#yet the main theme was hope and perseverance

[maranull]

anyway, Elden Ring is about love and hope

Marika burns everything she has build out of sorrow

Ranni banishes the Outer Gods and also fucks off the Lands, giving agency back to the normal beings of the Lands

Fortissax endlessly fights Death for his friend/lover

Melina burns herself and Erdtree in hopes of a better world in the hands of the Tarnished

Blaidd fights against the very reason he was created out of love for his sister

Ranni and Rykard always keep an eye on their mother, protecting her

Radahn evokes so much love from his troops that they organise a whole festival to give him a honorable death even in his madness

Radahn learns an entire new school of magic in order to still ride his favourite horse

Boc's love for his mother, his mother's love for him

How all but two endings are build on the hope that this new era (whatever it might be) will be good

Miquella attempting to create an whole new world-tree to host the forsaken and the damned

Miquella turning on the faith he was raised and even believed in to an extent, when it was unable to cure his sister's curse

The Cleanrot's loyalty to Malenia and their endurance of the Rot, only to stay in her service

Malenia marching through the entire continent in search of her brother

Finlay traveling all the way back on her own, carrying the incapacitated demigod on her back

Tanith's love for Rya

Dialos' entire questline

Edgar being driven mad after his daughter dies

Vyke embracing, to a point, the Frenzied Flame in order to save his finger maiden

or you know, that's just how I see it

[kirstynbot]

Media Focus: Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan

When Gaku Kuze's "Life Lessons With Uramichi Oniisan" anime adaptation was announced back in 2019, we were all blissfully unaware of what 2020 had in store for us. After some production issues that prevented the series from airing as planned in 2020, Life Lessons... finally premiered in 2021. It's comedic how coincidental the themes of this series fit with our own world.

To sum the show and overall premise up, Life Lessons... centers around Omota Uramichi (surname first), a 31 year-old ex-gymnast turned children's television show host. Each episode follows the life of Uramichi-Oniisan on set and outside of work, showcasing a duality that many adults find themselves mimicking.

At its core, this show is a painfully funny expression of how many adults feel as they reach their 30s, facing the soul-sucking abyss known as "reality". I think there's a tasteful and a tasteless way to approach morbid humor, and this show is definitely the former.

Uramichi-Oniisan's bleak outlook on life is often paired in contrast with curious and rambunctious children. He isn't completely transparent with his feelings about life in front of the kids, but sometimes, they pick up on his mindset and he grimly agrees with them. Despite his downtrodden work life, he cares deeply about the children and wants to preserve as much of their youthfulness as possible. The supporting cast on this show are great as well. Some characters induce Uramichi-Oniisan's bottled rage to show itself, and some make him realize that they too are also hiding a part of themselves.

I enjoy this show for a few reasons, but relatability is the biggest reason. I'm now a thirty-something year-old woman who shakes my fist at the cult of capitalism from my own rented porch, and I share the same sentiments as the main character. From jokes about back pain and hangovers to sucking up personal feelings in order to get through work, this show feels like it was written by a millennial for a millennial (though I have yet to confirm if this is true since my search turned up nothing on the author's age). Uramichi-Oniisan feels very human, and I feel a sense of hope for him. I hope he continuously finds happiness even when he's at his most cynical.

Another reason why I enjoy this show is for the art style. I think the studio did a great job helping bring the characters to life. Their unique characteristics are defined as well. My favorite character design has to be Kikaku Hanbee. You deserve your flowers for this character alone, Gaku Kuze. I see the outfits you draw these characters in.

I do want to call out that there is only one woman character in the main cast of this show, Tadano Utano. While I appreciate that she isn't being set up with any of the other introduced characters (ever, I hope), it would be nice to not see her as the only woman in this series, and also to have a character story that isn't centered around her love life.

I implore every millennial or older to watch this show, because it really does encapsulate the lived experience of someone who's been on this earth for a few decades and has gone through some shit. Dark humor doesn't take away the heaviness of emotions, but it's nice that each character perseveres through their hardship. In a time where we constantly experience misery, its important to recognize our negative feelings and not let them hold us back from living.

I'll end this with the best ending theme of 2021, "Dream On" by Mamoru Miyano. This song was a perfect ending to each episode because it felt like that breath of fresh air taken after it stops raining.

[thegreatmeanie]

I like the way we are told about Hopper so much from the first seconds we see him in season one ep01. there's some trash and stuff on his table and in it we can see a book. The Old Man and The Sea by Ernest Hemingway.

if you didn't read it and want to know the plot, here its short summary is:

so basically here's what we learn about Hopper with the help of the book:

• "The main theme of The Old Man and the Sea is how perseverance and dignity can help one battle through struggles in life. Religion (or just faith) gives strength to persevere and reminds of the cyclical nature of life"

• Hopper Santiago [main character of the book] is "humble, yet exhibits a justified pride in his abilities. His knowledge of the sea Hawkins and its creatures, and of his craft, is unparalleled and helps him preserve a sense of hope regardless of circumstance. Throughout his life, Santiago has been presented with contests to test his strength and endurance"

• So the old man symbolizes stamina and endurance. And what about Manolin? Hemingway uses him to symbolize hope and compassion. Manolin is the only one who believes in Santiago and cares for him no matter what. And it's great to know that later our Santiago finds his Manolin.

(GIF credit: @twilightdriveintheatre)

[quirklessidiot]

🡦  minazuki mini series (COMPLETED) 🡦  F!reader x gojo satoru

genre. mild angst, action, psychological/thriller, mystery, romance, mature themes, enemies-to-lovers, very slow burn, arranged-marriage au (tokyo metropolitan arc to shibuya arc; canon compliant-ish). description. In which Y/N L/N is placed under a union she has no choice but to partake for the sake of her survival.

series warnings.  dark themes, very heavy manga spoilers, paranoia, future sexual themes/smut, violence, blood, heavy objectification of women,  mentions of rape, harassment, heavy themes on misogyny, child abuse, mentions of child destruction, heavy degradation, bride-market, breeding talks, compliance to abuse/harrasement/patriarchal system, false constructs on virginity, murder/man slaughter, blood, anti-hero!Y/N, mentions of suicide, self-harm, not beta-read. MINORS DNI (this story has a lot of questionable stuff)

Playlist + taglist is closed + main jjk masterlist + minazuki extras/omakes + Ao3 version

TABLE OF CONTENTS  00. the twelve key moments  ||  the twelve key defining moments on why you and Gojo Satoru were anything but a match made in heaven      better yet, why you and Gojo Satoru will never work out and get along despite the union between you two (16.3K words)

1 .the new years ||  A banquet is held in honor of a long standing new years tradition for bountiful blessings and a beautiful new year meanwhile Gojo Satoru is still mourning and frankly, quite erratic especially when he stays around you for too long. (6.3k words) 2 . zen’in  ||   Maki Zen’in comes into the picture, a brief reminder of you’re supposed to be life, Satoru ends up having to cut the meeting short along with an interesting wager to benefit you both. (6k words) 3. An agreement between two devils  ||  It’s a charade of trust and a dance between two devils, just where was this going to lead? (6.7k words) 4. Sendai ||  A trip to a city that was once promised to you along with danger lurking behind the scenes. (7.5K words) 5. stray cat ||  A tidal shift, one that’ll affect you. Meanwhile, you and Satoru are meeting a bit too frequently that he can’t seem to turn away as much as before. (6.8k words) 6. Itadori Yuuji ||  The guilt continues to clamor you up, choking you and as you try to pacify it, you end up doing things you don’t expect. (9.9K words) 7. the devil in disguise ||  Unanswered questions and lingering touches, boiling down to a high point where you can’t even figure out your emotions anymore.(7.8K words) 8. ichor || Nightly companies and silent apologies are always in order but things are never always on the right path, at least, for you that is. (7.6K words) 9. tanabata ||  Certain things such as happiness are never permanent, well, until Satoru tries to do otherwise. (7K words) 10. hidden inventory ||  Although the memories haunted you, you’re more or less grateful that you see a familiar face again amidst the turmoil. Meanwhile, Satoru comes to a painful conclusion regarding what his place is in your life. (10.4K words) 11. insecurities  || The distance seems so far apart and although you should be happy, you feel conflicted for feelings are anything but clean. (7.3K words) 12. gardenias || Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (8.7K words) 13. inamorata || may it be under the golden rays of the sun or the soft trickles of the moonlight, Gojo Satoru finds himself enamored by you in all way — always. (11.7K words) 14. the party || There are certain things in life that you find adorable; one of them being your husband and his flustered expression that’s for your eyes only. (13.7K words) 15. nirvana || it’s been rough with continuous terrors along with the new load of information but your husband is there to prove that he’s more than willing to be a good distraction. (11K words) 16. sweet things || breakfast for two and a marriage proposal for one. (8K words) 17. Gojo Satoru  🎶. all i want by kodaline || (9.5K words)  17.5 Gojo Y/N 🎶.you should see me in a crown by billie eilish || (6.5K words)  love. such a small word for such a big feeling. 18.FINALE  🎶. champagne problems by taylor swift & one last time by ariana grande || (7K words)  

END     

[mean-scarlet-deceiver]

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Edwards exploit?

It's one of my favourite Edward story's next to old iron.

Hmm, sometimes I prefer “Old Iron” myself, at least so far as TVS goes ♥ (that long tracking shot over the bridge is friggin’ gold, man.)

But only in TVS. Story-wise, while both are great, there's just a little extra something going on in this one...

So many people have noticed the similarities between those two stories, of course, and indeed you can throw in Edward’s introductory arc too—this story doesn’t really break new ground in the Edward-proves-himself genre. And with it, the genre is DONE. Okay y'all? DONE. NO MORE. FIND ANOTHER PLOT. YES, SHOW WRITERS OF YEARS PAST, I AM TALKING TO YOU. Nor is the “exploit” really any more impressive than “Old Faithful” and “Gallant Old Engine,” which in RWS actually come before this story, and in which the stakes were higher.

And yet I still feel like “Exploit” is in a league of its own, and judging from its insane popularity I’m not the only one who feels that way.

At least one thing that sets this story apart, something I’ve come to really treasure: The feat is such a group effort. The crew’s contribution in “Faithful” and “Gallant” was mostly to get out once the train stopped, do an examination, and pronounce, Huh. You’re broken. And we're stuck. *awkward pause* Soooo, uhh… whatcha got, hotshot? And it was really all down to Skarloey and Rheneas. Whereas in this story the main character’s willpower alone is not enough, and the crew had to contribute their own talents. More than once, actually. True teamwork. So, like, yes, this is a story about perseverance, it’s a story about beating the odds, but it’s not only about that. This time at least (for we’ve seen that old theme in RWS before—many times) there’s also something about it that moves me in a similar way to the Henry arc.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that this story also shows something important about disability. If your only takeaway here is “Edward is an inspiring badass,” it’s not that you’re wrong, but there’s more. Specifically—he could not have done it without help. Even with the help, he could have done it but it would not have necessarily been a triumph. I mean, this could have easily been a story about a stubborn, in-denial old git finally learning his limits the hard way and limping back home, shamed and beaten and probably damn sure never taking another “important train” ever again. In fact it could very easily be this sort of story, given the big engines’ gossip at the beginning and, at the end, good ol’ STH being on hand and proper pissed off about the extreme lateness.

Why isn’t it an L? Apart from the meta that Edward is a ray of sunshine and one of Awdry’s favorites? Mostly it’s because of the passengers—so let’s give them props, too. They had all the power to define this narrative! But instead of being put out and caught up in their own inconvenience when stranded in the middle of nowhere during a wild dark wet rainstorm, they had the sense to notice and appreciate the efforts of engine and crew. Instead of stropping out onto the platform and complaining, they celebrated and thanked everyone. Whether this incident was a disgrace or an “exploit” is really all a matter of perspective. Hell, they literally changed STH’s!

