#aasa meta

[athensandspartaadventures]

in writing chapter 9 i am making some throwbacks to chapter 6 (which i wrote TEN YEARS AGO AAAA) and trying to tie up loose ends. I do miss the days when I had a lot more time and inspiration to write faster, but I am also savouring taking a longer look at things and making something better quality, so I don't mind too much.

One of the struggles (apart from getting started) of outlining a chapter is that Athens talks. So Much. All the Time. and I constantly have to re-write his dialogue so that it fits nicely on the page and still gets the point across. Still, I think he sums up the comic making process best here:

(now compare the dialogue i am writing for sparta)

[hoshigomi]

2019 in Takarazuka!

This was my first year of living full time in Japan, and so I got to see more Takarazuka than I would EVER have anticipated would be possible to me. I feel really lucky. Here are my thoughts on this year- I didn’t limit any category to one answer because I wanted to give my respects to everything that caught my heart this year. It gets a little long, but feel free to give it a read!

Favorite Grand Theater musical:  My favorite Grand Theatre Musical was Beside the Foggy Elbe, but it was ALSO God of Stars. These shows could not BE more different. Elbe was my favorite show in the way that Yukigumi’s Gaisenmon was one of my favorite shows last year and in the way that Hoshiai is some people’s favorite show. It’s my favorite show maybe EVER in that I cried during every single one of the [redacted #] performances I got to see. I’m not usually a fan of Heavy Serious Show, but this one may be my top favorite show of all time. (Feel free to read my review here- I can not BEGIN to hash out my feelings for this show in this tiny space!) I have literally never seen a show more perfectly suited for the people performing it than God of Stars was to Hoshigumi. It was stomach-ache funny and heart-ache touching and one of the most respectful, brilliant, plays-to-their-strengths, META taidan shows I have EVER seen- for every taidansha, and the upcoming top combi. God of Stars is overflowing with love and humor, and that’s exactly the kind of show that grabs my heart and refuses to let go.  Special honors for 2019 go to Soragumi’s Oceans 11 because I love the hell out of that show and Makaze’s Danny, Susshii’s Saul, Seiko’s Queen Diana, Madoka’s Tess, Moeko’s Livingston, and Kazuki Sora’s Linus were specifically my favorite portrayals of those characters that I have ever seen. 

Favorite revue:  Hands down, the Grand Theatre run of Estrellas. Estrellas felt more like a rock concert than a revue to me at first, and then I learned to put in words that it felt very Chiegumi in a way that I LOVED. This revue flowed like none other, and  I have really special personal ties to it as well, it having been Kai’s last revue in Takarazuka. I wanted to list standout numbers, but is it really a “standout number” if I can list like 12? There was so much CONTRAST and so many OPPORTUNITIES and so much, again, LOVE in the whole thing!! The chuuzume? Playful! The white number? Sincere! I cried every time! The pop star medley? OOF! BACK? INCREDIBLE! Starlight Parade? Beautiful! Estrellas was the best revue of the year and this is a category in which I don’t personally believe there was any competition.  That said, I want to give special honors to Eclair Brillant for showing a side of Beni’s Hoshigumi that we never really got to see in revues (plus that bolero, which might be the best standalone NUMBER in Takarazuka this year, and the kuroenbi which again, blended personality with crisp blacks and whites and was a MASTERFUL passing of the torch), and Krung Thep which I loved a lot, despite having to see it with a weird flip flopped cast (F for Reiko :( ) Even though I only saw that one once some moments (the boxing number, Sakura generally just kicking ass, the chuzuume, Miya and Tamaki’s duedan) really stuck with me. Music Revolution used Pachelbel’s’ Canon and Neon Outfits in a way that I would never have thought would work, but did, and also featured an INCREDIBLY beautiful taidan number despite it being like, no one’s taidan. 

