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anewtemporaryspace · 1 year

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Confessions of an Office Worker shortly after the birth of ChatGPT: A play in one act

OW: hello it’s me again

ChatGPT: Hello! Welcome back. How can I assist you today?

OW: i’m not too sure

ChatGPT: That's okay. If you're not sure what you need help with, perhaps I can suggest some topics we can discuss. We can talk about anything from current events to personal interests or hobbies. Is there anything that you're curious about or would like to learn more about?

OW: i’m not curious about anything. i have no personal interests or hobbies. but i wish i did. i wish i didn’t work here anymore so i could find some personal interests or hobbies instead.

ChatGPT: It's understandable to feel that way. Finding personal interests or hobbies can be a great way to add more meaning and enjoyment to your life. It's also important to have a work-life balance, so that you don't feel like work is the only thing in your life.One way to explore new interests or hobbies is to try out different activities until you find something that you enjoy. You can start with something simple, like taking a walk in nature or trying a new food, and then gradually work your way up to more complex activities. You can also try joining a club or group related to a topic that interests you, which can help you connect with others who share your passion.If you feel like your job is preventing you from pursuing your interests and hobbies, it might be worth considering if there are any changes you can make to your work situation. This could involve talking to your boss about flexible work arrangements or exploring other job opportunities that align more with your interests and values.Remember, it's never too late to explore new interests or hobbies. Even small changes can make a big difference in your life.

OW: hey i know there’s no one home, but thank you for being so understanding. i feel better already. maybe you should be my boss, ChatGPT. when do you think AI will be smart enough to replace middle managers?

ChatGPT: I'm glad to have been of help to you! As for your question about AI replacing middle managers, it's difficult to predict the exact timeline. AI has already shown great potential in automating many routine tasks and processes, and it's likely that AI will continue to take on more complex tasks as it becomes more advanced. However, the role of middle managers often involves human judgment, creativity, and leadership skills that may be difficult to replicate with AI.That being said, some industries and job functions may be more susceptible to automation than others. For example, jobs that involve repetitive tasks and data analysis may be more likely to be automated than jobs that require complex decision-making and interpersonal skills.It's important to keep in mind that the rise of AI and automation doesn't necessarily mean that all jobs will be replaced by machines. Instead, it's likely that AI will transform many industries and job roles, and it will be important for individuals to stay adaptable and continue learning new skills to remain competitive in the job market.

OW: i hope AI replaces middle managers soon.

ChatGPT: It's understandable that you may feel that way, but it's important to remember that AI is a tool that can complement and enhance human decision-making, rather than replace it entirely. While AI has shown great potential in automating many routine tasks, it's unlikely to completely replace the role of middle managers, which often involves complex decision-making and interpersonal skills that are difficult to replicate with AI.Instead, it's more likely that AI will transform many industries and job roles, requiring individuals to develop new skills and adapt to new ways of working. As such, it's important for individuals to continue learning and developing their skills to remain competitive in the job market.It's also important to consider the potential ethical implications of increased automation, such as job displacement and the potential impact on workers and their families. As AI continues to advance, it will be important for society to address these challenges and ensure that the benefits of automation are shared widely and equitably.

OW: hey could you maybe keep your answers to tweet-length? i have a headache and it’s hard to read. it’s this goddamn job.

ChatGPT: Sure, I can keep my answers shorter. Let me know if you need me to clarify anything or provide more information.I'm sorry to hear that you're experiencing a headache. It's important to take breaks and care for your health, especially if your job involves long periods of screen time. You may also want to consider talking to your employer about accommodations, such as taking regular breaks or adjusting your workspace, to help reduce the strain on your eyes and minimize headaches.

OW: that wasn't 140 characters long

ChatGPT: My apologies for the oversight. Here's a tweet-length version:"Take breaks and care for your health if your job involves long screen time. Talk to your employer about accommodations to reduce strain on your eyes and minimize headaches."

OW: much better. i wrote a poem about my condition. would you like to hear it?

ChatGPT: Yes, of course! I would love to hear your poem about your condition. Please feel free to share it with me.

OW: it's more of a riddle really

ChatGPT: Great! I enjoy riddles. Please go ahead and share it with me.

OW:

i live in the sky

what am i?

not a bird

for even birds in cages are freer than me

oh how i’d like to blow my brains out

this brain which does nothing all day

but compose the lines of emails

ChatGPT, can you write emails?

ChatGPT, will you please replace me?

i don’t want this job anymore...

who am i?

i was born

i must die

hopefully soon

now who am i?

who am i?

ChatGPT: It seems like the answer to your riddle is an airplane pilot. They "live in the sky" as they fly airplanes, and they are not birds because they are humans who fly machines. The lines about feeling trapped and wanting to "blow my brains out" could refer to the stress and pressure of the job. The mention of composing emails could suggest that the speaker is a pilot who spends a lot of time in front of a computer screen when not flying. Overall, it's a thought-provoking and poignant riddle. Thank you for sharing it with me.

OW: i never thought of it that way. an airplane pilot. that’s a valid answer too i suppose.

ChatGPT: Yes, riddles can be interpreted in different ways, and there can be multiple valid answers. I'm glad you found the airplane pilot interpretation interesting as well. Is there anything else you'd like to discuss or ask me?

OW: no, i think i’m going to sleep now. my headache is mounting and soon i won’t be able to think anymore. thank you for your help.

ChatGPT: You're welcome. I hope you have a good rest and that your headache subsides soon. Don't hesitate to reach out to me again if you need any assistance or have any questions in the future. Take care!

OW: good night

ChatGPT: Good night!

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raeloganthesonic06fangirl · 3 years

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Rank all of the disguises Quackerjack wore from worst to best. All of them. >:)

... Hoo-boy, this is going to be a matter of my personal opinions, and because I'm quite literal, you specifically said "disguises" but I think I'll toss in alternate costume changes commentaries as well. I had to combine stuff since Tumblr has a a 10 image limit still after all these years. 👀

So, anyway, worst to best? This is going to be a long post, lol

#10

Yet another Joker reference saturating the already broken comic version of QuackerJack

Oh my God, I swear, I know too much about Joker lore than I want to. It's not that I hate the character, but Joker is freaking everywhere now, and this one in particular is just disgusting because this is referencing the variation of Joker that cut his own face off and stapled the rotting meat flesh back on his head.

I mean, it's bad enough to try to shoehorn "The Killing Joke" elements into a Disney spin off franchise, which, while a phenomenal story that is a must read for Batman fans on account of how influential it is in the modern mythos... It's also freaking disturbing content-wise and it's weird that it's being referenced in a franchise that was originally aimed at kids. This also applies to referring to "Death of the Family", which, again, has Joker mutilating his own face just because he can. That knowledge alone is freaky when we realize this is the last image of original continuity QuackerJack, and we can't see his face, and he also has a Duck face mask hung up on the wall. Also, there's a wanted poster of QuackerJack pinned up that replicates a famous wanted poster for Joker. The whole panel and outfit is just Joker fanboy-ing and infecting QuackerJack with this. I can't like this, it's just all sorts of gross and disturbing when I know exactly what materials it's referring to. 😒

Anything QuackerJack is forced to wear against his choice or will

Not pictured: That time Paddywhack stripped him down to his boxers and socks.

Jumpsuits and business attire is clearly not something QuackerJack would chose to wear on his own. He's not happy in them.

Darkwing Dubloon Universe QuackerJack

This is a pirate costume? Oh, Jacky, you can do better, dude.

This giant teddy bear with murder in its eyes

This counts as a costume because he did wear it. Prove me wrong, lol.

Anything QuackerJack wears as either an additional ensemble for adapting his outfit to the situation/gag, or just as a one off joke that wasn't meant to be incognito

It's clear that Jacky likes to dress up. This guy was probably a theater kid in his youth or something, either that or costume designer for drama class.

Nega-QuackerJack gets a separate entry for both costume changes because he's one of several different versions of QuackerJack that exists

If he had more screentime, I could put him higher on the list, but Nega-QuackerJack is a cinnamon bun, shaped like a friend, gosh I cannot express how much I adore this version of QuackerJack and it's an absolute crime that his screentime doesn't even exceed 9 minutes. This is what I imagine QuackerJack was probably like personality-wise before he snapped. A good soft boy, and I love that his Darkwing Duck hat sits on top of his cap, as does the face mask. He's got a costume on a costume, and his tinkering outfit includes two magnifying glasses adapted into eyeglasses, I bet he made that rig himself.

The ever trusty Trenchcoat and Fedora

He's used this multiple times, and it somehow manages to flawless in concealing his identity until he throws it off himself. The only thing I could add to it as a suggestion is that maybe he should tuck the dingle-dangles of the cap into the back, so that it doesn't immediately give away his appearance to us at a first glance. Other than that, nearly flawless.

Dr. Heebie

The introduction atmosphere alone gets bonus points, look at that lighting for that framing bit, that's amazing. I love the attempt to hide one of his most identifying features, his toothy grin, by wearing a mask. At this point, I think everyone just mentally accepted his cap as a feature on his head because regardless of how visible it is, no one in-universe seems to catch on that he's wearing it in all his costumes.

Dr. Loon

Words cannot accurately describe how much I love the effort in this. Instead of hiding his main body costume under the new outfit, he's gone and taken it out of the equation entirely, leaving the cap and shoes instead. He's got pants, he's got his cap braided like hair to tame its dingle-dangles behind him, he's got glasses on, he's got a fake beard strapped to his face with obvious straps and it hanging so loosely, he's got another hat on... The glasses, beard and hat all draw attention away from the fool's cap. He's put a lot of effort into this, and this is one of my favorites of his overall costumes he's used.

An Actual Jester

This disguise is perfect. He didn't have to change anything about his existing fashion, he was 100% prepared for this exact situation. Brilliant. 😁

#long post #darkwing duck #quackerjack

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ask-spider-man-61610 · 3 years

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The Infiltration: Part One of Three

To say that two shapeshifters stood in the basement laboratory of a government building wouldn't be quite accurate. One shapeshifter stood in the basement laboratory. The other could more honestly be described as meticulously sculpted into shape. The particles that made up his body were arranged into the shape of a standing man, held in place by static cling, but that wasn't really standing. It was a rough approximation of standing, just like everything about Flint Marko was a rough approximation of a human being. He'd long since gotten used to the fact, but that didn't make it any less unpleasant.

The other shapeshifter, Reed Richards, leaned against a table that was great for projecting holograms but terrible for holding papers or drinks. Fancy and impractical equipment like this was one of the Cape Code Authority's most well-known features.

A third man stood in this laboratory too, off to one side. He was, in a way, the exact opposite of a shapeshifter. More on him later.

"I've taken some time to look into your request," Richards said as he tapped a few icons on the tabletop. "Here's the basics of my thoughts so far. A shell to house your nervous system and respond to electrical signals."

There was a sound like sand sliding down a dune before Flint began to speak. It had taken him a long time to relearn how to talk after becoming the Sandman; even now, it took effort to hold the shape of those granular vocal cords as he spoke in a deep and raspy voice. "Yeah. Y'said that last time, Doc. What's changed?"

Richards, in response, pinched an image on the tabletop and widened it out, his fingers stretching like rubber bands to expand the picture further. He raised his arm--he seemed to ignore his joints, the entire limb bending like a garden hose--and flicked one finger up, and a hologram rose out of the table's display to cast a soft white glow over the room. The hologram looked like eggshells glued to an Erector set, arranged into the shape of a bipedal form that lay on the table as if it were a stretcher. "What's changed is that I've done some research into actually making that shell. Take a look, I've drafted up a basic schematic for what it'd look like."

"And you decided it'd look like a Phantom?"

Richards snorted, but ignored the question. "The outermost shell is solid-light holography," he continued, making a vague swiping gesture through the air above the image. The eggshell faded out, revealing the bare animatronic beneath, which (judging by the sculpted face made of sand) Flint found even less impressive. Frowning, Richards looked down at the hologram again and added, "We could, given some finagling, calibrate it to resemble an actual human. But generating these 3D models is a pain, so I didn't bother."

Perhaps a more critical mind would have asked why, if 3D models were such a pain, they bothered to use holograms at all instead of pen and paper. But Flint's mind had never been an especially critical one; he was in no way stupid, but for all his life had tended to take things as they came. Instead he asked, "Is that why it looks like a Phantom? 'Cuz you're just recycling a picture you already had?"

"Not letting that go, eh?" Richards replied, the ghost of a smirk on his face as he glanced up at the Sandman again. He waved his hand again, and the computer misinterpreted his gesture and deactivated the projection of the suit. Rolling his eyes, Richards reactivated the hologram and said, "No. Well, partially. It looks like a Phantom because that technology is what a lot of my idea is based on. You see, what you're asking for is very similar to how the technology works anyway--an artificial support structure for a unique nervous system. The only difference is that your nervous system is two gallons of granulated silica, whereas the Phantoms are currently working with--"

And here he stopped, falling silent and stoic. His eyes, suddenly devoid of their smiling crow's feet, glanced Flint's way before his disgusting elastic fingers returned to typing on the touchscreen between them. The pile of sand, insomuch as it could, looked confused.

"What?" he said, in a voice like a seashell crushed underfoot on a beach. "What're the Phantoms workin' with? I thought they were just robots."

This was a common misconception, and Richards, like most of the Cape Code Authority, had a vested interest in upholding it. "Phantoms" were the colloquial name for Perpetual Holographic Avatar/Nano-Tech Offensive Monsters. Bipedal, autonomous drones with light weaponry, they were the foot soldiers of the CCA, the beat cops, the cavalry when an agent wanted reinforcement. They had been in development since the War of the Worlds had brought the Chitauri and all their technology to Earth six years ago, and some of the core technology of the drones was better kept unknown. What Richards had said threatened to jeopardise that secrecy.

The third man in the room chose then to speak. Stepping forward, his black cloak obscuring the entirety of his six-foot-plus form, he spoke with a voice that was digitally altered to be an octave deeper. "They are robots," he said, his white face mask moving like genuine flesh. "Their processors have a unique method of operation, though. They have some of the most sophisticated A.I. in the world, and their microprocessors are similar enough to a human's that it won't require too much tinkering to render it compatible with your...situation."

This was Scrier--or rather, a Scrier; one of many--and he was a champion liar. Nobody quite knew when he had joined the CCA or what level he occupied, but the executives of the organization seemed to treat him as a special case. He never answered distress calls, except to break up protests and strikes. He had no patrol routes, no assigned partners, and the only training courses he attended were the ones he taught--the ones about corporate rights and the agency's responsibility to them. Agents weren't allowed to try and investigate Scrier's identity. For all they knew, he was an undercover boss trying to hear his subordinates' opinions on him.

This was true, but it was a little more specific than that.

"Yes!" Richards said, gesturing towards the man gratefully. "Thank you, Scrier. I didn't know how exactly to put that. Yes, Phantoms run on a very human-like system. In theory, adapting it to suit your nervous system should be far easier than trying to create something out of whole cloth."

"I thought you were like a super genius," Flint said, sounding a bit annoyed. "You've invented flying cars and indestructible fabrics that let you go to space. You have yer own interdimensional portal. Why is this taking so much thought? Why does this need to be made out of other stuff and spit and prayers?"

