#kai is also relevant in both cases

[penofwildfire]

Ninjago Pilots: Teenage girl gets kidnapped by skeletons

Ninjago Dragons Rising Season 2: Teenage skeleton gets kidnapped by girl

[violetasteracademic]

So, considering the fact that your theories and your thoughts always make me want to jump up and down like a kid,I wanted to know your thoughts on this. I don't know if you've seen that pic in sjm's Pinterest board of a woman with a rose tatto which I believe was saved as "Elain". And we know that both Feysand and Nessian had their own bargain which makes me believe elriel will have one too,most accurately a rose tatto on both of them. And I wanted to ask you what do you think Elain and Az's bargain will be about?

First and foremost, thank you for making me *blush*

And now, ooooOOOoooh the bargain! I have thoughts!! And they are whimsical and magical and very inspired by SJM's confirmed fairy-tale retellings.

If you are not caught up on my line of thinking and predictions for the next ACOTAR book, I *think* my most comprehensive post on that can be found here. I'm very lasered in on the possible alliance between Vallahan and the High Priestesses, the Snow Queen, and reverse sleeping beauty (or Glass Coffin, the original German fairy tale sleeping beauty is based off of which is what SJM has used in the books. More on that here.)

Now, while Elain and Azriel's bargain could literally be anything, I'm less focused on what specifically it is and more on what it will do for their story and plot.

Feysand has obviously had two major bargains, and they drove the plot forward in different ways. Bargain one: a commitment for Feyre and Rhys to spend time together. This obviously dramatically moved the plot forward in ACOMAF and magically connected Rhys and Feyre, thus giving them the opportunity to get to know each other and give Feyre time away from Tamlin and out of her situation.

Bargain two, to die together. This clearly creates a tremendous amount of plot, action, and conflict for ACOSF.

Nesta and Cassian's bargain is way more simple on the surface. Training in exchange for a favor. In this case, it isn't the bargain itself that drives the plot and creates conflict, but the favor. Cassian is put in a situation where he is bound by magic and forced away from Nesta, leaving her and her friends in a little cluster to be easily kidnapped for the Blood Rite. Whereas Feysand's bargain created danger due to their unwillingness to be apart after the pain of watching each other die, Nessian's bargain created danger by pressing a thumb on the deepest wound of Nesta's struggles with pushing Cassian away.

Whatever Elain and Azriel's bargain is, I sense it will thematically play on their experiences and relationship just as Nessian and Feysand's did, but it also needs to drive the plot forward.

Because I am a big believer in the reverse Sleeping Beauty/Glass Coffin wherein Azriel is the one kidnapped or put to sleep and Elain will be the one to save him, I would love to see their bargain allow them to supersede the magic that has been keeping them apart and be the thread that allows Elain to find Azriel no matter what.

My dear friend @elainemg97 is the one who opened my eyes to the Snow Queen fairytale (click the first theory link I shared here to see why that is relevant! It is a confirmed retelling SJM has been planning since signing on the spinoffs.) It's actually so wild how relevant this is to the possibility of a reverse Sleeping Beauty.

The Snow Queen by Hans Christian Anderson is a story about a boy and a girl named Kai and Gerda. They love each other deeply, are childhood best friends and grew up together playing in their families gardens and rose boxes. Then one day Kai is taken by the Snow Queen:

The Snow Queen, for whatever reason, luring Kai to her, beckoning him through snow frosted windows and snowflakes:

Kai becomes lost to splinters of a troll mirror, which turns him cruel and evil. His kind spirit is replaced someone hateful, and he hurts Gerda deeply by insulting her and treating her poorly. The Snow Queen succeeds in securing him, and the village presumes him dead. Gerda does not believe he is dead and in setting out to beg the river for him back, she becomes unmoored and drifts into unfamiliar waters and lands.

The Snow Queen kisses Kai, and Kai forgets bout Gerda.

The sorceress wipes Gerda's memory of Kai, and she causes the rose gardens to disappear, because the sorceress knows that if Gerda sees the roses, she will remember him.

Gerda remembers Kai regardless, despite the magic keeping them apart, and her tears cause the roses to bloom once again. Gerda knows that Kai is alive and she must find him.

The story of Gerda and Kai is one of hope, resilience, and roses. Gerda does not forget the boy she was spelled to forget, and she does not believe his cruelty was his true heart. The roses help her remember, they give her hope, and she sets off on a journey to save Kai from the Snow Queen. And then there is this:

Kai is saved by power of Gerda's love when she kisses him.

I feel like the imagery of roses and blades have been so pointedly woven through Azriel and Elain's story, as well as magic keeping them apart. This is major crack theory, but I think we might discover the Snow Queen in Vallahan is a bit of a Maeve like villain. Vallahan is described as ancient and being both on Prythian's side and against Prythian's side throughout history. This gives me the sense that Vallahan has one goal: to retain power. They ally themselves wherever that best suits them, and keep their motives shrouded in mystery.

I think ACOSF revealed that Koschei wants Azriel. Whether the Snow Queen of Vallahan is working with or against Koschei, she will want him too. Perhaps it is because of his blade. Perhaps his heritage. But it is most likely that Azriel will be captured. It's possible he will be presumed dead, or behave out of character.

Elain will believe in him. She will the remember the roses, his goodness, the time they spent together in the garden just as Kai and Gerda. And despite all the magical forces keeping them apart, trying to make them to forget each other, Elain will not forget him, and she will find and free him.

I think it would be really interesting and beautiful to see Elain and Azriel's bargain be something seemingly small and unimportant, like promising to think of each other when they see a garden or a rose. Or a bargain to find each other when they are lost, no matter what. I love the idea of their bargain being the thread that leads them to each other. That helps Elain find him, instead of being the thing that puts them in danger.

Thematically, magic and bonds have been the thing keeping Azriel and Elain apart in a way that wasn't true for Feysand and Nesssian. I would love to see their bargain, their choice, be the bond that leads them to each other even when all hope seems lost.

[fraeuleintaka]

Official Investigations Artbook

This is the 78th post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 3 days left until release!

Today's topic: the official Investigations Artbook!

[Spoilers for Investigations 2 in some of the images]

Back when both Investigations games were first released there was not only a Complete Guide for the first game (sadly not for the second one) but also an official Artbook for both! By now it's also out of print and was, again, only released in Japan so it's difficult to get but not quite as difficult as some of the other books I showed in previous countdown posts. Since I also call the Artbook my own now (my newest treasure) and it's full of amazing art from the Investigations games I want to talk about it as well!

Firstly, I love it's unique cover art! Justified to show off both of the games' main casts and it's so pretty! Being an Artbook of course the book is on the larger side (compared to, say, the Guide) and the paper is thick and glossy to really make the art shine. It's not a hardcover, unlike other artbooks I own, but the spine is robust enough that it doesn't hurt that much. Still very nice quality.

The first few pages contain a collection of all kinds of promotional artwork for the Investigations games in large and wonderful detail. I especially love these illustrations with Miles, Gumshoe and Kay in various situations. Gumshoe holding Miles' umbrella. Them thinking hard together on the solution of a case. Kay and Gumshoe taking pictures together. Gumshoe draping his coat over Miles when he falls asleep in his chair. So cute!

Then we get two double pages of extensive relationship diagrams of all characters appearing in both games and how they relate to each other. Unlike the Complete Guide the Artbook doesn't hold back on spoilers so all of these connections are what you know them to be at the end of the games and not only what they might appear like at first. Really appreciate that, it's much more detailed and useful this way. (Though it does make total sense that the Guide doesn't spoil everything immediately like this.)

The main section of the Artbook is filled with character artworks (obviously), that includes their full body art, a collection of some of their chibi sprites and a large collection of their confrontation animations. These are drawn especially detailed and with various frames depending on the animation! The high resolution confrontation sprites of the collection (and the mobile version) are directly based on these. And they look absolutely gorgeous! So worth it for these alone!

The main characters are all put together at the beginning while the rest of the characters are sorted with the cases they first appear in. They also don't get as many pages to them as the main characters do which is to be expected.

Every case is introduced with a little summary at the beginning with all the major characters appearing in the case and all of the relevant pieces of evidence. We get a show of all the significant images appearing during each case and even the zoomed in deduction screens. Lovely! Before that though we get a complete timeline on the events that are important to the games' story, when they take place and what important things happened there. So nice and really useful for mapping everything out (like when writing fanfics)!

The next rather large section focuses on concept art for the characters. Especially for the main characters there's a huge variety of sketches, some of them from very early development! It's by far not all of them, as the Complete Guide had several that aren't shown in the Artbook, but it's definitely a lot and pretty much for every little character, even the victims. I especially love seeing what changed in different development stages and what stayed the same. There are even some additional treats in the sketches like an illustration of Shi-Long fist fighting de Killer that looks insanely badass!

