#yoshimitsu imagine

[tkimaginations]

Yoshimitsu

Imagine(s):

Nothing for now...

Headcanon(s):

Nothing for now...

[loganspillowprincess]

So Gamer Wade is a thing that's been in my head living rent-free.

In my brain, I see Wade not just being good at rhythm games, but he'd be good at all types of games.

Like with fighting games, he's the type of player that would troll and make people think he's trash, but then he hits you with the most outta-no-where 10 hit combo, and you're left looking like:

😮🫢🫡

I feel like he'd be a Yoshimitsu, Kuma/Panda, or Eddy main if he ever played Tekken.

He'd probably also try to get Logan to play with him and teaches him the combos and going over all the fighting game terminology.

Like can you imagine the confusion on Logan's face when Wade explains to him what "footsies" are in fighting games??

✨️The Hilarity~✨️

[gaymer-hag-stan]

Who Is Tekken?

I made a tier ranking because I was bored and because this is TEKKEN 8'S RELEASE WEEK!!!

So, basically this is a tier list based on who I think represents the series best. Not personal preference, just who I think of when I think of Tekken, and which characters I think usually act as the "face" of the franchise.

Tekken God Tier a.k.a. The one true "Face" of Tekken

Paul Phoenix - Although the story is centered around the Mishima Family feud, Paul I think best represents the spirit of Tekken as a whole. His design is outrageous, he can be considered goofy, not only because of the hair but because of his most recent portrayal and rivalry with Kuma, but he is nevertheless not treated entirely as a joke character. He is always there and he is a veteran.

Tekken Kings Tier a.k.a Characters present in all games that are also synonymous with Tekken

Yoshimitsu - Yoshimitsu is another character that is always present and, like Paul, he represents Tekken's spirit. He always looks ridiculous and he is completely redesigned in each new installment.

King - King also fits the same mentality as the other two. The jaguar mask, and the fact that when he speaks jaguar growls come out make him a staple to the "ridiculous but not a joke character" archetype that Tekken essentially jumpstarted and has polished to perfection over the years. Many other fighting games have joke characters of course, but some of Tekken's joke characters are actually pretty viable options.

Tekken Overlords Tier a.k.a. Characters who are present in almost all games and also represent the brand in promotional events and such

Nina Williams - Nina is undisputedly the Queen of Tekken. She is the only female fighter to appear in all Tekken games, she has her own spinoff game and she is almost always featured in collaborations and promotional events. She is the Chun-Li of Tekken with Cammy's demeanour. A two-in-one type of deal if you will.

Kazuya Mishima - Kazuya was the protagonist of the original Tekken game and has ever since taken on the role of either the primary or secondary antagonist. If Nina is Tekken's Chun-Li, then Kazuya is Tekken's Ryu, but with a twist. Kazuya is no hero, he is not the golden shoto honest boy who wants to save the world. Quite the opposite. Tekken can be campy but it can also be extremely edgy. Kazuya perfectly represents this inherent need to be edgy. When other fighting games attempted to replicate Street Fighter's Ryu by making more stoic stereotypical Japanese heroes who don't say much and only want to become stronger, Tekken introduced a villainous type of protagonist that will stop at nothing to achieve ultimate power. Tekken doesn't have a Ryu, only an Evil Ryu.

Ling Xiaoyu - Many would argue that Xiaoyu is Tekken's Chun-Li, and in the sense of having an upbeat female Chinese martial artist she is, but she is more like Chun-Li's little sister, or Tekken's little sister in this case. Nina is mature and sexy while Xiaoyu is cheerful and cute, childish even, in her debut appearance. Depending on who you ask she may be the main female character of Tekken but I'll say she's the second best thing. Still extremely important for the franchise.

Hwoarang - Hwoarang has never missed a game since his debut and I don't think he will in the future either. He is a very integral part of Tekken and his high kicks in the tightest of jeans definitely add a little more unhingedeness to the series.

Marshall Law - Every fighting game that respects itself pays homage to the greatest martial artist that ever lived. Law has every Bruce Lee mannerism that you can imagine and then some!

Tekken Warrior Tier a.k.a Jack

Although Jack's appearance and moveset are not necessarily remarkable, the fact that he undergoes a name change with each new Tekken entry, to match the mainline game's numbering, is kinda iconic in its own right and tied to Tekken itself. Even though he skipped Tekken 4 (and the JACK unit in the original game is a generic one not related to Jane's JACK who is present in all the following games) there is still a JACK-4 line, which further goes to show that you can't have Tekken without the JACKs.

Tekken Fighters Tier a.k.a. fairly recognisable characters who appear in most games

Lei Wulong - Tekken not only has its own Bruce Lee, but it also has its own Jackie Chan*! Lei has one of the most complicated movesets in fighting game history and as fighting game development gets pricier and pricier, he puts an actual strain on Namco's developments costs. While I don't think he will completely miss Tekken 8 or any following Tekkens, he is most likely gonna be permanent DLC to accommodate for the resources and money needed for his animations lmao

*since he is still alive though they actually started making his face more distinct as time went on and graphics became more realistic, possibly to avoid a lawsuit lol

Jin Kazama - Jin has essentially been the protagonist of Tekken since Tekken 3 (with a minor stint as a villain in 6 and, technically, being in a coma throughout Tekken 7's entire story) He is once again positioned as the "hero" in Tekken 8, although, like I said with Kazuya, Tekken doesn't do heroes the traditional way.

Bryan Fury - Bryan is the resident kickboxer of Tekken and he hasn't missed a game since his debut. His psychotic laugh is a Tekken trademark and his unhinged personality is a perfect match for a series like Tekken.

Steve Fox - Likewise, Steve is the resident boxer of Tekken. Arguably, he's not as strong in the personality department, so his fighting style kind of hard carries him and is also probably why he hasn't skipped an entry since his inception.

Asuka Kazama - Asuka is kind of the "new generation" type of Tekken girl. She had a really strong debut in Tekken 5, I think she really served in that game, but ever since the rivalry with Lili subplot was introduced I feel like Lili's personality overpowers hers. Nevertheless, they have been positioned by Namco as the new main female Tekken rivalry ever since Tekken 6 so that's that.

Tekken Brawlers Tier a.k.a. the last three core Tekken characters

Heihachi Mishima - Heihachi is arguably the Akuma of Tekken. He often assumes the final boss role and has been in all Tekken games until his death (?). Tekken 7 was teased as the big finale to Kazuya and Heihachi's rivalry, and his death (??) truly meant the end of an era for the series.

Feng Wei - I struggled a lot with this one because he's a character I personally don't care at all about, but personal bias aside I think his moveset is quintessential Tekken, and like Asuka he also had a very strong Tekken 5 debut that kind of hard carries him ever since. His scenes in the Tekken 5 opening cinematic are pretty memorable.

Lili - If the Tekken universe has an it girl it is her. Lili has been a consistently popular character since her debut and I don't think it's hard to see why. Her personality is hilarious, the rich mean daddy's girl type, her moveset is hella fun and her design is pretty slick and gets the message across - you know she is the spoiled brat before she even opens her mouth.

Tekken Grand Masters Tier a.k.a. characters who are still pretty important but can skip a game or two

Lee Chaolan - Lee's trademark "excellent" is definitely pretty standard amongst Tekken fans, but from here on, him and the characters that follow are more or less characters who are mostly relevant within the Tekken community and don't necessarily represent the franchise as a whole or are instantly recognisable as Tekken characters. Lee's is a very interesting take on Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do. In Tekken 1, all of the "rival" characters are in some way reused or alternate versions of the initial eight characters' fighting styles. In this case, he practices Jeet Kune Do like Law, but unlike Law, he doesn't retain any of Bruce Lee's mannerisms, other than the outrageous screams.