And, of course, we see it as a triumph because of the way Awdry frames it. Do we always see it that way in real life, though? I hope so. I wish we lived in a world where the need for aid and accommodation does not invalidate what we do. I wish we lived in a world where the disabled or old or sick or just the plain not-as-gifted were always respected rather than disparaged due to the fact that it may take them three times as much trouble and effort to accomplish things that are easy to others.

But let’s be honest: we don’t live in that world. We’re a long ways from it. And while there are lots of RWS stories that inspire us to persevere and to press on and to do our best and to never give up… “Exploit” really hits me in the heart because it also portrays how the need for others’ help and for adjusted expectations isn’t shameful at all, in fact it shows me how interesting and impressive it is when people (people and, I guess, the occasional sapient locomotive) work together in complementary ways—not to mention, it portrays how much more exciting life is when we show each other genuine, unstinting grace.

[its-chelisey-stuff]

I watched “Imitation” and it was surprising (... okay, I loved it!)

Full disclosure: If you haven’t the slightest interest in kpop, not even in the drama or juicy gossip that produces, this won’t be your thing. I know it’s not a drama for everyone. Stop reading. Just know that OTP (and most characters) had a happy ending but there was a bunch of drama to achieve it. Typical. And a death may or may not have been in the mix.  

Well well well... I'm pleasantly surprised, that's the perfect three word review for this drama. It would seem that when those little projects that come out of nowhere and you have no expectations about, turn out to be even a little big good, they made the strongest impression. And this drama is up there in my top 3 of favorite dramas of the year, it has my heart.

Yes, it was about kpop idols and 90% of the cast was made of idols (even one from the very first kpop gen hahaha), yet the acting was decent (and from some, truly great), yes sometimes it got a bit cheesy and silly and yes, there was a ton of drama concerning fans, reporters, dating scandals and bad and greedy CEOs of entertainment agencies BUT it was also sweet, really romantic, funny, lively, full of music (I'm OBSESSED with the last OST which was sung by the whole cast, it makes me FEEL things) and dancing, it had lots friendship and found family AND at times, it was heartbreakingly tragic.

I think this drama tried to tell the audience two important lessons, worthy of mention: the first, work hard for your dreams, don't give up on them but also, you never know what opportunities might come your way that could end up changing your direction and perhaps make you chase something that you never thought you would, so persevere, breathe and hang in there just a bit more; the second, one that we all know if you have a little bit of sense and even if you are mildly informed about the k entertainment which is that idols are just people(most of them teens when they debut some not even 18) who want to and deserve to have a pretty f-ing normal life, so f-ing let them! the consequences of putting these youngsters over a pedestal are catastrophic and there are real life, heartbreaking, examples of this.

Main characters

Ryok: the Golden Boy of kpop, from the most popular boy group, also a an actor (a decent one? Idk they never said). Perfect in every single aspect, except when he is nice to girls who aren't his fans, then they will crucify him. SUPER clumsy whenever his crush is nearby and does something he finds cute, otherwise super cool and chill. Also great at pining for his crush. A romantic, which means he chose the worst career path. My favorite character.

Maha: A bright and optimistic girl with a strong might of perseverance in going after her dreams. Loves dancing. Very sweet and very tiny. Despite appearances, she's not a pushover or weak FL. And that's why I loved her.

Yujin: Second ML by the book. Became an idol because he was pursuing FL (who in turn was pursuing ML). The only reason why I never hated him is because he was a great friend, knew he wasn't doing anything healthy and decided to end his one sided love and opened his eyes. Two words: Character development *chef's kiss*

LaRiMa: A soloist. A Queen. At the start, it looked like she was the typical and mean second FL. But she wasn't, and I adored her for that. She had a heart of gold. She deserved the world, and she knew that so she made decisions accordingly (a Queen chases no one, least of all a man!) lol best character in the drama and my second favorite character (sorry Maha!)

Also starring: The members of SHAX (the leader, SF9′s Hwiyoung, the maknae from Ateez and the funny guy who spoke random english) the group of Golden Boy. Tea Party members (bffs with FL, Riah and HyunJi), Maha’s group. Sparkling members (the very angry and frustrated leader and two members of Ateez whose names I don’t know), second ML group. AND in the longest and most important cameo (ala Go Kyung Pyo in My roommate is a Gumiho) SF9′s Chani, a former member of SHAX, who disappeared into thin air one day.

The story

On paper it doesn't sound like anything groundbreaking (and tbh it really wasn't lol): a story about idols who willingly chose their career path, trained for years while underage, got treated like products by ugly men in suits and realized it kinda sucked, especially when you don't become a hit group and have to protect your personal life like it's a dirty secret that could damage your image and maybe end your career this is why I said it’s not a show for everyone. But this drama is what Dream High 2 (2012) wanted to be and never could in the aspect of actually making you feel something for these idols and the situations they were facing while loving the musical side of the show and making it all believable.

Even if it's not exactly about teens in high school sort of thing, it does give you the same hopeful and uplifting feeling of a coming of age story, especially because the characters are still youngsters trying to be happy and realize their dreams for the future.

You can just stop reading here if you want to go watch the drama with no spoilers. And if I haven’t convinced you despite not being appalled by kpop themed dramas, then I guess you should keep reading lol or trust in my taste and judgement when I say the story is worth it (but to be fair the first two eps are a bit slow).

The romance (super spoilery!)

At the core, this show was a love story. What started the plot is the fact that main couple reunite in the same work field as idols, and they actually met and befriended each other years ago; so being older and able to spent more time together brings them closer to finally accept and give into their feelings, but soon enough their relationship becomes a ticking bomb threatening their careers and then this big mystery of how and why SF9' Chani disappeared and abandoned the group becomes really important in the last third of the drama

Because once upon a time, Chani had a gf but she was still a trainee so once their love was exposed (the truth of who exposed him is devastating) and their respective companies threatened them, it all becomes too much too fast and with seemingly no other way out, the girl makes a terrible decision, that ends up changing the lives of most of the characters.

I’m sure this is from a bts but their chemistry was really good and sweet. Also, height difference to die for!!

Yet, there is a happy ending for main couple but it's only achieved after certain people learn from their mistakes and support Ryok and Maha, which makes it clear that no matter how in love and willing you are to face adversities for and with your loved one, you still need a support system (and maybe the right people in a position of power) because sometimes two against the world isn't as romantic as it sounds, but sad and lonely.

And the main reason why I loved this is because of the way the show drew a parallel between the two most important couples in the story and tells the audience “had it been even a year before, under different circumstances and less luck, had they had no friends and no people to support them, main couple would’ve ended in the same tragic way” and I think that is a haunting realization. That also makes you appreciate things.

*cries* they were adorable

The bad (spoilers!)

I do wish this drama would’ve elaborated on some bits that were really worth diving into, or that it would’ve shown how some things came intro fruition instead of just skipping it and showing rigth away the outcome of conversations that were never had or reunions never shown. It is clear to me that they wanted to make the drama longer and could have told a better story had it been a 16 ep show. 

Basically yes, the main story, main romance and side couples' arcs got resolved but ugh a list of plot holes:

Why was LaRiMa so obsessed with Ryok for half the drama? The minute the girl knew he was dating someone he truly liked, she gave up right away, so I gotta believe the only reason she didn’t quit on him before, is because he did gave her a reason to hold onto him. Perphaps they dated before? Or maybe they like each other at one point? I can only do fanfiction in my head to explain this.

Why was the angry leader of Sparkling such a bitter bitch? How did he end up in another company?

I wanted to see SF9′s Chani reunion with his ex-members from SHAX.  It NEEDED to happen. At least they showed Chani with Ryok (which was really emotional) but arrgh.

Also, Chani deserved a kneeling apology from SHAX leader, I mean, come on!!

If everyone knew about Maha and Ryeok at some point, they needed to use that. You can’t just have a bomb like that in your drama and not use it. Is a principle of storytelling. You can’t just have the thing that your main characters fear the most, in your hands, and do nothing about it. But I guess it was not done because of lack of time.

Also, they never showed how they announced their relationship. Instagram post? Company statement? An exclusive to Dispatch? And how did the fans took it?? Answers, drama! Damn it!!

Final thoughts

Despite its many flaws, I loved it. It had heart. It seemed low budget and even more so due to the fact that it was done in the middle of the pandemic and a big part of kpop are the fans and concerts, you know what makes it all the more big and shinier. But the drama people and the actors put effort into it, and you could tell (and the fact that there were also original songs and choreographies made for this drama amazes me, and that they chose to promote the drama by having some of these fake groups perform on actual music shows). So there you go, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Before I finish, let me just say that the actor who played Ryok is a REVELATION in my eyes.This boy needs to stay in dramaland and get more main roles (and after some research I’m happy to say that he is thriving!!). Also, he has great timing for comedy. The actress who played Maha elevated the quality of every scene she was in. (Not for nothing she was God in DAYS). Jiyeon (LaRiMa) was excellent. It really showed at times that she’s not only an experienced idol but also an experienced actress. The contrast with most of the cast was noticeable, sadly. The drama wouldn’t have been the same without these three.

Also, watch AND listen to the last OST sung by the whole cast here. Beautiful song that just makes you cry if you’ve seen the drama.

[aukanemin]

Hello dear writer/artist/wonderful human being,

Tumblr just showed me one of your posts and I realised that I never told you how amazed I am by your prose both in the game and on your blog (I feel simply calling it writing doesn‘t cut it). How you put your thoughts, emotions and atmosphere into descriptions and dialogue is absolutely stunning to me and feels ‘artsy‘ to me in the best possible way. I love this particular very inner-workings/stream of consciousness (?) based storytelling (I‘m not a literature expert, it‘s just how I would describe it). It made me fall absolutely in love with your characters while also being in awe/slightly intimidated of/by them - which I think works very well with the atmosphere you‘re creating, especially in scenes with Charet (which is again supported by the music and your amazing art).

I can‘t wait to play more of it someday (and until then I‘m just gonna replay it over and over again) and hope you feel appreciated by this <3

Have a lovely day ~

...

Thank you so much.

Your messages left me speechless - and it is very difficult for me to describe, with all the possible colors of the language, how much they inspired and brought me into a state of delight for a long time, helping to work on new, more complex projects long before I had the courage to write this response text.

And I yearned and suffered from the fact that I could not think of something worthy that could show at least a part of my gratitude and admiration for your softness and feelings, and I would like my answer to seem complicated and interesting this time, since I would never want to leave you empty-handed. Yesterday morning, a very strange, special and inherently distant insight came to me - and I hasten to share with you everything that came to my mind, and I hope that you will like it more uwu

The difficulty was also that I am not so much fond of fiction in the traditional concept - my pace of life is restless and changeable, and, as a rule, I have enough patience and perseverance only for poetry and short stories, guided to a greater extent by a sense of aesthetics and associations (because yes, my writing style is a stream of consciousness and you completely hit the mark - I can't write in any other way, except relying on feelings and impressions * --- *) than a serious approach to the plot and idea. Apart from literature (and any other sources), which would be too hackneyed and understandable in its fame, it seemed to me that there were very few things that could interest and impress you, but now I want to think that I was wrong.

The list that I have sketched consists of writers and poets, who are united by the main thing - the fact that they are equally representatives of the same culture with me, and their feelings and aesthetics, colorfulness and sense of language were with me from the beginning of my early years and formed my idea of ​​the world and about the art of writing in general. In other matters, I do not think that the writing style and elements of history and culture will be simple and understandable - I myself have not always felt attraction and warm feelings towards them, but this is something that, I hope, can turn out to be completely new and fresh, not like anything you have experienced before experience, yet close in spirit to what I am myself trying to portray.