Towards the end we have a bunch of shorter sections with one being a detailed show of all the background artwork of the two games including some fun commentaries from Gumshoe! On Miles' office, for example, he rants little about Portsman being a bad prosecutor and states that it was a lot of work to clean up the entire mess (because of course he's the one who cleaned it). There are also a bunch of interviews with the staff and a nice little Q&A section about some character detail (like what kind of ice cream de Killer holds). Definitely my favourite part of the interview was them delving a little into Shi-Long's design and how hard the character designer Iwamoto fought to make him shirtless! He even came up with a reason after being denied (that Shi-Long has 7 scars on his chest that are formed like the constellation Orion and he wants to show them off) but Yamazaki didn't buy it 😄 I wouldn't have minded a shirtless Shi-Long at all but I'm also very happy with his final design 😉 The spirit of the idea is definitely conveyed in it!

And speaking of favourites, the last and probably my favourite bonus in the Artbook that I want to mention is a couple of pages full of these short character interactions! They essentially play out a scene of the characters talking about something with these wonderfully drawn animations. I can't go through them all but I want to highlight my favourite one: Shi-Long and Miles meet in a restaurant. Unusually for him, Shi-Long is on his own without his subordinates and Miles asks him about it. Shi-Long quotes Lang Zi at him and says that he does do stuff on his own occasionally. Miles then notes the amount of food on his table (enough for more than 20 people!) and after trying to deflect a little by mocking Miles' "deduction" to which Miles doubles down Shi-Long admits that he tends to order way too much when alone and asks Miles to join him. Miles doesn't refuse but makes a little comment about Shi-Long apparently having some difficulty with being alone. Awww, so cute! The other interactions are of a similar kind, ranging from funny to heartwarming and wholesome. I can totally see Shi-Long having such issues when he's used to being accompanied by so many people (especially considering what happens inbetween I1 and I2) and I adore the idea of Miles (and the others) keeping him company. Reasons why this is my favourite cast in AA and I love their every interaction! Getting more of those is not something I necessarily would've expected from an Artbook but that's just makes it even more amazing!

[homicidal-lingonberry]

just finished playing AAI1 and maybe Im just very easy to please but I dont quite get why Ive seen people say it isnt good?

I found it to be a very fun change of pace from the main games. I really enjoyed how every case felt really relevant and fit together very well to create a whole picture.

I was very excited to spend so much time with franziska, one of my very favorite characters from the franchise! I especially loved the case where her and edgeworth were younger. there were so many good sibling moments in that one.

I liked having edgeworths pov. I like that he is such a dork. I will admit that Logic is not the most interesting mechanic tho. sometimes I would find it frustrating bc I have the 3rd conclusion in my head so Im trying to put thoughts together too early. but thats a normal ace attorney thing thats not dissimilar to trying to present evidence in the wrong order.

I enjoyed the new characters, especially Kay and Lang. I really like both of their relationships and interactions with edgeworth. I felt so protective of kay and really wanted to watch her succeed. I enjoy that lang is somehow extremely cool and extremely cringe simultaneously. but tbh the coolest people arent afraid to be a bit cringe I think.

oh I also really liked detective badd. I enjoyed the one animation where he takes the lollipop out of his mouth like its a cig

thats about it. might add more to this post later.

[mangora]

On break at work rn here are some of my ideas if I ever do a Disventure Camp season two rewrite:

•Ally is the center of the love triangle instead of Hunter. Hunter and Tess get pretty close right away as a strategy move and when they meet Ally she’s really charmed by both of them and thinks they’re super cool and mysterious and it helps that Hunter’s pretty nice to her as well; Hunter and Tess both struggle with liking her and each other back but not really knowing how to express/confront it since Hunter prioritizes strategy first and Tess isn’t used to having friends, let alone romances

•Hunter, Yul, and Tess are all allies still but the narrative focuses on it more, namely the Hunter and Yul relationship, since they’re both, once again, strategy first and relationships second (or relationships last/never, in Yul’s case); but over time Hunter realizes that he hates Yul and he hates the parts of himself that are like Yul, and he and Tess shut him out

•Yul is like weirdly obsessed with Kai even after he gets out and no one else really gave a fuck about Kai and they all find it super odd. Like days after Kai’s elimination Yul is ranting like “God Kai would love it here in these woods, that’s so stupid, who even likes nature, I eat plastic and fossil fuels because I hate the earth, unlike Kai who’s a tree hugging freak; and it’s so dumb how passionate he is about things, and how good he is at reading people, like it’s so freaky, also his eyes are so gentle and mysterious, and I hope he goes to hell” and James goes “Which one was Kai again”

•Kinda like in All Stars, James really pities Yul, and when they’re allies/friends (neither of them realize that they’re friends really) he gets Yul to open up to him just a bit and he feels so bad for him and it contributes to his redemption arc in some way, like idk it helps him see a bit of the…not good, but like the potential and the sadness in everyone

•I love Rosa María but I feel like she was mostly a support character without much of an arc, and if it were up to me I’d have her have an episode where she gets really burnt out/hurt caring for others and they have to comfort her and remind her to put herself first sometimes as well. Maybe this would happen with Lake, I feel like that makes the most sense, but I could weirdly see this working with Tess as well

•I would’ve liked to see James and Lake get closer the way that Aiden and Lake did. Put them in the woods together or smth

•Speaking of Lake, in episode five I think it would’ve been really cool if Lake sort of viewed Kristal as a stand-in for her parents during the challenge and that’s why she got so angry. Make her angrier even. Make it hurt Kristal way more because this is exactly like a fight she’d have with her father as a kid. Lake and Kristal friendship save me

•I wish Maggy had a little more of an arc before she left. Maybe after Kai stood up for her she could have one or two episodes of really getting brave and standing up for herself and becoming a sort of team leader and that’s why James wanted her off with Yul

•I’d focus a little more on Aiden’s desire to be interesting/relevant to the game tbh like that’s such a neat concept to me, a character who’s frustrated by how boring they are. Make him do something fucking crazy. Make him the Final Boy in the serial killer challenge just by sheer willpower and have him push Karol through a glass door. Also since he’s watched the show before, give him some like almost Sierra-level knowledge of the season one cast and challenges. It would be cool

Ok that’s all for now maybe I’ll write more later idk I haven’t finished my season two rewatch yet

[frogs-in3-hills]

bored so i filled an aa tierlist have fun looking at that if you want. based on aa1 through 5, dgs1 & 2, aai, and parts of aai2 (still haven't finished it!)

honestly considered making it the women, phoenix, and ryuunosuke tier but ultimately had to bump ryuu down one because i don't think he's quite as entertaining as nick. but lets jsut say. i think so many people call him a "paragon protagonist" because they simply did not realize that he was having a wholeass beautiful arc alongside gina in adventures. which--gina is in the "i love their role" tier because it's not that i don't also like her on a personality/entertainment level, i just care more about what she represents wrt the themes of the first game and her relationships with the rest of the cast. she is shockingly irrelevant in resolve and it's a shame because she kind of needed that relevance for me to continue being invested in her... this stuff is why i say i prefer adventures

i am nothing if not a miney sisters lover

athena tier: i love her whole concept of "courtroom revolutionaire" i love her autistic swag i even love her kind of generic smile-so-you-don't-cry thing, she just got so fucking shafted by the story. couldn't even let her lead two cases when she should have been the main character. winner of the "most fucked over by the writers" contest not even dahlia can beat her. not even trucy. at least trucy had her game to shine before they killed her and replaced her with a robot

i like apollo juuust enough to not put him in fandom fav quarantine. can't get enough of his "disillusioned college student who gets three hours of sleep a night, such a fucking square and knows it, thinks everyone else in the room is a fucking idiot and that he can prove it by yelling louder than them" energy. and honestly his shit in aa5 isn't that bad on a macro level. aa6 is wild but in like a funny way. what i'm saying is who can blame him

speaking of the quarantine row i want to be clear i REALLY like all of these characters it's just that i don't care about them as much as fandom does so there's a part of me that's like "ugh" every time i see them :(

wish i could put iris and kay higher but to be honest neither of them are. that interesting. love them both, especially iris, but. yeah. i stand by my statement that iris is the heart of resolve but it's very much in a structural sense as opposed to one that centers her as a character.

i think shamspeare is way funnier than he really is

some clarifications with the "interesting concept" tier: yanni yogi is here almost solely because of the live action movie. they go really hard with him there. gregson because i don't care for him as a character but i really enjoyed the assassin twist. and with alita, it's not her "discount dahlia" bit that i find interesting, but just the general circumstances around her murder. aa4 just has a certain tone that can uplift even the boring characters. oh and you know now that i think about it i might have moved magnifi a little higher, above acro at least, because he really does loom heavy over the gramarye plotline despite his sparse presence

on "neutral but they have a good bit": doug and clay's bits are their stupid names, daryan and jezaille's bits are their stupid senses of style

actually i should have put van zieks in the good bit category too ah well i don't like how the racism thing played out so he can take being a little lower than he needs to be

i think all else is self explanatory. there are obviously more characters that could be on this list but none that i have interesting thoughts on. ok thanks for reading

[cookii-moon]

This is my excuse to gush over Dragon form because yes.

