#and keep changing and updating the “design” as i go bc it seems so limiting to only be one way forever

[corvids-corner]

the trans experience of making your 4th oc that basically just looks like you and realizing that you yourself are bascially just a physical oc

[yesterdoesart]

⚖️ Saiban Superheroes AU ⚡️

(Updated Feb. 10, 2021) I'm RIDICULOUSLY excited to bring you all this AU, which both golden.ghostie and naribug (@zelandiangelo) of instagram helped on. Presenting Turnabout Heroes: An Ace Attorney Superhero AU!

Basically, this is an AU where basically everything is the same except some of the characters are superheroes/villains on the sides. I plan on writing a bit about how this affects the cases!

If you want to see more of this (or if you want to make content for this; I'd love to see it) I'm using #saiban superheroes to keep track of everything!

Singular references are below the cut because Tumblr keeps ruining my formatting. You can also find more info on the characters and designs under the cut bc I like symbolism :) There ARE spoilers for the trilogy and minor AAI/AAI2 spoilers though.

Each hero here has three powers: Two that they can do easily anytime, anywhere - a go-to. The third is what I'm calling a Trump Card. Trump Cards are powers that require a lot of energy and only work for short ammounts of time in one go. Think of it as a last resort that can change the course of a fight.

Phoenix Wright → Turnabout Terror

Powers: Super Strength & High Constitution. His super strength is inspired by the number of un-open-able doors Phoenix has barreled his way through. His high constitution is based on the sheer number of times Phoenix should have died, but did not. Trump Card: Negation. Turnabout Terror can briefly cancel out another person’s superpower. His Trump Card is based on how underestimated Phoenix is as a lawyer. Power negation felt like a neat way to characterize the way he’s able to get past his opponents tricks and catch them off their guard. Character Notes: Phoenix gained his powers after he ate the necklace during the trial of State v. Wright (2014). Contrary to the court’s belief, there was enough poison in Dahlia’s necklace remaining to theoretically kill Phoenix. Instead of this, though, the poison caused his powers to develop. Turnabout Terror’s name comes from the fact that he’s very good at saving the day when things seem like they’re at a loss. The design for his costume is based on Signal Blue from the Signal Samurai! I took a bit of inspiration from Power Rangers for his sleeves, as Signal Samurai give me that vibe, and I think that it gave the costume a cool modern twist. The emblems on the top are, of course, based on the Attorney Badge! I felt like adding the scale was too obvious though.

Maya Fey → Mystic

Powers: Perception Alteration & Fighting Skill. Perception alteration is inspired by the Magatama, which changes the way the user sees things - Granted, this is less in a literal sense, but I still found it fitting. Fighting skill is something I added that the Fey family would practice. They’d likely practice jujutsu - This is a Japanese martial art with a long history, and it is based on disarming & pinning, which I feel fits with the Fey family - You’d need to pin a medium without hurting them to conduct spirit severing. Trump Card: Channeling. Mystic is able to channel spirits and borrow their energy to unleash. This is almost directly from canon, but I added the part about harnessing energy. I felt that this fit best as a trump card as Maya usually channels Mia when the going gets rough. Character Notes: Mystic is a mantle that has been passed down generation to generation in the Fey Family, similar to how the title “Master of Kurain” is. Before Maya became Mystic, her sister Mia held the title. Before she became Mystic, Maya used the mantle “Fuji Senshi”, meaning “Wisteria Warrior” - This is a nod to her love of the Steel Samurai and Pink Princess. Speaking of Pink Princess, Mystic’s costume is based on the Pink Princess - I gave the design furisode and a side-part opening, like her. It’s also based on the Kurain and Hazakura training robes. Since the mantle is passed down, I imagine that while Pink Princess-esque is Maya’s special spin, all heroes who take the mantle of Mystic draw from Kurain tradition in their costume.

Miles Edgeworth → Glacieus

Powers: Ice & Impossible Mobility. Ice was the perfect power choice for Edgeworth, who’s noted for his cold stares and chilly demeanor. He can both create ice and freeze surfaces. Impossible mobility was chosen for his ability to roll with the punches in the courtroom - Even after he’s thrown completely off guard, he’s able to quickly recover and keep fighting. Trump Card: Checkmate. Glacieus can create a trap covering a square area. When his enemy falls or steps into it, it temporarily paralyzes them, rendering them unable to make any moves. This is based on his Logic Chess from Ace Attorney Investigations II, as this is his way of cornering people and getting them to give him the information and opportunities he needs. Notes: Miles’ powers were passed down to him by his father. In his family, powers are either passed down to the next generation as a right of passage or upon the death of the previous wielder. This factors in to Miles’ fears that he accidentally killed his father in the DL-6 incident. “Glacieus” is based off the word “Glacier” - An icy name for an icy hero. His design is based off of kamishimo, which is a type of Samurai formal wear. This is both a nod to the Steel Samurai and to his eloquence and formality. While most of the masks I created are blindfold-esque, this was a conscious decision for Glacieus, based on the concept of “Blind Justice”. 

