#I got so lazy with 2nd panel background

[kiwikarpart]

30 Day Art Improvement Challenge

Day 9: Draw a landscape of a place you've never been to or drawn.

So...I took a break...and I it lasted longer than I planned. I don't want to get into it, I'll just say that I went to California for a week to visit family, then got lazy. But I'm ready to post again, about this and other things!

My first idea was to draw a town in the mountains, and found this picture:

Then I realized it was WAAAAY too complicated and detailed for me. So I scrapped the progress made on attempt 1 and looked for a reference that was simpler, and went with this one:

Just like attempt 1, I initially fell into the trap of making everything too realistic. It's valid, it looks good, but it's not something I want for my art, especially not with backgrounds. So I tried toning the accuracy down and drawing things the way I would for a comic panel. Starting with the pine trees, I made the wood thin and dark, then drew tiny lines through the branches. It was both easy and my favorite part of the drawing. The mountain is the worst part because I didn't feel like redrawing the attempts at detailed shading. I instead opted for erasing brighter areas to make snow, making the lower half darker with a 2nd layer of pencil, and changing nothing else. After some round clouds, it was done, and it looks like this:

There are definitely problems, line clarity in some spots sticks out, but it's a fine start, and with more practice later on I think I can get the hang of stylizing mountain environments.

Also before I end this, just wanna say that I'm drawing the rest of these traditionally. I wanted to do some digitally, but since I'm relatively new to that medium I wasn't really improving the way I would with traditional since I have more experience there.

[danisova]

more quality art!

[ackermanshoe]

March comes in like a lion, it's Portrayal of toxic & healthy relationship and how to compares rivamika + Ereh

Que the longest title everr 😌✨

So before I start on the actual analysis, I recently started watching March comes in like a lion instead of doing my assignments and I half way through season 2. For those of you who haven't watched it, it might be a spoilers so beware of that.

In this analysis I'll be comparing the similarities I found between Rei, Hina and Kyoko.

So watching any anime after being do emotionally attached to rivamika it's only natural that I compare them to the characters with even the tiniest bit similarities in their dynamic but Rei and hina's relationship jump in episode 4 of season 2 really caught me off guard and I was like omg?? Rivamika?? How do I make this about them 😩

Anyway so a little background on Rei's relationship with both girls Kyoko and Hina ( Hinata ). Firstly, i subconsciously placed Rei has Mikasa, kyoko has Eren and Hina as Levi, why? You will know on a minute. Rei is a depressed kid who has known only one way of life and that's through shogi games and after his parents death ( cough cough ) he was taken in by a old friend ( I think ) of his dad's who was also obsessed with shogi. Kyoko is the biological daughter of this man who has "adopted" Rei and later on Rei was came to know Hina and her sisters, they were super supportive of him from the start and having lost family members themselves they related to him on a personal level.

So you see why Eren and mikasa's dynamic matches with Rei and Kyoko and not only as "step siblings" it's also the fact that Rei became somewhat obsessed with her through the time he had spent over at their house, it's toxic and it's been showcased that way ever since kyoko was introduced into the series. Rei thought of her when he heard the word "love" and he even admitted to the fact that having her around is toxic and yet he can't push her away. He said he does not want to stop hearing her voice even tho she , herself is in love with a much older man who is married. Everytime she showed up to his bedroom uninvited and slept next to him my mind went "he is in love with her and their relationship is so toxic why does the author keep bringing her into his life?" Or "girl get the fuck away from him".

Without even thinking too much deep into their physical connection I already knew I would be able to related this dynamic to Eren and Mikasa. Although this series gives us much more depth into the main characters views since it's narrated from his own perspective, and the fact that he metaphorically compared his feelings of being lost and sadness helps me as an audience to understand what's happening much much easier than attack on titan. I personally feel like this kind of series are usually short ( idk how long this is) because it feels like the author knows exactly what he is going for, everything is set in stone.

Going back to Rei's ( mikasa's) relationship with kyoko ( Eren ) it's much much clear how toxic it had become for him in more than just one way. And the show isn't denying Rei of his feelings towards Kyoko and it's not even attempting to distant him from her and yet you just knew there had to be someone better right? That's when they introduced Hina and Kyoko in the same episode, meeting each other and a sense of invisible rivalry gushed over them, especially Hina. She is a happy go lucky girl and extremely sensitive to things to the point it kinda annoys me everytime she bursts out crying ( but hey you can't hate a genuinely good character ).

