#anyway thank you hidari

[drgnbnd]

~ valentine's fayelica ~

(femslash feb #2)

[hexados-on-a-string]

none of my friends will let me talk abt my favourite artists so im making this tumblr post so i can talk abt how cool these artists are before i explode

FIRSTLY HIDARI

i love hidari's art it manages to be colourful and soft at the same time. look at how he paints hair. beautiful. gorgeous. stunning. it's so flowy and pretty god i wish i could do that. the colours are warm EVEN with characters with colder colour schemes. its so beautiful i love it.

NEXT YUSUKE KOZAKI

i cant really think of one thing to comment on i adore the lineart and the amount of details. i LOVE the shading especially on his no more heroes art. id have added more nmh rather than just bad girl but like. uhhh. lets just say no more heroes is a game you shouldn't play in front of ur parents. there is a guy who shoots lasers out of his crotch and has machine gun nipples. im not joking. just know the soundtrack fucks and yusuke kozaki's art is really cool.

FINALLY MIKA PIKAZO

ohhhh my god OHHHHH MY GOD HER ART. i fucking adore it. i love how chaotic and messy and bold and colourful and BEAUTIFUL it all is. her use of colour is STUNNING. i especially love how she draws eyes. i love her use of halftones it really makes things pop. her compositions are brilliant. i have never been so envious. i really wanna start using bolder colours in my own art and it is all thanks to her. her art is just so striking. i am insane over her art i want to eat it. god. GOD. god. tell me this isn't the coolest shit ever. u cant. youd be lying. god BLESS.

anyways thank u for coming to my ted talk i am so normal

[aechteaseawb]

terushou and billiards because their first meeting sure was fun

//

The third time he hears the terrible crash of a cue stick hitting the floor, Terui gets to his feet and makes his way downstairs. As he retreats out the door, he can feel the pointed burn of twin stares from the chief and Philip. He decides to shrug it off. When he reaches the ground floor he catches Hidari sneakily rearranging the balls on the billiard table.

“I am going to teach you how to play billiards, Hidari.” Terui informs him, and Hidari jolts.

“Ah! Terui!” He says, trying to play it off as casual. “Don’t be silly. I know how to play billiards.” He then proceeds to make a big show of dusting himself off, which makes him drop the cue stick again. Terui reaches out to grab it before it can make an impact. He looks up at Hidari, giving him the most unimpressed look he can muster. Hidari clears his throat and looks away sheepishly. “Aha, good catch there, Terui.” He says, awkwardly patting Terui on the shoulder. “But seriously, I’m good. I am excellent at billiards, in fact. Such is the sport best suited for the most hard-boiled of men.”

He snatches the cue stick from Terui, and strikes a pose. His form is terribly showy. Terui sighs, and catches Hidari’s left hand with his own. “Is that your object ball?” He asks, and it must be, so he takes Hidari’s hand along with the stick and resets the angle to point at the aim point. “You want to match the aim line, so your object ball would go into the pocket.” He settles his other hand to ghost Hidari’s. “Here, if you deliver it right.” Terui tells him. “And now that you know where you should be hitting, head down, and lower your body.” He doesn’t have any more hands to spare the task, so he gives direct instructions next to Hidari’s left ear. “Lower than that.” He guides Hidari’s cue stick. “Go on, quick and straight.” The object ball goes into the pocket, and Terui gets back up. “That’s how you make a pool shot.” He says.

“Right.” says Hidari, face completely flushed red. Maybe he should ditch that vest of his in the summer heat if it bothers him that much. “I knew how to do that, but thanks for the review anyway.”

The sound of footsteps scurrying down the stairs gets Terui to turn his head. Philip hops down. “I got you a glass of water, Shoutarou. I thought you might need it.”

Hidari takes the iced water with an intensely grateful look. “Thanks, partner.”

//

the funniest part about this is that i looked up a tutorial for aiming in billiards for this

[dangerouscommiesubversive]

Hi! I’d like to request #17, with Philip and Chase (and bonus Shoutarou with another Drive character, if you like). I just have this need for Philip to interact with all my favorite characters, and your W crossovers are delightful. ^_^

17. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

Really, Shoutaro thinks, it shows a lot of restraint from Philip that he managed to wait a full week after discovering that Roidmudes were back in the world before he insisted on meeting one. Not that he’s unrestrained, of course. In fact, he’s gotten a lot better over the years about not overwhelming people with his academic enthusiasm. But there’s academic enthusiasm, and then there’s his increasing interest in the various unusual friends their junior Riders have picked up. He’d been practically vibrating with excitement since he first heard that Dr. Sawagami had run successful preliminary trials in her project to bring back the Roidmudes.

Of course, Philip could ask to speak with one or more Roidmudes all he liked, it had taken some time to arrange it. They’d had to talk to Terui, and he’d called Drive, and Drive had spoken to the four now-living Roidmudes, and then it had still taken two more months after that before anything could be scheduled just due to the tremendous problems Drive’s friends were having getting the Roidmudes legal status.

Now, though, the day's come, and Philip is enthusiastically shaking the hand of a man so color-coordinated that he could put Terui to shame and saying, "It's a absolute pleasure to meet you, Mr. Chase, thank you for coming, I appreciate it. Would you like coffee? I don’t know if you eat.”

Chase stares at him for only a very brief moment before saying, “Thank you, I do not drink coffee.”

Next to Chase--towering over him, in fact over all of them--is a man in a red coat with a thoughtful look on his face, and Shoutaro has to think for a moment before he recalls the last few messages he’d gotten. “And you’re...Heart, right? I’m Hidari Shoutaro, and this is Philip.”

Philip blinks. “This isn’t Mach? I thought Shijima Gou would be accompanying Chase to Fuuto. Shoutaro, I’m sorry, did I forget to introduce you?”

“It’s all right, partner, you were pretty excited. No, you remember the email, Gou was tied up with something last-minute.”

“By which he means he forgot that Professor Harley was going to be in Japan and expecting to see him.” Heart smiles, although he’s watching Philip with something that might be suspicion. “So I volunteered to come along, I’m always interested in making new friends.”

Chase glances at him. “You are overprotective.”

Heart makes a hm noise that doesn’t sound entirely like disagreement.

“Heart, Heart...” Philip’s eyes light up. “Yes, you’re also a Roidmude! Terui had said you weren’t interested in being interviewed, I don’t suppose you’ve had a change of heart? Forgive me, that wasn’t intended to be a play on words.”

Heart wavers for a moment, and Shoutaro can’t quite figure out whether it’s due to shyness or actual discomfort, so it’s probably fortunate that Chase is the one who answers. “Heart is not comfortable with discussing the past.”

“Ah. Yes, I entirely understand. Would you like coffee?”

“Now who’s overprotective?” But Heart relaxes visibly. “Yes, coffee would be wonderful, thank you.”

--

"Terui Ryuu said you and the other Roidmudes were having difficulties with your legal status, do you mind if I ask what they were? I know there are existing procedures for establishing the legal identities of non-humans, it's been done for two Bugsters in Seito. Well, three. Two and a half? Dr. Kujou is a complication."

Philip, Chase finds, is refreshingly blunt. He doesn't talk around issues the way many humans do, he cuts directly to the point, and moreover he seems pleased when Chase does the same. "There was an attempt to declare the Roidmudes property of the Japanese government."

"Oh.” Philip blinks several times, rapidly. “That's offensive, I imagine you all objected strenuously."

"Yes." Chase takes a sip of his tea. "And then once it was conclusively determined that we were people, there was the question of criminal charges."

"Really? Against you?"

"Against all of us. Heart, primarily. Brain and Medic were considered accomplices."

"I imagine your being a Kamen Rider helped with your case?"

"To an extent. I am not considered a threat. As it stands, we are no longer capable of causing gravity surges or otherwise wielding serious destructive force, and are under intermittent observation. The current legal debate centers around whether a Roidmude can be considered to have experienced mental duress."

“Hm. Really? Compelling. I wouldn’t think that was a debate at all.”

Chase considers this carefully before replying. “Why would you say that?”

“If Roidmudes are people, which they certainly are, then they can of course experience mental duress, or indeed any form of psychological distress.” Philip stares into space, hands wrapped around his coffee cup. “Unfortunately I’ve found that one of the hallmarks of personhood is a capacity for acute suffering. A being self-aware enough to love must also be self-aware enough to fear losing that which they love, and that fear can naturally be leaned upon by the unethical to coerce.” More staring into space. “Or simply to terrorize. It’s even more unfortunate when one realizes that unethical people of that type will likely always exist.”

“I...had not considered this previously.” Chase frowns, slowly. He’s experiencing an unfamiliar emotion--not that there are many emotions truly familiar to him, but this one contains elements of both surprise and happiness, and he is not clear on how one might express it.

He likes Philip, he realizes. He would like to be friends with Philip. Perhaps this is how Heart feels all the time.