Starts from lighter comedies and flamboyant plays and ends in dark fantasy and heavy historical drama. The first of them are very short and read in one gulp - the last are longer, but with a reasonable volume of novels, so they can keep you busy, yet not bored;)

1. "Forest Song" by Lesia Ukrainka. This is a play written in a bright and lively language - but this is a great start if you want to read something light and airy, yet with elements of dark fantasy and Slavic folklore. The combination a little strange at first glance, - this a romantic fairy-tale play that tells about Mavka (a forest nymph), who was in love with a young human man. "Forest Song" is easy to perceive as a poetic fairy tale, but it also has a dark and tragic ending, and raises the theme of human existence in nature and the world in itself - their struggle between feelings, inspiration, brightness of perception and down-to-earthness of life, simple and understandable needs . This play prompted me to think about Margot - as the personification of these worlds and worries, but much darker, heavier and more mysterious, far from human nature.

2. "The Night Before Christmas" by Nikolai Gogol - a writer who has always been the most important and favorite for me, with a rich and varied language which I tried to copy and imitate most of my school years. "Night before Christmas" is included in the collection "Evenings on a Farm near Dikanka", which are equally small masterpieces, but it was "Night" that was a vivid and memorable experience, with such a close aesthetics of a small settlement, a heavy blizzard, creaking snow, and devils, prowling in such a mysterious darkness. This is a comedy with idealized romance - and based on it, both films were made and plays are staged, and it tells about the hopelessly in love with beautiful Oksana blacksmith Vakula, who with a cunning mind captured the devil and forced him to help Vakula in courtship. The story is very down-to-earth and light, but with elements of everyday life and culture of the Ukrainian hinterland, which can either turn out to be an interesting experience or push you away to your liking. There are Christian rituals, and descriptions of everyday life, and witches, and folk beliefs, elements of mundane comedy, the historicity of that era and many bright and partly gloomy aesthetics. This part of the culture is closely related to my thoughts and ideas about Margot, as well as about other characters and travelers from the continent (I was also inspired by the Romanian, Georgian, Mongolian and Tatar cultures equally *---*)

3. "Taras Bulba" by the same Gogol is a historical tragedy, difficult and complex, but with strong artistic elements - with a powerful feeling of a gloomy, dark era, characters in which many real and legendary persons were combined, and although they speak of it as romantic nationalism, I have never perceived it in this way (and I do not advise anyone, given the fact that you can find similar elements in almost every name in this literature). It tells about the Zaporozhye Cossack and his two sons, about the times of long wars and dark ages, and it will be a bright and exciting experience for someone far from this culture - it vividly and richly displays the life and psychology of a country that has long ceased to exist.

4. "Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors" by Mikhailo Kotsyubinsky is a dark historical story, written under the strong impression of the gloomy and mysterious culture of the Hutsuls - the Ukrainian culture of highlanders and old pagans, and the story, at first similar to a much heavier and darker version of Romeo and Juliet, smoothly flows into dark fantasy. It contains the complex psychological baggage of the hero, and a colorful description of such a strange and distant culture, the history of blood feuds and marital betrayal, and the dark forces of a crushing and dangerous nature dominating the earth.

Oh, and also, perhaps, if you have an interest in poetry - I have two big names, Ivan Franko and Taras Shevchenko. The first is a bright romantic of Galicia, with deep sensuality and passion, the second is the father of Ukrainian literature, a poet and artist, the son of a difficult and dark era with art to match him.

...

So..

Thank you so much again.

I adore you with all my heart, and of course you can take as many hugs as you want;зз

[kitkatopinions]

Speaking of Rogue 1, whatever it’s flaws, is so much better than these last couple of RWBY volumes. The key being the characters actually putting their lives on the line for what they believe, and in turn inspiring others (and a bunch of other little story bits and such).

Omg, does Rogue One put RWBY volumes seven and eight to shame. And the funny thing is, there are some really similar story beats! (spoilers btw.

Protagonist gets brought into the fold of a big organization trying to stop a world-ending terror machine (run by big evil magic dark creepy thing,) protagonist has personal problems involved in the fight against evil terror machine including the death of her mother, protagonist finds the force she joins not up to par with her standard despite her own behavior being pretty lacking, and gets heated when the people she's been bidden to work with don't operate under as strict of a moral code as she'd like. During this time, meet the defector from evil terror machine, the lower level grunt who turns to the good side and joins protagonist. Protagonist (along with defector and other friends) find out that evil terror machine is gearing up to do some extreme evil terror machining and they argue to the group fighting ETM that they should take a chance to achieve what they need rather than fleeing. The group fighting in general does not agree, but that's not going to stop Protagonist, who then leaves the group fighting to do her own fighting, bringing a small following with her - including a very devoted member of the group fighting who goes against orders to do what they think is right. Then during the big fight trying to save everyone, the group is attacked and our protagonists 'die,' having completed their goal, but leaving their work of fighting Evil Terror Machine unfinished. During this, there's themes of trust, redemption, hope, and perseverance as well as the necessity and the responsibility to do what you think is right, even if it goes against orders.

Sounds a lot like RWBY volumes 7-8. But Rogue One goes about things a little different and out classes RWBY in a lot of ways. The Rebellion for instance operates under a gray area, with spies and murderers amongst its rank and people who refuse to get involved in the war when they think they can't win, and yet they aren't treated as villains, they aren't treated as gutless cowards, they aren't even treated as wholly in the wrong. Jyn gets checks and scoldings and learns and grows, while Cassian - lifelong rebel who spies and 'follows orders' even when he doesn't like said orders - undergoes some change, learning to trust more and doing what he has to do while defending the life he's lived and saying that managing to stop the Empire is what will make his life of sacrifice worth it. Meanwhile, it's made abundantly clear that running away won't actually stop everything from being destroyed and that actually, everything likely will be destroyed if they don't try and get the Death Star plans, which contrasts in RWBY where keeping the Relics out of Salem's hands will do more to save the world and fighting an invincible foe while leaving them in her reach is not the way to go. Meanwhile, the Defector (my baby boy,) Bodhi, makes it clear he knows what he did was wrong and is trying to make it right by defecting, eventually giving up his life to try and get the Death Star plans out despite undergoing extreme mental trauma recently for his troubles, which really makes Emerald's arc look even less convincing if you ask me, especially considering that Bodhi was just an Imperial cargo pilot who's kill count (prior to leaving the Empire) was zero and Emerald was actively helping to bring down kingdoms and murdered a kid. Meanwhile the main villain of the movie isn't a child slave or a heavily disabled military veteran on the side of the good guys (though there is a heavily disabled military vet coded character on the side of the good guys that gets treated kinda badly I never said this movie was perfect,) instead our main villain is a jealous old punk trying to rise in ranks of the Empire who wants recognition for coercing a man into building a death machine for him after he murders said guy’s wife. Also the disabled military vet coded character that gets treated badly at least gets some sympathy and love from his daughter figure before he dies and his sacrifice and years of fighting for the Rebellion is recognized. And in the end of the movie, their deaths aren't the result of a lack of foresight, sloppiness, or a failure to act. Instead it all came down to the odds having been stacked against them from the start, and them doing the best they could and scraping together a win for the galaxy that cost them their lives. And like you pointed out, when they decided to leave the Rebellion (temporarily, because it was more of a 'don't ask for permission, ask for forgiveness' sort of thing,) they actually did what they said they were going to and threw themselves into a battle even when the chances of winning were slim and they were willing to die and watch their friends die, which is actual bravery, actual guts, actual sacrifice. (Also like usual, I'm way less harsh on Team JRY in this respect as well as Oscar, May, and obviously Ozpin. But Team RWB? Mmmm.)

And I know that RWBY isn't meant to be Rogue One (which is essentially a war movie set in the Star Wars universe,) but I am saying that the way they handled most of the story beats and even the base concepts and even the themes of love, trust, and hope, way better than RWBY did. Imagine a version of Rogue One where - after hearing the Rebel Alliance didn't want to go to Scarif, Jyn contacted the rest of her group and was like "Mon Mothma is going to leave the plans on Scarif omg everyone she's evil!" and then instead of just leaving to do their mission, half their team returned to Jedha to save any refuges who may have survived the blast and get them out of the heat, and the other half hacked some Rebel Alliance towers and sent out a galaxy wide broadcast that was like "Um, hi. My name is Jyn Erso... I'm a Rebel." That told everyone that Jedha had been destroyed and that the dark side of the Force would come to destroy them next, and they made sure to throw in the Mon Mothma and the other Rebels could no longer be trusted. And then after sending out that message, Chirrut got hurt, so Jyn was like 'fuck it' and found out that there's some great places to bunker down on Alderaan. So she decided she could leave that 'saving the Galaxy' shit to Mon Mothma and the rebels she used to know back in the day and that bearded guy who seemed to know what he was talking about and she and K2-SO just went there and had some tea. But meanwhile Cassian, Baze, and Bodhi were taking care of people in Jedha, but then whoops, Bodhi got captured and taken to Scarif, so Cassian and K2-SO go to save him. They manage it and it turns out - silly Bodhi, he'd had a weapon in his pocket the whole time that they can just use to blow up the Death Star anyway! So they get the plans and then do that and get out of Scarif easy peasy. Then they meet up with Jyn and the others, but Mon Mothma is really mad because she wants Cassian back and wants the plans in case the Empire does make another Death Star sometime later, so Mon Mothma sends out a message telling Cassian to surrender or she'll blow up more of Jedha herself and - Okay, this has really gotten away from me.

But, all in all, Rogue One - despite being a very flawed movie - is an example of some of the ideas in RWBY done better and with more moral depth and nuance than in RWBY. Also the last Darth Vader scene is everything.

[mangamushi]

Thoughts on Saikyou Densetsu Kurosawa

FUKUMOTO Nobuyuki, 11 volumes, published from 2003 to 2006 in Big Comic Original (Seinen)

Saikyou Densetsu Kurosawa (Legend of the strongest man Kurosawa) follows the story of 44 years old construction worker Kurosawa as he realizes he spent most of his life without any meaningful connections with anyone nor any special achievements. He decides to change his life so that he can become proud of his own accomplishments and efforts, and earn respect and appreciation from the people around him.

(spoiler warning)

So I’m currently binging Fukumoto manga, after having them on my “plan to read” list for several years…I started with Kaiji, but initially the first manga of his that caught my interest was Kurosawa. The themes of it are right up my alley, and I like main characters that are not teenagers or young adults.

Kurosawa has a sequel, Shin Kurosawa: Saikyou Densetsu, which is a direct continuation. I’ll mostly be focusing on the first part here. 

The art is typical Fukumoto style. Odd at first, definitely not the prettiest nor the most impressive out there, but it does the job and I really grew to like it. He doesn’t hesitate to give exaggerated features to his characters, and I actually find the deliberate ugliness of the character designs refreshing. It certainly fits the story of Kurosawa, makes the characters very expressive and works well with the often comedic tone. 

Although the art looks simple, Fukumoto can deliver very intense pages when he needs to. 

His forte is in his use of narration combined with the picture, rather than in the drawings alone. He is a master at using a narrator’s comments or the character’s thoughts to raise tension and make the manga flow better.

 Kurosawa is definitely written with a lot of heart. Both the manga itself and the titular character, feel very genuine. Kurosawa is very flawed and very human. He is rough but powerful, his desires are simple, and he is straightforward in his reactions, to the point that his impulsive nature and lack of social restraints put him in trouble, especially when it comes to women...