That's where things get interesting for me maybe because I am on that Levi X Mikasa agenda all the time but just like rivamika their relationship has been portrayed as platonic for the longest time in the seaosns. If I didn't go out of way to search up who Rei falls in love with and it didn't say hina's name I probably wouldn't be making this comparison right now because who wants to have their heart broken for the 2nd time in the same fucking month 🙄.

Anyway so in this one episode Hina comes home crying because of bullying issue at school and as she runs off into the dark streets Rei chases her and eventually catching up to her takes her hand and being able to relate to her problems, comparing his younger self to her present Rei reaches out his hand and God fucking damn it he says "you saved my life..I promise I'll stay with you" ofc I'm making this post now you know the real reason 🤡.

The unseen build up that happen between them reminds me of rivamika, the Portrayal of healthy relationship is rivamika. Hina (in our case Levi ) to Rei is the voice of emotion, she speaks out the feelings that Rei has been surpassing all these years inside of him. Just like how we talked about Levi is the voice of reason, while Mikasa has the impulsive urge to act up. Just like how Levi became the perosn who reasonably always took mikasa's side, he gave her personal reasons to take Erens side everytime have an actual meaning towards the scouts / everyone , he then became someone Mikasa was able to object & voice out her opinion towards because she knew that he would response and guide her the right way and finally he became someone she was able to fully trust.

Much like Hina and Rei, when Hina cried out her heart and Rei couldn't help but go back to his past self and imagine Hina coming to him and giving him a hand, being his saviour. It's much like how Levi saw his past self in Mikasa present ( S1 ), Levi gave Mikasa the hand she needed when she didn't know she needed.

Hina despite being much younger than him, was able to make him realise that he too was shutting out his emotions and was able to let himself be free through Hina when she cried, expressing her frustrations and very human like emotions. In the forest of the giant trees when Mikasa and Levi saved Eren for the first time he told her " we got your precious friend, didn't we?" A slight wake up call he had given her for the very first time, an attack on Mikasa's ego and evoking a different emotions within her. Like telling her it's not only about Eren and getting revenge, risking your life so easily, Levi had lost his entire squad in order to protect Eren so now that he is safe they better leave now.

So the question is did Levi and Mikasa save each other?

What can I say that I haven't said already in here about these two?

"you saved my life" Rei says to Hina as he reached out her hand and the beauty of that scene was the fact that it was delicate and soft despite it not being anything romantic. Remind me of that panel of Mikasa touching Levi's shoulder. How ironic is the fact that I'm comparing Hina, a openly emotional character to Levi who is said to be the most emotional inside?

Levi physically saved Mikasa a lot of the time however emotionally Levi saved Mikasa from being selfish and from herself. What if I said and ignoring 139, that Levi was one of of the biggest reasons Mikasa took the initiative and decapitated Eren that day?

Wait why does it feel like I already said it before lol

Through Levi, Mikasa learnt to trust more, learnt that even though they gave difference not only in height, age and in how they treat Eren ( Levi with force and Mikasa with care ), Mikasa still came in terms with Levi and relied on him, shared her burden with him. I think that's the biggest character twist Mikasa had, the fact that she was ready to draw sword at anyone who treated Eren wrong and everyone was scared of her and then came the grumpy shorty who beat her beloved brother right in front of her but eventually he became the biggest form of support she had in the end. I just can not help but laugh at all the unseen development this ship has had and all the implication of Futher interaction after season 3 between them, it's really obvious they had something going on because imagine you don't talk to someone for like 3 years and suddenly when you engage in battle against , paired up with them suddenly you become the strongest duo known to humanity. +?)!#)# make it make sense.

Sooo now you see the that having toxic relationship with a partner is only natural and inevitable but growing from that, opening your eyes to those who actually care there for you is rather healthy. So moral of the story is guys make sure stick with those who tells you to stay with them, the end.

Omg guys this turned out so much longer than I intended, anyway hopefully y'all liked it. I know it's not the strongest comparison or analysis but I feel like I'm running out of words for what I want to say about rivamika it feels like I'm recycling my sentences from previous analysis over and over again because ✨ lack of content ✨ and my inability to think of something new.

