#Ben my beloved there's a reason youre my favourite writer

[drulalovescas]

This is especially funny when you realize Ben actually wrote the episode 😭

Jealous!Cas canon I guess.

[blackswaneuroparedux]

Anonymous asked: As a beginner in Classics I love your Classicist themed posts. I find your caption perfect posts a lot to think upon. I suppose it’s been more than a few years since you read Classics at Cambridge but my question is do you still bother to read any Classic texts and if so what are you currently reading?

I don’t know whether to be flattered or get depressed by your (sincere) remarks. Thank you so much for reminding me how old I must come across as my youngish Millennial bones are already starting to creak from all my sins of past sport injuries and physical exertions. I’m reminded of what J.R.R Tolkien wrote, “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.” I know the feeling (sigh).

But pay heed, dear follower, to what Menander said of old age, Τίμα το γήρας, ου γαρ έρχεται μόνον (respect old age, for it does not come alone). Presumably he means we all carry baggage. One hopes that will be wisdom which is often in the form of experience, suffering, and regret. So I’m not ready to trade in my high heels and hiking boots for a walking stick and granny glasses just yet.

To answer your question, yes, I still to read Classical literature and poetry in their original text alongside trustworthy translations. Every day in fact. 

I learned Latin when I was around 8 or 9 years old and Greek came later - my father and grandfather are Classicists - and so it would be hard to shake it off even if I tried.

So why ‘bother’ to read Classics? There are several reasons. First, the Classics are the Swiss Army knife to unpick my understanding other European languages that I grew up with learning. Second, it increases my cultural literacy out of which you can form informed aesthetic judgements about any art form from art, music, and literature. Third, Classical history is our shared history which is so important to fathom one’s roots and traditions. Fourth, spending time with the Classics - poetry, myth, literature, history - inspires moral insight and virtue. Fifth, grappling with classical literature informs the mind by developing intellectual discipline, reason, and logic.

And finally, and perhaps one I find especially important, is that engaging with Classical literature, poetry, or history, is incredibly humbling; for the classical world first codified the great virtues of prudence, temperance, justice, loyalty, sacrifice, and courage. These are qualities that we all painfully fall short of in our every day lives and yet we still aspire to such heights.

I’m quite eclectic in my reading. I don’t really have a method other than what my mood happens to be. I have my trusty battered note book and pen and I sit my arse down to translate passages wherever I can carve out a place to think. It’s my answer to staving off premature dementia when I really get old because quite frankly I’m useless at Soduku. We spend so much time staring at screens and passively texting that we don’t allow ourselves to slow down and think that physically writing gives you that luxury of slow motion time and space. In writing things out you are taking the time to reflect on thoughts behind the written word.

I do make a point of reading Homer’s The Odyssey every year because it’s just one of my favourite stories of all time. Herodotus and Thucydides were authors I used to read almost every day when I was in the military and especially when I went out to war in Afghanistan. Not so much these days. Of the Greek poets, I still read Euripides for weighty stuff and Aristophanes for toilet humour. Aeschylus, Archilochus and Alcman, Sappho, Hesiod, and Mimnermus, Anacreon, Simonides, and others I read sporadically.

I read more Latin than Greek if I am honest. From Seneca, Caesar, Cicero, Sallust, Tacitus, Livy, Apuleius, Virgil, Ovid, the younger Pliny to Augustine (yes, that Saint Augustine of Hippo). Again, there is no method. I pull out a copy from my book shelves and put it in my tote bag when I know I’m going on a plane trip for work reasons.

At the moment I am spending time with Horace. More precisely, his famous odes.

Of all the Greek and Latin poets, I feel spiritually comfortable with Horace. He praises a simple life of moderation in a much gentler tone than other Roman writers. Although Horace’s odes were written in imitation of Greek writers like Sappho, I like his take on friendship, love, alcohol, Roman politics and poetry itself. With the arguable exception of Virgil, there is no more celebrated Roman poet than Horace. His Odes set a fashion among English speakers that come to bear on poets to this day. His Ars Poetica, a rumination on the art of poetry in the form of a letter, is one of the seminal works of literary criticism. Ben Jonson, Pope, Auden, and Frost are but a few of the major poets of the English language who owe a debt to the Roman.

We owe to Horace the phrases, “carpe diem” or “seize the day” and the “golden mean” for his beloved moderation. Victorian poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, of Ancient Mariner fame, praised the odes in verse and Wilfred Owen’s great World War I poem, Dulce et Decorum est, is a response to Horace’s oft-quoted belief that it is “sweet and fitting” to die for one’s country.

Unlike many poets, Horace lived a full life. And not always a happy one. Horace was born in Venusia, a small town in southern Italy, to a formerly enslaved mother. He was fortunate to have been the recipient of intense parental direction. His father spent a comparable fortune on his education, sending him to Rome to study. He later studied in Athens amidst the Stoics and Epicurean philosophers, immersing himself in Greek poetry. While led a life of scholarly idyll in Athens, a revolution came to Rome. Julius Caesar was murdered, and Horace fatefully lined up behind Brutus in the conflicts that would ensue. His learning enabled him to become a commander during the Battle of Philippi, but Horace saw his forces routed by those of Octavian and Mark Antony, another stop on the former’s road to becoming Emperor Augustus.

