#i dread to think of how the tie-ins handle this

[lilydvoratrelundar]

sometimes comic writing is silly in that “they’re all shooting off one-liners while they punch each other” but the thing is when its done badly you NOTICE. the reaction isn’t "oh yeah i guess this is media for children but also this is spider-man.” when its done badly the response is a) about five seconds trying to understand what the joke is meant to be, b) a slightly baffled “is that meant to be... funny?” and then c) they would NOT say that they would NOT

[exhaustedfander]

Oh, Bi the Way [Analogical]

Here’s a fun little Analogical highschool au where Virgil comes out as Bi to Logan. Reblogs and feedback are really appreciated! 

a03 link

word count: 2,351

Virgil paces tight circles in his bedroom, his hands woven in his hair as his mind runs rampant. He glances out the window, the daylight golden and fading outside. Logan will be here soon, he realizes with dread, his heart hammering even faster at the thought.

I shouldn’t be this fucking nervous, he thinks to himself as if most things in life don’t make him anxious. Virgil’s been plagued by horrible anxiety for most of his life, but this really isn’t something that should be putting the pit in his stomach that it is.

But he’s been hiding something – is still hiding something and it’s so goddamn stupid. It really isn’t a big deal. He should be able to go ahead and say it no problem. Except Virgil’s stupid brain has to make things so fucking complicated, doesn’t it?! It has to mess with him and make him think that maybe people are going to freak out and maybe it’s going to be a total disaster.

He’s bisexual.

Yeah, yeah. He knows it isn’t a big deal. Tons of people are queer, and he just happens to be one of them. For fuck’s sake, his best friend Logan is gay! It’s not his fault that no one had told him there was an in-between. He was anxious enough about crushes on girls so once he figured out boys too? Well, he didn’t have the balls to tell anyone.

Sometimes he blamed it on the fact that he grew up in the foster system. Getting shuffled around from home to home the way he did, he didn’t exactly have a chance to get a good set of parents to teach him the ins-and-outs of the LGBTQ+ community. He was a fourteen-year-old getting bounced around, not even trying to get close to any of the people whose care he was under because in a blink of an eye, they’d be gone.

And then he’d gotten adopted by the Knight-Hart’s. It was still what Virgil was probably the most grateful for in his life. He was fourteen-in-a-half, having lost hope of being adopted years ago and yet here he was, brought into the home of two of the sweetest people he’d ever met.

It’s so stupid – Virgil’s parents are gay! He’s got two dads and he can’t even tell them he’s bi? Why does his brain hate him so much?! His fathers’ have helped him so much in the few years he’s been in their care, bringing more happiness and joy into his life than he’d known in so long. His Pops is always making dad jokes that Virgil can pretend he despises all he wants, but really, they crack him up. He’s such a kind, good-hearted guy who’s been nothing but supportive of Virgil since day one. His dad is no different in that respect, loving just the same but with a bit more bravado and eccentricities. What can he say? His dad’s an actor and his flair for the dramatics fail to surprise Virgil any longer.

He loves them. He really loves them but it’s still so hard to think about coming out to them, let alone Logan. God, Logan’s going to be there anytime now!

Virgil continues his pacing, trying his best to steady his breathing. If he can muster up the courage, he’s going to tell him. Virgil’s going to come out to his best friend.

After everything the pair’s been through, Logan deserves to know. Virgil met John in the beginning of high school, a time where he found it almost impossible to make friends of any kind. Virgil’s anxiety and self-doubt made having a mere successful conversation feel like an accomplishment of some kind. He didn’t think he’d ever get the chance to have a true friend, let alone a best friend. But when he met Logan that all changed.

Despite Virgil’s hesitations, they got along famously right away. Although Logan was far stiffer and more out of touch with pop-culture than anyone Virgil had ever met (Seriously, he pronounced “fam” as fahm) he was also an incredibly smart and interesting person who Virgil was proud to know. Logan could tell him so many interesting facts about outer-space or the ocean and was always really good about handling Virgil’s anxiety. Virgil had never met someone who he clicked with so instantaneously before, they just got each other. Even if they were spending time together doing separate things, Virgil was thankful to merely be in Logan’s presence. He kept him grounded.

So, of course he fell hard for him. it’s not like Virgil doesn’t know that there’s a change that his feelings are reciprocated, it isn’t impossible. Just unlikely, and damn does it sure feel impossible. Virgil’s been spending the nearly four years he’s known Logan trying to convince himself that he’s straight as an arrow and doesn’t feel anything for Logan – neither of which things are true, of course.

