#trying to remember arabic words is so hard what the heck

[gulabilli]

i never thought i'd say this but i miss studying french and urdu, studying arabic is taking all the energy out of me 😭

[walrus150915]

The most random out-of-order Nimona headcanons I've scrambled out of my mind and put in my notes as coherent as I could bc there's a LOTTTT

• I don't think Nimona uses specific names to label her sexuality/gender. Was she in love with Gloreth? Maybe she was. Maybe she was not. Does she like boys? Who knows, she sure doesn't. What's her gender? Nimona. That's it

• I think Ballister did try to be the cis ally™ and figure out the label Nimona would use but she'd just shrug her shoulders and say "I don't know, boss, it seems like you care about it more than I do"

• And even though she's NOT a girl, she uses she/her pronouns because 💥YOUR PRONOUNS DON'T DEFINE YOUR GENDER💥 you may use she/her and not be a girl, he/him and not be a boy, I even saw cis people use they/them simply bc they're comfortable. And that's okay!

• Although she's comfortable with people calling her he/they/neopronouns you name it. Just. Not it/its. You know the reasons😬

• Nimona is left-handed and it's CANON actually I am SO HAPPY as a left-handed person she's just like me fr💥💥

• Nimona isn't a big fan of domestic bliss Ambrosius and Ballister spend most of their time in (plus they're very sappy and very much disgustingly in love, Nimona's stoic organism can't handle their mushiness for the dear life), she's like an independent cat I think: comes to hang out, eats, spends time with her father-not-really figures and goes away for weeks only to come back again. She travels the world my dudes✨

• I think she has a bunch of photos from the places she'd been to and talks about her adventures a lot!

• Nimona also is the best cook of the fam I'm afraid. Ballister cooks, like, the bare minimum to serve himself as a functioning adult (rice, salad, pasta, some meat like you know the deal) but nothing too complicated. Ambrosius is a nepo baby who's probably lived in palaces and mansions with dozens of servants do you really think he's good at cooking😭 as he distanced himself from the Institute and moved in with Bal I think he learnt to cook, still not great at it.

• Nimona though? SHE CAN DO *ANYTHING* like she's madly good at cooking. It might look like she's burning the kitchen down only to reveal that she was putting Gordon Ramsay to shame!

Speaking of BallBros

• Ballister's experience is close to a second gen immigrant. Ambrosius's experience is close to a third gen immigrant. They can't be immigrants bc of the context of the story?? I DON'T CARE☺

• Ambrosius doesn't speak his mother tongue except for like a few words or phrases he's heard at home. His older relatives probably make fun of him for it on family gatherings. His parents didn't teach him because they didn't want him to stick out (totally not self projecting here - yeah I'm a third gen immigrant hiii)

• Ballister tho? I think Urdu was his first language but he learned English along the way

• And it kinda mixes in his head so he forgets the words from both languages sometimes and replaces them with the word from the other one (HA my experience again)

• When he's experiencing hard emotions, be it anger, happiness, sadness, or is overwhelmed, he drops English entirely and just starts bantering in Urdu

• Ambrosius didn't know Ballister was bilingual but when he learnt it? He was amazed and I think... Kinda jealous because he didn't get to learn Korean himself (self projection yeahhhhhh)

• "You know your mother tongue? Damn! I wish I did too!"

• That said, Ballister has no idea how to shorten Ambrosius's name (WHAT THE HECK IS THIS NAME BRO WHAT ARE YOU, GOD'S FOOD???), so he sticks to Urdu endearments, "luv" (in the most British accent possible) and "darling"

People who say French/Spanish are the romantic languages are wrong LISTEN TO URDU OR INDIAN LANGUAGES OR ARABIC. THAT'S WHERE LOVE IS DUDE

• Ambrosius has learnt like a few words in Urdu and tries to rizz up Ballister by saying some basic words like "jaan", "mohabbat" and just😭😭😭 fails😭😭😭 because he's a cringefail man😭😭😭

I remember trying to ask out my (NOW EX😔) gf who's Italian by writing "will you be my girlfriend?" in Italian and I used GOOGLE TRANSLATION🧍‍♂️🧍‍♂️ SHE UNDERSTOOD THAT I USED GOOGLE AND POINTED IT OUT AS A JOKE BUT I CRINGED AT MYSELF SO HARD..... Ambrosius would totally do that too and Ballister would chuckle and pull him in a kiss bc he loves this cringefail man so much

• Ambrosius also serenades like I KNOW DAMN WELL HE DOES. He goes "this one's for you, Bal" with a wink and sings like the sappiest most disgusting love ballad ever and Ballister tries his best not to laugh because that's his beloved boyfriend but also like.... So cringe. So embarrassing😭😭 Nimona has more balls than her boss so she would outright say that it's cringe

• Also. I don't agree with people saying Ambrosius's a jock because have you seen this man?? He's a theatre kid. The worst kind of theatre kid. Even after not being a kid anymore he's still a theatre kid. BRO IS A HAMILTON FAN UNIRONICALLY, OF COURSE HE IS. He makes weirdass references to musicals and giggles like an idiot

• Can we agree that Ambrosius was an awakening for many teenagers because OOOOH BOY he sure would be mine. Some pop news youtube channel probably has a video of him reading the kingdom's equivalent of "thirst tweets", like yknow this type of vids😭😭

While we're on the topic of thirst tweets

• Diego the squire runs a fan page account with edits of Ballister like he's some pop celebrity

• He also may or may not write self-indulgent "Ballister x reader" fanfiction in his off duty time

• Also hc that when Ballister was on the run he saw some "WANTED" poster of him and hang up on the wall like yeah boy's crush is EMBARRASSING (can we blame him? I'm the same with Riz Ahmed)

• Todd would be on the "straight" side of their equivalent to TikTok. You know the ones with shirtless men with the same haircuts who think they're hot when in reality they're not?? That's what Todd and his friends are up to in their free time *throws up*

To wrap it all up NOT with Todd, some super random ones:

• Ballister and Ambrosius force Nimona to take her shoes off ("DO NOT bring your European nonsense in this ethnic household") in their house even though she doesn't even have boots on😭😭 it's just her skin😭😭😭 so she morphs her form to simply be shoeless😭😭😭😭

• Ambrosius knows how to tap dance. Idk don't question it I just think he does

• Nimona plays piano YEAH SHE DOES she's lived for 1000+ years man she can do anything

• Ballister's hair routine is "genetics, coconut oil n some prayers"

Yeah that's it I'll probably make a part 2 because it's not all... These characters have occupied my mind and won't let it go🧍‍♂️

[snapeysister]

Help! How to copy all of those that's a heck of a work 😅

Thank you @thestephanieflora . I'd reckon the asks should come from people by posting the emojis in the ask box, but I find telling it yourself is more interesting, ai loved reading yours.

Ok I will try then myself...

***

📷Phone lockscreen? - A photo from my recent vacation trip (currently from London)

🧀Cheese or chocolate? - Cheese. I used to dislike chocolate at all, now I like some but cheese is still preferable.

✨️Any nicknames? - Some, yes, but mostly from my mum, or related to my name.... Another would be majnoona though 😅 (crazy in Arabic)

🎵Last song I listened to? - (looking up my Youtibe music playlist) "We got the power" by Loreen 😍 fell in love with her since Eurovision!

✏️Ever written fanfiction? - Yes, one I never finished about Dumbledore and an OC being his wife 🤭 who tragically dies being cursed by Grindelwald and therefore he goes to war with him (who would know the canon back story back then, almost 20 years ago); and a few one-shots, to be found on my AO3 dashboard (see bio)

😏Am I on discord? - Had been, then my phone got stolen and I never re-installed it again. I think this was the story.

💛Piercings? - Nope, my religion forbids it.

🐰What I think says most about a person? - Their feelings, I'd say. And their behaviour towards others in times of need.

🍰If I were a cookie - No way, hate cookies lol. I prefer cakes, but hardly related to my personality...

🐱Dog or cat person? - I'm raising 3 cats. Must be saying all about me. (No dog person at all.)

🎧Headphones or earbuds? - Once I could afford earbuds, no headphones for me.

🌼Last thing I said out loud? - "Now who's a cat?" endearingly, to my cat. In Russian. Don't ask 😆

🙃Weird fact I know? - There are various kinds of fig trees which produce differently coloured fruits with equally different taste, and fig trees can be male and female (the male ones do not give fruits) and they do not bloom.

🦇Morning person or night person? - Bat, literally. At night I live, at day I sleep.

🧸Favourite place to nap? - My sofa. Not only nap but sometimes I do not go to bed for several days 'cause I get so used to it.

🏳️‍🌈Am I a member of the LGBTQIA+ community? - Nope, and if I was I'd probably not like to be part of a community, I ride on my own 😇

🦋Me in three words: - Loyal, passionate, odd

👖Jeans or sweatpants: - Sweat- and other pants. Jeans if necessary.

🥤My go-to Starbucks order? - We have no Starbucks in the country, and when I lived in Europe, Starbucks had always been too expensive to go to. 🤷🏻‍♀️

💔 A colour I can't stand: - Khaki, neon colours, dark grey, pink.

💎My most prized possession: My collection of Ofra Haza (my favourite singer) items, my grandma's and mum's jewelry, my Yemenite jewelry.

☕️Coffee or tea? - Coffee. Even at night.

🦖Favourite extinct animal? - The only one I clearly remember apart from the sable-toothed tiger and the mammoth is the pterodactyl. I'd choose that, is a funny one.

🌙How long have I been on Tumblr? - Around 2 years I guess..since I fell in love with Snape. 😇

🌴Item on a desert island? - A knife I guess (thanks for the idea @thestephanieflora ), and the Torah.

🐸My aesthetic: - Casual-elegant / ethnic / classy / comfy.

🔮My dream job? - I don't dream of jobs 😎😁 But seriously, nothing at all. I like to do lots of things and would love to be paid for that, but I'd not consider it a job, simply something I like doing and people value. I don't like working for money.

💙Relationship status: - Single, again. 🤷🏻‍♀️

🌿My favourite outfit: - Hard to tell, depends on the circumstances. It can be sweatpants and a wide t-shirt, or a delicately designed dress, or jeans and a blouse and cardigan, or just something to throw off while at home. Sandals or pumps (without heels). I like wide clothes (which still have a form though, not baggy style), elegant dresses, trousers of soft fabric, blouses, cardigans... most of my clothes are blackish, bordeaux, and some colours here and there.

🎤A song I know all the lyrics to? - Most.

🤎Colour of my hair? - Light brown.

💌Do I talk to myself? - All the time, ever since I was a child. My favourite conversation partner and companion. 😇 (told you I'm odd.)

💄Make-up? - Yep, +/- the same type every day. I find it hard to leave home without, even to the supermarket.

🌸Best compliment I ever received? - Hard to remember, something along the lines of being a person who sticks to her values, or is authentic, or strong-willed. A day ago a little child I love told me appreciatively "you are so good to animals, to cats and dogs". I think this was one of the most sincere compliments I ever received.

💕My favourite blog? (Gosh I made it this far!!!) - Amongst many I love reading, I'd say @pet-genius , @scamanderishredmayniac , @snapeaddict , @jenny-jinya , @josiecarioca , @deathdaydungeon , @ottogatto , @viridiantly , @urupotter ....

