#the characters are so removed from the original source material that i dont think it would be too hard to understand

[thetomorrowshow]

i know it doesn't really matter but i love checking my ao3 stats and watching my mcyt fics overtake my past fandoms

[beesmygod]

BLOODBORNE LORE Q+A PART 4: SETTING ODDS AND ENDS

part 1

part 2

part 3

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this part is a little drier compared to the other 3. it's a quick mop up on any remaining minutiae about the setting before we move onto events and characters/bosses. that's the real meat and potatoes. bear with me talking about game mechanics and tomorrow ill talk about the stupid mensis ritual alright. arent you excited to hear a new baseless theory about micolash's birthday party or whatever.

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THE HUNTER ASKS:

i think most statues weren't people. but something about the human experience of obsession turns the blood in yharnam first into syrup and then into stone. the item description for the frenzied coldblood reads:

A strong will produces thick blood. Doubtless, the product of obsession, a potent source of human strength.

i think this item description is the only bit of explicit text that ties together the idea of madness inducing what the game calls "crystallization". the blood shard item descriptions confirm that after death "a substance in the blood hardens" and another upgrade material, blood gems (name self explanatory, the page is annoying to navigate) are very rarely found in coldblood.

there are hints, however, that being driven mad with bad eldritch vibes causes problematic instantaneous crystallizations. your example of the poor saps at yahar'gul is a good one. whatever happened when the brain of mensis was called forth* really flash fried the whole town in a new kind of way.

*SPECULATION!!! we can try to establish that timeline when i talk about rom.

side note: there's some women skeletons who are pushing their kids out of their way like they're george costanza hearing the fire alarm and it makes me lol every time i see it. i think its bc the little boy skeletons are wearing a little fancy lad outfit.

theres also the spikes that form in your blood when you become "frenzied", a debuff that obliterates most of your health in 1 second. when you are in danger of being "frenzied" (this happens when you look at or are attacked by certain enemies whose appearance or sound is so horrible it drives you insane), spikes shoot out of your head.

i thought this was just a gameplay mechanic to visually indicate whats happening if you miss the audio cue or the meter. but it turns out there's several unlucky bastards who peeked at the brain of mensis and got riddled with enormous spikes that came from the inside out.

imagine a monster that is so scary your blood tries to escape your body at maximum velocity. but its just mother brain from metroid.

i think most of the eyes from various corpses were pecked out by the enormously fat crows all over the place and then excreted/barfed whatever way they do in nature. they swallow rocks irl to digest shit because god forgot they need to be able to eat food to live.

THE HUNTER COMMENTS:

i clued in shawn to the original version of the lamps from an early version of the game: a chair you sit, sleep and dream in. once you know this pointless factoid, you will start noticing the frequency of really weirdly placed chairs in the game. its a chair game. adeline is strapped down to a chair. annalise sits on her throne. the spooky skeleton gatekeeper for the forbidden woods is in a chair. chairs.

THE HUNTER SAYS:

CANON! for some reason the english translation neglects to mention that its in your own handwriting which is like. part of why it would be spooky. otherwise its like iosefka left a note to herself to kill god later.

THE HUNTER SAYS:

lmfao these damn things. i dont even think about them bc the really just read as background filler but they were at one point in development going to be something important. the internal game files indicate that they are "shrines" and a cut enemy called "shrine knight" exists in a near finished condition. these concepts seem very far removed from the end product so its wild how done this enemy is. cainhurst stuff??

---

ok, next time i have questions to answer about bosses in the game, bosses cut from the game and doggies. theres a great question in here about who names bosses. honestly like how tf do you (the hunter) know that's a cleric beast. you just got here. you dont know anything. a coconut fell on your head and you dont remember your address

[whence-the-woody]

Okay so 12 hours later, more fully formed review nobody asked for

So I didnt love it. There were parts that were great, I think the actors got the characters and did a good job. Some of the direction was really good, the soundtrack was good. And almost all the changess made sense to me, dont agree necessarily but I understand. The only one I dont get is Alex's parents being together because it changes so much of his characterisation and then we didnt even really see them. Obviously not that big of a deal but still.

My issue is with the parts that they kept in but rewrote. I love the book so much and arguably the best part is the dialogue, especially between Henry and Alex. They are both so funny and smart and romantic. The book is so quotable and includes beautiful quotes from others. There are so many lines said out loud or as internal monologue that make me ache. There werent any moments in this movie that made me ache.

I cant fathom why they decided to keep the key scenes, dedicate the time to them but instead of keeping the near-perfect script ready to go, they rewrote a worse version. Not a bad or terrible version by any stretch but essentially the hallmark version. They took beautiful speeches, conversations and moments and swapped it for dialogue that was cheesier and less natural, more stilted and on the nose. As I said before, if it was an entirely separate thing and just a cheesey romcom I would have no issue with that. It why ultimately I enjoyed the film. But when you had such a better version of those scenes, why rewrite them worse? I dont understand. For me the point of an adaptation is to see those lines and quotes preformed - they had the right actors, why give them the wrong script? I would kill to see them preform those original scenes.

Why make those beautiful emails more casual? Why remove so much of their obnoxious intelligence? Why touch a word of the castle storming scene? Why change Alex's beautiful speech? Why take out the pet names? The endless beautiful love declarations? The talks about their future?

That's my main thing and why Im disappointed somewhat in a movie I was so fucking excited for.

Other less serious and dumb complaints would be: Pez being there but never speaking, Nora and Bea also barely there, no bi crisis, the afformentioned one sided first hookup, Alex giving his speech without even talking to Henry first, there being nothing between I love you and being outed, what they do next never being referenced

In terms of things they straight up left out, even though I understand why, it feels less than to not see Alex's struggles with anxiety, Bea's story, Henry's charity work,

I already posted the things I liked. There were plenty and its still a good movie but it makes me sad that now there's been an adaptation we wont get one with all those lines I loved. It was good but with that source material and those actors it couldve been so much better.

[dateamonster]

A weird thought that kind of hung out in my head for a while that is sort of relevant to this blog's theme, but also kind of isn't, but I'm honestly not sure, but I have no better place to dump it into, so whatever. Feel free to ignore this if you're not interested >>

Yautja. Predators. However you want to call them. They have a very particular, hunting and honor-centric cultural mindset. But. What would it be like for someone in their culture to just... not be into that? There are people who are basically entirely averse to romance, in spite of how central it is in our culture, so how would some who is, uh... akynig, not interested in hunting? And how would such a person, perhaps, adapt to another society, lacking this aspect of Yautja culture but carrying across many others?

The worldbuilding nut in me is always excited about those things but it is a very rare opportunity to discuss it in any manner >>

i dont rly know anything abt the predator film franchise so i cant rly add much but i do enjoy the idea of like. alien cultures and what that means for the individuals within that culture.

idk how comparable this is but i was just recently watching a video that was talking abt the ferengi from star trek and how upon their original introduction they were kinda this one note species because their sole characteristic was being a hyper capitalistic culture built around hoarding wealth, but in deep space 9 we start to actually see individual ferengi characters outside the context of this monolithic cultural concept and come to understand that their greed is not like some innate personal trait but the result of the values and demands of ferengi society.

theres def a larger discussion to be had abt the way a lot of popular scifi tends to narrow entire planets worth of people down to singular traits and how thats kind of a major weakness when it comes to like world building and imagining alternate societies, but when thats a thing the franchise is already doing it does open up an interesting avenue of like, how many ppl within this culture actually share this valued trait? how many are just going along with it bc its what you do? how many have so deeply internalized it that even if removed from this society and its rules they would unconsciously mirror it? is there a space for counter-culture in this world?

it seems like itd be harder to analyze stuff like that in the context of predator movies tho since, from my limited understanding, it seems like the yautja were at least originally designed simply according to what would make them serve best as a scary antagonist. i do think its cool tho that there seem to be a lot of fans who are trying to give their species more depth and complexity than the source material affords them. again tho im probably missing a lot of actual context lol.