The two friends are going to the same college, so it isn’t like Virgil’s gonna have any room to breathe and get other his feelings. He’s been dancing around things for so long, and frankly it’s getting kind of exhausting. Virgil isn’t expecting Logan to feel the same way – god, he’s never been that much of an optimist in all his life – but telling him is something Virgil’s decided he has to go through with.

If he can manage to muster up the courage, that is.

Logan arrives, punctual as always and beautiful as ever. Logan’s the only kid Virgil’s ever met who wears a tie almost daily, claiming such attire is an attribute of his “seriousness.” Hah, as if Virgil doesn’t know about his unicorn onesie, not that he’d tell anyone about it. He’ll let Logan keep up the “serious” act, if that’s what he wants. It suits him, anyhow.

Virgil’s going to give it a minute, he decides, and they start to do their homework in relative silence. This is no oddity for the pair, they often spend time over at each other’s homes after school to do work or catch up or both. But Virgil’s heart isn’t usually beating out of his chest when he’s doing his fucking APLit homework. He told himself he was just going to take a minute to collect his thoughts before breaking the silence, but god, it’s been like thirty minutes at least and he hasn’t said anything and he’s getting too fucking nervous and he doesn’t think he can do this and –

“Virgil?” Logan’s voice cuts through the haze of his mind, voice calm and collected.

“Uh – yeah?” Virgil replies dumbly, his eyes snapping up to meet Logan’s gaze. Logan shuts his book, moving from his spot at Virgil’s desk to sitting beside him on his bed, a look of concern etched into his face.

“Are you alright? You seem distressed, and you’ve been reading that same page for over five minutes now.”

Shit, Virgil hadn’t even noticed. Logan’s question has offered him the perfect Segway to what he wants to say, it couldn’t have been laid out better. Except…Virgil can’t do this. He’s too nervous, and his hands are trembling, and this is going to be an absolute train-wreck.

“I’m fine,” Virgil mutters, hoping Logan will just drop it. He just wants to burry himself in his own cowardice, thank you very much. “Just a little distracted, I guess.”

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Logan’s voice is even and steady, so the opposite of how Virgil’s feeling, “but you appear to be very nervous. For several days now, your anxiety has appeared to be heightened. I didn’t want to voice my…” Logan swallows thickly, “…concerns, fearing it might only worsen things. But I must confess, I’m getting a bit worried.”

Well fuck, is all Virgil can think. Logan, in the absolute sweetest way possible, has backed him into a corner. Evidently, Logan’s been worried about him and the thought makes his stomach turn. He hadn’t even realized he was acting any more nervous than he usually does.

"I don’t suppose you won’t just drop this for a while?” Virgil asks with a fleeting hope that maybe he can escape this in one piece.

��I’m afraid not.” Virgil sighs. It figures.

“Okay. Okay, you’re going to think this is so fucking stupid.”

“I highly doubt that. When was the last time I reacted in such a way to you telling me something?” Logan makes a good point, as Virgil can’t remember a recent instance.

“I mean, sure, but this is really dumb, L. I’ve kinda been trying to tell you this for forever, but, big surprise, I’m really anxious about it.” Virgil flinches as he feels a hand settle onto his shoulder, seeing the sincere concern in Logan’s eyes.

“Whatever it is you want to tell me, I’m here, Virgil. I’m your friend and your fears are not baseless or dumb. It’s okay to be afraid.” Virgil’s pulse hammers in his ears as he nods, taking a shaky breath.

“Yeah alright…s-so uh, I’m bi.” Virgil nervously ducks his head, his eyes landing on the carpet. It’s not like it would make sense for Logan to react poorly, but like, what if he did?

“Well, thank you for telling me, Virgil. How long have you –.”

“I dunno, a while,” Virgil interrupts, still not looking at Logan, “See? I told you, stupid.” “I never said stupid. You aren’t stupid for not coming out until now, there is no time limit or restrictions when it comes to identity. I’m glad you told me, Virge. Thank you, I know that it can be very hard to do so.” Virgil finally feels confident enough to meet Logan’s eyes, a lopsided smile forming on his face.

“Thanks, man. That kinda makes me feel better. You’re, uh, the first person I’ve told. I wanted it to be you who I told first, that is. Cuz, you know, we’re…” Virgil hesitates, struggling through the words “such good friends.” The pressure on his shoulder reseeds and is replaced at his hand where Logan has laced their fingers together. Virgil feels a shiver run down his spine.

“Is that all you wanted to tell me, or was there something else as well?” Virgil can feel the heat radiating off of him, knowing his cheeks are going crimson. Fuck, fuck Logan knows. He knows and he’s pitying him.

“I – uhh –,” Virgil sputters, incredibly dignified.