“If this is the case, then in your determination, do Roidmudes have souls? I am not clear on what a soul is meant to be, but it has been the subject of discussion.”

Philip actually laughs. “The nature of the soul is one of the few topics on which I’m not the man to ask, for that you might want to talk to Ghost. In fact, I’m sure he’d be happy to discuss it with you. But in my limited experience with the subject--yes, I would think that Roidmudes have souls.” He takes a long drink of coffee. “Please excuse me if this is an indelicate question, I’ve been trying not to ask these things so abruptly lately, but my research indicated that Roidmudes have a more robotic base form onto which your human guises are layered, may I see it?”

--

They’re at the Windscale boutique getting Heart a suit.

They’d been discussing the Agency, and Heart mentioned having been a detective very briefly and seemed interested in the work, and this had led very naturally to talking about the boss, and from there to what Shoutaro had learned from him. Including, crucially, manner of dress, a topic that Heart seems fascinated by.

“I’d thought you could just sort of...shapeshift your clothing,” Shoutaro says. “At least, Bugsters do that, and Philip had mentioned that you do something similar.”

“Well, I can.” Heart plucks at the furred cuff of his coat. “But Tomari Kiriko’s suggested that I might adjust better to living among humans if I try to pick up some of their habits, little ones, and I like clothing.” A smile flashes across his face. “Mostly I’ve been borrowing things from Tomari Shinnosuke. He’s indicated that he’d like me to stop, though, because apparently he’s tired of having to come find me if he’s missing something he wants.”

“That’s Drive and his wife, right? We’ve never actually properly met, it’s sort of an oversight on Philip’s and my part.” Shoutaro frowns. “Do you live with him?”

Another flash of smile. “For the moment, yes. I was...revived...several months before the other Roidmudes, and they offered to let me stay with them. Mostly I watch Eiji for them and help Kiriko with housework. I’m learning how to cook. Brain and Medic are staying with other friends of Tomari Shinnosuke’s until the authorities can stop arguing about us and let us find a place of our own.”

“Well...” Shoutaro squints up at him for a moment, trying not to resent the man for being taller than him. “What kind of clothing do you like? I’m not exactly an expert on men’s fashion, but I like to think I know a little bit about it.”

This time it’s not a flash, the smile stays as Heart says, “Well, I have to say, the suits that Tomari Shinnosuke and his colleagues wear aren’t very interesting, but I do like your outfit quite a lot, it’s very sharp.”

So now Heart is trying on hats, and the Windscale salesgirls are losing their minds over how handsome he is. Normally Shoutaro would be a little jealous, they’re so used to him at this point that nothing about him is interesting to them, but he can’t quite bring himself to be. Not when Heart looks so pleased to be doing such an ordinary thing. Anyway, he’s letting Shoutaro pick everything out, and it’s so rare for someone else to be this trusting of Shoutaro’s fashion sense.

He also looks very good in a three-piece suit. But then, Shoutaro thinks, straightening his waistcoat, doesn’t everyone?

“What do you think of this one, my friend?”

Shoutaro looks at the latest hat Heart’s picked out and says, after a moment’s thought, “I think you look like a real man.”

Heart pauses. “Is that a good thing in this context?”

“Yes. The best thing I can think of, really. I mean, not that it’s bad to be a woman, but--listen, what I mean is, you look good, it suits you. Do you, uh, do you like to read at all?”

“Yes, sometimes, why?”

“We’re going to a bookstore after this, there are a couple of authors I think you’d enjoy.”

--

“Thank you for allowing me to examine you,” Philip says, when Chase shifts back into the human form that he’s finding more and more preferable to Proto-Zero’s, “it’s been a tremendous help to me. It’s--the many varieties of personhood that exist within the modern world are terribly compelling, but so few people are willing to speak about it at any length. Which I understand, but it does make study difficult.”

Chase nods. “I understand.” Beat. “You say personhood, but not humanity?”

“They’re hardly synonymous. Like circles and ovals. Every human is a person, but not every person is human. I haven’t always fit the precise definition of human myself.” Philip’s hand stills in the middle of a furious bout of note-taking, his face taking on a faraway look that Chase is learning to recognize. “What was death like for you? If you don’t mind my asking. Personally, I find the memory very difficult to grasp. Like a dream. I know that it happened, but when I reach for it, it slips out of my fingers.”

“It was...” It takes some time to find the way to phrase the answer. “Silent. And then when it ceased to be silent, it was because I was alive again.”

Philip nods, and takes more notes, and says, “Thank you for sharing that, I appreciate it. It’s...most people I know have never died. It’s difficult to explain to them.” The notebook snaps shut suddenly, Philip’s pen slides into its spiral binding right before it’s set aside. “Now. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

Chase blinks, slowly, several times, before replying. “How do you mean?”

“You. And your fellow Roidmudes. This is not an easy world to live in, especially when one’s personhood is treated as a subject for debate instead of a given. I would like--I hope that you’ll consider me a friend. I would like you to be my friend. And as a friend I would like to offer you and the other Roidmudes whatever help I can in establishing yourselves as people deserving of independent lives.” Philip grins at him. “At the very least I’m wonderful at winning debates.”

--

When Philip and Chase emerge from the garage, the first thing they see is Heart sitting in one of the front room chairs with an elderly gray cat asleep on his legs, and a much younger marmalade cat draped around his neck like an ungainly scarf. His red coat is nowhere in sight; he is, instead, wearing a black three-piece suit, a vividly red shirt, and a burgundy necktie with a heart-shaped pin in it. He's also engrossed in a book in English, although when they enter the room he glances up and says, cheerfully, "Hello."

"Good afternoon, Mr. Heart, I see Shoutaro's actually succeeded in his quest to get someone else to like Windscale as much as he does, you look very good. Are you enjoying Raymond Chandler? Shoutaro, is that Mrs. Mizuishi's kitten on our friend's shoulders? Where was he this time? Mrs. Mizuishi is a bit absent-minded," Philip says to Chase, "Chobi frequently wanders off when she's looking elsewhere."

"Yes, she called when we were on our way back from the bookstore." Shoutaro's sitting at the desk, in the middle of typing what looks like a list. "He'd only gotten up a tree, Heart helped me get him down. Mrs. Mizuishi’s coming to pick him up soon."

"And I see he has Mick's approval as well."

The gray cat opens one eye and gives Philip an unamused look, as if to say, “Yeah? What are you going to do about it?” only to begin purring when Heart absently reaches down to scratch his ears.

Chase sits down next to Heart while Philip goes over to speak to Shoutaro and is immediately investigated by the orange cat, who sniffs at his ear briefly and then gets up and hops from Heart’s shoulders to his. “What are you reading?”

“A collection of detective stories. Hidari Shoutaro gave it to me. He’s making me a list of movies that I might enjoy, I think I like detectives.” Heart leans slightly so that his arm brushes Chase’s. “It’s nice to have made a new friend. I hope the questioning wasn’t too intrusive?”

After a moment’s consideration, Chase says, “No. It was an enjoyable conversation.” He reaches up offer the orange cat his hand to smell. “I think it would be safe to say that Philip is a friend as well.”

Heart breaks into a smile. “That’s wonderful! I’m very glad to hear it.”

“However, I think we are expected to return to the city shortly.”

“Right, yes, I suppose we are.”

Over at the desk, Shoutaro pulls the paper out of his typewriter, blows on it to make sure that the ink is dry, and then folds it up and tucks it into an envelope. “Here, Heart, I’ve got that list for you. And my email address is at the bottom, please let me know which one you like best, you have no idea how long it’s taken me to find someone else who’d want to watch any of this stuff. I mean, Philip watches them with me, but other than that.”

Philip laughs quietly. “I do enjoy them, partner, I’m just not as passionate about them as you are.”

Heart carefully moves Mick onto the coffee table and stands up, reaching for a black hat with a red band that Chase hadn’t previously noticed hanging off the back of his chair. Chase, similarly, has to untangle himself from the orange cat, which objects strenuously to being moved and then promptly falls asleep in his chair as soon as he’s on his feet.

“I hope you’ll visit again,” Philip says as they’re shaking hands, “for non-research purposes, of course.”

Chase nods. “I would like that.”

Next to him, Heart tucks the envelope from Shoutaro into his suit jacket and says, “Maybe we can bring Brain along next time, I think they’d get along.”

They head out the door as a group, Shoutaro saying, “You’re going to email me, right, I need to know whether you like Spade or Marlowe better.”

“Of course, although I can tell you right now that just from the reading I’ve already done I like Marlowe quite a lot.”

One more round of handshakes as they all stand next to Chase’s motorcycle, and the last thing Philip says to Chase is, “Thank you again, so much. It was a pleasure to meet you. It’s wonderful to have new friends.”

Chase nods, says, “Likewise,” and resolves to visit again as soon as it’s feasible.

