Simon

This thing is a fucking gold mine.

I'm almost done with high school and can get out of the shithole that is said high school the mets suck and have no joy for the foreseeable future Pokemon's getting a new set of games. Black and White. Man they're running out of colors.

I'm less than a minute into Kara no Kyoukai 6 and I had to pause it because 6 wasn't as good as the others. Still decent, but nothing amazing. One more to go. edit: Two, apparently, there's an epilogue movie. Also #7 is two hours long. Friday it is then.

My running recap for Kara no Kyoukai 5 is seven pages in Word. I'm not even gonna post it just because I don't even want to read that again. But holy fuck, that was brilliant. Astoundingly confusing, but brilliant. And there's two more of these. Also, Touko Aozaki provides awesome reaction images.

So on a different note, with Feraligatr finally getting Sheer Force I've decided my team for the next campus Pokemon thing will be a throwback to my original Silver game. Original team: Feraligatr-Slowbro-Lanturn-Sneasel-Rhydon-Lugia. New: Feraligatr-Slowbro-Lanturn-Weavile-Rhyperior-ToBeDetermined. Who whould I have for the sixth slot? My only requirement is that it's something from the first two gens because throwback. I'm currently thinking one of these: Heracross, Aerodactyl, Ampharos, or Houndoom.

Aaaaaaand Mega Metagross is now on the Smogon suspect test. Crap, I liked him.

INCOMING DOUBLEPOST So I decided to do a silly experiment in 3DS Smash. CPU Lucina vs CPU Marth, level 9 AI, 3 stock match. No items. Best of seven. Round 1, Battlefield: Lucina won 3-2. Somewhere around the second stock she took a big lead in percentage that made the last stock pretty one-sided. Round 2, Final Destination : Lucina won 3-2. Similar as above. Round 3, BF: Marth won 3-2. Marth had a slight edge during the last stock, but Lucina managed to go from roughly 30% (Marth) and 90% (Lucina) to tied at 110%. Marth pulled it out in the end though. Round 4, FD: Marth won 3-1, thanks to landing a footstool jump of all things on Lucina while they were both off the edge, stunning her for just long enough to miss the recovery. She didn’t even take any damage during her last stock, they were just doing so much fighting in that section of FD/BF that it ended up backfiring eventually. Round 5, BF: Marth won 3-2. Dead even going into the last stock, probably could have ended up going either way. Round 6, FD: First possible clincher, so I’m recapping each stock as it goes. Lucina countered a fully-charged Shield Breaker for the first KO of the round. Marth got it right back though. Lucina, with both around 100% on their second stock, KO’d Marth by hitting a down-air while they were both off the side (clearly it goes both ways) before barely getting back to the ledge with a recovery. This is amazing. Marth then downed her second stock with a Shield Breaker. And then forward-smashed him just far enough that he couldn’t recover. Lucina wins, 3-2. Tied at 3. Round 7, BF: Final match, more running commentary. Lucina takes first stock with a countered smash attack. Marth evens it pretty quickly with a Shield Breaker. Lucina does nearly the same counter for the second stock, and Marth does a counter of his own to even it up again. Marth ended up winning when Lucina used up-B from the edge of the stage, missed, and fell to her death. Both were at 67%. No. This is stupid. I’m not ending this on the CPU suddenly losing four levels worth of intelligence. I'm doing this again. One stock take all this time. Round 8, BF, Butthurt experimenter edition: Marth won with a counter when both were in the 80-100 range. Much better. What does this prove? Nothing at all, but damn if it wasn't fun to watch. Outside of that one moment in round 7, the AIs were absolutely incredible.

For reference, that's about $960 a week. Which would be the equivalent of $24 an hour in a 40-hour work week. Not a bankbreaking amount, but still pretty awesome for a lottery.

They're distributing the Johto starters with hidden abilities via Pokebank from February 27 to end of November. Helloooooo Sheer Force Feraligatr.