Basically headcanon and redesign galore yayy

More under the cutoff since this is LONG. You have been warned.

The first part is an introduction, and then the second is actually talking about my designs and ideas and stuff, plus some thoughts/snippets/headcanons... help me.

SO apparently I am far more stupid than I thought, and the reason I say that is because for WHATEVER REASON, it took me ONE. YEAR. For the thought "Hey Cookie the ninja became dragons that one time" to even properly cross my mind, let alone set in. Which is surprising, because I historically freak out over dragons. You'd think that my favorite blorbos having dragon forms would make me instantly go crazy, but no, it took an entire year for my brain to even realize it was... you know... dragon related... even.though I knew they were dragon related... I just didn't... does that make sense? Probably not.

ANYWAYS

As it stands the dragon forms are forgettable because they're literally just reskins but with different element colors (which makes sense, cause yknow... Lego molds...) and then they vanish which obviously yeah. Who knows maybe they'll come back in dragons rising now that the ninja have their powers again.

BUT THAT DOESN'T STOP ME FROM GUSHING OVER THEM ONE YEAR AFTER THEY WERE RELEVANT.

Hyperfixation transcends the measly concept of time (actually that's probably not true I wouldn't know since I don't think about the very fabric of reality that often) so good luck stopping me.

ANYWAY, so uh... I might or might not have on a whim made messy concept sketches for each dragon form, made up a ton of headcanons, and chosen color scheme... no... no I didn't do that.

Okay yeah I did that.

...I was supposed to do two at a time.

How did I get here. The power of autistic brain.

Time to actually talk about the designs!!

Uhhh I'm gonna go in true potential order... because yes.

First... Zaneee!!!

Without color in case it's confusing

Also you're gonna notice a trend with this being that the drawings are not high quality or rendered or anything and are sloppily colored and that's because they're just concepts. I only did the actual "big" draconic traits because I wanted to get it finished quickly so i had an excuse to talk about it. If I ever do use them for an actual art piece then I'll fully render them n stuff obviously this is just to get across the concept.

So since Zane is a robot it.. would be kinda hard for him to suddenly get like.. organic dragon wings... or whatever...

So instead- he gets cybernetic dragon wings and a tail. Yes i know that still requires cartoon logic. The power of creation just magicked them into existence OK? It makes more sense than randomly growing scales.

The mechanic parts are mostly held together/afloat by the ice energy flowing through them (which is what the crystal-like fragments that make up most of his wings are!)

Also his horns are like a little crown... because... I dunno I thought it'd fit with his haircut and such but also ice Emperor (even though he didn't really wear a crown) look this was drawn at like 2 am I don't know what I was thinking with it or why I didn't actually draw the haircuts as well..

I imagine that he'd be very cold to the touch, especially his wings (which are pretty much sheets of ice) both Jay and Kai have ways of circumventing it, but when Cole has to deal with it (like sitting next to him or such) he gets sluggish pretty quickly. Zane is still trying to figure out a way to ease it a bit.

He also tends to make clanging noise by tapping his tail against the ground when he's upset, or make mechanical whirring noises when irritated. Nobody quite knows why since yknow robot, it's just a quirk.

His ice energy does mean he's gotten a power boost. Just like literally everyone else.

Also this is going to involve me assuming they kept these features because if Lloyd can be part dragon then so can the ninja I dare you to fight me /lighthearted

Jay!! He bird. Feather scrunchie.

"But Cookie that's not a dragon-"

Shhhh If a dinosaur can have feathers so can a dragon they're both giant reptiles OK. Feather dragon. It's a thing.

I'm going to be honest the only thing going through my mind while drawing this was vague wing shapes I can't even put a name to (they were probably from monster hunter... I think... Uh... ) and silkie chickens. Not quite sure why I thought of silkie chickens, but I did. So here we are.

So anyways I love him. HIM!! FEATHER MAN!!!

Also I just realized while writing this he can finally be fugi dove's proper equal and arch nemesis. Amazing.

So while drawing I was like "it'd be neat if he could produce static n such with his wings/feathers" so I took off to the internet and after trying a ton of different "CAN BIRDS MAKE STATIC" "ARE BIRD FEATHERS STATIC" and such search queries I finally came up with that ostrich feathers can have static and chicken feathers were used in computer components and hummingbirds can produce static from how fast they flap their wings. Is that trustworthy whatsoever? Probably not. (Surprisingly the most trustworthy one seems to be that chicken feathers were used for computer components which is funny) But rule of cool. I get to break the laws of physics and reality for my story as long as it's cool. Yay.

He's very fluffy and enjoys using his wings to snuggle up in bed :) Cole also tries to steal him as a blanket during winter. Nya and Lloyd can't because of the static but Cole can't be shocked so Jay just has to begrudgingly accept it with his hollow bones and consequentially low weight. He's also known to let sparks off when he's excited/happy, which is f u n.

Also I used the blue/yellow color palette because they seem to be leaning towards using more yellow in Jay's color themes (like how they started using orange in Cole's or blue in Zane's) and I thought it worked really well here so yeah!! It also helps differentiate him even more.

He sheds like crazy. Especially during winter where he gets EVEN FLUFFIER. (no one knows how it's even possible) Feathers everywhere. Cole and Kai also shed, but they shed skin all in one go (usually..), whereas Jay just leaves a pillows worth of feathers everywhere he inhabits, and it drives them insane.

The type of dragon he is is mostly a flight based species. They hunt in the air, live in the air for most of their lives, and such. Because of that not only does he rarely sit down, but he is FILLED with excess energy. He's also the most natural and second fastest flier, and fastest consistent flier.

Because the type of dragon he takes after is so focused on flight, they also roost up in really high places, so you'll probably find him on the top bunk, up in rafters, on the Monastery roof, etc. He loves that they're on a mountain because it means he can take a flight whenever he wants to. That doesn't stop him from being horrible at evading actual birds, though.

He also regularly makes "chirp" and clicking noises. (By chirp I mean the type a cat will do while looking at a window or such. Look up cats chirping or smthn for an example if u haven't heard it before.)

Could I have just made him a dragon with lightning bolt patterns?

Yes but that would be very boring and uncreative (in my opinion and standards I hold myself to ofc-) SO.

Jay is chicken. Jay uses wings to shoot lightning. Thank you for your time.

Cole. He crystal dragon. He's probably also gonna be a pain to draw (but also very fun) because of that. Yay.

I could of just done magma but I loved the idea of like a crystal dragon. So I made a ninjago related crystal dragon...

... again. Don't ask about the first one.

so uh I chose the colors bc like light blues/purples/white are pretty stereotypical crystal colors (plus I think they're pretty) and then orange... because. Cole. He has little crystal patches all over him and his scales also have like.. small crystals dotted all over.

I feel like whatever species of dragon he is is probably adapted to like.. mostly living in caves? Like cave bats kinda where it goes outside at night to hunt but sleeps and lives in caves, and probably goes deeper in the cave to hibernate. So because of that he can be sensitive to artificial light and doesn't really have any like adaptations for the winter, so he just tries to snuggle up with Jay or Kai to keep warm and gets really tired/sluggish when he's cold because reptile. On the other end he can sense vibrations since his species wouldn't be relying on sight as much, which is very handy.

Unlike Zane, Jay, or Kai, he can't really "fly" exactly. His wings are much smaller because the species kinda adapted to being able to use them as a sort of speed boost thing where they'd use them to get quick bursts of flight to catch prey, but since they mostly hunted on the ground and lived in caves they didn't need full on flight. However it's sorta a peregrine falcon situation where technically he is the fastest of all the ninja in flight, but only during a short burst.

He is also very well adapted to climbing vertical surfaces. His claws are REALLY good at gripping onto things since they were adapted to cling onto things such as stalactites, rock walls, etc. to traverse up ledges and deeper parts of caves, and he can also use his wings (and more specifically their claws) as a third pair of limbs to grip onto walls.

Cole tends to make more subtle noises, he growls when agitated and purrs when content or in pain (yes that's a thing, purring soothes and encourages healing, so cats will also purr when they're hurt or scared to comfort themselves) but it isn't very loud, so it's not easily noticeable.

Kai!!

Again

Could I have done magma for Cole and just given Kai flame wings?

Yes. But I'm not going to, because I find this approach more interesting.

