#looking at you kawakami fans

[personafan101]

Now up to stage is our Temperamce Arcana!

They just want peace and balance in their life, and the protags definitely helps them!

You know how the voting goes, but I feel like I know who will win.

[just-antithings]

Antis needs to get out of the persona Fanbase and stop playing the game because it's clear they either aren't actually a part of the fandom and never touched anything about the Games or they are truly showing their hypocrisy. I'll even list it

Persona 3 Reload

The start of kenji's social link is about how he wants to romance a teacher in his school.

Some students (+ chairman) spies on the protagonist while he sleeps.

Persona 3 portable

if you picked the female character you can date Ken Amada, He's a romancable character even though he's supposedly around roughly 11 (at the oldest) according to online posts.

In Persona 4 golden

In Antis eyes kanji & Rise should be considered sexualised in the game!

And before any antis claim Rise had some meaning besides sexualising she's in a strip club, didn't need to be in a strip club and could have been in like a TV or stage set or something to showcase corruption of Fame while under 18 instead of like her being a pole dancer in a strip club lol. It was cool tho

Oh also you can date the Loli character if you join a club, I think the music club specifically.

Persona 5

Just look at the romance-able character.

1. Futaba Sakura, The 'sister' vibe character who depends on you at the start a lot.

2. chihaya Mifune who's an adult

3. Sadayo Kawakami is Teacher and maid, (double power dynamics)

4. Tae Takemi, the shady doctor

5. Ichiko Ohya, Journalist who takes you to a bar and gets drunk a lot.

Sorry for the rant, I'm just sick of antis having issues with Persona fanworks while this is the game they claim to be fans of!

[stunie]

hi zevie!!! If u don’t mind I’m here to participate in ur matchup….if it isn’t too late haha. about meee I’m majoring in industrial engineering. I’m also a huge slacker and bedtime lover. my favorite authors are Silvia Plath and Mieko Kawakami (rly into j-lit these days). im a huge horror / thriller reader. I love matcha lattes andddddd im more of a quality time person. INTP I think. idk I just want to be surprised with whatever character ur genius brain picks out for me! <3

HIHI nonnie !!!! eeeeeeee i love !!! i love that you’re a horror fan > < one of these days please rec me something bahaha i want to read more n i love thrillers too!! BUT THATS OFF TOPIC. IM THINKING SAKO !!

you know what i believe would be so cute ?! so he’s got his sweet treat and you’ve got your matcha. now. cuddled up together to watch / read something beside each other. like how cute is that ); just thinking of you sipping your drink and he’s beside you glancing over like “did they make it good this time?” (it’s a very casual question but he hopes they did. he’s got your order memorized and sometimes worries he may have forgotten to mention something. just wants u to enjoy ur drink) // i also think his love for cafes and your interest in reading pair up perfectly. he wants to try the sweets and he’s always picking out a cafe that looks nice to read in ..

[ununotter]

Kitamura Kento's fan meeting vol 2 "Forget-Me-Not" 2024.05.04 5pm - recap (from a 日本語下手 so I'm sorry it's not as complete as it should be)

Kento did the guest announcements over the PA from backstage, it was amusing when he tripped over his words a little and just seemed to be doing it off-the-cuff

MC asked us to call loudly for "Kento-kun", it took a couple tries before they were satisfied and he came out

Special guest for this showing was Kawakami Shota, Kento said "he's taller than me, so you have to call for him even louder"

They had a talk and Q&A that was pretty much just about Hakumyu, I'll try to recap the bits I can remember

Ootori's actor Iiyama Yuta had apparently (according to Kawakami) never performed a solo song on stage before Hakumyu, so his first time was in front of everyone, on a platform. Everyone agreed he did an amazing job

They were very complimentary about Ruri, but also mentioned a flub she made (that has also been talked about by attendees on Twitter) where instead of saying "be careful father, the capital isn't safe" she said essentially "be careful capital, father isn't safe" (appropriate warning, really, but considering the script it was a bit of a "huh? what did she just say?" for cast and staff)

Kento can do some surprisingly accurate impressions of Kubota's scoffing

Kawakami talked about how in the press photos and fan photo op shots posted to SNS, Kento always looked handsome, meanwhile he was photographed a lot holding his spear out and having a goofy grin or being mid-yell (he recreated this pose to great effect)

There was a question of what was the first thing they did or were really looking forward to doing after the last show, Kawakami said he just wanted to sleep a lot basically. Kento said he actually hasn't got round to it yet but he's really looking forward to having a massage, relaxing in a sauna and eating lots of meat

They definitely talked more about some specific scenes from ShinHiji hen, but I can't remember exactly what was said about them! I'm sorry 😭🙇‍♀️

Kawakami unironically and almost constantly calls Kento "Kenty". Kento settled on "Shota-kun" but it seems also sometimes calls him "Sho-kun" while Oomi Shoichiro is referred to as "Sho-chan". Kubohide is "Hide-kun".