“I only ask because you still seem to be rather nervous. I’m not trying to provoke you and I apologize if that’s what I’ve made you to believe. I’m –.”

“I’m also, uh, kinda really in love with you.” Virgil can’t help it, it just comes up like word vomit. He can’t believe he just said that! He’s sure any second now Logan’s going to let go of his hand and push him away. He’s sure Logan will leave and never come back, and he’ll have lost his best friend.

“You…you are?” Logan doesn’t sound outraged or disgusted. He sounds relieved.

“Uh, y-yeah. Shit, did I just make things weird?” From the way Virgil finds Logan taking a fistful of Virgil’s hoodie and pulling him into a kiss, he’s inclined to believe that no, he didn’t just make things weird. The embrace is clumsy at first, their teeth knocking before Virgil’s hands are laced in Logan’s hair, melting into this kiss.

“I love you too, in case that wasn’t clear,” Logan says breathlessly as they part, their foreheads pressed together. Virgil laughs, relief washing over him in waves.

“Fuck, L, I thought I was about to lose you as a friend or something. I never entertained the thought that…”

“That I’ve been in love with you for years?” Virgil’s lips curled into a smirk.

“Years, huh?” He asks, as if he probably hasn’t loved Logan for just as long unknowingly.

“And here I’ve been, suffering in the belief that you were heterosexual. And you know my stance on feelings.” Virgil laughs, kissing Logan again and wondering how quickly you can become addicted to something because holy shit, this is amazing.

“Yeah, yeah, their “the bane of your existence” and all that.”

“Priestley.”

“Full disclosure, there’s no way I’m finishing my homework now,” Virgil says. Logan swats him.

“You horrid delinquent.” Virgil chuckles again, throwing his arms around Logan and pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. For two boys who claim to be averse to most physical contact, they seem to be enjoying themselves a fair amount.

“Okay, this is probably a stupid question, but are we a thing now?”

“Are you asking to be my boyfriend?”

“Maaaaybe.”

“Well then I accept. I find your presence to be tolerable.” Virgil snorts, holding Logan closer than he ever has and never wanting to let him go before a thought comes to mind.

“Hey, L?”

“Mm?”

“You wanna stay for dinner and help me come out to my dads?” Virgil can’t believe it, but for once in his life he’s feeling brave. Logan’s made him feel brave.

“I would be more than happy to offer my assistance.” Virgil grins. “It’s gonna be great because they already love you, I mean, you’re so fuckin’ smart, and nice, and cute, and –.” “You’re rambling, Virge.” Virgil pulls away to see the flush on Logan’s cheeks.

“Aww, you’re embarrassed!”

“I absolutely am not.”

“Lo?” “Yes, Virgil?” The fondness in Logan’s tone was just about to kill him it was so sweet. Virgil kisses him again, long and slow, his hands planted firmly above Logan’s waist. His boyfriend – oh my god, he has a boyfriend! – continues to lean in, even as he pulls away. There’s no way Virgil’s ever going to recover from the cuteness.

“I love you.” Logan sighs contently.

“I love you too, Virge.”

“Virgil, honey, dinner’s ready!” Virgil’s Pops calls from downstairs. Virgil and Logan share a somewhat nervous, lovesick glance.

"Let’s go tell my dad’s I’m bi as fuck and have an insanely nerdy boyfriend,” Virgil says as he gets up from the bed, earning a chuckle from Logan. Logan grips onto his hand.

“Lead the way.”

=+=

[ploppythespaceship]

Discovery Season 3 Review

Spoiler free version: I enjoyed this season much more than the first two. It feels like it’s being written by entirely different people, who want to work with the Star Trek universe rather than against it. It’s definitely not perfect, and it has some pretty glaring flaws, but overall the setting and characters are strong enough to carry it through. I’m pleasantly surprised and... almost a little angry, because the first two seasons could have been more like this and just weren’t.

Spoilers under cut.

What I Liked

There are no terrible out of character Klingons this season. Literally, that’s my favorite part. I am sick and tired of terrible out of character Klingons.

The premise of this season is really strong. A 23rd century starship being pulled in the 32nd century, aiding a Federation that’s been utterly devastated by a mysterious apocalyptic event. It works incredibly well and brings up a lot of interesting themes. Honestly, I wish this had just been the premise of the show from the beginning.

The universe has been carried forward in a lot of interesting ways, like the shrinkage of the Federation and Vulcan and Romulus having achieved reunification. There are also some good tie-ins with Picard that don’t feel too forced. The first two seasons felt like the continuity was at odds with the previous shows, but this season feels like it fits into the universe. I might not enjoy every decision they’ve made, but at least it all makes sense.

