Maikel Yarimizu
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maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
Maikel Yarimizu
@maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
320 followers 770 following 2.1K posts
Living, writing, and gaming in Japan
RPGamer resident Japan-dude
Happy father of two
Always in the middle of a #writing project of some sort
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maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
I love doing sketchy stuff from time to time, but I never have gotten around to learning how to do computer stuff

Too busy writing, instead ^^
November 13, 2025 at 10:10 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 11/12 is 'shirt' and I have a quandary

#mermaids don't wear shirts

So, as with many things involving this #deepsea #fantasy #epic, I had to get creative
excerpt from "Mer Manoa, Book 1" by Maikel Yarimizu the words 'shift' and 'top' are highlighted in place of 'shirt' -- Instead, Marai was stuck with the less satisfying alternative of leading by example. Their daily wardrobe hung on hooks along the far wall. She chose a light shift for herself, ground silt-grass woven together with iridescent violet scales. Upon one fathom in the waters of her mind drifted the idle question of what sort of fish had worn them before her. With colors so vivid, it most likely was some inhabitant of the Mere Hetropa, she decided. As the light caught the material its colors wavered between red and blue, settling on a bright purple most of the time. There was a cord attached, back to front, which she pulled tight and then knotted. The shift pulled snugly against her small breasts, with the bow knot nestled right beneath them. Below the cord, the shift flowed down and wafted softly in the currents. "You're looking fine this morning, Marai." She turned around to see her friend up and floating just above the hammock. "Do you really think so?" she asked. "Yeah, of course! There's no way I could wear something like that. I'd just look fat." The princess waved a hand over the display of her bared chest. "And if I did manage to fit them all the way in, I'd probably pop a seam." Marai chuckled at that. A beat later, Rhiela's favorite top was in her hands. It was a long, wide banner of cloth that varied between differing shades of green in random patterns all along its length. A masterwork from one of the finest clothiers in the Mere Tessraï, it was more elastic along the center line than it was at the edges, where two rigid bands of shark cartilage had been woven into the fabric.
November 12, 2025 at 3:04 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
@ordoalea.hr, found a meme that semi-makes sense to me, but probably more to you
November 11, 2025 at 10:22 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
I've got one for the #birds!

The trees across the flood control culvert from my apartment building got pruned a few weeks back. Now I have a new neighbor!

Japanese pygmy woodpecker (kogera), resting a while, calling out, then popping into his nest for a bit

Camera zoom was not up to the job :(
A slightly blurred photo of a Japanese pygmy woodpecker (kogera), taken at a distance of about five meters with a zoomed-in smartphone camera It's largely visible against the contrast of windows reflecting a pre-sunset sky A slightly less blurred photo of a Japanese pygmy woodpecker (kogera), taken at a different angle, at a distance of about five meters with a zoomed-in smartphone camera The white patches on its throat and the back of its head are much more obvious here A slightly blurred photo of a Japanese pygmy woodpecker (kogera), taken at a distance of about five meters with a zoomed-in smartphone camera He's peeking out of his little hole in the side of an old tree branch
November 8, 2025 at 11:28 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
My 48-hour #booksale should start at 9 AM Pacific, which is in about an hour!

But I'll be asleep by then, so I guess I should inform the world now

Vainglorious: Long Is the Night, reflowable text edition, 99 cents! Spread the word!

#litRPG #metroidvania #LGBTQ

www.amazon.com/dp/B0F48CPRK5/
Front cover for Vainglorious: Long Is the Night Features a whip-wielding protagonist in a movie archaeologist Halloween costume, with a castle and a vampire antagonist in the background
October 31, 2025 at 3:08 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips for Oct. 30 is 'spell'!