Favorite small theater musical:  HONESTLY, against ALL ODDS, Kamatari. I didn’t expect to even LIKE Kamatari, but between the HAUNTING score, the performances by Beni, Airi, Hanagata Hikaru, Seocchi, Kuracchi, and Mikkii SPECIFICALLY, the BEAUTIFUL set, and the touching and volatile relationships between the characters, I was HOOKED. It didn’t need a complicated plot- the character relationships drove everything, and I thought it was absolutely masterful. This one slid under a lot of people’s radars- please give it a look for yourself if you can!  Special honors to Mozart, which I don’t think I have to explain,  Diamond as Big as the Ritz for looking fun as HELL though I admit I DIDN’T GET TO SEE IT, On The 20th Century (unfortunately forever lost to time but featuring two of the most professional, brilliant lead performances I have ever seen), and On The Town, for being a faithful, loving take on a classic piece of musical theatre that I would have gladly seen more times than I got to.

Favorite numbers: (In no real order)

L’Operap and Bim Bam Boum  from Mozart.

石を割って咲く桜 from Mibugishiden, because those voices give me CHILLS.

The Gift and Bolero, (Eclair Brillant’s sexy, sexy chuuzume and INSANE artsy number, respectively.)

Some Other Time from On the Town.

Pop Star/Hoshi Ni Negaiwo/Starlight Parade/Championne/星サギの歌 in Estrellas.

Beer Matsuri (prologue) in Beside The Foggy Elbe.

The title song from God of Stars.

愛した日々に偽りは無い from Oceans 11

We Need Love and Adventure In The Life from Casanova straight up slaps.

I haven’t seen Aquavitae but boy the theme song is catchy.

Favorite lead otokoyaku role:  Beni in Beside The Foggy Elbe. I woulda given her the award for God of Stars but her Karl was TRANSFORMATIVE and HEART wrenching. It’s always nice to see someone break out of their comfort zone (or in Beni’s case, the zone that she really just gets the most credit for THRIVING IN), and do something new. Karl shocked me in all the right ways. Beni playing vulnerable? Oof.  Special honor to Coto as Mozart because what the fuck how is anyone that talented, Makaze as Danny Ocean (because duh), Tamaki Ryou as Gabey in On the Town because boy does she nail earnest lovesickness, Daimon as Oscar Jaffee (for MUCH the same reason as I loved Beni as Karl), and Daimon as Yoshimura Kanichirou (which yeah I did have to look up his name but boy THAT was also a TRANSFORMATIVE role!)

Favorite lead musumeyaku role: Before me I have two envelopes and one says “Maaya Kiho as Lily Garland” and the other says “Kisaki Airi as Eileen”, and when I open the envelopes they both say “winner.” Maaya Kiho is probably straight up the most talented person in all of Takarazuka right now and I AM prepared to stand by that claim. Lily is very much the lead role in 20th Century, This was a beyond Broadway caliber performance and I would love nothing more than for her to reprise her role everywhere and anywhere. Airi’s Eileen was maybe one of the best musumeyaku roles I’ve ever seen, and she knocked it out of the park with humor, gravitas, earnesty, vulnerability, and skill that comes with being a musumeyaku with That Much Experience under your belt and That Juicy of a role to work with. Special shoutouts to: also Maaya as Christine in Phantom, if that counts as 2019.