Eddy Gordo - Eddy is the resident capoeira master of Tekken, and you could argue this alone could earn him a higher placing, but I feel like the fact that he was Christie's pallette swap for two games split the spotlight between them. He still has a story-related reason to fight and is therefore still coming back whereas Christie's story arc is done for now, but even still, he was missing from the initial arcade release of Tekken 7 and is now only coming back as DLC. Eddy is undoubtedly a trademark Tekken character, but I feel like all the characters above him have become a tad more essential than him over the years.

Sergei Dragunov - Dragunov certainly has his fans, and has a fun moveset and an interesting... gimmick, if you can even call it that, in that he chooses not to speak. Ever... Almost.

Jun Kazama - No other character has had such a strong impact in the Tekken fanbase as Jun. Despite only being canonically present in one game (and it will 100% remain so as she is definitely still dead in Tekken 8) she has been constantly requested by fans, has had a "clone" character in the form of Asuka, and even an "evil counterpart" in the form of Unknown. Jun is kind of the face of the Tekken Tag Tournament games, as both of them, and any future ones we hopefully get, were always fans' chance to get to see her again after her death. Even after Asuka's debut, Jun's comeback in Tag 2 was among the main marketing for the game.

Christie Monteiro - Like I said, Christie replaced Eddy in Tekken 4 and 5 as the "face" of capoeira for Tekken. Although Eddy was the OG, and I feel like his Tekken 3 and Tag 1 appearances are his main popularity and nostalgia boosts over hers, Christie is arguably the more fun of the two and although her story arc is over, she has more to give in the personality department. With Tekken 8 going the extra mile to make Kuma and Panda feel more unique, decades after their debut as identical characters, I think the same energy can be applied to Eddy and Christie. They already had different standing throws to begin with so a first step was taken ever since Tekken 4.

Craig Marduk - Marduk is the series' resident big burly screaming neanderthal type of character. He has had a bit of character development through his feud and eventual friendship with King and, even when it seemed like Gigas had kind of replaced him in Tekken 7 he actually made it back so good for him, I guess...

Leo Kliesen - Leo kind of invented being non-binary back in 2008 right? What was initially envisioned as a gimmick, a character without gender, has taken on a whole new meaning as people found new ways to express their identities that weren't as widely explored before and I think that this is a good thing. No one in the Tekken world seems to treat Leo's androgyny as something abnormal, in fact nobody even acknowledges it, nobody is bothered by it, nobody loses sleep about it. Leo is Leo and they're here to stay. My only issue is that Leo's personality trait sliders were all set right in the middle too and this is definitely something that could be worked on a lot more.

Lars Alexandersson - Tekken 6 tried really hard to set Lars up as "the new Mishima" and I don't think it worked. I mean look at Reina's reception. I think that's what they were going for at the time. Did it work? Yes and no. Lars is intrinsically tied with the story and he seems to have been positioned as a positive role model and moral compass for Jin to make him "find his way" or whatever the fuck. If you think about it, after Jun's death, Jin only had Heihachi's abusive relationship and murder attempt and then his equally bloody reunion with his father in the form of family. Lars, and I guess Lee (they don't seem to have canonically interacted with each other before Tekken 7's ending) are now positioned as the good influences in Jin's life. Although Lee has worked under both Heihachi and Kazuya, and Lars had no issues working as a mercenary for Heihachi in the Tekken Force and only quit after Jin started World War III. Once again this harkens back to how no one is a saint in Tekken. Lars is no exception.

Raven - He took a small break in 7 but his fighting style was still represented in the form of his master. Raven's design is a knock-off Blade but the fact that he is a ninja working for the United Nations and that they also keep expanding his organization with new members in the form of Master Raven and Victor is proof enough of his relevancy to the series.

Tekken Experts Tier a.k.a. the last few ones that actually matter

Kuma - Kuma is a joke character, but an arguably quite good one at that. Tekken employs many "jokey" characters, the Pauls, the Yoshimitsus, the Kings, as marketing gimmicks. "Oh you know Tekken has a guy with weird hair that punches real hard" or "Tekken has a mech space ninja" or "Tekken has a dude with a jaguar head" but nothing hits quite hard like "Tekken has a bear". Street Fighter II had many martial artists in its original eight-character roster. A stoic karateka, a cheerful Kung Fu master, a hardened wrestler. But it also had Blanka, a weird "out of the box" type of character that fights with an unconventional fighting style and has a unique appearance. The other characters I mentioned have unique appearances but Paul practices judo, King is a wrestler and Yoshimitsu is a ninja (so at least his shenanigans are somewhat excused). But Kuma is a talking bear (when he speaks we hear growls, just like with King, but he is canonically able to communicate with humans, he just follows Tekken's "everyone speaks their mother tongue" and therefore speaks 'bear') who practices a mix of Mishima-style karate along with... Well bear moves. Very few other games in the market can match that energy.

Anna Williams - Anna is unfortunately, more often than not, in the shadow of her older sister, a sentiment that perhaps hits too close to home for a lot of younger siblings. Nevertheless, even if she began as a Nina clone, she was among the very first who the developers started differentiating from their original counterpart, as early as Tekken 3. Anna is certainly popular, but she is constantly treated as an afterthought to Nina, which itself prevents me from placing her any higher. While Nina is allowed to be part of the main story and have a subplot with her son or others, Anna has only ever had her rivalry with Nina, her having the hots for Kazuya and an interaction with Lee that may not even be canon. Perhaps the fact that she constantly has to live in the shadow of a more popular sister is in and of itself her own gimmick within the Tekken universe. The fact that she always serves the cunt™, all the cunt™ and nothing but the cunt™ is also probably a reason why she is a favourite of the gays and the girls.

Ganryu - Ganryu is another joke character. He has many running gage, actually, from his obsession with Michelle Chang and then her much-younger-than-him (...) daughter and them barely even acknowledging his existence, his lying over his ranking in sumo (and being cancelled by the... Sumo masters??? because of it) and also trying and failing to promote his chanko restaurant through the Tournaments, Ganryu is perhaps the Joke Character of Tekken. Even so, Kazuya apparently found something in him as he was among his elite bodyguards along with Bruce, Anna and Lee in Tekken 2.

Julia Chang - Julia I feel like also peaked during her Tekken 5 era but has been slowly fading in the background ever since. Arguably the most interesting character development she's had was adopting the Jaycee luchadora persona... Which was not canon... Her new streamer persona doesn't seem to be necessarily popular and the fact that she's again missing from another mainline base Tekken game may reflect that Namco don't necessarily seem like they know what to do with her at all.

Devil Jin - Devil Jin is not really an actual character, rather an alter ego of sorts of Jin, although we haven't necessarily "seen" him so far. Whenever Jin canonically assumes his devil form he just seems to lose control for a few seconds and then snaps back to normal. The reason for his existence is that people were pissed that Jin's Tekken 3 moveset was dropped in Tekken 4 as Jin relearned his fighting style to distance himself from his Mishima heritage and go back to his mother's teachings and Namco simply decided to bring it back in the form of an alter ego. He simply exists as a gameplay mechanic, although it still has endured for all these years, showing the impact Tekken 3 still has on the series. The initial story trailers for Tekken 8 seemed to hint that Devil Jin was no more but, for better or worse, Namco doesn't seem to be ready to let go just yet.

Baek Doo San & Michelle Chang - Both have been completely replaced by Hwoarang and Julia respectively so both are mostly in this tier for their presence in the first few games and the fact that their fighting style lives on through their disciples. Arguably Baek's is a little more alive than Michelle's though lol

Alisa Bosconovitch - Alisa is another one of the teen girly characters that Namco loves to push as their main form of female character archetype. Alisa being an android with chainsaw blades coming out of her arms was certainly an interesting gimmick back when she was added to Tekken 6, but it doesn't have an impact nearly as strong as "man with jaguar head" or "talking bear".

