#and clown LOVES to be like. well even though my stated motivations is causing problems on purpose

[ask-the-good-creeps]

I’m curious to how they would react to my character who is like a mini version of slenderman in a way yet if angered can be just as big and dangerous. Here is two pictures showing normal look vs their larger form. (Btw the guy is their proxy) you can choose whoever to respond to this!😊

//Notes about this character from the creator: “Anon tends to roam freely in forests but sometimes goes to watch people as it reminds them of their human childhood. They are only 18. Anon isn’t the kind to do anything bad but tries to avoid making a mass murder when they are feral and hungry, their proxy is actually their boyfriend but somehow managed to get a proxy side out of him. They mainly try to fit in as best as possible with people but as Anon is young and struggles with control it creates problems. When they meet others like them, pastas or creatures they try to make friends as they struggle with friendship. Other than that they are Normally rather friendly and a little shy but protective and dangerous if angered, hurt or if anyone tries to badly injure their proxy. Their normal height is 5’9 but in monster form it can range from 9’11 in a house to 15 foot outside. An interesting fact though, their proxy bf was actually suicidal but they saved him with friendship that slowly became love.”

------------------------

Pasta Reactions:

Slenderman: Initial reactions will be confusion and worry. He and the other two slenders should be the only entities like this in the mortal realm; he’d be confused on how this came to be and worried about what they plan to do. The new entity would likely be under close observation by himself, the other slenders, and/or the proxies if deemed appropriate until it was confirmed that no threat is present.

Trenderman: Like Slenderman, he’d be concerned...especially considering all that happened with Offenderman way back when. He would be wary of this newcomer and subconsciously be ready to strike should they turn out to be another rogue entity.

Splendorman: Like his brothers, Splendor would have some concerns. However, he’s also be curious and trusting as he normally is; he’s the slender that would be most likely to approach for a face-to-face conversation first, and he’d be the one who really sticks to the whole, ‘innocent until proven guilty’ mentality.

Masky: Oh my god, not another one. These words would be this proxy’s first thought on the matter. As someone who is already partially overwhelmed by the idea that three slender entities exist in the world, another one showing up - especially one that hasn’t yet been concretely determined ‘friend’ or ‘foe’ - would make him anxious...especially since the other slenders weren’t aware of their existence at first.

Hoodie: He’d be on high alert for a long while. After the whole mess with Offenderman in the past, he’s not happy with the idea of another slender entity. He’d be extremely cautious and would be in perfect agreement with his partner when Masky suggests keeping good distance and avoiding the new one.

Toby: If he catches sight of the newcomer before someone tells him to be aware of them, it’s likely he’ll end up debating with himself whether this is a hallucination or not. Part of him will say that if there’s a new slender, his boss would’ve said something so this can’t be real; and another part of him would say that normally when he’s hallucinating he doesn’t question whether what he’s seeing is real or not, so he must be lucid. He won’t interact unless it’s necessary and his first move would be to find Masky or Hoodie and talk to them about it to try and validate his experience as real or imaginary.

Kate: In all honesty, Kate comes off as rude and cold to just about everyone, whether she knows them well or not and regardless of how she views them. She won’t actively try to approach, but she won’t go out of her way to avoid/observe either. If she crosses paths them, she’s just gonna keep walking past. If they try to interact, she’s gonna be the same Kate everyone else sees and behave with her callous attitude. Social situations are not her forte, which is why her main mission type is all the stuff that involves slaughter and leaving no witnesses.

Jeff: Jeff is gonna keep his distance. He doesn’t regularly interact with anyone but BEN, Smile, and the Puppeteer (and occasionally Liu or Nurse Ann) anyway; he’s not the type of guy to go making new friends or poking his nose where he feels it doesn’t belong. If he sees something from the newbie that’s cause for concern, he may report it to Slenderman just to be sure nobody innocent is in danger.

Liu/Sully: Oh, heck no. Liu has made a deal with Zalgo in the past; Zalgo and the Slenderman may not be bitter enemies anymore, but he still has an instinctual reluctance to go anywhere near something that seems like a slender. This is one of the few things that Liu and Sully agree on - if they run into this guy by mistake, Liu is gonna let Sully handle it, and Sully (much like Kate) ain’t gonna play nice.

Jane: She’d defer to Eyeless Jack. Jane will be the first to admit that she is terrible at reading into other people and their intentions, so she would ask her trusted demon friend (who is a notoriously good judge of character) for his opinion on the new entity. She won’t be overtly rude or cruel if she runs into them, but she’ll be fairly untrusting until either Jack or her own observations of solid proof that they’re an okay individual lead her to loosen up a little around them.

Clockwork: She’s pretty much gonna be with Jane on this one. Slender entities are known to be powerful and intimidating and their motives are never completely clear at first. Unless she has solid evidence that they can be trusted or someone she already trusts decides to vouch for them, she’s not gonna get all buddy-buddy here.

Eyeless Jack: As stated, he’s known to be a good judge of character thanks to his demonic instincts. Also, since he is unable to see people as we do, he’s not taking his impressions of people from how they look; his sense of who someone is comes from their actions and emotional responses to everything. He’s also naturally introverted, though, as you would expect from a demonic doctor. At first meeting, Jack wouldn’t be on guard or untrusting like the others but he wouldn’t be super friendly, either. He’d kinda be neutral like he is with innocent strangers unless a friendship formed over time like it has with Jane, Clockwork, and Nathan.

Nathan the Nobody: Nathan naturally prefers to isolate himself. The only pastas he’s willing to visit and hang out with are Eyeless Jack and sometimes Jeff because those two helped save his life in the past; he’s started warming up to Jane and Clockwork because they’re usually there with Jack when Nathan shows up to the MedLab, but he’s not interested in conversing or spending time with anyone else. Long story short, he won’t interact without a damn good reason. If they cross paths, he’s just gonna ignore them and keep walking unless that option becomes impossible.

Laughing Jack: Our favorite monochrome clown admittedly doesn’t spend much time in the mortal realm, and when he’s here he’s not hanging out in the woods. The chances of him meeting the newcomer are slim, but he’s likely to hear about them from Candy Pop (because his jester friend seems to know everything about new creeps). If they ever did come across each other, it’s unlikely Jack would stay long unless the new slender managed to do something to really pique his attention.

Candy Pop: Perhaps the only one that would actively attempt to seek out and converse with the newcomer. Pop has no sense of shame or fear, so even if the new slender’s intentions aren’t known he’ll still let his curiosity guide him to interact with them in order to gain more information about who they are and possibly make a new connection to add to his network. If he determined that no threat was present and this person seems entertaining, he’d likely be willing to spread that conclusion to those he knows and possibly introduce them to pastas he’s closer to.

Candy Cane: Unless the newcomer gets in her way somehow, they aren’t likely to have an extended interaction. Candy Cane hangs out with the other Carny Pastas and is alright spending time with others who happen to be in the same area; however, she’s not a social butterfly like her brother and spends most of her free time home at the Candy Circus or with Jack and company at the clown’s carnival. If they run into each other, it’s likely while she’s on her way to do something so she’ll give a quick, ‘yeah, hi, how are you, gotta run, bye’ and not pay anymore mind to it unless it seems to post some type of problem for her.

Jason the Toymaker: Just as Jane would turn to Eyeless Jack for insights into the new person, Jason would ask the Puppeteer for his opinion before doing anything. He’d be wary of letting the newcomer anywhere close to the children he works with until he had a confirmation that this entity wouldn’t be a threat to them.

The Puppeteer: Like Eyeless Jack, the Puppeteer is an excellent judge of character thanks to his natural power of empathy. He’s also not worried about a potential threat unless he sees proof that he should be worried; he’d be willing to have an extended interaction, so long as he had the time for it between visits with those he’s counseling. The Puppeteer is a naturally calm and friendly entity, so the interaction would go well assuming the newcomer also remained calm and friendly.

Helen: Not unfriendly or cold, but naturally distant and uninterested in things like this unless there’s direct consequences in his or Dina’s life as a result. Helen will be cordial and fairly quiet around the newcomer as he is with most people, but it’s unlikely he’ll think of them as friend material because he knows Dina doesn’t like new people and she’s with him most of the time.

Dina: As stated, she doesn’t like new people. She seem rude or irritated if she runs into the new slender, or she may just pretend they aren’t there - it depends where she’s at with her mood and how the situation plays out. Repeated attempts to interact with her (regardless of whether or not there are positive intentions behind the attempts) will make her angry and may even provoke her to attack. When she says, ‘leave me alone’, it’s in everyone’s best interests to do so.

Kagekao: Kagekao would be curious more than anything. He wouldn’t be as carefree as Candy Pop and attempt to engage in conversation immediately, but he would stalk them for a while and likely pull a couple harmless pranks to gauge their reaction. If they get angry over the minor inconveniences he causes, he probably won’t stick around long.

Nurse Ann: She doesn’t run into other pastas much unless they are specifically trying to seek her out. If she crosses paths with them, she’ll be pretty neutral about it as she is with most. If she doesn’t have business with you, she doesn’t see a reason to stick around - she won’t be rude or dismissive, but she won’t be that talkative or social, either.

Hobo Heart: He gone fly away. Hobo Heart is a complete loner, totally antisocial in all circumstances. He’s just gonna go somewhere else if he comes across this guy, or anyone, really.

BEN: He’d start looking for information, first and foremost. He likes to be prepared to interact with new entities and learns all he can about them before making contact of any sort. If the Internet yields no information he can use, his next step is to consult Candy Pop due to the fact that the jester has an uncanny ability to uncover uncommon knowledge (and also because BEN knows the Pop would likely have been the first to interact with them).

Sally: She’s gonna stay away. Unless you’re a sick p*dophile that she needs to dispose of or someone that’s been introduced to her by a trusted friend (such as Masky) she automatically assumes you’re a potential threat...especially if you appear to have power like a Slender would wield.

Lacy: Keeps to herself anyway. I doubt there’d be much interaction here.

Lazari: Like the Slenders and proxies, she’d be concerned about a new Slender entity thanks to the Offenderman issues that occurred in the past (way to ruin it for everybody, Offender - ya goddamn serial r*pist). She’d observe and start trying to get a lock on how powerful this entity is, in hopes that she could eat them if they ever showed intentions of causing problems.

I think that’s all the pastas on here so far. Keep in mind, Slender entities are known by the creeps as being the strongest among them...a new entity of that caliber that nobody knows anything about isn’t likely to immediately be seen as an ally by many of the pastas. They’ll be regarded as a potential threat until proven otherwise (again, mostly thanks to the experience they’ve all had with the rogue slender years ago). //

[vaguely-gestures-to-the-void]

Hindsight: My thoughts on Loki (2021)

As always, thanks for being here my friends. There’s definitely more nuanced discussion of this show, but I’m here for the vibes. Anyways, here’s my thoughts on Episode 3 of Loki. Bear in mind I hadn’t watched episode 4 before I wrote the review for 3. No hate on anyone/thing, it’s all my opinion.

Episode 3: LAMENTIS

Pre-title scene

I rioted when I heard Hayley’s voice. It’s a win for all of us.

C-20! Sylvie!

C-20’s lil dance was adorable. I love her.

I want Sylvie’s tie dye.

Is that Ralph Bohner?

The same place, but at night. Coincidence? I think not.

Sylvie’s powers have limits. She can’t search someone’s mind and take information, she needs them to willingly tell her though she can use her powers to do that.

TVA

Sylvie’s experienced. Always tie your hair into a bun before a fight.

Her music is nothing like what we’ve heard previously. It’s the Sylvie show folks.

The mural on the left side of the hall is the one from the credits scene.

The plaque above the elevators says ‘FOR ALL TIME ALWAYS’.

Even in the mural on the right side, the Time Keepers aren’t equal, the middle one takes up the most space.

Ravonna!

I love how their movements are similar. The head-snap-hair-flip combo is nearly identical, reflecting how they are the same person to some extent.