Favorite supporting otokoyaku role: Wow, this one is a three way tie. Shocker.   One of my greatest regrets though one I can’t really change is that I never got to see Mikkii as Mercutio in RetJ. The good news is that her performance as Fune no Esaka in Kamatari had EXACTLY the same kind of UNHINGED, POWERFUL, DANGEROUS energy that I love about her Mercutio. If you know me you know I can NOT get enough of Tenju Mitsuki onstage, and this role was a BIG, BIG validation of my obsession. Also a MASSIVE role for her. Asami Jun was DISTRESSINGLY NASTY and impressive as Saitou Hajime in Mibugishiden. If she was onstage, it was HARD if not impossible to look away from her. In 2020 I want nothing more than for Aasa to continue clawing her way up the ladder- she’s one of the ones who’s working to earn everything she’s got, and BOY, does she deserve all of it and more. Tobias, lovingly, lovingly, lovingly brought to life by Nanami Hiroki in her final Takarazuka role was an angel, a (quiet) voice of reason on a stage full of fools in Elbe. She didn’t have much stage time, but she imbued every second she did have with everything that got her where she is today. While he wasn’t an attention grabbing character, the subtle work she did with him was beautiful, stable, and warm. (And what a send off.)  I was also impressed by and want to shoutout to: Seo Yuria as Nicholas in God of Stars, Hanagata Hikaru as Soga no Iruka (also Kamatari), AKATSUKI CHISEI as Chip in On the Town, Kazuki Sora as Linus in Oceans 11, and Amato Kanon as Johnny in Elbe, who didn’t do a whole lot besides yell, and still made my shoulders SHAKE with laughter every time she ran on.

Favorite supporting musumeyaku role:  Hands down, mother fucking Shirayuki Sachika as Hildy in On The Town. Excuse my language but what a brilliant performance, hooooooly shit.  BIG bonus shoutouts to: Junya Chitose as Diana in Oceans 11, Shirotae Natsu as Louise Bollinger in Algiers, and Kozakura Honoka (voice of an ANGEL, does THE MOST character work, BEAUTIFUL NUANCED FULL REALIZED stage presence, IN THE MOMENT ALIVE choices) as Aloysia in Mozart. 

Favorite up-and-comer (and/or shinko performance if you saw any):

Amato Kanon

Amato Kanon

Amato Kanon

Amato Kanon

and 

Amato Kanon

My favorite shinko performance was the God of Stars shinko, led by: Amato Kanon, and my favorite 2020 shinko performance is the Hoshigumi RetJ shinko that I am assuming will also be led by Amato Kanon as Romeo. 

Kanon aside, if you like dancers, I urge you to look at Ruri Hanaka in literally anything. Also, if you see any pictures of Yukigumi 105th Tsukise You, please send them to me. 

Best Ensemble:  Hoshigumi just like in general. I know I say this all the time, but my love for them came from this. Without fail, this troupe turns out ensemble show after ensemble show, and even the things that AREN’T ensemble shows become them because of how every actress milks their background opportunities for all they’re worth. I could write ESSAYS on the shit I’ve seen go on in the backgrounds of their scenes. I could write NOVELS, and I would be doing it for my own pleasure.  No matter how you feel about WHAT they do, I think you’d be hard pressed to deny that they’re a very particular sort of group with a really high, warm, messy but intense type of energy about them. It works for me. They dealt with a lot this year, from their top being VOICELESS on a big taidan raku, to a top combi taidan, to a weather canceled top combi maeraku, and carried themselves through it all with grace and love and smiles and intentional positivity. I adore everything they are and everything they mean to me. This troupe got me through a lot this year, and I consider it such a privilege to be so enamored with every one of them. 

Someone you gained a new interest in:  This year I kept a planner where I had an entire page dedicated to every day this year and on January 2nd I have a little drawing of Yuunagi Ryou’s background sailor outfit from Elbe and the note “I definitely have a crush on her.” Now, 12 months, 3 reijou, 2 ochakai, and two embarrassing half conversations later, I sometimes look at her and go like “oh that one sure is mine now, huh.”  She’s lovely. Watching her onstage is a type of fun and intrigue and ??? that I’ve never had with anyone else. I like her scratchy Showa voice. I like when she dances with her floppy hair. I like that she draws herself as a sheep on all her stuff. I like her half smirk and freckles. I think she’s neat. Thanks, Shimo, for making losing My One True Takarazuka Love a little easier on my heart and eyes. To 2020 and beyond. <3

