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you either die based or live long enough to become cringe

Another soft pastel piece of my other sister's dog: Millie

Logo by me Quite a while a ago, the first version of this site's card maker has gone online. While it does do its thing, there are quite a few points on which it could be improved. This entails both reworking the code (as it is quite a mess that hardly uses any of the available tooling), and adding new features that makes using it a great experience. Some parts of the development process will be detailed in this blog. Tooling improvements This first instalment will be about the original implementation and improvements to the toolchain for developing the newer version of the card maker. Bundling the code As indicated in the intro of this blog, the original implementation hardly used any tooling. Most of the code was written in plain HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I beleive that, at the time, browsers hadn't standardized how to import dependencies from the code itself at the time (and even if they did, support among different browsers was subpar). This meant that you'd have to orchetrate the imports yourself, or place everything in one big file. Plain JavaScript <script src="level-editor.js"></script> <script src="name-editor.js"></script> <!-- And many more such lines… --> <script src="card-maker.js"></script> As some parts of the code depend on the content of another file, you'd need to make sure the order which the files are imported is correct; files without dependencies first, any others after all of their dependencies. As you can imagine, this is quite error prone. You could probably hack something together like the following to have a file specify it's own dependencies. But there are some edge cases involved that are easy to get wrong. function dependOn(url) { var dependency = document.createElement("script"); dependency.src = url; dependency.onLoad = callback; document.body.appendChild(dependency); } dependOn("level-editor.js"); // At this point, the dependency would not have been loaded yet, // so using any of the code in the relevant file would lead to // errors. new LevelEditor(); // Using a callback instead that is invoked when the file has loaded // is more likely to work out correctly. dependOn("level-editor.js", function() { // There is however no guarantee that the code in "level-editor.js" has // run at this point. Any definitions might thus not be in effect yet. }); Another issue with the naïve implementation above is that it does not check whether the file has already been imported, for example when multiple different files have the same dependency. This could lead to useless duplication of code. RequireJS Luckily there was a project available that took care of most of these issues, and had some other utilities that you might not have thought about. I'm referring to RequireJS. You'd wrap the content of your file in a function called "define", where you specify on which other files it depends, and what to do once all dependencies have loaded. // level-editor.js define([], function(){ return function LevelEditor() { // … } }); // card-maker.js define(["level-editor"], function(LevelEditor){ return function CardMaker() { // … } }); Optionally, you could even specify what to do when the dependency failed to load. Most code was thus wrapped in those "define" function calls. Now only the entry point needed to be included, and the dependencies would automatically resolve themselves. This was nice for development purposes, but for users and the server it isn't as great. First you download the HTML that specifies it needs a script file; fair enough lets fetch that as well. The browser then finds out that it needs another file(s) first, so download those as well; same story. This could go on for a little while, making the site slow to load. Luckily RequireJS also provided an optimizer that bundles all those files into a single file (or split something into different files that can be loaded later when actually needed). It also performed other optimizations, such as shortening function names, removing comments and whitespace. This would all lead to faster load times. This all sounds great, so why change it? Well… as it turns out not every dependency does support RequireJS. And in cases where they do, everything but the kitchensink is included. Not great for efficiency (as is typically noted in the relevant documentation). Manually managing software versions of used libraries is also not ideal. NPM/Yarn/etc As it turns out, there are a few options out there for managing dependencies of your project, irrespecitive of whether those are part of the output, or solely for helping with development (such as bundlers, linters that check whether your code follows a standard, or transpilers that take care of turning modern code into code understood by older browsers). Most of them are interchangeable; they pull in the code from a software library (and its dependencies), and keep track of which versions have been installed. I have picked "yarn". So if I were to add some dependencies I'd write something akin to: $ yarn add react react-dom $ yarn add --dev typescript Most libraries that you pull in this way also document how you should import them; effectively the same in all instances, but different compared to the code listed prior ("define"). Not too big of a deal, and looks somewhat neater when a lof of dependencies are involved. import React from "react"; import { render } from "react-dom"; import { Rating } from "@mui/material"; // Rating (by default) uses stars to let the users input a number; ideal for the level editor. render(React.createElement(Rating, { min: 0, max: 12 }), document.getElementById("root")); Now, if we were to directly use the above file, we'd probably run into the issue of the browser not understanding import statements; it is syntax that was introduced for a different code execution environment (Node). A transpiler/bundler could take care of resolving those dependencies. Webpack But wait, didn't we just go over RequireJS, and it not being suitable for the job? Yes, but there are quite a few other options out there. And unlike RequireJS they support the import syntax that is actually supported in some contexts. In my experience Webpack is most commonly used, including in scripts that help set-up boiler-plate code. So for example, if you have the following two files: // card-maker.js import { LevelEditor } from "./level-editor.js"; function CardMaker() { LevelEditor(); } CardMaker(); // level-editor.js export function LevelEditor() { console.log("Editing levels!"); } Webpack would generate output akin to the following (which has been somewhat simplified compared to actual output). (function(modules) { var installedModules = { }; function require(id) { if (installedModules[id]) { return installedModules[id].exports; } var module = installedModules[id] = { id: id, loaded: false, exports: {} }; modules[id](module, module.exports, require); module.loaded = true; return module.exports; } require("./card-maker.js"); })({ "./card-maker.js": (function(module, exports, require) { var LevelEditor = require("./level-editor.js")["default"]; (function CardMaker() { LevelEditor() })(); }), "./level-editor.js": (function(module, exports, require) { exports["LevelEditor"] = function() { console.log("Editing levels!"); } } }); This way the dependencies get correctly resolved in the required order, making it far easier to work with compared to plain JavaScript. Now at this point you might wonder whether all that hassle was worth the somewhat hard to read output, compared to where we started: manually ordering imports. I would say very much so. Though it might not be all that apparent from the code examples. Some benefits you also get (sometimes requiring plugins for Webpack) include: Optimizing output by stripping useless whitespace and comments, as well as renaming functions and variables to something less verbose, saving a lot of bytes in the long run Splitting code that is relevant for different pages into reusable packages, or only importing code when actually necessary Hot reloading, so you do not manually need to rebuild the code and refresh the page each time you make a change Allow for importing different file types, to make sure they are bundled. And I'm probably forgetting a few other advantages. That might have sounded like quite a few hoops to jump through, and might actually be the case. However, there have been some kind developers that have created some script that take care of most this stuff. Thanks to those scripts, it essentially boils down to running a single command, akin to the following (this is but one such command). $ yarn create next-app --typescript There might still be some configuration required depending on your use case, but I reckon it still greatly simplifies things fo you. And with that I'll end of this post; it has already gone on for longer than I initally intended, despite hardly involving any code of the card maker itself.

And so it was after much potato passing that the tournament is over! 4th place is Roller Toaster, got kinda burnt 3rd place is Oscar Meyer Weinermobile, the champion of food based cars 2nd place is Shark Bite, which proved to be the preferred shark car but couldn't defeat... the grand champion of hot wheels, the incredible, magnificent.... LONDON BUS IN 1ST PLACE

Hello everyone, this is my first time on this platform and I just want to say that I am looking forward to sharing my ideas with you and I hope we can get along.

