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outeremissary · 9 months

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Word Search Game

Tagged by @arendaes- I appreciate the tag, and apologize for taking over a month to get to it (I hadn't reorganized my writing folder yet). Because 2023 was not a year that I wrote regularly and I'm trying to get back into the habit, I think all or almost all of these are actually from 2022. It's still a WIP as long as I intend to loop back, right...?

The words I was given were MOMENT, STAR, and BLUE.

MOMENT: This was from Between Death and Dreaming, a small oneshot and my one and only one Wrath fic.

Every part of her body screamed to push her luck, to make some move she didn’t know to comfort Carmen. To assure her that she wouldn’t go. Something to finally bridge the gap between them and make it clear that she could be relied on even if she could never be loved. She couldn’t imagine what that move was. So instead she stood stock still, desperately hoping the moment wouldn’t end. “You’re lying.”

STAR: I had to cheat a bit for this- I seriously was struggling to find the word. A travesty!!! Maybe it was buried in something I didn't check...? It's from a chapter of a Kingmaker prequel fic I've recently returned my attention to (though this old bit is marked for rewrite in revision for various reasons).

They trailed after the creature down long starry corridors lined with mismatched doors or paintings that stretched from floor to ceiling and moved like captive moments of time. Here and there they cut randomly across empty parlors or ballrooms- in one especially cobweb-strewn stateroom the starlit sky gave out a few feet in and revealed cracked and faded tiles arching listlessly over the abandoned space. They wandered in lonesome spirals until the angel was sure that they would never be able to retrace their steps unassisted. Nowhere did they pass window or skylight: the great complex only looked inward on itself and upward at a false sky.

BLUE: And this is from an old draft of a oneshot- I don't think I'd reached this point on the second draft I worked on in late 2023.

Tristian also noted the way the baron’s wings still pressed uncomfortably against the back of the chair: a troubling continuation of the baron’s new habit of imagining them away. Ever since they appeared Balthazar had awakened to a vendetta against his own body- one which had made him even moodier than before. There was a faint twinge of something in the pit of Tristian’s stomach as one of the wings stirred ever so slightly. The split second it took to quash that something was enough for the baron to shift just enough to crush the flicker of life back against the chair. “Tristian.” Balthazar’s eyes flicked over Tristian in lightning-fast assessment before he smiled his customary pleasant smile- the one that was all in mouth and body and gesture, but never reached his frigid blue gaze. “I didn’t expect to see you again. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

If you're interested, I'll tag @mountainashfae with the words TIME, HAND, and DARK.

#I tend to use a dubious organizational system where old drafts are in the same document as new drafts.#scrivener thankfully has allowed me to make this practice slightly less evil than the way I did it in ms word.#sorry that stuff on this is so ancient. I'm an erratic and private writer at the best of times and 2023 was not that best for writing ^^;:#I wish one of these words had appeared in my character journal for Gatewalkers because I have really enjoyed writing that lol #tag game #arendaes #here's hoping for new habits for the new year ^^;;

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lizziestudieshistory · 9 months

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2023 Reading Summary

I'm late...again... It's hardly a surprise. However, I've finally looked at my reading for 2023. The only stats I tracked this year was the genre, and even this was a simplified version because I decided I don't care. I spent most of my time this year recording what I thought about the books I read not the data surrounding them. And, if I'm honest, I don't think I'll even bother with the genre in 2024.

The Numbers

In total I read 84 books, which considering I've been working or training full time all year is surprising for me. On average I tend to read 60-70 books in a normal year, usually towards the lower end, so almost 20 books over that is a very pleasant surprise.

The biggest surprise has been my change in most read genre! I've only recorded 4 genres, classic, nonfiction, fantasy, and general fiction, these broke down to:

Classic 53%

Fantasy 31%

Nonfiction 12%

General fiction 4%

Fantasy is usually my top genre with over 50%, so this is a change (I don't think it will be permanent). However the largest shock is the nonfiction! I never read nonfiction for fun, but I guess this is a change from leaving university. I don't have to learn for work anymore, so I'm now looking into these things for fun as the mood takes me. I am disappointed these haven't been history books, however, I'm hoping to change that in 2024 and it has been nice learning more about literature in 2023.

Top Three Books

I tried to do a top 5 but the gap between 3 and 4 was too large, so I've narrowed it down to a top 3.

Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

The Tombs of Atuan by Ursula K. Le Guin

Evelina by Fanny Burney

I loved all of these books in different ways, and I think I've done a mini review of each in the months I read them. However, if anyone wants detailed thoughts then I'm more than happy to talk about any of these books.

Biggest Surprises

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

Silas Marner by George Eliot

Goblin Market and Other Poems by Christina Rossetti

Fugitive Prince by Janny Wurts

All of these were excellent, they just weren't quite in my top three.

Most Disappointing

Witches: James I and the English Witch-Hunts by Tracy Borman

The Fitz and the Fool Trilogy by Robin Hobb (I DNFed this series after Fool's Quest and I'm heartbroken, but I have major issues with this trilogy in a way I couldn't keep reading as it was destroying my love for Fitz.)

Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson (this is standing in for all of the secret project books)

Goals (Sort Of...)

To continue the surprises... I've only listened to 4 audiobooks, so most of those books were read physically or through an ebook. This is huge for me as I used to consume about a third of my books through audio, it's a massive improvement because I don't retain them very well. Listening to fewer audiobooks was a big part of my informal (in other words unwritten) reading goals and I'm very happy to have got it down this far. I do think it'll go up again next year because I've got a lengthy commute to work now, but I've also broken the habit of sitting at home listening when I could easily read the book myself and get more out of it.

I did as well with not worrying about numbers or data surrounding the books I'm reading. I deliberately retired my spreadsheet this year and only kept up with my reading journal. After a week or so I didn't miss it in the slightest. I'm not a hard data/stats kind of person, but I am easily persuaded to keep these sorts of records. I started keeping a spreadsheet in 2019 where I track genre, pages, author gender, and format in addition to the book information, by 2022 I was tracking book info, series, genre, format, author info (just too much to list), pages, month read, where I bought the book, if it was a tbr, new or library read, reread or new to me, and rating. It was too much! It was hard work, I was MISERABLE, and I didn't care. It was performing to the standards of what you see in the reading community online... So, I ditched the spreadsheet and I've been much happier. I've read better books because I haven't had my stats in mind, and I've read more. I had more time to actually read because I haven't been spending an inordinate amount of time researching books and entering data into a spreadsheet! I'm definitely making this a permanent change.

I've also used my ereader a lot more this year, I have no numbers to back this up but I've naturally been reaching for it regularly and it has done me good. I've not only read more frequently and for longer periods of time, but I've been more comfortable while reading (no more back, neck, or arm strain from 1000+ page fantasy tomes!) and I've tried books I was hesitant about buying physically because I could access a digital copy. I did have a massive problem with my ereader in November because my Kobo Libra 2 started to have battery changes that nothing resolved and then it died completely. Unfortunately I lost a lot of my reading data, including my notes, which has upset me. But I have saved my elibrary and bought a "new" device (it's a Boox Nova 3) so I can still read - I might discuss getting a Boox separately. However, I am much more cautious about note taking through a device and I'm sticking to recording everything in my physical journal.

This brings me nicely onto my reading journal. I wanted to overhaul my journal this year because my old journal format was growing stale and uninspiring to use. I was often leaving it for weeks at a time and often scrambling to write up 5 or 6 books in one go because I'd forgotten to do it as I was reading. So, I worked through several different styles of journal and found a new, more flexible, and engaging style that can fit my changing moods throughout the year. I'm definitely going to discuss this at a later date, so I won't say much here. But I am very happy to have a new journal system and I'm excited to get into it properly this year.

#books #reading #books of 2023 #reading summary #end of year reflection #bookblr #booklr #best of 2023 #worst of 2023 #reading goals #reading journal

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world-of-stone · 2 years

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Yesterday, we witnessed a historic event: The first ski flying competition for women. Still, today's (local) news paper gives 4 pages of the sports section to football and another half a page to Denise Herrmann retiring - and not one mention of the flying women (even though there were 3 Germans taking part).

#German sports journalism at its best #ski jumping #vikersund 2023

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ughmulder · 1 year

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I'm just trying my best okay I am just learning how to cook it is not my fault that I am so embarrassingly bad at it that I think I'm actually somehow good at it

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fancyschmancyopinions · 7 months

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LAURA HARRIER at the 2023 LACMA Art + Film Gala on November 4th 2023 wearing GUCCI

Laura seems to wear almost entirely Saint Laurent, so I was surprised to see her at this Gucci event. I thought she looked nice, but the look was underwhelming. It’s a pretty brown dress, but not really styled with jewelry or anything to elevate the look. It’s a forgettable look.

