#especially in Y5-6

[cindyneilly-arts]

Got possessed and so I made a doodle comic 💃🏼

Ivy's gonna get a headache, poor lass.

|~•~|

[Based on this thing that I saw on Pinterest lol: ]

[yamaylander]

hey, it's me again! after a whole 2 days, i've finished redoing Nightmare. to be honest i didnt expect myself to work that fast but i guess i was THAT devoted to redoing her entire character. it's a really long file so it's obviously gonna be put under read more. there'll be a preview up until her profile below

special thanks to @cherry-blossomtea and another friend for helping me research DID as well as talking about their experiences with DID themselves. and obviously thanks @adorablegorilla for inspiring me to do this (although i did take a lot of liberties remaking Nightmare's character. found the evil alter thing distasteful)

of course, feedback is always appreciated so i know what parts work best and what areas i need to improve upon, especially in regards to DID as this is my first time engaging it. so do send if you have any!

without further ado, i present to you what i'm calling: Y5 Nightmare!

-----

Nightmare, Medic Operators of Rhodes Island, will provide help no matter who’s currently in the moment.

Who is it I’m talking to today?

Codename: Nightmare

Class: Incantation Medic

Real Name: Nyx Rebel Pasbelletti, Gloria

Gender: Female [Both]

Experience: 6 months [Nyx], 1 month [Gloria]

Place of birth: Victoria

Date of birth: June 1st [Nyx], March 12th [Gloria]

Race: Feline

Height: 156 cm

Infection status: Visible internal blotches, infection confirmed

(file continued below)

Token: A glow-in-the-dark doll, handmade. Nyx said it’ll protect you from bad dreams.

Physical examination

Strength: Normal

Mobility: Standard

Endurance: Normal

Tactical acumen: Good [Nyx], Normal [Gloria]

Combat Skill: Good [Nyx], Standard [Gloria]

Arts adaptation: Excellent

Skills (Rank 7)

Soul Reflection - ATK increases by 70% and attacks two enemies at once, healing two allies in range; each attack binds enemies for 3 seconds

Phantasmagoria - Range expands and stops attacking; decreases movement speed of enemies by 60% and drains 20% of their health every second with Arts damage, while healing operators depending on how many enemies are currently in range

Talent

Fronting - Healing effectiveness increased by 20% when equipped with skill 1; Obtains 18% ATK when equipped with skill 2

*Gloria has asked to keep this event classified until both her and Nyx come to a consensus to speak about it.

Profile

Nyx is a Victorian operating under the codename Nightmare with her headmate, Gloria. Prior to their entry into Rhodes Island, Nyx was a college student who studied medical Arts. Gloria came later during her life due to an unspecified event* before her subsequent infection. They now currently work in Rhodes Island’s triage section, working to help patients as well as Operators in the battlefield.

Clinical Testing

Imaging tests for this Operator showed a blurry outline of internal organs with visible unusual dark spots. Unusually high concentrations of Originium particles were present in her circulation, indicating signs of infection and confirming her as infected at this stage.

[Cell-Originium Assimilation] 16%

Surveillance is recommended for rare cases like this.

[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.33u/L

Infection is in mid-stage and continues to spread. First-level medical plan recommended. Pathological Monitoring Protocol Label: Red (signed by Dr. Kal’tsit, see medical file for more detail).

Gloria is known to be gentle, almost to a fault. She doesn’t strike anyone as the type who would go out in the battlefield, instead giving the impression that she would rather stay and help others in the infirmary. This view is only half the truth. While Gloria does indeed want to help others, she wishes to do so in a manner that both soothes and protects her fellow operators onboard. In the ship, she is often the one who consoles others during their time of need. This is especially true for those who are currently experiencing traumatic stress. Surprisingly Gloria seems to have a good handle on how to deal with such matters, to the point that she could very well apply to be a therapist. It’s even more surprising that Gloria chose to become a battlefield operator, though this is because by her and Nyx’s volition, they want to help people wherever they can.

Archive File 1

Operator Nightmare suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder. In rudimentary terms, DID is when a person suffers from having two or more personalities, also known as alters, in their consciousness. Currently, Nightmare has two headmates that are present, that being Nyx and Gloria, the latter of which tends to be fronting much of the time.

On the subject of Nyx, who is the oldest alter before Gloria came to be, she appears to be far more reserved compared to the more sociable Gloria. She usually remains dormant for long periods of time, often letting Gloria front whenever possible. On the chance that Nyx is fronting however, she shows herself to be far quieter than Gloria is. When talking to others, she speaks in a hushed voice and is quick with her words. She also tends to be more upfront and honest, which has led to others conflicting with Nyx from time to time. From Gloria’s words however, this isn’t because Nyx chooses to be mean, this is only because Nyx isn’t sure how she can talk to others. 

Currently, Gloria is undergoing talks with Nyx in order to help her open up, but she also stresses that Nyx must be given time before she can properly do so. On that note, Operators should be mindful of who they are speaking to at the moment and that proper respect should be given to Nyx’s situation.

Nyx has attended many classes regarding medicine and psychology, to the point that she often spent time reading up on the subject matters during her free time which has resulted in her stifled sociality. This may have also given way to her blunt nature, as Gloria admitted that Nyx often got into trouble by her own volition simply because she was honest in a manner that hurt others. Nyx doesn’t seem to understand why this is but seeing as this was the consequence of her honesty, she wishes to learn how she can avoid hurting others in the future.

Archive File 2

Both Nyx and Gloria have an interest in medicine, psychology and Originium, a somewhat broader range of interest compared to others. Although Nyx was born in a Victorian city that focused on artistry, with her father working in the pottery business, Nyx opted to follow her mother’s footsteps, who worked at the local hospital.

Her interest in Originium came about after Gloria had manifested. Both have been seen attending classes and reading up on Originium and its effects in Rhodes Island. As Gloria stated, “We want to know about Originium simply because we don’t want others to suffer because of it, as well as helping others become safer around it”. To say that Nyx and Gloria are determined to work hard and help others is an understatement.

On the subject of medicine and psychology, it seems the interests somewhat split with Nyx leaning more into studying psychology and Gloria studying medicine more often. Nyx appears to be up to speed on most mental disorders and knows how to deal with them in their proper manner while Gloria’s knowledge on medicine allows her to work in Rhodes Island’s infirmaries without trouble, assisting the doctors if she is available. Their efforts in both departments are commendable and their knowledge will prove fruitful to Rhodes Island’s advances in care.

When Gloria is fronting, the Arts unit becomes more effective at healing operators on the field, targeting multiple people at once. The healing Arts is immensely effective, allowing operators to stand longer and keep fighting. It also has the effect of making our operators feel more alert and thus more vigilant during their battles, increasing their performance in combat.

Archive File 3

For someone so young, Nyx shows a surprising aptitude for battle. Although Gloria has only had one month of combat experience and has focused mostly on first aid, Nyx seems to have the battlefield almost under her control. This is attributed to her Arts unit, which was discovered to have two functions based on whoever is currently fronting at the moment.

On the other hand, when Nyx is fronting the Arts unit becomes focused on keeping enemies back. When used on enemies, it puts them into a dreamlike state where their consciousness appears to dissociate from the current reality. This often causes them to give up fighting in bizarre ways, the most common of which involves them dropping their weapons and staring up at the sky, with some of them slowly wandering the area aimlessly. Why this happens is currently unknown, as Nyx refuses to divulge for the time being. Many operators who have been in field missions with Nyx have said it to be unnerving, unsure what to think when they see the people they were fighting with “suddenly fall asleep while awake”.

One notable incident happened during one of Nightmare’s field missions with Nyx fronting. While fighting a particularly dangerous enemy, she wound up forcing them into a REM state. This resulted in the enemy panicking as though experiencing vivid nightmares, constantly screaming for nonexistent entities to stop while begging for their life to be spared. It was only when they were knocked out that they ceased their panic. After this, Nyx was told not to do this again although it doesn’t seem like she was particularly affected by this event.

While walking back home from college to visit her parents, she decided to take a quick shortcut through one of Londinium’s districts to head there faster. However, she wound up getting caught in the middle of the Kazdel-Victoria crisis where the district she was in ended up getting caught in the middle of the artillery barrages. With nowhere else to go, Nyx was forced to run aimlessly through Londinium in an attempt to get away from the situation. Although mostly successful, the event left her deeply traumatized. In the state the district was in, she had to fend for herself no matter what.

Archive File 4

After a long time, Nyx and Gloria eventually agreed to share how they came to be. Upon their request, this file should also be kept secret from the general staff of Rhodes Island.

The next few days were described to be a living nightmare. She ran afoul with some of the district’s residents whose rationales were gradually deteriorating. Nyx wasn’t an exception as she also began to steal from others whenever she could just so she could make it to another day, even going as far as to attack others who attempted to steal from her. This all eventually culminated into her breakdown when one night, while hiding away in a shelter, someone had broken into it and attempted to steal her supplies. When Nyx tried to fight back, the attacker was far more aggressive than she thought and nearly killed her. Out of desperation, Nyx casted her Arts onto her attacker. Rather than putting them to sleep however, the blast was powerful enough to not only put her attacker to near death but also caused him to experience live nightmares. The end result was that the attacker was left screaming for help for the next few seconds before finally perishing.