Zafina - Zafina closes up the last tier of actually important characters for the game's identity. She is cunty and as assassin but also her fighting style is extremely cooky and her animations are hilarious and, on top of that, she now also has the rotting Azazel hand. A perfect mix of the three pillars of Tekken; edginess, camp and c*nt~

Tekken Mentors Tier a.k.a. Pallette swaps, the last few legacy characters and Mokujin

Tekken Initiates Tier a.k.a Bosses, one-off characters and the literal newcomers who cannot be properly placed yet. I consider Leroy a newcomer since he didn't get a story chapter last time and since he's the only T7 DLC to make it in T8 thus far he gets a small bonus boost

Tekken Beginners Tier a.k.a. even more palette swaps, characters completely replaced by others or obscure randos that only come back for the Tag Tournaments. The rest of T7's characters that did not make the cut (so far) are here either because they didn't have as strong an impact as the rest or they were DLC and haven't shown their full potential yet

[yukiinvs]

🍒 : Lana del Rey songs I think suits the Tekken characters

This was a random thought in the early morning and I couldn't help but do it 😭, I didn't think much about whether the character's story remained, I just imagined it as a mv video with the background music and well this came out.

. Alisa : "Video Games"

. Anna : "Black beauty"

. Asuka : "Flipside"

. Baek Doo San: "Terrence loves you"

. Bob : "Florida Kilos"

. Bryan : "Serial Killer"

. Christie : "Summertime Sadness"

. Claudio : "Bel Air"

. Marduk : "Guns and Roses"

. Devil Jin : "Gods and Monsters"

. Dragunov : "High by the beach"

. Eddy : "Diet Mountain Die"

. Eliza : "Cruel World"

. Fahkumram : "Ultraviolence"

. Feng Wei : "Happiness is a butterfly"

. Ganryu : "Love"

. Heihachi : "Fucked my way up to the top"

. Hwoarang : "Ride"

. Jin : "Born To Die"

. Julia : "God Knows i Tried"

. Jun : "Dark Paradise"

. Katarina : "Burning Desire"

. Kazumi : "Carmen"

. Kazuya : "Off to the races / Ultraviolence"

. King : "Body Electric"

. Kuma : "The greatest"

. Kunimitsu : "Heroin"

. Lars : "Young and beautiful"

. Lee : "Million Dollar man" (I really thought about this one)

. Lei Wulong : "Art Deco"

. Lili : "Doin' time"

. Xiaoyu : "Lolita"

. Lucky Chloe : "Radio"

. Law : "American"

. Michelle Chang : "Lucky Ones"

. Miguel : "Freak"

. Nina : "A&W"

. Panda : "Yayo" idk ok

. Paul : "West Coast"

. Raven : "Coachella"

. Shaheen : "Honeymoon"

. Steve : "Off to the races" (again cuz' ottr fits with all characters)

. Wang Jinrei : "Yes to heaven"

. Yoshimitsu : "ridin'"

. Zafina : "Violet For Roses"

[shanmthebrave]

“Are you ready, Leo~?”

“I’m always ready, Azucena.”

“Hehe, great!”

The literal definition of Yapper x Listener - An Leo x Azucena (AzuLeo appreciation/persuasive post) -TEKKEN 8-

~TW - HE/HIM LEO~

Like, Azucena would yap about coffee and Leo wouldn’t mind :)

His laugh and the way he casually answers Azucena that he’s from Germany WHILE IGNORING THE FACT THEY’RE IN A WAR-ZONE BECAUSE THAT DON’T MATTER WHEN YOUR FAV COFFEE CELEBRITY IS IN FRONT OF YOU

Bro she’s gonna send you coffee for being a fan, like a good celebrity doessss

Also he’s ignoring the fact for a moment that she’s with G-Corp…and also also asking at the end what her true purpose was…

Tbh to me Azu’s purpose with this sudden conversation was either:

She really wants to promote her coffee ☕️

Or she finds Leo interesting (Whether Platonic or Romantic)

Either way, we can leave it to imagination :) but I’d always pick red or both

CAN WE ALSO NOT IGNORE THE FACT THAT SHE GAVE LEO A WINK AND BLEW A KISSSSS?! ACKKKKKK

Their only interaction in the story has implied that Leo already knew Azucena before their canonical encounter. Their lines during chapter 10 are proof contributing to this:

Observation from their Chapter 10 interaction:

An instant recognition, Leo’s got good observation skills. He’s kinda shocked that she’s with G-Corp. Understandable, since the people in G-Corp are pretty bad people, and seeing Azu, a person who he knows well for her coffee (only revealed after the fight), working for them, his shock becomes understandable.

Azucena’s motives confuse Leo, as she’s promoting her coffee by working with G-Corp, the company that well, 💀 his mom. Ouch.

Despite that, after their fight, Leo reveals that he’s a a fan of her coffee. AND AZUCENA FINDS HER FELLOW COFFEE DRINKER!

She offers to make a special order for him, and LEAVES THE FIGHT WITHOUT CONSIDERING ITS A WAR-ZONE, IS SHE EVEN OKAY?!

Well she is seen in the good ending so we can assume that yes she did make it

Leo is just standing there, confused as to what her real purpose was (which I covered in the point above)

Now, let’s talk about their lines during their fight and their meaning behind it, and compare this interaction to Leo’s fight with Jin:

When Leo successfully lands a hit, he says lines to try and diffuse the fight, rather then try to continue the counter offensive, unlike what he did with Jin, where his distrust in him is evident.

He says: “Open your eyes!” And “There’s no reason for us to fight!” Clearly showing that he doesn’t wanna fight Azucena. Rather, to convince her to stop siding with G-Corp.

Unlike his fight with Azucena, his interaction with Jin is a tad more hostile, as we know Jin did some pretty messed up stuff, which provoked Leo to initiate a spar with him. However, Azucena chose to fight Leo instead, when he clearly didn’t want to.

Now, let’s chat abt Azucena’s POV. She really just wants to promote her coffee, but also broaden her horizons for new blends, perhaps. Maybe find a fellow coffee enthusiast or a strong opponent (latter is the most likely motive).

When Azucena lands a hit, she only has one line: “Come on, let’s have some fun!” AS IF THIS ISNT A WAR ZONE AND ITS A FRIENDLY SPAR.

She seems to enjoy fighting Leo. This is especially shown when she gets defeated and flips back, exclaiming “You’re pretty good!” As if acknowledging his skill.

This pretty much shows that the entire time, she was fighting for fun, forgetting that she got herself into a war. It makes me laugh inside tbh. Haha.

Oh you think we’re done? Nope cuz we’re covering a lil bit about their character episodes too!

Leo meets Azucena in the final stage. Huh. What a coincidence.

There’s not much to say in this, other than the fact that both of them fight Yoshimitsu in the first stage. lol.

✨Special Interactions!!!!✨

Is there really any points we can make?! It’s so cute! And random…but funny and quite welcoming.

It’s not everyday someone encounters you and declares themself the coffee queen and tries to KICK you while you try to process everything (lol)

The pure surprise in Leo’s face never fails to make me laugh. Bro looks so perplexed and afraid 😭

And Azucena kicking him without warning is so random and even more silly, like give this man some time to process you woman 😂

When Azucena wins, she tells Leo that a good coffee takes time to brew, as if encouraging him that he’s doing great and he will get better, like a sparring partner that gives him feedback.

On Leo’s end, he’s awfully happy he won and says it’s time for a coffee break, something he says ONLY when he wins against Azucena. It’s as if fighting her reminds him of his liking for coffee.

Now, I will give my reasons why I love shipping Azucena and Leo together.

They have cute/canon interactions

The relationship has potential

Special intro pass

They relate over the one thing that got them together: COFFEE

Leo likes her products and is a big fan of her.

Azucena seems to enjoy his presence and wants to encourage him to get stronger.

Even tho Azucena sided (formerly) with G-Corp (not confirmed if she stopped working with them), Leo’s pretty chill and is willing to forgive her (Seeing as he forgave Jin, a literal war criminal)

It’s just cute. It’s so random, it’s adorable

It also just works in a way. They’re the literal definition of Yapper x Listener

She would yap to Leo about coffee and whatnot and he’d be so chill with her.

A cute, energetic girl with a shy, gentle boy trope, dominant girlies with gentle boys are just so funny and adorable to watch.