I have nearly all of Breaking Madden's gifs saved, so that's a pretty good startup fund.

edit: I watched episodes 3 and 4 of Kara no Kyoukai Friday and Sunday, and did these running recaps. 3: Spoiler Maybe watching anime characters stab things will get my creative juices flowing. Maybe this is just a shitty excuse to watch anime. Either way, let’s do this thing. As always, the claymation thing before each episode is silly. Oh good, we’re opening on a dude banging an emotionless girl on a pool table. The onlookers want to move on as much as I do. Seriously, the hell was that? Remaining Sense of Pain Oh hey, Mikiya! You’re someone I recognize! He comes across the girl in an alleyway, and runs up to her asking what’s wrong. “I’m about to cry. Can I cry?” He nods, and she’s actually happy to be allowed to emote. This is fucked up. One shower later, and she’s out cold on his couch. That night- oh dammit she left didn’t she NEWSCAST: MORE MURDERS~ Mikiya and Shiki (So I guess we’re just gonna skip the rest of the backstory? Or is that a different movie?) are talking with Touko about payment and not getting any. Because Touko is broke. Something something exposition something something scene of the crime Shiki’s job is to catch/kill the killer. Shiki declines photos of the target because she’ll just killer’s intuition the whole thing. Meanwhile, Mikiya’s asking the bro from the last episode for money. Dude agrees, but on the condition that Mikiya help look for a friend who went missing last night. Yeah, he’s gonna be dead. Stoic chick makes a phone call, and some orange-haired dude is traumatized. And now she’s murdering people. Violently. I’m assuming they’re looking for orange-haired guy, because so is Miss Crazy-Stoic Murderer here. Her name’s Fujino, and she’s meeting an acquaintance (named Azaka) at a cafe and HELLO Shiki. Azaka’s Mikiya’s sister it seems. And Shiki’s eyes are doing the thing. “No, it’s not you.” So much for intuition. Azaka and Shiki have an amusing snipe-off before the latter leaves. Fujino hates her already. Apparently missing-dude (Keita) called someone and was babbling “I’ll be killed!” Mikiya’s looking for clues. Right on cue, Fujino is… oh jesus what. She’s doing some voodoo stuff to make this poor guy’s arms and leg go pretzel on themselves. This is fucked up. And that poor guy is dead. “In truth, I don’t wish to kill people.” Shiki calls bullshit on this exactly like I do. Except she’s far more badass about it. Her eyes do the thing and oh crap so do Fujino’s… and then some sort of divide-by-zero error happens and they both freeze up. Shiki why are you leaving she’s killed people this is not a good thing Backstory! Fusion accidentally cut herself when she was a kid and… then… uh… she used her blood to paint? I’m not sure, but she says she doesn’t feel pain. Until now. OH GOD CRAZY EYES she’s calling Keita (also Mikiya’s there too), saying she’s gonna kill him. Keita’s terrified because she apparently did the voodoo stuff before now. To lots of people. Keita, you really can’t pull off amullet with orange hair. You also can’t excuse raping Fujino by saying she was emotionless… or punching her… okay yeah now I’m hoping she kills him. Except one time she did show emotion. Mikiya shuts him the hell up. THANK YOU. …and they’re harboring him. Dammit. Shiki and Mikiya (and Touko) chat about the plot. The plan seems to be send Shiki and Touko against Fujino. …oh come on, the thugs STABBED HER too? And, apparently, she had a healing factor. Except she still feels pain. Have I mentioned this is really confusing? Because this is really confusing. Ah. So that one time she felt pain is driving her to murder, because she wants to feel something like that again and doesn’t know how. Touko goes through a truly ludicrous amount of cigarettes. Mikiya’s going off to investigate other stuff, and wishes Shiki be careful. “I’ll try.” Aww. Investigation ensues. Stuff stuff stuff stuff. Touko reports victim number seven. First one that’s unrelated to Keita. Shiki throws on the coat, and Touko tosses her a business card- Araya Souren. Time for a hunt. Rain, because it makes fight scenes so much more awesome. Fujino’s in an abandoned building somewhere, having flashbacks or something. Wait, she met Mikiya before now? In high school it seems. She couldn’t feel pain then either, but she doesn’t say anything and Mikiya ended up carrying her. Now she wants to find him, also she’s holding her side in pain. Speaking of, he’s