Franziska von Karma → Zenit

Powers: Weapon summoning & tracking. Franziska’s already a powerhouse in game with her whip, so it made sense to base her power on this. While she can summon other weapons, such as swords or knives, her whip is still her weapon of choice. Her tracking ability is based on the way she tracks Gumshoe in “Justice for All” - She can track people she’s met in person. Trump Card: Impossible Stamina. Zenit has the ability to push herself past her limit, unleashing extra power in a fight. This felt like an ideal Trump Card for her because Franziska is stubborn to a fault and refuses to give up - She always works extra hard to meet her own (and her family's) high standards. Notes: Zenit is German for “Zenith”, which refers to the time where something is most successful. Franziska strives for perfection, trying to prove her worthiness to her father and to herself, so it makes sense that her mantle would also boast this perfection. Her costume is based on Medieval German knights - Franziska is very much a fighter, so this felt fitting for her. It also fits because she, like Miles, is very tied to her honor, so I like the motif of a noble knight for her.

[ionfusionpunk]

For the Fic title ask game: tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow

[Did a little editing bc this got real long, lol]

Thank you, Nonnie! asdfghjkl I actually kinda blushed when I saw people had sent me asks for this, truly. 

Now, for this title, I had a lot of feels. It’s very poetically put, and I had to put some thought into what I might write because this sort of title, in my book, deserves that level of forethought. Ultimately there were two stories I might write based on this, the first a tad more generic than the second, but I would read them both if someone else wrote them, so I kept them, lol. Seeing as I’m currently in a SW state of mind, I stuck with that fandom, though if you’d like to see something for another fandom (Naruto, The Hobbit, LOTR, TMNT, BBC Sherlock, BBC Musketeers, Supernatural, LEGO Ninjago - all of the fandoms I’ve dabbled in), send another ask! I love hearing from others. Out of curiosity, before I give you the story, though, do you mind if I ask how you came up with this title? It’s just - so lovely, Nonnie <3

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (First Idea)

Everyday is hard. Obi-Wan knows this. He lives this. He leads men into battle, he sends others off without his protection. He watches many, so many, fall, and feels the hundreds across the Third System Army snuffed with each campaign. 

He fights with Anakin, struggles to come to terms with the idea that his former Padawan is now a Knight with a Padawan of his own - that Anakin doesn��t need him anymore. He tries to fill in Ahsoka’s education where Anakin, in his inexperience, falls short. 

He takes on extra duties because he can, because the Republic needs him to, because he can’t bear to foist even more onto Cody’s shoulders (willing as his commander may be). He does everything he can to keep the morale and health of his men up, to spread hope and Light despite the dreary darkness the war saturates them all with. 

Obi-Wan does everything he can. He does. He tries so, so hard. He trudges through each day until he once more finds himself at his desk with yet another datapad and cup of lukewarm tea, staying up all through the night to fulfill each of his duties to the best of his ability. Then the day cycle restarts or an emergency comes up, and he’s right back at it again. 

It’s not all chaos, of course. There’s sparring with Anakin and Ahsoka. There’s the brief moments spent in the presence of his friends and fellow Councilors. There’s infrequent calls from Bant and Garen and even Quinlan. 

There’s his men. 

The 212th is, without a doubt, Obi-Wan’s second-greatest pride and weakness, tied with Ashoka herself. He loves them all - their individuality, their creativity, their dogged determination to push on as long as he does, and then more when they’re forced to carry him. Nothing brings quite as much joy or peace as walking through the halls of the Negotiator and greeting each clone by name or designation, nothing quite as satisfying as spending a quiet evening with Cody filling out paperwork and laughing over the latest stunts pulled by the 501st. 

And Obi-Wan finds that, if he focuses on those good things, those small moments of peace, then he can push off his own worries and nightmares and needs until tomorrow. He can ignore the Darkness slowly spreading for another day. He can endure one more sunset on some Force-forsaken planet where the Separatist forces seem to keep coming without end and the elements conspire against them. 

Until tomorrow. 

Just think of Waxer and Boil exchanging their latest updates from Numa. 

Think of Fives and Echo and the chaos they caused when Obi-Wan requested their presence for extra training for Ghost Company.

Think of Rex and his exasperated comm-calls about Anakin’s latest antics. 

Remember the way Cody tore through two squad’s worth of droids with Obi-Wan’s ‘saber just to give it back to him - the way his eyes rolled in fond exasperation once the battle was over and he berated his “ridiculous general” for never managing to hold on to his weapon. 

Everyday, think of them again. Drive the Darkness back until tomorrow. 

And tomorrow. 

And tomorrow. 

Do that, and victory will come. Trust in your men, in yourself, in the Force. 

The Force will be with you. 

