#and challenging myself to make an edit/or post writing(s) until my birthday on the 5th? i thought it could be cute!

[thedeadthree]

but this torture, this agony — it is yours for the taking. it is yours to have. (x)

@exilethegame

[rubyjcat]

[Behind-the-Scenes] HELIOS Rising Heroes: Animation Showcase

“HELIOS Rising Heroes: Animation Showcase” is an English voice fan project I worked on all by myself (barring voice actors) that took five months to make.

The original plan was to make just one video, but it ended up being eighteen of them!

Link to YouTube playlist:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0UbdFyWSx0n_ewcd-t0iAB0adGe5lghH

In this write-up, I’ll be discussing details about the response to the project, recording all the footage, video editing, voice acting + audio processing, script translations + rewriting, which fonts were used, and even the emulator used. I’ve organized it into sections to make it easier to find certain things. Also, this is directed to English-speaking readers since I’m not gonna bother translating the entire thing to Japanese.

THE DREAM

I wanted to make this fandub ever since the game was released (in Aug 2020). I just knew that English voices would be extremely fitting to the world of HELIOS with a setting inspired by America and characters, places, and terms mostly in English. I was disappointed to hear that the studio behind the game, Cacalia Studio of Happy Elements K.K., had no interest to localize their games outside of Asia, which meant the chances of an English dub, let alone a global release were close to zero.

I was able to understand how to play the game thanks to the fan translators, some of which came from other Cacalia Studio games, and got inspired to continue learning Japanese (there was a previous attempt to translate Japanese lyrics years back).

What I thought was just the silly dream of one overseas player’s became something much more!

THE TIMELINE (BRIEF OVERVIEW)

I played the game for about two months prior to working on the project. Before starting the project, I had to sort out graphical and technical issues on my end first as I was unable to play the game smoothly until November.

November 2020

Finding all the in-game battle lines

Writing transliterations (romaji) of lines by ear

Learning and translating lines to Japanese

Started recording footage

December 2020

Further translation revisions

Held a casting call

Script rewriting and finalizing

January 2021

Completed casting

Started video editing (learning process)

Started audio processing

Recorded more footage

February 2021

Recorded more footage

Japanese script revisions

Finished working with VAs

Finished audio processing

Continued video editing

Published Preview video

March 2021

Recorded the last of the footage

Japanese subtitle revisions

Finished Showcase video

Finished Individual battle clips

Gave recommendations to VAs

The exact start and end dates were Nov 1st, 2020 to March 31st, 2021. Pretty neat.

RESPONSE TO THE PROJECT

I was absolutely shocked with the response to the preview video, which at the time of writing has just hit 10K views and almost 600 likes on Twitter and YouTube combined. Not bad for an unpaid hobby fandub (a joke only I find funny...) of an otherwise “niche” Japanese-only mobile game.

As of Apr 4th, 2021 - Thank you so much. This is more than I could’ve asked for.

The preview video blew up way more than anticipated, setting up for a bit of disappointment when the Showcase video was released.

The amount of views I expected for this project within its prime were a couple hundred views, so I’m content that the Showcase video reached that amount (it had ~500 by the end of March).

The expectations for the battle clips were an average of 100 views and a handful of likes - and each one got roughly that amount (or more) - so I’m also content with that, especially for something that’s just “bonus material”.

I tried my best to promote this project on Twitter with three main tweets. My one regret with promoting the project was making the second tweet after publishing the Showcase because the Japanese I wrote there was pretty terrible (as I was all worn out from editing and was in a haste to tweet about it). I tried to make up for it in a follow-up reply the next day, but it was too late. I was satisfied with how my third and final tweet and thread of battle clips turned out, but it sadly didn’t garner much attention. A reason for this was probably due to bad timing. I knew that the timing of the last tweet was awful as HeliosR did something special for April Fools’ day, plus the Easter event was being hyped around the same time, but I really wanted to finish up the project within March (my timezone, at least. It was already April 1st in Japan).

It was important to also make the videos accessible to the Japanese audience as they were a large portion of the viewers. This proved to be a challenge as my knowledge of Japanese is limited - at least for me, it’s easier to translate grammar-correct Japanese than it is to write my own sentences.

I ultimately decided against posting any of the videos on NicoNico because I wasn’t sure about Japan’s laws regarding copyrighted material. I knew it was already risky enough posting on social media and didn’t want to take any additional risks.

ABOUT THE FOOTAGE (1) – HEROES & ATTACK ORDER

HeliosR uses a gacha system, so to be able to even make something like this, you’d first need access to all 16 ★4 OG Heroes in the game.

I had them spread across five different accounts, four of which were reroll accounts. Asakou from the Cacalia RPG server gave me two of those accounts, and I rerolled myself for Keith and Ren during their Birthday Orders (one free 10-pull per account). Every account is also given a free ★4 selector ticket which I made good use of.

3,000 rubies (in-game currency) were sacrificed to pity the ★4 OG Dino when he was released in December just for the sake of the fandub!

Besides covering all of the Heroes, I also needed to play through each account to unlock certain story chapters, event stages, and evolve the Heroes for their shiny evolved CG art. Some of the Expert event stages (that had the Nighttime backgrounds) proved difficult to clear with a new account.

When using skills, the order of the Heroes were edited such that everyone was able to have the majority of their lines used at least once. All Heroes had two “receiving support” lines, two or three “supporting” lines, and two or three “skills against the enemy” lines. Some of the extra lines didn’t make it into the Showcase, so they were used for the individual clips instead.

I should’ve used Gray instead of Marion for the account that had Billy because you can see Marion’s sprite in Billy’s image. xD

In the Showcase, you may notice that the "Union Attacks" consist of all the ★4 CG images. These were spliced together; I never had all four Heroes of the same sector on the same account. For example, I would have Gray, Asch, and Jay on one account and Billy on another account, recorded their ★4 Bursts separately using the same background (from unlocking the Expert stages on both accounts), and then edited all the footage together.

Jay’s Burst was later re-recorded with a different attacking order so that he wouldn’t link to Billy.

It was also important to keep the same order of Bursts as well as use all four Bursts in the same turn. The ★4 Burst order was usually determined by who didn’t link skill with one another (with the exception of East sector as I was still figuring things out) because I didn’t want the link skill activation getting in the way of the animations.

As a little bonus, I also showed off the exclusive damaging skills of the Chapter 6 and 7 ★4 frames that I was lucky enough to pull from the gacha: Marion’s "Invitation To The Dance“ (roses), Faith’s “Synthetic Vibes” (beats), and Dino’s “Crow Mark Dead End” (claw marks).

ABOUT THE FOOTAGE (2) - BACKGROUNDS

Since I didn’t want to use the same battle music and backgrounds for all of the videos, I decided to use some of the themes from the limited-time events which went as far back as Nov 2020.

Each background has three variants (Daytime, Afternoon, Nighttime) and so I carefully picked them based on the colours. I ended up using mostly Expert stages - or Nighttime backgrounds, since Daytime versions were only used for Normal difficulty stages (which are too easy to clear).

The backgrounds used for the Showcase, all from limited-time events.

I decided to mix up some of the Heroes from other sectors in the individual clips for fun, basing it off of their relationships with each other. Using South sector’s background for Gast’s clip was a purposeful choice because I already used the North sector’s background for the other three North sector Heroes. I made sure to include Akira and Will of the South sector in Gast’s clip so it didn’t feel too random!

The only default background I didn’t use was Chapter 2’s because I already made use of the Casino theme for OG West sector’s individual clips. (...Plus I didn’t really like that background :p)

Here’s a list of all the backgrounds I used:

Escape the Prison (Nov 2020) - used for Showcase [EAST]

Mission of CASINO (Nov 2020) - used for Junior, Faith, & Keith clips

HAPPY NEW YEAR SHOW! (Jan 2021) - used for Showcase [SOUTH]

Help! Cooking Hero! (Jan 2021) - used for Will and Oscar clips

A Sweet Spell Garnished With Chocolate (Feb 2021) - used for Showcase [WEST]

Grandiose Chinoiserie (Mar 2021) - used for Showcase [NORTH]

The Hero Is A Detective!? (Mar 2021) - used for Billy and Jay clips

Default backgrounds: Chapters 1, 3, 4 (shared with 7), 5 (shared with 6) - used for all other clips

The Christmas event was the only event that went unused during the Nov 2020 - Mar 2021 period.

I didn’t record the East sector event (Christmas) in Dec 2020 because I was actually too busy with the casting call! I also didn’t think I would make use of it after already recording the Prison event intended for East sector. The project ended up taking so long that it actually benefited from having a wider selection of events over the months, which also showcased the beauty of the game.

ABOUT THE WORK & VIDEO EDITING

Hardware:

A decent computer.

A pair of no-name earbuds I found while cleaning out some junk.

Software:

All FREE!

*There’s a catch

NoxPlayer* emulator (debloated, read more about in its own section) and Open Broadcast Studio were used to record game footage and sounds.

Davinci Resolve was the main tool I used to edit the videos. A very demanding program that I only recommend using if you have a mid to high end computer.

MediBang was used to edit some of the art like the logos, but I ended up using Resolve for the majority of the graphics, including the thumbnails.

Audacity and Cakewalk were used to edit audio.

Many aspects for this project took longer than I had hoped because there was a learning process with using Resolve for the first time. I’m also a bit of a perfectionist, re-exporting videos tons of times just to fix small mistakes. Lastly, the time it took to make all the fancy effects was longer than I’d estimated. As the project dragged on, there was pressure to not delay the release of the videos any longer than I had to. A lot of this was self-imposed though.

There were days where I just did something else other than work on the project, which helped re-fuel my motivation when I decided to pick it up again.

Pretty much everything in the videos were taken from the game itself. The only graphics that were taken from the official website instead were the Substance symbols (the pictures with HERO at the bottom).

Additional overlay graphics were custom-made. It took two whole days to make the 3-second long sector intros and another two days to create and animate the arrow graphics for the credits. These were made using Resolve’s fusion and colour features. Much of the edit was inspired by the official HeliosR designs.

Left: Official in-game graphics // Right: My fanmade video (sector intros)

Sector intros were inspired by the four Heroes version of Union Attacks in-game.

Left: Official HeliosR video // Right: My fanmade video

The Preview video took after the ★4 Burst mini-previews as part of HeliosR’s promotional campaign, uploaded before the game was released.

Left: Official HeliosR video // Right: My fanmade video

The credits at the end of the Showcase were inspired by a different video, this time being the Half-Anniversary video.

The Showcase - which had a duration of 29:07 - was 11.5GB large in size. It took almost three hours to render (which I re-rendered to fix things) and two DAYS to upload to YouTube because I experienced multiple uploading interruptions. It’s a good thing you can re-upload the same video to continue where you left off without having to restart the entire process.

The individual hero clips didn’t take as long to make (but they took a while anyway as I re-uploaded some of them to fix minor mistakes). The recommendations for the VAs that were given alongside the publishing of each clip also spanned over another five days as I wanted to personalize and think about each one carefully.

A pretty frustrating part of the project was the prevalent lag when recording footage, which may have been due to the emulator and/or some technical things on my end. The Prison event used for the Showcase was the very first one I recorded when I wasn’t as aware about the lag, and so it suffered a bit as a result. The Union Attacks were the worst offender. I re-recorded the same battle scenes several times each just in case, then went through the footage frame-by-frame in Resolve and chose the ones with the least amount of lag. If all of the recorded footage suffered lag at different parts, I would even compare and splice together parts of them that didn’t lag. There was also audio lag (a known issue of NoxPlayer) so I had to move all of the audio forward by 1/3 of a second.

By the end of the project I had over 200 videos of game footage with a total size of over 24GB and a total duration exceeding 9 hours, not even counting all the ones that went unused.

The Heroes weren’t the only ones who evolved. MS Paint not recommended for thumbnails.

Overall, (despite the few mistakes here and there that nobody other than me would notice) I was happy with how everything turned out, down to the gorgeous thumbnails! I am an artist, after all~ :^)

I also have much more respect for video editors. They should be called VIDEO ANIMATORS!

ABOUT THE VOICES & AUDIO PROCESSING

When making a dub, it doesn’t mean we want to replace or best the original language, we just want to give it a new interpretation. In fact, the characters’ voice descriptions and direction provided in the scripts were heavily inspired by the seiyuu (Japanese VAs) and how they performed their lines.

Honestly, this was THE dream cast!! Some of the VAs had comparably similar voices to the Japanese ones which was an amazing coincidence. The ones that may not have sounded as similar had unique interpretations that I felt still suited their characters well. I also chose actors based on their performance, and everyone delivered!

Voice actors were not expected to imitate the Japanese voices and lines. They were provided direction and reference videos to help time their lines, but were otherwise given liberty when it came to their own interpretations.

You shouldn’t hear any jarring differences between the voice actors’ microphones and setups. That’s because I took the time to process the audio. Faith’s audio was submitted to me post-processed so it was used as a guideline for what the audio quality should sound like. Some of the others had comparable quality to Faith’s, so I only added compression to balance their volumes. Most of them benefited from equalization of various levels - this took some experimenting back and forth with the frequency spectrum. Lastly, a couple more benefited from clip fixing, noise gate, de-essing and/or click removal. It was very important for VAs to have at least decent room treatment; while small differences between mic frequencies can always be altered, echoes are difficult if not impossible to remove completely.

I feel that audio engineering is highly underrated and more important than ever as voice actors continue to record from home studios.

And in case it wasn’t already clear, this was purely voluntary work. No VAs or myself were paid to contribute anything for the project. Though, the experience alone was worth more than any amount of money.

ABOUT THE SCRIPT & TRANSLATIONS

HELIOS Rising Heroes「エリオスR」English Translation - Battle Lines

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ImWrAfvS_hgp6qr5qt30vCP63uHEk2o79uqY0h-3wL4/edit?usp=sharing

This spreadsheet consists of the literal translations for all the battle lines I could find in the game (it still isn’t done -yet-, plan to finish it when I get the chance). These are only fanmade and are not guaranteed to be accurate, especially as I wasn’t able to find another translator to help or proofread it.