There are a few instances however where he comes close to harassing women, which is played for laugh, which I disliked. Those scenes made me less sympathetic towards him as he actually deserved the repercussions of his actions here.

But besides those chapters, Kurosawa is overall a likeable character, easy to sympathize with and to root for as we see him at a low point of his life.

He is clumsy in his interactions with his coworkers, which, coupled with his hot-temper, often leads to misunderstandings and prevents him from getting closer to them despite his best efforts. I actually found Kurosawa’s failed attempts at achieving popularity reminiscent of Watamote. The beginning of both series, in which a pathetic main character fails repetitively at gaining the appreciation of their peers through outlandish strategies, elicits the same mixture of pity, second-hand embarrassment, and amusement.

Kurosawa also gets into a fair number of fights. While those fight-focused chapters were not bad, I was personally less into them.

Drawing literal fist-fights in not what Fukumoto’s best at. His character’s postures are somewhat stiff, which he compensates for with heavy use of speed-lines. It is okay-ish, but I want read a fight scene, there’s plenty of fighting manga out there that can do a better job. 

 I like Fukumoto more when he writes more psychological battles, like in his gambling mangas. Of course, psychological elements and strategies where not totally absent from the fights, but it was nowhere as much as in his gambling manga. Sometimes I think Kurosawa was a bit too lucky in the fights, as he is not a very athletic person nor someone with a lot of experience in fighting. It did not feel very convincing to me.

Besides, it is through these battles that Kurosawa gathers allies, a reputation and respect. But most of his opponents are teenagers, even middle-schoolers ! Granted they are very scary teenagers, but I still fail to see how a 44 years old man throwing hands with teenagers is such a praise worthy thing...

 I think I prefer to see Kurosawa fight and struggle to improve his life in a less literal way that actual physical fighting.

I haven’t read that many of Fukumoto’s works yet, but I feel like an important theme in them is perseverance/resilience. He puts his characters through a lot, but they tend to have some form of resistance that shines through as admirable. Kurosawa’s will to fight and to push back against adversity is sometimes the only thing he has left, and it is extremely important.

However, that is not an innate ability that comes to him easily -at times Kurosawa hides, flees, cowers. He hesitates, and he needs to think things through before he actually decides to fight.

Fukumoto: You know how protagonists in shonen manga do things like jump in to stop their classmate from being bullied without thinking about how they might get beaten up themselves? I always felt that wasn’t real. So with Kurosawa, I wanted to make a manga that shows hesitation, and how it actually isn’t so easy to defend people like that.

(Excerpt from this interview)

I like this kind of manga where characters reflect about what is the right decision to take and on how they should be living their life. And how the reader has access to their inner turmoil and thoughts. 

 His strength is often born from sheer desperation and desire to survive. It is when he is cornered that he can manage to act and fight even when the odds are against him. He has to make do with the very few tools and options he has, which leads him to elaborate unconventional tactics to win over his opponents. 

Having cornered underdogs characters winning over more powerful, but less desperate, opponents seems like a running theme in Fukumoto’s manga (cf. the made-up E-card Game from Kaiji, in which The Slave is the only card that can win against The Emperor, precisely because it is so low that it has nothing to lose anymore).

In a way, one could argue Kurosawa follows a formula reminiscent of classic shounen manga: a character who is below average at first rises to a heroic status through willpower, effort and after fighting a string of opponents. However, there are major differences that set Kurosawa apart, besides the older characters and more adult setting (Kurosawa’s worries are grounded in reality: growing old alone, financial problems...) Kurosawa does not provide escapism and dreams. The story begins with Kurosawa as a single old man, and ends with him an even older still single man. He does not become an amazing fighter through power boost and magic training like a shounen character might.

He does want to dream big, but all things considered, his achievements are fairly modest. He is not saving the world or becoming hokage.  At most he is just helping some other marginalized people from his neighborhood.  

Even if he puts his life on the line to fight, what he accomplished will fade into oblivion at some point.

But, even so, his efforts and struggle are still admirable.

Besides, Kurosawa is not about friendship, at least not the kind of friendship you find in shounen manga.

In Fukumoto’s manga, people may stick together for survival, they can share intense emotions when put through the same ordeals, but it’ll rarely turn into true companionship. Kurosawa is alone from the start, and while he does connect with other people throughout the story, in the sequel those relationships are left behind as he leaves on his own to start a new life. 

Fukumoto: My protagonists, on the other hand, are always alone – not only do they not have followers, they don’t even have friends. (laugh) [...]  I can’t do manga where the characters readily make friends that they risk their lives for. I started out by drawing short human drama pieces, but even then – partially because I wasn’t doing long-term series, but – they weren’t generally stories about friends.

I was kind of expecting Asai, one of Kurosawa’s coworker, to have a bigger role, but that didn’t happen. (I liked the part where he tried to comfort Kurosawa after he got humiliated so I was hoping for more!)

The story isn’t very cohesive or straighforward, it just follows Kurosawa’s life, who wants to change but lacks a clearly defined goal or road to follow. There isn’t one big coherent plot, instead the story goes in different directions, shifting from one genre to another from chapter to chapter. Kurosawa even admits it himself !

The quality of the chapters and different arcs is in my opinion rather uneven. 

 There are some really powerful scenes, notably the very end of the manga which is very touching. Kurosawa successfully leads a group of homeless men to defend themselves against some delinquents who were threatening them, but as a result of his injuries, he is implied to die. (The sequel manga reveals he actually just goes into coma for 8 years). It is bittersweet ending as he finally achieved something and is surrounded by human warmth.

                  Shin Kurosawa, the sequel, is similar to the first part, though slightly more light-hearted and focused on humor (even though Kurosawa’s situation technically worsens!). It seems to be less liked than the first part for those same reasons, but I personally enjoy Fukumoto’s humor and his more slice of life-y mangas. It has many genuinely funny moments. Once in a while there are still some chapters that feel deeper/more thought provoking, as Fukumoto likes to reflect about society, life, and humanity in his stories.

For anyone looking for other manga with similar themes, I can recommend Furuya Minoru’s excellent Wanitokagegisu . Both feature very lonely adult men who wish to turn their life around, and oscillate between humor and psychological drama.

[simplescrapperofbracca]

On Victory and Death

Rex and Ahsoka are really special in Star Wars. There’s a great deal of tragedy in this universe, and all of our beloved protagonists have their stories shaped or ended by tragedy in some way. Anakin is consumed by the dark side; even his redemption comes with the end of his life. Padme fights for justice her whole life but dies. Han is killed by his son, the clones are killed by powers greater than them, the crew of Rogue One makes the ultimate sacrifice to give the universe hope.

These stories are not less meaningful because they end tragically; in fact, perseverance and redemption in the face of tragedy is a main theme of Star Wars. But hope is also a main theme, and Rex and Ahsoka have a unique arc of hope that isn’t cut short by tragedy. We know Rex keeps fighting all the way up to the Battle of Endor, and he sees that victory. We don’t know the end of Ahsoka’s story yet but I bet she lives and fights as well. All the characters who die on the way to making that hope a reality have incredible, enduring stories. But Rex and Ahsoka get to live for their hope, they get to see it all the way through. We can follow them in a special way as the audience because we have seen all the tragedy and all the hope they’ve seen. When Luke seals the victory so many fought for, we can see it even more radiantly through their eyes, because we know what it means to them, and it makes the climax that much more satisfying.

So there’s a surplus of “death” in Victory and Death, but for me the victory is the continuing of two stories past that wreckage. Rex and Ahsoka are something special. They aren’t destroyed by tragedy, they aren’t consumed by tragedy, they aren’t broken by tragedy. They walk away intact. They’re a special kind of victory.

[thattimdrakeguy]

Robin - the First Miniseries - Issue #3 review - (R.I.P Tom Lyle)

One thing I find kind of endearing about Tim’s narration, is that it reads like a kid that has to recount stuff just for his own sake, because he’s having a hard time believing any of this is happening.

Which matches up with the face he makes.

--

Have some more people seemingly finding Timmy adorable.

Although, you sort of have to think that Tim’s too innocent for his own good sometimes, because he’s trusting the women that calls herself “The Most Dangerous Woman in the World” probably because she treats him like a baby.

However she does say she met Batman, but even then, for some one who works with the notably untrusting Batman, Timmy’s a bit too earnest and naive to trust her so fast just because she can’t stop pinching his cheek and treating him like a puppy.

That’s just good character work though. Tim isn’t perfect, a big part of this miniseries is how out of his element and naive Timmy is. So it just fitting in with his character.

(The next scene ruins this though)

Lady Shiva: I diagnose you with baby

Very early on they set up this bizarre trio’s dynamics pretty fast.

It’s done fast, but very naturally. It’s done through natural character interaction. So it isn’t distracting. It’s well-done. Even if it sort of implies Clyde’s a sexist, but ya know what, character’s aren’t made to be perfect people. They’re made to serve a function in a story. Part of me wishes they’d delve into it more though after they set the stage for something that’s mostly just left at implication. To leave a moral of some kind after such a salty interaction ya know, because it’s taking away the function. I guess Lady Shiva does tell him off for it though. So I suppose that’s the function.

(Which isn’t the last or first time questionable morals from side character’s get left behind, but sadly it gets more blatant and gross. It’s the main flaw of the miniseries. Occasions of awkward writing imply stuff that doesn’t get furthered acknowledged, when it feels like it should be)

So the character dynamic is like this:

Tim is the naive, computer baby, who both of the adults like.

Lady Shiva is the terrifying dangerous woman who knows stuff

Clyde’s the untrusting, rough around the edges, angry one

Lady Shiva and Clyde can’t stand each other, but they’re pretty much here for the baby at this stage. So they’re going to have to try to get along for this little adventure.

Very simple, but this miniseries is 5 issues long, and it’s genuinely all you really need to understand what these characters are going to be like. In general that’s a lot they set up for their dynamics in just one scene. So that’s pretty good actually. These aren’t characters that are gonna last long together, to get just that much for something short lived is good work.

After pretty much failing every fight he’s been a part of, Tim probably seems pretty useless to people, but here’s to remind you, that he’s not.

His strength isn’t his fighting ability. He isn’t Cassandra Cain (who wasn’t created yet. Well, technically, but I mean in the real world perspective). His strength is using his talents at computer and mind to help solve crimes. That’s how he’s useful.

While no genius. He’s clever. That’s his talent.

Another cool thing about this issue is that this is were Timmy finally starts getting into the groove of this superhero thing.

He’s still not great at it, but you see him start getting more used to it compared to the first two issues. He’s growing as a hero.

--

The thing about this issue that I don’t like though, is that it starts to delve into trying to give Timmy a case of the “not gays”, because it randomly starts to pretending that Tim’s interactions with women were more than what actually happened.

Like as far as what was actually drawn in written. It looked more like Tim was wanting to show off to his mommy that was giving him tons of affection more than anything else.

Even the writing of this scene kind of says Tim doesn’t care. The way he words himself “I guess”, like he didn’t actually think about it. Which fits in with his character. He doesn’t seem to care about girl’s that much. I expect this reaction from him, but it’s how the comic itself continues to tease Tim with girls in a way that feel unnatural, because he’s not even getting flustered like how a kid would when getting questioned with girls. He’s just like “I suppose so”, like he doesn’t even care. The look on his face is so low-key too. 

The writing of the scene even goes to say he actually thought of her as scary, which adds even more disconnect, because he clearly wasn’t scared of her. He was melting into her palm and was enjoying every compliment and cheek pinch he was given.

