音時雨 ～Regentropfen～

Never being a Cthulhu fan -- while I still have to rely on google to spell "Cthulhu" right -- I got a slight interest in The Sinking City from an article before its initial release. For many times I was considering to get it but eventually not, $80 was apparently not acceptable judging from that I'm not sure how the actual experience it might be. Then I came to the discount in May for $25 only, and gradually cleared it in the past month.

First impression, environment is great, that I was soon linking it to the Fishing Hamlet. No much memorable BGM though. Still, most building interiors are exactly the same, not attractive and confusing.
However, combat is near rubbish that I didn't want to get mad and quickly set to easy. It's not happy to fight while you can't lock. The character can move backwards while facing the front, in a dashing speed, but he can only climb when right facing a higher object, otherwise he doesn't move (stupid). Comparing with this, Psycho Break's slight aiming delay action is much better (I'm not saying I don't like PB, but its combat sometimes do make me angry). Plus, even though from the tips it says ammo is scarce, when you reload crafting materials will respawn.. meaningless. (Well, it's my fault to play it as doing Silent Hill.)
Riddle (not literally riddle though) isn't hard at all, and turned this game to a 80% map finding one. ... at the cross between X and Y, fine, tedious but still endurable. The collection of hints and evidence is okay, but for a few times it's hard to look past information (which cost me lots of time finding where the cemetery is because I didn't visit it in an earlier chapter -- it's reasonable to just ask a local person but the game doesn't let you do it). In addition, you can't really look for any piece of info at an archive without pin the evidence first on the search page, also it's not possible to visit a place (e.g. church) without searching at the archive first even though you may have known the location when you passed by earlier. This flagging system is too stubborn. Otherwise I have no complaints and liked to track down to the final decision.
About decision, your choice wasn't ending-affecting nor serious at all, kind of dissatisfied. Most cases are fun to run though.
Last, the endings are interesting in terms of content: 1. you sacrifice yourself, and the yellow king welcomes the next newcomer (could be Mr. Reed again?!); 2. you enter the sea anemone-ish thing (can't spell its actual name) and the Oakmont (probably the whole world too) is engulfed by tsunami; 3. you're left the city and a few years ago the yellow king shows you a newspaper front saying "catastrophic flood", immediately after, water enters the bar where you're drinking. which again link me to bloodborne endings. But, the cutscenes were way too short.. shorter than a boss cutscene in DS3. I do like how it saves your time by allowing you saving right before the end. At least give more info, I still don't know what's going on underwater and the difference between endings 2 and 3, except where you end up with..
Finally, the ending credit is a long list of names (that I skipped). It's funny just like when I read a one-column research article. At least divide into who made the story, who made the program, etc.!

Now I quite understand and agree with its overall 6-7 out of 10 marks, it's fair (fairer than the new naughty dog title ¬_¬ [another truth, I never played nor watched "1" either]) even when it's just a $25 buy. At least I don't think it's a waste and really enjoyed it.
Time to run through bloodborne again as a reflected decision!

It almost rained for a whole day, not bad, although sadly that I didn't smell the earth from indoors.

Even though I tried to "keep records" more frequently, so far it seems it's still going by month instead of a few days. But behind this, I'm indeed keeping a daily piece of writing, regardless of long or short, meaningful or meaning less, while being much more private than this site for sure. Plus I let google's blogger handled everything, it's more time-efficient and I nearly forgot I still have this public one...

Anyway, I'll see if that's possible for me to keep two types of records, from the beginning of next month!
also time to resume the German for Dummies book.. ^^;

A more important note, I'm also resuming my drawing project, remake of "kitsunetsuki". Under Nioh2's influence, I'm trying to have a pair of 9-tailed foxes compared to previous single white fox! but really, I more wanted to draw sunekosuri cats... >///<
Meanwhile, I also have another project that I started drafting in Feburary, which was actually initiated many years ago: Project T (not T virus of course!). Still, this one also has undergone many changes, as I mentioned before, from 78 down to 22 only. not only because I'm lazy, it's more of an issue of no knowledge in that field, and having no motivation in knowing more.
-- but 22 is decent enough, isn't it!

