#Dancing with Fantasy and Sci-Fi

[noble-oc-atomics]

"H1 was not detered by her flashy show. He didn't believe in magic, and he wasn't going to be detered from bringing her back to Sihugen."

Once again, this has been coloured by 'Dimlock'. The colours in the middle are the colours I sent to her for reference purposes.

This is a day from draw everything June by @adorkastock . I wanted to change the pose from a dance into a fight, with the drawn back arm representing a spell about to be cast.

[friendly-neighbourhood-librarian]

Fairy Tale February: Week 2 Book Recs

Cinder - Marissa Meyer

A sci-fi Cinderella story in which Cinderella is a cyborg mechanic trying to help her prince deal with a devastating, incurable plague and the looming threat of a powerful and ruthless queen. Fantastic writing, fantastic world-building! The only thing I didn't like was the ending; I wish there had been some sort of resolution for at least one of the conflicts, instead of leaving everything loose. That said, I can't wait to read the rest of the series!

Lunar Chronicles: Cinder | Scarlet | Cress | Winter

The Door in the Hedge - Robin McKinley

Four fairy tales: two retellings (The Princess and the Frog and The Twelve Dancing Princesses) and two originals (The Stolen Princess and The Hunting of the Hind). Robin McKinley writes such beautiful, rich, lyrical language that is so well suited for fairy tales. Her stories are mesmerizing!

Sherwood - Meagan Spooner

A retelling of Robin Hood in which the famed outlaw is actually Maid Marian in disguise! When Robin of Locksley dies fighting in the King's war, his betrothed, Marian, must deal with her grief and the uncertainty of her future. As she tries to protect her friends and do what is right for her people, she finds the freedom to be herself in a surprising way — by becoming someone else! I cannot express how much I loved this story! This is the only version of Robin Hood I care about now.

Fairy Tale February: Week 1 | Week 2 | Week 3 | Week 4 | Masterpost

More fairy tales

[revindicatedbyhistory]

honestly i didnt expect one of the shadowrun games of all things to surprise me with how they handle politics and fantasy racism

[drawingale]

Aeria part 7 sneak

I finished sketching a future update and I'm super excited to start inking them tomorrow! I finally got to draw the main couple dancing together at the ball 💃🕺

[kitschykitschykoo]

in space, no one can hear you scream, or dance...

[meocartdis]

A redraw of a five year old drawing.

[floralamethyst]

Robo ballroom dance party

[livestosave]

TEN FAVOURITE CHARACTERS FROM TEN DIFFERENT FANDOMS!

Havelock Vetinari from Discworld

King Theoden from Lord of the Rings

Commander Cody from Star Wars

James Ironwood from RWBY

Tywin Lannister from A Song of Ice & Fire/Game of Thrones

Walter Bishop from Fringe

Leonard McCoy from Star Trek

Commander Cullen Rutherford from Dragon Age

Garrus Vakarian from Mass Effect

Colonel Tigh from the original Battlestar Galactica

Tagged by; Stolen from @littleblackqrow Tagging; Steal it

[freepassbound]

Please may I ask

3. Drawings or paintings?

19. Ice cream or yogurt?

26. Dancing or singing?

42. Scrambled or fried?

51. Sci-Fi or fantasy?

57. Snakes or sharks?

85. Stripes or solids?

Thank you 💕💕

Of course you may! 😊😘

3. Drawings or paintings? I suppose I'd say I prefer paintings a bit more? In terms of art appreciation, that is.

19. Ice cream or yogurt? Got beaten to this one. 🤭 Ice cream!

26. Dancing or singing? In public? 😅 If absolutely forced, singing.

42. Scrambled or fried? Scrambled.

51. Sci-Fi or fantasy? Sci-fi, by a mile. 😄

57. Snakes or sharks? Snakes!

85. Stripes or solids? Whichever I make on the break. 😁

[aethersea]

another thing fantasy writers should keep track of is how much of their worldbuilding is aesthetic-based. it's not unlike the sci-fi hardness scale, which measures how closely a story holds to known, real principles of science. The Martian is extremely hard sci-fi, with nearly every detail being grounded in realistic fact as we know it; Star Trek is extremely soft sci-fi, with a vaguely plausible "space travel and no resource scarcity" premise used as a foundation for the wildest ideas the writers' room could come up with. and much as Star Trek fuckin rules, there's nothing wrong with aesthetic-based fantasy worldbuilding!