Maybe it’s just Clyde trying to ruffle his feathers though when it comes to the teasing.

There’s a certain amount of disconnect for me regardless, given how the previous scene played out to this. It’s just strange. Maybe that’s supposed to further Clyde’s character as a sexist maybe? But that doesn’t get fully played out either.

Things don’t add up much in this issue as well as the others that were really good with the character thing besides one scene.

As far as the last scene went, it’s played out like Tim loves Lady Shiva because she treats him like a puppy. There’s nothing to imply he found her attractive, even in this scene despite Clyde acting otherwise, seeing how Tim didn’t even think of her being beautiful (he had to have that pointed out to him), but instead scary, but even then there’s nothing there to imply he finds her scary either in the first scene. He seems too innocent and trusting actually. So it’s just a badly written scene, because it’s not adding up.

--

They continue this weird disconnect even more so into the next scene with Lynx, because Tim even backed away from her when the flirting started.

Because freaking when? He blushed when you showed him affection. He melts when you touch his cheek. That’s what they actually show happening, but what do you mean lovestruck? He saved you cuz you were getting messed with and hurt. He did the same thing with Clyde. He even took Clyde’s clothes off if you wanna force any sort of lovestruck, but that’d be creepy if Tim did that cuz he had a crush, so i’d rather not go that far with it. Just trying to prove a point.

Like look at him. He’s freaking uncomfortable. This doesn’t scream “lovestruck” to me. It’s more disconnect that throws the scene off of tone a lot.

If anything you were lovestruck in him. He’s trying to back away.

The kid just melts in times of affection, that’s what they actually show us, and girl’s are the ones that give him affection. There’s not actually a lot, arguably freaking nothing besides how he acts when he gets affection, that screams lovestruck. Other people say he is more than what Tim himself actually shows.

Regardless of the weird sudden insistence that Tim was in love with this girl more than what’s actually shown. There is some great imagery by Tom Lyle that the scans don’t do justice.

Some nice moments that shows Tim getting more used to the superhero life style too.

But of course there’s more of this ‘Timmy’s weakness for girl’s’ talk that doesn’t add up to how he actually interacts with him.

It’s like a bizarre crude bad version of ‘show don’t tell’, they’re telling us something when they show something else.

Like Clyde, Tim took you to a fancy hotel and rented a farm house for you to stay in as he bought you new clothes. If you were Tim’s age that’d be considered romantic, and Tim might be called a sugar daddy. He’s shown to have more of a crush on you then freaking Lynx at this point, okay, and I don’t even think Tim has a crush on you. You just don’t pinch his cheeks and play with his hair like everyone else.

(And don’t start any gross ships okay. Clyde looks at Timmy more like a son above anything else, and there’s a massive age gap, along with it being genuine pedo-freaking-philia. I’m just saying this whole thing is dumb to me, because besides being incredibly easily susceptible to any form of affection he is not shown to have an attraction to anyone. So it makes this seem contrived. They don’t do anything to show Tim has an actual romantic, sexual, or aesthetic attraction to freaking anyone. He just loves affection)

--

Have some more Timmy getting used to this superhero thing, showing his morals, and actually being pretty bubbly.

He’s adorable.

Although maybe he’s getting too used it, because now he’s got that little kid instinct of going a bit too far and too stupid with it.

A pretty fair reaction honestly.

--

So there’s some panels of showing off how rich King Snake is, which I instinctively skipped over because he’s so forgettable that I forget I should probably actually pay attention to him.

Basically he’s going to poison the water supply, and unleash a plague into people’s houses.

I can’t wait for him to burn the crops too. I don’t remember what he does, so I have no idea if he will, but I sure hope so.

--

Timmy doing some computer styled detective work, because this is one modern boy. I wish they’d have Tim just solve a crime on his phone in a current comic, because he’s not an Oracle-styled computer user, he’s mostly just a kid that knows how to use the internet.

He’s so small. I love him.

Baby Sherlock does his best to use his big brain to put it to good use solving the case.

--

Another notable trait of Timmy’s, is that he is perseverant as could be. Like he just went to France to learn more martial arts and some street smarts cuz he gets his butt kicked too easy and he’s naive as could be. Now he’s stopping a terrorist with two people he didn’t even know.

They also delve into a bit of the understated sadness of Tim’s character. How, despite him obviously being a kid, who acts like a kid so far no matter how heroic he tries to be. He doesn’t feel like he as himself should be a kid.

It’s a theme that gets hit harder and harder as more tragedies in his life hit him.

The child continues to use his handy dandy laptop to solve more crime, because he is one useful baby and--

Oh, I wasn’t joking about the plague stuff for a Spongebob reference.

So I’m just waiting patiently for King Snake to start burning some crops.

--

This issue is better then I let on.

The character dynamics are good (when not forced), the pacing is great, the story moves at just the speed it needs to, and the character’s just keep getting fleshed out more.

It’s great stuff besides the weird forced romance stuff that’s annoying for the middle part of the issue, and Tim and Clyde’s chat about Shiva, like if that wasn’t there, this would be an issue I can’t really imagine having a problem with besides King Snake being lame, but that’s more of something that goes across all issues really. It’s not a this issue thing, although you can argue this issue should’ve done more to make him more entertaining over boring.

I even went back to find if there was any indicator that Tim has feelings for this girl, and beyond him melting at the first sign of affection. There’s nothing. He talks about saving her like it’s simply part of the job to him, the same way he talks about saving Clyde. There’s just nothing besides “girl and boy”, which is incredibly lazy and causes it to feel contrived.

In fact I just found more showing that Tim’s oblivious that people keep thinking more than what is.

Like look at that. He’s confused why the jerk’s even saying “girlfriend”. This is what leads to him saying “this isn’t a good idea” when she starts getting flirty.

Tim’s not even remotely lovestruck.

As far as what’s shown he just loves affection.

I’m being repetitive about it, I know, but romance simply because “boy and girl” is dumb, and the fact that Tim actually isn’t interested in them as far as what’s shown and not just said by OTHER characters makes it more annoying.

Funny enough though, given how despite Tim shows no actual attraction to girl’s despite what the other characters assume. It actually makes it easier to interpret him as gay in this miniseries honestly. Cuz he’s going through the gay experience now even if the writer most likely didn’t intend that.

[scifigeneration]

The deep influence of the A-bomb on anime and manga

by Frank Fuller

At the end of Katsuhiro Otomo’s dystopian Japanese anime film Akira, a throbbing, white mass begins to envelop Neo-Tokyo. Eventually, its swirling winds engulf the metropolis, swallowing it whole and leaving a skeleton of a city in its wake.

The atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – along with the firebombings of Tokyo – were traumatic experiences for the Japanese people. It’s no surprise that for years, the devastation remained at the forefront of their conscience, and that part of the healing process meant returning to this imagery in literature, in music and in art.

The finale of Akira is only one example of apocalyptic imagery in the anime and manga canon; a number of anime films and comics are rife with atomic bomb references, which appear in any number of forms, from the symbolic to the literal. The devastating aftereffects – orphaned kids, radiation sickness, a loss of national independence, the destruction of nature – would also influence the genre, giving rise to a unique (and arguably incomparable) form of comics and animated film.

The directors and artists who witnessed the devastation firsthand were at the forefront of this movement. Yet to this day – 70 years after the bombs – these themes continue to be explored by their successors.

An iconic filmmaker paves the way

We can see the lasting images of the firebombings and the atomic bombs in the works of artist and director Osamu Tezuka and his successor, Hayao Miyazaki. Both had witnessed the devastation of the bombings at the end of the war.

Osamu Tezuka would go on to influence scores of Japanese animators. Wikimedia Commons

The bomb became a particular obsession of Tezuka’s. His films and comics both address themes like coping with grief and the idea that nature, in all its beauty, can be compromised by man’s desire to conquer it.

His stories often have a young character who is orphaned by particular circumstances and must survive on his own. Two examples are Little Wansa, about a puppy who escapes from his new owners and spends the series looking for his mother; and Young Bear Cub, who gets lost in the wild and must find his own way back to his family.

Misuse of technology

The tensions of technology are apparent in the works of Tezuka and his successors. In Tezuka’s Astro Boy, a scientist attempts to fill the void left by his son’s death by creating a humanlike android named Astro Boy.

Astro Boy’s father, seeing that technology cannot replace his son completely, rejects his creation, who is then taken under the wing of another scientist. Astro Boy eventually finds his calling and becomes a superhero.

Astro Boy is one of many characters symbolizing the fusion of technology and nature, and the tension created by its capacity for both advancement and destruction. TNS Sofres/flickr, CC BY

Like Tezuka, the award-winning animator Hayao Miyazaki witnessed some of the American air raids as a child.

Miyazaki’s work often refers to the abuse of technology, and contains pleas for human restraint. In Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, the radioactive mutants populate the land; at the beginning of the film, the narrator describes the strange, mutated state of Earth as a direct result of man’s misuse of nuclear technology.

In the postwar years, Japan grew into an economic superpower. Possessing a fascination with technology, the country became a world leader in the production of cars and electronics. Yet in characters like Astro Boy, we see some of the tensions of the modern age: the idea that technology can never replace humans, and that technology’s capacity for helping mankind is only equaled by its capacity to destroy it.

Orphans and mutants

There were also the aftereffects of the bombs, some of which are still felt today: children left parentless, others (even the unborn) left permanently crippled by radiation.

For these reasons, a recurrent theme in anime films is the orphan who has to survive on his own without the help of adults (many of whom are portrayed as incompetent).

Akiyuki Nosaka relayed his personal experiences as a child during the war in the popular anime film Grave of the Fireflies, which tells the story of a young boy and his sister escaping from the air raids and the firebombings, scraping by on whatever rations they can find during last part of the war.

The trailer for Grave of the Fireflies.

Meanwhile, there are often young, powerful female orphans or independent female youths in Hayao Miyazaki’s works, whether it’s in Kiki’s Delivery Service, Howl’s Moving Castle, or Castle in the Sky.

Likewise, in Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira, the adults are the ones who squabble: they jockey for power, and their lust for control of the strange, alien technology of Akira causes the atomic-bomb-like catastrophe at the end of the film. The teenaged characters, on the other hand, display common sense throughout the movie.

The message seems to be that adults can be reckless when man’s desire for power and ambition outweigh what is important on Earth. And the children, still untainted by the vices that overtake humanity in adulthood and innocent enough to the point of thinking rationally, are the ones who end up making the most practical decisions overall.

Many families were orphaned by the war, and the bomb as well, so a number of children were also mutated or affected by the bomb. In anime and manga, this is seen in the form of radioactive mutations or having some extraordinary powers, in addition to taking on more adult responsibilities at an early age.

A number of films feature characters who display special powers or abilities, with radiation often being the main cause. Several films exploring the idea of unusual events or experiments resulting in young persons having exceptional abilities include Inazuman in the comic of the same name and the character Ellis in the comic El Cazador de la Bruja (The Hunter of the Witch).

Additionally, the manga series Barefoot Gen tells the story of a family wiped out by the atomic bomb, with a young boy and his mother the only survivors. Author Keiji Nakazawa loosely based these comics on his own life: growing up, Nakazawa watched a sister die several weeks after birth from radiation sickness, and witnessed his mother’s health quickly deteriorate in the years after the war.

Death, rebirth and hope for the future

Osamu Tezuka believed that the atomic bomb acted as the epitome of man’s inherent capacity for destruction. Yet while Tezuka commonly referenced death and war, he also believed in the perseverance of mankind and its ability to begin anew.