Horrified by her actions, her stress finally broke her down. She underwent a severe mental and emotional breakdown before her mind eventually “quarantined” the stressor. For the next few minutes, Nyx had no success of calming down until she suddenly heard Gloria’s voice, who immediately began to reassure her and that everything will eventually be alright. After that, Gloria was able to help Nyx through the crisis however she could, right up until they joined Rhodes Island when they entered one of our buildings in Victoria.

The event has changed Nyx forever and it is certainly not something she’ll easily forget, but she is forever grateful that Gloria was born during her greatest time of need.

To this day, Nyx and Gloria have been continuously communicating to each other about their activities this way but after their therapy sessions, have also been figuring out alternative ways to break down their amnesiac barriers. This led to them creating a headspace of their own, which Gloria described to be a small bedroom in the middle of the night, with a nightlight on at all times. According to Gloria, this is what they find most comforting.

Promotional Record

Prior to them joining Rhodes Island, whenever Nyx and Gloria switched they often forgot about their alter’s activities during their time fronting. Gloria was the first to notice this problem when she spoke to Nyx during their time in Victoria, after hearing the latter ask what Gloria did. With this problem in mind, Gloria had the idea of using a journal she found to document both her and Nyx’s activities so that until they find proper shelter, their alter can remember what the other did so that they are aware of what happened.

Appointed as Assistant - Oh, it’s really bright in here… Doctor, do you mind if you turn down the lights a bit?

Dialogue

Normal text is Gloria speaking, italics is Nyx speaking.

Talk 1 - When we got into Rhodes Island, we weren’t sure what we were expecting… including the kindness that everyone was expressing! It’ll take a bit for Nyx to get used to, but I think she’ll also do just fine here!

Talk 2 - Our staff was given to us by Nyx’s dad. It has the power to sorta put people to sleep but to be honest, using the staff isn’t really a wise choice if we actually want to sleep…

Talk 3 - When I’m alone and Nyx is awake, we talk to each other. The same goes for Nyx too. Hm? Do people think it’s weird? I don’t think Nyx would care, as long as she has someone to talk to… and, well, she’s right for it.

Talk after Promotion 1 - There wasn’t a moment where I could get a good night’s rest back in Victoria… but when Gloria came along, I was finally able to rest. But… I do feel bad for making her go through those horrors. She’s a really brave person.

Talk after Promotion 2 - Oh, what’s that? Our Oripathy is worsening? Yes, that’s been a really big concern of ours… but we’re sure that Rhodes Island can do something. Right Nyx? … mhm.

Trust Talk 1 - Erm, let me apologize on Nyx’s behalf! She really didn’t mean to start that fight in the hallway, I promise! It’s just been a while since she properly talked to someone so her social skills are a bit rusty… but I promise, I’ll help her learn how to socialize better. Just please be patient with her?

Trust Talk 2 - If I’m allowed to be a little morbid here… you’re essentially the leader of Rhodes Island, right? If you die out there, I’d imagine that your operators… your friends, they wouldn’t take it well. Well, that’s why we’re here! We’ll protect you, and everyone, from the threats outside. That much we can promise.

Trust Talk 3 - You get tired from time to time, right? With that pile of work, surely you do lose a lot of sleep doing it… well, what if I have a solution to that? I can always just make you sleep for a day or two. All you have to do is say the word… and I’ll come right along with what you need… haha, just kidding. Too scary?

Idle - … sweet dreams.

Onboard - Ah, hello! I’m Gloria, but you’ve already seen our resume right? My headmate’s name is Nyx! Oh, but give her some time, she’s not used to talking to people yet… codename? Hmmm… well, I think Nyx would want something intimidating like Nightmare but… w-wait, you’re already registering it?! H-Hold on!

Watching Battle Record - So this is how you get stronger…? Intriguing…

Promotion 1 - When we came here, we thought we’d simply be patients getting treatment… but we’d never imagined that we’d be so much more…!

Promotion 2 - It feels like I’m not qualified for this promotion at all… but since Gloria insists, I’ll take it too. I’m just lucky to be alive at this point. So, whatever you need us to do, we’ll do it.

Appointed to Squad (S1) - Mhm, got it.

Appointed to Squad (S2) - I’ll do my best.

Appointed as Squad Leader (S1) - W-Wait, can I really do this alone?

Appointed as Squad Leader (S2) - You won’t be alone.

Depart (S1) - We’ll get a good night’s sleep after this, right…?

Depart (S2) - Curious… what kind of things will you pull off?

Begin Operation (S1) - I see them… over the horizon…

Begin Operation (S2) - So, these are the enemies we’re facing…

Selecting 1 (S1) - Are our supplies safe?

Selecting 1 (S2) - I’ll keep them safe.

Selecting 2 (S1) - I’m ready to fight!

Selecting 2 (S2) - Be sure you won’t regret this.

Deployment 1 (S1) - So this… is our battlefield…

Deployment 1 (S2) - I see no difference in battlefield.

Deployment 2 (S1) - I’ve only fought a few times, please bear with me…

Deployment 2 (S2) - It’s been a while since I’ve been somewhere like this.

In Battle 1 (S1) - Don’t get too rash now!

In Battle 1 (S2) - I’m only getting serious.

In Battle 2 (S1) - Keep yourselves calm!

In Battle 2 (S2) - Relax. You'll only be sleeping for a few seconds.

In Battle 3 (S1) - Have a nice rest!

In Battle 3 (S2) - Sweet dreams.

In Battle 4 (S1) - We’re still advancing? O-Okay!

In Battle 4 (S2) - Don’t waste our time.

4-Star (S1) - D-Doctor… did we just… do something incredible?

4-Star (S2) - So this is what total victory feels like…

3-Star (S1) - And that’s that! Good work everyone!

3-Star (S2) - It ends here. Well done.

2-Star (S1) - Ahhh, is anyone hurt?! I’ll be right there!

2-Star (S2) - We’ve won… but it’s costly. I’ll go clean up the mess.

Assigned to Facility - Where should we sit…

Failure (S1) - Are you hurt?! W-We need to run, now!

Failure (S2) - This… can’t be happening…

Tap - Ah-! Oi.

Trust Tap - Oh, hello! Hi.

Greeting - Good morning, Doctor! Are you well rested?

Title - Akunaitsu.

[oliviabutsmart]

Physics Friday #5: The Wonderful World of Programming Paradigms

Welcome to the first actual post on the dedicated blog! This will be continuing on from what I started over on my main account @oliviax727. But don't worry, I'll still repost this post over there.

Preamble: Wait! I thought this was Physics!

Education level: Primary School (Y5/6)

Topic: Computer Languages (Comp Sci)

So you may be thinking how this is relevant to physics, well it's not. But really, other adjacent fields: computer science, chemistry, science history, mathematics etc. Are really important to physics! The skills inform and help physicists make informed decisions on how to analyse theoretical frameworks, or to how physics can help inform other sciences.

I may do a bigger picture post relating to each science or the ways in which we marry different subjects to eachother, but what is important is that some knowledge of computer science is important when learning physics, or that you're bound to learn some CS along the way.

Also I can do what I want, bitch.

Introduction: What is a Programming Language?

You may have come across the term 'programming paradigm' - especially in computer science/software engineering classes. But what is a programming paradigm really?

Computers are very powerful things, and they can do quite a lot. Computers are also really dumb. They can't do anything unless if we tell them what to do.

So until our Sky-net machine overlords take control and start time-travelling to the past, we need to come up with ways to tell them how to do things.

Pure computer speak is in electrical signals corresponding to on and off. Whereas human speak is full of sounds and text.

It is possible for either one to understand the other (humans can pump electrical signals into a device and computers can language model). But we clearly need something better.

This is where a programming language comes in. It's basically a language that both the computer and the human understands. So we need a common language to talk to them.

It's like having two people. One speaks Mandarin, the other speaks English. So instead of making one person learn the other's language, we create a common language that the two of them can speak. This common language is a synthesis of both base languages.

But once we have an idea of how to communicate with the computer, we need to consider how we're going to talk to it:

How are we going to tell it to do things?

What are we going to ask it to do?

How will we organise and structure our common language?

This is where a programming paradigm comes in - a paradigm is a set of ideas surrounding how we should communicate with a device. It's really something that can truly only be understood by showing examples of paradigms.

Imperative vs. Declarative

The main two paradigms, or really categories of paradigms, are the imperative vs. declarative paradigm.

Imperative programming languages are quite simple: code is simply a set of instructions meant to tell the computer specifically what to do. It is about process, a series of steps the computer can follow to get some result.

Declarative programming languages are a bit more vapid: code is about getting what you want. It's less about how you get there and more about what you want at the end.

As you can see imperative programs tell the computer how to do something whereas declarative programs are about what you want out.

Here's an example of how an imperative language may find a specific name in a table of company data:

GET tableOfEmployees; GET nameToFind SET i = 0; WHILE i < tableOfEmployees.length: IF tableOfEmployees[i].firstName == nameToFind THEN: RETURN tableOfEmployees[i] AND i; ELSE: i = i + 1; RETURN "employee does not exist";

And here's that same attempt but in a declarative language:

FROM tableOfEmployees SELECT * WHERE firstName == INPUT(1);

Note that these languages aren't necessarily real languages, just based on real-life ones. Also please ignore the fact I used arrays of structures and databases in exactly the same way.

We can see the difference between the two paradigms a lot more clearly now. In the imperative paradigm, every step is laid out clear as day. "Add one to this number, check if this number is equal to that one".

Under the declarative paradigm, not only is the text shorter, we also put all of the instructions about how to do a task under the rug, we only care about what we want.