Then they finished the talk section by playing an "Akinator game" - basically, the MC held up a paper with a Hakuouki character and their Hakumyu actor's names on for the audience to see. Kento and Shota could then ask yes or no questions, and we would react accordingly nodding or shaking our heads etc. They would then have to guess who it was. I can't remember which questions corresponded to each person but we had questions like "are they an energetic character?" "did they die during the main story?" etc

The first one was Koike Ryousuke (Nagakura Shinpachi) and after a few questions Kento guessed correctly

The second was Iiyama Yuta (Ootori Keisuke) and they couldn't guess - one said Koudou and the other guess I can't remember

Lastly it was Kitamura Kento (Okita Souji) and after a few questions they were both able to get it right easily

The final part was Kento reading his own written prose "Forget-Me-Not" which essentially functioned like a one-man reading drama. I'm sorry I can't tell you anything about it cause I did not understand most of it because my vocabulary is terrible but it was very pleasant to sit in the dark of the audience and just listen to Kento read.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed it and was glad I went even though I had some anxieties about going. I only bought a ticket last minute after Kento said "let's talk about Hakumyu a lot!" and he did not disappoint 😅

[kunikame]

ACE OF DIAMOND

NATSUME TSUKIYOMEI

seidou high school, 3rd year

club : volleyball club dominant hand : right best subject : literature hobbies : reading pet peeves : miyuki kazuya's laugh favorite food : kebab least favorite food : anything spicy talent : decent artist friends : seto takuma, haruichi kominato, eijun sawamura, shinji kanemaru, tojo hideaki, kazuya miyuki, kenjiro shirasu, ryosuke kominato neutral : koshu okumura, masashi yuki, satoru furuya, norifumi kawakami

as a baseball fan, she used to drop by the clubs matches or practices in her free time, which is how she met the club members

dresses really nerdy despite being a dumbass (if the topic isn't interesting enough she physically cannot memorize it)

fingerless gloves with EVERYTHING.

the girl volleyball team's one and only libero!

got scouted into seidou and was accepted on a sport scholarship despite her knee injury

BALLFOUR !! youichi kuramochi x natsume tsukiyomei

it took them 4 meetings to actually greet each other and talk like normal human beings, despite literally being in the same class. ironic isn’t it

eventually became friends through miyuki (who, though will not be caught admitting to it, was happy his 2 close friends got along well). #THIRDYEARTRIO !!

a little too well, it seems, cause suddenly they were blushing and giggling around each other like schoolgirls with crushes and miyuki felt like throwing up cause are you serious? right in front of his salad??

suddenly, a friendship many looked at with envy became something more

they both support the other's sport careers to no end, always there at matches they can make it to. they drag their teammates along to cheer, too (and though i would like to say kuramochi is the loudest at natsume’s games, it’s actually isashiki. his decibel range is unmatched throughout west tokyo)

post each other to love songs and the baseball team teases kuramochi for it (they’re happy for him they swear)

she has somehow mastered youichis "KYAHAHA" and now whenever it's heard, people are not sure which one of them let it out.

BACKSTORY

natsume started playing volleyball as a mere child, shortly after hearing her mother recall her high schools days, most of which she spent playing said sport and winning trophies with her team.

she thought if she were to follow in her footsteps, she’d surely make the woman proud.

and as life had it, so it was. natsume and her elementary school amateur volleyball team went on to win several games and championships– she’s found a close knit group of friends within the players, as well as a deep rooted love for the game that went past wishing to make her mother proud.

as she went on with her passion, growing better and better at the game, so did her teams and competition levels change. she was aiming for a sport scholarship at a great high school

she’s had her eye on seidou high school specifically, so she went on to play every game as if a scout from the school was watching her (little did she know, it was the truth).

during one of her games, however, there was a slight miscalculation. a slight slip of judgement and suddenly she was screaming and being carried to the infirmary

she suffered a small knee injury– or, small it would’ve been, had it not already been holding on by a thread. this fateful day, though, the thread finally ripped and it sent her falling down the edge of a cliff she was desperately trying to climb

she was forced to do rehab, where she coincidentally met chris, and eventually, the knee got better than it seemingly was ever before

despite the injury still only beginning to heal, she was scouted to seidou and got the scholarship she dreamt of.

[confinedmadness]

A Case of Withdrawal Symptoms: Ace of Diamond

I’ve followed the Ace of Diamond series (both anime and manga) regularly for years and to this day. Ace of Diamond remains one of my all time favorite stories. Act II, in particular, I feel was even better than the already amazing Act I.

I avoided reading the last 30 or so chapters for a while but the other day I finally read everything and now I feel so in need of something to fill the DnA shaped hole in my heart. So today, I decided to just write about a few of my favorite characters in the manga. Along the way, I’ll also slightly touch upon story points and character relationships/interactions.

～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～

Kawakami Norifumi

Nori is my favorite character in the whole Ace of Diamond series, hands down. There is no contest, not even close. Nori is not only a character who we see from the very beginning of Act I and continue to see until the end of Act II, Nori is a very well-written character. He develops gradually in a believable way and at a realistic pace. He is someone whose growth we get to witness.

The best part? Nori is one of, if not the most relatable character among the main cast because he is not a genius, he is not particularly attractive or strong or smart. He has above-average baseball skills at best, with a relatively quiet personality that does not stand out, but a whole lot of resolve and mental fortitude.

I’ve said this before in a post I wrote way back, and I will say it again: Nori is the kind of person I strive to be. Good at what he does even if he’s not out-of-this-world amazing. Dependable and trustworthy, someone the people around him rely upon. Hardworking and resilient in the face of being looked down upon. Most of all, does not give up on improving himself despite being around people who are naturally better than him.

It’s so easy to lose motivation to learn something when someone else younger and newer comes along and has the abilities you don’t. But Nori reminds me that there is value in improving yourself for your self, that consistency is gained through hard work not “natural talent”, and that center stage cannot shine without the backstage hands.

At the end, when Furuya told Nori directly how much his presence makes him feel at ease, I just cried. Because yes, I did say that everything Nori represents is a good thing to work towards, but it’s also true you may not receive as much recognition as the geniuses. And being acknowledged like that? Hits you right in the feels and the tears of joy just won’t stop.

