#like no i just like reading wiki pages and i used to watch a lot of speedrunning videos

[codgod]

i don’t know why but i just had a thought of how funny it’d be if i’d never actually played stardew valley and i built a whole au around it based entirely on info from the wiki

anyways did u guys know i’d had the game for less than a year, maybe even less than 6 months ?? when i first started the sdvau

[thetangibleghost]

I gotta confess it is so much more fun talking to Sal as if he is a separate person like he wants and not a member of the system. He's super creative like. Its just fun.

[archeo-starwars]

You wouldn't happen to have an extensive layout dissection of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant? Or even a list of all notable and obscure sections of the Jedi Temple? OR or even labelled areas that are public and reserved for only temple residents. Both from canon and legends, please and thank you!!!

The best I managed to find comes from Star Wars Complete Locations - you may check out the whole archived version here. The “zoom in” option is pretty good for reading details. Below the pages (I suppose the best is to open them in new tab for better reading):

As for the list of locations, I recommend wookiepedia's list. Plenty of data, both for Legends and New Canon.

Additional sources worth to check out:

Jedi Temple Locations & Jedi Temple History - both published as official material on star wars.com in regard to prequels and New Canon sources. Pictures and references to various places inside Temple.

Star Wars.com's The Clone Wars episode guide + videoclips from the series, like

A) Jedi Archives Tour (the entrance to one of the most restricted areas of the temple: The Holocron Vault).

B) Layout of Jedi Temple Library (source)

C) Jedi Temple funeral room + environment illustration by Tara Rueping (source)

Old Data Bank for Jedi Temple

HoloNews mentioning "a mob of 20 university students attempted to infiltrate the Jedi Temple" and "managing to get as far as the Second Atrium Lobby"

Star Wars Battlefront (2) game wiki provides some map and location description

and if you have time (and patience) you can watch gameplay from 501st Legion's mission in Jedi Temple for reference, like this one

The wookiepedia's articles should give enough good idea of the rooms, their location and functions, but I'm adding a few source pages:

STAR WARS: FACT FILES #36 provides a lot informations what and where was inside the Temple and some general data about visitors, security, Grand Balcony, Grand Corridor & Towers. Not all is super specific, but worth checking out for sure.

The Complete Star Wars Encyclopedia mentions this:

and for Jedi Temple entry:

As for the named locations that are public or reserved for only temple residents, there is definitely a division like that, however I'm not sure if this issue was very well explained. The source gives us some ideas, like for example, Jedi Archives have data accessible only for Jedi with rank of Master or higher (thus most likely separated areas to study). At the same time, Fact Files #25 says that Jedi Archives offers an "excellent resources to researchers, including star-map hologram consoles", but also an access to entire scientific and historical knowledge of the Republic

so non-Jedi were allowed to use Jedi Library/Archives for their own research and work-related needs. We also must remember that the Jedi Order had various scientific branches, including archaeology, exploring unknown regions, and medicine, so logically thinking Jedi worked with other, non-Jedi specialists of many fields.

We also know from various sources, that politicians and important guests were invited for various occasions. We could see in Republic comics series that Bail Organa, Mon Mothma and senator Ask Aak were allowed to listen to Jedi reporting before High Council about his last battle

or attending Jedi Funeral like Duchess Satine and Padme Amidala did for the (fake) Obi-Wan's one or just visiting as a friend/comrade-in-arm

I would need to make more research about this issue as there is plenty tie-in material to Jedi Temple on Coruscant that would take a lot time to study, but at this moment, I think the best is assume how far a non-Jedi may walk into Temple will depend greatly who is that person and what is nature of their business with Jedi.

At the same time, Purge: Seconds to Die has this line "Clone Troopers? This deep in the Temple? Not permitted."

The Jedi was in Archives herself, so it is worth to take into account that clones could have more limited access to Temple than the average guest before war did. At the same time, clone troopers could make a report before Yoda and Mace Windu/High Council, as was presented by Star Wars Tales (Honor Bound):

so it is not like they were outright forbidden to enter the temple either.

Hope it will help!

[dr-spectre]

your most recent post reminds me how much I don't enjoy overtly negative octavio depictions and callie being treated as a "brainwashed hapless victim) due to how it feels like an oversimplification of the lore as well as translation cherry picking

(it's also why i can't get behind "morally good" cuttlefish like hi he canonically recruits children too consider he enlisted his own grandchildren into his literal secret operation + if we count the English translation as the all holy translation is behaviour towards marina is genuinely vile "I don't see species" DUDE???l

It gives a sense that when we see callie still caring about Dj Octavio, it comes from a sense that she gets him, as well as a more fanon interpretation on my end, that she feels like at least he reached out to her, he could've easily kicked her out of octo canyon but he let her stay

And that probably meant a lot to her, even if quite a bit of it was maybe manipulation, it was still more than what she got on the surface, because on the surface, all she was was an idol people could see and bombard with photos, a brand. And not a person.

It's like hell on nuanced earth 😭

Uh

Woopsies this is very long 💀💀💀💀

I don't have much to say about this. I've ranted about Callie and DJ Octavio for so fucking long man. And i ain't gonna stop until i can go on Inkipedia without groaning, or watch a YouTube video where some random guy doesn't just reads off a wiki page and nothing else. I'm getting really really tired.

Sometimes the Splatoon community really makes me upset and it's lack of giving a shit on what words they use. Brainwashing and Hypnosis are on opposite sides definition wise. STOP USING THEM INTERCHANGEABLY!!!!! I HAD ENOUGH!!!!! THIS APPLIES TO OTHER MEDIA TOO!!!!!!!!! ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

God. I would rather the Splatoon community push a "Callie and her second octopus grandpa" dynamic over the malicious takes people have said for over 7 years. Why do we want that shit for Callie and Octavio? Ugh... Oh well. I'll keep ranting over and over again, i don't care anymore. I don't care if i seem mean or pissed off. I am angry. (Plus i didn't get much sleep last night so i'm a bit bleh rn...)

[dio-icarticaae]

Superman Comic Rec List!

I've seen a couple people curious about Superman comics after watching MAWS. So now that S2 is over, I thought I'd put together a rec list of Superman comics I've really enjoyed that I think are a good way to get into Superman comics. Enjoy!