2077 Lamentis - 1

“Get off my leg!” SiblingTM energy.

“Goodbye, variant.” She sure has the Loki drama.

I finally remembered it’s called a TemPad. Rip.

“Don’t ever call me that.”

“Tech savvy?”

That’s so Ragnarok.

I love the music as we pan up to the planet. It’s the familiar, anxiety-inducing ticking for me lads.

“You idiot! This is Lamentis - 1.”

“I don’t know what that means!”

My siblings when I can’t restart the router (every country has an AT&T).

I like that it’s a moon that’s inhabited. It’s nearly always the planet, still not great for the people on it.

That slide to get under the dump truck was so smooth.

“So we’re a team now?” Jesus Loki needs friends. Probably a good therapist too.

“Didn’t need your help!”

“You’re so weird!”

I like the way Tom runs. Don’t know why. Just do.

Sidenote, my favourite running form is Chris Evans’.

Sylvie’s magic flickered so I genuinely think the enchantment didn’t work.

“Well then I’ll cut it out.” I like the way she says that. I am questioning so many things rn.

“Just because I have to work with you doesn’t mean I wanna hear your voice.” It’s ironic since they spend so much time talking about themselves.

“Alright, well, slow down… Variant.” They really play off each other’s egos to find weaknesses.

“You don’t know what you want.” Sylvie’s more straightforward in everything she does. She efficiently points out Loki’s flaws but when it comes to a goal, she’s meticulous.

“...just walk away.” Loki stops walking, but Sylvie does walk away. There is distance between them (for now).

I’ve had experience with mining towns like this one and whilst they weren’t so out-of-this-world (ya know) there is a tendency for rural and isolated communities to struggle with old/not maintained infrastructure. This is not everywhere, but it’s not uncommon from what I know. Even though these towns are a source of wealth, there isn’t distribution of the money and it’s a grim reality that’s being shown. I appreciate it.

The shot of them walking past a slab of that planet towards the hut is incredible. Wow.

The person in there is just waiting for their death. I’m going to be addressing a lot of the harsh realities in this episode folks so it won’t be so cheerful.

I understand that people weren’t so happy with this being a filler episode, but I think they got it right. It’s strange that a literal planet-moon collision doesn’t bring the tension that the hurricane did in the last ep, but by having an atmosphere that wasn't so omnius, they conveyed (to me at least) that hope was already lost. In the Roxxcart Disaster, the people believed that it wasn’t going to be the end. There’s desperation on Lamentis - 1 but as Sylvie said, the collapse of society occurs. That’s a large group of people realising that class divides will cause slaughter. It’s greed portrayed in two different ways, one being the integration of excessive capitalism into society, the other being social structure based on oppression. Not everyone’s reading into Loki like this but it’s a change from how Marvel usually approaches conflict.

We learnt about the characters and whilst I’m not a fan of when a plot line is moot (my bet is that Loki and Sylvie will be rescued next ep, making all the attempts to get off Lamentis - 1 pointless), it’s necessary for the characters to develop. The way Loki and Sylvie end up on Lamentis - 1 makes sense and the plot doesn’t feel forced.

“It’s remarkable that you made it as far as you did.”

Devils is recurring in this episode. Maybe this has implications on future episodes?

“Which one was that, diplomacy?” Why are their interactions so funny?

I don’t think I need to comment on the significance of the train station scene.

I would like to acknowledge that though this is good writing that’s relevant in the time it was released, we shouldn’t forget it’s coming from large corporations who aren’t perfect.

How do they just walk past the line?

The people who snitched were right in front of them.

Did the cat get Loki’s silvertongue? That was the most graceless lying I’ve ever seen.

Sylvie not sitting with her back to a door makes sense, but why won’t Loki go backwards on a train? They both have little quirks.

“That’s not a plan. That’s just doing a thing.” Loki went to the Thor school of planning, it’s Get Help all over again.

Loki’s exaggerated nods at the other guards lol.

Sylvie growls whenever she’s mad, it’s hilarious.

The close ups of their faces when the conversation gets personal and isn’t just trading jabs is great for conveying the authenticity of their answers.

Loki not pressing Sylvie when she clearly didn’t want to talk about what happened to her mother is something I appreciated.

Here’s to Tom for having to do magic for more than 10 years now. He’s so serious, I can only imagine how funny it is without the effects.

“Well she did.” Yeesh, has Loki gotten time to grieve?

Sylvie is genuinely impressive.

“Pity the old woman chose to die.”

“She was in love.”

I don’t quite understand what they were talking about then, I guess we’ll find out later?

Loki, why are you so unnecessarily dramatic?

I laughed. Who am I kidding, they’re dorks and I love them.

Loki is trying to find out anything, anyone who could be used against Sylvie.

Here’s to the postman, they’re probably dead but we appreciate Sylvie’s happiness anyways.

“A bit of both. I suspect the same as you.” AND THAT’S HOW YOU WRITE IN REPRESENTATION FOLKS!

Let’s just take our scraps and be happy, eh? It made my week.

They both need real relationships of any kind, guys.

“Love is… uh, something I might have to have another drink to think about.” Me whenever anyone asks me about my love life.

“You do realise… ...a civilisation’s only hope?” I think this was Sylvie’s way of making sure Loki’s (albeit grey) morals and drinking habits don’t interrupt her plan.

The train sure gives me Snowpiercer vibes.

Do I have to talk about Drunk Loki?

Tom’s singing voice is lovely.

Sylvie’s eyes shift nervously to the door and then back to Loki. She’s initially tense but she relaxes slightly though she knows she’s gonna have to clean up the mess.

“Nobody cares. It’s the end of the world.” Again, Loki’s headspace is one where existence is futile.

The green walls contrast the purple lighting nicely.

You can see plants (?) from the outside if you look out the windows. Talk about attention to detail.

Bruh what is the dagger about? Drunk Loki’s a comedic genius.

The descending notes in the background of Loki’s fireworks.

Sylvie’s smile when she goes to attack is animalistic. I’d like to see her character explored more in terms of how she views violence.

YEET.

“You’re right. I’m a god.” Loki’s defense mechanism is to state that his motives are above the understanding of others.

“You’re a clown.” Sylvie tells it as it is.

Loki and Sylvie’s reactions to the TVA contrast the most here. Sylvie is potentially motivated by vengeance or a need for revenge whilst Loki has resigned to numbing the pain (for now at least) as he comes to terms with his reality. The question of what drives you is so important for these characters, I’m excited to see whether they’ll find a common ground and wreak havoc on the sacred timeline.

Loki and Sylvie both struggle with communicating in a healthy way. Sylvie calls him out on his directionlessness and Loki tells her what may be the harsh reality of her plan. Neither of them are willing to accept it, but there’s potential for a strong bond if they do.

Sylvie’s scream lmao.

I love the colour of Loki’s pants.

Problem? Solution! Do thing! Is Sylvie’s method of thinking when all is lost.

Gosh I love the shots in this episode.

“That’s a pretty good life.” Sylvie’s definitely not lived as a royal, or not from what she remembers.

“I just need to know if I can trust you.” Sylvie giving up how she enchants people is an olive branch because as useful as the things that Loki told her may have been for manipulation, they both know the importance of her upper hand. But she only relents once Loki doesn’t have the TemPad. Later, when she asks whether she can trust Loki, it’s more of a reassurance because he’s already been vulnerable around her.

The actor’s body language and facial expressions are incredible. Loki’s eyebrow’s furrow slightly when Sylvie mentions C-20’s mind but Tom takes a second for the information to be processed rather than instantly reacting to Sophia’s next line. She does the same when Loki talks about the TVA workers being created. What skilled people they are.

The city is a wonderful piece of set design.

“We do, and you can.” They step into the light, neither of them have tunnel vision and are able to see a bigger picture.

“They’re gonna let these people die.” This show explores a side of Loki we haven’t seen before, his morality and compassion. He has grey areas that could be explored in the next season. It also points back to how Sylvie and Loki differ in their view of others. I think this is partially because of their childhoods. Loki was raised as a prince and cared about his people, but Sylvie doesn’t share that perspective (“...they usually survive”), maybe because of her past. Hopefully in the upcoming episodes we’ll get a bit more of her backstory.

That sequence is beyond words. The constantly rotating and revolving camera really hammers home that it’s a disorienting fight for their lives at the end of the world. I’m speechless, just watch it.

The music in that blue-purple-pink club was banging tho.

Loki and Sylvie’s posture, facial expression and general body movement is similar. The variant point is hammered home here.

It’s interesting how Loki is in shock/denial of the Ark being destroyed whereas Sylvie immediately leaves.

The end music of this episode is beautiful. I love how it all builds to leave us on the soft tones of Dark Moon.

No one’s interested, but my mum and I bonded over the Jim Reeves version of this song and the Bonnie Guitar one.

Ep 3 review

Short episode with not much going on other than character development. However, if the first two were anything to go by, this episode will have greater implications on the plot. The pacing of this show is a bit strange, but we may see this change in the next season.

I mentioned previously that it would be a shame if the entire plot of this episode was made irrelevant by how they get off Lamentis - 1 next ep. This show has been really good at keeping us on our toes with the writing so they probably won’t take turns that have been speculated.

Happy mid-season guys! The following two episodes were apparently Tom’s favourites so we can expect some mayhem up ahead. See you next time!

Here's the link to my Ep 2 review

[ranma-rewatch]

Episode 23: Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan

*yawn* Wow, I finally got some good sleep. Back to the Ranma Rewatch, then. Hey there, long time no see, going to try and get back on track. This week we’re still in the middle of the season 2’s opening story arc, and another main character shall be introduced to us. Will I like him better than I did ten years ago? Only way to find out is to look at the next paragraph, from when I’ve watched the episode.

This episode raised my hopes and then gently lowered them a little, but on the whole I’m happier than I thought I would have been.

The story starts with Akane taking Ranma to see Dr. Tofu, under the assumption that as someone with lots of experience with Chinese medicine, he’d be able to fix what Cologne did to Ranma. Sadly, the technique used is something only a master could do, far outside of his wheelhouse. However, there is one thing he could do.

To counteract the Full Body Cat Tongue, Tofu hits a different pressure point in Ranma, one named after old men from Tokyo. Why? Because apparently they’re well known for being able to stand even the most scalding heat in their baths, and this technique gives the user that same ability. Sure enough, it let’s Ranma return to his uncursed state, but there’s a catch. Kasumi calls, turning Dr. Tofu into a bumbler before he can give the warning, so Ranma and Akane just head to school.

After class, Akane harangues Ranma into taking her out for food, which their classmates immediately notice has a lot of romantic energy to it. Then Shampoo and Cologne appear, amazed that Ranma somehow found a way around the elderly amazon’s strategy, but Cologne seems sure anyway that this won’t be an issue.

But wait! Out of nowhere, someone new appears. His name is Mousse, and he’s a man from the amazon village who has been in love with Shampoo since they were kids. He has terrible eyesight, so bad that he frequently mistakes people for the love of his life, and after a series of confusions he learns that Shampoo is dead set on marrying Ranma.

Mousse attacks Ranma, and challenges him to a manly duel for Shampoo. But she refuses that, so instead makes the duel over Akane for seemingly no reason, which Ranma agrees to. Oh, and he’s known for using ‘dark magic’ which is in practice more sleight of hand and weapon-based techniques.

That evening, Akane is doing what she frequently does when pissed off, namely training in the dojo. Ranma shows up, clearly aware he really stepped in it and wanting to make amends by making it clear there’s no way he’s going to lose to Mousse.

But Akane makes it clear that isn’t why she’s mad. The reason she’s upset is that she doesn’t belong to Ranma, and she won’t belong to Mousse. She’s her own person, and this duel doesn’t respect that. Hell, if he loses that’s fine with her, she’ll just beat up Mousse herself. The entire family shows up, interpreting this as kind of a romantic confession to Ranma.