Miyuki Kazuya

I think most people who know me in real life or who’ve read my blog think Miyuki is my favorite character because I fangirl about him a lot. Miyuki has a lot of traits I love about a person: talented but hardworking, serious but knows how to have fun. In fact, no matter how much I love fanfiction and fanarts, I tend to be really picky about the ones featuring Miyuki because I find that they often forget or ignore the facets of Miyuki’s personality that I love. 

Fan creations tend to depict Miyuki as quiet, cold, and aloof. But for me, the best parts about Miyuki is his fun-loving, goofy attitude and his whole-hearted love and passion for baseball. He likes annoying enemies, poking fun at friends, laughing at other people. He’s not stuffy about hierarchy and judges people based on merit not seniority. He loves new challenges and finds excitement in playing with or against strong baseball players.

And yet, no matter how much I love Miyuki on his own, I feel that his relationships with other characters are some of the best in the series. A lot of his character growth is spurred by a relationship with another character instead of a more individual progress like Nori’s.

In terms of baseball and as an athlete, his rivalry/friendship with characters like Mima and Narumiya are some of my favorites. I love the wholesomeness of their rivalries. There is never malice or spite when they go against each other in games. Narumiya is probably the person in the series who has known Miyuki the longest. I’ve said this before but I love that Narumiya and Miyuki call each other by their first names. It emphasizes the fact that they’ve known each other since childhood. And now here they are, the stars of their respective teams.

In terms of leadership and as a person, his growth was shown a lot through his partnership with Sawamura and Furuya, his relationship with the Seidou coaching team, Chris, Yuuki, and Maezono, among others. He changes from being relatively self-centered, to thinking more about his teammates and the team as a whole. He learned to be more mindful and sensitive about others, as well as knowing that he can rely on his team as much as he is relied upon.

Finally, his friendship with Kuramochi is one of the most stable, most frequently depicted, and also often overlooked relationships. Though never explicitly stated in the series, Kuramochi is probably the closest thing Miyuki has to a best friend. They don’t have many really emotional moments together, but they understand each other and have each other’s backs. Kuramochi is the person Miyuki confides in when he has problems. And they’re both the first to notice something good or bad about the other. I don’t know about you, but that constancy is amazing. Regardless of whether they remain close in the future or not, I think a friendship like theirs is something to treasure for life. 

Sawamura Eijun

DnA is one of the few series whose main character I love. I think it was in one of my first ever posts about DnA that I mentioned how Sawamura is someone you really want to cheer for. A lot of anime/manga, especially in the sports genre, tell the viewers/readers that *insert main character name* makes you want to support them and help them succeed. But, Sawamura is one of the very few who actually makes you feel that way.

Personally, I believe this is due to the effective way the author shows that Sawamura is a multidimensional character. He has a very clear base personality that defines him as a person, but like every human in history, he is not just that. Different situations and even the shortest moments can bring out anger or frustration or even silence.

Sawamura is loud, optimistic, hardworking. But he can also get annoyed at his teammates, can feel jealous of his rivals, is susceptible to judging people without getting to know them, or can put far too much pressure on himself unnecessarily. I love that the series shows all of this unapologetically. He is not good with certain types of people, but even if he never becomes their best friend, he learns to get along with them. These types of character building make him human, and make you appreciate his usual noisy, laughing self even better.

My favorite part about Sawamura is how open he is to both learning new things and being corrected when he’s wrong. Not only is he willing to be taught, he does not ignore people that point out his mistakes. Of course, he gets embarrassed but he apologizes if he hurts someone, and trains when his skill or knowledge is lacking or wrong.

If not for this attitude, Chris would not have taught him all the baseball basics he clearly lacked, he would not be close enough to Miyuki to experiment with his pitches together or hangout in his room, Kataoka would not have given him the chance to be on the roster, Okumura would have stayed disappointed in him. He would never have been good enough to be the ace of the team.

And what’s even more amazing is that it’s not just the readers who go through a getting-to-know phase with Sawamura. His own teammates go from getting annoyed at his yelling to actually looking forward to hearing it, from wanting to support him to being supported by him as well, from cheering him on to relying on him as their ace.

～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～☆ ～★～

I don’t know if I’ll do something like this again, but I definitely want more DnA content coming my way because I am missing it so much. Tereading the series right now only makes me even sadder, but what can I say, I love making myself happy-sad.

[bambiesfics]

𝜗𝜚 Don’t be stranger

wanna know my name?

it’s Bambie. My mutuals (I love you sm) nicknamed me BamBam, Bambs and Bamberella. I’m a black fem writer <3

age?

I’m in my early twenties, just started!

blood type?

type o negative (jk, that’s a band I listen to).

where I live?

Ooh’ Canada our home & Native land. True patriot love in all thy sons command! 🇨🇦

what I look like?

gonna get my hair done and show you soon

hobbies

going to underground raves, crocheting cute items, curating new Pinterest boards, re-inventing my style monthly, falling asleep on mdma, getting distracted despite having a lot of work to do (live, laugh love adhd), responding to anons, reading slightly boring fiction (🤍 Hi Mieko Kawakami, ily), making my crushes in the sims 4, people-watching on my college campus (so many artsy/alt hotties), making up scenarios to songs, reading manga.

fandoms I love?

aside from The last of us (my baby), I like Yellowjackets (sapphic fandom too), Voltron, The Walking Dead (zombies yum), Castlevania, Adventure time (I’m a bubbline WARRIOR, and I want to sit on marceline’s face), My little pony (Do. Not. Laugh), and too many anime’s to list (send me an ask abt them if ur ever curious ) + a few more

music?