Welp, I can’t add any more photos and I’m running out of ideas, so in conclusion, the points I want to make is:

- AzuLeo is a very cute ship

- It’s hella under appreciated

- It may be random, but who says we can’t ship what we want and promote them?

- I love these two coffee lovers

- BANDAI NAMCO, GIVE THEM MORE SCENES TOGETGER, AND I WILL BE HAPPY. PLEASE!

- Azucena is overhated. Period.

- The creators of Tekken said we can call Leo any gender we want cuz Leo is…Leo. So I’ll call him a male.

I don’t rlly expect people to like the ship after this post. And that’s okay with me. As long as I’m happy and passionate posting what I like. ❤️

If you made it here, thanks for reading through my entire ship post haha. I hope you will start to like this ship or perhaps tolerate it if you hate it. Whatever happens, or if your opinion doesn’t change, at least I’ll be happy, cuz I spoke my mind on something I like :)

[green-tea-in-absinthe-bottle]

THE NIGHT BELONGS TO YOU CHAPTER 3

Blade x fem reader fanfic

MASTERLIST

Summary of part 3 - Reader lives among stellaron hunters, makes genuine connections and slowly becomes one of them

Chapter 3 – Tangled up like branches in a flood 

Between playing games with Silver Wolf at which Y/n sucked, ( but enjoyed them, so who cares) and conversations with Elio (she was told by Destiny’s Slave himself to refer to him as such after short time) weeks passed quickly and happily with Stellaron Hunters. 

 Y/n couldn’t say that she wasn’t treated well, her room was spacious and comfortable one with king sized bed and huge bookshelf full of grimoires, they even put up a little herb garden in her room. She had supplies for her numerous hobbies, yarn for crochet and knitting, painting tools, even her favourite instrument to practice with to Kafka’s delight as she always craved some company while honing her violin skills.  

She was quickly introduced to her share of housework which wasn’t a terrible one, she got to do things she didn’t really mind doing especially those that others didn’t like, overall it wasn’t overwhelming. If anything she was too proud to admit but it seemed life together was much easier, at least no more triggering her sensory issues with washing dishes. With time her attachment to Stellaron Hunters grew.  

They behaved towards each other like a found family and there was nothing Arkonian missed more than her own one. Maybe that’s why she loved how Blade and Silver Wolf’s friendship looked like? Each time she noticed them joke around together and spend quality time regardless if it was work-related, going out in disguise to enjoy festivals or parallel play when Wolf gamed  and Blade slept with his eyes open next to her -  y/n thought about her father and how they used to do that too, minus the whole incognito thing.  

She wasn’t the part of their dynamic, yet it still brought her comfort. Even when she spent time with Silver Wolf Blade almost never spoke to her, despite his gaze always finding her and observing her every move.  

 - Y/n, would you like to play Tekken with me? Blade hurt his hand again, he can’t hold the controller properly. - Wolfie casually suggested, giving him a piece of bubble gum. He took it gently into his bandaged hand. Fresh blood was visible on white material. 

 - Sure, why not. Tekken 7 or 8? I main Kazumi or Jun. 

 - You like Mishimas’s girls? - teen teased her.  

 - What can I say, they have great taste in women, I mean... Have you seen Jun’s leg cutter move? So hot. - y/n didn’t even try to pretend she was normal about those characters. - By the way, what happened to our friend?  

 He winced at the word she chose to describe him with but didn’t oppose when y/n sat on the floor between his and Wolfie’s legs. She didn’t want to get the chips crumbs scrambled here and there on the couch stuck on her black pants.  

 - During the mission some glass shards from broken window cut his hand. Don’t worry, he heals much faster than average person, his curse does come with a few blessings. - Wolfie answered instead of the man, who looked like he wanted to say a few bitter words about such unwanted “blessings” that only delay his eternal rest. Unbothered by his grumpiness girl continued. - Here is your controller, we play the new Tekken. Blade just bought it for me today.  

 - That’s very kind of him. - y/n admitted. She only earned unamused glance from the man.  

 - He is way nicer than he seems to be at first, you will understand.  

Out of 7 matches they played y/n won only two, but claimed to be good at Tekken. Just, you know, trying new techniques for fun and gawking at Jun’s design. Wolfie turned out to be Yoshimitsu main but tried Hwoarang once. Blade didn’t utter a word through the whole game but passed them snacks from nearby table. Perhaps those spicy shrimp chips were enough for y/n to forget how annoying he could be sometimes. Did she imagine this or did he really gave up last few chips from his bowl so she could have them? 

*** 

Later, when Silver Wolf and Y/N were alone the former reassured her.  

 - Don’t worry about Blade, he isn’t in the best place mentally. He usually avoids outsiders like a plague. You are new here and we don’t know yet for how long will you be willing to stay with us or if we can trust you. It’s already a miracle he sits next to you out of his own will, I think he doesn’t dislike you. - girl grinned.  

 - I don’t know about that. - y/n laughed in response – Your gloomy friend constantly  stares at me like he wants to see all my previous lifetimes.  

Hacker cackled wildly at that.  

 - Oh come on, he’s not that bad. He is just... A bit intense. But trust me, he doesn’t hate you. You would know if he would. You haven’t seen him like that yet, he’s like some fallen angel of revenge. 

 - Sounds like I really don’t want to get on his bad side. - medium scrunched her nose. 

Even more often she marveled at Blade’s friendship with Firefly, the girl that craved life but hers was meant to be cut short, while he craved nothing more than for his immortal suffering to come to end, he could find some hope for peace only in death, just like one of Y/N’s relatives back then on Arkona... Yet Firefly and Blade deeply respected each other, understood each other in a way nobody else ever did and took care of each other in subtle way. It was so sweet.  

In general, y/n considered the way everybody here accommodated disabled people of the group without infantilising them or making them seem like a burden. For example – Blade let girls play on his phone, but when he needed them to type a message to somebody which was hard for him to do because of constant stiffness of his hands – he didn’t need to ask them twice even in the middle of unstoppable game. Perhaps the pain in his hands is the reason  why he barely used his phone in general. He always spoke to the girls with respect, never let them feel inferior despite age difference, y/n chose to believe that the day he got his ass kicked by Sam was not the only reason why. 

Firefly’s entropy loss syndrome wasn’t a tabu, nobody tried to pretend it wasn’t there, but it was not a secret that time spent together was precious to them due to her shortened lifespan. She was always the closest with Blade, yet y/n suspected the one who cherished her the most was Kafka herself. The problem is even if Kafka tried her best at being there for Firefly  it only seemed to create more distance.   

Y/n believed in Kafka’s good intentions towards her crewmates. She always checked on their wellbeing, listened to Silver Wolf’s ideas when nobody else took them seriously  and she was the one covering for them in front of the boss when they ignored the script on missions. The way in which girls asked her if they can bend the rules a bit each time made y/n remember how she used to ask her auntie to calm her mother down later if she wanted to misbehave. Despite that, y/n believed that Kafka, so known for being completely fearless, tried to shield herself from others to avoid getting too close. 

It came to her mind one day while she was cleaning and organizing Kafka’s collection of coats alongside it’s owner. 

 - This one might need to be repaired before it gets back into the closet. - y/n suggested. 

 - What is it dear? - woman furrowed her brow, taking a look at damaged sleeve Arkonian held in front of her. - Is that blood? I really liked this one...- she sighed. - Don’t worry cutie, the blood definitely isn’t mine. 

 While that woman was always charming, polite and elegant – she was also a mysterious one, doing her best to not pick up any  personal topics. She clearly wanted company, valued people around her and in some way, y/n was sure she needed them. Yet, she never truly let go of her defences.  She seemed to be honest with you, telling you things without sugarcoating, but at the end of the day you didn’t really knew who she was. She didn’t lie but she never opened up either. 