With all this, we can see an emerging spectrum of computer paradigms. From languages that are more computer-like, to languages that are more English-like. This is the programming languages' level:

Lower level languages are more likely to be imperative, as the fundamental construction of the computer relies on a series of instructions to be executed in order.

The lowest level, the series of electrical signals and circuitry called microcode is purely imperative in a sense, as everything is an instruction. Nothing is abstracted and everything is reduced to it's individual components.

The highest level, is effectively English. It's nothing but "I want this", "I'd like that". All of the processes involved are abstracted in favour of just the goal. It is all declarative.

In the middle we have most programming languages, what's known as the "high level languages". They are the best balance of abstraction of reduction, based on what you need to use the language for.

It's important that we also notice that increasingly higher-level and increasingly more declarative the language gets, the more specific the purpose of the language becomes.

Microcode and machine code can be used for effectively any purpose, they are the jack-of-all trades. Whereas something like SQL is really good at databases, but I wouldn't use it for game design.

As long as a language is Turing-complete, it can do anything any computer can do, what's important is how easy it is to program the diverse range of use-cases. Assembly can do literally anything, but it's an effort to program. Python can do the same, but it's an effort to run.

Imperative Paradigms: From the Transistor to the Website

As mentioned previously, the imperative paradigm is less a stand-alone paradigm but a group of paradigms. Much like how the UK is a country, but is also a collection of countries.

There are many ways in order to design imperative languages, for example, a simple imperative language from the 80's may look a lot like assembly:

... ADD r1, 1011 JMZ F313, r1

The last statement JMZ, corresponds to a "Jump to the instruction located at A if the value located at B is equal to zero" what it's effectively saying is a "Repeat step 4" or "Go to question 5" type of thing.

Also known as goto statements, these things are incredibly practical for computers, because all it requires is moving some electrical signals around the Registers/RAM.

But what goto statement is used as in code, is really just a glorified "if x then y". Additionally, these statements get really irritating when you want to repeat or recurse over instructions multiple times.

The Structured Paradigm

Thus we introduce the structured paradigm, which simply allows for control structures. A control structure is something that, controls the flow of the programs' instructions.

Control structures come in many forms:

Conditionals (If X then do Y otherwise do Z)

Multi-selects (If X1 then do Y1, if X2 then do Y2 ...)

Post-checked loops (Do X until Y happens)

Pre-checked loops (While Y, do X)

Counted Loops (For i = A to B do X)

Mapped Loops (For each X in Y, do Z)

These control structures are extra useful, as they have the added benefit of not having to specify what line you have to jump to every time you update previous instructions. They may also include more "safe" structures like the counted or mapped loop, which only executes a set amount of time.

But we still have an issue: all our code is stuffed into one file and it's everywhere, we have no way to seperate instructions into their own little components that we might want to execute multiple times. Currently, out only solution is to either nest things in far too many statements or use goto statements.

The Procedural Paradigm

What helps is the use of a procedure. Procedures are little blocks of code that can be called as many times as needed. They can often take many other names: commands, functions, processes, branches, methods, routines, subroutines, etc.

Procedures help to organise code for both repeated use and also it makes it easier to read. We can set an operating standard of "one task per subroutine" to help compartmentalise code.

Object-Oriented Code

Most of these basic programming languages, especially the more basic ones, include the use of data structures. Blocks of information that holds multiple types of information:

STRUCT Person: Name: String Age: Integer Phone: String Gender: String IsAlive: Boolean

But these structures often feel a bit empty. After all, we may want to have a specific process associated uniquely with that person.

We want to compartmentalise certain procedures and intrinsically tie them to an associated structure, preventing their use from other areas of the code.

Like "ChangeGender" is something we might not want to apply to something that doesn't have a gender, like a table.

We may also want to have structures that are similar to 'Person' but have a few extra properties like "Adult" may have a bank account or something.

What we're thinking of doing is constructing an object, a collection of BOTH attributes (variables) AND methods (procedures) associated with the object. We can also create new objects which inherit the properties of others.

Object oriented programming has been the industry standard for decades now, and it's incredibly clear as to why - it's rather useful! But as time marches forward, we've seen the popularisation of a new paradigm worthy of rivaling this one ...

Declarative Paradigms: The World of Logic

Declarative languages certainly help abstract a lot of information, but that's not always the case, sometimes the most well known declarative languages are very similar feature-wise to imperative paradigms. It's just a slight difference in focus which is important.

Functional Programming Languages

Whereas the object oriented language treats everything, or most things, like objects. A functional language uses functions as it's fundamental building block.

Functional languages rely on the operation of, well, functions. But functions of a specific kind - pure functions. A pure function is simply something that doesn't affect other parts of the computer outside of specifically itself.

A pure function is effectively read-only in it's operation - strictly read-only. The most practical-for-common-use functional languages often allow for a mixture of pure and impure functions.

A functional language is declarative because of the nature of a function - the process of how things work are abstracted away for a simple input -> output model. And with functional purity, you don't have to worry about if what takes the input to the output also affects other things on the computer.

Functional languages have been around for quite a while, however they've been relegated to the world of academia. Languages like Haskell and Lisp are, like most declarative languages, very restrictive in their general application. However in recent years, the use of functional programming has come quite common.

I may make a more opinionated piece in the future on the merits of combining both functional and object-oriented languages, and also a seperate my opinions on a particular functional language Haskell - which I have some contentions with.

Facts and Logic

The logic paradigm is another special mention of declarative languages, they focus on setting a series of facts (i.e. true statements):

[Billy] is a [Person]

Rules (i.e. true statements with generality):

If [A] is [Person] then [A] has a [Brain]

And Queries:

Does [Billy] have a [Brain]?

Logical languages have a lot more of a specific purpose, meant for, well, deductive/abductive logical modelling.

We can also use what's known as Fuzzy logic which is even more higher-level, relying on logic that is inductive or probabilistic, i.e. conclusions don't necessarily follow from the statements.

Visual and Documentation Languages

At some point, we start getting so high level, that the very components of the language start turning into something else.

You may have used a visual language before, for example, Scratch. Scratch is a declarative language that abstracts away instructions in-favour of visual blocks that represent certain tasks a computer can carry out.

Documentation languages like HTML, Markdown, CSS, XML, YML, etc. Are languages that can barely even be considered programming languages. Instead, they are methods of editing documents and storing text-based data.

Languages that don't even compile (without any significant effort)

At some point, we reach a point where languages don't even compile necessarily.

A metalanguage, is a language that describes language. Like EBNF, which is meant to describe the syntaxing and lexical structures of lower-level languages. Metalanguages can actually compile, and are often used in code editors for grammar checking.

Pseudocode can often be described as either imperative or declarative, focused on emulating programs in words. What you saw in previous sections are pseudocode.

Diagrams fall in this category too, as they describe the operation of a computer program without actually being used to run a computer.

Eventually we reach the point where what were doing is effectively giving instructions or requesting things in English. For this, we require AI modelling for a computer to even begin to interpret what we want it to interpret.

Esoteric Paradigms

Some paradigms happen to not really fall in this range form low to high level. Because they either don't apply to digital computing or exist in the purely theoretical realm.

Languages at the boundaries of the scale can fall into these classes, as microcode isn't really a language if it's all physical. And pseudocode isn't really a language if it doesn't even compile.

There are also the real theoretical models like automata and Turing machine code, which corresponds to simplified, idealised, and hypothetical machines that operate in ways analogous to computers.

Shells and commands also exist in this weird zone. Languages like bash, zsh, or powershell which operate as a set of command instructions you feed the computer to do specific things. They exist in the region blurred between imperative and declarative at the dead centre of the scale. But often their purpose is more used as a means to control a computer's operating system than anything else.

Lastly, we have the languages which don't fit in our neat diagram because they don't use digital computers in a traditional manner. These languages often take hold of the frontiers of computation:

Parallel Computing

Analog Computing

Quantum Computing

Mechanical Computing

Conclusion

In summary, there's a lot of different ways you can talk to computers! A very diverse range of paradigms and levels that operate in their own unique ways. Of course, I only covered the main paradigms, the ones most programmers are experienced in. And I barely scratched the surface of even the most popular paradigms.

Regardless, this write-up was long as well. I really wish I could find a way to shorten these posts without removing information I want to include. I guess that just comes with time. This is the first computer science based topic. Of course, like any programmer, I have strong opinions over the benefits of certain paradigms and languages. So hopefully I didn't let opinions get in the way of explanations.

Feedback is absolutely appreciated! And please, if you like what you see, consider following either @oliviabutsmart or @oliviax727!

Next week, I'll finish off our three-part series on dark matter and dark energy with a discussion of what dark energy does, and what we think it is made of!

[nochangeintheplan]

Waited a day but Gaiden Spoiler conspiracy ramble. Sorry if this doesn't make sense I've yet to replay the game but these are my immediate thoughts after I finished

So Hanawa is Morinaga right? There's always the alternative that he's a new character who will have his backstory revealed later, but if he's a pre-established character that we have the potential to recognize he has to be Morinaga.

(Obvious point out of way) Same VA I don't put a lot of stock into this since there are repeat VA's in RGG, but this is still a point. Generally same mannerisms and character delivery as well.

Suzuki Taichi The entire point rests on Hanawa knowing Kiryu's alias from y5. Morinaga and Aizawa confront Kiryu while calling him this. The entire scene of their meeting revolves around Kiryu's false identity. Forgive crusty quality lmao

Morinaga's Death Offscreen and ambiguous. We're told about it via Florist but never see it; it was just kind of weird in general.

