#only the men though surprisingly i have a different type for women (creator of the torture dungeon)

[yappacadaver]

im just obsessed with his themes and motifs, i love when guys have suffering tailor-made just for them, and i love watching how their psyche tries to grow through the torture dungeon's twisting labyrinth, until the shape of their soul is a cast of it

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Dino Watches Anime (Oct 26)

Recently Completed!

Tokyo Godfathers

Score: 10/10

There’s a reason why I gave this such a rare high rating. When I was watching it, I was internally like, “*excitement noises* I have not been this excited over an anime in such a long time, let alone for an anime movie. EVERYONE SHUT UP SO I CAN WATCH THIS EVEN IF I DON’T UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY’RE SAYING.”

It’s not often that you come across really good movies, let alone masterpieces like this movie. The art is so good, the story made me feel like it was Christmas in October, and the characters really made me connect. 

I know the subtitles used a whole lot of gay slurs and things like that, but Hana (the trans character in this tale) is treated well if we get past that huge hurdle. She truly owns up to herself. She doesn’t care what she’s called. She gets mad at people who misgender her. She gets mad if she’s forced to go to a men’s facility. She wants people to call her “an old hag” rather than “an old coot”. She just wants to be a mother even if she isn’t “biologically a woman” who can bear children. So when she comes across this kid, she thinks, “I will finally be a mother!” These are issues that real people face. These are issues that cisgendered people take for granted.

Madhouse really knocked it out of the park. Satoshi Kon is one of the biggest creators and directors in anime history. He’s known for horror and psychological works like Perfect Blue, Paprika, and Millennium Actress. I never expected him to be this good at making a movie that could move my soul like this. The characters were so far from perfect, yet I wanted the best for each of them. The way it handled everything was masterful. The dialogue worked so well and was witty, the voice actors (despite the main three not being in anything else for the most part) were so good at giving life to their characters, and the art blew me away in 2019 even though this was released in 2003. The only thing I didn’t quite like as much was the score during some parts of the movie, but it was subjectively good and just wasn’t to my taste (the Noragami soundtrack wasn’t a fav of mine either). 

Just... watch the movie. If you can watch it around Christmas. It’s good for you.

Saiunkoku Monogatari

Score: 7.4/10 

Yes, I binge-watched all 39 episodes in two days, what’s it to ya?! In reality, I just boosted the speed of the video.

Me throughout this show: Why do you all have triangle heads? What’s with that?

Okay, it’s the art style, and a lot of shoujo anime go with the concept that it looks good. Once you get over the art hurdle making me believe this was created in the early 2000s despite it being 3 years younger than Tokyo Godfathers, this turns out to be a really nice show. I just can’t believe they’re BOTH from Madhouse. 

Remember Snow White with the Red Hair? Remember Akatsuki no Yona? If you liked those shows, you’re going to like this one... except it relies more on the political plot. It’s mostly about a woman wanting to pursue her dreams of being a politician in a male-dominated world. She’s entasked with helping this mess of a king to get his act together, and as much as I can try to prove that it’s surprisingly progressive (given the art and genre), I think that’d be spoiling it a little. The only character that actually bothered me was the prince who was voiced by Tomokazu Seki who honestly was a bit annoying and sounded so fake for me. However, this anime made me appreciate Hikaru Midorikawa’s voice as well as Houko Kuwashima who I’ve only heard voicing dead moms and only a few good characters here and there. Seriously, both of their voices are great. Toshiyuki Morikawa sounds good too, but we already knew that. I don’t like the OP or ED (or a whole lot of the music), but that’s the case for a lot of these 2005-era anime. Just like a lot of the anime on MAL, I do think this is an underrated show, but it does have its pitfalls if you’re just craving for a quick shoujo without any politics.

Full Metal Panic: Second Raid

Score: 7/10

I binge-watched this entire season while my parents were out for dinner and something else. It only took me a couple of hours because I boosted the speed.

I wanted to get a gif specifically from this season, so this one will have to do. So much wasted potential will this character (who’s one of two twins). I know they were trying to play the whole “twincest” thing, but I’m personally not a fan. They provided some cool fight scenes even at a certain cringe cost. The fact that Kyoto Animation animated this bumped the art from a 3 to an 8. It’s crazy how much the quality jumped after a new studio took over. Unfortunately, they didn’t take care of the next season. I know the main ship in the series is pretty clear, but this season made it closer to canon (too bad it took around 13 years to make the next season).

Kara no Kyoukai (movies: 5, 6, 7)

Score:  Part Five: 7.5/10 Part Six: 5.8/10 Part Seven: 8.2/10

Not gonna lie, I watched the first four movies over a year ago and retained nothing. I had to read the Wikia to assist me and to begin with, I watched this to get into the “Type-Moon” universe (which consists of this and the Fate nonsense stuff), Yuki Kajiura’s score, and Maaya Sakamoto and Kenichi Suzumura voicing a couple. The score would probably change if I’d watched them regularly, but I digress because I watched movies 5-7 in one afternoon. Ufotable was pretty good at animating this and the voice acting worked really well. Yuki Kajiura’s music didn’t hit well at first when I was first watching the first few movies over a year ago because it wasn’t what I envisioned the score being, but once you get into the mood and mindset, it adds so much to the story. Although, I still really didn’t like part six. I thought it was a complete flop because I just want to get rid of anyone who believes i*cest is an okay thing. This isn’t Alabama. Go home. Not else to say here because this took so much commitment that I doubt anyone would watch it.

Paranoia Agent

Score: 8.6/10

With spoopy month coming to a close (already?!) I watched this anime earlier this month, but I forgot to write about it. That’s partly because there’s so much to unpack here. This was a thriller, psychological, horror anime by Satoshi Kon. That’s right, the first anime above was also done with him in the director’s seat. This anime was smart. There’s a reason why Robin Williams likes it! It was scary in the best of ways. It revealed a part of society that we see all the time but don’t talk about (especially in Japanese society where emotions are better kept concealed). Just the opening alone made me feel uneasy. The OP and ED were simplistic yet worked. I binge-watched the whole series because it was that gripping. 

It was a little confusing at times, but that’s also because that’s just a common thing with horror anime. That suspense keeps us going. It keeps us on the edge of our seats. Who’s going to be the next victim of Shounen Bat? Episode 8 came out of nowhere for me, and I liked it. There were several scenes that sent shivers down my spine in the best way possible. It isn’t always “scary”, but it gives suspense.

Aoi Bungaku

This one is going to be reviewed a little differently. Since it has specific arcs, I’m going to review them as such!

Ningen Shikkaku: 8.2/10

We start off with a bang. Osamu Dazai was a man of suffering. This story really shows that. In this story, we see a man who’s desperate to know what makes him human. We see this through the eyes of a fictional character, but I personally view this as a semi-autobiography.

The art was chilling. The voice acting from Masato Sakai was surprisingly good. A lot of the time, voice acting from live-action actors just aren’t that great. Every time you think this character will get back on his feet, he falls deeper and deeper. It truly did make me wonder what made me human.

Sakura no Mori no Mankai no Shita: 3.9/10

That moment when the only thing that saves this arc is Nana Mizuki’s singing. Seriously, her jazz songs were awesome. Can’t say that about the rest. I mean, the art is good, but it’s Madhouse so most of their stuff is already good. The story wasn’t that original. Mind you, this was probably during a period where foreign influence was strong, and I haven’t read the original story, but... this is basically Salome (the opera) with some differences. Both have a crazy woman with a fixation over lifeless decapitated heads. Both have men that are captivated with her beauty so they give her what she wants because of that reason alone, they both murder religious people (monk/shrine maiden and a prophet), and both eventually realize that women can be crazy when they demand a lifeless head because you know, that’s just a red flag. Above all, it suffers from tonal shifts. You can’t have a woman turning moe then demand you bring her another head to play with. You can’t have Masato Sakai playing another main character that doesn’t fit him! Seriously, he doesn’t have the voice of a brute and just couldn’t do it. Overall, this arc was a mess, and I’m glad it was one of the shorter ones.

Kokoro: 7.6/10

This looked like a masterpiece compared to the last arc. I haven’t read Kokoro, but this made me go, “Huh, I don’t remember this happening.” That’s because they chose a certain part of the book (near the end apparently) and just went off that and created its own anime-original episode. Despite that, it was pretty good! There were some screaming discrepancies which did hurt its impression (because it made it feel out of place to the point where even I, as an uneducated anime viewer, could clearly see).

(I think this is from Kokoro but I might be wrong)

Hashire, Melos!: 8.9/10

Would you look at that? It’s the best arc of the series. Hashire, Melos was great. It had me going from beginning to end, and it’s the only arc that doesn’t have Masato Sakai playing the lead character. The art, the pacing, the storytelling, the story, the sound, the voice acting, and the art direction complemented each other so well. It made me far more interested in the original. 

The Spider’s Thread: 6.6/10

If you look really close, you’ll notice that the creator of Bleach took over character design for this! It was okay. I found that it was a little cliche and lacklustre. Mamo is around so much that you probably have to do more than that to keep my attention, and this had the art going for it too. It just wasn’t that interesting. A heartless murderer is sent to hell after being executed. Moral of the story: Don’t be an asshole. Alright. Nice. I do understand that Ryuunosuke Akutagawa was one of the main establishers of the whole “Japanese Short Story” thing, but after seeing it so many times, I just didn’t get that same chill.

Hell Screen: 6.9/10 

Another Akutagawa short story! This one had far more of an impact because this one hit closer to Akutagawa’s heart. Knowing the history of this piece of writing, you can see his desperation to stay relevant and true to his craft. It’s about a painter who wants to paint the town but finds out the city isn’t the bright light he sees in his mind. Everything goes ablaze. The art for this is stunning. I probably would’ve enjoyed this story more if it was placed in the middle of the series run rather than being the last story. 

Recently Started

Africa no Salaryman

The animation for this is terrible. There is no way around it. However, at least it’s funny. Still, close to being on the chopping block. It has the papa lion who’s played by Akio Ohtsuka, the straight-man middle lizard played by Kenjirou Tsuda, and the scumbag toucan played by Hiro Shimono. Yes, they all play Hero Academia villains. The jokes are pretty good for me.

Given

Oh, would you look at that? It’s a music anime. *inhales* Music anime is a double-edged sword for me. I like having music interpreted and portrayed through one of my favourite mediums, but I don’t like them playing off music as some sort of easy gimmick and a joke. It’s like a shonen montage. “Let’s just have this guy train for two minutes and become a demigod”. But when you put an instrument into someone’s hand and demand the same, it sends me to another plane of angriness.  So far, the romance is kind of cute... but Mafuyu kind of annoys me since his role in the BL dynamic is so clear just by his voice. Same with Uchida. You can only play so many thugs a season. Kyou? Good. Chika? Good. This guy? Good, but don’t do them all back-to-back! I don’t like the BL dynamic being so basic. However, my mind can be changed if done right.

Shinsekai Yori

Very interesting premise, their eyes are cute, and I’m a sucker for these so I’m gonna stick with it.

[beatrice-otter]

Longfic Recs, Part III

The Rich Are Always Respectable:  Rosemary (13571 words) by Elizabeth Chapters: 9/9 Fandom: Pride and Prejudice Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Darcy/OFC, Georgiana/OMC, Bingley/Jane Characters: Fitzwilliam Darcy, Georgiana Darcy, OFC, OMC Additional Tags: Angst, Alternate Universe - Canon Series: Part 1 of The Rich Are Always Respectable

Summary:

Without Lady Catherine's interference, a family catastrophe throws Darcy and Elizabeth down wildly different paths.

So We Meet at Last (758 words) by thisbluespirit Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:Miss Marple - Agatha Christie,Dracula & Related Fandoms,Dracula (TV 1968) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Jane Marple, Count Dracula, Abraham Van Helsing, John Seward Additional Tags: Community: fan_flashworks, Crossover, Women Being Awesome, miss marple is awesome, The Author Regrets Nothing, Alternate Universe

Summary: Two genre legends meet.  The outcome is inevitable.  Someone really should have warned the Count never to trifle with fluffy old ladies. Hearts'-ease, by theficklepickle Henry V, AU, Henry/Montjoy. What infinite hearts'-ease must kings neglect That private men enjoy?

Whispers In Corners, by Esama. Harry Potter/Sherlock, AU, Harry/Mycroft. Everything started with a stumble - his new life in a new world as well as his surprisingly successful career as a medium. Realizations, by wishweaver. Harry Potter AU Harry returns to Privet Drive after 4th year and finds it...empty!  What do you do when you can't go to your friends for help? Of Muggles and Magic, by Aurette Harry Potter Regency AU, Hermione/Snape A witch struggles to conform in a society that restricts her.  A wizard   thinks he has nothing to offer anyone but his duty and, ultimately, his life. Maria, by Judith Brocklehurst Mansfield Park futurefic, But the outstanding question for Mrs. Rushworth's connections was: where   could she be placed? What could be done with a woman who, at twenty-two years old, had so disgraced her family, so alienated her friends, that no-one, except her doting Aunt Norris, wanted even to see her, let alone  house her?  Maria, now divorced, starts a new and independent life. Letters from a Smallville School Nurse, by Russell Saunders Superman, humor, outsider perspective, short All But Name, by Mirror And Image Star Wars, AU, Anakin and Obi-Wan, "You will be a Jedi, Anakin. I promise you. In all but name."

5 Times the Raptors Tried to Kill Miriam, and 1 Time They Didn’t (22937 words) by JulisCaesar Chapters: 6/6 Fandom:Jurassic Park (Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character(s) Additional Tags: Blood, Minor Character Death, Science, Like a lot of science, Dinosaurs, Period-Typical Homophobia, AIDS mention, Antisemitism, Asexual Character, medical shenanigans, I beat up the MC a lot ok

Summary: Miriam thought the job working for InGen sounded perfect. Tropical island, good pay, first dibs on publications… At least, she thought so until she found out that she was the only behaviorist on staff. Once the eggs hatched, it became all she could do to keep up–with the dinosaurs, the science, and her health.

Maggie Fitzgerald and the Saltwater Drip (79626 words) by antistar_e Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:The Amazing Spider-Man (Movies - Webb) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Relationships: Peter Parker/Gwen Stacy Characters: Gwen Stacy, Peter Parker, Mary Jane Watson, Flash Thompson, Miles Morales, Harry Osborn Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies

Summary: Google politely tells her there are no poisonous spiders in Manhattan. Judging by her symptoms -- fever, superstrength, newfound desire to shove herself into small dark spaces, and sudden reputation as a masked vigilante -- Gwen would beg to differ. [Spider!Gwen AU.]

Enigma (11297 words) by Yahtzee Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom,X-Men - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier Characters: Erik Lehnsherr, Charles Xavier, Logan (X-Men), Mystique, Edie Lehnsherr, Original Female Character, Sebastian Shaw, Emma Frost Additional Tags: Alternate Reality, Fix-It, Kink Meme, World War II

Summary: Written for the following prompt: Erik dies, or finds a reversey-time mutant, or a magical time travelling device, and wakes up in the past. This time, though, it's before he ever met Charles - in fact, it's before his mother died.

He can save his mother that one time (thanks to his mastery over powers carrying back), but what does Erik do after that? Does he stick around, or escape and run to find Charles again (and hope everything doesn't go wrong)?

Je vois ma vie en rose (79404 words) by lilacsigil Chapters: 10/10 Fandom:X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage Relationships: Erika Lehnsherr/Charlotte Xavier, Harriet McCoy/Raven (X-Men) Characters: Erika Lehnsherr, Charlotte Xavier, Harriet McCoy, Raven (X Men), Alex Summers, Amparo Muñoz, Angelo Salvadore, Sabrina Shaw, Emory Frost, Marcus MacTaggert, Azazel (X-Men), Jana Quested, Shannon Cassidy Additional Tags: Genderbending, Alternate Universe - Gender Changes, Big Bang Challenge

Summary: "Je vois la vie en rose" is a full-cast gender change. Canon male characters become female, and canon female characters become male or genderqueer. The only exceptions are real people and background military/government characters.

The CIA's Marcus MacTaggert attempts to recruit Doctor Charlotte Xavier and her sibling Raven to assist in the capture of suspected Communist Sabrina Shaw and her unusual associates. Thrilled at the thought finding of more mutants, Charlotte and Raven agree, but are soon put off by the CIA's misogynist attitude and decide to track down these other mutants by themselves. They do find more mutants, but not the ones they were expecting.

Charlotte starts to build a community of mutants but Raven finds that many of them can't even accept themselves, let alone someone who doesn't belong within familiar definitions of gender. Erika's determination to kill Shaw, Shaw's quest to recruit more mutants, and world-threatening political brinkmanship collide with deadly consequences: Charlotte, Raven and Erika must decide what kind of world it is that they want to create.