(sidenote we're not calling this 'soft fantasy' bc there's already a hard/soft divide in fantasy: hard magic follows consistent rules, like "earthbenders can always and only bend earth", and soft magic follows vague rules that often just ~feel right~, like the Force. this frankly kinda maps, but I'm not talking about just the magic, I'm talking about the worldbuilding as a whole.

actually for the purposes of this post we're calling it grounded vs airy fantasy, bc that's succinct and sounds cool.)

a great example of grounded fantasy is Dungeon Meshi: the dungeon ecosystem is meticulously thought out, the plot is driven by the very realistic need to eat well while adventuring, the story touches on both social and psychological effects of the whole 'no one dies forever down here' situation, the list goes on. the worldbuilding wants to be engaged with on a mechanical level and it rewards that engagement.

deliberately airy fantasy is less common, because in a funny way it's much harder to do. people tend to like explanations. it takes skill to pull off "the world is this way because I said so." Narnia manages: these kids fall into a magic world through the back of a wardrobe, befriend talking beavers who drink tea, get weapons from Santa Claus, dance with Bacchus and his maenads, and sail to the edge of the world, without ever breaking suspension of disbelief. it works because every new thing that happens fits the vibes. it's all just vibes! engaging with the worldbuilding on a mechanical level wouldn't just be futile, it'd be missing the point entirely.

the reason I started off calling this aesthetic-based is that an airy story will usually lean hard on an existing aesthetic, ideally one that's widely known by the target audience. Lewis was drawing on fables, fairy tales, myths, children's stories, and the vague idea of ~medieval europe~ that is to this day our most generic fantasy setting. when a prince falls in love with a fallen star, when there are giants who welcome lost children warmly and fatten them up for the feast, it all fits because these are things we'd expect to find in this story. none of this jars against what we've already seen.

and the point of it is to be wondrous and whimsical, to set the tone for the story Lewis wants to tell. and it does a great job! the airy worldbuilding serves the purposes of the story, and it's no less elegant than Ryōko Kui's elaborately grounded dungeon. neither kind of worldbuilding is better than the other.

however.

you do have to know which one you're doing.

the whole reason I'm writing this is that I saw yet another long, entertaining post dragging GRRM for absolute filth. asoiaf is a fun one because on some axes it's pretty grounded (political fuck-around-and-find-out, rumors spread farther than fact, fastest way to lose a war is to let your people starve, etc), but on others it's entirely airy (some people have magic Just Cause, the various peoples are each based on an aesthetic/stereotype/cliché with no real thought to how they influence each other as neighbors, the super-long seasons have no effect on ecology, etc).

and again! none of this is actually bad! (well ok some of those stereotypes are quite bigoted. but other than that this isn't bad.) there's nothing wrong with the season thing being there to highlight how the nobles are focused on short-sighted wars for power instead of storing up resources for the extremely dangerous and inevitable winter, that's a nice allegory, and the looming threat of many harsh years set the narrative tone. and you can always mix and match airy and grounded worldbuilding – everyone does it, frankly it's a necessity, because sooner or later the answer to every worldbuilding question is "because the author wanted it to be that way." the only completely grounded writing is nonfiction.