[raven]

this is only somewhat related i guess but i had a similar revelation about writing something original a while ago. i wrote some fanfiction online and i got really attached to the story, and at some point i realized the plot is far removed enough from the og source material that i could literally just change character names and make small tweaks and it could be just a regular book. currently working on editing/getting it published atm and it’s going well so!! :]

(also, while i agree that fanfic is not inherently made for serious critique/meaning and it shouldn’t be treated as such, i view writing fic almost the same as regular writing, just in a different context and working off another piece of media, and i’ve read a lot of fics that at leasts i consider to be genuinely good and well crafted. some of the most talented writers i know personally started out writing fanfic or *still* write it, so i don’t know if treating the entire concept of fanfic like it can’t be art at all is fair. but of course that’s just personal opinion!! i don’t think it matters much lmao but i just respectfully disagree w that part)

I hope that goes well! i know a lot of people dont like it when fanfics get published and i agree on most levels but ive read at least one (as a kid, so maybe im just remembering it as better than it was, but whatevr) where i was like the only thing about this that is somewhat similar to the source material is the character dynamics and obviously the names, like what are you doing just make it completely your own.. ok heres the thing. published r*ylo (or any star wars fanfic lol) is like garbage and trash and already overdone. but i would read, like, a published sasunaru fanfic. havent even seen/read naruto but i would read it. its just the literal nerve of publishing straight fanfiction. (the finnpoe one that people made fun of a few months ago also looked bad but everything star wars is kind of straight to me, and also bad) sorry if what you're writing is straight and especially if it's star wars but if it is do keep these words in mind.

anyways. i think it can be a useful tool in practicing writing (although there are some bad habits that are very prevalent in fanfiction) Also btw sorry the edible just hit so this migjt be less coherent. And ive read some that i enjoyed, some that were well written, etc, but its just. theres something to me that is just kind of . Self centered? and i say this as someone who has read fanfic recently like the vibes i get from the authors and myself as a reader. it's just like... Things You Like. its Stuff You Enjoy. its kind of like . its so self indulgent. (even if its like well it can be used to explore mature themes etc etc Listen on some level You Like It and its not because of its social commentary! or whatever.) Maybe i spoke too quickly on saying its "not art" but i. Well. Hm. i cannot vocalize this right now im sorry. Anyways. if u want to continue this conversation do not be afraid to dm me, these posts are just getting long and probably annoying and the edible did hit right in the middle so i didnt give it all of my best work. im like super high right now sorry bye

[ot3]

on the ‘what do they become divorced from their original context’ the answer is dry as hell i’m afraid to confirm ! it’s like the people who uwuify south park characters, modern tumblr and twitterina tweens don’t seem able to comprehend the old culture orz …

no but the thing is the south park people are FULLY delusional like there is LITERALLY nothing to south park but outdated 'ant-pc' humor and crude art. i have seen a lot lot lot of south park and am speaking with an extensive amount of knowledge on the series and the characters are incredibly 2 dimensional and the show has little to no overarching narrative aside from a few vague plotlines. so like to turn that into shippable fandom fodder you have to be fully removed from reality

RVB, ON THE OTHER HAND, has a heart and sincerity to it that south park completely lacks. the characters are not exactly super complex but they have a nuance to them that is definitely more than the south park characters are allowed because RVB is a narrative show, not an episodic one. there is conceptually something here that makes sense to engage with from a Fandom perspective. which is why its so fucking funny to me because like.

okay like i haven't seen much of the south park Fandom so i know that this exists. but i dont think its the majority. like. i think most people's attempt to reckon with the horrific ideology south park peddles is the 'its satire' defense. they don't want to completely defang the source material. RVB fans on the other hand seem to want exactly that. like there are a bunch of people who seem to be under the impression that if you stripped out all of the jokes made at the expense of minorities rvb would still somehow not only be funny, but actually better. and i just literally don't think that's true because as much as the shitty very un-pc jokes are jokes in and of themselves, the larger impact of it is the pinpoint accuracy with which the show preserves This Exact Kind Of Guy Anyone Who Was Alive In The 00s Knew. like you lose out SO much of what makes the show Hit if the characters aren't Those Guys.

so when you want to like, woke-ify that canon and bring modern standards of acceptable humor + make these characters have something approximating the mainstream contemporary understanding of queer theory, disability activism, and critical race theory, i think you'd end up genuinely doing a disservice to the show. i'm not trying to say Actually, Calling People the R Slur Is High Art And You Can't Get Rid Of It (the gay jokes however ARE high art and i can say that) but i will say that i genuinely think RVB has a lot of value as a time capsule for early post-9/11 american ennui and i do think attempting to sanitize it would remove the authenticity.

south park is on the other hand a LOT more anachronistic in it's vibe, and the characters in that show aren't a direct 1:1 stand in for any type of real subculture that existed because the characters adopt whatever contemporary bigotry is the exact right level of edgy for the current set of writers. some south park episodes, individually, are of their era but overall the show isn't a meta-level Period Piece in the way RVB is. the show doesn't HAVE that authenticity because it lacks a coherent perspective or ideology to align itself with. i dont know what im saying anymore what were we talking about. this got away from me.

thesis statement: south park shippers are fully removed from reality but people who want red vs blue characters to talk to each other about the split attraction model are slightly less removed from reality, which actually makes it worse

[constellaj]

16

Please talk more about your reboot!

16: If you could change anything in the show, what would you change?

okay so how i would re-do CANON is completely different from how i would talk abt a reboot so im gonna touch on a couple things in both contexts! the reason for the difference is canon rewrites imply i can go back in time and introduce dp fresh and new, before anyone knows what it is; but for a reboot, id be working with an audience that has a better understanding of the source material, so i dont need to spend as much time explaining, but i also need to keep everything recognizable

Valerie

REWRITE: i would def make it more danny's fault that her dad lost his job, like danny was intentionally being reckless and shattered some security stuff, and he has a whole mini lesson about learning to not just run in guns blazing. i would probably remove the dating stuff with her and danny (and tuckers crush) too, I think them wanting to be good friends is good enough for freshman year

REBOOT: the fandom already knows valerie exists, so i would actually skip the whole shades-of-gray introductory episode and have her be present as the huntress from day 1-- probably even before danny got his powers. cujo is also HER dog, and her backstory-- we'd find out in like, season 1, that a natural ghost portal (maybe one wulf opened) ripped open on her dog and killed him, and since then shes had a vendetta against ghosts cause of how reckless they are and their disregard for life-- of course, cujo isnt actually dead. cujo is a halfa. a puby halfa. anyway instead of a hoverboard she actually rides cujo around cause he can fly and its big and epic. valerie has BEEN amity parks ghost-eradicating superhero for at least a year (tho shes been in the shadows abt it) and her hatred towards danny actually just becomes really petty, like them flying next to each other chasing skulker just going "I got this. no I got this. no I got this" and they just get in each others' way and its a mutual grudge.

BOTH: i am NOT keeping in vlad giving her the suit to watch danny under any circumstances. it was only utilized half assedly in canon (when vlad couldve just had an invisible duplicate watching him instead) anyway, and I dont have any reason to keep it in a reboot either. instead i want her tech to be a combination of half-stolen and half-gerryrigged stuff and she slowly slowly learns how to build her own.

I also dont want anyone knowing her secret identity, except maybe her dad, and sam or tucker. i think it works better if danny isnt privy to this magic info

Freakshow

REWRITE: i would honestly just remove him. the episodes hes in arent particularly interesting, theyre just generic "we need a plot about x" filler and he's not compelling enough a character (at least in writing) to carry a better plot that another antagonist couldnt. i'm serious

REBOOT: unfortunately in a reboot he's gonna have to pop up somewhere or else ppl will be like "where IS HE" so I'm going to stick with running some kind of ghost circus, maybe a few occult things, but cut out a lot of the spooky magical knowledge and mcguffin stuff. maybe i could make him like, someone from vlad/jack/maddies college who always felt pushed around by them and so he has a vendetta? and theyd be the only reason he even learned abt ghosts in the first place. idk in either way I want to force him into being irredeemable but also include LYDIA (the tattoo girl ghost) way more-- I want to give her an arc that ends in her tossing freakshow aside and running off to be a ghost vigilante.

BOTH: dear god the infinity gauntlet is stupid that needs to GO AWAY. especially for the reboot cause it would exist in a post-mcu world and way too many people would complain about it

Vlad

REWRITE: amp him up to a far more sinister and villainous character. the crushing on maddie isnt enough, I want to show him on-screen performing experiments on ghosts and himself, dismissing everyone else cause he thinks hes smarter than them. i want him to be actively sabotaging the fentons at every turn. i would also clarify that he doesnt actually want danny as a son, but as a trophy-- a line where danny says something along the lines of "you don't want a son. you want a slave". i want to make him a character who wants to destroy the entire planet and put it in the ghost zone so he can be the true ghost king and i want to make this all evident from day one. if i'm writing a series villain you can bet i'm going to write a GOOD one. less petty drama here and more actual stakes.

