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The original Atelier Ryza games are being delisted this November with the DX versions releasing that

Posted by Mikhail Madnani

https://www.rpgsite.net/news/18103-atelier-ryza-games-being-delisted-in-november-2-3-pc-switch-ps5-ps4-koei-tecmo-dx-release

The original Atelier Ryza games are being delisted this November with the DX versions releasing that week

Koei Tecmo updates store listings on PC, PS5, PS4, and Switch for the Atelier Ryza games to indicate the delisting with the new DX versions releasing that week.

https://www.rpgsite.net/news/18103-atelier-ryza-games-being-delisted-in-november-2-3-pc-switch-ps5-ps4-koei-tecmo-dx-release

Wild Hearts S Review

Posted by James Galizio

https://www.rpgsite.net/review/18102-wild-hearts-s-review

2 1/2 years after its original launch, Wild Hearts has found a second life on Nintendo Switch 2

https://www.rpgsite.net/review/18102-wild-hearts-s-review

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Location: my apartment

Entry tags:

bella,
pictures

I mentioned it briefly in my roundup of last week, but never actually posted about it, but...

Bella got two more AKC titles!

She got the first level of the CGC, the "Canine Good Citizen" test, which tests a mix of temperament and training, seeing if the dog behaves politely and obediently, even around unfamiliar people and dogs.

And then, because the CGC counts for a full half of the other test, she also got the first level of "Trick Dog," which really is just... stupid pet tricks, lol.

There are higher levels of both tests, but she now has the lowest levels of both. With a little work, I think she'll be able to get the higher CGC tests completed. Not sure if we'll have her go any farther with trick dog. She absolutely knows plenty of stupid pet tricks, but I don't think she knows *all* the ones they ask for, and we don't really have a reason to teach her those *except* to possibly do those tests.

Some of the upper level CGC tasks are more challenging, but those skills are actually useful to have even outside the test, unlike training to do silly tricks, haha.

The tests were last... Thursday, I think, so I was at work and didn't get to go, but Alex said she did pretty much perfectly on both! I didn't doubt she *could*, but was a little afraid she'd be too excited and flub some of her leash manners or something. She did great!

I was hoping to have ribbons to show off her new titles, but she didn't get any. ;_; Alex isn't sure if the evaluator just forgot, or if she didn't have any. (Though Bella has a FastCAT next week with the same organization that the evaluator is with, so he will ask then. We're hoping to put together a display for all her ribbons, even though I know it's silly, so I'd like to have them if we can!)

The beaft.

Entry tags:

arte: personal

Speedpaint on Krita about a girl with a chihuahua

Watch on YouTube

If you want to see the finished drawing:
https://blorbo.social/@eseuve/113654976322356885

Current Mood: exhausted

Entry tags:

Anime Check-in: Flaglia ep. 1-2

Episode 1: ...I went down a deeper rabbit hole. The twitter, the site, everything related to Flaglia just disappeared around 2 years ago even though the anime had recently came out. I found a tweet by someone who worked on it, she did the side-story manga.

The story goes that when humans die under certain circumstances, they can become wizards and gain immortality, but after 100+ years their hearts start to dull.

This episode showed a cobbled together family, I I think they're all wizards except for the little boy, Iko?

50 years ago, a human named Mitsumi saved Tetsu after he washed ashore.

Tagi is stalking Ren, Mitsumi's grandson, because he seems to recognize him. In the beginning of the episode we saw Ren in wizard uniform falling. Tetsu implies something is going to happen in 4 days.

Tagi finds Ren and asks him to return(?) the 'flag' Tagi left.

Episode 2: So they're only staying there until the Obon festival?

Ren has been living as a human for 100 years, why hasn't anyone noticed an unaging young man claiming to be the grandson of someone who didn't have kids?

What in the BL paradise was that flagging scene. 👀

So Ren was dying, Tagi forced him to take Ren's 'flag', and Ren went to the afterlife??