The next morning, it Dr. Tofu calls and gives the warning he’d meant to tell them earlier: the technique he used is a one-use, so if Ranma gets splashed, he’s stuck again. Akane only finds this out after Ranma takes a dip in the pond while sparring with his dad, and they all freak out over what he’s going to do. Why none of them think to just tell Mousse that Ranma has a Jusenkyo curse, I have no clue.

Someone, Cologne probably, turned the match into a huge spectacle, with food carts and seating around the arena and everything, there’s a huge crowd. Ranma’s late, but that’s only because he made a disguise to hide his cursed body. He clowns around a little at first, having prepared a bunch of lame magic tricks, but then ‘does a trick’ by ‘turning into a girl’, giving him an excuse for how he looks.

Mousse buys it, but he’s angry that Ranma’s not taking it seriously. He takes of his...robe? Tunic? Whatever, either way he’s buff as hell under there, and an attack from his barbed footwear ruins the front of Ranma’s stage assistant outfit, bearing his boobies to everyone. This causes a bunch of men in the audience to storm the fighting area so they can sexually assault Ranma and then I paused Hulu and stared at my computer screen for three full minutes before continuing the episode.

*sigh* Anyway, the Kuno siblings show up, interfere with the fight, Mousse gets deadly series, then Akane reminds Ranma he can use his new technique in battle, which he does to win. Then a bunch of his admirers crowd Ranma, and Akane is annoyed. Done.

Let me get into the stuff I found really interesting with this episode, to start with.

The first half was honestly just really enjoyable. Akane and Ranma had a really good chemistry going on, it reminded me a lot of the episode where Shampoo first showed up. There was a casual closeness to them, still tempered with occasional arguments, that was just cute.

I also liked that they thought to try asking Dr. Tofu for help, since his expertise has helped so often in the past. Making it clear this was a problem he could only barely help out with, and only one time, sold how Cologne and what she’s done to Ranma isn’t something that’s going to be solved easily.

What was a bit odd in that scene was we actually got to see the curse take effect, as Ranma’s torso changed, something I’m fairly sure we’ve never gotten that much detail on. It’s usually either off-screen or a cutaway. But I like we saw it with the curse turning him back to his uncursed form, since it emphasized this was Ranma regaining the body that felt right to him.

I’ve talked about this before, but I also couldn’t help noticing throughout this episode the weird dichotomy in who uses Ranma’s preferred pronouns and who doesn’t. Akane, Shampoo, and Cologne all call Ranma ‘he’ even when he’s in a feminine form, but Akane’s siblings call him ‘she’ instead.

The dojo scene was also a treat for me. I just kind of love how it put the focus on how this whole arrangement devalues Akane. Both the engagement from their parents and the terms of this duel take away her say in what she does with her life, and she isn’t having it. It almost sounded like she was comforting Ranma, taking a burden off his shoulders, when she told him he didn’t have to stress over the fight because she’d be fine either way. I am here for Akane stressing her independence and making it clear that no matter what happens in the fight, she is her own person.

That was a lot of nice stuff, but sadly the second half of the episode didn’t really carry it through. It wasn’t terrible, but the fight wasn’t really anything special, and the whole bit with the guys storming Ranma...yeah. Didn’t care for that. But hey! It’s finally time to do another Character Spotlight!

Unlike Cologne, who I am still holding off on doing a Spotlight for since I don’t feel like we’ve gotten to really see enough of her yet, this one episode basically gave us most of what we need to know about Mousse, so let’s just do it.

In terms of voice acting, his English performer is Brad Swaile. He’s done quite a few things, but he’s most well known for being the voice of Light in Death Note, which is quite a funny comparison. Both characters have huge egos, that’s to be sure, but Light is usually taken seriously, while at least in the dub Mousse is basically just a joke the entire time. Swaile plays him very comedically, which does fit the generally goofy tone of his character.

It is in contrast, however, to his original Japanese voice actor, Toshihiko Seki. Like a lot of the seiyuu, he has done a million things, but of particular note are his roles as Legato Bluesummers from Trigun, another anime I love quite a bit, and as the Japanese Dub actor for the Tenth Doctor in Doctor Who. Honestly, finding out the Japanese dub castings is a treat every time I do a Spotlight. But anyway, Seki largely plays Mousse more seriously, as a confident warrior, only going for comedy with how over-the-top some of his attacks get, considering how silly they are. I’m going to tentatively say this is another performance I think works than the dub, which is fairly rare for me as far as anime go.

So, who exactly is Mousse? Well, like I said before, Mousse is Shampoo’s childhood friend, and the first member of their tribe we’ve met who is a guy. His character motivation is literally just that he wants to be with Shampoo, and will beat up/kill Ranma to get her. Pretty simple.

What makes him silly is the combination of his terrible eyesight, a fairly common trope that now that I think about it is kinda ableist, and how he fights. He’s a master of hidden weapons, but more often than not the items he’s fighting with are silly things, like a toilet or a yoyo. Combined with his high self-confidence, and Mousse is fairly Kuno-like, only quite a bit sillier.

Only enough though, he’s more similar to Kodachi than to Tatewaki. Why? Well, because he’s deadly. Of all of Ranma’s primary rivals/reoccurring antagonists, Mousse is easily the one most ready to kill, not unlike Shampoo. When he gets serious, he trades in the silly weapons for genuinely dangerous weapons. He started choking Ranma with his bare hands in their first encounter, then tried doing it again with rope not long afterwards. Ryoga might talk a lot about killing Ranma, but Mousse has done a lot more to actually attempt that.

All of that said, I’m pretty ambivalent on Mousse. I don’t hate him, but of all of Ranma’s primary rivals, he’s easily the most boring. He doesn’t have the je ne sais quoi of Ryoga or the pompous elitism of Kuno, he’s just a deadly joke character who’s obsessed with Shampoo. Maybe my opinions will change over the course of the rewatch, but for right now I’m still pretty meh on him.

But you know what I’m not meh on? This episode! Even with the weaker second half, the first ten minutes or so were good enough that I’m overall pretty sunny on it. Listen, I’m an easy mark, give me some Ranma/Akane fuel and some decent drama, and I’m happy. I’ll put this in the top half of episodes so far between the ending of the fight between Ranma and Kodachi and the climax to Shampoo’s introductory arc.

Episode 7: Enter Ryoga, the Eternal ‘Lost Boy’  

Episode 12: A Woman's Love is War! The Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 15: Enter Shampoo, the Gung-Ho Girl! I Put My Life in Your Hands

Episode 9: True Confessions! A Girl's Hair is Her Life!

Episode 2: School is No Place for Horsing Around

Episode 19: Clash of the Delivery Girls! The Martial Arts Takeout Race

Episode 6: Akane's Lost Love... These Things Happen, You Know

Episode 13: A Tear in a Girl-Delinquent's Eye? The End of the Martial Arts Rhythmic Gymnastics Challenge!

Episode 23: Enter Mousse! The Fist of the White Swan

Episode 17: I Love You, Ranma! Please Don’t Say Goodbye

Episode 20: You Really Do Hate Cats!

Episode 16: Shampoo's Revenge! The Shiatsu Technique That Steals Heart and Soul

Episode 8: School is a Battlefield! Ranma vs. Ryoga

Episode 11: Ranma Meets Love Head-On! Enter the Delinquent Juvenile Gymnast!

Episode 4: Ranma and...Ranma? If It’s Not One Thing, It’s Another

Episode 5: Love Me to the Bone! The Compound Fracture of Akane's Heart

Episode 1: Here’s Ranma

Episode 22: Behold! The 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire' Technique

Episode 3: A Sudden Storm of Love

Episode 21: This Ol' Gal's the Leader of the Amazon Tribe!

Episode 10: P-P-P-Chan! He's Good For Nothin'

Episode 14: Pelvic Fortune-Telling? Ranma is the No. One Bride in Japan

Episode 18: I Am a Man! Ranma's Going Back to China!?

But once again, this arc still! Isn’t! Done! No, the end of the Phoenix Pill Arc, if you want to call it that, comes next week with “Cool Runnings! The Race of the Snowmen". Most of my memories of this episode come from a YouTuber I used to follow hating on it, but I’m ready to give it a fair shot. See you then!

[buzzdixonwriter]

Trigger Warnings

Recently on my Facebook page someone took me to task who was triggered by a political cartoon I shared.

The cartoon showed the symbol of Justice being held down and muffled by the arms of a male figure. 

Before we go further, let me state there is no judgment to be passed on the person who was triggered.

They have a personal history that explains why the image would trigger them.  Their reaction is not to be evaluated:  It happened, and it needs to be acknowledged.

And while I don’t think the image crossed the line and serves a greater good as a warning against an onrushing authoritarian mindset (elsewise I wouldn’t have shared it), to the person in question my motives and rationales don’t matter.

They saw something that reminded them of trauma in their past and it hurt them.

To have caused that hurt, even unintentionally, is something I regret and apologize for.

. . .

I belong to a writers’ group that meets once a week at a local bookstore.

It’s a good group, although last year it was an even better group.

I’ll explain.

While no one is compelled to participate, those who bring something to share with the group typically read it aloud at the table.

Mind you, we’re literally in the middle of the bookstore as we do this.  They’re open for business and customers of all ages are coming and going until the store closes and the writers’ group ends at 8pm.

While the group’s membership has always been elastic, with new members joining and old ones leaving for whatever reason, our core group numbered around ten, divided roughly evenly among those who identified as female, those who identified as male, and those who identified as non-binary.

[SIDEBAR: At this point I have lost those who read the first block above and decided I was an unrepentant sexist because I didn’t retract what I posted even though I expressed regret for causing hurt, and now those who assumed I was going to stand up to what they consider “political correctness”.  

So be it.

I am a writer, and a writer faces two primary charges:  Know thyself and To thine own self be true.

To know one’s self means to constantly be questioning and re-examining one’s presumptions, weighing them against new knowledge and experience.

To be true to one’s self means not to compromise that self-knowledge in a desire to please others.

I write for an audience of one, and if I am not satisfied with what I write, of what value is your opinion?

You may very well challenge what I write after the fact and you may indeed convince me to change my mind -- it has happened -- but unless I believe in the veracity of what I write when I write it, it’s all bullshit.]

The group was very diverse in opinion / style / skill / politics.

We tacitly agreed that politics in any work read aloud would not be commented on.  

We would assess the style and technique, but never challenge a writer’s personal beliefs directly.  (See above “to thine own self be true”)

We carefully and respectfully critique style and technique.  No one ever says “Your story is stupid” though they might say “It was hard to follow the characters’ motivations”.

We support other writer’s efforts even when not in our wheelhouse, and seat writers who specialize in sci-fi of a libertarian bent, old school horror, gender-bender romances, and my own off the wall material.

(The other writers are unfailingly polite and never once say, “What the hell were you thinking, Buzz?”)

And we respect of the fact not all of us write at the same skill level or the same stage of our careers; no matter, if you’re there to hone and improve your craft, we’re there to help.

But while we set no preconditions on what can / can not be read at the table, we realize a few practical real world concerns need to be addressed.

First, as mentioned we meet in a working bookstore during business hours.  Everybody from elderly retirees to grade schoolers could come in at any hour.  Being aware of our venue, if one’s material might be considered edgy, we wait until the store seems less crowded to read it or skip over the more adult / violent / gruesome parts.

(Here’s where style and technique come into play.  A traditional monster story can get away with fantasy carnage that would redline a contemporary crime story.  A non-binary romance written by someone from that background is more palatable than a similar tale written by a heterosexual for titillation.  A skillful writer can describe something in a manner that creates a vivid impression in their audience without using any explicit language.)

Second, among the table itself sit those not comfortable with certain types of stories or scenes.  We consider it good manners to offer a heads up before reading a story -- “This one is a little risqué” or “This is a crime story with some gruesome details” -- so that those who might be triggered by such material can either prepare themselves for it or, if they know they would respond poorly, leave the table while it’s read.