Always. 

Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow (Idea Two)

Obi-Wan is killed on Mustafar. Anakin overpowers him and drives his lightsaber through Obi-Wan’s heart. 

And Obi-Wan wakes up. 

He wakes up in his quarters in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. He wakes up with a tiny Anakin pressed against his side and hair an awkward, chin-length tangle. He doesn’t know what’s happening, doesn’t know if this is the Force or a vision or real, but he makes the best of it regardless. He spends two months teaching Anakin again, doing things he had often wished he had Before. And just as he finally thinks things are changing…

Obi-Wan wakes up in his quarters on the Negotiator. His chrono tells him it’s nine months into the war, and his heart aches with the phantom pains of his death. He still doesn’t know what’s happening. But still he forges on. He has a duty to do his best regardless of his own limitations, his growing insecurities and confusions. For one month, this time, he fights alongside his men, does his best to prevent the various disasters that had occurred the first time around. And if he notices that Anakin is a bit Lighter now, well. Obi-Wan is still swallowed by grief every time he looks at his former Padawan.

He wakes up, this time, on Manda’yaim, Satine Kryze a few feet away and snoring softly. Qui-Gon isn’t there, and Obi-Wan ignores the ache in his chest. For seven months they evade Kyr’tsad’s grasp, and he uses all the negotiating skill he’d lacked back then to keep Satine from falling into such a black-and-white world view. He wakes before he knows if he succeeds. 

This time he doesn’t recognize where he is. It’s hot, though, and unbearably bright. He walks outside into the waning daylight and counts two suns, observes nothing but sand and cliffs all around. He spends the next two days exploring, making his way to the settlement a few klicks west. He leaves more confused than before, because this is not the Tatooine he remembers. That night, as he meditates out beneath the triplet moons on the still-warm sand, he sees Qui-Gon. In fact, Qui-Gon talks to him. Obi-Wan is so overwhelmed, so confused, his heart pounding so sharply in his chest, that he cries. He cries for an hour, Qui-Gon hovering anxiously nearby until he can recover himself and explain in halting sentences everything that’s gone on. Qui-Gon promises to try and find some answers, then fades into the night. 

And Obi-Wan wakes up in the embrace of the Force. Peace, it whispers. 

He asks it why he’s here, why he’s seen the things he has. 

To teach you, it admits. To offer you a chance. 

Chance? What chance? A chance to torture himself with things that could never be? 

To offer you a chance to go back and change things. 

He’s shocked. Floored. All of that… was real? 

Yes. You needed to see all the things you could change so that you can decide what would best be changed. 

Me. You want… me to choose? Where I go, what I alter? 

Yes. And wherever you go, we will place the knowledge you need to succeed in your path. It will be up to you to recognize it. 

Obi-Wan thinks of all the good he could do, thinks of the Darkness he could prevent. “I want,” he says at last, “to be surrounded by Light. I want to go where I have the most chances of succeeding.” 

The Force hums around him, cradles him close. He, in turn, basks in its Light, in the comfort of home. And he lets the Force lull him back to sleep.

He wakes up on the ground in one of the only dog piles he’d ever participated in. Cody has an arm thrown over his chest, and Waxer’s stomach pillows his head. Boil’s head rests on Obi-Wan’s arm, and someone else is curled around his feet. Everywhere he is surrounded by the peaceful quiet of men fast asleep, of men who radiate love and contentment into the Force. 

Obi-Wan weeps silently for the Light that surrounds them.

And when he wakes again, it's the same Tomorrow. 

[plush-anon]

scooby doo guess who? not much really review

currently taking advantage of boomerang’s scoobiversary freebies to watch scooby doo guess who

my impression so far? the animation is weeeeeeeiiiiird. some scenes i would swear to gods on being straight up traced from older hanna barbera scooby shows, like a la 70s era - some scooby shots have that same perspective, angle, etc that you only saw used in the HB Scoobies, which is just strange to see in a modern production - even the WNSD? crew never had scooby faces this close to past animations

shots of the gang also experience this. A lot of the distance shots of them could honestly be taken from the 70s, given the lack of details in their faces, the strange framing proportions - only with cleaner line work and brighter colors (which oddly enough make it look WORSE)

also some of the facial animations in the close-ups just look... off. like the words don’t quite fit their face? In fact, a lot of the character design feels really, REALLY off, and I have no idea how to articulate it.

actually wait, I think I have it - it’s the linework. Some of the lines are really clearly defined in thick black while the rest is either the same color/sliver off-color as the main drawing or really thin - and it keeps changing from shot to shot. It’s literally like someone keeps tracing different old shots of the gang and the pen used changes with each new picture. on the one hand, it makes it look a LOT more like a cleaned-up Hanna Barbera cartoon. but on the other hand? yikes. At least Be Cool SD had their own designs and were consistent. this is just... awkward to watch, imo.