Wait, when a wizard dies they can come back and live even longer?? Tetsu is 300 years old. Also what is this parade they talk about?

Tagi has died and come back so much that the next time he does it's for real. :'( Was he trying to get his flag back because it would help him live on or be stronger? Does Ren have his own flag?

It seems the character at the end's name is Silver.

Current Mood: nervous
Current Music: Murder She Wrote

Entry tags:

picspam

How has it been a week

Since I've been to Fort Steuben (and still no pictures?) How is it am I leaving tomorrow? I got my rental today. I was hoping for a good SUV because I'm in the market.

I got a Ford Bronco. Sigh. If I wanted an off-roader this would be perfect. I mean it's got four settings for GOAT Mode. The gear shift is it a DIAL that you have to hold down a button and rotate it. OMG why? I would not buy this but it has 3000 miles and I'm ready to go.

I have two museums in Gettysburg I've not seen (which I should have time for when I get there and friday morning), I have both Superman and Fantastic Four at the movie theater that's in the hotel complex. I was going to do the ghost tour but I'll be tired. I'll try it sunday night after the con. I have too much planned for my day and a half in Hershey but I have my plans and NO spreadsheet (evil Little dog will be shocked) because all the museums in both towns are open 7 days a week

And watching Carnival Eats today gave me a bunny for the carnival horror open call. now to get on it

What I Just Finished Reading:

Monster Burger - urban fantasy not quite as fun as the first but still good. It's a fun book. There is a ton of fat issues in this like the other mystery I bitched about but in this case it felt...different. yes his guardian angel and kevin the roach pick on him for being fat but they're both mean. Lloyd knows his weight is an issue in monster hunting BUT his female partner does not mention it at all. I think that might be the difference

What I am Currently Reading:

The Wood - an urban fantasy so far so good

Dark and Dangerous Journey - WWII mystery arc

What I Plan to Read Next:

Pantomine - an LGBT (intersexed main character) fantasy, I like it but i'm shelving it for a bit

( I have pictures for you finally )

Entry tags:

books

wednesday book with preteens

The Adventure of the Demonic Ox, Lois McMaster Bujold. Another Penric novella! I was underwhelmed by Penric and the Bandit, but this one has POV from both of Penric's two preteen daughters (one adopted, with a demon of her own) which made it generally more enjoyable -- it was nice to be shifting the focus to the younger generation. I hope we get more books with the girls as they come of age. (Nikys is still trapped in domesticity but seems happy with it.)

Current Mood: frustrated

Entry tags:

I hate the concept of reincarnation and the pre-existence of souls

trigger warnings: this is a vent around religious/spiritual concepts that give me existential crisis and a bad time. I touch on various facets of human suffering that could be not suitable for many.

It could also be a religious rambling where I brain dump on doctrines i disagree with.

( Read more... )

Current Mood: gently tipsy
Current Location: minneapolis, mn

Entry tags:

a bit more trip reporting, plus a current life update

Hello!

So since I last posted, I reached the gathering site in Alberta (a very swanky "cabin" in the Canadian Rockies, and I will not be any more specific than that, thank you very much). The get-together was WONDERFUL, which is unsurprising, but alas all good things must end so the vast majority of people left Sunday morning (July 20) in order to fly home (or in one case catch a bus to Banff). I drove northeast to Drumheller, leaving around 11ish, and that was the only day where I had to stop on the side of the road to pee in a ditch because Google Maps decided to route me via county roads through the middle of nowhere so I had no chance to find a gas station.

The Royal Tyrell Museum was EXCELLENT and I highly recommend a visit to anyone who has the chance. If you have the time, arrive in the morning to take a badlands hiking tour (this obviously did not work with my schedule), but the museum itself is still damn cool. I then spent the night in a "hotel" that was 7 rooms above an Indian restaurant. The room was fine! It was just kind of a surprise. But on the bright side, I bought a double order of garlic naan for an evening snack and proceeded to munch on that as car snacks for the next two days.