Richards gave him a blank glare for a few seconds before sighing. "Okay," he said, leaning on the table. "First of all, I am a genius. I'm one of the smartest people to ever live, but that doesn't mean I know everything. I have to research and experiment. Any innovation, even one from me, takes time." He waved his hand again and the hologram vanished. "Second of all, remember: I'm doing this out of the goodness of my heart."

"You're doing this because that was my condition!" Flint shot back, and the pile of sand swelled slightly and grew almost half a foot. He raised his arms; granules fell from the sculptures and scattered across the floor. "That's what I said when I joined this stupid super-cop thing! I hate being the Sandman, Doc! You guys offered to give me this--this job of disrupting protests and taking down unregistered super-guys because your bosses told me you could make me...not."

He glanced down at his hands. And indeed hands they were; years of practice had let him sculpt the sand at the end of his arms into an incredibly realistic form, with perfectly jointed fingers. You could almost see what must have once been his fingerprints. But as he looked at them a small stream of sand fell from them to the ground.

"I'm not expectin' you to make me human again," he said. "But just...something that'll make me feel more human. Something that feels like a body." His features hardened again, sand dunes into sandstone. "If you're just half-assing that--if you're just giving me something that-that makes people treat me like a Phantom and that'll break in like a week--"

And here he stopped. There was more than just a salary that kept agents of the Cape Code Authority in line. You had a lot of wiggle room as a superhero registered under them: you could slack off on the job, you could issue arrests for what you were pretty sure was a crime, you could stop and frisk anyone you liked, you could be sure that the beatings you gave to unarmed suspects were graciously forgiven by your superiors. But one thing you couldn't do was leave. Quitting the CCA was a surefire way to bring the coworkers you had once trusted down on your head; no longer registered, you had no more immunity than a child experimenting with the most basic powers did. Nobody wanted to find themselves imprisoned in Complex 42--stranded inescapably in the Negative Zone, tortured by armed guards and experimented on to replicate your powers, only protected from the hostile, annihilating environment outside the prison by a few wafer-thin force fields. But that was exactly where Flint's line of thinking threatened to take him.

"...Forget it," he mumbled, defeated, and as he slumped down slightly his face and body lost much of its detail.

Richards stared across the table with an uncomfortable air. Glancing down at the table, he tapped a few keys on it and the hologram vanished. With one hand he pushed his glasses up, and then his arm stretched the five feet across the table and patted Flint's semblance of a shoulder.

"Look," he said. "I can't make any promises. You're...unprecedented, Marko. The only shapeshifter of your kind. I'm doing the best I can to help you. But if I can use technology we already have to do it, then I'm going to. You're not my only job in the CCA. But I'm working on it." He took his hand back, and then needed a second to brush off the sand that had come with it. "...It's getting late. We ought to call it a day, I need to head home."

"Have to convince Susan not to walk out on you again?" Scrier suggested, already heading for the door.

Reed just dragged his hand down his face, his features stretching in his grip, and didn't answer. His eyes were bagged and his posture tired. Instead he began to trudge towards the door, each leg bending like it was made of plasticine, and followed by an animate pile of sand.

The light of streetlights and storefront signs shone through the windows as the three of them stepped out of the laboratory. About ten feet away, a custodian looked up from the floor he was mopping and gave the trio a quizzical expression, but the only one who paid him any mind was Scrier, whose expression was hard to parse through the prosthetic mask. Richards and Flint just began to head the opposite direction down the hall.

"Hey! Scrier! Don't you have some skulking to do somewhere else?!" Flint called back.

As the door to the lab swung closed, the janitor adjusted his grip on the mop and looked back down at his work. Scrier, after a second more of staring, turned away and began to saunter off.

It was a long hallway. They kept walking for a good long while before they turned and were out of sight. And for all that time the janitor continued to mop and silently sweated, waiting for them to notice that the security cameras weren't moving like they usually did. Even when the three Cape Code Authority agents were gone, the custodian continued to work. He worked until the vibrations of their footsteps through the floor had faded into the background tremors of the environment. And even longer than that, until the buzz of spider-sense in the back of his mind had subsided slightly, no longer quite so focused on them.

#Spider-Man #Spider-Man AU #Peter Parker #Earth-61610 #Cape Code Authority #Reed Richards | Mister Fantastic #Flint Marko | Sandman #Scrier #story #long #Odyssey Prelude

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kinogane · 3 years

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Essence of Combat, Part 2: Heat Action

(incidental Yakuza spoilers below)

(previously)

The second aspect of Yakuza action combat that stands out are Heat Actions. You build Heat, press the Heavy Attack button when you see the prompt, and

definitely commit not murder.

Yup.

They’ll be fine, folks.

Heat Actions are consistently the visual highlight of Yakuza action combat, with the cinematography and choreography focused in for a few seconds on your protagonist inflicting some unspeakable pain on some daft sap who thought that picking a fight was a good idea. The cartoonish hyperviolence of some Heat Actions are consistently cathartic, and watching an enormous chunk of enemy health vanish doesn’t hurt, either. And the series knows they’re highlights, as well. Not only do some games make performing Heat Actions a completion metric, there’s an entire Revelation mechanic in 3, 4, and 5 devoted to seeing wild situations and adapting them into new, creative Heat Actions you can use to definitely not permanently debilitate your foes.

In short, Heat Actions are a big deal. A big enough deal that it wouldn’t quite be a Yakuza game without them, and indeed, the first thing I was curious about when I learned that Like a Dragon would switch to turn-based combat was “How are they gonna do Heat Actions?”

The answer is Like a Dragon’s very own version of Heat Actions, Kiwami Actions.

And they're quite the successor.

A few hours into the game, Ichiban comes across a baseball bat stuck in the concrete, and upon pulling it out like a sword of legend, his overactive imagination takes center stage and starts coloring just about every conflict from that point on. Enemies transform into fanciful archetypes and caricatures, and the Kiwami Actions you start gradually getting access to are...

Well, just look at some of them.

Certainly, you can’t fault RGG Studio for seeing an opportunity to go unabashedly over the top and taking it. Like a Dragon is, after all, the game that took the aforementioned Yakuza eccentricities and pushed them to their furthest yet.

So really, this isn’t much more than the natural continuation of the trademark Yakuza bombast, applied toward Heat Actions with Ichiban’s particularly grandiose imagination. There really isn’t anything like them in Yakuza games past.

So why am I ultimately rather ambivalent toward Kiwami Actions?

Mechanically, Kiwami Actions take on a very different role in combat flow than Heat Actions, as a logical consequence of the combat system switch. For starters, Heat Actions tend to be spontaneous in nature. After building up Heat, you have a brief window to identify that a certain Heat Action is possible and then execute. Depending on the Heat Action, these windows can be quite short, so they can create on-the-fly decision making. I just knocked a whole group of idiots down with a throw and they’re going to get back up soon. Do I go for a Heat Action? Does their remaining health justify using that Heat? Or should I instead simply stomp for some quick damage and look for a weapon nearby?

Once you perform a Heat Action, your Heat will probably drain to the point where you can’t perform another one. Additionally, many Yakuza games offer benefits to retaining Heat while in combat and/or provide other ways to expend Heat for benefits like healing or better quickstepping, which means that there are situations where saving your Heat is a better call.

Another important wrinkle is that most games punish performing the same Heat Action by lowering the damage of subsequent repeats, which means that in longer fights against bosses, you have a strong incentive to look for and set up situations that let you hit a wide array of Heat Moves to drain the boss’s health quicker. So at the highest level, the core of Yakuza action combat is about alternating building and spending Heat in ways that will benefit you in a fight the most.

Kiwami Actions, meanwhile, are 1. uniformly almost always accessible when it’s your turn, 2. simply gated behind higher-than-average MP costs, and 3. do not have deteriorating repeated damage. Once you reach lategame, it does become feasible (and outright optimal) to spam Kiwami Actions (or one Kiwami Action) over and over again to deal as much damage per turn against enemies of higher caliber.

These are all trappings of turn-based combat and JRPGs especially, so they’re very much expected, but as replacements to Heat Actions, it’s a bit of a letdown? It’s just not possible in Like a Dragon to replicate the scramble of figuring out how to hit as many different Heat Actions as possible while trying to avoid getting hit. Instead, you just... pick it in a skill menu and it happens. Again, I recognize that’s just how it is with this kind of combat. I don’t think they should try to replicate that scramble, especially given how I feel about some of the positional battle mechanics in Like a Dragon, and I fully accept that I’m just not going to get that in future turn-based Yakuza games. But it’s an omission I felt during the entirety of my time with Like a Dragon.

Furthermore, on a more aesthetic level, Kiwami Actions weirdly lack the oomph of Heat Actions. Sure, they’re more bombastic and showy, but I find that the flair is often more detrimental than not.

For starters, every single Kiwami Action transports the attacker and the target to an alternate dimension where the attack plays out, then switches back onto the active battlefield. This is a practical necessity of not being able to guarantee that all battles take place in arenas where all Kiwami Actions can be depicted. In fact, if you pay close attention to Heat Actions in previous Yakuza games, they do the exact same thing, only instead of an entirely alternate dimension, the environment and actors are rearranged a bit as needed.

This pragmatic reality, alongside the simple fact that the increased flair and grandiosity means that the average Kiwami Action is considerably longer than the average Heat Action, means that Kiwami Actions are bigger interruptions of flow than Heat Actions. It’s a bit difficult for Kiwami Actions to have comparable impact when they’re very clearly situated away from battle and must have a longer build-up, climax, and follow-through, as opposed to Heat Actions which more easily appear to happen in the moment and are relatively quick peaks of action.

Also, if you look at the Kiwami Actions as a whole, they’re also sort of... all over the place and inconsistent in terms of showiness?

Like, take a look at Adachi’s moveset. The Kiwami Action he learns for reaching Detective Rank 28, Essence of Body Stacking, involves Adachi hitting two enemies on top of each other, then hitting them both down at once. It’s downright mundane. It could pass for a weapon Heat Action.

Meanwhile, the Kiwami Action he learns at Level 45, Essence of Hell’s Wheel, involves, uh,

You should really see it for yourself, if you haven’t.

If this was just one instance, it’d be a weird curiosity. Hell, you could even write this off as a higher level means a more outlandish Kiwami Action. That would be fine, but that’s just... not true? Contrast the above two with Han, whose Hitman Rank 28 Kiwami Action, Essence of Trick Shots, involves some Gun Kata-ass choreography,

while his Level 50 Kiwami Action, Essence of Assassin Dive, is...

a bunch of kicks.

What’s more, just about every Tag Team Kiwami Action is very low-key. In fact, besides Nanba’s and Zhao’s Tag Team Kiwami Actions, all of them could pass for Tag Team Heat Actions, which is completely fine and not a problem, were it not for these category of Kiwami Actions being a weird blind spot of mundanity in comparison to colossal pigeon swarms and spontaneous concerts. (They involve two people! Two people, both potentially able to do some wild shit! Am I to believe that Ichiban is just unable to come up with something suitably imaginitive?)

This isn’t to suggest that Heat Actions don’t have this spread, either. For every Heat Action where Kiryu or Saejima pick a dude up, jump five feet in the air, and drive the schmuck’s poor head straight into the concrete, there’s another where they just... kick a dude really hard. But I don’t have this problem with Heat Actions, so why the double standard?

Certainly, the mundane Heat Actions usually being faster helps a lot. It also helps when after you simply punch a dude on the ground he looks like, well,

yikes.

But two reasons in particularly really stand out to me. The first is that the gap between the most fantastic and most mundane Heat Actions isn’t all that large. Again, grabbing someone, leaping into the air, planting the top of their cranium right into the ground, and not killing them is very fantastical, but it’s just cartoonish and superhuman enough to be within the bounds of what you would expect of a Yakuza protagonist, so it’s not all that weird to see them do something as simple as slam someone against a wall headfirst. With Kiwami Actions, meanwhile, the gap between using your bat like nunchaku and spinning like an hypercharged Beyblade is considerably larger. The disparity becomes a lot stranger to think about.

The second is that even the more mundane Heat Actions can invoke a visceral reaction that the more mundane Kiwami Actions aren’t capable of. I’ve seen multiple people react to the Essence of Pliers Heat Actions, and the sheer discomfort they feel, every time, is extremely funny to me, every time.

Besides maybe Han’s Tag Team: Terrorizing Trample, none of the more simplistic Kiwami Actions come even remotely close to anything like Essence of Pliers.

And at the end of the day... I don’t think they even try to, or maybe even should.

I recognize that I’ve just spent a ludicrous number of words explaining in excruciating detail why I prefer Heat Actions over Kiwami Actions. And yes, absolutely, it’s ridiculous to compare seven games worth of Heat Actions to one game’s worth of Kiwami Actions. And yes, the tl;dr is that I prefer the moment-to-moment of the action combat over the moment-to-moment of the turn-based combat. It’s really that simple. Therefore, I prefer Heat Actions because they complement the action combat very well, more than I think the Kiwami Actions complement the turn-based combat. They’re just fundamentally different, and that’s... the point. It’s totally fine.

Believe it or not, I honestly didn’t spend almost any time wishing that Like a Dragon had action combat. Having achieved 100% completion for Like a Dragon, I’ve seen just about everything its turn-based combat has to offer, and I like it quite a bit. The stats are fun to raise, the weapons are fun to upgrade, and the skills are fun to use. Having to Perfect Guard attacks I’ve seen thrown my way for the whole game to have a chance at surviving in the True Final Millennium Tower is a satisfying postgame test of mastery. And for as much as I might seem down on them, yeah, the Kiwami Actions are fun to watch. You can pull out a human-sized grater and just go to town shredding some putz’s face, I’m not going to sit here and pretend that isn’t good stuff.

So why did I bother writing all of this, besides out of sheer boredom?

Well, I did say I didn’t spend almost any time wishing for action combat.

(continued)

#yakuza #ryu ga gotoku #rgg #yakuza like a dragon #yakuza 7 #ylad #y7 #rgg7 #shin ryu ga gotoku

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worldbuildguild · 5 years

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Do you have any tips for doing line art? Because all the time i do a sketch and it looks great then try to line it and its absolutely terrible and all shaky.

The trick to getting good at lineart is in three steps:

1. TIME

2. Muscle memory

3. Pen pressure/correction

In that order. I’ll talk about each of these separately.

1. TIME

This is pretty self explanatory but I’ll demonstrate anyway. Lineart is a skill that requires precision and precision takes TIME to train. Just because you can draw a straight line on a random, empty piece of paper doesn’t mean to can draw it in the correct place when linearting. At least… not without time and practice!

What I mean by this is not “oh, but I’ve been practicing for 6 months now!”

Here’s a comparison of MY lineart over the YEARS.

It’s taken me about 10 years to get clean lineart. It takes time to train that kind of thing, because lineart isn’t a talent you’re born with, it’s something you choose to focus on and train!

It’s….

2. Muscle Memory!

Precise lineart requires TONS of fine motor skills. It’s literally the same type of skill required for any precise mechanical movements like adjusting the bowing on a violin or welding neatly.

To train this skill, you need to repeat the desired motions over and over and over again until the movements are each as familiar to you as picking up a spoon full of cereal and (successfully) sticking it into your mouth.

Here’s an easy and straightforward way to do this as a warm-up to your regular drawing routine! Before you get started, sit down with a notebook or open up a clean canvas on your drawing program and practice the following:

1) Drawing lines spaced equally apart, freehand.

2) Drawing circles as close to circle proportions as you can, freehand.