the problem is when you pretend that your entirely airy worldbuilding is actually super duper grounded. like, for instance, claiming that your vibes-based depiction of Medieval Europe (Gritty Edition) is completely historical, and then never even showing anyone spinning. or sniffing dismissively at Tolkien for not detailing Aragorn's tax policy, and then never addressing how a pre-industrial grain-based agricultural society is going years without harvesting any crops. (stored grain goes bad! you can't even mouse-proof your silos, how are you going to deal with mold?) and the list goes on.

the man went up on national television and invited us to engage with his worldbuilding mechanically, and then if you actually do that, it shatters like spun sugar under the pressure. doesn't he realize that's not the part of the story that's load-bearing! he should've directed our focus to the political machinations and extensive trope deconstruction, not the handwavey bit.

point is, as a fantasy writer there will always be some amount of your worldbuilding that boils down to 'because I said so,' and there's nothing wrong with that. nor is there anything wrong with making that your whole thing – airy worldbuilding can be beautiful and inspiring. but you have to be aware of what you're doing, because if you ask your readers to engage with the worldbuilding in gritty mechanical detail, you had better have some actual mechanics to show them.

[novy2sirius]

ACTING ASTROLOGY

— your fifth house planets

· your 5th house planets can tell about your acting talent and the type of films you’d do best in. if you want to know what type of characters you’d specifically play best and another acting astrology technique, click below

· types of characters you’d play well

· tw: porn (18+ only), trauma, cults, and gore

₊˚⊹☆┊5H SUN

one of the main themes in your life is putting forth your talent by expressing yourself. you naturally have a talent for entertaining others. you attract lots of attention and can be very famous. acting or entertaining others is likely a huge source of happiness in your life. you would do best in film genres such as drama, comedy, romance, action, and children’s films as well

₊˚⊹☆┊5H MOON

your soul has a natural desire to express itself emotionally and creatively through art. you have a face that makes others easily be able to read your emotions which can make you an amazing actor if you are able to feel all the emotions a character feels and fully immerse yourself into that characters energy and aura. this is also a popular fame placement in general. you would do best in film genres such as melodrama, romance, family, and indie as well

₊˚⊹☆┊5H MERCURY

you naturally have the right mannerisms for acting in such a way that when people watch your films it comes off very realistic as if they’re watching a normal video of someone. this placement can indicate starting out on social media or in short films before making it big in the film industry. often people with this placement always wanted to be the main character or take on as many roles as possible in their school plays. you would do best in film genres such as comedy, reality, and short films

₊˚⊹☆┊5H VENUS

you have a talent for all artistic careers, but this is an especially common placement among actors. you would do best in film genres such as romance, romantic comedy, musical, artistic, lgbtq, and dance films as well

₊˚⊹☆┊5H MARS

you have a talent for putting passion and enthusiasm into your expression when acting. you would especially play aggressive roles better. you would do best in film genres such as action, thrillers, horror, gore, slasher, war, medical, lgbtq, and superhero films

₊˚⊹☆┊5H JUPITER

you have an abundance of acting talent. this is a common placement among those who were in theater growing up. this can indicate gaining lots of popularity from acting and gaining success from it more easily than others as well. you would do best in genres such as adventure, thrillers, athletic, comedy, religion and action

₊˚⊹☆┊5H SATURN

this can indicate your job involves acting since saturn represents work. you may not become successful until later in life when acting with this placement though. sometimes it can also just indicate playing more serious characters though instead of a late start in your acting career. you would do best in genres such as history, historical fiction, biographical, documentaries, indie, and also silent films

₊˚⊹☆┊5H URANUS

this can indicate being in films/shows that are more popular on things like netflix or hulu rather than in theaters. people with this placement have the ability to play really unique roles. you would do best in genres such as sci-fi, thrillers, lgbtq, and pornographic films

₊˚⊹☆┊5H NEPTUNE

people with this placement have a natural talent for lying and deceiving others, so they can be really talented actors. you have the ability to put on a good illusion through your self expression. you would do best in genres such as fantasy, fiction, animation, mystery, spiritual, disappearance, and also musical films