After translating the lines, I made many additional revisions from the literal meanings such as changing the intention of the line slightly to flow better, having extra words added in to provide more context, or changing them completely. Thus, the lines used in the video are NOT literal TLs!

Another thing of note that may not seem apparent, but is what I feel an important aspect of character writing, is to remain completely unbiased towards all the characters. Personal favourites aside, I ensured that every Hero had their own spotlight as well as lines written in a way that remained faithful to their personality, no matter how unlikeable they were (looking at you, Asch Albright).

Even after giving voice actors their scripts, I made another revision in February after the release of the aforementioned Half-Anniversary video with the transcriptions for the ★4 Bursts, which is when I discovered a couple of mistakes with my transcriptions. This resulted in me having to edit out a part of one of the voice actors’ lines (Billy’s “String Show” line in his ★4 Burst) because of a translation mistake! I’m really glad I was able to double-check the correct lines before releasing the Preview video, or it would’ve looked pretty silly to Japanese viewers.

The last set of revisions were just minor edits to the subtitles (such as using kanji instead of kana) while I was working on subtitling all the videos.

Notable changes included:

WILL SPROUT

During attacking combo

Original line:

tanonda zo... ike! / “Counting on you... Reach!”

Rewritten line:

“I’ll become stronger... For everyone!”

The rewritten line is a condensed version of one of Will’s ★4 Evolved CG lines (“For everyone... I’ll become more and more stronger!”). He had “Reach!” in both his attacking combo and regular Burst, so I gave him an extra unique line.

★4 Burst

Original line:

warui kedo... kore de oshimai da! / “Sorry, but... it ends with this!”

Rewritten line:

“I’m sorry, but... it’s over for you! HAAAH!”

There were a couple of oversights I made with the script, and this was one of them that didn’t fit the animation properly. Props to Ryan for coming up with the extra shout at the end! So yeah, we kinda winged this line.

OSCAR BALE

When using skills against the enemy, during attacking combo, and in the ★4 Burst (repeat line)

Original line:

osoi! / “Slow!”

Rewritten lines:

“Too slow!” / “You’re slow!” / “Over here!”

Rewritten simply because I wanted to minimize repeated lines and change things up.

GAST ADLER

When supporting an ally, and during attacking combo

Original lines:

tetsudau ze / “I’ll help (you).”

itchouagari / “All done.”

Rewritten lines:

“I’ve got your six.”

“Target eliminated.”

I wanted to add in a few military terms to reflect Gast’s background.

FAITH BEAMS

★4 CG line (for the credits)

Original line (literal TL):

“It’s not terrible or evil, right? Surely this isn’t punishing... I guess?”

Rewritten line (with “mistake”):

“I’m not doing anything horrible or evil, alright? This is just business as usual... I suppose?”

Faith’s CG line had a mistake when I first translated and handed it off to his actor. I accidentally wrote “oshigoto” (work/business) instead of “oshioki” (punishment). The original has him pretty much saying the same thing twice anyway, so I would say the intention was still retained.

KEITH MAX

When supporting an ally

Original line:

gambare yo~ / “Do your best~.” or “Hang in there~.”

Rewritten line:

“Stay alive, would ya~?”

I know Keith’s meant to say “serious” things in a sarcastic or snarky way, but I just had to add in this fun line!

DINO ALBANI

Using skills against the enemy

Original lines:

haa! / “Haah!”

hei! / “Hey!”

Rewritten lines:

“I can do this!”

“Leave it to me!”

The Japanese lines for Dino’s offensive skills were rather basic, with the third and unchanged line “Here goes!” being a repeat line Dino also says when attacking. I wanted to give him some more lines - as standard as they are - to show his personality a bit more, along with having an additional fun West sector interaction. The changes fit the animations better too. (I actually had his VA say the "Haah!" line, but ended up using a different take of “Here goes!” in place of it.)

ABOUT THE FONTS

Fonts were taken from various sources and were either FREE for personal use or had an open font license. I didn’t have access to the commercial fonts (such as Futura) used in-game, so these were the following fonts I made use of:

Techna Sans looked similar enough to Futura when capitalized, and still looked decent in lowercase.

Jost* is a font that was derived from Futura. Some of its uppercase letters are sharper than Futura's, but it worked pretty well for the text in the credits.

Gau Font Over Drive was used for the ANIMATION SHOWCASE text.

Gen Jyuu Gothic LP was used for the majority of the Japanese text and its English letters were also used for the battle clip subtitles on Twitter.

Meiryo UI (default font) was used for the Preview videos’ subtitles.

Noto Serif JP (default Google font) was used for the serif Japanese text in the credits.

ABOUT NOXPLAYER ANDROID EMULATOR

ETA: AS OF VERSION 1.1.18 (04/23/21), EMULATORS NO LONGER WORK WITH HELIOSR (AS WELL AS OTHER CACALIA STUDIO GAMES). THE BELOW INFORMATION IS OUTDATED.

If, for whatever reason you’re interested in using NoxPlayer, you should take caution when installing it onto your machine. I don’t advocate for or recommend installing Nox. I had to resort to emulation so that I could record the footage and sounds directly from my computer using OBS. The reason why I used Nox specifically is because Cacalia Studio doesn’t like emulators, blocking most of them from running their games. I found further instructions on how to run the game in Nox from the Cacalia RPG Discord (via Twitter @HeliosR_en).

First, not all Nox versions are safe. It should only be installed from the official website, Bignox. More recent versions (I believe from 6.3.0.6 and up) may contain malware such as Segurazo and Chromium packaged with the installer which can be annoying to remove. The version of Nox I used was 6.3.0.0 (you can install older versions, then just don’t update it), which has Android 7 and doesn’t contain packaged malware (AFAIK).

Second, NoxPlayer may be “free” to use, but it comes with bloatware and profits off of its users’ data by collecting and sending it to many different servers. The below guide is what I used to debloat Nox and minimize communication to these servers. Scroll down the comments for additional domains to add to the hosts file.

Debloating & Optimizing Nox:

https://gist.github.com/Log1x/12d330ef7685d6fbc611d1d57efb5c29

This is another good guide that makes use of command prompt to remove additional bloatware from the emulator.

How to Remove Bloatware on Nox and LDPlayer Emulator:

https://codefaq.org/emulator/how-to-remove-bloatware-on-nox-and-ldplayer-emulator/

ENDING NOTES (TL;DR)

Images of the first and last video for the HeliosR project. We’ve come full circle!

One very tired and average person decided to translate, script, cast, direct, and edit an ambitious project all by herself using only FREE tools, and ended up taking too long to finish it. But at least she finished it, right?

Translators = RESPECT

Voice actors = RESPECT

Video editors = RESPECT

Audio engineers = R E S P E C T (their work is especially behind-the-scenes)

Hell, I even like Asch now.

During my time working on this, there was one question I always had in mind: “What would the fans want?”

I hope this follow-up has given you a bit of insight into the makings of the HeliosR project. Thank you for reading!

~RubyJCat

[moonlightmadnessreviews]

Child’s Play (2019): Chucky Come Lately, The New Kid in Town

We’re coming up on a month since the release of Orion Pictures’ Child’s Play remake. In the lead up to the polarizing release, there were two very different teams drawn up: you were either Team Good Guy, or Team Buddi. If you were the former, it was thought you were an elitist, unable to see past your love for the original and too closed minded to admit you were even a little curious as to how the new movie would turn out. If you wore the latter team’s jersey, you were part of what is wrong with horror today, ready to gobble up corporate studio schlock even if it means trampling all over the original. At a time when a remake is announced every other week, I want to discuss why it’s okay to root for the home town hero, while also being curious about what the rookie has to offer.

Child’s Play was originally released in 1988, having been written and directed by Tom Holland from a story by Don Mancini, produced by David Kirschner and distributed by MGM. The film was a hit, drawing enough at the box office to spawn six sequels, and the cult following was immediately under the spell of the pint sized, Voodoo practicing antagonist, Charles Lee Ray. I recently turned 30, and it wasn’t until I was in my early teens that I realized the original trilogy was called Child’s Play and not Chucky, as I’d always referred to the movies. Brad Dourif plays Chicago serial killer Charles Lee Ray, The Lakeshore Strangler. After he’s chased into a toy store and fatally wounded by Detective Mike Norris (Chris Sarandon), Chucky transfers his soul into the body of a Good Guy Doll. The rest of the movie follows Chucky and the first person he reveals his identity to, a six year old boy named Andy Barclay (Alex Vincent), as Chucky murders his way through babysitters, old accomplices and Voodoo mentors! All the while, Chucky preys on Andy’s innocence, telling him they’re “Friends til the end!” simply to make it easier for him to transfer his soul into Andy’s body.

This set up was, and still is, perfect! For much of the movie, Chucky is a stoic rubber doll, resembling one of the Cabbage Patch Dolls that were so popular in the 1980s. It’s clear to see how excited Andy is when he gets the doll as a birthday present, and you feel genuine fear for the kid knowing there’s the soul of a serial killer trapped inside his new best friend! I would give anything to travel back in time to sit in the theater on opening night and experience the moment Chucky finally reveals his true nature to Andy’s Mom! What may seem silly to us now must have made for an awesome group experience in that theater, especially considering the amazing animatronics and Dourif’s fantastic voice over work, his animalistic aggression striking fear into children for years after.

For all the praise we can give Chucky and the lore his movies built up, they did become somewhat formulaic, but Chucky and pals had solidified themselves in the minds and memories of millions. It’s easy to see why fans were hesitant, and confused, when the remake was announced. Some went as far as to write off the movie completely before even hearing what the changes would be. Well, as it turns out, the changes were pretty drastic, in part due to the legal issues of having a remake separate from the Mancini Chucky universe, soon to make a place for itself as a spin off TV show on the SyFy channel.

Child’s Play 2019 has brought Chucky and Andy into the era of asking someone for their WiFi password as soon as you walk through their door. The film is directed by Lars Klevberg (Polaroid) from a screenplay by Tyler Burton Smith (Kung Fury 2) and produced by David Katzenberg and Seth Grahame-Smith (IT, Chapter 1 and 2). In our post-Stranger Things world, Andy, played here by Gabriel Bateman (Lights Out), is no longer a six year old child but rather a young teen having trouble fitting in and making friends in his new neighborhood. His mom, Karen Barclay (Aubrey Plaza), is still a single mother working in retail, but the doll she brings home for Andy’s birthday is incredibly different due to the exclusion of one incredibly important character: Charles Lee Ray. Gone is the Voodoo. Gone is the Lakeshore Strangler. Gone is the voice! The new direction is daring to say the least.

In this version, Chucky is a WiFi capable, Cloud connected Buddi doll. As part of their use as an educational tool for children, Buddi dolls learn from their Best Buddies, picking up on their sense of humor, social cues and behaviors. Eventually Buddi could help you keep track of your calendar and even control climate setting in your home. Seems pretty cool, right? Well it would be, except Andy’s Buddi doll was hacked by a disgruntled factory worker who does away with Chucky’s limiters for language, violence, and seemingly even his free will.

What I feel works especially well in the new take is Chucky’s innocence at the start of the movie. A Buddi doll’s only mission is to imprint on their new owner and be the best friend this child could ever ask for. We get scenes of Andy and Chucky playing chess, hanging out, and even looking through scrap books of Andy’s art. Chucky takes a genuine interest in Andy and simply wants to be his Best Buddy, so when Andy is scratched by his mother’s cat, we get the first glimpses into Chucky’s unlocked potential for violence. He wants to punish anyone, or anything, that wishes Andy harm. Chucky hasn’t just imprinted, he is frighteningly obsessed.

One of my favorite scenes plays out as Andy, and his friends Falyn and Pugg (Beatrice Kitsos and Ty Consiglio, respectively) are watching a particularly brutal horror movie. I was genuinely giddy in the theater when the clips started to flash on screen, so I won’t spoil it here. This is where we see Chucky’s gears start to turn. Much like a child who may pick up on violent behavior they’re exposed to, Chucky sees Andy and his friends laughing at the outlandish violence on screen and decides to “entertain” them with a butcher knife.

Through out the course of the 90 minute run time, we see Andy struggling with how to control Chucky, now having gotten the wrong impression of violence and feeling rejected by his Best Buddy. The stakes are raised as Chucky becomes increasingly violent, seeking to please Andy at every turn only to make things worse, like a genie who twists their master’s words, making them sorry for not being more careful with their wishes. Come the third act, we can start to see hints of Chucky’s own fully formed personality, now having been twisted and deranged by the movies events.

This movie was more fun than I anticipated, and it even got my wife’s stamp of approval after I dragged her to the theater with me on opening night! Rather than try to be some incredibly bleak, super realistic take on the story, Child’s Play knew exactly what it was and went all out with the ridiculous concept. The movie’s R rating was also used to its full potential, and though most of the scares are pretty telegraphed, they shower you with so much blood and gore that you can’t help but laugh. Andy’s group of friends, though not nearly as charismatic or fun to watch as the cast of Stranger Things or 2017’s IT, really helped to give the movie some much needed warmth and heart. Brian Tyree Henry (Atlanta), who played this movie’s Detective Norris, also gave a great performance, balancing comedy and that detective bravado just right.

The standouts though were Gabriel Bateman and this movie’s Chucky, none other than Mark Hamill (Star Wars and The Joker in Batman The Animated Series, I mean DUH!). Bateman gave a great performance as Andy, carrying a lot of the movie’s emotion, and Hamill helped give this Chucky his own voice. The third act culmination of Chucky’s deranged personality would not have been nearly as effective if not for Hamill’s amazing voice over work. This is not to say though that the movie was perfect. Aubrey Plaza was bland as Karen Barclay, giving every line that classic, so-edgy-it-hurts, Plaza sarcasm. It works on Parks and Rec and even the movie Safety Not Guaranteed, but it feels so out of place here. Thankfully, Bateman was there to sell most of their scenes together, or I would not have been able to buy into their relationship as mother and son, much less care about their survival. In addition to Plaza, there were a lot of jokes in the first and second act that simply didn’t land. The lines fell flat and hardly got more than a chuckle from most of the audience I was with. I’m sure they were after the wit and timing of the young ensemble cast of IT, but that came from time and intensive work building off screen relationships within that cast. Some jerky editing also made the movie feel like it would have benefited from an extra 15 or 20 minutes, leading to certain scenes that were meant to be emotional being brushed over and rushed.