Due to quirks of terminology, that's not a word that's supposed to appear in my deep-sea #mermaid epic

Instead, it's all about 'grammar'

(currently updating on Royal Road)
excerpt from "Mer Manoa" by Maikel Yarimizu, Canto III the word 'grammar' is highlighted --- "How much farther?" Sera's voice broke the hush. "Just a little more," answered Rhiela. "But the lamp's about spent." Rook felt it was as good a time as any to chime in. "I can help yer with that, Yer Highness." The others stopped to look back her way in surprise. Had they all forgotten she was even there? Maybe. Probably. She'd have to be offended about it later. More important things to worry about right now. "Unless you have a fresh lamp hidden away," said the princess, "then I do not see how." "Gimme a moment and then yer all be amazed," Rook promised. She brought her hands together like an open clamshell with the palms toward her face. In the fading light, she could barely see them in outline. Before they vanished completely, she painted them with her mind's eye, picturing lines of runes flowing along each finger and onto the palms. She mentally placed the threads to connect them, setting the syntax and form so that the grammar was properly defined. After a beat of concentration, Rook willed the pattern to life. Nothing seemed to happen at first, and panic choked the water in her gills. If she said a thing, though, the others would know she was a screw-up and a failure. She pushed grammar again with her mind, brushing up a line or two as she was determined to show all her companions differently. A small sphere of light popped into place within her cupped hands. The princess let out a surprised squeak while Sera nodded appreciatively.
October 30, 2025 at 9:00 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
This is a little last-minute, but it's time to announce a #booksale!

Vainglorious: Long Is the Night takes place over Halloween night, so for the 31st and the 1st, it'll be 99 cents on Amazon

(reflowable version on sale only, this time)

#LitRPG #metroidvania #LGBTQ

www.amazon.com/dp/B0F48CPRK5/
Front cover for Vainglorious: Long Is the Night Features a whip-wielding protagonist in a movie archaeologist Halloween costume, with a castle and a vampire antagonist in the background
October 30, 2025 at 3:08 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
Quote your art with fire on 🔥

...okay, so maybe he's more on the fire than the fire is on...
Sketch art of a tanuki getting burned by a fire. The story as follows: A tricksome tanuki pretended to be a teapot to help a friend scam some cash He did so well at it that his accomplice in the con act forgot that he wasn't a teapot, and tried to make tea This did not end well
October 25, 2025 at 2:54 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
And finally (I have too much stuff for #selfpromosaturday, really!), there's this story updating currently on Royal Road

Mer Manoa, my deep-sea #mermaid epic tetralogy.
Just a little more to write before it's done!
(a lot more to update on RR, tho)

www.royalroad.com/fiction/1153...
illustration by Astrid Vujnovic A mermaid warrior wields a wicked-edged spear. She is mostly green with blue flukes and highlights
October 4, 2025 at 3:24 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
More #selfpromosaturday!

Like #animals?
Like #folktales?
Like random #Japanese stuff?

"Tanuki as a Teapot and Other Japanese Tales" is available in print and ebook!

Illustrated by me because no one told me I couldn't!

www.amazon.com/Tanuki-Teapo...
"...unlike pottery, tanuki were distinctly not fireproof..." Sketchy drawing of a tanuki hiding as a teapot, who discovered this truth about fire the hard way
October 4, 2025 at 3:22 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
For #selfpromosaturday!

Vainglorious: Long Is the Night, a #metroidvania inspired #LitRPG experience with #B-movie aesthetics and #LGBTQ themes

print & print replica ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0DV5SFC87

reflowable text ebook: www.amazon.com/dp/B0F48CPRK5/
Front cover for Vainglorious: Long Is the Night, paperback edition! Features a whip-wielding protagonist in a movie archaeologist Halloween costume, with a castle and a vampire antagonist in the background Front cover for Vainglorious: Long Is the Night, ebook edition! Features a whip-wielding protagonist in a movie archaeologist Halloween costume, with a castle and a vampire antagonist in the background Content Warning: Strong Female Protagonist; Frequent LGBTQ+ Themes; Obscure Game References and Memes; Weak Points Struck for Massive Damage
October 4, 2025 at 3:17 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
It's #selfpromosaturday!
How about a #YAFantasy #TTRPGkids series about life in and out of character around the gaming table?