When he returned to Italy, Horace found that his family’s estate had been expropriated by Rome, and Horace was, according to his writings, left destitute. In 39 B.C., after Augustus granted amnesty, Horace became a secretary in the Roman treasury by buying the position of questor's scribe. In 38, Horace met and became the client of the artists' patron Maecenas, a close lieutenant to Augustus, who provided Horace with a villa in the Sabine Hills. From there he began to write his satires. Horace became the major lyric Latin poet of the era of the Augustus age. He is famed for his Odes as well as his caustic satires, and his book on writing, the Ars Poetica. His life and career were owed to Augustus, who was close to his patron, Maecenas. From this lofty, if tenuous, position, Horace became the voice of the new Roman Empire. When Horace died at age 59, he left his estate to Augustus and was buried near the tomb of his patron Maecenas.

Horace’s simple diction and exquisite arrangement give the odes an inevitable quality; the expression makes familiar thoughts new. While the language of the odes may be simple, their structure is complex. The odes can be seen as rhetorical arguments with a kind of logic that leads the reader to sometimes unexpected places. His odes speak of a love of the countryside that dedicates a farmer to his ancestral lands; exposes the ambition that drives one man to Olympic glory, another to political acclaim, and a third to wealth; the greed that compels the merchant to brave dangerous seas again and again rather than live modestly but safely; and even the tensions between the sexes that are at the root of the odes about relationships with women.

What I like then about Horace is his sense of moderation and he shows the gap between what we think we want and what we actually need. Horace has a preference for the small and simple over the grandiose. He’s all for independence and self-reliance.

If there is one thing I would nit pick Horace upon is his flippancy to the value of the religious and spiritual. The gods are often on his lips, but, in defiance of much contemporary feeling, he absolutely denied an afterlife - which as a Christian I would disagree with. So inevitably “gather ye rosebuds while ye may” is an ever recurrent theme, though Horace insists on a Golden Mean of moderation - deploring excess and always refusing, deprecating, dissuading.

All in all he champions the quiet life, a prayer I think many men and women pray to the gods to grant them when they are caught in the open Aegean, and a dark cloud has blotted out the moon, and the sailors no longer have the bright stars to guide them. A quiet life is the prayer of Thrace when madness leads to war. A quiet life is the prayer of the Medes when fighting with painted quivers: a commodity, Grosphus, that cannot be bought by jewels or purple or gold? For no riches, no consul’s lictor, can move on the disorders of an unhappy mind and the anxieties that flutter around coffered ceilings.

Caelum non animum mutant qui trans mare currunt (they change their sky, not their soul, who rush across the sea.)

Part of Horace’s persona - lack of political ambition, satisfaction with his life, gratitude for his land, and pride in his craft and the recognition it wins him - is an expression of an intricate web of awareness of place. Reading Horace will centre you and get you to focus on what is most important in life. In Horace’s discussion of what people in his society value, and where they place their energy and time, we can find something familiar. Horace brings his reader to the question - what do we value?  

Much like many of our own societies, Rome was bustling with trade and commerce, ambition, and an area of vast, diverse civilisation. People there faced similar decisions as we do today, in what we pursue and why. As many of us debate our place and purpose in our world, our poet reassures us all. We have been coursing through Mondays for thousands of years. Horace beckons us: take a brief moment from the day’s busy hours. Stretch a little, close your eyes while facing the warm sun, and hear the birds and the quiet stream. The mind that is happy for the present should refuse to worry about what is further ahead; it should dilute bitter things with a mild smile.

I would encourage anyone to read these treasures in translations. For you though, as a budding Classicist, read the texts in Latin and Greek if you can. Wrestle with the word. The struggle is its own reward. Whether one reads from the original or from a worthy translation, the moral virtue (one hopes) is wisdom and enlightenment.

Pulvis et umbra sumus

(We are but dust and shadow.)

Thanks for your question.

[friendofspidermannedleeds]

2020 overview: writing edition 

Tagged by the loveliest and kindest of friends, @momentofmemory​. 

I’m not tagging anyone because I’ve not been around and am sure most have done this by now, but if you’re reading this and you’ve not been tagged and would like to participate please say I tagged you! <3 

1. List of works published this year 

The Kid Really is Smitten (Peter & Happy, Peter/MJ. 233) Nightmares and New Beginnings (May & Peter. 733)  Normal Teenager Stuff (May & Peter. 5+1, 1.8k)  Breaking a Promise (May & Peter, May & Tony. 3.3k) Carry Me (Morgan & Happy. 1.2k)

Fictober 2020 Series  * Works around 1k+ include:  Somebody to Talk To (May & Karen. 1.8k) Fireproof (Happy & Peter. 904) Flight Conversation (MJ & Peter. 967) Incalculable Worth (Ben & Peter. 2.8k) Regrets (May & Peter. 1.2k) A Nice Peaceful Afternoon (Mr. Harrington and the AcaDec kids. 3k) 

Knowing (Peter/MJ, May & MJ. 2.5k)  Forever Ours (May & Peter, May/Ben. 3.8k)  2. Work you are most proud of (and why)

I think it would have to be Incalculable Worth from my Fictober series. I’m forever disappointed in the Ben Parker erasure of the MCU and had been wanting to give him the respect he deserves. Most of this fic came to me much more quickly than my typical writing inspo (that Fictober deadline magic!), and even though I still have things I might change about the final product, I’ve never been so pleased with a fic’s result and reception. Several lovely people stumbled across this fic on Ao3 and left kind comments about how moved they were, which makes me think that I did what I set out to do! 

3. Work you are least proud of (and why)

This would be Nightmares and New Beginnings. I just think it’s weird. I was so new to fic when I wrote it and was feeling experimental one night. I normally write quite slowly and edit a lot, but the idea for this one came to me after midnight and I published the fic before 2am. I hated it when I woke up and nearly deleted it. Two months later, as I was beginning to post Fictober on Ao3, I almost deleted it once again. The words of one extremely kind commenter saved it from destruction, however, so it’s still there! 