Please ignore all my spelling mistakes I have decided to embrace my mistakes instead of fixing them simply because I'm too lazy 😉

💜💜💜

[cannot-decide-on-a-fandom]

Because I can't keep only making Haikyuu videos, I'll just do this here

(Part 1) I'm gonna go ahead and rate every match in the series

Rules:

1) We need to see a significant portion of the game, so simply glimpses of practice or official matches or just really short games don't count (so let's say more than 2 chapters long in the manga (with one exception as it's kind of a crucial one), I know this will miss out a few great moments, and basically the entirety of the training camp, but this list would be like 1000 pages long otherwise)

2) I'll go in chronological order as opposed to preference order because I'm too lazy for that

3) This first post is gonna be all the matches already in the anime, and I'll make a second about the manga (I'll post a link to each other on both) so this is spoiler free. Here's part 2 with the manga matches-

Alright

Yukigaoka Junior High Vs Kitagawa Daiichi

Okay, obviously this was more like a prologue than anything else. It holds a place in my heart for introducing us to these characters, and later on for not dropping Kouji and Izumi, and I liked the little details like how being in the football club meant he was able to make a good save or 2 with his foot. But of course this was hardly a match necessarily. Still fun and I enjoyed a lot of it, though.

6/10

Karasuno 3 Vs 3

Oh, Tsukki, to think you aren't as big of a douchebag as you seemed here.

I really do appreciate the entire situation, though. Tsukishima never disliked volleyball, it wasn't like he suddenly started getting serious after never doing so before when the Shiratorizawa match came, he was always one who could be riled up but he just didn't want to show it because it was irritating to him that people were so intense.

The match itself was really nice for what it was. The early matches really contained a lot of foreshadowing, like Yamaguchi messing up the serve we saw him do. And of course this was the start of the partnership between Kageyama and Hinata. Still warming up to proper matches, of course.

6/10

Karasuno Vs Aoba Johsai practice match

Okay, this is undoubtedly the funniest match of the show. Not necessarily the funnest (I won't forget Jozenji) but it was kind of hilarious. Poor Hinata freaking out, I love him, but it was so endearing. And of course there's the serve mistake he made. Baby crow grew up afterwards.

But then Oikawa's introduction was badass as hell. I love the entire Seijoh team, they're great, and I love every opposing team, but Oikawa is still the best rival in the series in my opinion. And people like Tanaka got some spotlight too which was nice.

7/10

Karasuno High Vs Neighborhood Association

Listen. I may be biased because I love the Neighborhood Association, but I absolutely loved this match. It was hype even though it was low stakes. We got Noya and Asahi playing for the first time, and Suga as well in fact. The introduction of the jump float serve. Some fantastic saves and spikes. I love it. And it was emotionally fulfilling.

7/10

Karasuno Vs Nekoma practice match

NEKOMA! Sorry, sorry. Just love them.

Anyway, I'm only talking about the match so I can't count how much I adored Kenma's introduction and the two of them meeting (Hinata, you're my cinnamon roll), nor can I count the ridiculous interactions before and after (Yamamoto and Tanaka, Kuroo and Daichi, and Yaku and Suga, are just too perfect) but other than that, I REALLY liked how Nekoma was the first team to show us how any spike can be countered. I loved Hinata and Inuoka's rivalry, and I so appreciated how they showed Kenma being a strategist. Also, in the manga, there's like 20 panels of him like this

Which is a) a freaking mood, and b) one stupidly endearing quality about him.

Maybe this match is just about how much I love every character?

But it was so fun. Oikawa is the best individual rival, but Nekoma is their best rival as a whole. It's just so great.

7.5/10

Karasuno Vs Tokonami

I loved how we got backstory for Daichi. I don't know why, but I didn't exactly expect it? Like I expected development, but I guess I'm used to the focus being purely the main characters in terms of backstory, at least this early on, in most series. But I really like Ikejiri and I find his dynamic with Daichi endearing.

Not the best "match" but I appreciated the sentiment

6/10

Karasuno Vs Dateko

Oh, now we're talking. Gonna be honest, Dateko is one of my least favourite teams (I still love them! I love every single team. They're just on the lower end of a really highly appreciative scale) but this match was fantastic.

Again, I may be judging this based on one aspect, but I mean to this day Noya's save is one of my favourite scenes in anything. It was so well done, both anime and manga, and I just fell even more in love with Noya. And the symbolism of smashing through the iron wall was so great.