REBOOT: it seems silly but sense with reboot we have the benefit of hindsight and recognizing that vlad wasn't a big series villain, theres no way i'd actually go back and write him to be such. for starters, of course, theres the fact that anything he does would really be an exaggerated part of the original, and it would bore an audience to see the same story again-- theres also the fact that it doesnt seem right to take a character who was treated as a joke half the time and suddenly make them big and important. no, instead for my reboot i want to lean into the petty gay uncle vibe. he had a crush on jack and now just casually insults him. he moves mansions every now and again by just haunting the family who lives in the one he wants, and taking over-- i mean, who is gonna believe that an actual ghost haunted you. he dislikes danny not because he has some concept of 'evil' and 'good' but bc danny is just too damn active. of course he actually does care about danny and his safety deep down, it's just on the surface they have very conflicting motivations-- not to mention that danny has been raised on legends from his parents of the villainous Wisconsin Ghost, who has to be stopped at all costs.

BOTH: i want jack and maddie to KNOW he's a half ghost and to actively be hunting him down for it, maybe bc they think hes possessed, or been a ghost tricking them this whole time, or the victim of a tragic lab accident who needs to be put to rest, etc. whatever the case it will give vlad actual tangible reason to despise them and genuinely suspect they dont have dannys best interests at heart. i think it would be neat if vlad was cynical and every time danny hit him with the "I'll expose us both. at least theyll still love ME" vlad could be like in the back of his head "oh god theyre going to kill this child"

Dani

REWRITE: cut her out. we don't need her character at all. maybe replace her with a more ominous shadow duplicate / clone that actually looks like danny himself and doesnt really have a name? you could probably combine her and dark dans characters for their arcs

REBOOT: instead of a clone from vlad, she's a guys in white creation using some of dannys dna after he was captured (and vlad broke him out bc he was like "ugh i guess i have to save this child")

BOTH: vlad actually cares abt her (duh), shes nonbinary (double duh), she gets the funny dissolve into goo powers

i had more i thought i was gonna write but this post is already very long and also im running out of coherency for this LUL

[kellyvela]

Has GRRM ever said in any interview or on his blog that he hates Sansa's complete storyline after 4th season? I dont really follow all of his fan/media interactions but from what I can recall he has spoken abt how LF in books wont give sansa to ramsay or how noone had issue when Jeyne was given the Ramsay storyline in books etc. Asking this question to you bcs you rightly point out how ppl misunderstood his interviews/posts ( sansans/targ stans etc) & I cant recall him ever saying he 'hates' sansa's story in the later seasons of the show ( not s5 in particular but even s6 to s8).

Capclave 2013:

A change that has repercussions for season 4 is Marillion’s tongue removal from the first season. Martin said that the change was made (from an anonymous singer being the victim of a de-tonguing) because they wanted Joffrey to maim someone the audience would recognize. He believes this is an issue because of the part the singer plays in Sansa’s storyline, how he affects her interactions with others in the book, and he doesn’t believe another character will be fulfilling that role on Game of Thrones.

—GRRM talks season 4 & beyond - Winter is Coming - October 13, 2013

2014 Fan Reports about Capclave 2013 (*):

In a convention panel this year, George said on the record that he had no idea what they were doing with Sansa or where they’re taking her storyline, which now makes sense perhaps. He was not pleased when he was talking about it, so who knows what’s going to happen with her! Knowing GRRM, that could mean they’re going off the canon reservation, and/or that they’re going to be making a lot of shit up

I have notes I’ll be responding to (thanks!) but enough people commented about Sansa that I thought I’d share that tidbit, since it happened back in September iirc (was the same panel where he criticized the exclusion of Tyrell brothers)

—starkalypse - June 3, 2014

GRRM’s comments at capclave about Sansa (which I was in the third row for, for those asking about legitimacy) were among others during the panel that had a general theme of dissatisfaction with show changes. He was not in good spirits for that con and didn’t really have anything positive to say regarding the show. So take it with a grain of salt; there are deviations away from the books in the episodes he gets writers credit for, so maybe they’re doing something stupid or they really don’t have a gameplan!

—starkalypse - June 4, 2014

(*) These reports were posted in June 2014, during the airing of Game of Thrones Season 4, about Capclave 2013 that happened in October 2013.

Just after the rape episode:

How many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Three, in the novel. One, in the movie. None, in real life: she was a fictional character, she never existed. The show is the show, the books are the books; two different tellings of the same story.

There have been differences between the novels and the television show since the first episode of season one. And for just as long, I have been talking about the butterfly effect. Small changes lead to larger changes lead to huge changes. HBO is more than forty hours into the impossible and demanding task of adapting my lengthy (extremely) and complex (exceedingly) novels, with their layers of plots and subplots, their twists and contradictions and unreliable narrators, viewpoint shifts and ambiguities, and a cast of characters in the hundreds.

There has seldom been any TV series as faithful to its source material, by and large (if you doubt that, talk to the Harry Dresden fans, or readers of the Sookie Stackhouse novels, or the fans of the original WALKING DEAD comic books)… but the longer the show goes on, the bigger the butterflies become. And now we have reached the point where the beat of butterfly wings is stirring up storms, like the one presently engulfing my email.

Prose and television have different strengths, different weaknesses, different requirements.

David and Dan and Bryan and HBO are trying to make the best television series that they can.

And over here I am trying to write the best novels that I can.

And yes, more and more, they differ. Two roads diverging in the dark of the woods, I suppose… but all of us are still intending that at the end we will arrive at the same place.

In the meantime, we hope that the readers and viewers both enjoy the journey. Or journeys, as the case may be. Sometimes butterflies grow into dragons.

—The Show, the Books - Not A Blog - May 18, 2015

Report about the last Game of Thrones Script that GRRM wrote:

No Wedding for Sansa and Ramsay: Without question, one of the most controversial changes the show made in trying to streamline the books was by slotting Sansa into the role of Ramsay’s wife and rape victim in Season 5. In the books, Ramsay marries and assaults Sansa’s best childhood friend, Jeyne Poole—who is being forced to impersonate Arya—instead. (You can actually see Jeyne briefly sitting next to Sansa in the show’s pilot.)

At the time Martin wrote this script, though, substituting Sansa for Jeyne was not yet the plan. Martin has Roose Bolton tell his bastard son: “We have a much better match in mind for you. A match to help House Bolton hold the north. Arya Stark.” It should be noted, however, that in Martin’s script, Sansa isn’t free from menace either. At his own wedding-day breakfast, Joffrey still threatens to rape the older Stark sister—once he’s “gotten Margaery with child.”)

—Game of Thrones: The Secrets of George R.R. Martin’s Final Script - Vanity Fair - December 7, 2018

A month before the Game of Throne S8 Finale:

Sansa’s story, in particular, has really deviated from the books. Ramsay Bolton — that marriage obviously was with a different character. When they start deviating like that, did you initially have any emotional reaction, even though you worked in Hollywood for many years yourself?

GRRM: Well, yeah — of course you have an emotional reaction. I mean, would I prefer they do it exactly the way I did it? Sure. But I’ve been on the other side of it, too. I’ve adapted work by other people, and I didn’t do it exactly the way they did it, so ….

Some of the deviation, of course, is because I’ve been so slow with these books. I really should’ve finished this thing four years ago — and if I had, maybe it would be telling a different story here. It’s two variations of the same story, or a similar story, and you get that whenever anything is adapted. The analogy I’ve often used is, to ask how many children did Scarlett O’Hara have? Do you know the answer to that?

I know it’s different in the book and the movie …

GRRM: Three children in the book, one by each husband. She had one child in the movie. And in real life, of course, Scarlett O’Hara had no children, because she never existed. Margaret Mitchell made her up. The book is there. You can pick it up and read Mitchell’s version of it, or you can see the movie and see David Selznick’s version of it. I think they’re both true to the spirit of the work, and hopefully that’s also true of Game of Thrones on one hand, and A Song of Ice and Fire on the other hand.

—George R.R. Martin on the Stark Sisters and Ending ‘Game of Thrones’ - RollingStone - April 22, 2019

James Hibberd’s Book:

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: Jeyne Poole was included in the pilot—she’s shown giggling next to Sansa—but she’s never seen or referred to again. I actually wrote Jeyne into “The Pointy End,” my first script, when Arya killed the stableboy. I had some stuff with Jeyne running to Sansa being all hysterical and dialogue in the council chamber with Littlefinger saying, “Give her to me, I’ll make sure she doesn’t cause any trouble.” That was dropped.

DAVID BENIOFF: Sansa is a character we care about almost more than any other. We really wanted Sansa to play a major part in that season. If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that. There was a subplot we loved from the books, but it was a character not involved in the show.