[asknarashikari]

Touma when he’s drunk

Rintaro paced around the apartment, glancing at the clock worriedly every now and again, his arms crossed on his chest. 

“Rintaro, you’re gonna wear a hole into the floor at this rate.” Kento, sitting at the table with a cup of lukewarm coffee, told him sleepily.

“I’m sorry, I just can’t help myself,” Rintaro said, chewing on his lip as he paced. “Touma hasn’t checked in on us even though it’s well past the hour he said he was going to be home...”

Just then, there was a loud ringing, and both jumped at the sound, before seeing Mei groggily getting up from where she’d been sleeping on the couch, reaching for her smartphone. She tapped on the screen to answer it, putting it on speakerphone. “Touma? Where the heck are you, it’s almost midnight...”

“Uh... this is Terui Ryu,” said the voice that was decidedly not Touma. “I’m Kamen Rider Accel, and Hidari told me to call you about Kamiyama-san?”

“Hidari... You mean that detective in Fuuto?” Mei asked, suddenly looking more alert. “Wait, why do you have Touma’s phone, anyway?”

“Uh... Well, your friend is here. In Fuuto.” Terui replied. “He’s in one of our holding cells right now- one of my colleagues at Fuuto PD found him at walking alone and saw he was drunk, so...” He trailed off. “Fortunately, he had an ID in his pocket, and I heard about him from Hidari, so I called him to ask what to do with him. He gave me your number to call.”

“So... you’re telling me... Touma’s in jail... while drunk... in Fuuto.” Mei reiterated, while the other two boys stared at each other in shock. 

“That’s the gist of it, Sudo-san,” he replied. “Although... Hidari did mention he and the other Riders were trying to look for him. Was he with them tonight?”

“Yes, he was supposed to be with them,” Rintaro cut in. “But they were supposed to be meeting up somewhere in Ginza, so how did he get to Fuuto?” 

“My guess? He wandered off somehow while drunk, accidentally got on the train and ended up here,” Terui explained. “There was a station not far from where he’d been found. And if he had gotten in this late, it was probably the last train until morning. We’re just lucky he decided to get off there, since that train would’ve continued on until Yokohama.”

Kento sighed. “Great, so our boyfriend is in jail in another city and we can’t get him out until morning,” he groaned. 

“Well, if it’s any consolation, he’s safe here, and I’m on duty tonight so I can keep an eye on him for you guys,” he reassured. 

“I still can’t believe that guy managed to get himself to another city while drunk off his ass... anyways, thank you for caring for Touma. We’ll be there in the morning to get him.”

“No problem, Sudo-san. Have a nice night.” And with that, the other Kamen Rider hung up and Mei put her phone down. 

“Geez, and I thought he was bad when he got that sugar-and-caffeine high...” Kento shook his head in exasperation. 

“We’re never letting that guy get drunk without supervision again.” Rintaro proposed. 

Mei and Kento agreed wholeheartedly.

tldr: Touma is a lost drunk

[kamenriderlogik27]

Power of Heroez: Chapter 1

   Please read the prologue if you haven’t already! :)

The early morning was slightly dark as the sun was still no where near from rising, which made it slightly difficult to see around the Sector City harbor. For Hidari Shotaro- Fuuto’s number one dectective- however, this wasn’t a problem as he was used to sneaking around and searching for clues. 

“What is this place?” Shotaro laughed to himself after hiding behind a storage crate. He was baffled by the super tight, armed security that looked like they would kill without hesitation. The whole place was packed with CCTVs and sensors of all kinds as well! 

“I did hear that they were blocking off the island to rebuild after the accident, but this...!” He shook his head and narrowed his eyes at the large ‘X’ painted on the security guards’ chest. 

“I’d rather have not seen that...” He groaned to himself. “It looks like this place is going to need some more serious investigation.” 

Without any hesitation, Shotaro activated a few Memory Gadgets and told them to look around and find whatever evidence they could. After sending them off, he started making his way past the rest of the storage crates to the hangar that was close by. He didn’t have much of a plan other than to look around and get to the targeted area as soon as he could. The only reason he was even on this island was due to an anonymous email sent to the agency. It was short and simple, with only the words “Find Professor Aida.” typed out along with the coordinates that led to Sector City’s Harbor sector. As per usual, instead of questioning the strange email, Hidari Shotaro and his partner- Philip- accepted it like any other client request. 

Now, was that a smart idea? mmm.... probably not. But that’s how it’s always been. And Shotaro wouldn’t have it any other way. He slipped through and hid behind anything that could shield him from the eyes of the security guards. The more he infiltrated, however, the more he started to see Masquerade Dopants roaming about. Which threw him for a loop since he wasn’t expecting to see them there at all. Oh well, just another reason to keep looking into this mysterious island. 

It took him around 20 or so minutes to finally get to the targeted area, but he still had a ways off before arriving at the exact location that the coordinates were located. 

“It looks like it just over there.” Shotaro observed, looking at a what seemed like a giant wall. He’s probably going to have to transform into order to pass it. But before he could go any further, a dark voice emitted from a sudden burst of blue light.   

“Just what are you doing, sniffing around here?!” it demanded, before displaying the site of a rather large man, surrounded by blue hues of light and sitting in a floating chair. 

The sudden appearance surprised the detective, as he jumped back shouting. “Whoa! What kind of monster is this?!” 

“I was wondering what was causing all this commotion.” The entity said to himself rather lazily. “And now I find that it’s nothing more than a worthless bug.” Ok. Maybe Shotaro wasn’t being as ‘covert’ as he thought.

Shotaro sighed, knowing that he had no other way of getting through this. “I really wanted to do this like a true detective. But I’m afraid you leave me no choice.” 

“C’mon partner.” Shotaro exclaimed, putting on his driver. His mind instantly connecting with a younger man who was patiently waiting back at their office. 

They didn’t even need to speak to each other know what to do next. For they both held up their respected Gaia Memories and yelled “Henshin!” before inserting them into their driver. Within seconds, Hidari Shotaro’s body was engulfed into a half black, half green body suit; a suite that everyone from Fuuto knew and dubbed the protector of Fuuto city-

Kamen Rider W.

“Shotaro.” Philip greeted while observing the huge entity in front of them. “And here I thought that I wouldn’t be needed in this case.” 

“Well, from what I’ve already witness so far,” Shotaro cracked his knuckles. “There seems to be a lot more to this than just finding a specific person.” 

Philip responded with a short “hmm... I see.” just as the entity stood up from his chair and placed his two heavy feet on the ground, ready to fight. 

“You ready, partner?” Shotaro asked. 

“Always.” Philip responded. 

“Now...” The two said together. “Time to count up your sins.” 

That’s when the entity attacked. 

The fight was short, but not because the Kamen Rider was able to overpower the entity. In fact, the battle ended with W’s defeat. Even after using a few different Gaia memories to help them out, the two-in-one Kamen Rider was over powered by a final kick of the entity’s foot, knocking them out of their transformation. The force was so strong that even the Gaia memories in Shotaro’s possession ended up spilling over the floor near by. The last thing Shotaro saw, was the entity raising his staff as a mass of blue electricity formed around it. But before he could even move to get out of the way, everything went black. 

    ----------------------------

 When Hidari Shotaro came to, he opened his eyes and found that he had been moved to what seemed like a make-shift break room. 

“Where am I...?” he asked himself. His eyes moving from the lumpy sofas, to the broken television set, and finally to the large widows overlooking the now raising sun. Despite being heavily bruised, he ignored the pain, stood up and walked over to the windows. The site before him didn’t look familiar at all, and gave him absolutely no clues as to what was going on. Thankfully, however, his question was answered within seconds.  “This is the city sector of Sector City.” a small, almost pleasant voice replied. Turning around, Shotaro saw a round, red and silver robot hovering in the air. 

“City sector?” The detective repeated, a bit in shock. “Wha... how did I get here?”  

“I deemed that an emergency transfer here was the most prudent course of action.” The robot replied, simply.  

“An emergency transfer....” Shotaro raise his brow. “Um... W-well, I guess you saved me then. Thanks.” Then, he suddenly thought about what had happened right before passing out. He patted around his waist and pockets, only to find the Denden sensor. “Ah! What about the Gaia memories!?”

“The memories were... dispersed during the transfer process.” 

“ugh.” Shotaro groaned, shaking his head. “I guess it can’t be helped since it already occurred. Anyway, who might you be?” 

 “I am Ai.” The robot introduced itself with a curt nod. “I am an artificial intelligence system designed for navigational purposes.”  “Ai, huh.” The detective took off his fedora to brush some dirt off of the top. “Well, my name is Hidari Shotaro, a private detective from the town of Fuuto. Can you tell me what has happened to this island?” 

“This island is known as Sector City.” Ai answered, somehow sounding a bit sad. “This city is know for it’s use of the mysterious energy source called ‘core energy’. In fact, the entire city is devoted to mining, researching and exploring the various uses for this energy as it is only recently discovered.