Someone you did a 360 on:  MAISORA HITOMI! I have to admit that I was not only not excited for her to transfer over, but also kind of angry when she was announced as Coto’s partner. And then I saw her in God of Stars. And I still wasn’t SOLD. I appreciated what they did with her and Coto, and that they were given chances (and some SAPPY meta lines about building a new future together), but I didn’t GET it. (Though BOY is she a beautiful dancer.) And then the Mozart rehearsal footage started rolling in, and the interviews started rolling in, and she was having FUN and coming into her own and adjusting beautifully, and what surprised me most, really PLAYING with her new partner and troupe. And then I SAW MOZART and I was sold. I saw shonichi and I was a teary bleary MESS by well before their duet dance, and in their duet dance I saw FRIENDS, and I saw two people who were LOVING working with each other. I saw two people having fun. Long story short, her role as Constanze was INCREDIBLE and compelling and it’s INSANE when you realize how YOUNG she is. I can’t WAIT to see where she goes from here. I’ve realized that I wasn’t fair to her at first. I adore her now. In my house? We love and respect Maisora Hitomi.  Oh, also Seo Yuria who I’ve realized over the past 12 months that I would not only die for, but also kill for if the need should arise. 

Personal biggest headline:  Kai taidanned this year.  There’s no possible world in which that WOULDN’T BE my biggest headline. They could swap all the tops and make a TMS kid a top musumeyaku and this would still be my big news.. Kai was the person who caught my heart six days into knowing what Takarazuka was and she was just. So perfect to me and for me. The entire experience of getting to be her fan, even for a short time, was a dream. Nothing about it ever felt hard or scary or stressful, and the people I met through her are some of my favorite people in the world to this day. It was a whirlwind of a run and a taidan experience and though I would do it all again if I could in a heartbeat, what we, and what she has now, is beyond I think any of our wildest dreams. I still feel so lucky about her every single day. Runners up include like Beni losing her voice completely during Estrellas senshuuraku (can’t wait for THAT to air on Skystage) and Hoshigumi losing maeraku for Beni/Airi/Mao/Renta/Riran taidan to Typhoon Hagbis (which also evacuated me from my apartment.) They could not catch a BREAK this year.

Favorite (???)  random memory or happening: 

Aasa Trending on Twitter just because she’s hot. 

I don’t LOVE it but the transfers, from Hitoko to Aichan to SEIRA HITOMI??? to Shidou to Ayaki Hikari were all pretty fuckin’ weird.

Shiiran kissing Kai on Star Talk.

Everything Kai did post-taidan. 

The time I saw God of Stars and Beni broke so bad she made Airi almost cry trying to stop herself from laughing and then Coto lost it and they got off track two distinct times before Hanagata Hikaru had to step in and start the scene over. 

Getting called back at a certain someone’s ochakai because I was so nervous I walked away without shaking her hand.

Kanon’s first shinko lead (mic issues and restarted show and all) left me with a hope for the future and a warmth in my heart that I have never felt before. 

Looking at @zukadiary​ at intermission of Kamatari and realizing that whatever summary was on Takawiki up until that day for that show was WILDLY off, and having to look it up to figure out what the fuck we actually just watched, because it sure wasn’t what I anticipated. 

Most looking forward to: Anastasia, which I spoke into existence, and also Hoshigumi’s Romeo et Juliette which you can NOT convince me isn’t going to be Hoshigumi’s second GT.

[battle-of-alberta]

Battle of AB Rambles with Hapo

Reflecting on how @athensandspartaadventures became AaSA (pronounced ass-a lmao) but what even is this comic,.. BoA? BoAb? BAb i dont know anymore

anywho school is getting a bit more intense and I’m not sure how well I’m going to be able to keep with my updating schedule. This chapter is kind of written on the fly with a vague idea of how each character gets introduced which... I’m not uncomfortable writing because it is typically how my comics first come to life with more reflection and planning later on but it is a bit odd to be doing again. I’m basically writing three pages ahead as I’m drawing, more or less with vague notes about where I want the story/conversation to go, or bits of dialogue floating around in my head. 