back at the office. Touko looks good with her hair down. He found info though. She used to be able to do that telekinesis stuff, but what’s relevant is that she used to be able to feel pain, and when some doctor sealed the ability she lost her sense of … sense. “Her sensitivity was artificially taken away.” Touko and Mikiya head out in a car (Touko is a terrible driver) to go find Fujino before Shiki does. Or before she bleeds to death from a stab wound she… never got… but she thought she had. Psychosomatic stabbing? That’s weird. And the two killers meet atop an overpass in the pouring rain. Suddenly, Shiki looks more like the villain. DRIVE FASTER, TOUKO. Telekinesis versus a woman with a knife and parkour talents. In the rain. With a bitchin’ soundtrack. …So Fujino also has appendicitis. Explains the pain. Touko: “Either way, she’s beyond help.” Shiki’s faster and more skilled, but oh my goodness Fujino’s going nuts with the force and throwing around sections of parking garage. And there goes Shiki’s left arm. Aw, don’t ruin the coat… Fujino’s got half a day at most with the appendix problem. Mikiya’s not happy about.. any of this really. Meanwhile, Shiki’s enjoying herself a bit too much. One working arm, a knife, and a parking garage. Fusion does the telekinesis and WHOA. Shiki cut through the magic before it reaches her. “Everything in creation has a flaw… my eyes can see the death of things. So I can kill anything that lives, even if that thing is God.” Daaaaang. Shiki’s caught her. One brief monologue later, Fujino snaps and HOLY SHIT SHE JUST WRECKED AN ENTIRE BRIDGE That’s some seriously impressive power, but she’s now vomiting blood. I’m betting she accidentally ruptured her appendix. She wants to see Mikiya again. Sadly, she’s dying. “Can …I… cry?” oh god that’s depressing. Shiki provides a mercy of sorts. This is fucked up. Mikiya, Touko, and Shiki have a brief chat under the bridge. Wait, Fujino's alive? “I killed the disease in her stomach.” Okay, that is awesome. Also, she’ll need a new arm from Touko. Touko drives off, leaving Shiki and Mikiya alone to chat. Shiki: “I don’t have things like common sense. Can you leave a person like me alone.” Mikiya: “I’ll bear your sins in your place.” This is weird flirting. Shiki’s found something she wants. And smiles. “Come to think of it, that was the first true smile she showed me ever since she woke up.” Roll credits. 4: Spoiler To alleviate my aggravation at showering by flashlight in a college dorm, I’m doing another KnK running diary. “an ufotable production” I’ve been meaning to ask, how do you pronounce ufotable? The Hollow We open on an ambulance rushing Shiki to the hospital as Mikiya prays. Wait a minute, is this the continuation of episode 2’s backstory? So it seems she… stabbed herself? It’s not quite clear. Anyway, she’s in surgery because she’s kinda bleeding out. Well, they didn’t cover up her face so I guess she’s alive (and, you know, backstory) and welp, there’s a naked dream sequence Because once wasn’t enough, we get two naked dream sequences! They’re only a few seconds each, but still. Some nurses are exercising comatose-Shiki as Mikiya comes to visit. If she wakes up right now I’ll be less surprised than I should - oh hey, three naked dreams. This is really weird symbolism (not the naked, she’s floating in a technicolor void) Mikiya meets Touko at her office for a job interview. One of the dolls in her office appears to be Shiki. RIGHT ON CUE, NAKED DREAM #4. Now with not one, but two Shikis! Now, she wakes up. As is probably accurate for a coma victim, she can barely move (looking at you, SAO) There’s a note from Mikiya and oh god lines And her eyes are doing the thing now. Right on cue, a nurse sees Shiki has… killed some flowers. The lines are everywhere and she’s really, really freaked out. Mikiya comes in just in time to learn Shiki’s awake, but the nurses are enforcing a no visitors policy because of the whole freakout thing. Hiya, Touko as a speech therapist, replacing someone named Araya. That sounds familiar… The nurses call Mikiya a puppy. Seems appropriate. Some tattooed guy is getting wheeled in on a gurney, but whatever I’m sure this isn’t applicable to the plot. Touko is really, really unsettling when she’s acting cheery. Also Shiki’s got bandages over her eyes. Oh okay, Shiki made them think she had speech problems and Touko made them all think she was a speech therapist. No, she’s a magician. Seems it’ll take a while to reach