“However, due to the recent accident, the island has been closed off to the public. After that, mysterious monster began to appear all over the city. As to why this has happened, I do not know....” 

“I see.” Shotaro nodded thoughtfully. “Then, Ai, can you tell me if you know anything about a Professor Aida?” 

“Professor Aida?” Ai hummed. “The name does sound familiar. I will check my data banks for any info.” 

Not even a second later, Ai spoke again. “That name is on the guest list for an experiment, yes. But it is not on the list of evacuees.”  “hmmm... That might be a sign that Professor Aida is still somewhere on this island.” Shotaro thought to himself. “Alright, Ai. I was sent here by an anonymous source to find Professor Aida. Is it alright if I ask for your assistance?” 

“My first priority at the moment is to ensure peace on this island.” The robot responded. “May I ask for your help in that endeavor as well?” 

“Sure! I’m happy to help in anyway that I can!” Shotaro grinned, happy that he wouldn’t be alone in such an unfamiliar city. “Alrighty then. It seems that I still have my Denden sensor with me, so our first step should be to gather information.” 

“But the city is full of monsters, even just outside this building.” Ai protested. “How will we be able to go outside without being detected?” 

“You have a point there.” Shotaro agreed. If only he had his Gaia memories on hand. Then things would be a lot easi- oh! 

“Well, Hello there!” Shotaro grinned, walking past Ai. He leaned down near a window and picked something up. 

“It looks like the Joker is still in my hand after all.” He grinned, holding up holding up his found JOKER Gaia memory. “It always seems to find its way back to me in times of need.” Memories of the Kamen Rider Eternal incident rushed through his brain for a second. 

“Alright, let’s do this.” Shotaro said, holding up the memory and pushing the small button. It rang out a loud “JOKER!” as a sign of activation. 

“Henshin!” Shotaro yelled in reply before placing the memory into his driver. Unlike his shared transformation with Philip as Kamen Rider W, Kamen Rider Joker’s suit was covered form head to toe in black. Which was perfect for hiding in the shadows. 

“Let’s go.” He motioned for Ai to follow his lead as they made their way out of the building. Once they got outside, they quickly hid behind a wall and watched as an army of the same security guards from earlier, started marching down the street. “What are they?” he asked Ai, now noticing how metallic and stiff their features looked. 

“I do not know.” Ai responded. “But they’re some of the monsters that have been rapidly growing in the city.”

“It looks like the whole place is overrun by them.” Shotaro observed, his eyes never leaving the army passing by them. 

“May I ask a question?” Ai asked, curiously. 

“Sure! Go ahead!” The detective smiled, forgetting that his masked covered it. 

“What functions does the Denden Sensor posses?” Ai motioned to the Gadget hanging from his belt. 

“Well, it can basically pick up almost anything.” Shotaro started, not really sure how to explain the complex device that Philip created. “Let me tell you, with one round around the island using this, we’ll be able to solve the mystery in no time!” 

“But, with all the monster around...” Ai’s voice grew to worry. “That will be difficult. With the entire island shut down, we will have to defeat the enemy and free each sector in order to continue on.” 

“Oh really now. Hmmm....” Shotaro thought for a bit. That would make things a bit more difficult. “Well, what about the guy in charge? There has to be someone around here running the place.” 

“That would be Professor Zeus.” Ai responded. “He’s the lead researcher but has been unreachable since the accident.”  

Shotaro sighed. “Then I guess we need to find him as well. What’s he like?” 

“The workers say he is.... ‘unusual’.” Ai started to explain. “He is said to have frizzy hair, thick glasses and simply just smiles when spoken to.” 

“I see. It doesn’t seem like he’s a super strict boss.” Shotaro said thoughtfully.

“However, his achievements with Core Energy have made him a highly esteemed scientist.” 

“Two scientists go missing around the same time after a mysterious accident. Just... what is going on here?” 

Shaking his head, he unlatched the Denden sensor from his belt. “Come on. Let’s use this to help us figure out what our next step will be.       

[utagoe]

A3!: Road to Manju Master! (ロードトゥ饅頭マスター) Lyrics

Kanji, romaji and English translation for Road to Manju Master by Taichi and Azami

(kanji source) パート分け：太一　莇

「千里の道も一歩から！」 「クンフーは一日にして成らず！」 「その心は…太極饅頭拳！」 「アチョー！」

「 四川(シセン)！北京(ペキン)！広東(カントン)！ 山東(シャントン)！福建(フッケン)！上海(シャンハイ)！ 叉焼麺(チャーシューメン)(YA！)」

「 四川(シセン)！北京(ペキン)！広東(カントン)！ 山東(シャントン)！福建(フッケン)！上海(シャンハイ)！ 太極拳！破！」

(ワンツー) 落ちこぼれと言われてても (謝謝) ダメダメ めんどくさがりでも (ヤるときゃヤるのさ！) 悔しさ超えて今こそ立ち上がれ (ハッ！) 修行の先に 目指す頂 昨日より もっと 強くなりたい

この手で今掴み取るため イーアルサンスーウーローチー 力合わせ　2人イーチージャイオ 取り戻すはその心 手を叩け さあ君も こんにちはニーハオ 敵わない相手でも 戦え いざ 極めろ太極饅頭拳 ハッ！

「 四川(シセン)！北京(ペキン)！広東(カントン)！ 山東(シャントン)！福建(フッケン)！上海(シャンハイ)！ 叉焼麺(チャーシューメン)(YA！)」

「 四川(シセン)！北京(ペキン)！広東(カントン)！ 山東(シャントン)！福建(フッケン)！上海(シャンハイ)！ 太極拳！破！」

(ハイヨー) くだらない事で揉めても (太棒！[タイバン]) ダメダメ　いい事一つも無い (ヤるときゃヤるのさ！) 諦めずに何度でも立ち上がれ (ハッ！) 修行の果てに 旅する二人 明日はもっと 強くなりたい

たまに少し　落ち込むときも イーアルサンスーウーローチー 友情こそが力 イーチージャイオ 取り戻せその巻物 手を叩け さあ君も ありがとう謝謝 敵わない相手だと 恐れず まず 極めろ太極拉麺拳 ハッ！

「あーもうダメだ」 「こんなんでへこたれてるようじゃ老師になるなんて無理だね」 「別に興味ないし…」 「あーそうやって強がってんだろー」 「そんな事ねぇ！」 「ホントかなー？」 「ならみせてやるよ。よし、ついてこい！」

「右！左！ハイハイ！」 「右！左！ハイハイ！」 「右！左！ハイハイ！」 「右！左！ハイハイ！」

「これが本当に太極ラーメン拳…？」 「んー、全然自覚ないけど」 「まあ兎に角行ってみるか！」

高い壁を 乗り越える事 一人じゃ無理でも 二人なら

この手で今掴み取るため イーアルサンスーウーローチー 力合わせ　2人イーチージャイオ 取り戻すはその心 手を叩け さあ君も こんにちはニーハオ 敵わない相手でも 戦え いざ 尋常に太極饅頭拳 いざ 極めろ太極饅頭拳 ハッ！

「 四川(シセン)！北京(ペキン)！広東(カントン)！ 山東(シャントン)！福建(フッケン)！上海(シャンハイ)！ 叉焼麺(チャーシューメン)(YA！)」

「 四川(シセン)！北京(ペキン)！広東(カントン)！ 山東(シャントン)！福建(フッケン)！上海(シャンハイ)！ 太極拳！破！」

Romaji Colours: Taichi Azami

"senri no michi mo ippo kara!" "kun fuu wa ichinichi ni shite narazu!" "sono kokoro wa... taikyoku manjuu ken!" "acho!"

"shisen! pekin! kanton! shanton! fukken! shanhai! chaashuumen (YA!)"

"shisen! pekin! kanton! shanton! fukken! shanhai! taikyokuken! ha!"

(wan tsuu) ochikobore to iwaretetemo (xiexie) dame dame mendokusagari demo (yaru tokya yaru no sa!) kuyashisa koete ima koso tachiagare (ha!) shuugyou no saki ni mezasu itadaki kinou yori motto tsuyoku naritai

kono te de ima tsukamitoru tame ii aru sen suu uu roo chii chikara awase futari ii chii jaio torimodosu wa sono kokoro te wo tatake saa kimi mo konnichiwa niihao kanawanai aite demo tatakae iza kiwamero taikyoku manjuu ken ha!

"shisen! pekin! kanton! shanton! fukken! shanhai! chaashuumen (YA!)"

"shisen! pekin! kanton! shanton! fukken! shanhai! taikyokuken! ha!"

