll give the bike back, but only after Leo proves that she can be a decent lesbian (not to mention human being). ROADQUEEN is deliberately over-the-top, Chua obviously having a lot of fun playing with tropes, but it can actually be very touching, too. With an abundance of humor and a ton of heart, ROADQUEEN is an absolute delight. – Ash Brown

Saki the Succubus Hungers Tonight, Vol. 1 | By Mikokuno Homare and studio HIP-CATs | Ghost Ship – I will admit that for a title that’s coming out via the Ghost Ship label, which means “borderline porn,” this is pretty cute. Saki is a fairly new, still virginal succubus who has been thrown out of her family home as she’s old enough to be finding men to “feed” on, but she’s honestly a bit too shy for all that. She is thus near starvation when found by Renta, an adult salaryman who is also a virgin. They clearly fall for each other pretty fast, but are also both innocent and clueless, so nothing happens… well, OK, something happens, she manages to “feed,” but the plot is still “will they ever actually do anything” and the answer is likely “no.” Still, for tease, this is relatively cute and sweet. – Sean Gaffney

Snow White with the Red Hair, Vol. 5 | By Sorata Akiduki | Viz Media – Welp, despite what I thought, the series does not end just because the main couple confessed. Indeed, most of the volume involves separating the two—not by design, but simply as Shirayuki has been invited to another country for a get together… her old country, where Prince Raj is. Indeed, after having it out with her a couple of volumes ago, Raj is seemingly turning over a new leaf, but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable around her at all—he never expected she’d accept the invitation. Her bodyguard for this journey is Obi, and I note that this series is very good at having a bunch of guys in it who are not immediately in love with the heroine. Whether that’s true of the new villain introduced here, who knows? – Sean Gaffney

Teasing Master Takagi-san, Vol. 7 | By Soichiro Yamamoto | Yen Press – Having established that our leads will end up married with a child in the future, the series can now slowly move forward in increments, culminating in the final chapter here, where Nishikata, of his own volition, asks Takagi to the summer festival. But we’re also looking back, as we get to see how the two of them first met, and how Nishikata’s two basic qualities—a nice guy with great faces when he’s embarrassed or upset—inspire Takagi almost immediately. I’m not sure this is exactly when she falls for him, but she certainly has by the end of this book, which gives us another nice blushing reaction from her. Oh yes, and there’s still plenty of teasing. You expected something else? – Sean Gaffney

The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 2 | By Kousuke Oono | VIZ Media – This was another fun volume of The Way of the Househusband, in which Tatsu tries aerobics and yoga, intimidates a yakuza by offering him kitchen gadgets, eradicates stubborn stains in Masa’s laundry, plays volleyball with housewives, and more. I really appreciate that we saw more of Miku, his wife, this time around, and probably my favorite chapter is the final one, in which her parents drop by for a visit. Even though the fish-out-of-water setup in this series reminds me of the premise of Saint Young Men, The Way of the Househusband is not only visually superior (better art, great pacing to jokes), but has more heart, especially the bonus chapter in which we see Miku’s dad practicing for the moment when he asks Tatsu if he wants to go outside and play catch. I stop short of calling the manga sweet, but it’s wholly endearing. Highly recommended. – Michelle Smith

Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 13 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – Yowamushi Pedal, Vol. 13 | By Wataru Watanabe | Yen Press – OK, I was probably foolish to think the race would end in this volume. We’re gonna have to wait for fourteen. But in return, we get so much shonen sports at its best. Midousuji does his best, but then crashes and burns. Instead, it’s Manami who gets the bulk of this book, where we discover that he enjoys shifting gears higher when he should be doing the opposite, just to make things even more fun. That said, he shouldn’t dismiss our hero, Onoda, who has his pedaling and his Pretty Princess song to keep him going forever. (Oh yes, and his mother shows up—apparently at rando, as he never told her about the race? This was the funniest part of the book.) Things should end next volume… well, at least this race. – Sean Gaffney

By: Ash Brown