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: I was trying to set up Jeyne for her future role as the false Arya. The real Arya has escaped and is presumed dead. But this girl has been in Littlefinger’s control for years, and he’s been training her. She knows Winterfell, has the proper northern accent, and can pose as Arya. Who the hell knows what a little girl you met two years ago looks like? When you’re a lord visiting Winterfell, are you going to pay attention to the little kids running around? So she can pull off the impersonation. Not having Jeyne, they used Sansa for that. Is that better or worse? You can make your decision there. Oddly, I never got pushback for that in the book because nobody cared about Jeyne Poole that much. They care about Sansa.

—Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series by James Hibberd - October 6, 2020

GEORGE R. R. MARTIN: My Littlefinger would have never turned Sansa over to Ramsay. Never. He’s obsessed with her. Half the time he thinks she’s the daughter he never had—that he wishes he had, if he’d married Catelyn. And half the time he thinks she is Catelyn, and he wants her for himself. He’s not going to give her to somebody who would do bad things to her. That’s going to be very different in the books.

—Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon: Game of Thrones and the Official Untold Story of the Epic Series by James Hibberd - October 6, 2020

I hope it helps you.

Thanks for your message.

[toxicsamruby]

hello! i have to ask: what do you think about supernatural au's where monsters don't exist/monster hunting is not a thing? do you think the characters could even exist out of that realm? i honestly have conflicting views on this because on one hand i do enjoy the character dynamics but i also feel it would be wrong to just take away something that is fundamental to this show, idk though

i LOVE this question. thank you. im going to write a very long post now

obviously there are infinite ways to interpret a story, right? but sam and dean (and castiel too of course) as characters are completely inextricable from their backstories, and their backstories are inextricable from themes of transience, poverty, loneliness, violence, familial duty, masculinity, otherness, american protestantism, horror, humanity, and monstrosity. i dont think that it’s Wrong to take away the monster hunting as an element in the story, but i DO think it would be bad storytelling to do so bc the fact is that these characters w these personalities wouldnt EXIST without a few VERY crucial plot points/themes. and thats a GOOD thing!! say what u will abt the writers (and i do. i do) but the early seasons do an EXCELLENT job of building characters who are inseparable from their stories, characters whose every action is reflective of the Story itself in a bigger sense, characters who are interesting because of the way that they’re used to tell that bigger Story. there’s a sense of cohesiveness between character and theme and narrative, and removing one of these aspects would lessen the other two. that is the mark of good storytelling (that, in my opinion, distinguishes seasons 1 and MAYBE 2 from all the rest; although funnily enough i think castiel’s arc in s4 is the best example of what im talking about outside of s1-2. but anyways).

without these crucial themes and narratives, who ARE sam and dean? why do they even matter? what’s the value of them as characters? aus that strip away all those VERY important themes and plot points strip away the actual artistic value of the characters, and reduces them to objects of the audience’s emotional whims. the only reason u have any affection for these characters in aus is because you know and understand the source material, and you remember why those characters STARTED to matter to u in the first place. this is something that happens in a lot of fanfiction i think: the most essential themes of the original work are ignored for the sake of emotionally expedient scenarios where both writer and reader can clock out of having to do a bigger analysis of the story and just focus on, for example, a certain ship getting together and/or having sex, or a certain character getting a happy ending. and like i wont deny that theyre fun to read! they are essentially transplanting already-developed characters from their already-developed stories into a new fun scenario without the themes and narratives that actually made the characters compelling. and sure, sometimes a truly good author offers us a compelling new set of themes and narratives, ones that are interesting and make us think, but i’d argue that the characters in those rare good fics are 1. not...really the same characters from the show, since the story they’re in has been so completely transformed 2. basically shortcuts for the author to cut their teeth on writing original fiction. in any case, a vast majority of fics that remove the themes and narratives of the original story DONT offer a truly satisfying replacement, so the point is almost moot.

my answer, in short, is that aus without monster hunting destroy the character-theme-narrative cohesion that all good stories require, and by extension doesn’t require either author or reader to think critically about the story as a whole. you know that joke that goes around about supernatural just being a crate full of toys that we’re all sitting around and playing barbie dolls with? that is what the fics ur talking about basically are. it isn’t seriously engaging with a story as a piece of art, it’s grabbing a few barbies from a box and putting them in different clothes. and i think the fact that supernatural does fall apart both thematically and narratively so early in its incredibly long runtime is what allows people to treat it as a box of dolls, because most of the time it seems like the writers themselves treat the show as a box of dolls instead of a story that deserves respect and care and thought. so i actually do understand the urge to play with the barbies, so to speak, and to a certain extent i dont even think it’s a bad thing. but i DO think that sometimes, especially online, ESPECIALLY with a show like this where the lines between genuine engagement with the text and playing barbie dolls gets so blurred, people actually start to lose track of which is which, and THATS what irritates me. people start to view the ENTIRE STORY as just a way to see their personal favorite character do what they want that character to do. the character (and their emotional attachment to said character) becomes the whole reason for the story, instead of the story being the reason for the characters. playing barbie dolls is fine! but it DOES need to be balanced out with actual engagement, with literary analysis, with criticism if the story needs it (and my GOD does supernatural need criticism!), and there needs to be an understanding of the difference between genuine analysis and personal loyalty to a character. 

like, not to be a snob or anything, but it is important to engage truthfully and fairly with a text. things arent good just because you want them to be good, and stories can only offer you genuine satisfaction and critical/artistic growth if you truly engage with them. engaging with supernatural means thinking/writing about monsters and the Other, and to remove monstrosity as a theme and narrative hollows out the story completely.

[sirjustice259-blog]

The Brick of many cities fall

I know how to dance, as 1 woman was caught saying she hates kebi kiddish dance, dancing like kangaroo, women its just this way like, kinda, on his tip toe and the hands swinging on air. Najua kudance danshi- Read between the lines bro

Port of Mombasa will be no more cause it serves the hinterland like Uganda, Congo, Rwanda and Burundi, where such goods as machine parts heavy, phones, Home appliances and farming machines including fertilizer forms the bulk of imports as well as electric accessories like bulbs and switches which if every nation has learnt to make the same such exports and imports atrophies as Uganda exports are mined minerals like copper to China and Japan which know they know how to make artificially and including soda ash and gold. So it can handle like 10% of the originally handle goods as same to its profit portfolio to cut on jobs on port and on trucks carrying such to reduce driver and off-loading crew jobs. Mombasa and coast will be no-more bearing the fact of E-cargo drone explained below. As those nations who will have the day are of few population when they have learnt to make what they used not produce

Moch and Mag kikamaki, nisikushike, let me not caught u up, u will get to know me, i have given ya 1/10 and even Robinson and Minaj, i will be looking at ya with 1 eye wide opened while my thing not out, will be out as only 1 inch out of the 15 Cm whole part as vigorously i will be on ya top like the needle bar of charani b4 i get out altogether, changing my twist as reaching 4 places u know not as hitting this side and that side as the pussy corners, down and up parts b4 i change my mind and hit the middle now almost removing the whole my thing but not yet, until i hurl my thick lower saliva into ya thing- thup thup thup yaani mala tatu to rest on ya until u push me away all my back and booty laden not with moisture but sweet to affirm i have missed such a thing with ya. Girl cheers as we will be giving into cry as if a hen cut on the throat 1st given chance to do the same awaiting full metamorphosis of such process above

Kinda, when all dubious ways to every nation is blocked and reality surface so they dont continue doing their absurdities like with Kid/mother DNA results, you see a hand of some1 like kebi trying to push the likes of rude dignitaries like Trumputin, may, obama and any fellow doing the same as above to stop or stay away when nearing a cliff lest they fall and die or break their appendages. This signal Russia saying they got big land to bar other dubious nations from reaching the same to below the earth crust to destroy it or use it against humanity as explained below and they have to cheat the world with circumnavigation history to delude them not to undertake such motives as keep them in the dark as well as with they could dig oil and hell lands from below to bring us repercussions as now we know but alas the dredger is handy, can do that even in their lands to reach yours but luck we are we got the WiFi camera and cabled camera to check the same. So they must stop as the link of this song guide us dude

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QF2KMl5q3jI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IVQUS1SqPvM

Houses and premises above that can be targeted as well can have the above cameras below the crust at a fee or b4 building the same, u place alarm wires and high electric or alarm system that if the metallic shaft of the dredger touches sound the alarm to alert u of such activities bellow ya business or home to let the intruder know that now they are off guard with their Jew/Egyptian thing dude.To signal defeat and acceptance to let every1 live the way they wanna. As well as u see 1 pick op a knife or cocking up a gun when they have refused to hearken in an argument like u cant eat in my house as a grown up 4rever as they marshal up against ya as their Safcom hope now dashed as Ghana got their hub-tell which soon every nation like Nigeria, Uganda, Tanzania, SA, Rwanda, will soon talk to the Devil and make their own synonymous with their smartphones, motorbikes, cars and pay Tv as well as internet, meaning the profit of Safcom from those nations will decrease dramatically to reduce their profitability and thus the hiccup and relent to the free-loving things like trukana blooded.