... I joke that it's magma but not REALLy, it's still just.. fire... but his scales are brown cause I thought it fit. So. A lot of people like to draw Lloyd with the kinda dragon ears so I thought it'd be cute if Kai, as his guardian, also had them since, again, a lot of people like to see them as brothers. And I just gave him generic dragon horns. Because dragon.

It's hard to simplify it because... fire... so this is probably the worst sketch..

Look OK he gets to breathe fire. Like that's one of the most iconic medieval red dragon things, he's the fire ninja, he gets to breathe fire and blow smoke out of his nostrils when mad I don't make the rules.

I also kinda went all in on generic dragon tropes (i mean ig they're not as generic anymore because of stuff like HTTYD) because... Kai.

So like hot temper, fire breath, that type of thing.

He also has a hoarding habit, as in instead of cleaning or anything when he uses something and just tosses it aside, he puts it all in an ever growing pile of stuff that he just let's stay there until somebody else cleans it up because they were sick of it. Compared to Jay's feathers it's not the WORST thing in the world.

He's slower than Zane and Jay, but can fly for longer periods of time than Zane. His species is kind of adapted to flying closer to the land. So that they can eat some well cooked cow. Yknow generic dragon stuff.

I also think it'd be funny, since dragons are fiercely protective, if these dragons had a dragapult situation where if they didn't have a kid they'd just "adopt" (in their eyes, in reality it's abducting. Usually.) a random animal and pretend it's their child. Because. Kai.

He's also fireproof, to an extent. He can withstand intense heat (unlike Cole or Jay) and can withstand intense cold (Unlike Cole... poor guy) because fire. He can't dive bomb into a volcano though since it would eventually get through and burn him to a crisp, but in small amounts he'll be FINEEEE...

Im not quite sure if he'd make any sort of draconic noises or anything. I feel like maybe he'd growl when upset, but it'd be louder than Cole? Whereas Cole does it more frequently (probably to be passive aggressive) but it's much more silent. He also has a tendency to involuntarily raise his voice a lot.

Yeah that's about it. Also if you consider lloyd to be a dragon, or think of Nya as having dragon features from when she just became h2o that one time, then the entire group might as well be renamed to Dragon ninja. Even Wu!!

..I feel like Lloyd would be jealous- Like "Oh why do THEY get to go full dragon and have wings when I don’t?!" But he'd never say anything because Lloyd.. but everybody knows something is up and is trying to make him feel better... but it's making him feel worse because it just makes him feel more singled out... oh boy that's uh I'm gonna shut that depressing thought train down right there.

Poor pixal though... she's left out because she's too cool already.

ALSO if you ever use this or want to expand upon it/take inspiration from it PLEASE DO AND TELL/SEND IT TO ME I WANT TO SEE AND HEAR YOUR THOUGHTS PLEASE DHRJGJDJDJ I LOVE WHEN MY STUFF PROMPTS IDEAS

[lore-of-the-mushroom-kingdom]

Dinosaur Land Location Part 2

So in the previous post I suggested Dinosaur Land and by extension Yoshi's Island was part of the Cascade Kingdom. However, it might actually be part of the Mushroom Kingdom.

So the SMRPG and M&LPIT maps place Yoshi's Island close to the Mushroom Kingdom. While they are composite maps that don't have things in their right placements, it is interesting that both place it not too far way. Someone might suggest the SMB4SMW manual doesn't say it's part of the Mushroom Kingdom, at the same time it doesn't say it isn't part of the Mushroom Kingdom.

Speaking of SMRPG, you can find a place called the Pipe Vault that leads to an underground location leading to Yoshi's Island. But since you get here via Pipe it could be argued you Warp here, so we need something more concrete.

So in the game Mario & Wario a good proportion of the places take place in Yoshi's Island due to the following info. Yosu Ko aka Yoshi Lake is rumored to be the place where Yoshis are born/hatch. This would place it near the location we see in SMRPG Yoshi's Island. Kumotori Yama aka Cloud-Catching Mountain has Super Koopas flying around. Kōri no Dōkutsu aka Ice Cavern has Rexs frozen in ice. Honō no Dōkutsu aka Flame Cavern had SMB4SMW Blaargs. And Pukupuku Kai aka Cheep Cheep Sea has Blurps. All of these are enemies from Dinosaur Land, and are connected to Yoshi's Island. Plus Yoshis are present of course.

Now why is this important? Well the level Barūn Burijji aka Balloon Bridge bridges Dinosaur to Karakara Sabaku aka Dry Dry Desert which is East of the Grasslands. This would mean Dinosaur Land is not part of the Cascade Kingdom but part of the Mushroom Kingdom, particularly in the inland sea to the South of the Grasslands/Desert Land. This would also mean the name of this sea is Cheep Cheep Sea. This would also explain why Yoshies once had range in the Mushroom Kingdom, and some exist on places like Lavalava Island. This also explains species such as Ravens, Crazee Dayzees, Bumpties, and Rexs existing the Mushroom Kingdom and even the Beanbean Kingdom. This also explains the stork passing over Yoshi's Island several times in the Yoshi's Island Games, and why Baby Bowser so easily got to Yoshi's Island in M&LPIT.

Now as for Yoshi's Island, people question if there is 2 Yoshi's Islands or if Yoshi's Island eroded over time. I don't think this is the case, I think what is going on here is we are only seeing what is relevant in Dinosaur Land's levels of Yoshi's Island, and it's actually much bigger. Similar to how we only see portions of Yoshi's Island in SMRPG and M&LPIT. It is also the same Island due to the presence of Yoshi's House in SM2YI.

[dailybbq]

HI WOW I LOVE UR ART

if possible can u drop some of ur qtaro hc's? its rare to meet another qtaro enjoyer !! :D

THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! i'm always so happy to find others who enjoy him - it's been a little easier since 3-1 now that other people actually consider him :'P!! & yes of course! i have many, but i think (since it is a 'general' prompt), i will leave it to the basic headcanons on his backstory/character for now :]

DAY 2: WHO IS HE?!

- Ethnically Puerto-Rican & Scottish-Japanese! He's fluent in Japanese, Spanish, and English (less so, he's uncertain about some pronunciations and prefers writing it out instead of speaking it) - where he grew up has certainly affected the sort of intense emphasis/descriptive language he uses in Japanese, but Spanish has also affected the style in which he speaks :D + he also really enjoys learning about other cultures (and reconnecting with his own!) through language & conversing with the people there. It's much more interesting and personal than simply... reading research other people have gathered on them.

- Transmasc non-binary; primarily uses he/him in English, él/lo in Spanish! He also finds neopronouns fun. Though he doesn't elect to use them for himself, he doesn't mind if others do!!

- Bisexual & polyamorous also :] I have a small (often not too relevant, other than me providing further context to all of those Q-taro's had to leave behind for the Death Game) headcanon that he has a boyfriend named Yusuke (友輔) who he met in high school! Yusuke's also struggled academically, to the point that he fell a year behind Q-taro — having to make-up the credits for that extra year before he could finally graduate. Soon after, when he was able to make it through his undergraduate degree, they celebrated together... and through an drunk accident, Q-taro severely injured himself. This is the incident shown in-game, and it's what plays into his struggles of realizing how much he's seemingly 'left behind' and how stagnant his life feels while Yusuke continues school, the kids at the orphanage are growing up, the team's already figured out a strategy to make up for his absence... but, well. I digress.

- Q-taro really loves taking photos of his day-to-day. Even if he's not often the one in the pictures, he loves getting to see his friends smiling at some stupid joke he made behind the camera, or taking more subtle pictures when they're casually hanging out and laughing — not purposefully smiling for the camera or anything... it feels far more genuine.

...Hence, his 'treasure' in the prize exchange is a camera the kids got for him on his birthday one year. Photos of his life before the Death Game are still in the cartridge — even the one he took of Yusuke moments before he was hospitalized and isolated from everyone he cared for. Asunaro grants him this to serve both as a reminder of his loved ones waiting for him, and of how devastated he was when he was injured and felt as if his life was passing him by. In this 'Game', his life will be stolen — and Q-taro still has a life he wants to live... he has to live...

- In any case... I also think he has a chronic limp from (physical) bullying he endured when he was younger (he never really tried to fight back, and they went harder on him because he was dark-skinned + a large kid, they assumed he could take more of a beating). He healed up well enough, and it doesn't impair his skill on the field at all, but it is noticeable when you notice him casually walking. When Asunaro replaced his limbs upon request, they still had to implement some weakness in it such that he wouldn't question or overcompensate for the limp he's always had. (& adjacently related, but I do delve more into a pre-/no-Death Game AU reference here if you're interested!)

