Call me, Shensei

The leader of the Kinkou is prepared to share the ways of the ninja. Help rebuild the new Kinkou Order and become a disciple of Balance. If one requires some wisdom, is seeking redemption, or is looking for advice, look no further than to the Eye of Twilight.

[ladyvanguard]

The latest Tweets from Lord Vanguard (@lordvanguard). Writer. Gamer. Photographer. Freelance artist

Way to start the new year and commissions. I’ll still be reblogging here. Staying for the memes.  

[ladyvanguardart]

Also, I’m hunting down all the artists I used to know. Follow me on twitter and hit me up. 

[kinkoushensei]

Update

Shensei will be moving blogs. Last sign off will happen soon. Perhaps Shensei will take off the mask for a final bow. Or maybe Shensei will remain Shensei for good.

[kinkoushensei]

Jayce leans in close behind him, whispering huskily into where his ear would be beneath the mask, "Hammer du fromage."

“Not today.”

Top lane fights

@jaycetechmaturgics

[jaycetechmaturgics]

[kinkoushensei]

Shensei! I've lookie! The girl shows him a tiny little featherless bird with a sweater. "He's got a tiny little sweater."

"That he does. Did you make that?"

[kinkoushensei]

Shenpai

"Yes?" @the-cursed-mummy-boy

[kinkoushensei]

➏ What’s the one thing you especially love about roleplaying your muse?

The best part is that Shen is the true neutral character, and depending on what is needed he can be a terrifying villain or a hero. The Kinkous are not a benevolent people, rather they only act “good” because their cause tells them to, only because there is more often than not more bad than good in the world.

In ways, when Shen is on your side, consider yourself lucky that Balance is indeed favoring you. Shen is no hero, as heroic his actions may seem, and to Shensei that is beautiful.

That’s the best part of roleplaying Shen, of Shen– what is real and true of him?

@thepetalsedge

[clockadile]

Sword Fighting for Fic Writers: Chapter 7

You can follow the tag #Swords for Fics if you want to keep up without following me :)

Available Chapters: 1: Dumb Ways to Die  2.May Your Blade Be True! 3.On Your Guard! 4. Making the Cut 5.Stick ‘em With the Pointy End 6. It’s Like a Dance 7. The Measure of A Man 8.A Crossing of Blades 9.Like Chess, but with Knives An Interlude About Storytelling 10.You Can Barely Lift Your Sword 11.Buckle Some Swash 12.Dual Wielding 13.Everything is a Weapon 14.Got Your Sword!

The Measure of a Man (or other person) Distance and Reach

In sword fighting measure refers to your ability to reach your opponent, and their ability to reach you. If you can’t reach them you are out of measure. If you need to take a passing step to reach them, you’re in a long measure. And if you can hit them from where you’re standing, you’re in measure. I recommend you simplify this to descriptions of distance or reach for readers.

The more distance you have over your opponent, the more time the defender has to react. The less distance, the less time the defender has. But the roles of attacker and defender change quickly. If they have less time to react to your attack, you will have even less time to react to their counter. All this stepping forwards and backwards is like a constant mind game where each fighter searches for control.

When retreating from an attack, the defender could retreat to a minimum safe distance, allowing them to make a smaller move to reach their opponent than their opponent had to make to reach them. Even a smaller person with a shorter sword can best someone with more reach than them, by better controlling their measure. In the illustration bellow, X (on the right) and Y (on the left) have the same reach. X takes a full step forwards and makes a cutting attack to reach Y, and Y takes only a small step back to successfully dodge. Y now makes a cutting attack using a lunging step and X is too close to retreat in time. X’s full attack also left them unable to defend in time with their sword. X could have tried retreating as their swing finished for more time to get their sword ready to defend, or done a partial cut, making their weapon a threat needing to be dealt with before Y could counter.