Lastly, let’s address the elephant in the room: Chucky’s redesign. The very first reaction I heard as Chucky’s face flashed on screen was “Ew, what the fu-“. I want to give the effects team credit for sticking to mostly animatronic work once again, but Chucky’s face was simply horrendous. I’d like to think this was intentional, perhaps they wanted to play up the Uncanny Valley effect as much as possible, but I can’t see myself or any other fans saying the design won us over, no matter how fun the movie was.

Did Child’s Play 2019 have to be a Child’s Play movie? No, not at all. In fact, they could have called it “Alexa Gone Wild.” and it would have held much of the same effect. With that being said though, I think I enjoyed it as much as I did because of their new take. It impressed me just enough to leave me thinking “Wow, that was really fun!” I love the original Child’s Play, and Brad Dourif is quite honestly irreplaceable, but the film makers saw the challenge they had with this new version, knew the audience they had to try and win over and they swung for the fences. I may not be able to convince everyone to give this movie a shot, and I’m fine with that, but I think the most important thing to remember is this: If you’re going to update one of my favorite toys, my “Friend til The End”, then make sure the new version keeps me entertained til the end, friend.

Rating: 3.5 Full Moons out of 5 🌕🌕🌕🌗

[youknowmymethods]

Content Creator Interview #2

In this week’s interview, fandom friends @lilsherlockian1975 and @mrsmcrieff talk about whether they found Sherlock hot or not at first sight, how publicly sharing their work changed their writing, and the hardest thing about writing smutfic (pun fully intended).

And for those who don’t know, today is Lillian’s Birthday, so m’dear, Many Happy Returns!!!!

Hey, so Lilsherlockian1975 and myself, MrsMCrieff, have decided to interview each other for Aine’s challenge. We’re going to try to answer each other’s questions but there is always the danger of us going massively off piste. Our conversations in the past have been eclectic and very wide-ranging not to mention M rated.

 Anyway, I thought we could start by saying how we came into the fandom and more than that writing in the fandom. Lil, do you want to start?

Lil: All right, my sister on another continent, here’s how it went: As I’ve explained about finding The Full House on Pinterest, let’s explore what came before that moment, then just after... I was working third shift at a hotel (I had to as Mr Lil and I didn’t really have any childcare options at the time, so we just worked opposite shifts). The hotel was in a very small town - we were never busy, some nights we sold maybe 2 rooms - I usually spent my time watching Netflix. After making my way through Doctor Who, Star Trek Next Gen, Voyager then (God help me) DS9, Farscape and Firefly, I’d finally run out of anything to watch. You’d be surprised how quickly you can burn through a series binge watching for 8 hours at a time (and getting paid for it!).

 Then… then I found Sherlock. Well, that changed things… a bit.

 “Good Lord, who is the Cumberstud chap and why won’t he have all the sex with me!?” was my first thought, my second was, “Maybe I have a chance with the dishy DI?” and third? “Oh… what fresh hell is this ‘Mycroft’? Yummy!” Then finally, “Ahh, did the casting director somehow read my diary? Creepy but… all right.” To my defense, it was late and I usually worked on very little sleep. Also, I’m a kinky bitch.

 I’d never been involved in a ‘fandom proper’, I suppose. That’s not to say that I wasn’t a fangirl. I am and always have been. I was hugely into the Kevin Smith movies, going as far as visiting the Quick Stop and RST Video in Lenardo, NJ, respectively, as well as The Secret Stash, in Red Bank. I was a comic book geek in my youth, Marvel mostly, but some DC as well.

 After reading The Full House, I desperately needed MORE Sherlock and luckily enough, there was more to be found.

 At first I was just reading, then I wrote and posted a couple of (horrible) fics and met this fellow writer named MrsMCrieff (I might have had a little ‘writing crush’ on you, Mrs!). We chatted on FF.net and struck up a friendship.

 So, for me, writing came before fandom. Mrs was doing some betaing for me, but I didn’t ask for help often; I hated bothering her all the time for the multitude of stories I was turning out. At some point around here, I got an elusive invite to AO3 from sherlockian87, bless her soul, because I kept trying to join and couldn’t get a blessed invitation. Also around this time, I had written a prompt and got a PM from MizJoely asking if she could fix some of my mistakes (she was very sweet about it, even though I totally flipped - half fangirling, half losing my shit because ‘Crap, I screwed up so bad, here was The MizJoely asking if she could edit out my mistakes!’) but she wasn’t being critical at all, of course, just helpful as I soon found out. Shortly after, now having formed a friendship with MIz, she suggested that I start a Tumblr blog. And that’s how it all started.

Yes, sorry… I, um, tend to be a tad loquacious. Writing out my answers doesn’t help one little bit.

 Okay, Mrs, right back atcha!

 Mrs: OK, shall I try to be more concise? I’ll probably fail as I’m terrible as writing short fics they always seem to end up spread over multiple chapters.

 I’m another one who had always been a fangirl, Doctor Who, Buffy, Twilight, vampire Diaries (yeah, I love my vampires) but I’d also been a Sherlock Holmes fan. I’d read all the books in my teens, watched the Basil Rathbone and Jeremy Brett adaptations and even stayed at the Sherlock Holmes hotel on Baker St so when a new series was advertised it was an easy sale.

 I was late to the cumberobsession though. I have to admit watching the first two series as they came out and I remember thinking I like them but it’s a shame Sherlock isn’t that hot. I know, I know, I’m embarrassed even as I write that.

 It all changed after watching season 3 and I blame the Sherlolly kiss 100%. I watched the series, DELETED the records!! And then realised I was spending a lot of time thinking about Sherlock and Benedict...that turned into looking him up online and from there it was a short step to reading Sherlolly fics on fanfic (I was already reading fics for other shipping obsessions). Anyway, it didn’t take long before Sherlolly took over all my other ships and Benedict was my number one hottie.

 As for writing, I hadn’t written anything fiction based since school and school was a long time ago...almost thirty years. But one day I was looking for a specific fic, I wanted to read about Sherlock and Molly having to share body heat and I just couldn’t find anything that satisfied me. I’m not sure why but in that moment I decided to write it myself and in half an hour I’d written Frozen...my first ever fic. It took another couple of hours to pluck up the courage to post it and I clearly remember feeling a bit sick and my hand shaking as I pressed the final button to post.

 Thankfully, I almost immediately started to receive positive reviews and feedback and it wasn’t long before I started to write more...the rest as they say is history. Lil got in touch soon after and it was fun chatting to another writer just starting out. We soon found we were not dissimilar in age and both had two sons and the friendship started there.

 We’ve been through quite a lot over the last few years Lil and written some fab stories. Wouldn’t you agree?

 (I should let on that we are now faffing about trying to find the original list of questions...we are trying to be professional).

 Ok Lil, so I’ve looked at Aine’s questions and they look really hard. Any preferences on which ones you want to answer :).

 Lil: I think a great follow up to that first one is this: How did posting your first story change your process of writing? So I’m shooting it back to you, Mrs, and you can send me that one or select a new one for me. Tag, you’re it!

 Mrs: I can tell you quite simply how it changed my process of writing...given that it was my first piece of writing in 30 years I was starting from scratch when it came to any process. One thing that I started with that’s held true for me ever since is that my stories are fully mapped out and written before I even start posting the first chapter. I will edit and make refinements but the bones of the story are there.

 I know lots of people post a chapter and then write the next chapter but that would put me under too much pressure. The downside is that if someone gives me a prompt they could be waiting months before they see it posted. The upside is if I’ve started posting a fic you will get the end of it as it’s already been written.

 There have only been two exceptions to this method: Sherlock Holmes, Vampire which I worked on over a year or so posting four chapters every so often as I wrote them...it was stressful. And the other is Never Have I Ever which was/is more of a collection of one shots woven together into a fic.

 How about you Lil? How did it change for you?

 Lil: So, I’d been writing little stories and whatnot for years and years but, having no idea that there was such a thing as ff.net or AO3, I had no place to put them. Writing was always a very, very distant dream of mine. I have loads of notebooks filled with stories, story ideas and my own personal ramblings (unfortunately, my Tumblr followers now have to read the ‘ramblings business’). I stopped for many years after my roommate/best friend since childhood found some of my writing in college that I’d carefully hidden under my bed. I came home to find her in my room, sat on the floor, on the phone with our Art History professor (whom she was sleeping with), as she read him my story and laughed hysterically at its awfulness.

 I was devastated and vowed never to write again.

 But that changed, of course. Those first maybe ten stories were just me letting my mind go and getting out what I wanted to say (aided by liberal amounts of wine). Since then, however, my ‘process’ has changed drastically. I don’t always write an outline (never for one shots, which I write often) but I generally do for long fics. If not, it’s easy for me to get lost and miss critical points. My writing has become more about ‘layering’ for lack of a better word.

 I found after those first few posted fics, that in going back and re-reading them I wanted to make changes. I didn’t re-edit them (because I’m lazy), but it made me realize that my writing required more time and proofing before posting; that first draft is just the start for me - a thin layer of primer paint on a canvas, if you will. I then read over it and add more details and more and more until I get the desired effect. Again, much like oil painting, I have to build things up, layer by layer. This works for me; I have no idea if it’s a proper method of writing. So, posting my first fic(s) helped me learn that I shouldn’t be so trigger happy about posting if the story wasn’t ready.

 Okay, Mrs, this one is geared specifically towards you. I don’t think anyone would argue with me about your supernatural ability to write ‘case fics’, so let me ask: Which do you prefer writing, case fics or fluffy smut-filled romps? And why?

 Mrs: Oh God, ask me something easy why don’t you. Both, I like writing both. I love the depth of a case fic, the idea, the research, plotting it out and working out the characters and detail but it’s so time consuming and I often write a bit, leave it, come back to it etc. etc. so a detailed case fic can take six months.

 Fluff on the other hand is less satisfying but quicker (my minds already in the gutter with an analogy).

 Woohoo I kept is fairly short for once. So, here’s one that’s good for you. I’m endlessly envious of how easily you make friends and how you know so many people in the fandom whereas I’m the introverted hermit. Which other authors are you friends with, and how have they help you become a better writer?

 Lil: Goodness! You make me sound like a social butterfly (Mr Lil calls me that all the time!). I like people, plain and simple. Other than you, I am close to MizJoely and Darnedchild, that’s no secret, so I’ll talk about them first (you included, because you’ve made me a better writer, I’m sure of it - have actual proof!)

 I cannot count the ways Miz has helped me improve my writing. She figuratively took me by the ear and said “okay, you don’t suck but do you even know what a comma is used for?” No, not those actual words, she was much kinder about it, but I got the hidden meaning and I needed it, trust me. She also challenges me and is not afraid to be honest with me when I’ve written something that isn’t good or perhaps doesn’t fit. I know I’ve improved since she started betaing for me, like a 1000%. And Child… When I volunteered to beta for the Big Bang Challenge, I had no idea what I was getting into, but man… she’d written and enormous fic. Good, amazing really, but it was longer than anything I’d ever worked on before. It scared the shit out of me but I really think it was exactly what I needed. Betaing someone else’s work can really make you see your own mistakes from a new perspective. I feel like I jumped ahead after working on the BBC with Child. As for you, MrsMCrieff, just the other day I had The Best compliment… someone actually thought I was British! Yes, that happened. I can only attribute that little feat to you, my friend. You’ve taught me when to add a ‘u’, when not to zed and about many different terms like pavement, taps, hob, loo, trousers (we really don’t say that here!). Not to mention the fact that most European men aren’t circumcised. Who knew?! It’s pretty common in the US.

 But that’s just a few. I cannot count the number of fandom friends who have helped me and all the ways that they’ve done so. That doesn’t mean I won’t try…

 There’s likingthistoomuch who always listens to my ideas and encouraged me to post my first Harry Potter fic. OhAine has been a true friend from the very beginning, always insightful and supportive. Mellovesall who is just too sweet for words and always helps with edits, no matter what’s going on in her life. Kendrapendragon who let me bounce ideas for my Mirror Has Two Faces AU off of her for like a whole day! the-sapphiresky who has helped me with this historical AU that may or may not ever see the light of day. Allthebellsinvenice who answered about a dozen questions (over two years!) for Dig Down Deep when I’d panic about some D/s situation I’d written myself into. o0katiekins0o who backs me up when I’m in the middle of a sensitive subject. I can always depend on her to help me when I’m afraid I’m crossing a line. Broomclosetkink, Lord help me! She’s pinch hit for me when I’ve written a fic for Miz or if I just need a good laugh. She’s the best. Sweets… it’s very hard to talk about sweet-sweet-escape. I still cannot even bring myself read her stories or the ones I wrote for her without breaking down, but no one was more supportive or kind to me than Sweets. I miss her so much.

 Then there’s all the love and support I received from everyone during The Fic That Shall Not Be Named debacle. That’s when I knew how much this fandom (well, this ship, really) had my back! I will never forget how much love and support I received. Bless you all!

 I’m forgetting people and I hate that. But I really do love all my fandom friends as if I see them and hang out with them every day. I mean that.

 Okay, Mrs, here’s one for you (I’m going back to the list for this one because I like it and I think it’s interesting): What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters of the opposite sex?

 Mrs: See, see I said you knew loads of people!

 As for your question that’s easy to answer...knowing what it feels like when they get aroused and orgasm. I’m more than happy being female but it would be kind of interesting just to be a guy for one day. It would improve my writing no end.

 On a wider note when it comes to writing characters I don’t think any of us made it easy on ourselves when we decided to try to write being a high functioning sociopathic genius. I think I can speak for most of us when I say he’s not the easiest person to try to write authentically. I just wish I had half his knowledge then I wouldn’t feel like such an idiot when I’m writing him.

 I gave my youngest son the option of any number between 1 and 40. He chose 7 so does writing energise or exhaust you?