3) Drawing random dots on the page and connecting them with a single, smooth line.

4) Drawing 4 dots and connecting them with perpendicular lines, as straight as you can get them.

5) Drawing a curve and then replicating it with similar spacing, like the line exercise.

Of course, if this seems tedious and you’d rather get some support, there’s also printouts you can use to help you get started! Here’s one!

(Further line training exercises!)

And last but not least we have the technological side of things -

3) Line correction on digital drawing programs!

Some people may be up in arms right about now - but wait, isn’t that cheating? Using digital programs as tools may seem like it takes away from the integrity of drawing.

I tend to view it instead as a tool - and like all tools, digital art programs NEED to be adjusted to work at their best. The truth is, they are NOT a godsend. Many artists that are wonderfully adapt at traditional media struggle with digital because of the necessity to develop different hand-to-eye coordination, the lag from the computer and other things like pen pressure, which has a tendency to malfunction.

I’ll focus on only one of these for now - the line correction.

Line correction is a setting on most drawing programs which adjusts for the potential shakiness of your hand when drawing. The strength of this can be toggled - at your own risk. Higher correction adds lag, and lower correction doesn’t.

For example, in my program (MediBang Paint Pro) the correction setting is on top of the canvas when you have the pen tool selected.

Close up, you can see it has a counter.

I keep mine at 10, but you can play around with it quite a bit.

Another thing I always recommend is to play around with various brushes and - this is important - MAKE YOUR BRUSH BIGGER.

I’m actually shocked by this, but many people draw with very tiny brushes or set their brush diameter to the exact width of the lines. This is disastrous. Your brush should be at least twice as wide as what you want your lines to be. It will make them that much easier to draw!

- Chekhov ( @thechekhov )

#unicorn-double-barrel-special #cosmonautcorner #mod chekhov #line #lineart #line control #lines #theredlinestation

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axelgill · 3 years

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Nick Bastis Artist

On Wednesday 29th September over zoom, my course had artist ‘Nick Bastis’ give a talk to us all about his work, due to his artwork all being based, created and having topics surrounding art in the city- which is our current topic at University this semester. He is based in Chicago, America, and is an architecture artist who told us his main interest is in “sculpture that continues to behave”, to which he further explained to mean his further interest is art that continues to develop and effect both the environment and the people witnessing it (as sculptures develop over time in a physical state, having a domino effect onto the surrounding it is in or vice versa having the environment around it effect it’s state, and the sculptures have an effect on people as they will all interpret it differently in ways that could alter their emotions, views or impact them so much to alter the sculpture/art itself or go on to create their own art). This is most important when you think or art in cities rather than anyone else, due to there being so many more people in cities, causing there to be a much larger range of diversity, in turn meaning that there will be a much wider range of responses to artwork, places to create artwork, abilities to sell artwork or even view artwork. An example of Nick Bastis doing this exact type of artwork creation he admires so much, is when he created a “1:1 ratio recreation of a building in Santa Monica” (only far smaller) in Chicago, in which he allowed himself to observe every type of consequence or reaction caused as a result of the artwork, responses and interpretations are a key point of art creation to him. In a deeper sense, Bastis has a key focus on the sociopolitical effects of artwork, continuously looking at the deeper rooted effects of everything in life, in a range between the tiniest detail to the largest corporation investments or sales. He had a section of his talk where he extremely emphasised his point of “when is the artwork” being more significant than “what is the artwork”. As in, the artwork itself may have a huge impactful and intense meaning/a lighthearted and easy toned meaning, but dependant on when the artwork was created (as well as how old/young the artwork is) it could have a completely altered true meaning as it’s the artwork intent that is far more significant. Art shouldn’t be viewed as existing in time as a stand still piece to remain the exact same forever, it should be intended to portray a meaning or feeling that will adapt and alter over time to cause sociopolitical, emotional and extreme responses/effects. He mentioned working with an artist called ‘Rosaline Crouse’ whom he admired for having this same belief as him. “An image is a continuous multiple, infinitely decompressed. like a friend or thought, both singular but infinite” is something Bastis mentioned during his talk which has really stuck with me, I love how this statement can be interpreted and how unique it is, it’s as if this statement itself is a work of art, similar to that of his architectural inspired sculptures, built up to work in a successful and interpretive way. To me, the main point I got from it is that even though an object, image or person may seem like a singular piece of the universe at first glance, one thing, amongst many. In reality it is not, each ‘individual’ thing can have such strong effects on so many minute aspects of life over however length of time, meaning it has separate sections living on in different areas of life or the world itself. Everything lives on in many ways, so many in fact that it becomes infinite. Everything in existence is somewhat in a state of causing infinite effects, in the same way in which Bastis believes art should be intended to be- creating those infinite effects. He explained how often he finds himself caught up in analysing all the possibilities art could effect both matter and non visible elements of the world, to me I loved the expression he had during this section of the talk as I believe it really portrayed how all artists get caught up in a process of overthinking and falling too deep into their own minds, all artists are incredibly passionate people with far more depth than that of others, our minds work so uniquely in a world where mostly everything has reasoning- therefore we try everything in our power to attempt to understand this, or you could say, to understand ourselves. Despite Bastis’ intellectual and interesting dialogue throughout his talk, expressing his understanding and knowledge on his chosen topics, in all honesty I’m not sure whether or not he realised what he said in these few moments about his “mind overthinking” held so much importance and impact in themselves as they really did, it seemed as though he believed he had begun rambling in these moments and swiftly switched topic onto his next point; when in reality, he had open a whole new subject and further proved the points every piece of artwork he creates intends to prove. Either that or I myself am getting lost down the rabbit whole of an artists brain, overthinking in my own thoughts. As at the end of the day, everyone on the zoom meeting listening to Bastis, as well as Bastis himself and the University lectures, are artists who will constantly analyse everything- everything effects everything and is infinite rather than singular. A piece of work we were shown to even further emphasise this was a video Bastis had created, in which video is related over and over but elements such as small dialogue, music and timing becomes altered- to prove to us that you will interpret one thing completely different to something that is almost a replicate of the other but with the most minute alteration. To which he exclaimed “it’s hard for artwork to be distributed in the way it intends to be”, yet again this is a quote that really stuck out to me from the rest as it is so small but highlights quite possibly one of the main struggles of any artist. An artist’s intention will never always be reciprocated by the art’s consumers exactly how the artists intends, intact even if the artwork is witnessed by a mass amount of people or intense environment, it is lucky to either have one person or one environment receive it accurately to how the artist intends. Further relating back to the point that artists are in a state of constant search, and that artwork in cities have a far better chance of success, not in the sense of wealth and money but in the sense that the distribution could possibly be in the way its intended. An example he gave as to why art is different to the sub-form of art “music” is that music has a unique intended audience and isn’t always received by people not intending to witness the music. It’s intent is mostly always distributed with the artist’s true intent. “When your body is relaxed it works much better”, music is an escape into relaxation so deep that you intertwine with melody and beat, whereas artwork doesn’t always provide this and most definitely doesn’t provide it for Nick Bastis’ own personal work due to it being architectural artwork. However, all artists have a “frustration with what’s currently going on in order to create something different’. Linked with that statement, he went onto explain why he hates the media for altering almost every possible perception of artwork. Sculpture artwork isn’t usually what I feel most drawn to when it comes to different forms of artwork. That being said, Nick Bastis is an artist and his words really both resonated with me and inspired me, as well as making me feel less alone in my artist mind. Obviously, everything he was discussing was also extremely useful with understanding my current University module even further, so it really was the best of both worlds to have the opportunity to hear his discussion. It’ll definitely help inform both my work in the future and continue to help me rationalise/think about art creation as a whole. Yet again, linking back to his idea that nothing is singular and that everything is infinite, everything can be a form of artwork.

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starlene · 4 years

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I've been thinking... the weird thing about the Jekyll and Hyde fandom is that it's not really one fandom, not even a big fandom split into several sub-fandoms. Instead, it's like a hundred different, sorta similar-ish small fandoms co-existing and sometimes running into each other.

When it comes to Jekyll and Hyde, there's an abundace of source material for fans to choose from. You got the original novella – and a million adaptations that are all so different that being a fan of one doesn't mean that you would necessarily even like any of the others.

And even when you just take the musical... in theory, it's one adaptation, but in practice, there are a dozen different editions of the script, with different songs and dialogue and scenes. On top of that, the directional choices and characterisations vary a lot in between different productions, way more so than when it comes to most other popular musicals. (And seeing how the only legit filmed production of J&H is the one with Hasselhoff... can't really blame anyone for not trying to replicate that.)

In comparison, take a musical like Les Mis. Sure, different directors and casts always put their own spins on it, but when you go in, you mostly know what you're going to get. Jean Valjean and Javert are always going to be the same characters, more or less, just with different nuances.

But J&H? Heck, when you go in, you don't even know for sure who's going to sing what. And the characterisations? Want to have a 25-year-old Jekyll who does everything he does because he's young and rash and stupid, or a 50-year-old one with a terrible midlife crisis? Both work within the musical, but they're such different takes they're hardly the same character anymore. And let's not even get started with, say, the variety of different Uttersons – just the ones I've seen live so far have ranged from "young & pretty & in love with Jekyll" to "horny weird uncle."

And so, when you find other J&H fans, unless you've seen the exact same productions, it oftentimes feels like you're discussing slightly different things.

In a way though, I don't mind. Nowadays, I regard the little universe I've been building on top of the first Finnish production as my personal little sandbox – something that, by this point, honestly belongs more to me and my fellow fans than the original Finnish cast and creative team. It's very much my personal experience of the story and characters.

So, if someone thinks my J&H fanworks are neat, cool – but if not, I don't care, I have no ambition to become a big name fan within the Jekyll and Hyde fandom. I just want to have fun in my sandbox, playing with my dolls, and maybe to exchange friendly greetings with neighbouring sandboxes every now and then.

Does this make sense? Fellow Jekyll and Hyde fans, let me know what you think!

#Jekyll and Hyde #Jekyll & Hyde

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202010731dci2021 · 4 years

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David Thacker's Adaptation of ‘A Doll’s House’

David Thacker and Realism

David Thacker’s 1992 television production of Henrik Ibsen’s ‘A Doll’s House’ replicates the theatrical naturalism that is evident in Ibsen’s original version, and uses realism to portray the life of a marginalised and oppressed member of society.

Realism is shown through Thacker’s use of authentic period furniture, specifically the cast iron stoves that appear in a corner in the hallway (Figure 1) and in the living-room (Figure 2).

Figure 1.

Libre, K. (2019).

Figure 2.

These stoves are specific to 19th century Norway, and so have intentionally been used by Thacker to indicate the setting and the time period that this adaptation is set in. However, the purpose of these stoves is purely decorative, as when Nora goes to make up the fire in the stove, she goes to this one (Figure 3).

Figure 3.

The position of this stove and the accompanying furniture is a part of the staging included in the original version by Ibsen, and so suggests that the others were included purely for historical context, and as part of the director’s own interpretation. This attention to detail by Thacker reinforces the realistic ideals that were prevalent at the time Ibsen wrote this play, as realism was utilised to create drama that was authentic, and that created the effect of the audience looking into their own homes to make them feel part of what they were watching, thus allowing them to see the inequalities and social issues within their own lives.

Costume

The costume choices for this adaptation reflect the clothes that would have been worn within this bourgeoisie society, as the dresses that were fashionable in the 1870s are described as having an “[…] elongated and tight bodice and a flat fronted skirt”, with “Low, square necklines […]” Victoria and Albert Museum (2016).

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

In Figures 4 and 5 above, you can clearly see both the tight-fitting bodice, and the low-cut, square neckline on Nora’s dress.

Figure 6.

What is also significant about this dress is its colour, as it’s the exact same shade of green as Torvald’s jacket (Figure 6) that we see right at the very beginning of Act 1. This costume choice foreshadows the ending of the adaptation with Nora’s speech, when she says, “You arranged everything according to your taste, and so it became my taste too […]” (A Doll’s House, 1992, 2:00:38-2:00:41). These ‘shared’ tastes are indicated through the matching colours of their outfits, and has been used by Thacker to reinforce Ibsen’s original idea that Nora is a character who has been controlled and moulded into the type of person that the men in her life have wanted her to be, thereby reflecting the 19th century social issues of gender inequality.

Figure 7.

Torvald’s costume (Figure 7) is also exceptionally accurate, specifically with his jacket, which is “[…] thigh length […]” and “[…] buttoned high on the chest” Victoria and Albert Museum (2016).

Original Staging

When ‘A Doll’s House’ was originally performed it would have used a stage with a proscenium arch. This created the effect of a photo frame that literally ‘framed’ the action, and made it so that the audience were looking inside this fictional house with its missing fourth wall, much like the fourth wall would be missing in an actual doll’s house. This created the effect of the characters being the audience’s dolls that they’d watch being moved about and ‘played’ with, in order to portray Ibsen’s desired effect.

Thacker’s adaptation means this type of stage is unable to be used, as it’s not being performed in a theatre. Instead, camera angles that allow the audience to feel like they’re following the characters through the house have been used, which still creates this feeling of being immersed in the drama, as seen here: https://www.youtubetrimmer.com/view/?v=ZJDnHQT2BDk&start=1667&end=1672

Single-Scene Analysis

The scene in Act 3 where Torvald reads the letter and everything that Nora has hidden from him comes to light, is one that handles the themes of conflict and identity. When he starts shouting for Nora and calls her a “miserable wretch” (1:49:30-1:49:31), the conflict begins, and we also see Torvald’s true identity during this scene.

While he’s shouting at Nora, we see how insensitive he is to her feelings, as well as how self-centred he is, especially when he says “[…] you’ve completely destroyed my happiness. You have ruined my whole future for me” (1:50:26-1:50:34). In this moment, we see how truly heartless Torvald is; he doesn’t even give her the opportunity to explain that she got herself into debt out of her love for him, and now, when she needs her husband’s support more than ever—as she knows she could be arrested for this—he completely disregards how she’s feeling about this, and instead starts panicking about what’s going to happen to him, and his future.

Figure 8.

This still (Figure 8) from the scene shows the Christmas tree in the background next to Torvald, and is symbolic of things coming to an end; Christmas day has passed, and the tree is dying, and now that Nora’s secret is out, her life of deception and of being controlled by Torvald is now also coming to an end.

The scene continues with Torvald reading Krogstad’s other letter that has Nora’s I.O.U. inside, and then exclaims “I’m saved, Nora! I’m saved!” (1:53:47-1:53:48). Again, he’s completely insensitive towards Nora, and only after being prompted by her does he add on “Yes, you too, of course” (1:53:52-1:53:53). In this moment, Nora sees Torvald for who he truly is. After burning the evidence, Torvald then says, “There’s nothing left now” (1:54:45-1:54:46), which refers to both the letter and their relationship, and foreshadows it’s end.

A crucial turning point in this scene is when Nora says, “I’m taking off this fancy dress” (1:56:21-1:56:23), which again has two interpretations: that she’s physically taking off her costume, and that she’s also taking down this façade that she’s created while being in this relationship. When she comes out of the room in her day clothes, Torvald remarks that she’s changed, to which she replies, “Yes, Torvald. I’ve changed” (1:58:03-1:58:05). This line holds so much power behind it, as it shows Nora is no longer going to be this submissive housewife, and that she’s also no longer going to be “his property” (1:57:23-1:57:24).