Just to give you a range: crystal castles (Alice glass only), ken Carson, Tool, Hole, Kittie, Traitrs, Destroy lonely, iggy pop, lancey foux, Boy Harsher, Alex g, Team Sleep, Arca, Bring me the Horizon, Blood Orange, vocaloid, City girls, Yves tumour, Elliot smith, Mitski, Yeat + more

shows?

the fandoms I mentioned + Interview with the vampire (it’s entertaining, strongly recommend), The boys, The Bear, Game of thrones, Shameless, The white lotus, Rick and Morty

aesthetic?

I jump back and forth a lot on it. But right now I’m leaning towards bimbo-core. Pink lipgloss, pink clothes, cleavage spilling, tight clothes, camel-toe facing the world, high pleaser heels, long acrylic nails to hold the strap.

say no to?

Drugs

say yes to?

Sucking the strap

quick game of this or that ?

Mascs or fems? Both, just want a wife

Hot weather or cold weather? Hot weather

Pancakes or waffles? Waffles

Pineapple on pizza or no? Pineapples on pizza

Ability to turn invisible or ability to read minds? Turn invisible

Shopping in-store or online? Online (Covid changed me)

Shower or bath? Shower (that one icarly episode changed me)

Avocado toast or waffles with Maple syrup? I’m Canadian, it’s waffles n’ syrup for me.

While sleeping: Fan or No Fan? Fan on, even in winter

Live on a farm or live in a forest cabin? Forest cabin

Tumblr or Twitter? Twitter, even though it’s bad for my mental health.

Kids or no kids? Kids, wanna give my wife a small family

Ass or tits? Tits. But it’s ironic for me considering I have a huge fucking butt.

Ellie or Abby? Love you Abbydoll but it’s gone have to be Ellie.

Hope you’ve warmed up to me a bit, see you bae.

Me af if u even care ^ 🦌

[mncxbe]

I saw you love Mieko Kawakami and I was like,”Ahhhh, finally someone who has the same taste as mine!!” My fav girl is having same taste as me!? It’s a great happiness

All the lovers in the night is my fav and I am on my way of reading Miss Ice Cream Sandwich.

I wanna recommend another author too. If you have time, please please do try Hiromi Kawakami too. They are not relatives but Hiromi has really great novel about May-December relationship and heartwarming novels 💕

aww i'm really happy to find another Kawakami fan here🩷 i haven't read Miss Ice sandwitch yet cause i couldn't find it in any stores in my town rip but i'll get it this summer when i go abroad. and as for Hiromi's novels i just bought strange weather in Tokyo the other day and i looking forward to reading it. it seems so vibey

[iamyourmagician]

currently translating meiji tokyo renka’s first game into english via youtube subtitles !!

meiji tokyo renka (or “meikoi”) is a japanese otome game about a normal, food-loving girl named mei who travels back in time to the meiji era and loses all of her memories. she sneaks into a party where she meets many famous historical figures! but when she’s about to be arrested, who will save her? and will it lead to something more—?!

it received an anime in 2019, if this looks familiar to you! i’m translating the game that it was based off of!!

CAST:

- Mori Ougai: Namikawa Daisuke

- Hishida Shunsou: KENN

- Izumi Kyouka: Okamoto Nobuhiko

- Kawakami Otojirou: Toriumi Kousuke

- Koizumi Yakumo: Tachibana Shinnosuke

- Fujita Gorou: Fukuyama Jun

- Iwasaki Tousuke: Yoshimasa Hosoya

- Charlie: Morikawa Toshiyuki

all of these boys have full routes, and i’ll be translating them in this order! i’m currently finished with the first route (ougai), though it isn’t subtitled. if you’d like to help with subtitles, please DM me! the translation is going very smoothly. <3

to any old fans, welcome back! and if this is your first time seeing meikoi, i hope you can give it a shot, whether that be the game or the anime! thank you so much!

[corpulentcarbs]

@nevermindtheweights

Kawakami, my gassy slobby beloved <3

“Old habits tend to never die.”

One of the many reasons why she’s people’s favorite teacher.

@gainprincess

Sumire is a HUGE fan of both

“It’s a given I suppose, and Sumire’s seems to get bigger each appointment.”

@fatgirlsdotcom

Kawakami being well versed in teaching gas giants, considering she's belching up a storm each and every class

“That’s very untrue.”

No matter how much she denies it it’s very true.

@readyplayerziggy

Her desk is crammed to bursting with greasy takeout bags before second bell. And Tae’s labcoat doesn’t go past her with how wide her hips are.

Kawakami looking at the pile of fast food bags she has to get through, and tends to extend into night time.

It’s hard not to hear the doctor huff while wobbling around the room and when she’s giving you recommendations for a diet when she desperately needs one herself.

[emeyuko]

i have been playing persona 5 royal

the game itself is great but the writting is definitely not my thing and in a lot of cases it's poorly done overall so imma put my complains:

-Ann's sexualization is weird but if they all wanted to go with her wanting to feel "sexy" then make the joke fanservice scenes stuff where she's actually giving consent, making jokes of putting her in embarrasing situations she DOESNT want to be in is extremely awful since she's an SA victim

-Joker taking the advantange of older women and then procced to getting groomed for the sake of waifubaiting is very meh considering they literally were critizing Komoshida's creppy ass at the beggining (even if he was indeed 10 times worse, It would never be Kawakami's entire social link okay, Kawakami's herself constanly says how this is NOT okay)

-Kasumi/Sumire was extremely dissapointing, her character conclusion doesn't make sense and the plot could perfectly happends whitout her, she just pretty much exists to be Joker's"ultimate" girlfriend and honestly, she should have been a femc, made royal had a femc instead, an elegante sporty woman that takes very seriously her role as the pt leader, remplace the anime cutscenes with 3d specially bc they look less old now, give what a lot of fans were waiting for in the trailer when it came out, her persona and pt outfit could still be the same and it wouldn't feel out of place c'mon!