This season also has a much better balance between episodic and serialized storytelling. The episodes flow together and follow one continuous plot, but still have their own self-contained stories to be enjoyable on their own. It’s a breath of fresh air compared to the non-stop everything of the first two seasons.

Book is a wonderful new character. He’s not like any empaths we’ve seen on Trek before. Plus David Ajala is fantastic and there’s something so immediately likeable about him. (He and Michael also have more chemistry within five minutes than Michael and Ash had in two whole seasons.)

Saru getting to be captain is well-deserved and long overdue. He’s a great character, and it’s nice to see the first non-human series regular captain on the show. He wasn’t really the the best captain at times, letting his personal motivations get in the way of things, but it was a fascinating development for both him and the show that made logical sense. And it was nice to see it.

Tilly is the best she’s ever been. Her being made first officer works surprisingly well, despite her inexperience, and it offers her character so much growth. I love how kind she is, and how her emotions are treated as strengths. And I adored her being acting captain for the most intense parts of the finale. Getting her to that position was a bit contrived, considering she was outranked by basically all of the bridge crew, but I can’t even mind it that much. It just works.

I found Stamets to be pretty insufferable in seasons 1 and 2, since he fit into a category of snarky genius asshole that I’ve never particularly enjoyed. However, in this season he’s fully transitioned to awkward engineering dad and he’s infinitely better as a character for me now. I don’t think he’ll ever be a favorite, but I have a new appreciation for him that I just couldn’t muster before.

Culber finally develops a personality this season! In past seasons he felt like a cardboard cutout, but now he feels like his own character. He has a sass and determination to help others that may not necessarily want his help, often reminding me of McCoy.

Some of the bridge crew have been getting more focus this season, particularly Detmer, and it’s nice to see these characters finally be more fleshed out after essentially being extras for two seasons.

Adira is wonderful. A genius non-binary 16 year old who unexpectedly becomes a Trill host to preserve their boyfriend’s memory in some way. Beautiful story, beautiful character. And I’m very grateful that Adira isn’t non-binary because of Trill nonsense, they were just already non-binary, because non-binary people exist and don’t need sci-fi nonsense to “justify” it.

There’s a lot of really delicious character tension, and most of it works. Characters act selfishly at times, but it’s understandable. Motivations are at odds with one another and it creates very genuine conflict where you somehow root for all of them at once. It feels earned and plays out naturally without feeling forced or overdone, unlike previous seasons which had conflict tossed in for arbitrary reasons. Moments that stand out are Saru and Michael’s conflict when she goes against his orders, and Paul getting furious with Michael for not letting him go back to save Hugh and Adira.

The scene where Discovery finds Federation headquarters and geeks out over the ships and the technology... I’m still thinking about it weeks later. There was such joy and wonder to that moment. And all the little touches and homages that didn’t take it too far over the top, like Voyager J and the USS Nog.

Admiral Vance is also a surprisingly compelling character. Oded Fehr is just fantastic in the role. And you can feel that he’s very different from the admirals of previous shows, because the Federation he oversees is so different. It’s refreshing to have a recurring admiral that isn’t an insufferable ass.

What I Didn’t Like

I still hate the spore drive. It should say how wildly out of place in the timeline it was that even 900+ years in the future, this technology vastly outclasses anything else the Federation has. It’s handled slightly better in that it’s treated like a valuable asset that must be protected and used sparingly, which makes it a bit less of a magical plot device, but it’s still overpowered and awkward.

Mirror Georgiou has very much overstayed her welcome. She’s a constant reminder of why the mirror universe only works in short bursts, and isn’t meant to be taken all that seriously. She’s so cartoonishly over-the-top evil, yet the show doesn’t seem to be aware of that... somehow everyone adores her now despite her being awful, constantly. It makes for a character with an arc that doesn’t gel with any of the rest of the season. I mentally checked out for pretty much all of the mirror universe two parter, as I was bored out of my skull watching her do... whatever she was doing. I don’t even remember. She also gets this extremely long-winded and touching goodbye where everyone reminisces about her, which takes up entirely too much time and doesn’t make any sense. The show is genuinely better off without her, and her absence was felt immediately -- in a good way.

While this season does better than past seasons at getting us to know and care about the minor bridge crew, there’s still not really enough. Nhan gets an emotional departure scene reminiscent of Airiam’s death in season 2, but much like that moment there isn’t nearly enough buildup or attachment to her character. It’s an utterly unearned moment. And several times in the finale they cut to a woman who was part of the core group getting their emotional sacrifice moment, but I still don’t know who the fuck she is.