Shorter than Kiryu Notable since most of these characters are MASSIVE for no reason, or range at around 6 feet. Morinaga and Hanawa are both shorter than Kiryu. I know angles mess with the size a lot in these games, but I think they're roughly the same height.

Similar Enough Faces It's not exact, but I see enough resemblance in their faces to entertain the thought. I see it mostly in the nos, cheekbones, and eyes, especially with the older Ishin model. It's maddeningly close enough but also off enough that I can't say 100%. To that I just say models do vary between games and have been yassified in general over time. Also if Kashiwagi can will his hairline back so can Morinaga.

Ishin Kiwami Actually a bit tenuous and conspiracy brain take here, but nearly every older character was recast to be someone who was more "relevant" to the current state of the RGG universe/in more recent memory to players. The fact that Morinaga/Matsubara remained as he was is just a bit suspect to me, since I don't think much of 5 is going to be revisited by players unless bits of it become major to upcoming games. Aside from Mirei, I believe everyone from 5 who remained in Ishin Kiwami would be relevant to Gaiden + (Including Aizawa, would would have to do with Hanawa's flashbacks if he is Morinaga).

Vibes Sorry but it'd just be cool lol. Because if it isn't Morinaga that mean's he's just a random guy new character, and him dropping that he knows Suzuki Taichi is a BBC Sherlock twist

[gamerism]

😎

Top. 5. yakuza/rgg quotes? I know there are probably Many, but I am Curious. And you know what, who said honorable mentions can't be included too lol.

This one goes out to the translation team ig. Wouldn't be here without them ect ect. There probably are a lot of honourable mentions because this series has a lot of great moments but I'll contain myself to the 5.

5. "No point? You're just makin' things harder on yourself. Deprivin' yourself for no damn reason. You think the world gives two shits if there's a point or not? Keep that up and it'll break you." -Majima YK/1

(And doesn't it just? Doesn't this exact thing break Kiryu down piece by piece? That's something I love about a moment that's so early, that was written so long ago. And how it's come to reflect the series as a whole.)

4. "Hamazaki left a message for you before he went. 'Keep the Tojo Clan safe from the cops. It's the only proof left that guys like us ever existed.' [...] It took me forty years to realise this. But for guys like us... our lives aren't really our own. There's always someone new to help. Someone we need to protect. These past few years, I fought that fate with all I had. But I'm done fighting. It's time I accept the hand I was dealt." -Kiryu Y4

(I can't help but think about the Implications whenever I hear this quote and Kiryu's headspace from 4 on, & especially in 6 as well.)

3. "Once you step into the shadows you're stained black for life. No gettin' that mark off ya. But... You can still choose who you bring down with ya." -Majima Y0

(🥲🥲 always so ouchie)

2. "Every girl dreams of becoming a star one day. I wasn't any different. But the reality is I had already found what makes me whole. I thought that if I could make it as an idol...I'd be able to keep the orphanage running. But it came at a cost. I would have to leave behind the very man who raised me. [...] Even though he was unconventional, I could always rely on him. I...I think of him like a father. And I love him. I love him very much. [...]" -Haruka Y5

(I cut this short but this whole speech makes my heart ache so bad. The definition of illogical action done for deep emotional motivation. & Kiryu doesn't get to hear it. 😭)

1. "I'll let you in on a little something, The yakuza game, it's not like boxing. The man who gets beat down isn't the loser. The guy who can't tough it out till the end, he's the one who loses." -Kuze Y0

(Yes I know that's probably obvious considering I used this for a gifset recently, but it's really just stuck in my mind since I first saw it.)

Though speaking of honourable mentions while coming up with this list I did think of a) a late game ishin scene i like a lot but its long, from multiple characters, and i don't actually want to spoil it for people so :)

And b) ishin's final scene probably says something profound at some point but its genuinely 20 minutes of uninterrupted dialogue and my brain fucking groans and turns off whenever i watch it. so.

[datastate]

hey i've been lowkey interested in getting into the yakuza games for a while but i've had no idea where to start or what order to go in. what do you recommend? :3

hm-hm... i think for yakuza is best seen in chronological order! :D unlike star wars, i do think (esp with the remastered vers to include callbacks to y0) that it'd be unwise to go by release date only.

there is the main series (just known as "yakuza"), which is followed by the "like a dragon" series -- it also has side games! though i haven't bought or played those yet... (such as the "ryū ga gotoku online" card game; otherwise, i do intend to at least watch dead souls (zombie au, essentially) and ishin (historical (edo) period)!!)

what i'm planning to play would be:

yakuza 0-6 yakuza: like a dragon judgement lost judgement like a dragon: gaiden

i've heard the judgement series requires events that have happened in y7, hence their placement afterward! they're also spin-offs i believe, but highly recommended from a friend of mine :D

of course, if you want to cut some time... i have my own qualms with some of the games. there are, of course, certain scenes that are crucial for later development, but i really wouldn't mind cutting out certain cutscenes if you'd like to watch those rather than play through certain games.

the games that i took the most issue with would be y5/y6, in all honesty. i felt it was redundant and jarringly convoluted, with its misogynistic writing nearly being enough to make me put down the game at several points. which is extremely disappointing considering how much i loved certain scenes from them! especially the mirroring of how parents can influence how their children cope in y5, as well as the beginning/ending cutscenes of y6, they certainly stuck with me and feel completely disjointed from the game they're written within.

of course, the above^ is solely my own opinion. as i've told my brother, do feel free to play through on your own & make your own evaluations! yakuza is a fun game just through its gameplay, anyway <3

i suppose if you're going for something more causal though, y0/y3 are my personal favorites, and i've heard many good things about the like a dragon/judgement series. like a dragon's playstyle is jarring as it's rpg rather than open combat, but it's not 'bad' by any means! :]

i'm sort of rambling at this point :P but i do hope this was somewhat helpful & that you enjoy the series once you get into it!

[herolectroindia]

Hero Lectro Y5 - New Edition Electric Cycle

If you’re thinking about switching to an e-cycle for your daily routine, the Hero Lectro Y5 is a simple, solid choice. It’s not overloaded with flashy features or complicated tech - it just does what it’s built to do: help you ride better, longer, and with less effort.

Let’s break down what makes the Y5 a reliable electric cycle for regular use.

Smooth Rides Made Easy

The Y5 is designed for comfort and control. It comes with a front suspension fork, which helps smooth out uneven roads or potholes - especially useful if you ride through busy city streets. The wide tyres give it good grip, and the steel frame adds to its durability without feeling too heavy.

It’s easy to hop on and ride, even if you’ve never used an e-cycle before.

Power When You Need It

This cycle runs on a 250W rear hub motor with pedal assist and throttle modes. That means you can ride normally, get a push when you need it, or let the motor do most of the work - all based on how you feel that day.

With pedal assist, the Y5 can go up to 60 km on a full charge, and up to 50–55 km in throttle mode. The battery takes around 5–6 hours to charge, and it’s removable - so you can plug it in at home or work, just like your phone.

Easy Controls and Safe Braking

You won’t be distracted by too many buttons or screens. The Y5 has a clear LED display showing your speed, battery level, and riding mode. It also comes with dual disc brakes for better control, especially when riding through traffic or taking quick stops.

These little things make a big difference when you ride often.

A Good Fit for Adults

If you’re on the lookout for a reliable electric bike for adults, the Hero Lectro Y5 ticks all the right boxes. It’s easy to maintain, simple to use, and makes everyday rides feel less tiring — whether it’s for commuting, quick errands, or a casual spin in the evening.

It doesn’t try to be overly smart or trendy. It just works — and that’s what most of us need.

Among the Best in Its Range

When you compare it with others in the same price range, the Y5 holds up well. The battery range, sturdy build, and riding comfort make it one of the best electric bikes available under ₹30,000 in India right now. It’s especially great if you’re just starting out with e-bikes and want something you can trust.

Final Thoughts

The Hero Lectro Y5 is a no-fuss cycle for real people. It’s built to help you ride more and worry less. If you’re looking for a practical e-bike that supports your everyday lifestyle — without burning a hole in your pocket — this one’s worth checking out.

You can learn more about it or book a test ride directly with Hero Lectro.

[supercityboys]

Yakuza’s like the worse looking the game is the better the story but you’ll be extremely disappointed in one of the most important aspects of the gameplay

[fabiansociety]

yakuza 6 is a much smaller game than yakuza 5, without the pervasive melancholy and the sprawling cast, and i'm not quite sure what i make of it at this point. i appreciate the tighter focus (even if i loved y5's picaresque), and particularly the ways the game is willing to really drill into the way kiryu is flailing as he settles into middle age, and how he's making the wrong choices as a result of it. the sidelining of haruka sucks; she's a character that is frequently ushered out into the wings for the endless second act of these games, but the way her agency is taken away in this game in particular feels faintly rancid. the fact that you learn that she's been the victim of some horrific violence in the same instant you learn that she's become sexually active is… not great. the series as a whole isn't terribly judgmental about women having sex—or, rather, it doesn't punish its women for being sexually active the way a lot of stories do—but it does have a bad habit of killing or harming its plot-bearing women, and the game using haruka's sexual activity as a proxy for her adulthood, and that adulthood meaning she's now available to be a victim of violence sucks. haruka's relationship with kiryu, separate from kiryu's relationship with haruka, has always been one of the series' strongest suits. haruka as a character is able to question him in a way other characters can't, because kiryu can't simply walk away from her, the way he does with adult women he gets close to, and he can't simply punch her into agreement, the way he does with the men in his life, and to have all that narrative tension resolved before the story even properly starts? it's a weaker story for it.

and the especially frustrating part is that haruka being awake and participating in the story doesn't do anything except improve things. the game can't function if kiryu is constantly saddled with haruto, so it has him hand his grandchild off to complete strangers repeatedly when he's in onomichi, and if haruka were awake, she could simply care for her own child while he goes off to try to find the father. she could be in onomichi with him, which would both streamline the bizarro logistical hoops the game hops through to park haruto somewhere and allow her to actively argue with kiryu about his fucked up decision to go back to jail. that decision—to functionally abandon his children for the sake of his own pride—is the real question at the heart of the story, and the game can only approach in obliquely, because it's silenced the only character who could make it more than subtext.

all that being said, though, the game itself is delightful? the substory writing remains world class, and the game's mood and tone and virtual tourism remain second to none. it's just frustrating that I'm something like 500 hours into this series and they still haven't figured out how to structure their A plots.