Well basically you are all tagged now, whoever wants to join the game ❤️🙃

~ 💖 ASK GAME 💖 ~

📷 What’s set as your phone’s lockscreen?

🍫 Cheese or chocolate?

✨ Do you have any nicknames?

🎵 Last song you listened to?

✏️ Have you ever written fanfiction?

😏 Are you on discord?

 💛 Do you have any piercings?

🐰 What do you think says the most about a person?

🍪 If you were a cookie, what kind would you be?

🐶 Are you more of a dog person or a cat person?

🎧 Headphones or earbuds?

🌼 What’s the last thing you said out loud?

🙃 What’s a weird fact that you know?

🦉 Are you a morning person or a night owl?

🧸 Favorite place to nap?

🏳️‍🌈 Are you a member of the LGBTQIA+ community?

🦋 Describe yourself in three words.

👖 Jeans or sweatpants?

🥤 What’s your go-to Starbucks order?

🧡 A color you can’t stand?

💎 What’s your most prized possession?

☕ Coffee or tea?

🦖 Favorite extinct animal?

🌙 How long have you been on tumblr?

🌴 Desert island item?

🐸 Describe your aesthetic.

🔮 What’s your dream job?

💙 Relationship status?

🌿 Describe your favorite outfit.

🎤 Is there a song you know all the lyrics to?

🤎 What color is your hair?

💌 Do you talk to yourself?

💄 Do you wear makeup?

🌸 Best compliment you ever received?

💞 @ your favorite blog.

Reblogs are appreciated!

[pelusoart]

As a baby watercolorist, please tell me everything about your painting setup: Lighting! Paper! Paints! Opinion on New Sap Green vs Original Sap Green! Brushes! Preliminary sketching! How the heck do you stop using watercolor like it's gouache! Your TRANSPARENCIES OMG WTFBBQ??? you have the beautiful glowing quality watercolor is known for DOWN and I am AMAZED. What's your favorite size paper and brush? Seriously, anything you want to talk about re: watercolor I want to hear it (notice me senpai)

2/2 and when do you know that you need to Stop Messing With It and let the painting *be*?

I was gonna say I'm no one's senpai, but then I remembered I've been working almost exclusively in watercolors for 15 years now and had to lay down for a bit.

But yes, senpai has noticed. She's just a little slow to respond because she wanted to give clear answers and has a tendency to ramble when she doesn't edit herself. Still rambled here but with more purpose.  

and before we begin: ask box is always open for more questions should you have any.  

Lighting!

I keep the room super well lit. I've got multiple lamps in the room I use to paint, not including the clamp lamp that's attached to the art desk, and I open the blinds on the windows whenever I have daylight. Light bulbs that have a much more pure white glow are the best, as the yellow-ish ones will affect your perception of the colors.

Paper!

I use Arches 300lb Hot Press paper these days.  I used to use Fabriano 300lb Soft Press, but they changed the formula/process a few years back and the quality just hasn't been the same.

The weight of your paper is something to keep an eye on. The heavier the paper, the more water it can handle. As such, anything under 140lb is scrap paper. Under 140lb really can't handle water particularly well for anything of quality, and has a tendency to warp badly on top of not absorbing the pigments and thus killing your colors

Side note: Press is how the paper is made, using hot water vs cold water and such. Cold Press is the traditional method, which gives the paper it's classic texture while Hot is a more modern process that gives the paper a smoother texture. Soft is a specialty of Fabriano that is the point between the two. There is also Rough which is extra textured, though I personally do not care for it.

Paints!

There is no perfect brand, so don't buy into any notion of “brand loyalty” and only buy from one company.  I buy several brands since I find they each do certain colors better than others.  Most of my cools (blues, greens, purples) are from Winsor & Newton (Artist Grade) where as my warms (reds, oranges, yellows) are Senneiler. I have a few from Holbien as well, but those are specifically colors I need that are super bright. There's no hard rule on who does what better though, one of my most used yellows (Naples Yellow) is the W&N version for example.

You can buy watercolors in either little tubes of paint or in dried little pallets called cakes.  I use tubes almost exclusively as I find they're easier to adjust the ratio of paint to water, not to mention easier to find in store. Cakes are often what you get in sets, and they’re decent, I just find them a pain to use.

Opinion on New Sap Green vs Original Sap Green!

I wasn't sure what you meant by this, but google results mentioned there was a recipe change for Daniel Smith in the past few years, so I'm assuming you mean that! Personally, I have no opinion on this exact color situation as I don't use DS, but I can weigh in on the concept of altering recipes.

It sucks. Watercolor is a set up of pigment : gum arabic : preservatives : water ratios, and is at the end of the day a chemical equation/reaction that can vary wildly with minimal alterations.  While it's entirely possible the new recipe works better, such things are an ultimately subjective matter. Changing without warning can also massively screw a person over, because they're expecting one result and getting something completely different.

Brushes!

A mix of natural fiber ans synthetic fiber brushes, and a decent range of size and shape.

Princeton Neptune (synthetic) and the Silver Brush Black Velvet (natural squirrel fur) are the brands I've found that work best for me. Winsor & Newton are famous for their sable watercolor brushes, but I haven't used them in a while as all of mine are older and need to be replaced. I mostly use round brushes, but flats are excellent for filling in large spaces or sharp angles. Size range usually goes from 1 through 12 depending on what your doing, though I do have a few super small 0 sizes for detail work.

Preliminary sketching!

Do it on other paper. Pencils can damage watercolor paper super easily. Erasers are instant death. I have seen people essentially maul a piece of watercolor paper trying to erase a line.

But seriously. I am super messy when I do prelim sketching so I work on a separate piece of paper first, clean up the sketch, then transfer the completed linework to the watercolor paper with my light box.

How the heck do you stop using watercolor like it's gouache!

How much water are you using when you paint? Use more. No, more. I said use more.

I think a lot of people forget that your paper is a key part of your piece when working with watercolors. Other paints have a white you use to cover the canvas, where as with watercolor your paper IS your white. Think about how it is when you're shading a pencil sketch. Do you also shade in white on the highlights? Of course not, the white of the paper is your highlight, you just need to make the shadows. Same thing applies to watercolor.

(one day I’ll cobble together a video to actually show this properly because I don’t word good with this one, it’s honestly instinct for me at this point)

What's your favorite size paper and brush?

No real favorite size of paper honestly, I buy the large sheets and cut tot he size I need/want to work in.  On average most of my pieces come out to around 11″ by 17″ though.  As for brushes I have a pair of size 4 and size 6 brushes that are used constantly.

When do you know that you need to Stop Messing With It and let the painting *be*?

That's one of those irritating "you learn to gauge it over time" situations. You'll start to naturally tell when a painting is done the more you make.

What does help though, is when you get to a point that makes you question if you're done, is to get up and walk away.  Just go do something else, something that keeps you away from your art setup for a while. Giving yourself some space to rest your eyes is important. When you get back to it after your break, ask yourself then how you feel about the piece. 

hope this all helps ❤

[bluesunsdusk]

✏️ Any particular reason for the names you used for your ocs?

✏️ Any particular reason for the names you used for your ocs?

–// I have a lot of ocs, so I will pick some. It’s going to be long either way… ))

Overwatch

Najma (Najma Daher)

When Naj was first made, they had Prima as placeholder name and their kit was based around light, but I struggled to really place them in the universe. They were still based in Oasis, with sumerian aesthetic, and they were an AU for a fandomless oc. I was still trying to pick where the heck they were from. I added Najma as possible name because it means star and is Arabic. As they finally developed to suit the universe more and be an own character, the name stuck, because I like it and they are a warm person and the sun keeps us alive, and Naj was made to help keep someone alive. Dunia, their owner, was named to reflect her meaning in Naj’s life. Dunia was their whole reason for existing, their world, their life. 

Najma coincidentally also works for…other reasons.

Najma’s code name, Nazar, comes from that their abilities are most effective when looking into their lights and optics, which flare up when they use their ult as well. Their optics are also blue.The evil eye, which causes harm upon those who have been struck by it.

I think Daher meant clear. Najma does’t actually have a surname, as they are not a member of the family rather than just property of said family. However, I still wanted the surname to be something with a tiny bit of a fitting meaning. Rather than doing it by naming conventions used with Mamun, I went with them just having just a family name, much in Europe and the US. I also kept it to just two names this time.

Mamun Wasif Said

Mamun had a long list of names on his hero sheet. See, the given name is an aspiratory trait, the second the father’s name, and the third the grandfather’s name or family name. In Mamun’s case, Said is his grandfather’s name. So, that means Mamun’s dad is called Wasif. Gien names he could have been Majdi (commendable, praiseworthy), Marwan, Naseer, etc. His surname could have been Assaf, Kassar, Al-Mansur (the victorious), or Nasrallah (god’s victory). Now, I am not at all close to being an expert on arabic naming conventions, so I was like let’s keep it simple. 

Now, Mamun is supposed to be a tank hero and his character design was made to emphasise that he is a soft and huggable man who deserves the whole world. He needed to look sweet,warm, trustworthy, and dependable. Mamun is a name that feels like it has soft edges. It’s gentle. There’s no hard tones in it. Mamun means dependable, which is something he wants to be and his parents would have wanted him to be as well. A good son, brother, and eventually (if he so wished) husband. 

I forgot what Wasif meant… I think I just liked how it sounded with Mamun compared to the other names listed along with it. I matched several names that were listed on his hero sheet behind Mamun and they didn’t sound nearly as good with it as Wasif did. It means ‘one who praises’.

Said was just a good name to follow Mamun Wasif with. It just wraps it up nicely when I wanted three names in there. It means happy. 

Spigel

Spigel’s name is explained in his bio, I think. The name is given because he’s able to copy the appearance of a person and uses this after eliminating them to blend into a faction he’s trying to infiltrate or wipe out. It takes observation of mannerisms, appearance, speech patterns, etc. to do a convincing guise, and once that is done, it will be like looking into a mirror for the target.

He was always called Spigel because that’s Luxembourgish for mirror. Sure, it’s not smart for the assassin to take a nickname from his own personal origin, but…it’s fine if a guy from Luxembourg gave him that nickname rather than him giving himself said nickname.

Roland Marie Schroeder 

Roland is a pretty common name in Luxembourg, and Marie is a common middle name. I liked Roland as a name, because is seems warm and strong, and Roland is a quiet dude at times, but even though he’s pretty small as well, he can take up a lot of social space just by being a little… dramatic. He would have liked the name because it is, as Monty Python would say, woody. At least, I think it was Monty Python, I’m not sure anymore and can’t find it.

Michael Abatangelo 

Michael was the general of the archangels, and putting Michael together with Abatangelo makes it sound close to Michelangelo. Though, the latter was on accident and I was like yep that’s his name now. I went through several names I don’t really remember. Michael was a strong name that also sounded pleasant.

Fable

Aidan Fawkes

Aidan is an Irish name that means fire. I didn’t know quite what to call him. I didn’t want a name that was just big strong man large energy. It needed to sound not too thick, in a way, maybe a little light to suit his personality. He also had a lot of energy growing up and was a sweet guy. 