Princesses of the Pizza Parlor, now with 13 episodes, 5 side stories, and an indulgently long summer camp paralogue

www.amazon.com/Princesses-o...
A collage of all the episodes and side stories of Princess of the Pizza Parlor through Episode 11 There's a "Coming Soon" panel in the bottom right that needs to be updated, since there's been two more episodes and two more side stories since then
October 4, 2025 at 3:12 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
Whoops, I missed this two weeks back, but it's the ten-year #anniversary of the Pizza Princesses!

Sept. 18, 2015, during a lunch break while I was covering the Tokyo Games Show that year, in a thick little notebook I got out of a 100 yen shop

It's been a trip, and there's still more to go
First page of a pink A6 notebook, noting dates and episodes of Princesses of the Pizza Parlor as written 9/18/2018 - THE FIRST ADVENTURE! * 11/27/2018 3/22/2016 - Ep. 2! * 6/9/2016 7/16/2016 - Ep. 3! * 10/19/2016 1/31/2017 - Ep. 4! * 3/10/2017 5/1/2017 - Ep. 5! * 5/31/2017 10/3/2017 - Ep. 6! * 8/31/2017 10/3/2017 - Pasta 1! (side story) (no end date noted here, but it was done by the end of the month) 21/1/2024 - Pasta 5! Brisket & Bravery (fifth side story, because I had extra room left) A thick pink A6 notebook with small white polka dots SWEET LIFE Although time may change so many things, happiness and friendship never change A collage of all the episodes and side stories of Princess of the Pizza Parlor through Episode 11 There's a "Coming Soon" panel in the bottom right that needs to be updated, since there's been two more episodes and two more side stories since then
October 1, 2025 at 3:40 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
#WIPSnips for Sept. 29 is 'bear'

Not a lot of bears in a deep-sea #mermaid epic
"Water bears" are something else entirely

So I guess we're going with one of the verb meanings...
If a certain little peddler ever shuts up
an excerpt from Mer Manoa (Book I, Canto II, Verse VIII) the word 'bear' as in 'bearing' is highlighted --- Most of the peddlers gave the two of them a glance and moved on to more promising customers. "Excooose me, m'ladies!" I believe I have just the thing for you!" But then again, one of them might just be blind to the obvious. A young mer perked up at the sight of their passing, and had moved to intercept. Ardenne's eyes quickly took in her details: short orange hair and a splotched tail, much like one of the anemone fish back home. The peddler was small, young, with the soft look she'd seen on many a city mer so far. "Now, I know what'cher be thinkin'. Yer be thinkin' that there ain't no way, no how that little Rook here could know what'cher need, and yer'd be right," the little orange mer rattled on. "But what'cher failed to consider, if I may be so bold as to speak fer m'ladies, is the tiny, minuscule yet still poten'cherly true possibility that one 'a the items on little Rook's mat right there on the sands below yer flukes may be the thing -- in fact the only thing -- that yer need to make yer day complete. Why, many's the day I said to myself, 'Rook, yer should 'a gotten yerself that fine spiked conch while yer had the chance,' and blow me a bubble if I didn't regret it right then and there..." "How much for a full verse of peace and quiet?" Sera interrupted. "Five pearl. Or, yer get that service grah-tees with the purchase of any of the fine merchandise strewn decorously beneath our fins." The red mer sighed, and Ardenne could see why. The 'merchandise' was a loose collection of carved charms and amulets bearing random runes. The hunter from the reef was barely literate in the common marks, and could not have told one mystic sign from the next. She doubted that the talkative young peddler could, either.
September 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
#WIPSnips for Sept. 28 is 'ink'

In the deep-sea #mermaid epic, ink is mainly known as that stuff octopodes and squid use, but it's also used as a descriptive color word