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ecargmura · 1 year

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When You Become Your Idol Bias's Child - Oshi No Ko Anime Review

Everyone and their dogs have been hyping up Oshi no Ko since it’s anime adaptation announcement. I was also curious on what the hype was, so when the first episode was released, I sat down and watched the episode. I was blown away.

The anime centers around the Japanese entertainment industry. I’m not too familiar with how the Japanese entertainment industry works, but I grew up watching Korean entertainment. While every entertainment industry may seem ritzy and glam, that’s only a front to the cesspool of darkness buried deep within. Every entertainment industry is dark.

The animation is beautiful, honestly. Doga Kobo is an underrated anime studio. Their animation quality has improved a lot; if you’re unfamiliar with them, they’re the studio that animated the perfection that is Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. I love the choice of colors that the studio uses to make the animation pop out. The way they color the characters’ eyes is pure quality.

The music is great. The opening, Idol, is THE anime song of the season and possibly the year. It’s super addicting and it’s one of the rare times I do not skip openings. It’s just that good. The ending song is good too! However, other than that, I do feel like the OST is a bit forgettable. I don’t remember the songs used in the anime other than the opening and ending.

The writing of Oshi no Ko highlights that immaculately. The story is about Ai Hoshino a sixteen year old idol who takes a hiatus and goes to a hospital where a male gynecologist named Goro resides. It turns out that Goro is a fan of Ai and got into stanning idols after a patient died. While he was shocked that his bias is pregnant, he becomes supportive and promises her to help her give birth naturally and not caesarian. One day, Ai gets into labor, and her stalker actually follows Goro to an isolated area in the forest and murders him by pushing him off a ledge. When he awakes, he finds himself inside the body of Ai’s son, Aquamarine Hoshino (Yes, that’s his actual name). However, there’s another person who got reincarnated as his twin sister Ruby Hoshino; it’s Goro’s patient Sarina who was a fan of Ai’s before her death.

The early years of the Hoshino family was cute, honestly. Ai was charming. Aqua and Ruby were hilarious kids; they have no clue what’s going on with their new lives, but they were just trying their best to live. Because they were reincarnated, they behave much differently from normal babies as they can already walk and talk. I always wondered why no one ever pointed out how different Ai’s babies were from other kids. Like, Ruby was already knowing how to use Twitter and talking about “virgin birth” while Aqua read thick books meant for adults when he was around 2 or 3 years old. People have commented on it via gossip and baby Aqua uses Youtube as an excuse of his precociousness and people buy that. I guess it’s just Japanese culture to not stick your nose into people’s business.

Ai’s death was pretty shocking in itself. I didn’t expect it to be so sudden. She didn’t even reach twenty years old before her death. How unfortunate. I think what hit the feels the most is the fact that, throughout episode 1, Ai never once said that she loves her kids. While she has strong affection for them, she’s unsure what love is. Love and lies are a big theme in this story. While her name is Ai, it has several meaning. The most common meaning is “Love”, however Ai’s name is written in katakana. There could be two meanings why it’s in Katakana, which usually associates with a loan word. It could stand for “I” as in the pronoun, but I think it most likely stands for “Idol” since idol is pronounced as “A—i—do—ru” in Japanese. Ai says I love you to her kids the first and last time before her death and realizes that her love for them were genuine. I know that Ai’s death comes as unfortunate for some fans and viewers, but it’s the point of the show.

The show is about the darkness of the entertainment industry and how Ai was a victim of said darkness. Because of that, Aqua got dipped into the darkness at about the age of four and sought revenge against Ai’s true killer as he realized someone had sent the stalker behind the scenes. I kind of like how the narrative splits between the two main protagonists. Aqua’s path is how the industry’s darkness can affect anyone; it has affected him to the point that he’s becoming a product of said darkness with his desire for vengeance and the way he’d use anyone to achieve that goal. Ruby represents the flowery, glamorous portion of the industry. Note how Ruby wasn’t fully present during Ai’s death due to her being locked out behind the door that she was leaning against. While Ai’s death has affected Ruby as much as Aqua, she still walks a path of light because of her strong desire to uphold her mom’s legacy and to become an idol as great as her.