- Additionally, I do believe he's coded in-game to have autism — whether or not it was as intentional as Gin's pre-established symptoms, it remains true in my mind... The ways in which he connects with Gin and Kai, his literal and blunt manner of addressing things (there are many instances, but particularly the start of 2-1 where he belatedly realizes that although he'd like to applaud Sara for being strong, he needs to instead focus on the fact she's still in a vulnerable place and try to support her that way... 'cause she is still a kid, even if she's trying to act like a leader right now. It's also why his later conversation with her quickly veers into the topic of 'casual life' — by way of distraction and finding comfort for her sake, because he knows Asunaro's pushing the participants' limits intentionally), the intense 'passion' he holds for many things... you must see my vision, yes...

With that, and the context of many other participants in-game canonically having schizo-spec disorders, I also headcanon him to have schizo-affective bipolar disorder. He foremost experiences auditory hallucinations, and occasionally has to double-check with those he cares for to make sure they weren't calling him, or that they didn't say something that his brain has latched onto and repeated (which, when not idly irritating, can be upsetting phrases that he internalizes). When he's experiencing manic episodes, he often goes days unable to sleep because he feels both physically and mentally restless — he'll often struggle to manage his frustration/sensory overload in his attempts to physically wear himself out (in the hopes it gets him to finally rest) & he tends to intensely focus on various inane hobbies he'll drop soon after the episode ends. This includes (but is not limited to): testing out pottery, collecting and sorting different washi tapes, researching and testing the differences in fungi, and baking (he normally just cooks; baking isn't his thing (although he loves pastries)). Q-taro also struggles immensely with articulating himself aloud (this also ties into the autism) when it comes to more lengthy or serious discussions. While he understands what he wishes to say, he can't often figure out a good way of getting it out — hence defaulting to physical touch and affection to reassure others.

- Speaking of his favored physical touch! I think he enjoys all forms of it, but ultimately prefers:

- Hugging (people are usually shorter than him, and he likes hugging them, then picking them up in the air and spinning him... though he's also fond of casual moments where he gets to lean down over someone's shoulder while they're busy and hug them like that) - Hands on one's face (when he's comforting a kid, he often holds their face to help them feel 'steady' & to make it easier to wipe away their tears (or, lets them lean into his shoulder to hide the tears), and will gently nudge their chin up when he's trying to inspire some confidence. he likes letting his loved ones close to his face, because he considers that a really vulnerable part of someone. (also... he thinks it's cute when Yusuke pinches his cheeks when he pretends to be scolding him.)) - Hand-holding!!! (it's nice, and as i've shown above... he likes being gentle with his loved ones. but, whether it's something silly like swinging their hands around, or holding their hand in public for comfort's sake, or simply something to help them ground themselves... he just enjoys knowing they're there.)

And... I think that is all I'm going to add for now!! I hope this suffices; thank you for reading through! Maybe next time I'll delve more into my hcs of how he interacts with some of the cast (or, perhaps simply draw that out :D)

[evilelena]

I'm so weird, I fill out three-year-old Cobra Kai surveys on tumblr.

Karate Kid/Cobra Kai survey

---

It’s the year 2021 and you’re obsessed with The Karate Kid. How are you feeling?

Well, it's now the year 2024 and...fine? I was never really "obsessed" with the Miyagi universe until October 2022 when I started going through all the episodes for my so-called "fan fixion". it's not really fanfic; intentionally bad recaps with fictionalized elements are just something my sister and I used to do ages ago for the lulz. We actually did them for Beverly Hills, 90210 and The Shield. The Cobra Kai ones are done by me; but my sister remains my one consistent reader. She's also the one who challenged me to incorporate the phrases "practice dumby" (yes, spelled that way), "Why is this happening to me?!", and "Ouch, ouch, oh, ouch!" (a line from one of my old childhood stories) into all of my recaps -- or whatever you want to call them. (In case anybody ever looks at those and thinks wtf?.) Despite not being "obsessed" until a year and a half ago, I still really liked CK and re-watched many episodes even before October 2022!

Did you grow up with TKK or are you new to the series?

Kind of both? I was born...uh, long enough ago that I was alive when TKK was released, although I don't remember its release because I was a very young child. I did see parts of all three first movies here and there over the years growing up -- and I watched that masterpiece The Next Karate Kid in the late 90's or early 00's while going on a Walton Goggins movie binge -- but I never appreciated them until my ex-on-good-terms recommended Cobra Kai. (I'm pretty new to the "fandom" but have been watching CK since May 2018.)

We gotta do the basics. Favorite character:

Johnny, for sure. Second favorite is Terry Silver.

Favorite ship:

Johnny and Daniel when they're bickering and squabbling like an old married couple.

Underrated character:

Stiven. Too bad he left, or he and Hawk could've become pals. I like how Stiven bravely tried to start a fight with Tory during the LaRusso house brawl, and she punched him away like she was batting away a pesky fly.

Underrated ship (don’t say therapy, lol):

Johnny and Ali? I (gasp) prefer them to Johnny and Carmen.

Wax On, Wax Off or Sweep the Leg?

Sweep the leg!

Which of Daniel’s dumb little outfits is your favorite?

Any where he incorporates the color blue. Bonus points if it includes his special blue-and-white karate headband.

Character from the films you most want to return, who’s not Terry Silver:

Charlie -- that minion of Ned, or whatever the main bully's name was in TNKK. (Charlie, played by Walton Goggins, was Ned's Rickenberger.)

Scene that lives in your head rent-free:

Oh, there are so many. Way too many to name in a three-year-old survey.

Will Anthony LaRusso ever be relevant?

Technically, he was one of the most relevant characters in 5x10. Without him, Kenny Payne might still be Terry Silver's prize pupil. (And Silver might not have been arrested. Stupid Anthony!)

You live in The Valley and are forced to join the karate gang war. Which dojo do you join?

Eagle Fang, but I'm not leaping from one building to another. (Sensei Lawrence is more than welcome to call me pathetic, though.)

What’s your training montage song?

"Gonna Fly Now"?

It’s the crossover event of the century! Which TV show are you combining with Cobra Kai for an hour-long Saturday night special?

Beverly Hills, 9010. Mel Silver can be Terry's cousin.

Tagging:

Nobody, because this is three years old.

[datastate]

YOUR TURN TO DIE CODENAMES :

(honestly something that charmed me abt yttd was how quickly and easily they compiled together to introduce themselves & collaborate to figure out the situation. it's something i deeply appreciate and also feels more realistic honestly? so this isn't really a fleshed out idea, but i just thought it was fun to play around with :P)

SARA - Adrasteia

As amusing as it’d be for her to be named ‘Steelmind’ or ‘Samurai(onna)’—I can’t see her as having the sort of pride to assume those nicknames willingly. Instead, this name would be something much more personal to her, hence tapping into the headcanoned interest in space (as well as the fact that she most resembles a moon in a symbolic sense, even if it’s only recognized by Kai: Sara stands as the only light in darkness); Adrasteia, though oddly formed, is one of the close moons of Jupiter. In mythology, Adrasteia (dependent on interpretation) was Zeus’ daughter and she is associated with the inevitability of fate, closely knit with Nemesis—goddess of divine retribution.

GIN - Gator

Considering his current hyperfixation on alligators, he would probably take up the name! Though he personally considers them cute, he’s most likely aware of the general perception of them and intends to use this to his advantage—he wants to be recognized as a kid worth his weight! One who can support the others, and who deserves to be taken seriously! Gators can be intimidating for that. This lines up with him often using “woof” in his more forceful dialogue to try to seem more intimidating/confident/etc. Additionally, this has a hard ‘G’ sound matching his name, in case he slips up.

KANNA - Rose

This one’s a fairly simple name :P Although Kanna has a wide-range of knowledge on botany, this is a common flower that I feel as if Kugie appreciated (associated most with red/green). With this, Kanna also falls in line with typical associations to roses: she’s a very loving person (red), as was her sister (although it took time. At the start of the game, she has had her childish innocence broken (white), but then finds solace in that she can at least trust sara (pink; whether or not the bond is reciprocated).

SHIN/’SOU’ - [ARG]

The name of a Japanese ARG (or the protagonist of); I think he’d find them fascinating and it’s unfortunately very fitting for the experiment he’s been thrown into. This is also something which many of the others may not immediately identify. [I don’t know many ARGs, which makes this codename a little difficult to come up with but I will find one Eventually…] Alternatively, he may continue to use ‘Hiyori’ as a reminder for what he’s obligated to keep up if he wishes to survive, as well as the tonal opposite in the meanings behind his name. However, for the sake of this whole idea, I don’t want to be redundant with what we already know.

