Acadien

[ハンドパンoku @okudrum]

時の回廊(Corridors of Time)
クロノトリガー(Chrono Trigger)

[Acadien @AcadienTako]

@RyuguFinana 🫂

[The Glass Cannon Network @glasscannonpod]

The trail to Robert Huston grows stranger by the mile as the investigators uncover unsettling evidence that they are chasing more than a missing expedition. Time For Choas Season 4 Episode 5 airs tonight at 8PM ET on YouTube. https://t.co/M8Ovpe2JTc

[Katsuhiro Harada @Harada_TEKKEN]

For me, this is already a story from a career that spans the past 31 years.

I’m probably one of the people in the game industry who has traveled to the largest number of countries and actually met local fan communities in person. So honestly, I’ve been influenced by people and cultures from all over the world. More than race itself, I think I’ve always been influenced by “regional culture” and “organizational culture.”

One of the most fascinating moments involving your culture happened in 2019, when I revealed Leroy Smith. (The visual design wasn’t mine, but the original character concept was.)

Right after the reveal, I received this message from the American fan community:

“Can we… can we invite you to the cookout for making an awesome character like this?”

Now, as someone from my generation in Japan, I was actually considered relatively good at reading and writing English. By then I’d already been to North America over 50 times, had maintained the English I learned for university entrance exams, and had been communicating with people on Twitter in English long before translation apps became useful, let alone AI translation.

But honestly… when I saw that sentence, I had absolutely no idea what it meant.

In fact, my very first reaction was:

“Oh no… I’m finished.”

Here’s why.

Back then I was frequently arguing against articles spreading hate toward video games, and I kept seeing people replying with the word “cooked.”

As you know, “cooked” can mean you’re done, finished, or completely destroyed. I also often saw “roasted.” Because of that, I honestly assumed “cookout” was just an even stronger version of “cooked.”

So for one terrifying moment, I read it as:

“Hey… we… we… can invite you to a party where we’re going to beat you up and roast you?”

Even though I thought I knew America pretty well, I genuinely wondered if I’d somehow pressed some invisible cultural button that I wasn’t supposed to touch.

Later, I had another misunderstanding. People kept calling me:

“You are the fxxking GOAT.”

And for about two or three years I honestly thought,

“Damn… here’s another guy calling me ‘a fxxking goat… this animal bastard.’ Better ignore the bait.”

Some people even replied with 🐐 emojis, so I genuinely believed they were insulting me by calling me an animal.

Because of misunderstandings like that, I seriously thought:

“Man… getting our characters accepted by Americans is really difficult. They might actually be even more sensitive than Japanese people in many ways. We need to study their culture much more.”

Anyway, back to the cookout story.

Eventually someone explained that a “cookout” in the African American community is actually one of the highest compliments possible—basically saying:

“You’re someone we’d trust enough to invite to our close-knit family BBQ, where only real friends and loved ones are welcome.”

That explanation was a huge relief.

Then they started showing me BBQ equipment and ingredients…

…and I was absolutely shocked that everything was several times bigger than what we have in Japan.

Sure, I expected the smoker grills to be huge. But even the tongs and spatulas were enormous, and the meat looked like something I’d only ever seen as loot in an MMORPG.

Looking back now, I honestly regret not immediately flying to the U.S. and accepting an invitation to one of those community cookouts.

That really was the perfect opportunity.

Anyway… I’ve wandered way off topic.

Of course I can’t claim that I fully understand what you call Black culture. But if we’re talking about the parts that have genuinely influenced me, the cookout story is certainly one of them.

And the people in these photos have also had a significant influence on me. (I’d like to include many more, but I’ll limit it to four photos.)

[The Glass Cannon Network @glasscannonpod]

Blood of the Wild shines the spotlight on Skid, We Shouldn’t Be Alive makes a brutal decision, The Glass Cannon Podcast needs legal advice, and Time For Chaos gets to know a new companion. All this and more this week on the Glass Cannon Network.

[NOBUNAGA🇯🇵🏯_夏樹蒼依 @japan_nobunaga]

In America I was taken to a warehouse called Costco.