Aqua and Ruby are the MCs of this story, but I feel like Ruby doesn’t get enough screen time, which is why I feel like she’s the weakest part of the anime so far. This anime is mainly Aqua diving into each possible plot point that can give him a clue to Ai’s true killer. Ai is the catalyst, Aqua is the driving force and Ruby is just exposition. Exposition is good for the readers, but I feel like that role diminishes later on as Kana comes into the picture as she’s more aware of the industry than Ruby. Since Season 2 has been announced, I do hope Ruby gets more screen time.

Because this is a character-driven drama story, the characters are the prime focus. In addition to the twins, there are a plethora of supporting characters who help them with their goals. We first have Miyako and Ichigo. Ichigo is the CEO of Strawberry Productions and Miyako’s husband. He’s the one who recruited Ai into becoming an idol and formed B-Komachi. Miyako wasn’t thrilled about her marriage at first and was even forced to babysit the twins; she only got married to Ichigo because she wanted to meet hot guys. Eventually, she warms up to the twins to the point that she actually adopts them as her kids after Ai’s death and her husband’s disappearance. While Ichigo and Miyako are important figures in Ai’s life, I feel like Ichigo disappearing kind of makes him look bad. Miyako pretty much kept everything afloat since the incident. I was surprised how much she changed after caring for the twins. Miyako is a neutral character who knows about the darkness of the entertainment world but isn’t innocent to get tainted. She’s kind of like mission control of the story as she’s the one who gets Aqua gigs and forms the new B-Komachi for Ruby with the help of Aqua who recruits two members.

The first of the two he recruits is my favorite character and THE scene stealer of the entire show, Kana Arima! Kana is a character who was considered a genius child actress (not a baking soda licker) but eventually lost the spotlight as she got older. Her story is basically the dark path child actors face when they get older. It’s a very harsh world. People once thought Kana was astounding and she had so many jobs as a child, but when she got older, nobody wanted her anymore. People even believed she was past her prime since the child Kana they all wanted was gone and that no one wanted the teen Kana. The last episode of this season reveals that Kana’s issues comes from the fact that she feels like she won’t be complete unless someone needs her, which shows how much psychological damage the industry can have on a child.

Kana is a character who wants to look for light in her darkness and eventually sees it in Aqua despite him drowning in darkness. I think what makes Kana so compelling is the fact that she cares more about being used for her talents and not past fame and such. She wants to be acknowledged as a good actress and not someone who used to be a child actress. Even if her gigs are bad (the drama she was in was SO cringe, especially with the way the male actor was acting).

Kana is a perfectionist and harshly criticizes herself when something doesn’t go right in her eyes. I can relate to her a lot; while I am not an actress, I can relate when it comes to writing. I used to write fanfic. One fan fiction in particular had a lot good reviews, but the popularity scared me, so I stopped fan fiction writing to focus on original works. When I changed paths, I felt like my writing wasn’t as good as it was when I wrote fan fiction and it made me wonder if this was the path for me at times. The fact that Kana went through a lot just to survive because she does love acting from the bottom of her heart speaks a lot for me. I’m glad that she took Aqua’s offer into becoming an idol because idols get a lot of gigs from singing to acting. I’m sure more opportunities will come for her the more she enjoys her idol life. Though, I do feel bad for her because her crush on Aqua’s very complicated as she likes him, but his feelings are ambiguous at best because he clearly doesn’t want to be in a relationship as he’s too fixated on revenge, but he does have a soft spot for her that’s different from his soft spot towards his sister.

The second idol that Aqua recruits for B-Komachi is Mem-cho. Mem-cho is a YouTuber known for her bubbly personality. She was on the same reality dating show Aqua was on and told him about how she wanted to be an idol at first but her lost her chance and resorted to becoming a YouTuber. While she does grab onto her idol dream after Aqua makes an offer, it turns out that she’s been lying about her age. While she poses as an 18 year old, she’s actually 25. In the idol industry, they value youthful girls above all. Anyone past 20 is considered too old for an idol. I know it’s cruel to think like that, but that’s how Japan’s idol system works. While 20+ year old idol debuts are common in Korea, it’s different for Japanese standards as they value youth. Mem-cho’s issues is very realistic and I like that. However, I do wish that Mem-cho got more screen time as a character and not as the cute background character. I hope Season 2 changes that.