KAI - Wisteria

The name is taken from the kanji in his own, as he often understates the few truths he does offer to read into (most prominent in YTTS, but even in the Death Game, he only scarcely hides what he truly is when he deems it relevant—unless it places him in danger). In Eastern cultures, wisteria often symbolizes devotion (humbling yourself as to honor another) and longevity (in both a youthful and loving sense). Kai uses ‘Wisteria’ both as a wish that he should survive, though his devotion is all which matters for the remainder of his life. Purple wisterias are also used for royal and wealthy associations, implicating the Chidouins as well as serving as a reference to the importance of the Satou family in their clan.

Q-TARO - Q / Yasuke

Q: Simple name, simple reasoning. He figures he’s already in Central League and known, so there’s no real need to put up an entirely different name. They were all dragged here anyway, weren’t they?

Yasuke: (This is entirely headcanon. Hi. Forgive me.) Similar to the reasoning behind Kai’s and the ‘Hiyori’ name, Q-taro’s using Yasuke as a reminder for why he’s fighting to live—as that’s his boyfriend. In-game, I personally imagine he is usually wearing Yasuke’s ring anyhow, but this is a much more prominent reminder and an easy name to pick on the spot. Additionally, the name Yasuke with the kanji 弥介 represents being fiercely protective.

ALICE - Keys

I have a very specific scene in mind for how this goes: Alice is tied up for questioning, and instead of answering he’s exasperatedly like: “Keys!” and Keiji’s sarcastically like “Your name’s Keys?” but Sara’s autism makes her take it literally even with Alice going: “Just give me the keys, for goodness…!!” — Unfortunately (for Alice), it sticks.

A play on the fact he’s a prisoner, along with the fact its through his own actions that he truly became a murderer after all… considering Hiyori’s doesn’t count, even if it was indeed with intent to harm him. Either way, it’s including that self-imposed guilt which Keiji also shares, not allowing himself to move past it in the least. Alice accepts Asunaro’s label of ‘murderer’…

REKO - Koto / Kutiyapi

Realistically, she’d probably be found out as “that rockstar”—unless Joe and Sara were successfully able to keep their own names under wraps, in which case I do think that he’d be more wary to give out where he recognized some people. Either way, she’s clearly openly associated with music. However, I’ve chosen a more traditional approach. I prefer the sound of the kutiyapi to represent her, but that is a Filipino instrument—either way, strings! Although she’s involved in (presumably) more upbeat music, I feel as if Reko is best represented by traditional stringed instruments as to represent her love for music as a whole and how it’s developed over the years and over various cultures. In line with this, though she likely wouldn’t admit it to the others, the form resembles her. Much as she’s personally changed over the years, as crafters draw from different woods or shapes, the fact of the matter stays the same: she needs music to find her voice and make her feel fulfilled.

NAO - Heart (Kokoro)

:] I think it’s cute and it fits her well! This would also be easier for the Professor to remember and correct if he begins saying ‘Miss Ego-koro’—quickly cutting to the latter half. Nao’s passion to live and how deeply she empathizes and connects with the other participants is of utmost importance in the game… And it is interesting how others interpret that. Whereas this compassion is something that many participants need, Kai and Keiji in particular may be more wary of just how far acting based upon emotion alone can carry you, the danger it puts not only yourself but others into and how easily your love can be twisted/broken.

KAZUMI - Canary

An animal to try to connect with Gin and dissuade that initial suspicion :’] & because he vaguely knows of some shorebirds/waders… surely. But, with that, canary also fits the horrors…! In my interpretations, Kazumi’s current self often utilizes his death as something for the group to learn from, or dying in another’s stead; hence, canary in the coal mine. In both life and death, he wishes to emphasize that hope which canaries do. Even outside of the Death Game’s context, he’s someone who’s been through many rough patches in his life and has made it out with a brighter outlook on life that he likely never would’ve achieved otherwise, now with a much more passionate desire to live a fulfilling one rather than merely successful.

[readwing]

Anyways, here's the books I read last year (that weren't manga or cookbooks)-

The Beautiful and Damned, F. Scott Fitzgerald

Sister, Kjell Ola Dahl (#......like 7 or 8 in the Oslo Detective series)

American Prometheus (Oppenheimer biography), Kai Bird

Matilda, Roald Dahl

Blackmail and Bibingka, Mia P. Manansala (#3 in Tita Rosie's Kitchen)

Homicide and Halo-Halo, Mia P. Manansala (#2 in Tita Rosie's Kitchen)

The Moving Finger (Miss Marple #4), Agatha Christie

The Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood

Ymir, Rich Larson

I'm not sure how to put these in an order of what I liked the most because I read them for different reasons so I'll just do a drive by:

Ymir - Started with the pedal to the floorboards and did not let up one bit. One of my favorite flavors of sci-fi is when the narrative is unabashedly About Somewhere Else. Loved how the protagonist could not move through the story without somehow cutting everyone around him, and I loved the traumatic, unresolved tension between him and his brother. Probably my favorite book by vibes alone

Sister - I adore the Oslo Detective series, for reasons that possibly scratch my brain and my brain alone. It's so dry and uninterested in selling you melodrama. I want to study the way this guy writes his interview scenes; they are the main way the detective work gets done and they work so fluidly. They never slow down the pace to make sure you're keeping up. This was a particularly fun installment, seeing one of the lead two detectives on his own doing PI work after having quit, although the cases took brutal turns.

The Moving Finger - Loved it. Love how AC is just out there inventing characters whole cloth that you'll never meet again, but as soon as you meet them you're like 'oh, wow, you're not just a character you're like a full ass person.' I loved this installment in particularly because the dynamics between the characters were just so fascinating?? Once again, I've yet to correctly guess an AC mystery. Better luck next time.

Matilda - read it for a fic I am writing. Spent most of it getting big feelings and marveling at how completely fucking accurate the live action Mara Wilson movie was. Like there were entire scenes where I was like 'this is the movie, this is exactly what happened in the fucking movie.' Great book, but also wow that movie was a wonderfully accurate adaptation.

American Prometheus - Two things I like in a biography: research and calling out when the research didn't yield anything and/or yielded contradictory records. While I struggled to get through the political back half, particularly the bits leading up to the trial, this book was an interesting look on the development of scientific ethics in the twentieth century and on how today's scientific community today is still shaped by the political machinations of the past.

Both of the Tita Rosie's Kitchen books - it's a food-themed setting for a murder mystery book (which is like it's own genre now, which is cool). Relatively easy read. I think the author is still growing into herself, but one thing that she does well is mystery-plotting. Another thing is food descriptions.

The Love Hypothesis - Mainly read it because I owned a copy. It was... probably more enjoyable for people who like romance. Given that it is a romance book. But I do try to read a bit of everything, because I think each genre has something to bring to the table story-wise. This one had some very nice getting-to-know-you moments between the characters, who had good chemistry, but I think where it was weakest was in giving similar moments to the side characters, who often felt one dimensional. The story beats about feminism and institutional unfairness could've been less heavy-handed. For something that was relevant to the plot, it often felt like the author knew they were supposed to say something about it but couldn't figure out how to say it in a way that hadn't been parroted before, which is a shame because the scenes where the protagonist actually had to deal with those issues played well.

[annebrontesrequiem]

Thank you so much @dolphin1812 for the tag, it's very kind! I love seeing what everyone has written and I of course cannot pass over a chance to tell people to go read some books!

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte - A story of revenge, class, race (Bronte writes Heathcliff in a way that is ethnically/racially othering don't @ me), love, and cycles of abuse. I will never not be a pain in the ass about this book, and everyone should read it (multiple times)

Les Miserables by Victor Hugo - I mean how could I not put this here? Victor Hugo's epic is painfully relevant to this day and presents a stark, unflinching view of poverty, injustice, and the human soul. Read it if only for his descriptions of what the prison/justice system does to someone. It's truly heartwrenching and, I daresay, eye opening. Also like, Grantaire

Cheating a bit but literally any Sharon Kay Penman novel. She is the pinnacle of well-researched historical fiction in my mind. I have loved her since I was 13 and every time I read or reread her novels I come away breathless by the scope, the understanding of human nature, and the beauty of her works. I would recommend When Christ and His Saints Slept about Empress Matilda and King Stephen to start. That or the Sunner in Splendor which was my first foray into her world and is a veritable tome about Richard III (which is very charitable to Richard, I ought to warn you).

Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy by Douglas Smith - I'd be remiss if I didn't put one russian history book on here, since it is what I'm studying and have been enthralled with for years. Douglas Smith is a phenomenal historian, his research is incredibly in depth, and he presents his subjects in a very insightful way.

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder - Soviet history is not my area, but I do think this is a book everyone (or at least everyone who wants to understand Eastern Europe) should read. It's one of the most harrowing books I've read, but I think it's truly important.

Prairie Fires: the American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder by Caroline Fraser - Basically required reading for anyone who grew up reading the little house books, this book grapples with both Wilder's personal tragedies which she glamorized and the larger context of settlers and squatters and the American dream which is glossed over.