₊˚⊹☆┊5H PLUTO

you have the ability to play really powerful characters. you’re good at transforming yourself into someone you’re not and putting on a good show. you would do best in genres such as crime, mystery, horror, action, superhero, vampire, cult, sexual, and thrillers as well

₊˚⊹☆┊5H NORTH NODE

your life purpose could involve acting and entertaining others. you have a natural talent for expressing yourself creatively in artistic ways and through the arts

₊˚⊹☆┊5H CHIRON

you have a talent for putting your inner wounds that have caused you emotional pain into your acting. the more trauma these people have the better the actors they are. you would do best in films that are more so on the sad side

© novy2sirius

[tyrantisterror]

Man... Akira Toriyama passing...

Like, between Dragon Ball Z and Chrono Trigger, there's so much that man contributed not only to my childhood, but to the basic DNA of my views on storytelling. Like, the characters he created have inspired so much in me - I'd kill to create someone as iconic as Bulma Briefs or Piccolo. And his unique visual style, seamlessly dancing between sci-fi and fantasy and even blending the two... And, like, Cell's introduction in DBZ is to this day one of the most effective series of horror beats I've ever seen in media. And! And! The dude still had it, he had that spark. Yeah, he's not a perfect creator, he had some dud arcs and persistent weaknesses as a writer and designer, but Battle of the Gods was such a good return to form for DBZ while also being a sly deconstruction of it, and DB Super: Broly actually managed to make the title character finally live up to his hype.

The sheer amount of creativity Toriyama had created a vast body of work, and for every miss he had at least five homeruns. A true legend in our time.

[jesncin]

Thinking about Disney and how we talk about Cultural Representation

(concept art by Scott Watanabe)

Old essay originally written on Cohost in November 2023. With additions.

With all the promo stuff about Disney's upcoming animated film Wish, I can't help but think about Raya and the Last Dragon again. I spent a year intensively researching things about that movie and the discourse surrounding it for a series of videos on Xiran Jay Zhao's channel, and oh boy did that reveal a lot about the current way we talk about cultural representation in casual media criticism.

Lately we've grown a habit of looking at signifiers to culture, things like a cultural dish, a nod to a martial arts style, a piece of clothing, maybe a hairstyle, a weapon and so on, and then projecting a bunch of intentions onto the work regardless of authorial intent. I witnessed this a bunch of times in discussions surrounding Raya and the Last Dragon.

You basically get a bunch of 4d chess-style justifications for the lazy implementation of culture in Raya.

random examples cuz there's too many to name:

The movie will do something like make the leaders of the villain nation women, and people immediately assumed it was some kind of bespoke reference to Minangkabau matriarchical society.

the art book of Raya specifically stated that they purposely misplaced things as a stylistic fantasy choice "we could take something that is known and place it in an unexpected location, like coral in the desert and cacti in the snow". But when people saw a water buffalo placed in the desert they assumed it was some super clever environmental story decision.

The movie will tell you it includes things like Borobudur, Angkor wat, Keris, and most people will take their word for it without hesitation. Never mind that Southeast Asians could barely recognize these nods to our culture through how amalgamated the designs are.

(early concept art by Scott Watanabe)

Moving forward, I think we need to talk less about "what" parts of a culture are being represented in these movies, and more about HOW they're being included, we need to ask:

What is this piece of media's relationship with the cultures it represents?

Because Raya and the Last Dragon is not a cultural movie, it's a monolith film pitched and written by white people and a Mexican director with 2 SEA writers added later in production to avoid backlash. Culture serves the purpose of aesthetic set dressing in the film, as opposed to something that informs its themes and characters.

it wasn't even initially pitched as a Southeast Asian movie. The white writers who pitched it were going for a vague East Asian sci fi fantasy story under the working title "Dragon Empire". Southeast Asian culture was an aesthetic change added much later.