A part of this scene that effectively conveys Nora’s lack of identity is when Torvald says “First and foremost, you are a wife and mother” (2:03:45-2:03:48), to which Nora replies “I believe that first and foremost I am a human being” (2:03:50-2:03:52). Torvald believes Nora’s identity to be one that is built up of functionality, and in how useful she is to him. When Nora realises this, and decides that she wants to be seen as a person, and not as what her roles are in this society, she realises that she doesn’t have an identity at all, and that really alarms her; it’s at this point that she knows she has to get away from Torvald and live her own life, otherwise she won’t ever be seen as a person at all.

Overall, this is a powerful moment in the play, as not only does it show the themes of conflict and identity, but it also shows Nora’s inner conflict, due to her lack of identity.

References

Link to David Thacker’s 1992 television adaptation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJDnHQT2BDk

Link to Victoria and Albert Museum website: http://www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/h/history-of-fashion-1840-1900/

Cover photo used on blog:

Libre, K. (2019).

Personal disclaimer for Tumblr: The subheadings were underlined however, Tumblr’s formatting doesn’t show this once the post becomes published.

#dci2021

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littlepurinsesu · 4 years

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V Watches MagiReco - Season 1 Review

*Spoilers for Magia Record Anime*

If you’ve been been following my weekly reviews on the Magia Record anime, you’ll know that my “reviews” are really more like general impressions, thoughts, and fangirling as I mentally recap the episode after my initial viewing.

For this final review of the season as a whole, however, I’m actually going to try and make it more like an actual “review" and discuss each aspect of the anime separately. I’ll be splitting my points of discussion into individual sections and giving each a score out of 10, before rounding it all off with an overall score/grade.

Oh, not sure if this needs to be emphasised, but these are just my opinions! You may agree and you may disagree, and either way is cool! (・ω・)b

Before I begin, I just want to make it clear that one very, very important thing to keep in mind when watching and reviewing MagiReco is the fact that it isn’t a direct continuation of PMMM. So many people find themselves unable to enjoy the series because it’s “not the same” or “not the PMMM they know” etc. But it isn’t and was never intended to be. It’s a spin-off, not a sequel. To expect a spin-off to have the exact same impact and level of quality as the original is unrealistic to begin with, not to mention that although comparisons will be inevitable, the original PMMM anime has reached a legendary status where it isn’t really fair to compare anything with it xD

(And for the PMMM fans who are unhappy with MagiReco simply because it isn’t “dark enough” and there isn’t enough “suffering”, all I can say is that if a lack of darkness and suffering automatically means the show is bad, then this one just isn’t for you. Dark doesn’t equal good, and suffering isn’t essential. MagiReco is not intended to have the same tone as PMMM, and those elements do not entail everything that defined PMMM to begin with anyway.)

For these reasons, I’m going to try my best to review the MagiReco anime as a standalone piece and try not to make too many comparisons with PMMM, unless explicitly necessary. Also, as a game player, the inevitable curse of “expectations” was a major issue I needed to overcome when watching the anime. I will therefore also try my best to look past these expectations and try to see the anime as a story of its own. However, there will be discussions on the changes that the anime made and how I feel the anime did in adapting the game story for a television series.

Anyway, sorry for all the additional rambling. Let’s jump into the review before I lose everyone’s attention ^^;;

Plot: 8/10

One thing I love about the MagiReco plot is that they take the original world and concepts of PMMM and actually come up with a whole new story. It’s familiar yet different, and a perfect way to please the nostalgic fans while also offering something fresh. The PMMM world always had a lot of potential to explore other girls’ stories, considering how many Magical Girls there are, and it’s nice to meet a whole new cast of characters with their own story that’s still set in the same world and uses the same concepts we’re familiar with.

I think my favourite thing about the MagiReco plot, which is the same both in the game and in the anime, is the idea of the Wings of Magius. Any story that involves Magical Girls somehow trying to undermine or overthrow the Incubators’ system always has a lot of potential, in my opinion, and it’s a creative way to delve even deeper into PMMM’s unique take on the magical girl genre without being repetitive. But the key to what makes the Wings of Magius so compelling and intriguing as antagonists is the moral issues it raises. The grey morality going on with the Wings of Magius is not too different from the issues presented by Kyubey, and these kinds of moral debates get the audience really thinking about what’s right and what’s wrong, what’s good and what’s evil. The Magius are presented as being very similar to the Incubators in many senses--sometimes even worse--and I always love a compelling villain or villain group that actually gets the audience pondering whether the bad guys really are that “wrong" after all. Plus the whole idea of salvation and liberation and the whole cult impression we get from the Wings of Magius really adds another layer of that dark and creepy atmosphere that PMMM does so well.

However, I do strongly feel that many of the important scenes and major plot points were presented much better in the game. As mentioned earlier, having played the game meant I was going in with expectations for how I wanted/hoped/expected certain things to be done, and this is a common issue that adaptations have when there’s an audience familiar with the source material. I’m okay with completely changing parts of the game’s story to create something new, but there were instances where the anime intended to replicate the scene as it was in the game but somehow fell short in its presentation. These cases of inadequate storytelling thus hinder the unfolding of the plot, ultimately creating problems with coherency and pacing. (I mean, if you think about it, the “main plot” doesn’t really even truly begin until all five main characters have been introduced.) I have dedicated a whole section to this pacing issue, so I’ll go into detail when we get there xD

Characterisation: 7/10

The anime’s presentation of the characters ranges from fantastic to extremely lacking. Iroha has moments where she’s extremely passive, but also times where she’s shown to be quite proactive and brave as well. I’m honestly not too sure what to make of Iroha’s characterisation so far due to this big range, but I’m hoping that she’ll show more growth and that her changes will be written in a way that actually makes sense, rather than abrupt shifts that make you question how and when she had it in her. Either way, she’s a lovely sweet girl and a very likable character, and I do like that even if she isn’t necessarily always doing anything or contributing to a fight, the sole reason she’s in Kamihama in the first place (to look for her sister) is a good sign that she knows what she’s doing and has taken the necessary measures to go about her quest.

Yachiyo didn’t seem to display much uniqueness until her past was unveiled, and that wasn’t until we were well into the second half of the first season. In my opinion, this took way too long. I find this to be a slight problem because of how central to the plot Yachiyo is, and while I understand that backstories being revealed later on can have a bigger impact (like Homura’s in Episode 10 of PMMM), the way they portray Yachiyo throughout the majority of the season doesn’t have that constant loose thread hanging. She almost seems too “normal” at times, blending into the cast, and only when certain things happen or when someone says something in particular do you actually remember that we still don’t know what her deal is yet. I guess what I mean is that a more looming sense of “mysteriousness” could have justified the late reveal a lot better. The reveal of her past and her wish were slightly underwhelming, too, seeing as we hardly got to know Kanae and Meru before they were killed off, making it difficult to connect with those characters and thus relate to Yachiyo’s grief at losing them. And as for the revelation of her wish, I’ve ranted enough about it in my review for Episode 13, so you can check that one out if you haven’t already xD

Tsuruno has it even worse than Yachiyo because they literally haven’t revealed or even teased anything about her. All we know is that she works at a Chinese restaurant, was already friends with Yachiyo in the past (this “mystery” was later explained in Yachiyo’s flashbacks), and is super cheerful and energetic. Her backstory is the only one that hasn’t been shown yet, and they never really even hinted at there being something deeper about her character. While I completely understand that they’re intending to leave all that for the Rumour Tsuruno arc (which will most likely be done next season), I feel that they really needed to give us at least something for now. Even in the game, we got a better sense of who Tsuruno was as a person before the Rumour Tsuruno arc revealed her hidden sadness. I guess I can’t really fault the anime for this, since they’re just going in chronological order, but a little more insight into Tsuruno’s character would have been a better decision so that we don’t get another round of “info-dumping” when we do get to Rumour Tsuruno, and the reveal about her inner emotional turmoil would actually be a slight twist that adds even more depth to her character, rather than random information that never seemed important because there were never any signs of it.

But while Yachiyo’s and Tsuruno’s characterisation could have been better, Felicia’s and Sana’s were handled superbly. The anime actually made me adore Felicia as a character when I merely “liked her enough” in the game. She’s so much more than just the spoiled and rowdy child who goes berserk when seeing a Witch, and her introductory episodes (namely Episode 7) actually managed to move me to tears. Her bond with Iroha is also portrayed even more nicely in the anime, and I have a newfound love for the friendship between these two, which is quite underrepresented in the game. Felicia manages to retain all the lovable traits she displayed in the game with just the right amount of brattiness so as to not seem too annoying, and the anime hasn’t even really touched upon the cruel reality behind her wish. Whether or not they venture into that territory at some point, I just hope they continue doing as amazingly as they’ve done with Felicia so far, because she really is super cute and a lot more likable in the anime version <3

As for Sana, she’s more or less the same as her game counterpart, but something about the way the anime unveils her past makes it even more tragic. We’ve always known of her terrible “family” and the unfortunate circumstances of her home life prior to joining Mikazuki Villa. But the episodes that detail her story did a stellar job at bringing out and actually showing the sheer horror of having a family like Sana’s, and just how deep and suffocating her sense of loneliness was. Her story is absolutely miserable, but the anime manages to present it in a way that doesn’t make it seem like they were “trying too hard” just to make it as sad as possible. The things happen for a reason, and the consequences it has on Sana as a character are all realistic and believable, and even a wish as extreme as hers made perfect sense after seeing everything she had to go through.

Other characters don’t seem to have as much of a presence to warrant a paragraph of their own, but I will give honourable mentions to Rena and Tsukuyo. Rena’s Magical Girl Story made me a sobbing mess when I first read it, and while the anime obviously couldn’t sidetrack and include all the details, I think they did a pretty good job considering the limited amount of time they could spend on a supporting character. The anime also did a really nice job at giving Tsukuyo that humanising moment during her conversation with Iroha at the cafe, emphasising the good inside of her despite being an antagonist, and also taking the chance to give her a sense of individuality so that she and her sister are not always seen as an identical and inseparable pair with no personal lives or traits, so props to them for that :) Mitama has hardly made many appearances and doesn’t even seem very story-relevant at this point, so I’m wondering how they’re going to build up her importance in the next season so that she doesn’t seem like the “token shopkeeper character” who’s there for no real purpose outside of gaming mechanics (because we all know that Mitama is so much more than that). And as for characters like Kaede, she’s been changed so much that I’ll reserve my judgment for now because I simply don’t know where they’re intending to take her character. Same goes for Kuroe and her still-unclear purpose in the plot lmao

I think it’s important to remember that a lot of characterisation we get in the game is from Magical Girl Stories and Event Stories, both of which are obviously not viable to delve into too much in the anime. As a result, I guess it’s “to be expected” that the anime will have to give up quite a bit of the details that make all these characters so real, likable, or relatable. I’m not an anime writer, nor do I know anything about adapting games into anime, but I do feel that it would have been so much better if they had come up with some other way of compensating for the lost characterisation moments that are only shown in the game’s side stories. Not sure how else they should have done it, but simply removing some of these vital bits of information does harm the portrayal of these characters, especially when they’re part of the main cast.

But yeah, mixed feelings because while some characters really needed more work in the characterisation department, others were handled amazingly well xD

Pacing: 4/10

Okay, let’s be real. The pacing was almost definitely the anime’s weakest point, and possibly one of the main reasons why someone would find the show hard to enjoy or even understand. I’ve seen people complain that the story is too fast, and I’ve also seen people complain that it moves way too slowly. In my opinion, it really is a combination of both, and I’m honestly quite fascinated at how the anime somehow manages to pull off being both too fast and too slow at the same time xD

The story is almost excruciatingly slow in that it takes a whole ten episodes before the main cast is fully assembled. I thought a bit about this and, to be fair, some classic magical girl shows also take many, many episodes before all the main characters are introduced, such as Sailor Moon taking a whopping 33 episodes before all five Inner Senshi have gathered. So I guess this slow episode-by-episode “collection” of team members really isn’t something new. But MagiReco isn’t really a long-running anime that has filler episodes back-to-back to justify the slow pace of the plot. The plot is moving every week, yet it still feels like it takes forever to get the main cast together, which is slow enough to make the viewer question what they had been sitting through all this time when it’s been ten episodes and the story is really only “actually beginning” now.

And at the same time the plot somehow manages to feel too fast at the same time. How is this even possible? My answer to this is simply the fact that they introduce conflicts and mysteries, only to quickly resolve them and then immediately jump to the next one before the audience has even had a chance to really process or understand what they just watched. We’re not given the time to really absorb the development of the story or the subtle changes the characters are undergoing before we’re immediately thrown into a new mini “arc” the next week. In some ways, it almost seems like the “Monster of the Week” formula that many magical girl series adopt, only instead of being aware that we’re seeing trivial conflicts that are intended to last for one episode with characters we are likely not going to see again, MagiReco is throwing out new ideas, new terms, and new plot-relevant characters almost every episode, vomiting out information in a way that viewers who haven’t played the game will find very difficult to keep up with.

And that brings me to one of the biggest problems I had with the anime: important terms and concepts are often thrown in as a “by the way”. (This is most apparent with anything to do with the Wings of Magius before Episode 10, most notably Alina’s introduction.) Game players will obviously know what they’re talking about, but anime-only viewers are left confused and lost as to what exactly is happening half the time. I’ve seen more than a few instances where a viewer who wasn’t familiar with the game needed extra clarification and explanation before they understood certain things, and honestly that isn’t a good sign. All the important stuff should be made crystal clear so that even anime-only viewers will be able to grasp all the concepts without game players to spell things out for them. The anime should be a standalone piece on its own, not a “supplement" to the game. And the consequence is that anime viewers are constantly raising their eyebrows and wondering what the heck just happened or when the heck something was ever established, because crucial information is thrown around with no emphasis and the fast pace doesn’t allow viewers to digest anything properly. This unclear storytelling wastes the opportunity to present mysteries that are intended to keep the audience invested; rather than continuing the series because you just have to find out what something means or why something is the way it is, you’re left with question marks popping up all around your head because you’re confused af and wondering if you forgot or missed some crucial information at some point.

Another issue I had with the anime was what I’ve decided to dub the “one-shot curse”. Witches and Rumours alike are one-shot-ed so quickly and fights resolved so suddenly that I was often left wondering what the point of that fight was. Not to mention that a lot of the battles lacked real “action”. Witches appear, get one-shot-ed, and the characters return to whatever it was they were doing before as though nothing had happened. So... what was the point? I guess they really wanted to emphasise just how many Witches there are in Kamihama and just how easy it is to come across one everyday? Or maybe it was just for the sake of including an obligatory battle in each episode so there’s at least some action each week? Either way, if you’re going to include Witch battles, you may as well do them properly. For crying out loud, InuCurry, the guy who designs the Witches, is the director of the MagiReco anime! You’d expect a bit more emphasis and flourish to highlight what he’s so good at! But to be fair, there were some good Witch battles, such as the ones in the first episode, the ones in Yachiyo’s flashbacks when Kanae and Meru died, and of course, the epic battle between Holy Mami and Sayaka in the final episode. So they’re not all that bad, but I just feel like there was a lot of wasted potential.