At one point this enigmatic woman put down the last one of her coats and looked up at the painting hanging on the wall. Artificial light enhanced her facial features, emphasized her subtle expression. Kafka had that kind of sadness in her eyes y/n only saw in people who lost somebody who meant world to them, full of regret as if her soul could burst out of the seams under the weight of words unsaid, unconfessed feelings. Quickly, she concealed those emotions and closed the closet door. Y/n didn’t ask about it. 

 She didn’t want to pry, sometimes we need to let people keep their secrets, it’s a form of dignity too, like clothing that covers your body. Y/n knew better than anyone else – it's not a good thing to show your open wounds to people. After all Arkona left a hole in her heart that will never heal. 

Still, she tried to fill it, went out to run whenever she could, hiked the mountains to feel the blood rush through her body. To feel alive. Usually Firefly joined her during those activities, when you know you don’t have much time left you try to make every day meaningful. More often than not she had to take on SAM form during those to not overwhelm her body. To Firefly having a chance to see the beauty of nature, of world around herself – that was everything, and she couldn’t bear the thought of losing it one day. 

 During one of those hikes Y/n sat down next to younger girl on a boulder and passed her a thermos full of hot chocolate. They looked up at the setting sun, while two out of three moons this particular planet they chose to roam had slowly showed on the sky as pale crescents. Memories flood y/n’s mind. She turned her head towards her friend, only to see Firefly observing her with understanding in her eyes.  

 - Can I tell you something I haven’t told anybody else?- Y/n whispered with trembling voice.  

 - Of course, did something happen? - girl seemed to be concerned. 

 - Back then, on my home planet I used to live next to the mountain,  it used to be known in common language as Saintcross, our original name would sound too strange to you. You know what kind of reputation Arkonian language has. Whenever harsh winds and storms destroyed roofs of the houses in nearby villages my mother used to pray to Saintcross so it keeps us safe... She used to say it’s like a natural shield against those. I didn’t always believe that, cause in the area around them harsh winds were not uncommon but our home stood safe through it so I guess her prayers were listened to. Till the abominations came and split my mountains apart. - Arkonian’s face was wet with all the tears and she trembled so hard Firefly noticed it despite thick winter jacket covering y/n’s body .– Then there was nothing to protect us anymore. Nothing to pray to. Smoke covered sky so no stars shone above us at night and no sun was to be seen at day. 

Firefly didn’t knew what to do when people cried so she just held y/n till she calmed down. Then she spoke as well. 

 - My kind was meant to live fast and die in the flames of battle. In my lifetime I saw my comrades die again and again, I’m was used to losing those around me, that at some point I truly, foolishly believed that I can’t feel grief. We were made to fight Swarm but we lived like a hivemind ourselves. Only our purpose mattered, not who we were. To some extend we were made to believe we were all the same, like army of clones. - she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Arkonian’s arms around her tightened. - One thing I really need to do before enthropy takes me away from this world is to learn who I am. Only I myself can give sense to my life. I was made to burn, so in this fire I will forge myself in any shape I desire. - ambition shone in her eyes with intensity of the sun itself.  

 - I am sure you will reach your goal, maybe even to some extent it’s already done. - y/n gently smiled. 

 - Why would you say that? - girl livened up a bit. 

 - I never saw anybody burn as bright as you do. Take in everything like you do. Embrace life in all it’s colors. All stars shine in the sky but my people always looked up to the brightest ones. You remind me so much of myself from my younger days in that aspect, I used to beg my family to take me up the mountain as often as possible, just so I could feel closer to divinity of sun,  clouds and constellations. It made me feel so alive I wanted to scream from mountaintop. - y/n sighed. - Not to mention, growing up I had both a sweet tooth and tendency to try unconventional meals, I bet we would eat Oak Cake Rolls together if we knew each other back then. You need to try my favourite Anyżki cookies as well. 

 - Oh, do you know how to make them? I can use SAM's heating ability to help you bake them. - Firefly flexed a bit with a tiny smirk. 

 - Ummm...I need to refresh my memory, but as soon as I put my hands on that recipe we get to work bestie. 

Firefly took of her helmet and put her head on y/n's shoulder with pleased expression on her face. They watched as the third moon became visible, distant howling of wolves filled the atmosphere. Arkonian felt like in trance, tranquil after the storm of her emotions drained her energy. She sobered up once the first moon begun to set. 

- Maybe we should go. It’s getting late and I overheard Elio talk to Blade about something to do early in the morning tomorrow if everything goes well. - y/n’s voice interrupted peaceful moment they shared.  

Firefly got up and they walked back in complete silence, no words were needed. 

 Y/n didn’t know if her friend told anybody about what happened, but after she came down to the kitchen that night to get some pills for her insomnia, she met Kafka who silently gave her a cup of hot milk with honey with reassuring smile on her face.  

When she returned to her bedroom she found burning lavender incense placed on her bedside table, next to the small bouquet of red flowers identical to those Blade always had with himself. She didn’t recall putting any of those there, but was to tired to worry about that. Lavender managed to put her at ease, out of nowhere quiet violin music as hypnotizing as Kafka’s voice reached her ears and put her to sleep. For the first time since the fall of Arkona – she had no nightmares.  

*** 

Humming to herself y/n cheerfully went to Elio’s office. She felt so much better after that night, her first one of good sleep in years. Right before she reached for door handle her mind was engulfed with vision of way too bright light that caused her pain and out of it stepped Terminus holding a star in his hand, complicated sigil  drawn on it’s surface. Y/n felt her legs give up, she expected her body to hit the floor but then she felt the embrace of two strong arms, smell of fresh blood and Red Spider Lily flowers. Red, observant eyes of darkhaired male attentively checked for the shadow of discomfort in her eyes as he picked her up. She felt her cheeks blush under his gaze. 

 - Are you alright? - he asked.  

She wondered why a man with such an attractive, manly voice speaks so rarely. Yet when he did usually it was a witty response or a sharp remark. Out of all Stellaron Hunters he was the hardest to connect to, even Kafka allowed her closer than he ever did. Always so fixated on his pain and deathwish, he avoided anything that could get him attached back to his life, with exception of other Stellaron Hunters. Y/n hoped one day this privilege will also be hers to enjoy. She snapped out of her thoughts as Blade got concerned with her silence.  

 - I just had a vision. I need to go to Elio’s office, he should hear about this. 

 - No way I will let you go there on your own, you barely stand. - Blade sighed. - Let me carry you there if that really can’t wait.  

 *** 

Elio raised his tail up in excitement while he looked at the sigil’s sketch in front of him. 

 - So that’s what Terminus meant by those words last week. If I understand correctly this thing over here might be a special charm, when it’s put on a proper mechanism it allows to extract energy from stellarons, this might be a true revolution. Can you imagine? If we could use all those stellarons we sealed through the years to our advantage, one of the biggest threats against humanity working in it’s favour. Do you remember prototype we build in hopes of achieving such thing? 

 - Yes, I made sure craftsman working on it were the absolute best I could find. - claimed confidently Blade. - I took part of planning it’s design by myself, nothing had a chance to go wrong under my watch even if I couldn’t work on it with my hands. Yet, we failed. Do you suggest infusion could help the machine work in a more stable way? 

 - That’s what I believe Terminus tried to tell me. There is no time to waste, we need to act without hesitation. Y/n, are you ready for your first mission for Stellaron Hunters? - Elio asked tho he already knew the answer.  

 - Of course. - Y/n hurriedly assured him. - I am ready. 

 - Good – he purred in response – There is a stellaron in hands of IPC nearby that we can try your sigil and Blade’s machine on. Grab it from the workshop and you are ready to go. According to my visions everything should go smoothly. I will give you coordinates of the object, you must attempt to seal it within machine and bring it here. Blade already knows this particular base, he and Kafka had a mission there last week. It should be easy for you guys to not get caught redhanded. I don’t expect many guards in your way. Two of you will set off without delay.  

 *** 

Blade threw microwave-sized machine at the backseat of the red, old-fashioned car and closed the door. He sat at the drivers place. Y/n noticed how he checked in a discreet way if her seatbelt is fixed. She didn’t want to disturb him while he was driving so she concentrated on the highway in front of her. Not even ten minutes have passed when he initiated a conversation to her surprise. 