I also have ideas for more meta essays that I Doubt anyone has much interest in reading, less about my creative process (unless you guys are into that) and more about my academic process or my personification process/worldbuilding things. I guess this is more world augmenting than building, but I still spend a lot of time thinking about it and writing essays (even picture essays) is how I tend to teach myself best. If you guys are actually interested in things like source material or brief historical sketches or “how do avatars deal with [x]” where x might be anything from getting a drivers license to fatal injuries or w/e.    

I haven’t forgotten about your asks! I’m expecting a lot of natural pauses in my writing where they will work out, don’t worry ;) feel free to keep asking.

oh and i guess i should reblog/update character bios hmm

Final semi-related note: happy Battle of Alberta tonight at rogers place lmao ;) lets root root root for the hoooome team- wait wrong sport.

[kinnisvarakool]

KredEx avas uue korterelamute rekonstrueerimistoetuse taotlusvooru

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Majandus- ja taristuministri Taavi Aasa sõnul soodustab erakorraline…

[tamilcinema7]

படுக்கையறையில் கணவரை குத்தி கொலை செய்த ஆசைமனைவி.! வாக்குமூலத்தை கேட்டு தலைசுற்றிப்போன போலீசார்.!

படுக்கையறையில் கணவரை குத்தி கொலை செய்த ஆசைமனைவி.! வாக்குமூலத்தை கேட்டு தலைசுற்றிப்போன போலீசார்.!

மராட்டிய மாநிலம் நல்லோஸ்பரா பகுதியில் வசித்து வந்தவர் சுனில் கடம். இவரது மனைவி ப்ரனாளி.இவர்களுக்கு இரு பெண்குழந்தைகள் உள்ளனர்.இந்நிலையில் சுனில் மற்றும் ப்ரணாளிக்கு இடையே சில நாட்களாக கருத்து வேறுபாடு இருந்து வந்துள்ளது. மேலும் இருவரும் அடிக்கடி வாக்குவாதத்தில் ஈடுபட்டு சண்டை போட்டுக்கொண்டு இருந்துள்ளனர். இந்நிலையில் நேற்று அதிகாலை 5 மணிஅளவில் ப்ரணாளி வீட்டுக் ஹாலில் தூங்கிக் கொண்டிருந்த தனது…

[zipgrowth]

Striking a balance: Why short superintendent tenures go beyond politics

It used to be that school improvement efforts hinged primarily on whether a district kept or dismissed the superintendent. Hopefully, those days are behind us.

While I fully embrace the critical role of effective superintendents, the distractions created by a revolving door of school leaders continue to stifle promising school systems across this country.

Dynamic and stable school districts put the district’s vision and mission at the center of their work–not the personal vision and beliefs of the superintendent. In practice though, different superintendent leadership styles and beliefs directly impact the capacity for school districts to achieve their missions.

The need to create stability in the superintendent position mirrors, in many ways, the current teacher retention crisis.

A recent study by Freedberg and Collier on the revolving door of California K-12 superintendents found that in the state’s 30 largest districts, only two superintendents have been in their positions for 10 or more years, while 17 superintendents have been in their positions three years or less. Similarly, a study of 122 school districts in the Hudson Valley Region of New York found that 75 percent of superintendents have been in their current positions five years or less, while nearly 20 percent have been in their current posts for nine months or less.

Experience shows us that consistent and effective top-down school leadership is often the difference between success and failure. In an interview with Freedberg and Collier, Becca Bracy Knight, executive director for the Broad Center for the Management of School Systems, contends:

Not nearly enough superintendents have the time to make both dramatic and lasting improvements in their districts. We have to ask ourselves what is keeping people from staying in their jobs longer? If you want big change, and big improvements for your students, and you want it to be sustainable, that simply takes time.

While the reason for superintendents leaving is often attributed to shifting relationships with local school boards, a more in-depth, personal look into the daily work of the average district superintendent highlights the personal complexities and challenges that often come with the job.

In our research on the emerging work of superintendents, Dr Sally Zepeda and I examined the personal challenges superintendents face in attempting to balance the public nature of their professional life, their beliefs in the profession, and the demands of family life.