-Treat👏Ryuji👏 decently

-Makoto should have been a confidant instead of a phantom thief

-Maruki's arc had potential specially if you interpret it as "the struggles and the thing you were fighting for at the first place is what makes you a person" but it turned out pretty dissapointing imo, the "bad" ending doesn't have any important consequences and the only fully interesting thing for me were Akechi and Joker's interactions

-Haru should have been Okomura's employee, not his daughter, why the actual fuck are you critizing a capitalism fuck and the main character from the arc is a perfect rich girl with daddy issues that fits just fine in society and could take the advantange of capitalism as well

-the game started with Komoshida, one of the villians that had made me feel one of the biggest disgust i got towards a fictional character's actions in all of fiction, to characters i am unable to take seriously, the most decent is probably Shido and even so, it was a big letdown

-i don't like most of the female social links

[dare-g]

1-25

Omg here we go

How many books did you read this year? 110!

Did you reread anything? What? None of my books were rereads this year

What were your top five books of the year? naming more than that cause 5 is too small a pool i read a lot of good ones so its hard and i know ill look at this later and kick myself for leaving something out but ones that stick out are probably ....East of Eden by John Steinbeck, A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes, The Rat by Gunter Grass, Solaris by Stanislaw Lem, Satantango by Laszlo Krasznahorkai, The Poetics of Space by Gaston Bachelard, Colonel Lagrimas by Carlos Fonseca, Mystery and Manners Flannery O'Conner, We by Yeygeny Zamyatin, The Books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk, The Copenhagen Trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen, Mr Palomar by Italo Calvino, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, David Foster Wallace, I Love Dick by Chris Kraus

Did you discover any new authors that you love this year? I had several authors I read for the fist time this year who I for sure am interested in reading more of the main ones being Gaston Bachelard, Laszlo Krasznahorkai, Chris Kraus, Tove Ditlevsen, Carlos Fonseca, Mark Leyner, Richard Hughes, J. G. Ballard, Bohumil Hrabal, Stanislaw Lem, Lindsey Drager

What genre did you read the most of? pretty much all my reading fits into the generic literature category ...I guess theyre mostly just dramas most of what i read is pretty grounded in the real world

Was there anything you meant to read, but never got to? already answered

What was your average Goodreads rating? Does it seem accurate? i dont have a Goodreads account

Did you meet any of your reading goals? Which ones? Yep! my goal was to read 80 books this year which I passed

Did you get into any new genres? not really a genre but a subject matter I read some non fiction books about architecture that was new

What was your favorite new release of the year? see question 20

What was your favorite book that has been out for a while, but you just now read? see the favorite list... why are these asks written like its normal to only read brand new books ...

Any books that disappointed you? Heaven by Mieko Kawakami comes to mind first didn't end up liking it really which was disappointing cause i thought she may be an author i could read more of considering i had heard some good things but idk now considering a lackluster introduction .... also a big one wasThe Sea, The Sea by Iris Murdoch (see question 16 ) but other than that most of the books i wasn't a fan of i wernt ones i had special hopes for but its still disapointing to not like a book...A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke, Invisible Ink by Patrick Modiano, The New Life A Day on a Collective Farm Fyodor Abramov, and Delilah by Marcus Goodrich

What were your least favorite books of the year? Panenka by Ronan Hession was the least favorite that was the one i actively disliked though there were a handful i just didn't end up caring/ wasn't my thing... see above

What books do you want to finish before the year is over? I have a little to go in Snow Country but Ill be sure to finish it before midnight

Did you read any books that were nominated for or won awards this year (Booker, Women’s Prize, National Book Award, Pulitzer, Hugo, etc.)? What did you think of them? I didnt read any considering most of the books i read are older than 2022

What is the most over-hyped book you read this year? Probably Iris Murdoch's The Sea, The Sea considering it's a fairly popular book (i had to wait in a surprisingly long list of people who had it on hold) which i had heard some people rave about but eh i wasn't really impressed

Did any books surprise you with how good they were? The biggest surprise was A High Wind in Jamaca which sounds like it would just be an adventure book but ended up being a lot more and really impacted me .. also ones that id say surprised me just cause i wasnt really expecting it were Colonel Lagrimas by Carlos Foseca Six Legs Walking by Elizabeth Bernays, and The Archive of Alternate Endings by Lindsey Drager

How many books did you buy? a lot i really dont know tbh

Did you use your library? constantly

What was your most anticipated release? Did it meet your expectations? most of the books I read are older so I think the only book i waited for was The Books of Jacob's English release which yeah it did

Did you participate in or watch any booklr, booktube, or book twitter drama? no never i honestly dont want to hear about it

What’s the longest book you read? The books of Jacob by Olga Tokarczuk wich was 965 pages

What’s the fastest time it took you to read a book? answered already

Did you DNF anything? Why? all finished in recent years ive commited myself to finishing what ive started even if it pains me ...

What reading goals do you have for next year? i ususally pick a number slightly higher than the past year but considering the amount i did this year i doubt i beat it cause i typically dont read this many but whatever ill make my goal 111 lol

Thank you for asking!! I hope youre having a wonderful New Years Eve!