Unalienable (65554 words) by Basingstoke Chapters: 38/38 Fandom: Highlander (1986 1991 1994 2000 2007),X-Men (Movies),Highlander: The Series Rating: Explicit Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Duncan MacLeod/Methos, Jean Grey/Scott Summers, Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier, Jean-Paul Beaubier/Piotr Rasputin, Bobby Drake/Rogue, Remy LeBeau/Rogue Characters: Charles Xavier, Logan (X-Men), Duncan MacLeod, Methos, Scott Summers, Ororo Munroe, Rogue (X-Men), Piotr Rasputin, Tony Stark, Yuriko Oyama, Kenny (Highlander), Kurt Wagner, Jean-Paul Beaubier, Jeanne-Marie Beaubier, Warren Worthington III, Grace Chandel, Arclight, Elektra Natchios, Connor MacLeod, Jubilation Lee, Artie, Joe Dawson, Kitty Pryde, Mirage, Bobby Drake Additional Tags: Crossover, Kid Fic, Decapitation, Medical Trauma Series: Part 26 of Author’s Favorites Summary: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

D'Ancanto (49868 words) by xenokattz Chapters: 8/8 Fandom:X-Men (Movies) Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Rogue (X-Men), Charlotte Jones, Remy LeBeau, Ororo Munroe, Logan (X-Men), Warren Worthington III Additional Tags: Cast of dozens, Samuel L Jackson-level strong language & also violence, GQBAMF in a line behind me bitches, Old enough to remember Charlotte Jones Series: Part 1 of D'Ancanto

Summary: Drugs. Multi-state gangs. Mutant-killing virus. Civil unrest. Plot to assassinate a racist senator. Just another Tuesday for Marie D'Ancanto, NYPD detective in the country's first Mutant Crimes Task Force.

If We Never Got This Second Chance (50419 words) by Pookaseraph Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:The Losers (2010),Marvel (Movies),Marvel Rating: Mature Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Jake Jensen, The Losers - Character, The Avengers - Character Additional Tags: Romance, Time Travel, Surprise Family, Father-Son Relationship, Happy Ending, Angst, Internalized Homophobia, Alternate Universe - Canon, Character Death, Many Worlds Time Travel, Terrorism

Summary: When Tony and Steve’s son from the future, Jake Jensen, arrives at Avenger’s Tower, the two of them are forced to confront some hard truths: Tony that he might not actually become a horrible father, and Steve that he might not be able to set aside his discomfort with sharing a child with another man. When they both get a second chance at a first try at fatherhood, it’s up to the two of them to learn from their own future's past.

Freezer Burn (194186 words) by Domenika Marzione Chapters: 28/28 Fandom:The Avengers (2012),The Avengers - All Fandoms,Captain America,Captain America (Comics),Marvel Cinematic Universe,Captain America (Movies),The Avengers (Marvel Movies),The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Steve Rogers, Nick Fury, Tony Stark, Maria Hill, Bruce Banner, Peggy Carter, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Thor (Marvel), Pepper Potts, Red Skull, MODOK, Maya Hansen, Hydra Agents, The Wrecking Crew (Marvel) Additional Tags: sorta comicsverse sorta movieverse it's all getting jossed anyway right?, hail HYDRA, Steve Rogers as chorus girl and company-grade officer, Clint and Natasha think they're hilarious, Action/Adventure, Thor is an alien prince and not an idiot, Peggy Carter can still kick your ass, barf cannon, superhero foodies, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony's really not that bad at the business thing, Team, Team Dynamics Series: Part 2 of Freezer Burn

Summary: The adventures of Steve Rogers, defrosted soldier, who is missing time but not really all that lost. He's got a surprisingly broad knowledge of lettuces, a working grasp of modern technology, and may or may not be using both to mess with his teammates and save the world.

Exclusive (30833 words) by copperbadge Chapters: 3/3 Fandom:Marvel,The Avengers (2012) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Thor (Marvel), Pepper Potts Additional Tags: POV Outsider, News Media, Slice of Life, Interviews, Snipers Series: Part 1 of Magazineverse

Summary: Heroes In Manhattan: From Captain America's Hidden Talents To The Truth About The Hulk, We Debunk The Myths And Expose The Daily Lives Of The Avengers.

I (created from fantasies) exist solely for you (62917 words) by Mizzy Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:The Avengers (2012),Marvel Cinematic Universe Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Don Blake, Thor (Marvel), Natasha Romanov, Clint Barton, Pepper Potts, Maria Hill, Phil Coulson, Nick Fury, Norman Osborn Additional Tags: Identity Porn, Alternate Universe, marvel-bang, Podfic Available, Comic book office au

Summary: Six years ago, without the Avengers Initiative there to save the day, scientist Dr. Eric Selvig sacrificed himself to save the world, the almighty demi-god Thor was lost to a terrible storm, and vigilante Iron Man – spotted with a nuclear weapon trying to take advantage of the situation – was forever labelled an enemy of SHIELD.

This is a comic book office AU, where Steve is defrosted a year too late, Thor has forgotten who he is, and no one knows Tony is Iron Man.

Also includes: office pranks, inappropriate post-it notes, and superheroes who like pina coladas and getting caught in the rain.

Widow's Weeds (4333 words) by Mhalachai Fandom:The Avengers (2012) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanov, Tony Stark Additional Tags: Steve/Natasha friendship, It happened in a graveyard, Trust Series: Part 1 of A Widow's Tale

Summary: Their secrets have secrets. Steve's starting to figure this out.

Mountains, Molehills (1175 words) by lalaietha Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:Lilo & Stitch (2002) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: David Kawena/Nani Pelekai Characters: Nani Pelekai, Lilo Pelekai, David Kawena, Jumba Jookiba, Pleakley

Summary: Technically, David doesn't live here, but that "technically" is starting to get real thin, and he knows it. Which is why he chokes a bit when Lilo puts her elbows on the table, her chin in her hands, and says, "Are you going to ask my sister to marry you, or what?"

Here, where the world is quiet (6408 words) by busaikko Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Remus Lupin/Severus Snape Characters: Remus Lupin, Severus Snape Additional Tags: Child Death, Character Death, Werewolves, Boarding School, Post-Canon, Zine Chocolate and Asphodel

Summary: After the war, Severus became head of the Scrimgeour Lycanthrope Academy.  His mandate was simple: Provide them with Wolfsbane and daily occupation.  Teach them as you see fit.   Report any violent outbursts.  Keep them away from regular people.

Dudley's Memories (11650 words) by Paganaidd Chapters: 5/5 Fandom:Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Dudley Dursley/Undisclosed Characters: Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley, Lily Luna Potter, James Sirius Potter, Albus Severus Potter, Dudley Dursley, Original Characters Additional Tags: Canon Compliant Series: Part 1 of Memories and Dreams Summary: Minerva needs help delivering another letter to #4 Privet Drive. At forty, Dudley is not at all what Harry expects. A long overdue conversation ensues. DH cannon compliant, but probably not the way you think. Prologue to "Snape's Memories".

You'll Get There in the End (It Just Takes a While) (33437 words) by seperis Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:Star Trek (2009) Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: James T. Kirk/Spock, Spock/Nyota Uhura Characters: James T. Kirk, Spock, Nyota Uhura, Leonard McCoy, Christopher Pike, Spock Prime Additional Tags: First Time, Pon Farr, Telepathy Series: Part 1 of The Reboot Series

Summary: "Spock.  Just say 'I don't trust Starfleet not to mess up the only captain in the fleet who I can train up to my expectations and enjoys running into danger wearing a blindfold as much as I do'."

Qui Habitat (133190 words) by domarzione Chapters: 20/? Fandom:Stargate Atlantis,Stargate SG-1 Rating: Not Rated Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: John Sheppard, Elizabeth Weir, Rodney McKay, Cameron Mitchell (SG-1), Jonas Quinn, Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, Steven Caldwell, Radek Zelenka, Evan Lorne, Original Characters Additional Tags: Apocalyptic, Alternate Universe - Dark, Ori, Religious Themes & References, Atlantis Alone, Action/Adventure, Alien Invasion, Colonialism Series: Part 2 of Qui Habitat

Summary: An SGA/SG-1 AU that spins off from the Ori arc that runs through Seasons Nine and Ten of SG-1 by changing one simple thing: the Ori don't lose. Earth is the last significant planet to fall in the Milky Way, but fall it does. Hard.

After Earth's fall, a large resistance movement was active, utilizing the Daedalus, the only surviving SGC carrier, as it's main instrument. Running raids in the Milky Way and bringing refugees and supplies to Atlantis, the Daedalus was the only lifeline between the two galaxies. Eventually her luck ran out and she was nearly destroyed by an Ori armada; after limping back to Atlantis, she is no longer flight-worthy and Atlantis is finally truly alone.

Over in Pegasus, Atlantis was first a long-distance witness and then a rear echelon for the escalating fight with the Ori over the Milky Way galaxy before becoming the final retreat for those who survived. Cut off from Earth and forced to revert to its (Season One) status as isolated outpost responsible for its own needs, Atlantis still has the responsibilities it has assumed in Pegasus -- defeating the Wraith and protecting those who can't help themselves -- while also awaiting the inevitable arrival of the Ori.

Rock Happy (141680 words) by ArwenLune Chapters: 31/31 Fandom: Generation Kill,Stargate Atlantis,Stargate SG-1 Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Brad Colbert, Nate Fick, Laura Cadman, Evan Lorne, Sam Carter, John Sheppard, Teal'c (SG-1), OC: Darren Avery, OC: Dr Fournier, OC: Lee Brittner, OC: Will Meyers, Daniel Jackson, Dusty Mehra, Tony Espera, Timothy Bryan, Ray Person, Mike Wynn, Nathan Christopher, Gabriel Garza Additional Tags: Crossover, Whole lotta fuckin' swearing, You want to recruit me for WHAT?, I wanna be there when they tell Ray about the space vampires, Daily life on Atlantis, original characters of colour, Women Being Awesome, POV Outsider, Brad Colbert has adventures IN SPACE, Team, Marine Corps, Wordcount: Over 50.000, Wordcount: 100.000-150.000, Women in the Military Series: Part 3 of Rock Happy 'verse

Summary: "You want to recruit me for what? You want me to go where?"

Sgt. Brad Colbert has been on a lot of strange missions, but this promises to be his most out there yet: Atlantis

This is not a story about falling in love. This is a story about falling in team.

Out of Season (26987 words) by Elizabeth Culmer Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Shezan Tolkheera (OFC), Marigold Beaver (OFC), Axartha Tarkaan, Prince Rabadash, Ilgamuth Tarkaan, Hkreegah the Gull (OFC), the Tisroc, Ahoshta Tarkaan, Malindra Takhun (OFC), Peridan (Narnia), Susan Pevensie Additional Tags: Slavery, planned sacrifice of a sentient being (Talking Beast), Religion, Religious Themes & References, Worldbuilding, Canon Character of Color, once you create the rest of the world it has to count as much as your special country Mr. Lewis, POV Outsider, Calormen, Women Being Awesome, Female Protagonist, Narnia Fic Exchange 2011, Fictional Religion & Theology Series: Part 1 of Out of Season

Summary: In the fourteenth year of Rishti Tisroc's reign, a demon in the shape of a beaver is captured and brought to Tashbaan.  Shezan Tolkheera, high priestess of the goddess Achadith, is given the responsibility of guarding the demon until its sacrifice at the Spring Festival.   Complications ensue.

Carpetbaggers (119268 words) by cofax Chapters: 10/10 Fandom:Chronicles of Narnia - C. S. Lewis Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Peter Pevensie, Lucy Pevensie, Susan Pevensie, Edmund Pevensie, OFC Series: Part 1 of Carpetbaggers

Summary: The day after Aslan left, taking the magic with him, just about everyone else left, too.

After the coronation festivities, the real work begins.  During/post "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe".

Play It Again (63206 words) by metisket Chapters: 3/3 Fandom: Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Stiles Stilinski & Laura Hale, Scott McCall & Stiles Stilinski Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Derek Hale, Scott McCall, Laura Hale, Sheriff Stilinski, Peter Hale, Allison Argent, Lydia Martin, Danny Mahealani, Erica Reyes, Isaac Lahey, Vernon Boyd, Talia Hale, Chris Argent, The Hale Family - Character, The Argent Family - Character, Alan Deaton Additional Tags: Pre-Slash, Magical Stiles Stilinski, derek's mad planning skillz, magical objects and their insufficient warning labels, laura's in charge, making the most of your afterlife, oh look here's a lower place, Alternate Universe, Dimension Travel Series: Part 1 of play it again

Summary: In which Stiles goes along with one of Derek’s plans and ends up in an alternate universe as a result. He should’ve known better. He did know better, actually, and that means he has no one to blame but himself.

“Laura wants to lure the kid in with food and kindness and make a pet of him, like a feral cat. Derek wants to have him arrested for stalking. They’re at an impasse. (And the rest of the family is staying emphatically out of it in a way that suggests bets have been placed.)”

Coming Undone (57618 words) by KouriArashi Chapters: 11/11 Fandom:Teen Wolf (TV) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Stiles Stilinski, Scott McCall, Sheriff Stilinski, Derek Hale, Allison Argent, Chris Argent, Lydia Martin, Gerard Argent Additional Tags: Stilinski feels, Hurt Stiles, Hurt/Comfort, all the feels, Pack Dynamics, PTSD, Plot sneaks in, BAMF Stiles Stilinski, Mystery Series: Part 1 of The Sum of Its Parts

Summary: Stiles deals with the aftermath of being abducted by Peter Hale and left for dead. It's harder than he would have thought to accept his place in the pack when he's convinced that he's the 'weak one' and can't protect himself. Fortunately, Scott and Sheriff Stilinski are there to help, and to nag Derek until he helps, too.

Locked Inside the Facade (60245 words) by Dragonbat Chapters: 8/8 Fandom: Batman (Comics),Nightwing (Comics) ating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death Relationships: Barbara Gordon/Dick Grayson Characters: Bruce Wayne, Renee Montoya, Crispus Allen, Jason Todd, Alfred Pennyworth, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Barbara Gordon, Thomas Elliot, Roman Sionis, Rachel Green, Romy Chandler, Michael Akins, Jim Gordon, Roy Harper, Grace Choi, Michael Holt, Helena Bertinelli, Connor Hawke, Dinah Lance Additional Tags: Character Death, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Tragedy, Angst Series: Part 1 of Locked-Verse

Summary: A sudden shock in Batman's life leads to his apprehension at the hands of the GCPD.

Victory  Bonds (39617 words) by copperbadge Chapters: 6/6 Fandom:DCU Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Clark Kent/Lois Lane Characters: Clark Kent, Superman, Bruce Wayne, Batman, Alan Scott, Green Lantern, Lois Lane, Diana (Wonder Woman), Robin (DCU), Perry White, Lex Luthor Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, 1940s, Alternate Universe - 1940s, PostWar, Nazis, Daily Planet, Spies & Secret Agents

Summary: The year is 1947, and Daily Planet front-pagers Clark Kent and "Louis" Lane are about to get the story of their careers, courtesy of the fledgling Justice League: the enigmatic Superman, the spy-turned-vigilante codenamed Bat, intelligence agent and newly minted Green Lantern Alan Scott, and Ambassador Diana, Princess of Themyscira.

Some Friendlier Sky (124800 words) by Hammie, AMarguerite Chapters: 24/24 Fandom:Les Misérables - All Media Types,Les Misérables - Victor Hugo Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Courfeyrac/Cosette, Cosette/Courfeyrac, Joly/Musichetta Characters: Cosette, Courfeyrac, Valjean, Combeferre, Joly, Bossuet, Enjolras, Jehan, Feuilly, Marius, Toussaint, Bahorel, Bahorel's Laughing Mistress, Javert Additional Tags: Hijinks & Shenanigans, Romanticism, lots of musings on popular Romantic literature

Summary: Courfeyrac falls through the roof of no. 7 Rue de l'Homme Armé, taking down not only the ceiling, but the carefully built walls Valjean has constructed around himself and Cosette. Wacky hijinks ensue. Thanks to Hammie for beta-ing.

Poster Boy (8162 words) by Sarah1281 Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:Les Misérables - All Media Types,Les Misérables - Victor Hugo Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Cosette/Enjolras Characters: Jean Valjean, Enjolras (Les Misérables), Euphrasie "Cosette" Fauchelevant Additional Tags: Crack Pairings, Happy Ending, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence

Summary: Valjean knows that he must confess the truth of his past to his new son-in-law and he thought he had prepared  himself for all possible reactions. He was mistaken, however. Enthusiastic condemnations of the old regime and praise for his 'revolutionary spirit' were not something he knew what to do with.