 Lil: It absolutely energises me! I do get frustrated trying to find time to write, but actually writing does amazing things for my mental and physical self. I find that I’m much more productive around the house when I’m in the middle of a writing jag. I’ll sit and write for a while, then get up and pound out some chores (usually more quickly as to get back to my computer). Somehow, this works for me. Frankly, it’s probably got to do with my ADHD. I’m the kind of person who needs to do multiple things at once. I’m the same at work; I cannot just stand behind the registrar for 8 hours. I practically beg my managers for extra work, which they’re happy to give me.

 I have an original question for you, love: How does a bad review affect you?

 Mrs: I’ll be honest I don’t react well to a bad review but it does depend on whether I think it’s valid or not. You probably know each and every time I’ve had one because I will probably have sent you a screen shot and asked your opinion. Thankfully they have been few and far between, occasionally they have made me think...especially if I’m being accused of using a tired old trope and I’ve made the effort to up my game in future fics but often they are just being nasty for the sake of it.

 Writing is such a personal thing though, we give a piece of ourselves in each and every fic so it’s hard to not take criticism very personally.

 Same question to you Lil.

 Lil: Oh, I’m a giant baby about a bad review and have been known to take it very personally. At first I brood… like really hard, thinking on the entire thing much longer than necessary. I suppose it depends on the nature and tone, for the most part though. If it’s attacking and spiteful, I’ll attack right back but if it’s coming from a ‘goodish’ place, I do try to look at my writing a bit more objectively (I don’t always succeed). Anonymous bad reviews get to me the most. The fact that I cannot reply drives me up the wall!

 Okay, we’re wrapping this up (else we could go on forever!) Thanks so much and a big thanks to Aine for organizing this as well!

 Mrs & Lil

Next Week:

Posting on Friday 01 March it’s @ohaine ‘s turn (eek!) to interview @ashockinglackofsatin

[areyouscarletcold]

Fic Writer’s Year In Review

@sophiainspace​ did a post about this and since I figured I ought to try it out...here we go!

General fic stats for 2018

Word count on AO3: 199,754 words - most of which came from Bound By Silver Tongue. Go figure.

Number of fics on AO3: 27.

Most popular fic (by kudos):

Bound By Silver Tongue - my Ella Enchanted inspired Coldflash au fic. Summary: Sara Lance had touched his nose then, as his mother explained, with a shake of her head. Magic bled from her fingertips, seeping into his veins. “He’s got a pair of lungs on him, doesn’t he?" Len let out another wail in response and she snorted. "My gift will be obedience. Now, stop crying, Leonard.”

And for the first time that night, Len stopped crying.

(In which Leonard is cursed, Lisa has an affinity for shiny things, Barry feels pressured, and Cisco just wants to save Central Kingdom.)

I kind of expected it (since this is my multichap fic and those tend to bring in more kudos, especially for a popular pairing like Coldflash) but it’s really nice to know that people cared enough to kudos for the fic, even if it was only a couple hundred or so. Here’s to hoping that number grows before the end of 2019!

My favourite fic to write:

Hmm this one’s hard. I want to say Bound By Silver Tongue, but since it’s ongoing and there are definitely days when that fic is more frustrating than fun to write.... How about oceans you once crossed (now they disappear) - my Coldwestallen 1940′s fic. 

Summary: "Do you ever think about what will happen after?"

"After?"

"You know... After the war ends? When we go home?"

When. Not if. There was never an if, never a doubt in the other’s mind.

As heart-wrenching as this fic was to write (and read over sometimes), this is one of the few fics I can stand to reread without nitpicking every last word. It’s definitely not everyone’s cup of tea, but I’m really proud of how it turned out, especially since I wrote it as fast as I could before the deadline for Coldwestallen Week. And now that I think of it, I believe this was my first ever Coldwestallen fic so...huh.

Funniest fic:

I’m not sure, to be honest, but I thought my short snippet for the “Food” day of Coldwestallen Week, Small Bites, was pretty funny at the time. 

Summary: “We’ve taken down metahumans and changed time and cheated fate. If Captain Cold can’t handle having a happy birthday, that’s on him. We’re going to at least finish frosting these cupcakes, though, because they smell delicious and I’m starving.”

Fluffiest fic:

I’m really bad at writing solely fluffy fics, oops. Maybe crawl into your atmosphere - my AgentReign fluff & hurt/comfort fic? I really enjoyed writing the kitchen scene with Ruby. 

Summary: Alex figured she deserved to be selfish, just this once. To hell with the consequences when she got to see Samantha Arias smiling down at her like she was sunshine incarnate, her hair haloed around her head in the dim light of the bedroom before she crushed their mouths together.

Saddest fic:

I know I’ve already put it on this list but hey...death and war and PTSD kind of take the cake on this one. So oceans you once crossed (now they disappear) definitely wins.

Most challenging fic to write:

What Tangled Webs We Weave - my VERY late submission to Coldwestallen Week’s “Superhero” prompt that I griped and groaned and nitpicked for months over. As much as I’m happy with how this fic turned out now, it makes me scowl to reread some of these scenes and just remember how many goddamn web phrases I had to write. Thank goodness for all the love and support via the Shipyard Discord server and for @kiddystormi and @sophiainspace for beta-ing this fic and all who encouraged me not to throw in the towel. 

Summary: “Damn radioactive spiders,” Len muttered under his breath.

“Lenny,” Lisa’s lips twitched in a valiant effort not to laugh as he searched the room for his sneakers. “You do realize you can’t blame your terrible flirting on an insect that gave you superpowers, right?”

Or, 5 Times Len Saved His Crush(es) and 1 Time They Kicked Ass to Save Him 

Fic I’m proudest of writing:

I can’t mention oceans you once crossed (now they disappear) AGAIN or Bound By Silver Tongue, so how about Speed Bump - my Coldflash role reversal fic that inspired the series it’s now part of. I may have restarted it about seven times, but I’m proud of how it turned out in the end. It also helps that people commenting mentioned the characterization and the parallels to canon I tried to keep, and nothing makes me happier than comments about good characterization, since that’s one of my biggest worries. <3 

Summary: When it came down to it, Barry seemed to take pride in making his life difficult.

Least popular fic:

Walking in a Winter Wonderland, but this makes sense because it’s a little self-indulgent collection for all of my prompted fics about the Killer Frost!Barry au @agentmarymargaretskitz and I’ve been obsessing over. Not that I don’t love it, of course, but I also have barely written for the au as it is. Probably should get on that.

Honourable mentions:

i believe we’ll (be okay) - my Goldenvibe fix-it set in S3 of Flash that I do wish got more love because I’m bitter about Lisa and the handling of these brothers CW has no problems killing off, okay? Cisco and Lisa deserved better. 

Summary: Cisco hadn't intended on spending the night.

This just went up recently, but my Thundergrace fix-it (because really, do CW writers know nothing about continuity?) To Face Unafraid (The Plans That We Made) is one I’m rather proud of, since I’m hoping to write more of these girls in 2019. 

Summary: Grace, Grace, Grace. Her thoughts always came back to Grace these days.

(Or, how they really get together.)

General writing reflections:

I’ve been in a bit of a writing slump until 2018. Up until I posted that first chapter of Bound By Silver Tongue, I hadn’t truly sat down and written fanfic or anything for myself since 2016. Writing original works didn’t help. Trying to go back and write chapters of fics I already had up didn’t work. It wasn’t until I got inspired and sat down to plan out BBST for the first time in my life that I realized I was genuinely excited to write again. And this past year has granted me the most fics I’ve ever written - including prompts - and that’s just since April! I wrote 17 fics for Ao3 this year, and while I know amount doesn’t matter, writing these fics helped me realize just what was holding me back. I’ve learned to take up betas and even just supportive friends to bounce ideas off of so I can stop fussing over my work, even when it’s not necessary, and while editing my own work isn’t a bad thing, I’m learning to relax and stop worrying about every line. Each time I sit down now, I try and make time to sprint and write things that I enjoy, rather than what people demand - because I love feedback, but seeing Moar please!!! Sequel!!! was what drove me into the ground and to write for fics I didn’t have much interest in in the first place. I’m also trying to leave more comments, since I always forget to and there are so many incredible content creators in these fandoms.

THANK YOU to anyone who’s read my writing this past year!

Writers You Should Read

I only got into the DCTV fandoms within the last half of the year, but the community and joining Discord servers really made it special and helped me get into the groove of writing - and reading all of your amazing works! Special mentions to some of the writers whose work helped me get through 2018:

@agentmarymargaretskitz @bold-sartorial-statement @nixie-deangel@stillnotginger10 @pinkletterday @wonderingtheblue @tobyaudax @barrylen @jewishgarygreen @kleptoandpyro @coldflashwave-baby @hiverforesteevee @sugar-haus@sugary-bowl @robininthelabyrinth @coldflasher @coldtomyflash @pheuthe @sproutwings @plinys @sophiainspace @writerrain @kendrasaunders @crimsondomingo @katyakora @lenleolenny @allofourkingsaredead @sparroet @swashbucklery @drnathanielheywood @ladyofpride @joanthangroff @silas-lehnsherr @itsbrookeks

and many others who I likely forgot to name, but I love each and every one of you. Go read all of these writers’ fantastic fics! And a special recommendation to the Shipyard Discord server, which is full of many incredible and lovely people, all of whom write wonderful fics and were one of the main reasons I got any fic writing done this year. They all deserve the world. <3

Have a happy new year and a great 2019!

[himluv]

I’m so excited to share this new layout with all of you! I really like this one. It’s crisp, super easy to navigate, and very professional looking. It also feels a bit more dynamic than last year’s. I’m not sure if that’s because of the contrasting aqua and purple (my favorite colors), or the widgets, or the site logo, but I do know I like it a lot.

Now, let’s get down to business and talk about what the heck happened in 2018!

In 2018 I said I wanted to:

Finish The Steel Armada

Finish Santa Sarita

Submit 2 short stories

Publish 52 blog posts

Read 65 books

Maintain my yoga practice

 How’d it go?

Finish The Steel Armada

…Yes! As far as I’m concerned, right now, this project is stamped ‘done’. It turned out nothing how I planned, and became almost a complete rewrite halfway through 2018. The Steel Armada became Exodus: Descent, a SolarPunk novella. I sent it to Tim the Agent™ back in August, but have not heard from him. I’m shelving it for now, though I have plans for future novellas set in the same world. So, final status of this project is: Done for now.

Finish Santa Sarita

No. I thought so, and then BAM, another sequel appeared. I bit off a lot with this one, and I’m a little worried about it. So, this will be a pretty high priority in 2019. I don’t want this project lingering over my head anymore. Project status: In Progress.

Submit 2 short stories

Heck yes! This was much easier to do than I thought when I made this goal. So much so that by the end of 2018 I had three stories out for submission.

Publish 52 blog posts

Yep. And then some. This was, hands-down, the best year the blog has ever had. 119 posts, an average of one comment per post, and over 5,000 hits this year has really blown my mind. Consistency really is key.

Read 65 books

Yes! I read 67 books this year! It wasn’t easy, by any means, but I had just enough time and graphic novels to really pad my Goodreads Challenge.

Maintain my yoga practice

Hahaha. No. I got bronchitis two weeks into 2018 and fell out of my practice. I’m contemplating trying again this year, but with two jobs and some lofty writing goals, I’m not sure if I can dedicate the time.

2018 Total Word Count: 149,331 

Honorable Mentions

2018 was an eventful year, both personally and in my working life. I received a scholarship to attend the Oregon Writer’s Colony Annual Conference in April, which really affirmed that I’m on the right track and making strides in this whole writing life thing. Right about that time I started submitting my short stories for the first time in over four years. That was a roller coaster all its own, and has been a great learning experience and growth opportunity for me.

June saw my traditional wave of summer depression. I coped by binge-playing Horizon Zero Dawn and eating way too many Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

But, July and August were some of my most productive months of the year, with the completion of Exodus and the rough draft of my newest short story, That Which Illuminates Heaven.

September was the least productive month of the year, and reasonably so because we spent 12 days in Germany! It was an amazing trip, the exact vacation we so desperately needed, and our first journey abroad together. We hope to spend more time in Munich someday, especially for Christmas. And of course, we have other travel dreams! Ireland, New Zealand, Italy, the UK! The world is a big place, and I want to see as much of it as we can.

October was spent readjusting to working two jobs and outlining and researching for my new novel. Writing was limited and that sucked, but it was all part of the plan. It worked out, because I met my word count goal for November, with a startling 25k words! That’s about a third of the planned manuscript, which is kind of crazy if I think about it too much.

December is a busy month in our house, what with my birthday and the holiday. Add in the mental recuperation from Nanowrimo and it meant I just didn’t expect much from myself that month. But I did finish my reading goal while I let my writing muscle relax!

I read 16,300 pages across 67 titles in 2018!

I also flexed my editing muscle this year with The Audient Void. We released two issues this year, and are on the cusp of releasing a new chapbook of some of David Barker’s previously unpublished short stories, Half in Light, Half in Shadow.

2018’s word was FOCUS. It was my mantra, the thing I came back to when I felt out of control or like I was drowning in my workload. Based on how well my year went, I think it worked. So, I want to pick a new word for 2019:

INTENT.

I want to be purposeful in my writing, I want to take the time to better learn my craft and write with more intention. I don’t really know what that will mean for my writing just yet, but I bet I will by January 1, 2020.

What am I doing in 2019?

I am finishing the Tavi rough draft. I’m already a third of the way there. In an ideal world this rough draft will be done by the end of March/beginning of April. Realistically, this will take the first half of the year.

I will finish Santa Sarita. This is a big job still. I think, right now, I’m really stuck in my head about it. I need to sit down and start writing this story again and let it take the reins. I honestly think that’s the only way it’ll get done.

I will revise Cards. This is the project that comes after the Tavi rough draft. I wrote Cards back in 2014, and I’ve learned a lot since then. Much like The Steel Armada, I anticipate Cards will require extensive rewrites. But, I’m ready. I learned how to do that last year and I’m equipped with the skills and knowledge to do it again this year.

I will publish something! This is a tricky one. I don’t actually have much control over this goal. There are a lot of factors that go into getting a piece published and almost none of them are decided by me. But, I have three stories out right now. I want at least one of them to find a home.

I will publish two blog posts a week. I’ve got this into a rhythm now, so I’m confident I can do it again.

I will read 70 titles. I exceeded my reading goal this year, it only makes sense to increase it in 2019.