This show probably has the strongest cast of all the Trek shows, in terms of acting ability. Unfortunately, this means that the few who aren’t holding up their end stick out like a sore thumb. Tig Notaro is easily the worst, making me dread every moment Jett is onscreen. Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz are usually tolerable, but are noticeably flat when compared to most other characters (though I do think Rapp did well with his emotional scenes in the finale). And while I liked Gray as a character, I was a bit disappointed with Ian Alexander’s performance.

The Emerald Chain was underutilized, and Osyraa quite underwhelming. I thought her writing was pretty good, especially towards the end of the season when they started to humanize her a bit more, but the actress just didn’t have the gravitas to carry it. There were also hints of interesting themes, especially where the scientist under her genuinely thought she was a force for good and had to confront that he’d been helping a monster, but the show didn’t quite seem willing to commit.

This season had a similar issue to the first season of Picard, where the setting is so interesting and has so much fantastic political potential, but the plots don’t take full advantage of it. Osyraa’s proposed alliance with the Federation could have been a fantastic talking point that lasted longer than the ten minutes they allowed it, but instead we flew past it for more shooting scenes. (I think the finale could have benefitted from being a three parter rather than just two.)

Ultimately, I wasn’t terribly satisfied with the answer to what caused the Burn. I didn’t find Su’Kal to be terribly compelling and I didn’t like how detached it was from the rest of the plot. It was also very pseudoscience-y, and while Trek has definitely had its share of that... I don’t know, something about it just didn’t work for me.

[recentanimenews]

The Drifting Classroom Signature Edition, Vol. 1

Kazuo Umezu’s name is virtually synonymous with horror comics today, but his six-decade career spans almost as many genres and demographics as Osamu Tezuka’s. Umezu’s catalog includes gag manga (Makoto-chan), dystopian sci-fi (14-Sai), romance (Onnanoko Atsumare!), and monster movie tie-ins (Gamora: Lost World). Like Tezuka, Umezu has been prolific, drawing over 65 series for magazines ranging from Big Comic Spirits to Shoujo Friend. But it’s his horror stories–Orochi: Blood, Cat-Eyed Boy, and Left Hand of God, Right Hand of the Devil–that earned him international acclaim.

The Drifting Classroom made its debut in a 1972 issue of Weekly Shonen Sunday. Over the last forty-five years, The Drifting Classroom has been adapted into a live-action movie and a television drama, as well as an English-language film called Drifting School that’s more notable for its C-list cast than its fidelity to the source material; even Shuzo Oshimi paid tribute to this ground-breaking series with his 2009 update Drifting Net Cafe. VIZ Media first published an English edition in 2006, and has just reissued the material with a fresh translation, new packaging, and updated artwork.

The story, however, remains the same: a freak accident causes a localized rift in the space-time continuum of present-day Tokyo, sending the Yamato Elementary School and its occupants into the distant future. Initially, the students and teachers believe that they are the sole survivors of a devastating nuclear attack, and the area immediately surrounding the school supports their hypothesis: it’s a barren wasteland with no water, plants, or signs of human habitation save a pile or two or non-degradable trash. As the school’s occupants realize the severity of the crisis, panic sets in. Teachers and students engage in a brutal competition for dwindling supplies while attempting to solve the mystery of what happened to them. And when I say “brutal,” I mean it: the body count in volume one is astonishing, with murders, mass suicides, fist-fights, knife fights, and rampaging monsters culling the herd at a breathtaking rate.

It’s sorely tempting to compare The Drifting Classroom to The Lord of the Flies, as both stories depict school children creating their own societies in the absence of adult authority. But Kazuo Umezu’s series is more sinister than Golding’s novel, as Classroom‘s youthful survivors have been forced to band together to defend themselves from their former teachers, many of whom have become unhinged at the realization that they may never return to their own time. Umezu creates an atmosphere of almost unbearable dread that conveys both the hopelessness of the children’s situation and their terror at being abandoned by the grown-ups, a point underscored by one student’s observation that adults “depend on logic and reason to deal with things.” He continues:

When something happens and thy can’t use reason or logic to explain it, they can’t handle it. I don’t think they were able to accept that we’ve traveled to the future. You know how adults are always saying that kids are making things up? It’s because they only know things to be one way. Kids can imagine all kinds of possibilities. That’s why we’re managed to survive here.

That speech is delivered by The Drifting Classroom‘s plucky protagonist Sho, a sixth grader who becomes the children’s de facto leader. When we first meet Sho, he’s behaving petulantly, pouting over his mother’s decision to throw away his marbles in an effort to make him focus on schoolwork. The intensity of his anger is drawn in broad strokes, but it firmly establishes him as an honest-to-goodness ten year old, caught between his desire to play and his parents’ desire to mold him into a responsible teenager. Once transported to the future, Sho’s strategies for scavenging supplies or subduing a rampaging teacher are astute but not adult; there are flourishes of imagination and kid logic guiding his actions that remind us just how young and vulnerable he is. As a result, Sho’s pain at being separated from his parents, and of losing his comrades, is genuinely agonizing.