My sister's dog, Maia, in soft pastel.

this is, like, just a touch of brass away from being a eurobeat song and now i can't help but think of robots drifting around corners oh no help 7.5/10OP Suggestion: damon albarn has a new album out and it's pretty good i guess 7/10

"I honestly didn't spend any money on this. As you said, got to have friends...I was given some of these by one of my friends who runs a card shop in town. I'm a regular at the shop annnnnd he knows I'm looking for some good Pendulum cards, so he knew I'd be enjoying them." Falisha gives a small nod, humming as she slipped open a few cards, shifting through the packs a bit more, "There's definitely some odd cards in here. I admit I don't much pay attention to non-synchro cards!" She smiles before looking up as Daichi responded to her question. "Honestly that's why I was offering the card opening right now, since we didn't have a chance earlier. Ya know, better late than never." Daichi nodded, before his smile turned into a smirk. "Same time, the arcade or coffee offer does sound good too...so perhaps I'll hold ya to that!" A light laugh came from the young man, before returning to this opened pack and immediately seeing the card he stopped on. "Well then, sounds like it'll be a lovely day out whenever I can manage to drag myself away from my D-Wheel! Oooooh..." She seems to get a bit of a glint in her eye, "You wanna see how fast an unclocked D-Wheel can go on a straightaway interstate that doesn't have much traffic? We're not too far away from some of the high-end video game head offices and I'm certain we could have some fun there." She gives a small chuckle, whispering that entire sentence and seeming to eye towards Vega to make sure she wasn't heard. He slowly thumbed it to the side and brought it closer. "Hatrickuriboh...well, that's certainly adorable." he nodded. "Same time, seems like a perfect fit!" Sliding the card over to his deck box, Daichi was thrilled about the new addition. Falisha grinned and gave him a thumbs-up, "Nice, that's great! Though if you wanna use me as a good luck charm..." She pouts at him, "You're supposed to invite a gal out before you use 'em, Daichi! How rude!"

I have an interview with a fortune 200 company tomorrow at 3. Wish me luck because if it goes well, I’ll be relocating. Possibly to either New Jersey or Texas.

←Previous Post Last Phase -- And The Days We Chance Upon… Or: …Must Come To An End Twenty-five weeks ago, when I was first starting this project, I said Planetes was, at one point, my favorite anime, and the point of the project was to find out if that was still the case. I’m still struggling with that question, to be honest. Not in a broad sense, mind you -- broadly speaking, I think my favorites are those of the more pretentious fare these days -- but in the specifics, where things start to break down. There isn’t really a weak element of Planetes in my eyes outside of the initial romance, and even that improves over time as our understanding of the characters grows and evolves. There are a lot of elements to Planetes, too. The climax requires that the viewer at least sympathizes with basically every named character, a prerequisite that falls apart if any of the episodes are especially bad. At the same time, though, I can’t remember an especially stand-out episode either. I think the closest would be the one with Temara the El Tanikan engineer? Or the one where Hachimaki gets lost in space and has to recover? Even then, these episodes aren’t that much more exemplary than the rest. It feels like Planetes stays in the solid 7-8 range, occasionally rising to a 9 but never all the way to a perfect 10 to buoy the series. I still feel an attachment to this show, though. Doesn’t it still deserve something for being my “first favorite,” whatever that means? It’s certainly an emotional connection, the kind where each heartfelt moment triggers the same reaction in me that it did the first time. When Nono introduces Hachi to her “ocean,” when the suicidal parents reclaim their daughter and reaffirm their will to keep living, it’s all genuine. There is no cynicism here. But also, am I going to miss this show? After taking a month-long break and posting another poll and moving on to future projects? Honestly, probably not, and not just because technically the show isn’t going anywhere (it’s on the internet now, you think it’ll get lost?). That being said, when I inevitably rewatch this show in three years or five years or however long until then, I think I’ll be glad I made that decision. A comfort show. That’s the term I’m looking for. And in terms of that, I think Planetes is exemplary.All the stories that still needed wrapping up get wrapped up here. I won’t go in chronological order because a show about space has no need for time, but I do want to touch on all of them. The throughline for the episode is Hachimaki, so let’s start with him: Hachimaki’s “deal” got solved last episode, but this is the episode that really drives it home, directly comparing who he was at the beginning of the series to where he is now by returning both him and Ai to Debris Section and having characters stop by, including Edel, who has moved on to a full-time position at Technora; and most of his friends, who he shares a similar rapport with now that he’s a minor space celebrity compared to before, but the atmosphere is more clearly now one of respect, at least as far as “this is the last we’ll see of each other for seven years” extends. Hachi also reacts with embarrassment at seeing his old will pinned up against the wall because he’s moved on from that sort of “die and the world moves on without you” attitude. Ai too has kept moving forward, often in the physical sense in that she continued her physical therapy, the thing that allowed her to make the Technora visit in the first place, but also in the mental. Her line as she steps through the door to Debris Section, “There are many different kinds of love,” is not one she would have made at the beginning of the show. We also get to find out the exact circumstances of her rescue, her refusal to kill Claire to prolong her own life, demonstrating that while her views have changed slightly, there is still the same Ai Tanabe behind those eyes. That brings us to Claire then, who is now serving her terrorism sentence. Her scene details her reaffirmation of her right to live, as she tells Cheng-shin and Hachimaki how Ai’s stance on the value of her (Claire’s) life reinvigorated hers, and it was she who alerted the passing shuttle to their presence. In some ways, she has been cut off from her El Tanikan heritage in prison, with her isolation and the prison cutting off her dreadlocks, but she also continues to find her way forward, learning El Tanikan so she might be able to work as a translator when she gets out. This is also the scene where Planetes spells out its thesis in the simplest terms: “The opposite of love isn’t hate,” Cheng-shin tells Claire, “it’s apathy.” Apathy is the destroyer here, and while I won’t go back and list every single example the show has provided, you can go back and see, both in the blog and in the episodes themselves, where this has been the case. Okay, I will mention one: It’s been said over and over how Dolf’s passion, presumably for space development, even if we don’t get a lot out of the show specifically confirming that, puts him above the standard upper management, and it’s in this episode that he demonstrates that, cutting himself off from the cold and emotionless Technora board to instead work with Wernher Locksmith and his upcoming projects. Last, but certainly not least, is the scene sandwiched inside all of this, Nono’s encounter with Hakim on the lunar surface. As a Hakim on the run prepares to make sure Nono never blabs about him, he lets slip his motives, though they’re a different set than the ones he’s been telling himself the past: a more generic “we need to take all countries back to the good old days and start again from there.” It’s this genericized rhetoric, of course, that strips him of his humanity, he has become the thing he described to Hachimaki just a few episodes prior, an animal always moving forwards towards a goal, no matter what that goal might be. Nono, of course, counters like she always would, “Where’s your country?” And here’s the scene I was thinking of when I mentioned Hakim’s reaction to Temara sobbing at the non-existence of boundary lines. He can’t see them either, and the realization of what he’s been fighting for, along with the further realizations kept only to himself (though we can guess it’s things like “What have I done, and what was I fighting for?”) that gets him to back down. The final shots of Planetes are of baby clothes waving in the wind, signalling the arrival of Ai and Hachimaki’s child in just a few months; and a shot of the sky, both of which do the same heavy lifting as the tilt towards the sky in the ED. It’s a message of hope for the future, that humanity can carry the light to Jupiter, to the stars, and beyond. -r Next time: A month break, and then who knows? ←Previous Post

