#thank you and my yap session has now concluded

[thegoldencontracts]

Eyyy actually on the topic of Azul and weight... what do you think he even did to lose weight? Magic? Lugging a sunken anchor around?? It would be wildly different in the sea than on land...

Personally I headcanon he lost around half at land camp-- meaning he has stretch marks to already add to the body issues... maybe he uses magic to conceal those, though, in case anyone tries to take a peek at him.

IN WHICH, LOCKER ROOMS! DOES NRC have locker rooms?? What do u think..

Sooo I actually like imagining he started trying to lose weight since he was a kid! There's just something so painful about it. At just ten, he was pushed to believe he wouldn't be taken seriously, that he'd be mocked and bullied unless he was skinny. There's also the added angst bonus of his mother noticing he's been skipping meals.

I mean, it's just- Over half of Azul's life has been spent with his mind occupied by the thought of food. His mother canonically didn't have much time for him in the midst of her divorce. And now she sees what's happened to her once innocent, adorably chubby son. He loathes himself simply for the way he looks.

The way the twins would react. To them, Azul's perspective on his weight is actually entirely new. Floyd and Jade have both been shown to like the squishier, younger Azul. He doesn't get it. Why is Azul making himself miserable like this just to avoid being chubby? Is being chubby that bad?

And Azul + locker rooms is just...

I feel like they have locker rooms, since they canonically have to change into PE uniforms (and so far we haven't seen any mention of being able to magically change their clothes + yuu would deffo mention smth about the awkwardness of changing clothes because they cant use magic if that were the case).

The humiliation. The dread. Will he be subject to endless mockery once more? And yet, he hides it all behind that typical, charismatic smile.

But a smile can only cover things up for so long. Even for someone who's built up as high a tolerance for endless mockery as Azul, the walls always fall to time - no matter how strong. The dam will break. And when that finally happens, it'll be a mess, I know that much.

Anyways this concludes my yap session (FLOYD YAPANESE MOMENT) and thank you for giving me a chance to brainrot a bit <3 I know my hcs differ a bit from yours, sorry T_T

[sapling-hoshii]

Pro-Curetember Day 9: A Crossover with PreCure!

Since day 9 is all about crossovers with PreCure, I saw the opportunity to share some crossover art I made, which is yet another Monster Hunter crossover!

This first art piece depicts Cure Prism from Hirogaru Sky, but not clad in her usual white, pink, and blue-colored dress; now taking the form of pieces of thick leather clad with a steel breastplate, elbow-pads, knee-pads, and skirt adorned with pink, spiky scales, Cure Prism emerges in the form of a brave Huntress - or should I say: Rider (from the Monster Hunter Stories spin-offs) - with a glowing Kinship Stone held in place by smaller, leather belts on her left hand that mimics the design and shape of her Sky Mirage. Her design was based on the Blossom Wyvern, Pink Rathian (as seen below) - a Subspecies of the verdant colored Rathian, which is a species of female Flying Wyverns dubbed the "Queens of the Land". These mighty creatures are known best for three things: first is their ability to sprint and pursue prey for long distances; due to the weight of the Poison Sac in their body, the Rathian species are not known to fly often. They do, however, make up for this with powerful hindlegs, which allow them to pursue prey on foot with relative ease. Next is their notable flame breath; refined to even greater degrees than their green counterparts, Pink Rathians can unleash sweltering bursts of fire from their mouth in the form of huge fireballs or wide-sweeping flamethrowers. Lastly, Pink Rathians are also known for their barbed tails and shoulders, which contain a potent venom that can weather away at the health of their assailants if they are careless enough to face the brunt of the Blossom Wyvern's deadly tail-whips and spinning somersaults. [ Render by CAPCOM. ]

Moving on, the second piece depicts Cure Dream from Yes! 5/Yes! 5 GoGo, clad in golden pieces of armor with ornate, magenta-colored patterns and light purple accents, sprouting translucent butterfly wings from behind her - which fade into a light turquoise from a baby-pink color.