A Deeper Season (117605 words) by lightgetsin ,sahiya Chapters: 19/19 Fandom:Vorkosigan Saga - Bujold Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Gregor Vorbarra/Miles Naismith Vorkosigan Characters: Gregor Vorbarra, Miles Naismith Vorkosigan, Ivan Vorpatril, Cordelia Naismith Vorkosigan, Aral Vorkosigan Additional Tags: First Time, Romance, Action/Adventure, a deeper season, Alternate Universe, Don't copy to another site Series: Part 5 of A Deeper Season

Summary: Take one Miles, a hapless cousin, Cetagandan social politics, a galactic conspiracy, a scientific discovery, a lot of firepower, and an unexpected declaration. Mix well and step back quickly.

The Long Road Home (95516 words) by Scribblesinink Chapters: 22/22 Fandom:Lord of the Rings (2001 2002 2003),Lord of the Rings (Novel) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Faramir, Aragorn, Boromir, OFC, OMC Additional Tags: Adventure, bookverse, movieverse, Future Fic, What-If, Alternate Universe, Boromir!Lives AU Series: Part 1 of Long Road Home (LotR)

Summary: Against all odds, Boromir survives Amon Hen. Ashamed and filled with remorse, he goes on a quest for redemption. Bound by his promise to a sick man, Faramir keeps the secret of his brother's survival. But as secrets are wont to do, the truth comes out eventually and Aragorn journeys north to bring Gondor's prodigal son home.

The Price of Freedom by Erin Lasgalen Lord of the Rings, Eowyn, post-series. AU/Adventure. In the aftermath of the War of the Ring, Eowyn comes to the painful realization that the wounds of the heart she still bears cannot be healed by going back to the cage, however gilded, however loving the master. Four years and hundreds of leagues later, her past is about to catch up with her in more ways than one.

Charmed Life (95300 words) by Fyre Chapters: 85/85 Fandom:Once Upon a Time (TV) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Mr Gold/Mary Margaret Blanchard Characters: Rumpelstiltskin | Mr. Gold, Snow White | Mary Margaret Blanchard, Emma Swan, Evil Queen | Regina Mills, Prince "Charming" James | David Nolan, Abigail | Kathryn Nolan, Henry Mills Additional Tags: Alternate Universe, Complete Summary: When Regina toyed with the lives and memories of the people of Storybrooke, she was especially careful with the people who had been her bane in the the Enchanted Forest

Don't You Shake Alone (62189 words) by Dira Sudis Chapters: 1/1 Fandom:Generation Kill Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Brad Colbert/Nate Fick Characters: Brad Colbert, Nate Fick, Ray Person Additional Tags: Kid Fic, Babies, Cuddling & Snuggling, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, First Time

Summary: Nate looked exactly like Brad always pictured him: exhausted in the full life-in-a-combat-zone sense of the word.  (Don't forget the sequel)

Performance In a Leading Role (156714 words) by Mad_Lori Chapters: 21/21 Fandom: Sherlock (TV) Rating: Explicit Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Sherlock Holmes/John Watson Characters: Sherlock Holmes, John Watson, Irene Adler, Harry Watson, Greg Lestrade, Sally Donovan, Molly Hooper Additional Tags: AU, Meta, Hollywood, Real Person Cameos, Romance, Show Business, Coming Out, Secret Relationship, Behind the Scenes Series: Part 1 of Performance in a Leading Role

Summary: Sherlock Holmes is an Oscar winner in the midst of a career slump. John Watson is an Everyman actor trapped in the rom-com ghetto. When they are cast as a gay couple in a new independent drama, will they surprise each other? Will their on-screen romance make its way into the real world?

[comicteaparty]

May 2nd-May 8th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from May 2nd, 2020 to May 8th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question:

What are some of the weirdest things you've Googled while researching for your story?

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

For Whispers of the Past, the weirdest thing I googled was probably: "puncture wounds versus lacerations" and "chance of survival after getting stabbed." Pretty sure I also looked up: "treatment for arsenic poisoning," "lethal dose of arsenic," "arsenic in nature," "broken ribs symptoms and treatments," "pneumothorax," "can a horse kill someone by trampling them?" and "how far can you fall without dying?" Basically, just a bunch of medical questions. For another story, I think the weirdest thing I looked up was, "can you take antidepressants and sleeping pills together?" More medical questions

carcarchu

@ cronaj's answer "i swear i'm an author not a serial killer"

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Hmmm.

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I think for me was searching up symptoms of PTSD, eating disorders, and also victims of cheating

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Probably that time trying to research poisonous substances available in Victorian and earlier households with potentially fatal results if ingested but not immediate, and their symptoms/treatments

The answer, incidentally, is that most of them aren't treatable if you've had a high enough dose to get symptoms.

And non-lethal doses tend to have unpleasant long term effects

Deo101 [Millennium]

I don't remember all the crazy stuff I've looked up. What's popping into my head at the moment, though, is I did almost a month of research into time travel paradoxes for a plot that I ended up not using! So that's fun

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Also that Victorians kept arsenic (a white powder) in the same place as sugar (a white powder) in often unmarked containers since literacy was low and labels only work if you can read them

There was far more accidental poisonings from putting arsenic in your tea than I can count

carcarchu

what about having a picture of a skull and cross bones on the arsenic tin

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I think it was arsenic. Maybe cynanide...

Ahaha

You'd think so wouldn't you?

That's not even going into the whole thing about green dyes for clothing being made from arsenic as well I think and being uh

Literally fatal to wear?

Well done, Victorians.

Let me grab y'all a source for that one

https://youtu.be/K2McemVuG28

Here you go!

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh my god what the

Them victorians are so morbid

Did you know that they have a garden of poison

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Welcome to writing historical!

Yes I did

I wanna go

But yeah go back a century or two

Literally everything seems to be poisonous

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Arsenic, radium......damn they don’t follow WHMIS

carcarchu

wasn't even that long ago when they were putting mercury in everything

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Including NORMAL FOOD

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

And toys

Kids were playing with them

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Oh the Bradford Sweets Poisoning was a whole thing!

Hang on

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1858_Bradford_sweets_poisoning

This one is uh

Definitely worse

carcarchu

bruh

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Yeah

There's so much of this...

It's amazing humanity made it this far

So yeah that's what I've googled

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Would that...even fly here nowadays

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

What the arsenic

Nooope

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Hooooo god that is mildly terrifying

Like I make sweets for a living

I don’t even want to think how I’ll feel if I accidentally poisoned 200 people

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

It did lead to modern food hygiene laws and much better regulations on chemists being responsible for their supplies

But yep

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I remember someone telling me “Behind every rule/regulation was someone who got hurt or died”

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Yeahhhh

Sometimes also where there aren't rules because hahaha some companies are shit

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yeah it’s sucks and it’s even worse because you KNOW they’re just pushing the limits

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Capitalism has always been like that, it's just people can see it a bit more now

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yeah, the age of information has really exposed the nasty side of things huh Hmmm I think I’ve studied something really different for my webcomic. I was looking into the justice system and how it treated minors

And I had to look up burn victims/homicides soooooooooooo

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

Whoops sorry for the ping, I thought you said mirrors not minors and was gonna ask

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Oh god that would be....completely different

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I'm writing about vampires, mirrors are more common (concept and word)..

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Yes! I think it’s because back in the day silver was used in mirrors and that’s why you can’t see a vampire’s reflection

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

weirdest thing I searched so far is about er the male modeling industry and how they have to slap cheeks and junks to get the body to fill in clothing

and I wondered "do I need to do a deep dive in this or"

Nutty (Court of Roses)

I tried to look up what damaged vocal cords looked like, so i could show it when Count Bailey got poisoned, but I mostly got body camera shots inside a person's throat, so I had to largely wing it by darkening the veins in his neck lol Other than that, I have to look up Irish slang a lot, as Merlow slips into it more when he gets drunk.

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I have a twittee thread somewhere about mirrors and vampires

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Okay tuyetnhi I’m a bit more...disturbed yet intrigued by that idea. Nutty yes I noticed that! I liked that small detail actually And Eilidh, i would love to see that twitter thread

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

Yeah, I ended up making a deep dive and ho boi

it's darker than I expected LOL

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

I tried to look up people getting crushed by cars or falling objects but the videos were very blurry and made me dizzy so I just went fuck it my comic's not realistic anyways I'm winging it

FeatherNotes(Krispy)

Probably an extensive search for all things occult? Its such a wide topic so it was daunting to sift through everything, but also really cool to see so many different cultures have been influenced by such things! Ive read some excerpts about the sixth sense and human capabilities too, very interesting!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

@Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!) That is the most splendidly weird research I have heard of

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

I was trying to research for one of my characters and i'm just

the things they do

I scream everyday

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

lol tuyetnhi got me to look it up but all I can find is stuff about sexual assault

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

that's what I mean

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

OH

:(

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Whoa okay

That’s really dark

Like I had to look up abuse relations

DanitheCarutor

Oh geez, I've looked up a lot of stuff. Recently I Googled public bathrooms and backs of toilets because I'm too lazy to get up and look at my own toilet. SAECKs/SAKs, the price with and without insurance, how it works and if men can use them. (Which was kinda sad that I didn't know they could although the resource was surprisingly hard to find, all except one link I found were about women using them.) I've looked up medical stuff like the different stages of certain cancers, their symptoms, treatments and other things involves like their effect on the person's mental health, if things like physical therapy is needed and the effects of the treatment along with the types of treatment needed. Also the cost with and without insurance, as well as cancer treatment facilities for people with low income. Various mental illnesses/disorders, the different types treatment, the effects of the treatment, as well as cost and facilities that offer free/cheaper treatment for people with low income. Lactose intolerance, celiac disease, gaslighting, trauma brought on by abuse. Things like the mental effects of children taking on adult responsibilities early on, growing up with lack of stability and human trafficking. Types of physical abuse that doesn't leave obvious bruising/scarring, psychological abuse (outside of gaslighting). Court stuff, like legal charges for attempted murder, court procedures. Caregiver programs for family members caring for someone with a severe mental illness. What actions are taken when someone files a charge for being drugged against their consent and the steps that need to be taken if your ID and credit cards/debit cards have been stolen, as well as what the police need do in those situations. Gosh, I can go on and on, just go on forever about all the things I've researched.

Most of it is medical and mental health related.

I feel this is fitting for some of the subjects we've Googled.

DanitheCarutor

Wow, I didn't realize how much I looked at the cost of stuff. Like a good chunk of my research has been dedicated to what different insurances cover, how much, the base price without insurance and payment plans for people in the latter category. I guess the upside is I'll have some knowledge on the different insurance companies if I ever get to a point where I can get it, as well as payment plan options if I'm ever hospitalized.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

Googling images of cadaver hands for reference was... not a pleasant experience

mariah (rainy day dreams)

Most recently I was looking for heart dissections. I had to take a break cuz I was making myself feel sick X')

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

Searching up burn victims was not fun either

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

also this has made me realize that artists can be a very morbid bunch

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

yeah like dang ya'll lmao

keii’ii (Heart of Keol)

I know someone who had to look up (a bit gory) "can you strangle/hang someone with your intestines"

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

Chances are the audience is not gonna know either so

dunno how much accuracy matters in this situation :p(edited)

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

I mean....unfortunately I know what it's like to see a drowned corpse So if it's accurate....I would...strangely appreciate it more?

Like you never know your audience

DanitheCarutor

When I was first starting to dabble in comics I was attempting this dark fantasy/mythology-ish story that would have some gore. I looked up stuff like "skull being crushed", "what does 'x' limb look like when being ripped off", "what does a corpse look like after sitting for 'x' many days". Most of my searched led me to the Best Gore site, which is totally recommended if you need references for your gory horror comic, but is NOT a site for the faint of heart. You will most likely get sick from the content... and the comment section.

Oddly enough, when I used to do the occasional stand alone gore-ish illustration I'd get 1-2 comments with people being grateful for the accuracy. It's... interesting that they would know what would and wouldn't be accurate with stuff like that.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Oh, I looked up burn victims before.... Yeah, I've looked up a lot of weird stuff.

chalcara [Nyx+Nyssa]

I had to look up fresh and healed burnscar myself for a comic, a character survivived a housefire.

Most of the time I am googling history actually - and mostly tech-levels of a given time and what was contemporary with what - guns and knights for example co-existed for quite a few decades, that kind of stuff.

Deo101 [Millennium]

Y'know I'm thinking about it more, and I'm realizing why I can't recall the weird stuff I've looked up. I usually ask people for information! I know a lot of different kinds of people who are more than happy to talk about their experiences, so I can ask them for first hand experience with a lot of situations where I then don't really need to look up much other than to maybe fill some holes I have. It's a different kind of research

Cap’n Lee (Flowerlark Studios)

Huh, the weirdest thing I’ve googled? Well, there’s the ever-uncomfortable ‘Googling certain body types for reference but probably looking like a creep to anyone who looks at my search history’. I’ve also googled very oddly specific things like ‘What is a 5-cube called?’ (It’s a pentaract). I’ve also watched videos that demonstrate how a bump key works, and to my FBI agent, I swear it was only for my comic. My search history gets pretty eclectic. I look up a lot of religious lore, and do lot of research into medieval times - mostly about the daily life of the average peasant. Also things like quantum physics, customs in other countries, and animal facts.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Just realizing that I once researched "medieval brewing." That was an interesting train of information.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

For a lot of gruesome or dangerous scenes, I try to aim the search toward movies and TV screencaps. Like, if you need to draw a crashing car, find a series with a dramatic car chase where they slammed a stunt car into a wall in high-def slow-mo.

kayotics

I think the weirdest thing I looked up was trying to figure out the answer to the question “is the gas released by decomposing bodies flammable? And if so how much gas do you need?”

eli [a winged tale]

now I’m curious what’s the answer

kayotics

The answer ended up being that if there was enough gas being created it was probably not enough to be flammable: aka it would not light up the room.

I ended up asking a friend who knows more about decomposition to figure out the answer, but I just wanted to make sure if a character brought a torch into a musty murder basement, it wouldn’t light them up like a Christmas tree

Mostly: it gets smelly and stale

eli [a winged tale]

Good to know!

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Hmm I think the wierd thing I looked up was whether Smile Therapy was a real practice? There are Photos too and I have a feeling it was real. Another thing I look up was; How would a real lady pirate dress in historical times? I did alot of extra research for some little visual hints.(edited)

I feel like Mob psycho nailed the creepiness of Smile Therapy because they were patients forced to pretend to smile, that's what I envision each time. That ep stayed with me(edited)

Tuyetnhi (Only In Your Dreams!)

oh my god

Miranda

What is that picture from?? it's creepy haha(edited)

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

mob psycho 100

shadowhood (SunnyxRain)

smile therapy is terrifying. Imagine getting punished if you didn't smile

in the end you'll be smiling as a conditioned reaction to fear, not because it's genuine

Joichi [Hybrid Dolls]

Yes exactly, the original one was hard to record so the Google was ambiguous about its existence but there's photo proof that it was a thing

[binkywinky]

hi! Comics rec anon here! to answer your question, I'm not entirely new to comics, have read a few but not enough to say I have a specific type. The first series I read was all the jessica jones comics which I really liked, also the miles morales series which i enjoyed and the spidergwen series which was cute but the art was kinda annoying lol. i also like a couple of dc ones like mister miracle. so i think i prefer a general rec from you since the comics world is so big. thanks in advance!

Got it. Hmm… let’s see. It’s probably easiest to break it down by publisher then. I’ll try to give a mix of ongoing, finished, and “classic” stories. 

Fair warning, I read a lot of comics (probably about 60 per month, and that’s not including manga), so even though this may feel like a long list, it’s short for me.

Marvel

Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man - Relatively new series, and it’s been fantastic so far. Great art, and a bit more grounded than the Amazing Spider-Man run (which is also great). Stellar art, too.

Miles Morales: Spider-Man - A little YA-ish at times, but overall enjoyable. You get to see a lot more of Miles’ personality in this one, which is always fun.

Superior Spider-Man - Because nothing is more fun than seeing a semi-reformed Otto Octavius try to be a hero.

Captain Marvel - Kelly Thompson does a phenomenal job with this series. She has a great hold of Carol’s voice. Would highly recommend Kelly Sue Deconnick and Margaret Stohl’s previous runs to give context (Captain Marvel 2012-2017, Mighty Captain Marvel, and The Life of Captain Marvel).

Jessica Jones - Not sure if you’ve read Kelly Thompson’s recent run or just Bendis’, but hers is definitely worth a read.

Avengers (2019) - actually a solid run. I would check this out if you’re more into crossover, large-scale storytelling. They’re in the middle of War of the Realms, though… so maybe wait until like August or September?

Immortal Hulk, Daredevil, and X-23 - also good. I read them off and on (not really my fave characters to read on their own, I enjoy them in ensembles), but the stories are solid.