 - Aren’t you shocked that I know how to drive? People usually ask me about it. Not very unexpected concern if you take my narcolepsy, suicidal tendencies and constant mara attacks into consideration. - his eyes didn’t leave the road the whole time but she noticed a slight crooked grin on his face.  

 - Not very much, Silver Wolf told me you used to be a blacksmith on Xianzhou Zhuming, Furnace Master even. I worked there, infusing their weapons with charms, so I know just how much effort and talent it takes to achieve something like this in such place, full of geniuses. I am aware you created many complicated machines during your previous lifetime, so naturally I thought you would be into all things related to such things. - she tried so hard to not say anything stupid but butterflies she felt in her stomach betrayed her time and time again.  

 - So you two gossip about me in your free time? I could convince Kafka to give you both some more responsibilities around the house. Separately. - he threatened but badly hidden smile on his face showed he wasn’t really upset. - How are things on Xianzhou? I bet those self-centered, arrogant idiots haven’t changed a bit since I last saw them. Always so proud, on their Xianzhou ships, yet completely delusional in their pursuits. They condemned me but their sins are way heavier than mine. - Blade laughed in a bitter way. Since when was he so talkative? He never spoke much, but when she was around the most you could get out of him was maybe a short sentence despite the way he looked at her constantly. 

 - To be fair the only reason it still stands is general Jing Yuan. - y/n dared to criticize Xianzhou as she still felt betrayed by them after people she trusted almost handed her to IPC – He seems to be the only person there that uses their brain for something, so he is used by them day and night, he barely sleeps. 

 - It must be hard on him, I don’t remember much from my previous life including some habits of my former friends,  but from what I’ve heard his sleepiness is legendary. 

 - He is even called the slumbering general. - y/n admitted with a giggle. She hoped it wasn’t too enthusiastic. The thought of Blade somehow discovering her crush on Jing Yuan when she had a bit of a crush on him as well just didn’t sit with her right. Could you blame her? Almost every girl on Xianzhou Xianzhou was enchanted by talented general.  

 - Did they treat you well? - Blade looked at her this time, she knew she couldn’t lie under his penetrating gaze. He would figure her out in seconds.  

 - Yes, they did. I found many good colleagues in the forgery, but I never really became friends with anybody. I mostly kept to myself. The closest to a friend I had was Master Zhang.  

 - I don’t recall such name. - Blade slightly frowned.  

 - He was the one that warned me about IPC trying to get me, without him they would catch me without problem.- she mentioned Zhang with gratitude in her heart.  - Everybody else had no issue with turning me in, at least from what I’ve heard. I guess current Furnace Master didn’t plan to stay silent when he saw what my enchanted weapon could do if he could get on the good side of IPC at the tiny cost of one of his employees.  

Blade chuckled darkly.  

 - They turned their back on me as well. - his gaze went numb, he seemed to recall past grudges. Through gritted teeth he murmured – Out of five....three must pay the price. 

His grip on the driving wheel tightened. Y/n wondered if he was about to get mara struck and how should she behave if that happens, when a bullet broke the car glass in front of them and flew right by her left ear. 

[anekogia]

Genshin Impact × Touken Ranbu (JP voice actor)

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Lyney and Hakusan Yoshimitsu:

Voice Actor: Shimono Hiro

One a flirty cat boi while the other a gentle fox boi.

Freminet and Matsui Gou:

Voice actor: Toki Shunichi

It feels illegal putting the two together...

Wriothesley and Hanamaru!Okita Souji:

Voice actor: Ono Daisuke

OnoDai voicing an actual TouDan when?!?!?

GaMing/Jiaming and Hizen Tadahiro:

Voice Actor: Komatsu Shouhei

I can see Hizen doting on GaMing (slowly pulls fanfic pen out)

Sethos and Hacchou Nenbutsu:

Voice Actor: Chiba Shoya

I can imagine the two getting along extremely well.

[skarletkardinal]

Mortal Kombat vs. Tekken

There should be a Mortal Kombat vs. Tekken crossover game. Essentially, a fighting game featuring characters from the Mortal Kombat series and characters from the Tekken series. Can you imagine, for example, Liu Kang squaring off with Kazuya Mishima, Kenshi Takahashi vs Yoshimitsu, or Johnny Cage and Steve Fox duking it out? Those are just a few fights I could imagine happening in such a game.

[raintranslated]

Hello Rainfall! I'm a new Code geass fan (also Schneizel x Kanon fan). If I may ask (and if this is the right place to ask) but if not, please don't hesitate to ignore this ask and I'm sorry in advance! ;; Do you per chance know what the episode director in the R2 commentary said about the ship? Since I heard the episode director shot down the ship's canon value entirely there :")

Hello! You're perfectly welcome to ask. 🙂 You aren't bothering anyone. Relax, friend!

That said: Are you sure it matters?

Like, I don't remember that from the subtitled commentaries I've watched on the original R2 boxset that Bandai released, and I would tend to assume that whatever this is was part of a commentary that got an Official Translation, but... I genuinely don't think it's worth your energy to worry about, much less the effort it would take me to track down the specific line and translate it if needed.

It's always satisfying, of course, when a creator says something nice about a piece of our own headcanon. Especially if you feel like your ship isn't very popular in fandom, it can be a real feather in your cap to have a creator say, "Oh, yeah, that was the ship I hoped people would really like." And a Shipper On Deck, as TV Tropes puts it, can sometimes make for a better viewing experience overall.

But authorial intent isn't magic. There are so, so, SO many canonical ships out there where, despite the creative team's intentions, the pairing just doesn't have a lot of chemistry. Writing romance is also a specific skill, and not every writer has it: indeed, not every writer respects it enough to even put much effort in. For plenty of writers, simply telling us that Character X is dating Character Y is all they're willing to do, before they go right back to putting all the actual screen time and development into X's dubiously platonic relationship with Z...

Plus, don't let the occasional shipping manifesto fool you — ships don't begin with spreadsheets that track frequency and depth of interaction between characters. Ships begin with an undefinable gut feeling: sometimes the result of an interaction we saw on screen, but sometimes the result of an interaction we imagined in our own heads, based on how we think the characters would interact if they ever spoke. The manifestos are just post-hoc rationalizations. And you can't reason people out of something they didn't reason themselves into.

Anyone trying to use Word of God to convince other people to abandon a given ship (almost always in favor of their own preferred, "competing" ship) is engaging in a fool's errand. And probably being kind of a jerk, too.

So: there's the first... half of my answer, haha.

It's not easy, and it takes both time and a mental adjustment, but it is VERY worth your while to practice telling yourself, "It literally doesn't matter what the creator said." (This is especially true of ships that aren't The Default, but hardly limited to that.)

More specific to your particular case: ...what does "R2 episode director" even mean? I assume it doesn't mean Taniguchi Gorou. Are we talking about something Ohashi Yoshimitsu said? That's the only name I see credited for a substantial amount of episodes, and only in 2008 (13 total, about half of R2's count).

Like, I wouldn't give Taniguchi Gorou or Ichirou Ohkouchi power over which characters I ship either (they definitely can't make me like C.C./Lelouch as specifically portrayed in Lelouch of the Re;surrection), but at least I'd understand why they were being treated as authorities for Code Geass.

If we're listening to Ohashi, though, why stop there? Lots of people directed the odd episode here or there. Hiroyuki Yoshino and Nomura Yuuichi actually wrote some episodes, let's let them weigh in on which ships are "canon", too. Goodness.

...So I guess the answer to your question is, "I don't know off the top of my head; maybe, but if I were you, I wouldn't let that stop me."

[authenssion]

Despite T7 Kuni's success, she goes in a bad direction for the legacy outside of being the most fleshed out appearance and the original Kunimitsu should be brought back without repeating her daughter's mistakes

T7 Kuni has a lot more tools to help her in both online and competitive compared to TTT2 Kuni like her new 2,2 extentions, projectile, stance lows beyond MUS 2 and BT d4 and an uf1+2 that doesn't require Yoshi for damage to name a few but is this enough to consider her a success?

