Not to much surprise given what I saw in the anime, but there’s definitely a focus on finance in the opening. Interesting to note this far is that the price for potions and artifacts is actually controlled by the government. Granted it’s high enough compared to the materials involved that being an alchemist is still quite profitable. Still, this makes me feel a little better about how much Sarasa will charge for saving an arm later, as it might be that she legally can’t charge less than that.

Also interesting is that the texts she’s paying a ludicrous sum for are themselves artifacts, with the magic being that “you must be this skilled in alchemy to read, or else it looks like a blank page”. Which in turn means that you need a higher alchemist to accompany you to verify the later books are the real thing, because there are blank fakes out there, and if you want the full set that means getting one of the best alchemists. And their time ain’t cheap.

Really, if it wasn’t for all the scholarships and cash prizes handed out to the top test scorers this could have been a story about crippling student debt in a fantasy world. ...Probably is for most alchemist graduates who aren't Protag-chan.

#read this in his voice

via @nbprincy

I mean, sometimes yeah, but it's hard for me not to read a simple line of "Good" in CDI Zelda's voice. ...Playing Arzette recently probably doesn't help.

pm, respectfully you have ruined my tumblr experience because i read every post in your voice

Good

Well I’ve still got one week until I can take a break from the unending stream of BS that is my job, and I’m going to need something to read besides Ranma. I mean I like the series, but I need a bit of variety and it ain’t one I’m reading to comment on anyway (I just do it because sometimes you just wanna talk/joke about something). Let’s see…

Well now, this is interesting. I liked the anime adaptation of Management of a Novice Alchemist, and it looks like the first volume of the book series got an official translation last month. So there we go, I’mma read Management of a Novice Alchemist by Miziho Itsuki.

I mean, I can’t really argue with that. You could maybe argue that Happosai shouldn’t be there as he’s neither student nor staff, but he’s often at the school anyway (to steal ladies’ undies). And I’m not really sure what Nibiki would even bring to the team. I mean I’ve speculated that she has some psychic/exorcism abilities and she is the daughter of a martial arts master, but she’s not exactly a combatant and none of her unexplained oddities seem like they’d help out in a fight against Ms. Hinako.

Though really I can’t blame her for joining the principal’s goon squad. A million yen is a million yen. Let’s see, written around late 80s to mid 90s, so let’s guess… 94? so that would be about… $9,786.65, which by today’s standards would be… $20,625.40. Yeah, I’d probably join a goon squad for one day for that much. Not like this is any less legal than any other fight in the series anyway. Heck, given it’s the principal forming this posse to bring in an out of control delinquent it’s arguably legitimate authority.

If any of you have never played this game let me assure you... he ain't kidding!

Inindo: Way of the Ninja (Koei, 1991)

Do you have any idea what it does to morale to be reprimanded for following the posted rules, and doing what was acknowledged to be “exactly what I ask of you”? Because some overgrown brat of a He-Karen threw a temper tantrum over being asked for his ID like everybody else who was buying alcohol?

I hate people… SO MUCH… Flames… on the side of my face…

oneweekuntilvacationoneweekuntilvacationoneweekuntilvacationoneweekuntilvacationoneweekuntilvacation…

Okay, I know Ranma 1/2 is a series with many absurd training methods, but “get seduced by a stone statue and get used to lugging around that kind of weight on dates” is certainly… one of them.

Honestly I’m surprised none of the adults or elders got involved in the fight over the Mushrooms of Time. Potentially perfect opportunity to return to one’s prime right there, and it’s not like risk, morality, or common sense has stopped anyone in Ranma 1/2 before. Heck, I’d probably give it a go despite the risks, and I hate mushrooms. Of course I’d be sorely tempted by Kusuri’s immortality drug, and that one has a certainty of trapping you as a little kid, permanently, so I may be the odd one here.

Well that’s it for The Castle of Llyr, both in the “finished the book” sense and the “no more castle” sense. Magg managed to escape, though I can’t remember if he shows up again in later books to cause any problems. Not like he can do all that much by himself anyway. Achren is now similarly powerless. And taking it hard enough she’s basically on suicide watch until they bring her back to Caer Dallben for… reasons. And the now mostly powerless Eilonwy is staying on the island for her education, though she has no intention of marrying Rhun even if he has gotten a bit better. I… can’t say I really agree that learning to be a proper young lady is something greater than learning how to be an enchantress though. I mean, there’s certainly some very good reasons to learn how to move around in formal circles if you’re going to be among nobility, but I don’t really see why it would have to be one or the other. Why not both? Besides her nuking her ancestral spell book/place of power, I mean.