Another they say they are Norwegian as Norwegian economy is at stake as artificial cooking gas has been explained how to be made so such customers will buy theirs as much as artificial fish to those who eat such not frequently as their eating habits monitored per customers, perpetual buyers given the caught 1 cause they can complain of bad teeth to stop buying to cut on their profits synonymous with hot made artificial tea. Dude got to be wide minded and accept people to know about this rather u will tell the world nothing as this is not out of despising people as many do. They are late in the exam yet want to pass as much as u ought to, the white-men, wamechelewa yuaani kumenuka bro, fya, In-fact in SA they are told Canada still big they can go to bro and those few black under the same threat or Australia dude

Tongue tied as MoMo Nigeria mobile money in the link below if Kenyan Safcom was opting 4 that, got to think twice as well as Senegalese owned 1 and all African nations with Mobile money platform or presences as well in the down most link

https://www.africanews.com/2019/08/29/mtn-nigeria-officially-launches-mobile-money-operations//

https://www.fintechfutures.com/2020/04/free-senegal-migrates-to-comviva-to-boost-mobile-money-offering/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/African_MobileMoney

Can i get to a cyber and pay like 2 dimes so they open 4 me a tumblr a/c with guessed email more than 40 characters and provide known password so if i place the truths of sirjustice199 and logs off, instead of coming to me to disturb that u wanna delete, that fellow who did that is at liberty to do the same as he has the password and email to open from the 1 given above. I just copy paste in his vicinity to pass a message home of what do you want with me as the shaft that can cut across the earth is handy with the areas the building falls like banks, supermarkets, homes below got WiFi camera to monitor the dubious act u are championing while the bank itself atrophies as handy with the phones that u can swipe cards and pay online as cash can just be imaginary points as moneys inside ya bank whereas in reality the same liquid cash exists not to bar fully the dubious act of getting to bank floors to still at nigh using the dredger explained above

Some say with artificial cooking oil elongating ya back head as kisogo, u can use the deep birth cream/shampoo if u got money to return it back, a gimmick to create markets 4 such with Britain explained how they make such using cut flowers b4 selling them back again to countries where they bought the raw material from priding themselves to be rich synonymous with garbage collected cereals gimmicks explained below. Rather go 4 the grain and make ya own oil as even displayed in the chain-store can have like 10% of the artificial 1 which if bought en-mass also just forms much dubious profits facilitating vices explained above in sirjustice199. Rather go 4 the mini-oil crusher machine and buy the grain straight from the market dude as in the link below

https://www.google.com/search?source=univ&tbm=isch&q=deep+birth+bathing+shampoo+bottle+imagesimages&client=opera&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjl5IX_2I_qAhU67uAKHVZ_DOYQsAR6BAgJEAE&biw=984&bih=658

https://wuhanhdc.en.made-in-china.com/product/ljvnBFHMMLWk/China-New-Condition-and-Low-Price-Oil-Press-Machine-in-Pakistan-Vegetable-Oil-Extract-Press.html

The saucer described in the tumblr just mentioned above can posses the long cylindrical siren gas cylinder on its outside bars that hold the roof and the floor not horizontally placed below its as previously mention to maximize its speed and so it creates a wider surface area of stability as opposed to the former suggested case dude. Each gas bar is heated individually as it has its own motor pump of equal magnitude as the other pumps of remaining gas bar cylinders as much as heating of equal intensity to create that balance in site when it flies or to be at balance/equilibrium. Got to know this, don’t just be involved in empty talks of wanting to control others not knowing shit when u talk u injure their hearts synonymous with Tanzania people.

The dredger explained above cutting holes across the earth surface from up above to the outer crust below, can be of 2 types of rotating shaft or like back and forth dimension as with the sewing machine needle bar system where 4 the water or debris not to get into the greased bearings and parts a hard bladder is incorporated to hold on the sewer machine needle bar holder and the other part fixes on the dredger itself to create an airtight/water tight atmosphere 4 the mention above not get in to hamper its operation. Road to emus, ten minas parable to cement reality of the 1st type of drill and women with Barnabas to cement the truths of back and forth movement synonymous with the sewer machine needle bar made like

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sewing_machine

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/501518108477618663/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8kZmWegXRc

The bladder named above can resemble the 1 on the motor-vehicle tire as shown above with looks like coiled spring or duodenum of animals so u get it bro, what else/more can i say as to explain it to bring ya home.

In the below link, the switch can be extend or push and pull 4 how many bulb option set u have bought at different prices or rotate the bulb itself switch to alternate set of bulbs placed inside can even be of different colors, static other sets while others disco lights withing 1 bulb and of different color lights. With us technology is rough home to stay with us not as long ago on voyage, kinda. Let us simplify our lives dude 4 better living bro as pride don’t form part of us as previously the know nothing wanted to control the masses with nothing hand but the blocked dubious deals making them to loiter around like hit with stone hawks locating, kinda, Doctors, which they will find not.

Switch option 4 many inside 1 bulb light to last long even up-to 5 on the bulb edge as in the below link    

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/SMD2835-5W-E27-B22-LED-led_60255236560.html?spm=a2700.pcdrm.normalList.37.314eFLKlFLKl37

Check Ghana home appliances KNY and mobile money new technology in the link below, Hubtel money not as usually agree safcom money

https://hubtel.com/tag/mobile-money/

https://www.google.com/search?q=kny+ghana+electronics+images+images&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwi72Jio5I_qAhVLwoUKHcmOAs0Q2-cCegQIABAA&oq=kny+ghana+electronics+images+images&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQA1Dd-gZYyqwHYKKuB2gAcAB4AIAB0gKIAcQkkgEIMC4xOS40LjGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZw&sclient=img&ei=GK_tXrvsOMuElwTJnYroDA&bih=658&biw=984&client=opera

With swipe phone payment option meaning banks are facing their dead end together, so workers take heed cause now u r deem futile with other jobs, or we will hurl stones at ya

Water Guard if u buy, once opened if u use the next time, though still much, it does not work much forcing ya to buy a new bottle from somewhere hoping the reverse but the same, i know not if an old gimmick to get extra-cash from people as they have became open thieves.

[youve-doomed-us-all-jerk]

while stuck at grandmas house in the country with no internet for 2 days I had been able to watch 2 eps of the witcher and i am diggin it as fuck

ep 1:

Like that they went with the renfri story first that was one of the short stories i remembered best when i was binge reading before the show starts lmao

they did the story really good imo, I think the biggest differences I could tell was the removal of the alderman and replaced with his “daughter” who pretty much had the exact same amount of story and said his line at the end, another difference was that renfri and geralt boned in a house instead of the woods and some of her kind of convoluted backstory was cut lmao oh and him taking her broach and putting it on his sword which is nice, makes her death mean more than the short story did for her.

liked hearing the script lifted directly from the books lines!

another difference was the geralt telling roach about his early days which was in a different story and he was telling someone else im p sure, but it was p smart using it here it sets up the expectation of his character for the series, deep down way deep in another fantasy story he’d be a classical hero, banter and all but he’s in this one and has/had to adapt.

fuck that sword scene was so fuckin sexy tho oh my god, knowing henry did all his own stunts too just gave me shivers

anyway yeah lovin henry as geralt

ending was as sad as the book :(

ep 2:

fun fact i didnt know who jaskier was cuz apparently thats his polish name lmao the english books i read always said his name was dandelion

lmao “did your mother fuck a goat”

like this goatman

dont remember this story super well but i do know it was rushed, but that wasnt a problem to me since that story was meant to show the lives/struggles and anger of the native magic folk towards the human colonizers, and ciri and yens sides of the story explored those just as well as the book (surprise im not a source material purist lmao)

toss a coin to your witcher was catchy

elf: *gives jaskier a new lute* jaskier: :) jaskier: 🎶 he thrust every elf far back on the shelf 🎶

I am quite interested in these origins they’re giving ciri and yen since the books were always from geralts pov so I never got to see these when reading the first 2 books

goatman looks good design wise, elves are kinds just generic pointy ears but i can live with it