If time allows, I’d like to…

Make considerable progress (30k words) on From the Quorum. This novel is the first in a planned trilogy, and is my longest-lived idea. I first met these characters in 2009, and they are still around, patiently waiting for me to tell their story. I don’t know if I’ll make much progress on it this year, but  it will definitely be a priority in 2020.

Write a new short story! I have three out now that are performing well. It’s just a matter of time before one of them finds a home. It’d be nice to have one waiting in the wings and ready to go when that finally happens.

Submit Exodus to novella markets. I actually think this one is pretty likely to happen. But, with Tavi and Cards looming, this won’t be on my radar until the later half of the year.

There’s a lot to do in 2019. I probably bit off more than I can chew, especially since I’m working two jobs right now. There’s also always the reading and editing for Madhu and The Audient Void to consider.

So, in short, I’m a busy busy lady and nothing about that will change in 2019. I look forward to sharing that journey with all of you in the coming months.

I’ll be back later this week with the Monthly Recap!

Until then, Blogland.

  BZ

New Year’s, New Look – 2019 I'm so excited to share this new layout with all of you! I really like this one.

[bookenders]

11/11/11

Tagged by @aslanwrites! Thank you so much! These are some really good questions.

I got a little long-winded answering some of these. 🙃 Welcome to my brain.

Rules: Answer 11 Questions, Ask Eleven Questions, Tag Eleven People!

Why did you start writing?

I’ve never been asked this before. Huh. When people ask me why I write, I usually joke and say “because I’m not good at anything else” or “it’s the one thing that I haven’t gotten bored of.” But why I started? If I think way, way, waaaay back, it might be because I had questions I didn’t want to ask with my voice, so I put them down in words. Why does this? What would happen if? Who would? Let’s find out.

What writing advice do you adhere to?

If I were to list all of it, we’d be here all day.

But there is some key advice that has stuck with me: make sure your scenes/stories are grounded in a location as early as possible so the audience isn’t confused, even if you’re being artsy; the way you stylize dialogue tags should make sense for the story (e.g. no tags, no quotation marks, italics); too much poetic prose will make the great lines seem average; if you say you’re going all-in, go all-in, or the story will suffer; and when editing, read your work out loud (you’ll catch rhythm and acoustics errors this way, as well as wonky grammar and phrasing).

What writing advice do you disagree with?

A lot of what you can hear in workshops, actually. And a lot of what beginners are told. Yes, you have to learn the rules to be able to break them with skill and confidence, but there’s teaching and then there’s policing. I think a lot of writing advice with hard boundaries of “can/can’t” or “do/don’t” is sketchy. Like “show don’t tell”? Should be “there’s a time and place for each, find it.”

Do you think “Said” is dead?

No way! I’m one of those stodgy writers who prefers “said” over most other dialogue tags. I don’t use them unless they’re significant or necessary, which is rarely, and I prefer to punctuate dialogue with action, anyway. Using dialogue tags should never detract or distract from the actual narrative going on. If you use different tags every single line, your readers will be annoyed.

Said, like rock and roll, never died.

Favorite drink when writing?

Used to be coffee when I was in school, but now it’s tea or water, occasionally peach juice. English or Irish Breakfast, typically. I’m a black tea kind of gal.

What’s your favorite app to write on? Or do you prefer notebooks?

Scrivener! It’s awesome. I used to write in Word, but then I found out about Scrivener and bought it as a birthday gift to myself when they had a discount. Before my stupid dumb injury, I wrote in notebooks and on random papers most of the time, but reading my notes afterward was nearly impossible because my handwriting is awful when I go fast and there were papers everywhere.

Who or what is your biggest inspiration?

When I started, it was Laurie Halse Anderson. Then it was the readers. Now it’s all of the possibilities. Like, have you ever taken a second to think of what writing can do, and has done in the past? Plato thought poets were too dangerous to be allowed in his ideal Republic! So many successful books and essays were written by imprisoned artists! People find themselves in books every day, and their discoveries help them learn that they’re not alone. (The first time I saw my identity represented in a book, I cried.) When characters succeed despite all odds, we cheer. When they struggle and fail and bring themselves back from the brink of disaster, our hearts leap and dive. When they find love of any kind, it warms us to our cores. That’s what inspires me.

What do you wish writers would do more of?

What they want! I see a lot of writers (beginners, especially) struggle with writing what’s popular or what everyone likes. When I was an editor, I saw a lot of short stories that followed whatever form and content the most recent hit had. That was kinda annoying. Don’t be afraid to be original! And don’t be afraid of the tropes! Put your own spin on it. No one has seen your ideas before, and that means they’re all original! Be weird! Do crazy things! Break the rules (with purpose!) and do what you want.

What do you wish writers would do less of?

Down themselves! Maintaining confidence is hard in this discipline/industry/craft/what have you, I know, but that doesn’t mean your work is terrible. It just means you need to keep at it until you feel better about your stuff. It takes a while, but you’ll get there. You’re living your passion! Own it!

What turns you away from a story?

From reading one? I adapt my turn-offs depending on what I’m reading. I have SUPER different expectations for published novels than I do fanfiction. Novels and stories published by big houses or big names have a lot less leeway than fanfic and original fiction posted online by the writer themselves.

In terms of content: weirdly pretentious first person narrators, unnecessary violence and sexual assault, too many song title drops without a reason, obvious plot devices/advancements without sufficient motive, and bone-dry/lifeless descriptions are the heavy hitters. Now that I think about it, anything present in the story that has zero purpose or reason for being there. Every book I’ve ever put down does that.

Thoughts on the whole “Mary Sue” topic?

Eh.

For young writers and those writing purposeful wish fulfillment stories, I say who cares, go for it. You’re learning writing, do what you want; or you’re doing it on purpose, so you know what’s up. I personally don’t like reading them very much because I like a little bit of torment in my fiction. I’ve seen arguments that the main protagonist of my favorite fantasy series is a Mary Sue, which, I mean, sure. But from what I’ve heard, Mary Sues are a bigger problem in RP groups.

You can get so caught up in making sure that your character isn’t a Mary Sue that you forget to make your character interesting. Which is bad. Your character(s) should have a reason for us to be following their story, but there also need to be challenges that they face to make the story interesting and engaging.

A couple Mary Sue qualities aren’t necessarily a bad thing! It only gets sketchy when you load them on like cheese on chili fries.

My 11 Questions:

What is your favorite punctuation mark?

If you write by hand, what is your favorite writing utensil to use? If you write with tech, what is your favorite font to write in? Or if you do both, both!

What is one book/story that hit you right in the heart? Or the book/story that has had the most impact on you?

What’s your favorite sentence/phrase you’ve written? What’s an amazing sentence/phrase someone else has written?

What about a story draws you in?

What are your favorite things/people/events to read or learn about?

What is your favorite word?

Cake or pie?

Do you collect anything? What is it and how many/much do you have?

Do you have a calendar? What kind is it?

Where do you like to sit in a movie theater?

Bilbo Taggins: @cawolters @floralandrogyny @katekyo-bitch-reborn @clarissalopeswriter @agentorange-writes @atbwrites @the-corner-girl @vnsmiles @toboldlywrite @wasting-ink-not-youth @somethingreallydeepandprofound

[potuzzz]

The Bible, and Why Thoughts Should Be Separated from the Original Source and its Backers

(((Forewarning: This post is a stream of thought. Don’t read if you’re expecting something that avoids the tangential and has a coherent structure)))

` ` ` ` `

     I don’t like hypocrisy--I’m guilty of it, as we all are, albeit I make it a point to avoid it.  And, sure, there are other (IMO) worse traits a human being can have.  But almost anybody would agree that hypocrisy is bad, and the hypocrite’s words are worthless at best, toxic at worst.

     I understand the sentiment, but, for the sake of perspective, I would like to defend the hypocrite and morally defunct with this following post.

     Now, being well aware of Tumblr’s main demographic make up, I’m sure most people on here aren’t big fans of the Bible.

     Truth be told, if you look at the world through the lens of the disgruntled, orthodox Christians, their fears, grievances, and predictions ring quite true--I’m not saying I agree with them, I’m just saying, through their worldview, the notion that Christianity is losing ground steadily to sin and depravity has enough evidence (for them) to enforce this worldview firmly. Homosexuality running rampant, men and women rebelling against their “roles,” brown heretics invading their bastions of innocence to rape and pillage and steal jobs, hip hop becoming the most popular music to corrupt their children and brainwash them to do drugs and get piercings and show shoulders and kill babies and kneel for anthems, these same Jaxton’s and Peyton’s being forced by the Deep State Pedo-Ring to take a non-English language class and learn evolution, fiery Hell, they’re even calling this the “Common Era” instead of “Anno Domini.” I can see how the modern age looks like the setup for the Apocalypse, their Book of Revelation. The rapidly growing Internet, which was once an obscure, semi-useless sort of nerd thing, and then in popular movies for a decade or two was only referenced as some silly cat-joke platform, is slowly but surely becoming a very serious aspect of human life. You can’t make it far without a WiFi connection, not in society, not in business, not in leisure, nothing. And this new frontier, this fresh-faced future, here they have it the worst, constantly being belittled and called names and having mean science-y devil worshipers “debunk” their worldviews, whatever slimy libtard nonsense that all means.

     Orthodox Christians that use a religion--a somewhat neutral thing--to justify their their bigotry, the sort of Christians that fit the of bedrock for an otherwise atheist and secular alt-right probably ensure, if anything, that liberally-inclined youngsters like myself push themselves as far away from Christianity as a whole as possible. Christianity is a sort of thing that people here in America almost thought synonymous with race; you were born into it, and you died with it. I mean, hey, people can’t seem to wrap their mind around the idea that Islam isn’t a race. People would identify as being Christian, even though they never went to church (save maybe Easter and/or Christmas), didn’t pray unless gramps was around, and never read a lick of the Bible, let alone mulled it over. Nowadays, there’s a growing portion of young people that aren’t just apathetic and passive with their family or culture’s religion, they’re proud to actively reject it.

     Orthodox Christians have made a really bad name for themselves, their religion as a whole, their precious Bible, and, alongside it, anything and everything they associate themselves with, especially ideas and opinions.

     (Quick disclaimer: I’m picking on Christianity right now, but insert whatever religious or spiritual beliefs you like. It just happens to be the biggest demographic here and easiest example that comes to mind for what I’m trying to achieve in this post. Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, paganism, Satanism, even atheism all are just ideas wreathed in metaphor (or “fact” when it comes to atheism) that are neutral on their lonesome, but are used for evil but society and the individual. Back to the program.)

     For the most part, I’m like, “serves you dumbass chauvinists right,” but I wouldn’t have made this post if I didn’t have mixed feelings about the deeper implications and consequences.

QUICK TANGENT TIME!

     Let’s say you have a...I don’t know...coworker, we’ll call him Fraxley (lol). So Fraxley isn’t most of everybody’s favorite. Ya’all work at a restaurant. He’s loud, obnoxious, entitled, immature, petty, judgmental, lazy, whiny, condescending, pretty much everything you’d dread in a coworker. But, one fateful day, you’re talking to your boss, Mrs. Boss. This is how it goes:

          Mrs. Boss: “Man, did you see the table by the restrooms?”

          You: “Uh, no, what happened?”

          Mrs. Boss: “Some party of two parents and their kids had a birthday party...not only did they leave a huge mess, but nobody used coasters, and now there’s horrendous watermarks all over.”

          You: “Reese’s Pieces, what?”

          Mrs. Boss: “Yeah, like the parents didn’t stop them or nothing.”

          You: “Damn...would degreaser or something help? I guess I’ll grab--”

          Mrs. Boss: “No no no, see, that’s the real problem, we’re out of all our cleaners and we can’t get any in here until next Monday.”

          You: “Ouch.”

          Mrs. Boss: “I guess just scrub it as best as you can. If Ownerpeople comes in tonight and sees it in that state, they’ll lose their shit.”

          You: “Okay, just let me see if--”

*Fraxley kicks open the front doors (letting in customers before you’re open), hocks a loogie on the window, flips a water bottle into the fryer, and blows Bongwater-flavor Juul clouds in your face that resemble Baroque architecture*

          Fraxley: “Sup, bitches. Heard we got some fuckin’ tabletop probs.”

          You: “Yeah.”     

          Mrs. Boss: “...Hi, Fraxley, could you--”

          Fraxley: “Well, Brossolini, if you don’t want to be an epic NPC fuckin’ retard about it, toothpaste works great for watermarks on wood. Makes that bitch moannnn. J to the S, G.”

          Mrs. Boss: “Fraxley, could you clock-in and put some ice in the bin?”

          Fraxley: “UghhHHGHhh. What’s up with you, sour tits?”

          Mrs. Boss. “Now.”

          Fraxley: “Meesa no likey. *winks coyly at you* Later, buddy.”

. . . 

      So, the question is, what do you do?

     Most people would ignore Fraxley, and for good reason. But his tip, his two cents, his wisdom (which, keep in mind, didn’t even originate from him!) shouldn’t be automatically discarded.

     Here’s another quick example. Read some of these quotes:

          “Words build bridges into unexplored regions.”

          “The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.”

          “He alone, who owns the youth, gains the future.”

          “Make the lie big, make it simple, keep saying it, and eventually they will believe it.”

     Not my like, all-time-favorite, Earth-shattering, epiphany-inducing quotes, but still pretty wise, huh? Worth a mulling over? Worth soaking in, and applying to your life and your perspective, from time to time, eh?  Certainly, I believe I can apply, say, the last quote, to current-day politics. I can apply the first one to nearly every single second of every single day.

     I found these quotes by this Google search: “quotes from hitler”

     Yep!

     Words to me are kind of like children. The context of their parents is important, but, ultimately, they are their own individual beings, and shouldn’t be judged for neither the goodness nor the evil their parents have wrought on this world.

     You see, sort of, what I’m trying to say about the Bible? Really, anybody and anything, but for this discussion, the Bible?