Furthermore - her Crystal Fleuret has changed, now depicting a golden Rapier with brown thorns wrapping around it in an upward spiral, ending right before the forked tip of the weapon. For those unfamiliar with the Monster Hunter franchise, Cure Dream's design is heavily based on the Pavilion Mantis - Ahtal-Ka. [ Render by CAPCOM. ]

Ahtal-Ka is a species of Neopteron (the classification of all Invertebrate/Insectoid animals in Monster Hunter) that closely resembles a Praying Mantis in physique, with a golden exoskeleton and ornate patterns that resemble classical Egyptian Pharaohs in design and hues. It is known for its incredible intelligence, utilizing the strong, golden silk from its abdomen and weaving it to latch on to large objects, such as: - Destroyed chunks of castle walls - Actual pieces of ruined kingdoms - Ancient weaponry and rusty artillery - A giant, double-crossed wheel, and; - Giant metallic scraps from destroyed fortresses. Now, the question is: how is it so intelligent? Well, here comes the awesome part: Remember the weapons, the giant wheel, and the fortress scraps it takes from the ground? Yeah - what if I told you it uses these to create and pilot its own giant Gundam by weaving the parts together with its silk? Behold: Ahtal-Neset. [ Render by CAPCOM. ]

So, uh, yeah! That concludes my entry for ProCuretember Day 9! Thanks for sitting through yet another yapping session if you've read this far into the article lol ~ Sap NOTE: Stay tuned for Friday the 13th - I've prepared something extra special. You don't wanna miss it!!!!

Procuretember Event by @pro-curetember

[awesomecolorfulcollectorwombat]

JD.com: Ridiculous Sell-Off Creates A Strong Buying Opportunity

New Post has been published on http://brummy80.com/jd-com-ridiculous-sell-off-creates-a-strong-buying-opportunity/

JD.com: Ridiculous Sell-Off Creates A Strong Buying Opportunity

JD.com (JD) and Google, the search engine unit of Alphabet (GOOG)(GOOGL) announced a comprehensive partnership following an equity injection exercise with cash from the latter. The news was well received by the market and the share prices of both companies rose on the day of the announcement (June 18).

JD Price data by YCharts

Unfortunately, President Trump reignited the trade kerfuffle with China and the resultant stock market swoon dragged JD down to below its closing price last Friday. That meant the gains from the positive deal with Google had all but disappeared and amazingly it lost even more. President Trump’s warning that a further eye-popping $200 billion worth of imports could be included in the trade war made sentiment worse. Yet, Alphabet managed to stay above the closing price of last Friday.

JD and Google Join Hands

Let’s forget about the share price movement for the time being and look at the implications of the partnership between China’s largest retailer and the highly pervasive internet company with a dominant search engine. First, the deal involves an investment ($550 million) by Google in JD.com. Consequently, this is not a simple collaborative project and Google has a deeper interest to see the partnership bear fruits for long-term benefits.

Interestingly, this appears to tie in well with the Google-Tencent deal which I discussed in a January article to be superbly complementary since Tencent has an equity stake in JD as well (18.1 percent). Given shared interests, I would expect the trio to be working out synergistic initiatives for the benefit of all since the results would be better than if each of the two Chinese players has collaborated in isolation with Google. Citi analyst Alicia Yap suggested that JD could leverage Google’s Shopping Action platform to increase its visibility outside China such as Thailand and Indonesia where JD is currently strengthening its operations in. In the January agreement, Google and Tencent were to collaborate on “future technology developments”, a very broad statement.

Secondly, this also meant that JD.com is now owned by two major US corporations – Walmart (WMT) and Alphabet, a strong backing through which JD can leverage on to expand overseas. Walmart came into the picture after JD.com acquired the Chinese online grocery business of Walmart, Yihaodian, in June 2016. In return, Walmart received a 5 percent stake in JD.com. Walmart’s ownership has since doubled to 10.1 percent. Examples of collaboration include a Sam’s Club Flagship Store on JD.com, the Walmart Global Flagship Store on JD Worldwide, and a two-hour delivery service from some Walmart Stores in China through the JD Daojia app.

In this case, again, Walmart has also previously announced a partnership with Google to enter the voice-shopping market as they team up to fight Amazon (AMZN) in its turf. As such, Google has demonstrated its intention to establish broader alliances to achieve greater impact and better synergies.