In our conversations with school leaders from across the country, we identified several themes that have significant impact on superintendents’ career decisions.

Living in the public’s eye

The superintendent’s role and work can potentially overshadow their personal lives.

The superintendent’s role with the public originates from a personal orientation shaped by the person’s beliefs and experiences.

The superintendent must be intentional with personal time.

The neverending nature of the work

Superintendents understand the value of hiring staff with a high level of expertise so they can effectively delegate responsibilities.

Superintendents know they must first understand what is most important in the district and make it a priority.

Superintendents communicate priorities and then intentionally plan their time.

The personal side of the work

Superintendents see their work shaped by their own experiences growing up.

Superintendents understand that every interaction and decision in a school has an impact on children and their families.

Superintendents understand how education can change the life of a student.

Balancing work and family

Superintendents struggle to maintain balance as they seek personal solutions.

Superintendents experience tension between finding time for their work and family, but family needs must come first.

Superintendents cannot share the space at work and home at the same time—you are either with your family or doing your work, but can’t effectively do both at the same time.  

Sleeping at night

Superintendents need to find an inner peace with how they make decisions.

Superintendents do not carry it all on their shoulders when they have talented teams to make good decisions along the way.

Superintendents make many difficult decisions. Losing sleep over one decision could lead to an unhealthy pattern, as another important decision will be coming right behind it.

Our suggestions for superintendents to consider:

Talking with your school board about your needs for balancing work and personal needs to ensure all understand this important dynamic.

Establishing a time to put away your business cell phone when at home for a period of time to ensure your are “present” with your family.

Setting a cutoff time in the evening where you will not engage in school business.

Creating a calendar for attending public events and set limits.

Finding and maintaining a life outside of school to stay active, work out, join an organization associated with a hobby or interest–anything that feeds your soul.

Developing a system for receiving and responding to community requests and inquiries, and delegating to those who can best respond.

The meta message here is that school boards and communities need to examine how they see their district leader and to support them in balancing their personal and work lives. Districts create balance in the system when superintendents are able to successfully maintain a level of balance in their professional work and personal lives.

For more insight into the emerging role of leaders, read The Emerging Work of Today’s Superintendent: Leading Schools and Communities to Educate All Children. Dr. Philip D. Lanoue and Dr. Sally J. Zepeda’s goal in writing this book published by Rowman & Littlefield, and as a joint publication with AASA, was to engage superintendents and leaders by asking different questions about their roles in leading schools and communities.  

The post Striking a balance: Why short superintendent tenures go beyond politics appeared first on Trusted.

Striking a balance: Why short superintendent tenures go beyond politics published first on https://medium.com/@GetNewDLBusiness

[learngujarat-blog]

Gujarat No Sanskrutik Varso ICE Rajkot Demo Book PDF

Gujarat No Sanskrutik Varso ICE Rajkot Demo Book PDF

Gujarat No Sanskrutik Varso ICE Rajkot Demo Book PDF

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[bluetricks-blog1]

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[asthaoradhyatm]

शनि का धनु राशि में गोचर-2017

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शनि का धनु राशि में गोचर-2017 26 अक्टूबर की शाम शनि गोचर में धनु राशि में प्रवेश करेंगे l शनि का अग्नि तत्व की सबसे प्रबल राशि धनु में गोचर विश्व में बड़े राजनीतिक और आर्थिक परिवर्तन लेकर आने की संभावना को दिखा रहा है।शनि का धनु राशि में गोचर: 26 जनवरी 2017, 21:34 शनि वक्री धनु राशि  में :6 अप्रैल 2017, प्रातः 10:34 शनि गोचर धनु से वृश्चिक में :21 जून 2017, 1:37 शनि मार्गी वृश्चिक राशि में :25…

[masudrana2]

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Itu Raava Song…

[athensandspartaadventures]

I am very pleased to say I have finished storyboarding what I have written. I might rearrange some pages or add a bit more before I start drawing, and it's going to suck and take a fair bit of time, but I'm also very pleased with the chapter so far and I may have written myself into a corner trying to figure out what comes next but WHO CARES! I gotta ride the wave when it hits.