even the backgrounds feel like they’re trying to recapture the HB designs - the ones which were kinda painted looking in some shots, a little rough? but with the colors (both background and animated pieces) and linework being as vivid and clear as they are in some scenes, the clash is really apparent when the characters are on screen (also the characters are doing the HB thing where they will just... randomly teleport from one action to a different one and different positions).

combined with reused sound effects from the old shows (the Sherlock Holmes one reused the laughing sound effects from the green phantoms) was Warner Bros literally trying to re-make the Hanna Barbera stuff - down to almost traced-looking art and animation? it doesn’t work as well tho, bc the animation is pretty smooth - again, oddly a point against it, bc of how much it clashes. 

the Hanna Barbera stuff worked bc everything kinda fit each other - the character animation, the backgrounds, the color pallettes, everything felt like it was part of the same design. here, it feels like a trace and repaint that is jarringly different, as we see on display in the show’s opening. they capture the design elements, ramp up the neon and very bright vivid colors, and clean up the linework to something that mimics HB Scooby, but feels off because of the cleaned up quality.

As far as the humor? It’s honestly very hit and miss. Some stuff lands, some stuff feels like I’ve seen it in other things (monster designs from other shows, primarily WNSD? so far; running gags that were lifted straight from 70s era episodes and not in an homage kinda way, but ‘literally exact same gag but with different monster’, like the Wanda Sykes ep using the werewolf barber gag) - it’s very, VERY mishmash, and I can’t tell if they wanted to straight up remake the New Scooby Doo Movies (they did the guest stars) but with prettier colors and better animation, or if they were just THAT lazy in making this (which is also a possibility - they’re working on the new SCOOB movie, but still want Scooby in the public eye, so producing a quick show like this would not be too far off for WB, if they wanna bring back older ideas of Scooby)

It’s actually pretty jarring at times to see the gang pull out modern tech (ESPECIALLY in the Funky Phantom ep) - bc they rely so much on the HB style and formula for this particular show, it’s exceedingly out of place to see smart phones and tablets. WNSD, SDMI, BCSD, and even PNSD evade this by having their own unique animation style, way of approaching humor, etc, so they can update and still feel relatively smooth about it. this tho? since they do pull so heavily on HB for style and animation and setting, modern stuff really is strange to pull up. 

honestly, this all reminds me of that one Bat-Mite driven episode of Batman: Brave & the Bold crossing over with Scooby Doo. That one had more updated animation and smoother backgrounds, but still looked near identical to the original NSDM show, and matched it for tone. Kinda wondering what the game here was, but eh, who knows. 

(although I am VERY PEEVED at Daphne’s design - everyone else seems okay proportions-wise, but she sometimes has a waist the samE SIZE AS FRED’S WRIST, and hips twice the size of her head. I just... what even, WB). 

Credit where credit is due tho, the gang at least feels like a group of friends, and work well together as expected with the older shows. They also show that they care about each other, and do go to help each other if a plan goes wrong with Shag & Scoob in bait mode, or if someone gets knocked over/hurt. they don’t interact much on a personal level outside of mysteries, but they have the same dynamic from the 70s, so that’s good (again in the Wanda Sykes episode, Scooby affirms how much he loves Shaggy as his human, the gang worry about each other getting hurt or leap after to help each other out - it’s sweet)

The guest stars have also been kinda hit or miss - personal faves so far are Sherlock Holmes and Wanda Sykes. The funky Phantom ep was kind of obnoxious, and the others have been pretty forgettable so far, with the Ricky Gervais one being just... awkward. So very, very... VERY awkward. 

Minor fun fact: Shaggy confirmed to have read Sherlock Holmes mysteries enough to know which piece of dialogue Sherlock quotes is from which story. it’s great :D

that episode also remains the best bc it contains the line ‘YES, remember: Sherlock Holmes posted your bail!’ which he actually did. the gang gets arrested, and Sherlock Holmes bails them out. 

overall, it’s not a terrible showing for Scooby Doo - in fact some of the classic gags play out pretty well (the running back and forth gag, disguise tricks, etc). it’s just kind of meh bc of how oddly put together it is. 

I’m working on watching more before the freebie time limit expires, so I’ll post a little bit more when I do.  

[spellwords-remade]

we’re playing this game i guess lol @spineofdeathwing the links in the post have been deleted since i deactivated the blog but yeah

snowfallen-nymph/amora’lei

STOP accusing me of copying when u r CONTINOUSLY STILL DOING EVERYTHING I DO! in design and personality and writing! i cannot escape this drama so i have to keep adding to this post with every ocurrence. the sheer amount of copying u have done to completely turn ur character around into a carbon copy is very very discomforting.

*i also do not claim to own these concepts in their individual respects, but, when you weave them together into a character, they become mine in that essence, and when they are all copied in that essence, it becomes valid to call plagiarism* if ur character has these traits, i do not assume for a moment u have copied me, and instead just have similar interests.