     I have my own personal spiritual beliefs and worldview that I would like to think is particularly unique, one which doesn’t fit me smoothly into any predetermined box.  When it comes to the events of the New and Old Testament, I have mixed feelings. The Old Testament...I believe nearly all of it is more or less a metaphor. As for the New Testament, I believe Jesus was alive. Less surely, I believe he was the most powerful human being we’ve witnessed (or an extraterrestrial/extradimensional being, or something), a practitioner of magic that we all have the potential for, deep down somewhere. He’s a Level 99 person, whereas most of us never get past Level 4 to 7 or something along those lines. I believe many of the events in Jesus’s life, as recorded, did happen, and along the way, some areas were perverted by both his humanly human apostles recording them, as well as the numerous translations and re-writes and edits that have happened in the last 2000 years, with a fat ol’ margin for both accidental error and malicious, egotistic inserts.

      So as we can see, I’m already biased in part to favor some bits of the New Testament, and even be patient enough and curious enough to think about the Old Testament. It probably doesn’t help that I was raised Muslim, in America no less, so I probably have some learned sympathy for Abrahamic religions in general.

     Now, I’ve only ever really dug into the Book of Mark, thanks in totality to an Intro to New Testament class I took in college (it was either that or some even more presumably boring garbage). As for the rest of the Bible, I know the general events (as most of us do) of the Old Testament, I was challenged to read a bit of the Book of Job during a (horrifying) Ouija experience, and other little bits here and there have come to me by chance. I’m no expert. But, my bias acknowledged, it really makes me sad that some people are never going to consider a single word in the Bible as anything other than a weapon that has been used against them. It has some excellent metaphors, lessons, and stories that not only can be applied in simple day-to-day life, but I have found myself applying to my understanding of human psychology and the human condition, of my internal journey towards actualization and self-understanding, of love and hate and chaos and order, and my understanding (or accepted lack thereof) of the universe and reality I inhabit, the life within it, and the events after.

     What’s also important to add, is the Bible isn’t the skeleton of my beliefs and perspective. It’s not some major slice of the pie, it’s just a few Lego bricks in an enormous set that took me years to construct. Without it, sure, it’d likely be much the same, but in some ways, it wouldn’t. My fundamental ability to accept teachings from the Bible, both because of my subconscious bias for it and despite my growing conscious bias against it, are what have caused me to accept a wide berth of teachings, that, had I remained close-minded and say, only trusted celebrities I like and factual science (whatever the fuck factual means anymore), my enormous structure would instead be a trifling, misshapen, tragic little thing.

     The same thing that allowed me to accept the Christian Bible, to just entertain its ideas, has also allowed me to garner wisdom and knowledge from all sorts of celebrities, musicians, artists, politicians, generals, prodigies, and scourges both in my day and age, and throughout history, not just the ones I happened to like but even the ones that struck me the wrong way.

     I liked Sun Tzu, because why not, so I got to absorb bits of The Art of War, but I’ve also learned some wisdom from current day American generals who bomb my cousins. I never reached a high enough edge level at any point to consider entertaining Satanism into my lifestyle, but hey, Satanism has some interesting things worth a good mull, or even quoting in everyday conversation. People might look at me like I’m mad, but if you past the skins these jewels are shrouded in, you get to reap the intriguing beauty within, without compromising your core self in the process.

     I watch an unhealthy amount of YouTube at times--when I’m at my highest functioning, I limit it to drives to and from work. I like a lot of progressives, unsociopathic intellectuals, hip-hop commentators, and the like (links on names): Shaun, Jeffrey Almonte, ContraPoints, Academy of Ideas, D Respect, hbomberguy, TD Hip Hop Media, probably a few others.

     Emphasis on progressive. It’s hard for me to relate and appreciate much else--I don’t want someone mindlessly parroting pop-woke garbage, I just want someone with a little bit of soul and a lotta bit of brain, and I do well to forgive and forget when the aforementioned have opinions that differ from my own.

     But, a while last month, I was recommended a channel: Alternative Hypothesis.

     Now, silly ol’ me, read that as, “Oooh, someone who’s very likely counter-culture, possibly a little pretentious but let’s give’em a listen.”

     Basically, emphasis on ALT.

     I only got through about 5 or 6 videos, but see, that’s the thing. I could recognize the guy was well spoken, good at structuring a video and articulating a point. It wasn’t complete laughable swill like Ben Shapiro or Sargon of Akkad. This guy actually made me stop and think some pretty wild ass shit, like, “was slavery really that bad?” Fucking horrifying, right? Don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty sure I’m not a great debater, but I had enough sense to debunk his videos both logically and morally. But he really challenged me and my viewpoints. Made me stop in think. Now you might think, “well, it’s not like you’re black so you don’t exactly have a lot of eggs in that basket,” and I get why you’d think that. Even I double-checked myself on that. But I will let almost any of my core beliefs be challenged, and I don’t think that makes me a pushover or weak, morally or mentally or otherwise. If anything, it strengthens my resolve, and makes my beliefs feel more mine, and less insecure attempts to fit into a mold. I’ve let myself attack whites, suburbanites, Muslims, Arabs, rappers, specifically white rappers, writers, artists, men, the insecure, the dark (of head, not skin), the indecisive, Americans, talkers, introverts......these are all things that are me. If I’m critical of anyone at all, it’s me.

     Funny thing, I actually vaguely remember a quote that went something like, “Don’t defend your attacks on your character you know are wrong, or you’ve already lost.”

     I don’t really remember where that quote originated, whether it was the Bible or the Daily Stormer or Gandhi or Jake Paul, but it’s reminding myself right in this very second that I’m okay, I don’t need to justify shit, I going on a cutting-edge ramble or something, and I just need to be self-satisfied and go on my merry way. And I need that right now. I don’t care where it came from.

     Go read the Bible. The same book (Book of Leviticus) that forsakes homosexuality does the same with eating fat, eating pigs, wearing mixed fabrics (aka wearing most of anything nowadays), cutting your hair, touching weirdly specific things, getting your red wings, adultery, incest, mixing crops, getting tattoos, blasphemy, and working on Sunday. Obviously, a load of this is trash. Don’t get hung up on the little ugly bits.

     I recently finished reading Stranger in a Strange Land. The author obviously had a couple stupid worldviews, mainly general sexism and a part where a female character chimes in that 9 out of 10 rape victims were essentially asking for it. If I were the stereotypical over-sensitive, virtue-signalling young’un in today’s day and age, I would’ve thrown the book right then and there against a wall and lit the place on fire, vowing to purge every word I had read thus far from my mind. Instead, I kept reading, and the book is fucking amazing. I will look past the author’s glaring flaws, which we all have, and instead of sheltering myself from the real world, I got to add another excellent artwork to my experiences. Go read Stranger in a Strange Land, it’s about Martian Jesus.

     Stop having knee-jerk reactions--if you’re forming a demonized version of me in your head when you read me writing phrases like “over-sensitive,” or “virtue-signalling,” or “knee-jerk,” or my imaginary character Fraxley saying “retard” or “bitch,” you’re doing yourself absolutely no favors, in the short nor the long term. The world and its wisdoms are not PC. You can retain your morals and still absorb a wealth of knowledge from an individual that might be the antithesis of your beliefs. I literally think true progressivism, minus all the ulterior motives and “justified” cruelty, is nearly synonymous with morality. If this post has upset you, please get your head out of your ass. I’m telling you because you need to hear it, not because I want to put you down or assert superiority or any dumb shit, I literally want to see you and our planet succeed.

          I love you.

[allkindsofplatinumandpercocet]

2017 Self-evaluation

Annual Writing Self-Evaluation

Tagged by @scmi-sweet and @ineedtorundry

List of works published this year (from oldest to latest):

Okay, here we go….

Lead Me Home -  my first work this year.  It is absolutely an entirely original fic, although it is kind of... adjacent to Choking On Their Halos. I love, love, LOVE the premise of this one and the challenge that is inherent in every aspect of it. WIP although with very sporadic updates.

Lollipops And Pigtails ~ Another Original fic, one that is HIGHLY controversial as it would seem, and as much as I love the story, it would seem it does not love me, nor do people love it. A very slow WIP.

Just One Yesterday ~ My very first official foray into FOB stories proper and the beginning of what would become my wheelhouse; poly featuring an original character.  This one was a direct result of  @a-smile-like-that and I having a lunchtime conversation whilst screaming over text about @sn1tchesandtalkers amazing story, Sin’s A Good Man’s Brother.  Work in progress, although a very slow one.

Choking On Their Halos ~ My epic, as it would seem…. 180k words  and counting of  Polyamory, ballet, BDSM, Dom!Patrick and more.  Yet another work in progress, I am aiming at about 200k by the time I finally hit complete. This was originally started as some Dom!Patrick for @a-smile-like-that ‘s birthday.

Drunk On Rosewater ~ Alternate takes from Choking On Their Halos, brief peeks into other moments that were not directly explored in the main story.  For my dear @sn1tchesandtalkers .

Run Dry ~  Yup, another WIP, and some more OFC poly.  A gift for @Sn1tchesAndTalkers and, gasp and shock, a slow WIP.

For The Fallen Ones ~ Angels and Reapers, divine mythology, OFC Poly and so much more. A very slow WIP

Write Our Names In The Wet Concrete ~ Producer Patrick, stunt coordinator Pete and a lovely young actress?  What could possibly go wrong here? Exceedingly slow WIP.

(Un)Dress To Impress ~ My entry for the Trick or Pete Halloween contest.  Halloween at Flame, technically another outtake from Choking On Their Halos.

Do Not Open Before Christmas ~ Sweet Baker Boy and his English Teacher.  Cookies, Pies and the bitchiest cat that ever was.  My first foray into strictly Peterick and one that I am ridiculously proud of.  This is 78978% due to @Sn1tchesAndTalkers influence. WIP

Bittersweet ~ My first collaborative fic, with the AMAZING @scmi-sweet .  It was directly inspired by a line in one of her fics that sparked an idea which just…. Snowballed.  A very amazing WIP

And In The End, I’d Do It All Again ~ AB/AP writing AU.  Eleven songs, eleven tales behind them,. Non-linear and sporadic but some of my favorite music of all time. WIP

When The Snow Comes Down ~ My entry for the Have Yourself Some Merry Little Peterick.  It is sweet, almost tooth achingly so.  Dad Patrick, adorable tots and snowstorms of opportunity. FINISHED. I KNOW IT WAS A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE.

Work you are most proud of (and why):

I think probably Do Not Open Before Christmas mostly because I had convinced myself that it was nothing I could ever write well, and I combined both a new POV and a new ship.  Turns out, it was okay. I am really, really happy with it.

Work you are least proud of (and why):

As much as I hate to say it, because I love them, probably my two original works; and that is mostly because of the reception (or lack of)  that they received that made me question literally everything.  I have thought more than once about taking them down, but I won’t.

A favourite excerpt from your writing:

A little glimpse from And In The End, I’d Do It All Again...

Patrick didn’t move, not until there were hands on his now boxer clad hips, tugging him down to the floor, solid and sticky hot in Pete’s lap. It was always the same, always, and he pressed his face against Pete’s neck, closing his eyes and just relaxing in the moment. It should have been awkward, it should have been messy, it should have been so many things, but it wasn’t. It was comfort, and safety and, for the briefest of moments, bliss. No matter what anonymous town they were in, what color the counters were, or how many stalls were behind them, there was always that moment of home when he relaxed in Pete’s arms, no matter how brief. And brief it was.

Between fingers slipping through his hair, sweat wet and sticky and the fingers that played gentle scales along his spine, Patrick found home on a bathroom floor, every single time in Pete’s arms. But it was fleeting.

Share or describe a favourite comment you received: I am absolutely in awe that anyone reads my work, much less takes the time to comment.  The fact that my absolute favorite authors are among those that do…. @laudanumcafe , @sn1tchesandtalkers@a-smile-like-that , @a-smile-like-that , @das-verlorene-kind , @shatteredmirrors-and-lace23 and more… I am absolutely in awe.  The fact that Kindchen created a work of art based on my reapers is still just…. The highest of compliments.  I am humbled

A time when writing was really, really hard:

Um, always.  I am FOREVER freaking out over my work, always, but especially when I posted the third chapter of Do Not Open Before Christmas.  Snitches, Scmi and Laudanum have been my handholders and cheerleaders through much panic.

A scene or character you wrote that surprised you:

All of them.  Seriously, everything.  I never know what I am going to expect or where things are going to go.  I am fairly certain that these folks make their own decisions once I get them out of my head.  I really do not control them..

How did you grow as a writer this year?

Well…. I started posting in August, so… it was a productive year.

How do you hope to grow next year?

I would really like to gain some confidence in my abilities and maybe FINISH SOMETHING BEFORE STARTING SOMETHING NEW.

Who was your greatest positive influence as a writer?

Oh gosh…. @@sn1tchesandtalkers  @@laudanumcafe ,  @das-verlorene-kind , @scmi-sweet and @a-smile-like-that are the reasons I write, truly.

Anything from real life show up in your writing this year:

Hahahahah.  I’ll never tell.  

Any new wisdom you can share with other writers:

Basically?  Just write.  It doesn’t matter if it is amazing, just get it out.  There's always time to edit.  

Any projects you’re looking forward to starting (or finishing) next year?

I am absolutely going to finish Halos, and a few others, without a doubt.

Tag three writers whose answers you’d like to read:

I am fairly certain that all of my people have been tagged but if you follow me and haven’t let me see it!!!!!

[epochxp]

How to Get Miniature Gaming Mileage Out of Old Role-Playing Games!

1st Edition box cover | Amazon.co.uk 

I have been a wargamer since 1983 and a role player since 1985, and the truth is, no game was as formative to my gaming “zeitgeist” as it were, as was Twilight:2000. Why is this so? Because first, the timing of the game was excellent. The Cold War was in full swing, and Ronald Reagan was hell-bent on beating the Soviets, and it seemed to many, damned the cost. With movies like Threads, The Day After, and Testament being made, it seemed NATO and the Warsaw Pact might very well come to blows. 

Or at least it did to this 10-year-old growing up in Gaithersburg, MD, which is a stone’s throw from Washington DC. Maybe it was my subconscious need to make sense of it all. Maybe I wanted to play something other than sword and sandal RPGs. I just wasn’t that into that sort of thing? Well, come one day, I was reading Analog magazine, and I read a review of Twilight:2000. I was hooked. I got the game as a birthday present that next summer and collected pretty much everything that came out for the game until GDW folded up shop in 1993, but here I was, plenty of books and a fertile ground of ideas…what to do with it, right?