His father’s name is actually Mac Lochlainn. That’s a reference and not chosen for the meaning because it’s not used on Aidan. Also, it’s just really nice sounding surname. His grandma on his father’s side’s surname was Kelly. A very common surname where they were from. Anyway, Aidan’s dad didn’t want his kids to have the disadvantage of having a foreign surname. The given names, however, weren’t too odd, and both of his parents did want to give him a link with his father’s heritage in their names. Furthermore, he was born with red hair. 

As such, Aidan was given as his name, and he was bestowed with the surname of his mother, Fawkes. I picked Fawkes because 1) It sounds good with Aidan 2) it means falcon, making his name fire falcon 3) Guy Fawkes. 

Duncan Reynold 

I know the hero in Fable 2 is called Sparrow. However, that is a title/nickname, not a legit name. Surely, his parents, whom Sparrow canonically knew, gave him a real name. I wanted him to have a legit name. I wanted him to be of scottish-type origin. Now, Duncan has tanned skin from being out and stuff and dark hair. He’s also a brawny guy. He would have picked himself a pretty awesome name that feels strong, also… it has can in it, because he can do it. I jest. 

Duncan is a mix of two parts. Together, these parts form a name meaning dark-haired warrior or dark warrior. Of course, he doesn’t know that. He just thinks it’s an awesome name. 

Reynold is a carry over from trying to give king Logan a surname. It’s also a mix or two elements, advice and rule. English meaning is wise/powerful ruler (or something like that. It can also be advice from a ruler or king’s advisor, but let’s ignore that). While Duncan was that, Logan eventually proved not be.

Mass Effect

Medesa Adrestis

It’s actually from Medusa, because she’s a bit of a protector who gets spun into a villain because of the methods she uses to protect herself and others, which is often violent and rather fatal, since slave traders deserve no rights. I think there was something else, but I forgot… Oh, right! Her surname, Adrestis. I saved it in my drafts and idk if it’s still there…

I looked it up to jog my mind!

It’s from Adrestia and Adrasteia, and I didn’t want to name her exactly after that despite Asari names looking painfully ancient Greek inspired and very feminine. 

Adrestia is a figure from Greek mythology, she who cannot be escaped, venerated as a goddess of revolt and just retribution. Adrasteia, “inescapable”, was a nymph charged with taking care of a child Zeus. Medesa was charged with taking care of Toreg. 

Vicarius Hzzek and Lictor Kgrln

So, I won’t explain their names, because I assume Kett names are either just ID codes or can’t be easily changed into a more human tongue. I will go for their titles, though I believe I have explained it in a hc post before. Kett ranks seem based on Roman Empire influences, as is a part of their culture in general. They have Cardinals, Archons, Anointed, Ascendants. These seem religious. A Vicarius is a word that means substitute or deputy. It’s the root of the English word “vicar” as well and is used in things like vice-president. Anyway, Hzzek is a secondary to a Cardinal, making her vice-cardinal of an exaltation facility. 

As for Lictor, this comes from another Latin thing. A Lictor is a type of bodyguard to a magistrate. Kgrln is one of Hzzek’s Destined, who is also assigned with escorting and guarding her. He does this together with other Destined who would also be of the Lictor role/title. 

Dragon Age

Kata

Kata used to be an arvaarad and he considered himself the death of many a saarebas. That, and he is an assassin type, like a katari. He brings death to those who try to oppose him with violence, so basically he’s still death, just to other people now that he’s no longer in the qun. It’s sort of a method of intimidation. If a qunari is told they’re about to meet death, they might reconsider their current course. 

Kost

Kost had another name, aban, which probably means sea, when going by “Meraad astaarit, meraad itwasit, aban aqun.” Which means “The tide rises, the tide falls, the sea is unchanged.” He chose it, because the sea is unchanging and also clam. He was the same after leaving the qun as he was when he left. 

Eventually, however, he changed his name to Kost, after staying with a group of Tal-Vashoth who helped him become less stuck in his qun ways and more able to see himself as a person. He came to be at peace with himself and took on the task of assisting some other new Tal-Vashoth in the process. As such, he took on the name Kost, “peace”, to reflect this. 

[unclepolyglot]

The Secret to Perfect Pronunication in Any Language

(Edited version!!)

You heard me. Perfect. Pronunciation.

Drumroll....

Boom.

[Retrieved from wikipedia]

I present to you the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). ( IPA website)

Basically this here is the cheat code for all pronunciation of every language

E v e r y.  L a n g u a g e.

How?? Well, each symbol corresponds to one sound.

The table shows you where the sound is located and what your tongue has to do to pronounce that sound.

Example:

æ is said at the back of your throat while your throat is around halfway closed (indicated by its location relative to the words “open” and “front). This sound is found in “back“ (in the Standard/General American dialect).

ŋ is said by touching the base of your tongue to where the roof of your mouth gets soft (the velum) and exhaling through your noise while making noise (indicated by “velar” and “nasal”). This sound is found “song”.

As you can see, “ng” in “song” is made up of two letters that have different sounds while separate, but together they make a different sound. And English has some letters that correspond to several sounds all on their own! This is the case on many other languages, and trips up a lot of foreign language learners.

IPA ELIMINATES THIS DIFFICULTY BECAUSE EACH SYMBOL = 1 SOUND

lol sorry for all caps but im excited and this is important so

But how will this actually help you? Because dictionaries are amazing.

See that? That’s the entry for “language” in my Korean-English dictionary

(edited bc the previous picture had a pseudo-IPA and my sleep-deprived brain didn’t realize it until @korean-with-jangmi​ and @gaybluecolson pointed it out).

language -> \'læŋgwɪdʒ\

Pretty cool, right?

Here are some examples of IPA in action in different languages:

French: deux -> /dø/

Korean: 내가 -> /nɛ-ɡa/ or /ne-ga/

Afrikaans: seun -> /sɪøn/

Standard Arabic:  عَيْن‎ -> /ʕajn/

Ready to try this out for your own?

If you just want to only know how to pronounce your target language’s sounds:

Have a dictionary that uses IPA

When you want to look up a sound, go to the interactive IPA chart here

Learn how to say the sounds in your TL by understanding the column/row titles that they are in on the IPA chart (consonants here and vowels here)

Optional (or if you don’t have a dictionary):

Get the IPA charts for your target language (usually on its wikipedia page at “_target language_ Phonology”. If it’s not there then look up “_target language_ IPA transcription”) 

Example of IPA consonant and vowel charts (Afrikaans):

[Retrieved from Wikipedia]

It’s a lot less intimidating when it’s the sounds for only one language, right?

REMEMBER: you don’t need to be able to pronounce every sound in IPA to make use of this chart, just know how to make them and what these symbols sound like (more or less) and your life of learning pronunciation will be so much easier

So there you have it:

The Secret to Perfect Pronunication in Any Language

Go, be free my language-learning friends, go pronounce things like natives!

and get rid of that nasty romanization for all my fellow korean learners

(oh and if anyone has any questions about this, send em my way! i know there are a couple linguistics blogs that follow me so if any of yall wanna add smth, plz do!)

yall better reblog the heck outta this bc my hard work CANNOT go wasted ok?? i’ve been researching/writing/revising this for idk how long and my head hurts really bad asjdfsdg help

[sarroora]

Here is the link to OffQuest’s podcast episode 6, interviewing Emara’s director, Fatma Elmeheiri. This podcast was uploaded on May 18th, around the time the first episode hit YouTube about 6 weeks ago.

The interview is in Arabic (what were you guys inhaling at the start of the podcast what’s going on over there and can I have someXD), so read below for some fun highlights:

Fatma: “I learned that you need to be good at storyboarding if you eventually want to be a animated series director. You don’t have to be a great animator to be a director. My biggest problem in animation was that my timing was always off. I tried and I tried but I couldn’t do it well enough. My teacher at the academy advised me to focus on storyboarding and directing instead.”

“Our studios (in the Emirates) are very small, so you have to do several jobs. I had to be both the director AND the manager, which was very draining.”

Although Emara is a mini-series, Fatma admits she severely overestimated what she and the team could do, especially since the team is so small

“You could put the most elaborate plan in the world - you’ll still face a lot of problems during production. You have to deal with them.”

“School was so much easier than this.”

In early development, Dhabian was going to be the series protagonist, but of course that later changed

“If he were the main character, I feel he wouldn’t be as liked. He’s likeable as the deuteragonist.” The interviewer agrees with this, saying that deuteragonists have a lot of charm because they’re more unpredictable than the protagonists, and have their own minds and agenda that the viewers might find unclear till much later

Interviewer: “Will Dhabian ever get his own spin-off series..?” Fatma: “Who knows? Maybe.”

“Comics would be more likely, since animation is so expensive.”

Fatma doesn’t go into details, but she wanted to put the series on YouTube for a while; it seems that big networks’ politics were just too much for her and her small team’s peace of mind and resources

Large networks are implied to not be passionate about animated series (I don’t find this surprising at all). They’ll pay millions for local live action dramas and imported foreign series, but not for cartoons

It’s also apparently extremely hard for young creators to pitch their work to any network, period. The bureaucracy is mind-numbing and it seems the people able to do anything are stars and people who are famous and/or well-connected and wealthy

Apparently one network wanted to air the series for free?!1?!? The heck is wrong with people O_O This is the whole “do it for exposure” crap again

Finally they found a network that wasn’t shady or trying to take their work without credit, and helped them put up Emara online on YouTube and promote it

“There’s no point in airing the series on a network that doesn’t care about it after all, and wouldn’t market it to people who could care about it.”

Fatma had so many things she wanted to show in Emara, but it just wasn’t possible. She says she had to learn to let it go, and her Art Director Ahmed helped her with that

Dhabian - as a proposed superhero name - received a lot of mixed reviews when his name was first suggested during pre-production. Several members on the creative team are non-Emirati Middle Easterners (Lebanese, Syrians, Egyptians, etc.) and that word makes no sense in their own languages, so they didn’t know what to do with it. But she stuck with it, and wanted a name that also isn’t hard to pronounce in English

Both the names of Emara and Dhabian are references to UAE geography

Fatma went with the name Moza even though it’s such a common Emirati name. Fatma says the foreigners on the creative team thought nothing of it, but the Middle Easterners were hella confused. Because Moza in Egyptian and pretty much every other language in the region means ‘Banana’. However in Emirati, Moza is a kind of pearl

Emara’s outfit is inspired by the colors of the flag

Maitha is a mix of Fatma’s mother and paternal aunt’s personalities

Fatma is credited with creating the designs and looks of Emara, Dhabian, and Maitha. Art Director Ahmed Beyrouti designed other characters in the series

The interviewer asks her if Emara’s outfit is in anyway related to the police force’s outfit because there are some similarities. She doesn’t wanna answer that so he thinks it’s probably a spoiler

The interviewer is impressed at how Dhabian’s design (heavily inspired by traditional men’s garb in UAE) can actually look practical as a superhero outfit, down to the ghutra. No one in real life can fight wearing that stuff 

She loves the art styles of Rebecca Sugar and Natasha Allegri, and both inspire her as women in animation

The reason the lip syncing in particular HAD to be animated to the English script and not the Informal Arabic one is because several of the animators don’t know Arabic. The lip syncing and facial expressions would’ve been completely off

Fatma says it’s highly unrealistic for the series to have only Emirati peeps since the country is a metropolitan with a huge expat population, and so she wanted to reflect that

She intentionally didn’t want every character in the series to be Emirati, because that would’ve bored her. That’s why we see many ethnicities in the background characters (and have a Lebanese and an Egyptian as speaking roles and antagonists, hopefully there’ll be even more characters the future)

She’s weirded out by how Dhabian seems to be more popular among fans than Emara when she appears a lot more oftenXD “Because he’s cool and a badass, that’s why” the interviewer answers herXD

The interviewer is loving on all the Studio Trigger homages and inspirations (thanks to Ahmed Beyrouti)

The 2 episodes Fatma storyboarded herself ended up being deleted because they had neither the money nor the funds. On her twitter, she also mentions one episode would have been about Dhabian’s past, but that was deleted too

Someone asks her what is the one thing she learned during her work, and she replies: “Knowing how to improvise.”