1) Superman: Birthright

Why: A wonderful and touching origin story comic for Superman and a great introduction to his character, world, and supporting cast, from Krypton to Smallville to Metropolis. It has gorgeous art and a really good grasp on Clark's character and that of his supporting cast. Primary Themes: immigration, xenophobia, homesickness, hope Trigger Warnings: see above

2) Superman Smashes the Klan

Why: Based on the 1940s Superman radio show's "Clan of the Fiery Cross" storyline, Superman battles the Klan. Explores Clark's background as an immigrant. The story itself follows along with Roberta Lee, a young Chinese American girl whose family is being targeted by the Klan. Primary Themes: racism, identity issues, internalized racism, police brutality. Trigger Warnings: see above

3) Action Comics #792

Why: If I was asked to choose just one comic as my favorite Superman comic ever, it would be this one. A self-contained story that highlights Clark's investigative reporter skills and connections to people, as well as Superman's determination to save everyone, no matter their importance. Primary Themes: the importance of life, hope, connection

4) Superman: For All Seasons

Why: 4 issue exploration of Superman, told by various people in his life - Pa, Lois, Luthor, Lana Lang - for each season, at a pivotal point in his life. Primary Themes: family, hope, community, connection

5) Superman Red and Blue

Why: Anthology of Superman short stories, on a wide variety of themes and times in Clark's life. There's some that I like more than others in this anthology, but there's not a single bad story in there, and they're all very enjoyable. Primary Themes: hope, what it means to be a hero Trigger Warnings: see above

6) Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow

Why: Want more Kara? This is a wonderful comic for that! A great exploration of Kara and her rage and grief over the destruction of Krypton. Kara teams up with a girl on a mission to avenge her father's murder, taking them on a universe-spanning adventure in space on the trail of a space mercenary. The art is STUNNING and it is an amazing summation of Kara's character. Highly recommend it. Primary Themes: grief, justice, revenge, loss, kindness, survivor's guilt Trigger Warnings: see above

7) Superman: The Wedding Album

Why: Clois's comic wedding! Lois is really wonderful in this comic. This includes a lot of references to events that happened in the comics at this time so it might be beneficial to read some of them/skim the wiki pages for them before reading this for clarity. Primary Themes: love, joy, communication

8) Reign of the Supermen + Return of Superman

Why: Great encapsulation of who Clark is as a character and what makes Superman Superman. Takes place during Clark's comics death. Also, this is the first time that John Henry Irons (Steel) and Kon-el (Superboy) appear in comics! I also recommend this especially for MAWS because MAWS has already established/hinted at A LOT of story elements of this comic - I highly suspect that MAWS is going to do a version of this storyline in S3 or S4. Primary Themes: what it means to be a hero, legacy, identity Trigger Warnings: exploitation, grooming (Kon does NOT have a good time in this comic)

9) Steel (1994)

Why: Are you in any way curious about John Henry Iron's appearance in MAWS? Then this is the comic for you! His 1994 comic solo establishes who he is as a person and a hero, and his supporting cast. This comic run is great and I cannot recommend it enough. Primary Themes: responsibility, kindness Trigger Warnings: police brutality, American imperialism, drug use

10) Trial of Superman Arc

Why: Great exploration of Clark and the impact he has on the world and people around him. It's great fun, Clark gets kidnapped by aliens blaming him for Krypton's destruction because of his distant ancestors and escapes. You can find the reading order for this arc here. Primary Themes: Justice, redemption, fairness Trigger Warnings: police brutality, incarceration

And if you're interested in more, I highly recommend reading 90s Superman comics! Personally, I've been reading through from Reign of the Supermen/Return of Superman onwards, and there have been some rough patches, but it's also been very fun and I have found some amazing stories that way!

[mixelation]

I was reading through Tori and Minato’s tags and realized I don’t get how seals work. Went to read the wiki which explained almost nothing and now I’m several forum and reddit pages deep and idk what to believe anymore. Did they explain it somewhere in the manga or am I stupid

no, there's barely any canon explanation. we know minato was a master and that kushina taught him. there's a lot of chatter about the difference between fuinjutsu and a "jutsu shiki" (technique.... formula?), with the hiraishin markers being canonically referred as the latter rather than fuinjutsu, even though they appear to be.... seals. and a certain genre of fan will be an absolute ASSHOLE to you if you get these two concepts confused, even though canon does not explain either or what the difference is. also sometimes you have to draw a seal and sometimes you just slap your hand into something and the seal just happens. one time i was watching one of those videos that's just some guy explaining anime lore and he was like "i don't even know how [minato] did that." in a lot of fics fuinjutsu can do literally anything if you study enough

for tori, she does need to physically draw the seals. i have not decided anything about what "slap your hand down and make a seal" even IS because what the fuck, but i guess minato and kushina can do this so maybe mutagenicity!tori will learn eventually. but anyway, for the toriverse, fuinjutsu is a set of written instructions for moving around chakra within the defined area of your seal. i decided they can't do nature transformations, but otherwise they're basically just doing ninjutsu in written form. there's limits, like not being able to adjust the jutsu mid-execution like you would for normal ninjutsu. they are useful in that they can theoretically allow for finer control and therefore more complex jutsu than one might be able to perform in their body, but the cost is that they're harder & less intuitive to learn how to do and also a pain to set up. another advantage is that you can set one up and just walk away, which is why they're primarily used for suppressing/confining chakra, ninja, and tailed beats. the disadvantage here is that unless you do something extremely skilled and/or creative, the seal will eventually run out of chakra and then stop working. this is why tailed beasts have to go into people; jinchuriki are self-maintaining chakra batteries for the seal holding the tailed beast.

in the toriverse, hiraishin markers are technically seals but they're not the entire technique. they're little seals which are designed to simply indefinitely move the user's chakra around and nothing else. for a proper marker, the seal has to be "absolutely perfect," meaning it's 100% efficient in chakra use and never loses any chakra. designing something like requires an in depth understanding of individual level chakra properties-- not everyone's chakra functions exactly the same! minato had to develop a new type of marker that suited his own chakra and couldn't just copy tobirama's. this is one contributing factor to why more people don't just learn hiraishin. the other factor is that the technique itself is also hard: once you have your marker, you have to learn the jutsu to throw yourself through space to that marker.

for mutagenicity, i wanted tori and minato to have opposite approaches to hiraishin. minato is a genius so the technique side wasn't too difficult, but it took him a while and kushina's help to develop his marker. meanwhile tori just makes up similar markers for fun as practice, but she's not naturally good at ninjutsu so learning the technique is extremely challenging for her.

late game tori is ~scary~ in that she gets really good at working around a lot of perceived limitations of fuinjutsu, mostly because any actual ninja would just stop and use ninjutsu. tori can set up fuinjutsu on the fly and is good at working with unideal conditions, like drawing on uneven surfaces with substances that aren't ink. she figures out how to use chakra that isn't her own, including nonhuman chakra. she's really, really good at using fuinjutsu in ways people aren't used to having to deal with.

[roguestorm]

How To Start Reading Marvel Comics

Okay, so let's say you're a fan of the Marvel movies or games or you just saw Spider-Verse and you want to know how to start reading comics. Hi, welcome! This is one method of getting into comics; it is not the only one. We're going to be heavily relying on digital comics for this one, so if you prefer reading on paper, this might not be for you.

Step One: Pick a Character

This should be easy! Pick a character whose comics you want to read. It doesn't have to be your favorite character of all time; it just needs to be a character you're interested in getting to know a little better. A character is going to work better for this particular method than a team will, although there are plenty of team reading guides if you really want them.

Let's say, for the sake of example, that you just watched the Moon Knight Disney+ series and you want to read some stuff about Moon Knight.

Step Two: Find a Reading List

The very technically advanced way to do this is to Google "[Character] Reading List" or "[Character] Recommended Reading." For Moon Knight, Marvel has an official one that pops up right away.

The official ones are good places to start, but IMO, the best ones are usually from tumblr or Reddit. Comic fans can be very intense, but we also know more about the material than anyone, including Marvel. :) Here's one for Moon Knight.)