(Acceptable table etiquette states if one feels triggered by a story one may leave the table until it’s finished.  We view this not as a reflection on the story or writer but simply an acknowledgment of the effect of the story on the one who heard it.)

As I said, as good as the group is now, a year ago it was even better.

But then the Turdmonger showed up.

. . .

I’m going to refrain from describing the Turdmonger.  I will limit my comments on their writing to this saying it was a contemporary crime thriller.

No, I’m lying, I’ll comment further: While there certainly are real life parallels to the story being read, I personally found the style and technique laughable, sounding much more like something a 12 year old boy would write than a person my age or older.

And by this I don’t mean that the sentence structure and story flow felt awkward (though that argument certainly could be made) but that the crimes were described at a 12 year old’s level of sophistication and titillation, not the way a mature adult would be expected to approach the material.

Soon-ok watches murder mysteries and crime documentaries and shows like Forensic Files all the time and I know there are myriad means of conveying brutal / explicit information without raising a typical audience’s “ick!’ factor, much less actually triggering someone susceptible.

The Turdmonger triggered quite a few people their first time reading at the table, but despite being upset those writers felt willing to count it as simply the Turdmonger’s ignorance of the table guidelines.

We clued the Turdmonger in and asked for warnings in the future; the Turdmonger agreed to do so.

Next time the Turdmonger read, same problem.  No warning, then =boom!= -- really rough stuff.

People looked visibly distressed when the Turdmonger did this.  Again, we requested the Turdmonger give a warning or better yet, bring copies for those of us willing to read their work and provide feedback.  (IIRC, mostly the male readers volunteered to expose ourselves to this, though one or two female or non-binary writers may have done so as well.)

So, problem solved, yes?

No.

The next time the Turdmonger appeared, back to their old tricks.  Now people looked more than a little upset.

They saw this not as a simple mistake, but a deliberate pattern.

The Turdmonger got cautioned yet again on appropriate for table read etiquette.

Despite that, the Turdmonger seemed unable to grasp female and non-binary writers writing about their own traumatic experiences could do so with far greater authority than the Turdmonger.

First off, they always prefaced their reading with a trigger warning, and they always kept an eye on the venue, careful not to continue reading when children or people who might be offended came within earshot.

Second, they wrote from the point of view of someone who actually suffered significant trauma in their past, and wrote not so much to titillate or entertain as to exorcise demons of their own.

Because of my personal schedule, I’m frequently the first person to bolt out of the bookstore when the table ends at 8pm.

As a result I wasn’t privy to discussions some table members had after the store closed.

While I knew the Turdmonger’s readings upset many of them, I wasn’t aware how deep and how painful their trauma went.

Events conspired against me and I missed a couple of meetings.  When I returned, the table felt on edge.  

The Turdmonger returned the previous week and read a new story, one that by all accounts sounded deliberately crafted to spit in the face of those who asked for trigger warnings.

The Turdmonger appears to have gotten their jollies out of tormenting those who felt triggered.

That’s why the Turdmonger never brought more copies for volunteers to read; by and large we were somewhat older, somewhat more seasoned, certainly less likely to be triggered by their clumsy attempts at provocation.

(I mean, geeze, I was an editor at Penthouse Comix and wrote for The Little Clowns Of Happy Town; there are no horrors left to make me blanch.)

I’ll spare the he / she / they said of that meeting, mostly because it would not be fair for me to try to summarize the various divergent opinions, but also because it serves no purpose in this narrative.

The Turdmonger achieved their desired result.  The writers’ group split up, with roughly a third staying with the original group, and the bulk of the rest -- mostly female and non-binary writers -- forming a new group.

Which is a pity, because several of them were among the best and most insightful writers in the group.

. . . 

The bookstore writers’ group still meets, and we’re slowing rebuilding our ranks.

We lost many of our best members, and I’m saddened by that:  They truly contributed great insights to the table.

The Turdmonger, achievement unlocked, never came back.

I would love to have the Turdmonger return…just once.

At the table and at other venues such as conventions, etc., I am very judicious in my feedback.

Not everybody operates at the same level, and while I might point out areas where a writer or artist can work to improve their craft, I will never be cruel or dismissive.

But if I am being paid as an editor and you are being paid as a writer and you turn in a sub-par piece of crap, I will rip out your heart and shit in the hole.

Promise.

That’s what you get for disrespecting my craft.

And oh, dear Turdmonger, how I hope you come back just one time.

One time is all that I will need.

. . . 

Last week a writer who is a mom came to our table for the first time with her 14 year old daughter in tow (I’m guessing 14; definitely under 16).

The story I planned to read that night featured a 14 year old schoolgirl getting comeuppance on an obnoxious boy her age.

Some might call it risqué’ but I carefully avoided anything explicit and kept the style and tone down to a PG-13 level.

But still…the daughter’s first visit to the table, and she’s subjected to a story she might find (a) embarrassing if not (b) creepy?

So I said I would shelve the story until a later time.

Fortunately, that later time turned out to be just two hours when mom and daughter needed to leave early.

Once they left I read the story to the rest of the group.

They laughed.  They found it entertaining.  They agreed I didn’t cross any lines.

But they also thought I made a damn good choice in not reading it in front of the girl and her mom.

Now it’s not impossible that after I sell the story and it’s published, the girl may find it and read it herself, and in the privacy of that read (as opposed to being trapped at a table with a bunch of adults) find it cute and funny and get a kick out of it.

Or she might ask, “What the hell were you thinking?”

To which I would say:   “Child, get in line…”

. . .

So back to my Facebook post, the one that unfortunately triggered a person through no fault of their own.

A few days ago I posted on colonialism, and how it affected our storytelling over the last five centuries.

I approached the topic from the angle of old pulp magazines, citing with deliberate vagueness how they frequently featured damsels in distress and / or the evil “Other” on their covers.

When I wanted to find art to highlight the post, I realized I couldn’t use any actual pulp covers.

Doing so would undermine the very argument I was making.

Instead I posted a Carl Barks’ Scrooge McDuck painting that spoofed the old style pulp covers.

It’s anthropomorphic ducks and pigs parodying the tropes of old adventure pulps.

You can’t successfully argue that it carries the same meaning as the original pulp covers because it displays those tropes and ridicules the reasons for them.

I mean, how seriously can you take a dance hall dame when she’s a DUCK?

(From my tenure at Penthouse, I know some people out there most certainly do get off on anthropomorphic ducks; nonetheless, they remain outliers, not the standard.)

The point of art in whatever form is to get the audience to look at something afresh, to see connections and meanings previously hidden.

I can’t fault and certainly would never blame the persons who felt triggered by the image I shared for what they felt.

That’s a wholly legitimate reaction.

It’s unlikely I’ll post something that might produce this particular trigger in the future; it’s just too specific to the political comment in question.

If I do think an image might trigger this person, I’ll make an effort to see that it doesn’t pop up on their Facebook feed.

As a writer, I keep a lot of references handy.

I’ve got a large number of medical photos that would upset a great many people.

Those will never be shared with the public at large.

I’ve got a few crime and war photos I will never share.

But you will see some old comic book and pulp covers I use for fictoids (i.e., add captions and dialog to), as well as old time magazine ads and illustrations from less enlightened eras.

You’ll also see almost everything I post along those lines either deconstructs or ironically comments on the image depicted.

I never present it as is.

So while I will take care in the future, I make no promise never to post or say things that may trigger people without warning.

What I find acceptable and appropriate clearly is not what everybody finds acceptable and appropriate.

I will promise to listen to responses, and try to learn from them.

That’s the only way I can be true to myself.

  © Buzz Dixon

[xiaolinhodown]

here it is!  a very long bio/info thing about my metalocalypse oc, hazel!!! read more at your own risk, its very long haha (also warning for short, non-graphic mentions of abuse)

Hazel Mae Parker Age: 27 When she first encounters Dethklok Height: 5’5 Birthday: April 8th (Aries) Gender: Female, she/her pronouns Sexual Orientation: Heterosexual Personality: Hazel is a fairly quiet and meek girl, which shocks people considering the position she has at her job and the progress shes made in her career and in school. Despite this shyness, she does have a lot of motivation and was always very careful with her grades. However, she has very low self confidence and is always beating herself up about not being good enough. She’s also quick to do what she thinks she needs to do to please people, and is easily manipulated because of that reason. She has a lot of anxieties about herself and just in general, but as she ages, takes more care of her mental health.  She enjoys working, and can easily overwork herself without noticing. She often relies on others to tell her when she needs to take a break, or she’d keep working forever. 

Bio:

Hazel was born to a middle class family in the suburbs of a small town in Washington state. She was always discontent with her place in this small town, and wished for a bigger experience. As she went through grade school, she realized her passion for writing, specifically journalism. She joined her high schools news paper club and ended up as president of it in her senior year. In order to escape her small town, she went to college in California. Academically, she did very well in almost all of her classes. She joined the newspaper club on campus. This is where she discovered her love for writing about pop culture-related current events. She had always followed a path to write about world news, but writing for the pop culture section in the school paper taught her otherwise. The article that really started her progress in the journalistic world was a critical piece on the band Zazz Blammymatazz’s own Rockso the Rock and Roll Clown, who had recently been bombarded by a heap of scandals. The blunt and well-scripted article caught the attention of POP USA, a pop-culture magazine that was somewhat well-known. The manager of the pop culture section offered her an internship, which turned into a full time job once Hazel graduated college. She began living and working in her college town. Fresh out of college, Hazel met Marlow, who was a barista at the coffee shop that was embedded in the POP USA office building. They began to talk and eventually began dating. After a couple months together, Marlow began to become emotionally abusive towards Hazel. To her, it seemed like it was going in a physical direction. Not only was Marlow just an abusive man, but an insecure and jealous one. The core of his abuse stemmed from convincing Hazel that she didn’t deserve her position in the company- he couldn’t handle that he was a barista while she was a writer for the magazine.This abuse caused her work to falter. After about a year trapped in the relationship, Hazel’s boss, Jericho sat down and asked her about her performance. Hazel took a chance and admitted what had been going on. Jericho swiftly took action, and had Marlow fired. Although Marlow was away from her workplace, Hazel still held post-traumatic stress and anxiety that he was stalking her. About half a year after this occurred, things bigger than Hazel and the worlds biggest band, Dethklok, were happening. The Tribunal, eager to bring down Dethklok in any way they could, hatched a plan to plant a seed in the Mordhaus. They contacted the CEO of POP USA, and offered a generous sum of money to risk killing a journalist that would record data about Dethklok over a period of two weeks. The Tribunal had suffered loss after loss, and now believed that even petty information about the band members lives would be more helpful than dead recruits from the past. To make the mission as secretive as possible, the CEO kept the true purpose of this job a secret. Hazel was terrified when the CEO called her to his office, but ecstatic when he assigned her to essentially live with Dethklok for two weeks. Hazel was never a hardcore fan of the band, but she was obviously still excited to work with them. She was sent to Mordhaus to begin her mission, under the guise that she was doing a piece entitled “Life With Dethklok.” The band was confused by the sudden addition of a woman who wasn’t there just to have sex with or become a Klokateer. However they did enjoy her company, and of course, loved that she gave them reason to talk (brag) about themselves. Charles Offdenson was naturally skeptical. Through his own gut feelings and some private investigation, he discovered this was just yet another plan to destroy his bread and butter. However, after an intimidating questioning of Hazel (as well as more digging) he realized she genuinely had no clue about the true nature of this mission. He informed her about what was going on (vaguely, as in “there’s a lot of people who want Dethklok’s money and power, and uh, unfortunately you got caught up in one of those plans.”). He also informed her that she was welcome to stay in Mordhaus for a bit, so she and more importantly Dethklok would be safe. She agreed, and under Charles’ help and supervision, continued to keep contact with the POP USA CEO about the mission. Another aspect of her time in Mordhaus was hiding from her abusive ex. Fortunately, she was being heavily protected by Charles’ efforts, but she was still concerned about her name getting out. She gets fearful once she starts seeing Marlow at meet-and-greets, concerts, and signing events. However, once she brings this up to the band, they don’t hesitate to keep her protected as well. 