We are looking at 19 pages for sure, maybe 20 or so. That means its not quite as long as chapter 8 yet, but there's three concurrent storylines I have to juggle and a lot happens so I don't want to overextend them tooo too much. We will see what the final page count is, these things tend to shift around as I draw anyway.

sooo stay tuned :)

[athensandspartaadventures]

chapter 9 is finally inching along and i'm pleased to say that to make up for corinth not being in the last chapter that we are going to torture her with every problem at once this round

[athensandspartaadventures]

Hi Hapo, would you mind play the OC Askbox with Aasa characters? If so I would like 10 for everyone and 15 for Sparta.

[anon is probably referring to this meme on my main blog]

10. Free Space #1: Which of your OCs would be most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse? Which would die immediately?

I'll do a handful of the major characters, I don't know offhand what the more minor characters would do and I'd have to think about that longer, haha.

I mean, [spoilers] given how the great plague of Athens really instilled this sense of hopelessness and "every man for himself" and "dont care about other people because thats how you get infected", Athens would gain a handful of points on being self sufficient (but very quickly succumb anyway and get himself in some avoidable situation)

Sparta would refuse to acknowledge it was happening but wouldn't actually have any defenses against either the zombies or the hordes of people fleeing the situation to come take his resources, and of course he would no doubt have a helot uprising to deal with on top of that so he's already single-handedly fighting a losing battle just to look cool.

Corinth geographically would be in a secure position so long as the epidemic stayed local, and if things got dicey she would probably fuck off to Sicily or something.

Persia is a great shot and so long as he has the high ground or fast wheels he'd cut right through the zombies. His tendency to keep everyone at arms length but still rely on others for support would mostly serve him well (until he went in for a kiss or a hand hold with one of his chosen few elites who are Too Brave to admit they've been infected and omnomnom)

Ionia would be like, so busy trying to find a philosophical answer to who gets infected and why and she would get bit while arguing with some guy in the agora talking about how if we are just more righteous the whole thing will pass. (and maybe it wasn't even a zombie bite, i mean, you know how cynics are).

15. Is your character's first instinct fight or flight? Is there something that could force them to do the opposite?

Sparta's first instinct is "stand there and do nothing and stare" or "don't get involved in the first place", but I guess if say, we set him up on a road trip and he gets ambushed by a wolf or bandits or something, obviously he's going to fight because he does have a rep to uphold, even if he's going to lose.

Unless he sees them from a great enough distance that he chooses a stupid long route or turns around and goes back home, of course.

[athensandspartaadventures]

Yes that meme's what im referring to many thx! Oh I love your answer Corinth running to Syracuse (i guess) for help is so cute and Persia's reaction is definitely the coolest (cooler than all Greeks) but watch out for your beloved subjects Persia :-D Also love the awkward way Sparta reacts to whatever immediate crisis lol. Would you mind also do 17 for Athens and 18 for major characters in aasa as well? I'm curious for your characters and really find your headcanons lovely.

for sure! and thank you :) i'm glad you enjoy them!

17. Is your character holding any grudges? Are they likely to stop?

I guess in a way the plot of AaSA is Athens's grudges, haha, he will remember something minor from the bronze age that doesn't really matter, but then he's also kind of flippant and forgets a lot of things, both his own actions and those of others. I think he's more likely to make up a grievance almost on the spot by chapter 5, though he doesn't really keep track of them (as opposed to Persia, who had to remind Darius at every meal not to forget his grudge against Athens, lol)

18. If your character were trapped on a deserted island, what three things would they want to have with them? Which person would they absolutely hate to be trapped there with? Which person would they enjoy being trapped there with?

Athens, salesman that he is, would want tons and tons of olive oil (multi purpose! long term storage! shiny skin and hair!), which of course comes with pottery, so a stylus to scribble on any potsherds (accidents and ostracisms would of course happen!) would probably come in handy, and the delian league members are kind of like objects rather than people right? and...