By "one of the least memorable duelists in the entire game" apparently I meant that I would forget to post an entry for an entire month. Tagforce 1 #32: Laurence The Duel Field is almost entirely populated by Obelisk Blue students in the morning. Out of the nine characters that you can find there, Laurence is the only one among them that is not part of the Obelisk Blue dorm. Being there every day must be disastrous for Laurence's W/L ratio, but not as much as dueling me a billion times because I felt like it. Though maybe he has learned that he is no match for anyone else there and just watches other people duel so that he can take notes and learn from the best that this Academy has to offer. In fact, that may be more likely, since in the afternoons the people hanging out at the Duel Field are considerably weaker. But wait, it gets better. Nine students in one area is a lot, yes, but why are there so many of them there? Because that's where the Elemental Masters are in the morning. The remaining two are just Jaime and Syun who are chilling in the corner. So the real reason that Laurence is here is because he's a fan of the Elemental Masters. Their only fan, in fact. Sadly for Laurence however the Elemental Masters head back to the Obelisk Blue Boys Dorm after class, so he won't be able to watch them duel until the next day. Instead, Laurence will hang out by his dorm for the rest of the day. Laurence warns the player about running cards that can return themselves to the top of the deck, pointing out that they also limit the cards you can draw since you are drawing those cards instead. This is a pretty helpful tip, even if there are only a few cards that you can have this problem with (Cockroach Knight, Horn of the Unicorn, and Sword of Deep-Seated). He should have a chat with Hiro! Wait a minute... return ME to the top of the deck?! YOU DARE?! Laurence runs a goblin-themed deck. Similarly to Andrea, you can see him incorporating his own dueling tip into his deck. Not only does he not even run any cards that return themselves to the top of his deck, he runs a lot of draw power. Coach Goblin, Goblin Housekeeping, Upstart Goblin, Jar of Greed, he's even one of the three Slifers who run Pot of Greed. This allows him to cycle through his deck very efficiently. The problem is that he doesn't run much worth cycling into. D.D. Trainer is one of his best cards, and Giant Orc would be if the AI were competent enough to equip it with Second Goblin rather than Setting it all the time. Coach Goblin in theory is a neat card but its stats aren't good enough, plus you'd rather wait on the Trainer than return it. D.D. Crazy Beast is a decent counter card for floaters but it needs help in order to be more than a nuisance. Goblin of Greed counters some very niche cards but in order for it to work well your opponent needs to attack into it with something weak. If they have a monster with 1900 ATK then this card just dies miserably. Dark Factory of Mass Production isn't a bad card, but when you run only three vanillas it can be quite difficult to use. Nevertheless, D.D. Trainer is one of his best cards here so... Goblin Thief exists just to make it nearly impossible to get the No Damage bonus against this guy. He almost always draws into it. Jar Robber counters exactly one card in the entire game, but that card is Pot of Greed, so it isn't that bad. But it's still bad. And I don't think the AI even uses it. Second Coin Toss exists just for Gamble and nothing else. It will almost always do nothing. Appropriate is entirely opponent-dependent in this deck as Laurence can't make you draw (outside of Heavy Slump which isn't enough). Bubble Crash seems like a decent counter to cards that explode in advantage (like Cyber Jar) but the AI never thinks about using it either. Gamble is a silly card. You can draw 3-5 cards or lose an entire fucking turn. Second Coin Toss makes it a lot more manageable but it's still way too much risk for that reward. The AI will not use Goblin Out of the Frying Pan unless it disturbs some timing-specific play, which is pretty much the only way to play this card. It is way too situational to be ran at three copies. In fact it's too situational to run one copy. Good Goblin Housekeeping is a card that I love the design of and I will be forever angry at the decision to put it on the banlist because of some wacky combo with Emergency Provisions. Heavy Slump can only reliably counter a few cards like Cyber Jar, It's a really brutal card, but it's not worth playing unless you run cards that help your opponent set this card up. This guy is surprisingly good at countering Cyber Jar, huh. This is another deck that I am just going to remake from scratch. There is an idea similar to what Laurence is trying, but I want to save that deck for someone later down the line. I'll be dropping the goblin theme because they aren't a real archetype. Blindly Loyal Goblin is a decent card in a format with 3 Brain Control and 1 Snatch Steal but it just exists to be immune to those cards. Goblin King has a deck of its own but it's more invested in Fiend monsters. I'll probably make something involving it by the time I reach a Fiend duelist. This deck makes sense for Laurence if you squint your eyes very hard. Laurence likes to draw cards, or at the very least cycle through his deck, and this deck likes to have a big hand. The idea is that you want to commit minimally to the board, just enough to stay alive, until you get Muka Muka out (enraged or not). It's pretty neat to float a Giant Rat into a beefy Enraged Muka Muka. I also threw in a bunch of other tech options to float into with the rat such as Exiled Force, D.D. Warrior, Hyper Hammerhead, and Mad Sword Beast. The way Muka Muka works, you don't want to put your entire hand on the board, so broad yet effective backrow like Solemn Judgment are great defensive options for this deck. Giant Trunade was picked over Heavy Storm here in case you do have to set too much backrow to boost your monsters effectively, you can use this to bounce them back while clearing away cards from your opponent. Same with CED. Laurence gets a 5/10. I figured out a lot about this character while typing up this post, and it significantly improved on a character that I thought was just there. I really appreciate it when you can see duelists' dueling tips influencing their deck, and his deck isn't too bad for a Slifer Red, just mostly hampered by a poor AI. Stay tuned for when I review the next duelist, which at the rate I'm going will be sometime next year. Hopefully earlier.

"Sure, I don't see why I wouldn't be able to help you out. How many ya gotta get through? Also ya like, know it tends to be cheaper to get what you want by not buying from packs, yeah? Makes it kinda hard to get multiples though... Unless ya got friends, that is! Sadly not too much in that one, granted I tend to go for some of the janky stuff seeing as I can afford it." Daichi laughed as he waved this off. "I honestly didn't spend any money on this. As you said, got to have friends...I was given some of these by one of my friends who runs a card shop in town. I'm a regular at the shop annnnnd he knows I'm looking for some good Pendulum cards, so he knew I'd be enjoying them." He grabbed another pack, opening it and sifting through them slowly. "No worries about that pack...still got plenty." "By the way, what do you think of how they're dueling? And uh, I know I was kinda unavailable to hang out the other day, sorry about that. You mind if I treat you to coffee or like the arcade to make up for it? I-It's okay if no!" He paused at the moment Falisha saying this, as he looked at the young woman, giving her his trademark smile. "Honestly that's why I was offering the card opening right now, since we didn't have a chance earlier. Ya know, better late than never." Daichi nodded, before his smile turned into a smirk. "Same time, the arcade or coffee offer does sound good too...so perhaps I'll hold ya to that!" A light laugh came from the young man, before returning to this opened pack and immediately seeing the card he stopped on. He slowly thumbed it to the side and brought it closer. "Hatrickuriboh...well, that's certainly adorable." he nodded. "Same time, seems like a perfect fit!" Sliding the card over to his deck box, Daichi was thrilled about the new addition. "Oh right, as for how they're Dueling? Well...so far it seems like, at least, in our esteemed captain's side, it seems like it's going to be an even match up between our Duel Sniper and theirs...though Rosalia isn't the type to be so easily beaten. She holds the captain position for a reason." he gave the other two screens a side glance. "No doubt Eve will be fine with her Turbo Dueling...that said…" Daichi's gaze turned towards the one with Charlie and Sai. "...he's representing us...in my stead. I can only hope that he doesn’t lump us further down the path of a Heel...or for that matter...make a mockery of Action Duels for entertainment purposes." He sighed heavily at that last part, although this was what he wanted...didn't still mean he didn't have this innate fear of Sai sullying the grandeur of an Action Duel. "I just feel bad I got so obsessive over my baby that I didn't notice it had been a couple days... and well when I realized that uh... I don't remember how long I was out, though I think someone was checking up on me...? I woke up with a blanket so..." "Oh no, don't apologize for putting effort and love into that D-Wheel of yours, Falisha." Daichi put that pack down and went for another, opening it immediately. "Honestly, I don't mind helping if I can. After all, your idea to utilize your gemstones in a flashy display that will stun audiences has intrigued me greatly. Remember, I'm all about the flashy presentations that will leave the audience speechless." Glancing down, he saw another card and it intrigued him so. "Crystal...Horned...Dragon…" A hush came over him as his eyes closed, seeming to be thinking about something. Suddenly, a wide smile appeared on his face yet again. "Perfect! This is just what I needed!" With that, he put this card also in his deck box. "I'm starting to think you may be a good luck charm, Falisha!"