Rogue & Gambit - mini series that I absolutely love by Kelly Thompson (she does great character work) that came out last year. Mr. & Mrs. X is a follow-up to it and also tons of fun (nearing its end as well). 

Runaways - I fell off of this when Brian K. Vaughn left, but I can say up through his run ended is well worth the read.

As far as classic stories, Infinity Gauntlet, The Dark Phoenix Saga, X-Men: Age of Apocalypse, Secret Invasion, and Secret Wars would be my first recommendations.

I would’ve recommended Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider, but maybe wait on that. It’s about to end soon and transition to just Ghost Spider (where she leaves Earth-65 and comes to Earth-616 where Peter and Miles are). Same for X-Men. I’m currently reading Uncanny, but X-Men is about to be overhauled soon. So probably hold on that front.

DC/Vertigo

Honestly, not the biggest DC fan (I lean more towards Vertigo actually), but there are a few that I enjoy.

Action Comics (starting at #1000) - I am not a Superman fan, but I enjoy this series, which says a lot. I enjoy what Bendis is doing with him in this run.

Naomi - a new series, also by Bendis, following the story of a young Black girl who is investigating the circumstances around her adoption. Don’t want to give too much away, but probably my fave DC run at the moment. And Jamal Campbell’s art is fucking gorgeous.

Dial H for Hero - it’s fun. It’s weird. Not for everyone, but maybe give it a shot.

The Flash and Batman, New 52 runs - New 52 gets shit from fans a lot, but I thought these runs were awesome. Very good story-telling.

Dark Nights: Metal event - Probably one of the best things DC did in a long time. It’s a massive event that pretty much reworked the DC universe and all the characters. Enjoyed it immensely.

Heroes in Crisis - this miniseries ended very recently. It’s a story focused on a major event that happens at Sanctuary, a rehab for superheroes suffering from mental health issues (e.g. PTSD after doing something that nearly killed them). Not your usual superhero story, which I liked.

American Carnage - very gritty story focused on a white-passing Black man who infiltrates a white supremacist organization. It’s really fucking good.

High Level - I picked this book up randomly because the cover looked cool. I’ve been reading it ever since. I would say it’s weird sci-fi/fantasy/cyberpunk adventure. A little strong on the language, but very interesting story and great artwork.

Birds of Prey - awesome series with the DC women. A little shaky sometimes, but Gail Simone does really good character work. Her run is probably the only one I’d bother reading.

Deathbed - miniseries by Vertigo that ended maybe a year ago. It’s so bizarre and hilarious and out there. I loved it.

Batwoman (J.H. Williams run) and Batwoman: Rebirth - Kate Kane, my favorite lesbian superhero. Williams did a great job in his run (and the art is to die for). Don’t read the back half, they change writers and it’s a goddamn mess. But then Marguerite Bennett (a queer woman) picked it up in Rebirth, and it got awesome again. Also, shout-out to Greg Rucka for officially making her queerness canon in 52.

Wonder Woman - Wonder Woman’s my fave of DC main characters (along with Martian Manhunter and Wally West I & II), and my favorite run for her is Greg Rucka’s. He does a surprisingly good job of writing women. The run is over at the moment, but I’d check it out. Good stuff there.

For classic stories, Kingdom Come, Watchmen, Flashpoint (precursor to New 52), and Neil Gaiman’s Sandman are some of my faves.

Image

Image is probably what I read the most. Definitely has the most diverse pool of comics to choose from.

Saga - My favorite comic series of all-time. I’ve gotten so many people to read this and they love it. It’s weird - really weird, actually - but the storytelling is phenomenal. And it’s on hiatus right now, so plenty of time to get caught up.

Ice Cream Man - This series is so fucking weird, but I love it. It’s sorta like… Tales from the Crypt? Different stories (mostly horror) that all feature this demon ice cream man.

The Weatherman - This series is such a goddamn delight. I don’t want to ruin the plot but just… yeah. Read the first issue and it just goes crazy from there.

Man-Eaters - Sort of a niche story. Basically, this takes place in a society where when women get their cycle, they turn into giant cats and maul men, so they’ve given them pills to keep them from menstruating. Sounds weird? Wait until you read it. Probably a highlight series of the year for me. 

Black Science - You might not like the art in this one, but maybe give it a shot? These scientists are trying to solve the problem of limited resources on Earth by hopping across dimensions for new ones (infinite dimensions, infinite resources). Only problem is, their machine got damaged so now they hop uncontrollably to whatever dimension it chooses for however long it decides. It’s a wild ride.

Middlewest - An interesting take on parent/child relationships and how the consequences of abuse, anger, and depression can manifest in dangerous ways. Sounds more bleak than it is - the story actually has quite a bit of humor.

Excellence - Very new series, but with a PoC lead, about PoCs, with mostly PoC creators. A story about a secret society of Black magicians and a son whose next in line to take on the mantle, and it’s pretty fucking cool. Issue 2 comes out this week - check it out!

The Walking Dead - I don’t think I have to explain this one, do I? Zombies.

Lazarus and Lazarus: Risen - Sci-fi story set in a dystopian society where the world is ruled by like 15 or so families, and they each have a Lazarus to fight for them. This is told from the perspective of the Carlyle family’s Lazarus, Forever. 

Die - If Dungeons & Dragons and Jumanji had a baby, it would be this book. Sounds weird, but once you read it, you’ll find the description to be accurate.

Anything from Brian K. Vaughn - I have yet to read something from Brian K. Vaughn that I don’t like. Saga, Paper Girls, Y: The Last Man, Runaways, Barrier… his shit’s always good.

Independents / Not Marvel, DC, or Image

Some of these are nostalgia-based, so fair warning.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (BOOM Studios) - very new series that’s out. Great art. If you were a fan of the show, I think you’ll like it. It’s a re-imagining of sorts. There’s also an Angel series that just started.

Nancy Drew (Dynamite) - Listen… I could not stand Nancy Drew as a kid. Never got into it and thought it was boring as hell. But I really loved this miniseries (another Kelly Thompson run). It’s maybe 5 issues?

Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Go Go Power Rangers (BOOM Studios) - Honest to God, if you had told me 3 years ago one of my fave comics would be a Power Rangers one, I would have laughed in your face. Both of these series are really good and provide the continuity, nuance, and characterization the show lacked. Fan of the show or not, I’d say it’s worth checking out if you enjoy the teenage superhero genre. Also, just some really amazing art and world-building.

Anything from Jinxworld - This is Bendis’ own publishing company. He’s put out Cover, Pearl, Scarlet, and United States vs. Murder, Inc. All of them are really good.

Umbrella Academy (Dark Horse) - This is the series the Netflix show is based off of. Right now, they’re doing Hotel Oblivion in the comics, but start with Apocalypse Suite and Dallas.

So, there you go anon. There are FAR more I would recommend, but I tried to give a good range of books for you to choose from without (hopefully) overwhelming you. And if you have any questions, I’m more than happy to talk about any of them.

[gotgifsandmusings]

My idiocy, reading lenses, and GRRM

So, I was away all weekend with family things. But as I said, I wasn’t able to stop thinking about my most recent podcast and the feedback I’ve received in reblogs, @’s, my inbox, direct messages, and replies. Which like, an absolutely sincere thank you for anyone who took the time, in whatever capacity.

For anyone who doesn’t know, Julia and I recorded a UBS episode called “is GRRM literal garbage,” which we were using as a platform to talk about the flaws of ASOIAF, while sort of being playful about the way that online dialogue puts things in such, you know, black and white terms. People are perfect or they’re toxic and garbage, right? And because of that, there are a lot of times where we feel—or really where I feel, cause it’s just my own thoughts I’m vomiting here—like content creators who at least like, *try*, really do receive unfair criticism.

But yeah, most of the feedback we got was very negative. Particularly, Julia and I—we’re two white women, and we recorded a segment on racial portrayals and racism in ASOIAF, since there are so many problems on this front that we felt disingenuous not doing it. We made sure to call out how we are white before entering into this discussion, and also said something like, ‘hey, if we miss something or if you disagree with us, please tell us so we can engage, because we are limited by our own lack of experiencing racism.’ (And anti-semitism is...not at all of the same vein; nothing pisses me off more than when white jews try to distance ourselves from our racial privilege, to be honest).

Well, not surprisingly at all, we missed stuff! Because of course we fucking did. And it wasn’t just that, but we also put ourselves in a position of saying, “oh we’re apologetic of Martin” and then trying to like...come up with reasons for what are obvious problems through the lens of intent or some shit, which is just...so not what should do ever. Hell, it’s not what we should do with any topic, let alone one where we’re entering into the conversation from such a place of privilege. So yeah, we missed stuff and we sounded like we were apologizing for racism which is not only not our place, but not even what we set out to do.

This wasn’t unique to the problems of racism in ASOIAF either; I received a lot of asks saying that it really felt like I was trying not to let my lens of Martin be challenged. And really ruminating on all this the past few days...there’s a ton of truth to that. Which is a bit silly, because I never exactly thought myself as holding Martin up in the first place—just what I got out of these book series. So what was it I was resisting?

It was Gretchen ( @gnelliswriter ) who ended up framing everything to me in a way where these things that were concatenating—all this criticism that I trying to absorb and understand, finally clicked. Because she talked about the balance of the 3 lenses: Doylist, Watsonian, and Reader Response. Which is also like, viewer response and gamer response, of course.

When she said this, it was just like...“Oh.” Because, Julia and I focus a ton on Doylist vs. Watsonian, you know? Watsonian being a character-level analysis, like “Cersei did this because she was feeling X.” Doylism then looks at what the author is trying to say. “Martin had Cersei do this because he was making a point about Y.” Julia’s the one who explained this to me in the first place—my background is engineering and I hadn’t done any type of literary analysis until the Arianne reread.

However, in terms of dialogue surrounding media, there is quite clearly a third lens. Reader Response is the *reader’s* takeaway. “Cersei did X and regardless of what Martin wanted that to mean, here’s what the message was that I saw, here’s how I reacted, and here’s the implications of it” (or just some aspect of this).

Which...this is the most obvious thing, because it’s the ONLY THING I talk about with Game of Thrones, right? Like, I say GOT isn’t worthy of Watsonian analysis, because it’s not, but then the series of retrospectives Julia and I do where we’re desperately hunting for a Doylist rationalization also reveals that...D&D don’t really have much to say anyway, and they don’t seem to particularly care. Then in these essays, we always go on and say, “Well okay, regardless of that, HERE’S the implications, and they suck donkey dick.” And fuck, I wrote an entire piece on the difference between intent and result, and why results really really matter.

So this whole thing, like... I don’t know, I realize I’m not an English major or anything, but in some ways I kind of feel like Reader Response is actually the only lens that matters? (I can hear the gasps from my academic friends right now.) Or at least, it matters the most heavily, because that’s where engagement is, and that’s where the dialogue occurs that fosters empathy and understanding. I suppose most stories I consume do also foster empathy in some ways (unless they’re nihilistic piss slop), but they’re not ever going to replace the experience of hearing a diversity of voices and viewpoints on something.

For example, with Legend of Korra, which I love, I had zero problems the first time I heard the line in the end about how Korra “needed to know what true suffering was so she could become more empathetic.” I thought the intent was clear, and it was a powerful way of showing someone recontextualizing their trauma and finding a healthy state of mind. However, after reading what many women of color in the fandom wrote on the matter, I understood why that had felt offensive to others, and why it was so uncomfortable to have had two white men put those words into the mouth of a brown, bisexual female protagonist.

So now I’ve like, written fix-it fic of that moment. Because the Reader Response to Korra’s words created that dialogue where otherwise my own lens wouldn't have been challenged, even as a bisexual woman myself. White women simply don’t have a history with the trope of being beaten to “learn respect” that women of color have in media. That’s a privilege, so learning about it was really important. All I want in life is to somehow work towards a world where people don’t feel like shit. The more we learn about the shittyness that exists and try to understand it, the better equipped we will be to fix it. Why *wouldn’t* we prioritize a lens of analysis that can bring that about? 

Honestly, as soon as Gretchen labeled “Reader Response” a third lens, it’s like the clouds parted, and the sun shined onto my own striking idiocy with how I’ve been talking about everything and framing everything (I think we’re going to do a joint piece on this soon). Cause like, it *is* deeply hypocritical—my approach to GRRM compared against my approach to D&D. I say it’s because of “benefit of the doubt”, and that’s a thing, but that doesn’t really explain what was actually happening, it’s more of “I don’t really want to think about this cognitive dissonance”, and it certainly doesn’t help me grow from what went so wrong on the podcast. I was using it as a rhetorical crutch. 

Like, before Gretchen parsed this out with me, I kind of thought a laser-focus on the flaws of a story was just someone being “too Doylist.” But that’s not actually a thing. How would that be one? You can’t try and figure out what an author is saying ~too~ much, though I guess if you only care about what the author’s saying you may, idk, not feel as into the characters or something.

No, what it is, is Reader Response and how you felt interacting with media, which...media is not created or consumed in a cultural vacuum. If I believe media analysis matters, which I do, it’s because of Reader Response. I’m not trying to take “death of the author” to the extreme, but there is a point where whatever authorial intent exists just doesn’t matter. There are impacts reading stories have on people, and on conversations.

So all of this makes how Julia and I approached a podcast about ASOIAF’s flaws all the more stupid. Because basically what we did was read out a laundry list of problems, which are all Reader Response by nature; if we happened to think it wasn’t much of a problem we’d say so (like when I said that I didn’t think Arya and Sansa’s scripting as sisters was sexist, which like...I’m sorry, but I’m sticking to that one), but otherwise the conversation was kind of us going, “oh this is an issue, but here’s maybe a Doylist or Watsonian reason for it.” And that’s...not constructive? I mean, what does that even do?

What should have been a tip-off, too, is that the only time we didn’t do this was when Julia tried to come up with an explanation for Dany’s scene with Irri, and I got really pissed because I just didn’t see any value or justification in it. As a queer woman, my reader response to that was super, super negative, and I had no patience for anything else. Well, Julia and I are limited by our own lenses and backgrounds, so apply that to other issues, and we don’t have experiences where we would get pissed about stuff about which other people are probably seething. But that doesn’t mean the people who are seething should have to listen to the bullshit of “well here’s a point you can consider that makes this gross ass thing valuable!” What the hell do we know about it?

Which, it wasn’t really what we were trying to do, but it absolutely is what the podcast ended up being. And frankly, it’s not like I’ve ever gotten positive or worthwhile takeaways from the way Martin portrays race, with maybe a small exception being the in-verse prejudice against Dorne getting deconstructed within Dornish POVs. That’s just because it even further hammers on POV-bias and shines a lens on Westerosi perspectives in a rather stark light, though I still question its effectiveness. And sure, you can apply that deconstruction elsewhere in the story and assume everyone is an unreliable and biased narrator (they are), but what value is there in Dorne being the only place that actually gets a closer inspection?

And even if Martin is doing something to a point, that doesn’t make it a helpful point or a necessary point. Like, oh we now know Dany’s in way over her head, and doesn’t understand the political or cultural complexity of where she’s trying to rule or what she’s trying to accomplish. Okay, but I’m about 99% sure that same point could have been made with Essosi POVs?? And almost certainly a lot better and clearer???

For fuck’s sake, if we hadn’t had any female POVs for the first three books and people were telling me, “oh it’s to make a point on women’s place in this society,” or idk to prove how unknowable women are to our male protagonists or some shit, there’s no way I’d even be reading this series. And it’s not as though I have any patience for super stereotypical jewish portrayal; it’s just that that’s not exactly possible in ASOIAF. If it were, you can sure as hell bet that I wouldn’t appreciate two goys telling me it’s all for the greater good of writing a...really gross world, or showing how much a character appreciates jewish culture. That doesn’t make any goddamn sense!

Look. Julia and I have gotten a lot out of Martin’s critique of the patriarchy. You can bet your ass a large reason for that is because there’s so many female POVs, not to mention male POVs who are also victims of this horrible setting, such as Theon and Aeron being victims of sexual assault (Theon’s chapters being a much more intimate look), Jaime struggling to define himself in a martial world now that he’s lost his hand, Sam’s trauma from his abusive upbringing, and so on. Julia and I also give Martin leeway because looking at his work chronologically, things do seem to be improving. Which...yay? Snaps?

But really, it’s something @witabif said to me that stuck in my craw as I was talking this out with pretty much anyone in my proximity the past few days: I have a huge tendency to take *my* positive reactions and takeaways to ASOIAF and apply them to Martin’s intent. I think the conflation of Reader Reaction and Doylism is the largest part of that, but what’s funny is I work overtime to not do that, especially with GoT. How many times have I said “we can’t know what’s in D&D’s head,” or steel-manned some dumbass plotpoint of theirs?