I also bought a t-shirt, a pair of socks, and a travel mug (no handle, has a tea-and-dinosaurs pun) from the museum gift shop. No regrets!

Monday the 21st I drove back south into the US and then took the Going-To-The-Sun Road from east to west through Glacier National Park. (I had previously acquired an America The Beautiful pass which gets you into ALL national parks, plus any sites managed by the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Fish and Wildlife Service, USDA Forest Service, and US Army Corps of Engineers that charge an entrance fee.) Glacier is fucking BEAUTIFUL. Due to time constraints (and also weather; it was gray and drizzly during most of my visit) I didn't do any proper hiking, but I did get to walk upstream along Siyeh Creek for a little way.

I spent Monday night at a motel in Kalispell, west of Glacier, where I was able to wash a load of laundry. And I will post about the rest of my trip another day.

-----

In non-trip news, I am currently staying at Vicky's house while she is off on her own two-week road trip. She is circling through Chicago, Pittsburgh, NJ, DC, South Carolina, Tennessee, and then Chicago again on her way home to Minnesota. Meanwhile I am dogsitting Alfie, bringing in her mail, and generally making her house look lived-in rather than vacant.

What I get out of this is A) some distance from our parents, which is nice (I love them but it's still fundamentally awkward to live in their basement as a middle-aged adult); B) BETTER INTERNET (my parents' wifi works fine for anything word-based but is frankly tragic about images, gifs, and videos); and C) the company of one of the world's most adorable dogs. <3

In job search news, I have applied to two Not The IRS offices in the Twin Cities area (annoyingly you can't apply for a region -- you have to apply to each office individually). I have also updated my resume and tomorrow I am going to poke at LinkedIn until I can figure out how best to upload it and start refining my job search terms.

Also I may have fallen down a rabbit hole reading Ask A Manager columns, but shhh, we'll keep that as our little secret. ;)

Notice of Worldcon Attendance

I will be at* Worldcon!

* as in, "I live here so it is trivially easy for me to be around Worldcon" haha. I do have a membership & may drop into the con itself but that's not guaranteed yet, something something PTO days

If you're following me on here there's a pretty good chance I'd get a charge out of meeting up irl; feel free to reply here (all comments screened) or shoot me a DM or send me a messenger pigeon or whatever

Entry tags:

Book review: "The Dispossessed"

Title: The Dispossessed
Author: Ursula K. Le Guin
Genre: Fantasy, speculative fiction

"There was a wall. It did not look important. It was built of uncut rocks roughly mortared. An adult could look right over it, and even a child could climb it. Where it crossed the roadway, instead of having a gate it degenerated into mere geometry, a line, the idea of a boundary. But the idea was real. It was important. For seven generations there had been nothing more important than that wall."

I knew this book was going to hit hard from the opening paragraph above, and it did not disappoint. I've enjoyed Ursula Le Guin's work before--The Left Hand of Darkness is one of my favorite books—and I absolutely see why The Dispossessed is considered one of her crowning pieces. The setting for this book is a planet and its moon—Urras, the planet, is a lush world not dissimilar from Earth, which is home to several capitalist countries and at least one socialist country; and Anarres, the moon, which is a dusty, resource-scanty place home to a society of anarchists who fled from Urras just under two hundred years ago. The core of the novel concerns Shevek, a theoretical physicist from Anarres who chooses to relocate to Urras.

Le Guin captures truly great sci-fi because this work is so imbued with curiosity. Le Guin is asking questions at the heart of any great sci-fi work: What defines humanity? What can we achieve, and how is it done, and what does that mean for society? What is society? What does it mean to be alone? What does it mean to be part of a whole? To me, sci-fi can't be truly sci-fi without a measure of philosophy, and The Dispossessed has this in droves.