4. A favorite excerpt of your writing 

This is going to be hard for me because I don’t actually enjoy my writing for its composition! I like the concepts and character interactions a lot but I’m not terribly proud of my actual writing ability yet. 😬 

My favorite thing I’ve written lately is the ending to Forever Ours, my new fic about May and Ben adopting Peter, but I don’t want to put it here because it might be a very minor spoiler. 

So here’s a little section of Trust, my last Fictober ficlet. I liked it because May’s inner turmoil over Peter’s Spider-Man life is one of my absolute favorite things to write about. 

What troubles her most is this: whatever is out there, whoever he’s fighting—they won’t know he is fifteen. That he’s a child. That he loves Legos, and Star Wars, and science puns, and Mathletes. But what can she say? 

He’s not asking for permission. He’ll do this no matter what she says, and they both know it. 

He is asking for her blessing.

5. Share or describe a favourite review you received

This review meant so much to me! This lovely commenter read multiple May and Ben Parker fics and it was so nice to find that I’m not the only one who wants more of the Parker family than what we get in the MCU. It made me feel like my niche writing wasn’t of interest to me and me alone after all. :) 

6. A time when writing was really, really hard

Halfway through Fictober, I lost one of the most important people in my life. It was devastating. Writing was nice about 90% of the time, and actually a nice distraction that helped me take a break from the grief. But sometimes it wasn’t, sometimes it felt impossible, and that was when I’d just skip writing or posting and wait until it would serve me again. (So I finished Fictober a little later than I wanted to, but I have 0 regrets about that.) 

7. A scene of characters you wrote that surprised you

I only wrote one thing that wasn’t an MCU Spidey fic, and that was Carry Me with Morgan and Happy. I wasn’t expecting to write it at all, and it’s not one of my favorite finished fics, but I really enjoyed the process. 

8. How did you grow as a writer this year

I grew by writing fic for the first time! My job for the majority of this year involved a lot of nonfiction copywriting, so I’m an experienced writer, but I had no idea what writing would be like outside my “professional life.” I’m glad I tried it! 

9. How do you hope to grow next year

I’m hoping to finish and publish a longer (for me) fic! I’m currently working on Penance, a fic about MCU Spidey’s origins and Uncle Ben’s influence. It should be at least 6-7k by the time I’m finished. I know that is actually short, but I haven’t even cracked 4k yet 😂 Longer fics stress me out because I don’t feel confident enough in my ability to tie together so many words, and I also can’t come up with plots to save my life. So this will be a stretch for me and I am looking forward to it! 

10. Who was your greatest positive influence this year as a writer (could be another writer or beta of cheerleader or muse etc. etc.)

This is, without question, @momentofmemory​. For so many reasons. (Sorry in advance for how rambly this will get, my friend.) 

Mem’s writing (particularly this May fic that is perfection and no I will never stop rec’ing it til the day I die thank you) is to blame/thank for getting me into fic in the first place. I’d been here in the Spidey fandom on Tumblr but I didn’t trust fanfic because I’d seen my most beloved characters shoved to the side/killed off in too many stories. I began 2020 hating all fanfic tbh. But then I read Mem’s captivating masterpieces (like this, the greatest one-shot!) and opened my heart to fic that celebrates the worlds I love! 

Mem is the kindest human ever. She read ALL of my Fictober works and left the kindest comments that made my heart soar. Knowing that my favorite author had taken the time to read all of that motivated me to write more than anything else has this year! 

Sometimes, when I was trying to write fic but felt burned out or uninspired, I’d go and read Mem’s writing. Her prose is divine, her dialogue is realistic, her characters and their relationships are so well thought-out--her work inspires me! I’d read it and feel excited by the ways that we can use our words to create beautiful things, and though I’m not anywhere near her level, I do think that reading her work has made me a better writer. 

Bonus positive influence: @i-lovethatforme​! Jess, thank you for being the world’s best cheerleader, for being endlessly kind and supportive, and for being my first ever beta in November. I go back and read your wonderful comments whenever I’m doubting myself. You’re an absolute gem and ilysm ❤

11. Anything from real life show up in your writing this year?

Yep. Regrets is about grief, and I was grieving pretty heavily when I wrote it. Peter’s regrets didn’t necessarily mirror mine, but writing it was still a cathartic experience. 

12. Any new wisdom you can share with other writers

Write what you want to write! Since I don’t do IronDad or smut, I wasn’t sure if anyone in the MCU Spidey fandom would be interested in my work. I thought briefly about trying to write based on what I thought people would read, but I decided against it. I enjoy writing platonic friendships and family fic more than anything else, so that’s what I publish most. I write what I want to write, and it’s made me so happy! 

13. Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) in the new year?

I have a few things I’m excited about! I’ve got some Spideychelle ficlets that might be a series. They’ll focus on Peter and MJ after coming back from The Blip, featuring MJ trying to ignore her crush and Peter developing a crush. The other is Penance, the MCU Spidey origins/Ben Parker story. 

14. If you could recommend only one work from yourself published this year

I think I’d say Knowing, my fic about Peter/MJ that’s more about MJ & May bonding. I just love these two women with all my heart, and I’m proud of the way this one turned out because I think it honors both of them pretty solidly.  

15. End of Year word count

36,625 words! It’s not a lot in comparison to other writers but it’s a huge accomplishment for me! 

[geekymoviemom]

Five Favourite Works of mine from the past year

I was tagged by @srebrnafh thank you so much! 💖

The rules of this circulating challenge are as follows: it’s time to love yourselves! choose your 5 favourite works you created in the past year (fics, art, edits, etc) and link them below to reflect on the amazing things you’ve brought into the world. tag as many writers/artists/etc as you want (fan or original) so we can spread the love and link each other to awesome works!