[maddogofshimano]

Family Patriarch Dialogue

So as I covered in my translations of the Majima Family Equipment, there’s a mechanic where you pick a boss and earn pictures and music and equipment from them

Well I have been sitting at 49/50 Majima pictures for over 6 months so I have decided to bite the bullet and jump to the Saejima Family. Majima actually made me pay him 100 million yen to do so, which is so so funny to me

In honor of that here’s everything that both Majima and Saejima can say when you click on them in HQ (sorry Daigo) and a few misc lines. Hopefully this doesn’t look completely unreadable, but I wanted to include all the original lines too since I had the screenshots already, especially because I am way less confident in getting single lines like this right even without the added complication of kansai-ben. Still, I did my best.

Patriarch of the Tojo Clan’s Majima Family, Majima Goro. He’s known as “The Mad Dog of Shimano” and is feared as a hyper-violent yakuza. He does as he pleases regardless of the situation he’s in, displaying his personal freedom. Striving after the man who’s stronger than anyone and wilder than anyone, a ceaseless tide of aspirants enter the Majima Family.

Hey, we’re holdin’ a Tycoon tournament. Get some players. (Tl note: Tycoon aka President or Daifugou is a card game, it’s also what Saejima plays in jail in Y5!)

No one’s come to raid us... I’m gonna die of boredom.

Dammit. If I stay inside my body’s gonna shrivel up...

Days are for construction, and nights are for fightin’. It’s a perfectly sensible way to live, dumbass!

It’s food time. Hey, let’s go get Chinese!

That Daigo guy’s as uptight as ever. He’s gonna give himself wrinkles.

Haaa~ I’m sleepy after eatin’. I’m gonna take a nap. If you’re noisy I’ll kill ya!

Someone left a grenade unattended here! Get it together!

Hmmm~. Maybe I’ll go to the batting center to work up a sweat...

Haa~. I want to take another shot at building a big building.

What’re you starin’ so closely at.

Oh.....? [Player Name], ya got a real determined look to ya. 

Ohh.... Ain’t it excitin’ coming here?

Bored...... I’m gonna go tease my kyoudai for a little bit.

....Got it! I’ll go mess with my kyoudai.

If I eat sweet things I end up wantin’ salty ‘n’ spicy...

Thanks to the hard work of all of our fine members, the Majima Family’s influence is expanding! Hehehe! That ain’t half bad~! (Tl note: this was sent when the Majima Family leveled up as a whole)

Oi! The feast is startin’! Hurry up and get in here!! (Tl note: this is sent every time we earn enough points for a pizza party)

Patriarch of the Tojo Clan's Saejima Family. One of the Tojo Clan's executives. Long feared under the nickname "18 Counts Saejima". There is no end to people requesting to join the Saejima Family, drawn in by the quiet man who is stronger than any other and feels things more deeply than any other.

Hey, go water the flowers after this.

I'm headin' out for a bit.... Yeah, visitin' the grave like usual.

Do ya know how to work a smart phone? Could ya show me how for a bit.

A buzzed head's real simple and nice. Want me to buzz yours?

Sma-art phone, huh... If only the letters were a lil bigger. (Tl note: he says it スマ~トホン which is just kinda cute imo)

It's fulla cat hair... Wanna clean it all together?

How're the neighbors doin'? Be sure not to cause them any trouble.

For sake of morale, how about we all go out to dinner tonight. (Tl note: I’m not sure if it’s morale or economic stimulation lol, and also the phrasing kind of implies it’s just an excuse to go out to eat)

....D'ya think I should wear a suit or a kimono?

Nothin' to do? Well then, how about a match of shogi?

Heh, everyone is dazzlin'. You have my gratitude.

Me and my kyoudai will keep Daigo supported.

Seriously... I got no clue what's gonna happen in this society these days.

Hm? A text from my kyoudai....? ....I can't make heads or tails of this.

Should I get the other one this time.... Hey, let's go get some food.

Hey. Did ya see the Wyverns’ game yesterday? Man, that double play.

Ya can't start somethin' unless ya got the cash for it. Sorry to ask that of ya.

Hey, ya got the newspaper?

[Player name]...... Heh. Man, you’ve gotten real dignified.

Food, huh... I guess I could get delivery once in a while. What sounds good?

If ya get complacent, you're done as a yakuza. I wonder how high I'll climb.... Heh. I'm lookin' forward to it.

Thanks to all of your hard work, our influence has gotten huge. I ask you all to keep it up.

All of your hard work is gettin’ rewarded. Please get to the office soon for the banquet. 

a few inconsequential notes: 

I translated it as “striving after” or “drawn in by” but the specific word used can be a little more pointed if you want it to be

It’s funny seeing Majima specifically say he’s gonna get Chinese food after doing Saejima’s New Years character story where he had to move heaven and earth (very literally!) to get some Chinese food. I like to imagine they get lunch together

I got so so so so caught off guard the first time Majima said my name. I wasn’t expecting it. It continued to catch me off guard every single time it happened lmao

the “Hey, let’s go get some food” line was the first thing Saejima said to me when I joined the Saejima Family, which was 😳 

[majimemegoro]

kinda tired of how yakuza characters all have like the same boring body just with slight tweaks in proportions so here are some body & eating/exercise headcanons for a few characters.

kiryu is probably the closest in my head to how he looks in canon, with the caveat that when he gets ‘out of shape’ in between games, he does actually lose some muscle tone. when hes in his most muscled form during the stressful main events of each game, he really does look LikeThatTM, but he doesn’t really do it on purpose. he just... drinks too many energy drinks and not enough water. kiryu youre dehydrated please take care of yourself kiryu please. also he eats stupid nonsense but somehow still has a hollywood-style body. his arms are SO good. has forgotten to eat vegetables for a whole month before. he has several gunshot-wound scars and also scars from the torture and the abdominal stabbings. [if anyone wants to go through the history and make a ‘map’ of the places on kiryu’s body where he would have scars, that would be amazing. i plan to do it myself but probaly wont have time for a few years.]

nishiki is a bit vain about his body. so hes the Health Conscious One [canon, y0 intro scene]. he doesnt diet exactly and hes always happy to eat a huge delicious meal while out on the town, but on his own he tries to make really balanced meals and stuff. his exercise regimen is second only to his haircare routine. he follows it strictly, but it’s nothing too intense. like kiryu, he’s pretty naturally good at being muscly and toned. hes never as bulky as kiryu though.

nishida is a small guy. stronger than he looks, but not shredded at all, hes just a normal pretty strong guy. loses weight in times of higher stress than usual (i.e. 100000 instead of 10000 stress, which is nishida’s daily level). tattoo is a Buddha and lotus flowers.

majima really freaking cares what he looks like. hes starved-shredded and hed do it on purpose if he had to, he wants to look ripped. he eats like garbage [canon, kiwami smile burger majima everywhere event] or just forgets to eat even though hes hungry. really disorganized and a mess but he looks good??? I guess????? hes passed out before possibly from eating only staminams for two weeks straight malnutrition, but it’s hard to say for sure what the cause was because he also... doesnt.. sleep. his joints are in surprisingly good shape, but his knees always crack when he stands up from his lil crouches. long legs. most impressive body part is probably his thighs and shredded abs. his butt is “the great plains”

its been said before but akiyama has. dad bod.

saejima eats a lot [canon, y5 gourmet substory with the girl] and exercises a lot, and gains weight really easily, muscle and fat. so hes super super bulky and well muscled, but not that shredded. like he often has visible abs but theyre meaty abs, not shrink-wrapped abs. he doesnt care what he looks like, but he wants to be  s t r o n g e. he doesn’t really like western food, and he refuses to even try smile burger. will pretty much eat anything else. despite his iconic eyebrow scar he doesnt really scar easily, most of his wounds heal without leaving too much of a mark. his boobies are one of the seven wonders of the world. also one of the few characters with a bodacious butt.

okudera is quite small, especially compared to the giant-size protagonists. maybe like 5′6″? he’s also one of those people who naturally doesnt get that hungry, and combined with his experience of starvation while dealing with trauma & guilt, the guy never eats enough. still in good shape from trekking all over the mountain day & night, skinny but really compact and sinewy. hes also mega scarred up [canon for his face]. not tattooed. his joints are in phenomenal shape for someone of his age and disregard for his personal wellbeing. gets sick pretty easily though.

kashiwagi. hes muscular but never shrink-wrapped like kiryu sometimes gets, but he has broad shoulders and a naturally snatched waist. his torso still looks like that no matter how many cold noodles he stress-eats. doesnt care at all what he looks like but people find it hard to believe because if they see him shirtless they think he has to be a narcissist (bc theyre jealous). has a really big tattoo (im thinkin full sleeves, etc) but idk what its of. actually only has a few scars aside from the facial scar.

please add your own, on new characters or where your headcanon on these characters differs from mine! i’d love to hear !!