Umezu’s artwork further emphasizes the precarity of Sho’s situation. Sho and his classmates have doll-like faces and awkwardly proportioned bodies that harken back to Umezu’s work for shojo magazines such as Sho-Comi and Shoujo Friend, yet their somewhat unnatural appearance serves a vital dramatic function, underscoring how small and fragile they are when contrasted with their adult guardians. The adults, by contrast, initially appear normal, but descend into monstrous or feckless caricatures as their plight becomes more desperate. Only Sho’s mother–who is stuck in the present day–escapes such unflattering treatment, a testament to her devotion, courage, and imagination; when her husband and friends have resigned themselves to believing the official story about the school’s fate, Sho’s mother is open to the possibility that Sho may be reaching across time to communicate with her.

Like his character designs, Umezu’s landscapes are willfully ugly, evoking the proper feelings of disgust, fear, and anxiety that the characters’ dilemma should instill in the reader. In particular, Umezu has a flair for creating environments that look like something conjured from a nightmare, whether he’s drawing a darkened schoolhouse or an eerie garden filled with grotesque, misshapen plants. The area just outside the school gates, for example, resemble the slopes of an active volcano, with sulfurous clouds wafting over a barren, rocky expanse that seems both frozen and molten–an apt metaphor the characters’ state of mind as they first glimpse their new surroundings:

Though The Drifting Classroom remains emotionally resonant in 2019, its gender politics have not. There’s an egregious subplot involving a gang of middle-school girls who briefly form a junta. When they make a putsch to rule the school, the class brain urges Sho to oppose them on the grounds that a “female isn’t fit to lead,” since “women are made to give birth and rear children so they can’t think long term.” Though Sho’s most trusted ally is a girl, Sakiko is excluded from most of Sho’s adventures; instead, she’s saddled with the thankless task of playing surrogate mother to Yu, a sweet-faced toddler who was accidentally swept into the future while playing on the school grounds. Sakiko totes Yu around like a toy, fretting over him and Sho whenever they’ve had a brush with death, and screaming whenever Umezu needs to ratchet up the intensity of a scary scene. (That happens about every 9.75 pages in the first volume, FWIW.)

Yet for all its obvious shortcomings, The Drifting Classroom is a thoughtful meditation on adult hypocrisy, exposing all the ways that adults manipulate and terrorize children for their own convenience. “Adults are humans, children are animals,” a cafeteria worker tells Sho and his friends. “That’s why adults have the power of life and death over kids.” That Sho and his followers cling to their humanity despite the adults’ selfish behavior reminds us that children are innocent but not naive; Sho and his friends are clear-eyed about their teachers’ failings yet choose to persevere–a powerful message in a chaotic political moment. Recommended.

This is a greatly expanded–and reconsidered–review of The Drifting Classroom that appeared at PopCultureShock in 2006. VIZ Media provided a review copy. Read a free preview here.

THE DRIFTING CLASSROOM, VOL. 1 • STORY AND ART BY KAZUO UMEZZ • TRANSLATED BY SHELDON DRZKA • ADAPTED BY MOLLY TANZER • RATED T+, FOR OLDER TEENS (VIOLENCE, HORROR, GORE) • 744 pp.

By: Katherine Dacey

[keneerike]

Control Your Emotions and Control Your Reality: 5 Keys To Getting It Done

I haven't posted since June. Plenty of life updates afoot since then; might share those on the site at a later date.

I'm back with a piece that should hit home for everyone.

Our minds control our reality. Everything we do is a result of how we think.

It's the reason we have so many bad drivers: A moving car is just an extension of the mind operating it. 

The guy that tailgates, weaves in-and-out of lanes in heavy traffic, slams on the brakes when he had ample time to slow down; same dude that's quick to anger, focused on immediate gratification instead of long-term wins, and treats discipline like a four-letter word.

Those choices are all born of the same short-term, lack-of-self-control-fueled thinking.

With experience, you (hopefully) gain wisdom and realize that the risk of an accident or moving violation isn't worth the chance to shave a few seconds of your trip. Run-ins with the law, days wasted in court, spikes in insurance premiums....those get old, fast.

It's why young men draw the highest insurance premiums. Actuaries know that segment of society is most likely to engage in risky behaviors that cost money. Pressure to fit in with peers, uncertainty about identity, brains not-yet-fully-formed, few entanglements and responsibilities; recipes for volatility.