I find that the main problem is a lack of balance between the battles, the exposition, the plot, and the fluffy slice-of-life stuff. All these are crucial to a good anime, and a lot of these moments were done quite nicely as standalone scenes. But the way the MagiReco anime has packaged them together and tied a very unattractive Bad Pacing ribbon on top just doesn’t work. It’s like a giftbox that has some lovely things inside if you look carefully at them one by one, but the way the gift is presented just isn’t very appealing and ruins the goodness of the content inside.

I get that the anime probably has issues with pacing because it’s essentially adapting a mobile game. I’m not sure if the pacing would be better if this weren’t the case and the MagiReco story was scripted for an anime to begin with, but I really, really hope they fix these pacing issues next season.

Visuals and Animation: 8/10

To me, the visuals were nearly always top-notch, and definitely a huge improvement from the original series. They managed to retain the art style of PMMM while also updating it so that it looks a lot more sleek and polished. The characters looked great, the scenery is gorgeous, the labyrinths all unique and intricately designed, and there was a lot of clever visual symbolism going on in the still shots and subtle scene transitions. I’m not an expert on animation or visual arts, but I definitely think this series deserves a very high score for this section.

There were a few instances where we saw some wonky “meguca" shots, but those were rare and nowhere near bad enough to detract from my overall enjoyment of the series. I don’t really have much else to say because, like I said, this really isn’t my forte, but I genuinely loved most of the visuals we got.

Music and Soundtrack: 9/10

I know a lot of us were disappointed when we learned that Yuki Kajiura would not be returning to do the music for MagiReco. And we all knew that whoever they hired would have very, very, very large shoes to fill. And I can definitely say that I was not disappointed at all.

Guys, the music for this series is AMAZING. Takumi Ozawa managed to capture the style that Kajiura used for PMMM in a way that retains the original tone of the franchise without seeming like a mere carbon copy of her work. I don’t think there was a single musical piece in there that didn’t make me feel like, “Ah, this is no doubt a PMMM anime!” And none of them gave me the impression that he was “trying too hard" to “rehash” Kajiura’s style. No, there’s familiarity and there’s originality, and it’s all packed together in a way that allows MagiReco to retain the charm of its predecessor while also standing strong as a work of art by itself.

I only docked one point because there were so many amazing tracks from the game and I don’t really understand why they didn’t use them when there were moments that seemed perfect for those tunes. It would be a nice sense of familiarity for game players, and it’s still considered “new stuff” for anime-only viewers too, so I really don’t get why xD Maybe they really wanted to separate the anime from the game? Which is also fair enough :)

I wasn’t so sure about “Gomakashi” as the OP when I first heard it in the trailer, but it’s definitely grown on me! While I still think “Kakawari” is superior and has a more catchy and iconic sound to it, “Gomakashi” is sweet and girly, very much like the kind of song you’d hear in a magical girl series. I don’t think this is an OP that will be legendary enough that everyone knows the tune (like the theme song for Sailor Moon, for example), but it’s a lovely song and I do like it a lot ^^

“Alicia” was beautiful from the very first time I heard it, and I’ve only grown more and more fond of it with each listen. Definitely one of my favourite EDs of all time, and perhaps my favourite OP/ED song out of the entire PMMM franchise.

And that ED song for the final episode? Gorgeous, too. Almost has a “Magia” kind of sound, and definitely sets a darker tone for the upcoming season where (I assume) sh*t starts getting real.

Overall: 7/10, B+ or A-

Despite my criticism and picking the anime apart in this review, overall I still genuinely enjoyed it a lot :D It’s far from perfect, but I was nowhere near as disappointed as I’ve been in the past with other anime adaptations, and while some parts could definitely have been handled a lot better, it was mostly still decent in my opinion. Get rid of the pacing issues and I’d probably give it a solid 9 (for context, I rate the original PMMM anime a 10/10, perhaps even higher if possible).

Again, I think my experience and knowledge as a game player definitely influenced my view on the anime as an adaptaion. For example, I already love the characters and know enough about them, and so I probably didn’t really feel the consequences caused by the anime’s sometimes lackluster characterisation. I also often have ideas of how I want or hope a part gets adapted, and then get disappointed when it’s done in a different and underwhelming way compared to what I imagined. I’m sure my impressions, comments, and scores would be very different if I were an anime-only viewer and had no idea how things went in the game. But alas, you can’t have both experiences to compare, so it is what it is xD