My favorite was consistently pumpkin pie until recently, but with dairy turning out to not be good for me and subsequently removed from my diet, plus how much of it is apparently in a pumpkin pie, I reluctantly have to give the title of "favorite thanksgiving food" to corn of all things. Least favorite has always been turkey. It's like chicken but exchanging all the good points of chicken for turning your mouth into the goddamn Sahara Desert.

←Previous Post -- Next Post→ Phase 25 -- The Lost Or: It’s Not Quite Professional Therapy, But It’ll Do It’s really good that Yuri had his revelation like a dozen episodes ago so I don’t have to summarize the main thesis of the show in its final hour. I mean, I will anyway because it’s a good moral, but certainly not to the same extent that I did last time, and certainly with more of a Hachimaki focus than as a broad spectrum thing. Anyway: Hachimaki’s biggest problem is that he has always viewed space as a frontier -- the next place for humans yearning to explore. But that mindset 1) stems from a legacy of colonialism, something the show has constantly examined through its depiction of INTO, and 2) not true because it excludes an entire planet’s worth of things in it. Space, Planetes then argues, is everything past the tip of your nose. Everything and everyone is a part of Space with a capital S, and therefore the world is just as deserving of Hachimaki’s aims as everywhere else. This leaking of terms, bleeding the boundary between the stellar and the terrestrial, goes both ways, of course. That’s how the comparison between the crushing realities of both the infinite, uncaring nature of the cosmos and, bluntly, capitalism comes into play. But, as I’ve set before, the solution to both has already been presented as well (or at least a starting point -- it’s not as if the show ends with all problems of the world solved): We are not alone. Of course, I don’t mean in an “aliens exist” sense -- the only alien in Planetes is Technora’s mascot and I’m pretty sure that’s just a guy in a suit -- but in the broadest sense. Hachimaki knows and loves and is loved by everyone in Debris Section, not to mention his own family, plus his high-school buddy from Episode Fourteen, and on and on and on. And each of those people, each link in the chain, has their own connections, people whose lives would not be the same without, and so it goes throughout the entire world. Even Hakim, who Hachimaki could not kill (not for lack of trying -- one could argue despite the reveal being so late in the episode, Hachimaki pulling the trigger is the inciting incident of this episode), is included in Hachimaki’s vision here. Hachi is just as defined by his interactions with Hakim as he is by everything else. Ai was wrong about love, but only partially. Love alone is not the solution to the world’s ills. But it is a good starting point. Speaking of Ai Tanabe, while we don’t have an explanation as to how she survived her trek across the moon’s surface, we do know the aftermath: her nerves are damaged and she’s quit Technora, but she should be able to make a full recovery if she does well in physical therapy. Claire also survived, so the only real remaining reveal for that particular storyline is how we got from A to B. There are a few other points to wrap up as well, such as Dolph and Werner Locksmith’s partnership and what eventually became of Hakim, but we’re getting there. -r Next time: All good things… ←Previous Post -- Next Post→

Chris watched the other parts of the plan come together even as he tried to keep his focus on his part. Keeping behind the minotaur was difficult work; it kept its head on a swivel, too, narrowing its blind spot to fractions of what it ideally could have been. A lot of zig-zagging was involved, only taking risks (and not even particularly risky risks) in the moments the minotaur huffed. The magicked boots really did help, too -- not that Chris had had any doubts over Estellise’s abilities, but even then they were more effective than he imagined, as he made his way closer and closer. Lana took a pretty heavy hit, getting thrown into a wall like that, but Chris just kept going. The sting of failure from only a few floors above with the goblin camp still haunted him. This one had to work, he told himself. And, when he saw his moment, when he was within range to charge at the minotaur’s back, he took it. He started running again, this time with the blast powder even more at the ready than it was before. There wasn’t a need to keep up the surprise anymore -- this was the surprise. A few steps later, Chris planted his foot in the ground, leapt as high as he could, and dumped as much of the blast powder as he could all over the minotaur’s shoulders and back. When he landed, he kept running, still towards the magma, only diverting from his straight line when it was impossible to do otherwise, and even then returning to it once he had navigated around the pit. “Alright, it’s on!” he called out. “Just needs the blast and maybe a little extra push! Hey you! Cow-face! Over here!” Now that his part was done, he really did hope Lana was okay.

Party In A Forest (Where’s Laura?) Ricky took a moment to recalibrate as both watchdogs responded to his question each in their own way, a way that left him with only really talking to one of them by the end of it. The gods truly were inscrutable in their methods, he thought. Then, to the one remaining dog -- Kitt of Taros, as they introduced themselves -- he said, “Well, hey, I mean, I probably don’t know what’s specifically wrong, like, what’s wrong with our island that both means the gods have sent you and that other one here but also what’s wrong in a way that the watchdog already here couldn’t solve, but…” He trailed off for a second, lost on his own train of thought again, really trying to figure out the best way to help answer their burning questions, even if most of them were still only implied ones. Was the island in danger? The answer was probably already “yes” to that question, right? Were there any problems he personally had? “Oh, yeah, I’ve got a problem, actually,” he said as if the previous pause had not existed at all. “I lost a bunch of stuff last night, like, tools, though those I probably just left out; a book, that one’s super important; and, uh, you know, stuff. So now that I’ve remembered I gotta check with the harbormaster n’ start looking I guess. Lost stuff, is that the kind of thing you’re going for? “Gotta find Laura too, she’ll probably be able to help me out. She’s a real great finder, actually. If you ever need something found, you just gotta find her first. Probably at the temple, I bet? This early in the day? Yeah, probably. Oh, and maybe Joy too, if she’s not doing anything else. She’ll probably be upset about the book thing but ehh that’s my lump to take, not yours.” Ricky pointed off further inland. “That way’s the temple. Not counting the ruined castle, it's the biggest thing on the island so I don’t think you can miss it. I’d guess you either do that or follow me after that captain and see what Sparky’s been up to.” Let’s Dance To Joy Division There certainly was a lot to do that morning, Joy thought, even more so than the normal aftermath of the island’s parties, and yet she still started the day like she always did (or at least tried to): a morning walk, starting from just outside the old castle walls on the far western end of the island and moving in concentric arcs, back and forth until she had traversed the whole island, taking in the consequences of the previous day in their entirety. Despite the impressive scale, most of it was about what she’d expected, mostly in the form of the older buildings on the island continuing to crumble away into rubble, the newer ones just managing to hang on. It was the surprises, though, that interested Joy the most. Surprises like most of the people on street-cleaning duty actually getting up on time -- that was a big one -- or still being able to see the top of that zeppelin ship that had flown in the night before peeking out over the rooftops -- it had looked so small up there against the darkness of the night sky. The biggest surprise, of course, was finding a face she had never seen before curled up against a barrel, clearly in distress. “You poor creature,” Joy couldn’t help but say. “Let's get you someplace out of the weather.” Transporting the unconscious body was no small feat, but it was manageable with the help of some passers-by who were only too happy to help once they saw who was asking for their time. Thankfully as well, once she was no longer meandering through Andalou’s streets, it didn’t take very long at all to return to her home and place them on her bed until they awoke. She was in the middle of preparing a compress for them -- they’d felt a bit feverish back then out on the street -- when they stumbled back into her main room. “Oh! Good morning,” Joy said, pretending (even if probably not very well) to not notice her visitor’s continued anguish. “I’m Joy, a watchdog of Laeta -- and yes I know, but if you want to hear an even more on-the-nose name, you should hear what my dad tried to name me. This is my house, you’re safe here, and, um, I know this sounds a bit silly but I suppose it behooves me to ask, when you get your bearings enough to introduce yourself in return, if you can remember, what’s the happiest you’ve ever been?” OOC