This is what happens when a corporation tries to put representational value on a shallow aesthetic. Because of the way Disney constantly marketed Raya as this big authentic cultural film, it primes its audience to read cultural intention in the most benign details. And when we get lost in the details, we lose sight of the bigger picture.

Contextualizing Cultural media criticism

(visual development art by April Liu)

We need to start demanding more context in our analysis. The next time we see a reference to culture in media we consume, take a step back and ask what purpose it serves in the narrative. And most importantly!! What Is Its Relationship With The Culture It Represents? We shouldn't just accept things at face value.

start asking yourself,

through what lens is this cultural dish and its spicy flavors being presented to us? Are the customs surrounding the food being respected?

If martial arts or dance is represented, how is it translated in the adaptation? Are you getting generic hollywood-fu or are you seeing specific movements with purpose and motivation? Are the philosophies or spiritual contexts of these traditions present in the text?

Are the clothing, hairstyles, and presentation of the characters being de-yassified through a colonial filter? Is the non-conformity of the cultures' different framework for gender presentation being adjusted to fit a more recognizable binary?

If language is present, what role does it serve? Is it presented as other through being exclusively used by villainous beings? Is it being made a monolith as one "non-English" language?

is this temple actually a place of worship or is it just a set piece for a goddang Indiana jones booby trap action fight sequence

This way, instead of unquestionably defending a piece of media because a character wore a traditional outfit one time, or because some characters took their shoes off at a temple, or because there were Arnis sticks in that one fight scene, we can approach the text with a more nuanced and holistic understanding of how culture informs narrative.

To quote Haunani K. Trask (author of From A Native Daughter):

“Cultural people have to become political… Our culture can’t just be ornamental and recreational. That’s what Waikiki is. Our culture has to be the core of our resistance. The core of our anger. The core of our mana. That’s what culture is for.”

[fanovember]

Fanovember 2024 prompt list

(Written list below the line)

We decided to go through literary genres this time, although you can fit the prompt however you please (by using the literal word in your piece, a small reference, or writing in the style of that prompt!)

→We'll be posting some ideas every day to spark creativity if any prompt in particular doesn't work well for you. Although you don't have to complete the challenge 100% (I won't, more on that later)

→There's no limit on extension at all, whatever you need will be fine. (At least 200 words was the initial idea, but I, for instance, sometimes need less)

→You can write in any language you want, we'll repost anyway. It's also valid if you mix languages! (I'll use Spanish since the media I've chosen is originally in that language)

→Arists are welcome too, of course!

→Some people suggested creating an Ao3 Collection for this challenge and we have listened carefully (also had some help from @prettysophist, tysm again!) So here it is! Fanovember 2024 Ao3 Collection is now available for all of you. Remember to tag and categorize your works correctly so people can find what they'r looking for/avoid anything they don't want to read. Be nice!

→Remember to mention this blog @fanovember and use any (or all) of these tags both here and on Ao3:

#fanovember

#fanovember 2024

#fanovember 24

→Needless to say, this event does NOT allow AI generated content of any kind. We want to see the most human of arts and writings

Personally, I don't think I'm completing the full list, as I'm absolutely surpassed by daily responsibilities. But since Softober went well, I'll choose 12 or 13 of the prompts that appeal to me the most and write those throughout the month. You can do whatever works best for you too, we don't want you to feel pressured by any means.

Choose your fandom (or fandoms) and start creating! Let's have some fun!!

Fanovember 2024

01. Romance

02. Short story

03. Terror

04. Adventure

05. Art

06. Retelling

07. Historical

08. Journal

09. Theatre

10. Witchcraft

11. Religion

12. Fantasy

13. Astrology

14. Mithology

15. Poetics

16. Reality show

17. Press

18. Urban fantasy

19. Film/Movie

20. Family

21. Music

22. Epistolary

23. Sci-fi

24. Autobiography

25. Cuisine

26. Dance

27. Board games

28. Classic

29. Triller

30. Flash-fiction