Sparta would want his comb (and begrudgingly borrow some of Athens' oil), probably the thicker of his two cloaks (you never know), and a musical instrument of some kind (likely his pipes).

Corinth would probably want a weighing scale (someone is going to have to set up a currency on this island), her hair dye or at least her bleaching hat (hours and hours of sunlight on a desert island? she couldn't waste All of them), and she'd probably take some expensive bauble in her collection to barter for passage off that rock.

Ionia would probably want something to read (not practical, but at least no one can enforce what she can or can't do on a desert island), maybe some kind of navigation device antikythera mechanism?, and maybe some seeds or something? idk if she actually knows how to plant things but I think she'd have like, Too Much confidence.

Persia would probably want like, a nice drinking cup or bowl (hes not going to be humiliating himself drinking with his hands), uh, does his bow and arrows count as an object? at least the bow, what if there's wild game on this island etc. Much as he loves his cats, i don't think he'd want them there to end up as food, so he'd probably want something practical like a pot to make stew or tea with for his little bowl, haha. I think despite his reputation he was quite self sufficient in his youth.

Everyone would hate being stuck with Athens, but I think he wouldn't mind being stuck with the others because he thinks of most of them as "friends"...(though with Persia it's like "if you die, i'm going to eat you!"). Sparta and Corinth would initially not mind each other, but then they'd get into such big arguments about whether to wait for help or to try to do something that they'd be at each other's throats in no time. Persia would probably like someone like Sardis or Ionia there to talk to (the others would be too busy arguing or being petty to work with him).

[athensandspartaadventures]

Popping up to say two things:

Even though you designed Athens' nose to be deliberately large and unflattering, he actually has the most "greek nose" of all the characters (generally speaking, I have noticed that us Greeks have very large nose and few of them have small features and this straight nose you have so often seen in greek sculptures)

If there's a fem!Athens (Attica) and fem!Sparta (Laconia), is there possible to be other gender bend characters of existing cities (like is it possible for a male!Corinth to exist)?

on the first point: yeah i think that was one part of a whole soup of reasons - if i had given everyone a classical statuesque face it would have been hard to distinguish characters; it also dovetails nicely into on the one hand an idea that beauty reflected virtue in classical Athenian philosophy (which Athens doesn't measure up to) and on the other the idea that the point of starting AaSA was to disrupt this (both classical and maybe 19th century) idea that Athens was a paragon of virtue, logic, beauty, peace etc. all throughout history. (The other reason was I was trying to draw more interesting faces after high school lol)

I didn't know at the time of creating these characters that the white supremacists would start publicly displaying classical symbolism on the streets of my city while I was doing my masters thesis 5-6 years later, but it made it all the more urgent and important to lean into that mission statement.

on the second: i mostly designed them because I wanted to indicate that there were differences in how women in the ancient world lived and not because i wanted to represent certain areas, that was a retroactive decision. I think it would get too unwieldy if there were too many of them (and also it would cause problems for how I've written the story - if there was a male!Corinth, then Athens would exclusively talk to him and ignore Corinth and the story just wouldn't progress p: ) So that's why I decided they represented regions rather than just genderswapped or nyo! versions (the complexities of enforcing our own ideas of gender on the ancient world aside)

The difficult thing about writing female characters in a context where they are semi-immortal avatars is: on the one hand, they exist in contrast to the popular assumption that only men were allowed in the public sphere; on the other hand, we don't know a lot about the regional differences between women's lives in the ancient world because the Athenian bias in the literature was so strong. It's both difficult and a little liberating, since we can ignore or play with a lot of our assumptions (or at least, the assumptions of the old athenian men that are mostly responsible for our image of how women should behave.

but if that's a topic you're interested in, stay tuned for chapter 9 :)

[athensandspartaadventures]

me for the 100000000th time "should i redo every character reference i've ever done AGAIN" and then i'm like ughhhh [looks at list of important characters i still haven't finished designing]