Shiki. Mikiya and Touko have a nice chat over tea about stuff, while Shiki’s on her feet and totally freaked out. Ufotable is bitchin’ good at lighting effects. I said that before a scene of a nurse with a flashlight in a hallway followed by Shiki having a really fucking creepy hallucination of I assume SHIKI. Mikiya’s still visiting, but just dropping off flowers. Touko visits daily, and has conversations about SHIKI with, well, Shiki. It’s less dual personalities and more two personalities at once, with similar desires but different actions- “composite individual personalities” or something. She remembers everything about Mikiya except his name. Touko’s telling him to be patient, and she’ll come back to/rebuild herself eventually. And now Touko is convincing Shiki to let Mikiya visit, so as to help her rebuild herself. However, they won’t let Shiki have any scissors (it’s for a haircut, or so she claims). Touko: “I may come as a different person starting tomorrow, so please give her your best regards.” Er… okay? Oh god the Nazca lines are on a door in the hospital. I KNEW IT. They’ll be letting Shiki leave the hospital (and remove her eye-bandages) tomorrow, but she’s… opposed. “I don’t want to see such a world again. I’ll do anything except fall into that darkness.” Touko stops her from self-eye-gouging. Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. Touko can teach her how to control them. Now Shiki’s interested. Her eyes can see the lines as a result of the incident two years ago, and because of the coma, she recognizes what they are. Cut them, and things die. She offers Shiki a choice: life or death. Also, she can see those lines through the bandages. Yikes. “Did SHIKI die for nothing?" So there are spirits in the hospital, and Touko put those lines on the door as protection from them. Apparently. Tattooed guy! He broke the runes and is strangling Shiki. Touko’s in the hospital, and Mikiya contemplates the doll in her office. “~I’m singing in the rain, just singing in the rain~” Wat. So he was humming this in that flashback, and also in English. Also, this is an amazing juxtaposition with the whole zombie/ghost/spirit-strangling thing. Shiki remembers the song too, and fends off tattoo-guy (kinda) before leaping out the window with spirit in tow. Okay, that was badass. Touch amusingly points out just how nuts that stunt was. Ah, so it’s a spirit possessing the tattoo guy. And then Touko draws runes on air and lights him on damn fire. It doesn’t keep, but it was cool. So he’s a zombie. Touko’s spells can’t kill it, but Shiki can. It’s “a living corpse. I’ll kill it, no matter what it is.” In this case, by pulling off the bandages and slicing it up with Touko’s knife. But first, knife-haircut. It was in the way, after all. Arm goes first. then the neck. Zombie killed and spirit exorcised in two swipes. Holy shit. Wait no the spirit’s not gone. It’s possessing Shiki now and MOVE THAT KNIFE AWAY FROM YOUR THROAT PLEASE What the- she stabbed the spirit inside herself without harming herself at all. I reiterate: Holy shit. Death perception OP please nerf. A trade: Shiki works for Touko, Touko teaches her to use the eyes (and lets her kill to satisfy the urge). Seems fair. And with that, Shiki passes out. You know, this whole SHIKI-Shiki thing must have been really confusing without subtitles. Anyway, Mikiya finally gets to say hello to Shiki. Mikiya “Do you know who I am?” Shiki, thinking: “Yes, I knew that you were the only one waiting for me. That you were the only one protecting me. Shiki, aloud: “Kokutou Mikiya. You sound like a French poet.” Mikiya: *relieved smile* “I’m glad it’s sunny today. It’s a perfect day to leave the hospital." Shiki, thinking: “Oh, so there are things that won’t disappear.” D'aww. Roll credits. After credits: girl from the first episode in hospital, approached by a guy voiced by Jouji Nakata. Followed by Fujino from the third episode, approached by the exact same guy. And he approaches a third guy, and we get his name: Araya Souren. Oh. I really like this series.

The One Piece Podcast's recap of last week's chapter has this gem of a line. I'm gonna spend the weekend watching RWBY and Yona.

...what the hell?

My go-to definition is "when a character's face is 80% eyes"

Downloading Kirby Triple Deluxe as we speak because why the hell not.

And now the withdrawal period begins. two months until baseball two months until baseball two months until baseball two months until baseball