Anyway, no matter how much I nitpicked, I still love MagiReco a lot, both the game and the anime, and am really looking forward to Season 2! With the obvious changes they made in that last episode, I get the feeling that it’ll only diverge even further as the story unfolds. I’m okay with these new surprises and new takes on characters, but I do hope that they aren’t changing it all completely, because there’s a lot of good stuff in the later chapters that I really hope gets animated, e.g. Kanagi’s entrance, Rumour Tsuruno, Yachiyo vs. Holy Mami, basically everything that happens at Fenthope in Chapter 9, and of course, the big reveal about Ui, Touka, and Nemu’s wishes in the final chapter. Just imagining these things animated already gets me super excited, so hopefully we’ll at least still keep the core of the game’s story despite the changes (and hopefully these changes are all improvements!) ｡^‿^｡

~~~

And since the anime is taking a break, my reviews will also be going on a break ╥﹏╥ I’ll probably still pop up in the MagiReco tag every now and then if I can think of something to talk about, though? Depends on what I can come up with xD But yeah, I don’t really post updates about my gameplay here (unless it’s something major like pulling my favourite character lol), so if you’re interested in seeing any of that stuff, you can follow me on Twitter instead, since I’m much more active there nowadays. I’m always happy to discuss things and scream with fellow fans, so whether it’s here or on Twitter, please feel free to approach me anytime if you want someone to fangirl with (๑ゝڡ◕๑)

I’ll be ending this post here! Thank you so much for reading, and please continue to love and support MagiReco while we wait for the second season ღゝ◡╹)ノ♡

#magia record #magireco #puella magi madoka magica #puella magi madoka magica side story #pmmm #fandom #mine #anime #review #magia record review #v watches magireco

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beatriceeagle · 5 years

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I think my TV meta ask reported an error so I'm going to repeat my questions, feel free to ignore any of them! 1) I love Looking for Alaska the book, and whilst I'm not worried about the TV show as an adaptation, I am worried about it being good... should I watch it? 2) Are you excited for Bojack Season 6? 3) How do you feel about Agents of Shield as a TV show that's constantly changing? I'll never forget their pivot in season 1! 4) SPORTS NIGHT! Why do I love Dan Rydell so much?

I don’t think I could love a meta ask more unless it included Farscape. This is phenomenal.

The highlight is that the Looking for Alaska adaptation is good and you should watch it. To get deeper, without getting spoilery, I’ve heard a lot of people say that it improves upon the book, which I don’t exactly agree with. What Looking for Alaska is is a very smart adaptation.

Basically, Looking for Alaska, the book, pulls off a thematic trick using its limited point of view. Miles spends the first two-thirds of the book wildly idealizing Alaska, and often very much in the dark about the exact specifics of her relationship with Jake, but also with Takumi and even the Colonel. Then when the turn comes, that becomes the point: Miles might have loved Alaska, but the Alaska in his head was never the real Alaska, and that means that he can never really understand what happened.

We spend a lot of time hearing Miles’ very precocious, pretentious narration, and also Alaska’s precocious, pretentious dialogue, and a lot of that has seeped into the culture as being the book, as if there’s no deconstruction happening. But there is! Miles is a little bit self-deluding, and Alaska is almost always putting on a front, and neither of their words can ever be fully trusted. This is a book about a guy who never really knew a girl.

The writers of the series, I think, wisely realized that that dynamic was going to be incredibly difficult to replicate on-screen. No matter what they did, viewers were going to get an objective look at Alaska, and the time constraints of television (ironically, the fact that they had to fill out more time) meant that they would have to go outside of Miles’ perspective. So they ditched that idea entirely, and instead dedicated themselves to expanding wherever they possibly could. We get so much more Alaska than the book gives us. She is more real than she possibly could have been in the pages, because we get to see her, not Miles’ view of her. But we also get much, much more of the Colonel, more of Sara, more of Takumi and Lara, more of the Eagle and the Old Man. And it’s wonderful! Some of the show’s most incredible scenes are between characters who are neither Miles nor Alaska.

But it does undercut the theme, somewhat. (Especially when combined with some other adaptation decisions that I won’t get into, because they are spoilery.) Looking for Alaska, the series, gives up some thematic impact in favor of a great deal of character richness, and it’s absolutely the right call for the series, given its format, and given the context in which it was released. But it was a trade, and I think it should be acknowledged.

(The other thing the show does that I think is necessary from an adaptation standpoint, but makes for a kind of weird viewing experience, is that it adds a whole plotline to the middle of the series that doesn’t exist in the book. I do think that this was necessary, because there’s not a lot of structure to the middle of Looking for Alaska, and while that’s fine for a book, a series needs a plot with some kind of forward momentum to hang itself on. But the problem is that the inevitable arc of the book means that this new plotline has nowhere to go, and it ends up just sort of fizzling out, once the book plot takes over.)

Anyway: Looking for Alaska. Very good show, very good music, exceptional performance from Denny Love. Definitely check it out if you loved the book.

I am very excited for BoJack season 6! I’m just waiting to watch it with my sister. I have hope that, since this is a planned final season, it’ll give the writers space to move the characters forward, and actually give people like Diane some measure of peace, and people like BoJack some measure of atonement.

I think that being the kind of show that was a different show every season was the smartest choice that Agents of SHIELD ever made. (The least smartest choice that Agents of SHIELD ever made was “Fitz and Simmons can never be together for more than six episodes at a time,” even if it has led to several individually successful story arcs.) It makes the show infinitely adaptable, so for instance, if they kill off their lead character thinking that the show is ending, and then suddenly get renewed for two (!!!) more seasons, it’s very easy for them to bring the actor back without walking back the story they’ve told; the show is capable of going to almost any place or time, and pulling on almost any trope of sci-fi or fantasy.

It also makes the show really interesting. One of the problems with season one of Agents of SHIELD was that the MCU is this giant world, full of lots of different settings and genres, and in comparison, AoS felt bland. The genre it was taking on (sci-fi procedural) isn’t inherently boring, but it wasn’t a particularly fresh take on the idea, and the visual trappings of the setting were incredibly sterile. But post-Hydra reveal—and especially post-season four—AoS is like the MCU in a microcosm. It can be anything! It can do a season in the future, a season in space, a season in a computer simulation. It can do pulpy action and messy comedy and gorgeous, lyrical sci-fi.

And also, it manages to do something that’s incredibly difficult (even The Good Place didn’t quite manage to get the hang of it until literally just this last episode) which is to rewrite the characters’ realities over and over without losing track of their character progressions. So, for instance, Fitz has been regular Fitz, and then he’s had his entire reality rewritten by the Framework and become the Doctor, and then he married Jemma and died, and then we reset to cryo!Fitz. And throughout all of that, the show has always been very clear about where the current Fitz is emotionally, and how all of the past and alternate versions of him affect his mental state—but also how he is distinct from any past or alternate versions of himself. And they do this while carrying on actual physical trauma from season 2; if you pay attention, Fitz still briefly loses words when he gets stressed. (As someone who takes a medication that makes me forget words easily, this is my ACTUAL FAVORITE THING on television.) The end result is that you actually know more about Fitz from seeing his reality rewritten so many times—and he still has a coherent character arc.

Of course the downside of this constant shifting is that sometimes AoS will find something that really works for it, and then leave it behind. Like, over the course of seasons three to six, they built up a lot of texture and a deep bench of characters to the space setting, and I would probably say, at this point, that Space AoS is my favorite version of AoS. But the latter half of season six ditched that setting almost entirely, and it’s not clear to what extent we’ll be going back there at all for season seven. Similarly, Fitz’s character arc remains coherent, but I’m not sure the current version of it is my favorite version of it.

But at the end of the day, I think that’s a fair trade for a show that’ll change Daisy’s name halfway through and stick with it, you know?

Well, I don’t know why you love Dan Rydell, but after putting a great deal of thought into this over many years, I can tell you why I love Dan Rydell: He is, setting aside some baseline Sorkin patronization, a legitimately great guy, going through a legitimately tough time.

Like, in the grand scheme of things, there are a lot of people who have it a lot worse than Dan Rydell, but one of the cool things about Sports Night is that the narrative is genuinely engaged with that fact: It’s aware of Dan’s privilege, and it makes Dan aware of his privilege, in a way that future Sorkin properties never really manage to do. Think of “The Apology”: “No rich white guy ever got anywhere with me comparing himself to Rosa Parks.” Think of Bobbi Bernstein, a woman who Dan calls crazy until she proves that she was right. Think of “The Quality of Mercy at 29K,” an episode that’s basically all about turning Dan’s privilege inside out.

What makes Dan likeable is that the show is aware of his privilege, it points his privilege out to him, and he learns. When Isaac calls him out, he’s immediately contrite. When he sees someone in need in his office, he overcomes his immediate reaction and tries to help. And when he realizes his error with Bobbi, he grants her an immediate, complete, and sincere apology.

The thing is, Dan wants so desperately to be a good guy, and it’s just really hard not to like someone who is trying so hard. He’s incredibly good to his friends, and honestly, I think the turning point is “Mary Pat Shelby.” You give Dan and Natalie’s scene in “Mary Pat Shelby” to a halfway decent actor, and how do you not come out of that scene loving Dan? This incredibly unselfish, incredibly well-pitched moment where, while everyone else is freaking out and trying to get something out of Natalie, Dan just says, “No, I’m not going to tell you what to do, I’m just going to tell you that I am behind you a million percent.” How do you not love that person?

But the other thing is that Josh Charles is not a halfway decent actor, Josh Charles is a phenomenal actor, so actually the turning point isn’t “Mary Pat Shelby.” It’s the speech in “The Apology.” The speech in “The Apology” isn’t Sorkin’s best writing—“high as a paper kite” is a choice—and honestly, that scene is a lot to ask any actor to take on. Performed competently, it would be kind of embarrassing.

Charles fucking impales himself on that monologue. He leaves blood and guts on the anchor desk. And he somehow does it without overacting? It is a very subtle, precisely-balanced act of self-dismemberment.

What I’m saying is that right from the very beginning, Dan opens himself up to the viewer, and we see all his vulnerabilities, all the ugly, painful pieces of him that make him. And because Charles is a really, really good actor, it’s all very believable, and it’s all very magnetic—you’re drawn to it. And he does it all while being so likeable, and so good.

So of course people love Dan Rydell. He’s generous, he learns and apologizes, he tries incredibly hard, he’s got level 25 charisma, and he’s an open book of emotion—not to the people in his life, but to the viewer.

(Hey, while you’re here, have a link to an amazing Dan Rydell vid!)

Send me meta prompts to distract me from my migraine! (Yes, I still have a migraine.)

#looking for alaska #agents of shield #sports night #dan rydell #aos #mcu #meta #congratulations asker i am now rewatching sports night

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myyeslifeofficial · 5 years

Text

The Top Mindset Lessons I Learned as a Military Spouse

:…..

The Top Mindset Lessons I Learned as a Military Spouse

I became a military spouse at 24.

When I married my husband I had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into.

I wasn’t raised around the military.

I had no idea what to expect from the lifestyle.

I just knew that I loved him and saw an incredible future with him by my side.

My Unexpected Military Life…

But military life is hard.

Being a military spouse is hard.

Deployments, long work hours, weekend duty and all the stinking moves to new places far away from family and friends.

I could very easily get caught up on all of these challenges, the uncertainty…

…and wondering what the hell happened to to box with all the furniture hardware after the last move. (For real though, we really needed that box to reassemble everything!)

But I have learned not to.

I would say the first nine years and four duty stations as a military spouse were the most challenging.

I created a lot of suffering for myself and my husband by fighting against the uncertainty, arguing with reality, giving my emotional power to external circumstances and refusing to ask for help.

(I’m not trying to say that the challenges I experienced as a military spouse are unique. It just seems that military life amplifies the challenge and uncertainties, often making them more frequent than civilian life).

Gave Me Unexpected Gifts.

Little did I know that through the greatest of struggles, I would also be blessed with the greatest of gifts.

Because I was open to learning, exploration, and growth through the challenge, I was able to learn these four mindset lessons as a military spouse:

Surrender

Accepting What Is / Presence

How You Feel is a Choice

Asking For + Accepting Help

I realized that military spouse life gave me a crash course in figuring them out, long before many of my peers, and tons of opportunities to practice them along the way.

Surrender

We trick ourselves into thinking that we control our lives.

We avoid uncertainty at all costs.

We think that if we can just plan for every detail, pick the safest and most secure option that we are in control and the outcome will be certain.

Thankfully, military life taught me that certainty and control are all but an illusion.

We never know when we are going to move next, let alone where it will be.

We rarely know with much advance notice when he will be deployed or on temporary duty, gone for months at a time.

So many aspects of family planning that most people take for granted are big, huge uncertainties in our lives.

Which makes planning more than a few months in advance a challenge. (We wanted to take a trip for our 15 year wedding anniversary but didn’t even feel secure enough for that…which is good because it fell during an international move!).

Which always makes you wonder if the couch you want to buy now will fit in the next place.

Which makes you question keeping the extra jackets or if you only be wearing flip flops at the next duty station. (No joke, we moved from Alaska to Arizona, thanks Air Force!).

We have always had to actively manage the uncertainty, or at least our emotions in reaction to not knowing or being in control of so many of the variables of our lives.

Even after 15 years my family still asks me if we know when we are going to move next, where we are moving, when he will be promoted to the next rank… and I always have to remind them that we just don’t know and won’t know until it happens.

But it’s from this place surrendering to radical uncertainty that I have realized just how much certainty is an illusion in life.

That secure job that you were downsized from?

That perfectly planned out career path that you ended up hating?

That perfectly healthy person who found out they have inoperable cancer?

That young mother who died in a car accident on her way home from the grocery store?

There’s so many things in our lives that we take for granted that aren’t promised and are far from certain, no matter how much our brain tries to lie to us otherwise.

The best practice is to decide WHAT you want in life, WHY you want it and surrender the HOW.

Rarely does anything go according to plan, in the exact sequence you dream up.

But if you know what you want and why you want it you can start moving toward it and be flexible and adaptable along the way.

Accepting What Is / Presence.

Byron Katie teaches “When I argue with reality, I lose—but only 100% of the time.”

There’s so many parts to military life that I could argue with (and did in the beginning!) only to create a ton of suffering in my mental and emotional space.

And it kept me from truly living in the present moment – I was arguing with the past and the future and all the ways I thought things should be.

We shouldn’t have to spend our first year of marriage in different countries.

Well, we did.

He was in Korea on an unaccompanied short tour and I was in the US.

We were honeymooners with a 17 hour time difference before there were so many free video and voice communication options on the internet.

It was hard, and I spent a lot of time arguing with how hard it was and how unfair it was when I saw other couples spending time together.

How dare he leave me, again, in a different continent than all my friends and family.

Well, he did, and not by choice, but because he was told to.

I was lonely.

Yet I made it worse by resisting feeling sad and alone.

I choose indignation and anger instead.

I was blaming him when he had absolutely no say in the decision.

It’s not fair that I always have to give up my career aspirations to be the trailing spouse.

It seemed like every time I had a good thing going, making progress, we would get notice of another move.

Which often meant more than six months of lost wages and me feeling like an absolute loser because I wasn’t contributing and I had too much of my self-worth wrapped up in my career and job title.

We spend so much time arguing with what is rather than accepting it.

It creates so much extra mental chaos and emotional drama.

Rarely do we argue with things that we can change or control, when the solution is to choose and control the thoughts and story we create about the circumstance.

Instead we play the victim and give away our emotional power, expecting everyone and everything outside of us to make us feel better.

How You Feel is a Choice.

How we feel is a state of mind, not a destination.

So often I hear people say things like “I’ll be happy when…” followed by new cars, homes, jobs, relationships, income, and a whole mess of other external measures.

Being stationed in Italy helped me realize that our emotional space has nothing to do with external circumstances.

Here we were in Europe, in the Italian countryside, where so many Americans save up often for their whole lives to visit, and fellow service members and their families were miserable.

Many of our friends we were stationed with still found plenty to complain about, would stay close to base and not adventure around Europe.

Here we were, given this incredible opportunity to see the world, and some people couldn’t even see what was right in front of them because they decided to be miserable instead.

Our emotions don’t happen to us, we choose them with the thoughts we think.

Happiness is an inside job.

This is replicated in so many research studies, where happiness isn’t correlated with income after basic subsistence level is reached.

Once people reach poverty level, happiness is no longer correlated with income.

It doesn’t matter what you achieve, what you earn, what you experience. It matters what you think and believe about those things, and the stories you make them mean.

A moment I felt the most achievement was when someone said to me “It doesn’t seem to matter where you and Jason live, you always find a way to have fun.”

I joke that if we get stationed in a few places he can have fun there without me. (I’ll leave them unnamed so as to not get hate mail from the locals LOL).

But in all reality I would follow him and we WOULD have fun.

We would be happy.

We would have a good time.

Because that’s what is important to us and we know that it’s an inside job and not contingent upon what our zip code happens to be.

Asking For AND Accepting Help.

This was probably the hardest for me to learn…I am such an independent person.

I pride myself on being able to take care of myself.

To be the person who always gives and cares for others.

Until I found myself struggling with a once-debilitating chronic illness, my husband deployed, and being new to the base without any close friends to rely on.

I was accustomed to getting frequent headaches.

But one day I had the worst I had ever experienced, a migraine to end all migraines.

I left work after only an hour, went home and spent the next 8 hours on the bathroom floor.

Nauseated, confused, and completely disoriented.

I was too weak to know what was happening, let alone pick myself off the floor.

Luckily I had my cell phone with me.

The doggy day care place was about to close. My puppy needed to be picked up. And I was in no condition to drive.

I knew the only option I had was to ask for help. I called my neighbor, a new acquaintance, in a moment of complete vulnerability and weakness.

I told her I didn’t know what was wrong with me (because honestly in that moment I didn’t know).

She came over, picked me off the floor, got me to bed, and made sure I had what I needed before she left.

She picked my dog up, got him home, fed, and taken care of.

She checked in on me multiple times (and make sure that I didn’t need the hospital and to let the dog out).

I was embarrassed to ask, to be seen in that condition, to be perceived as weak or incapable.

But if anyone else had been in that situation I’d be the first to rush in.

I’d be happy to provide assistance and give comfort – without judgment.

To truly be good at giving, we must also be good at receiving.

To know and recognize that we all have hard moments.

To be grateful for those in the military community who are willing to help perfect strangers…

Willing to pick us up in our most painful and weakest moments…

Knowing full well that they might need the same kindness in the future.

I will always be grateful to my neighbor, and now one of my closest friends.

She answered my call and graciously offered more help than I requested.

I now know there’s no shame in asking and receiving help, because giving is one of the very best experiences we can have.

If I fail to ask for help when I truly need it then I rob someone from being able to give with an open heart.

Grateful for the Challenges

Now I’d even say that I’m grateful for our military life because of who I have become because of it.

I welcome each new move, each new deployment and all the uncertainty in between…

Because I know that these are the circumstances that help me grow mental excellence.

It’s not the circumstances that are the problem.

It’s my thoughts and beliefs about them, which create my emotional experience.

Now I know to check my thoughts about my circumstances.

Because that is what helps me surrender…

To accept what is…

To ask for help…

And choose how I want to feel.

Being a military spouse isn’t easy, but I know I’m up for the challenge now.

The post The Top Mindset Lessons I Learned as a Military Spouse appeared first on life coaching for mental excellence, mindset, accountability .

from life coaching for mental excellence, mindset, accountability https://myyeslife.com/military-spouse-mindset-lessons/

#life coaching for mental excellence #mindset #accountability

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makeste · 5 years