8/10

Karasuno Vs Aoba Johsai (1st official match)

And we come to the only team which Karasuno faced more than once in an official game (that we see) and that means I can't help but judge it harsher because their second game was awesome

HOWEVER! I still 100% love this game. It's such an important game to everyone and though I won't count the after effect, in the restaurant and all, I will count the immediate aftermath. It was so sad but also understandable and the entire match itself was intense. I could go into it, but it just paid off. The build up and the animosity between some of the players, the background we got for the characters during this game, the freaking soundtrack which is incredible in any of the matches.

Fantastic.

8.5/10

Karasuno Vs Oghiminami

...Meh

4/10

Karasuno Vs Kakugawa

...Meh again

With a side of interest in the idea of facing a 2m tall player, but...yeah, meh (neither game was bad, I just hardly cared about the actual matches. I enjoyed the surrounding discussions and all way more)

5/10

Karasuno Vs Jozenji

Most certainly NOT meh!

I love Jozenji so much. I want to see them more! They're so, so fun, and this shows you don't have to stick within a specific type of play. Be able to have fun while also being serious, it's important!

And, like, they're good! They're not bad or anything, even though they're messing around. They're entertaining as hell but also try hard.

I love them

And we got to see Suga playing too. I love him so I need to point this out.

8/10

Karasuno Vs Wakutani

Firstly, rip Daichi.

Alright, but seriously, I'm so glad we got to see someone like Takeru. His playing style is completely different to Hinata's at this point, yet they admire the same player, but neither of them are actually cruel or rude to the other team. This was such a respectful match while also being intense.

And we got to see an injury of a key player who couldn't go back on the court unlike Kags in the previous game, which, while unfortunate, is actually really, really good to see. It happens and can throw a spanner in the works, but it allowed us to also see 1) Ennoshita stepping up, 2) Tanaka's reaction to accidentally injuring Daichi (though it wasn't really his fault), and 3) an entirely different type of dynamic on the court.

Also, Yamaguchi! My baby! I felt like crying for the poor thing, but this was the start of his confidence and I love him so much.

I really, really, really liked this match.

8.5/10

Karasuno Vs Aoba Johsai (2nd official match)

YES!

Okay, firstly, the strategies in this game. Using a double edged sword like Mad Dog from Aoba Johsai, and Karasuno going with a more tactic savvy thinker when in a bind, like Suga, even though Kageyama is over all a better player, it was SO great to see. Suga may not be a genius or a prodigy, but his intelligence doesn't just lie in volleyball, so he can use general knowledge to his advantage so well, and teach Kageyama something too.

Kyoutani is such an interesting character and forms a brilliant dynamic for the team to play with, it's great.

Oikawa being shown to make genuine errors is such a fantastic thing. No matter how good you are, Oikawa, Kageyama, Ushijima, whoever, you will never be 100% perfect, and you will always have moments where you make mistakes. I really enjoyed seeing that. Especially his serves, which we were introduced to before his setting.

And, of course, the Hero of the match...

I WILL PROTECT YOU! BUT RIGHT NOW YOU DON'T NEED PROTECTING, YOU ARE SMASHING IT, YES BABY!

Sorry. Got over whelmed. But real talk, I also liked that they did eventually lose that set. Miraculous plays don't automatically win the game, but it also doesn't diminish their importance.

9/10

And finally for this list

Karasuno Vs Shiratorizawa

Well, do I really need to say it?

Yes, Tsukishima owned this match, this season of the show, but he wasn't the only great player

Nishinoya had some amazing moments, Hinata is such an idiot but he utilised that to his advantage by...not thinking. Like, he deliberately received the ball with his face. I mean, come on.

Yamaguchi played great too, Suga was such a key part even when on the bench (yelling at them from the side lines is absolutely brilliant), pretty much everyone was amazing here.

But while it was longer, I still preferred the Aoba Johsai game. Only slightly. Still-

9/10

Okay! So that was the anime, now...

I committed to do the manga too, didn't I?

Alright, it does contain my 2 favourite matches, so you know what? Yeah, let's go

[sterlingarcher23]

First of all: as a fan of the comics I might be a bit biased. Although I haven’t read them all yet because when I was younger I lend them from the library but missed the later volumes - still could get the money to buy them all. A shame!! But does somebody have a 130 bucks??)