(haiyoo) kudaranai koto de mometemo (daiban!) dame dame ii koto hitotsu mo nai (yaru tokya yaru no sa!) akiramezu ni nando demo tachiagare (ha!) shuugyou no hate ni tabisuru futari ashita wa motto tsuyoku naritai

tama ni sukoshi ochikomu toki mo ii aru sen suu uu roo chii yuujou koso ga chikara ii chii jaio torimodose sono makimono te wo tatake saa kimi mo arigatou xiexie kanawanai aite da to osorezu mazu kiwamero taikyoku raamen ken ha!

"aa mou dame da" "konnan de hekotareteru you ja roushi ni naru nante muri da ne" "betsu ni kyoumi naishi..." "aa sou yatte tsuyogatten darou" "sonna koto nee!" "honto kanaa?" "nara misete yaruyo. yoshi, tsuite koi!"

"migi! hidari! hai hai!" "migi! hidari! hai hai!" "migi! hidari! hai hai!" "migi! hidari! hai hai!"

"kore ga hontou ni taikyoku raamen ken...?" "nn, zenzen jikaku nai kedo" "maa tonikaku itte miruka!"

takai kabe wo norikoeru koto hitori ja muri demo futari nara

kono te de ima tsukamitoru tame ii aru sen suu uu roo chii chikara awase futari ii chii jaio torimodosu wa sono kokoro te wo tatake saa kimi mo konnichiwa niihao kanawanai aite demo tatakae iza jinjou ni taikyoku manjuu ken iza kiwamero taikyoku manjuu ken ha!

"shisen! pekin! kanton! shanton! fukken! shanhai! chaashuumen (YA!)"

"shisen! pekin! kanton! shanton! fukken! shanhai! taikyokuken! ha!"

English Colours: Taichi Azami

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step!" "You can't master Kung-fu in a day!" "That heart is... Tai Chi Manju Chuan!" "Woo-Waah!"

"Sichuan! Beijing! Guangdong! Shandong! Fujian! Shanghai! Pork fillet ramen (YA!)"

"Sichuan! Beijing! Guangdong! Shandong! Fujian! Shanghai! Tai Chi Chuan! Ha!"

(One, two) Even if I'm called hopeless (Xièxie) That's no good, even if they think I'm a bother (I do it when I got to!) Overcome your chagrin and get up now (Ha!) The prize I'm aiming for lies beyond learning I want to be stronger Than yesterday

So that I can catch it now with my hands Yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī* We join forces and yīqǐ jiāyóu* We'll take back your heart Clap your hands, come, you too - Hello, nǐhǎo Fight even against a much stronger opponent Now, master the Tai Chi Manju Chuan Ha!

"Sichuan! Beijing! Guangdong! Shandong! Fujian! Shanghai! Pork fillet ramen (YA!)"

"Sichuan! Beijing! Guangdong! Shandong! Fujian! Shanghai! Tai Chi Chuan! Ha!"

(Hi-yo) Even if you're troubled by stupid things (Tài bàng!*) That's no good, there's nothing good happening (I do it when I got to!) Get up again and again without giving up (Ha!) We travel to the end of learning Tomorrow I want to Be even stronger

There are times when you feel a little down Yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī Friends are strength, yīqǐ jiāyóu Take back that scroll Clap your hands, come, you too - Thank you, xièxie Don't fear a much stronger opponent First, master the Tai Chi Lamen Chuan Ha!

"Ah, I can't take this" "You can't become a teacher if you're losing your heart like this" "I'm not interested in that..." "Ah, you're just pretending to be tough" "That's not true!" "For real~?" "I'm gonna show you then. Right, follow me!"

"Right! Left! Yes yes!" "Right! Left! Yes yes!" "Right! Left! Yes yes!" "Right! Left! Yes yes!"

"Is this really the Tai Chi Lamen Chuan...?" "Hmm, I don't have a clue" "Well, anyway, let's just go!"

Overcoming a big hurdle It may be impossible by yourself, but if we're together...

So that I can catch it now with my hands Yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī We join forces and yīqǐ jiāyóu We'll take back your heart Clap your hands, come, you too - Hello, nǐhǎo Fight even against a much stronger opponent Now, the usual Tai Chi Manju Chuan Now, master the Tai Chi Manju Chuan Ha!

"Sichuan! Beijing! Guangdong! Shandong! Fujian! Shanghai! Pork fillet ramen (YA!)"

"Sichuan! Beijing! Guangdong! Shandong! Fujian! Shanghai! Tai Chi Chuan! Ha!"

Notes: * “Yī èr sān sì wǔ liù qī” simply means “one, two, three, four, five, six, seven” in Mandarin; * “Yīqǐ jiāyóu” means “doing our best together”; * “Tài bàng (le)” means “great!” or “awesome!”, things like that. Mandarin written in katakana is a disaster lol It took me a long time to realize they were just saying numbers in the chorus... oh well.

[crystalelemental]

Oh hey, it’s the other Mythic that could’ve showed up and made me want to summon this time, haha fuck me.

Friends, we have achieved Mila.  After almost a year and a half, we have final-wait.  Light?  LIGHT?  But that’s...that’s not the opposite of Duma.  I had always assumed the opposite of him was a definite.  I mean, they kept the “compare” part of “compare and contrast,” since she’s a colorless dragon (infantry, thank god, so Female Grima’s not completely out of a job), but like...really?  Light?  At least it’s the defense boosting.  So now supertanking in Light season is a definite thing.  V!Faye is gonna have a damn field day after this.  Also last off-topic point: the art’s not as good as Hidari’s.  No one’s is, but you know.  Still solid.

So, her skillset is...wow.  Wow, that’s...that’s a supertank.  Clearly going for heavy defensive focus, provides a nice combat buff...basically universally to allies in range (seriously, 7 rows and columns?  Just like Bramimond, why even bother having a condition if it’s eternal?), and goddamn MILA’S TURNWHEEL!  Isolation status on foes in cardinal directions with a defense check, which is crazy good since she’s gonna be defense stacked to hell, and adds another turn to your offense!  That’s right fuckers, eight turns on Light season offense begins now!  Oh I am so excited for this one.  I know that’s a busted thing to pay for, but I’m a whale now.  I’m going for it.  I must have that skill.  Best of all, infantry means solid BST overall, and with her skillset she’s going to be halfway decent as an Arena unit too.  “Steve, why is that important?”  Isolation.  One of the worst things about scoring in the 170-175 BST range is dealing with dancers with Duel skills.  Mila can shut down their dance.  It’s so nice.  I really like this.  She’s got exactly the right effects to shut down some of the most obnoxious effects in both AR and Arena, and she’s almost exclusively going to be best in player hands.  Being a dragon means she’ll have a ton of issues on defensive teams, and she outright does nothing on AR defense.

So yeah, colorless is STACKED AS ALL HELL.  Mila, Legendary Alm, and Legendary Leif.  Absolute insanity going on in colorless this month.  So glad I held off summoning for more Fallen Julia, I would’ve been devastated having to sit this one out.  Colorless is the EASIEST pick.

Red’s...actually gross too, what the hell.  Lif, Eliwood, and fucking LARCEI?  Honestly what hurts the most is that I really like Larcei, and her debut is on a banner where I can’t possibly justify focusing on Red.  I guess that’s my backup color then.

Blue we knew.  Ephraim, Lucina, and Julia.  My Julia is +10, so I have no need of this.  Next.

Green should be skippable then.  Hector isn’t as great as Edelgard, and with Larcei that means Osian.  And I mean, who else could they put on the banner to-NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!  NO, NOT ANNETTE!  NOT NOW, YOU BASTARDS!  YOU CAN’T DO THIS TO ME! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW BADLY I WANTED HER AND COULDN’T JUSTIFY PULLING?!  THAT’S NOT FAIR!

Anyway, banner’s good.  Not just good units, but really good fodder in like every single color.  Color me impressed.

[frozenmarvel]

Thoughts on Kamen Rider W

I just re-watched the last two episodes of W (and cried buckets because I’m a sucker for their perfection and also pain) and I wanted to share my thoughts. Recently, I considered that, especially during the last episodes of any KR series, at some point a character will say something that would summarize the show and what the main rider’s journey was throughout.

I believe that W is essentially summarized with the words:

“You’ll be stopped as many times as needed. As long as Hidari Shoutarou here is in this town.” Philip/Sonozaki Raito, EP48, final battle between Kamen Rider W and Utopia Dopant.

“Even if it’s just one body, I will bring you down. Having that heart is what makes me a Kamen Rider!” Hidari Shoutarou, EP48, final battle between Kamen Rider W and Utopia Dopant.

Obviously, since the heart of the show is the two-in-one detective duo, we get a shared experience. It is no secret that KRW was about Shoutarou and his growth from a rebellious youth, with seemingly high expectations and hero worship, to a capable young man who learnt to believe he could do anything by himself regardless of the presence of his partner. Sure, he knows he’s stronger with his partner, but he can still protect his beloved city as a lone Kamen Rider.