Oh boy... here we go...

In no particular order:

1. The Crystal Path

This was my first tentative foray in the Reylo fandom, and my attempt to soothe my tattered soul over the loss of yet another tormented character that I adored. I was overwhelmed with how positively it was received 💖.

Post-TROS. Following the battle on Exegol, Ben and Rey attempt to live out their lives on Naboo until Ben is persuaded to do the unthinkable: turn himself over to the Resistance for trial.

2. Chasing Demons

This is the sequel to my very first superfamily story Pieces of Echoes, and one in which I explored Steve’s struggle with PTSD. Although this wasn’t as popular as Pieces, I actually am more proud of this story, mainly because I haven’t seen as many stories that focus on Steve’s trauma and because it veers more from canon.

3. Pieces of Echoes

The very first of my superfamily stories, this is based on the premise that Steve was defrosted from the ice two years earlier than in canon and sent to recover Tony and Peter after they were captured in Afghanistan. I adore this story for many, many reasons, not the least of which I finally was able to use some characteristics from my beloved X-Men for the development of Peter’s powers.

4. What’s in a Name?

This is by far my post popular one-shot, and a story I wrote after several of my beloved readers requested more information on Peter as a baby in my Pieces-verse. This is my first choice of my stories to reread when I’m having a bad day 😊.

On the brink of self-destruction, Tony receives a life-altering phone call. He has a son.

5. Hope In Front of Me

The second of my Reylo fics, I wrote this to fill in some missing scenes from my story The Crystal Path or present scenes in the opposite’s POV. The two stories are meant to complement each other, and it concludes with the birth of Rey and Ben’s adorable son, whom they name after Ben’s good friend. Once again, it was pretty well-received 😊.

This was fun, thank you so much!

Tagging: @ephemeralstark @joyful-soul-collector @crownofstardustandbone @ferretshark @peterstarkss and anyone else who’d like to play 💖.

[keepingupwithlinmanuel]

Lin-Manuel Miranda interview: from Hamilton to His Dark Materials

I know Hamilton remains wildly popular more than four years after it premiered on Broadway because of the intense response to my Instagram post boasting I have tickets to watch it the evening before meeting its creator, Lin-Manuel Miranda. "It's one of my absolute favourite things in the world ever!" raves one correspondent. "It's WONDERFUL and I defy you not to download the soundtrack afterwards," adds another. "I went last night! Second time. You're gonna love it."

The problem, however, is that I'm not sure I will love it. When theatre is great, it's the best thing on the planet, but when it is bad, as I have learnt from the bitter experience of watching three-hour open-air adaptations of Dickens' novels, it is the worst. Musicals are especially challenging: in my experience, you either like them or you don't, and given one of the few I have enjoyed was Avenue Q, which subverted the form, I'm in the latter camp.

Then, on top of this, there is the pressure of hype (and Hamilton has been more hyped than anything this side of the moon landings), and the challenge of taking hip-hop, which I love, out of an urban setting. It can easily go a bit Wham Rap!, or even worse, if you've seen the video, Michael Gove performing Wham Rap!.

It is, however, pretty good. The last thing the world needs is another long review of Hamilton, and I can't say I downloaded the soundtrack afterwards or that I didn't look at my watch occasionally, but using rap to retell the dry story of the founding fathers is inspired, and I'm so relieved that I blurt out my review to the 39-year-old writer and performer when I meet him in a restaurant in Fitzrovia. "I do find that with both Hamilton and In the Heights, my first show," responds the award-winning composer, lyricist and actor, "I get a lot of people who say to me, 'I don't really like musicals, but I loved this.' I attribute that to a very simple thing: my wife, who doesn't really like musicals. She didn't grow up going to see them, or doing theatre. She's a lawyer; when we met, she was a scientist. I have a higher bar to clear than most composers, because my first audience is my wife, and it can't just be a pretty tune."

You might recognise his wife, Vanessa Nadal, whom he met at high school, from the video of the couple's wedding reception in 2010, which like everything Miranda touches, went viral, and shows him performing the Fiddler on the Roof song To Life to his beloved.

Even my withered heart may have been momentarily lifted by it. She has accompanied her husband with their two young sons, aged one and four, to Britain, where he is filming a part in the BBC's slick new adaptation of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials, though the reason he is in London today is that he has just been the subject of an episode of Desert Island Discs. The New Yorker takes a takes a swig of his coffee, which he tells me he chose as his luxury on his island ("I'm so basic"), adjusts his yellow baseball cap and asks me a question about the unsolicited review: "Why did you feel the need to say it?" There follows the most painful recording I've ever had to listen back to, as I make a bunch of ludicrous generalisations about musicals, speculating that perhaps they divide men from women, or the working classes from the middle classes, or straight people from gay people, or white people from brown people. It only strikes me a few minutes in that not only is Miranda living proof that the generalisations are nonsense, but I am essentially explaining musicals to a world expert in the form - a man who, before the age of 40, has a Pulitzer prize, three Tony awards, three Grammys, an Emmy, a MacArthur Fellowship, a Kennedy Center Honor, two Olivier awards, one Academy award nomination and two Golden Globe nominations to his name.

"Where do you want to start?" he responds with what is, in retrospect, startling patience. "You brought in all this cultural baggage and you're laying it at my feet and I don't know which bag to open." Another swig of coffee. "I think with musicals, it has to do with the way in which you interact with music in your own life. I grew up in a culture where dancing and singing at weddings was supercommon. So, if that's corny to you growing up, or you're taught to believe that's corny or unbelievable, then of course you're not going to like musicals."