MORE UNDER THE CUT, **RECENT UPDATES**—

EDIT:

she is currently turning her character completely away from the naive and empathetic character to one like mine. a while ago she had accused me of making my character naive to love like hers, and i explained that it’s the opposite. mystearine actually actively despises love. now hers does too.

she’s still doing the whole depersonalization/derealization thing of mine, along with her other characteristics that slowly become just like mine. her concept has basically completely changed.

EDIT, IT’S NOW LITERALLY EXACTLY MY DESIGN:

i said that the design stuff didn’t bother me that much but this cannot be a coincidence that as soon as i do a transluscent skirt she does, and feathers, as i always had. and ur going 2 come @ me for “stealing ur hairstyle” when mine isn’t even close aside from also having braids, and then modify ur hairstyle to be exactly like mine in all ur recent art w the twintail braids and rest down, on top of all the other design things.

i don’t own this stuff and i don’t like to come at design stuff bc no design is completely original blahblah but it is so so suspicious to do these things after i do them, continuously.

NEW PIC ADDED BECAUSE IT GOT EVEN CLOSER NOW. this is basically my EXACT design.

EDIT, SHE CLASS CHANGED TO MATCH MINE:

amora’lei is now played on a mage, nymphe, on WrA Alliance. i bring this up because my my character is a mage, and it seems like this is done to make her character’s abilities, and her character overall, even more like mine than she already is. i mean it when i say i can’t have one thing. her priest is now a mage, just like my character.

EDIT:

(this one’s very minor but still makes me uncomfortable due to the rest) reached image limit in post, but now she’s copying my ballerina thing. literally, i can’t have one thing— https://i.imgur.com/OcvzUyW

-

NOTE:

my “confessions” past the first were also untrue. i explain in the post my wrong with the inspiration to the empathy, but, i want to elaborate on that after the first time, i ceased and didn’t continue. i freely admit my offense against her— she refuses to admit her multitude of offenses against me that continue on to this day. i only fell into saying i did because i was afraid. in fact, everything she accused me of past that, i had before. meanwhile, she has been copying me from the beginning i’m pretty sure, and grasps onto that one thing to place me entirely in the wrong when she has stolen my entire character at this point, and she’s barely recognizable as a different character.

-

i don’t claim this stuff once again, it’s only copying because of the overwhelming amount of other instances.

[jeshikawa]

Hi there! I love your blog! I'm an aspiring jet (hopefully to be accepted in April), and I have some body image issues. (I'm not fat, but I have some tummy) I have no idea what you look like, but you seem really nice, so I was wondering if you had any tips or useful anecdotes based on what you've heard from other JETs or your own experiences if relevant.

Hey! First, good luck!

As for your question… I think I can relate. I’m not fat but I have a little weight in places like my stomach and thighs. I’m pretty confident for the most part but getting to this point was a process of acceptance of myself and disregard for others.

I have a few personal experiences and I’ll mention those and how I dealt with them. This is going to be super tldr

1. Free-size. A lot of clothes stores don’t actually sell clothes in multiple sizes. Instead, they have something called “free-size” meaning it should, in theory, fit everyone. And I’m going to tell you 90% of the time this is pure bullshit and that’s only because I’ve been lucky so maybe I’m generous. When Japanese companies design these clothes, they work with Japanese beauty standards in mind. They aren’t design to accommodate the body sizes the same way some places do. You might find that a lot of free size clothes just won’t fit because they’re too small. I came to Japan understanding the beauty standards would be different here but this still got to me after awhile. There’s nothing like trying to update your wardrobe and going to store after store and seeing all of the clothes just won’t fit. After awhile, I just started to feel like an awkward giant.

But you know what? This isn’t just a me problem and it isn’t even a non-Japanese problem. A lot of Japanese people have the exact same problem!!! Men and women will find themselves too big or even *too slim* to fit into some of these brands that only cater to *a very limited range of sizes*. The beauty standard is fucked up in Japan and the fashion industry caters to it. It won’t change for awhile because businesses will always try to find ways to make more for less and by catering to a smaller size, they save money on production time and materials. I’m not the only one having a hard time.

2. There are some clothes companies that are better about sizes like UNIQLO and H&M. There are other import chains like Gap and Old Navy in some places. I’ve had much more luck in these places but it doesn’t change the fact I have limited options. Sometimes you just get tired of going to the same store and having the same style. Sometimes you get tired of looking like a mannequin at one of these stores 24/7. Also, even if these companies have better options, they’re still selling things with Japanese people in mind so you’ll find that clothes can still run on the smaller size. There are more options out there like plus size stores and just smaller, local places that are just better about size. You might have to ask around and do some research about what’s out there for you.

3. And like you know when stores near you suck, you still have online shopping. Go measure yourself and head to Amazon or see if your favorite brands ship internationally. This has honestly my biggest thing here because I can get clothes I want and keep up with my own style.