I was fortunate in that the game has had something of a bias towards miniatures since the beginning. In fact, a set of Twilight:2000 miniatures rules were published in Challenge Issue 25, which was GDW’s house magazine for its RPGs. (The rules had a very proto-Command Decision feel and could be its predecessor.)

US Army Vehicle Guide Cover | Amazon.com

Furthermore, the game had an official line of miniatures (by Grenadier Miniatures, long OOP), but if you look hard at convention flea markets (bring and buys to our British cousins), you’ll still find from time to time a supply of the figures usually in lots of 6 or 8 packs of figures. The miniatures themselves are a bit smallish compared to some 20mm lines (Britannia comes to mind), but they’ll fit in well with some others, like Ehliem, and they have some nice poses and sculpts. 

Jason Weiser, “500 Miles..” 

And if that wasn’t enough? GDW published the US Army Vehicle Guide, which had an entire section, and black and white pictorial on just how to use Roco and Roskopf vehicles with your figures (not to mention how to make conversions of some of the harder to find stuff). Dated stuff today, but the pictures are a real bit of inspiration on how a gaming table for Twilight:2000 should look.

So, this all inspired the beginnings of my blog. I’d done some stuff for Twilight:2000 before, on the late, lamented Guild Wargamers forum. (which was a real boon for all things 20mm) and I wanted to write a blog to tell those small group of souls that “Good Luck, You’re Not Alone” in this crazy subset of a subset of a hobby, and with all this Cold War Gone Hot nostalgia going around (Down in front, Team Yankee!), I thought, “perfect time for a blog, right?”

So thus, “500 Miles to the German Border” was born. I was prolific my first year and wrote a wargaming-focused analysis on everything that could be of use to the Twilight: 2000 gamer. I think my best stuff has been my writeups of the various role-playing modules as suitable miniature wargaming scenario material, but I have found my blog being quoted in a lot of places, including The Miniatures Page, and even some Twilight:2000 role-playing pages as they mine it back for ideas.

This is just my own experience, really, but honestly? There’re tons of older RPGs out there, collecting dust and not being played, but they’re chock full of ideas that await the application of your favorite miniatures rules sets(s). But the best advice I can give is the following.

Pick a single game and stick with it: It really works best this way. Focusing on Twilight: 2000 has let me do a lot with the game and let me reexamine an old favorite in a new light. I mean, I didn’t realize that Allegheny Uprising could probably take the cake as “grimmest     adventure I’ve ever read”. This is especially true when you’re searching     the module for miniature gaming ideas, and they’re all grim. And readers     like knowing what to expect from each blog entry.

2. Be flexible: It’s more important you stick with the spirit of the game than the letter. I will admit I have had to fudge here and there (the canon color plates in the Vehicle Guides versus the RL schemes that probably would have been used in my vehicle color schemes articles is a good example).

Respect the Copyright: You’re playing in someone else’s sandbox, so be a good net citizen and don’t be posting PDFs online or such. If you must quote, use citations. And always credit photos if you can. I know that’s not always possible but get in the habit of doing so. 

Listen to feedback: Sometimes, comments can really be a big help. My figure review articles, for example, have been nothing but improved due to the assistance some posters have provided (especially the 28mm article, which is a scale I know little to nothing about).

Know your audience: My audience, for example, is going to want all sorts of tutorials, news on where to get neat stuff to improve on that Twilight: 2000 look on the table, and plain inspiration anywhere you can get it. When I am not writing on a topic myself, I am recruiting contributors, and I have two part-time contributors already! 

So, what does all this mean for the miniatures gamer who is looking to crack open a “dead” RPG for inspiration? Well, there’s a fertile ground out there. You’d be surprised what you can find, and honestly, a few throwaway sentences buried in an adventure can be the basis of a great scenario or two for the tabletop. 

And that’s the final point, do something that makes you want to write about it. Blog writing for miniature wargaming should never be a chore. And be consistent, if not prolific, once or twice a month for a posting schedule is pretty good and will keep your fans satisfied for the most part. And do not be afraid to ask your audience occasionally what they’d like to see. You’d be surprised as to what they might come up with. 

So, how is this Not Another Third World War?

As you’ve read from the sidebar, Twilight: 2000 wasn’t a game that posited the usual what I call “Soviet Sunday Drive to the Rhine.” Instead, the Warsaw Pact was on the defensive for most of the game’s background (which can make for some interesting games for all those 6mm types, as all the vehicle guides have HELPFUL information on TOEs). Also, with the end of the Cold War, there are tons of declassified materials you can mine for orders of battle, scenario ideas, and a whole host of other things. (And EpochXperience can help you with that, we’ve got a lot of archival experience!)

By the time 2000 rolls around, you have a background that has some of the bells and whistles left, but not all. What’s striking and fun is the dichotomy. Horse Cav with GPMG and ATGM, MBTs running on hooch and different uniforms even within the same unit. And you can steal ideas from Mad Max, Day After, or dare I say it? Threads? (There is a certain traffic warden that would look awesome in 20mm, and Ehliem makes a nice figure that would make a great starting point. Crooked Dice also makes him in 28mm!). All of this is a historical zeitgeist of the 1980s, where we were pretty convinced the Cold War was going to end with a bang and not a whimper. It left a big impression on my life.

Figures by Ehliem | Jason Weiser, “500 Miles…”

What’s also nice? If you like infantry heavy games? This milieu is for you. As I said before, there’s some ironmongery, but not a lot. And for the modelers? The fact there is fewer vehicles and heavy weapons means you can let your imaginations run riot and really personalize your AFVs and other vehicles, as the “gypsy caravan” look is very, very in Twilight: 2000. 

So, there is a rich tapestry out there for a 35-year-old RPG and plenty of 15 and 20mm figures out there to paint up for it. Why not give it a try?

About Twilight: 2000

Twilight:2000 burst onto the scene in November 1984 in a period of high tension during the Cold War. It took a then likely East-West confrontation and turned it into good RPG fodder, with some historical allegory to the Thirty Years War (with Poland standing in for Germany). 

The game’s initial background posited a Soviet invasion of China after escalating border tensions in the then-future of 1995. This distracted the Soviet Union, and West Germany, in cooperation with East Germany, moved to kick the Soviets out of East Germany by force of arms. This naturally went badly, and expanded into a Third World War that pulled NATO and the Warsaw Pact. The second edition of the game was printed in 1990 and changed the flashpoint to German/Polish border issues in Western Poland and ethnic Germans in Silesia, and the 2.2 edition of the game was published in 1993, just before GDW folded and changed the timeline again, this time positing a successful hardliner coup in 1991.

 The game, while a bit dated, still has something of a following and was even an attempt to bring the game back as Twilight: 2013 in 2008, to mixed reviews, and the game still has a small but fanatically loyal fanbase as the story of soldiers lost, far from home in a post-apocalyptic landscape has had something of an appeal since the story of Xenophon.

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At Epoch Xperience, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse Epoch Xperience’s service on our parent site, SJR Research.

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(This article is credited to Jason Weiser. Jason is a long-time wargamer with published works in the Journal of the Society of Twentieth Century Wargamers; Miniature Wargames Magazine; and Wargames, Strategy, and Soldier.)

[wishingfornever]

2/4/2018 – No Contact:  I forgot to name this and I’d rather not reread this crap

So… Yesterday, I worked 8 to 12.  Came back… fell asleep.  Then I caught a stream.  Wasn’t productive.  It wasn’t that bad. Current time, 12:09.  Late, yeah?  Or early.

I’ve been catching up on Archer.  Or, rather, rewatching the series since the day before yesterday.  Really shouldn’t considering I have to watch it on normal speed… and Netflix doesn’t have the latest season.  Like, seriously, Netflix is nothing but inconveniences.  -,-

Regardless, I often wonder what character people would say I relate with.  Archer himself would be the obvious choice.  Thick, black hair, tall, charming, but also a terrible asshole that people kind of hate but tolerate.  Maybe?  I don’t know.  Oh, he’s something of a mama’s boy.

Dennis used to call me that.  He knew it got on my nerves.  His sister did too.  I let them, though.  Maybe I shouldn’t have?  I mean, Dennis was quick to talk about how offended and personal things were.  Something of a dramatic, I suppose…

Eh. Bad time to bring up Dennis.  I’m trying to work my way to Pam.

I don’t think I relate with Pam that much but she is one of my favorite characters.  She is… perhaps designed to be disgusting but she’s also very strong.  Not just physically, though that’s been shown but her character as well.  At times, at least.  This has been inconsistent now that I think about it.  Still, while getting tortured she just spits in their eyes and tells them they’d better just kill her.

Bold, to be sure.

Again, I like strong female characters.  Though, Pam is more humorous than strong.  And, of course, strong female characters tend to confuse strong with getting the shit kicked out of them.  Anyone can have the shit kicked out of them.  That doesn’t make them strong, it just breaks their ribs.

Rather, a good strong character doesn’t need to take a spot on the battlefield and fight alongside men.  No.  Rather, they need to be somewhat assertive and confident.  Like a queen leading a nation while invaded on several fronts.  Standing strong and leading. That’d be fine.

A strong male character doesn’t have to have a machinegun and mow down other men by the hundreds.  Action heroes will be less remembered than actual strong male characters.  Someone who is assertive, confident, and ready to take charge.

Of course, I do also like physically strong women.  Not so strong they’re more muscly than I could ever achieve but just someone who won’t get pushed over.  Ariel, for example.  Kickboxer, a bit shorter than me, and quick to defend what she loves.  She’s fierce in her own way.

Thinking about Dennis again.  Talking about strong male characters, I thought about examples (despite not listing them).  One Piece, an anime he loves came up.  Something I dislike about One Piece is that EVERYONE has a tragic backstory.  Fucking… no.  God no.  That’s dumb. Tragic doesn’t mean good.  You can have a good and compelling backstory that isn’t tragic.

Anyways, one of the characters had big lips.  I used to drink a lot of soda and that’s pretty unhealthy.  Made my lips swell a bit.  They were also kind of bright.  Dennis used to say I had “big nigger lips” which was actually his words.  I want to say he doesn’t hate black people.  I would say, “He’s not racist” but everyone is a little racist.  He probably said that for shock humor because that’s what I’m usually about.  Still, that made me self-conscious.  If you manage to find a picture of me, take notice.  If I’m not smiling with exposed teeth, then I’m biting my lip or tucking it into my mouth.  That’s how you can tell I knew a picture of me was being taken.

The reason I bite my lip is so I feel more confident.  I find myself with big lips rather unattractive.

Oof… this isn’t supposed to be the post where I shit on Dennis.  :/

He’s a Patriots fan.  Which is dumb.  Fucking bandwagon if I’ve ever seen it.  Or maybe there is another reason, I’m not sure.  They’re going to the superbowl.  I hate it.  I read somewhere that apparently, they league allowed the Patriots to go there again?  I’m not sure if that’s true or not but I’ve basically finished watching football.  I don’t have the time for it anyways.

Whatever. Talking about Archer.  Not talking about Dennis again.

Archer and I also both love cats and love Dodge cars.  Nice to see.  Small things.  Of course, he’s fit and I’m not.  I weighed myself yesterday… 249.  I knew I gained.  My mom… weakened my discipline maybe.  Spent so much money on FUCKING food.  And pizza was shit from yesterday, not sure I mentioned that?  Disappointing.  Like, legitimately tired of Pizza Hut.  I’ll stop getting Pizza Hut when I FINALLY have my free large pizza.  -,-

Of which, I thought I was closer than I really was to get it.  Fucking bullshit.

I’m going to have to really focus.  Get back on track.  My aunt is coming and she doesn’t speak english.  Sometime this month.  Fucking hell… I really don’t want to have to deal with my aunt, really.  I don’t want to deal with anyone.  The only thing stopping me from achieving what I need is myself.  However, the thought of other people tends to make me… hesitate.

I’m watching the episode where Archer gets a car for his birthday.  I’d love to get a Challenger, too…  I hope I can afford one someday but I doubt it.  I’d have to write a lot of books just to get a used Toyota.  I can dream.

During the Stream I was asked to write a poem.  The streamer, his name is NGParadox, lost his campaign.  I wrote something sort of for that. It was more specific… people loved it but I didn’t think it was very good.  That’s life, though.  I’m sharing it with Ariel.  I share almost all my poetry with her.

I promised my cousin that I’d drink Kambucha or whatever the fuck it’s called.  Both bottles.

Lol, fucking Archer.  “What year do you think this is?”  “Yeah, good question.”  That’s third wall breaking stuff right there.  It’s set in the 60’s 70’s and even 80’s with anachronistic details. They never specifically address when this is all taking place.  And for those who don’t know, anachronistic means incorrect to the time.  Meaning they have the internet and cellphones in the 1800’s for example.  You’ll see it a lot in depictions of historical events.

That said, I like how Archer has a sort of repetitive humor.  Like, all the characters are working off some hivemind or whatever.  I’ve always thought that was funny because it tends to begin with a character saying something that they’d normally say.  Then it follows by a character that won’t normally say it but wouldn’t be opposed to saying it.  Then it’s followed by a character that won’t say it at all normally.  Usually not in the same episode but not always.  I think that’s pretty funny, myself.

Oh, that reminds me.  Somehow.  Easter eggs!

No, not thinking about Easter but sometimes the show does fun easter eggs like that third wall joke (sort of, doubt it’d qualify though because it might fly over the head of someone who doesn’t pay attention). Most people know but an easter egg in the context that I’m using it is just a fun little joke that you have to look out for, usually in media.  I’m bringing this up because at work there are easter eggs. Where are they?

In the products.  Here me out.

There are these window curtains that are for sale.  There are a variety of styles, each with their own names.  One such name is “O’Hara” which is the surname of the main character Scarlett O’Hara.  She eventually becomes so poor she has to make a dress out of a window curtain to appear still well to do.  That’s a fun little touch.