...

He spent much of those years doing a bunch of badly paid, disparate jobs, which, given his nature, he nevertheless enjoyed. They included working as an English teacher at his former high school. ("I loved my curriculum. The class was exhilarating once I realised the less I talked, the more they learnt. I saw a future in which I taught at my old high school for 30 years and was very happy.") He wrote for a local paper as a columnist and restaurant reviewer. ("What kind of restaurant reviewer was I? Not very discriminating. If a new restaurant opened, I would go and eat some stuff and say, 'Hey, we have a Thai restaurant. I get to eat first at it. This is great!' ") And he made guest appearances on a number of TV shows including The Sopranos and House. What kind of roles was he being offered at the time? "I wasn't getting any roles! I was always the Latino friend of the white guy in the lead. And so centring ourselves in the drama, telling our own stories, is a big part of In the Heights, my first musical."

An unexpected thing about meeting Miranda is how instinctively he turns to the topic of his first musical, In the Heights, rather than Hamilton - not least when he talks about how he spent one month each year as a child with his grandparents in Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, and was inspired by the gap between his worlds. "In Puerto Rico we were doctors and lawyers. And we're cabbies in New York; we're for the most part the poorer segment of society, and on TV we were always thieves and we were always the Sharks. In the Heights was a response to that. It was, 'Are we allowed to be on stage without having a knife in our hands?' " But then he has spent part of the summer filming a movie version of that musical, which is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Hispanic-American neighbourhood. It is also the project that changed his life most dramatically. The more recent success of Hamilton rather eclipses the fact that his first show, which he began writing in the late Nineties when he was still a student at Wesleyan University, Connecticut, was also wildly successful. After success off-Broadway, the musical went to Broadway, opening in March 2008 and ending up being nominated for 13 Tony awards, winning four, including best musical and best original score.

...

Miranda, described as "a fantasy of the Obama era", has since been active in politics, lobbying and fundraising for Puerto Rico and performing with Ben Platt at the March for Our Lives anti-gun-violence rally in Washington DC on March 24, 2018. Does he feel demoralised by the drift of politics to the far right? "The thing about us all being connected online is that you can read all of the worst news from all over the world and be overwhelmed. You can't let it all in; just act on what you can act on." Should Trump be ignored or fought every step of the way? "It's hard to even discuss it, right, because Trump will have outraged us on two new things in the next [few hours], as soon as he wakes up, and it won't be relevant by the time we're having this conversation. And the same with Brexit, which is just as uncertain."

What did he make of Trump's revival of the phrase "Get back to where you came from" in relation to Democrat politicians? "It's unacceptable. Just because he said it doesn't mean it's acceptable." He leans back in his seat. "Here's my fear of getting into this with you: every time I've done a UK interview, I've said incredible shit and Trump's always the headline, even if I've only said two lines about it. So I'm happy to talk about it, but I'm really scared it's going to be the headline."

I risk another question. Would Miranda ever run for office? "It's funny - I remember when I was a teenager, my dad got approached by pretty serious people about running for a state Senate seat, and he said no. I asked, 'Why?' He said, 'I don't want to have to watch my mouth.' And for me, it's similar. I also have seen in my life, first-hand, the people who get addicted to running, and it's like their moment passed, but they're still running for something, because they're chasing that thrill of winning, and it's about much more than representing the constituents. I would never want to get stuck in that cycle or that pattern. It's more fun writing songs than doing any of that."

Read the rest here behind the Times paywall.

[charmingpplincardigans]

Writer Tag Game

Tagged by @sullymygoodname! 

Author Name: momebie

Fandoms you write for: Many. My most current fandoms are The Umbrella Academy and Good Omens, but I wrote a metric ton of The Raven Cycle fic and that will probably happen again come November. 

Where You Post: momebie @ AO3

Most Popular Oneshot: Hello, I haven’t checked the numbers on any of my The Raven Cycle fic in a couple years, but apparently This Isn’t A Heist (aka, the one where Ronan and Adam are fake dating to annoy Declan and then real dating obvs) has 1,900 more kudos than the next runner up. So I am astounded to say it’s that one. 

Most popular multi chapter story: Without Having to Say, a The Raven Cycle Ronan/Adam college AU where Adam is a sculptor and Ronan agrees to model for a sculpture of Satan. I’m actually really fond of this one because I love both Adam’s sculptural style (I modeled his work after Claire Morgan’s) and some of my descriptions. As is typical for my TRC fic Adam is trying very hard to be understood and going about it in a difficult way. I love him.

Favourite story you wrote: I think it’s the weird TRC/BoysGirls fusion I wrote called Not a Dreamer, The Dream. Ronan/Adam, Blue/Gansey. They’re all myths and archetypes living in a strange and (I hope) beautiful world where love comes with magic and from it. I was trying to work in Katie Farris’s style, because I think it’s startling and achy and lovely and I’d love to write that way on my own. I wrote it for a friend who still hasn’t read it. I live in hope that one day she actually might. 

Story you were nervous to post: I was really nervous to post Oddities Observed, Vietnam 1968 (The Umbrella Academy, Klaus/Dave) for several reasons. The first was that the Vietnam War was a very real tragedy that still affects lots of people, most importantly the people who live there. And I know it’s a common trope in American cinema and pop culture now that always signals back to things that have very little to do with the people whose homes and land were being ravaged. I didn’t want to make light of that or hurt anyone by writing this dumb fic, which is why I shied away from showing actual combat and let it live in the stolen moments. The second was that it was my first TUA fic and posting in a new fandom is always nerve wracking. The third was that we don’t know anything about Dave! I had to make it all up and what if people hated the way I wrote him!? Luckily, if anyone did they didn’t tell me. 