Her favorite people to work with were the voice actors, composer, and art director

She sadly laments that producing quality animation in UAE and the Middle East in general is so difficult, so expensive, and the environment is so harsh and unsupportive of animators that’s it’s easier to go animate in another country

A fan sends her a question asking why she decided to create Emara, and Fatma says she wanted to create a girl she wished existed when she was a child. Because there weren’t much, and a character such as Disney’s Jasmine is so hilariously unrealistic to Middle Eastern girls no one could relate to her. She’s more of a mythical creature

“Guys, do you remember Cow and Chicken, when we were kids?” “Ugh, I remember that, it was so weird, so bizarre!”

Aww, she had my Neighbor Totoro on video cassette

Fatma: “I was so terrified by Princess Mononoke I buried the DVD out in our yard.” Interviewer: “What the heck…”

(Ok, I have no idea how this segway happened, but the conversation suddenly shifted to tips on finding Halal food places in Japan among other things XD)

[xmoonlightjasminex]

Take Center Stage

Chapter 1

: Testing.....Testing....1-2-3Chapter Text

It was a beautiful day in the city of Paris, The City of Lights and Love and Fashion. People were bustling around, each with their own business in mind. Teachers were teaching, bakers were baking, and in a darkened room stood a costumed man. He wore a dark purple suit and a mask that hid his face. In his hands was a cane and a very interesting brooch in the shape of a butterfly.

Yes, even Hawkmoth the city's resident villain was having a nice day so far. He was just about to scour the air for a new victim to be akumatized. To offer them powers beyond their wildest imagination, for the price of them acquiring the miraculouses of the two town heroes Ladybug and Chat Noir.

Now, if this was a normal day a potential akuma could be found at any time, but try and search as he might Hawkmoth just couldn`t find one. After a full hour of searching he growled before spitting out the words. “Fluther off!” Which was lucky that no one was around to laugh at the sheer ridiculousness as the adult man spat those words as if they had personally offended him.

A tiny lavender creature emerged from the brooch gem, looking at the man in front of him in wariness.

“C..can I help you master?” the Butterfly creature, named Nooroo was still wary of the stone faced man standing in front, no matter how many times he had spoken to him he was still shy.

“Nooroo...Why is no one akumatized yet?” The silhouette of the man spoke, in the dark room illuminated only by the window.

“W..well Master, it seems that no one is angry today?” Nooroo`s statement ended more as a question.

“....I see. And tell me Nooroo. Does one have to be angry to become an akuma?” The man questioned.

“N..not really.” The tiny creature mumbled, looking at his tiny nubs for hands.

“T..they just have to feel a strong enough emotion.” He was going to continue explaining, but was cut off.

“A strong enough emotion? One that does not have to be negative?” The man asked as a completely new idea formed into his mind. “W..well yes but…” poor Nooroo was cut off from speaking as he was sucked into the brooch by his wielders next words. “Fluther on!” The newly masked Hawkmoth began to search with renewed vigor for an akuma. And not five minutes later he found his next champion.

A girl in a state of ennui, wanting and wishing to be special. And he could make her special, give her a gift to differentiate her from all the others. And all she had to do was, obey him. Just as he summoned a butterfly to rest on his hand and to corrupt before sending it to his new victim, there was a knock from the other side of the door.

“Mister Agreste? I am sorry to bother you, but there is an urgent matter concerning the newest production line….” A female voice spoke from the other side.

As he had turned to the door, Hawkmoth didn't notice a the small butterfly with a tiny black dot on its pristine white wings fluther away. No, but the tiny god currently residing in the brooch did, and it didn't plan on saying anything. “I will be out in a moment Natalie.” The man spoke, before hastily de-transforming, showing renown Fashion mogul Gabriel Agreste to be hiding behind the Butterfly mask.

Completely forgetting about the planned akumatization, the man took off said brooch and left it and the tiny creature in the room. Soon he would be so swamped with paperwork and business associated stress, that he will completely forget the new discovery he learned from Nooroo.

Unlike him, once he was left alone, Nooroo flew towards the window and if he squinted he could see the tiny butterfly flying away to its new champion. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Edelweiss Amarante was bored. The German-French brunette blue-green-eyed girl had just arrived to Paris with her mother and father a month ago, and already the young teenager was bored. And she had been so excited to finally get to do something unusual. She loved the moving, and she loved the townhouse her parents had gotten from a very distant relative who wanted to move to the Alps, for whatever reason. She loved her room, which was at the top floor of the huge house, an entire floor to herself. Granted it had been the attic before, but it had such a rustic charm to it.

Heck ,she even loved the tenants her parents had taken under their wings when they arrived. She loved family dinners where she met a bunch of people from all different kinds. The only downside to that was that none of the tenants had any kids, either they were too young in college or still trying their luck in finding work, or too old with their children and grandchildren all grown up. Or not married.

She was the only child at the entire house. Of course by default that meant she was babied and had a bunch of big sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles and elderly who looked after her and greeted her. And she loved that, she loved greeting Madame Beauchamp as she left for school and the older woman was watering her beautiful gardenia bush in the enclosed garden. She loved visiting Natasha, Katya and Mila the three Russian students that studied at the Royal Academy of Dance. They would fuss over her, teaching her tips and tricks and words in Russian.

She liked talking about books with Lucas, a British gentleman who lived to read. And his complete opposite of a partner Mark who was a boisterous and loud. And their poor roommate who had to be a witness to their couple moments the jokester Enric who would crack a joke anytime to make the two blush.

She liked to greet the resident mystic Madame Dorina, as she liked to be called. She had transformed her living room into a fortune tellers parlor, and had regular visitors. She would often usher Edelweiss in and make her a cup of tea to tell her fortune, her beloved white Persian Cat Leila mingling under the table begging for a scratch or a treat. Her other cat Hades, a pitch black Shorthair stood a ways away, always watching like a silent protector. He had the arrogance his name gave him, Madame Dorina had once told her, that she never let anyone in whom he didn't like.

Monsieur and Madame Hawa were an Arabic couple that had emigrated to France in the 80`s, they were a delight in the dinner table. Madame always knew a brand new recipe and a way to change a dish flavor by using a tiny amount of spice, and Monsieur Hawa could spin the best of stories, like a magician speaking magic.

For Edelweiss it was beautiful, there was never a dull moment. But compared to all those people who were there, even her own parents she was completely ordinary. Even her schoolmates weren`t excluded. She heard there were many talented and even a famous model at her school. She had yet to meet them or learn their names, but compared to them what did Edelweiss had?

A tiny passion for singing? What a joke.

The brunette girl sighed as she had looked out the window to the sky. It was a lovely day, that she had spent helping Madame Beauchamp with her prized flowers, and a small bouquet of fragrant blossoms sat on her desk.

So deep in thought was Edel, that she didn't notice when a beautiful white butterfly fluttered into her room, and after a moment of flitting around the space before finally resting on her chest and disappearing in a glow of white.

The moment that happened Edelweiss felt a drowsy slumber overtake her, so closing her eyes she dreamed a dream filled with wonder and beauty. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The next day rose bright and early, and Edel was already bustling through her room. She was up and couldn't make herself go down stairs yet. Her parents Eric and Christine, yes she knew how ironic those names were, she had watched Phantom of the Opera. It didn't help that her folks had quite the pipes on them, or were avid music lovers.

She had the idea to try and sing a song, maybe it would make her feel better.

I want to be extraordinary Not just extra-ordinary She began singing, before shrugging her shoulder, sitting down on her bed.

It seems like everywhere I see People far more interesting than me I know the changes kinda scary But maybe I should try to vary She remembered the tenants and all their talents and hobbies, all so very different and new and interesting.

Some minor details A small degree A slightly different version of me Looking out her window, she began to imagine the possibilities.

Well I could learn to cook vegetarian Or take fashion workshop Meditate, calculate Learn to knit a tank top She did notice that her imagined scenes were far more realistic looking than usual, like she was actually trying these thing, albeit for a brief few seconds. The cooking, the fashion, meditating, calculating and knitting. All of them, but she still continued to sing.

Yoga, hula Clogging, jogging Walking on a tightrope Take a correspondence course And learn to make my own soap Even more activities she cycled through.What was going on??

Jumping on a pogo stick Standing in a wheat field Going on a snipe hunt Gonna keeps my eyes peeled Take a little time to really decorate my door And change my hair to black and then I'll dye it even orange She could feel the texture of her hair changing, she wansn`t imagining these places she was making them appear. How was she doing this?!

Underwater taxidermy Shopping for a suitcase Peeling tangerines while placing second in a sack race

Lion taming, online gaming Try'n to win a prize fight Appear in a talk show Dress-up like a water sprite She really started to go into the song, liking her scenery changing after her voice.

Yeah! I'm gonna be extraordinary I'm gonna stand out from the crowd And shout out loud You'll see That it's a brand new me!! Finally she finished her song,going through several other hobbies before she was back in her room, breathing slightly hard. Looking around she couldn`t understand what happened, how did she do that? The burst of confidence that song and that experience gave her was so good!

‘I`m glad you like it.’ A voice whispered and she shrieked in surprise looking around for the source.

‘Wh-what the!! Who, who said that?!” She asked aloud, but no one was up there.

Here it is if you wanna read it: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13883553/chapters/31944003

[wearetakingthehobbitstogallifrey]

I need more batman media but I don't know what to watch or where to watch it and Netflix took off Young Justice and Justice League :(:( do you have any fic recs or fun facts

A.  Blogsto follow if you haven’t already followed them, the first three write FREAKINGAMAZING fanfic and the fourth creates THE BEST fanart I have literally sat and scrolled through these blogs for hours

@camsthisky (good GOSH I love her she writes so much about Dick Grayson)

@audreycritter

@preciousthingsareprecious

@laquilasse

B.  RandomFics to Read (and honestly there are so many more, I just can’t think of themat the moment):

1. TheAcrobat Series 

by fishfingersandjellybabies http://archiveofourown.org/works/4079917

Look anytime anyone talks about how much Dick loveshis family they’ve won my heart and soul. I especially like the Kori section.