( Read more... )

Well that was exciting

Up front: I’m fine, everything is ok. I went to the ER last night. I had sudden excruciating abdominal pain that caused muscle spasms that made it feel like my ribs were going to snap. Nothing showed up on a CT and X-ray, so they gave me a bunch of meds for acid and other stomach issues.

Because of all this, I learned that morphine doesn’t really do anything for me, and I am big mad about that. Especially because last night was the first time I described my pain level as a 10. Even with my ridiculously high pain tolerance, I was writhing in pain and wanted to be knocked out.

I’M FINE. We have no idea what caused this, but I’m fine.

Entry tags:

wednesday reads and things

What I've recently finished reading:

Tombland by C. J. Sansom, the last of the Shardlake books. It's massive, I think the longest of these books, with a very long historical essay at the end which I'm slowly reading through. It's very firmly set within a historical event, namely Kett's Rebellion of 1549. Which is probably why it's so long. While some of the other books in the series include actual events such as the execution of Anne Boleyn or King Henry VIII's Progress to York, those are all mostly backdrop to the mystery plot. Here the plot is interwoven with the rebellion - actually kind of oddly, because it's really plot plot plot plot REBELLION REBELLION plot REBELLION, where suddenly the ostensible activity Shardlake's undertaking is put on the back-burner because of REBELLION, and it's mostly dropped until very near the end where the villain does a somewhat clunky exposition explaining everything. Not the smoothest of these books for sure, but still quite interesting, with great characters as usual.

What I'm reading now:

While I'm waiting for some holds to come in at the library, I started reading George Orwell's 1984, partly because one of the people I subscribe to on Substack (Civil Discourse with Joyce Vance) is hosting a group read of it. I haven't read it since I read it in college, for a class on "Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature", so it's pretty interesting to revisit. (And terrifying. Also, terrifying.)

Still watching:

We're getting close to the end of S2 of Arcane. I amused myself by abruptly recognizing Maddie's voice as Suvi in Mass Effect: Andromeda (Katy Townsend, typecast as a lesbian, I guess!). Then I checked the cast list and realized there are really so many actors I have heard in other things! But the only other one I recognized was Shohreh Aghdashloo, because of course I did, how can you not? (And hee, she was in Mass Effect (3) as well!)

Still playing:

Dragon Age: The Veilguard, which is finally getting a little less linear. I set the difficulty one step down (I was on normal=3/5, set it to 2) and it's much kinder - I still get killed a few times by the toughest enemies at the end of each quest before I kill them and prevail, but that's okay.

Entry tags:

Recent Reading: The Dispossessed

"There was a wall. It did not look important. It was built of uncut rocks roughly mortared. An adult could look right over it, and even a child could climb it. Where it crossed the roadway, instead of having a gate it degenerated into mere geometry, a line, the idea of a boundary. But the idea was real. It was important. For seven generations there had been nothing more important than that wall."

I knew this book was going to hit hard from the opening paragraph above, and it did not disappoint. I've enjoyed Ursula Le Guin's work before--The Left Hand of Darkness is one of my favorite books—and I absolutely see why The Dispossessed is considered one of her crowning pieces. The setting for this book is a planet and its moon—Urras, the planet, is a lush world not dissimilar from Earth, which is home to several capitalist countries and at least one socialist country; and Anarres, the moon, which is a dusty, resource-scanty place home to a society of anarchists who fled from Urras just under two hundred years ago. The core of the novel concerns Shevek, a theoretical physicist from Anarres who chooses to relocate to Urras.

( Read more... )

Entry tags:

recent reading

Recent Reading: The Dispossessed

Not that Le Guin is necessarily positing answers. Even if you haven't read her quote about the specious inevitability of capitalism, you can tell she has opinions on it, but she doesn't fall into the trap of making her anarchist world a utopian solution to all problems of capitalism. There are problems on Anarres too—resources are scarce and life can be very uncomfortable; Shevek often feels stifled because, as his work is understood by so few people, there is broad disinterest in supporting him as his fellows cannot see why what he's doing matters; many of the same petty rivalries and jealousies that exist among us exist also among the Anarresti; and even in this extraordinarily decentralized society, there are still individuals seeking to accumulate whatever power they can.