In a number of his works, both a futuristic and historic Japan are seen, with the themes of death and rebirth being commonly used as plot devices to symbolize Japan’s (and the lives of many Japanese) wartime and postwar experiences, including the aftermath of its destruction after the bombs fell. But much like the Phoenix – the mythical bird that sets itself on fire at the time of its death, only to experience a rebirth – Tezuka’s Japan experiences a resurrection, which mirrors Japan’s real-life postwar ascension to world superpower.

In fact, Phoenix was the title of Tezuka’s most popular series, one that the artist considered his magnum opus. The work is a series of short stories dealing with man’s search for immortality (given or taken from the Phoenix, which represents the universe, by man’s drinking some of its blood); some characters appear several times in the stories, mostly from reincarnation, a common precept in Buddhism.

Other filmmakers have repurposed this theme. In Space Cruiser Yamato (also known as Star Blazers), an old Japanese warship is rebuilt into a powerful spaceship and sent off to save a planet Earth succumbing to radiation poisoning.

In essence, what we have seen is that the atomic bomb indeed affected Japan to the point that the works of Tezuka and later artists inspired by him reflect on the bomb’s effects on families, society and the national psyche. Much like the cycle of life, or the immortal Phoenix in Tezuka’s case, Japan was able to reinvent itself and come back strong as a powerful world player capable of starting anew, but with the idea that mankind must learn from its mistakes and avoid repeating history.

About The Author:

Frank Fuller is an Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Villanova University

This article is republished from our content partners over at The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. 

[sallyscherryade]

My Review of @pegasimyth 's Work In Progress

hey, all you cool cats and kittens!

I've been gone for a while, mainly due to my laptop deciding to boogie on down with the angels and leave us after fuck knows how long and just general laziness. But now, I have decided to make a comeback and write something that has been a LONG time coming. Let's say, nearly a year.

If you are somehow unaware, @pegasimyth is a chaotic demon on this website, who I have the pleasure to know in real life. She is the gayest person I've ever seen, a little arsehole and a wee shorty. She's gonna agressively whatsapp me know. ANYWAY, she is an incredibly talented writer and for roughly a year has been working on the great piece of scripture know as WIP. It doesny have a name yet...

Me, being the fabby dabby friend that I am decided (at half ten, i might add) decided to do a full, detailed and in-depth review/analysis of this novel. I will give you a wee introduction on what the story is about because about two fucking people who follow me have read it. I shall then break down the characters and conclude by sharing my overall thoughts. Easy enough?

Now that you are briefed, here is a wee synopsis. It has just dawned on me how fucking difficult the plot is to explain. The story starts with a boy called Chris walking down a street eating chips (fries for all the american degenerates). Seems pretty chill, right? LOL NOPE. A van fucking speeds into the scene and out pop three of the most madly brilliant characters ever, who we shall discuss further later on. Basically, Chris is a dragon and they are as well and he moves in with them into this massive house where they go on cool missions and shit, given to them by a semi-evil corporation called The Suits. It's really confusing. It makes sense if you read it. Okay, time to break down the characters.

1. Raven

I chose to start with Raven because he is kind of the closest thing WIP has to a protagonist. Raven's life is sort of a mess. He goes through boundless trauma brought on by a TWAT called Theo (more on nippleface later), was taken in by a father figure of sorts who was murdered right in front of him. As you can no doubt tell, anna loves torturing her characters. He suffers from a lot of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and his issues are treated in a delicate and understanding way. They are not fixed in an instant, nor are they disregarded as him being a dick. They are harsh and real, and the way they are written with such emotion and skill is truly amazing. I wish I had the ability to develop and make a reader care about a character like anna does with Raven. He is also hilarious at times, showing the drier side of Anna's humour. Tell you what, his one liners are fucking brilliant. He is also a caring person and protects his sheilded with such loyalty and love. Also, as I feel he'd want me to say this, C'MON THE ACES!

2. Kat

Kat is a fucking trooper. I really want to give her a hug and tell her she's doing great because she goes through absolute hell. Yet, despite it all, she survives. She protects her "children" and who she cares about while looking fucking excellent in a suit and berating Raven at the same time. She is tough as nails but has a heart of gold. Also, her conversations with Raven in Spanish are the best thing in the fucking world.

3. Pup

You could say that Pup is somewhat of a fan favourite amongst WIP readers and for good reason. The first time I heard about Pup was atop a bus after the Edinburgh Book Festival and I instantly fell in love with his cuteness. He is basically a human puppy and it is goddamn adorable. He has also had a troubled life (ARE WE NOTICING A THEME HERE, YOU TERROR ANNA) and has his struggles along the way but with help from his friends, always propsers eventually. He is a true sign of hope and love and it is impossible not to adore him. Kat and Raven look out for him so much AND IT IS SO WHOLESOME! I basically consider this precious child to be my son.

4. Chip

I have said it before and I'll say it again CHIP. IS. UNDERRATED. Anna has a pure vendetta against main characters and as a result hates Chip which angers me greatly as he is fucking amazing. He is so kind and adaptable, it's great. Chip expresses true loyalty and perseverance which are among the best traits a person can have. He is also great trans representation! TRANS RIGHTS, MOTHERFUCKERS! Also his friendship with Pup is something I bloody adore.

5. "The Hospital Gang" - Ark, Noah, Eva + Jimmy

Okay, they aren't officially called "the hospital gang" but it suits them. The aforementioned characters were, at the beginning, created because the main four often need medical attention. Then, something special happened. Ark and Noah are the married couple who work at the hospital (Ark being a doctor and Noah a paramedic). They have two children, Rens and one I can't remember the name of and can't be arsed looking up AND THEY ARE THE REASON I HAVE OXYGEN! THEY ARE ARE SO FUCKING ADORABLE IT AIN'T EVEN FUNNY. Next up is Eva, the character based on yours truly, who is mainly used to inflict pain upon pup or to be the gang's mom friend/babysitter/paramedic. Her friendship with Noah is truly great and their comedy is fucking amazing. Jimmy is Ark's big brother. He is massive, built like a brick shithouse and was just realised from prison after being wrongly accused of murder. He makes the true vicious scottish warrior trapped within my soul incredibly happy. What a trans ally fucking icon!

6. Theo

CUNT

7. Charlie

I saved the best 'til last. CHARLIE. IS. THE. BEST. CHARACTER. I WANT NO DISAGREEMENT BC I AM RIGHT! He is my husband and he is amazing. I think about the fact he is deceased no less than five times a day and every time i do, it makes me want to backflip off a fucking cliff. He is such a genuinely brilliant person, it makes me cry. A character who was originially created to inflict major emotional distress has taken on a life of his own. I can't wait for all the depressing tumblr headcanons when WIP gets published...

Okay, I've had my fun, let's get down to business (to defeat the huns). Bordering on 100k words, this piece of writing is geniunely revolutionary. Despite the painful and heart-wrenching moments it has that want to make you rip your own face off, this book has so much heart and a core value of friendship above all else. I care about the characters and what happens to them. My friend, I don't think I've even said this directly to you, so I shall do so now. What you have written is a gritty, real, down-to-earth, diverse and beautiful story which I deeply adore and respect. IT'S FUCKIN DYNAMITE, MATE! Thank you for writing this. Also UPDATE IT BECAUSE JESUS CHRIST!

l8er sk8er,

sally x

[killinbills]

╰⊱♥⊱╮ the killinbills guide to planning a fic!! (part two)

Normally I don’t make these sort of things, but I get a lot of asks about how I plan my fics so I thought it would be easier to do a tutorial like this. This works for me, but it won’t work for everyone. I think the thing with planning fics/stories, in general, is that everyone will have their own way of doing it, and it really depends on you as a person. But,,, it might help if you maybe take some of the steps that I do, so here is what I do.

(If you don’t know me, hi! I’m Lucy aka bioodflood on wattpad, and in the almost six years I’ve been on there, I’ve completed six Harry Potter oc fanfics... A few more including the ones that have been taken down, including a couple Teen Wolf ones and one for The Flash, but yeah, I’ve written and planned a lot.)

So, in this, I’m gonna talk about:

Titles (including chapter titles)

Dialogue

Staying motivated

Fanfic specific, including changing canon plot effectively and although they’ll apply mostly to HP, they can be changed to suit whatever fandom you are writing for!!

also How I use Pinterest

and More on chapter summaries

In part one I talked about:

Characters

Plotting

Twists (both big ones then lil plot advancers)

Soon, I’m going to write a part three and that’ll focus on first chapters!

I hope this is of use to you guys, and if it is, please consider reblogging so others can see this, too!! 💖💖 (also!! my ko-fi is here if you would like to buy me a coffee and support me!!)

also: special thanks to @starkdnvers for helping me with the gif at the top!

╰⊱♥⊱ READ PART ONE HERE

╰⊱♥⊱╮ one: titles

╰⊱♥⊱╮ step no. one: actual story titles

The way to title your story is pretty simple, really. It needs to reflect upon the entire story. You can take inspiration from things like songs, but personally, I prefer it when people don’t? Obviously sometimes there are exceptions, but for the most part, if you want an effective story title, make sure it fits the story.

Maybe it’s named after the main character. I have a fic called Briar, after the main character Briar, and I also have a fic called Morningstar, which is the main character’s surname, and her surname represents the power she has. Both of these titles reflect upon the story itself.

I’m gonna be honest, one of my fics is called Go Lightly and tbh, what happened was that it was going to be called something else, but “go lightly” was the name of playlist because the character’s name is Holly, and “go lightly” just stuck. I sort of made the phrase have a meaning in the story, which I count as an exception but again, like I said, every writing rule has exceptions.

Sometimes titles can be super hard to think of, but, if you’re like me and you like to give your playlists cute names, sometimes you’ll end up giving them a name, and then that name sticks, and works as the title. (It’s happened twice now, for me??)

The way to titling your story is thinking of what the story’s about. Do some thinking about it, maybe write down a couple you like the idea of, and normally I find that one title will just fit. Same goes for character names -- there’ll be one that just works, and until you get to that point, you just need to persevere.

╰⊱♥⊱╮ step no. two: chapter titles

I love chapter titles!! I’ve been told before that I have nice ones, and I’ve answered this in an ask before, but I’ll break it down here.

Sometimes i’ll pick out phrases from the chapter and use them, but also, i’ll look at song titles and other things. All of my fics have a whole note dedicated to potential chapter titles (which makes it so much easier when you’re struggling!!) and basically I’ll write down idioms, phrases, etc, that could work as a chapter title.

The idea is to try and make that chapter titles feel as if they have a correlation, even if only you can see it. (To be honest, I didn’t think people noticed mine, but apparently they do, so maybe others will see the correlation too!!)

So, for example, my fic Morningstar, for the list of chapter titles I’ve written down phrases taking inspiration from:

Gossip Girl episodes (she lives in the upper east side)

Old school book titles, including The Clique, Monster High, and Clueless (these all fit the main character’s overall vibe and the style that her narration is written!)

I feel like it adds another level of character to the story, if the chapter titles are written in a way that reflects upon the main character. For Clueless, the chapter titles are all a little flirty and playful because that’s what the main character’s like. I wouldn’t recommend having a solid theme (obviously there are EXCEPTIONS!) because sometimes a chapter needs a Specific Title. But, if you guys were wanting your chapter titles to have some correlation to them, this is how I do it!

╰⊱♥⊱╮ two: dialogue

This one is gonna be super short, because I don’t really know how best to explain this. I write dialogue with the intention of making it sound realistic. But, sometimes it helps me to write just the dialogue, almost like a script, before writing the scene because then I can focus on what the characters are saying. You can change the dialogue when you write the full scene, but sometimes it helps to focus just on the dialogue -- and, sometimes you sort of have an idea of how you want the scene to go, so by writing the dialogue down you know what you’re doing when you get to it!!