[legion1227]

Persona 5: Review

I need to get my hands on Royal ASAP. 

Like with Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, Persona 5, along with many other games in the past, and still to this day, was something I borrowed from my cousins and sat on for a long time before finally getting around to playing and beating. The copy of Persona 5 I borrowed was bought before the release of Persona 5 Royal. Not until recently, after putting 110+ hours into the game, did I finally have the privilege to finish it. As I plan on returning to the game soon enough, I realize I must obtain my own copy of Persona someday soon. As someone who is an avid fan of owning physical copies of media I really like or love, Persona 5 is something I want to display on my shelf someday. 

If you're unaware of this classic, allow me to enlighten you. The game follows a high school student who, after being falsely accused of assault and put on probation, transfers to a new high school. You may name your character whatever you like, but they will also go by the pseudonym Joker. For one school year, Joker and other students awaken special powers lying dormant within them, leading them to become a secret group of vigilantes called the Phantom Thieves. The Phantom Thieves explore a supernatural realm created from humanity's subconscious desires called the Metaverse. Upon entering the Metaverse, Joker and his team meet various monsters they battle as they try and change the personality and hearts of many. 

For the most part, the supporting characters and crew you assemble are quirky and incredibly likable. There's the delinquent Ryuji, warm-hearted Haru, introverted Futaba, and a handful of others to build a rapport with throughout the game. The only character we could play as that annoyed me was Morgana. Morgana is one of the first members you meet that joins the Phantom Thieves. Morgana, also nicknamed Mona, is a cat who insists he is not a cat for most of the game and also will prevent you from performing any actions and tell you to go to bed. His banter with the Phantom Thieves and frequent reluctance to let Joker perform tasks during the evening are irksome. I am endeared to the rest of the Phantom Thieves but not him. 

There are other characters you can bond with at school, in shops, and otherwise. If you interact with characters like teacher Ms. Kawakami or gun shop owner Iwai frequently enough, you will develop a budding relationship with the character. The further you deepen a relationship with characters, the more benefits you receive in combat or while living life. The gameplay while exploring and fighting or living a life as a teenager is equally fun at times.  

The turn-based JRPG has a simple battle system. You engage in battle by ambushing the enemy or vice versa. From there, turns are taken as you attack the enemy either physically with weapons, shoot with guns, or utilize your personas. The personas in the game use a wide variety of spells, including elements like ice or lightning and spells that buff party members or debuff enemies. Some spells will successfully harm enemies, others won't, and some will even heal enemies or reflect the damage onto your character. Figuring out the best option to take down the enemy, seeing the turn order, and switching out party members to compensate requires critical thinking during battle. It reminds me of Final Fantasy X, and I like that a lot. 

While not traversing around a unique level design in palaces modeled after pyramids, museums, or space, you will be running around Tokyo, looking for ways to build your statistics or build bonds with characters. The numerous ways to increase stats and side storylines with confidants or supporting characters is a fun side story that I regret not being able to complete everything I wanted even after 100+ hours. 

There's a lot I liked about this game. The way it tackles turn-based combat with style is charming. The soundtrack is godly, as my favorite pieces are the ones that play during combat and while at the cafe. The English voice actors all do a stellar job for each individual. And there's no lack of things to do in-between fights as you build relationships, statistics, find ways to earn money, and much more. 

My problem with the vanilla Persona 5 is that there's no way to track how close you are to level up your statistics of kindness, guts, and otherwise. You perform actions and gain somewhere from 1 to 3 points, but it doesn't tell you how close or far you are from leveling up that part of you. Besides my problems with that and Morgana, I really liked this game. I heard that Persona 5 Royal adds more content as well as touches up some parts of the game. Someday, I'd like to get my hands on it, but as far as vanilla Persona 5 goes, it's just great. 4/5. 

[evaxoxoblog]

21/3/24

happy late birthday hyunjin <3. i love him so much oh my god. not in that I'm in love with him; that's a very significant phrase that I don't think even I could throw around too easily, it's just that he is very important in my life in a way he could never know. he has taught me many things since I have known about skz, one being an appreciation for the things around us in this world. that's why I haven't written in a while; I've been appreciating the small things, and the big to be honest. just everything I love.

life feels perfect. i feel so content. school is going well; not perfect but not bad. i got my chem test back- grade 7. that's good. i moved up 4 grades since last year, so I'm headed for a high pass which I'm pleased about. 7 as my grade for art as well. that means a lot to me, though I'm not a big fan of my own art. at GCSE level I'm finding that what we are learning about is more to do with theory, so I am just copying other artists work at the moment, and studying shading and that stuff. i don't mind; it's important, but I want to figure out my own style too; I've never really had a distinct style. i want to make art when I am older; and my dream is for people to see it after I am gone and know that it is mine. i want to be known after I am dead; I don't even care if people know what I look like; that doesn't matter. i just want my name to be something.

my best friend is closer to me more than ever. i love her. if there is one person I truly love with my whole heart, it is her. she makes me smile so much, and we don't judge each other. i would do anything for her, I really would. anything to see her smile. i think she is my soulmate, not romantically obviously, but it is romantic in a way. we had a conversation about what would happen after we left the world, and she said that she didn't really think anything would change, if she passed. that made me really sad, and I told her that right away. i said, "I don't know what i'd do without you, really." I didn't go much more in depth because I don't know what else I could say to express how I love her so much. it is true. i don't know what I would do without her.

that was kind of sad, but happy in other ways. change of subject, I watched saltburn today. lmao. it was really fking weird. i loved the style; I could watch films like that for days, and the soundtrack was pretty good too. the plot was intense, actually I liked the plot, but I felt they could have moved it slower. they rushed to oliver being obsessed with felix too quickly; I think I would have liked to see it slower; that would have made it more believable. same with the ending, it wasn't believable. i liked the rest though (aside from the weird scenes obvs like wtf????).

anyway, like i said, life is good. i am reading the meiko kawakami book, about 1/4 through, and I capture the castle (I love this book sm) which I am close to finishing, which I don't like. i don't want it to end.

i have 30 minutes left of business proposal too. its alr. i think I prefer other stuff. i really want to watch the bear. I've probably said that already.

only 20 pages left of my journal...! i don't know whether I want to drag it out and take it with me on holiday in the easter holidays to visit my family, or start a new one before. we'll see.

x eva.