But a fair warning because:

The cast:

Yes, Dane and Cara seem to be younger than their comic counterparts. It is actually never said how old they are in the comics - my guess is that Valerian is in his early 30s in the beginning. Later, he might be between 35 or older and he is different from the one in the start

Just read Vol. 0, yes, Zero. In the comics he is a Jean-Paul Belmondo-type, edgy faced, tanned skin, but even Belmondo was once young and smooth. And Valerian becomes edgier over time. So, are the actors to young? Maybe not. Besson has two other scripts / two more movies in mind. - If we do the math and give the films 3 years each, Dane could be 36, maybe older, edgier and in the “correct” age. In short: “Valerian and the city of the thousand planets” is, and the film does not make even a secret out of it, the beginning of Valerians voyage, because he and Laureline are relatively new partners in the film.

But age aside some may have their problems with Dane’s acting. I also thought sometimes that it isn’t quite the right tone but then he was just perfect. Is his acting inconsistent? Occasionally, yes. But if he is meant as a young Valerian it even makes sense. A bit of an asshole, a joyful rascal and dedicated to his work yet not so much into it than Bruce Wayne in his “work”. And not yet the Valerian readers are used to. Think of James Bond in Casino Royale. That Bond is odd, isn’t he? He even wants a stable relationship. Bond!! Many had their problems with this new Bond, allthough he is exactly what Bond is in Flemings work.

Back to Valerian : The examples are from the later comics of the first series - yes. There is a split, everything before Hypsis and after. Read it, it would be to complicated to explain. And Valerian is also not all but the same. So , Dane is not yet the “old” Valerian. He could play out his strenghts in later films (if hopefully done), when Valerian as a dedicated Time-travel agent sometimes shows a “Kiss my ass” attitude as he seem to have not a real care in the world or beeing mentally absent or clueless (see: Metro Chatelet/Brooklyn Station or Wrath of Hypsis).

Or doing what ever is necessary for the mission!

He does care and he loves Laureline but still he is just a human being (meaning he can be a complete ass) that can get “distracted”. And on other occasions Valerian wants just one thing: going home and leave the work behind. Yet, he doesnt. (see: Ghosts of Inverloch)

This results in a odd finale in “The Wrath of Hypsis” in which he has, except for his outburst of “WTF is going on?” nothing else to do. Strange? Yes. And that’s the key. The first major decision was made by Laureline and later Valerian has no real say in the finale but others, like Monsieur Albert, an agent who lives in the 1980s, and Laureline do.

Valerian cares but what is the main character doing in the finale of one of the most important stories with literally nothing to do besides asking the question for the reader: What’s going on here?? - Good question. He is just stands there in the background.

Weird, but I wanted to give you a hint on how franco-belgian comics sometimes work. Like the fact that the 2nd act is more important than the 3rd e.g. the climax is in the 2nd act like pointed out by "Pipelinecomics". That can be seen also in the film, as it follows a more european (in this case franco-belgian) way of storytelling!

Back to Valerian as a character: That doesn’t mean that Valerian is constantly as described above. These are just facettes of him, he is a character that is let’s say “different” from what the broader US-audience might be used to see and that is the reason why the film got more praise in France and Belgium.

I mention this because some say that Dane Dehaan doesn’t work as an action-actor. But looking up Valerian especially when it gets to this little undertones of his personality I’d say Dane is a perfect match. Because he is untypical.

And don’t forget: in the film Valerian seems (!) to be driven by his own ambitions. But is he? Or do we see sort of two different personas in one character? Actually we do. And with that in mind Danes acting, sometimes looking like he is mentally absent, makes sense.

My guess is that Luc Besson knew exactly what he did in the way he directed his main cast - that is btw. his job. And in a project of this size you don’t leave it to pure chance how your actors deliver their roles.

And they do it with passion, Dane’s rascal-mimic and Cara with her fiery look are just a perfect embodiment of of Valerian’s and Laureline’s reactions in the comics. They even work as a very odd not-average couple. (It’s not what you would expect.) Yes, they are a bit different from their drawn counterparts but as a basis for more adventures it’s fine. I give Besson, Dane and Cara the benefit of the doubt. Why? Because there are hopefully more films up ahead.

The Universe & message:

That universe is odd, the storytelling, the creatures… Which leads to something else.

Diversity. Thats the main topic of the story, that and immigragtion of people that where forced to leave their country because of the deeds and wars of others.

For Valerian they created round about 1000 species (=Thousand Planets - makes sense) mostly put in the background, and beside the fact that many of them we see have a humanoid shape of some sort (although not all if you remember), they have not much if not nothing in common.

In order to do this Besson contacted several (Dozens? Houndreds? Do the math.) artists from all over the world and everyone was given one task: Here is an object e.g. nautilus-seashell, make an alien out of it. And every artist worked independently…. And the result are aliens created by different people from all over the world. I have to point out that without MatPat from the YouTube-channel “Film Theorists” I would have not known.