Relationship Information:

Nathan: Hazel and Nathan had a very malleable relationship for the better half of 2 years. They started off having sex somewhat regularly, as Hazel’s interviews would turn into flirting, which turned into… you know! Hazel especially had no problem with this once she realized the true nature of her “mission”. Other than that, though, Nathan and Hazel share a strong bond over another thing - abusive exes. Once Nathan catches Hazel in a panic attack, she tells him her story and in turn, Nathan shares his about his abusive ex girlfriends that he so often seems to attract. Although Nathan is much less prone to showing actual emotion, he does open up a bit in order to help Hazel, and for Hazel to help him. Further into their relationship, they become very platonic, and eventually almost like siblings. Pickles: Hazel and Pickles essentially just co-exist in a friendly way. They don’t interact that often, but it’s obvious at times that they respect and care for each other. Pickles understands Hazels anxiety issues and helps her through those, while Hazel tries to help him through his worst drinking binges. She knows she doesn’t have the hold on him to get him to rehab, but she does bring it up and also shares that concern with Nathan and the others. Skwisgaar: HOOOOO BOY. Hazel and Skwisgaar. Of course, when Hazel first arrives at Mordhaus, Skwisgaar starts flirting with her, which she immediately responds to (again, especially after Charles tells her that this job is kind of a sham). Hazel gets a crush on Skwisgaar pretty early on, but because of her anxiety about relationships and commitment, she’s fine in the current set up and holds her feelings back. Where it gets complicated is when Skwisgaar, about a year into knowing Hazel, realizes he has feelings for her. He recognizes that they have had many intimate talks about their pasts, and all of their present concerns, and that he has never truly felt this way about any of his other friends with benefits. He didn’t just see her as a co-worker, but a friend and someone to confide in. However, due to his fears of commitment, he also held back his feelings.  Things change after the events of Doomstar Requiem, where the boys face their own mortality, including Skwisgaar who is older and wiser at this point. He realizes that he, his friends, nor Hazel, are guaranteed life every day, and he finally confesses his feelings to Hazel, who of course, reciprocates them. Due to their combined insecurities, they make sure to take it slow with each other, and are forgiving of each others mistakes. The relationship works well because they both know how it feels to be scared, and are so understanding of each other and willing to help each other grow. They stay together for about 6 years before they get married. They end up having two children.  Murderface: Murderface and Hazel also tend to coexist with eachother, but in a more hostile and passive-aggressive fashion. Murderface typically is a little rude to her and dubs her presence in the Mordhaus as intrusive, annoying, and claims shes just there for sex and money. Hazel kind of understood Murderface’s personality early on in their relationship, and therefore didn’t really get upset at his bad attitude. Hazel tends to try to help him as well, putting out good press for him when he puts the band’s reputation in jeopardy. Their relationship and understanding improves over the years, but it does take time. Toki: Hazel absolutely adores Toki, and often goes to him for childlike humor and solice when the cynical nature of the other four begins to get to her. Like Nathan, Toki has plenty of history with abuse, and tends to console in Hazel with that, as she does withhim. Neither of them are professionals, and therefore they just are there to listen to each other and say they understand. Toki, despite being the more childish one of the two, takes his role as being older than her seriously, and therefore can often be seen “protecting his little sister” from danger in and outside of Mordhaus. Hazel also often tries to soothe Toki when he enters his more violent state, and succeeds occasionally when he’s not too far gone. Otherwise she usually ends up getting scratched a little herself. Charles: Hazel is a little intimidated by Charles, but appreciates the protection he works hard to give her (even though he provides it for the band more than for her). They get along very well for the most part, other than the occasional disagreement or teasing from Hazel to Charles. Charles appreciates that Hazel is able to help the band’s image so well, and will often request for her to stage PR events when the band is in need of some good press. Charles also sees that Hazel does genuinely make the boys happy, and is glad to keep her safe and protected for that reason (not to mention its someone else for them to bother about things). 

[hysterialevi]

Legend pt. 3

Author’s note: Sorry these chapters haven’t been that frequent. Lately I’ve been running a bit low on motivation and I didn’t want to rush anything out, so that’s why these parts have been taking centuries to release lol. But I’m excited to get back to work, and I hope you all enjoy this fic. Thanks for being so patient and sticking with me through all these stories. Love you guys :)

From Bruce’s POV

THAT NIGHT

Rushing through Gotham’s streets in the Batmobile, John sat beside me and happily spoke to himself as we carried on with our nightly patrol, keeping an eye out for any criminals that could’ve been running amok. 

Even though the clown was technically supposed to be hiding from the Agency right now, that didn’t stop him from wanting to help me with my work as Batman. And considering the situation we were in, I wasn’t in much of a position to turn him down. 

Recently, the crime in Gotham had become relentless, and ironically, Waller’s presence didn’t do us any favors. If anything, the director and her agents just seemed like different types of criminals to me, and it was my job to get them out of the city. Fast.

I just hoped John would actually follow my code. I had no problem putting my trust in him, but he wasn’t exactly a man of restraint, and the last thing I needed was for someone to get killed tonight. Lord new this city had seen enough death.

“So, what’s the status, Bats?” John asked with an energized, toothy grin, breaking the silence. “See any baddies on the loose?”

I squinted slightly at the road ahead, gazing through the beams of my headlights.

“Nothing so far.” I replied. “Things have been pretty quiet tonight.”

“Why the nervous look?” He commented. “Isn’t that what we want? Or are you just getting bored? ‘Cause I certainly am. I wanna punch someone already! Hehe!”

“Well,” I said, hugging a corner, “I was expecting to see at least a robbery by now, but it’s been peaceful. A little too peaceful for my liking. It’s almost as if Gotham’s...waiting for something. Biding its time.”

John shrugged. “Sounding a bit paranoid there, buddy. But, hey. Who knows? Could be because of the Agency. I mean, heck -- if weirdos like me are hiding from them, I imagine common criminals would also want to keep out of their sights, too. Not to mention we are driving around in a giant murder machine. Not exactly subtle.”

“...That’s true, I guess.”

“Relax, Brucie,” he reassured with confidence, patting my shoulder. “I swear, you’re gonna have a full head of grey hair before the sun rises. You have a partner now, remember? This burden is no longer yours alone to bear. I promise, if I see anything out of the ordinary like that shattered window up there, you’ll be the first to know.”

A pang of realization hit me at that statement and I came to a sudden halt, causing John to lurch forward like a slingshot with a yelp.

“What?” I asked, taken by surprise. “Where?”

John regained his composure and peeled himself off the dash, pointing upwards at what appeared to be an apartment building. 

“There...” he said with a slight groan. “I bet someone used it to break in.”

I furrowed my brow at the scene and prepared my gear, slowly exiting the Batmobile.

“...Or out. Come on. Let’s go take a look.”

THE APARTMENT

Grappling up to the broken window with my arm around John, the two of us landed on a simple balcony as we discreetly checked inside, making sure whoever caused this damage wasn’t still around.

“...See anything?” John whispered, peeking over the sill. 

“Looks clear,” I observed. “But the apartment’s a mess. There was definitely some sort of struggle here. Be on your guard.”

Activating my earpiece, I contacted Alfred as John quietly hopped inside ahead of me, navigating his way around the toppled furniture.

“Alfred,” I said lowly, “John and I have come across a peculiar scene in a nearby apartment. It looks like a fight took place here...and a rather violent one at that. I’ll send you the address, but don’t call the GCPD just yet. I want to inspect the area first.”

“Of course, sir. Keep me updated...and please, be careful.”

Returning to the situation at hand, I started examining the wrecked apartment and the clues scattered around me as John conducted his own investigation, both of us trying to formulate a cause for this mess.

Some of the furniture had been broken, numerous dents had been beaten into the walls, and a flickering lamp rested on the floor along with some shards of glass. How did the neighbors not hear any of this? Were they simply gone when it happened? ...Or did someone make sure their lips stayed shut? I had to find out.

“Batman!” John called, beckoning me to the kitchen. He was kneeling down by something, but the counters in front of me blocked my view. I hurried over.

“What is it?” I asked. “Did you find anything?”

Carefully treading through the ruined furniture, I stepped next to my partner and crouched beside him, only to come to an abrupt pause when I noticed there was a man lying against the stove with a gun in his grip.

Both his shirt and hands had been stained with blood -- most-likely his own, considering the wound on his abdomen -- and his face was riddled with severe contusions. Judging by their freshness, this man was attacked today.

“...What do we do?” John questioned. 

I reached for the man’s gun, checking the magazine. None of the ammunition had been depleted.

“He didn’t have a chance to fire,” I concluded. “The attacker must have taken him by surprise. Or at least been quick enough to bring him down before he could defend himself.”

John gazed at the disarray around us. “...Well, he certainly put up a good fight without the gun. Maybe he was trying to get to it?”

I nodded. “Possibly. Hang on a minute. I’m going to see if I can identify who this man is.”

I contacted Alfred again.

“Master Bruce,” he greeted, sounding relieved. “How goes the investigation?”

“There’s a body here,” I reported, “but I don’t recognize their face, and neither does John. I need you to search the database for any possible matches.”

“A body?” He repeated grimly. “Oh, dear. What do they look like?”

I scanned the victim. “Male. Caucasian. 185 centimeters. Short blond hair and a beard. Appears to be around his early thirties. Has a distinct series of tattoos on both arms and on the side of his neck. Scar just above the left brow bone.”

Alfred was quiet for a minute.

“...Find anything?” I checked.

The butler deemed successful.

“Sir, I’ve just looked up the address you sent me and cross-referenced that with any people who fit your description...and there’s only one match. His name was Joseph Hunt.”

I froze in shock, falling silent as I suddenly realized who this man was.

“Joseph Hunt?”

“That name mean something to you, Bruce?”

I examined the man, a series of memories rushing through my head as I observed his somewhat familiar features.

“I went to school with Joseph as a kid,” I concluded. “If I recall correctly, he was always quite the bully. Didn’t exactly have any friends. Clearly, not much has changed.”

“...Indeed,” Alfred confirmed in an uneasy tone, searching for more information about him. “According to the codex, Hunt had quite a troubled life. Despite going to the same school when you were children, it seems that the two of you took very different paths as adults.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“Hunt lived a life of crime,” he explained. “It says here that he was involved in multiple robberies, drug deals, burglaries, and even an attempted murder. Of his own father, no less. He also worked with The Pact for a time. It...certainly raises the question of whether Hunt was the...true victim in this scenario.”

I caught on instantly. “You think someone killed him out of revenge?”

“It’s definitely a plausible explanation. You can’t commit that many felonies without making enemies, Bruce. Just look at Thomas. Behavior like that is always certain to be your undoing.”

I glanced at John for a moment who was still busy rummaging through the evidence around us, eagerly waiting for an update from me.

“True, but unfortunately that doesn’t really narrow it down,” I countered. “There were loads people working with The Pact, and who knows who he was mixed up with before then? I only know one of his victims personally, and they’re in prison right now. It had to be someone else.”

Alfred paused. “Wait, you know one of his victims?”

“Yeah,” I responded casually. “Oswald Cobblepot. He’s not a victim of Hunt’s crimes -- as far as I’m aware -- but he was one of the kids Joseph would bully back in school. And I’d always be the one to protect him...” my voice softened at the recollection, and I couldn’t deny that I felt a tad nostalgic thinking about my childhood. 

But I quickly snapped back to reality with a gentle cough, bringing my focus back to the crime scene. “Ahem. Like I said though, he’s in prison. So it couldn’t have been him.”