Like so:
excerpt from "Mer Manoa" (Book 2, Canto IV, Verse I) the word 'ink' (as in 'inky') is highlighted -- Marhyd, head of the royal ministry of knowledge and general odd-jobs mer for the Crown, understood this in her heart of hearts. She was used to the darkness of the tunnels from long experience. The inky black would wrap around her, swaddle her in its comforting embrace as she bobbed along. There were times where she regretted the necessary benefit of the glow-lamps, that her bulk made it unsafe to venture blindly along unfamiliar passageways. Such was the price of a life so well-lived as her own. Then, one last stroke of the flukes sent her out of the familiar darkness and into something deeper. The glow of her feeble lamp, just enough to limn the tunnel walls and mark their presence, was consumed wholly by the cavern before her. In this night-beyond-night, where the firmament did not glow and the walls were unseen, everything was made small and insignificant.
September 28, 2025 at 10:59 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
The #WIPSnips for Sept. 26 is 'mire', and you'd think a deep-sea #mermaid epic WIP wouldn't have that word in there, but to be honest, sometimes you just have to take the words that fit
excerpt from Mer Manoa, book I (Canto II, verse XII), by Maikel Yarimizu the word "Mires" is highlighted -- Verse XII The Mires. The word had meant nothing to Ardenne when she'd heard it in Baba's chamber. It was one more word in a long day's worth of words unknown to her. The brief explanation Sera had furnished did little to help her understand its meaning. From what was said, it had not sounded much different from the shelf-lands of her home waters, no matter how much distaste the red mer had shown towards it. The next morning, however, Ardenne knew the answer first-hand. They had left Bryndoon that in the late afternoon, slept in a tussock of grass east of the city, and arrived just as the firmament turned its morning silver. Ripples of light flowed across the flats before her, only to be swallowed by the dark browns, greens, and purples. The Mires, as she now saw, were a broad stretch of thick mud and slime that had flowed from the heights and down into a natural hollow in the shelf-lands east of Bryndoon. A row of mounts, barely high enough to kiss the firmament at low tide, prevented the mess from continuing into the deeper waters of the abyss. The mud was broken here and there by small patches of grass or kelp, but other than that her eyes could not make out any signs of life. There were no large creatures to be found, and the smaller fishes were hidden in the scant foliage. Sera had told her that things lived in the muck itself, but she couldn't see any of them, either.
September 26, 2025 at 7:47 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 9/13 is 'pockets'

What has it got in its pockets?

...well, there's an older episode, ongoing series, where I did actually put a "It has pockets!" line in

From Princesses of the Pizza Parlor, ep.3, Princesses Don't Play Nice
excerpt from Princesses of the Pizza Parlor, ep. 3, "Princesses Don't Play Nice" featured for the word 'pockets' -- The piece of paper on the table in front of Princess Cassandrella was remarkably pristine, with only a small portion of its surface filled with carefully drawn but slightly blocky letters. The moon princess had taken far longer to start than the rest, not wishing to spoil the creamy lunar pallor of the page with unnecessary scratchings. It had also taken her some time to find a way to describe the past week in a way that would place her blessed mother the high priestess of Selunika into a state of apoplectic conniption. In the end she'd elided over the encounter with the thieving ant-folk ("a wonderful picnic, but for the pests"), downplayed her run-in with the malevolent mushroom men ("time spent meeting the common folk of the forest"), and outright fibbed about the fight with the murderous rosebush princess ("an afternoon's entertainment with a lady in her garden; her voice must simply be heard to be believed"). Prevarication and equivocation were big, scary words to her, so she tried not to think of the letter in that way. It was... an exercise in creative writing; that was all. To soften the blow to her conscience, she doodled in the picture of a happy bunny rabbit along the left margin before moving on to more truthful matters: her dress. "Alas, in travel my favorite skirts were left with rips," she wrote, "but I have found a wonderful replacement here in town, all red like the setting sun. And they have pockets!" Her mother would be so envious, she felt.
September 13, 2025 at 11:14 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
This is the first item I could locate. Not sure if it fits what you're looking for.