This just screams it into your face that Valerian is an intercultural film, celebrating diversity yet states that we are all one, that we share the similar needs and rights: living together in one giant city. This is underlined by a “humanitarian” crisis of one species whose people are just refugees seeking a new home and that not helping and even beeing hostile towards them threatenes us all: it paves the road for more conflict.

Besson just honors the source material that was e.g. about diversity or feminism. - Wait? Then why is Laureline’s name missing? Several reasons: 1) obviously its the name that could confuse people. How do you pronounce it? 2) the original comics actually just have Valerian’s name in the title and 3) because you should ask the question. (Like: Why is Laureline just a Sergeant?) I might be wrong here but it could actually be just the case that it should provoke. It might be trick by using a title closer to the original: putting something offensive in your sight that raises a question. And that is the entire goal.

Why does Laureline fall for Valerian in the end? In this schmaltzy, teeny love setting? That’s not feminist, some might say. Feminism has nothing to do with that. - It’s about equality not the question if a woman should be a romantic type or not or even fall for a guy like Valerian. As it is established in the whole movie. Valerian tries to use (sort of) his position as a superior officer (he is a major, she is just a sergeant) to get Laureline, he tries his charme but nothing really works. In the end she says yes to his proposal but not because he tried every trick he has up his sleeve and his winning “charme” but because Laureline likes him with all the good and bad sides of his personality. - That is a fundamental difference.

There is also something else: Valerian appears to be a creepy stalker, trying to get the next best girl into the horizontal position. His proposal looks like a lame trick to win Laureline over. But is that so? No. Valerian is actually honest. So, his character is up to change from the very beginning but the audience is quick in judging him. It’s a interesting way of writing a character.

Think about Venkman from Ghostbusters, he is this creepy stalker through the entire film - there is no change or development of any kind with this womanizer but Valerian is a different kind of “stalker”. He is a ladies man. Venkman lies to girls to win them over, thats what a womanizer does. … But Valerian doesn’t lie to Laureline at least meaning he wants to change. If people think that he is a womanizer then this is just prejudice.

And this “little” truth about the main character coincides with the story of the movie and Laureline’s decision as a feminist character. - It feels like Besson is holding up a mirror to us and showing his audience that they also can have prejudices.

The villain:

Valerian is more than an sci-fi flick, it’s a political statement about humanity as a whole. And because of that it stays true to its source material.

Diversity, feminism etc. where always topics between the lines and panels.

But it might only work for you if you like both Besson and are open to storytelling and characters that are not like your average superheroes. Besson’s movies are different, and the characters are and so are the topics. That doesn’t mean that you will, have or should love every movie he made.

But it’s a bit different if you are exited about a bunch of superheros lumped together to fight a villain that looks like something formed out of a chewed Hubba-Bubba, who is lazy as hell, sitting in his big chair and sends his cronies (really I do prefer “Spießgeselle”) that fail him again and again… And wants to do what exactly?? Oh, yes, reign the world. Universe, I mean. So, nothing new in the Superhero-universes. Screw that Thanos, really, that guy is ….Yawn

But now I’m going to use “Whataboutism”… Nothing original there? What about (told you I would use that weapon) a villain that wants just one thing: No one must ever know what kind of atrocious things he did. And to accomplish that he is willing to do even more bad things!!

So, actually that kind of guy might not be really bad or villainous at all. That guy would be just: human. What he does is despicable but nothing far fetched. It’s a relatable concept.

Like Loki in the the first Thor-movie before his character was butchered by Whedon for the Avengers (seriously, do you know anything about characters? "What does not fit will be made to fit." ) Or even the motives of the main characters in that “Civil War”-garbage (and yes, I watched that recently again and its still garbage) are more relatable than a crazy guy who wants to reign the universe.

Photography/Images & Director

For the first part: Just watch the damn movie! - But to tell at least something: Yes, its eye-candy. So are the comics, especially the space-adventures. Which I highly recommend.

But underneath that eye-candy there is more as I already pointed out. And that is what people seem to overlook, even if it is a clear reference to e.g. the Syria refugee crisis. Or the people fleeing Africa.

The movie is just done with real love for the characters, the universe and the source material. - And that is a rare thing.

It’s just crazy what Luc Besson did. Like that artists-from all over the world-make-alien thing I mentioned. What he pulled up to make that film.