JD Delivers On 618 Shopping Festival

In my article last month on JD and Alibaba (BABA), I mentioned that the share prices of the two e-commerce giants could benefit from the positive media coverage regarding the sales momentum during the “618” shopping festival. In the 18-day long mid-year shopping extravaganza that concluded on June 18, JD.com did not disappoint. It managed to achieve a 37 percent increase in sales over the prior year’s event. Total sales amounted to RMB 159.2 billion (US$24.6 billion). In contrast, JD made RMB 362.3 billion in revenue in the whole of 2017 and just RMB 100.1 billion in Q1 2018.

Nevertheless, while the share prices of both Alibaba and JD indeed rose in the past weeks, it is practically impossible to quantify how much of the gain was attributable to the hype surrounding the shopping festival, not that the distinction matters for the shareholders though. Periodic affirmation of the duo’s ability to grow sales helps to reassure investors that their stellar growth momentum remains on track and keep short-sellers at bay.

Investor Takeaway

Despite the strong endorsement from Google in the tangible form of an equity injection, the share price of JD only managed to eke out a small gain. Even that little appreciation quickly dissipated after President Trump reignited the trade kerfuffle with China. In fact, JD is now trading below the price before the announcement of the Google deal.

For those concerned on Chinese name over possible accounting shenanigans, you would be pleased to know that JD has recently appointed a respected figure in accounting, Dingbo Xu, to its board. Professor Xu is currently Essilor Chair Professor in Accounting and an associate dean at China Europe International Business School (“CEIBS”) in Shanghai and has served on several large public companies’ boards, including People’s Insurance of China Limited and China Cinda Asset Management. Professor Xu received his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Minnesota.

Based on the price chart, JD has broken out of a multi-month descending triangle formation in early June. It has also clearly bounced off the two-year support line which has been well-tested in four prior occasions.

For those waiting to get vested in this top retailer in China or add to an existing position, the sell-down today on the fuzzy impact of a trade war on JD has certainly opened up an opportunity. It is a better time to do so now than last week, with the gains following the complementary tie-up with Google returned to the market. On Monday, JD’s share price hiked more than 10 percent in the pre-opening session. Many investors waiting on the sidelines were likely to have the feeling that the train had left the station. The JD train has returned to the station merely a day later. Would you be on board this time?

What’s your take? Do you think the sell-down is justified? Please freely share your thoughts, let me know if you found this article useful or provide your feedback in the comments section.

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading. If you would like a refreshing take on stocks that you own or are interested in, try looking here. Besides US companies, I cover a number of Asian stocks as well. If you wish to be informed of my new ideas on Seeking Alpha via email so that you have time to read them before the articles get locked behind a paywall 10 days from publication, please select “Receive email alerts” when accessing on a desktop computer.

Disclosure: I am/we are long BABA, JD, TCEHY.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

[hostingnewsfeed]

JD.com: Ridiculous Sell-Off Creates A Strong Buying Opportunity

New Post has been published on http://brummy80.com/jd-com-ridiculous-sell-off-creates-a-strong-buying-opportunity/

JD.com: Ridiculous Sell-Off Creates A Strong Buying Opportunity

JD.com (JD) and Google, the search engine unit of Alphabet (GOOG)(GOOGL) announced a comprehensive partnership following an equity injection exercise with cash from the latter. The news was well received by the market and the share prices of both companies rose on the day of the announcement (June 18).

JD Price data by YCharts

Unfortunately, President Trump reignited the trade kerfuffle with China and the resultant stock market swoon dragged JD down to below its closing price last Friday. That meant the gains from the positive deal with Google had all but disappeared and amazingly it lost even more. President Trump’s warning that a further eye-popping $200 billion worth of imports could be included in the trade war made sentiment worse. Yet, Alphabet managed to stay above the closing price of last Friday.

JD and Google Join Hands

Let’s forget about the share price movement for the time being and look at the implications of the partnership between China’s largest retailer and the highly pervasive internet company with a dominant search engine. First, the deal involves an investment ($550 million) by Google in JD.com. Consequently, this is not a simple collaborative project and Google has a deeper interest to see the partnership bear fruits for long-term benefits.