[wreckham]

i didnt talk about the lion king remake after i saw it but i feel the need to do so

i watched it a while after i was released from the icu becus i refused to die without having seen it in theaters so this was sometime in july

under a cut for length, would love to discuss with anyone else who’s seen it

it was a lot better then i expected, but i kinda expected something unjustifiably bad so........... but funnily enough, despite the film being 2 hours long what the fuck, it expanded on the canon about none%. stuff was lengthened or made more needlessly complex, but it wasn’t changed. bummed me out, kinda wished they’d elaborated on more stuff or borrowed from other material like the musical. feels like a missed opportunity to integrate some powerful moments like They Live In You and confirming simba has ptsd when one of his gay dads goes over a waterfall

it was good becus it was the lion king, tho. like the lion king is just a good movie, its got a good story and everyone knows it. the cgi was breathtaking, but i agree with the crit that just increasing the saturation would’ve made everything pop. a lotta the concept art shows this awareness of how the intensity of color sets the tone, not just the environment, and i wish the film looked more like that.

everyone’s bitched for 50 years about how the animals don’t emote like people, and i’ll give them this: for the most part it didn’t really impact my viewing experience, HOWEVER there were certain times during the film where the total lack of anthropomorphism in their expressions and behaviors made it hard to empathize with the characters. like when mufasa dies and simba is crying, there’s a sharp, almost unsettling juxtaposition between the child actor realistically weeping and the cgi lion his voice is imposed on being an expressionless animal. like i get wanting to avoid an uncanny or unrealistic feel from putting human expressions on the animals, but in striving to avoid that they accidentally made the animals creepy anyway. sometimes it works sometimes it dont idk

also everything felt heavy handed in making the movie seem darker and More Mature(tm) or whatever. a lot of the jokes were removed. the hyenas are no longer comic relief, but they also don’t get basically any development so they have no personalities at all now. there’s not much whimsy to the cubs running around with baby animals as simba sings about how he can’t wait til his dad bites it. and none of this is done in a super clever way that examines the original or deconstructs it, it just takes the same exact story and makes everything more grim and humorless and sometimes stupid. like i did NOT cry at the stampede scene, which has never failed to get me misty eyed, and its becus of the heavy handed surrealness. almost made me laugh tbh. some little kid in the theater DID say “oh no where’s simba’s dad??” right after the fact tho so im glad this film still gives kiddies their first taste of death lol

but i did like certain things. the voice acting and singing, when neither were being phoned in or were from ppl who cant act cough cough beyonce, were very good. timon and pumbaa’s expansion was actually very clever, i love that they realized that hakunnah matatta might actually have consequences on others. really stole the show. i liked edgelord scar, like if ur gonna take away his flamboyant fun side you damn well better make him a tortured little sociopath. the art direction was amazing, and there was a heavy feeling of nostalgic appreciation in the air from We Millennials 

i think that the entire film was a missed opportunity, all in all. it feels very much like they nitpicked and changed stuff that nobody gave a shit about instead of actually making sense of the source material or adjusting it so the ideas presented in it are fresh and new (are we ever gonna settle the race relations thing with the hyenas??? no becus accidentally inventing racism among animals is too heavy for disney to ever wanna deal with). even if it didn’t wanna present something New(tm) it coulda done something new in the realm of the movie. i asserted after viewing it and i assert now that if they’d borrowed more, if not everything, from the musical then the remake could’ve still managed to justify its existence, but that never came to be

so basically i would recommend seeing it but if u wanna pirate it i don’t think anyone would fault u lol. didn’t blow me away as a lifelong fan of the franchise but its relatively harmless and bland in comparison to what it coulda been. maybe in another 20 years when they inevitably recycle it again they’ll do it right

i want the uglyass merch tho i REALLY want the uglyass merch

[ellawritesficssometimes]

Q & A

Do you have a theory on Germania? It seems weird that Rome is still his friend in heaven if he did kill him. Also Himaruya wrote something along the lines "it's 'believed' he killed Rome" so... he didn't really kill him?? Also he says they're friends, but later says they hate each other, with Persia and Germania being all buddy-buddy taunting Rome. And why is he Prussia and Germany's dad when Rome is a grandfather?

-  Yes, it is weird. You are right that the matter of whether Germania really did deliver a fatal blow to Rome is left open-ended. It’s neither a yes or a no.

- That’s also true. His character notes do tend to contradict each other. I covered this more in detail in my characterization post of Rome, although that was written after you sent in this ask 😊 [x]. 

- That last question isn’t necessarily true. The relations between them is incredibly wonky. Germania’s referred to as both the father and grandfather of Germany in different pieces of canon material. Search Hetarchive’s profile of Germania. 

Image: Grandpa Rome’s Visit Home, Hetarchive. 

I genuinely learn so much more about the manga after you analyze it and uncover those hidden messages that have been embedded into Hetalia <3 Any chance you know a little something about India and/or Thailand? Thanks anyway!

I’m glad! 

I do know some things and anyone can too if they search the relevant character tags on the English translation of Bamboo Thicket, provided by Hetarchive! (ah geez, I sound like a telemarketer...)

Not all information can be found on the blog, though! 

Just for fun, here’s one fact each. 

India: He has considerable stamina.

Source: Halloween 2011 Event, Hetarchive. 

Thailand: He’s somewhere around 22 years old according to Himaruya.

Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Nov 26th, 2010). 

I got a question about the U.S. states. I know they are not officially canon, that's not what I wanted to ask. In the sketch Hima showed what they'd be like, am I mistaken or did he confirm that they would not be America's children but his relatives, like Germany's states? And that they were all male (brothers I think the state shown said)? I may be wrong though, it's been awhile since I seen it, but my friend got into it with me over whether it disproved the whole his children thing.

Note: Originally in my State-talia post, I accidentally cropped and posted an image from the question below in the same Q & A where Himaruya created a hypothetical dialogue with the states. Nothing about the information I gave or said was incorrect (again, total accident and you can verify in the initial reblogs to see that I haven’t changed what I said), but the image was misleading (it had to do with computer programs/software being personified). Still not sure how that managed to slip past me [x]. 

Anyways, no. They’re not personified. We got a dialogue of what it would be like if they existed. There is no confirmation of their relation. All we know hypothetically is that while some possess “mixed feelings,” they still “love America very much.”

Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., Jan 10, 2015). 

Tbh, I don’t even know where to start with this lol. This blog is pretty much dedicated to proving that whole assertion, so I would recommend checking out my post directory :)

People have yelled at me before for me asking for them only to give me proof for things, since i dont believe just from someones word. No one ever wants to give proof and gets angry from me not wanting to believe them until I get proof. So I'll ask you, does Belgium have a cannon nyo? And does France have a canon mother (Gaul i think it was)?

I’d suggest removing those people from your life. If they can’t respect you, then they’re not worth your time.

Belgium has a canon nyo. Just remember that the nyos that have made appearances in the manga don’t exist in the same world. There is no canon Gaul. While it’s still not canon, Himaruya has pondered over the idea of the Kingdom of the Franks being a parental figure to France.

Source: Hetarchive (Bamboo Thicket, eng trans., April 1rst, 2011 + May 6th, 2008). 

[so-shiny-so-chrome]

Witness: Supergirrl

Creator name (AO3): supergirrl

Creator name (Tumblr): le-temps-viendra36

Link to creator works:  https://archiveofourown.org/series/343042

Q: Why the Mad Max Fandom?

A: I’ve never seen the original three movies, so I went into Fury Road having no idea what I was about to watch, and it changed my life. I’d never seen a movie that looked or felt like Fury Road, and it blew my mind. What inspired me to write fanfiction for the movie were the women, especially the sisters. I had never seen survivors of sexual assault/domestic violence portrayed in that way, and it made me want to write about them.

Q: What do you think are some defining aspects of your work? Do you have a style? Recurrent themes?

A: I think the defining aspects and recurrent themes of my work are feminism and magical realism/mythical steampunk, and the intersection of those different ideas. Those ideas are all present in Fury Road, I try to delve into them more and expand them beyond the scope of the film. 

Q: Which of your works was the most fun to create? The most difficult? Which is your most popular? Most successful? Your favourite overall?

A: I don’t know if I can pick a favorite work or one that was most fun, because they’ve all been really rewarding in different ways, but the most difficult one was definitely the Furiosa chapter of Our Words. It took almost two years to write because I really struggled with getting inside Furiosa’s head. Even though I enjoy her a lot as a character, I don’t relate to her the way I do to the sisters. Although they’re all victims of Joe, they occupy very different roles in his regime, with Furiosa occupying a more conventionally ‘masculine’ role as an imperator and the sisters occupying the ‘feminine’ role of breeders/wives, thought they ultimately use their different positions within Joe’s patriarchal hierarchy to overthrow and kill him. As a more conventionally ‘feminine’ person, I relate to them more strongly than I do to Furiosa. 

Q: How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why?How do you like your wasteland? Gritty? Hopeful? Campy? Soft? Why? 

A: I think my wasteland is a blend of gritty, soft, and hopeful, but I focus on the hopefulness the most. For me, the wasteland represents our current world and my own mental health/life, and I have to believe that we can make things better (as they ultimately do in the movie).