How do you pick your titles: Usually it’s a lyric from a song I glom on to while I’m writing it. (What’s Done in the Dark was almost called With the Stars Pressing Down From Above OR It Matters But Little Babe before I settled on the Johnny Cash lyric, so you know, it’s mercurial until I post it.) Sometimes it’s a call back to a line I particularly enjoyed writing or another piece of art. 

Do you outline: I have started outlining in the last year or so, especially with the longer ones, but that’s because I’ve started outlining my original work more as well so that’s just becoming the Way I Work. Anything less than 6k or so is probably still just a brain dump, though. 

How many of your stories are complete? Everything posted is complete. Well, I still meant to add a fourth story to the collection of The Raven Cycle mermaid AU stories, but the stories posted are complete in and of themselves. 

In progress: I want to finish writing this follow up to What’s Done in the Dark that’s about that week Crowley and Aziraphale spend in bed together that I glossed over in that one. (Er, no actual human sex though, it’s mainly about Aziraphale and control and what happens when he can see the effect he has on things immediately. He’s used to the long game, you know? Manipulating the love in the world is all well and good until your adversary/best friend/most beloved becomes a glow worm.) I also want to finish this pre-series Klaus & Ben Best Brothers fic I started ages ago. I should do that before season 2 drops, huh?

Coming soon: The only thing getting to anyone soon is this poem I’m late on for the anthology. (So not soon enough, clearly.) Then I have artwork, and chapbooks to compile, and editorial work that I owe others. Then maybe I can think about just dicking around with fic again.

Do you accept prompts: Yes! Feel free to leave me a prompt about whatever whenever. Just know that the odds of it being written are literally 50/50 depending on my mood and what’s happening in my life at the time and that there’s a long list of prompts just chilling in my inbox going back LITERAL YEARS that haven’t been answered. But hey, maybe like Lisa you just know how to make me do what you want? Won’t know until you try! 

Upcoming story you’re excited about: I JUST WANT THE WORLD TO BE QUIET SO I CAN BE LEFT ALONE TO WRITE THIS, MY SECOND STORY ABOUT HOW BEAUTIFUL CROWLEY IS WHEN AZIRAPHALE’S LOVE TOUCHES HIM. JUST LET ME PINE AND ACHE WITH THESE CELESTIAL DUMMIES WHOM I LOVE. THANKS. 

Oh, and also this prompt @z-bot gave me requesting Crowley and Aziraphale in my original cyberpunk universe (AMLD). I am thinking gleefully about that every moment I can. 

I tag: @fourteenacross, @melayneseahawk, @farahandthemachine, @interropunct, and @anachronistique, and also anyone else who wants to talk about your fic! Tag me! I want to know! 

[oodlyenough]

hi, have you shared your thoughts on the last jedi? i'm a little torn because i did enjoy some parts but was also frustrated by others. i'm always looking forward to your opinions because i'm having trouble expressing what i think and you do it so well and most of the time we agree :)

I left the theatre undecided and as time has gone on I’ve found I like it less and less. I don’t have particularly strong feelings about Star Wars, thankfully, so not liking it isn’t really crushing for me nor does it ruin beloved childhood memories of the Original Trilogy or anything, it’s just kinda… anticlimatic and disappointing. Here are some of my general thoughts though:

let’s do some good things first:

visually very cool sequences, esp the salt planet, the fight in the red room, and the lightspeed destruction scene GOD that was cool

nice to see women hold a conversation with each other a couple times in a star wars movie!! maybe next movie rose will get to talk to another woman

i love rey and i love finn and i love rey and finn’s love for each other

i liked luke astral projecting, that was cool and a decent sendoff

i was emotional whenever leia did anything, even when it was surviving miraculously in the vacuum of space

the scene of kylo turning on snoke was obvious but still fun

crystal space foxes who can shrink!!! or collapse or uh whatever

rey holding out her hand to kylo so she can force grab the lightsaber aksfhla get rekt ben

rey lifting those rocks

rey and finn hugging

and… other stuff:

this movie felt long as fuck. SO LONG. having 9 climaxes did not help. i was metaphorically checking my watch, but not literally bc it’s annoying when someone in a theatre pulls out their phone every half hour. but god. so long.

I love Finn and I liked Rose but the space casino stuff felt boring to me, mostly because it went nowhere. I appreciated the idea of the 1%ers vs the everyday people and the rebellion being born of the proletariat and all that, but the actual scenes it was in felt bloated and ultimately pointless since the codebreaker dude just betrays them and has some garbage message about how There Are Bad People On Both Sides Actually.

I also felt Rose’s heroic sacrifice didn’t really make any sense, in-universe – I get that she loves Finn (who doesn’t!!!), but the movie seemed to suggest Finn’s heroic sacrifice woud be Bad, even though, like, from Finn and everyone else’s perspective it was their only option. This is not comparable to Poe’s run at the dreadnaught in the starter scene, because all 30 remaining resistance fighters are in that cave and if that canon isn’t destroyed, as far as they know, they are all dead.  If Luke hadn’t astral projected – which none of them could possibly have planned on – they were dead. OBVIOUSLY I don’t want Finn to die, but it made sense from his perspective as a course of action for the greater good. The dreadnaught they could’ve ignored for another time, rather than losing dozens/hundreds? of fighters to take it out right then and there. The cannon could not wait. So the lesson Poe was supposed to learn ended up being applied strangely.