Interestingly, this appears to tie in well with the Google-Tencent deal which I discussed in a January article to be superbly complementary since Tencent has an equity stake in JD as well (18.1 percent). Given shared interests, I would expect the trio to be working out synergistic initiatives for the benefit of all since the results would be better than if each of the two Chinese players has collaborated in isolation with Google. Citi analyst Alicia Yap suggested that JD could leverage Google’s Shopping Action platform to increase its visibility outside China such as Thailand and Indonesia where JD is currently strengthening its operations in. In the January agreement, Google and Tencent were to collaborate on “future technology developments”, a very broad statement.

Secondly, this also meant that JD.com is now owned by two major US corporations – Walmart (WMT) and Alphabet, a strong backing through which JD can leverage on to expand overseas. Walmart came into the picture after JD.com acquired the Chinese online grocery business of Walmart, Yihaodian, in June 2016. In return, Walmart received a 5 percent stake in JD.com. Walmart’s ownership has since doubled to 10.1 percent. Examples of collaboration include a Sam’s Club Flagship Store on JD.com, the Walmart Global Flagship Store on JD Worldwide, and a two-hour delivery service from some Walmart Stores in China through the JD Daojia app.

In this case, again, Walmart has also previously announced a partnership with Google to enter the voice-shopping market as they team up to fight Amazon (AMZN) in its turf. As such, Google has demonstrated its intention to establish broader alliances to achieve greater impact and better synergies.

JD Delivers On 618 Shopping Festival

In my article last month on JD and Alibaba (BABA), I mentioned that the share prices of the two e-commerce giants could benefit from the positive media coverage regarding the sales momentum during the “618” shopping festival. In the 18-day long mid-year shopping extravaganza that concluded on June 18, JD.com did not disappoint. It managed to achieve a 37 percent increase in sales over the prior year’s event. Total sales amounted to RMB 159.2 billion (US$24.6 billion). In contrast, JD made RMB 362.3 billion in revenue in the whole of 2017 and just RMB 100.1 billion in Q1 2018.

Nevertheless, while the share prices of both Alibaba and JD indeed rose in the past weeks, it is practically impossible to quantify how much of the gain was attributable to the hype surrounding the shopping festival, not that the distinction matters for the shareholders though. Periodic affirmation of the duo’s ability to grow sales helps to reassure investors that their stellar growth momentum remains on track and keep short-sellers at bay.

Investor Takeaway

Despite the strong endorsement from Google in the tangible form of an equity injection, the share price of JD only managed to eke out a small gain. Even that little appreciation quickly dissipated after President Trump reignited the trade kerfuffle with China. In fact, JD is now trading below the price before the announcement of the Google deal.

For those concerned on Chinese name over possible accounting shenanigans, you would be pleased to know that JD has recently appointed a respected figure in accounting, Dingbo Xu, to its board. Professor Xu is currently Essilor Chair Professor in Accounting and an associate dean at China Europe International Business School (“CEIBS”) in Shanghai and has served on several large public companies’ boards, including People’s Insurance of China Limited and China Cinda Asset Management. Professor Xu received his Ph.D. in accounting from the University of Minnesota.

Based on the price chart, JD has broken out of a multi-month descending triangle formation in early June. It has also clearly bounced off the two-year support line which has been well-tested in four prior occasions.

For those waiting to get vested in this top retailer in China or add to an existing position, the sell-down today on the fuzzy impact of a trade war on JD has certainly opened up an opportunity. It is a better time to do so now than last week, with the gains following the complementary tie-up with Google returned to the market. On Monday, JD’s share price hiked more than 10 percent in the pre-opening session. Many investors waiting on the sidelines were likely to have the feeling that the train had left the station. The JD train has returned to the station merely a day later. Would you be on board this time?

What’s your take? Do you think the sell-down is justified? Please freely share your thoughts, let me know if you found this article useful or provide your feedback in the comments section.

Author’s Note: Thank you for reading. If you would like a refreshing take on stocks that you own or are interested in, try looking here. Besides US companies, I cover a number of Asian stocks as well. If you wish to be informed of my new ideas on Seeking Alpha via email so that you have time to read them before the articles get locked behind a paywall 10 days from publication, please select “Receive email alerts” when accessing on a desktop computer.

Disclosure: I am/we are long BABA, JD, TCEHY.

I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.