2.  Mori Shej 

bydickiegayson  https://www.fanfiction.net/s/12298375/1/Mori-Shej

OH MY GOSH.  Ilove this story so freaking much.  Ok,imagine if Jason Todd, after coming back from the dead and going through allthat stuff with the Lazarus Pit and training, goes after Dick Grayson to gethis revenge on Bruce.  Except when heshows up at Dick’s apartment, ready to kill the Golden Son, he finds somethingcompletely unexpected.  Jason has a lotof issues, Dick has a lot of issues (courtesy of the Blockbuster incident).  I have read and reread this story countlesstimes, and I can never not cry because I love my broken sons so much.  There is a lot of anger, some cursing, muchregret, and brothers being brothers.  And Dick is the sweetest most protective [redacted because spoiler] and Jason has a mushy heart after all.  Itcan stand as complete but I think the author is writing more?  Also, either before or after, or both, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqeNxdyp5CEand listen to the song.  It is my newfavorite song and CAN YOU IMAGINE DICK SINGING IT OH MY GOSH

3.  the roadwill only be wide (the rain will never stop falling) 

by weird_bird (2weird4) http://archiveofourown.org/works/8610391/chapters/19743343

A collection of Dick and Damian moments.  So very beautiful.

4.  The RobinsUnited Series, first story is Bird by Bird 

by laceymcbain  http://archiveofourown.org/works/2656487/chapters/5936243

…some hurt/comfort, Jason doesn’t know what the hellto do with his family, and they all insist on calling him brother.  *shrugs* family feels are my drug of choice

5.  Penny Lane 

by @jerseydevious  http://archiveofourown.org/works/11757690

Damian wants a horse, and drat I’m crying?  (tbh I cry very easily over my sons…but still)

6.  Sun Spot 

byDawn’sEternalLight (@preciousthingsareprecious) http://archiveofourown.org/works/11748606

This fic is a quiet moment of beauty and rest for Dickand Damian.  Damian draws, and Dickwatches his talented little bro.  Thereis sunlight.  You skin will clear andyour crops will grow and any heartache you have ever had will be healed likemagic!

C.  Abunch of fics by Kieron_O’Duibhir

1.  TheTill-Then From the Ever-Since http://archiveofourown.org/works/3506603/chapters/7707866  

There is a problem in the Batcave, as in, youngerversions of the Batfam keep turning up. It’s absolutely fantastic, and one of my favorite things is youngerJason being SO done with his older self and calling him out on stuff and being all protective of his brothers.  It gets better and better with every chapter.

2.  But a Walking Shadow http://archiveofourown.org/works/4259511/chapters/9641367

 Sothis story is not finished yet and the author takes waaay long to post updateson it but she has promised not to abandon it soo…It is Nightwing-centric, witha whole mess of comic Teen Titans making appearances.  The author has written a lot of stories abouta world where Dick became a Talon, and in this tale Talon-on-the-run winds upon Earth-1 and Nightwing is trying to figure out who this apparent clone of hisis.  Talon Dick has always intrigued me,and it is interesting seeing him and Nightwing face off.

3.  All the Roofs of Uncertainty http://archiveofourown.org/works/2273208/chapters/4994631

HOLY HECK this is one of my favorite Jason Todd fanfics EVER.  I love the description by the author “The onewhere Dick bleeds a lot and Jason argues with everybody.”  Jason is in the wrong spot at the wrong time,ie. He finds Dick bleeding to death and is forced to save him.  Tim and Damian make appearances.  Jason has anger issues.  That doesn’t stop him from caring.  Bruce and Jason hash things out in the mostbeautiful (painful) way.

4.  Wheel and Blade 

http://archiveofourown.org/works/2492957

 Inwhich Dick confronts Damian about his practice of taking weapons to school, andalso gets slightly distracted by the idea of living in a vardo.  I love this story because it shows the bestway to parent Damian—not by telling him no “because I said so” but byexplaining and debating things like he is smart and capable.  

5.  I Pass the Night Watchman on His Beat http://archiveofourown.org/works/2326226

Thisis a cool one-shot of Dick and Amy, his partner on the Bludhaven police force.  I freaking love Dick being a cop.

D.  Okay now if you want something towatch:

 1.     Nightwing—TheSeries 

by ismahawk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o297A1wmys0

This is THE BEST Nightwing fan film I haveever seen.  I love the Dick Grayson in it—he’sgot acrobatics, sounds like Jesse McCartney (Robin/Nightwing’s VA in YJ), and is quite handsome.  He fights, gets the stuffing beat out of himand keeps getting back up, has a bit of a temper, loves Barbara—perfection.  Watch it, you won’t regret it.  (Also Jason is there yay!  I will take him in any capacity I can get. And I kinda really like the actor for Bruce?)

2.     RedHood: The Series—Episode One “Homecoming” 

by tenshunn https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BdVSgshgFA&t=136s

My favorite Jason Toddfanfilm!!!  Heavily featuring TimDrake!  Look this adaption is fab, I lovethe actors and the dialogue and the fight between Jason and Tim (spoiler?)  As far as I know they are trying to puttogether a second episode.  Watch thevideo where Jason Todd tries to get people to donate money for it, itsHILARIOUS

3.      Batman The Animated Series is on Netflix tillSeptember 1st.  I’m in thesecond season and love it a lot…Alfred is so freaking sassy!  

4.     DamianWayne: Robins Fly at Night

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tS30bYjVmL4

 It’s just five minutesand doesn’t have any dialogue, and it doesn’t come close to deserving an Oscar, but dang it it’s hard to find Damian stuff…and also seeing a littlekid running around in the Robin costume made me realize that there is nothing Iwant more than to see Damian Wayne on the big screen, being all angry assassinkid, and Dick Grayson capturing him in a hug…

5. Gotham on Netflix

I am pretty sure you already watch this? But if not, DO!  It is AMAZING.  I love it so much, especially Bruce and Alfred and Selina Kyle

E.  Some things from Batman: Dark Victory

Okay I know he is a talented young acrobat and all but how the FUDGE did Dick get up on that chandelier?!  the kid can truly fly (yeah yeah, the stairs probably lead up to a hallway floor/balcony that Dick leapt off of but still) I wonder how many grey hairs the kid gave Alfred in those first weeks alone

On dark days I like to remember the time bby birb Dick Grayson caved in the Joker’s cheek with a well-placed kick.  My nine or ten year old son then proceeded to smash in the Joker’s teeth with a stick a few minutes later and it was amazing

You think I lied??  Nah my son Dick Grayson was cracking teeth and bones and witty puns from Day 1.  Go Robin!!!

Okay so just look at this picture.  Bby Dick is SO FREAKING TINY!!!  also very intense. OMG Batman’s fists are as big as his first son’s head!  *cue a very many feels in my heart*

F.  Random things I am including because I feel like it, and they all revolve around Dick Grayson mostly because he is my fave so…

1. Apparently some official websites say that Nightwing’s martial arts specialty is Aikido.  I do not think that word means what they think it means

2. “I close my eyes now for a few moments and I can see my parents riding the air current with me. Forever young. Forever strong. Their faces wide with excitement, big smiles on their faces, enjoying the adrenaline surge even more than I do. And there is one thing I am sure of … my parents would be proud of my life.” (Nightwing, Nightwing #141, 2008)  

3.  [Talking about Blüdhaven] “It’s a hopeless case. A lost cause. A town so mired in corruption and sin that it’s drowning … When Batman sent me here, I thought I’d solve one case and book. But then I realized … if I could make a difference here – well, that’d be something. This filthy old town needs me…. Surrounded by a dozen of my worst enemies. No way out. Nowhere to hide. The little brat was right. I do love it. (Nightwing, Nightwing Secret Files #1, 1999)

4.  There once was a dumb writer who thought killing Nightwing for real would be a good idea, and he tried writing toward that end, but everybody else was like hahahaha NO

5.  I used to hate when fic writers would shorten Damian’s name to Dami (kind of like how I majorly dislike when people shorten Sirius Black’s name to Siri, he is not an iPhone gosh).  But then I read a post on tumblr that said something about Dami actually meaning something in Arabic, something like blood or life-blood or heart blood…I can’t exactly remember what and maybe it isn’t even true but I choose to believe it is and that Dick knows exactly what it means and he calls Damian Dami as a way to show how special he is, how much Dick loves him.  Because Damian is his little brother/son and means the absolute world to Dick.  And Damian, though he pretends to despise all nicknames, absolutely LOVES that Dick calls him this

[redrobin-detective]

Business as Usual

Ok! So I did a little thing based off @timdrakeothy's AU (that I've been calling the Reverse Batman AU) where Bruce is included in the AU and is a smol bb dealing with all these crazy vigilantes. Also tagging @audreycritter for her brilliant contributions to the AU and me borrowing her idea of Jason's origin (which I'll find after posting and link here). Anyway, tiny Bruce trying to boss around ""his"" team is very entertaining for me.

“You’ve probably wondered why I’ve gathered you all here today,” 12 year old Bruce Wayne announces in that resolute, self-assured way that only a child can be. The team of tired vigilantes exchanged amused glances before going back to patching each other up after a rough patrol. They didn’t mean to end up in the boy billionaire’s orbit but one by one, they’d been drawn in first by Damian’s one man war against crime and stayed because of Bruce’s stubborn resolve to save the world. He financed all of their equipment and Batal had been using the cave system beneath Wayne Manor as his base of operations for the past five years since he’d left the League of Assassins and become Bruce’s “bodyguard”. If the kid wanted to think he was in charge, no one was going to stop him. Besides, it was pretty cute.

“Yeah Boss, we have been wondering.” Jason responded sarcastically but the fondness in his tone was evident. He hadn’t expected to be unofficially taken in by a rich kid he’d been trying to rob nor become a partner to the legendary Batal but he was happy here with these crazy nutjobs. Bruce either didn’t notice or ignored Jay’s flippant tone for he pulled himself up onto one of the operating tables so that he could look each of his team in the eye. Those tables were supposed to be for emergency surgery but they mostly ended up being high chairs for their fearless leader.

“With Alfred visiting family in England for the week, it’s up to me to maintain order around here. And I’m worried about how this team is being run. Your hearts are all in the right place but I’m afraid there are some things I can’t let continue.” Bruce says with all the seriousness of a reluctant businessman about to fire someone. Damian most certainly does not look amused as he crosses his arms and stares down at the boy he saved almost five years before.

“And that would be?” He asks as Brown leans around his muscular arm to beam down at Bruce, probably because she deems his pout to be another ‘Kodak moment’ as she puts it.

“Dick,” Bruce begins causing the 14 year old, who was in the middle of end of night stretches, to freeze. “I saw on the cameras you were on your own for exactly 39 minutes tonight and it was almost an hour last week. You’re just starting out; you can’t be without back-up out there. If you can’t follow these instructions, I’m going to have to bench you.”

“Come on B,” Dick moans, “I’m trained enough; I can do things on my own for five minutes without Batal breathing down my neck.” Damian sniffed, turning his attention onto his latest partner.

“He’s right, you’re still young and you still need constant supervision out there. If you’re not with me or someone else at all times, you’re not out at all.” Dami said sternly while Dick just deflated, there was no arguing with Batal Almafquda when he was like this. “Good observation Bruce, please continue.”