Q: Walk us through your creative process from idea to finished product. What's your prefered environment for creating? How do you get through rough patches?

A: I either write things in one intense late night writing fest, or in bits and pieces over time. I only write when I’m alone, and I like to either have instrumental music playing or silence. 

Q: What (if any) music do you listen to for help getting those creative juices flowing?

A: I have a huuuuge long playlist of music that goes with/inspired each part of Words, composed mainly of film and TV scores, that I listen to whenever I write.

Q: What is your biggest challenge as a creator?

A: Finding the time/energy to actually write my fics down. I think about them all the time throughout the day, I am just really bad at actually physically typing them. 

Q: How have you grown as a creator through your participation in the Mad Max Fandom? How has your work changed? Have you learned anything about yourself?

A: I think my work has gotten weirder and more magical/mythical, because I’ve been inspired by the inherently weird, quasi-magical world of Fury Road, and writing Fury Road fic has helped me work through my own experiences as an SA survivor.

Q: Which character do you relate to the most, and how does that affect your approach to that character? Is someone else your favourite to portray? How has your understanding of these characters grown through portraying them?

A: I relate to all five of the sisters in different ways, but especially to Toast. Overall it makes writing her (and Angharad and Cheedo, who I also relate to very strongly) easy and fun. I think I’ve come to see that their different archetypes aren’t mutually exclusive-in their own ways, they’re all knowing and fragile and capable, and so on. 

Q: Do you ever self-insert, even accidentally?

A: Yes, I definitely project some of my own thoughts and experiences onto the Sisters, especially with regards to their being survivors of sexual assault. But I think that it’s impossible to completely remove yourself from your writing/characters.

Q: Do you have any favourite relationships to portray? What interests you about them?

A: So many! I really love the relationships of the five sisters, with each other in particular but also other characters, like Furiosa, Max, and Nux. I think their unique personalities, their strong bonds with each other, and their dynamic is endlessly fascinating. 

Q: How does your work for the fandom change how you look at the source material?

A: I definitely pay closer attention to minor details, like how the characters’ clothing changes throughout the movie, and what characters are doing in the background, because it’s such a detailed world and there’s a lot you can pick up on in those little things. 

Q: Do you prefer to create in one defined chronology or do your works stand alone? Why or why not?

A: My series Words consists of several multi-chapter fics and oneshots that all exist in the same chronology, but I also have some oneshots that stand alone. Overall I prefer to write in the Words universe because it feels more real and detailed to me. 

Q: To break or not to break canon? Why?

A: I break canon all the time and I think it’s generally a good thing. For me, I’m usually doing it because I want to tell a story that fits into the broader themes of Fury Road without necessarily aligning with all the specific facts of the film. 

Q: Share some headcanons.

A: I have so many! Most are in my fics, but one that I’ve never had the chance to incorporate into my writing is that Miss Giddy used stolen War Boy paint to write the words left in the Vault for Joe to find.  

Q: What are some works by other creators inside and outside of the fandom that have influenced your work?

A: Within the fandom, @jaesauce’s modern AUs have definitely influenced how I write Toast and Capable, both as individuals and in the context of their relationship with each other and with Slit and Nux respectively. Outside the fandom, I’ve been really strongly influenced by Jo Graham’s Numinous World series, with its themes of magic, the divine, and social justice.  

Q: What advice can you give someone who is struggling to make their own works more interesting, compelling, cohesive, etc.? 

A: It sounds a little trite, but in my mind, ultimately fanfiction is for yourself. If other people like it, then great, but that isn’t my purpose in writing it. So I write what I find interesting and compelling, and sometimes other people are interested and sometimes they aren’t, but it’s okay either way. As for maintaining internal cohesion, I find it helpful to re-read what I’ve previously written to make sure I haven’t forgotten anything. 

Q: Have you visited or do you plan to visit Australia, Wasteland Weekend, or other Mad Max place?

A: I have not yet, I would like to visit Australia someday, and I think the Wasteland Weekend would be really fun to attend one year.

Q: Tell us about a current WIP or planned project.

A: Right now I’m just working on Knowing, the last fic planned in the Words universe, set from Toast’s POV. I’ve got it all worked out in my head, I just need to get it on the page!

Thank you @le-temps-viendra36

[ghostantine]

OKAY SO THE ANIMATION MOVIE!

Right so I pretty much loved it??

this here now is quite a detailed take on it cos i guess i’ve talked back and forth about it so much i need give a conclusion

First of all: the set up, that also was the first eps that dropped on cw seed, is pretty much the weakest part of the film in my opinion. also for the film they got bit beefed up with other surrounding world and mood building stuff which helped.

So! Does it live up to the comic? well... yes and no. it has the wireframe of All His Engines but it does divert from it a lot. Most of the diversions are to cater to a certain idea, establishing the Hellblazer universe and tying into material people who know the motion work know. It’s not necessarily a bad thing tho, quite the contrary at one part or another: there is one plot twist early on that might actually be slightly more interesting than All His Engines had. The adaptation of the story clearly aims to bring more insight to Hellblazer as whole rather than adapting AHE, which im not opposed to at all if done well (originally i was really surprised by the choice of AHE to begin with). Unfortunately in some key parts of John’s history as well as key parts of AHE plot, this falls flat and dilutes some potential outcomes. Where it does live up to the comic tho is obviously the basis of the plot but also has very much the vibe and style of the comic (interesting as the art actually is very different and not to my taste). The comic clearly served as a platform to build this story from and they were very respectful for it as a source. They also took off some little off-character and off-canon things the comic originally had, altho on the other hand they did change and remove bits of AHE that were important for that storyline and suspense of it. There is a twist at the end that arguably, in it’s essence, is even more All His Engines than the comic actually was.

How it stands with Constantine Episode 10, Quid pour Quo? Well it’s quite at the similar place as ep10 and comic. I think the animation has more of the vibe of the comic while the liveaction follows the storyline more closely. The animation makes some huge diversions of the Hellblazer canon which i get to later on while Ep 10 sticks very much to the comic established histories of the characters and to execute the 2/3 of the AHE plot in the episode. I think personally that the comic still manages to be the most interesting of these three and the motion ones are tied at very close second place. Mostly cos the animation fucked up at places and the comic edges up by having amazing lines no one bothered to include.

There is a lot i really loved. In general the whole thing’s actually pretty great? I might need to actually rewatch the whole thing without pausing every 5 mins to write down thoughts or tumblr posts haha. I think it held itself together and someone not so emerged into the comics wont even be bothered by the things i find annoying.  It has a much of a noire theme like original comic did and is something i absolutely love. the other thing i did love was that it wasnt taking itself too seriously either and was very much funny when it needed to be and also when things were just so over the top. Just like Hellblazer is, that is very much a Hellblazer approach in tone. I did love the ‘party’ scene so much, it made me so happy in all it’s ridiculousness and how it was right down to the tee my interests ahah. There was couple non-comic plot twists I didnt even think to wait for and i did love some and appreciate others. John was very much in character, probably the most since Constantine, at least in live action, maybe even in comics. I did also really love how people reacted to him cos that’s another people get wrong a lot. He was called out for being a fucking idiot and a bad person but still getting appreciation and interest from his peers and demons trying to fuck him up. All the time they stuck to All His Engines as a reference point it was as good as it gets with these things. Loved Asa the Nightmare Nurse so much! She was cool! Also John got thrown around and had his ass kicked I also like that a lot like all you know. Those little inner demon gremlins were cute too i love them

Obviously there are some problems and things im gonna nitpick next. I’ve talked to an extent about the whole Newcastle thing being SO WRONG and how it could’ve been done right... or at least less wrong. I think on my first watch i initially said i don’t care that much but the more i thought about it and now that i watched it again.... i don’t like it. not one bit. I did also initially say I’m not bothered by the fact that ‘Chas’ in this is actually like Chas and Gary and couple other Newcastle people merged together but... in the end that bothers me too. I would be less bothered if these actually served the plot but they dont. AHE doesnt have these and it still works. You dont need “DEEP WHOLE LIFE OF FRIENDSHIP AND SHARED TRAGEDY” to make a mens’ friendship meaningful, that’s just toxic masculinity. Honestly as much as i love Newcastle as a plot and them introducing Nergal to the mix here worked, i dont think the whole 10-15 mins of botching it was worth it. Either do it well or leave it as a vague thing. One other big thing that always bothers me is the magic stuff. While this did try from time to time to have John just draw symbols, bleed a bit and chant some shit to call up some bigger magical entity, it did also make John do some glowy hands magic shit and referred to him as gifted or some other bs. That’s STILL just WRONG. Why is it so hard for these people to understand? HNGH. There was also some dumb bits here and there like John driving which annoys me so much. The end im not quite sure how to feel about but it’s also VERY MUCH AHE (to the vibe of it, not the actual end of AHE). I still dont like the art and i think they are dumb for the whole “London Hospital” thing, tho I’m mostly just amused by that. They did change some stuff from AHE which i thought was really cool on AHE so that kinda bugged me a bit. Not going too much into the details but it’s the usual diluting of comics plot twists. One big thing for me tho was the lack of a clear “trial and error” plot which is the key part of the comic’s plot structure and also was very much present in the Constantine episode but was missing from the movie. The movie on the other hand followed a different Hellblazer plot structure where “John has an absolute solution which has a huge cost but wont use it until the end”. They gave Chas’ sex scene to John which is a bit unfair. Also the lack of lines like “we bend down and think of England” and John’s joke about skull being a bad condom cos it’s got holes is a huge loss on it’s own too.