In the same reality show that Aqua and Mem-cho are a part of lies another important supporting character, Akane Kurokawa. Akane is a passionate theater actress who’s considered a genius in her theater troupe, Lala Lai. However, even if she’s considered great in her theater world, she’s anything but in the filming world. She has no presence, which means no screen time. When she tries to step up, she accidentally scratches Yuki’s face. This causes her to be dunked into cancel culture. Akane is a character who was basked in pure light but got forcibly pulled into the world of darkness because of cancel culture and cyberbullying.

There was a controversy that broke out in the real world regarding Akane’s cyberbullying case. After the airing of Episode 6, a complaint was filed. The filer turned out to be the mother of Hana Kimura. If you’re unaware, Hana Kimura was a MMA athlete who was on a reality show called Terrace House. She did some things that caused her to be targeted for cyberbullying. When it got too much for her to bear, she decided to take her own life at the young age of 23. While the events of the incidents seem similar, the author never officially confirmed if Akane’s story was based off of the late Ms. Kimura’s. However, because Mrs. Kimura, the mother, filed a complaint, there were people that started cyberbullying her. I don’t want to get into it too much, but you can watch The Anime Man’s video regarding this topic to get a bigger picture. Long story short, I stand by my claim of the entertainment industry being the darkness in people.

Because of the incident, the light she was basked in is no longer pure. While she does manage to come back, she’s definitely not the meek Akane Kurokawa from before; she’s an evolved Akane who is able to use her acting prowess and amazing analytical abilities to capture the essence of a person she does not know personally and do it in a way that the aloof Aqua manages to keel over for her. I’m amazed that Akane is able to do this. This makes Akane like a wildcard honestly. It’s unknown if she’s going to be someone who’s going on a dark path or if she’s going to go on a light path. Just please do not reduce her to someone who lacks agency around Aqua. PLEASE.

I do wish that there were more male character to balance out the female cast. I want to see more of Pieyon, the Director and more. Fortunately, it seems that there will be more males in next season. I want to see Aqua interact with male characters.

The last thing I want to talk about is the voice acting. The voice acting is good. My favorite female voice actress Megumi Han steals the show with her performance as best girl Kana. If you’re not familiar with Han’s roles, she voices Gon from Hunter x Hunter, Yamato from My Love Story!!, and Jill Warrick from Final Fantasy XVI. Her range is insane and it’s because of Kana that my love for Han’s acting increases day by day. Aqua and Ruby are voiced by Takeo Ohtsuka, whom I’m not too familiar with and Yurie Igoma, who’s a complete rookie. I think they’re doing a great job with the twins. They make them sound distinct and not too basic. Rumi Okubo as Mem-cho fits her perfectly. Manami Iwakura as Akane shows off her acting prowess. If you’re not familiar with Iwakura’s roles, she voices Tohru Honda in the Fruits Basket remake. I’m familiar with her soft voice, but the way she is able to voice Akane the way she did in Episode 8 really proves that she is versatile. I want to see more roles of her. Rie Takahashi did super well as Ai. I think the best performance of this show has to go to Pieyon. His VA uses a high pitched duck voice for most of his appearances. Like, that’s not even his normal voice, so props to him for being able to produce such a voice.

Overall, I highly recommend watching this anime if you want to watch a dark show. I can see why it’s so popular now that I’ve finished all 11 episodes and thought about it. I will gladly buy the manga and read on ahead. I can definitely say that this is Spring 2023’s best show. Sorry, Demon Slayer. Oshi no Ko is just too good.

Also, did you know that there’s two meanings of Oshi no Ko? Oshi means bias, if you’re familiar with English idol lingo. Ko usually means child, but it’s also another way to say “person”. Oshi no Ko can either mean “My Bias’s Child” or “My Bias/My Favorite Star” in a contextual term.

I hope you enjoyed my review and please watch Oshi no Ko!

#oshi no ko #review #anime review #anime #aquamarine hoshino #ruby hoshino #ai hoshino #kana arima #Akane kurokawa #mem-cho #pieyon #Miyako saitou #ecargmura #arum journal #the best anime of spring 2023 #This is my longest review I've written so far #I hope you enjoy

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