Listen. My knowledge of the arts has not changed. It is little to none. But I know a beautiful, good dog when I see one.

It's nice having ppal be playable again.

Falisha sat cross-legged with her eyes glued to the screen as her teammates were introduced. At least most of them were getting good reactions. Except for the obvious one, of course. She let out a small sigh as she listened to the boos, "You'd think he'd be at least a little more concerned, but ah well." She gave a small shrug before taking out her deckbox and shifting through a few cards. She went through editing her deck for a few minutes before looking up at the duel screens again, "Gotta admit I wasn't expecting gun decks." She gives a small laugh before she glanced over to Daichi, giving a nod as she clasped her deck box back shut before hopping up and strolling over to him. "Sure, I don't see why I wouldn't be able to help you out. How many ya gotta get through?" She gives a cheeky grin, already grabbing a pack and gingerly tearing it along the side of the pack before taking the cards out by the side. She flicked through them rather rapidly, "Also ya like, know it tends to be cheaper to get what you want by not buying from packs, yeah? Makes it kinda hard to get multiples though..." She lets out a deflated sigh and pouts as she looks at her deckbox, "Unless ya got friends, that is!" Her grin returns as she pushes the booster of cards back in the pack, holding it out to Daichi, "Sadly not too much in that one, granted I tend to go for some of the janky stuff seeing as I can afford it." She hummed to herself and sat down next to Daichi now, kneeling on the floor as she started to help him sift through cards, "By the way, what do you think of how they're dueling? And uh, I know I was kinda unavailable to hang out the other day, sorry about that. You mind if I treat you to coffee or like the arcade to make up for it? I-It's okay if no!" She held up the cards and waved her hands frantically, "But I managed to set aside some cash for extracurricular stuff. If you decide not to I can just use it on like boosters and stuff. Or uh... or my bike. Though granted I'm trying to get better about how much money I'm putting into it..." She scratched her cheek a bit, obviously a bit embarrassed, "I just feel bad I got so obsessive over my baby that I didn't notice it had been a couple days... and well when I realized that uh... I don't remember how long I was out, though I think someone was checking up on me...? I woke up with a blanket so..."