At the door, a woman checked my friend's membership card.

At last, I thought. A checkpoint. A travel pass. Finally, this country has proper gate protocol.

Inside, the ceiling was so high that weather felt possible.

They sell mayonnaise in containers I would describe as architectural. Forty-eight eggs at once. Trousers next to televisions next to a kayak.

Old women stood at small stations, handing out free food on toothpicks.

I asked my friend when the festival ends.

He said, "It's Tuesday."

The festival does not end. The festival is the store.

Then he bought me a hot dog and a soda.

It cost one dollar and fifty cents.

I assumed I misheard. I checked the receipt.

One dollar. Fifty cents. The price has not changed since 1985.

I was alive in 1985. Everything I have purchased since then has betrayed me at least once.

Gasoline. Rent. Rice. All of them broke their word.

The hot dog did not.

I asked how this is possible, and I received a story I did not believe until I confirmed it.

The founder, before he stepped down, told the next chief what would happen if he ever raised the price of the hot dog.

He said, and this is recorded history: "If you raise the price, I will kill you."

Scholars believe he was joking.

The price has not moved in forty years.

I leave the conclusion to you.

At the exit, a man checked our receipt and drew one line across it with a highlighter.

A seal. A magistrate's signature, approving safe passage.

I bowed to him slightly.

He said, "Have a good one," which I now understand can refer to a day, a life, or a hot dog, depending on need.

In my country, we honor merchants who keep the same price for generations. There is a shop in Kyoto four hundred years old. We treat it as a national treasure.

Costco is forty years old and sells tires.

Give it time.

Empires fell. Currencies died.

The hot dog holds.

A nation is its promises.

I paid one dollar and fifty cents.

The promise held.

[The Glass Cannon Network @glasscannonpod]

Strange visitors in the night become a recurring theme for the investigators, and an untimely fumble leaves one member of the squad in grave peril. Time For Chaos Season 4 Episode 2 airs tonight at 8PM ET on YouTube. https://t.co/52FP1pUbhA

[Ninomae Ina'nis 🐙holoEN @ninomaeinanis]

Wait wheres my gallery feed i can’t see my collection of cat gifs in my gallery noooooooooooooo

[Acadien @AcadienTako]

@EliraPendora So, what's the verdict?

[Acadien @AcadienTako]

@PlayStation Booooooo

[lacia 🪻 @LaciaEverlight]

⊹ 【 𝚅 】 ⊹

#LazuLight #Finanart #pendorART

[The Glass Cannon Network @glasscannonpod]

Deep within the Forest Sauvage, the knights of Lord Robert continue their search for the boy Thomas, and come toe to toe with an unknown King. Pendragon: Under an Iron Sky - The Swine King, Part 2 airs tonight at 8PM ET on YouTube. https://t.co/vYgP04C0DD

[Acadien @AcadienTako]

@cube_iceEH Happy birthday!

[Little V @LittleVMills]

🔥ドンドンドン　ドン・キ🔥
🔥DON DON DON DONKI🔥

[Acadien @AcadienTako]

@3W1W4 🫂

[飯田ぽち。 @lizhi3]

FGO配信について、所謂指示厨についてのご心配を既にいただいているのですが、
当方日頃から人の指示には基本的に従わないのでご安心ください。
そもそも、ちゃんと親の指示に従える性格だったならわたくしは今この仕事に就いていません。

[tama @atsuku_moeru]

still laughing about this #pendorART #NIJI_ENRoute

[Shiori Novella 👁‍🗨 holoEN @shiorinovella]

@sota_suimari It's a clip of me complaining about characters in Street Fighter not being single! (Like Ken and Terry....)

[advarcher @Anonamos_701]

A hero who's a farmer is still a hero

#inART

[龍ヶ崎リン🦒＠ななしいんく @Rene_Ryugasaki]

Ready

【全編無料】Rene Ryugasaki Acoustic Live「BLEND」【#龍ヶ崎リンアコースティックライブ】 https://t.co/yEpRODOQur @YouTubeより