At the end of the day, all we really have to judge content creators on are their bodies of work. It’s why I say “it’s the pattern.” And Martin’s pattern? It’s one of a dude who is a pretty skilled storyteller, but also very much out of his depth in a lot of departments. Does he do better than most other 69-year-old white cishet men living in New Mexico? Probably. Is he making an effort to be more thoughtful as times go on? I mean...it feels that way in some places, but that doesn’t erase what’s hurtful in the books now, or what’s ugly, or most importantly, what’s shaping a large part of our cultural conversation because let’s be honest here: these books are hugely successful and have that power. This is why I’ve talked over and over again about fiction mattering. Fuck, this is why I engage with GoT at all and think it’s worthwhile looking at its flaws.

Really, ASOIAF isn’t any different. I mean, it tells a coherent story, so it’s different on that front. And I do find some of the takeaways of the books valuable. I also stand adamant that what Martin does with close PoV is impressive, and he is a gifted writer who can tease out nuance quite well. The battle between good and evil truly is within the human heart, and the experience of reading the books, and then rereading them where you find these other depths, has been one of an engagement I haven’t quite matched elsewhere yet.

But, part of liking something and caring about something means a willingness to engage with its flaws, no matter how deep or uncomfortable they are. Engaging shouldn’t be excusing, and even if I’ve found ways to tease out meaning (for instance, Cersei and Taena’s scene lands one way for me, but not at all the same way for many other wlw readers), my personal reaction and truth is...just that? And I do suspect that a lot of times, I’m seeing something there he didn’t see at all. Which is a tension I should have been digging into this whole time.

Looking back at the podcast, it was a horrible fucking structure for it. I don’t even know if it should have been an episode, to be honest. Because like, aside from just explaining what these problems were, and maybe sampling meta of people who had written on specific issues, there’s not much to add. We can’t proclaim someone to be literal garbage (which was part of the joke of the title), nor can we we proclaim them to be good enough, because...who the fuck are we anyway? I think what we could have done is had discussion about how to engage with deeply flawed media, as kind of a “Here’s all that’s wrong...so, what now?” thing, but we didn’t even discuss our approach beforehand.

I’m thinking about pulling it out of the feed entirely, and please let me know your thoughts on that. On one hand, I think it’s important to not hide from our mistakes and to allow a pathway to grow from them. For that reason, and because I just really want to after taking in this feedback, I’m working on a direct follow-up episode to it for the near future. On the other, I don’t want subscribers still hearing a conversation that’s out-of-balance and problematic, and I can see no reason why the follow-up discussion episode would require the former episode in the feed. I’m leaning towards the latter, but definitely value everyone’s input in the matter.

After typing all this out...it’s not complicated: it comes back to me not wanting to challenge my views on Martin. I didn’t. But now they have been, and it has been because of how amazingly thoughtful this fandom is, as well as the responses and suggestions I’ve received. And you know what? Yeah. I’m disenchanted with the guy. It’s not like a lightswitch, but seeing the misalignment between *my* reader reaction and *his* pattern/messaging has been eye-opening, embarrassing, and frustrating. He’s just some dude with a fairly unique approach to genre fiction and a few good ideas; there’s areas where he excels, and areas where he needs a lot of improvement. A lot.

I’m still going to say stop bothering him about writing speed and stop consulting actuary tables, because that shit is creepy. But otherwise, he’s welcome to fight his own battles. God knows he has the resources. I still think I will land in a different place with how effective his scripting of women is, among other things, and I look forward to continuing to have spirited discussions about all of that. However, it’s now with full cognizance that it’s our reactions and experience to the media that we’re discussing, and my own has diddly squat to do with Martin’s intent.

Which I should have realized from day fucking 1.

[ekakinomi-forgrownups]

Questioning Neverland--My Thoughts On the Michael Jackson Controversy And Idol Worship In General

※

Warning!

The following post deals with a disturbing, but important social issue that I feel people should know about. If you’re not in the mood to read that, however, use that symbol as a reminder to back away from this post and read another one.

10 days ago, HBO released a documentary called “Leaving Neverland”, which out-lines the lives of two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who explain they were sexually abused by pop mega-star Michael Jackson as young boys for years, in disturbing detail.

The documentary explains how Mr. Jackson used a friendly facade to “befriend” the then-super-fans Robson and Safechuck at different times, and used his super-star glamour to charm and enchant their mothers into letting their little boys stay with this man (who, in both cases, only knew him for a few hours) at his Neverland Ranch, a sort of indoor amusement park for kids…which served a much more devious purpose than just a fun getaway with their favorite pop idol.

Because Mr. Jackson’s favorite attraction at that “park” was, in fact, his bed–where he took the boys almost immediately after meeting them…so that he could start touching them inappropriately, on a regular basis, for years and years–as if these innocent children were just his play-things. And many witnesses report that there were a lot more where that came from–no girls, no men, no women–just little boys. He even went as far as to buy an engagement ring for James Safechuck! (*shudders!*) And to ensure that nobody knew about this “dirty little secret”, he lied to the boys’ parents, brain-washed the boys into thinking that this was how people “show love” to one another, and anybody who would dare tell on him would either get paid huge sums of money to be quiet or be threatened with anything from jail-time to death.

This documentary practically shook the world when it came out–America in particular. It seems everybody’s taking sides now– one side who absolutely won’t defend him after what he did to innocent children, and another side, mostly loyal followers and family members (the Jackson Estate tried to stop HBO from releasing this documentary at first) who say that these men are compulsive liars and/or just out for his money, and that Jackson was just an innocent, child-like weirdo.

And then you’ll find people like me, who don’t know the real truth, and are confused and completely conflicted as to whether it’s better to burn or hug their posters and record collections. Now, I’m not saying I’m a fan of his work myself–but I have experienced this dilemma many times over the course of my life. In a different way than most, however.

You see, it’s odd, but when an autistic person loves something (and that can be anything from a pop star to, say, a pretty color scheme on a fictional character), they feel this sense of true love for that particular thing, and like it could never do us wrong in any way. So when anything even remotely bad does happen (and that can be anything from the character changing designs and getting an ugly new color scheme to the pop star turning out to be an abusive scum-bag), it’s complete emotional turmoil, and we feel like the thing we love had just been ruined for us forever. And this happens for two reasons–1. Autistics tend to think of things only one way or the other, and it’s weird for us to think of something in a neutral way. And 2., we’re way too emotional. Neurotypical (“normal”) people tend to think that we’re not able to feel any complex emotions or empathy. The truth of it is, we actually feel too many–far more than we can express sometimes.

There was a point where I felt like everything I love has been “ruined” for me at some point. To name just a few examples: “The Amazing World Of Gumball” had its aesthetic changed to something I don’t like after its first season. “Pastel Yumi”, a magical girl anime I really liked when I watched the first episode, turned out to have loads of fan-service (meaning characters acting sexy to please the audience) of the 10-year old protagonist. The “My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic” toys only became better-built and actually accurate to the show after I stopped liking the show (I stopped watching it after Season 3). And speaking of My Little Pony, even though I think Nightmare Moon had the prettiest color scheme of any character on the show, I’d feel bad for liking her more than Princess Luna, because call me a goody-two-shoes, but I usually don’t root for evil characters. And, the same goes for the Once-Ler from “The Lorax”.

Since then I’ve changed a lot, and I’ve started finding ways to cope with most of these things and “un-ruin” them…but that’s because they’re all small things, mostly media of different types. I feel very differently on the matter of real people–which brings me back to empathy. While I’m all for #MeToo, it also devastated me. Not because a lot of my favorite creators and directors were being put out of jobs–but because they turned out to be horrible human beings that only think of women as helpless toys that they can stalk, grab and kiss whenever they want. I’ve never been in any of these situations (*knocks on wood*), but just hearing the fact that beautiful, innocent people are getting treated this badly just boils my blood and, at the same time, makes me want to cry for years.

Yet that still doesn’t stop me from watching the kids’ sit-coms created by Dan Schneider or the Disney/Pixar movies directed by John Lasseter, and it doesn’t stop me from wanting to check out The Loud House, which was created by Chris Savino.  All the men mentioned here were very talented, but all sexual predators themselves. Which brings me back to Michael Jackson.

He was a house-hold name when I was a kid, and my first knowledge of him came from both “The Simpsons” episode “Stark Raving Dad”, which featured his uncredited voice, and the Jackson 5 song “ABC”. But I got my first real exposure to his artistry and music during my Dad’s 50th birth-day party last October, where we all sat around, ate cake and watched music videos, and we played several of his hits in a row. I fell in love with the song “Remember The Time”. I also binge-watched that corny “Jackson 5ive” cartoon from the 70’s (which featured a huge portion of their early catalogue) the following November. So to be exposed to such amazing talent and good looks only to be compelled to forget about it all a few months later because he was a horrible person certainly boggled my mind a little. (Bad or confused reactions to sudden changes in plans are another casualty of autism which can be difficult to handle at times).

Suddenly, I begun to seriously ponder my own morals. If I’m a so-called “social justice warrior”, then how can I possibly still enjoy work made by awful people? If I care about minorities so much, then why do I still get joy out of art made by people who obviously don’t care about them? If I can’t bring myself to sympathize with people with such horrible attitudes, then why is it so hard to just ignore them completely? It’s going against my character, and it’s going against my own common sense. Yet if I push these things out of my life, my life will turn up-side-down. What’s a poor puzzled panuki like me to do?

Well, if there’s one up-side to this whole Michael Jackson thing, it’s that it gave the entire world a huge lesson in the dangers of idol worship. So naturally, everybody else is writing about the same types of issues I’m having with this, and how they choose to resolve them. I looked at some of the things they wrote for answers. After looking at the opinions of several different people, I finally found the one article that rang with me the most, and it was written by Constance Grady of Vox. It’s called “What do we do when the art we love was created by a monster?”. You can read it here, but to put it more shortly, this woman basically looked to 3 different literary professors for advice and reference, and they all explained different ways of separating art from artist through different types of methods, created by classical literature theorists. Ms. Grady presented each one in her article, and how it works, to show that there are many different ways of handling a situation like this. To quote Ms. Grady: “All these tools are there, just waiting for me, just as they are waiting for you. And the moment we start to question how we should think about any work of art, we can pick them up and wield them accordingly.”

Another helpful piece of advice came, believe it or not, from Pete Davidson of “Saturday Night Live”, who gave a surprisingly insightful lecture on the “Weekend Update” segment of the show that basically said, that it’s OK if it feels right to let some artists go. But if there’s another artist whose work resonates with you on a personal level so much that they’ve become a part of your heart, you shouldn’t put them out of your life completely. But you should acknowledge that these people did bad things each time you enjoy their work. Basically, that just because someone is talented doesn’t mean that they’re just as good on the inside, and you should acknowledge that. One of the things he said was very smart: “Any time any of us listen to a song or watch a movie made by an accused serial predator, you have to donate a dollar to a charity that helps sexual assault survivors.” After reading all these articles, I found my final, set-in-stone stance on the matter, that bridges the gap between my morals and my enjoyment of a piece of art. Here’s what I think:

If you really don’t like what an artist did in real life, then directly rooting that to their art will only give the real person power over your brain, your fun, your happiness. My mommy told me that no matter what the original artist intended, a piece of art stands alone, and is open to interpretation by anybody who looks at it. Anybody. It’s what she told me to help me understand the appeal of abstract art. And on top of helping me separate art from artist, it also helps me read (some) fan-fiction without cringing, watch modern adaptations of classic books without being to critical, and on top of it all, it also mirrors the Barthes and Livingstone theory mentioned in Constance Grady’s Vox article.

Besides, acknowledging or enjoying their work doesn’t necessarily mean I support the people behind it (as far as their companies are concerned, at least). To these famous people, money is one of the most important things in the world–a lot of times, more important than other people. So unless you have some money to throw out, you’re completely anonymous as far as they’re concerned, because you’re not rewarding them for their work, even if you enjoy it.

The only time I’ll completely make an exception with any artist is if the work they make is too similar to their real life. For example, the Cartoon Network show “Clarence” is about a boy…named Clarence…who has a positive attitude, but things and does things in very weird ways. An eerie mirroring of Skyler Page, the creator, who was fired from Cartoon Network for grabbing the breasts of a crew member for “Adventure Time”, and was later revealed to be a complete mental case…by one of his best friends, who turned out to be the inspiration for one of Clarence’s own friends! (*shudders again!*)

The same thing is very real for R. Kelly, an R&B singer who I never took interest in or even listened to, but who is said to have a catalogue full of highly sexual songs, a lot of which regard age differences and mutual consent. (*shudders one last time.*)

As for Michael Jackson…I don’t really associate his songs or performances with his real self because, if you really think about it, it’s pretty obvious that his pop persona was way different from that. a lot of his popular hits never mention hanging out with little boys. He mentions girls, a lot of which actually prey on him…he also never mentions any of his child-like interests that he had in real life…in fact, I think the only connection the artist Michael has with the real Michael are a few songs that are based on the good side of him (his humanitarian values) and those that are based on his awful childhood, where he himself was abused (not sexually, but still abused) as a boy…which could actually be one of his reasons behind his own abuse crimes. Almost as if he had this secret mentality, like “if I couldn’t have a childhood, then no boy will.” Or maybe he became overly obsessed with male children because he felt like he was getting back a piece of his life that was stolen from him, but expressed his love and sentimentality for it in the most disgusting way possible. I’m not excusing it at all, I think it was still horrible and completely uncalled for. These are just a few theories I had.

Yes, these are all just my personal opinions. And of course, you shouldn’t take that, or any of my personal opinions, as the gospel truth just because you’re reading my blog–everybody has their own individual opinions. And if you haven’t really formed your own, I suggest getting opinions from everyone and everything around you–your friends, your parents, other news sources, other blogs–and see what other people have to say on the matter, and let what you find help you form your own. It’s just like building a puzzle–it takes more than one piece of information to get the full picture.

As for my big picture, the real Michael Jackson doesn’t exist, as far as I’m concerned, and doesn’t deserve to. Just his character that he plays on the stage. And just like the rest of the male characters I’m attracted to, he’s someone I’d never want to be around in real life–just pretty, talented, and charismatic. And in a world where always thinking about the little things can drive you completely insane, sometimes that’s all that really matters.

[meralee727]

It’s not easy.

Trying to make the transition from  special education teacher to female comedy writer at the age of forty is not easy.

Many emails and attempted connections get ignored while your resume gets put on file in case anything comes up that feels like a good fit.

Growing up hearing impaired surrounded only by the fully hearing and never quite fitting into either group is also not easy.

Writing and working and wondering if you’re making any progress while you figure out if you have enough money for both gas and food can be quite draining.

Yet when I find myself feeling emotionally tired or ready to give up, I turn to my own inspirations. These women have inspired me. Their stories filled with their own personal traumas serve as a constant reminder to simply keep going.

These are women who are changing the way things are done and who don’t follow the norm. Women who are a little different and in the most wonderful way.

So let’s dive in or as I prefer to say….

Let’s do this. Hey

1. Mary Tyler Moore

They say never meet your heroes but standing in front of this woman at her book signing for her autobiography, After All, I could not speak. My father had to speak for me. He told her that I considered her on the same level of Lucille Ball. Mary Tyler Moore said that being compared to Lucy was great company to be in. There are just certain people you get a vibe from. A genuinely kind vibe. You can’t really fake that. I’m forever grateful for my Mary Tyler Moore encounter because she debunked the “never meet your heroes” theory. Before she passed away in 2017, she had endured so much tragedy. Her son and only child had died of an accidental gun shot wound to the head, she had struggled with alcohol as well as health issues due to Type 1 diabetes. Yet despite every obstacle, every tragedy, she broke down barriers. She is remembered for her iconic roles in two television shows: The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  By playing Mary Richards, she was paving new ground by playing single career woman which was considered unheard in the seventies yet Mary Tyler Moore played women that broke the stereotypical images of women at the time. Laura Petrie and Mary Richards were not women who stood in the background. They were strong, intelligent and equal to the men in their lives. In addition to her ground breaking roles, she also founded her own production company with her then husband, Grant Tinker. MTM Enterprises was responsible for not just The Mary Tyler Moore Show but also Rhoda, Lou Grant, Phyllis, The Bob Newhart Show, The Texas Wheelers, WKRP in Cincinnati, The White Shadow, Friends and Lovers, St. Elsewhere and Hill Street Blues. Mary Tyler Moore most certainly belongs in the same category as Lucille Ball. Together, they changed entertainment. They changed television. 