Philip never really doubted Shoutarou. He always believed him to be his one and only partner, who had no need to change to become Narumi Sokichi’s definition of “hard-boiled” because Shoutarou’s definition was more than enough. Of course, the later was given to us in the very last episode by our incredible heroine Akiko, with the words “to put up a brave front”. That’s what Shoutarou did always, whether he realized it or not, until the very last instance were he consciously applied it.

The underlying conflict of the season was that Shoutarou did not believe himself capable. He kept close the feelings of guilt for his mentor’s death, and the belief that whatever he did or however he performed, that Shoutarou would always fall short of the amazing Chief Narumi Sokichi. He recognized Philip as his one and only partner, but Shoutarou himself was not necessarily Philip’s. His doubts over himself were especially highlighted by the fact that everyone else who knew him closely found him to be great just the way he was.

So, Philip knew that whatever happened, as long as Shoutarou was around, Fuuto would be safe. Shoutarou, on the other hand, learnt to see it that way too by the very end. He accepted himself and his “heart” as something that made him a Kamen Rider, and the fact that he would soon lose Philip, his support and his power, did not matter because Shoutarou could still keep the promise of protecting their city because he was a Kamen Rider.

These boys were just perfect!

Anyways, to finish, I wanted to add a sentence uttered by a character in the show as the description of the overall rider journey’s goal.

Goal: “No matter how great your evil is, those who make Fuuto weep will not be forgiven.”

We ALL know what Shoutarou and Philip feel for their beloved Fuuto City, and how both Akiko and Ryu grow to love it just as much.

Thanks for reading!

KRW Theme: definition of partnership, personal growth and willingness to make choices, self-esteem, learning to see yourself the way your precious people do, believing in your own capabilities.

[ioasaya]

Translations under the cut!!

白い鳥は高く高く飛び

Shiroi tori wa takaku takaku tobi

The white bird flies higher and higher

いつからか見えなくなって

Itsukara ka mienaku natte

Until the time comes when I lose sight of it

地平線の向こう側へと

Chiheisen no mukougawa e to

As it heads to the other side of the horizon

薄暗い部屋から眺める

Usugurai heya kara nagameru

From a dim room I gaze longly

まとう背中　寂しげ or not?

Matou senaka sabishige or not?

With a back seemingly lonely or not?

誰も見たことない場所へ・・・

Dare mo mita koto nai basho e...

Towards a place that no one’s ever seen

ツバサ生えて　空飛べたら

Tsubasa haete sora tobetara

If I unfurl my wings and take to the skies

あの塔にも　上れるだろう

Ano too ni mo noboreru darou

I wonder if I’ll be able to climb even that tower

ツバサ生えて　風乗れたら

Tsubasa haete kaze noretara

If I unfurl my wings and ride the wind --

キミはキミの夢の　ヒロインだから

Kimi wa kimi no yume no hiroin dakara

“Because you are your own dream’s heroine”

白い羽根が舞う　完璧なシルエット (Fly me higher)

Shiroi hane ga mau kanpeki na shiruetto (Fly me higher)

White feathers dance, forming a perfect silhouette (Fly me higher)

振り返りはしない　でもついておいで

Furikaeri wa shinai demo tsuite oide

There’s no return, but come follow me anyways

ちょっと意地悪な　歌で惑わせて (Show me wonder)

Chotto ijiwaru na uta de madowasete (Show me wonder)

I’ll bewitch you with just a slightly mischievous song (Show me wonder)

揺れる日差しみたい　不安定な感情

Fureru hizashi mitai fuantei na kanjyou

Just like the wavering rays of light, it’s an unsteady feeling

奪ってもっと　(Reach)

Ubatte motto (Reach)

I’ll steal even more (Reach)

誘って高く　(the top)

Sasotte takaku (the top)

Entice you even higher (the top)

気付いてボクの Up to the nines (Yeah)

Kizuite boku no Up to the nines (Yeah)

Notice it, my Up to the nines (Yeah)

黒い鳥は深く深く飛び

Kuroi tori wa fukaku fukaku tobi

The black bird flies deeper and deeper

やがて危うい所まで

Yagate ayaui tokoro made

Until it reaches a dangerous place before long

この世界の果ての果てへと

Kono sekai no hate no hate e to

As it heads to the ends of the ends of the earth

一番に知らせて always

Ichiban ni shirasete always

I’ll always let you know first

輝きは一瞬で更新

Kagayaki wa isshun de koushin

Brilliance changes in an instant

誰も見たことない奇跡

Dare mo mita koto nai kiseki

A miracle no one’s ever seen before

ツバサ生えて　空羽ばたき

Tsubasa haete sora habataki

I’ve unfurled my wings, I’m soaring through the skies,

見付け出した　強いキズナ

Mitsukedashita tsuyoi kizuna

Having discovered strong bonds

ツバサ生えて　素直な声

Tsubasa haete sunao na koe

I’ve unfurled my wings, and with an honest voice:

キミはボクの夢に　必要なんだ

Kimi wa boku no yume ni hitsuyo nanda

“You’re essential to my dreams”

上がってく ever

Agatteku ever

Climbing ever higher

届かない yet

Todokanai yet

Can’t reach yet

遠くにいても　ほら声を感じて

Tooku ni ite mo hora koe wo kanjite

Even if you’re far, look, you can feel my voice

近づいたら消える　甘い吐息のよう

Chikazuitara kieru amai toiki no you

If you come too close, it’ll disappear, like a sweet sigh

捕まえて　離さない

Tsukamaete hanasanai

I’ll catch you, I won’t let go

To the nines わがままに

To the nines wagamama ni

To the nines, selfishly,

To the nines ボクなりに

To the nines boku nari ni

To the nines, in my own way,

ツバサ見つけたいよ　左右の braver

Tsubasa mitsuketai yo hidari migi no braver

I want to find my wings, a braver control

To the nines わがままに

To the nines wagamama ni

To the nines, selfishly,

To the nines ボクなりに

To the nines boku nari ni

To the nines, in my own way,

大切にしたいよ　過去未来も全部

Taisetsu ni shitai yo kakko mirai mo zenbu

I want to treasure it all, the past, the future, everything

白い羽根が舞う　完璧なシルエット (Fly me higher)

Shiroi hane ga mau kanpeki na shiruetto (Fly me higher)

White feathers dance, forming a perfect silhouette (Fly me higher)

振り返りはしない　でもついておいで

Furikaeri wa shinai demo tsuite oide

There’s no return, but come follow me anyways

ちょっと意地悪な　歌で惑わせて (Show me wonder)

Chotto ijiwaru na uta de madowasete (Show me wonder)

I’ll bewitch you with just a slightly mischievous song (Show me wonder)

揺れる日差しみたい　不安定な感情

Fureru hizashi mitai fuantei na kanjyou

Just like the wavering rays of light, it’s an unsteady feeling

奪ってもっと　(Reach)

Ubatte motto (Reach)

I’ll steal even more (Reach)

誘って高く　(the top)

Sasotte takaku (the top)

Entice you even higher (the top)

気付いてボクの Up to the nines (Yeah)

Kizuite boku no Up to the nines (Yeah)

Notice it, my Up to the nines (Yeah)

T/N: If anyone has either Nanase’s 2018 bday rabichat, I’d be indebted for life if you could share the lyricist and composer’s comments (it’s usually in part 2 of the chats if I’m not mistaken) with me so I can get a better feeling of what the song should be about, thanks <3

I translated this song on the basis of it being in Tenn’s POV, because it makes no sense for some of these lines to have a listen/second-person subject, except for the two odd lines where Tenn explicitly singles out the listener/his fans.

This song is definitely more personal than「U Complete Me」I think? It hints a lot at the pressure Tenn receives from basically everyone, and some of his insecurities?

「まとう背中　寂しげ or not?」;「まとう」is “to be clad in” and「寂しげ」”seemingly lonely”, so like “a back wearing what appears to be overwhelming loneliness (or not?)” except that’s clunky

「生えて」is teeechnically “to sprout”, but imo “to unfurl” sounds better in English

「左右」the way Tenn sings it would be “left, right”, but those two kanji together does also mean “influence, control, dominance”, and with “braver” following it, I thought “control” would make more sense than “left and right”

I tried my best to parallel my translations the way the song paralleled the white and black birds, and am proud to say I sorta managed it

The white bird striving to fly higher and farther than anyone else

The black bird flying to a depth no one’s ever reached before

“Anyone can be famous for a generation... What’s hard is forever. To be famous forever, you need a legend… Yes, like Zero.” ー Kujo Tenn (IDOLiSH7 Season 1, episode 11)

Also others have already pointed it out but “Up to the nines” is an idiom meaning “perfection”

[fireemblemtcg]

The Cipher Frontier! Issue 30: "Thank you for coming to the Go! Go! Summer Tour!"