Rosalia was in the team’s private box at the arena before anyone else was. She had opted to keep the lights off, allowing only the light of day to illuminate the box. When the door opened before her to reveal Sai, the shadows in the back portion of the box made him look almost ghostly, his bottom half almost looking like they weren’t there. “Thank you for coming, Sashisematta. I wanted to have a talk with you… about last time.” She rose from her chair and walked around to face him, silhouetted in his vision by the sun behind her. “I’d like for you to hear me out first.” "Of course. I'm always open to criticism from those who keep an equally open mind." “... Your match against Avery was disrespectful to him… But you had intent behind it, a plan. I’m willing to see where it goes… for now. But you went too far against Avery. Do not push your luck… You’re skilled, there’s no denying it. And perhaps you’ll end up being correct about people wanting to see you lose. So for now we’ll wait and see if it works out. But don’t push it with this duel, Sashisematta.” A shrug from Sai. "This duel is different, there is no need for me to play up my opponent. They are already a hero." “I have one other condition.” Rosalia held up her Duel Disk, which was on video mode, paused on Sai’s duel with Avery. She hit the play button and the Sai’s own voice resonated from it. "This is your first duel at a pro level, isn't it?" Avery this time. “I don’t see why that’s relevant.” "How could it not be? I'm sure your team captain is doing just fine, the duelist she is against is an idiot, but can you imagine how she would feel if you let her down?” Rosalia hit the pause button. She hit rewind, repeating Sai’s last words against Daichi. She had not taken her eyes off of Sai the entire time. “Feel free to turn yourself into a heel to everyone else, Sashisematta… But I won’t allow you to drag anyone else on Team Genesis with you. Don’t insult the rest of the team on that stage. Is that understood?” "Ah, I suppose that comment may have crossed a line. I still hold hope that it will incite change within Daichi, but I will take your opinion into consideration." "I didn't ask you to take it into consideration." Rosalia's eyes narrowed. Her expression was only two or three degrees north of a glare. "I asked if it was understood." "Feisty." Sai narrowed his own eyes, almost as if he were a mirror for Rosalia. While the top half of his face held an expression of rage, brow furrowed like a beast about to attack, his lips curled into a gentle smile. "I understand you, better now than ever. Make sure to take some of this fury into your duel." The door opened before Rosalia could react to this, as a very tired-looking Vega came into the room. Sai turned to greet their coach, all smiles suddenly as he greeted her, asking something about when Evelyn would be joining them. Rosalia took a deep breath, looking down at her duel disk. She reached up and closed the video that had been pulled up, before Vega had a chance to see it. Vega didn’t need to get involved. She could handle this. - - - - - - - And I’ll handle it without rage, Sashisematta, she thought as she watched Jonathan with rapt attention. You misunderstand me. It wasn’t rage that motivated me to confront you… It was what the team needed. The only way forward. Just as I’ll find the way forward now. - - - - - - - Back in the box, as Daichi moved one of his packs aside, it exposed the small envelope that had been on the table beneath it, unseen up to this point. It was labeled simply with Kendra’s name in what was recognizably Rosalia’s smooth cursive. The contents were just as simple, once Kendra saw it and was able to open it. Just a short note and a single black-framed card. The note read merely: Thank you for helping me find a way forward. I thought it only fair to help you do the same. -R - - - - - - - I don’t need rage. All I need is to see the path forward… and take the shot. She took a good twenty seconds between Jonathan’s End Phase and the start of her turn, as the drama with Sai started to fade slowly to the background of her mind. To the back of her mind as the only thing that took up her thoughts was the duel. Solemn Warning…. A powerful card, to be sure. But considerably less powerful when I know about it. She thought back to her duel against Kendra in the mall a few days ago. Normally I would want to Link Summon Striker Dragon… But with Solemn Warning he can leave me defenseless. I have two paths forward. I’ll attempt to bait him into using it… or I’ll have to reduce his Life Points below 2000 first! Then he’ll have no chance to activate it. Already everything felt so much simpler, so much clearer. As if everything else was being forced to the sides, out of the long scope she felt in her mind’s eye, a scope that aimed directly at Jonathan. “Draw!” At last she drew for turn, just as the commentator was drawing breath to comment on how long she was taking, hurriedly stopping himself so as not to talk over Rosalia’s move. “First, I activate a Continuous Spell: Supply Squad!” She placed the card in her Duel Disk, in zone 1. Unlike Jonathan, she didn’t verbally clarify the placement. Every piece of a duelist’s turn reveals information… and he’s given away something already. She moved her hand to her cards, taking hold of another one. The fact that he’s so used to clarifying which monster zones he’s using means only one thing… He’s used to summoning Link Monsters as well. “As long as Supply Squad is in play, I draw a card when one of my monsters are destroyed. This ability triggers only once every turn. Summon! Silverrokket Dragon!” A silver-armored dragon with a long, rounded head appeared, searing wings of violet energy issuing from its back. Silverrokket Dragon Level 4, 1900/100 Rosalia waited a few brief seconds after her dragon appeared before she spoke up, allowing her voice to carry across the duel field. “So you’re not using it, then? That face-down card you have?” “Nah, it can wait for now.” Rosalia swept her eyes over Jonathan, appraisingly. Not even a single twitch. He clearly had never even considered activating it. I suppose that’s the difference with S-ranked players… Some would negate the summon of a monster with attack power this high, use it as an opportunity to strike at my Life Points while they’re undefended. I figured it wouldn’t work, that he’d hold onto it for later. But that’s fine. It lets me take away something else from him! “Battle! Silverokket attacks Starfire!” Her monster flew upward, changing into a bolt of violet light as it streamed into the blade of Rosalia’s Duel Disk, suffusing it with glowing sparks. “Fire!” As she pointed at Starfire, the bolt flashed out, piercing directly through Starfire’s chest and colliding directly with Jonathan as his monster shattered into pieces. Jonathan: 4000 > 3400 Every Life Point I take from him makes using that Solemn Warning that much more of a cost, she thought, pulling her hand up to look at her cards. “I place two cards face-down!” As the cards appeared she tried not to look directly at the one she had set right in front of her. Now I’m all prepared for the counterattack… I’ve already lined up the shot. Sashisematta is wrong about me… Rage is something for a pitched battlefield. That is not my duel. I sit far away from the fury of the skirmish, plan everything for the exact opportunity where the enemy exposes themselves to the fatal blow. That, Sashisematta, is the duel of the Sniper. “I see. So you live in fear of my trap.” John nodded as he drew for turn, glancing at it, “Perhaps that’s what Charlie meant when they said this would be a perfect matchup…” Rosalia merely narrowed her eyes at John, almost like her eyes were a warning. “Walking around a Trap you’ve been kind enough to show me is very different from being afraid of it.” “Perhaps. Anyway, I activate my spell, Ties of the Brethren, targeting Caspar.” John’s LP fell another 2000 points as he activated the spell, with Caspar taking a shot into the air, his own red-magma like wing materializing. Jonathan: 3400 > 1400 “For 2000 lifepoints, I can summon two monsters with the same level, attribute, and type as the targeted monster from my deck. I choose Kidbrave to zone 2 and Doc to Zone 5.” Magical Musketeer Kidbrave Level 4, 1600/200 Magical Musketeer Doc Level 4, 1400/1200 Rosalia’s narrowed eyes opened up quickly as she saw John’s Life Points plummet. What?! She stared at the field as two forms started to take shape on the other side of the field. A smug kid, maybe 18 at most, appeared on one side of Caspar, tipping his cowboy hat to Rosalia, while a man with greying hair and a high-tech monocle appeared on the other, brandishing a sniper rifle. He… he threw away 2000 of his Life Points just like that… He’s lost the ability to play his Trap… But he’s traded it for something else. She stared across the field at the suddenly much larger crop of monster John had. None of them were as powerful as Silverrokket. But she knew that likely wouldn’t last long. “No response? Very well. When the new chain begins, Caspar activates, allowing me to search for a Musket. I’ll add Magical Musket Mastermind Zakiel. Then I’ll use Upstart Goblin, behind Kidbrave. You’ll gain 1000, I’ll draw one, and…” Rosalia: 4000 > 5000 Whipping its pistol out, Kidbrave fired two bullets, the first hitting John’s hand and the latter hitting his deck, as the Musketeer’s demonic wing took form. “By discarding the Magical Musketeer Wild in my hand, I can draw two more. Next, I’ll tribute Kid for Zakiel in my hand, which can be summoned with a single Musketeer tribute. I’ll place him in Zone 1.” With a loud chorus of demonic laughter, Kid was grasped by a massive claw and dragged into the ground… only for a demon to rise from it, pointing his fingers at his head like a gun, before taking a mock shot at himself. Magical Musket Mastermind Zakiel Level 8, 2500/2500 “This is what your intent was,” Rosalia said aloud now, finally voicing her internal thoughts as her dragon let out an echoing screech of challenge to the horde of gunmen John had in play. “You were counting on me avoiding your Solemn Warning. That’s why you made sure I knew what it was… So your Life Points were safe and you could use Ties of the Brethren.” “Well, that’s one possibility, I suppose. But I believe thinking I know the top three cards of my deck may be giving me a bit too much credit, miss.” Rosalia shook her head. “No, it’s not that simple. You had no control over the top of your deck, but you immediately knew what the best way forward was… At least at the time.” Rosalia’s hand went to her Duel Disk. “But I’ve set up my own plan. I activate my Trap card!” The set card directly in front of her flew upward, as a massive roar of crashing water started to sound throughout the stadium, a herald of what was to come. “Torrential Tribute can activate whenever one of us summons a monster… And it destroys every monster in play!” This is it, she thought to herself. He’ll be left with no monsters… And I’ll still be left with the leavings of SIlverrokket. All Rokkets can replace themselves with another whenever they’re destroyed. He’ll have no defenses left to protect his Life Points… And they’ve just been lowered to the point where almost any Rokket in my deck can take them all out! At least, that was what she expected. Instead, when she looked at the card, there were multiple holes through the card, before it shattered. “I activated my counter trap, Magical Musket - Last Stand behind Doc, in response. It negates the activation of your trap and destroys it.” “But-” Rosalia’s eyes whipped across John’s field, taking in that the card she knew to be Solemn Warning was still there. “You only have that one card set! Explain yourself!” For the first time, a smirk crossed John’s face, though it didn’t seem to bear any ill intent. “All of my Musketeers enable me to play Muskets from my hand during either player’s turn, without needing to be set. Also, that activates Doc. He can’t add Last Stand back, but… I’ll add Wild back from my grave to my hand.” The sniper took a shot at John’s disk, causing the card to pop out of his grave, before he picked it up and added it to his hand. Rosalia had an expression on her face that was familiar to many on the dueling circuits, but it was one her teammates had rarely seen on her. Her wide eyes, surprise and confusion evident in her face. For the first time in quite a long while, Rosalia had been knocked off balance. “Well, why don’t I take the rest of the turn easy on you? I activate my own Supply Squad behind Zakiel, then I’ll pass. Make your move, miss.” The roar of the audience surged in the wake of John's move, and the commentator was swift to jump in again. "Woah! John has ended his turn with the very card that started Rosalia's own! His field has exploded outward in the wake of his Solemn Warning gambit! The only thing holding him back now is that TIes of the Brethren prevents him from attacking! How will Rosalia Marlowe respond?!?" Slowly, slowly, Rosalia took a step back, her heel sounding like another gunshot in the orchestra of gunfire that made up this duel, taking a more steady stance as her expression slowly settled back into the familiar narrow-eyed, frowning stare, the almost-glare that made up her dueling. Okay… she thought to herself, slowly. So this is how he duels. Perfect matchup indeed. In her minds eye Rosalia idly imagined the scope, with Johnathan in it, a gun raised and smoking in the aftermath of firing a bullet directly into her own. Every move I make in this duel has to be careful, every decision three steps ahead… If I give him an opening, I can already tell he’ll be more than capable of taking it. This is a duel where every. Bullet. Counts.