I didn’t grow up loving the OT nor do I have deep childhood nostalgia for it or its characters, but I think if I did I would be upset by what was done to them. I can see how people are very upset by Luke here, even if I personally was never invested enough in the original Luke to have strong feelings about it. I feel like I need to leave that argument to the people who have loved this character for decades. But I read reviews or critiques about how it seems the OT accomplished nothing, since ~30 years later the galaxy is even more fascist than it once was, Han and Luke are dead, Leia is going to disappear off screen for reasons outside of production’s control, the last Skywalker is this fascist overlord once more, et cetera… like… that’s bleak. I know shit happens but in a narrative it’s nice to have some sense of triumph, and even if I believe Finn and Poe and Rey will triumph (which I do obviously because it’s Disney), that doesn’t change Luke and Leia and Han accomplishing shit-all in the long term apparently, and then it’s also like, ok, even if Rey and Finn succeed at Saving the Galaxy, Disney’s just gonna make Movie X where their successive generation destroys everyone anyway, so like……

To my own surprise probably my favourite bit of this movie ended up being that fight where Rey and Kylo team up for ten minutes, and their overall story was maybe my favourite overall – I was on edge the whole time worrying what they’d do with it, but as it stands, I liked it. I liked that Rey felt compelled to try and save him~ and that it failed and Kylo is just a huge douche of his own accord, basically. Whereas TFA made me feel like he would definitely be redeemed by the end of the trilogy, this movie made me feel like he probably wouldn’t be. Not that it really matters, because…

The reality is though I don’t even see the point in speculating or thinking about what means what or any of the fun fan stuff because I honestly don’t believe there’s any kind of arching vision for these movies. They’re a hot potato being passed from writer to writer, kind of like the MCU, where everyone just does whatever the fuck they maybe want as long as it’s PG-13 enough for Disney, so like… who cares.

People spent two years wondering who Rey’s parents were and aside from how you felt about the reveal itself, Rian Johnson was like “lol !!! there was nothing planned I had total freedom to do whatever I want!!” so like, why should I bother caring about any of this?? Everything’s made up and the points don’t matter and there’s no use decoding foreshadowing when it either means nothing or the next writer in line will decide to toss it out a window anyway. (This bitterness applies to more than just Star Wars, tbh, but Star Wars is a big one.)

Also if I have to read one more post condescendingly explaining that this movie was all about no resolution~*~*~*~**~ so it’s ok that it had no resolution and you’re stupid if you’re mad about it, or whatever, I am going to explode. Those posts give me Moffat Who war flashbacks. A movie can claim to be about whatever it wants, doesn’t mean people have to like it.

[noaksey]

New Post has been published on http://noaksey.com/the-big-indie-pitch-develop-retrospective/

The Big Indie Pitch - Develop - Retrospective

The Big Indie Pitch at Develop in Brighton was an exciting opportunity for Indie developers from all over the world to grab a drink, show off their game, and maybe even take home one of the top three prizes while at the main Develop event held just down the road.

This wasn’t my first time at The Big Indie Pitch but so you know it is an event run by Pocket Gamer for developers to show off their future games and ideas to a panel of eager and knowledgeable judges.

Here are all 20 entrants in no particular order, remember these are my thoughts and I welcome anyone to reach out and ask me for more details reasonings if they want :).

Diamonst

By: Zenko Games s.r.l. Date: September 2017, iOS

Diamonst is an Augmented Reality adventure which takes place in the real world, and has an immersive and interactive story-driven experience that will see the player face virtual enemies and tricky challenges while exploring his neighbourhood in the real life.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

A good attempt at an assessable Augmented Reality title.

Cute mascot

could be played with or without a play mat

The Cons –

Didn’t get a chance to play the game

The Pitch was lacking

The scaling was very ‘off’

  Abbey’s Flight By: Stuart Mclean Date: Out now on iOS

Abbey’s Flight is a bee flight simulator with 12 flying levels and three bonus level types: perform waggle dances, keep the hive warm, and land on flowers.

My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Like using a game to educate while playing.

Graphics were ok

Pitch was alright

The Cons –

The gyro controls need a lot of work

Unsure of my goals

Felt players would lose interest in title very quickly

  Dragon Queens By: Kaludoscope Date: Q3/Q4 2017, iOS/Android

Dragon Queens is a non-military, multiplayer game of influence and prosperity. Become the most beloved monarch in the realm by transforming cities into prosperous centres for culture, joy, and luxury goods.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Cool concept.

Likeable team.

The Cons –

Really unsure what I was doing.

No game flow.

Pitch needed to be more concise.

  Jigscore By: Moonjump Coming: Autumn 2017, iOS/Android

Jigscore is a cross between dominoes and jigsaws, and can be played either as a casual game or by focusing on puzzles and missions. There are currently 100 missions, multiple game modes, and seven puzzles.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Very clever concept.

Loads to do.

great to hear it will be a physical game also

The Cons –

Can at times get very confusing

No accessibility i.e. colour blindness etc

Really basic graphics

  Snexagon By: Ben Wells Date: September 1st, iOS/Android/PC

Snexagon merges ‘Snake’ gameplay with air traffic control games as you move your snake over an area and collect pellets to earn points and grow. After it gets to a certain size, your snake will then split in half and you’ll have to try to manage both bodies.

My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Interesting spin on a classic

Solid look.

Good pitch

The Cons –

Game modes change without warning

Needs to consider adding more social aspects

  Space Krieg By: We Heart Dragons Date: 2019, iOS/Android/PC/Console

“Space Krieg is a tactical space dog-fighting MOBA in which two teams of five players take each other on in the combat zones. Rather than brute force, the key to success here is through team work and strategy.”