Alfred was unconvinced. “...The Batcomputer would disagree.”

My mind went into a state of alarm. “What are you talking about?”

“Official records would tell you that Cobblepot is still being held in Blackgate, when in reality, he was released just two days ago at the request of the Agency. For what reason however, I couldn’t tell you. Details are close to nonexistent.”

“Dammit,” I cursed. “Why would the Agency set someone like Oswald free? They know what he’s done -- what the Penguin’s done. Surely, they wouldn’t trust him...but then again, Waller does have a habit of using criminals in place of her own men. I mean, look at Harley and Selina. Hell, she even slapped a collar on Bane. I guess there’s really nothing stopping her from recruiting one extra pair of hands.”

Alfred agreed. “I’m afraid you could be correct, sir. Question is: why now? And why Oswald? Out of all people, what’s convinced Waller that she needs his help? Nothing good, that’s for sure.”

“We’ll figure that out later,” I said. “Right now, I need to deal with Joseph. We can’t just leave him here--”

“--The hell?!” A man’s voice interrupted. “Get away from me...!”

Whipping around at the sudden outburst, I let out a quiet gasp when I saw that -- contrary to what I was expecting -- Joseph was actually still alive, and attempting to swat John away with a very weak, bloodied arm. 

“Geez!” The clown exclaimed. “I was only trying to help!”

Joseph’s head whirled towards me, revealing a pair of fatigued, darkened eyes.

“...Batman?” He breathed out, recognizing my mask instantly. “When’d you get here...? What’s...what’s happening?”

I carefully approached the panicked man.

“It’s all right, Joseph,” I comforted in a low, but gentle tone. “You’re safe now. My partner and I just arrived a few minutes ago.”

That only seemed to confuse him more.

“You know who I am? How do you...ah, what the hell. I don’t even care anymore. What do you want from me? You here to arrest me?”

I knelt down next to him.

“Slow down, Joseph. We’ll get to that, but I need to ask you a few questions. First things first: do you remember what happened? Or when it happened? Do you know who the assailant was?”

Joseph appeared to relax slightly, and his shoulders slouched out of relief, but the rest of his temperament still felt incredibly restless.

“...I-It was...after I got home,” he recalled, his body limp with exhaustion. “Don’t know what the exact time was, but the sun was down already.”

“Where were you before that?” I asked. A faint look of shame spread across his face.

“The Stacked Deck. I go there quite a lot. Guess that’s why it was so easy for the attacker to figure out my schedule.”

I found that a bit strange. “Wait, you think they were studying you?”

Joseph shrugged. “It would make sense. I mean, when I opened the door, he was just...standing there. Right in the middle of my own, goddamn apartment. Like he was expecting me or something.”

“That does seem odd,” I agreed. “Any idea who he was?”

The shame in his expression grew even more prominent at that, and his head lowered out of guilt.

“I was gonna shoot him at first,” Joseph confessed, gesturing to his gun, “but when he told me who he was... When I finally saw his face... I just...couldn’t. A stupid fuckin’ move, I know, but I just didn’t have it in me.”

I urged him to go on. “Who was he? Do you have a name?”

His lifeless stare sharpened with concern, and his jaw tightened out of anxiety.

“...Oswald Cobblepot.”

Shit, I thought to myself. Alfred was right.

But...it still didn’t make any sense. Joseph wasn’t a saint, sure, but he never caused enough trouble for the Agency to notice him. At least, not while I was with them. 

So, why would they let Oswald go after him? What did Waller gain from killing some random criminal? Was Joseph really that much of a hindrance to them? I doubted it. This whole situation was a mystery...and I had the feeling Joseph knew more than he was letting on. But it was time I let the GCPD in. If the Penguin was back on the streets, they needed to be aware.

“I think I’ve heard enough,” I concluded, rising back to my feet. “John, keep an eye on him. I’m going to contact GCPD.”

“Wait!” He insisted. “...Do you really think handing him over to them is a good idea?”

I halted mid-action, my hand paused just beside my earpiece. 

“What do you mean?”

“Think about it,” John continued. “Waller has her boot on Gordon’s neck right now, and she’s certainly not interested in helping Batman at the moment. If we give Joseph to her, who knows what’ll happen? She could just finish the job behind closed doors, and then we’d never figure out the rest of the puzzle! Besides, this guy was with the Pact! And he clearly has history with that Cobblepot punk, too. He might know some things we don’t. Things that we can keep hidden from Waller...”

I mindlessly began to lower my hand.

“...That’s...actually a good point,” I admitted. “But what would you suggest we do with him instead, then? Like I said before, we can’t just leave him here.”

John scratched the back of his head in thought. “Why not bring him back to the cave?”

I stared at him in bewilderment. “You’d let him inside the heart of our operations?”

“You know me, Batsy,” the clown reminded, placing a palm over his chest. “I have a knack for reading people -- just like I read you back when we first met -- and something tells me we can trust him.”

I crossed my arms. “And if we can’t?”

John scoffed. “Pfft, you’re Batman, for Pete’s sake! What’s one common criminal to deal with if things go awry? We could handle him easily! Unless, of course, you’d rather risk Waller getting her hands on him...”

I sighed in defeat, glancing back at Joseph reluctantly.

“...I’ll consider accepting his help,” I announced, causing John to clap excitedly, “but we’re not taking him to the cave. Not for now. In the meantime, get him to the Batmobile. If we’re going to move him anywhere, we need to patch him up first.”

Pulling Joseph’s arm around his shoulder, John eagerly lugged our new “friend” to safety and gave me an approving thumbs-up, strolling away merrily. Meanwhile, the other man wearily stared at me in wonder -- almost as if he had been expecting a much worse outcome -- and simply allowed my partner to drag him off as he said a quick word.

“...Thank you, Batman.” Joseph croaked, his voice raspy and wounded. “A man like me doesn’t deserve your help, but you gave it anyway. I won’t...I won’t forget this.”

I nodded firmly at him. “You refrained from taking a life tonight, Joseph. I’m sure you’re a better man than you think.”

He brought his eyes to the floor in sorrow, a hint of regret coating his intense gaze.

“Yeah...I used to tell myself the same thing.”

[wgq-nora]

BLOG

Blog 1

During the research process, Mr. Lan. and Mr. Marke stated that the research study should emerge as a form of storytelling. Inspired by this, I have hoped to create my work in a way that comfortably resonates with the audience members. Since language is a crucial part of our lives which can also be reflected in the field of designing process. As a student of product design, my aim is to analyze and develop the ability to successfully communicate through product language as well. The product language refers to the relation between the product and the people wherein, the language is not only playing a functional but informational role as well, with respect to the product (Bürdek, 2015). This, in turn increases the value and functionality of the design of the product. At the moment, my work is focused on the notion of “natural metaphor”. This implies that I am using naturally provided shapes in products so that it is more story-based. However, I also feel that design is not a concrete theme and hence, can have diverse relevance. Due to this, I also aim to study beyond the theme of product design and also explore other design fields in the future such as shape, material, structure and so on. This will in turn, assist me in improving my reach of shape treatment of the works. Along with this, my second major interest is in the field of psychology as well. I believe that the study of psychology will help me in developing a deeper understanding of the process of art-formation and how that is reflected in the audience’s perception towards artworks. By situating this in the field of product design, perhaps, I will be able to grasp the impact of storytelling at a better level and inculcate this my research work. I am looking forward to the research study to increase and improve my knowledge and use it in my process of product design work.

Bürdek, B.E. (2015). Design History, Theory and Practice of Product Design. 2nd Edn. Birkhäuser Basel.

Blog 2

One of the first research works that I carried out was the study of hydrophobicity. The hydrophobicity of Lotus Leaf is the aim of the present research which has been an interesting part of the project. Water is a necessity in our lives. Still, it can also cause many problems, such as on the steps after washing in preparation for a meal, or the accumulation of harmful substances from scale. Since, hydrophobicity is not conducive to the retention of water, I plan to solve the problem of water at its source. In my research, I did a hydrophobic experiment about the Lotus Leaf surface, so I have two plans in terms of creativity. First, I’m going to imitate the shape of the Papilla on the Lotus leaf surface. Second, through the appearance of hydrophobic biologic, I will combine the appearance of several biological characteristics for creation. For this purpose, I also studied an article by Barthlott, Mail and Neinhuis (2016), which focused on the principles of construction, and occurrence and evolution of the Superhydrophobic surfaces in the field of biology. The study was conducted by studying 16000 plant species, along with other animals and technical surfaces in a 220,000 scanned electron micrographs (Barthlott, Mail and Neinhuis, 2016). An intriguing part if this project is that, since Lotus stands for purity and simplicity, I want to adopt some simple line shape for the appearance. Due to this, I am also going to study the works of Japanese designer Naoto Fukasawa for inspiration. Canning (2020) has documented the massive role that nature plays in the Japanese aesthetics. The Japanese aesthetics is focused on the importance of being present of mind and finding beauty in detailed and subtle form of natural artworks around us. These studies also let me find the mysterious charm of nature. I hope that the final work can give people a healthier and more convenient life.

Barthlott, W., Mail, M. & Neinhuis, C. (2016). Superhydrophobic hierarchically structured surfaces in biology: evolution, structural principles and biomimetic applications. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. A, 374: 20160191. http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2016.0191

Canning, D. (2020). Introduction to Japanese Aesthetics. Unique Japan. Available at https://new.uniquejapan.com/ikebana/an-introduction-to-japanese-aesthetics [Accessed 29 December 2020]

Blog 3

This time I continued my study of scale and hydrophobicity. It is an interesting finding that electrifying and vibrating may be effective in removing stubborn scale. According to De baat (1998), scale deposits can occur because of presence of impurities like calcium or magnesium, which is because of the evaporation of water, which leaves the salt in crystallized form on the wall. De baat (1998) has emphasized this study of scale in liquids in the document of his patent about “apparatus for treating liquid to prevent and/or remove scale deposits”. After I read this document, I was able to identify its existence in everyday lives.

Every time I put water in the kettle to boil, after a while, I would find that the bottom of the kettle had accumulated white scale. Sometimes I could wipe it out with my hands, but sometimes it was not easy to clean it up. Also, there would be accumulated scale on the pipe and the showerhead. This is not only unsightly, but it is also bad for people's health. Motivated by this, I plan to build a scale removal device that might have an easier and more effective way to get rid of the scale. I’ve looked at things that tend to accumulate scale. I believe that the researching methods and organisms that can remove scale from its source can make my final design beautiful and practical.

I know that there may be some chemistry involved in my research area. However, I mainly study the cause and characteristics of scale formation in general, and this is mainly through the biological characteristics of the study and design. I have realized that some of the more specific chemistry and physics problems have nothing to do with my research. Nevertheless, I am interested in how this device works and can give me some material and operational inspiration.

De Baat, D. J. P. (1991). Apparatus for treating liquid to prevent and/or remove scale deposits, 5074998

Blog 4

The notion of artistic expression is embedded in the individuality of the artwork, both for the artist and the viewer. In this view, I think art can be both a form of re-imagination and reflection. Most performance arts reveal the deeper human nature and meaning in extreme forms. The three most representative works in the work of Ashby and Johnson (2009) all reveal the relationship between love and men and women, while most of the artworks are suggestive, and let everyone have a different understanding of the work. For me, the first work is more like a desperate love for each other based on the need to trust, and perhaps, even love each other more than their own lives. Watching this made me feel that maybe love is the process of handing over your softest place to your lover, and never asking what will happen in the future, nor having any regrets at the moment. The second work is more like a love that doesn’t give each other any private space. Two people stick together and they do not give each other breathing space. This demonstrates that sometimes, love is too tight and can be suffocating or wanton squeeze. In this situation, it can lead to instances of exploitation or plundering each other until there is nothing left of the two. In the third, the two naked people bump into each other, symbolizing that even the most honest lovers rub shoulders, test each other, quarrel until both are hurt in varying degrees.