Step Three: Understanding the Reading List

Comic names are formatted one of two ways. You might see someone say Moon Knight (vol 7) or Moon Knight (2014). These refer to the same series of comics. They mean that the title of the series is Moon Knight, that it is the 7th series published under that title, and that it started publication in 2014. Moon Knight (vol 1) is Moon Knight (1980), because it's the first run of comics called Moon Knight and it started publication in 1980.

So, how do you know? That's where the wiki comes in. marvel.fandom.com is my best friend. So, when you type "Moon Knight vol 7" into the search bar, it brings up this page. See how it says (2014-2015) at the top? That's how you know that Moon Knight (vol 7) is Moon Knight (2014).

Step Four: Accessing Comics

Now we have to get the comics. We have a number of options:

For digital comics:

Buying digital comics. You can do this on Amazon or Marvel.com. However, this gets expensive real fast - for example, Moon Knight (1980) has 38 issues, and each of those costs $1.99. That's almost $80, just for volume 1.

Marvel Unlimited subscription. This is not a bad deal TBH. It's $10 a month, and they have quite an extensive catalogue. The only problem is that the site takes forever to load and is not easily searchable. Usually, I'll type into Google the name of the exact comic I want to access (e.g. "Moon Knight (1980) #1") and then click on the marvel.com link that comes up.

Piracy. This is the easiest and cheapest option, and thus the most popular. I'm not going to link any sites, but ask a friend or Google and you'll find one easily enough.

Physical comics are also an option, but they are more complicated. Groups of issues are collected in trade paperback collections, but finding which collections contain which issues can be a bit more of a hassle. And then buying those collections can get pricey very quickly.

If you like physical comics and have a public library card, I'd recommend checking out what they have on their shelves. On a Marvel comic, you want to look at the back cover, usually in the lower right-hand corner, and it will tell you which issues are in the comic (e.g. "Collects Moon Knight (2014) #1-6"). You might find some things that were on your reading list, or you might find some comics you'd never have read otherwise. A lot of public libraries (at least in the US) have a larger comic book collection than you'd expect.

Step Five: Have Fun and Be Yourself!

The most important thing to remember is that you are supposed to be having fun. There might be some frustration if you're not used to reading visual media (I know I wasn't), but it should overall be fun. If a comic feels like a slog, you don't have to read it! Maybe you and the person who made the reading list just have different taste. Try a different comic. Try a different character.

Also, remember that it's okay to be confused. You might be jumping around a little bit and so you might not know everything that's going on. This is kind of the perpetual state of reading comics. If you want to double-check the wiki or ask your friendly neighborhood comics blogger, that's totally fine.

[corviisquire]

I’ve read the comments on my post abt soulsborne sleep token thing! Here’s some concept art I tried. More is on the way just… HW ew. Tagging people who were interested/encouraging this idea: @sleep-token @wingedinsect @moonchild-in-blue @foundationsofdecay @madsthenightowl @a-s-levynn

Undercut is me mindlessly rambling about what’s going on in my brain about this. Don’t read unless you like torturing yourself with reading.

I guess to start, I have only played Elden Ring (crucible knight more like crucible kill yours-IM JOKING), I’ve watched some lore videos on Elden Ring Bloodborne and DS1, haven’t played DS1 yet, and have all the art books except DS2 (cause nobody likes DS2). I’ve played very limited DND games. I’ve read lots of weaponry wiki pages but I have bad memory. If any information I say below is incorrect (like I say this sword is two-handed but it’s not or I misspell spauldor… spalder? Spauldron?) please correct me. I’m just using information I know and I’m always open to suggestions and feedback!

Random Lore Bits: Sleep and the Whale lived in peace but Sleep was always the higher deity. It created all that lives on the land and the TMBTE creatures. Sleep had many worhsippers but Vessel and the rest stood out. They were appointed as the highest knights of sleep. Vessel always had Sleep’s favor and therefore became Sleep’s vessel. Confusing I’m aware lmao. Sleep and Whale became enemies somehow and Sleep injured the whale, causing it to die. This time period before the Whale’s death was called Eden. NPCs speak of Eden all the time about how, “Peace and day has never been restored since Eden” “Eden is over” “If the whale were here, Eden would still be here”. All followers of Sleep become corrupt.

Bosses: Once killed, all bosses turn into statues and have branches grow out of them. They aren’t dead, just dormant. You can fight them again but returning to their fight area and making an offering of a certain amount of tokens. Once defeated again they return to being dormant. If you defeat all resurrected bosses (fought each one twice) you get smth called a Talisman of Blood (important later).

Regular enemies: Idk skeletons???? Giant birds??? Snakes???? Giant insectoids Idk bro???

Location: Like Elden Ring lands between, it’s called Fields of Elation. The capital city is either Nazareth or Jericho. I’ll try to incorporate Calcutta somehow. Geography is a mix of frigid coast, deep dark forest, large cavernous cave strictures, old ruined castles with mysterious rusty machinery inside, sparatic temples to sleep (all whale temples were destroyed), and the remnants of towns. Large trade road that goes through the entirety of the land is called the Path of Reason??? Idk bro I’m spitballing.

Currency: Tokens. Killing enemies and bosses earns you large amounts of tokens and like how runes work, you can level up you and your armaments with them.

Waypoints: Sites of grace, bonfires, more like RITUALS (I am not funny). I think calling waypoints rituals makes sense.

Flasks HP/FP: Estus Flask, Flask of Crimson/Cruelean Tears…. How about Flssk of H I G H W A T E R. Nah I’m kidding. No idea! Suggestions are open! I’m reading lyrics and nothings jumping out.

Incantations/Spells: Can be equipped to magic armaments and weapons! Kinda like you can choose between spell sword or just being a wizard.

Player Character: Tarnished, undead, hunter…. No idea what to call them. Robes and garments Very inspired by TPWBYT. Thinking the whale was an ancient god defeated by Sleep. Player Character is gifted with a certain power of the whale and was resurrected to defeat Sleep. Game opens with epic cutscene and player charter emerges from a cavern (TLYW) and goes through it before finding themselves on the coast of a freezing raging sea and an inviting forest. There’s probably one class you play as cause I’m lazy and you just collect armor and new weapons on the journey. TLYW style robes with greaves, hood, and gauntlets. Basic longsword.

Vessel: I’ve read the feedback and I agree that staff needs to stay. Live laugh staff. I’ve seen a few Elden ring builds where it’s right armament is staff for casting the long range stuff and left armament is a short sword, miséricorde (mercy dagger), scimitar(?), or other various short weapons. I like the image of this because I imagine him having somewhat light armor so if you’re far away, he spell. If you’re close, he stab. Spells are gonna be red. Change my mind. I like the Elden Ring boss Maliketh’s magic attacks so I imagine something like that. I imagine his boss fight starts with epic cut scene with him kneeled in a big arching cathedral temple type place and he’s like, “you seek to defeat the vessel of Sleep, foolish warrior? I have not known defeat against those of the sea nor those of Sleep” or some crazy bs like that. Half health, hands of Sleep show up and swipe and grab and Player Character. Just giant spindly hands that appear and float around. Attempts to break away form Sleep control but fails so that why he evil >:}

II: Dual wielding… what? No idea. I want him to dual wild some sort of straight weapon cause like drumsticks but honestly… sickles are so badass… Med. to light armor so he can move around a lot. Some sort of helmet with feather Mohawk. Boss area is probably in a fort outside of the main city. Just you and this guy. Get ready for a stamina check.