2. Lucille Ball

The original icon. When trying to get I Love Lucy on the air, executives were reluctant to have her then husband, Desi Arnaz, play  her husband because audiences would not believe they would be married. Lucy and Desi took their act on the road to convince executives and it worked. Lucy also was the first woman to ever run a major television studio, Desilu Productions and after she and Desi divorced, she bought out his shares and became the head of the studio. They were also the first to employ the idea of filming a comedy show in front of a live studio audience and using multiple cameras.  She passed away in 1989 and left a legacy. She didn’t take no for answer and did things on her own.  Lucille Ball was an continues to be an inspiration and I’m only assuming but if Mary Tyler Moore considered Lucy an inspiration, I’m going to assume that women on this list might feel the same.

3. Kaitlin Olson

Kaitlin is a Groundlings alum who has been on Punk’d, Curb Your Enthusiasm and has appeared in Coyote Ugly. Her most iconic role however is the one she’s been playing on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia for thirteen seasons. She is Sweet Dee. She made Sweet Dee by simply asking for what she wanted. She landed the role of Dee Reynolds after auditioning with a monologue that ultimately ended up being for Dennis. Rob McElhenney, the creator of the show and her eventual husband, called her to tell her they were going to work on Dee but they just weren’t sure how to write for women. She told them to just write the character and she’d make it funny. First season Dee was a completely different character then she is now and that’s all because of Kaitlin. With the exception of a few moments in that first season, she is the voice of reason. Season thirteen Dee? Oh, well she’s a complete mess. As shown through Dee and of course through her own show, The Mick where she played the title character, Mickey, you will never see Kaitlin as the voice of reason. You will never see her as the stereotypical pretty girl in a sitcom. She simply wants to be funny even if it involves ramming her head into a car door.

4. Andrea Savage

A Valley Girl Native who grew up in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles like me so therefore I will always be a fan even if she went to my rival high school. I first knew of her from Episodes where she played a television executive who ends up in relationship with Carol. She also is known for playing President Laura Montez on VEEP. Currently, she has her own show on the network that I’m pretty sure I used to watch Forensic Files on. I’m Sorry is on TruTv and is in its second season. I am absolutely addicted to this show, so much so that it has now ruined CBS sitcoms for me. Yes, Andrea Savage’s Andrea Warren is raunchy and talks about sex and buttholes but what’s most refreshing is how marriage is portrayed and how relationships are portrayed. While the show is only in the second season, I think I can confidently say that there will never be an episode where Mike forgets their wedding anniversary or as I saw in a recent episode of a CBS sitcom, there will never be an episode where Mike will be scared that Andrea will find beer or food that he keeps at work. Though there has been an episode involving Mike and a tank top but that needed to be discussed. It was a very special episode. Andrea Savage shows a real relationship. It shows the give and take, the friendship and the partnership between two people. Much like her Groundlings cohort, Kaitlin Olson,  and before them, Lucille Ball and Mary Tyler Moore,  she is paving a new way to show a marriage in a sitcom….a far more real way.

5. Jennifer Aniston

Her tabloid life was done without her consent and that’s a tragedy. She’s been portrayed as a perpetual victim. She’s been divorced twice. She has no children. Yet judging by the photos and articles about her fiftieth birthday, is that accurate? Is the victim role that’s been unwillingly thrust upon her by the media true?   She’s one sixth of the cast of one of the most popular sitcoms in television history. Friends, of course. It’s still so popular that when Netflix wanted to remove it, all hell broke loose. Also, her movie career has been pretty amazing too. The Break Up, Horrible Bosses, Leprechaun and Marley and Me which I think should be used a litmus test to determine whether or not you’re a sociopath….if you don’t end up curled in a ball weeping by the end of that movie, get help. My favorite Jennifer Aniston movies are not the romantic comedies but instead the smaller movies she’s done: Friends with Money, Good Girl, Cake. Movies where she’s really shown her talents as an actor. She’s continuing to work, not letting the narrative that the media has written for her control her. Not letting the thoughts of others destroy you is an important lesson, one that I keep relearning. She just does her job, doesn’t let the forced narrative destroy her and also she apparently has really cool birthday parties.

6. Erin Ryan

She actually began her career in finance as a registered associate at Merrill Lynch. She was a writer for Jezebel and is currently a writer for The Daily Beast, the host of the Hysteria Podcast as well as a writer in It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Her episode  entitled, The Gang Solves the Bathroom Problem was incredibly clever and probably one of my favorite episodes of the thirteenth season. There was a message, just the right amount of heart for Sunny and of course, a grown man who identifies as transgender when he poops. Her Hysteria podcast which she hosts with Kiran Deol, Grace Parra, Michaela Watkins, Dana Schwartz and Alyssa Mastromonaco gives a humorous view to some very serious topics. This is the only political podcast that I listen to because of how it’s presented. I admit to not following politics until the current administration but through listening to Hysteria, I feel like I’m catching up in my political knowledge. Erin is someone who did switch careers and it worked. Her talents as a writer are evident in the Daily Beast as well as on Sunny. It gives hope that you can change careers and be successful in it.

7. Megan Ganz

She began her career interning at Mad Magazine in New York and later became an associate editor at The Onion. She later became a writer on Community and Modern Family. She is responsible for probably one of my top five episodes of Modern Family called, Connection Lost. Actually, it might be my favorite as it’s been four years since that episode aired and I remember it from start to finish. It seemed like such a risk, an entire episode basically taking place on a computer but it was truly a remarkable episode. She is now a writer and executive producer on It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia and her episodes have become the most memorable to me. In The Gang Tends Bar, there’s a surprisingly sweet moment, many sweet moments, in a show that’s not known for being sweet. It remains a perfect episode especially that moment between Dennis and Mac. The other episode of hers that I love is Times Up for the Gang which is about the Me Too/Times Up movement. I can’t help but wonder how cathartic that episode was for her. I’m not going to mention the person’s name because I don’t want to keep tying his name to hers. When Googling Megan’s name, his name comes up in every result and not her work so I’d rather not add to that but while writing on Community, she was exposed to a pretty toxic work environment that to paraphrase her words made her doubt her own talents. I’m inspired by her strength and the ability to keep going.  Toxic work environments are all I’ve known in my adult life and to see a story of someone persevering and rising above so much toxicity makes me happy. That Time’s Up episode almost felt like maybe it meant more than just an episode or maybe I’m reading too much into it.

8. Elizabeth Laime

I stumbled upon her Totally Laime podcast through a Charlie Day interview. In this interview, she had mentioned her sister and her sister’s comments about Elizabeth’s writing career and the words rang so true. Elizabeth is a year younger than I am and I’ve heard those same pieces of negativity, “too old” “not good enough” “the ship has sailed”. Yet in 2010, she started the Totally Laime podcast with her husband, Andy, and in 2011 won the Earwolf Challenge which was a reality podcasting competition where the winner was awarded a distribution contract with Earwolf. The show ended in 2015 only to start again in 2018 but this time independent of Earwolf. In 2018, she wrote on the second season of I’m Sorry and is also a writer on the upcoming NBC show, The Village. Her Wikipedia page is a story of someone who keeps moving forward. She’s dealt with personal tragedy through losing both of her parents at a very young age. Despite this, as well as some professional set backs, she’s proving that you’re never too old to go after what you know you should be doing. She’s proving that  you can survive the most unimaginable and not let it completely destroy you.

9. Yvette Nicole Brown

Following Yvette on Twitter is sometimes the highlight of my day. Sure, there are days when I wonder why she responds to all those saying these horrible things to her but the fact that she does is incredible. She stands her ground and I love watching it.  I became a fan of hers when she was on Community and truly admired her when she left Community to take care of her dad. She later appeared on The Odd Couple and became my favorite character on that show and is now on Mom playing the role of Nora. Nora is Christy’s AA sponsor and I will always love reading her tweets. Twitter can be a scary place at times, overwhelming and yet, Yvette has got it down to an art.

10. Carla Jimenez

She was the Ethel to Kaitlin Olson’s Lucy on The Mick. Or maybe it was the other way around. What I loved about Alba was that she was as crazy as Mickey, probably more insane.  What I especially love and this seems to be the theme with every woman on this list, she too is debunking stereotypes. On The Mick, you had two actresses on two very opposite sides of the weight spectrum and I want to tread lightly as not to hurt anyone but what I loved was that no jokes were ever made regarding the physical appearance of either actress. The fact that Alba was just as disturbed as Mickey was what made that show so fun. They didn’t rely on easy jokes or tropes. There’s also a quote she had given in an interview that I feel should maybe be tattooed somewhere. She told Refinery29 that she challenges all women to never take a job or do anything that makes you feel demeaned just because you need the money.  It’s brilliant advice and advice I have not followed as much as I should judging by my own work history. I have talked myself into many jobs I was not qualified for because I just needed it. I’ve dealt with so many toxic work environments just so I keep the lights on.

So to Mary, Lucy, Kaitlin, Andrea, Erin, Megan, Elizabeth, Yvette and Carla, I simply say……

Thank you.

Thank you for the laughs and life lessons.

Thank you for the inspiration and breaking down barriers.

Thank you for doing what you do.

And hey maybe it’ll finally happen tomorrow or next week but from the sidelines, it will happen.

Why won’t it?

  Take Notice: 10 Inspiring Women I’m Taking Life Lessons From It’s not easy. Trying to make the transition from  special education teacher to female comedy writer at the age of forty is not easy.

[dice-g0blin]

Original Races

Chaerosh has six original races that claim they were created by the gods shortly after they formed the world: elves, humans, dwarves, halflings, gnomes and orcs. Each had their own particular patron deity, of the six creators - none of those gods' names are spoken anymore, but their people remember them and how they were shaped by their hands.

However, individuals here are shaped as much by the cultures of their homelands as by their race; for example, an elf from Tyaena has much more in common with the humans of Calaera than with their Aldasian cousins. (I’m sorry I don’t have write-ups on this available yet. THERE’S A LOT.)

There are other races that cannot claim a unique divine ancestry or lands to call their own, but they are much fewer in number. (And I haven't yet written up information on them. I'll get to it soon.)

Elves

Many elves - particularly those of Aldasia and Iskaraya - claim they are the first to build a true civilization, that their first queen was crowned by their god herself, and that they alone can bring true peace to Chaerosh by bringing it under their rule. But the elves have always been divided among themselves, beginning when the growing high elf empire attempted to 'civilize' the wood elf tribes that stood in the way of their expansion, and never have been wholly peaceful ever since. Even now, no two elf nations are true allies with each other, and at this point they themselves may be what's really prevented elven domination of the continent - at this point, they're all too busy harrying each other to devote too many resources to war with other races.

High elves are very tall - notably taller than humans, on average - and slender, with skin that ranges from moon-pale to warm bronze to blue-black, all giving the faint impression of otherworldliness no matter what shade they are. Their hair and eyes are similarly striking: if their hair is black, it has the iridescence of raven feathers, and if red, it's as vividly colored as fresh blood; their eyes are often multicolored, with flecks of brighter and almost metallic colors on a darker background.

Wood elves are shorter and slightly stockier, though still slender in comparison to humans. They come in all shades of brown, some shading toward almost green, some slightly mottled or lightly striped, and their eyes are usually somewhere between deep copper, amber, and green.

Humans

Humans are incredibly diverse, more so than any other race - this is particularly notable given the relatively small size of Chaerosh and how readily humans mingle both within their race and with other races. Humans claim that their god simply created them this way, that their creator loved difference and flexibility and change more than anything else, and it seems as good a theory as any. There's a slight correlation between geography and physical features - people in Dolothland are likely to be paler, shorter and stockier than those in Philirin - but it's not a strict correspondence, and humans of any physical type can be found in all nations.

Humans are divided into more nations than any other race, even the elves, and their countries are far less stable, with governments rising and falling and rising in new configurations in what, to some other races, seems like the blink of an eye. That being said, all of those divisions are only among themselves - even warring human nations will call a ceasefire and unite if threatened by a common enemy, a hard lesson learned in the lands lost to the Aldasian Empire.

Dwarves

Dwarves have held the same land with nearly unchanging borders since the beginning of recorded history, though in truth, their borders aboveground matter much less to them than the world belowground - and no one topside is quite sure how far that stretches, down or across the continent. They do have some settlements above ground, but their greatest cities and the bulk of their population lie under the earth. They've never been known to wage a war on their own behalf, except for the occasional need to defend their borders against an overambitious neighbor, but dwarven mercenary companies are officially sanctioned by the government of Eni, and have been the deciding factor in many a battle over the course of history. Except for mercenaries, dwarven merchants are often the only examples of the race anyone ever sees outside of Eni, in small outposts in major cities.

Most dwarves are unnervingly pale, nearly translucent, often tinted faintly blue from the veins under their skin. Their eyes are similarly pale, often in shades of blue or gray. Sensitive to (and easily burned by) sunlight, when topside they're fond of full suits of armor including helmets with only narrow eyeslits, or hoods and veils, for both men and women. Dwarves whose families have lived aboveground for many generations are usually more normally colored, but still not terribly dark-skinned, and still with the same pale eyes. Hair colors can range from blonde to black, and all dwarves grow beards and significant body hair.

Smallfolk

The smallfolk hold that the gods that created gnomes and halflings were siblings, and as such, they tend to treat each other as family. When the halflings were crowded out of their original homeland by humans - mostly without violence, but inexorably - the gnomes welcomed them into their lands without hesitation… and they now defend the borders of those lands fiercely. Other races are allowed in Viminn, of course, they're not unfriendly, but no people of other races are allowed to settle in Viminn outside of the cities, for any reason, and all of those cities are built to suit the smallfolk, with little accommodations made for the larger races.

Smallfolk cities are terribly impressive, though, bright gleaming things made of any metal the dwarves can mine, where nearly everything runs on steam and clockwork. They'll sell some small devices to other peoples, but most of the secrets of their technology they keep for themselves - give the bigfolk an inch and they'll take a mile, so they share nothing they can't afford to have turned against them. The smallfolk that don't live in cities either own large and very efficient farms, or in smaller and wilder settlements in the deep forests of the north, where humans rarely see them and even more rarely walk away to tell the tale. A small minority of halflings chose not to join the gnomes in Viminn, and instead took to wandering Chaerosh in comfortable, brightly painted wagons capable of tackling all but the roughest terrain, pulled not by ordinary livestock but by specially bred and alarmingly clever dogs the size of ponies.

Halflings tend to be slightly smaller and slightly softer than gnomes, with blunter features. They usually have a lighter coloration, and are more likely to have red or blonde hair and paler eyes. Gnomes are usually browner of hair, eye and skin than their halfling cousins, have longer and more slender hands and fingers, and have sharp, exaggerated features - large slightly upturned eyes, large and pointed mobile ears, large nose, sharp pointed chin. However, halflings and gnomes have been living in close proximity for so long that sometimes it's difficult to tell them apart - even for them, in some cases. Pure bloodlines of both races still exist, of course, but especially in their larger cities, it's common to meet people who have a tangled ancestry of both. (There are, of course, stats for this available in case anyone ever wants to play one.)

Orcs

Orcs used to live on the western plains, a semi-nomadic nation of herders with a complex system of clan bloodlines and sworn loyalties. Several hundred years ago, though, a disagreement regarding the inheritance of the Aldasian throne left a large number of elven nobles looking for new lands to call their own, and they set their sights on the open and little-developed grasslands of Uludal. The war was swift and bloody, both sides suffering heavy losses, and when it ended, the elves held most of what had been Uludal, and the tattered remnants of the orc nation had been pushed north, into lands that technically belonged to the dwarves. Eni chose to let them stay, so long as they made no actual claim to those lands, and even offered them warriors to defend against further elven advances, but every orc dreams of the day they can turn their horses south and drive the invaders from their home.

Orcs are considerably larger than other races, with a jutting brow, pronounced underbite, and protruding lower canines. Their skintones range from very pale gray to deep green, and both hair and eyes tend to be dark. Their hair is often shaved into ridges and patterns, sometimes with small sections left long so that they can be braided and decorated. Orcs are surprisingly soft-spoken and reserved when not actively engaged in a fight, and follow very strict codes of honor that they have no interest in explaining to non-orcs.

[ozarkwebdesignseo]

Get Free Website Traffic with a Pinterest Business Account

I have recently fallen in love with Pinterest. And it’s not because I’m infatuated with it as a social platform, even though it really is quite fun and helpful. It’s because I’ve discovered that it’s surprisingly effective for getting free traffic to my website. Even though I haven’t yet dived terribly deep into it, I have already made some sales from the very small amount of work I’ve put into it.  So I want to share this gem with my readers!

Pinterest boasts of over 200 million monthly users, and while that’s a small fraction compared to giants such as Facebook, it is very different from run-of-the-mill social media platforms. After all, when is the last time you saw a comment on a Pinterest post? Interestingly 50% percent of millennials in America use Pinterest. Also, 68% percent of women in the US between ages 25 and 54 use the platform. Not to mention that many newcomers to the platform are men. All of these are good reasons to have and run a Pinterest business account.