It's the pre-game story manga for Metal Max 4, detailing what happened to a specific character whose grave you visit early on in the game's intro
Front cover of Metal Max 4, with a blue-haired protagonist riding a motorcycle built out of a gynoid robot (yes, seriously) Also, front cover of "The Laughing Cadorz (sp?)", a prequel story to the events of Metal Max 4. The title character is posed in a camouflage bustier, arm-sleeves, and thigh-highs while holding a rifle and a canteen. Yes, she is laughing. Back covers for Metal Max 4 (3DS game box) and "The Laughing Cadorz (sp?)" pre-game story manga
September 11, 2025 at 7:42 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
For #WIPSnips 9/9, the 'pressure' is on

Not the bad sort, tho

From the ongoing deep-sea #mermaid epic project
page from "Mer Manoa" by Maikel Yarimizu the word 'pressure' is highlighted -- It had been a long night. A long series of nights. Every night for the last week, in fact. That small and giddy grin grew into a wide and happy smile. There was still much mystery billowing around the statue of the green-haired mer, and she still had her doubts when Rhiela claimed it an image of Cythera. However, goddess or not, the icon of stone and jewel had made of Rhiela a more pious and regular temple-goer than any would ever have imagined. Their nightly visits resembled a religious adoration, made in silence. Over the last few nights they had been able to clear the muck and grime of ages from the area around the statue, and with each cleaning Marai wondered again about its origins and the place in which they had found it. Why had such a beautiful grotto been abandoned? Why had the statue and its surrounding masonry been placed there in the first place? Rhiela mumbled and shifted in place, distracting her beloved friend from the thoughts which preoccupied her. Arms pulled snugly around Marai's body, fitting into the space beneath the curve of her breasts. The princess's chest was squeezed between their frames, putting a pleasant pressure against her backbone. It was past time to wake her up, but Marai did not really wish to. Not just yet. Still... She pried Rhiela's left hand from where it rested upon her rib cage. Gently she teased her finger across the palm, watching it twitch. Then, starting from the tip of the princess's pointer, she ran a nail lengthwise down the arm, all the way to the elbow. With a shiver and a start, the princess discovered the waking light of day. "Um..." came the traditional mumble, followed by the rapid beat of eyelids sending miniature currents across Marai's back. "Good morning, Rhiela." "It is?" "Indeed, it is so."
September 9, 2025 at 8:36 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
Remembering this item I put in a recent story installment

The Traitor's Pittance, or as it's described by the lady playing the occult villainess OoC and yet fully in character...
A page out of "Brisket and Bravery" by Maikel Yarimizu It shows an OoC scene around the gaming table as one player, still acting in character as the villainess, presents one final wicked trick on the party -- (abbr. for length limits) ... "A neat little trinket," her mother told her. "Called the Traitor's Pittance." The lady of the house showed her resemblance to both her daughter and her niece Claire as she made a show of not quite hiding her mouth with the back of her hand and giving a pitch-perfect Japanese anime villainess laugh. "O-ho-ho-ho-ho!" "Um, what's a pittance?" asked Amelia, while next to her, Beth continued the question with, "Anything like mittens?" They both looked at Paul, who shook his head and shrugged. Uncle was about to take pity and explain, but Mrs. Perkins wasn't through with being melodramatic. Waving for patience, she stood and strode to the shelf by the living room's television set. There must have been a change tray or something similar, because the clink of metal on pottery was impossible to miss. The lady of the house returned a second later with her prize. "Behold!" In her outstretched hand was a single old penny, tarnished with age and grody with soft drink residue. "A tiny coin, the least of its lot, but from the witch's hand it held the worth of a soul. Friends turned on friends and neighbors reported neighbors, sending more victims to her cruel prisons in exchange for just such a pittance — for with it, they might purchase their own safety later." Once more the back of her hand failed to hide the mocking laughter. "O-ho-ho-ho-ho!" ...
September 5, 2025 at 7:04 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
As always, there's an XKCD for that
September 3, 2025 at 7:42 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
#WIPSnips for Sept. 2, and weʻre all ʻtiredʻ

Most of all the heroine of my current epic journey narrative

She is sooooo tired and yet faces one more obstacle demanding she justify herself.