III: I’m torn between frenzied flame/black flame style magic user or spell sword. If magic, light armor. If spell sword, med. armor. Boss fight in a large old temple, candlelit and torn tapestries everywhere. Better have some fire immunity talismans on you.

IV: Halbert. All the way. Heavy armor my guy. Idk not much to say. Thinking banished knight ornstein inspo?? Boss fight Outside the gates to Vessel/Sleep’s castle. Vigor check time!!!

Chokehold: large dark cavern with webs strung about. It appears from above like, “A traitor to Sleep, hm? Pity. You seemed like you would be a good asset to the Vessel’s artillery.” Big axe time. High HP high strength boss. Vulnerable spot is probably its stomach area. Gives you armor, weapon, talisman, and incantation “Branches in a Flood” (roots sprout from the ground and entangle enemy).

The Summoning: Player probably stumbles upon the fight after meeting Aqua Regia and Granite. Mean killing machine. Idk what else to say erm… maybe player interacts with a sleep token symbol on a pillar with runes and it summons (pun intended) the summoning creature??? Stonehenge lookin boss area. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.

Granite: Relatively peaceful NPC. Dialogue options are cool and it probably raises stats and alters your armaments. Quest line ends with Granite maybe just becoming dormant or it becomes a member of sleep again and sad boss fight initiates. Drops its armor, axes, root/weed talisman that increases stamina and immunity.

Aqua Regia: Chill and never ends in boss fight. Probably lets you summon them during other boss fights. Spear and sword. Gifts you new armor and talismans. Quest line maybe ends with them becoming too weak to keep battling and becomes dormsnt. You get their armor, spear, sword, rose talisman that raises FP, and a spell/incantation that shoots gold acid rays called Gold Rush or smth similar (Like Aqua Regia? Get it?)

Vore: Awesome boss. Inflicts poison damage for sure. I think we can all imagine how fighting Vore would be. In a poison lake haha it wants you to suffer. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.

Ascensionism: Swords swords swords. Pulls a Starscourge Radahn and turns a meteor and player has to dodge lmao (cause yk ascending). Boss area is probably in a giant colosseum that’s old and crumbling. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.

Are You Really Okay?: Player character pulls a stupid and decides to touch and inspect the strange incubator with a fetus inside and AYRO appears and is like “DONT TOUCH MY CHILD” initiate boss fight. Small castle is the boss fight area. Armor, weapons, talisman, and incantations are dropped.

The Apparition: Big guy, big hammer. Boss fight is somewhere in a forest clearing. No other ideas for it. Drops weapons, armor, talisman, incantations like everyone else.

DYWTYLM: Chokehold but with tiny dagger and looks like a giant engine. Probably shoots fire from the pipes on its body? Chokehold is PISSED if you defeat this guy first. Brothers fr fr. Boss fight in an old building filled with machinery. Speed is low but HP is super high. Drops armor, weapons, incantations, and talisman.

Rain: Your magic immunity better be HIGH. Renala style fight: Crazy hits, bad defense. Probably drops some crazy cool incantations, armor (really bad armor), and a talisman of fire immunity and raises your FP. Boss fight area is in a shiny crystaly forest area surrounded by weeping willow/wisteria like trees.

Take Me Back To Eden: The last boss before Vessel. Killer fight. Armor is also fire??? Difficult but probably super dope. Boss fight is in a SUPER large hallway in the castle of Sleep. Drops weapons, armor, talisman of resistance against airborne attacks.

Euclid: NPC that’s probably cranky and hesitant to befriend you at first. Still a follower of Sleep but respects the players fate to defeat the sleepmiester (I’m so tired bro—). Might fight you idk.Once dormant, drops and old mask of Vessel, a few incantations, and armor.

Endings: Endings one: You defeat vessel, sleep becomes dormant and no gods rule over the land. Creatures and vessels are resurrected. Endings 2: You defeat vessel and become the new Vessel of Sleep. No difference from first ending, you just chose if ya wanna be evil or not. Endings 3: If you acquire the Talisman of Blood, Sleep sees you worthy to fight them without using a vessel. Radagon Elden Beast situation. When you defeat sleep, the whale is resurrected.

[project-sekai-facts]

hii !! very new to prkect sekai and i cant play the game ,, so information wise is there someplace specific i can start ?

hi! sorry for the late response but hopefully this can get you a start on prsk without the game

to get yourself quickly familiar with the characters, here's the JP webiste's character page (EN site doesn't have one so just use google translate). This page also allows you to switch between the old pre-3rd anniversary bios (aka the point EN is at currently) and the current bios.

in-addition, here's a link to fan translations of the original in-game character introductions. The official character intro translations can be found on the EN YouTube channel.

----

the best place to start story-wise would be the main stories! they give you an introduction to the characters and plot of each unit. they're pretty hefty (21 chapters and roughly 2 and a half hours long each), but it's knowledge you'll need for going further into the story. link to fan translations are below:

Leo/need

MORE MORE JUMP!

Vivid BAD SQUAD

WonderlandsxShowtime

25-ji, Nightcord de. / Nightcord at 25:00

but if you'd rather read the official translation and don't mind the typos and occasional dialogue changes, they can be found on the EN YT channel as well, or on the fandom wiki.

There are also animated shorts based on these stories, which you can watch instead, but I do suggest reading the full stories as well since the animations condense 2.5 hours of story into 5 minutes and miss out some key details. You can find the animations here (they have english subs).

There's also sekai.best, a fan-operated database that has the official translations (where applicable) and original JP text for every event and basically everything else in the game including virtual lives, area conversations, card stories, etc.

^ If you want to use it to view the official translations just go in the settings page and make sure the server region is set to English.

EN has also been uploading the official event translations to their YouTube channel, and is uploading 1 chapter per day. As of writing they're on the 14th event.

If you want fan translations, here's some playlists I compiled. For each unit I included their "key stories", any mixed event that is focused on a member from the specific unit, plus some other stories I think are important to or heavily feature certain characters in the unit regardless of if they're the focus character (e.g: I put Buddy Funny Spend Time in the MMJ folder as well as the VBS one because it prominently features Minori and Haruka and provides a lot of character development for the former, despite it being a Kohane event).

Leo/need

MORE MORE JUMP!

Vivid BAD SQUAD

WonderlandsxShowtime

25-ji, Nightcord de.

And because I genuinely put the effort into this, here's a playlist of fan TLs for literally every story in the game in release order.

(Note: as of posting these playlists are still a WIP but they currently have everything from 2020/21)

----

Stories aside, music is a big part of the experience! You can find all the units on streaming services like spotify and youtube music. Some songs also have MVs, which I'll link playlists below.