I've been looking for a decent phone a while ago. Although I've checked a few, they're either too expensive or a bit out-dated.
Since Android 10 has already been released, it's the time to look for a built-in 10 instead of upgrading from 9 to 10.
Originally I was having an eye on Moto G8 and Samsung A30. They both released not so many months ago, have decent price below $300 (the former was merely $210). But none of them has android 10. So I held up until a few days ago, when I noticed amazon showed a decreased stock.
Then I tried to compare other similar items on a phone comparison site, and eventually spotted A31, which was ~$350 and released right in last month with built-in android 10.
Fine, no more hesitation, time to place the order.

Because my previous iphone5 (with a non-working power button) is black, it's very hard to realise it's being placed on my black desk. Thus, this time I chose white. But apparently it's not helping much, since the front side is still all black when screen turned off. I completely neglected this fact, and should really have got a black phone, as black is just so all-purpose that nothing else can replace its importance. Anyway, it won't be a good reason to go for a replace.

My previous android was probably not above 4.4. The current experience on 10 is excellent -- Icons can be placed everywhere! Typing through swapping is smooth. The brand new machine is fast and the 64 GB storage will be undoubtly enough.
Now I can finally use OneDrive, which couldn't be installed on a lower iOS version, along with many other apps.
Blogger doesn't even have an iphone version [I just started a private blogger site for personal diary -- I wanted to resume my long-forgotten daily log habit].
Also, the your phone on windows 10 app is great, it's now very easy to access photos stored on the phone. Although I've set up OneDrive, seems it's not backing up. Probably it needs more configuration that I'll deal with in the near future, it's not in rush. I more often use a real camera after all. But the inconvenience is I can't transfer files from PC to phone. Hope this can be improved but it's unlikely..

It claims charging is fast, and I'll see tomorrow.

The only thing I'm not yet used to is to unlock: tap 1, 2 times or swap or home button or fingerprint... hope can get used to it soon.

Almost forgot to say, it came with a soft plastic (?) case. Never expected this but I'm happy with it. Will try how a strap can be attached from one of its holes!
And I'll definitely paint another Hunter's Mark on the back (of the case)!

No more apple, スッキリ！

Meanwhile, one of the past Notepad++ updates now allows auto-indentation for Perl scripts, like what it has been doing for php. Thankfully I love it!

時々そう考えてる、本物の日記帳でやれば中断しづらいかも。でも流石に今はもうおしゃれなノートとか持ってないし（一冊だけあるがアレに使われた…）、字も下手だし、時間が経つと絶対に読むこともないし‥などなど。過去はちゃんとやったけど、今は真似事できない。本気かどうかは関係ない。ただの無駄、確信。

で、アレについて…

最初の発想は‥何年前なんだろうか。過去の絵を見ないと分からない。
でも、もうどうでもいい。だって、今年の二月には、もう一度ゼロからやってみようと、
しかも今度はたったの２２だけじゃなく、全部７８でやりたいと、
そう思った。

が、もともとこいうものは信じるわけじゃなく、面白半分で足を踏み入れただけなので、意味とか解釈とか組み合わせとか全然分からなくても分かりたくもない。
三ヶ月かけてようやく２２の部分に終わりが見えるが、残りの４×１４には単にデザインを考えるだけでやる気がなくなる。
だから、まじで始める前にやめよう、もう限界だから、精神力的に。(・_・;)
せめて何年前にほっといた企画を完成させる。イメージ合っても合わなくても草稿できたから。
もちろん諦めるわけじゃない。前の２２はちゃんと完成する、バックもデザインする［つもり］。

これをやめたいもう一つの理由は、最近お久しぶりの「ヨルガ」を聞いてて、その特有の音階にてまた何か描きたくなった。そしてリマスターじゃなくリメイク！
ｷﾂﾈの方です～

そして、先週こいつを買った、アマゾンJPにて。
↓

ずっと携帯のアプリ使ったけど、声が小さくて使うときにスクリーンオフもできず、色々不便だった。そしてこういう古風のメトロノームをずっとほしかった。
最初は黒がいいと思ったが、やっはり淡きピンクが可愛い。
一番欲しかったのは白だったけど、海外配送できないので諦めた。