However, this is my understanding, and it is possible that different people will have different understanding. This is just like “a thousand people see a Thousand Hamlet.” The interest of art lies in the fact that most of them have deep meaning behind the story and meaning, which are interpreted diversely by different viewers.

Ashby, M. & Johnson, K. (2009). Materials and Design. 2nd edn. Elsevier Science & Technology, pp.95-100.

Blog5

I like watching movies from horror genre and even though they do evoke the emotions of fear and anxiety in me, I still watch them because I want to pursue the thrill and adrenaline rush. This became a curious topic for me and I thought to explore the reason behind wanting to watch something that was obviously making me anxious and uncomfortable. I did some research and found an article called “What is Uncanny?” by Windsor. This explored the idea of Uncanny Valley. According to Windsor (2018), things that are similar to but not similar to humans, animals and humans are more likely to cause fear in humans, such as clowns, blinking dolls, etc. However, when fear or antipathy arises, it also means that some previously suppressed emotions are aroused. The question of why would we be so scared of them is answer by the fact that it is because we know them so well. The uncanny effect is emotional state, which is signified by the state one has in response to certain kinds of phenomena, including doppelgangers or doubles, waxwork figures, corpses, dismembered limbs, automata, coincidences, presentiments and other apparently supernatural or magical phenomena, such as apparent haunting and magical powers (Windsor, 2018). But it’s also an interesting way to express and process something that’s familiar, to transform it, to reorganize it, and perhaps to make it different and more interesting. Since the objects involved in creating uncanny emotion are not dangerous to us, it is used in aesthetics and arts through the psychological effect that it exhibits. This effect can be found in movies, paintings, and sculptures to express abstract emotions.

The reason why I studied the uncanny effect was also because while product design should try to avoid making users uncomfortable, this research has inspired me to use abstraction and transfiguration. In the study of materials, the ontology is created by means of deformation and reorganization without affecting the properties.

Windsor, M. (2018). What is uncanny?

The British Journal of Aesthetics

, 59(1), 51-65

Blog 6

At present, I have done two studies, one is lotus and the other is fish scale. In this text, I may need to study fish scale and fish skin together. Fish scale is light and has high hardness that can be used to protect the surface of fragile materials and thus play a protective role. No fish scales were found to be waterproof in the study, so they could not be used directly in my work. So I came to the realization that the best way is to use them to protect the other material. It is also proposed that the scale-resistant materials can be used in flexible armor, flexible electronic equipment or aerospace, so they are mostly used for protection. Although fish live under water for a long time, I would compare the two materials if fish scales were waterproof, but there is no evidence in the text that fish scales are waterproof. The reason why I studied lotus and fish scales was so that I could improve my project. As the project deals with the need to eradicate scaling and the main purpose is to study how to achieve the water-proof effect inside the kettle so as not to produce water rust and harm health, I researched lotus lead to study the interiors of the kettle, and fish scales to form outer material of the kettle so that it is not easy to break or rust. My earlier studies in scaling from the works of Barthlott, Mail and Neinhuis, and De Baat, became the point of references as I aspired to achieve this goal. Since their works are integral to understand how scaling occurs and what can be done to not let this happen, I studied the interiors and exteriors of Kettle extensively. I did so to make sure that I covered all aspects of the formation of rust and scaling by liquid. After this, as I researched more, the idea of fish scales and lotus lead came into my mind, and I decided to explore that. The results thereof, as I have explained above.

Blog7

In the twenty-first century, designing has come to mean a lot of different things in different field. For instance, product design is not as free-form as the designs found in painting, graphic design and jewelry design. In the latter fields, a lot of attention is given to appearance, but on the other hand, product design also needs to consider the use of people. These are those people who follow the development of the times and hence, may aspire to have designs that are not only aesthetically pleasing but technologically accessible and easy to use. The need therefore is to have new designs out there that can be both practical and aesthetically pleasing. In order to improve my understanding of product design, I did research and came upon the book Designing Products People Love by Scott Hurff. The need for innovation, beneficial usage of emerging technological advancements and to develop a continuous basis of development and improvement has been documented as the necessities in the field of product design in this age (Hruff, 2016). This text uses the famous example of Steve Jobs to help me better understand how to design practical products (Hruff, 2016). A lot of questions that I had were answer as I made observations on what the text said to get a better sense of how users feel when using the product. This is also a significant step in product design; doing research is not only to understand user requirements, but also to verify the design rationality (Hruff, 2016). I have no way to use either of these methods in my current work or environment, so I use an experimental approach. The approaches presented in the text are applicable to interaction design. I will do as much research as possible in the future design to improve my work by focusing on being rationale and practical about the work.

Hurff, S. (2016). Designing Products People Love. O'Reilly Media, Inc

Blog8

In life many places will produce scale easily because of seeping of water. Some are found in the kitchen, some in the bathroom so I have no way to design a specified item. This is why I planned to create a new surface so that it can be used to more places for that the book Materials and design by Ashby and Johnson (2009) suggests some idea. I have tried not to think extensively on this and rather continue my research because things will not always be so perfect. The book said that the best solution is to make on the vision defects become a part of the product character, so in the process of writing if there are some inevitable defects, I will try to make it interesting, or highlight the texture and feel the feeling, make the material more entertaining. It also allows me to learn more about new materials and how to use and create them. So far, a lot of the material has nothing to do with my current research but it has given me a lot of ideas that may have applications in the next design, and it has also given me a chance to learn more about the materials used in product design. This is because, as the different materials have provided diverse range of perceptions and ideas about not only product design but different forms of art and artists, I have been able to increase my understanding of the nature of art and its relation with functionality of the products. I believe that this will help in my future projects as well, because I will be able to focus on creating a balance between practicalities of the project with its aesthetic appeals. Through this, the product design will turn into an even more entertaining process for the users and me.

Ashby, M. & Johnson, K. (2009). Materials and Design. 2nd edn. Elsevier Science & Technology, pp.95-100

Blog 9

After the study of scales, this time I turned my attention to the aspects of colour and lighting. In order to understand this, I approached the field of painting and art to understand how artists view this. Consequetially, my interest drew towards Monet, the famour twentieth century painter from France. Monet is known for his preoccupation with light and colour in all of his paintings (Potter, 2002). As I studied the art and the artist, I have understood that the biggest advantage of 'color segmentation' is that it not only keeps the 'brightness' of light and shadow, but also allows people to feel the richness of color. This is why the Monet's paintings, like "Paris street", at first glance is pockmarked with tricolor in flying, but if you go closer, you can see that the closer look is also very messy, red, white and blue brush and in fact, has no tricolor feeling. This is because as an individual stands too close to the painting, the distance of tiny brush produces no 'visual mixture. Monet also used small brushstrokes in his paintings, which were not accepted by mainstream art at that time. The emergence of abstract art developed because of Monet’s preoccupation with using art as a way to represent what was between the subject and the artist and not merely the art itself. However, it was Monet who led the Impressionists, who then abandoned the tradition of classical painting. Potter (2002) has focused on his work Nymphéas, to showcase how audience is also the part of the image-making process as well. I think this implies that although the artwork is solely a product of the artist, how that artwork will exist in the viewer’s world will depend upon the interaction between the subject of artwork, the artist and the viewer.

Potter, P. (2002). Claude Monet (1840-1926) "Nymphéas" (Water Lilies) 1916-1919. Emerging Infectious Diseases, 8(9), 1011

Blog10

I like the minimalism of Japanese design. The most typical example is the simplicity and practicality of Muji’s products. Most Japanese designers use the concept of ‘less is more’ to make their designs more sophisticated. The article that I had studied, written by Canning (2020), focused on the geographical aspect of Japan’s emergence as a nation, because of which it now utilises nature as a part of its aesthetics. By focusing on the importance of being present of mind and find beauty in detailed and subtle form of natural artworks around us, the Japanese aesthetics is formed on the basis of importance of concentrating on the present and the notion of minimalism (Canning, 2020). Chinese gardens are all about the appropriateness of mountains and rivers. For instance, if you walk through Suzhou Gardens, you will see endless pavilions and pavilions, while the Imperial Summer Palace is a magnificent lake and pagoda. However, Japanese gardens, by contrast, are smaller and more elaborate. “Dry Landscape” is a landscape in Japanese-style gardens, although called “Landscape.” However there is no drop of water, only with white stone, sand and moss to simulate the natural mountains and rivers. It can be said to be a state of natural solidification. This is so that it has a unique cultural charm, which also makes its design aesthetics presents a special luster. Thus, such instances of minimalism in artworks at both architectural and paining level, aspire me to employ this in my artwork as well. The project that I am working upon has a use in everyday life. Due to this, I do not want to incorporate exaggerated aesthetic elements but work on both functional and beauty of it so that it’s a subtle and useful piece of product.

Canning, D. (2020). Introduction to Japanese Aesthetics. Unique Japan. Available at https://new.uniquejapan.com/ikebana/an-introduction-to-japanese-aesthetics [Accessed 29 December 2020]

[shewolfthealphafemalefornic-blog]

My name is Mercy Edge and I’m a fucking sex addict . . . I’ve been told it’s a problem. But I see it as a passion; something that I’m good at. And who the fuck stops something that they’re good at? They want me to seek help; get myself check. Don't judge my lifestyle. You’re no better than me. Just admit it, you like to fuck too. Sex is what I do best; my own personal high, so I embrace it instead of being ashamed. When I'm not fucking, I'm slinging drinks at Club Edge another thing I'm good at. Every man or woman’s darkest fantasy brought to life. So, am I stopping? Fuck no. Sex is beautiful, raw and erotic and I get off knowing I can have it with anyone I want and I am not ashamed see sex it’s the best thing God created you have to live life to the fullest . . . with the exception of the man or woman who can tame my heart.. Birth Name: Mercedes Mercy Edge Age: 33Species: The Alpha Female (SheWolf) An Alpha Female is a dominant female in a group. She dates as many males as she wants, is strong and confident, and a hard worker as well as often busy. She is usually sarcastic because she's powerful and playful. Alpha Females are intelligent, intellectual problem solvers; and though being an alpha female is more of a state of mind than a physicality, an alpha understands that dressing up or sexy increases her power in society so she does it. Alpha Females are often terribly misunderstood by Beta and lesser males, as evident by the other posts about Alpha Females, and when this happens, she's called a bitch, a cunt, or a whore ... Alpha Females prefer passion over romance, although if it's romance coming from an Alpha Male, a hootttttt one, that's another story...She will surrender.  Alpha FemaleThere's a good chance that you know an alpha female, and there's also a good chance that you don't like her. You might respect her, but being liked by others is certainly not on the top of her to-do list.Here are some of the major characteristics of today's alpha female:• She's strong-minded. If she's got a plan, she won't quit until it's the plan.• She'll take charge. If the PTA President asks for volunteers, she'll volunteer to take his job.• She's a loner. She is not dependent on friends or family for motivation, encouragement, or camaraderie. Her moxy comes from within.• She's not a stereotypical nurturer. She's got people for that.• She always has her eye on a prize -- always looking to the next project. If no goal has presented itself to her, she'll create one.• She's not afraid to threaten. Though the threat may not be accompanied by the baring of teeth or the "cat fight" stance, she will make it very clear that she is not to be tampered with. She will not flinch at eliminating anyone who stands in the way of her goals.• She has lofty standards. Not only does the alpha female measure her own achievements with a yardstick that's about 5 ½ feet long, she assesses others' achievements in the same manner.• She won't stand for argument. "Talk to the hand" should be the alpha female's mantra, because she's not going to engage herself in lengthy arguments about the principles of her ideals. She's right. Get used to it.• Personal success dominates her life. The alpha female will usually gauge her success in terms of how many clients she's landed or how many acronyms tail her name.• She's competitive. Often obsessed with being the best, she won't be ashamed to admit she's "out for blood."• She's a natural leader. Others will logically look to her in times of turmoil. • She views other women in a dim light. Though the alpha female recognizes that she's not male, she also sees herself as a sort of enhanced woman, rejecting the attributes that are typically considered to be feminine (sensitive, nurturing, delicate).• She's sweet when she has to be. The alpha female has charm, and she knows how, and when, to turn it on. The method of conquering isn't important to her…but the resulting power is.Why Would a Cunning She-Wolf Hide under Sheep's Clothing?