[apricusnights]

Olympus Tournament: Leader's Choice Battle Royale!

"Well howdy world! For those of ya'll that might not know me, I'm Morely The Taco! Mascot of Tacos 'N More, and one of the stars of Morely & Friends! I hope everyone has been having a grand old time watching the Olympus Tournament! We're about to have a super special event that I know you've been waiting for!"

"This is the Leader's Choice Battle Royale! Faction leaders, and World leaders have all picked a representative, everyone is gonna battle it out against everyone! We've got a Tacorific arena ready to go! You lose if you get knocked out of bounds! Last one standing is declared the winner!"

"First we'll take a look at who all is competing, and who they represent!"

Kei Kawakami - Apricus Navy Typhon - Cherry Hills Roland Marigold - PWSB Jacqueline Edana - Ciar Industries Ajax - Potentialism Castor Lucan - Consecration Lionel Myte - Resource Workers United Janus - Paradise Entertainment Hari Lackey - Bounty Hunters Guild Charlotte Montague - Cheshire Financial Kara - Crepusculum Skuld Kraka - Völsung Khepri - Calere Dmitri Morozov - Nivis Tendo Sato - Kwailai Henri Duquesne - Rèunion Mousse Tarseed - Fae

"Now your old pal Morely more than likely isn't gonna be able to keep up with the pure chaos that is about to unfold but you can bet your bottom credit that I'm gonna give it my all! I'll try to call out some of the Tacorific action, and let you know when an elimination happens! Is everybody ready? Here we go!"

"Just like I thought, everyone is fighting everyone! I haven't seen this big of a rumble since we had those limited edition Morely & Friends Taco Buckets! I think I see Kawakami battling it out against Typhon, over there is Duquesne against Tarseed, Sato is sword fighting with Ajax, Kraka is trying her best to defend against Kara...this action is hard to describe!"

"I sure am glad those trees are fake or we'd have splinters flying everywhere! We got buildings crumbling left and right as folks get thrown through em, it's like a kaiju movie down there. The audience seems to be just cheering on the action in general but there might be a few clear favorites!"

"We got Marigold against Morozov in the battle of the biggest men on the field, we got Khepri, Lackey, and Edana fighting through a building, there is Lucan and Janus fighting but they get interrupted by Montague who throws Janus and starts fighting Lucan, Myte is showing some explosive moves as he makes his way through the crowd to fight Janus!"

"Not gonna lie folks I am having a hard time keeping up even with all the different camera angles we got goin on. Ya'll can see for yourselves! We got folks flying through the air, we got fireballs, we got projectiles, we got more blades than the Steaks 'N More chophouse! First time I think I've ever seen a bladed fan....wait no..second time..I forgot that one time with the Taco Felon..he does come prepared for everything ya know."

"I'm pretty sure Marigold just ripped a tree out of the ground and swung it around knocking anyone over who didn't slide under it! That is one impressive game of limbo! Meanwhile with everything going on, Kawakami and Typhon are STILL fighting and haven't taken eyes off each other!"

"We've had a few close calls but nobody has been eliminated yet! Welp there goes the arena alarm which means the boundaries are shrinking a little. Kinda like that one video game that the fine folks at Ciar Industries put out! Anyway everyone is moving closer so they don't fall victim to the shrinking arena size!"

"Looks like we got out first two eliminations as Kawakami and Typhon completely ignore everything going on and are eliminated by being out of bounds..and the two are not stopping even outside the arena! Security is rushing over to pull them apart, Typhon seems to be having the time of his life down there!"

"Janus is almost eliminated by Khepri but Khepri gets kicks out of bounds from behind by Montague! Ajax and Edana team up briefly to catapult Lucan out but then start fighting each other! Marigold and Morozov are grappling once again but both are clotheslined out by Kara in an incredibly show of power! Holy moly!"

"The alarm sounds again as the arena gets even smaller! No more obstacles, no more trees, no more buildings, just chaos! The defensive fighters are starting to have a harder time as they can be attacked from all sides thanks to the smaller arena! Kraka is almost pushed out by Edana but Lackey gives her a hand by distracted Edana and allowing Kraka to lift her up with her shield and toss her out!"

"Janus and Montague are fighting, Janus looks to be on the verge of throwing her out but both are kicked by Henri! Henri goes to attack Janus which causes Montague to shift her attention to Henri but Henri pulls a fast one, changing his target and catching Montague off guard! Henri lands a huge uppercut that sends Montague out of bounds!"

"Just as Janus looks to take advantage he's suddenly blasted by Lackey who boots the masked man our of bounds! Tarseed narrowly avoids being knocked out ad uses her agility to trip up Sato but Sato manages to escape elimination as well! Tarseed finds herself face to face with Myte who gets the better of her and nearly tosses her but she survives again!"