2DMVs

3DMVs

Producers' MVs for commissioned songs (aka Vocaloid version)

I hope this is helpful!! ^^

[ngc-5194]

yknow i could very easily accept someone not liking the mobile kh games if people actually gave... understandable reasons??

mostly i've heard that they're 'inaccesable'. which. they're in general more accessable since the console they run on is a phone, a device more people have than a ps4. though, granted, it is the offline version of both games only.

however, if you don't have a phone, have limited space on your phone, or are uninterested in a mostly unplayable game, all of which are understandable, there are cutscene compilations (ux (story important, all), dr) available on youtube too!

if the lots of reading is the issue then there is a completely dubbed version of the cutscenes of ux and you can easily find voiced playthroughs of both union x and dark road on youtube as well.

(for instance, here is a playthrough of dark road that i watched as my phone needed repairs by the time i had caught up with the series enough to move onto khdr. but, of course, there are many more options if you simply search up 'kingdom hearts [dark road/union x] playthrough' on youtube. find whichever one suits the kind of videos you like to watch best!)

if you don't have the time to sit through all of the cutscenes, there are summaries also avaliable! here is a video one for union x, and though unfortunately i can't find a similar one for dark road, it is also always acceptable to just read the wiki section on the story of the game! (here is the union x wiki section as well)

the other major complaint i've heard is that it's 'too confusing' or that the story 'doesn't make sense in parts'.

to which i first must ask, what part of kingdom hearts does make sense to you then? many many signifigant, heavily important parts of this series can be the most mind boggling things you have ever read or heard. so much so that we are known as the fans of that overly complex and insane disney game. that is what we are known for!!

and more to an actual point, there are many many people out there in this fandom who would be thrilled to talk to you about parts of the plot you found confusing. who have posts pages and pages long on minute details.

we are all fans of this weird ass game series and we all can. i don't know. help each other, newcomers and people who have been here awhile alike. us fans who like the mobile games are no different. we are willing to share and help and explain anything you need.

and as for the take that the mobile games are 'unimportant'.

strelitzia, someone deeply important to marluxia, larxene, and ventus' backstories, is seemingly implied to be one of the main characters in kh4 and if you have no knowledge of union x, then you likely have zero idea who she is.

the foretellers and the master of masters are being set up as potential villians in the next arc of the series. all of these characters were introduced in union x, four years before back cover released. and while yes, back cover gives the perspective of the foretellers more while union x is from the eyes of the keykids, there are many interactions with the foretellers in union x, beyond the scope of back cover, that are deeply important to the plot and establishment of their characters.

while yes, dark road has drastically less set up for the future in it, as all of the characters featured are now dead, it gives a lot of depth to xehanort and eraqus both. eraqus' behaviours and motivations are given reason—not necessarily morally good ones, and certainly not ones that always provide justification for his actions, but actual fully defined reasons for it all.

as it has always been with kh, every game is important to understand the story. you couldn't simply play kh1 kh2 and kh3 and expect to understand everything, and you can not expect to understand everything if you don't at least know surface level of the stories of the mobile games too.

you do not have to play them yourself. they do not have to be your favourite games in the series. if you are reading this and you hate them, you can stay not liking them even for all i care.

but you have to accept that they are important to the plot of the series. that they can not simply be ignored if you want to grasp the entire story of kingdom hearts.

[reallygoodplants]

What the recent Parrot Analytics numbers mean

Parrot Analytics wants to measure "Audience Demand". This is not simple streaming numbers, but it is an indicator made up from hundreds of weighted measurements, all smooshed together: streaming numbers, but also fan and critics ratings, download activities, wiki pages, social media buzz - any kind of dataset they can get their hands on.

The metrics are weighted according to how much effort/time they demand - active consumption and creative participation in content are given a lot of weight, merely clicking a like-button or subscribing to updates comparatively less.

Why do they do all this? Because they want to offer a "globally standardized measurement of audience demand for all markets", making it possible to compare content across platforms. Viewership ratings are dependent on many variables and therefore difficult to interpret out of context. PA promises to "value a piece of content or IP with a precise $ value figure for each title, service and market".

In other words, they try to translate viewership ratings, online chatter, revewies etc. into a number that indicates the net worth of a given show. Having this measurement available to us is incredibly valuable, since this is the very thing execs are interested in.

Takeaways:

Since streaming numbers are an important part of the indicator, it tells us that OFMD must have had good viewership ratings. We don't know how exactly it compares to other shows, but we can use it to refute claims that audiences didn't catch on to the show. Clearly they did.

All our noise matters! Blog posts, reddit discussion threads, Wikipedia engagement, TikToks, search engine activities - it all feeds into this metric! Keep doing it and make sure you keep using the full title Our Flag Means Death as often as possible because chances are PA (and similar analytics sites) will measure it.

Keep watching if you can! Doesn't matter which platform - if you don't want to subscribe to Max any longer, watch it on iPlayer, buy it from Prime Video, whatever works for you. PA even measures P2P downloads, just saying.

Our Flag Means Death is worth a lot of $$$. It has the potential to attract, engage and retain subscribers. That's what every streaming network wants. Our clowning is not baseless. Shout these numbers from the rooftops!

Sources:

Learn the methodology behind demand measurement

How Parrot Analytics Measures The Value of Content in the Streaming Era

Disclaimer: I am not in any way an expert on any of this. I just read around on Parrot Analytic's website and I have some experience analysing data myself. If anyone has corrections or additional info, please do share!

[skylinx2o]

Admittedly, I've been feeling terrible lately. I didn't even finish my weekly drawing and broke my now months long streak. I thought I would be able to do it, but my emotions weighted me down too much. I might go back to drawing one art every two weeks.

Anyway, I feel like I should do more fun things. I mean, drawing is fun, and I love creating stories for my OCs, but I do have a lot of other interests. And tho I'm sticking to talking about LEGO today, I want to talk more and get out of my shell. And maybe give you more insight into me as a person.

So today I'm going to talk about my favourite LEGO themes and why I love the series, plus how I personally got i to all of them. It's not a normal review whatsoever, just an excuse to ramble about my interests freely. Just remember this is my experience and my feelings.

(And it's not at all like I'm making this post because I need all of this to prepare for a speaking class and the only way to motivate myself is by making a post about it o _o Come on, I'm killing two birds with one stone here!)

Okay, so, my all-time favourite themes are (in chronological order to when I found them):

1. Bionicle

Honourable mention: Hero Factory

2. Ninjago

3. Legends of Chima

4. Monkie Kid

5. Dreamzzz

1. So. Bionicle. I have a weird history with Bionicle. My dad's friends used to get movies for us, and one day it just happened that my dad's friends gave us a pen drive with Bionicle: Legend Reborn on it. I think I would be around... Seven or eight when I watched it I've seen fans say that it was a pretty weak film, but I didn't know Bionicle back then, and I really enjoyed it! That movie was a soft reboot of the series, and as someone who started their Bionicle obsession with that movie, in my opinion it worked really well as a standalone supposed to capture new audiences. I really loved the sense of mystery that was probably lost on new fans. It wasn't exactly explained what or who Mata Nui was, besides him being a warrior who lost his people. And the ending... I really thought there would be a sequel to it, and was really intrigued by whom the great beings were, and what happened to the world, why Mata Nui knew them, what the giant ahh robots were supposed to do.