“Barbara Gordon is still running around as Batgirl,” Bruce continues pulling out a small notepad and observing his notes. “She’s getting better at learning to avoid your patrol routes but I want to put a stop to her activities before she gets hurt. We can’t encourage her behavior, no matter how cute Dick thinks she is.” Dick sputters in the background but Bruce continues on unperturbed, turning to Jason.

“I’m concerned you’re not taking this seriously Jason,” Jay rolls his eyes as the focus turns to him.

“I’ve been doing this for almost 3 years and I’m 18 so you can’t boss me around kiddo.” He says with a flippant shrug, “I don’t even live here anymore so you can’t hold that over me like ya used to.”

“No but I was here when the Joker kidnapped and tortured you for nearly a week because you hadn’t listened to our warnings about how dangerous he was.” Bruce said with too dark eyes while Jason’s face became blank at the mentioned of his abuse. “I’ve lost enough family and I don’t want to lose any more.” This of course brought all eyes over to Tim, who was glaring at the floor with a stern expression and his fists clenched in stress.

“And what did I do Bruce?” He rasps out, trying to get the visions of the sword going through his heart during what should have been a normal patrol out of his head. He recalls the sharp acidic sting of the Pit when Ra’s brought him back to use against Batal. He thinks of his short, terrible tenure at the League of assassin before Damian finally was able to reach through Ra’s brainwashing and allow him to escape. He thinks of his once steel grey-blue eyes that have become stained green, a permanent sign of his failure as a hero. “What other ways did I screw up?”

“You did not eat the fruit roll-up I put in your utility belt,” Bruce replies seriously and the absurdity of the sentence snaps Tim out of his painful reverie. “You haven’t been eating well enough lately; you’ve been working too hard. I told you to eat more fruits and vegetables but you wouldn’t eat the potato chips I gave you and I found the uneaten fruit roll-up still in your belt.” Bruce paused to wag his finger, “this is your last warning Tim or else I’ll make you stay home and let Alfred feed you.” Tim feels a weak laughter bubbling up in his chest not just at Bruce’s naïve earnestness on what counts as a healthy diet but the nonjudgmental care in the younger boy’s eyes.

“Yeah Tim,” Stephanie teases from beside Damian, “eat your fruit roll-up or you’re off the team.”

“Stephanie you need to put more effort into your schoolwork, your English grade dropped to a B- this last quarter.” Bruce adds with a disappointed raise of his eyebrow that is entirely inappropriate on a child who still has babyfat in his cheeks.

“I do plenty of studying! My teacher is a shrew and out to get me and why the heck are you looking at my grades you little gremlin?” Stephanie complained, putting her hands on her hips.

“I do it because I care Stephanie and I want you to get a good education so you can get a nice, well-paying job. So bring your grades up or you and Tim will be studying and eating fruit roll-ups together.” Stephanie grumbles while Tim sticks his tongue out at the girl, his earlier melancholy gone in the face of a chance to make fun of one of his best friends.  

“Cassie, you’re doing great as always,” Bruce says with a smile and a nod while Cass smiles back with that special smile she saves only for Bruce. “And lastly, Damian.”

“Yes?” The Arabic man asks, staring down at his employer in name but his child in every way else.

“You’re approaching the 60 hours without sleep which you know results in confusion, lack of concentration as well tremors and slowed reaction times. Alfred usually can get you to see reason but since he’s not here I’m forced to take drastic measures.” Bruce said seriously, letting his words sink in before he held out his arms to be held. “It’s nearly 3am, much later than Alfred lets me stay up. I was placed in your care during his absence so unless you want to deal with his anger, you’d better put me to bed. And I can tell you that I won’t go easily unless you go with me and ensure I sleep the whole night by staying with me.”

Damian stares down in incredulity at the child before him. Was he being guilted and blackmailed into sleeping? But then he notices Bruce’s pale face and dark circles under his eyes and he remembers that the boy hasn’t slept much since Alfred’s been away. Distance from the butler always made his nightmares that much more potent. This tactic was probably to help him sleep as well as Damian; the older man sighed and rubbed at his eyes. He had a good bit of work still left to do but he was feeling tired and he couldn’t just leave Bruce alone with his demons, threats or no threats.

“Drake, Brown, go over the files we took from Cobblepot’s computers tonight and see if anything sticks out. Cain, please get me that report on Zsasz’s underground fighting ring and then we’ll move in on that. Todd, you’re still on the Falcone murders get me that research but also finish your schoolwork, you’ve got class tomorrow. Dick and Bruce are going to bed.” Damian announced addressing his team as he stooped down to pick up their little leader. At 12, Bruce was getting to be too big to carry but there were some exceptions when the orphan needed a little extra care. He settles the warm, weight against his chest and sighs. “I’ll be going up too. Good patrol but Bruce is right, we are going to be making some changes around here. We can’t allow for any error in our operation, I will not lose any more people.” That said, Damian turned around and stalked up the stairs to Wayne Manor with Dick skipping after him.

“You know you can probably just put him in bed and he won’t notice, you don’t need to sleep with him.” Dick whispered as they passed through the grandfather clock. Bruce was already half asleep in his arms and would likely be completely asleep by the time Damian settled him down.

“We both know he would notice,” Damian responded back, “besides, there’s nothing wrong with giving the children some attention.” He said reaching out to ruffle Dick’s hair. “Now bed or I’ll make you join us. You have school tomorrow as well.” Bruce sighed sleepily into his shoulder as Dick ran up to the second floor and Damian took a moment to stroke the boy’s head. He was such a good-hearted child, so full of hope and a determination to see that no one else should suffer his tragedies. Damian would do everything in his power to make sure that Bruce was given the love he deserved, he deserved better than this life no matter what he claimed. His real talent was not just his brilliance but his ability to attract people due to his earnestness and keep them together as a family. Given the opportunity, Bruce Wayne could change the world. But not tonight.

“Let’s get some rest little one, you’ve earned it.”

[aramkrikorian-blog]

10-9-2018

waking up. tired. rain. rain on the boots. the boots are torn. shoes. are wet. leather shoes. uncomfortable shoes. comfortable shoes. the daily walk. walking in uncomfortable shoes. ears clogged. not sick. ears jammed up. sticking fingers into ears with toilet paper when in the bathroom. library. salvation army. need to take a piss. need to take a shit. bathrooms. looking for bathrooms. embarassed. look like shit. haven’t showered in a bit. lighters are dead. no flame for cigarettes. the rain. it ruins the cigarette shorts i collect off the ground. talking to myself. not really. lots of people doing real life following. they want me to participate in interactive games with the audience. im not a star. im not taylor swift. she shouldn’t do politics yet. she doesn’t know what she’s talking about. democrats. republicans. green party. lame . parties. people. birthdays. rain. dogs. leashes. masters. slaves. negative conditioning. positive associations. flashbacks. larissa. lory. jessica. ashkhen. hasmig. who and what happened and where am i. did the babies really get aborted. are people messing with my mind. the information. is it true. not true. ears clogged. i can barely hear sarcastic remarks. god is watching over it all. proverbs. Better to live in a desert than with a quarrelsome and nagging wife. peacock in the desert. seattle. pike street. pike market. prospect park. GAR cemetary. ducks. weird tattoo store. weird tattoo aesthetic. cornish college. security guards. smoking cigarettes. asking for cigarettes. not comfortable. SEATAC. orcas. the oceans. pier 70. pier 66. starbucks. starbucks reserve. st james church. gospel mission. millinair club. tweakers. not that many. many or not. not known. know nobody. alone. thoughts. suicide. Virginia Mason hospital. lutheran church. food. food under the bridge. housing help. library on 4th street. newspapers. news. 90 minutes of internet time. homeless resource guide. backpack stolen. all work gone. no more work to look over. wanted a house on frontenac. didn’t get it. went to ferrari dealership - you say you’re a gangsta but you never popped nothing. you’re a real wanksta. songs. curses. nirvana. cause i’ve found god - rethinking what i said about kurt cobain. he is dangerously not well in Lithium. sounds llike the psychiatrists put pills in him and he blew his brains out or heroine or the pain of his wife... she breaks mirrors. weird flashbacks. lorys brother was administerered lithium wh en i was administered seroquel. psychopharma DEATH TOLL. bodies keep stacking. kurt cobain. lithium. lake washington blvd - curt cobains house. i didn’t know. i did a free navigation of the city. i felt things, bro. now i regret what i said about kurt cobain. lady was wearing a nirvana song list tshirt. bruce lee and brandon lee’s graves. crows. bible... scarecrows. 3-6 mafia lord infamous used to call me scaRECROW what is this... where am i. same motifs. same symbols. used by different people at different times. 1 big symbolic soup. trying to make sense of it. untangle it. which came first the word crow or pigeon. beautiful pigeons. appearance of pigeons in ones timeline over time. typing in the library. ‘the kind of kind guy that won’t take no for an answer’ - wanting to buy a house on frontenanc and give it to brent and tim ... tim gave me an umbrella. brent hooked it up with cigarettes - lighter. they were good guys. lyft people circling around. feel guilt and shame resentment everywhere. saved by the dell poster. PRIVATE PROPERTY everywhere - including the seattle sports stadium ... safeco field? seahawks lose to larams - kendrick lamar. lemurians of mt shasta. greyhound... buses. the animals. a great dane takes a fat piss on 700 7th ave...  the courthouse night, doing a speech. finding weed on ground smoking it. speaking at the school ... getting more weed. fed a larabar. ara. ara gets funding again in march. rosenstein is out? cohen is out? melania is in africa - visits a former slave in ghana. beautiful work. thank you mr and mrs trump. kushner? scooby dooby doo. airbnb ... valuations. memories. pains. people. upgrades and promotions. growth. new ideas. scholarships. college. essays. schools. making sure the kids are going to be safe. at least putting a line on the older ones and going to go back and ensure the road is well paved for the younger ones. newspaper room 6th floor. bathrooms on floor 7 of library also on floor 1... and maybe on 3 and 4.. .but not sure. haven’t been higher than floor 7 as far as i recall. lady in front of library - obese with lighter and cigarette - i ask her for a light she says “why are you chasing me?” - not a question. it is a question. it is something inside of a question. an accusation. a false accusation. a controversial, extremely controversial false accusation. it implies more. profile equivalent of a stalker. im not a stalker. a chaser. but i will become one if she wants me to. if the shoe fits ill wear it. or ill just wear it once and throw it away anyway. copy and paste this text and put it into a text to speech application and just listen to it ... let me know if it sounds good. borrow phrases from it. let it brainwash you. because it’s all real. really really really really real. kim and kanye. blessings. armenians. what the heck. little children in library walking around... happy looking. global warming. will it kill all the little children that look so innocent to my eye. and to my eye the world looks ok. but to the instruments... they’re reading something else. that’s how gas kills doesn’t it... it didn’t smell. it just killed. mount olympia. sculpture garden at the pier has a lot of gardners but a lot more dog shit. its impossible to sit in the grass. there was SO MUCH dog shit there. mcdonalds sued for a million dollars. dont do it. all these ridiculous articles on Medium. i joined medium but i cant even press a button to write. ridiculous. double daniels. daniel lives here. so does erin treg. ill try to not mention too many names i guess. maybe they can comment on posts and take them out. fuck ilya golub. fuck olga. fuck all those people. nikolai and m8s and ara and etc etc. let them live their lives but these are weenie people. someone should keep a permanent weenie hat on their heads. stop stuffing dicks into everyones head aram. stop it. note to self. exercise more discipline in the language that i use. lockwood... he was an author who blew his braINS OUT. but he was typing like an animal in the family garage. he released a book. i wish one day i can get back to literature reading again. i miss pynchon. i miss delillo. did they write any new books. are they still alive? im going to check google right now and trust the answer. dellilo alive. i heard roth died. 5-22-2018. wow . the number 22. number of hebrew characters in the alphabet. the number of arab league countries. 22 is a heptagonal number. which means 7 sided polygon number. who knows what that means. its just important. who knows. philip roth died on 5 - 22 - 2018. wow. i miss his work. american paradise or something or portnoy’s complaint. who was that guy. i remember being in oregon 4 years ago and digging deep into literature. is my brother dead? did shant eat a heroine shot? people on the bus were saying weird things. is my father dead? i don’t even know. i remember jolie writing things on the wall. like prophecy that turned into reality. maybe the whole thing was a joke. the name. keith. she used names. she said things. JR JR JR> what is JR.. it’s on the inside of larissa lip . who knows. maybe real or not. nick. wtf. heroine. fresno. people talking to me. gangs this that. greatful dead family. where are we. what is this. acid. meth. heroine. crack brillo pads. what is all this. what happened. where is everyone. dope shooters. not a lot of people left around - “ Cage The Elephant - Shake Me Down - YouTube “ urban dictionary. JR> some caring guy. larissa’s boyfriend. hope they’re still together. been talking out loud to her. sometimes i feel her. saw a lookalike of Lory. or i actually saw lory. maybe when larissa and i were in santa cruz.. we were being watched and played for fools. she kept saying she saw nicole. the aramark logo. the mark from seattle. the people out there. here. chris while. erin triggie. daniel ex of jessica. who knows what people do. say. where am i. what has happened to me. how am i homeless. what is this. what happened to me. i used to be an OG. lol. what am i now. can i even handle it. unlikely candidate. why do people even half respect me. what is going on. scholarships. colleges. high school kids applying for colleges. stanford early application this year is november 1... and the regular is january 2. i remember 2004 applying for fafsa and all that. scholarships. this that. getting accepted. man. SAT scores are still going. its insane how out of touch you get despite trying hardest to stay in touch. eventually the kids evict you themselves. couple library rats tried to trade me bluetooth headset for some molly in front of library and for some crystal. i said no to both. i saw mad guy tweaking dancing fuckin hard at millionair club today - i looked at him and said “brother i love you so i dont want to see you here, like this, ok?” - where is HOMIE RESCUE TEAM - what are we going to do? should we just laugh at this guy. should we just let him die off. should we kill him? what do you think? i have to read news... china and america. usa. and china. and korea. and russia. and some games and calm down and 110 billion dollar pump into USA. turkey and saudi arabia ... and pushing and shoving and ghana and america visits and angola 500 million president running to london who knows... where are we.. like flies buzzing around on The Blue Marble. what happened to sitting at home and enjoying one another in peace. where is my wife. why do i call her my wife. im forgiving people. im rescuing people. im saying im going to quit cigarettes. people look so shady. they look so protective over their assets. ive lost more than i think or know or can count or i dont know whats going on. 