So why not always use this strategy? Why would you ever attack first when this can happen? In the next scenario, X attacks with a lunging thrust that brings them just in range of Y, but Y takes a small step back. X doesn’t stop the attack and now takes a full step forward, keeping their sword pointing at Y’s throat. Y tries to take a full step back in response, but is out of room, and even if they weren’t their full step still would not have brought them out of reach. X’s larger first step allowed them to catch their target in the end. Y could have defended with their sword if they knew how to win the crossing. That will be covered in “A Crossing of Blades”

There are thousands of variations of stepping backwards and forwards or where Y or X could each win even these scenarios in different ways. But I hope these two examples will help you get into the mindset of why a character may advance or retreat. Often a retreat to a long distance will be simply to reset the battle from unfavourable conditions. If you get in too close, and don’t have control over your opponents weapon, you’ll make yourself vulnerable. You might also enter grappling range. More on that in “Your Body Everything is a Weapon” (chapter coming soon)

If you’re attacking and it requires more than one step, it’s often advisable to move your sword as if making an attack while you do so. If it takes two steps for you to reach your opponent, then in the time it takes for you to take one step they could take one step forward as well and be in range to strike you. Giving them an attack to deal with will make them think about defending as they enter your space instead of attacking.

And of course, most battles aren’t going to happen like a platformer video game. Circling will occur.  You might be thinking about how much it must suck to be backed up against something or someone right now. And yea. It does. Fighting back to back is not advisable in a real battle if you can afford the space. But you know what? You can pull the back-to-back trope from my cold dead hands. If it’s that difficult to do, think of how much more impressive it actually is if your characters can pull it off. 

I’m not here to tell you how to make a battle practical or accurate. But to get you in the mindset of what’s dangerous or what’s smart. In the end, tell the story you want to.

[kinkoushensei]

Shensei teaching people a lesson.

34.00 KDA

[ghostlywriterr]

Alleys in Japan.

[kinkoushensei]

Finals done tomorrow. Signed up for summer sessions. Totally did not realize summer sessions starts up next week on Monday. Literally only have 4 days of no school before new quarter. What is this.

Worst of all. Signed up for classes 7:30-9:15am. guh. 

[kinkoushensei]

Young Master 

[theblindboxer]

Imprisonment, Hedonism, and Success. - Kinkoushensei

Put one of these words in my ask and I’ll write a headcanon about it for my character(s) 

————————————-// @kinkoushensei //—————————————–

                Imprisonment  –  “Locker’s like them vacation houses.”

[{ Living in Saint Street doesn’t make you a saint. It applies to every citizen, Brad included. Everybody gets into some trouble from time to time, and hoo boy has Brad scored high on that one.

The majority of the reasons behind said trouble had to do with his past life on Chinchang Island. (aka Ionia) It was during his first couple of years in Saint Street, when Lee was still in the process of adapting to the ways of the new neighbourhood.

Let’s just say he had a temper with some opinionated folk.

Unfortunately, Saint Street doesn’t have a locker, so Brad was taken to The Bigger Town and was locked up in Pete’s Jail. Now, they say that prison changes you. In a way, Lee did change during his short time in there. He owes that one to Jianni, the Ratman, whom he shared his cell with. Seemingly polar opposites when they first met, the two soon found common ground through lots of conversations.

What the locker offered Brad was his future best friend.

Besides, even if he does end up there every now and again, Pete’s Jail isn’t that bad. It’s got a place to sleep, a place to take a leak, and the food’s take-out. Pete himself is a pretty friendly guy once you get to know him. He’s the second of his name, apparantly. He’s Pete Jr.

Lee still owes Pete Jr. six Valors for the food. Prices are steep over there. }]

——————————————————————————————————–

                   Hedonism  –  “For ‘em mighty fine lasses, yes sir.”

[{ Brad wants to enjoy his life as much as he can. In his eyes, the best way to achieve just that is to work for it. It’s like that one Saint Street saying, which goes like so:

If the knee don’t moil, the belly don’t cure.

Through his routine, his training and preparation, Lee is able to give it his all in the boxing ring and end up with more than bragging rights. He loves spitting fire at his opponent, sure, but he also likes the coin that comes with the gates.

It means that the hard-earned work can now pay for life’s greatest pleasures. The big three, Lee’s guiltiest of pleasures. (or perhaps not so guilty) We are, of course, talking about drinks, good food and ladies.

However, part of the appeal behind the pleasures mentioned above is the fact that Lee worked for them. They feel much more satisfying when he knows that, behind each lass he’s been to bed with, there’ve been countless days of intense sweating and silent training..

Let’s be real though, lasses do love that body. It helps feed his ego. }]

——————————————————————————————————–

                          Success  –  “Hell, I can do that blindfolded!”

[{ Ever since he left the Chinchang Island (aka Ionia), Brad has gone through a series of successes in his life. The very fact he got on that boat eight years ago counts as a success in itself, if one takes into consideration the multiple risks and implications posed at the time.