Yet this is also true: the Anarresti conceive of themselves as a whole, succeeding or failing together. There is no money. There is always a roof or a meal for someone who needs it. There is little in the way of possessiveness, as ownership is universally scorned as egoistic. There is great willingness to do whatever work is presently most needed, regardless of personal desire or interest.

It might have also been easy for this book to become nothing but a parade of Shevek being shocked at various failings of Urresti society, but Le Guin avoids this clumsy narrative. Rather, we get a nuanced and touchingly real exploration of Shevek trying to adjust to a society he has so little context for (he was born and raised on Anarres); trying to weigh what he's been told about it (the Anarresti do not think very highly of the Urresti, nor vis-versa) against what he experiences himself; struggling with who, if anyone, should have access to his work and what responsibility he has as the theorist who may enable others to put his theories into practice.

Additionally, The Dispossessed is an effort at a practical look at a functioning anarchist society. Again, Le Guin is asking questions: What might this society look like? How does it work? What are its strengths, its weaknesses? How do people fit, or not fit, into this society? What philosophies or attitudes underpin their commitment to anarchism?

There are so many quotes I was underlining as I went through this book. I can tell it, like The Left Hand of Darkness, is one I will have to re-read: it's a book that will give something new each time. The whole work is naturally a reflection on our own world, inviting us to ask these same questions which Le Guin poses about Anarres and Urras about Earth. She has a deft hand with simply showing or explaining core elements of these questions, such as in the paragraph quoted above. This small paragraph is all she needs to remind us of the power and depth of the instinct to tribalism and the weight which fear and hatred of outsiders can carry in any society.

All of her characters come off so very realistic, which helps sell the entire meditation. Shevek, his partner Takver (marriage does not exist on Anarres, though long-term monogamous partnerships are not uncommon), his friends and rivals on Anarres, as well as those who surround him on Urras, all come across with their own motivations and philosophies. There is no one who exists as a cartoonish strawman for any one view, positive or negative; they all have flaws and virtues.

Also, honestly, have to shout-out to Le Guin for writing in 1974 her "most likely heterosexual" male protagonist having gay sex with his pal just to reaffirm their friendship. Queen move.

The pace of this book is quite measured, but I enjoyed every minute I was engaged with it and I look forward to picking it up again in a few years to see what it will share with me then. Sometimes, you read a book that's gotten heavy praise and accolades and find it out that it does actually warrant the attention, and The Dispossessed absolutely warrants it.

Entry tags:

daily

Daily Check-in

This is your check-in post for today. The poll will be open from midnight Universal or Zulu Time (8pm Eastern Time) on Wednesday, August 6, to midnight on Thursday, August 7. (8pm Eastern Time).

Poll #33469 Daily Check-in

Open to: Access List, detailed results viewable to: Access List, participants: 17

How are you doing?

I am OK.
13 (81.2%)

I am not OK, but don't need help right now.
3 (18.8%)

I could use some help.
0 (0.0%)

How many other humans live with you?

I am living single.
5 (29.4%)

One other person.
10 (58.8%)

More than one other person.
2 (11.8%)

Please, talk about how things are going for you in the comments, ask for advice or help if you need it, or just discuss whatever you feel like.

Entry tags:

Word: Ovine

Wednesday's word is...

...ovine.

adjective

pertaining to, of the nature of, or like sheep.

---

My post yesterday got a lot of comments about this book:

three bags full

To be honest, I am not enjoying it as much as I expected. It is a bit, um, woolly.