(“The Cipher Frontier! With Emma, Shade, Yuzu & Randal” is a regular column on the Fire Emblem Cipher website which summarises upcoming news concerning Cipher and other Fire Emblem materials. It is hosted by the four mascot characters. The following is a full translation of the 30th issue of the column, originally published on the 10th of August, 2017.)

more fire emblem cipher series 10 translations!

Hello, everybody!!!!

To commemorate the second anniversary of Cipher and the launch of Series 9, five "Go! Go! Summer Tour" events were held across Japan!

And since they were so popular, we went out to the final event in Kanazawa a few days ago.

All of the events had so many fans of Cipher and Fire Emblem come by!

I saw a few people took the time to come a long way for them, too.

T'was more to the festivities than dueling. With live paintings and autographs from illustrators, mini-concerts, quiz areas and more, each event was packed with all manner of fun to keep one entertained!

Speaking of which... Let's take a moment to talk about just what happened at the Summer Tour!

Naturally for a Cipher event, first and foremost is the competition! At the Summer Tour, you could battle others to your heart's content!

I got in plenty of matches, too!

...But I *sniff* got plenty of losses...

The Pack Battles, too, offered fearsome competition. How interesting it is to lay aside the traditional way of battle for a time!

It was really nice to see the event areas that were just for women and beginners to battle in!

A lot of people came to the practice area to learn how to play Cipher.

Just collecting Cipher cards is neat and all, but playing with them is even neater. Here's hoping everyone gives it a try at least once.

Battling was fun and all, but there were plenty of other things to enjoy as well!

At every showing, the live painting exhibitions with the illustrators drew remarkable crowds.

That's right! Hidari, Sachiko Wada, Daisuke Izuka, Kotaro Yamada, Senri Kita, and Yusuke Kozaki all provided us with wonderful Cipher artwork!

I couldn't miss out on seeing how these artists draw as it happens!

A lot of drawing is done on computers these days, so it's a pretty rare and valuable experience to get lucky and see it done by hand.

And all of their drawings are just... so full of feeling!

M-marvelous...! It is unthinkable, that such incredible works could be drawn in such a short period of time!

...Huh? Aren't there more of these drawings than there were illustrators?

You see, Senri Kita had actually drawn another one beforehand as a bit of a warm-up, to make sure she could do a live painting fast enough...

In this one she illustrated four senators of the Begnion Empire.

And because of that, Yusuke Kozaki did an additional drawing of four Nohrians.

I don't know why, but seeing King Garon smiling and laughing like this for the first time is a bit, er...

Seeing unexpected character depictions like these appear before our eyes at the events was really quite exciting.

Being surprised by it live as it happens certainly gave the event a very distinctive sort of charm.

The mini-concerts were really exciting, too!

Marvelous musical performances were held at the Summer Tour as well!

The tracks included "The Heritors of Arcadia" from "Echoes: Shadows of Valentia", and "Winds of Askr" from "Heroes"... All of them were just wonderful.

Mm. The simple piano and guitar combination resulted in good, clean listening.

The discussions about composition and development that they had between tracks were most interesting listening. It even heightened my love of their craft still further.

We also had Quiz Areas, loaded with enthralling puzzles!

Pictured question:

[J-Across] Who is the unit who starts with these stats? Archer / Level 6 36 HP / 11 Str / 0 Mag / 14 Skl / 14 Spd / 4 Luck / 9 Def / 0 Res / 6 Mov Skills: Pursuit, Accost, Adept

I felt as if this time they offered a great many fearsome questions.

I think I solved all of them, but right to the end they had me secondguessing myself. The entire deal was pretty well put together.

For those who were wondering what sort of questions they were, we have all of the ones used at the events here!

Pictured questions:

A-Down: Complete this unit's catchphrase.

F-Down: What is this unit's name?

B-Across: What is the name of this skill that Tormod has in "Path of Radiance" and "Radiant Dawn"?

C-Across: What is the name of the unit whose card possesses this skill? [ACT] [FLIP 4] Destroy all enemy units with a deployment cost of 2 or less. Until the end of the turn, this unit gains +10 attack for every enemy unit destroyed by this skill, and 1-2 range.

C-Down: ???

E-Across: What is this unit's name?

G-Across: Who is being cosplayed?

H-Down: Complete the name of this item from "Thracia 776" which heals fatigue.

I-Down: Who is being quoted? "I'll do anything you say. Yes... Just like this... Mwahaha! You shouldn't have let your guard down! You fool... Now die!"

J-Down: What is the name of this unit?

L-Down: Name the female archer appearing in "Shadow Dragon" and "New Mystery of the Emblem".

M-Across: Name the female unit who has been illustrated for Fire Emblem Cipher by these artists: Cuboon, I☆LA, Doji Shiki, HMK84, Kaoru Hagiya

N-Across: What is the name of the sword that is not like the others?

O-Down: Name the unit who eats these candies.

K-Down: Name the unit who has these things in common: Shaman, Monocle, Hugh, The Port of Badon

I wonder how many of these you can solve? I hope you give the challenge a try.

Also, there was all sorts of fun going on at the Photography Area and the Colouring Area!

Truly, this was an event that offered fun not only for Cipher players, but for Fire Emblem fans as well, all throughout each day.

I'm so glad that events such as these allow fans to form bonds with fellow fans.

Each place was just one big, sprawling ring of Fire Emblem, huh...

Thank you so much for coming, everybody!!!!

Anyway, everyone, it's been a month and a half since Series 9 was released, so... You're all probably starting to wonder what's next for Cipher, right?

So the next would be... No, it can't be... Series 10 of Cipher?!

Let's see if I remember this right... Series 10 features "Thracia 776", "Fates: Birthright/Conquest" and "Heroes". The official site put up an image of its packaging!

Heh heh... Actually, I've got a few images of Series 10 cards with me today!

What? We're... We're unveiling them?!

That's right! The Cipher Niconico livestreams and the official Twitter account aren't the only ones revealing cards anymore.

Lately Randal's been the one with all the exciting new tidbits, and I'm not about to let him have all the fun!

Oh, er... I didn't really think this was a competition or anything...

Right, here we go! Ta-daaah! From Cipher Series 10 it's... Orsin and Tanja! And Selkie and Velouria!

Ohh! Aren't these different illustrations of Orsin and Tanja from the ones we saw on the last Nico broadcasts? These must be their class-changed cards!

Sir Orsin has a skill for his personal throwing axe, the Pugilist! And moreover, Sir Orsin and Lady Tanja each have skills to support the other!

Huh. Just like the story of "Thracia 776".

Wow! And the two beast shifters are so cuuuute!

These must be their base-class illustrations. I believe these are also different from the ones seen on the last Niconico live broadcast.

There's something about seeing these cute youngsters giving life their all that warms this old man's heart.

Well?! You're all looking forward to Series 10, aren't you!!

Er, Shade... That's... That's quite the smug look you're wearing...

Oh, while we're on the subject... I've got a little something myself: an illustration to reveal.

An illustration...? To reveal...?

Here it is.

I-is... Is this...?!

It's Eirika from "The Sacred Stoooones"!

Could such brushwork be... the work of Miss Sachiko Wada?!

Oh, you've got a sharp eye. This is an illustration for a card in Series 11.

S-Series 11?! You've got... Even more breaking news than I do! W-w-where... Where did you... g-g-get that?

That's a trade secret.

Buh-buh-buh-buh-buh... Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!!!

Gah! We broke her! We broke Sh-Shade!

Please, Shade, calm yourself! You showed us those cards and sparked even more anticipation for what lies ahead in Cipher! We could never do this without you!

Y-you're right. And if seeing Randal bring news to The Cipher Frontier! makes everybody happy too, that's fine, isn't it...?

Of course. Let's all get everyone stirred up for Cipher!

Gah! Next time... I won't be beaten next time!

No, no, no... Don't make it a contest...

Ohoho! To spur each other on to greater heights like this is a fine thing indeed!

Well, that's all she wrote this time, so...

We hope you all keep enjoying "Cipher" and "The Cipher Frontier"!!!!

So... The next Cipher Niconico live broadcast is on the 19th of August...?

Indeed, my liege.

Uwehehe... What fun...

[inqua]

Sooo I beat Echoes and it is my favourite 3DS FE game by far.

Extended thoughts under the cut! (no spoilers)

Uhhh I should note that I have never played Gaiden, so this game was completely new to me. And what was also extremely helpful is that aside from what we saw in trailers and character portraits, nothing had been leaked to me like with Fates, which I got spoiled on pretty hard due to it releasing way earlier in JP and US than in PAL regions. Hope western releases will remain like this in the future. I’m no pro or anything, this is just me praising this game, lol.

So the story I’m gonna glance over since the game has only been out for like a week. All I’ll say is that I enjoyed it a lot. It was a classic hero story, which is exactly what I expected given its source material. Slightly predictable? Yes, but executed extremely well. This is showing the perspective of two protagonists with different ideologies done right, unlike in another certain FE game.