My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Great concept

lovely graphics

Great pitch

The Cons –

I didn’t get to play it for long enough

  The Almost Gone By: Happy Volcano Date: Q2 2018, Mac/PC (maybe mobile someday)

“The Almost Gone is a narrative-driven exploration game where a young girl’s spirit looks for a way out of the afterlife as she tries to understand her own death.”

My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Wonderful concept

Beautiful graphics

Top pitch

The Cons –

I didn’t get to play it

needs a little work on navigation

  The Boxing Promoter By: Angry Fez Games LTD Date: July 2017, iOS/Android

The Boxing Promoter puts you in charge or hiring and building a stable of fighters, training them, upgrading their skills, booking their fights, negotiating contracts, and helping them grow through rankings.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Reminds me of Championship Manager 2

The Cons –

No game play

Super confusing

poor pitch

  Boom Boom Barbarian By: Silo Black Games Date: Summer 2018, iOS/Android/Console/PC

Boom Boom Barbarian is a rhythm action/tower defence game which works like a classic rhythm matcher to a point. Instead of matching descending beat bars to music, however, you’re matching enemy units to their weaknesses.

  My Thoughts

    The Pros –

Fun Pitch

Fun game

Great music

The Cons –

needs to be synced better in time with the music

  The Mystery of Woolley Mountain By: Huey Games Ltd Date: Summer 2018, iOS/Android/Console/PC

Inspired by games like Monkey Island, The Mystery of Woolley Mountain is an otherworldly, point and click adventure game which follows five renegade audio scientists as they try to rid their beloved mountain of an evil witch.

  My Thoughts

    The Pros –

Good look

loved the easter eggs throughout

The Cons –

needs to more polish

need more time to play it to better review

  Touch ‘n Drag Rally By: Nikomus Games Date: Android

Touch ‘n Drag Rally is a top-down racing game that features new, procedurally generated rally tracks and networked high-scores to keep things competitive.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Great idea

like the social aspect

The Cons –

needs to more polish

need better controls.

  Bertram Fiddle: A Bleaker Predicklement

By: Rumpus Animation Date: iOS/Android/PC

Bertram Fiddle: A Bleaker Predicklement is the point-and-click mystery game sequel to The Adventures of Betram Fiddle. You’ll play as Bertram Fiddle, a self-proclaimed explorator searching for his next big adventure.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Great Art

Great Pitch

Lovable characters

The Cons –

needs more time with the game

  Your Room

By: Unreasonably Good Software, ltd Date: Spring 2018, Daydream VR/Cardboard VR

Your Room is a non-violent mobile VR game for 5-13 year-olds which allows children to interact with different toys. Each interaction will allow for a different sort of experience, i.e. riding on a toy train.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Great Concept

Using VR right

Learning as you play

The Cons –

Need better navigation

needs to be pitch slightly differently

  Save the Seeds By: A Little Red Panda Date: 2017, iOS/Android

“In the not too distant future, the world has finally succumbed to the change in temperature and can longer sustain human life. Your mission is to re-enter the atmosphere and retrieve seeds from different biomes in the hope of resurrecting the plants of days gone by and slowly restoring the earth to its former glory.”

  My Thoughts

    The Pros –

Great Art

Lovely game to get stuck into

Solid pitch

The Cons –

Need more challenges

Needs more consequences on failure.

Balls By: Jason Tuyen Games Date: Summer 2017, iOS/Android

Balls is an endless arcade game in which you keep a coloured ball in the air for as long as possible, whilst collecting coins and avoiding obstacles.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Great improvement on the last build

Gets addictive

The Cons –

Need more modes

Needs to be more sociably focused

  INOPS By: ZRZStudio Date: August 2017, iOS/Android/Nintendo Switch

INOPS is a 2D side-scrolling puzzler where you’ve got to keep all of the Inops alive as you guide them through each level.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Great improvement on the last build

Gets addictive

The Cons –

Need more modes

Needs to be more socially focused

Advance Soccer

By: Gentlemen Of Science Limited Date: August 2017, iOS/Android

Advance Soccer is a turn-based, tactical five-a-side football game with cross platform multiplayer.

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Solid idea

Great for football fans

The Cons –

No gameplay

needs more substance

Taps Aff! The Scottish Summertime Simulator By: Ant Workshop Date: 2017, iOS/Android

“Taps Aff is a celebration of Scotland’s favourite summer activity – exposing pasty white skin to the sun. Help the tiny little computer people in your phone get appropriately attired for the current weather by tapping on them. But, you’ll have to be quick as the weather in Scotland is very changeable.”

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Such Fun

Addictive

The Cons –

Left me wanting to spend more time on it

Lost Words By: Sketchbook Games Date: Unspecified, PC/Console

“Lost Words is a narrative adventure game starring our young protagonist and aspiring writer, Izzy. While dealing with the loss of her grandmother, she writes a fantasy story in which she quests to prove herself between the pages of her diary.”

My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Lovely

Inventive game style

Great pitch

The Cons –

The crossover of styles needs to be less abrupt

Vostok Inc.

By: Nosebleed Interactive Date: 2017, PC/Vita/Console

“Vostok Inc. is a casual game for a hardcore audience and a hardcore game for a casual audience. The premise is that you’re a corrupt, narcissistic yuppie, out to make as much money as possible. Think the Wolf of Wall Street…in Space.”

  My Thoughts

      The Pros –

Fun mini games

Can get challenging

The Cons –

No really sure on what the end goal is

rushed pitch.

References – Images and Game info from Pocket Gamer