4. Like I said, Japanese beauty standards are fucked up. It’s not just Japan! Beauty standards all over the world are messed up. When you come to Japan, don’t hold yourself to those same standards. Nothing you do is going to suddenly make you shorter or your feet shrink. Maybe you can lose some weight (I lost a bit) but be realistic and responsible! Don’t try to make yourself fit into a box you literally can’t fit into.

I’ve had a few experiences with this. I’m very lucky to be associated with some pretty cool people at work and socially. I’m a different size. They see that and don’t hold me to the same standards. To them, it’s normal if I’m taller and a little bigger. Not everyone is lucky enough to be surrounded by decent people and I’ve met people who *have* called me fat.

I’ve met a few people who have straight up called me fat. Here’s something to keep in mind here: it’s shitty and not ok but a lot of people *think* it’s ok. To them, they’re just ~looking out for you~. I’ve never met anyone mean but I have met some well intentioned dumbos. But bad things can come from good intentions. It’s weird to explain but the people who say this shit to me remind me of my korean relatives who say things like “you’ve gotten so *big*” and touch my stomach. Or of my mom who straight up calls me fat sometimes and tells me to lose weight. :/ I’ve never met anyone who’s called me fat/etc to make me feel bad here. It was always just unwanted and rude concern or really shit ways to make small talk. Depending on the person or whatever, I just laugh and don’t care but one time I took a moment to explain that hurt my feelings and that person was sorry.

The one time I really got grief over my weight was during my health check. I’m about 5’4 (~162cm) and weight about 150lbs (68kg). Purely on paper based on BMI or whatever, I’m a little overweight by US standards. But there are SO MANY factors to keep in mind here. I weighed the exact same in high school and was *shook* at my physical but my doctor told me a big part of it at the time was because I was working out a lot and all of the muscle in my (long) legs was pushing my weight up. I don’t work out as much anymore but I’ve grown and have kept the exact same weight give or take a few pounds depending on the season. There are things like lifestyle and body shape and weight distribution and even your native diet and your country of origin in mind………………. and my japanese healthcheck didn’t account for any of that. I was told I was just obese and needed to change my lifestyle and everything completely. My supervisor had to be with me for the appointment and that was *embarrassing*. I managed to get my points across and conceded I could make some diet changes and work out more but I disagreed with the doctors diagnosis. We ended up meeting half way but 😕😕😕😕I sure left that check up feeling like a whale. My supervisor told me I had nothing to worry about bc cultural differences and stuff but 😕

This ended up being super long but I guess the tldr here is… don’t stress too much. If you’re like me, you probably will end up stressing regardless so go ahead and do you. But just understand the culture is different here, some things can’t be changed, beauty is fucked in, and some people are dumb.  As a foreigner living in japan, we can have tons of experiences and I hope you and everyone can have more good ones than bad. But at the end of the day, we’re different and in some ways, were just aren’t going to fit in… sometimes literally.

[1iamhis]

#middaybabymidday

Beginnings (?–1440 BC)

The Bible opens with the words, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The first two chapters of Genesis tell how God made the world in six days and rested on the seventh.

The crown of creation is humankind. Adam, the first man, was placed in a garden paradise called Eden, where he was to care for the garden. The animals were created in pairs, but Adam was alone. So God made him a woman and told them to have children and to populate the earth.

The Garden of Eden was theirs to enjoy—with one exception. They were told not to eat of one tree called “the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.” But Eve gave in to the temptation of Satan, God’s adversary, and ate of the forbidden fruit. So did Adam, and they fell. They were driven from the garden: Eve to have sorrow and pain in childbirth, Adam to a life of hard toil to produce food from the earth. 

Sin had entered the race and would be part of all humankind. Yet God promised salvation through the seed of woman and pictured that salvation through the provision of coats of skins.

So Adam and Eve began to live outside the garden. The tragedy of the fall was demonstrated early when one of Adam and Eve’s sons, Cain, killed his brother Abel. As the race increased in number, it became more and more wicked. Finally, God destroyed it in a great flood. Only Noah found grace in God’s eyes, and through the building of an ark he and his family were spared.

From those eight people, the race again multiplied. At Babel, man sought to defy God by building a tower to heaven, but God scattered them and gave them different languages.  

Genesis 12 marks a change in God’s dealings with people. The Lord singled out one man, Abram, who lived in the city of Ur in Chaldea, and designated him and his offspring as His special people. God would make Himself known through them. Abram’s name was changed to Abraham, and he was instructed to journey to a land God would later reveal to him. That land was Palestine, and God gave it to Abraham and his children forever. 

Abraham and his descendants—Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph—lived as nomads, much as the Bedouins of today. Their homes were tents. They raised cattle and sheep. The sense of family was strong, with the oldest living male member serving as patriarchal leader and family priest.