T7 Kuni holds 40 more moves, better movement, a more cohesive 50/50 identity and better viability at all levels. With all of this considered and the fact that T7 is the highest selling game, high popularity would be expected for a character designed for such mass appeal in mind.

Original Kuni was consistently low tier and bare bones until TTT2 where she was only bare bones in the sense that she had to work hard to get in. Having only 2 special tag partners (wiki says Jaycee but I don't know the nature of the interaction) didn't help her popularity either. Mothermitsu has some really generic tools like sure 1, b1, df1 and df2 were great moves but their animations are a bit lackluster. Her df4 has great frames and is an excellent keep out tool however this move is shared with Yoshi, not helpful when trying to make a name for herself and come on, there's enough Yoshimitsu for 2 move sets and you're still doing this for his counterpart? Whatever her true pick rate in TTT2 was, she was judged too harshly considering her constant setbacks like her low tier placements (pre-TTT2) or overall lack of iconography. She didn't need to pass down her legacy, she deserved refinement. What pick rate even warrants replacing?

TTT2 Kuni is fast (outside of CH tools), proficient in rushdown, poking and evasion. 10 frame jab and 10 in SET, 13 frame df1 (her version is -1 on block), SET 2 you can buffer for extra 8 frames, some evasive options like in her BT and she can cancel SET. But her most iconic aspect is her combo game. So much versatility and expression. Style, but also substance. Even with 40 less moves TTT2 Kuni still had more interesting and cooler combos imo. She also shined as a tag partner which isn't a fair comparison I know but they could've incorporated her SET cancels better in combos. A highlight for me would be her 1 dash 1 (I prefer f+1 instead of 1) which sounds simple on paper but requires precise spacing. Good for wall carry, can do it after floor break and it's optimal for df1,3. I saw a video doing 3 of them after CH ff3+4,2,4 but lost it.

But wait a minute, why does this weapon wielding character have so few weapon moves after losing some from T2/TTT1 already? An implementation of unique iconography and more difficulty would help take Kunimitsu's already epic combo game to the next level. Nina's a well designed character (outside of broken balance issues like her interactions with Lars) and has an excellent combo game on top of that. She also has something difficult, iconic and unique to her: iWR+1 butterfly loop. Her cancels were also cool. She does this without a weapon and yet neither Kunimitsu uses their weapon in an interesting way like that. Not just tech but I've always felt both the mother and the daughter lacked iconic moves like Yoshi has. T7 is more of a failure for this because she had more moves and love.

As fleshed out as T7 Kuni is, her combos are somehow less interesting to me. Sure she's flashy but she's also mundane in other areas too like SET 4 and BT 1,3 SET also imagine having better movement but still requiring less spacing precision in combos overall. Not all dashes are the same in combos, if you disagree... go boot up TTT2 and do Michelle's ff3 d1+2 combo.

Now I'm going to do a quick review of her stances, starting with...

Musashi TTT2: FF3 T7: UF3+4

TTT2 Kuni's version has more damage at the expense of being slower which is a fair trade but why does an already evasive stance need a teleport on MUS 2? It's just a hard read move lol

Dust Ton/Doton Tag Only: D1+2

Dust Ton/Doton is my favorite Kuni stance, it started out as just an evasive read move. Severely underrated, I wish it was applicable to combos beyond a niche tag filler and a wall ender but I wouldn't want it to be too broken. I understand why they didn't give it to T7 Kuni. Doton would've been too much evasion for T7 Kuni on top of everything else. It doesn't have overlap with AOP (same input lmao) btw, there's room for both and AOP is Xiaoyu's main stance like Kuni's SET but with way more expression and transitions plus Kuni can't hold any of her stances and Xiaoyu has more ways to go in and out of AOP.

Katon T7 Only: 1+2

Replacement Kuni's replacement stance Katon compliments her 50/50 focus very well with a lot more options, but pivots to evasion as well making it very valuable overall. It fits her new direction but it's what I was worried would happen to doton, they gave it way too much. I mentioned AOP earlier because Doton's like a hybrid of AOP and Taki's Possession stance, perhaps out of fear of seeming too similar to Xiaoyu they shifted to Katon but ironically this makes T7 Kuni fail their goal of creating a unique ninja because it leans closer to possession. T7 Kuni is also a bit more string based than TTT2 and Taki is a string based character.

Urakarin (BT): B3+4

BT in TTT2 was fine, I wouldn't mind additions if they were actually cool or interesting like 3, d+4 or 3+4 but Kunimitsu II offers nothing of the sort... why should this unnecessary replacement character should return over Kunimitsu I again or even exist in any mainline roster?

Setsunagake F+3

Finally we move on to their main stance Setsunagake, pretty much the same issue with BT but less interesting for both outside of combo usage. F+4 is a pretty decent move and a common opener to SET stance. Chakra drop is awesome btw, go flat damage.Putting Kuni's SET cancels on the move list officially just to not incorporate them into her combos like OG Kunimitsu had in her tag combos and adding frost slide, her most useful low to do after a SET cancel imo (though db3 is faster but shared animation with Yoshi) is just beyond lame. We get it, you want to improve the mixup game. I'm not a fan of this stance, we already have characters like Lars and Shaheen doing something similar in T8 so does Kuni really need this as a main stance? To what end? I thought the goal was to create a UNIQUE ninja, as least doton is a creative spin on AOP.

The most egregious non-stance change T7 did for Kuni was Growling Jewel (f3+4). With OG Kuni it was such a good move. It was a high homing, a CH launcher, a wall break and most importantly a combo filler. T7 ruined that last part and made the animation look weird as a bonus. It was such a stylish combo move and it required good spacing and/or timing. It's without a doubt her most iconic non-stance, non-weapon and non-fire move and T7 butchered it with an easier CH combo route as well... why?

Making a masked character hand down their legacy just to have that character's mask be optional is just rubbing salt on the wound. It was bad enough they exposed part of OG Kuni's face on DEFAULT oufits imagine if they did this with other masked characters. Double standards much? That is another reason I can't accept this replacement, you broke allure of using a masked character and for what? A new audience? Then why not just make a new character that doesn't try to destroy and overwrite an existing character's legacy?

T7 Kuni feels like an overreaction to TTT2 Kuni's weaknesses the way aspects of her identity get overloaded like how T7 Zafina was an overreaction to T6/TTT2 Zafina leading to a weaker identity. Oh she's a rushdown character? Let's give her good approach tools. Oh she's a poking character? Let's give her hard to deal with strings. Original Kunimitsu had such bad lows so they made her daughter more of a mixup character, however what they failed to consider was that OG Kuni had an evasive playstyle so they should've toned that down in exchange beyond removing doton to not overshadow the original any further. Now she's a rushdown, poking and mixup character with evasion, better movement, a good projectile and viability at all levels of play... no wonder she's more popular than TTT2 Kuni.

If you prefer Kuni 2 that's one thing but consider Kuni 1's setbacks before judging her too harshly about how underdeveloped and unpopular she is, I just can't look past those 2 aspects yet I see it get ignored or boasted about like it's a completely fair comparison to make. TTT2 Kunimitsu was punished too severely, forget about T7 Kunimitsu and go back to the drafting stage, suggesting to replace a character that has been so wronged is so messed up. She was failed and has repeatedly been failed throughout the entire series and you just give up on her like that? I'm hoping this ends up as a Law situation, Kunimitsu created her own archetype and deserves to be the one to see it through.