[cryingcow]

Yellow Dragon Wandering Chronicles [RGGO] --- Ch. 1

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Side Story | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6

[1-1] | [1-2] | [1-3] | [1-4] | [1-5] | [1-6] | [1-7]

Hello! I was planning to kick this off like a week ago but IRL stuff kicked me instead D: Anyway for tonight and for the next who-knows-how-many weeks, I’ll be posting about one of the main stories in RGG Online / RyuOnline, “Yellow Dragon Wandering Chronicles”, aka “Goda Ryuji’s Travel Log”, aka “The Yakuza 0.5 K-Drama you never knew you wanted: The Tale of the Two Most Conspicuous Koreans in Japan”! This story has a total of 6 chapters split into 39 parts (40 if you count the Side Story linked above), and seeks to answer the question, “What does it mean to live?” I’ll be posting the chapters in whole weekly / biweekly / if IRL permits on Saturday nights like this, to avoid cliffhangers. I’ve got ~75% per chapter finished, so hopefully I finish these before December lol

Spoilers: While you can read this after playing Y2/YK2, it is preferable that you have finished (or at least have knowledge of) the mainline Yakuza Kiryu games Y0 to Y6 to fully appreciate it. Since this is about Ryuji going on a roadtrip around Japan, this will also serve as a roadtrip down memory lane, especially since he visits familiar places and conflicts in Y5 and Y6 :D (some Y7 stuff is also mentioned but it’s minimal and probably not spoiler-y, tho I wouldn’t know since I haven’t played Y7). I’ll be putting notes at the end of the parts, in line with this :D

[Chapter 1: Yakuza Expulsion]

.

CHAPTER 1-1

.

|In this country, there are two yakuza organizations competing for supremacy in the underworld. One is the Tojo Clan, the largest organization in eastern Japan. The other is the Omi Alliance, the largest yakuza organization in western Japan. The Tojo Clan and the Omi Alliance . . . with equilibrium between these two major organizations, order in the underworld is maintained.|

|And then, 1999. Omi Alliance direct family, the Go-Ryu Clan. Chairman Goda Jin is on the verge of being named the Fifth Chairman of the Omi Alliance. Together with that, it is rumored that Jin would nominate the next Chairman of the Go-Ryu Clan. Meanwhile, there is a man considered the most promising candidate for the next Go-Ryu Clan Chairman. The man’s name is—|

Yakuza: “Goda Ryuji!! Today will be the anniversary of your death!!”

Ryuji: “Then bring it on quickly. Heh . . . hurry up or my death anniversary will be over!”

[ 4th generation of the Omi Alliance, direct subsidiary family Go-Ryu Clan Acting Captain: Goda Ryuji ]

Yakuza: “Riding on your parent’s influence has made you conceited . . . ! Die!!”

{Ryuji kicks the guy’s butt.}

Yakuza: “Hi-Hiiiii . . . St-Stop! No more—”

Ryuji: “Oraaa!!”

Yakuza: “Puhaagh!!”

{The yakuza collapses from Ryuji’s final punch.}

Ryuji: “Hmph . . . boring.”

Ryuji’s Entourage A: “Incredible, Aniki! Strong as an oni, as always!”

Ryuji’s Entourage B: “Hehe, look at this idiot. His eyes have turned white.”

Ryuji’s Entourage A: “He’s a hundred years too early to be picking a fight with Aniki. This total idiot!”

Ryuji’s Entourage B: “That’s right. This person is the son of the next Omi Chairman!”

Ryuji: “Hold it.”

Ryuji’s Entourage B: “Eh . . . ?”

Ryuji: “You sayin' all I am is the next Chairman’s son?”

Ryuji’s Entourage B: “Eh? No . . . y-you’re amazing . . .”

Ryuji: “I benefit from my parent’s influence, you say?!?!”

Ryuji’s Entourage B: “Ugiyaaah!!”

{Ryuji’s entourage collapses from Ryuji’s punch.}

Ryuji’s Entourage A: “Hi-Hiiiii . . .”

Ryuji: “. . . . . . tch.”

{Footsteps are heard as someone approaches.}

Man in Black: “It’s good to see you, young master.”

Ryuji: “. . . What is it.”

Man in Black: “Oyaji is calling for you.”

Ryuji: “Aah . . . ? What for?”

Man in Black: “He wants to tell you in person. Oyaji is waiting at Headquarters. Heh. It must be good. Probably about being the next Chairman of the Go-Ryu Clan. As long as Oyaji is the Chairman of the head family, he cannot serve as the Go-Ryu Clan Chairman at the same time. Is it possible he’s taking the opportunity to remove the ‘acting’ from the young master’s title of Acting Captain? To be the Captain for a while, and eventually become Chairman . . . I’m sure that’s Oyaji’s idea.”

Ryuji: “. . . Hmph. Took him long enough.”

Man in Black: “A car is available. Right this way . . .”

----

Ryuji: “Calling me all the way to Headquarters is as expected of ya, Fifth Chairman.”

Jin: “. . . You came?”

[ 4th generation of the Omi Alliance, direct subsidiary family Go-Ryu Clan Chairman: Goda Jin ]

Ryuji: “You met with me, it seems like you’re finally willing to give it up?”

Jin: “. . .”

Ryuji: “Hmph. Yakuza have old-fashioned ideas. Saying I’m too young—until recently I’ve been content with the half-hearted position of Acting Captain. If it’s true, I’ll immediately take charge of the family even if I have to put up with being Captain for a while.”

Jin: “. . . Too young.”

Ryuji: “Ah . . . ?”

Jin: “That’s why you’re too young. Ryuji.”

Ryuji: “Did you call me here for a sermon?”

Jin: “. . . I have something to tell you.”

Ryuji: “. . . Haw. Then say it.”

Jin: “Ryuji. I have a directive. Today, in this place you—are excommunicated.”

.

-END-

.

Next >>>>>>>>>

[1-1] | [1-2] | [1-3] | [1-4] | [1-5] | [1-6] | [1-7]

Masterlist

[furiouspancakethesequel]

I am very mad and JC is the reason.

And the new chapter is just...absolute BULLSHIT.

I’ll put the spoilers under the cut, if you did not reach year 6 chapter 44  and you don’t want spoilers don’t read 

OK so let’s review: MC’s brother left when they were young, they arrived at Hogwarts with the hope to find him. So MC most likely:

Spent a few years without any news about their older brother, not sure if he was dead or not

 Blamed themselves for his disappearance (a lot of kids tend to respond like that to a loved one leaving)

So now MC arrives at Hogwarts. They make quite  a few friends. Time skip to y5. In that year MC ALSO probably blamed themselves for what happened to Beatrice because their hunting for Cursed Vaults brought the curses upon the school ( seriously the guilt MC is experiencing before y6 does not get enough screen time. We were told that all the curses started when Jacob started searching the Cursed Vaults. So what if MC thinks that by doing the exact same thing Jacob did they are perpetuating these curses? Or what if they are constantly stressed because if they fail numerous students will be in danger? So they are basically thinking “it is my brother’s fault we are in this situation, i have to fix it or i’m no different than him”.  And then feel guilty because that is JACOB, their big brother, how could they think so poorly of him? I think i’ll make another post about MC’s emotions and train of thought in y5 because oh boy there’s a lot to unpack there )

And we go to the Vault,  and Rakepick betrays us. And then Jacob leaves us in the Vault. So i think it’s easy to say that if MC didn’t have trust issues until now, they have now.

And then y6 happens, and they didn’t just loose their innocence. They can’t look at people the same. And they lose their friends, even before Rowan dies. Ben is not the same, Merula, who finally started to warm up to MC, is consumed by the thought of murdering at 16 (she tells MC she doesn’t care if she goes to Azkaban. And that must hurt MC, especially if they have a crush/are in a relationship with Merula). Charlie is acting out of character and is angry at MC, even if he knows it’s not their fault. (ya know, a thing trauma does to you).

And then Rowan dies.

The grief, the anger, the loss, everything is too much for a 16 year old. Their best friend since they were 11 is dead, and is never coming back. And there is it again: the all consuming guilt.

MC is OBVIOUSLY not over Rowan’s death, every time someone talks about Rowan’s murder they have at least one line in which they say it was their fault. And that is so damaging for a kid. So MC had to live the majority of their life in guilt: Jacob must’ve left them because they weren’t good enough, they were constantly putting their friends in danger, and now one of her friends ACTUALLY died and MC blames themselves.  So MC either:

 accepts that guilt as a fact (”yes these thoughts are right i just put everyone in danger”), and is incredibly self deprecatory of themselves;

denies that guilt and just turns into a very narcissistic and self-centered person. 