If you’re unsure of your dialogue/conversations sounding unrealistic, I try to keep in mind that certain people have phrases they use a lot, so characters have the same. Harry says “um” and “erm,” like, a lot. All of the Weasley kids (sort of excluding Ginny) say stuff like, “bloody,” “blimey...” You can sort of get a feel, though, for how each character speaks in the books themselves, and I’ve found it useful keeping that in mind. (But of course we haven’t heard a lot of them talking about certain things, just speaking to Harry, so if you’re unsure of how certain characters may speak to a love interest, try and keep it close to how they normally speak, but also, you can go AU if you think it’s what they probably would say.) (For this, I mean stuff like, how they say they love someone, or something.) (If you want to see my break-down of certain HP characters and how I’d write them, I have a whole list here!)

╰⊱♥⊱╮ three: staying motivated

A lot of people tell me I’m really good with updating, and like,,,, to be honest I sort of am? And like it’s not a bad thing that sometimes it takes a while for people to update,,, it’s just that a lot of the time, during school breaks, I have the time to spend on writing. I’m not saying it’s bad that sometimes people take a while to update. People are busy with school and work and life (I literally didn’t update from September to December of last year because of everything,,, and I stopped when I had exams, too) and at the end of the day, we write because we enjoy it. 

But here is how I stay motivated. (Or, in other words, how I’ve finished six whole fics, soon to be seven.)

When I get into something I get committed, and I enjoy writing the fics I write, so when I finish a chapter, normally I’ll get the next one ready to go. I enjoy feeling productive. I feel guilty if I haven’t written a story, and tbh if I haven’t been writing a story and don’t want to write it,, I’ll most likely unpublish the story because I don’t want to disappoint readers. However. There are a couple of things I keep in mind when I’m planning and such, and this is them:

I’ll commit to a small handful of fics at once. Three is stressful for me. Right now I’m writing three, but I’m at the end of one, so it’s not so bad. But I’d recommend keeping a low count of unfinished fics, because then you can focus on them.

I’ll commit. When I plan a story it will be in my drafts for a VERY long time because I’ll wait for the moment where I’ve got the time and I really want to start that story. I’ve developed it, yeah, but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to start it yet. I also want to take time to see if I really want to write something. Like, for ages I thought I was going to post this one fic, and then four months later I decided against it. Taking time before posting a story allows you to sit and think, do you want to spend hours writing this, or do you like the idea?

In terms of beating writer’s block, the only way to beat it is to write. It’s annoying and you don’t want to, but the only way you’re going to get through writer’s block is if you write the chapter.

╰⊱♥⊱╮ four: fanfic specific

I’ve already addressed deciding what canon plots to use in part one, but basically, the idea is: find the plot that fits your character. There should be one that, realistically, they could be included in, and that’s normally the one I’ll go for.

╰⊱♥⊱╮ no. one: changing canon

IF SOMEONE DIES, THEY DIE.

That is the one rule. I think it’s wrong when fanfics reverse canon in that way. I don’t like it when fanfic writers don’t make a character die, when they’re supposed to, because they like the character. They died for a reason.

... But, having said that, there is one exception:

If the death was badly done, or because of your plot changing canon a little it can’t actually happen -- but they’re going to die later, instead.

But. In terms of changing canon that isn’t so... important, I think that as long as you’ve got a reason for it, then go for it. At the end of the day, view your fic as it’s own story -- if you need to change canon a little bit, to help further your plot, then do it. If you need your character to, I don’t know, kill Dumbledore, or something, and you need to do it to help further your plot, do it. I am giving you permission to make things interesting and switch canon up.

Don’t stray away too much, but if it’s every so often, what’s the harm? If anything, it’s fun and exciting for readers to see that this fic’s a little bit different.

For example: I have a Peter Parker fic, but, since I know I write better with fantasy elements (by this I mean witchcraft over science fiction) the main character Isabelle’s plot lines, such as her villains and her powers, are all based within mythology rather than science fiction. I know I write fantasy better, so I’ve tweaked it so that the main focus is my strength, rather than science, which isn’t! At all!

Same with dialogue. I’d recommend staying close to the books, or the films, but sis the books have the longest conversations. It’s fine to condense conversations, too, or trim them a little. Make sure you’ve got everything there, so the readers know what’s going on -- again, treat it like your own story,, with the idea that unless you have not told the readers something, they will have no knowledge of it (as if they’re reading your fic but have not read the source) -- but if you need to trim, trim. 

I talked about it a little in this ask, which is more on how I write the whole books, but there’s a little bit about conversations, too!

╰⊱♥⊱╮ no. two: writing canon characters realistically

I’ve touched upon this a little in dialogue, with how they speak, but normally if I’m writing a fic, I’ll look on the wiki page about them, so I know about their life and upbringing and such. Sometimes there’s things on there that you don’t think about, and if you’re wriitng with that knowledge, even if you don’t mention it, you know that character better and you’ll be able to write them better!

Speaking of -- if you’re writing a Fred or George fic, there’s a really good essay on Pottermore about the differences between them!!

╰⊱♥⊱╮ no. two point one: writing canon realistically

By this, I mean, writing locations and such like they are in the books. I don’t think any of us will notice if small things are changed, but, what I do if I’m writing during a specific class, or at a specific location (eg Grimmauld Place) I’ll look on the wiki page about that thing, and refer back to it if I’m unsure on anything. Sometimes I make stuff up, but it’s nice to know that if you want to double-check something, you’ve got the page open. (And, you never know when it’ll come in handy!! I had the Grimmauld Place one open and read something about an heirloom the Black family has, and now I can include it in my fic!!)

╰⊱♥⊱╮ five: how i use pinterest

I talked about this mostly in part one, but essentially, I use Pinterest as a means of figuring out how I imagine everything. A lot of the time I find it a lot easier to describe things if I know the specific way I’m deciding to present it, if that makes sense. It really isn’t necessary, but I like to have visuals to look back on.

Basically I’ll make a private Pinterest board, and have different sections for different things. I mentioned I have one for like a character’s wardrobe, and their bedroom, but I’ll show an example of Izzy’s board because it’s come in handy for her fic especially.

So, there are nine boards:

Moroi looks at Izzy’s superhero alter ego, with how she actually looks, and also on things like her powers

Izzy’s outfits and Izzy’s closet look at Izzy’s clothes. Outfits is for specific chapters, closet is for ideas

Izzy’s room is... Izzy’s room. Lol

Oswald penthouse is pretty much different pictures to kind of visualise Izzy’s home, so when I come to writing it I know how to present it

The Monsters has been scribbled out, but basically in that I’ve got pictures of certain creatures and places that will come into play with the villains Izzy faces throughout the story, both the little ones and the Big One. But because it’s literally spoiler city it’s blocked out

Cerberus is Izzy’s dog!! So I made one whilst I was figuring out how I wanted to present him

Marie’s valise is similar to Izzy’s closet, only with Marie (Izzy’s guardian) and her fashion. (Lots of vintage inspired because she’s from that time.)

Mary Immaculate is the section for Izzy’s school. Because I made the place up, I made a section so I know how I’m roughly describing things like the exterior, the interior, even the uniforms with the Blair pictures. Basically it’s just a way of me knowing how I’m going to describe it whenever the scenes take place at the school.

Another example is the Clueless board, which hasn’t been used as much, but like, to be fair, the only reason Izzy’s is so used is because most of it is AU. So.

Here we have:

Briar’s trunk which is Briar’s clothes (all of mine have one similar)

Beauxbatons which is me figuring out how I’m going to describe the school. There’s also a couple textposts about people’s headcanons, and tbh it’s helped out, keeping in mind how other people imagine the school to be like. (This is also super unnecessary but I also did research in the differences between the UK and France!! Did not need to do it at ALL but it’s helpful to know!!)

Carriage is basically me figuring out how the inside of the carriage looks like, same as Beauxbatons only not as much detail into it??

Honestly if you do this, the sections can be super messy if you want, it’s sort of just a way to visualise your fics! I know for me it’s really helped me out!!

╰⊱♥⊱╮ six: more on chapter summaries

OK, so. I like to write chapter summaries because it means that when I get to that chapter, I know what I’m doing. But, there are two type of chapter summaries:

The ones done ages in advance, super in detail, by the time you get to the chapter they don’t make much sense but if you’re familiar with the fic you can figure out what to do with it

The ones that are literally scribbled down before you start writing, so you map everything out. These are the ones I end up doing at the end of stories, because it’s literally a way of me being like “ok so this is in this chapter, so this will be in the next,” and having it all written down so I wont forgot my plan

Normally by the time I get to the end I’ll know how i’m ending it, so I won’t pay much attention to the chapter summaries, but sometimes I’ll super quickly write down what I’m doing so I remember. Also, with first chapters, I sort of always have an idea of what I’m doing, and I’ll just freestyle it, but I’ll show an example of a thought-out chapter summary:

It’s in detail but it’s so messy. Like, it’s difficult to explain it, because in some parts there’s me shortening words to write them faster, also there’s things in quotes because I might include the sentence in the chapter, and also there’s additional notes. (Like, how Briar will be on the train longer than Fleur, in case I mention it in the chapter.) Basically, I write down everything I need to keep in mind, it barely makes sense to anyone but me, but it helps me remember what I’m doing, and that’s the important part.

Also! Since in the fic, the main character’s a werewolf, at the top of the note with the chapter summaries I left a little message to myself about how the full moons will affect her.

Mostly it’s there so I can refer back to it, and it is really helpful. So if there’s anything you wanna keep in mind, you can always leave it at the top of your chapter summaries!! (If you have a lot of stuff, though, I’d recommend making another folder for just notes on planning -- I’ve got one for Morningstar.)

Sooo, it basically has: the monsters, chapter titles, her powers, a Bible verse lol, and then a planned out summary of part one... That I never finished... And instead made a super quick one that I have in another folder on notes, which literally just says when events will take place. (E.g., ‘Lagos,’ then ‘Start of the Bride,’ then ‘Berlin.’ Since I know what’s happening it’s easier just to jot down when they’re going to happen, as a way to remember.)

Then, the other way of summaries is the quick ones. I did this for the end of Holliday Dearest, one of my fics I finished last year, and tbh it helped just as much as a detailed one.

It’s literally the shortest thing ever, but since I knew what was going to happen, I just needed to know which chapter they’d be happening in, it really helped when I was writing it! (I literally think i wrote this on my phone before I went to bed, and like, it was just as useful as a detailed one.)

Chapter summaries really don’t have to be detailed, they just have to remind you of what you’re doing. If there’s stuff you want to include, then write it down, because you never know if you’ll forget, and even if you don’t use that thing in the end, at least you’ve written it down just in case.

For those of you that read my stuff, I didn’t do this for Briar, but then I knew the books well enough to have in mind what was going on. For Blue and Mean Spirits I made sure to write summaries because it’s marauders era, therefore it’s all up to me, basically. I’m not sure if I did one for Bones? But from Go Lightly onwards, I’ve done them for every fic, and it really helps me out!!

That’s everything for part two!! If you have any more questions, let me know!

My wattpad is here and my ko-fi is here, if you’re interested in either!! 💖

[doomedandstoned]

THIS IS SOUND OF ORIGIN

~By Shawn Gibson~

When last we encountered SOUND OF ORIGIN, the smoked-up and tuned-down quartet from Huddersfield were featured in the landmark compilation, 'Doomed & Stoned in England' (2019), where we dipped our feet "Into The Vile." Since then, Sound of Origin have gifted us with an entire album's worth of material and we've had a blast immersing ourselves in their groovy soundscape of swirling riffs, vicious beats, gritty singing, and some terrific vocal harmonies. Our resident sludgehead Shawn Gibsonheavy set out to get to know these guys better, speaking to drummer Chris 'Foz' Foster following their latest APF Records release, 'The All Seeing Eye' (2020).   [Billy Goate]

Chris, how the hell are you? Thank you for your time!