@codex-regius-books said:

Though, of course, her main blunder was not to have learnt from Spiral Castle that Eilonwy and Structural Integrity Fields don’t go well together.

Ah yes, how could I forget, the Dirty Pair moral.

Let Achren’s mistake be a lesson. If you’re going to use someone else’s power for your own rise to power, make sure the spells controlling them are stronger than the powers they are going to be calling up.

This lesson may not have much application in most people’s lives.

Let Achren’s mistake be a lesson. If you’re going to use someone else’s power for your own rise to power, make sure the spells controlling them are stronger than the powers they are going to be calling up.

This lesson may not have much application in most people’s lives.

Okay, I know you shouldn't give cats milk because they're lactose intolerant and it gives them the runs, and I was going to chide Mayu for it, but when she went shopping she picked up something specifically labeled "Cat Milk". Can... can you just give your cat lactose-free milk and it'll be fine, or are there other little modifications that need to be made to make it friendly to their digestive tract.

Also, have to appreciate the sheer cat energy of being all elegant and graceful and cute, but then sneaking out at night to pick fights with bears in the mountains. I think Wonderful and Friendy might have to put some effort into explaining to Nyammy that they're supposed to be helping that Garugarus. No, claws to the face are not helping. No, not even a little clawing. No, you can't just attack it's ankles so it can't run away from us.

I swear Glew is a parody of a pathetic little man (despite eventually having made himself a giant). I can get feeling down and wanting to be recognized for something. But his attempts at, well… everything, are just so bad. What really stood out though is his attempt at being a Hero.

You ever see those posts talking about or depicting little dragons? Well, Glew thought he’d give Dragon Slaying a try. Took a while to find one, but he did. It was the size of a weasel. Lived in somebody’s rabbit hutch. Just a local curiosity/pet rather than a menace. He tried to slay it anyway… and lost the fight. He complains to the heroes that he’s still got a mark from where the dragon bit him on the finger.

Normally I’d crack a joke about it being a noble battle-scar, but trying to kill someone’s pet that wasn’t hurting anybody ain’t so noble. Should’ve been bitten more.

…Why the wan is there a horror game starring a hololive VTuber as the villain on the Nintendo eShop? I mean, I dunno much about them, the only hololive media I’ve consumed is occasionally wasting some time with the Vampire Survivors-like fangame, so maybe the doggy girl is a good choice for this kind of thing. But from a complete outsider perspective this just looks weird.

I mean yeah, in the old anime he was usually support. But it's not like he never fought. Blocked attacks. Got into duels. Threw roses through a monster's hand.

One time Mamoru grabbed a knife and stabbed the monster of the week while it was smothering Sailor Moon. Why does nobody ever compliment him for helping a girl out by shanking a bitch?

Ok it's very funny to laugh at Tuxedo Mask for showing up and doing nothing, but his job was never to actually fight the monsters.

His job was just to show up and believe in Sailor Moon so overwhelmingly resolutely that she remembers she's a fucking demigod long enough for HER to fight the monsters.

Because she's the only one strong enough to do it in the first place, and in this regard Tuxedo Mask is the first example of being "Kenough" in this essay I will

It’s not surprising that the time travel to prevent Mendou’s phobia ended up causing it. That’s a classic time travel bit and these characters are often their own worst enemies even when they’re not trying to break causality.

What is surprising is just how it happened. I’ll admit I have anger issues, but I’ve never gone full axe-murderer/slasher-villain on someone (especially not my past self). Normally I’d joke that this comedy character obviously needs therapy, but I don’t think therapy can cut it in this case!

On the plus side, Fflewddur has finally found an appreciative audience. The downside however, is just what the audience is. To quote the great Yuri Hyuga: “That is one giant pussy.”

Though on a more serious note I do have to feel a little bad for Rhun now. He's incompetent, yes, but he's also aware of that, knows that his command positions are just people humoring him, and wishes he wasn't bad at everything. And to be fair to the kid, while he's frequently annoying, incredibly clumsy, and makes Taran look like a tactical genius by comparison, he's not actually a bad person.