"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" by F Scott Fitzgerald - the best short story I've read. Fitzgerald's short stories have always struck me as being much odder and more out there than his novels - though I adore his novels. This one is especially important to me because I read it as an allegory for someone developing dementia/alzheimer's, which makes it more difficult to read but also more poignant. That being said, if you have lost a loved one to either of these things, I would be cautious reading it.

Deathless by Catherynne M Valente - A retelling of the tale of Koschei the Deathless, this book originally didn't seem like much to me. I liked it, I cried over it, and when I finished I thought it was alright. But it grew on my mind, until I was waking up with a thought about the book in my mind. Thus it became an even greater favorite, and an example of how sometimes books sneak up on you.

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - Important to me for very personal reasons, there's a conversation in this book that I will never forget. An exploration of living in diaspora, discrimination, and family.

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand - I am literally so unhinged about the story of Cyrano. The longing, the way that our distorted views of ourselves can rob us of happiness. The way that we depend on others. The way we forgive or do not forgive ourselves and others. Truly a beautiful story. Also mandatory Cyrano (2021) plug here.

There are certainly other books, but here are ten good ones. Thanks again for the tag. I'm tagging: @uppertwist @alioshakaramazov @surpriserose @tomoyoo @leyside @fairglassbird and @tsubasaclones (Be proud of me for having so many friends to tag, and also, no worries if you don't want to do this. If you see this and want to do it, do it!)

I've been thinking about books a lot. I always tell people I don't have a favorite, or even a handful of favorites, but now I think that my favorites must be the ones I continue to think about the most. So here are the 10 books that have stuck with me the most, in no particular order:

The Song of Achilles by Madeleine Miller

The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Kindred by Octavia Butler

Wolf Hall & Bring up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel

Doomsday Book by Connie Willis

Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt

Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

I would really love to hear about everyone else's top 10! Tagging @glassprism @bogglebabbles @jennyfair7 @forestscribe4 @pianomanblaine @a-partofthenarrative @les-gnossiennes-fantomatiques @emotionalmotionsicknessxx @meilas and anyone else who would like to participate, but no pressure!!

[fraeuleintaka]

Chibi Sprite Comparison: Old vs New

This is the 55th post in the Ace Attorney Investigations Collection Countdown: 26 days left until release!

Today's topic: a direct comparison between the old Pixel Art with the new HD Art Chibi Sprites!

The official Ace Attorney facebook account has posted several gifs showcasing the difference between the new and improved HD chibi sprites with the old pixelated versions and even some sketches of the process of making the new sprites.

The first few sketches are shown with Ray's (Eddie's) running animation as an example. Left is the base sketch and right are all the added details for the new graphics. The notes are in Japanese so I can't read them but even without it's easy to see how much has changed. Especially around the face and hands as well as the hair and creases in the clothes. It's amazing to see how much effort they put into these! Something I only noticed in this direct comparison is how they actually changed the scale of some stuff (e.g. the shoes are less bulky) and even some positions (e.g. the hand holding Ray's hat moved to the front while it was more on top of the hat on the old version). I think this makes it look more natural overall, with the pixel art it was more important to make the relevant stuff noticable and details didn't matter because you wouldn't see them anyway but with the HD graphics you see every little thing so everything has to fit perfectly. Amazing!

We also get to see some animations of side characters that we didn't get to see before! Here's Gumshoe's lovely police dog Missile, for example. Now he's even cuter! I love how detailed his running animation is. And the movement of the fluffy tail! So cute!

Coloured sketches are presented with Larry's walking animation as an example, probably because he swings a little from side to side while walking and that detail comes across incredibly well in the updated sprites. I love how you see a little more of his face when he moves and how the creases in his pants follow the movement as well! The colours are stronger and you can tell that Larry looks kinda bored. Interestingly, the little paint stain on his upper arm is missing in the HD version. I don't think anything in the other sprites ever disappeared with the change from pixels to HD. Maybe this isn't the final version yet? Or they thought it looks better like this?

Another new character sprite that's shown is Winston Payne's forehead tapping animation and I love it. He appears as a cameo in both first cases (no first case without a Payne), although he does have a tiny bit of plot relevance in I2-1, and tries to make himself appear a lot more important than he is. He does look pretty neat in the new HD style! I especially love the lock of hair on his forehead (looks very well groomed) and how you can see this self-assured, almost arrogant "I'm totally important!", expression on his face even with his large shiny glasses. It's so perfect!

There are also several comparisons made for sprites of some of the main characters; Miles, Gumshoe, Kay, Sebastian (Eustace) and Justine (Verity) to be precise; but they're all animations we've already seen on the website and that I've talked about before so I haven't added them. They all still look amazing of course. But seeing some animations for the side, and comparatively unimportant, characters is exciting in a different way since they usually don't get a lot of focus. Really appreciate them showing off a few of them!

[secretsofdbz]

"Fixing" the Goku Black arc, sticking to canon content.

Alright, so the premise (Zamasu, dragon balls, Goku's body, Shin's dead so no Beerus (and nobody thought about fixing that for some ungodly reason), no mortals plan, king kai still doesn't use telepathy...) remains intact, I'm more or less "sticking to canon" in terms of general idea and rolling with it, what I want to work on is actually changing the actual key events in the whole arc so it has a more satisfying payoff, alright?

(also nota bene, I absolutely SUCK at prose. I'm a technical writer and analyst, at best)

I'm also only using what's shown to be possible in canon at that point (Goku has instant transmission so he can use it), and not pulling random powers for plot convenience. I'm only working from established and clear things alright?

It starts by Bulma is killed by Goku Black, shit hits the fan as shown, Trunks' GF (it being Mai or not really doesn't matter) gets injured/saved by Trunks' healing power from the Kaio Apprentice training, and he flees to the past. He explains the situation (and no stupid attack on Goku, Trunks is over 30 at this point, but crying while seeing Bulma is k) and mentions how this new enemy is wearing a potara (Trunks knows potaras, Kibito and Shin wore them, even if he doesn't know about fusion). This is where he gets actual proper martial arts/introspection training with his bae dad (who's finally bae after 13 years) and his bae dad-in-law (Goku :p). Reminder that Future Trunks is actually a bad martial artist (https://secretsofdbz.tumblr.com/post/672921944655577088/future-trunks-isnt-a-good-martial-artist-and-that my hot take about that is here). Trunks already knew Grade 3 was a mistake, but his martial arts knowledge is still lacking, so this first part in the past should fix that. Insert slice of life seeing the results of his intervention, meeting Pan, maybe some introspection about present Gohan vs his Gohan (and learning he has healing powers from Apprentice Kai training? -> regain of hope for Mai), a talk with 13 Yo Trunks (remember he's 13 in Super, the age the Future one was when Gohan died), and maybe a random enemy showing up in main timeline to test their abilities/learn plot relevant stuff/get potaras (aka Chekhov's gun placement). I'd place Present Bulma sliding a space ship into Trunks' capsules as well as the coordinates for new Namek right here, just in case, because reasons. Now that's done, we need it to be both a flashback to "Gohan had the ~potential~ during the HTC training", to tie things with proper nostalgia call back (and Vegeta realizing he was trash at training his baby boi, and taking charge this time) moment, and a foreshadow moment to the end-of-the-arc Thing. So Trunks goes back with his bae dads to the Future and Vegeta and Goku get "gonna deck this guy for killing our wives" moment, they find out about extra zamasu, Arch-Boss Monologue thing, and this approach is a failure, so they retreat. Here's the major change: they don't flee to the past (the fuel is too precious/rare, time travel isn't exactly reliable), but Goku has IT, and a whole universe he can reach.

Destination option numero uno: New Namek. Goku knows where it is and can IT to it (as he's done so already, so it being the future timeline should be no problemo), and Future Trunks also knows it exists (he knew since Dende created new Balls, after all). Rezing Future Bulma is a thing that needs to be on the list of things to do, but both Goku and Vegeta know there's three wishes and that they can ~strategism those wishes (as Goku did with King Kai in the Freeza fight, and Vegeta is already a strategist, I mean, back then he got a lovely bunch of dragon balls, do do do do...). It's easier to patch up when you've got Namekian healers, too. Bulma may have reminded Goku of Future New Namek before leaving the maintimeline (just in case Goku gets tunnel vision).

Destination option numero dos: King Kai. Future King Kai may or may not have been killed by GokuBlack/Zamasu, but Kais being dead has not stopped them from doing anything (they just get a halo), so.. ? Hell he might be training Future Gohan or whatever (I'm still mad at nobody in otherworld interacting with anyone from the future timeline, k, so we getting some CLOSURE here, and it's forshadowed by the discussion with present adult Gohan). If we go the King Kai route, insert the use of Chekhov's gun with Future Gohan (fusion dance? potaras?). Can also insert Goku meeting himself who died of the heart virus, and/or Baba actually bringing someone in for a day (re: Gohanks fusion option, or double Goku fusion, idk).