Hey, Shawn. All good and absolutely no bother at all, thank you for reaching out and doing the interview. It’s very much appreciated.

Who are the members of Sound Of Origin and what do they do in the band?

There are four of us in the band. Joel (Bulsara) who is our vocalist/ frontman. Joe (Wilczynski) on guitar/backing vocals. Jax (Townend) on bass and myself, Chris (Foster) on drums.

Where is Sound Of Origin from?

We are based out of and rehearse in Huddersfield, UK. I live in a place called Sowerby just outside of Halifax and Joel lives in Leeds, so we both travel across to join up with the other two guys.

What bands do you love from your area?

Wow. That’s a tough one as there are so many. The UK Underground scene is awash with fantastic bands, and many come from around our local area. If we are talking around our immediate area, then there are the likes of Ironrat, Gandalf the Green, and our bros in Son of Boar that immediately spring to mind. But if you look within an hour's drive from where we are, you have the likes of Barbarian Hermit, Spaztik Munkey, Archelon, Boss Keloid, Ten Foot Wizard, Blind Monarch, Hundred Year Old Man, and so many more. All killer bands doing different kinds of heavy.

This is the reply to all who wrote us off: Not Dead Yet.

What venues or bars do you go to see heavy music?

There are a good number within a short travelling distance to us. The Parish in Huddersfield is our local venue. However, our good friends in Iron Boar bookings put killer lineups on in Bradford at venues such as The Underground and Al’s Juke bar. Manchester-wise, Chunk from Stonebaked promotions usually uses The Bread Shed and there is also The Alma in Bolton that puts on some cracking gigs, too.

Which bands got you turned on to doom, psych, and stoner?

From a very young age it’s got to be Black Sabbath, for sure. I can still remember how I felt when I heard them for the very first time as a five-year old, It’s stayed with me all my life. But bands like Type O Negative, Acrimony, Cathedral, Candlemass, Trouble, Weedeater, Paradise Lost, Eyehategod, Reverend Bizarre, Saint Vitus, Monster Magnet, Electric Wizard, My Dying Bride & Anathema have all hit the spot at some point over the years.

The All Seeing Eye by Sound of Origin

Who did the artwork for your new album 'The All Seeing Eye' (2020)?

A friend of Joel’s called Sam McDougall. Such a talented guy and really easy to work with. Our mates over in 4Q Media delivered the overall design for the CD package and it has worked out really well.

I love the slow part of "Warfarin" at about 5:35 minutes in. Slow and on the moon! There's even a part that incites moshing!

The end of "Warfarin" finishes off low & slow for sure. (laughs) We wanted to ensure the first song from our original EP ended with a big riff. As for the faster part, all of us in the band like some faster bands (Joe used to play in a thrash band many moons ago) and we felt like it was a natural fit in the song when we were first putting it together.

Seeds of the Past by Sound of Origin

On your first album, "Seeds Of The Past," "Warfarin," and "Asphalt" are my favorites. Tell me a little about these songs.

"Asphalt" is my personal favourite from the first EP. The way it keeps coming back around, but builds and builds each time and John’s vocal delivery (old singer) did it real justice. It was always great to play both in the studio (volume turned up to 11) and live as we used to get a great reaction from the crowd on that one. The end riff on "Warfarin," where we slowed things down, always was fun to do as we rehearsed it in the studio 'till we got it down to a virtual crawl.

My favorite off your new album, 'The All Seeing Eye' (2020), is "Not Dead Yet." That is how you start an album, goddamnit! Face melted!

It’s a big sound, for sure, when it kicks in. When our old singer left the band, we went through some pretty dark times, and we were written off by many people -- some going as far as to say we were dead as a band and we should just knock it on the head. Enter new vocalist Joel and everything changed for the better. The fact is, as a band, we have never been more alive and well. This is the reply to all who wrote us off. Not dead yet.

At times, it’s been like a budget version of Spinal Tap.

What are some things that inspired your album 'Seeds Of The Past' (2017)?

Joe had been trying to get a solid stoner-doom band together for about 10 years or so. It took a very long time to get a workable, regular platform to flourish, as life generally got in the way of establishing a fully integrated band. Seeds Of The Past is a reflection of some of the music Joe wrote years prior. That said, the title track "Seeds" we came up with in the studio jamming and it just took off from there.

What are some things that inspired the music on 'The All Seeing Eye' (2020)?

The main contributing factors that inspired the music on The All Seeing Eye were more circumstantial than anything. We hunkered down in the studio and started writing material for a new album whilst we were in the process of finding a new front man. With this in mind, we set out on patching the initial framework of songs together and took things from there. It wasn’t until the addition of Joel that we really started to get to grips with the music and what we could achieve with the overall sound on the album.

What has been an awkward moment as a band?

Ha, where should I start? At times, it’s been like a budget version of Spinal Tap. Band-wise, I would say the most awkward time for us all would be the gap between singers. Having an idea of what you want to do moving forward and not being able to do it became frustrating at times. When Joel arrived, it was like a huge breath of fresh air swept through us all. Things came together really quickly and the growing pains we had when we first started out have all but disappeared now.

On 'Seeds Of The Past' (2017) there is a song "Left For Dead." 'The All Seeing Eye' (2020) has a song "Not Dead Yet." Your sophomore album is alive and kicking!

Absolutely. There was a completely fresh take and approach on this album. The arrival of Joel in the band led to a clean sweep of what we had done before. The lads (Joe & Jax) invested completely in new amps and cabs and guitars, and a change of approach came with dropping our tuning further. Whilst a number of the songs from the album had already been written, because of Joel’s vocal range we had another look at them between the four of us and reworked a few things here and there. The four of us now are in a much better place than at any time previously with the band.

"Dim Carcosa" and "Morning Bird" are rippers off 'The All Seeing Eye' (2020)! Talk to me about what's behind these songs.

"Dim Carcosa" references Robert W. Chambers and his fantastic work in The King in Yellow. Dim Carcosa is where horror truly resides and it delves into madness in various forms. This song describes the practical inevitability of mental health issues in today’s society.

"Morning Bird" came about when Jax started playing a bassline in the studio and sparked a song out of the group. Following the general themes of perseverance and will power, this song discusses the ups and downs of self-worth and the way the political landscape recently has given a lot of people the excuse to judge, be racist, and to discriminate on all fronts. As human beings, we are very tribal and like to separate. We don’t realise that we are, in fact, one tribe.

What makes Sounds of Origin laugh?

Each other. There is a two-decade age gap in the band and we are four very different people, but when we get together the laughs are constant. There is a real feel-good vibe in the band now more than ever, which has led to an intense period of songwriting and ideas. Even through this period of uncertainty with the COVID situation. Everyone is contributing now and the songs and ideas are coming together for the next album already.

Chris, it's been a pleasure! Thank you again for your time talking about your new album 'The All Seeing Eye' (2020)! I hope you and your mates in Sound Of Origin are well.

No problems at all. Again thank you guys for the support. Big shout out to APF Records for signing us and giving us a platform to push our music on. Best wishes to you all and we hope you stay safe and well in these strange times.

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[directdogman]

could we get some random facts/headcannons about the main three (jack, dave, henry)? i wanna know more--

So, you want trivia? Sure, I got some o’ dat.Jack’s full name is Jack Fitzgerald Kennedy, aside from being an obvious nod to the late US president, “Fitzgerald” was chosen as his middle name as it’s the surname of F. Scott Fitzgerald, the author of The Great Gatsby, which is the book that the inappropriate, yet endearing usage of “Old Sport” by Dave came from. In very early development, I tossed around the name Mike for OS, but due to Scott coincidentally turning Mike Schmidt into a sibling zombie going from Freddy’s location to Freddy’s location with a new name each time, from SL onwards- I kinda thought to distance myself from that name, so things’d be less confusing.Jack’s name comes from three sources. The obvious one is that when he goes “LEGACY” his face turns into a pumpkin, and he’s orange. The second is a nod to the dude who tricked the devil, Stingy Jack, who ended up living an immortal life due to a deal that went wrong, only to find himself unable to enter heaven OR hell. (Sound familiar?) Shadow Doggo is based is on the British legends of black hounds. The image of Blackjack barging into a room full of people and mauling Henry by the throat is inspired by Black Shuck, an alleged hellhound who broke into a church, killing worshippers, and leaving scorchmarks on the door on the way out.The other legend is of Richard Cabell, who allegedly sold his soul to the devil, only for it to be sealed away, and his resting place was pursued endlessly by frustrated hell hounds, trying to free the soul. The twist on this story is that the tomb is empty, the hell hound IS the soul, and the hound has a soul of his own imprisoned in a hell of his making.Blackjack’s ability to move through timelines manifests in DSaF 2, when he can comment on events from other savegames in current ones, not unlike Flowey in Undertale. The ability canonically is the physical manifestation of Jack’s desire to alter time, to turn back the clock and prevent Dee’s untimely death.Some of Jack’s qualities are actually nods to my own. Jack’s height is 5′10-6′2, which is the height range I am in, Jack’s pizza preferences are like my own, and there’s a few other eerie similarities I only now realize, but those are for another post, I guess. Jack’s orange colour was chosen in DSaF 1 (instead of pink, red, green) because the suit the player wears in DSaF 1 is orange. Simple as. At one point in development, I considered giving Jack the surname of “Johnson”, but an artist I was working with pointed out that “Peter Johnson” essentially means “penis penis”. Johnson was the surname of a US president who resided over the early vietnam war period, and was the vice president of JFK, so I just went one back, and decided to adopt the “Fitzgerald” as a reference to Gatsby, as I said previously.Dave’s an odd one to discuss, because he was kind of an enigma before DSaF 3. I’ll just give a few facts, then. I don’t know what Dave is. Dave flat out implies he’s actually half eggplant in DSaF 2, but with how dishonest he is, I doubt that to be the case. I consider him a cryptid, because according to Dave in DSaF 3, he was purple as a kid too, long before his death.Him and Jack are polar opposites in a weird inverted way. Dave’s immortality comes from manually repossessing his body, because he can’t let go. He’s alive through sheer determination, even though it’s a lie and it’s eating him alive from the inside out. Jack’s alive against his will, because he can’t die. It’s like determination vs perseverance. An unstoppable object vs an unmovable object. This is why they work so well in a pair; they’re completely complimentary. They cover each other’s weaknesses. This is represented in the Flipside segment, because Jack and Dave each have a weak attack/defense stat, but can boost each other to make each other both stronger, and equally strong/tough in the same ways. Funny, that.Dave’s relationship with Henry is something I never quite got to show properly on screen due to never showing any scenes before Henry’s death that don’t involve murder. Henry calls Dave “Willy” as a subtle way to demean him, because it’s slang for wiener, and that’s why Dave hates it so much.I’ve written a long ass post about Henry in the past. It’s here, in case you wanna read it. There’s obviously more that I never wrote down, but there ya go. Explains how he got from birth to the circus, anyhow, and why he has a book. Bonus fact: he listens to very old music (mostly classical) as he works, hence why he had My Grandfather’s Clock stuck in his head as he created Dee’s new vessel, and why his theme is a waltz. Henry is also much older than Dave, who is slightly older than Jack. My original headcanon design for Henry was a flushed version of Stephen Fry, but tbh, YOUR design for him has really grown on me :)Hope this helped!