"Welcome, dear fans, to another match in our amazing minor league circuit! Today we see the new team, with quite a reputation made for themselves already, Team Genesis against fan favorite Team Free, with plenty of heavy hitters! How will our new team fare!?" This was it...rather than being on the stage this time, Daichi remained on the sidelines. He needed to. While sitting in the spectator's box with the rest of the team, Daichi had a small table pulled towards his chair, his deck sprawled out and even had a few packs of cards stacked up as well. He would watch these Duels and fix his deck more at the same time. Needless to say, Daichi was excited...and then the groan came. "He's so loooooud! And he's just going to try and demoralize people again... can't we just skip the pleasantries today?" "Oh he's just enjoying his job...let him live a bit." Daichi flashed a smile, whilst listening in to the introductions. The one with Sai and Charlie, he paid extra attention to. He would be representing himself as the Action Duelist this go around. He hoped, of all things, his own reputation as an Action Duelist didn't get tarnished here. Though the sounds of boos at his introduction were definitely a sign of good things to come... "Can one of you guys hand me a water bottle?" Daichi was already on it, quickly reaching into the back next to him and pulling out a water bottle to hand to Vega. "Aaaaaannnnnnd to go with it…" he said, lifting his hands up a bit to do a few gestures, before in his left hand, two aspirin appeared. "Take these, should help alleviate the headache. And this is why you don't party too much before the day of the match, coach." he snickered, before turning towards Falisha's direction. The two of them hadn't had as much time to generally hang out like the homework assignment given to them by Vega insisted. Then again...didn't mean they couldn't start now...as long as it ended up happening before Monday, it was a perfect opportunity. "Hey, Falisha. Care to help me out? Got a few packs to open...was told there were some good chances for new Pendulum Monsters in em. Figure I offer." Daichi said, holding up one of the packs he had.

←Previous Post -- Next Post→ Phase 24 -- Love Or: That Happy Ending Theme Is Really Dissonant, Huh? How much value is a human life worth? That’s the question Planetes is now asking. It has the courtesy of keeping the units consistent on both sides of the equation at least, though, as the question slowly becomes “How do you value the dead next to the alive?” There are three scenarios presented by this episode, one of which is given a resolution and another two which are left hanging. I suppose we should go over those in order: The first is the closest the story has to a metaplot is the Space Defense Front and the Council. The INTO Council is presented with the prospective deaths of 120,000 people with the only solution apparent to cave to a terrorist faction. This is probably one of the most divisive parts of the Planetes fandom (such as there is one), for the record, more than the tone shift in the second half, more than the Lunar Flying Squirrels, it’s that the Space Defense Front, in a broad sense, wins. The Chairman’s bill is voted down. All the higher-ups in the Space Defense Front get away scot-free (the same cannot be said for many of its grunt operatives, but we’ll get to some of those). The takeaway message in-universe, though, is that INTO’s reputation is worth less than actual human lives. Chairman Clifford even gets an actual “with great power comes great responsibility” (yes that’s the actual translated line). The takeaway message outside the show’s universe, too, is that progress is always going to happen -- you can’t close Pandora’s box and expect things to go back to how they were -- and it is up to us to manage its cost. This leads nicely into the second scenario of the episode: Hakim’s fight with Hachimaki, where this exact point is brought up during their argument. Hakim’s argument stems from statistics. Five million people died of starvation in the show’s 2074. Hundreds of thousands died in Manangan’s constant civil wars. What’s another hundred thousand or so? And while his argument is sympathetic, Hachi’s response brings up its obvious flaw, even if Hachi himself is too focused on space to realize it yet: Killing a hundred thousand people who benefited from the explosion of space travel doesn’t suddenly bring back a hundred thousand starving people, it only adds to the pile. Let me take a brief aside to mention the side stories that get a continuation in this episode. Fee, Yuri, and Cheng-Shin collectively (and without communicating with each other) decide to use their ships to try and guide the Von Braun away from Sea of Tranquility City. There isn’t much discussion of the consequences of this decision besides “what happens if nobody else shows up?”, but the implication is that they likely would have died should everything have crashed down on them, which adds to Planetes’ overall “needs of the many” thematic leanings. Many lives are worth more than just an individual’s. Lucie and Colin, on the flip side, also demonstrate the necessity of fighting for one’s own life, continuing the other set of themes: “Life is worth fighting for.” The last scenario, and the one that takes over half of the episode to go through, is Ai’s encounter with Claire, first on the Von Braun and then on the surface of the moon. What’s perhaps interesting is that this is the nadir for both characters. Claire, as a member of the Space Defense front, has technically won, though having been wounded, she’s accepted her death. She spends most of this episode, then, as almost-literal dead weight, being carried along by Ai to safety. For Ai’s part, she’s finally confronted by the naivete of her love-focused worldview as compared to the crushing weight of the universe. Love isn’t as all-encompassing as a solution as Ai would like it to be. It’s the mixture of these two properties -- with a helpful dash of Hakim’s final line of earlier in the episode: “If you kill me now, you will become no longer human; you’ll become like an animal, something that can only go forwards” -- that presents the show’s cliffhanger. Ai ends up with both the need and the opportunity to take Claire’s air tank, which might let her survive. Love is worthless, Claire is worthless, survival is the only thing, right? -r Next time: Survival is not the only thing. ←Previous Post -- Next Post→

Been at volunteering at this charity shop on and off for the past 5 years, and this toy snowman has been there the entire time.

It's pork shoulder slow-cooked in a peanut-butter and jelly-based marinade until tender, and it was incredible. In fact, the inspiration was from my mention of something I made for myself some time ago: A pork-chop PB&J, made of a pork-chop that I pan-fried in butter, chopped up into strips, and made into a sandwich with peanut butter and jelly. I highly recommend both.

Such a good dog

K-On!! - Go! Go! Maniac Kekkai Sensen - Hello, World!

Tales of the Abyss - Karma by Bump of Chicken Full Metal Alchemist Brotherhood - Period by Chemistry Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - Gurenge by Lisa Owari no Seraph - X.U. by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Gemie One Piece - Hikari e by the Babystars Aldnoah.Zero - &Z by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:mizuki

Heya there LordCow, I make no promises of being active but just like all my vanity projects I'll work on it whenever I can, I'm also going to check soon on the RP section, it's been a while since I last did one of those.