Imagine a determined blind man, travelling to a land unknown to him, quickly ceasing a job as a boxer and rising to the title of local champion on his very first match. After that, his success follows an effect similar to a snowball rolling down a snowy hill. It keeps getting bigger and bigger the more it descends.

One can argue that the road was paved for him, but Brad’s success is, in actuality, the result of natural talent, persistence/determination, and proper direction, the latter of the three handled by Goostave himself.

It’s no surprise that he is considered by many to be the living embodiment of determination. No matter the matchup or the stakes, hell, even if it’s just an everyday job that requires a lot of effort, Lee’s unmatced drive is the key to his success.

When he wants to, Brad is stubborn, determined and eager to give it his all, and that’s why he’s found so much sucess in his life. }]

——————————————————————————————————–

[kinkoushensei]

This reads like a short a story. They're all well put together. Reminds Shensei of House on Mango Street mixed with some other vignette books. The Saint Street lines - the sayings and saintliness - are Shensei's favorite.

[kinkoushensei]

Shen! I need some inspiration! Do you have any inspiring words?

Life is much like fishing in a river. There are many obstacles such as strong currents and plenty of vegetation to tangle your line and very few opportunities where the water is clear for you to see your hook and the fish. When the fish swims by, that is your window of opportunity to catch it. 

You need to be in the right place and the right time. And the only way to increase your chances is to prepare ahead and be ready when it comes! 

How? Explore and experience. Build your schema. If you know how to fish, know where the fish are, maybe you’ll catch yourself a fish. 

What you need to do is plan for the fishing trip. Work hard and get plenty of rest for when you go out fishing. May you find what you need and do it. 

[kinkoushensei]

Take him please ,Shensei!!— 

------

Thank you, Oiji-san! It’s adorable! Omega 3 fish oil does the body good! 

Funny story Shensei would see a Zed with a fish basket. In the middle of the intersection, Shensei saw this giant blotch of grey on the road. Shensei wondered what sort of poor animal became roadkill today. When Shensei’s car drove by, it was just a random carpe/fish of some kind grilling in traffic. 

[kinkoushensei]

Shensei is still very ill. This has been a very long week.

Little anecdote to pass the time: Shensei is taking classes with two other friends. Shensei took a day off from school on Tuesday, because that was the only day Shensei could afford to be at home really. And so the following day, Shensei asks Shensei’s friends for the notes and they both replied that they ditched class. . . 

“We’re the 3 Musketeers. We either all go or don’t go.”  “You know, he was very convincing. ‘I don’t wanna go to class. Do you? No.”  The moral of the story: Don’t take classes with your friends. At least not Shensei’s friends. 

[thegayninjas]

// some people have been asking for references and i just gave a bunch of references to my friend for shen zed so i might as well post it here

the blue areas indicated on shen are the places where purple is placed. its blurred into the clothing except for the armguards, i keep my colours constant so yeah

thats how i draw shen and zed hope it helps some of u

[kinkoushensei]

➎ Have you made lots of friends on this blog? ➏ What’s the one thing you especially love about roleplaying your muse? ➐ Are there any people you’ve been to afraid of approaching? ➒ Got any memorable threads on here? Care to mention a few? ➓ What were some of the most frustrating moments you had with your muse’s interaction with another muse?

5) Have you made lots of friends on this blog?Yes. Shensei is happy to have met you all, even though Shensei tends to keep to Shensei’s busy self. 

6) What’s the one thing you especially love about roleplaying your muse? Answered previously. Shensei can add that Shensei loves writing action-fighting scenes that involve kicks and punching. The bone-crunching smack down-- it’s exciting.

7) Are there any people you’ve been to afraid of approaching? Nope. 

9) Got any memorable threads on here? Care to mention a few?Refuge from the Past with @fxstofshadow. Shensei is not sure if they are active anymore, but they were Shensei’s first RP partner for this blog. This thread takes place directly after the massacre and just the idea of Akali and Shen trying to hold their family together is such a powerful scene. 

10) What were some of the most frustrating moments you had with your muse’s interaction with another muse?How the two muses would meet and why Shen should find himself in a position to acknowledge their presence and welcome them into his business is definitely a main problem... Shen has a lot on his mind and to find himself distracted from his duties endangers his position as the Master of the Kinkous.

@hook-and-chains