To her credit, she does not fry the bird with a thunderbolt, but it was surely tempting
A page from "Sea of Life, Heart of Fire", a Polynesian mythic pastiche by Maikel Yarimizu The word ʻtiredʻ is highlighted -- “So for my challenge, I simply ask, who is this girl I see before me? Whence came she? Whence goes she? Does she even know?” Hiiaka stood before him in her dress of green leaves and her skirt of thunderclouds, with the holy smoke in her lungs and the sacred fire of her mistress in her belly. She made her politest bow. “I am the youngest handmaiden of Honua-Mea, the goddess who raised the Center of the Sea, o she who loves a mortal man from afar and sent me to fetch him to her from the cold lands of the north. “Thence went I by sea, past isles of mist and ghosts of storm, through forests upon waters and past the lair of a great death. On foot did I traverse the land below us now, and learned some of its ways. I have seen lands of plenty and lands of curse. I have spoken with goddesses of all sorts. I have shamed the lords of the tide and earned praise from the chiefs of the moon. I have lost to the queen of snow and in that moment won. “You ask why my friends follow me? I cannot read their hearts to know the answer there, but thankful still am I that they have, else I could never have reached my far-off goal, much less returned as you see me now. “Who am I? My name is Hiiaka, and I am fortunate. I am thankful. And I am oh so tired of this journey. Would that I may soon return to my beloved cove with its lehua flowers of red and white, and to my friend who waits there for me. Your brother the stitchbird sang true, that home and nest lie with the soul, and your brother the fantail danced fair the need for experience. I have listened, I have seen, and now I wish only to finish my duty and go home. May I?”
September 3, 2025 at 2:18 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
More #selfpromosaturday! (I've got a lot of projects out there, y'all)

Vainglorious: Long Is the Night is a #metroidvania style #LitRPG with #B-movie esthetics and enough #LGBTQ that it gets its own fake game rating sticker

www.amazon.com/dp/B0F48CPRK5/ (reflowable text edition)
Content Warning: Strong Female Protagonist; Frequent LGBTQ+ Themes; Obscure Game References and Memes; Weak Points Struck for Massive Damage Front cover for Vainglorious: Long Is the Night Features a whip-wielding protagonist in a movie archaeologist Halloween costume, with a castle and a vampire antagonist in the background
August 31, 2025 at 2:18 AM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
#WIPSnips for 8/29 is 'scrub' and...

oh, the #mermaid epic WIP has that one
A page from a WIP deep-sea mermaid epic, by Maikel Yarimizu the word 'scrub' is highlighted -- Verse II There was a special moment when the world was new and the mind refreshed. The breaking of the first hour of the morn was not it, as Rhiela had long since decided. Unfortunately, it was not for her to say when she would rise from her hammock this morning. It was her eighteenth birthday, after all, which came with all manner of activities to prepare for more activity. She might have hoped to escape it this day, as she had so many other days in the preceding weeks, but alas, it was not to be. Awakened before the first shimmer of dawn upon the firmament, she'd been scrubbed, trimmed, and fitted to within a thumb's length of where her sanity ended. Marai, at least, had the freedom to float back and enjoy the spectacle through which her beloved friend was put. Her role as companion and fate-bound sister to the princess was important but had no special requirements for the ceremony to come. At the moment, Rhiela was being fitted with the raiment appropriate for a presentation before the temple elders. Yards of sheer blue fabric, made at great cost from the binding frills of a particular mussel in the Mere Tessraï and dappled by use of some runic process held dearly by Marai's artisan cousins, it crisscrossed her chest and wrapped around the hips before flowing down the tail like a second set of flukes. For all its simplicity, it took some time to wrap the princess properly. The first hour of the morning had passed, and they were well through the second hour by the time everything was tied and pinned into place. Marai's stomach was reminding her that they had missed breakfast, and she was not surprised to hear a hungry gurgle emerge from beneath Rhiela's layers of blue. Nodding to the maids, she left to see if she could talk some tidbits out of the palace kitchens.
August 29, 2025 at 3:01 PM
maikelyarimizu.bsky.social
#WIPSnips 8/28 is overly 'broad'...

Seriously, I'm only 1/3 of the way through this rewrite of the #polynesian #mythic story and there are too many to choose from

So here's the search-a-word side bar
A search side panel from MS Word showing results 2 thru 8 (out of nine total) for the word 'broad' in the manuscript for "Sea of Life, Heart of Fire" by Maikel Yarimizu
August 29, 2025 at 4:28 AM