However, having a Pinterest business account is only the first step. You need to have a plan and strategy in place which helps rake in traffic. And this is not just traffic, but potential customers.

What is Pinterest for business?

Now if you want to market your business on Pinterest and get some free traffic, it is imperative to create a business account. We know that may sound intimidating to some, but it is a lot like creating a personal account. The only difference you’ll encounter is that you need to accept a totally separate set of terms. And relax–you are not expected to pay anything!

 The major benefit of having a business account is that you have access to a set of analytic tools. You can also advertise on Pinterest with a business account.

 Once your business account is up and running, it is time to start leveraging it for free web traffic.

Take Time to Craft Your Description

Ask any SEO service and they will tell you that regardless of whether it’s your web page or a Pinterest ‘pin’ description, it has to be crafted with readers and search engines in mind. Generally, a title and a short description should be enough for a website, but that’s not the case with Pinterest.

Analysis of over 10,000 pins found the following factors associated with higher engagement:

It needs to be helpful.

It needs to be very easy to for pinners to find your pin and that’s only possible with a tight, SEO optimized description. Not to mention that helpful pins enjoy 30% more engagement.

It needs to be descriptive.

You need to describe and explain what your pin is all about. It should have enough information to entice a person to click through and reach your blog.

It needs to garner interest.

The description should draw on the emotions of the potential pinner. Use sensory-related keywords in positive statements.

It needs a CTA.

Make sure that there is a good call to action in the description. Phrases like “check out” or “click here to find out more” have been shown to generate up to 80% higher engagement.

It needs strong SEO Keywords.

It is essential that your description includes SEO-friendly keywords. Don’t stuff it with keywords but instead, they should appear naturally. Limit your descriptions to 200 characters as they have shown to be more “re-pinable”. Also, relevant hashtags should help draw in the type of people these pins are intended for in the first place.

To get free website traffic from Pinterest, your pins have to be seen. However, it is a numbers game as the platform shows literally hundreds of pins every hour, each day. So, your pins need to stand out from the crowd. Your goal, like any other business, is to get the most repins; the more people repin your material, the more frequently it will be shown to others.

Your strategy should be to pin at the right time of the day when most people are using the platform. Analyzing the data we can see that the best time is Saturday morning. The fashion and retail industry business will find that Friday sometime after 3 pm works best.

The worst time is during a weekday and regular working hours. That said you need to find where most of your audience is coming from, and for that, Pinterest analytics can be helpful.

The best advice we can give you is to create an original pin once a week, and use material that you know the audience will like. Over-pinning content is a bad idea. Ideally, the 80/20 rule should be applied which means share 80% of other’s pins and just 20% should be your material.

Join a Group Board

Pinterest’s group boards are a great way of generating some traction when you start. A group board is a community where all pinners can pin and thus give people more exposure.

The biggest advantage of joining a group is that it allows you to grow the follower base quickly. If you pin regularly to the group, other people will see your pins and your Pinterest board might interest them. Then if they like what you are doing, they will follow you.

There are many ways to join a group board:

Know the creator of the board.

One way to do that is to pin their content, and then open a dialogue with them. Pinterest is a lot more than just pinning because the platform allows you to develop a relationship by commenting on pins. So, maybe comment on a few in the hopes of getting invited.

Check the Invite Instructions.

Now there are some boards that have clear instructions you’ll want to follow to get invited in their description. You might just have to email the creator of the group, or you can leave a response on their pins. The key is to be courteous and explain exactly your reason to join. Spamming a pin is never a good idea.

Get an invitation from a member.

A group member can generally invite others if the group allows it. So, get friendly with people who are members of the group you want to join.

Need help? Hire an SEO Company.

Pinterest was among the fastest growing social networks in 2014 with explosive, “big bang” type of growth, and its audience is still growing. Bloggers and businesses alike will find that it is a great place to test your skills as an image designer or developer. The more sensational your pin images are, the more traffic your website will receive as a result.

If you need help leveraging the traffic potential from Pinterest, hire an SEO company. That company should be able to implement all the strategies above and more to help pull in lots of free website traffic.

“Professional SEO, Social Media Management, and Web Design from the Lake of the Ozarks. We offer special local rates to Lake Ozark, Osage Beach, Camdenton, Laurie, Versailles and Eldon.”

Do you need help keeping up with the demands of social media? Get professional social media management for your small business today.

CONTACT US NOW!

Like this? Please share it!

Share on facebook

Share on twitter

Share on linkedin

Share on pinterest

Share on reddit

Share on email

Website Builders: What Website Builder is Best for You?

August 19, 2019 No Comments

I’m a believer in the advantages offered by professionally built websites (see our recent article). And this is honestly not just because I build websites for a living. No, rather it’s because I’ve experienced the difference in income that a professionally

Read More »

Why Should Small Businesses Blog?

June 13, 2019 No Comments

If you haven’t been told, content is the number one thing that Google looks at in this day and age of ranking factors.  For this very reason, every small business owner should write a small blog.  This is where you effectively

Read More »

How To Make Your Facebook Business Page Work for You

June 24, 2019 No Comments

By now you are most likely familiar with a Business Facebook Page and even been on a few. You may even have one of your own. Most companies have a Business Facebook page and they are certainly not hard to set

Read More »

The post Get Free Website Traffic with a Pinterest Business Account appeared first on Ozark Web Design.

source https://ozarkwebdesign.com/free-website-traffic-pinterest-business/

[ozarkwebdesign]

Get Free Website Traffic with a Pinterest Business Account

I have recently fallen in love with Pinterest. And it’s not because I’m infatuated with it as a social platform, even though it really is quite fun and helpful. It’s because I’ve discovered that it’s surprisingly effective for getting free traffic to my website. Even though I haven’t yet dived terribly deep into it, I have already made some sales from the very small amount of work I’ve put into it.  So I want to share this gem with my readers!

Pinterest boasts of over 200 million monthly users, and while that’s a small fraction compared to giants such as Facebook, it is very different from run-of-the-mill social media platforms. After all, when is the last time you saw a comment on a Pinterest post? Interestingly 50% percent of millennials in America use Pinterest. Also, 68% percent of women in the US between ages 25 and 54 use the platform. Not to mention that many newcomers to the platform are men. All of these are good reasons to have and run a Pinterest business account.

However, having a Pinterest business account is only the first step. You need to have a plan and strategy in place which helps rake in traffic. And this is not just traffic, but potential customers.

What is Pinterest for business?

Now if you want to market your business on Pinterest and get some free traffic, it is imperative to create a business account. We know that may sound intimidating to some, but it is a lot like creating a personal account. The only difference you’ll encounter is that you need to accept a totally separate set of terms. And relax–you are not expected to pay anything!

 The major benefit of having a business account is that you have access to a set of analytic tools. You can also advertise on Pinterest with a business account.

 Once your business account is up and running, it is time to start leveraging it for free web traffic.

Take Time to Craft Your Description

Ask any SEO service and they will tell you that regardless of whether it’s your web page or a Pinterest ‘pin’ description, it has to be crafted with readers and search engines in mind. Generally, a title and a short description should be enough for a website, but that’s not the case with Pinterest.

Analysis of over 10,000 pins found the following factors associated with higher engagement:

It needs to be helpful.

It needs to be very easy to for pinners to find your pin and that’s only possible with a tight, SEO optimized description. Not to mention that helpful pins enjoy 30% more engagement.

It needs to be descriptive.

You need to describe and explain what your pin is all about. It should have enough information to entice a person to click through and reach your blog.

It needs to garner interest.

The description should draw on the emotions of the potential pinner. Use sensory-related keywords in positive statements.

It needs a CTA.

Make sure that there is a good call to action in the description. Phrases like “check out” or “click here to find out more” have been shown to generate up to 80% higher engagement.

It needs strong SEO Keywords.

It is essential that your description includes SEO-friendly keywords. Don’t stuff it with keywords but instead, they should appear naturally. Limit your descriptions to 200 characters as they have shown to be more “re-pinable”. Also, relevant hashtags should help draw in the type of people these pins are intended for in the first place.

To get free website traffic from Pinterest, your pins have to be seen. However, it is a numbers game as the platform shows literally hundreds of pins every hour, each day. So, your pins need to stand out from the crowd. Your goal, like any other business, is to get the most repins; the more people repin your material, the more frequently it will be shown to others.

Your strategy should be to pin at the right time of the day when most people are using the platform. Analyzing the data we can see that the best time is Saturday morning. The fashion and retail industry business will find that Friday sometime after 3 pm works best.

The worst time is during a weekday and regular working hours. That said you need to find where most of your audience is coming from, and for that, Pinterest analytics can be helpful.

The best advice we can give you is to create an original pin once a week, and use material that you know the audience will like. Over-pinning content is a bad idea. Ideally, the 80/20 rule should be applied which means share 80% of other’s pins and just 20% should be your material.

Join a Group Board

Pinterest’s group boards are a great way of generating some traction when you start. A group board is a community where all pinners can pin and thus give people more exposure.

The biggest advantage of joining a group is that it allows you to grow the follower base quickly. If you pin regularly to the group, other people will see your pins and your Pinterest board might interest them. Then if they like what you are doing, they will follow you.

There are many ways to join a group board:

Know the creator of the board.

One way to do that is to pin their content, and then open a dialogue with them. Pinterest is a lot more than just pinning because the platform allows you to develop a relationship by commenting on pins. So, maybe comment on a few in the hopes of getting invited.

Check the Invite Instructions.

Now there are some boards that have clear instructions you’ll want to follow to get invited in their description. You might just have to email the creator of the group, or you can leave a response on their pins. The key is to be courteous and explain exactly your reason to join. Spamming a pin is never a good idea.

Get an invitation from a member.

A group member can generally invite others if the group allows it. So, get friendly with people who are members of the group you want to join.

Need help? Hire an SEO Company.

Pinterest was among the fastest growing social networks in 2014 with explosive, “big bang” type of growth, and its audience is still growing. Bloggers and businesses alike will find that it is a great place to test your skills as an image designer or developer. The more sensational your pin images are, the more traffic your website will receive as a result.

If you need help leveraging the traffic potential from Pinterest, hire an SEO company. That company should be able to implement all the strategies above and more to help pull in lots of free website traffic.

“Professional SEO, Social Media Management, and Web Design from the Lake of the Ozarks. We offer special local rates to Lake Ozark, Osage Beach, Camdenton, Laurie, Versailles and Eldon.”

Do you need help keeping up with the demands of social media? Get professional social media management for your small business today.

CONTACT US NOW!

Like this? Please share it!

Share on facebook

Share on twitter

Share on linkedin

Share on pinterest

Share on reddit

Share on email

Get Free Website Traffic with a Pinterest Business Account

September 3, 2019 No Comments

I have recently fallen in love with Pinterest. And it’s not because I’m infatuated with it as a social platform, even though it really is quite fun and helpful. It’s because I’ve discovered that it’s surprisingly effective for getting free traffic

Read More »

Why Should Small Businesses Blog?

June 13, 2019 No Comments

If you haven’t been told, content is the number one thing that Google looks at in this day and age of ranking factors.  For this very reason, every small business owner should write a small blog.  This is where you effectively

Read More »

How To Make Your Facebook Business Page Work for You

June 24, 2019 No Comments

By now you are most likely familiar with a Business Facebook Page and even been on a few. You may even have one of your own. Most companies have a Business Facebook page and they are certainly not hard to set

Read More »

The post Get Free Website Traffic with a Pinterest Business Account appeared first on Ozark Web Design.

from Ozark Web Design https://ozarkwebdesign.com/free-website-traffic-pinterest-business/

[toomanysinks]

Play Iconary, a simple drawing game that hides a deceptively deep AI

It may not seem like it takes a lot of smarts to play a game like Pictionary, but in fact it involves a lot of subtle and abstract visual and linguistic skills. This AI built to play a game like it is similarly complex, and its interpretations and creations when you play it (as you can now) may seem eerily human — but it’s also refreshing to have such an agent working collaboratively with you rather than beating you with superhuman skills.

Iconary, as the game’s creators at the Allen Institute for AI decided to call it to avoid lawsuits from Mattel, has you drawing and arranging icons to form phrases, or guessing at the arrangements of the computer player.

For instance, if you were to get the phrase “woman drinking milk from a glass,” you’d probably draw a woman — a stick figure, probably, and then select the “woman” icon from the computer’s interpretations of your sketch. Then you’d draw a glass, and place that near the woman. Then… milk? How do you draw milk? There is actually a milk bottle icon if you look for it, but you could also draw a cow and put that in or next to the glass.

The computer then guesses at what you’ve put together, and after a few tries it would probably get it. You can also play it the other way, where the computer arranges icons and you have to guess.

Now, let’s get this right out of the way: this is very different from Google’s superficially similar “Quick, Draw” game. In that one the system has been can only guess whether your drawing is one of a few hundred pre-selected objects it’s been specifically trained to recognize.

Not only are there some 75,000 phrases supported in Iconary, with more being added regularly, but there’s no way to train the AI on them — the way that any one of them can be represented is uncountable.

“When you start bringing in phrases, the problem space explodes,” explained Ali Farhadi, one of the creators of the project; I talked with him and researcher Aniruddah Kembhavi about Iconary ahead of its release. “Sure, you can easily recognize a cat or a dog. But can you recognize a cat purring, or a dog scratching its back? There’s a huge diversity in elements people choose and how they position them.”

Although Pictionary may seem at first like a game that depends on your drawing skill, it’s really much more about arranging ideas and understanding the relationship with them — seeing the intent behind the drawing. How else can some people manage to recognize a word or phrase from a handful of crude shapes and some arrows?

The AI behind Iconary, then, isn’t a drawing recognition engine at all but one that has been trained to recognize relationships between objects, informed by their type, position, number, and everything else. This is, the researchers say, the most significant example of AI collaborating meaningfully with humans yet created.

And this logic is kept fuzzy enough that several “person” icons gathered together could mean women, men, people, group, crowd, team, or anything else. How would you know if it was a “team?” Well, if you put a soccer ball near it or put them on a play field, it becomes obvious. If there’s a blackboard there, it’s probably a class. And so on.

Of course, I say “and so on,” but that small phrase in a way encompasses the entirety of human intuition and years of training on how to view and interpret the visual world. Naturally Iconary isn’t nearly as good at it as we are, but its logic is frequently surprisingly human.

If you can only get part of the answer, you can ask the AI to draw again, and just like we do in Pictionary it will adapt its representation to address your needs.

It was of course trained on human drawings collected via Mechanical Turk, but it isn’t just replicating what people drew. If the only thing it ever saw to represent a scientist was a man next to a microscope, how would it know to recognize the same idea in a woman, or standing next to an atom or rocket? In fact, the model has never been exposed to the phrases you can play with now. As the researchers write:

AllenAI has never before encountered the unique phrases in Iconary, yet our preliminary games have shown that our AI system is able to both successfully depict and understand phrases with a human partner with an often surprising deftness and nuance. This feat requires combining natural language understanding, computer vision, and the use of common sense to reason about phrases and their depictions within the constraints of a small vocabulary of possible icons. Being successful at Iconary requires skills beyond basic pattern recognition, including multi-hop reasoning, abstraction, collaboration, and adaptation

Instead of simply pairing “ball” with “sport,” it learned about why those objects are related, and how to exert some basic common sense — a sort of holy grail in AI, though this is only a small step in that direction. If one person draws “father” as a man bigger than a smaller person, it isn’t obvious to the computer that the father is the big one, not the small. And it’s another logical jump that a “mother” would be a similarly-sized woman, or that the small one is a child.

But by observing how people used the objects and how they relate to one another, the AI built up a network of ideas about how different things are represented or related. “Child” is closer to “student” than “horse,” for instance. And “student” is close to “desk” and “laptop.” So if you draw a child by a desk, maybe it’s a student? This kind of robust logic is so simple to us that we don’t even recognize we’re doing it, but incredibly hard to build into a machine learning agent.

StarCraft II-playing AI AlphaStar takes out pros undefeated

This type of AI is deceptively broad and intelligent, but it isn’t flashy the way that the human-destorying AlphaStar or AlphaGo are. It isn’t superhuman — in fact, it’s not even close to human. But board and PC games are tightly bounded problem spaces with set rules and limits. Visual expression of a complex phrase like “crowd celebrating a victory on a street” isn’t a question of how fast the computer can process, but the depth of its understanding of the concepts involved, and how others think about them.

This kind of learning is also more broadly applicable in the real world. Robots and self-driving cars do need to know how to exceed human capacity in some cases, but it’s also massively important to be able to understand the world around them in the same way people do. When it sees a person by a hospital bed holding a book, what does that mean? When a person leaves a knife out next to a whole tomato? And so on.