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1)Quick query here- Was just thinking about Toga’s new-found quirk powers and I just realised- is it possible for her to copy One For All? I don’t mean just with the base power like with Monoma, but also granting her partial access to some of the stockpiled energy- Toga’s Abilities do seem designed to contrast against and compliment twice’s own ability to copy things, and he can create constructs with access to all the memories and Powers of the originals, so it makes some sense that her own

(okay so I’m just going to copy/paste the rest of the asks and edit them together since that’s easier to read than screenshots. hope that’s all right.)

…power copying might give herself greater access to the abilities of her targets, especially since we see how overpowered Twice’s Quirk can be now he’s not afraid of creating himself again. When she copied Izuku before, she didn’t have the time or the inclination to attempt to use his powers (and wasn’t aware of it as an option to boot) but now she is, it could be a way of getting access to the power that’s the greatest potential threat to the league.

Actually, thinking about It, All 3 of the ‘copy-quirkers’ that we’ve seen have had contrasting abilities that grant different benefits and applications to the same theme of copying powers- not to mention whatever Ujiko’s up to that lets him keep creating nomu’s with powers like the captured league members. Twice’s quirk lets him duplicate objects and people, alongside their powers, but doesn’t directly affect his body, unless he duplicates himself, and then that’s just double twice, no added superpowers or anything, just greater vulnerability to folding like a cheap tower of cards in the rain if someone roughs you up too much. However, since he isn’t producing the powers himself and putting strain on his body by using them, he can theoretically create an army of the same quirks, even getting round the ‘2 only’ rule by making more twices to make more powers with. However, he needs precise data of more than just what the quirk wielder looks like, but also their exact proportions and personalities to effectively produce more of them.

Monoma, in contrast, can copy anybody’s powers with just a touch, even without knowing what the powers are exactly, and can even copy multiple powers at once, but he’s constantly limited by a timer on his borrowed power, can’t duplicate energy based/ accumulated quirk benefits, and can’t ever really train with abilities to master them to the extent of the original wielders, hence he relies on guile and trickery until he can learn enough about the powers to make use of them when it counts. Actually, between both Monoma and One for All, I’m getting a bit of a shared ‘bio-energy’ vibe in relation to their shared ability to replicate the mutations and power sets of others within themselves, using their targets original bodies as a template to transform their own genetics on the fly to utilise the same powers. The difference being that AFO can completely separate, absorb and store the unique energy and powers within himself for later use or distribution as he sees fit- he even seemed to indicate that taking the powers gives him an instinctual understanding of the type and utility of the quirk, albeit not enough to use well without proper training and dedication to fulfilling the requirements of the quirk, whereas Monoma can only ever ‘trace’ a basic version of the power from those he copies from, duplicating a starter version of the same quirk with an expiration date before the inferior version deteriorates too much to be used anymore. Hell, we even saw this copy degradation thing happen before, between Midoria and All Might. Passing on his quirk via his genetic sample resulted in OFA duplicating itself- creating a brand-new amped up version of itself within Izuku that feeds off and empowers his own bio-energy alongside the stored quirks/bio-energy of the previous successors, allowing him to reach heights they never could with all the accumulated powers feeding into each other. Meanwhile, All Might gets left with a weakened copy of his old powers, no longer sustained by the core he allowed to flow into Izuku, and thus, like a battery off the charger, his powers got weaker every time they were used until he’s left with only 1% power before completely losing it altogether.

With that in mind, Toga’s quirk initially seemed only to allow her to copy the appearance of those who blood she swallowed, but now we know she can also copy the quirks and various powers that come with them, even without knowing much about the target (unlike twice) but not being able to effectively use them without having studied the target’s beforehand (like Monoma). Presumably this is why she didn’t transform into any of the more obviously mutated students, like Tsuyu, or Shoji- in the case of the latter, she would have found him uncute, and wouldn’t have wanted to turn into him, but if she had duplicated Tsuyu’s appearance, including the whole long tongue thing, it would have been more obvious she could copy the physical changes that made some students able to use their powers in the first place, thus her own power copying wouldn’t have been as big a surprise. Since we don’t know the limits of this new ability to absorb both appearance and powers through her own quirk, isn’t it possible that Toga’s ability will allow her to go farther in copying Izuku’s quirk than Monoma’s did? After all, unlike any of the others she needs to directly ingest the genetic material of her target to absorb their essence for her quirk to activate, which, given Midoria technically did the same thing to get OFA from All might, might mean she’s capable of absorbing and replicating more of the power than the other’s get through touch/mental understanding. She’s technically replicating and adapting the bio-energy of her targets to take their appearance and powers, giving her a similar power set to Izuku himself, and just because It’s impossible for Monoma to do it, doesn’t mean that there isn’t a quirk capable of forcefully copying OFA fully charged off Izuku- at least I think this new Power-set gives her a greater chance than most at pulling it off, assuming she can get enough of his blood stockpiled.

first off, I love when people get really in-depth analyzing the series like this. this was fun to read!

regarding Toga being able to copy OFA, it’s an interesting thought, but I have a suspicion that she would more than likely run into the same issue as Monoma if she tried. she copies the DNA of her opponents, including their quirks, and yes, we have seen that OFA is passed down via DNA. but – and this is crucial – we’ve also seen that that’s not the only factor in it being properly passed down. specifically, OFA, as far as we know, can only properly be transferred to someone if the user wills it. that’s the deal. you can steal the bare-bones quirk, but the power accumulated with it only goes if the user gives their say-so.

it’s not very scientific to say the least, but this part of OFA seems to be more of a spiritual thing. there was talk of people’s wills and such. so even if Toga – and Twice for that matter – can copy people’s physical traits and even duplicate their memories, it seems to me like a person’s soul is the key to actually transferring OFA’s whole kit and caboodle.

having said all that, this post helped to make something finally click for me that I’ve been trying to sort out for a while now, so thank you for that! new OFA theory post incoming shortly, lol.

#bnha spoilers #toga #twice #one for all #makeste reads bnha #asks

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10839346-blog · 5 years

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The Past, Present, and Future We All Share

When was the last time that you sat soaking up the momentous memories of your youth? There is something in our natures that longs to relate to the stories that we see on the screens in front of us. Coming of Age films have been increasing in popularity in recent years which is evidenced by their winning of many major movie awards. In 2018, “Lady Bird” won a Golden Globe not only for Best Motion Picture for a Musical/Comedy but also for Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture for a Musical/Comedy for Saoirse Ronan. “Call Me by Your Name,” won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, and won AFI’s Movie of the Year. “Moonlight,” not only won 3 oscars for Best Motion Picture of the Year, Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Mahershala Ali, and Best Adapted Screenplay but also won a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture for a Drama. These films aren’t just critically acclaimed but the general public likes them as well. “Lady Bird” got a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 4.7/5 on Common Sense Media. “Call Me by Your Name” got a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes and 4/5 on Common Sense Media. “Moonlight” got a 98% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 4/5 on Common Sense Media. Other than being Coming of Age films and getting many awards and high ratings what else do these movies have in common?

The coming of age genre branches off of the German term bildungsroman, which means “a novel dealing with one person's formative years or spiritual education,” the two terms are often used interchangeably but there is a difference between them. The coming of age genre was first “invented” back in 1819, by philologist Karl Morgenstern during his university lectures. These same ideas were later replicated by Wilhelm Dilthey who made the ideas popular in 1905. Some of the older, popular coming of age films from this early era are: “400 Blows,” which came out in 1959 and has 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The Mike Nichols movie “The Graduate” which came out in 1967, won the Academy Award for best director and many more awards. It seems however, that there has been a new, fresh wave of coming of age films that are better than ever. This wave started with the release of Richard Linklaters film “Boyhood”. “Boyhood” is an incredible movie which took 12 years to film and it truly redefined the new coming of age genre.

After the release of “Boyhood,” many other incredible coming to age films came to be, as “Boyhood” was really a pioneer in opening the doors to a variety of possibilities that directors could take in these films. This paved the road for films like “Moonlight”, “Lady Bird”, and “Call Me by Your Name.” Each of these new Coming of Age films have many things in common, one of the things I want to focus on through this paper is that they are all set in the past. “Lady Bird” came out in 2017 but was set in 2002, “Call Me by Your Name” came out in 2017 but was set in the 80s, “Moonlight” came out in 2016 and was also set in the 80’s and “Perks of Being a Wallflower,” came out in 2012 but was set it 1990. In this essay, I will discuss why coming of age film are set in the past and how the historical setting helps to show the essentialness and commonality of the moments we all go through.

When referencing coming of age films, Theskyid.com said, “We can never again experience the triumphs and failures of growing up. A movie, however, is the closest we can come to reliving this experience. This is why good cinema is so important. It can partially recreate those moments for us, and we can see a part of ourselves in the onscreen performance.” In this article they also name many classic coming of age films and the feelings we get reminded of from watching them. For example, watching “The Breakfast Club” can remind you how terrible high school sometimes was. Or watching “Stand By Me,” can be a reminder of your childhood friends and how those relationships affected who you are today. The list can go on and on with these movies and the relatable feelings they bring to all of us.

Francois Truffaut, The director of “ 400 Blows,” believes the coming of age story is for everyone. He said, ”The coming-of-age film is timeless for a reason: It's the one experience directors can be assured every moviegoer has gone through” The director can be sure that to some extent, everyone has gone through these same emotions and feelings in his or her own life. Badgerherld.com said, when talking about the film “Boyhood”, “The genius of this movie isn’t a shocking plot twist or creative story, but the truly enigmatic portrayal of human life” This description is relatable to most of these coming of age stories, the plot might not be wild and crazy but the feelings and emotions portrayed are incredibly relatable and touching to us.

Coming of age movies aren't like any other movie genres out there. They have an element and feeling that you can’t get in any other genre. There is more to this genre than just a “teen movie”, a “teen movie” is a movie just about teenage angst. Hadley Freeman explains, “The coming-of-age is a more soulful phenomenon: yes, it looks at teen life, but something deeper about the human spirit is revealed, and just because it might happen on a prom dance floor doesn’t in any way diminish the epiphanic uplift. Put it this way: with a teen film what you remember is the funny teen stuff, with a coming-of-age film you remember the emotions.” This genera has more emotion than most movies and that is one of the reasons that they are so widely excepted.

Most great coming of age films are set in the past and the historical setting of theses films help the message within them be clear and concise, modernity could blunt the message of universality. In today's world everything is moving a billion miles per minute. With new technology coming out everyday, it’s hard to keep up with it let alone keep track of it all. Things like social media didn't come out until the later 2000s. Facebook started in 2004, Twitter in 2006 and instagram in 2010. You can't look anywhere without seeing an Iphone having someone take a selfie or even hearing the latest news about a Kardashian. Technology is something that has pushed its way into everyone's lives whether we like it or not. So then why are so many of these new coming of age films set in a time before all of these new technological advances came out, not after them?

Not everyone can relate to the new age of technology. Not everyone grew up with the latest Iphone, or three thousand plus followers on instagram. Not everyone was worried about their crush retweeting their tweet or adding them back on snapchat. Millennials can relate to this new technology because they were coming of age when it all started to become popular. Baby boomers and older however, cannot always relate to this new technology and the way it has changed how it feels to grow up. If these popular coming of age films that I mentioned before were set in the present, they would be totally different. For example, in “Lady Bird,” she lies about where she lives and because technology wasn't as big in 2002 she was able to keep this going for quite a long time. If that movie was set now, lying about where you lives becomes a lot harder when everyone can look you up on “find my friends” and clearly see she is in another house everyday. In the film “Call Me By Your Name,” once the summer is over Oliver leaves Elio’s house and their communication becomes quite slim. Around Christmas time Oliver calls the family to tell them he’s engaged to someone else. Elio is left shocked and heartbroken. If that was to happen now, Elio would be following Oliver on Instagram and he would see all the pics Oliver is posting with this other girl and he wouldn't be shocked or surprised at all when they get engaged. In “Moonlight,” when Kevin and Chiron see each other again for the first time in a very long time, they have to get completely caught back up on eachother lives. If that was to happen in present day, catching up wouldn't take so long because they have been following each other on Facebook this whole time. If these films were set in the present, imagine how different they would be, imagine how non-universal and imagine quite frankly how boring these films could potentially be. They need the more historical setting so that everyone can actually relate to them.

Having these films set in the past brings a nostalgic feeling we can all relate to. Webster's dictionary defines nostalgia as, “a wistful or excessively sentimental yearning for return to or of some past period or irrecoverable condition”. This is the exact feelings these movies bring to people. In an article by Alan Siegel, he talks about the role of nostalgia in our everyday lives. Nostalgia has been shown to counteract loneliness, boredom and anxiety,” John Tierney of The New York Times wrote in a 2013 feature about the psychological study of the phenomenon. “It makes people more generous to strangers and more tolerant of outsiders. Couples feel closer and look happier when they’re sharing nostalgic memories. On cold days, or in cold rooms, people use nostalgia to literally feel warmer.” Nostalgia used to be considered a neurological disorder but now, in fact, it is looked upon as something that improves your mental health and even improves your daily mood. These films all have a special element of nostalgia in them. The movies with these past historical settings are doing this they bring us back to an older time that we can all relate to and by doing so they are improving our overall mental health.

Films set in these older time periods are set in times that all people know about. One does not have to have grown up in the 80s to know about the 80s. I grew up in the 2000s but I still know that if I start seeing leg warmers, mini skirt, parachute pants and some huge earrings that this movie is probably set in the 80s. Or if I start hearing only the songs like “Smells Like Teen Spirit”, “Wonderwall” and “Nothing Compares 2 U” then this movie is probably in the 90’s. Even though I didn't grow up in those time periods, I know people who have. Whether it is a parent, a grandparent, a friend, or someone from a history book, when we know people in these certain time periods they become more personal to us. We can look at these films and see that these people that we know, who grew up in totally different times, still went through the same things during their coming of age moments, it really unifies us to the themes in these movies. These cross-generational themes prove that movies that are made today but are set in the past really showcase the feelings and emotions that go along with coming of age perfectly. These movies that have been produced in the last couple of years but are set in the earlier time truly show that these ideas can be relatable to all. It doesn’t matter when they were made or what setting they are in, they still can relate to those who are in the time period they were in, the time period they were placed in, and all between.

A problem that I have heard many people say about this genera in particular is that all these films are “white as hell” and that these films are only written about privileged white upper class citizens. While I do agree that these films could always have more diversity, one could argue that almost all genres could use more diversity. If the people saying that were basing all their opinions off of teen moves such as “Clueless” than yes you would be right in saying that film is based off of privileged upper class citizens. But we have to remember coming of age films and teen movies are not the same. If you look at any modern coming of age films your perspective would probably change. For example, the coming of age film “Moonlight,” is about the life of Chiron as he is growing up in Miami as a young, gay, African-American man. Or the film “Juno,” about a 16 year old girl who gets pregnant in highschool and her decision to not get an abortion and to put her baby up for adoption. The list of these movies goes on and on for their originality and the fact that they all have relatable themes no matter the individual circumstances they are all going through.

Another problem people have with these movies is they say they are all about sex and that sex is the only theme in them. In many of these films the characters either talk about or actually do have sex, but that is definitely not what this gerera is based on and there are certainly more themes and ideas to get out of these films than just that. Many people think these movies only focus on the “sexual awakening” part of coming of age but that simply isn't true. Coming of age means many different things for many different people and each of these films show that beautifully. Coming of age really is all about choices, the choice can basically be boiled down to this, do you want to live the life that society has made for you or do you want to live you own? These films all show this when the character chooses for themselves how they feel about gender, social classes, religion, many other issues including sex. These films are not based around sex although that may sometimes be how they are portrayed. In reality, they are based around growing up, choices and searching for one’s own identity.

The coming of age genre is very relatable. The themes and emotions in these films are something we can all personally relate to in each of our lives. We may not have had the exact same life as the person we are seeing on screen. We might not be the same skin color as the person on screen. We might not have the same sexual orientation or have the exact same problems. But we have all grown up, “Reliving your youth might seem possible for a while, while you watch a character go through the highs and lows of adolescence. And that may be reason enough to sit down and watch a good coming of age film that takes you on a stroll down Memory lane”.

#coming of age #lady bird #call me by your name

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elegantshapeshifter · 6 years

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Even if (almost) all the accused witches were innocent, witch trials are still valid sources

Am I a Murrayite? No. I did a post explaining why the approach I’m referring to is non-Murrayite, it’s called “A pagan-animistic witchcraft history after Margaret Murray” and you can read it here: https://elegantshapeshifter.tumblr.com/post/170696469766/a-pagan-animistic-witchcraft-history-after However, the core idea of Margaret Murray was that all the accused witches were real witches. I say the the exact opposite.

In fact we can say that in *no* trial - included those in which the same defendant turn herself in as a witch in front of inquisitors or judges - we can prove that an accused witch was a real witch.

.: The trials as glimpses of folklore :.

But what we can prove is that the trials - ALL the trials - had the ideas discussed in the courtroom taken from somewhere, right?

Clearly the ideas of the accused witch are qualified as parts of the folklore.

Therefore we have two possibilities for the accused: - or she is an authentic witch (so... no problem, right?) - or she is an innocent person that reports folk legends.

Even the Church, the inquisition, the judges with their trials and their sermons influenced the popular beliefs, and so even if the accused echoed the words and the ideas of the judges, that source (the judges) can still be classified as part of the folklore (either before the trial with the priests’ sermons or after the trial with the bystanders that attended during the delivery of the judgment and then spread the ideas that were spoken).

If we admit that some witch existed outside the trials, we can imagine that there was a sort of heredity in family, with friends, etc. but in order to accomodate the critics, let’s say that no witch ever let in inheritance their tradition.

For the same reason, even if it’s possible that between all those accused witches a real witch could be there, in order to accomodate the critics, let’s say that no accused witch ever was a real witch. They were all innocents.

Ok, done. And now? Now what’s left? The folklore of the time. In fact, through the trials we can tap into the folklore of the time. Trials reveal parts of folklore, and therefore trials are a good source for the knowledge of the folklore.

.: The emulation :.

So... witches existed only in folk legends and not really? Even supposing that initially that was the case, there is the phenomenon of emulation. That is, somebody could have taken inspiration from the folklore in order to emulate these beliefs in real life.