こっちのアマゾンにもある、黒の方なら値段も税も配送料も含めてほぼ同じ、ピンクの場合はバカみたいに30ドルも高い。しかも結局日本から郵送され、配達時間もめっちゃかかるので、やはりアマゾン本家とDHLさんの連携は王道だね。
あとひとつ、注文したとき在庫はすでに最後の一点だった、今は一時的に在庫切れになり。ちょっとお得な感じ♪（*´▽｀*）

でも、コイツめっちゃうるさい！！ｗｗｗ
これについて確かレビューにも読んだが、メカニックメトロノームが初めて使うのでこれほどでっかくなれるのは知らなかった。

It was a bit busier than ever in the past 1.5 months. Too many free ideas I've cumulated in my internal notepad to be released, which I'm going to do now.

Not the first time, but more frequently since February when I came across many personal websites, I've noticed they got a sort of plugin to disable text selection and/or copy/paste/Ctrl+U/etc. Regardless, the source code can be still accessed through your web browser's menu (unless their script can affect your web browser which is of a near-zero chance), and you can get all contents you want by parsing HTML. A bit hassle but not that much, especially when you know how to REGEX!

Nonetheless, I don't understand why those people invest some extra time (maybe minor since it's merely a matter of a few clicks from wordpress) to install it, since it doesn't really work. If you don't want people to copy your stuff, don't publish it. Otherwise there is always a way to get your text, and you only annoy most innocent people since they simply want to select a word and google its definition.

Another annoying plugin is the pop-up subscription ad. Honestly, how many people would enter their email and subscribe? Or maybe they just want to show off their skill of making a pop-up ad... u_u

On an intention to look inside, I borrowed Learning Python (the edition that only covers 2.3) from the library and finally managed to read the section of using modules. With my experience in Perl, it's going mostly well, though I haven't been spending much time practising.
On the other day when I was looking for a solution to clear my trailing rubbish on screen, but one of the quickest answers was rather:

Yeah, fine, there's more than one way to do it.

I'm still not -- and probably will never be -- used to Python's space-based indentation, I eventually realised that I missed the great feature of Notepad++, which can use either tab or space depending on the language. Missed the option earlier and had so many complaints.
Brackets are beautiful. {-w-}

Plus, I'm surprised that the book doesn't teach a lot in Regex, while Learning Perl spend chapters covering relevant topics.
I'm now very glad I didn't start with Python, even it's more popular at present.

Earlier, I didn't understand bitwise operators, but now I don't understand why I want to use them. And my sudden idea led me to use them as a code.
But though I can convert a piece of message into massive 1-and-0's, anyone who knows the logic behind will be able to decipher it.
Will that also apply to modern cryptography?

Whatever, I tried to make my own code. It does work, but when trying to integrate it into an already-built site, more issues came, involving to require a password, to manage current pass, to display original or enciphered text, etc.
Just too troublesome to continue.
Maybe what I need is to find a good javascript, or leave self-hints without literally stating them.
At least I've made a shallow attempt in this. Satisfied.

Two months ago, I applied a two-column layout, which doesn't look bad.
Today, I reset the template back to a one-column layout, which is more comfortable.
Two or more columns simply look crammed, especially for a personal site. And it's often hard to balance between a short article and a very long sidebar.

Still, to compensate those several "widget" php files I made (easily) for the sidebar, I rearranged them to fit into my index -- with a two-column layout! (>ω<)

Why I only use a male character in souls-like games?
Because FROM isn't GUST.

↓ I said I'm not going to give it up!

Another long-term piece. The initial draft was out as early as November 20, 2017 (according to the draft jpg's property), when I was for the first time playing (and in love with) such a hardcore action game. Though, I can't recall exactly the reason for an Ornstein cosplay (and sorry I've removed the lion-head helmet), but I do remember the Four-Kings' winged grey outfit can be a pretty dress.
But since then, I barely had any motivation to get it finished until the second half of last year. Even though, after doing Ornstein's shining armour, I again got bored and couldn't follow my previous plan, that to get it done before this year.
And thus it's more delayed until yesterday, with a little surprise that the background was processed rather quick (less than 1 week). (；´∀｀)

FoodOther ornaments omitted (at the draft stage):
- Onion Bro
- Mrs Eryngii

Things added/modified (at the outline stage):
- pet Kalameet. -w-
- great scythe replaced by Gargoyle's halberd (the latter has a better appearance IMO, always with an enchanted infuse)

Two new findings:
- Using the "watercolour" brush makes the perfect hair texture I want. (!important)
- Piling up random "dry gouache" and "pointillism" strokes with various "blend" methods and pattern overlays make appropriate bark and earth.