For a long time it seemed that Abraham would die without a son—in spite of God’s promise. But in their old age, Abraham and Sarah miraculously had a son—Isaac. Isaac’s son Jacob continued the family with 12 sons, men who became the heads of the tribes of Israel. The family stayed in Palestine until a famine drove them to Egypt. One of the 12 sons, Joseph, had risen to prominence in Egypt, and he became their protector and benefactor. 

The family stayed in Egypt 430 years and multiplied rapidly. Gradually, however, they became enslaved. The future of the family, now a sizable nation, was threatened by a royal order for all male children to be killed. God called a man named Moses, who had been raised in Pharaoh’s court, to lead Israel to freedom. After a bitter contest with Pharaoh, they marched across the Red Sea (which God parted miraculously) and into the wilderness, heading for Canaan, the Land of Promise. 

On the journey, Moses received the Law of God on Mount Sinai, as well as instructions for building a tent of worship. They arrived at the edge of Canaan and sent in spies. But the courage they had when they confronted Pharaoh left them, and the people refused to undertake the conquest of the Promised Land. Because of their unbelief, God sentenced them to wander 40 years in the desert wilderness until the entire generation had died. 

As the first five books of the Old Testament (the Pentateuch) conclude, Israel is assembled on the banks of the Jordan River. Moses, their great leader, is dead; but a new leader, Joshua, is ready to lead the march into Canaan.

Seeing God. 

Now that we have reviewed the history recorded in the Pentateuch, let’s go back for another look. Remember, our goal is not merely to know the story of the Bible but to know the God behind the story—and to see ourselves in relationship with Him. The first five books are packed with information that helps us know God, so let’s look at one representative incident: the story of Noah in Genesis 6–8. As you read the account of Noah’s rescue from the flood, you will see these truths about God: 

He is a God to be feared.

He is able to create and to destroy.

He is patient with sinners, but His patience has limits.

He is not just loving and kind; He is also a God of righteousness, justice, and anger.

He is concerned about what is happening in His world.

He has complete control over His creation.

He has the power to interrupt history.

He is the God of new beginnings.

He rescues those who trust in Him.

He makes and keeps promises. 

Seeing Ourselves. 

In the early chapters of Genesis, we are told of Adam and Eve’s decision to disobey God. In that act we see our own willfulness and our readiness to break His commandments. Here are several other ways we may see ourselves in the first five books of the Old Testament and in Job:  

In Cain’s jealousy, we see our own sense of competition (Genesis 4:5).

In Noah’s need for an ark of salvation, we see our own need of rescue from God’s judgment (Genesis 6–8).

In Abraham’s faith in following God, we see our own potential for belief (Genesis 12).

In Jacob’s scheming, we see our own inclination to trust in ourselves (Genesis 25, 27).

In Joseph’s kindness to his brothers, we see our own responsibility to forgive (Genesis 42–45).

In Israel’s unwillingness to enter Canaan, we see our own weakness of faith (Exodus 14).

In Job’s response to suffering, we see our own feelings when things turn against us (Job 3). 

 

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COVID-19 Shows that IT Specialists Need to Grow

In 2020, one of the many lessons we are learning through COVID-19 is that every business needs an effective business continuity plan. It is no longer good enough that Fortune 500 companies can afford to have full-time BCP Managers on staff. Every type and size of business is vulnerable to natural or man-made disasters and every business needs some sort of a BCP. And it cannot just cover IT.

I have been a part of this industry since the “good ol’ days”, when we made duplicates of our punched cards, just in case we dropped the original set. Back in the 1970’s, we ran everything on mainframes, which we safeguarded in protective rooms under very stringent controls. The worst thing that could happen back then was dropping a pizza slice into a tape drive (guilty as charged!).

As we moved into distributed networking in the 1980’s, computer systems became more important for day-to-day operations, and some people realized we needed specialists who could plan for disaster management and data recovery in case something drastic happened. This is when IT Disaster Recovery really began to pay off.

At the Institute for Business Continuity Training (IBCT) (www.IBCT.com), our focus is to train people who otherwise have full-time jobs, on how to best plan, organize, develop and maintain an effective business continuity program for their organization.

We teach proven methodologies, and our focus is to ensure that after taking our course, you can return to your place of employment and actually develop an effective business continuity plan for your organization.

We make certain that our course materials cover the usual DRII 10 Professional Practices, and comply with international standards. We pulled our material together to create a unique BCP lifecycle based on the ISO standards like ISO 22301 and ISO 27000. Then we took each of the 7 elements of that lifecycle, and developed solid methodology with step-by-step procedures, illustrations, case studies, and software to clearly demonstrate how each element would be completed once a course participant returned to their company. The result was that we produced very effective training courses and now our flagship course is the Diploma in Business Continuity & Resiliency Management.