Of course, when a few years later in middle school I looked for the sequel, I didn't find it. And to be honest, the ending was disappointing to me. However, there was a whole other storyline in Bionicle to catch up on! And so one faithful summer was spent reading all the comics I could find, reading wiki pages one after another, playing Mata Nui online game obsessively, refusing to use a walkthrough. Believe me when I say I was obsessed!

And then out of nowhere in 2015 g2 came out, and I was stoked since I missed out on practically the whole g1 as it was being made. (I mean, it's understandable, I was born the same year the first Bionicle movie came out.) I mean, can you blame me for being excited? A dead franchise that I just started becoming a devoted fan of is suddenly revived from the grave. I felt like the luckiest person on earth that day. Honestly, g2 was a lot simpler than g1, but I really like it, even if most people said it sucked. Sure, it wasn't exactly like g1, and even I cringed a few times when watching the g2 show, but for what it was, it was cool in my eyes, and loved finding all the g1 references. And there were quite a few of them! The story of g2 was simpler, but for little kids I think it would've been fine. But alas, LEGO did a crap job promoting it, and it died early, with an ending that was so bad even I can't defend it. It just didn't make sense, and it was rushed as hell. But I still wished it would've continued.

I love both generations for different things, and I'm sad I didn't get any g2 sets when they were out (Lewa was my favourite one). But years later I managed to get a promotional anniversary set of Tahu and Takua, and you wouldn't believe my happiness when I was building it. It's strange being a relatively new fan compared to others I see online, but I still remember seeing Bionicle commercials, and even have a very vague memory of seeing a Phantoka commercial on our ancient TV. I mean come on, I was so into it, I even learned the Matoran alphabet! My mom had to listen to my countless rambling, and if I ask her about Bionicle today, she still remembers some answers, that's how much into it I was. Hell, this blog started as a Bionicle blog before I moved fully to Monkie Kid content.

Okay, this Bionicle ramble is getting a tad long, so I'll wrap this up. Would I recommend Bionicle to anyone? Well... Not really, unless you like long lore researching adventures. The story is so convoluted, with many sides stories, and it went on for so many years, that despite my obsession I still probably missed like, 40% of the lore. G1 at least, wouldn't vibe with casual audience probably. G2 might be easier on the brain, despite it having some deeper lore too. Plus, there's the cultural appropriation issue, that I'm not qualified to talk about, but others already made pages long blogs and articles about. Plus the weird gender situation. But, it's still a good story in my eyes, despite its many faults. But that's just me, and if you didn't catch on yet, I'm already deep in this hole and there's no getting out of here now.

Honourable mention: This brings us to Hero Factory. I watched the first few episodes at around the same time as the first Bionicle movie. Came from the same source as before. I think it deserves a mention, because I still loved it, and did some lore digging, but I wasn't as obsessed with it as the other positions on the list. I didn't like the later stuff as much, tho some concepts were really cool too. But the story of the first episodes was really well done, and worked great as a movie. The fights were tense, and when watching it for the first time, I couldn't really know if the characters would be okay. Honestly, it got me really excited and invested. A factory of heroes is a unique concept, and I always found it intriguing how they made the robot society work. But, I don't think it needed more time than it needed, unlike Bionicle, where I didn't like the ending of either generation. I think it wrapped things up quite well with the first episodes, and the later ones just feel like cool side stories, and it works in my opinion.

This one I would definitely recommend, because I feel like it's underrated, and it's not long. Like I said, the version I got was just a one movie like compilation. I checked and there's just 11 episodes. It would probably take 1–2 hours to watch it, not counting the later movies and all.

2. Next one is Ninjago! I started watching it almost from the start. I must have been around ten or so... The episodes aired on TV, so I had easy access to it! I almost never missed an episode, and watched even the reruns. And believe me, I was hypnotised when watching it. Tho, starting from rebooted I watched the episodes online, first in my native language, then in English since I started getting too impatient to wait. This was my first obsession. For the longest time, when people asked me what I wanted to do, I said I wanted to be a ninja. One of my oldest OCs is Mika, and she grew up with me. Whenever a new season was to come, I would design a new suit for her. I have a whole dedicated blog to her, I wonder if you all can find it lol. Anyway, for a kid's show, the first seasons were really well written, and the show could be dark when it wanted, but it didn't lack jokes, and most were very funny. And honestly, Ninjago had a really big impact on my life. It taught me not to give up, and it made me want to make the world a better place. Grade school was a horrible time for me, and Ninjago was like my escape. Tho, I might have daydreamed about it too much at one point...

I started distancing myself from Ninjago around hands of time. I didn't watch the show as regularly, catching up on seasons long after they aired. I think that's also where the writing quality started dropping… I just didn't like it as much any more. But it should've been expected with a series that went on for so long. I'm not one of the people who think old Ninjago was better than anything. It wasn't perfect at all. But I didn't like the short format of newer seasons. But then secrets of forbidden spinjitzu dropped, and i as a person started getting better too, so I went back to Ninjago, and while it wasn't still the best and people had a lot of issues I loved those few next seasons. I mean, they somehow hit right into my interests with those seasons. First the adventure movies like atmosphere with the Egyptian like tomb, then they get sucked into a video game, then the very DnD like feeling Shintaro. It was right up my alley. My love for Ninjago was back in full force by then. So you can imagine how sad I was when the word that Ninjago was ending started going around. The series has been with me for half my life. My friends even knew how much I liked it, my best IRL friend even bought me a Ninjago set for Christmas one time. But you know, I thought it was probably Ninjago's time. Nothing can last forever after all, and it had a very good run. Why not end it when the story was still quite alright? And then… Crystallized happened. I didn't watch Crystallized. I heard the spoilers, and I wasn't… thrilled. Especially with Harumi. And people hated that season. It left a bitter taste in my mouth. It didn't feel like a send-off Ninjago deserved.

So you can imagine how damn happy I was about Dragon Rising! And surprise, it's the best Ninjago has been in a while! I absolutely loved the first season. The new characters are wonderful, and that change was certainly what Ninjago needed. And the fact that it's merged with one of other of my beloved LEGO series only makes it better. And that's probably my cue to move to it hehe

So, would I recommend Ninjago? Yeah. Its story is easy to follow, you just need to watch the show. If you're ready to watch sixteen+ seasons that it! Even the worse seasons have some value to them I'd argue. But I may be biased with how close to my heart that series is.

3. Yeah boy, Legends of Chima! I started watching Chima around the same time I started watching Ninjago, and I was equally hooked. And yes, my mom remembers this one as well, I watched it every time it was on too. Actually, I think the first fanfiction I've ever written was about Chima. With a pencil on paper. I think that, while the other series captivated me because of magic or the setting or the action, in Chima it was the characters and their dynamics mostly, despite there being plenty of magic powers and action too, plus a unique setting. The main characters all have distinct personalities, and it's fun to see how their personalities clash or work together. I think it's cool because the conflict between lions and crocodiles takes the main stage in the first season. Later seasons are great too, and they shake things up to make things interesting quite well. The lore isn't as broad as in other series, but it's pretty cool and interesting either way. There were some unique concepts there. I can't explain my love for this theme as well as with other series, because I don't think there was anything big that made me like it. It's just a cool show. I think what there was has been satisfying, tho young me was really sad and angry it ended anyway. But it's great for what it was. But I can't say I'm not happy that Chima is now merged with Ninjago, and it works so well together, and I absolutely love Lord Ras.