Regardless of the fleeing option used (or perhaps both, por qué no los dos?) the three Saiyans get to Heal, get some Zenkai, discuss strategies (up to and including the Mafuba and either fusion option). They come back to Future Earth, create distractions, use of Fusions, otherworldly intervention/help, separate the thing into two fights, insert shenanigans as needed for a tense strategist fight, switching opponents and else (a little like the Vegeta fight in the Saiyan Saga). And then the bad guys fusion into merged Zamasu, and now it's three against one. Vegeta is starting to lose his temper (this bch killed HIS Bulma in front of HIS son! This is PERSONAL), taking the whole ordeal much more personally, and gets strongly wounded. Trunks is late to jump on the way, and heals him by sheer force of despair. A well placed smoke bomb by Mai and concealing ki helps them regroup, take a breather, and coordinate against merged Zamasu. Trunks' ANGRY. Like, SSJ2R angry. He doesn't know he healed Vegeta (he just caught him and screamed), that he'll be fine, and this mirrors Goku-Gohan during the Cell Saga. And Yamcha telling Trunks how Vegeta just threw his life by attacking Cell when he'd killed him. Now we've got two big tools to use: the spirit sword (with KaiserNeko's speech because it's badass tbh), boosted by rage, and the Mafuba (as it's the thing needed to deal with immortal stuff). If you want "strategy" planning and battles to be the highlight, you first try the Mafuba, but the double nature of the thing doesn't work, so you do the sword slice thing (fueled by the energy of the living and the dead, kinda calling back to the father-son Kamehameha, here you'd have Future Gohan and Bulma encouraging him), with Goku and Vegeta giving their energy to Trunks as their last hope, and as Zamasu is starting to break apart, Mafuba works on Zamasu (by Future Roshi? maybe?) and Goku Black is yeeted à la MechaFreeza.

Prologue: Get Namekian Dragonballs to rez Future Bulma, bring Dende on Earth to be the new Guardian, get new DragonBalls, and restore loss since Goku Black appeared (android/babidi-era stuff wouldn't work because it's too old), and, idk, since Beerus is dead in this timeline, someone makes that timeline get a new G.O.D and/or find a new Shin (Trunks as G.O.D of that timeline would be interesting, with Future Whis as his attendant, that would be... a thing). The other two wishes can be used to refuel the machine to bring back the dads of the year and, uh, whatever works for The Strategy discussed prior (the use of the DragonBalls doesn't need to be ~after~, it can be a coordinated thing like in the Freeza fight in the Namek arc), and/or ask for a way to solve this Shin-is-dead-so-there's-no-G.O.D problem. After all, Kibito was rezed by the regular Dende Dragon Balls... (also the whole time-limit only works for mass rezes? Dende Balls rezed Freeza after twenty years, so rezing Shin shouldn't be a problem). Trunks as "taking responsibilities and carrying the weight of the world on his shoulder, and being dedicated to his world" by doing the G.O.D thing makes sense for his character, but him not being a great fit for GOD leaves a hint for future arcs. Trunks' the kind of guy who is reliable and responsible, but also very humane despite his -get-shit-done attitude.

Perks of my thing: - There's only one time travel trip (and not deus-ex-machina the fuel in the Present). - It closes some plotholes of the future timeline (why didn't Trunks ask to use the Kami Dragon Balls to know where new Namek was + get a ship just after killing MechaFreeza?). - Emotional payoff: 32yo Trunks meeting (Future) Gohan almost twenty years past his death, and still mirrors with when he met his present-alive-dad-self. Tell Future Gohan about how thanks to his sacrifice, his present version is peaceful, a dad and a scholar. - Mai/survivors do the spirit sword thing and Trunks gets a cool version of the Genkidama which matches his theme. - SSJ2R echoes Trunks' Get Shit Done attitude. He's the hope and defender of his timeline, he needs to win this (with or without a fusion with Future Gohan?). - Mafuba is tested without it being a comedic effect (meeting future Roshi instead of present Roshi maybe?), and its failure may be before of merged (two entities = no bueno) or be countered. - There's a wholesome Shonen message about "you had it within you from the get go", instead of it being yet another Goku win with Vegeta acting as a punching bag to show how the enemy works. Vegeta KNEW that by getting himself beat, he'd wake Trunks' power (like his own power rose when Trunks died, even if that failed; hybrid potential and else) - This would be a Goku steps back to let the father and son have a redo of their Z bond, mirroring the bond Vegeta got with present Trunks in the Buu saga. - There's an opening to "fix" the actual origin of the problem: Shin (and as such, Beerus) being dead. This means potential "going to check up on that" at some point later (foreshadowing future elements). - And finally, there's no Button.

That and you add more exposition about Zamasu's beliefs, and maybe switch it to "it's all the Saiyans/Earthlings' faults" (and not just mortals in general). And here's the kicker: the timeline where everything is at peace, is the actual first, original timeline. The True, Original Timeline, the one that Trunks got killed by Cell to steal his time machine (if you -really- need the Zeno Button, that's the timeline Trunks and Mai should go to!). Zamasu couldn't go to that one because Beerus is still a thing there, but by killing Trunks in the third timeline (aka the future timeline we know), he'd achieve a similar situation. Now of course, we could change things a bit by having a fusion win, having Baba bringing Future Gohan (and have Gohanks win?), but here I only used the otherworld as introspection/emotional investment thing, so to keep more or less to canon events. It's just moving the same pieces rather than doing a full blown what if (after all, the manga has Shin show up, which I didn't use), but damn if I wanted better from this arc.

[mariathechosen1]

So, I’ve been thinking for a while and this is basically what I want for AA7:

Main protagonist: ATHENA! ATHENA! ATHENA!

FLESH OUT HER CHARACTER YOU BASTARDS!!!!

Ok, so a big part of Athena’s character is that she has a lot of trauma when it comes to being ignored in court and with self confidence in general. A lot of the time she shuts down when people aren’t listening to her or when her voice is being ignored, therefore it would be pretty cool to put her up against a force that won’t let her speak her mind at all.

Basically what I’d like them to do is give her an ‘Edgeworth: Investigations 2’-ish storyline, with going against a corrupt system and sorta breaking the rules/momentarily quitting to defeat her foes. (Just like Edgeworth rlly dramatically quit his job to help Kay)

This will 1) Let her maybe handle the whole ‘Speaking up for unheard voices’ thing, and 2) Letting Athena be completely on her own which will both raise the stakes, but also give her time to shine.

Of course, we’d need a prosecutor to deal with this, and who other than (one of my all time fav characters, yes that’s literally why I’m including him) Sebastian Debeste!

Sebastian wouldn’t be the villain in the story, but I’d like to see an older version of him who more self confident in his own abilities.

Gee, it’s almost like some of Sebastian’s recognizable traits/details are Being Talked Over/Ignored, having low confidence in his abilities, being slightly clumsy and feeling like he’s messing things up, but in the end pulling through after being inspired to believe in himself. Huh.....that almost reminds me of a certain yellow clad defense attorney........

Sebastian would also work great for the ‘going against a corrupt justice system, directly’ plan, as he himself as a backstory with tons of relevance to corrupt law chiefs (aka his dad)

I also know that some people would like to see Edgeworth as his mentor, but honestly I’d like to see Franziska fill that role (Also pls give Franziska a pixie cut, she deserves it.)

Alternatively, I’m imagining that Sebastian is viewed as kind of an ass at the start of the game (which is fair enough) and then as it progresses and we learn about corrupt officials, Franziska has to take over a case or something for him while he’s out collecting evidence and he shows the side of him that’s devoted himself to finding justice

Let Franziska talk about her trauma more..............also give her a girlfriend

I also know that a lot of people want Klavier content, and that could probably fit in the whole ‘corrupt’ theme (with his brother), but right now I’m pretty unsure about how he’d be implemented

To sum things up: I’d basically like a better version of the whole ‘Dark age of the law’ thing that AA5 was attempting with the game focusing more on specific corrupt systems and officials, instead of just “Ooooohh evil spy-phantom-man was pulling the strings, the cases are solved so everyone is perfectly happy yayyyyy”

ALSO: Since I’d like some of the elements of the game to be ‘Athena going behind the system’s back to find evidence of corruption’ we could have some new investigation elements (As I know some people find the investigation part quite boring) and it would also be cool for Athena to maybe use the mood matrix outside of court to interview people?

Anyways, that’s my little rant. I���ll honestly be happy as long as they don’t give Apollo ANOTHER DAMN BACKSTORY