Certification

After the launch of the flagship course, we quickly learned that professional certification is important to individuals as a means to augment their resumes. Holding a certification is one way to demonstrate to your current and future employer, or clients, that (1) you are serious about your responsibilities in business continuity planning, and (2) you have achieved a meaningful measure of knowledge and experience in the field.

IBCT has always recommended to individuals who plan to make BCP their career that they eventually obtain either the DRII or BCI certifications. Of course, not everyone who works in business continuity needs to do this, just as not everyone who works in banking needs to have a CPA designation. Just as there are many designations available within the accounting industry, over the past 10 years a number of business continuity certification programs have been created.

We eventually settled on an agency called the National Institute for Business Continuity Management (www.NIBCM.net) which offers a certification exam for the Business Continuity & Resiliency Professional (BCRP) designation and others. The NIBCM only offers certification, not  training. The basic requirements for the BCRP designation are (1) two years of experience in BCP, and (2) a 70% or better score on their exam. IBCT was able to demonstrate to the “NI” that our course content is equivalent to what someone normally learns in two years “on-the-job”, and as a result, they waived the experience requirement for individuals who take our Diploma course and then sit the BCRP exam.

Changing Requirements

Business Continuity Planning has proven that it is not a static field. In the past 9 years, we have seen a burgeoning range of new and revised regulations and legislation, such as Sarbanes-Oxley, HIPAA, Basel II, and the EFA Act - just to name a few- which have resulted either in specific BCP requirements, or in "audit creep" at banking institutions. In addition, the globalization of most large corporations has motivated many to subscribe to an international standard for their business continuity plans, and many have adopted the International Standard ISO 22301.

In response, IBCT has continually revised its courseware to ensure it also complies fully with the recent changes in the International Standard ISO 22301. With the outpouring of Federal guidelines and directives, we have developed specialized courses for the banking industry, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, retail, manufacturing, insurance and service firms, non-profits, and government organizations.

The sudden change in the economy as a result of COVID-19 necessitated a paradigm shift for how we managed our course offerings. Realizing that travel and training budgets were being slashed, but the need for business continuity planning was perhaps even greater than before, we looked for new ways to help our present and future clients receive the training they needed at a price they could still afford.

Immediately, IBCT has reduced the length of our flagship Diploma in Business Continuity & Resiliency Management course from five days down to three, so that participants will be back to work as soon as possible. We retained the full 5-day content but repackaged it to fit a 3-day timeframe. That course is ECP-601 in the USA and ECP-801 in the rest of the world. We also expanded our training to include online courses for those with limited time and budgets; these courses are all available online at www.BCMcourses.com.

The Future of Business Continuity Planning

A challenging aspect for most IT Disaster Recovery specialists is how to grow in their jobs and stay relevant in their organization once the Business Continuity Plan is up and running. Yes, we know that to stay “on the radar screen” of your C-Suite, the plan needs to be updated and exercised on a regular basis, and staff training and awareness programs must be maintained. But what happens when your executives start thinking the BCP program is “less than critical”?

In some organizations, Business Continuity Planners have been subjected to the same realities in this economy as everyone else. I regularly receive resumes from BC planners who have been let go from their jobs and are looking to become course instructors. One major software vendor has even predicted that BCP will eventually become a normalized aspect of Operations Management and the need for specialists will completely disappear. We have already seen this happen in some areas of IT management.

Recent discussion within the BCP industry has revolved around whether those involved in Business Continuity Planning and IT Disaster Recovery should be looking at adding depth to their training (i.e., by taking a Master’s degree course) or by adding breadth to their background (i.e., getting more involved with security, human resources, facilities management, etc).

I regularly see individuals from outside ITDR increasing the depth and breadth of their experience by taking our courses. About 1/3 of our course participants come from an emergency response or security type of background looking to become involved in more corporate planning. Another 1/3 comes from operational management and those who are already involved in BC planning. It would seem that those whose experience comes from fields outside IT are moving into our territory to increase their “corporate survivability”. What are you doing?

Ask yourself this simple question: What would increase your value to your organization, and what would increase your value to a prospective employer? The key, I believe, is to find a balance. I am a firm believer in the value of professional development and continuing education, and have been surprised to learn that many companies – and even some BCP practitioners – do not share my view.

To remain relevant to your current organization, and to increase your value to a future employer, means that you have to keep your resume and your skill set up-to-date. You should be looking for opportunities to increase both your breadth and depth of knowledge.

Increase the breadth of your knowledge by joining associations with similar but distinct interests, such as security, records management, facilities, etc. Membership costs are usually low, and they almost all offer monthly lunchtime meetings with speakers, and the networking opportunities are a real bonus. At the same time, increase your depth in business continuity planning by taking a course, attending a conference or joining your local ACP chapter or similar business continuity association.

Since COVID-19, the world of business continuity planning has become more vital and at the same time more complex and interdependent with other functions of your organization. We all need to stay abreast of these changes if we are to remain relevant to our employers and our careers.