I'd like to see T8 OG Kuni lean away from a 50/50 playstyle, having bad lows is fine just improve from TTT2 at least. Give her evasive moves that require mastery and hard reads to pull off effectively but more practical than ub3. The more unique iconography the better. I want T8 Kuni to have the coolest combo game in Tekken 8 with style, substance, high execution requirements, precise spacing, tricky inputs (beyond qcf and ewgf), blue sparks, cancels and more creative uses of stances. Bring back her fire stuff and remove T7's "Katon" which steals the name of OG Kuni's DB1+2 by the way. Refine her hitboxes and i12 2 punish. Give her a unique identity not just in the game but across most/all fighting game ninjas. Putting a 3D ninja like Taki alongside her would help to keep as a reminder of what's been done before so OG Kunimitsu can stand out as much as possible. Don't be afraid of how weak she was in TTT2 to the point where you have to overcompensate. I don't like T7's direction, keep the mistakes of the daughter Kunimitsu with her in T7 and bring back the mother Kunimitsu. She deserves to keep her own legacy and a fair chance for once.

[pixelsproject]

『The King of Fighters』 Athena's Attire ('94 to XII)

I haven’t checked, but I’m pretty sure Athena Asamiya has set the record for having the most default designs in a fighting game franchise. In nearly every King of Fighters game (there’s twenty-four!), Athena receives a brand new design. Excluding re-releases, revisions and games with 3D graphics, there’s 15 entries in the franchises that utilize hand drawn pixel art.

From 1994 to 2003, SNK released a new King of Fighters game each year. And while Athena appears to wear the same wardrobe for The King of Fighters ‘94 and ‘95, her outfit was slightly altered and she uses two different sets of sprites for each game.

After The King of Fighters 95’, she received a new costume in every mainline entry. As you can imagine, this is no small feat for a yearly series that uses hand drawn graphics.

In addition to the yearly releases from 94’ to 03’, SNK was also releasing spin-off KOF titles, and when Athena appeared in those, she typically re-used a design from the series' most recent release.

After The King of Fighters 2003, the franchise stopped doing yearly releases, but the series continued to use hand drawn graphics until 2010.

To reference her arcade origins in Psycho Solider, Athena's outfit in XI is a traditional Japanese school uniform.

The last two entries in the series to use pixel art, The King of Fighters XII and XIII, featured some of the largest and most smoothly animated sprites you’ll ever see in a fighting game. Each character took over a year to design. It's highly unlikely we'll ever see another project like these.

In these two games, Athena would continue to wear a sailor uniform, and for the first time, she'd utilize the same base sprites for two games in a row. In XII, Athena's uniform has a dark palette, while XIII's uniform has a lighter palette.

On a technical level, these sprites are quite impressive, but I’m not the biggest fan of them. Athena and the other KOF characters ended up losing far too much of their personality with these new sprites.

It’s interesting to note that Athena and some of the other playable characters looked bit different at one point in the XII’s development.

One interesting note about The King of Fighters 2002 - Challenge to Ultimate Battle, Athena's "Psychic 9" technique has her showcasing her previous looks and some new ones as well. This technique is seen in many of KOF 2002's sequels too.

Finally, I should probably acknowledge that Athena Asamiya is the modern reincarnation of Princess Athena who also appears in a few SNK fighting games as either a playable or helper character. Sorry, but I’m not covering Princess Athena here!

And that's that! I've certainly written more about school girl uniforms than I would've ever liked... All kidding aside, I had a lot of fun putting this together. The only other fighting game character with this many default designs would have to be Tekken's Yoshimitsu, and he's almost exclusively in games with 3D graphics.

---

SOURCES ↴ Athena (arcade) screenshots (Killer List of Video Games) The King of Fighters XII (arcade) sprite concept artwork (Thoughts on XII's original sprite designs and scrapped characters? by MetAigis (Reddit/r/kof) The King of Fighters '94 (Neo Geo) Athena concept artwork uploaded by Saxophone Blessings (SNK Wiki) Psycho Soldier (arcade) screenshots (Killer List of Video Games)

[marshmallowloves]

SON OF A BITCH LMAO okay the edit didn't work so I'm just gonna post the link to this then

I drew something spicy with Cecil and Yoshimitsu and I love it and am proud of it so motherfucker I'm gonna show you people one way or another kjdfhg (I posted it on FA, or if you don't have/want to make an account to see it there, you can just use this discord link)

fun fact: "to touch" and "to sit" sound almost identical in Japanese. even more fun is imagining Cecil trying to ask if she can touch Yoshimitsu's mask one time and accidentally asking to sit on his face instead kdjfhg the sword is there because I thought it would be hilarious if, in true Yoshimitsu fashion, you still don't get to see his face even when he's got nothing on (I do though because I also made a version without the sword and drew his whole face mwahahaha) anyway it's 2 am and idk how to write anything right now (flies into the sun)

[kaitothefirst]

May 24- Kinkakuji and Daitokuji

I was extremely excited for today, as the number one activity that stood out to me when first looking at the itinerary was Kinkakuji. I had always wanted to visit this temple long before the start of our trip (I even often looked at its Google 360 view in high school). When we got there, it was exactly as beautiful as I imagined it. Although the crowds were pretty ridiculous, I got some amazing pictures. I even bought a non-anime-related souvenir for once when I got a little art print of the temple at the nearby gift shop. Daitokuji was also a pretty great experience, as it was nice to be able to sit in the quiet and think for a bit. I feel like Kyoto has somehow felt more exhausting than Tokyo lately, so this was especially nice. During our breakoff time, I continued my anime shopping from yesterday, but today’s store was Mandarake. It was much better than both its Shibuya and Akihabara locations and definitely much better than the Kyoto Bookoff. I ended up buying a whole bunch of volumes of Animage and character song CDs. When I got to the hotel, I decided to use my time at least somewhat productively and finally got around to organizing my luggage. Today felt packed with satisfying moment after satisfying moment, and I’m glad that I was able accomplish so much.

Academic Reflection

Today’s readings on Kinkakuji involved both a fictionalized backstory about the man who burned down the temple and an analysis of Medieval Japan, which is the period in which the temple was first built. The text on Medieval Japan describes Yoshimitsu, the Ashikaga shogun who presided over the construction of Kinkakuji, as a highly experienced and regal leader with great appreciation for the arts. Looking at the temple today and understanding its fairly recent reconstruction, it is understandable to conclude that Kinkakuji itself reflects these grand artistic characteristics of Yoshimitsu. The gold does not only appear to act as a flaunting of wealth but as a visually appealing design choice. It definitely stood out in terms of appearance compared to all of the other shrines and temples we have visited so far. As such, possibly without even knowing Yoshimitsu’s characteristics as described in the book, one can easily conclude that the individual who oversaw the construction of such a temple would be a highly artistically inclined individual.

The readings related to our visit to Daitokuji focused on the history of Zen culture, the significance of certain designs in “zen gardens”, and the modern debates over the use of the phrase “zen garden”. One characteristic of the gardens seen today that clearly paralleled with the readings was the use of gravel to represent water and appear as ripples. The text explains how such ripples portray individuals who throws themselves into the sea of Buddha in pursuit of enlightenment. In this case, the boulders that I saw at the garden would represent such individuals, with the surrounding not-yet-rippled gravel representing the sea of Buddha with opportunity for enlightenment.

[sapropel]

If you close your eyes you can imagine Wyll Ravengard and Yoshimitsu kissing each other

[demonsfate]

imagine not promoting your game at the biggest gaming stage when it's only 8 weeks away from release. couldn't be me. are Harada and co on crack or something

It is just... so fucking bizarre. Like remember the hype from last year's TGA? When they revealed the story trailer? I had fucking first day Covid and I still stayed up for that. I really, REALLY don't get why Harada & Co. failed to show anything this TGA. With the game so near, they could've showed something that would REALLY spark hype. They could've shown a Yoshimitsu or Devil Jin trailer - as those are two very iconic characters that would ignite a lil hype. They could've shown another story trailer. Or, they could've maybe talked about the DLC characters people will get if they buy the special editions.

But no... crickets. It's even worse that they've all been talking about it on social media, too. Which yesss, they're game devs - so of course they'll be attending and excited for it. But with all the tweets, it really made fans think they were gonna show something, especially after last year's.