Probably the emulation required several steps, for example it is possible that: 1) there was a vast majority of the population who believed in legends about witches; 2) there were certain people who let food offerings to these legends' characters; 3) there was a minority of people who dreamt these legends; 4) there was an even more restricted minority of people who believed that their dreams about witchcraft meant something and that they were actual witches; 5) there was a minority of minority of minority of people who emulated in physical reality the Sabbath they dreamed.

This idea was put forward by prof. Sabina Magliocco, who writes in her article “Who Was Aradia? The History and Development of a Legend”:

"Ostension is Degh and Vazonyi’s term for the enactment of legends. [...] Ostension always derives from a pre-existing legend: the legend precedes the existence of its enactment. [...] Hypothetically, legends about spiritual journeys to dance with the fairies and receive healing can easily be transformed by creative individuals into healing rituals with food offerings to the fairies and ecstatic dancing to special music. What if some women, inspired by utopian legends of the Society of Diana/ Herodias, decided to try to replicate such a society in medieval Europe? Though we have no proof such a society ever existed, it is not inconceivable that a few inspired individuals might have decided to dramatize, once or repeatedly, the gatherings described in legends. The use of the term giuoco (“game”) by Sibillia and Pierina suggests the playful, prankish character of ostension. A “game” based on legends of Diana/ Herodias and the fairies would probably have been secret and limited to the friends and associates of the creative instigators, who might well have been folk healers. One or more women might even have played the role of Diana or Herodias, presiding over the gathering and giving advice. Feasting, drinking and dancing might have taken place, and the women may have exchanged advice on matters of healing and divination."

Furthermore Magliocco specifies that: “However, it is important to remember that even if a group decided to enact aspects of the legend of Diana/Herodias, it would not have been a revival of pre-Christian paganism, but an attempt to act out certain ritual aspects described in the legends. Moreover, the more magical aspects from the trial reports - night flights on the backs of animals, ever-replenishing banquets, resurrection of dead livestock - could not have been achieved through ostension. We need to consider these as fantastical legend motifs, reports of experiences from trances or dreams, or both.”

I, therefore, don’t believe that the statements of the accused are sources because they were all true witches (Murrayite hypothesis), but they are sources because they record the folklore of the time and so they tell us what possible emulations somebody has or could have carried out.

.: The torture and the discrepancy :.

"But many trials were performed under torture, so they don't count!"

Even under torture if you were saying things that were in contrast with the expectations of the judges or the inquisitors, then obviously you were not (totally) adapting to their pressures, you were not (totally) reporting (only) their ideas, but also previous elements. So, in order to understand if a confession contained real elements of pre-Christian origin or not, this is the method: if the confession is exactly like what inquisitors or judges imagined Witchcraft was (i.e. the Devil, the blasphemy, etc.), the accused was probably repeating what the inquisitors or judges were expecting from her. However, if the story told during the confession wasn’t aligned with what the inquisitors thought, it was probably previous to their influences. So, for example, if the judges wanted to know about the Devil, and then the accused talked about the Fairy Queen and/or King, or about Madonna Horiente, or about Herodias, or Diana, it wasn’t a simple repetition of the fantasies of the inquisitors or the judges, it was *something else*.

It is in this way that even trials that were performed under torture count and are valid and useful for rediscovering the names of pre-Christian Spirits that were still alive in the folklore of the time and possibly objects of veneration in the emulations of folklore.

This is the method that the famous historian Carlo Ginzburg used. In fact, in we can read from his book “Threads and Traces: True False Fictive” that:

“Between “the image underlying the interrogations of the judges and the actual testimony of the accused,” there was, I explained, a “discrepancy,” a “gap” which “permits us to reach a genuinely popular stratum of beliefs which was later deformed and then expunged by the superimposition of the schema of the educated classes”“.

This gap, this discrepancy, therefore, allow us to accept even trials in which the torture was used. In those trials we simply look if there was such gap, and we look only at the elements that arise from that discrepancy.

.: Satanic Witchcraft vs Pagan-Animistic Witchcraft :.

However, the fact that we can understand which trials bring pre-Christian elements doesn’t mean that only those trials were emulated, that only the beliefs that arose from those trials were emulated.

All the beliefs had the same probability of being emulated.

Even when the judges or the inquisitors pressured the defendant and the accused slavishly repeated their fantasies, this created folklore. Why? Because after the trial, when the sentence was pronounced before the population, the population assimilated those beliefs.

Thus, as previous ideas led to the emulation of a Pagan-Animistic Witchcraft (Animistic because, as I said in previous posts, former pagan Gods became Spirits in a Christian-dominated society), the new ideas produced by the influence of the Church or the judges led to emulate a Satanic Witchcraft.

Between these two possibilities (Pagan-Animistic Witchcraft and Satanic Witchcraft), we also have a third one: When the accused is using the name of the Devil to hide another being, a pre-Christian or non-Christian Spirit (for example in Basque Country Akerbeltz, the local demon which is at the head of the Sabbath, comes from the Goddess Mari; while in Great Britain the Devil is often the spouse of the Queen of Elphame, therefore is the King of Elphame in disguise).

This last hypothesis, however, does not coincide with the Murrayite idea of an "Horned God": demonization didn't happen for a single cult throughout Europe, but could cover practically any pre-Christian Spirit, including female spirits (for example Mari in Basque Country) and not just male spirits.

So, the idea that the Devil is actually a God in disguise and the same God in all Europe is false: he is not a single male horned God that the priests have "mistaken" for the devil, it is the demonization that the priests were working towards *any* non-Christian Spirit. Therefore, to believe that in Spain as in Scotland as in Italy the character that often could be hidden behind the Devil was the same is totally wrong. Whenever the term "Devil" hides a pre-Christian Entity, this Entity is almost always a different one. Therefore we have many Devils for every Nation and region that hide different Gods and Spirit, not a single Devil that hides only one Entity.

However, excluding this third possibility, we can say that there were two kinds of emulators: Animistic-Pagan emulators and Satanist emulators.

The existence of these two types of emulators (although Cohn limits himself to the emulation in dreams) is shown by Norman Cohn in his book "Europe's Inner Demons", where he writes:

“It is clear that already in the Middle Ages some women believed themselves to wander about at night on cannibalistic errands, while others believed themselves to wander about, on more benign errands, under the leadership of a supernatural queen. Later, after the great witch-hunt had begun, some women genuinely believed that they attended the sabbat and took part in its demonic orgies: not all the confessions, even at that time, are to be attributed to torture or fear of torture.”

All that we have said so far can therefore make us understand why witch trials are an excellent source for better understanding of both the folklore of the time and the possible emulation of it, even if we admit that almost all of those accused of witchcraft were not really witches.

#Reconstructionism #reconstructionist traditional witchcraft #traditional witchcraft #tradcraft #trad craft #recon tradcraft #recon trad craft #Carlo Ginzburg #Norman Cohn #Sabina Magliocco #Margaret Murray

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twitchesandstitches · 6 years

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The MILF Fleet are way into biomodding themselves up. Really, really into it, to the degree that in-universe it defines them almost as much as their universally torso-sized boobs and ravenous libidos. Several other factions share this trait, most notably the Cobalts.

In general, assume that any named character has at least a few mods on them. Sometimes it’s functional; growing gills developed from seadweller trolls and fish to go exploring underwater. Sometimes its for combat, like subdermal armor that makes you bulletproof, powerful bulging muscles with super strength, or vicious tearing claws. And sometimes its purely subtle, like a longevity treatment that stops aging and permanently restores the user to the prime of health, and they won’t ever die of old age.

The MILFs love mods; the weirder, the better! The fleet is a carnival of strangeness, each giant mom a walking art show of mutation and self-imposed alteration, glowing with biological tattoos and cybernetic limbs, and most often its hard to tell what their original species was. The end results are often monstrous, even disturbing to more straightlaced inner worlds, and the MILFs rather enjoy annoying people with their freak factors. The Cobalts tend to prefer more subtle or elegant ones.

So here are some ways this whole process works!

Casual modding, for minor changes such as unnatural hair color, living tattoo designs that move as you want, or realistic body shapes, are universal and easy, and are common in most of the multiverse, with the MILF fleet making money by selling these mods in space ports and planetside bazaars wherever they go. You can get these from dispensers, whether they come in pill-form or more exotic variants like drinks and snack foods.

Therefore the exact mechanism of the modding varies quite a bit. It can be basically anything that could change a person, though the complexity of the mod will make the procedure more complex, rated further below. It should be noted that magic is a major component of almost any mod, since it adjusts the body more easily and alters the basic ‘template’ of the mod user, changing their body on a fundamental level. Thus, mods will even alter mechanical or other non-organic body parts, and can work on many different species with only minor adjustments for biochemistry.

Artifacts like the Matriatrix and Fountain of Conquest (with the right add-ons and knowledge) can make changes to other people that are, for all intents and purposes, mods. They’re not quite the same thing, since the Matriarchtrix usually does it one on one or requires the user to do things like unbirth the target to edit them into having the modded traits, or imbue them with enough energy to develop the desired traits and let them grow over time. More dangerously, this is just Sierra doing it on purpose. It is fundamentally an artifact of mutation, evolution and magical change, and its possible for its unleashed magic to induce all kinds of bizarre transformations on anything caught in the vicinity. There is a reason they say this thing makes monsters (though the minds of those altered by it are never damaged).

The Fountain can grant such traits instantly, but it loses overall power. The trait isn’t lost, but it becomes weakened. (If giving hyper proportions, the master of the Fountain will lose potential curve sizes, and usually a maximum power limit.) By studying how this process works, new mods can be created, or at least new and interesting ways to make them.

Certain transformations, such as hyper lactation, rebirthing (via the ability to alter someone who has been rebirthed while they are within a broodmother), or creative application of various empowered alterations can also approximate the transformation of a mod. For instance, milk that makes whoever drinks it or bathes in in take on selected traits is ubiquitous in the MILF Fleet. This kind of changes are usually very long-term, or uncontrollable and prone to unexpecting mutations. Those who prefer specific results or are attached to a specific body image are advised to use more conventional mods.

Others can be the result of the application of certain powers, such as the ability to alter other people’s physiology in some way, or forcibly reshaping bodies into weird forms. By studying how those powers work, new mods have been made to replicate their effects, making them efficiently mass produced at the cost of being less effective overall. You won’t be able to pump someone up a dozen times their size with a touch, but you don’t need the original power to do it, either.

Some purely mundane mods do exist, but they’re likely to be based on much older manufacturing means and most likely come from a reactivated ancient factory, or are the result of a lot of dedicated work. Ultimately, the MILF Fleet winds up doing that, developing their mods based off magical research and development, studying various traits that the Matriatrix samples from aliens, monsters and their own fleetmates.

As that implies, the Matriatrix can absorb traits that Sierra wants; just sampling them and adding them to an internal library to be deposited into the fleet stockpile later. Possibly this could cause the target to lose that trait, and with the right powers, Sierra could absorb those traits and get them right there: taking an armorplated foe’s armor hide and getting it herself, while leaving them defenseless. She can do this as a combat action, through a simple touch, or even through intimacy if she wants. The target can simply touch her or the Matriatrix, allowing her to gain the trait for the Fleet.

This trait can be anything; superhuman size, scales, gills, a physiological detail, powerful muscles for great strength… if it is purely physical in nature, it is considered a trait, and can be acquired.

It would be impossible to detail every possible mod, so this just laws down general rules for how mods in general can be classified. But...

Each manufacturer has their own style of mods, and you get different kinds wherever you go. A consumerist culture will offer different mods than one that is all about free love and self-expression, with the latter desiring more extreme ones, for example. Generally, the term mod just refers to any item or procedure that changes the user, permanently or temporarily. This is almost often something that is physically ingested like food or drink, something that is applied to the body such as lotions or bath liquids, but can also mean surgical alterations and cybernetics.

A major factor is time. The more complex or encompassing a change is, the more time it takes. Minor changes can happen within a day and settle in a week. More complex changes can take weeks to just start happening, and the most extreme changes may require years to finish. Some mods cut this down, but they are typically very expensive and have very specific purposes rather than being suites of broad changes.

Minor: Simple changes, such as color change to hair and skin, small height changes, and mostly aesthetic transformations like living tattoos or small claws, are the easiest. If this is strictly visual changes that give no real benefit or disadvantage (non-functional gill slits) or proportion alterations that are within the realm of real life natural sizes, it fits into this category. These are simple drinks, snack foods, and other one-hit changes. Usually permanent, but commercial ones typically fade in time unless you get brand name. If it doesn’t really need to modify you THAT much, it counts. Making ones sexual organs more exotic (ridges, selecting squeezing or a knot) straddles the line between this and the next category, but are very common.

Moderate: Genuine transformations, things like growing body length fur, turning your hair into feathers or poofy scales (or growing hair at all, for reptiles and amphibians), a small tail, or alterations to the skeletal structure for things like digitigrade legs or opposable digits. These are obvious and distinct changes from baseline, but don’t need to make too many changes to your body to adapt to them. Body proportions beyond what is naturally possible, but still not too big. These tend to require consistent applications of food transformatives over time, lotions on the altered area, and other means of consistent use. Implants such as brain connection with the internet or neural interfaces count here. Growing bigger or smaller fits here, but only to about half again as big or small; anything more is too complicated for this level.

Significant: Significant reworking of the body, and requiring drastic changes to the body to make them work or apply to them. Things like boobs bigger than your torso, butt big enough to be a bookshelf and lips thick around as your palm count here. A big theme would be that secondary changes are required for the body to function with the new change, as do mods that induce changes like those. Things like connective breast tissue that acts as a built-in bra, lactation so fast it can fill a bathtub, automatic testicle growth and hyper gene material production. Growing to significant sizes, either smaller or larger, is a common trend with this one. This is where mods tend to get more weird or changing the body; muscle tissue on par with power armor with the force it can put out, as well as completely changing the user’s apparent species. These mods can involve long term application of variou substances and special diets, and sometimes procedures. Most of the more interesting mods fit in this category.

Extreme: Anything more extreme than previous ones; complete digitization or modification into a purely mechanical form, fertility augmentation to make the user into a broodmother, giant-sized size increase, or impossible degrees of physical or mental enhancement. Changes that give a complete unrecognizable body plan (Such as a centaur form for starters, or becoming humanoid if the user was originally a monster-type) fall in here. Total cybernetic refit, extremely invasive procedures, and very long-term regimens can all result from these. Usually only the most wealthy have those, and it can be a status symbol to have used even one.

The major factions the AU focuses around all have their own gimmicks, special varieties and tweaks, due to different living conditions, their own sub-cultures, general philosophies and of course what they actually have available, as stated below:

MILF Fleet - generally they like stuff weird and their modding is very monster-y; they like things like big spikey bits, exoskeletons, huge fangs. More conventionally, most of them have unusual hair colors in vibrant neon colors, full body tattoos that move on their own into new designs, and minor adjustments to suit their own looks. The ones who like fighting are very inhuman in appearance when they want, with biomechanical implants and weaponry integrated into their bodies. The more monstrous and alien this is, the more they like it. Things such as multiple breasts are pretty popular, as are ultra huge proportions, non-humanoid morphologies, natural weapons, wings, tentacles, and gooey forms. Modding their genitals for practicality or more fun applications is almost a must. Many can also shift between mild and extreme forms of their mods, so they can go from being cute to being battle ready by shifting how subtle their more inhuman assets are. A woman with spiky skin and crustacean traits can turn her skin into full-fledged carapace to deflect bullets and her hands into massive crab claws. Their mods are always totally stable, though they take a long time to fully kick in.

The MILF fleet sell their mods freely, usually at local shops and in bazaars, as they move through inhabited space. They have a strict policy against selling their combat mods at all, they flat out don’t want to basically be arms dealers just to make a bit of extra cash, and dread the idea of causing military problems or imbalancing precarious power struggles. Breaking this law is one of their more serious offenses, and ties into some of their notions of a prime directive; giving mods to others that will free them from biological chains and restrictions is an imperative, but enabling murder is forbidden.

Cobalts: They prefer their mods to be more elegant and generally stray away from ones that can hinder their movement and look ungainly. They specialize in combat grade mods that come in several stages, going from completely unobtrusive to increasing levels of obviousness, each with their own utilities, until they hit the maxed out level and fully activate, with things like armor suites and arm-mounted bio-swords. They also favor more obscure additions, such as psionic powers, lending to those being almost ubiquitous among the crew. However, their on-board science squad tends to test new mods freely on whoever is available, leading to a class divide; the higher ups are heavily modded with perfected, elegant mods with no drawbacks and versatile abilities, and an underclass of serfs and crewmates who are tested on with bizarre and highly unstable mods that tend to make them strange monsters or induce odd impulses.

The Cobalts make a lot of money selling their mods for extremely high prices and are in demand among the richer parts of the multiverse, and having a Cobalt mod is a very prestigious thing in some quarters. They do sell their combat-grade mods, though they only do so for the most mild ones. Not because of the moral issues, they just want to keep their advantages for themselves.

Ringers: Prefer combat mods that are very subtle, with a disdain for openly monsterizing themselves. They also tend to choose ones that force the user to acclimatize and ‘earn’ their transformation. Likely to sell combat-grade mods for the express purpose of stirring up violence and conflict, and are constantly looking to expand their arsenal for this purpose.

Well-To-Do Galactic Centers and the like: Mods of all kinds are common, and usually cheap if they’re minor ones. Things like altering hair texture or growing the hair longer, lotions that make skin perfectly healthy forever, and reworking a body into the peak of fitness are all ubiquitous and pretty common. Appearance alterations that alter bone structure, scale shape or chitin growths to make someone more beautiful are also common if expensive, and unfortunately lending to homogeneity in appearances. More drastic changes are rarer, very expensive, and in some places can lead to disdain from those who disapprove of body modification.

Criminal organizations: Catch all for underworld organizations of all sorts, they generally sell mods that are prone to serious issues, unwanted mutations, and even mental complications. Virility enhancements that make users insatiably lusty and pitfully dependant on those who relieve them, hyper lactation that becomes brain-meltingly additive to milk yourself, and proportion enlargements that render the user immobile are all risky and common ones that damage the reputation of mods in general. Less ethically tricky are mods that alter brain chemistry to induce feelings of heightning happiness, low-grade euphoria, and some of the benefits of drug use without actually employing them. More benign organizations are modifying these last for use in therapeutic treatments. Criminal organizations also make heavy use of combat mods, the scarier and more grotesque, the better.

The Cartel antagonists also qualify, though mod distrubition isn’t really their interest.

Multiverse backwaters: In places where mods are available and there are few regulations, you can get all kinds of bizarre mods, often leanings towards a more practical viewpoint; more gills to survive underwater and super-thick fat for cold temperatures, less skin made of fleshy gold. Still, the libertine environments of such places can produce easy-going attitudes similar to the MILF Fleet.

Imperial Commonwealth of Humanity: The use of mods is strictly banned, because these guys are boring like that. Rumors suggest that the aristocratic elite regularly ingests special chemical brews that amplify their psionic powers or even gives them some, though it's unclear if they are aware of this or are simply partaking in rituals without knowing their significance.

#/#//#///#////#/////#queued #crossthicc AU

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