That 18-34-Year-Old demographic is the most prized target market in advertising for similar reason. Those are the folks most likely to fall for the "What-You-Buy-Determines-Who-You-Are" Myth.  A lack of life experience and a large portion of one's day spent buried in media create ideal consumers.

Yes, the brand of deodorant you buy defines who you are. More than what you actually produce for yourself and others.

Searching for something to instill meaning in life, we pull out our wallets or latch on to theater around us. Companies know they'll never go broke providing easy answers for difficult questions, even if those purported solutions fall flat in the long run.

We see that in civic debate, where Identity politics have taken over American governance.

We see it in sports, with die-hard fans. People who wrap themselves in sports fandom, often to drown out the deafening silence in their lives. Their team's divisional record is a direct reflection of their worth as a person, so any perceived attack on their team is met with indignation; One cross word from a rival fan is all it takes to get that ball rolling.

The post-game scene outside your favorite stadium.

Which brings us back to the theme of this post: managing your emotions so you can maintain peace of mind.

Five Tips for Controlling Your Thoughts (and emotions):

1) Visualize the steps you need to reach your ideal outcome.

2) Abstain from thoughts and images that conflict with your goals.

3) Take physical action to bring your goals to pass.

4) Put events in proper context.

5) Decide ahead of time how you'll respond when life takes a turn.

1) Visualize the steps you need to reach your ideal outcome.

Your thoughts dictate your emotions; your emotions dictate your actions.

Paint a picture of the ideal outcome and work backwards. What kind of work do you need to put in to get there? Visualize yourself going through the paces. Imagine yourself as a calm, level-headed decision-maker during times of uncertainty and you'll begin to act that way.

Use your cognitive abilities to support your desires, not thwart them. Visualize what it feels like and looks like to attain your ideal outcome. Your muscle memory will follow suit. You get out what you put in. Fill your (mental) tank with low-grade fuel and you'll sputter along, struggling to make full use of your abilities and enjoy your daily experience.

2) Abstain from thoughts and images that conflict with your goals.  

Tune in to Food Network and you get hungry: No surprise there. The sights and sounds of cakes and pastas evoke memories of past good times with a fork and spoon. You get to thinking about replicating that enjoyment and next thing you know, you're wrist-deep in that pie you were saving for Thanksgiving.

Most of us have enough sense to stay away from cooking shows when we're trying to slim down, yet we forget the persuasive impact of the sights and sounds we subject ourselves to every minute of the day.

When you focus on what you don't want, your mind brings that to pass. God designed our brains to manifest the images and thoughts we meditate on.

The surest way to miss a shot or drop a pass when you're in a big game is to continue imagining what it will be like to miss a shot or drop a pass when you're in a big game.

3) Take physical action to bring your goals to pass.

Talk is cheap. You know that.

Itching to start a business? Want to drop a few pounds? Reading day-after-day of motivational articles will only take you so far. At some point, you've got to throw on some sneakers and get to work.

Train your brain to handle inevitable challenges by exposing yourself to them ahead of time. Dedicated practice of the skills you need in trying times arms your mind with evidence that you can handle what comes your way. You get accustomed to the difficulties of certain activities and fear and worry fade away.

4) Put events in proper context.

Restaurant got your pizza order wrong? Cut off in traffic? Friend offered an opinion you disagree with?

Reasons to be angry? Sure. But your level of outrage and subsequent response should be appropriate.

Running the other guy off the road or ending a friendship because you have divergent political views? Too extreme.

Life goes on, even when people around you don't hold up their end of the bargain.  

5) Decide ahead of time how you'll respond when life takes a turn.

You choose your level of outrage. You choose your internal and external response to what crosses your path. When things don't go according to plan, you can take it in stride, minimizing the emotional damage, or fly off the handle.

Like any skill, it takes practice.

To be clear, I'm not pushing the passive-aggressive, conflict-avoidance approach for problem solving.

That line of thinking is rooted in insecurity and a fear that one doesn't deserve---or lacks the ability to obtain---what one desires. Confident people who know what they want should go after it and not kid themselves about resolving problems that bother them.

Being comfortable with the uncomfortable is an underrated asset. If your first inclination when faced with conflict is to flee, put the work in and change that. 

The best things in life are free, but the brave get first crack at the pickings.

When others screw up, seek recompense where appropriate. Just don't let it torpedo your entire day.

Resentment, harboring grudges, plotting revenge: these all tie up cognitive resources that could be employed elsewhere. Not only do you keep replaying the offending event in your head, subjecting yourself to repeated emotional trauma, you waste time that could have been spent bettering your life. It's like re-watching a movie you found torturous the first time around. Give it the proper attention and move on. Odds are the offending party isn't thinking about it, so the only one significantly-impacted by the event is you. You're better off getting it out of your mind as quickly as possible.