However, there's no much to say on background design as it's simply a reproduction.

実はね、昨年はフロムの女性キャラ（ボス）をモチーフにする絵を考えていたけど、これを終わらせるところもうアレを触れたくない。実際にできればすごく面白いけど、再現がムズくて萎えるわ、流石に。(;´д｀)ﾄﾎﾎ…

Since the week (~2 weeks ago) when the weather dropped down to -30 °C, I decided to write a calendar script like MyO (for a nostalgic reason, probably), which then led myself into another code update (the config with JQuery wasn't a pleasant one).
A thing I've been struggled a lot was how to use perl to send POST info to PHP, but I haven't made anything work as I expected. When I was about to give up completely, I noticed the fantastic `` quote that can ask PHP to fetch Perl's printed results. It was exactly what I wanted, but eventually I didn't use it as I changed my plan. Yet, I'm mentioning this trick (or maybe not) here as a reminder for the uncertain future.

The renovated CSS went very fun. I this time again combined frame.css and colour.css together as it's more consistent. I've forgotten the reason of choosing "il mare dei suoni", but it surely happened after I restyled most blocks to have less rounded corners and used the pretty #16358c as the universal background. Maybe it's an implication that I shall remake my previous piece (I haven't decided what to paint next but at least this isn't under planning right now).
Also, through this huge layout rewrite I finally said goodbye to the "cherry cream soda" font, and integrated the less "comic" looking "Milonga". Although I wished to use something interesting as the default font, it probably won't be decent in terms of loading time so I'm stick to Yu Gothic.

Surface Duo looks cute and I'm looking forward to create a Gehrman in Nioh 2! (>ω<)

Perhaps in my source xml file, the <date> field isn't really serving as a reference for myself at all, rather it brings much trouble in terms of typing, especially in January. (I'll keep it anyhow since I'm not motivated to remove all such tags from more than 10 xml files.)
Alternatively, as the year increases, in terms of managing all files it might be a good idea to put all text into one single file. They're not large, just a few MB altogether, I just tried. But the merged version will cause a little lag if as type more into. So this plan was impractical and immediately dropped.

Due to the lack of kilobytes in previous files, although I'm not expecting much along with a new year, I do want to start with some changes, to "type" more, electronically. (Yet I've already got a two-week span of nothing.)
Regardless, I'm not a fan of keeping an analogue notebook for this purpose any more, even though that format is sometimes quicker to save flashing-by thoughts, I know I won't be able to organise them in an eligible fashion. Also, honestly, I'm not the type who will enjoy reading past posts at all. But just in case, I write them, if there're things worth writing.

In brief, this season's challenge (for me) is getting it smooth while switching between arco mode and pizz mode, which I've never practiced before.

Fortunately or unfortunately, they appear in all pieces as:
- in Bizet:

- in Hardiman:

- and in Tchaikovsky:

Good luck on this! Since my index usually lost and land outside of the fingerboard. ~_~
Still overall, I'm super happy with Tchaikovsky, would be even better if it's the whole piece.

The motivation hasn't returned, so no progress in the completion of cute souls, nor being able to predict it.
Nonetheless, I can't let it sitting still forever, so how shall I resume it since this weekend and give it a rush to the end?
I should have known that "souls" can't be tuned to the level of cuteness as imagined, at least for the current visual arrangement.

As far as I've read, there's no "i++" nor "i--" in python, what a shame!
In addition, there's no ";" (though legal) nor "{}" (sadly illegal). Since no other languages I'm using complain between tab and space, the restriction in space-based indentation remains as my top one hatred of python. Agree with me or not, the $@% signs in perl are cute.
Though it may be easier to read, I want to clarify here, that I decided to learn it because of its popularity, not of my inner interest.
Also I don't like how they differentiate between tuples and arrays, sounds tedious, even they say there's a historical reason.

The last thought:
Perl has $, PHP has $, C doesn't, and Python doesn't...
IntEreStINg.