Better yet, while stocking lipstick I discovered yesterday that one lipstick wasn’t called “Lustful Red” or “Tasteful Nude.”  Rather, it was called “What’s up, Doc?” which is a reference to Bugs Bunny because he’s always dressing up as a woman and putting on lipstick.  That is by far the best thing I have ever seen.

So, I want to start paying attention.  There are certainly bound to be more fun easter eggs like that.  Just gotta pay attention, is all.

I’m thinking…  I know the year Archer takes place.  Or at least, I know what year it can’t take place before.  The answer:  1974.  The reason for this answer is because all the Russian assault rifles you see are AK-47’s which were later replaced by the AK-74.  They fire different rounds and have different magazines.

The M16 is also available so it takes place between 1964-1974.  Of course, how accurate this is is hard to say.  Clearly the cell phone is a thing and that wasn’t invented until later.  However, that’s a specific anachronistic detail to more liken it to modern day.

Doing research for my nationstate is great… of which, I’ve neglected it as of late.  Gotta work on it a bit… rewrite a lot of lore.

Oh, KGB guy said he was working for the KGB for 30 years.  That’d place the time of the show at 1984 if he began the year the KGB started.

Oh, there is a picture in the background of the same episode of perhaps one of the crew members behind archer atop an image showing off the Soviet dress uniform at the time.  I remember in high school, I pasted my face over that same image for computer class.  It’s edited a bit, though.

Reusing character assets.  The waiter at the Chinese restaurant is the same character and voice actor as the original pirate captain.  Oh, and the face on the vacuum cleaner is an actress who shows up in a later season.

Next episode is in Space.  Walter helped me out while researching a lot on this one because my shitty cuba ripoff is Spacefaring and super technologically advanced.  White space suits are because it’s to keep radiation out or something?  Darker colors would be bad for the wearer which sucks because I wanted to do blue, which is my nation’s color (as is the color of every nation ever).  One thing to do is to have it be reflective so it’d keep out the radiation that way.  So, if I do a dark color it’d have to look somewhat cheap because it’d use reflective crap.  Neat stuff, right?

There’s more he told me.  He’s super into science.  I took some notes that were deleted a while back, but whatever.  Desalination plants have to be a thing in my country due to it being small island nation that’s grossly overpopulated.  Basically Taiwan.

So, Archer seems to have a very close relationship with anyone who has green eyes.  Weird things to notice.  Except for Krieger of course.

Episodes later, they mention a T-72.  So, that means the minimum year Archer takes place is in 1973 when it started service.  :D

Or, an easier way to determine the year Archer takes place in is to just figure out when Archer was born.  Then determine his age in the first season.  As time passes in the show, you can determine the year of the season.  Of course, there are bound to be inconsistencies.  We’d have to see to be sure.

One such inconsistency is that it’s 5:30 and just seeing it has made me incredibly sleepy.  D’oh!  Guess I’ll go to sleep now.  Talk to you… well, I want to say when I wake up but I’m not certain anymore.  Ta!

Found out my aunt is coming on the 17th.  I have 13 days.  Need to clean up.  Last night, I stayed up doing exercises while occasionally stopping to comment about Archer.

Oh… It would appear the Patriots lost…

HA!!! Fucking suck it.  I hate the Patriots and their fans are tools. >:C

Getting close to tomorrow…  Six hour stream today.  Long.  So long.  Oof. Ah, well.  Part of the fun, I guess.  Something I’ve been doing is taking steps on stairs two by two.  Usually, I walk up each individual step like a normal person… Esther encouraged me to try doing two by two.  She did.  And now I’m doing it.  I don’t know why I didn’t before…  I’m surprised, really.  I don’t know what concerned me before.

Thinking about Esther… last Superbowl, the Patriots won.  I was with Esther then.  She laughed because she won a bet.  I apparently got so drunk that I blacked out.  Then we had mind blowing sex apparently.  I wish I were there for it.  That’s actually the first time she spoke to Dennis.  He was being a dick to me and I handed him off to her.  She sassed him right back and it confused him SO badly.  It was pretty funny, actually…  I miss Esther.  Can you tell?

Things you remember…  Or don’t remember.  It was a weird night, I think afterwards I was talking to someone who wasn’t there?  That scared Esther… but again, it was after the sex.  I really should get back into drinking again.  I miss talking to people on my days off… people with voices…

Oh, I was sick yesterday.  Not sure if I mentioned.  Sore throat, nothing drastic.  Day before too.  And today, I’ve been blowing out tons of mucus.  It’s passing, maybe, but my nose is still super clogged.  I chopped up an onion today.  I’m getting back to my original diet. I feel like I’ll have the discipline to say no to sweets and ultra fattening foods again.  I’ve been wanting to get this summer sausage SO badly but I haven’t… it’s really good.  But it’s meat, so… sad face. :c

Still, the fact that my impulsiveness HASN’T made me even heavier than I thought I’d be is surprising.  I’ve been doing more arm exercises and realized that I’ve gotten so weak, as I mentioned.  I can’t believe I thought I could outstrength Dennis… but again, that wasn’t the plan.  The plan was to not fight and just show Dennis for something that he isn’t.  He’s not confrontational, I doubt he’d ever hit me.  Mostly because he’d be afraid that I’d hit back.

I used to be super strong.  Like, so strong that it’s crazy.  Now?  I can’t lift my weights to the side.  They only get so far.  I’m so disappointed… my shoulders are going to get a work out.  I’ll just dick around and watch Archer as I play with my weights.  I NEED to get my strength back.  Not so I can fight Dennis but so I have some confidence again.

Besides, if I intend to lose weight and enlist, I’m going to need to do a minimum amount of pullups and situps and all that crap.  So, I need to be sure I can do at least some of that.  I don’t want to be in Adela’s house forever.  I don’t want to be in this country forever.

[thecosydragon]

My latest blog post from the cosy dragon: Interview with E. A. Barker

An Interview with E. A. Barker, author of Ms. Creant: The Wrong Doers!

  E. A. Barker believes he is an average guy in mid-life who has led a mostly average life. His readers may not agree with his assessment. The single biggest difference between him and most other people is his pursuit of knowledge. Throughout his life he never stopped asking the simplest question: Why? E. A. describes himself as a collector of ideas and a purveyor of dot connections. He attempts to present his findings in an entertaining fashion in an effort to encourage people to read—especially men who are reading far too little these days. E. A is an advocate of education for its ability to affect social reform and actively promotes the idea that a global conscience is possible.

COZY DRAGON INTERVIEW

 Everyone has a ‘first novel’, even if many of them are a rough draft relegated to the bottom and back of your desk drawer (or your external hard-drive!). Have you been able to reshape yours, or have you abandoned it for good?

(E. A. laughs.) It’s crap! I write narrative non-fiction partially because my ability to write quality dialog is so lacking in my opinion. I am reasonably certain I am at least decent at what I do. Ms. Creant ‘s mission was to challenge the beliefs of the reader so that we might change and grow as humans. This is a niche which I believe best suits my abilities.

Some authors are able to pump out a novel a year and still be filled with inspiration. Is this the case for you, or do you like to let an idea percolate for a couple of years in order to produce a quality book? 

I admire prolific writers who can produce quality works time and time again. For me, it does not come so easily. I suppose my percolation happens during the extensive research phase, which in the case of this book, represented a one year period.

I have heard of writers that could only write in one place – then that cafe closed down and they could no longer write! Where do you find yourself writing most often, and on what medium (pen/paper or digital)?

Wow. Your first sentence supports my working theory that we writers are merely scribes channeling the thoughts of some other entity. This is probably not the place to get all weirdly metaphysical so I will move on to the question at hand. I can write wherever I can make my body comfortable and where there is little distraction or noise. Paper notes always litter my workspace, if not the entire room, until such time as they are compiled by section into my trusty old HP laptop.

Before going on to hire an editor, most authors use beta-readers. How do you recruit your beta-readers, and choose an editor? Are you lucky enough to have loving family members who can read and comment on your novel?

I have never been clear on how the literary world uses some terminology. My scientific background tells me to speak of alpha readers first. To me, the process is as follows: 1) I produce a very rough draft which is then read by alpha readers whose sole job it is to blow sunshine up my butt so that I can find the courage to continue. In my case, it was my hairdresser. 2) I then read, revised, re-read, revised . . .  until I realized I was stuck in an endless loop and had to seek professional help. 3) Enter my editor—who I picture in my head as Ilsa of the SS—she is what I believe to be my beta-reader. Laura had no trouble telling me how I had gone off course (content editing); nor did she lose any sleep over pointing out my embarrassing grammatical errors; and I believe she rejoiced in highlighting the literally thousands of typos and punctuation errors. This is what makes her good. Her ability to completely devastate any ego the writer in you had developed, will either force you to be better, or quit. Badly shaken, I chose the former. I made massive revisions which fleshed out ideas, supplied answers, and ultimately resulted in three additional chapters. The most observant of readers might see where I ended the book on three separate occasions. She was recruited by writing a cheque. 4) The gamma reader was my proof-reader who line edited (a.k.a. copy edited) the manuscript prior to publication. She only found another five hundred or so mistakes in punctuation as well as missing words I just could not see when I read those sentences. She was recruited through a negotiated exchange of services and the promise of a signed hardcover.

I walk past bookshops and am drawn in by the smell of the books – ebooks simply don’t have the same attraction for me. Does this happen to you, and do you have a favourite bookshop? Or perhaps you are an e-reader fan… where do you source most of your material from?

I LOVE PAPER BOOKS! It is easy to understand people who like digital books though; they can buy books for far less money and could carry their entire library with them at all times. There is a danger that we should be discussing in the digital revolution we are in the midst of. I USE LIBRARIES to source most information. Libraries have always been the keepers and conservators of knowledge. Budget cutbacks combined with limited shelf space are leading many libraries into e-book information technology systems where the librarian will no longer be the curator. Whosoever controls “the cloud” will then control all knowledge. We must continue to encourage a balance between paper and digital books or we risk quickening our fall into a dystopian nightmare.

Oh my! Asking an author if they have a favorite bookstore is leading them to potential career suicide. ANY bookstore that carries or recommends Ms. Creant: The Wrong Doers! is a favorite of mine. I do however frequent a local used bookshop in the Beaches area of Toronto near my home.

I used to find myself buying books in only one genre (fantasy) before I started writing this blog. What is your favourite genre, and do you have a favourite author who sticks in your mind from:

childhood? Jules Verne

adolescence? Frank Herbert

young adult? Robert Heinlein

adult? Hemingway? I am now trying to read the greats across previously unexplored genres including poetry—something I would never have done when I was younger.

Social media is a big thing, much to my disgust! I never have enough time myself to do what I feel is a good job. What do you do? 

Social media is a massive time suck that keeps us from writing. I would like a PA to take it over but I have yet to have a quality unpaid one offer to do so.

This is my approach:

Facebook is number one in terms of users. If you are willing to track people down and stay engaged with them, it can be powerful. Therein lies the time suck factor—engagement. Facebook goes out of their way to minimize your reach. Only 3 to 7% of your friends and followers will see some of your posts regularly.

Twitter is second in terms of users; limited in terms of post length, but UNLIMITED in terms of reach—all your followers and all selected hash-tags receive your posts, you can tweet @ anyone on twitter and they do not put you in jail for over engagement.

I tweet daily and send the tweet to both my facebook profile and my author page. In theory you could do this in 30 minutes per day but you would not have the all important needed engagement with other people.

Not long ago, I found statistics which clearly showed you really only need to be engaging on Fridays and Saturdays. This opens the door to time suck savings by posting (a.k.a. updating status) each day, but engaging just on those two days.

Understanding the value of any marketing effort is often difficult to measure in immediate sales—social media is epitome of this. After two years of working social media an average of three hours per day, seven days a week, 360ish days per year, I will tell you its value cannot be measured monetarily. When I attempt to do this, the numbers make me feel foolish.

$0.03 is what I have been paid per hour.

30 minutes is invested in each follower.

Followers rarely buy your book but about 1% will.

You will get 0.1% response from a twitter campaign.

My RATIONALIZATION for continuing at all is I committed to this for two years–one year leading up to this release (the building phase), and one year of promoting the book after release. I assure you there will be a massive scaling down of social media work once the book has its first birthday.

So what are the positives?

You gain a handful of digital pen pals from around the world—priceless.

A good percentage of initial sales and reviews will come from people you meet on facebook.

It is the digital equivalent of flyer distribution and it is free, if you do not count your time.

About 50% of blogger interest came through social media channels.

The best alternative to social media marketing is REAL WORLD marketing but you must be an extroverted salesperson to do this, and many writers are not. Some will have costs which can quickly add up.

E-mail campaigns have netted the greatest amount of interest thus far with about a 10% response rate. This is literally 100 times better than social media and introverts can do it.

Direct mail promotion to independent bookshops and libraries seems to generate interest.

Attend book fairs and sell signed copies.

Public speaking is always an opportunity to sell books.

Pitch indie bookstores and other merchants on buying or displaying consignment copies of your book.

Send out review copies to literary critics. Most will not give you the time of day, but just one published positive review from these people can make a career.

Links to: Twitter Facebook

Answering interview questions can often take a long time! Tell me, are you ever tempted to recycle your answers from one to the next? 

Your questions were thought provoking and multifaceted so I could not cheat. We are faced with some stock questions which cause us to reiterate answers. I have yet to copy and paste an answer, but who knows what the future may bring.

Ms. Creant: The Wrong Doers!

This book was created for everyone from young adults to seniors. It was written from a male’s point of view, speaking to men who are endlessly struggling to understand the opposite sex. For women, this is a fascinating journey inside the male psyche. The book gives a young reader a glimpse of the future, with a recommended time-line for key life events. Mature readers, who have already experienced much of what is discussed in the book, should come away with a new found understanding and perhaps even closure. Ms. Creant is a controversial, entertaining, yet informative look at everything which influences human behaviour including: relationships, life, health, biology, philosophy, sociology, theology, politics, genetics—even physics. E. A. Barker shares twenty-four “inappropriate” stories of life with women. The author based these stories of women behaving badly on his real life experiences, spanning four decades of his search for an ideal partner. The lessons taken away from the book will serve to help readers make better choices, become more aware, grow and change—at any stage of life.

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