I would absolutely recommend it. It's a fun show, and only three seasons long. It can be both fun and serious, and I definitely had a blast watching it.

4. Now one of my newer obsessions! Monkie Kid! I watched the pilot in Chinese when it came out, then I promptly forgot about the series and binge-watched it all when season 3 came out. I was reading about Journey to the West long before the series was announced, since I have a liking for old stories and legends and myths and stuff. And Asian cultures fascinate me. I blame Ninjago with its Japanese influence and all the martial arts movies that were on the TV all the time. Plus Mulan and Kung Fu Panda. Anyway, I can't say much about how accurate it is or anything since I'm not Chinese, but I think the show is great. I noticed a lot of references to Journey To The West. No shocker here, it's inspired by it. But being in this fandom made me learn a lot of new things about China, tho I still have a bunch of things to learn. I'm no expert yet. Tho, I try my best to be respectful.

Umm... Like I said, not much to say about how accurate the story is. But I really liked Journey to the West, so naturally I like Monkie Kid too. Plus, MK i really relatable to me. I feel like my personality is really similar to his, tho I'm more introverted. For some reason, I relate to this portrayal of Macaque and Wukong as well.

I dare to say that from all the series so far, I find this one to be the most well written. I just find the writing to be the most impactful. Plus, the artstyle is very different from other LEGO shows. Action scenes are really fun. The artstyle definitely works in its favour. And yeah, I would recommend this show 100%.

5. And finally, the newest addition to the LEGO series, Dreamzzz! The show is really new and just starting, but I love the concept and the writing! Plus again, I really relate to Mateo. The characters feel like real people you would meet, and how they interact feels realistic. And I found myself liking even the characters that annoyed me, because their personalities were the realistic type of annoying, one that you might find out in the wild. And the concept of a dream world just really speaks to me. And it gives the creators a lot of creative freedom. All wacky things can happen in a dream after all. One thing I didn't expect in the show was the secret agency, and I think it's a clever addition to the story.

I would recommend this series. I hope it'll have a bright future, and that the writing will stay this good.

Well, time to wrap all of this up. Whoever suffered through this whole ramble deserves a juice and a cookie 🍪🧃 For a few finishing thoughts... I noticed a lot of the series I like blend magic powers and technology together. I just thought it's interesting. And I wanted to mention that the songs for Bionicle, Ninjago and Chima absolutely slap. I used to listen to them on repeat all the time lol Even my mom really enjoyed those songs

Yeah, I don't know what this post was for, I just felt like writing all that :v

[jedineedlove]

Monkey King Refrence.

Hello Everyone, I needed a hiatus from stuff. But as I was relaxing, I was watching old shows from childhood. The one being Hero:108.

This was a wakey show about humans and animals fighting and two sides: Big Green, trying to bring peace and an Evil King named Highroller, trying to ally with the animals so he can rule over the humans.

When I was re-watching it I knew a lot about this show but after getting into Sun Wukong and the JTTW I realized now that the show made reference to the Monkey King a few times.

WARNING: This Show in MY Opinion is awesome recommend watching before reading in case of spoilers!!! Thank You!

One of the references is one of the main characters he is in nearly every single episode. Commander ApeTrully he is the leader of Big Green and tries to bring peace to the animals and humans.

But here is the thing, this whole appearance is actually a disguise. The Commander is actually .........

A Monkey but not just any monkey, his name is later revealed to be Monkey King. However, he is not THE Monkey King from his wiki page he is the 33rd Monkey King. BUT, in the scene, this image was taken from he is pleading with a diety.

That deity being called Stone Money

A skeletal monkey made of stone, that is wearing a familiar golden fillet. This being is able to grant powerful "favors." One of those favors is granting another one of the main characters lazer eyes.

Like his first power when he shot lasers into the heavens. When the Stone monkey gave this character these new eyes he littelry replaced them from the normal white and black to gold and red. Once again another appearance trait of Wukong. Red and gold eyes.

Other Notes:

The one thing that really seemed to get me was how odd Apetrully was he clearly was not meant to be too much resembling Wukong as in the show Apetrully was a pure pacifiest with shows' of pure disgust at even the slightest thought of violence ever being used even on there own enemies and their troops of armed guards. He would always, always try to talk things out first. He constantly falls for the lies and tricks of his enemies. And in EVERY EPISODE he is GETTING KIDNAPPED and Has to be rescued. To me, Apetrully might have the title of Monkey King but instead, he had the full personality of Tripitaka. HE is literally Tripitaka in pure monkey skin.

[jaegonsmoon]

As a lucemond shipper, it is sad that's all we'll ever get from canon, but also, now we're free to explore more. I say free as in, I read the wiki pages and oof, othee ships are gonna burn in one way or another.

So I do hope we continue to get more works for lucemond.

don’t worry!! this is a creative little fandom indeed. but I think we’ve always had that freedom, I think that every ship does tbh, it's what a lot of people have yet to understand and that’s why they’re always in everyone else’s business (hotdtwt i’m looking at you directly).

like—I have brainrotted and found content and created content for ships and characters that have been in the same room once or none at all, and never have shared a second of screentime, and managed to enjoy it to the FULLESSST, some of the best content is found by focusing on the creativity of taking these two dolls and playing pretend with them with no guidance just vibes. so what what I mean by this is that ships usually die when people rely only on canon content to keep going, insted of just being infinitely delusional and using what barney gave us all along (imagination). so if we keep the magic going (being extra delusional) we'll just keep thriving!!! trust 🫶

also we are lucky to have the source material we have tbf, it is quite a feast. however yes, I agree that I would’ve wanted to have/see more bc there was soo much potential for it! like I think they could’ve stretched the dynamic a bit longer. and yeah I get what you mean, everything IS gonna burn and crash from s2 on, it's gonna be hard to watch, but I'm sat and quite excited! I’m also looking forward to see what lcmders come up with during this new phase, the lcmnd tag on ao3 it’s almost at 4k!! so YAAAAY to that. I wish on everybody that the brain juices never dry out ever 🙏🙏

[thyme-in-a-bubble]

Writing anon #1 here with a few questions! As usual please don’t reply if you don’t want to. :)

What kind of character would you suggest writing for? Characters I’m currently interested in or characters I know more about? Perhaps a mix? I’m a little afraid that if I write for the characters I’m currently fixated on I’ll lose interest in them for awhile. For example, I’m currently interested in Daredevil but I know more about the Avengers because I hyperfixated on them in high school.

Where/how do you find inspiration and motivation to write? 

Do you think someone could write a relationship without having experienced it themselves? (Like a romantic relationship) I would assume it would just take a lot of research and editing to make sure it’s fairly realistic. Just like when you writing something else you don’t have experience in (like writing a character being a doctor or barista if you don’t have experience with that.)