i wanted a ferrari 812 a portofino i saw was pretty i like the color rosso and i wanted a 488 spider and a home on frontenac and i wanted a powerboat like 70 footer or 77′ and i wanted to go to bahamas or caribbean and have sex with my wife and procreate and have children and relax and sleep and rest and have a home on 18 acres in snoquamish and all that stuff and have a Dodge ram 2500 

just read about Satyrs for the first time. rams and satyrs and greece and dionysus and debauchery and Pan and apollo and challenging gods and losing and winning and secretive & lustful and wanting to fuck and permanent erection (piss boner) - very interesting. 

also very interesting is the PT Barnum effect ... basically .. .have you ever had a boner? have you ever wanted to have sex with many women? have you ever flirted with a woman? h ave you ever challenged someone bigger than your own size (like David?) - who knows. Ram. Aram. Random Access Memory. bighorn ram. it was in a shooting game i played on hunting game on computer a long time ago. 

gods .. shoot downs. being destroyed. FLAYED Alive. the Flaying of Tarsus. hubris. arrogance. humility. cold. hot. 

there is this fucking idiot laughing in the library. this fucking tool idiot. he is in the library and he laughs like a clown. i wish joe pesci were here so he can jam and smash on the guy. but he’s not so if i do it. in front of the cameras. it will pr;obably get me into some sort of toruble. who knows. anyway. 

iris murdoch. philip roth. thomas pynchon. all these people. time passes. pynchon delillo still alive still kicking. 

birth days were the worst days. slowly getting over the doldrums. what is it called. weighing yourself down . idioms. expressions. the power of idioms. lists of idioms. lists of ethnic slurs. lists of sociological terms. lists of profiling terms. lists of lists. endless lists of words and referrents and objects and feelings. 

Jimmy hendrix park seattle. the numbered avenues. Ballard. the draw bridges. the seaplanes. the boeing. the SAM . art museum. the fountains. the trees and parks. the lake washington. the lake union. the puget sound. the alaskan viaduct project. 4 months. all the little pieces of seattle. the 4 seasons. the goldfinch bar. the bars. the loyal inn. mark matthews park. he was a presbyterian minister. here we are. some guy still laughing so i told him to shut up bro that hes fucking annoying. then another guy joins in... he does a little goat laugh. so i fucken do a sheep laugh too. fuck these guys. play whack a mole all day. 

seattle is amazing. minus these idiots in it. can someone genocide them. or get rid of their bodies tonight and feed them to the orcas k25 and k13 ? .. k13 is dead. k25 is getting skinny. 

The latest official count is 77 orcas among the three pods. That reflects the death of K-13, a 45-year old female named Skagit.

the count of orcas is 77 orcas. i wanted a 77 or 70 foot yacht. i wanted to call it Septuagint. there are al ot of 7s in the bible. 

oh Gosh. oh man. david reigned for 7 years 6 months. 76. 67.  6s and 7s. 42s. wow. and 7 male descendants of Saul hung before the lord. 7s. the 7 times 77 forgiveness.. yesterday the sevenfold punishments in leviticus. i like stuff like this alot. 

7 for all mankind - i remember such days. the time is 12:12 Pm on 10/9/2018. 

who knows these things ... the Lord is playing on all tracks concurrently. im less annoyed. i see all these defective personas in one day. i dont know why. but its getting better. people getting chin checked. a lot of people getting tagged. 

the rats are getting smashed on worldwide. Meng. etc etc. interpol. this that. internationally. locally, domestically. the Great Awakenings. when we enter into slumbers and turn into zombies turn into psychic vampires. we need to clean the algae every once in a while or else there’s just bodies and piles of bodies of humans. we dont really care about the dead of the past. we really dont’ give a shit or dedicate any time to remembering or researching the dead of the past. a list of wars by death toll. largest natural disasters by death toll. 

to have faith. to try to pray to God. to say im not here to destroy the catholic church. people say and come up with the worst and weirdest things. if you can only see this writing post you will see i hop around so many places. 

a poison dart frog, a dog, a porcupine, a snake, a cow - i’ve been compared to such animals. after a while all the terms of endearment eventually get to me.. its annoying its not cute. people speak they did the worst things to me and im pretty done for trying to recover. maybe i will maybe i wont maybe someone will kill me or ill magically die.. it wont matter - i see that kurt cobain and bruce and brandon and jimmi hendrix theryre all dead and the stars are all dead the “stars” ... revelation says 

Revelation 6:13 and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, like unripe figs

and the woman and the dragon and the red dragon ... and ir ead revelation and imagined myself as satan last year but i dont think so. i think the others are satan becasue they twisted my brains in and out.. and i cant wait for the rest of revelation to be carried out so that i can witness the end of the world. im very tired of how twisted and disgusting things have become.. im not just angry or wrathful.. i would like to actually see the end of the world... i would like to see Jesus im going to try and be ok until that happens. .. and its so sad that people are just.. .its so sad. 

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+12&version=NKJV

love, 

aram krikorian

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Gamers! 1 | Chronos Ruler 2 | Boku no Hero Academia 28 - 29 | Katsugeki 3 - 4 | Princess Principal 2 | Saiyuki Reload Blast 3 | Classroom of the Elite 2 | Reflection 1

Gamers! 1

Apparently this is an alright comedy, so it’s the second-last debut of this season I’m trialling. I probably won’t attend most of my anime club sessions as a result of tackling most of the debuts within my reach, but I never really socialised at my anime club anyway…(?)

Kiniro Memories…Like, a parody of Kiniro Mosaic or Tokimeki Memorial or something?

I don’t see what’s so appealing about her, despite the flowers and such cueing me into how I should see her.

Super Chips, LOL. That makes me hungry, but I just ate.

…Gah? I’m only a casual gamer, so I don’t get the appeal of the back of the box.

Tasuku grabbed the cat by the plastic ring? Well, I’ll be. That’s inventive.

This guy is…such a…jerk!

The joke about King Koopa is because he uses itadakimashita at the end of his first sentence, which is really formal.

I don’t find it very surprising that girls like gaming. After all, these days, we’ve basically gotten rid of the stigma around “nerdy stuff” being “not for girls”. *thinks for a bit* Although the IT industry still suffers from a lack of girls…

This show has some gorgeous cherry blossom scenes. I pause just to observe the level of detail in each tree.

These fanservice shots are downright disturbing…

Another Gakuto this season (the second after Sasajima in 7O3X). It’s a shame I dropped 7O3X from the commentary…

G-Guh! I-It’s COD (Call of Duty)! Never thought I’d see an anime parody of it, ever! I’ve heard people speak about it, but I don’t bother with it.

A crank is “a pejorative term used for a person who holds an unshakable belief that most of his or her contemporaries consider to be false”, while a scrub is “a now generalized term used as a synonym for a “noob” or “newb,” which is someone who is bad at a video game or activity in general”. I’m not very used to gaming lingo. *sweatdrops*

Wow, that slap in the face really got me by surprise. I howled when I saw Amano’s reaction face though.

Now there’s an honorable guy! I still prefer Shiki from 7O3X, but at least now he’s not a no-face harem protag.

Who the heck is Choshinnomori? The illustrator?

I think Gamers is good enough to continue, but not enough for a commentary. Aside from Reflection vs Chronos Ruler, the lineup’s pretty much settled.

Chronos Ruler 2

Wooser’s…Casino? Never saw that one coming. Was that an intentional riff on Sanrio?

As soon as Kiri starts spouting off about negligence and goals, the Kunikida bells go off.

Nice pun! Kiru can mean “to cut”, and since there’s a metaphor involving “homeland” already, it’s a pun on a pun.

Michiko Yokote’s on this? Wow, she must get a lot of my views. I’m seeing her and Natsuko Takahashi everywhere ever since Boueibu happened.

This kaeidoscope thing reminds me of Kiznaiver. Lay Your Hands on Me is sad when you remember it was a last project of Boom Boom Satellites’ lead man.