The movie is just done with true love for the characters, the universe and the source material. - And that is a rare thing.

Just watch the beginning of the movie: this is not just brilliantly made concerning cinematography and soundtrack, it tell’s you something about the City of a Thousand Planets without flat out saying it. The city is the Universe. And it is everyones home. A metaphor for earth which is, and that’s a truism, the home of us all. Hurt one and you hurt all. By diminishing or nearly wiping out whole civilizations like our ancestors did with e.g. the Native Americans, we are less as a whole species.

That’s heart Besson put in here. Others however do just there job. Not even really good btw. Unlike other movies directors and executives, Monsieur Besson created a consistant universe he dedicated himself to.

When I gave King Legend of the Sword a 6.5, I was very generous.

The movie ranks near 7 at IMDB or 4 stars on the German Amazon page. WTF? This mess gets a higher rating than Valerian?

Take the assassination/chase-sequence for example, this takes 25 minutes of the movie. ¼ of the movie for a sequence that contains no story- or character-relevant elements. You might argue with the swordscene. Yes, but first, it’s not really relevant and could have been placed somewhere else and second you don’t make a 25 minutes long sequence just for that. What Guy Ritchie takes 25 min and repeatingly scenes with Uther for, it takes a few seconds in the film Excalibur. What is the point here, Guy? And worse: how can people rate this overall higher than e.g. Valerian??

If I was honest than Legend of the Sword would just be a 5. But I gave that movie more credit than it deserved…maybe because I liked its game references.

Rating

But how to rate Valerian than?

Unlike others I don’t have such a big problem with the actors and the rest speaks for itself as it is a scifi/fantasy film that gives you more than some others of the recent years, not just on it’s surface but in it’s core.

The actors are fine and enjoyable, the optics amazing and it has more to tell about humans and humanity then many other movies in recent years.

You might remember that I rated Wonder Woman 8-8.5? And if Legend of the sword is a 6, well, then Valerian is a 9 out of 10.

[boldandsepet-blog]

Sambung Masters in UiTM?

Fact 1 : I did my bachelor’s degree in international business.

Awal tahun ni aku buat kerja gila atas cadangan Mak aku, which was to further my study in MHRM (Masters in Human Resource Management). Selama 6 sem aku buat degree, aku tak pernah sekali pun bgthu result dkt parents aku. Haritu aku pegi amek mini transcript dgn Mak aku, lepastu dia tanya result so I told her lah, sampai bila aku nak simpan kan?

So, just a few days after that kebetulan 2nd intake utk apply masters dkt UiTM dibuka. Aku pun buat lah kerja gila, pergi beli number pin RM50 beb dkt BSN dan apply for MHRM.

Harini, kebetulan KL cuti so company aku cuti and interview utk masters ni today. 

SUSAHHHHHHHHH.

Tu je lah hasil interview. Panel ada dua orang, both are doctors. Soalan yg dorang tanya aku :

1. Intro diri 2. Why jump2 from international biz to marketing to HR? 3. U have no experience studying hr formally, why and how are u gonna survive masters? 4. Whats yr final year project title? Tell us abt it 5. What do u plan to do for mini research during master? 6. Ok u wanna do research relating to ethical but u refer to incident in yr company which are mostly pnc (private and confidential), tell us how do u collect data for yr research if it's pnc? 7. You did Quantitative or qualitative research masa degree dulu? 8. Do u have yr research proposal ready? By now u should have, u know.

9. Explain which area of hr will u choose to do yr research? how do u approach the area with the very little knowledge that you have? 10. On what terms do u think a conduct is unethical? Bcz from my understanding that is relating to the product yr company manufactured, not the human in the company. thats not really HR problem. how? 11. U may have the interest but yr knowledge is not yet mature, u have idea how to finish yr master like this? 12. The fees is bla bla bla can u afford it? We are not talking abt rm1-2k here, this is a lot. How are u gonna fund yr study? 13. Yr parents? Why dont u try mybrain scholarship or etc? 14. U were doing research on students, in masters its going to be a different approach, how are u gonna do it?

Fuh, my heart boiled. To me it was the toughest interview yang aku pernah attend. Both panels were intimidating, questioning, provoking me with questions I didnt see coming.

Agak sedih dan rasa down bg aku bila dorang tanya soalan bertubi-tubi dan aku rasa jawapan aku bersepah dan tak solid. Ye lah, aku takda background HR pun. Setakat amek satu subject HR je, thats like learning ABC to the doctors. 