And then they go to the final Vault, and they do what they do there ( again, i’ll do a post JUST about that vault somewhere in the future, but now i’m tired). They beat Rakepick, they go back to school. MC talks to Dumbledore and then has a poorly excuse for a conversation with Jacob (srsly what the actual fuck was that? he left MC in the Vault and MC deserved to have a breakdown or at least a heart to heart conversation in which Jacob explains himself but nooo. #letMCbemad2021.) Then MC talks to Mad-Eye, yadda yadda yadda, the whole thing with Ben’s letter happens (i really, REALLY hope JC does something with this because if they don’t...imma trow hands)The Circle Of Khanna meets at Hog’s Head Inn, they are happy, it’s a sweet scene.

And then follows the absolutely BULLSHIT of the “let’s have a party” idea! I MEAN COME ON! So you’re telling me that you, as a person, would just...forget all your trauma the minute you were freed by the thing that provoked you so much suffering? I understand the ‘let’s spend time together now that we don’t have to put our lives in danger” sentiment but my dudes. I still remember when my dog died, i was so fucking sad and just overall confused and i felt like dying but i still had to go to school and it was horrible. And remember, that was my dog. What would’ve happened if my friend had died? If my brother abandoned me 2 times, if i could see how my friends had changed because of the Vaults, how i’ve changed because of the same thing? MC put themselves in constant stress for 7 fucking years. 7 YEARS. (and let’s not forget all the SQ’s . I mean, MC never gets a break)  Honestly just THINKING about how MC must’ve felt all this time makes me cry, and you’re telling me that your plan for the next chapter was to make MC put themselves into even more stress by ORGANIZING A PARTY? no, no,no, NO. MC deserves a nap, MC deserves a nap and MC deserves therapy AND MC DESERVES A SURPRISE PARTY! NOT FOR THEM (the person who worked the most and suffered the most) TO DO YET ANOTHER THING FOR EVERYONE BUT THEMSELVES.

I am just so mad and UGH why JC WHY!!!????

[missnight0wl]

Who do you think is the mole?

Merula is the mole

And I’m not saying that because everything bad has to be Merula. It truly makes the most sense, and as soon as I realised it, I was like: “Well, duh! Obviously!”. I’ll try to explain everything the best I can, but first, I want to address some basic things about the mole, proving that Alanza is probably NOT our culprit (as I believe she’s one of the most common suspects in fandom). I already talked about it a little in other posts, but I want to organise everything and maybe add something.

To begin with, there’s a lot of evidence that R is watching MC ever since they came to Hogwarts or at least Y2. There was someone contacting/controlling Ben when the cursed ice appeared. In Y3, we even got a warning Letter From No One:

In Y4, someone was controlling Ben again. In Y5, MC AND Ben were attacked by someone, and it’s still unknown whether or not they were under Imperius too. Someone unleashed a Dementor on Hogwarts, and R knew that MC defeated it as soon as it happened. Someone, who’s description fit a Red Cloak, moved the portrait which trapped Beatrice later.

And of course, each vault every year was allegedly tampered by someone, causing the new curse to occur. In Y5, someone made Rowan draw their wand on us, and while it was implied that it was Pettigrew, it was never confirmed. Either way, R had never problems to take actions at Hogwarts. Moreover, they seem to be well aware of our every move. MC also sometimes talks during classes that they feel like being watched. So, if R was successfully pulling strings all those years, even without Rakepick, why would they bother now to bring Alanza to the castle? Especially that there was a huge gap when Rakepick was already gone, but Alanza was still not there! It could’ve been as long as six months, judging by Ben’s comment before Rowan’s death that they’re well into the sixth year. And quite a lot happened in that time! For example, we found the letter from R to Jacob. There’s no way it was left by accident, and while it’s possible it was placed by Jacob himself, it doesn’t change the fact that R didn’t need Alanza for that. So, again, why would they need her exactly?

Admittedly, the way they talked about it in the recent chapter:

… does make it sound as if the mole is someone SENT by R. However, I believe it’s just unfortunate wording because in that case, it could be only Alanza (and as I said, it just doesn’t really make sense). Like, none of our friends was “planted” by R. Even if they were recruited before coming to Hogwarts, they were simply kids in school-age anyway. It could be about a teacher or something, but they’re all the books canon characters. Unless it’s about the new DADA professor we haven’t even seen yet, but I doubt it.

Now, I think we can all agree that the mole is most likely another student. Sure, an adult would have more influence among the staff, maybe access to more places, but they also wouldn’t get as close to MC, and I assume that’s the point – to know what MC’s doing. Although, when I’m looking at the examples I listed above, I have to say that it’s possible that there is somebody else involved (other than the mole), but still, one of our peers would be the best as the source of information. So, without further ado, let’s explain how Merula fits into that puzzle.

YEAR 1

From the very beginning, Merula talked badly about Jacob because of his obsession with the Cursed Vaults. But then, something’s changed after our first duel, and even MC pointed out how odd it was.

I wouldn’t be surprised if R reached Merula at some point before that conversation and convinced her that the Cursed Vaults are real and very much worth it to search for them. Alternatively, Merula knew about it already when she came to Hogwarts, and then it’s connected to the Devil’s Snare accident. This idea is based on my other theory that Jacob made a deal with R that he’d join them IF they wouldn’t hurt MC. The deal was valid for the first two years; however, if R used Merula to hurt/kill MC, their hands would technically be clean.

YEAR 2

I wrote about it in the past during my replay, but there’s quite a lot of material so I’ll just leave a link here. It’s very important for this theory, though, so please, go and read it to fully understand my thought process.

YEAR 3

This is the year when we found Jacob’s room. And if you claim that Merula can’t lie or hide important information: she can. She didn’t tell us about Jacob’s room for at least a year, and she probably wouldn’t tell at all if we didn’t find our brother’s notebook. Also, there’s a possibility that she took something from there:

Was she lying, though? What could she take? What did she do with it?

Later the same year, Merula was following us to the Library AGAIN (the Vault of Fear), as she was ALSO following us back in Y1. When you think about it, Merula follows MC quite a lot, also in later years… Eavesdropping on MC and Talbott, learning that we’re an Animagus (in the “Animagus Adventure SQ”, so separately from Talbott’s situation), sending Ismelda to eavesdrop on us when MC wanted to leave Hogwarts in Y6, following us when we practised Protego with Jacob… She also knows that she can manipulate MC emotionally. The Frog Choir TLSQ anyone? Even if she wasn’t lying then about her mother, she still had no problems to use her suffering to influence MC and get what she wanted.

YEAR 4

Well, as I mentioned in the post linked in YEAR 2, this is the year when Merula was openly working with Rakepick. If you want to believe that Rakepick is evil and was always a member of R, that’s pretty much it. Perhaps Merula wasn’t aware of that, but still.

Although, what I believe is that Rakepick wasn’t a member of R, but she knew they’re using Merula. Therefore, Patricia “took care” of her for two reasons: 1) so Merula stopped being a pain in the ass for MC, 2) so she could control R’s influence on Merula.

YEAR 5

Here’s where things got a bit complicated because of the events in the Portrait Vault, and a lot depends on what’s really going on with Rakepick. Still, here are some possible explanations:

If Rakepick is evil and Merula was really tortured: Rakepick used Crucio on Merula even though she’s their mole as a punishment for getting too attached to MC. I personally don’t feel close to Merula at all because Jam City fucked up her writing, and so I have no reasons whatsoever to like her. However, they basically skipped to MC and Merula being friends whether you like it or not, so here you are. And Merula was supposed to get close to MC but not like them.

If Rakepick is evil, but the torture was staged: R needed MC to suffer, but they didn’t want to actually hurt their mole.

If Rakepick is not evil: The torture was staged, but Rakepick told R that Merula should be punished for getting attached to MC (so R THOUGHT that Merula was really tortured but she wasn’t) OR they agreed to that, so they’ll make MC suffer without hurting their mole.

YEAR 6

Again, because it depends so much on what’s really happened in the Portrait Vault, it’s even more complicated than Y5, so… I’ll try to explain what I personally believe is going on.

Rakepick staged the torture scene with Merula, and no matter if R thinks it was real or not, she also instructed Merula to keep R believing that she’s their mole. Merula is still delivering R information, but perhaps it’s possibly limited or maybe she even lies about some things to them. I’m not sure what to do with Rowan’s death here (or “death”), but I don’t think Merula was expecting that. I imagine that she thinks that Rakepick screwed everyone over and plays on her own entirely. If that’s the case, she might want to continue to be R’s mole if she believes that it’ll help her expose Rakepick eventually. I mean, if she just told R: “Hey, she doesn’t really work for you”, Rakepick would probably weasel out of it somehow.

Merula being the mole also goes along with Jacob telling us about the assassin being after MC and Merula (Y6Ch6):

He apparently talked about the Wizard in White then, but now we know that he actually isn’t an assassin. So… how did Jacob make that mistake? I mean, if the Wizard in White wanted to take MC to R so they’d join them, they HAD TO have a similar approach towards Jacob. In fact, they wrote to Jacob about joining them after Duncan’s death. Why Jacob thought that they’d try to kill MC now?

Well, it’s simple: it’s not real Jacob and he works for R. Why R wanted MC to think that there’s an assassin after them, though? Well, it’s based on my old theory, but… I don’t buy that the Wizard in White is a member of R. I believe that he was supposed to help MC somehow. R wanted MC to know that there’s an assassin so they’d be distrustful towards new people (including the Wizard in White). What about Merula then? I see two explanations which could coexist: 1) R wanted to scare Merula so she wouldn’t reveal to MC that she’s the mole (when she heard about an assassin being after her, she could’ve connected the dots), 2) Merula is more impulsive than MC, so if she was expecting an assassin, she’d attack him with the intention to hurt or kill, getting rid of the Wizard in White and R’s problem.