←Previous Post -- Next Post→ Phase 23 -- Debris Cluster Or: Part One Of Two! Unless You Think Saying That Is A Spoiler In Which Case, Uhhh… While there is action that takes place with the requisite guns and explosions, the core battle of this final major setpiece, like many of the ones before it, is an ideological one: INTO versus Space Defence Front, and while we don’t have the specifics of the latter’s demands just yet, we can, either through context clues or hazy memories of when this was last rewatched, make a guess at the battlefield. It’s mentioned that the marquee bill for this INTO Council meeting would make it official policy that the resources discovered in space would be divided proportionately to a country’s contributions to INTO, which even the non-radicalized members of the cast agree is a pretty skeezy imperialist policy and, given what we know about INTO’s actions to this point, one is inclined to agree. The SDF, then, is acting in opposition by… threatening to crash the largest spaceship ever built into a lunar city with a population of over 120,000. So I do want to get something out of the way here. There is a common trend in media where the resolution to a conflict is to point out “both sides are bad, actually” and just sort of leaving it at that, and I’d like to head off that accusation at the pass here, not because it isn’t true -- make no mistake, Planetes has no empathy for either INTO’s council or SDF’s higher-ups, as illustrated by their lack of screen time up to this point -- but because choosing such an opinion leads down a middling, status-quo sort of path, and Planetes isn’t interested in that either. By the end of these two episodes, there will be a winner. Instead, I’d like to focus on the characters for a moment. Claire’s descent, now that it’s finally out in the open, is an example of how the system radicalizes people on the fringes, her isolation by higher-ups at Technora, perhaps even after her break-up with Hachimaki, allows her to be seduced by Hakim’s pragmatic cynicism (though, to be fair, it is implied there is a non-cynical romance between them as well as shown when their call is interrupted this episode). Speaking of pragmatic cynicism and Hachimaki, though, he has completed his own transformation into a similar character, ending the episode holding Hakim at gunpoint for the second time and definitely ready to fire -- his self-imposed isolation has left him fixated on the one thing he has left: protecting the Von Braun. The show implicitly asks a question about Hachi at this stage: what happens to him if he fails or, even if the Von Braun does survive, what happens when, seven years later, he returns to Earth? These are just the two or three major characters of the episode, but other plots figure in as well. Dolf’s corporate pragmatism gets called out as he is asked to choose between human life and surrendering access to every file in his burgeoning company -- he chooses the latter. Yuri’s closure over his dead wife is brought up again, just in time to it become relevant in an episode or two, and Ai is looking to put her namesake love to use doing anything. She wanted to run into Hachimaki, though he’s a bit engaged at the moment, so one wonders who she’ll run into instead. -r Next time: Well, the episode's called "Love" so one can only assume. ←Previous Post -- Next Post→

Reason Living - Bungou Stray Dogs Fiction - Wotaku ni Koi wa Muzukashii (or Wotakoi for short)

Re:Creators - sh0ut by SawanoHiroyuki[nZk]:Tielle & Gemie Build Divide: Code Black - BANG!!! by EGOIST

Arcana Famiglia - Magenta Another Sky Sword Art Online II - courage

Obsession by Yasashii Yoake - .hack//sign kibou no kakera by Nana Kitade - Powerpuff Girls Z Cory in the house by Kyle Massey - Cory in the house

Add these two then... Nichijou: Hyadain no Kakakata☆Kataomoi-C by Hyadain Pokemon: Pokemon theme by Jason Paige it doesn't actually have a name

Miiro - Kantai Collection Clattanoia - Overlord

Princess Tutu: Morning Grace by Ritsuko Okazaki Spice and Wolf: Tabi no Touchuu by Kiyoura Natsumi Mononoke: Kagen no Tsuki by Komatsu Ryouta and Charlie Kousei Mawaru Penguindrum: Nornir by Tika・α Shocked I had to add Nornir for you

The Pet Girl of Sakurasou - Yume no Tsuzuki by Konomi Suzuki Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles - FEELING AROUND by Minori Suzuki Amanchu! Advance - Crosswalk by Minori Suzuki Laid-Back Camp - SHINY DAYS by Asaka

Sono Chi no Sadame (Jojo's Bizarre Adventure) Kuusou Rumba (Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei) Ai wo Torimodose (Hokuto no Ken) and since nobody's addressed the elephant in the room and done it yet... A Cruel Angel's Thesis (Neon Genesis Evangelion)

VS “Wait, Shannon, that-” Diana’s pleas fell on deaf ears as Shannon slammed 11-EX into the platform they stood upon, a twisted smile on her face and a wild look in her eyes. “Aren’t you supposed to be a hero!?” Diana scolded her, hitting her on the back as best she could, “What are you doing!? You’re acting more like a villain than a hero!” -Indignant Savior- “... Is it villainous to punish a villain?” Shannon asked as she looked back slightly, casting a calm but stony gaze, “Well, Ayane, what do you think? Is it wrong to punish someone who has harmed others? Is it wrong to tear them down so they can’t do it again?” “I don’t know the, um, [circumstances], but-” “Ohh, that’s a pretty heavy question.” The armor’s face turned back into another head again, with an increasingly confused and concerned expression. At the end of the day, stopping villains was a pretty important part of a hero’s job. But Ayane would be lying if she said the way that question had been phrased didn’t put her off a bit. “But villains definitely need to be punished! And I’ve… definitely got a lot of punishment coming my way, for everything I did! Just try not to kill me, okay? I wanna catch up and try to make amends after the sports festival, and I can’t do that if I’m completely out of commission.” Then Syo's head turned back into a helmet once again, closing over 11-EX’s face once again. “But we can do all that later! Right now, we still need to fight over those points!” Being this close to a Quirk like hers was a major disadvantage. Had to get some distance. 11-EX reached for their guitar, blaring out another pair of notes. Another platform beneath their feet, just as the existing one disappeared, and a slightly more complex formation. Something like a wall between the two teams, but with a hole sized and positioned just right for Shannon’s arm. Affording the pair the opportunity to wriggle free of Shannon’s vice-like grip. That should buy us a few seconds. So, about that idea of yours… Shannon roared with rage as the wall appeared, pulling her arm out of it and rearing back to strike, until... “Shannon… They don’t have any points.” Freezing, the dragoness looked over to the board, finding Diana’s claim to be true. She grit her teeth harder before bringing her hands back down to her side with a low growl, turning around. “So they don’t. Then your punishment can wait for another time.” She spread her wings wide to make a big flap, before adding on “Atone? Yeah, right. Find your points elsewhere and never speak to me again.” Diana frowned as Shannon rocketed upward, still hanging on. Despite Shannon’s logic for them teaming up, Diana had hardly been more than a burden or voice of reason. On top of that, Diana could feel the girl she clung to shaking, claws balled up to the point of some blood dripping from the palm… What had happened between her and Ayane? Before Shannon could elaborate further on the baggage she carried, the duo was stopped dead in their tracks by a platform appearing directly above them. In front of them, standing atop another, smaller platform, was Karada Syo, completely in his human form. "You know, I really don't have much of a clue about what your issue with her is, but you seemed to forget," clenching his fist, he put his whole body into his attack, a bare-fisted haymaker aimed directly at Shannon's face, "that this is a team battle!!!" Of course, Syo was far from prepared for Shannon's quirk to have applied even to the skin of her face. While it appeared soft and silky from a distance, it was like striking a ceramic plate. The only effect he had on the girl was leaving a bloody knuckle-print on her cheek. "Ha… ha… maybe that played out a little differently in my head…" Shannon glared at the boy who had just punched her, eyes wild, before she took a deep breath and closed them just for a moment, before opening them up and giving a soft, but terse, statement, while Diana let out a sigh. “Back down, and I shall spare you. Side with her against me, and there will be no mercy. This is the final warning I shall give to you.” And then while her back is facing you… Just like Syo had suggested! Drop him in front of them, distract Shannon even for a second, then from her own perch above the three of them, jump down and get the dragon girl from behind. As much as she would have loved to make a flashy entrance, that would ruin the element of surprise, which was her only real saving grace right now. And so, rather unceremoniously, Ayane moved her guitar on its strap to hang it over her back instead of her front - she didn’t want to risk damaging it in this next move, after all - then jumped from the platform she’d prepared for herself. A jump from which she grabbed Shannon by the shoulders, with a firm “Sorry about this, but I’m not giving up! On the points, or you!”

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