“Real life problems involve semantics, abstraction, and collaboration,” said Farhadi. “They involve theory of mind.”

Interestingly, the agent is biased a bit (as these things tend to be) owing to the natural bias of our language. Images “read” from left to right, as people tend to draw them, since we also read in that direction, so keep that in mind.

Try playing a couple games both drawing and guessing, and you may be surprised at the cleverness and weirdness of the AI’s suggestions. Don’t feel bad about skipping one — the agent is still learning, and sometimes its attempts to represent ideas are a bit too abstract. But I certainly found myself impressed more than baffled.

If you’d like to learn more, stay tuned: the team behind the system will be publishing a paper on it later this year. I’ll update this post when that happens.

source https://techcrunch.com/2019/02/05/play-iconary-a-simple-drawing-game-that-hides-a-deceptively-deep-ai/

[fmservers]

Play Iconary, a simple drawing game that hides a deceptively deep AI

It may not seem like it takes a lot of smarts to play a game like Pictionary, but in fact it involves a lot of subtle and abstract visual and linguistic skills. This AI built to play a game like it is similarly complex, and its interpretations and creations when you play it (as you can now) may seem eerily human — but it’s also refreshing to have such an agent working collaboratively with you rather than beating you with superhuman skills.

Iconary, as the game’s creators at the Allen Institute for AI decided to call it to avoid lawsuits from Mattel, has you drawing and arranging icons to form phrases, or guessing at the arrangements of the computer player.

For instance, if you were to get the phrase “woman drinking milk from a glass,” you’d probably draw a woman — a stick figure, probably, and then select the “woman” icon from the computer’s interpretations of your sketch. Then you’d draw a glass, and place that near the woman. Then… milk? How do you draw milk? There is actually a milk bottle icon if you look for it, but you could also draw a cow and put that in or next to the glass.

The computer then guesses at what you’ve put together, and after a few tries it would probably get it. You can also play it the other way, where the computer arranges icons and you have to guess.

Now, let’s get this right out of the way: this is very different from Google’s superficially similar “Quick, Draw” game. In that one the system has been can only guess whether your drawing is one of a few hundred pre-selected objects it’s been specifically trained to recognize.

Not only are there some 75,000 phrases supported in Iconary, with more being added regularly, but there’s no way to train the AI on them — the way that any one of them can be represented is uncountable.

“When you start bringing in phrases, the problem space explodes,” explained Ali Farhadi, one of the creators of the project; I talked with him and researcher Aniruddah Kembhavi about Iconary ahead of its release. “Sure, you can easily recognize a cat or a dog. But can you recognize a cat purring, or a dog scratching its back? There’s a huge diversity in elements people choose and how they position them.”

Although Pictionary may seem at first like a game that depends on your drawing skill, it’s really much more about arranging ideas and understanding the relationship with them — seeing the intent behind the drawing. How else can some people manage to recognize a word or phrase from a handful of crude shapes and some arrows?

The AI behind Iconary, then, isn’t a drawing recognition engine at all but one that has been trained to recognize relationships between objects, informed by their type, position, number, and everything else. This is, the researchers say, the most significant example of AI collaborating meaningfully with humans yet created.

And this logic is kept fuzzy enough that several “person” icons gathered together could mean women, men, people, group, crowd, team, or anything else. How would you know if it was a “team?” Well, if you put a soccer ball near it or put them on a play field, it becomes obvious. If there’s a blackboard there, it’s probably a class. And so on.

Of course, I say “and so on,” but that small phrase in a way encompasses the entirety of human intuition and years of training on how to view and interpret the visual world. Naturally Iconary isn’t nearly as good at it as we are, but its logic is frequently surprisingly human.

If you can only get part of the answer, you can ask the AI to draw again, and just like we do in Pictionary it will adapt its representation to address your needs.

It was of course trained on human drawings collected via Mechanical Turk, but it isn’t just replicating what people drew. If the only thing it ever saw to represent a scientist was a man next to a microscope, how would it know to recognize the same idea in a woman, or standing next to an atom or rocket? In fact, the model has never been exposed to the phrases you can play with now. As the researchers write:

AllenAI has never before encountered the unique phrases in Iconary, yet our preliminary games have shown that our AI system is able to both successfully depict and understand phrases with a human partner with an often surprising deftness and nuance. This feat requires combining natural language understanding, computer vision, and the use of common sense to reason about phrases and their depictions within the constraints of a small vocabulary of possible icons. Being successful at Iconary requires skills beyond basic pattern recognition, including multi-hop reasoning, abstraction, collaboration, and adaptation

Instead of simply pairing “ball” with “sport,” it learned about why those objects are related, and how to exert some basic common sense — a sort of holy grail in AI, though this is only a small step in that direction. If one person draws “father” as a man bigger than a smaller person, it isn’t obvious to the computer that the father is the big one, not the small. And it’s another logical jump that a “mother” would be a similarly-sized woman, or that the small one is a child.

But by observing how people used the objects and how they relate to one another, the AI built up a network of ideas about how different things are represented or related. “Child” is closer to “student” than “horse,” for instance. And “student” is close to “desk” and “laptop.” So if you draw a child by a desk, maybe it’s a student? This kind of robust logic is so simple to us that we don’t even recognize we’re doing it, but incredibly hard to build into a machine learning agent.

StarCraft II-playing AI AlphaStar takes out pros undefeated

This type of AI is deceptively broad and intelligent, but it isn’t flashy the way that the human-destorying AlphaStar or AlphaGo are. It isn’t superhuman — in fact, it’s not even close to human. But board and PC games are tightly bounded problem spaces with set rules and limits. Visual expression of a complex phrase like “crowd celebrating a victory on a street” isn’t a question of how fast the computer can process, but the depth of its understanding of the concepts involved, and how others think about them.

This kind of learning is also more broadly applicable in the real world. Robots and self-driving cars do need to know how to exceed human capacity in some cases, but it’s also massively important to be able to understand the world around them in the same way people do. When it sees a person by a hospital bed holding a book, what does that mean? When a person leaves a knife out next to a whole tomato? And so on.

“Real life problems involve semantics, abstraction, and collaboration,” said Farhadi. “They involve theory of mind.”

Interestingly, the agent is biased a bit (as these things tend to be) owing to the natural bias of our language. Images “read” from left to right, as people tend to draw them, since we also read in that direction, so keep that in mind.

Try playing a couple games both drawing and guessing, and you may be surprised at the cleverness and weirdness of the AI’s suggestions. Don’t feel bad about skipping one — the agent is still learning, and sometimes its attempts to represent ideas are a bit too abstract. But I certainly found myself impressed more than baffled.

If you’d like to learn more, stay tuned: the team behind the system will be publishing a paper on it later this year. I’ll update this post when that happens.

Via Devin Coldewey https://techcrunch.com

[stormdoors78476]

All The New Shows To Screen Or Skip In Spring And Summer 2017

There’s a reason networks often save their weakest fare for the time of year when more people are less likely to spend their evenings indoors.

Of course, that’s not always the case, since “Game of Thrones” is scheduled to make it’s much-awaited return this July. 

But when it comes to new shows, you can bet networks generally save the worst for last. In the coming months, viewers can look forward to some stellar series this spring (including ”The Handmaid’s Tale,” “American Gods,” “GLOW”), while they’re more or less better off embracing the warm weather and misplacing their remotes by the time summer hits. 

APRIL   “Girlboss,” April 21, Netflix 

With allegations that former Nasty Gal CEO Sophia Amoruso was accused of creating a “toxic” workplace, it’s easy to see why the lead character of Netflix’s “Girlboss” is so incredibly unlikeable. The question, however, is why would anyone want to spend a significant amount of time watching her?

“Girlboss” is loosely based on Amoruso’s memoir of the same name and tells the story of how she began her vintage clothing eBay shop, before it became what we now know as Nasty Gal.

The show stars Britt Robertson as 23-year-old Sophia, a college dropout who works menial jobs and yet can somehow afford a studio apartment in San Francisco circa 2006 ― and damn is it ever hard to watch. Sophia is petulant, whiny, and often just flat-out mean. What’s worse is that the series rarely gives you a reason to root for her. Characters don’t always have to be likable, but there has to be at least some reason to follow a person through their journey. With “Girlboss,” there’s nothing here.  

“Great News,” April 25, 9 p.m. ET, NBC

”Great News,” the new workplace comedy from executive producer Tina Fey, can’t be described as great or even good.

The show follows Katie (Briga Heelan), a wallflower of a producer at a cable news program called “The Breakdown,” and her overbearing mother (Andrea Martin), who manages to land a job as as the show’s intern. Hilarity ensues, right? Not so much.

The show’s jokes just repeatedly fall flat, though surprisingly it’s Nicole Richie as a super-hip if slightly vapid co-anchor who actually shines brightest.  

“Genius,” April 25, 9 p.m. ET, National Geographic 

What do you really know about Albert Einstein aside from the fact that he developed the theory of relativity? National Geographic is willing to wager that you know very little.

“Genius” is an anthology series from executive producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer about the lives of those deserving enough to be deemed as such, and Season 1 kicks off with none other than Mr. E = mc2 himself.  

Based on Walter Isaacson’s book Einstein: His Life and Universe, the show stars Johnny Flynn when Einstein was a student in Zurich the 1890s, and Geoffrey Rush, as his older counterpart against a backdrop of the rising anti-semitism in 1922 Berlin, Germany.

“The Handmaid’s Tale,” April 26, Hulu

Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale” is by far the best new show debuting in the spring and summer season. Based on Margaret Atwood’s 1985 dystopian novel, if you don’t already have a Hulu account, you’re going to want to sign up for one today.

Set in the not-too distant future where a fundamentalist Christian regime rules over the former United States, now known as the Republic of Gilead, women have been stripped of their rights and any sense of life as they once knew it. Elisabeth Moss stars as Offred, a woman who is forced to bear children for high-ranking men and their wives, after environmental problems cause widespread infertility issues. 

The series is a chilling reminder of how quickly the Republic of Gilead could become a reality. 

“Dear White People,” April 28, Netflix 

If you liked “Dear White People” the movie then you should probably watch it again, because the 2014 film from writer/director Justin Simien is far better than Netflix’s 10-episode series.  

That’s not to say the series adaptation is a failure by any means. The show is still a smart and sharp take on the complex issue of race relations, and is definitely worth checking out. 

The series picks up where the film left off in the aftermath of a racist blackface party, which has left a campus divided. Episodes are told and then retold through different student’s perspectives, which requires some commitment by the viewers since that format can feel awfully repetitive. 

 “American Gods,” April 30, 9 p.m. ET, Starz

“American Gods” is absolutely the weirdest and most mind-bending new offering this season. Starz’s visually-stunning new drama is based on British author Neil Gaiman’s 2001 fantasy novel of the same name and requires total suspension of disbelief. 

In this America, gods live among us mere mortals. There are two types of gods ― old and new. The old are the ones you’ve read about in myths and were brought to America by faithful immigrants centuries ago, while the new gods have gradually replaced the old ones and were born out of our modern obsession with media and technology.

As war brews between the gods, an ex-con named Shadow Moon (Ricky Whittle) finds himself caught between the two sides.  

MAY “Anne with an E,” May 12, Netflix 

Netflix’s “Anne with an E” is easily one of the most charming new shows. Yes, this is yet another adaptation of Canadian author Lucy Maud Montgomery’s beloved children’s novel Anne of Green Gables, but it’s far the best. 

Amybeth McNulty stars as Anne Shirley, the young orphan who never stops talking and comes to live on Prince Edward Island with elderly siblings Marilla (Geraldine James) and Matthew Cuthbert (R.H. Thomson).

While you may have read the book a 100 times as a child, Netflix has managed to reenergize the story for modern audiences without betraying its source material. If anything, “Anne” digs deeper at some of the darker elements that Montgomery glossed over in the novel, and is a thoroughly binge-able experience for all ages. 

“I Love Dick,” May 12, Amazon 

You may have already watched the pilot episode of Amazon’s new series “I Love Dick,” based on Chris Kraus’ 1997 novel.

The show stars Kathryn Hahn as a filmmaker in an unhappy marriage, who follows her husband (Griffin Dunne) to his writing residency in Marfa, Texas, and becomes completely infatuated with a professor named Dick (Kevin Bacon).

“I Love Dick” is the latest show from “Transparent” creator Jill Soloway and is an intentionally uncomfortable yet humorous examination of human sexuality and the female gaze. 

“Downward Dog,” May 17, 9:30 p.m. ET, ABC

From ABC comes “Downward Dog,” a sitcom about a dog named Martin and his owner Nan (Allison Tolman), a woman struggling to get ahead at work and make sense of her personal life. 

The show is told from Martin’s perspective’s via his internal monologue, voiced by Samm Hodges. The series is inoffensive enough if you can stand to listen to Martin, who is the male incarnation of a droning Valley-girl in canine form. 

 “Twin Peaks,” May 21, 9 p.m. ET, Showtime 

Showtime didn’t provide any screeners for “Twin Peaks,” which is returning as a limited series 24 years after David Lynch’s original version ended.

Because of this, we can only tell you what you probably already know: Lynch will direct the entire series and you can expect to see many familiar faces, including Kyle MacLachlan, who returns as FBI Agent Dale Cooper. 

JUNE “I’m Dying Up Here,” June 4, 10 p.m. ET, Showtime

Showtime’s new drama “I’m Dying Up Here” is a look at the lives of stand-up comics trying to make it in Los Angeles in the 1970s ―  and you’ll be tempted to heckle if you can muster the strength to make it through a full episode. 

Yet another show based on a book, the series is inspired by William Knoedelseder‘s 2009 nonfiction work I’m Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-up Comedy’s Golden Era and features an ensemble cast including Ari Graynor, Melissa Leo, Clark Duke, Michael Angarano and RJ Cyler.

“GLOW,” June 29, Netflix 

Even if you’d rather do just about anything else than watch professional wrestling, you really shouldn’t discount Netflix’s new original series “GLOW.”

Inspired by the real story of the 1980s women’s wrestling league “Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling,” “GLOW” is one of the most enjoyable shows to debut this season. 

Alison Brie stars as a struggling actress desperate to make it in Hollywood, giving one last shot at her dreams when she auditions for a series about female wrestlers. Featuring an outstanding and diverse cast, the series hilariously tackles issues of racism, stereotyping, sexism and sisterhood in the world of women’s wrestling. 

JULY “The Bold Type,” July 11, 9 p.m. ET, Freeform 

Freeform’s “The Bold Type” is inspired by Cosmopolitan and its editor-in-chief Joanna Coles, and it’s the perfect show for summertime viewing. 

Starring Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee and Meghann Fahy as three friends working at Scarlet Magazine, the show follows the young women as they navigate their careers and personal lives in New York City.

This show is exactly what you would expect from reading Cosmo ― not a bad way to curl up on the couch with a glass of wine. 

“Midnight, Texas,” July 25, 10 p.m. ET, NBC

The remote town of “Midnight, Texas” seems to be the supernatural center of the United States with witches, ghosts, assassins, angels, psychics and other creatures calling it home. But there is entirely too much going on. 

Based on the trilogy series of the same name by author Charlaine Harris, “Midnight Texas” follows Manfred (François Arnaud), a psychic who can communicate with the dead, as he arrives in Midnight and befriends fellow outsiders like himself. 

AUGUST “The Sinner,” Aug. 2, 10 p.m. ET, USA

USA’s “The Sinner” is a different kind of thrilling mystery that finds Jessica Biel starring in a TV series for the first time since her days playing Mary Camden on “7th Heaven.”

Biel plays Cora, a young mother who commits an unspeakable act of violence against a stranger at the beach. There’s no question that she did it. The only question is why. Bill Pullman also stars as a detective obsessed with uncovering Cora’s motives.

As the series delves into Cora’s past and pieces together what happened that day at the beach, chances are you’ll be just as obsessed. 

“Weekend Update,” Aug. 10, 9 p.m. ET, NBC

“Saturday Night Live” is on hiatus this summer, but Colin Jost and Michael Che will fill the void with “Weekend Update” ― a 30-minute, primetime version of the long-running segment. With “SNL” seeing some of its highest rating in years, Jost and Che will keep things going in August and make sure you’re on top of all the news that can be satirized. So basically everything.

“Marlon,” Aug. 16, 9 p.m. ET, NBC 

Marlon Wayans stars in what’s supposed to be an update on the classic family sitcom, but this isn’t anything we haven’t seen before. 

“Marlon” is loosely based on Wayans’ real life as he plays a wise-cracking, over- protective yet immature father to two precocious kids (Amir O’Neil and Notlim Taylor). He also appears to share a too-close relationship with his ex-wife (Essence Atkins). 

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

from DIYS http://ift.tt/2p0vDgE