Terkebil-kebil jugak aku nak jawab. Hampa dgn jawapan sendiri. Plus, they never told us that there will be English test. Dkt website and email tak cakap. Tapi dkt blogs ada la org tulis pengalaman dorg, cuma aku tak prnh baca, member aku yg ckp. Tapi English test tu senang. Where do you see yourself in 3 years after finishing masters? 

Damn right, I’ll be teaching kids and thanking my lecturers back in Melaka. Cliche.

The panels were trying to instill in my brain that HR is hard in both industry and academically, I was like “can u not do that? that scares the shit out of me altho im well aware that no industry is easy la weyyyyy”.

Kalau ikut kan hati, nak je aku jawab “um...because i havent got any formal education in HR specifically lah im here, you genius doctorates”. hahaha. But ofcourse bcz they are more genius, they want a concrete idea than “what i want”. 

HR ni byk kena membaca, byk terms, byk labor act kena hafal dan faham. Yeah2, not easy. dont tell me something that is obvious pls?

Oh btw I went into the interview room with a guy much older than me who has experience working in HR for 7 years but no formal edu in HR, he was graduate of landscape architecture from UIA. Both of us got roasted because we dont come from HR area hahahaha.

The shits I kept telling myself to ease out the stress a bit were :

- these doctors dont decide where i go, i am in control of my life.

- they may be the one giving me marks, but they certainly dont know my potential within the 30mins interview.

- if i got accepted, i am the one who will decide to fail or to score well, yes based on my effort, the rest is tawakal

- they may intimidate me, but the only person who can surpass the fear is me and what they say to intimidate me wont matter if i surpassed.

- they have zero control of how i will struggle while finishing the damn master.

- if i let what they say to intimidate me goes into my mind and it stays, im screwed. 

- they can say shit, but this is my journey, i shall decide what is shit and what is not.

Basically, im saying these panels dont decide or dont matter and i cant give them power to decide that it is impossible for me to do MHRM just bcz i dont have the formal background, so i gotta know what’s ahead of me. the sleepless nights, the never ending reading in library, the hundreds of journals to read, the hundreds of notes to write and grasp. the lifeless life of a nerd. hahahaha.

The interview taught me TO NOT GIVE POWER TO OTHERS to decide your life, if you do, that is because :

- you are not well prepared

- you dont now what is ahead of you

- you dont have concrete strategy and emergency plan

- you dont have specific goals

These were what happened to me in the interview room, I wasnt expecting shits, hence I didnt realize that I gave power for them to intimidate me. Sad, it is.

Aku balik interview tadi, termenung lama dlm bilik lepastu menangis sendiri sebab rasa tak layak nak sambung masters, apatah lagi nak bergelar Doctor Anisah Ishak (PhD) satu hari nanti. Dgn pointer tak seberapa masa degree tu. Menangis beb. Anyway, kalau aku jd Dr. Anisah Ishak nanti hantaran kena RM50,000 kan? eh. hahahaha. ok iklan bergurau. Kau nak serious sgt, pegi duduk dlm court.

Aku tak tahu lah dapat ke tidak sambung MHRM ni. Hampa jugak lah kalau tak dapat walaupun aku takda lah nak sangaaaaaat sambung belajar, aku dah selesa kerja dapat gaji. Cuma aku akan hampa sbb ye lah, nampak sgt tak layak nak jadi pandai sikit dari dulu hahahahaha. Ah debor betul bila fikir benda ni.

Aku masih lagi rasa down and affected dgn interview tadi walaupun aku dah menidurkan diri. Aku rasa semakin tua, method menidurkan diri utk wash away the pain in my heart and mind dah semakin tak menjadi. Sigh, adulthood sucks. 

Anyway, good luck utk siapa yg nak sambung masters dkt mana2, apa2 bidang pun. Remember, plan ahead, have concrete reasons, read more you lazy ass. hahahaha. AND NEVER GIVE POWER TO ANYONE TO INTIMIDATE YOU OF YOUR OWN LIFE PLAN. and dont hate them too, just let them be provoking, you do you, ok. ((pat my own shoulder))

Well, this is how I started my first day of February 2018.

Semoga aku tak menangis dalam mimpi pulak malam ni.

Doakan yang terbaik utk aku, geng. Thanks a lot!

- Nesa.

11.11pm

1st feb, 2018.