Avoid counterfactual thinking as well. Imagining what could have been had everything gone according to plan will drive you insane.

Ever played fantasy sports or gambled? You know the pain of the choice (not) taken. 

Managing your expectations of others helps here, too. Like a good defensive driver, assume others will drop the ball and disappointment is less likely to sneak up on you. And definitely don't hold others to higher standards than you hold yourself;that just makes you a hypocrite. 

Great leaders understand that intuitively.

You've got more control over what transpires in your life than you give yourself credit for. 

I'll give you a personal example to drive the point of emotion control home:

I spent some time in the hospital earlier this year. Shared some details here: 

https://soundcloud.com/user-31492767/kene-tells-clot-story-testimony-to-church-feb-2018

When I got out of the hospital, everyone had an opinion on what I needed to do next and how worried I should be about my prognosis.

Any talk about how unstable my condition was or the physical dangers looming in recovery---I shut it down. Started that while I was in the hospital, with visitors who wanted to talk about other people they knew who succumbed to the episode or anxieties about my vulnerability. I only wanted to hear words that facilitated healing, not breathed life into fears.

I wasn't listening to anything that allowed doubt to creep into my mind; I was only planting seeds that would push me towards a full recovery.

In addition to maintaining a running dialogue with medical specialists, I searched for---and found---present time and biblical examples of people who experienced healing. Case studies are useful for establishing precedent and demonstrating value. Great for inspiration and instructional knowledge, too.

As if this whole ordeal was preordained, I found a number of passages tackling the exact same infirmity I was contending with:

Matthew 9:20-22:

"And, behold, a woman, which was diseased with an issue of blood twelve years, came behind him, and touched the hem of his garment:

For she said within herself, “If I may but touch his garment, I shall be whole.”

But Jesus turned him about, and when he saw her, he said, “Daughter, be of good comfort; thy faith hath made thee whole.” And the woman was made whole from that hour."

Part of my recovery protocol entailed months of daily cold showers: Every day, without compromise.

Each time I headed for the shower, a skirmish erupted in my mind: How was I going to handle today's ice bath? I could choose to think about the discomfort of ice-cold water hitting my skin, which would inspire dread every time I headed for the shower, or focus on the regenerative effects to be had through consistent participation.

Ice baths are great for pain relief and muscle management.

And really, after a initial five-second jolt of "cold", your body adjusts quickly to the temperature. Cold baths aren't nearly as traumatic as you've been led to believe and they get easier the more you do them.

The decision was made from the get-go, so I wouldn't waffle when the time arrived.

I knew these ice showers needed to be done and never allowed myself to consider skipping them. When you accept that something needs to be done and focus on the benefits of completing the task, you realize that focusing on the not-so-enjoyable parts is counter-productive. You've got to do it anyway, so why not place yourself in a state of mind most conducive to getting it done and not dreading the action going forward?

That's the formula for beating procrastination in all its forms, whether its getting your homework done or doing the dishes.

Winners learn how to hurdle obstacles that losers shy away from. Controlling your thoughts is the first step for accomplishing that.

Your weekly internment camp or the road to a fulfilling marriage and a shape others will envy: It's all about how you look at it.

Visualizing worst case scenarios is a poor way to navigate life. That line of negative thinking is the same thought process behind the white-hot fear of public speaking.

Remember that next time you're in a jam.

Too many Christians respond to uncertainty like unbelievers, letting their emotions run wild when trouble rears. Only after self-inducing complete despair do they ask God---in a passive way, no less---to restore peace and solve their problems..

"Stress" wasn't a team member I needed for my recovery journey, so reining in my thoughts and emotions was paramount. If you stop imagining panic-inducing outcomes, you stop panicking. I refused to let my heart be troubled, kept cool, acted in faith, and got every result I was looking for---and then some.

God is great.

When the unexpected happens, your first response dictates the outcome. You dwell on all that could go wrong and that self-fulfilling prophecy comes to pass.

You can throw up your hands and bemoan the world around you or get to work sculpting your environment to your tastes; it's all in your hands.

A steady hand---and mind--- at the wheel will carry you far.

All of this sound crazy? You think the vagaries of life mean your mental state needs to fluctuate to mirror anything that comes your way?

That's because we're so accustomed to taking our normative cues from the people around us---many of whom base their actions on the whims of what's popular at the moment---instead of a more grounded authority.

Even the tallest tree needs solid roots---the base we cannot see---to withstand the elements.