The characters are extremely loveable in this one. I love that it wasn’t just about Alm or Celica- the story always managed to involve their closest friends as well, which is great because I usually feel like FE tends to alienate a large amount of its cast. I really do think the voice acting is to thank for bringing the characters to life so well. Gray and Tobin are a perfect example of this: they always comment on Alm’s choices, mention what their stance is on the matter, and bringing up actual good points on why we should choose to take certain actions or not. Of course, they also joke around and bicker a lot and the VA’s seem to have a lot of fun with that, making the characters all the more lovable. So the character interaction is great, but I do have to say I was disappointed by the lack of support conversations? I surely thought Alm would be able to support with all his childhood friends from Ram village at least, or Celica with other important units from her original crew, like Boey, Genny and Saber. Instead, most characters only have the option to support with one or two other units. In the end I don’t mind too much though, because the quality of the voice acting was surprisingly good for the most part and somewhat makes up for it, imo. The main cast usually nailed the dialogue with the right intonation. The voice performance that left me most impressed was actually Berkut’s though; this dude got so into it, it terrified the shit out of me at times, lmao.

Gameplay-wise this game also killed it. I have to admit I played on Normal Classic like the fucking casual filth I am, but I swear, it was only because I didn’t know how much the format would differ from what I’m used to. Also I figured since there are only two difficulty options for this one, I would have a good reason to replay it on Hard soon. Anyway, first of all: thank fucking god, the world map is back. I really like having the option to switch between armies whenever you please and doing things in your own pace, it’s refreshing and motivates you to keep playing. Having Alm and Celica as two lords is fun enough and I’m glad they didn’t force in an avatar character and a marriage system, it really doesn’t need it. Battles are just your classic FE combat, well, Gaiden style of course, but familiar enough nonetheless. I don’t mind the absence of the weapon triangle, as the game still offers enough strategic options with characters only being able to carry one weapon/item at a time and them possessing over several skills depending on the unit/class/weapon. I also like how magic/healing/skills occur in exchange for HP. It forces the player to choose carefully and prevents magic users from becoming too OP. At first I had to suppress the urge to max units’ levels before promoting, but I got used to it fairly quickly, lol. The dungeons are also pretty fun, if not a bit clunky. Idk, to me it was very apparent that this was their first try on this format. I felt like the empty spaces weren’t filled up very well, and moving your character around didn’t always go too smoothly either. I do like the talking/examining à la Ace Attorney thing they added, it allows you to take a break after a long battle.

Y’all have seen the art for this game, it’s fucking gorgeous. I definitely prefer Hidari’s character designs over Kozaki’s for FE, though they’re both great artists. Hidari’s soft and dreamy style seems to really fit Valentia for some reason. The in-game visuals were fantastic too, with the accurate zoom-ins on specific parts of the map returning. But I personally loved the villages especially- they were just really nice and peaceful safe havens showing the beautiful types of environment in Valentia, as well as the differences between Zofia and Rigel. It really helped with the world building of Valentia for me.

Guys, the soundtrack made this game for me. The OST on this game is just so fucking phenomenal, I can’t even describe it. I’m constantly listening to it, even as I write this. The violin game in Celica’s path is so sick; Radiant Ark and With Mila’s Divine Protection never fail to hype me the fuck up to go on an adventure. In Alm’s route it also perfectly nails those triumphant fanfare type tracks you expect in an FE game. Just fires you up to mow down an entire army of big armour clad dudes. But then there’s also these tranquil and nostalgic themes to accompany the villages and touching moments. Also very notable: great usage of vocals in the tracks. I could go on forever, but honestly it has a great variety of tracks just very well done and fitting for whatever their setting is. I had listened to the Gaiden soundtrack (which is also fantastic in its own right) before too, so it was fun hearing all those tunes revitalised. Once again, I feel like FE music just keeps improving consistently. With every instalment I think it can’t get any better, but then I’m proven wrong every time and I love it. God. I just have so much love for this soundtrack. Fuck.

Idk, overall Echoes just feels like one huge comeback to me. Like IntSys proving our elitist asses that yes, they are still capable of making “real” FE games, now shut up and spend the entire game’s worth on DLC, you nerds. No but honestly, I sincerely hope they will continue the trend of remaking older games in this fashion. I’m really liking where we’re heading with this.

On a final note… A moment of silence for my boy Boey… He took one for the team and died in the final battle. Now I have a save slot with all characters alive and well except for him, and it goes against my perfectionist urges, cri. :(

[skdksjxpsbspqxbo]

Dante, Horace!

Dante: who is your idol?OH BOY JUN MOCHIZUKI she is basically the reason why I draw lmaoThen a fuck ton of others like Yusuke Kozaki, Hidari, Yusuke Murata…. Anyway

Horace: favorite memeOmg the one where the more the drawings become simple the more detailled the description is skdksd I die each time

Thank you so much for the ask!!

[jackkel-dragon]

Since I’ve mostly been in “promotion” mode lately, I decided to try to force myself to make some more “organic” blog posts. Not sure if this will last, but I’ll give it a shot.

Today’s topic is Atelier Firis, the game that got me into the Atelier franchise (which is apparently almost as old as I am and has almost 20 main games). While there are a lot of little flaws with the game that frustrate me, it’s still one of my two favorite games in the series so far. So I’m going to focus on what I liked.

First, I really like Firis as a protagonist. She starts the game as a petulant teenager, but unlike the heroes of bad teen movies she doesn’t get idealized or demonized for this. Her motives early in the game, particularly the prologue, are very self-centered. Yet instead of having her parents be clueless, saintly, or abusive (with the first and last often being excuses for the rebellious teen’s actions), they have more complex reactions to Firis wanting to leave her gloomy underground town. Firis’s mother is overprotective, but clearly is unhappy that she is holding her daughter back. Her dad is a doofus, but still worries about Firis’s wanderlust. Her sister, Liane, is also fairly well-developed even before her endgame storyline, not being entirely on Firis’s side or their parent’s side. While she wants Firis to be happy, she, as a hunter, knows just how dangerous it is outside. Firis herself also avoids the teen movie cliches, as while she gets pouty over being kept safely inside, she does recognize that she’s being selfish when she has a moment to calm down and think. Sometimes, she even gathers up the courage to apologize (such as when she says goodbye to her parents when she is finally allowed to leave, despite her plan to leave without saying anything).

Another thing that I like about Firis after starting to play the other Atelier games is that she has this selfish introduction. Many Atelier games that I’ve played (Dusk, Mysterious, and some of the Arland series) have a protagonist that is selfless or self-sacrificing from the start of the game, with their character development focused more on how they build relationships with the other characters. With Firis, we see as she goes from a rebellious teen to helping people because of the excitement of her journey to (potentially, in some questlines and endings) helping for its own sake. While many of the Atelier games focus on a teen protagonist to have the “coming of age” setup, Firis really feels like she’s growing into an adult on her journey.

Moving on to gameplay concerns, I really like the series premise of mixing JRPG combat with detailed item crafting. As I noted in my Steam review for Atelier Firis, it’s something I’d been looking for in video games for a while, and didn’t realize there was already something like that. Even more so than some other entries in the franchise, Atelier Firis does a great job of making you feel in control of your items and equipment. You can learn the basics of crafting very quickly, but it may take a while to truly understand how to game the system to make powerful items. This learning curve allows you to feel smart no matter how far you are in the game. (Hindered a bit by the finicky requirements for unlocking some recipes in this game, but that’s another issue.)

Aside from making and customizing your items, it’s also really fun to explore the areas in Atelier Firis. World design for every map is a mix between JRPG hills and fences and open world fields, giving each area a distinct appearance (unlike some bland open world games) while also letting you just wander around (unlike more linear-path JRPGs). And when you finally get proper fast travel and the ability to fly and dive underwater, the world really opens up to you. It’s entirely possible to avoid 95% of combat until after the Alchemy Exam (the first part of the game, which has a time limit), or to accidentally wander into range of a lv50 boss while at lv10.

Next, the characters. I personally didn’t connect much with many of the party members (especially compared to the Dusk series games), but a few stood out to me (Liane, Shannon from the DLC). And even though I didn’t get too excited about the party members, I still really liked seeing how they were fleshed out in the endgame questlines. Seeing a bulky guy like Angriff decide he wants to build a school so more people don’t have a painful childhood like he did is an interesting way to take a “rough mercenary” character type.

Last thing I can think of at the moment involves the art. While the 2D CG art wasn’t a big draw for me (I preferred Hidari’s work in the Dusk series), the 3D art is great in Atelier Firis. The artstyle works so well for me, especially since the ultra-detailed “HD” look that Western AAA games all go for sometimes hurts my eyes. The character design is also really cute, particularly for some of Firis’s alternate outfits.

This all ended up sounding more like another review for the game… Hopefully it was interesting to someone anyway. At any rate, thanks for reading!