(I know that the part about the assassin doesn’t work in the light of the recent chapter, but I’m still trying to figure it out, and I might write a separate post on how the Wizard in White is not a member of R.)

Also, not that it’s super solid evidence, but Merula was the one who suggested that the mole might be among the teachers:

Yeah, there’s some logic in that, but as I said at the beginning, I think we can all agree that it’s way more likely that the mole is a student. I’m not saying that Merula is trying to buy some time before she’s discovered, buuut…

Anyway, I’m almost certain that Merula is the mole. I even hope for that because it could be a very interesting plot: Merula who started from despising MC and wanting to harm them, starting to appreciate the value of friendship and questioning her actions. Of course, it’d be even more interesting if Jam City put any effort in her redemption arc, but oh well. It’s also kind of brilliant that Merula created that rivalry with MC when it comes to the Cursed Vaults, and she did it so well that we don’t even question WHY this rivalry exists. That maybe it’s just an excuse to gain information and pass it on. I mean, look at our conversation in “Flying Solo” TLSQ”:

Merula is so casual about it that MC is not even particularly concerned about her getting information on the Cursed Vaults. You know, they say the darkest place is under the candle...

[hazeldough]

okay while i’m playing judgment (i’m only at the beginning of ch 4 before meeting with higashi ahdfsdf) and i have SO many thoughts-- mainly what if 6 didn’t happen?

like do not get me wrong-- i love 6 and it’s my second favorite game, right behind 0, but i also wanna see everyone’s daughter haruka kick some ass!!!!

im gonna rattle off of headcanons and just overall thoughts

basically Y6 never happened, or won’t happen until at least 5 years later

Haruka is 20 years old

Haruka arrives in Kamurocho in 2017 and went to Akiyama for help after doing odd jobs

Stuff happens at Sky Finance, and Yagami gets involved. Haruka wants to help because Akiyama is currently indisposed and Hana needs to manage Sky Finance in his absence.

While solving Akiyama’s case, Haruka and Yagami bond a bit because they both have a past they keep on getting reminded of by other people that they don’t want to bring up.

They also walk in on Kaito’s expulsion from the Matsugane family

After they close the case, Haruka asks if she can join Yagami Detective Agency and Yagami lets her on, because she’s been really helpful and insightful when it comes to talking to people and finding clues.

Also she doesn’t fear most yakuza and honestly Yagami and Kaito are really impressed by that

The overarching story would be how Haruka is waiting for Kiryu to be released from prison, but he never turns up so she’s WORRIED

Yes, it’s Tojo Clan drama again

The main theme is everyone acknowledging how important Kiryu is to them and also acknowledging that he’s been the band aid solution to Tojo Clan problems since 2005

Haruka’s main goal is to get her dad to actually live life as a civilian

Haruka’s side story would be her helping out an agency on its last legs and offering her expertise as a former idol for the people there

She says that she isn’t sure if people would be okay with her on and each substory or progression would be people understanding that she’s a good person and so is her dad

It’d be a combo of Majima’s cabaret club where there’s some aspect of micro managing and Y5′s dance battles where Haruka has to do them again to enlist new dance instructors, vocal coaches, or security

Haruka gets 3 mentors and 4 fighting styles in total, something similar to Y0 where the 4th style is unlocked after completing her side story

Honestly, this is where most of my self indulgence goes-- as if this isn’t all already self indulgent lmao

Miss Tatsu - Beast style

Miss Tatsu is introduced when investigating Akiyama’s case and they run into her while she’s out collecting

Miss Tatsu talks about an old acquaintance of hers and Haruka connects the dots along the way.

Haruka’s brute strength is built up and it’s REALLY focused on flow and momentum.

Nair - Parrying

Nair is introduced also while investigating Akiyama’s case and she’s back because she needs Yagami’s assistance

Nair teaches Haruka a more balanced fighting style, but with a focus on parrying and using her enemy’s strength against them

Areshi - Breaker

Areshi is introduced when Haruka’s side story opens up

He’s an instructor now, but he still wants to make a break

Areshi helps Haruka develop the skills she learned as an idol into battle

Komaki is present and offers help, but Haruka would say that she wants to develop her own path-- so he’s just there as a pillar of support.

Haruka’s 4th style combines the above 3. I’d like to think that she’d basically be a human beyblade at some point, maybe as a heat action LMAO

Haruka’s dynamics with everyone!!

Akiyama, Yagami, and Kaito have BIG uncle energy lol

Akiyama watches out for her the best he can, but entrusts her to Yagami since she’s working for him

Haruka and Yagami get along bc of similar feelings towards their past

Haruka gets along with Kaito because he reminds her of her dad and Rikiya

Haruka and Hana bond too!!

Hana acts like she isn’t a little happy when Haruka comments that she and Akiyama act like a married couple

Haruka and Daigo low key acknowledge each other as siblings because of how Kiryu’s acted like a father towards them

They both bond over how they were in a position they were too young for but how they grew from it

They think about while it Was troublesome along the way, they’re just glad that Kiryu put That much trust in them and that’s what motivates them

Saejima really watches out for Haruka because she kind of reminds him of Yasuko

He talks a lot about Yasuko to Haruka

Majima and Haruka are only A LITTLE awkward around each other

They haven’t really seen each other in over a decade-- maybe a LITTLE bit but not much

Majima gives Haruka a legitimate apology for kidnapping her when she was 9. Haruka says that she gets why he had to do it, but she hasn’t really held a grudge over it-- especially after Saejima told her what Majima said to him.

TEAM BATTLE THROUGH TOJO CLAN WITH HARUKA, DAIGO, SAEJIMA, AND MAJIMA!!!!

Final fight is up in the air but wouldn’t it be something if Haruka fought essentially a girlboss character LMAO

Basically the main antagonist is trying to take over the Tojo Clan and honestly she makes some good points-- but she has horrible execution of it

Since this is self indulgent: Haruka may not shoot to kill, but she may shoot as a warning

I want Haruka to be the type of character that Does refuse to kill, but also wouldn’t leave a weapon lying around within reach of the antagonist or she’d do something if the antagonist is threatening multiple lives

At the end, everyone reunites

Kiryu sees how Haruka’s metaphorically and literally fought for him and his freedom and how Daigo’s been doing his best to keep the Tojo Clan in line

One nice happy family :^)

I mainly focused on Haruka here, but I feel like it’d REALLY work if the second protagonist would be Daigo

Yes, he’s the chairman, but he has to be on his own away from the Tojo clan for Reasons lol

And then Y6 happens ( but with some differences )

[majjiktricks]

jazz blease,,,, for the character ask,,, mistew majima

i have my suspicions about who this is but also im not 100% sure so i will keep my accusations to myself either way i <3 u anon

How I feel about this character majima my beloved... <3 the first yakuza character i went nuts over. i love him dearly. he lives in my brain

All the people I ship romantically with this character me on my multishipping bullshit: kiryu, saejima, kiryu AND saejima (ultimate ot3 honestly), makoto (had things gone differently)... ive put a little thought into nishiki/majima, especially during the 10 year gap. some shared catharsis... that would be a terribly unhealthy relationship since i think it would be built off mutual loss of kiryu, but still an interesting one to consider. i also have a soft spot for majima/kashiwagi. it came out of nowhere but i actually really like them, even if it kinda is a crackship. something about passionate men fighting on a rooftop, majima being one of the few people to get under kashiwagi's skin and make him lose his cool...

My non-romantic OTP for this character whatever majima and nishitani would have had, had y0 been different. their relationship would be a weird one. i cant see it as a romantic one at all but definitely more than friends. also to reference my own previous answer to this, i think him and akiyama would be wild as friends. i wanna see them interact more bc theyre funny together.

My unpopular opinion about this character i think my thoughts on him are really well put together in an analysis thats been floating around tumblr recently. i know a lot of people have only played 0, k1, and maybe k2, and it seems people focus on his potrayal in k1 especially. they dont get to see the depth that majima has throughout the whole series, and boil him down to "batshit crazy knife guy" when in reality hes probably the opposite of that. hes quite calculating and deliberate, and the post explains it very well. i hope that as the games are now fully available on pc (with the exception of some spin-offs/jpn-only games), more people will play them and see the whole of majima's character instead of shoehorning him into this little niche just because its easier.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon. more!!! screentime!!! i so wish we got to see him more in the later games. as i said he does have some significant beats in 3-6 that really tell the player more about his character, but they could have done so much more with him. ESPECIALLY in 5. hes barely in 5 AT ALL 😭😭😭 i know its for plot reasons but BITCH i just want the cast in general to interact more. im fueled by that kind of thing. wanna see more of majima's relationship with saejima, and with daigo (especially post-y6 shenangans). i want him to interact with haruka and have SOME KIND of relationship to her other than "that guy that beats up my dad sometimes." so much is interpreted or created by the fandom that you start to forget a lot of what DOESNT happen in the games. also. kind of a nitpicky thing but also a pretty big deal when you think about the plot of 5. what the FUCK is the timeline in the 80s. as great a game as y0 is, the dates for it completely fucked up what y5 sets up as majima's backstory. i would like to see that retconned and ironed out in a way that makes sense. changing a few years here and there (as well as changing park's age) would be able to fix it, but that has yet to be addressed... i could go on a whole rant about this (angeles has been the victim of said rant before, but i wont. just to keep this a readable length lmao)

send me a character !