And against JLD movie? I do like this way better. Not gonna get to too many details here but this obviously is a Hellblazer based thing and not DC/N52 thing. Ofc this one has bit more canon fuck ups cos it tried to get to so many things but as a whole i think it’s better than JLD and a good adaptation of All His Engines.

tldr; it’s a great little movie and very much enjoyable. it has some obvious flaws but keeps up to the comic vibe, characterisation and plot.

Also let john say fuck 2k18

[dawnajaynes32]

If You Really Like What You Create, It Will Sell

Sponsored by Adobe

Becoming a Freelance Stock Contributor

With every other creative career option at her fingertips, versatile Milwaukee-based graphic designer and illustrator Diane Murphy ultimately chose becoming a freelance stock contributor.

With a B.A. in fine arts from Carroll University, a private liberal arts institution in Waukesha, WI, Murphy has been an art teacher, a portrait photographer, a children’s clothing and giftware designer, a muralist, and an all-around freelancer doing logos, print collateral and apparel. She spent thirteen years designing large-scale graphics and signage for a Milwaukee interior design-build company that serves restaurant, educational and retail clients. After breaking out on her own in 2008, she became a self-styled “vector dynamo” who as “TeddyandMia” now makes two-thirds of her income from stock licensing and one-third from freelance design directly for clients, many of whom first saw and bought her work on stock sites. Murphy is one of Adobe Stock’s best-selling vector illustrators, and I was delighted to have this Q&A with her on behalf of HOWdesign.com.

Q: Diane, you’ve done many prestigious projects, including wall graphics for schools and fast-food restaurants, and logos and packaging for clients all around the country. What got you interested in becoming an Adobe Stock contributor?

A: When I worked at the interior design firm, although I love kids and schools, I sometimes got frustrated with the limitations in subject matter, so in the evenings I started illustrating other subjects that interested me. When I felt confident enough, I tried 99designs and had great success with logo design competitions. I then branched out more and applied to stock sites. I only draw what interests me now. Lots of retro themes, logo designs, holidays, font sets, and midcentury style patterns are some of my favs. I quit my full-time job when I felt confident enough I could make a living as a stock artist and freelancer.

Your screen name is TeddyandMia. Some artists want to be off the radar as a stock contributors because it’s a side gig to their full-time employment. I know that’s not your case. But is there a real Teddy and Mia? Do you have a partner?

It’s really just sentimental. And just me. No partner. Teddy and Mia were my Pomeranians’ names. And those names just seemed to fit. My work is lighthearted and all over the place, just like the dogs.

How did you learn what kind of images would be most saleable?

If you follow themes and styles of other contributions that are selling well, it won’t be satisfying. I don’t pay attention to the tab that sorts by “popularity.” I’m not interested in drawing icon sets or landing pages, one after another. And I don’t like flashy, techie gradients. I prefer flat colors, simple textures, and simple compositions. Less is more. If I really like what I create, it will sell.

What percentage of your income comes from stock?

I started in 2008, and now about two-thirds of my income comes from stock. The other income comes from several good, reliable clients. I also have a contract position with another stock company as a vector reviewer; I inspect files for technical and esthetic quality, and send them back if they don’t meet the qualifications so the artists can make corrections and resubmit.

That shows how really good you are. We love your fruit and vegetable backgrounds reminiscent of Herman Miller picnic posters from the ’70s. And your USA state travel posters. And the license plates and psychedelic backgrounds and all your midcentury modern stuff. You are incredibly versatile. Do you recommend that contributors offer a whole range of styles?

Versatility has always been part of my plan, and I definitely recommend it for others. I love trying new styles, and it always keeps it interesting. For example, the travel posters. Growing up, my family took many road trips around the county. I’m very nostalgic and started the poster series as a personal challenge. I’ve sold many extended licenses of those.

Do you also upload to other stock sources, like iStock or Shutterstock? If so, is working with Adobe in any way different or superior?

I upload to the all the major sites and a couple of smaller ones as well. My sales have noticeably increased since the Adobe took over Fotolia. That gives me incentive to keep up on new submissions and continuously offer different and new vectors. With some of the other sites, my sales go up more slowly.

What’s your favorite stock success story? For example, one illustrator made a series of simple borders that have been downloaded more than 10,000 times. Others have gotten large freelance commissions because a buyer loved their style and approach. What have you experienced that’s especially noteworthy?

I recently started working with a Vermont candle company, Aunt Sadies, Inc., that uses my state poster images on their candle canisters. I’m negotiating to create original designs for them in the future. A nonprofit organization liked my ’60s psychedelic-style images, like my Earth Day posters, and I’ve been creating posters and other print materials for them ever since.

Our readers are especially interested in “tips and tricks,” especially for people who’ve never thought about making their work available through stock sites. What do those illustrators need to know? For example, how often do you upload? How many images at a time?

I try to upload 20 to 30 images every month. I work on several ideas at a time. That way, when I’m stuck spinning my wheels on one image, I can put it aside and work on another. After a break, I go back to the first one with a fresh perspective and can move forward. It’s important to avoid frustration—and you have to to have faith in yourself that the answer is within you. Be patient until it comes to you.

How many vectors or illustrations need to be in your library for the effort and the income to pay off?

I started by uploading maybe 20 images, and on the third day online I made $11. I was ecstatic. As time went by I added more and more, and when I got to around 400 I consistently made a few hundred dollars every month. Certainly not enough to live on, but I was still working at the interior design firm and my freelance time was limited (but those few hundred extra bucks bought me a lot of shoes). After I left the firm, I worked hard to double my portfolio, and was making $1,500 to $2,000 every month. Adding more stock sites helped. One thing I know for sure, the more you create and upload, the more money you make.

What makes your illustrations stand out among others with similar subject matter?

I think of my images as tools for designers to use. The license plate set not only contains the complete character set, but several examples that show designers how the set looks in different color combinations. One way to stand out is to create a series of coordinating images that create a unified set, like the fruits and veggies. Often buyers will download the whole set. In the card series with the lightbulb numbers, I include the complete set of numbers along with the card design so buyers can easily use any combination of numbers.

How do you prepare the files so they will be the most user-friendly?

I don’t use a lot of fancy gradients, meshes, and complicated tools and patterns. I try to keep layers simple and organized. Buyers most likely have many different skill levels. I make my images are user-friendly for all levels.

What is your biggest piece of advice for a new contributor?

Set aside regular time to draw and develop images. Don’t try to churn out images for quantity. And don’t follow the herd. The world has enough icon sets. Take time to draw what you’re interested in and you will never be bored. You may not make a million dollars, but developing your artistic talents will eventually bring in enough money, and it’s a fantastic journey. Make sure you list your contact info on your portfolio page so future clients can find you.

We hope to once and for all remove the “stigma” from creating and buying/using stock. We’ve found several interesting advertising and marketing campaigns that use stock backgrounds, infographics and logo elements, but the agencies wouldn’t agree to publicizing them. What are your thoughts on this?

The agencies are not going to say they use stock, even if they do. Imagine what the clients would think! The good thing is that they’re using stock, and let’s hope that in time the stigma will recede. I don’t worry about it. Because of online agencies like Adobe, my images are sold the world over. I think that’s pretty cool. They don’t lead to big national accounts, but they do bring me many reliable clients like the candle company, a big carpet cleaning operation, and my favorite, the International Tea Sippers Society.

Thank you for your candid answers, Diane, and Happy New Year!

If you are interested in bringing your illustrations and vectors to a worldwide audience of buyers, sign up to become an Adobe Stock contributor today – it’s free to sign up! A sweet side gig—or possibly an almost-full-time career like Diane Murphy’s—awaits. Sign up now!

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