Nyuh-huh-huh-huh…(what? That’s just a weird laugh!) Why would you call a city C’est La Vie? Well, if anything, the name is appropriate.

Wait, I just realised they had Victo naked without his strange orb in his body…for the sake of fanservice. I didn’t mind because naked dudes are my cup of tea, but still…lack of consistency is a real markdown for this show.

Kiri looks like he’s floating on that stone floor…what.

Wasn’t Victo here earlier? Why is Kiri here now?

I-It’s Hellsalem’s Lot! In Chronos Ruler! Well, wonders never cease.

Victo doesn’t even look remotely angry as he faces his old foe.

*trying not to giggle* Why is eating pasta through the nose always a punishment in anime?

Yeah, it’s now too inconsistent for me to deal with. I’m dropping it until The Reflection comes along.

Boku no Hero Academia 28

I thought it was Full Cowl…? By the way, for some reason Izuku passes an Indian restaurant twice…or is that Arabic, or Thai? I dunno, it’s hard to tell without pausing…

LOL, I laugh so hard at Bakugo’s combed down hair. It reminds me of neat!En from the Boueibu manga.

I haven’t seen Tsukauchi in a while. Hisashiburi! (Long time no see!)

Stain’s just said what Hans (Rokka no Yuusha) said about a year or two ago…hmph. It seems quite a few assassins follow that belief, eh?

Huh, that’s actually very logical…to have lots of crime where there are lots of people, so on so forth.

Manual has Tsukauchi’s eyes. Are they related somehow?

Oh no…There’s a winged Nomu, and the only one with wings in this show is…a kid from Bakugo’s friendship group! *tries not to cry*

It’s Gran Torino, kids. Regardless of whether it’s the car or the movie he’s named after, it’s Gran Torino.

I realised Shigaraki really likes spectacles. Not glasses, though.

It’s honestly so scary to see Iida this mad…

“My name is Tenya Iida. You crippled my brother. Prepare to die!” – That’s the line you want, right, Iida? Take a note out of Inigo Montoya’s (Princess Bride) book.

Boku no Hero Academia 29

Wow, I knew Endeavour wasn’t liked, but I didn’t think his sitch was that bad…

The framing choice (white, insular fadeout) was a good one, I think. Shows Deku’s blinkered thinking at a crucial moment like this.

W-Wait. They have a hero called The Fly?! You’re kidding, right? That’s a great name! Creepy, because heck, just seeing screenshots of the Cronenberg movie is enough to make you pee your pants, but…heck yeah! What a name!

Seriously, how does that hand stay on Shigaraki’s face???

Japanese society is full of modesty, but Tensei is something else.

As much as I hate to admit it, Stain’s right Iida…sorry. Thinking selfishly doesn’t work in the hero biz.

Didn’t I say Deku looked scary back in ep 13-ish? Yeah, you can see the shadow of the monster right here…Gotta take note for Half-Paid Heroes!

I was going to use the ping-pong technique in Half-Paid Heroes, actually (the same one you saw Gran Torino use a few eps back in his apartment). I think Deku might use it here…

I see! That’s why Shinso had to apper before this!

A-hey. Stain’s kinda like a vampire. How didn’t I think of that earlier? (because I already kind of knew the secret behind his Quirk)

See? I knew Deku would use that ping-pong technique! It’s perfect for covering your defences simply through speed, which is exactly what I needed for one of my characters.

Well, today I reaffirmed why I love BnHA, and why even something like Katsugeki can’t beat it! That is the love of a superhero fan, right there!

Katsugeki 3

Seriously, is it “alright” or “all right”???

I never thought Kane-san would be so willing to kick butts and take names. Or…just the kicking butts bit.

Wait, what’s a roushi?

I still don’t know what a roushi is, but it seems the Time Retrograde Army are just giving catastrophic events in the time they’re in a nudge. The ripple effect, y’know?

A touken is a sword.

Were those roushi…CGI?! Blasphemy!!! Just when the backgrounds were looking really lifelike too.

Ah, a roushi = a ronin. There you go.

Mutsu’s surprised face is…hilarious!

Tosa people have accents? I don’t know much about accents, so I gotta learn…

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen a rogue touken danshi (sword boy)…hmph.

That constable looks like Heizo Hasegawa (Onihei).

The saniwa should be a gal, didn’t I say that in a previous ep?

Kitsune are meant to love deep fried tofu.

Whose line is “I’m going to seize the world”? Mutsu’s, probably.

Katsugeki 4

The closed shop appears to be called “The Tsuda Shop” or something like it, due to something that’s been written on to the paper screens.

Satchou is this alliance.

The shop you see Tonbokiri in the doorway of is called the “Murata Shop” (Murata-ya).

Again, foxes are meant to love tofu, but here’s what a pipe fox is.

There’s a sense of foreboding looming over this anime, and it kind of scares me, but it’s par for the course in a show like this.

Mutsu’s eating an onigiri. “Same old, same old” really are the right words to use here.

An ootachi should be significantly weaker in smaller quarters, like a bridge. However, they have longer range, which means that multiple swords in the party this Saniwa has could defeat it. By the by, I consulted the wiki, and it seems we’re going through era 1 (Meiji era), so there shouldn’t be any closed quarter battles here (I think there was one in the first ep of Hanamaru).

I bet Mutsu’s gonna pull out his gun sometime during this battle, eh?…Yep, a few seconds after I predicted that, it came true. Mutsu, you nut. I know this is close to the Meiji restoration if not in the middle of it, but still, don’t go showing off your gun everywhere…

Cue “You shall not pass!” moment from Tonbokiri. (I think I should say “again”, but my memory’s being sketchy right now.) LOL.

Everyone has that one experience as a Touken Ranbu rookie where their tantou has had way too much and dies…it’s always so sad, and often a player’s first death in their party. I know, because my first tantou was a Sayo and of course, he died on me.

I wonder if Kiwame will be shown in this show…hmph.

Wowsers, I held my breath so hard at that point where Yagen seemed like he was going to lose…but hey, what a great debut for Tsurumaru! Unfortunately, I don’t know the relationship between Yagen and Tsurumaru, since I don’t own a Tsuru, but I’ve been trying to get one for the longest time. Update: Oh, that “are you surprised that someone like me came here so suddenly?” is his line when he’s obtained, meaning the saniwa must’ve smithed him and dropped him into the fray.

Princess Principal 2

I think they’re trying to pull a “moe” route with Ange right here…which is not my style, but I’m neutral on it��

S-So…Dorothy sucks at smoking? L-LOL.

How do these women live with their metal dresses? Corsets are one thing, but actual metal, like knights but all over the dress? Yeah, definitely a sign of “no pain no gain” fashion.

Wait, there’s stolen blueprints?…Oh, okay then.

Really? CGI dancing couples? *rolls eyes* This is probably second to the fedora monster (Rokka no Yuusha) as to how bad CGI can get.

This Duke…he reminds me of Rosenberg (Royal Tutor), and that is not a good sign.

Saiyuki Blast 3

Go! Play them cards, Hakkai!

The concept of a sky burial could probably make an entire anime. I should keep better notes on this stuff. Plus, birbs. Even if they’re vultures, they’re cute!

I think the thing that makes Saiyuki special, despite it being a reboot of an old show, is that it’s able to convey deep themes without ruining the mood. I think that’s missing from a lot of modern anime, especially some of the more apparent commercials.

Y-Yeah, Goku…kicking a man through the roof is overkill. (laughs anyway)

Mmhmm. I like me some dudes in tight shirts like Sanzo’s. Azrael from Ro.Te.O is designed the same way, which is one reason why I love him so much.

Trigger warning for death but, “He died from the epidemic six days ago…”

“I thought really hard about what you asked me yesterday.”

I’m not gonna stick around for UraSai this time. So not worth it…

Classroom of the Elite 2

Oh gosh. I come here for a good time and they go with Gainaxing? Really?

Well, that was unexpected. I thought Ayanokouji was going to be a blushing wreck, but he’s less harem protag and more Houtarou Oreki (Hyouka).

Mm-mm. I like me some bishie like that, Horikita. You’ve got some good taste.

Dangit, this lunch is making me hungry, and I just ate!

Well, I can’t see how you’d have bad grades if you got into an advanced “nurturing school”, so I get Horikita’s point, but I can see how people can fail with the S-System. Ayanokouji and Horikita are basically Misora and Kei from Sakurada Reset though, and that’s bad news for this show…I might need to put Youkai Apato and 7O3X back in the places they used to be in.

I think this show is focussing on Kushida fanservice too much, too early into the game. Fanservice shouldn’t be this early into a series unless the series is fanservice from start to finish (e.g. ecchi).

Best moment of this entire show was Horikita shutting down Ayanokouji, LOL. See? I work a lot better without fanservice in my commentaries.

Ah! A tiger mum, but in the form of an older brother? I see, I see *nods*.

Actually, I now think Ayanokouji’s martial arts skills passed off as “piano and calligraphy” is the best moment.

Hmph. I never thought that Horikita’s inability to get along with others was what got her into Class D. Come to think of it, Ayanokouji is probably there because he rigged the scores and isn’t very sociable either…

It’s interesting that they list the points next to the cast credits. I was losing interest in this show, but the small things are what make me sit up and pay attention!  

Reflection 1

I’ve been waiting for this all season now, so here it is!

The first thing that hit me about this show was the colour palette. It’s like I’m watching a moving painting. Or a moving comic book, which I think was the point.

*sighs, somewhat happily(…?)* You know it’s America when the skyscrapers are plastered with the Stars and Stripes…Only American creators can be so proud of America, y’know? People naturally write about what they know, including the patriotism of their homelands.

It seems they even have WcDonald’s in this too, Plus DNN and so on, so forth.

Seeing the skyscrapers light up with relevant effects is cool! Real cool!

Now, if only comics would learn to empower their women better, then I’d be happy…*grumbles into distance*

Also, can someone please stop making all the minority races evil? I think I’ve seen enough evil dudes from that genre, and I haven’t even watched majority of the superhero movies that make the genre what it is.

The background scenery holds on for a little too long, a la Tsukigakirei.

Holy ninjas, Batman! That was a Russian ninja, apparently! Much cooler than an ordinary Japanese ninja, eh? (By shonen standards, at the very least?)

“At least tell me you did a ‘good job’.”

Why is it that everything in America is handled by the FBI, from aliens to superheroes? I don’t get you sometimes, America.

“Sorry, I actually live in LA.” – L-LOL!!! What even, don’t go around revealing your place of residence! Villains will come after you, don’t you know that, I-Guy???

The flat aesthetic means CGI doesn’t stand out too much, thankfully…

Huh, I never thought in my entire lifetime Stan Lee would be tackling the discriminatory nature of the term “hero”. He just never seemed to be the sort who would.

Yeah, I kinda knew 9Nine were involved with the ED, but I never quite guessed it would result in something like this. It’s a fairly typical ED, by anime standards, but still – you can tell it was done well, by a superhero great (better than trying to imitate anime a la Heroman), but it’s not to the same highs as Boku no Hero Academia or Katsugeki can take you. Therefore, Classroom of the Elite will be going on hold while I try to figure out what’s so good about this show.