But I am only in the middle of Chapter 8. There are 24. It is translated into English from German but takes place in Ireland. The murder victim is the shepherd, George. The main sheep detective is purportedly Miss Maple (NOT Marple), but the other sheep get equal screen time. There is a black sheep named Othello with a dark tragic past in a circus (and has a grey sheep--a ghost, a memory, it isn't clear--which speaks to him). There are other sheep: Sir Ritchfield, Mopple the Whale, Cloud, and others.

I think the problem with POV animal is setting the rules for what they understand of human world and what they don't. Like they find a clue they call A Thing, I think it's a locket, but I'm not sure. But they know what a spade is. They know what a hat is. They don't know what drugs are (but they know the word 'drugs.'). What are the rules here? There's a priest they call God (because of conversation overheard). There's Ham the butcher, which the sheep all hate. There's different ideas about what happened to George (he was impaled with a spade) and what it means. Some of it is woo-woo. Like the goal of a sheep is to become a cloud in the sky (like heaven? maybe?). The sheep act oddly and you don't know why. There is mist and everyone get confused. They feel guilty (?) and reserve a space in the meadow called George's Place after they eat everything in the garden the morning after the body is found.

I am going to keep trudging on but I am a tiny bit disappointed. The premise is good, though.

Current Mood: busy
Current Music: "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" ~ Guns N' Roses

Entry tags:

Passion Flower 6

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Laughing at children

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

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Rule of Cool: Notes on Translation

I'm writing this mostly as procrastination from translating Chapter 23 of Ning Yuan's Tang Dynasty cyberpunk baihe To Embers We Return (which is a full 6,894 words long in the original Chinese). This is about Chapter 22, which you can read here. Lots of things happen in Chapter 22 (which continue to happen even more in Chapter 23, which has already required me to, among other things, study the biology of box jellyfish), but one thing that happens is that we get introduced to a new character, He Lanzhuo, the Military Commissioner of Muzhou. Or at least, we get introduced to her by name for the first time; she's already been mentioned several times by her title at this point.

This is the key passage which describes He Lanzhuo's appearance for the first time, in the original Chinese:

身边的人都穿着中式宽袖长袍，睦州节度使却是一身干练的西服。

她完全不绾发，柔顺的黑色长发披在肩头，戴着一副将双眼完全遮挡住的特制护目镜。

What this passage says is that He Lanzhuo, unlike most people in this Tang Dynasty AU, isn't wearing traditional flowing robes, but rather a Western-style suit (there is an in-world explanation for this, which the reader may or may not find persuasive; the Doylist reason, I strongly suspect, is that a stoic, super-capable woman in a smart suit is hot). Her hair is loose (instead of being done up in the traditional Chinese fashion), and over her eyes, concealing them completely, she wears a custom-made 护目镜.

A quick search of the usual sources will tell you that 护目镜 is typically translated as 'goggles' or 'safety glasses'. This translation would not be a problem in many contexts. It is, however, a huge problem in this context, because beautiful, stoic, formidable, super-efficient He Lanzhuo is COOL. And also HOT. The words 'goggles' and 'safety glasses' are very obviously neither. In addition, 'goggles'/'safety glasses' are intended to keep stuff out of someone's eyes, while the 护目镜 here are, as the story will eventually reveal, meant to keep something IN (this has to do with He Lanzhuo's superpower, which I won't spoil here). But the more important thing is still that 'goggles' is a profoundly uncool AND unhot word.

So I reached for possibly the most famous pop culture character known for needing to wear things over his eyes to keep their power in check. I reached for Cyclops of the X-Men. The thing that Cyclops wears over his eyes to stop them from involuntarily shooting out destructive beams is a visor. So I decided that was what I would call He Lanzhuo's 护目镜. The thing she wears over her eyes is a visor now.

And that's how He Lanzhuo avoided the profoundly uncool AND unhot fate of the word 'goggles'.

PS:

skuzzybunny has drawn some amazing art of He Lanzhuo here and here (note the second one is tagged 'sexually suggestive').