"Lackey is locked up with Kara, Kraka attempts to strike Kara from behind but Kara avoids it, spins and sends Kraka into Lackey, the force of it knocks Lackey out of bounds, Kraka uses her spear to stop herself but is dangerously close to the edge!"

"Sato finds himself once again battling Ajax! Both clash blades but both are almost struck by a sneak attack from Tarseed, unfortunately for her both warriors sense it coming and turn, both landing a strong punch to Tarseed which sends her flying out of bounds!"

"Kara clashes against Kraka's shield, the blows look to be weakening it and it might be any second now before Kraka loses her defense! In a lucky break Myte runs over, springs off of Kraka's shield, flies through the air and lands a huge punch that nearly sends Kara out of bounds!"

"Just as she goes to recover she finds herself stuck in a brawl between Sato and Ajax! She barely manages to escape and out of frustration grabs Ajax's spear, lifting him up and using HIM as a weapon as she slams him into Sato, Sato is send out of bounds and Kara tosses Ajax to the side. Ajax shakes it off and heads right back into things!"

"Ajax catches up with Kara and spins her around to face him. He barely dodges a hit and strikes her in the gut! Ajax lands a series of strong attacks before Kara catches his fist! Kara goes to attack but she's hit from behind by Myte! Myte and Ajax land alternating attacks, finally eliminating Kara with a double dropkick!"

"We got four left folks! It's Kraka, Ajax, Myte, and Duquesne! The arena has shrank once more and is now at the smallest size it can achieve! Our final four are squaring off with each other, everyone looks exhausted..I'm exhausted just from watching this thing. Kraka goes on the offense against Ajax while Myte rushes to attack Duquesne!"

"Myte attempting to use his unpredictability against Henri but Henri still seems calm and collected even as he attempts to avoid Myte's unique style! Kraka braces herself against Ajax, Ajax repeatedly hits her shield which is now showing even more cracks but her sheer willpower seems to be making up for it!"

"Myte gets stuck several times by precision hits that seem to throw him off balance. Henri grabs his arm and throws him, sending him crashing into Ajax who falls into Kraka! The entire pile nearly rolls out of bounds but barely hangs on. Just as they go to recover, Henri lands a kick to Ajax which causes him to lose his remaining balance but just before he falls out he manages to dive to the side, barely saving himself."

"Kraka just barely rolls away as Henri turns and tries to land a knee drop on her. As he recovers he's attacked by Myte! This time it's Myte with a series of boxing style punches, knocking Henri for a loop! Just as he's staggered he's hit by Kraka's shield! She uses it to push him back towards the boundaries! Henri manages to gain enough composure to drop, slam a dagger into the ground, hold on to it and use it to spin around behind Kraka, using his momentum to kick Myte! Myte stumbles back and catches his balance to avoid being eliminated!"

"Myte is wobbly as Ajax is finally back up and running toward Myte! They grapple and Ajax is slowly pushing Myte towards the edge! Kraka is trying to fend off Henri's precise strikes but is forced to put her shield away rather than allow it to break! She defends with her own arms and takes a beating but powers through it and starts landing some brutal strikes against Henri! She headbutts him and sends him falling into Ajax and Myte!"

"Kraka grabs her spear and gets a running start, lodging it into the ground and using it to fling herself through the air! She hopes to land a flying kick to Henri but he just barely shifts out of the way! Kraka flies into Ajax and Myte, all three almost falling out! Henri tries to take advantage and picks up one of Ajax's discard weapons, swinging it at his three opponents! Ajax grabs it and pulls it in, bringing Henri to him!"

"Myte breaks off for a moment but turns and runs full speed, flying through the air like a spinning rocket! ne of his Hecaball techniques! He slams into everyone! Kraka, Ajax, and Henri stumble towards the edge but at the last second Henri manages to grab Myte's leg! All four of them fall out of bounds and the buzzer goes off!"

"Well the officials are discussing what to do...please wait a few moments."

Tacos 'N More advertising plays.

"Ok folks! It seems we have a four way tie! However all four remaining fighters have agreed to face each other in a special four way challenge brawl later in the event! For now though, give it up for the winners!"

Ajax Lionel Myte Skuld Kraka Henri Duquesne

"Thanks for joinin your best pal Morely for this tacorific fight! I hope ya'll enjoy the rest of the Olympus Tournament! Make sure to get yourself some delicious Taocs 'N More during downtimes! Have a great night!"

[tsukai22]

Stuff

I got the Teal Mask DLC for Pokemon Scarlet a few days ago, and have since beaten it and completed the Kitakami Dex. It's very fun, like the base game. Ogerpon is cute as heck. For fun, whenever I couldn't remember the Kitakami region's name I'd call it things like the Kitagawa region, the Kawakami region or the Izanagi-no-Okami region.

I do often have Persona on the brain, why do you ask?

...which segues into Persona 5 Strikers being my next playthrough now that the Teal Mask is done.

In FEH, a Fates unit getting both an alt and a resplendent before Soleil gets anything despite Soleil outscoring them in every CYL event is a recurring theme this year - Shigure's the newest addition to that club. Being a Soleil fan is quite despressing, which is ironic given Soleil is all about positivity.

On a better FEH-related note, they announced the upcoming refines a lot earlier than usual. For me in particular I'm looking forward to Spring Fir's refine - I got her from a Hall of Forms event semi-recently and her damage output felt slightly underwhelming. I always liked the fact that she has armor-effectiveness, so I'm looking forward to her refine as I said. She won't be on my main team but she's a contender for Arena Assault, Limited battles for FE6 characters and Resonant battles with a bonus for FE6 characters.