Like the second anon I have a lot of trouble with outlining and plots. I usually get an idea I would love to write but have no idea what to do with it. Like how to get to the idea/scene or where to go from it. I really should try actually outlining and taking my time. I also really need to get my brain to understand that drafts are okay and normal. (I struggle with perfectionism, but I’m working on it.)

I realize now how number three might come across. I am an adult not a minor. I just had an extremely sheltered life growing up and have spent the few years I’ve been an adult dealing with a few things that are out of my control. So I haven’t had a romantic relationship of my own, I have read a ton of x reader fanfics and watched a lot of romcoms. And number four isn’t a question. :) Thank you so much in advance!

I'd say write for someone you like, someone you're comfortable with, and if you don't feel like you know enough about them to begin writing then that's easily fixed! rewatch/reread/re-whatever the thing that they're from and pay extra close attention, do it however many times you'd like, take notes. wiki's about the characters can also be super helpful for a ton of those little facts. but at the end of the day, write for whoever you like, whoever will be super fun to write for, whoever will make you excited to write. also you don't have to just choose one or even be stuck if you ever wanna move on, you make up the rules.

inspiration? i find that everywhere. sure, a movie is an easy thing to get my mind hooked on a fantasy, but most of my stories have just come to me in very mundane things. I've leaned into my own life experiences for a lot of sad stories (also used it as a therapeutic tool). there is literally inspiration everywhere, you just gotta open your eyes and see it. that weird tree right outside your window? that could be enough inspiration to begin a whole book. and as for motivation? well, first of all I really enjoy the whole process, so that helps a ton. I'm also autistic and have very good concentration, so I can easily just disappear completely into my wip. I'm also really good at just having it in my routine, sitting down and writing when I have the most energy for it. when I'm working on something very long, that's when it can become harder to keep that flame alive, but I think I've worked out a good rhythm to keep it going and not loose the drive to work on it: first of all, a detailed outline and notes. making a proper routine with it, though also not beating yourself up if it's a bad day and you only reread the last page 50 times, but don't actually write anything new. I also try my best to stay in the world while I work on it. like for when i'm not sitting and actively writing it, then I listen to music that fits the theme or watch movies or shows that have the vibe.

I think that truly depends on the person. some people can and some people can't. I personally don't write about too many subjects I don't have experience in (though still some like for example murder and some of the jobs the characters have, but my imagination can get me far enough to make me comfortable tackling those subjects). so yeah, that's so individual whether someone can do that well or not.

from my understanding of you from the very limited interactions we've had, I'd say that it'll probably continue to be difficult while you're not getting enough sleep for your brain to function properly as well as some other stressful things I could imagine is also going on and perhaps is the cause of the sleep issues. a few things that helps my perfectionism is to say that this draft will only be read by me and no one else, to say that this is only a silly little fanfiction just for the lols and not a fancy leather-bound novel, and also to aim for it simply to be finished and not for it to be perfect. and sometimes when it comes to beginning, you'll just have to jump straight in with the attitude of an imaginative and playful child. also sitting down and being like "okay, I'm not allowed to do anything other then come up with a story. I'm allowed to sit here, look around at my surroundings, and push through the boredom till my brain comes up with a story to entertain me". don't be afraid of slowing down and embracing the stillness, that's always where my best stuff comes from. and plot stuff? that is a huge subject and I'm not sure what advice could be beneficial for you. it's one of those things where learning about it on a technical level can be helpful, but only to get the sense into your bones and then throwing those rules and patterns out of the window like they never existed to begin with and just letting the flow of the story lead you.

[rigelmejo]

Chinese Grammar Guide Summaries

Okay I've found some grammar guide summaries I think would work well for beginner learners to read through. Not memorize, just read through and try to understand and recognize a bit more than you did beforehand.

Reading the grammar points can be an introduction, and then later as you encounter grammar when watching shows or reading and get curious of what something means/why it works that way, then you can look up particular grammar points to study more. Since that introduction you read will have given you a general idea of what grammar points to be aware of. (I recommend AllSetLearning Chinese Grammar Wiki for looking up specific points later in your study as you get confused or curious, I looked up grammar involving 把 的 得 地 on that site a lot when I started trying to read more)

You don't have to read any grammar as a beginner! That's ultimately going to come down to you and what you prefer and what works for you! For me, just reading grammar 15-30 minutes a day for a few weeks to get a rough idea of what grammar would look like, helped me a lot later. It helped with me gradually understanding grammar more as I read more (graded readers then cdrama subs then webnovels), and it helped me identify What grammar confused me when reading so I could look up specific grammar point explanations then.

Beginner Guide to Chinese Grammar from AllSetLearnimg. I think personally a beginner might also want to look up all uses of 的 得 地, 把 and 了 even if they don't understand all those points when they read - as being aware of the work these things do can help you figure out what's going on in sentences you read (or figure out what grammar points you'll want to study more in depth later). 地 often comes at the end of adjectives to be like -ly ending in english and a beginner might benefit from knowing it does that, to help guess which words in sentences are doing what work. 得 is both "must" and serves other grammar functions, so it's worth being roughly familiar with those functions. 的 can be like the english 's which is how some explanations teach it, but it can also attach one sentence clause to another (in english a sentence clause between two commas , goes in the middle, in chinese it goes in the beginning with a 的 at the end). I think it may also help to read more about how go and have can relate to communicating past tense in chinese, so reading more about 去 过 没 没有 and examples of them used in present tense or when describing past tense. So beyond the Beginner Guide on this site, I'd suggest looking up those other grammar points and just reading through even if you don't "get" it yet. The awareness these things exist will be helpful later when you've seen more chinese.

DigMandarin HSK Grammar Guides. If this site makes you click for access, then on this page click the link in bottom that says Access and it will take you to the grammar guide pages. This page is the HSK 1 guide, and you can find the other HSK 2-6 guides linked at the top of the page. I haven't read through all of these, but I'm going to recommend because eaxh HSK guide is around 15 pages. So its like 90 pages total (probably shorter considering the pages have a lot of white space), and therefore as a grammar guide it can be read fairly easily in a few weeks or less if you just read for 15-30 minutes a day. I wanted to recommend a guide to learners that's a summary, that is short and doesn't get too down in the weeds (AllSetLearning is great but its individual grammar point pages are Super In Depth and great for if you are confused about a specific topic but not ideal if you just want a quick summary), so new learners can get an overview they can use as their very basic foundation of knowledge. You can learn more about grammar later (or immediately if you're into that), but just a few hours of reading a grammar guide summary to give you a basic idea of structure can help a lot. And it doesn't have to take months, you don't need to memorize for it to be useful.

NOTE: to see most grammar points on this DigMandarin site's guide, download the PDF versions (linked at the top) because explanations appear paywalled on the website version. Also, unfortunately, you're going to need to look up an explanation of 的 because this guide didn't include one for free. Well that's annoying. Here's the 的 page on AllSetLearning, I'd recommend just reading each grammar point article linked on that page.

Still: if anyone has a site for sentence examples and quick summaries of chinese grammar points, please let me know. I still haven't found any options I like as well as the old chinese-grammar.org site I used (which no longer exists)