Why is the alpha male celebrated, but the alpha female rarely mentioned or identified? Because traditionally, the genetic personality of the alpha female has been condemned, and even punished. Though the traits listed in the above section aren't undesirable in business, they can definitely hinder a gal in the relationship and mothering departments.

Throughout the history of mankind, the female has been valued for her reproductive capacity. Attraction factors of the female body that are considered beautiful today are holdovers from when men chose women for their child-bearing and child-rearing fitness (small waists, wide pelvic floors, wide hips, short arms, large breasts).

Even if a woman looks fit for bearing children, even if someone better call 911 'cause there's a Shawty fire burnin' on the dance floor, all she has to do is attest that she will not be bearing those offspring anytime soon (with actual words or through her alpha female lifestyle), and the evolutionary voice of man sends up red flags. Man's appetite for seed-sowing is insulted. Because attraction is really a vehicle for reproductive success, this woman is suddenly no longer attractive to the hopeful procreator that lurks inside most men.

Keeping this evolutionary attraction factor in mind, consider the problems that alpha female behavior might pose for yesterday's (and even today's) average woman:

• Because the alpha female harbors a fear of being lumped together with the rest of the weak (her words, not mine) females, she'll avoid falling into traditional wife, mother, and nurturer roles.

• If the alpha female has already established a family, she'll likely spend less time with her children than the average wife and mother. Because of this, she may have to endure "bad mother" accusations.

• Because the alpha female is strong, opinionated, and unlikely to endure compromise, men may either avoid her or withdraw from her (particularly beta males, who typically experience increased stress in the face of confrontation).

• For reasons that are probably already obvious, marriage can be difficult for the alpha female. A noted exception makes itself known in the case of an alpha female marrying an alpha male. He'll likely be one of the few people she'll willingly concede to.

• Often, many of the alpha female's relationships are notably devoid of emotion. She'll maintain ties that promote success, but will rarely form any type of relationship for the sake of love or comradeship alone.

• Because the alpha female has difficulty forging strong personal bonds, she'll likely spend much of her life feeling lonely, even if she's surrounded with people.

For these reasons, women throughout history have learned to stifle their alpha tendencies, in favor of more traditional, and safer, roles.

Women generally want to be liked; they seek approval. When an alpha female pursues success, it doesn't take long for her to dissect the dichotomy that is her life: what her brain is telling her to do severely contradicts what human tradition dictates.

The Alpha Female: A Division of the Missing Link?

"Bonobo." What do you picture? A big-nosed clown with a bike horn? A drunken heckler? A homeless traveler with a sack tied to a stick?

What about your closest living non-human relative? We know that we're 98% genetically similar to the chimpanzee, but some evolutionary scientists have demonstrated that we may be even more closely related to the bonobo, an ape that, to the untrained eye, may be mistaken for a chimp. Interestingly enough, one of the biggest differences between the two apes is their pedalism -- the bonobo walks more erect, like us.

But even more fascinating than the locomotion similarity is the society model that the bonobo offers for alpha females. You see, a bonobo tribe is led by the personality likenesses of Margaret Thatcher, Hillary Clinton, Dolly Parton, and Oprah Winfrey. The tribes are ruled by females, the strongest of which is always the perfect alpha model.

In bonobo troops, females are downright promiscuous (with both males and females). Sex is as common as eating, ear scratching, and well…breathing. Females don't wait around for invitations. Often, paternity is unknown, so males have little to do with the rearing of children (please don't tell Maury Povich).

When female bonobos reach the age of 6 or 7, they're kicked out of the troop. They must find new troops, in which they can groom the head females in hopes of being accepted as "wing women." But the male bonobo are permitted to stay within the troop for life. If you're a male bonobo, son of an alpha female, you will be promoted to alpha male quicker than a spoiled rich kid.

Female bonobos control the food, the oldest bonobo is generally the alpha, and the male pecking order is dependant upon their mothers' ranks, shedding a whole new light on the "your mama wears work boots" argument. So, what does this model tell us about alpha female rule? Evolutionists argue about whether chimpanzee (male-led) troops or bonobo (female-led) troops should be looked to for information about our own evolutionary purposes, and whether we are an inherently violent, chimpanzee-mirroring species, or a naturally cooperative, bonobo-mirroring species. The more moderate view of this study simply looks at two different societal situations and cites their differences as results of opposite gender rule.

The bonobo model offers a snapshot of what our lives might be like today if alpha female behavior was always as prominent as that of alpha males. If the alpha Bonobo could speak, she might imitate the words of Margaret Thatcher: "I owe nothing to Women's Lib."

The Alpha Female, Enveloped in Estrogen

Estrogen gets a lot of attention: from hormone replacement therapy to PMS to menopause. It's as thick as cold grits at basket, jewelry, and make-up parties. It's blamed for husband-bashing and teenage tantrums.

But what about all the good things that estrogen has to offer? Like high, round cheekbones, soprano voices, curves that only stop in snowsuits…and the motivation of the alpha female.

Until recently, a phenomenon that can be called a "positive estrogen loop" had been the unicorn of alpha female studies. That is, until Oliver Shultheiss, psychology professor, and Steven Stanton, psychology researcher, both from the University of Michigan, established that high estrogen can act as a catalyst for power acquisition.

In their study, detailed in Hormones and Behavior, women's affinities to power were assessed. Then, one-on-one dominance contests were staged, with estrogen levels being measured before and after each contest.

In those women who showed notable desires for power, estrogen levels were high, even before competition came into play. When women with high power motivation won competitions, their estrogen levels spiked even higher, and elevated estrogen levels were even detectable the following day.

When those power-motivated women who had higher-than-average estrogen levels lost a competition, their estrogen levels dipped below their own normal levels.

Interestingly, those women who showed low estrogen levels and little need for power from the starting gate showed little estrogen fluctuation, whether they won or lost.

This study shows us that hormonal equality does exist. Alpha males often experience a positive testosterone loop. Now, we can say with a high degree of probability that most alpha females experience a positive estrogen loop (i.e. high estrogen levels increase competitiveness and the likelihood of winning; winning heightens estrogen levels; the cycle continues). A true alpha female will likely experience a regular estrogen high, alternating winning with the desire to win.

This study also explains why many attractive women are also powerhouse alpha females, never willing to lose a battle for "mating rights" with the opposite sex. Estrogen is responsible for the traits that we consider to be most feminine and attractive, as well as for the competitive nature of the alpha female.

Put it all together, and you've got an estrogen-rich alpha female…the complementary counterpart to the testosterone-rich alpha male.

Identifying the Legendary Creature

You're at a party. It might be instinctively obvious to you who the alpha female is, but if not, there are some surefire ways to identify her:

• She'll reach out and touch someone (or everyone), without permission, and without reserve.

• It will seem that her mother never taught her that it's impolite to stare. She's not shy about boring holes through anyone, for any reason.

• Eye contact is one of her power points. She'll never lose an Old Stoneface contest.

• Interruption is common. If she's got something to say, she will ensure that it makes its way into the current conversation, no matter how irrelevant.

• She might not be pregnant, but her pauses will be. When she stops in the middle of speaking for dramatic effect, she's creating verbal cliffhangers that will keep her audience hanging on for dear life.

• The alpha female's opinion matters to the group. Whether a joke is told or a new idea is pitched, everyone in the group will usually look to the alpha female for her reaction before they display their own.

• She'll use time to create power. If the group's in a hurry, she'll find an old boyfriend to talk to. If everyone's hungry, she'll go the restroom and hold up the ordering. If there's a fire, she might reapply lipstick while she's waiting for a beta male to come along and lower the fire escape. By forcing those around her to adhere to her schedule, she's demonstrating her power.

• When with other females, the alpha female will generally walk into a room first. This marks her as the leader.

• If she's hungry, she'll eat. If she's thirsty, she'll drink. Unless she's completed finishing school, and passed with flying colors, she will never feel compelled to wait for others to start.

• She'll stand or sit tall. She rarely slouches.

• She won't fidget, dart her eyes, chew her fingernails, breathe shallowly, or jump when someone taps her on the shoulder. Her breathing will come from low in her torso; it will be barely detectable.

• She'll impersonate Barbara Walters often…asking lots of questions of others, but divulging little about herself.

• Like an extra in a breath mint commercial, she'll move in for the close talk. She's not trying to kiss, she's simply taking her slice of space from others, because she deserves it.

The alpha female generally gets lots of attention. That's part of her power…her power of attraction, her power for steering the conversation, and her power for convincing everyone else what she already knows: that she's right.

Teaching Beta Females to Use Power Tools

The majority of women are content being beta (those lower in the pecking order than the alpha), but there are some of you who either have an alpha female hiding out inside of you, or are simply longing to take the leap…to span the genetic gap that separates betas from alphas. Practicing the following nonverbal skills can help you to span that beta/alpha chasm:

• Smile. It's remarkable what power a smile can bring to you. When you smile at another person, their own mirror neurons make it nearly impossible for them not to smile, the act of which opens their minds to what you have to say, turning the power over to you.

• Work to become comfortable in your skin. Practice power poses, like standing tall with your hands on your hips and sitting with your legs in a figure-four position (please, not while wearing a skirt). Don't slouch, and don't hunch your shoulders. If you look confident, you'll feel confident.

• Don't be afraid to use eye contact. It equates to dominance, but is also valued as a terrific communicatory skill.

• Speak slowly. Taking your time and utilizing pauses within your speech gives the impression that you aren't fearful of anyone interrupting you. It also grasps attention and communicates power.

• Move deliberately. Know where you're going and go there with resolve. Avoid unnecessary movements and speed, which can make you seem less confident and a bit flaky.

• Don't confuse an alpha female attitude with a bitchy attitude. Shouting orders and purposely degrading others are not clever power tools.

• Confidence does not equate to arrogance. Announcing your skill does not make you an alpha female. Proving your skill will. As Margaret Thatcher so eloquently put it, "Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't."

• Allow your fun side to show through. Know that an attractive personality will enlarge the circle of "followers" surrounding you.

• Be graceful in situations that require grace, but also engage yourself doing some masculine things in your down time. Watch football, go fishing, tear apart a two-cycle engine just for fun…if you truly aspire to alphadom, you'll find yourself sharing airspace with a large number of men. A true alpha female is well-rounded, and can easily fall into conversation about most any subject.

• Don't confuse the alpha female with Superwoman. Superwoman will darn the socks, scrub the toilet, schedule the haircuts, and negotiate the settlement. The alpha female will negotiate a bigger settlement and hire someone to take care of the rest.

• Allow yourself the luxury of existing above the stereotypes that have bound alpha females for much of history. Don't apologize for your choices; the alpha female never apologizes.

So get out there, ladies. Don't be afraid to use your newly acquired power tools to get want you want; whether that's the "Yes," the job, the sale, or the man.

Celebrating a Unicorn among Mares

For centuries, the concept of alpha female has been considered an enigma…has even been used interchangeably with insults, leaving the alpha female to fend for herself in the arenas of friendship and love. But times are changing. Now we see women like Oprah Winfrey, Hillary Clinton, and Sarah Palin not only surviving the condition that was once considered to be a curse, but excelling in gaining the support of other women.

Though the studies on the elusive alpha female are limited, we can all expect to hear more from the scientific community in the near future. But for now, we can at least rest in knowing that the unicorn does exist. She's beautiful, she's capable, and thanks to science, she can finally strut her alpha stuff

Portray by Killa Madzilla aka Madelyn Lance