#I do however think the clockmaker is cute. yes.

[fakekojimo]

Watching Digimon Hunters. And man, Yukio Kaizawa deserves more respect on his name.

Prefacing with me saying that I'm fully aware of the show's problems, with a good chunk of them resulting from the fact that this show wasn't even supposed to exist. Even Digimon fans who jackshit about anime production knew something was up when a new season was suddenly announced towards the end of the original Xros Wars. Years later this interview got translated and it had the scriptwriter admit that's what happened. As per usual Toei doesn't give a shit about Digimon, but what else is new.

And then you throw Kaizawa into the mix. His usual bread and butter is crafting Urban Fantasy settings for kids with an emphasis on horror but balanced out with a hint of whimsy. (Shows like Hell Teacher Nube, Kitaro, Fun Fun Pharmacy, and Digimon Tamers.) I've always had a soft spot for that genre despite being far too old for it... Scaring kids is hard! You gotta hit that sweet spot of being scary without turning them off from the genre entirely. Forcing you to craft varied scenarios that plays of their fears and anxieties while still making it fun and compelling. Kids like to be scared because they like being put in scenarios where their fears are taken seriously. At least that was the appeal for me when I was younger.

Tangents aside, that's the area Kaizawa excels in and that's the setting he crafted himself for Digimon Hunters. Much to everyone's dismay, both fans and to everyone working on it.

With such short time and such a drastic change in premise you have to retool everything from the ground up. Can barely reuse production materials from the first season since it's set in the real world, gotta design new characters, backgrounds, and even a whole new Digital World! Given that this was such a last minute decision it couldn't have been easy. And given the fan reception it didn't work out, but for me? Speaking personally? I'm eating this shit up. Even as someone who loved Xros Wars S1 too.

I was already hooked by the pilot alone! Kaizawa's pilots for Digimon are hands down my absolute favorites because they capture the thrill of the usual "call to adventure" with an eerie undercurrent. Normally Digimon protagonists end up stumbling into their roles as the main character, but Tamers and Frontier have Takuya and Takato- who willingly seek out that call without fully understanding the dangers of it. And Hunters is no exception. It's even more fitting since Tagiru is an impulsive (but fun!) dumbass though. And that eerie undercurrent is prevalent through Kaizawa's cool and chilling direction.

Hell, even the more light-hearted scenes still have that off-kilter feel to them. The lighting from the arcade machines.. And that close up! Man!

The eeriness reaches it's peak with Tagiru meeting the clockmaker. What should be a triumphant of our MC getting his Xros Loader feels more like making a deal with the devil instead. The old man's space has such a unique atmosphere compared to the rest of the episode and I already found the pilot to be enthralling on it's own already! Truly feels like the old man hijacked the show and you're watching something else entirely.

I'm sure some fans are bound to have reactions like "How did the guy who directed Tamers direct this?" or something similar like that. There are tangible connections between the shows; with the most obvious being both series being Urban Fantasy-like, but also the brutality of the situation. Tamers makes in an emphasis to show that Digimon are wild creatures who will kill if not properly tamed, clashing with Takato's view on what being a "Digimon Tamer" really is like. And Tagiru goes through the same in the pilot. His enthusiasm for the Hunt coming to a screeching halt when Gumdramon goes off to attack himself, only to get absolutely destroyed. It's a brutal ass moment for sure, and something that consistent with Kaizawa's work and by extension children's horror too. You can't scare your audience by holding back!

I just love Yukio Kaizawa man.

I'm still early on in the series and I'm watching it through the lens of it being a Ghost Game/Kitaro-like show. Where Digimon function more like Yokai that prey on young children's fears in a myriad of different ways. Coming at it from that angle instead of Xros Wars sequel proper; I've been really enjoying it from that angle! Needed my children's horror fix and the show really does deliver on that. I know this one post isn't going to change the show's reception overnight, but at the very least it invites you to look at it a different light.

Plus I just wanna spread more Yukio Kaizawa propaganda.

[cabbojage]

Happy (Very Late) Worldbuilding Wednesday!

(This week was kinda crazy busy for me, so today I’m sending the Asks I couldn’t send on Wednesday.)

In the world of your WIP what kinds of (non-sentient) magic beasts/animals/monsters exist? (As in, are there sea monsters, dragons or unicorns. Something else?) How do people view them - are people afraid of them or do they treat these beasts like pets or animal companions? 

Alternatively, if there aren’t magic beasts in your WIP, what are the most common kinds of pets within your story? Did any of your MCs ever have a pet?

HELLO IM PROBABLY A WEEK LATE SO DON'T EVEN WORRY istg i will send you wbw asks forever to make up for it

MAGIC BEASTS unfortunately there are no biological magical beasts. the closest thing to them however are mechanical automatons - aka steampunk robots !! automatons are very popular throughout klairva as pets (animal automatons) and servants (human automatons). actually, only the rich are able to get servants, so automaton pets are much more common! they're usually fashioned in the form of birds, dogs, cats, and sometimes large (think pet-sized) insects, like spiders or bees. no fire-breathing mechanical dragons, unfortunately - klairva's buildings are too densely packed together, and even the wealthiest household wouldn't have the indoor space for one. so automatons larger than a human are seldom made.

it's largely agreed that automatons are non sentient objects, but people still grow attachment to them and refer to them with more human pronouns (she, he, them) rather than "it." i'm gonna say that the automatons r powered by magic (specifically by the dead clockmaker) but i think i will make a post on energy in klairva + the machines that use it because that is a whoooole different thing LOL

most people are very fond of automatons, similar to how people today are fond of dogs and cats! although they're not fluffy, automatons still react to human touch with a soft, almost "purring" kind of sound of gears rapidly spinning within - something that the citizens of klairva find really cute. lola doesn't have a pet, but she will get one throughout the story! cuckoo has a whole "aviary" of a dozen birds - a mix of carrier pigeons, hawks, and falcons - to deliver messages for her and honestly just wreak havoc whenever she feels like pissing someone off. rowan doesn't have pets. rowan's family has an old dog automaton that he's really close to.

as for real dogs, cats, and birds - they exist. but they're frowned upon almost everywhere in klairva except for the poorer ground level floors and the district of afterhill. afterhill is an exception, as the agriculture district, they're more accepting of organic life and nurturing it - but everyone else has a dislike for the inefficiency of organic life and prefers automation & modernity... which comes in the form of machines......

anyway that was kinda long and i kinda rambled but ye!!! ty again for the question >:D

[limitededitionsanderssidesblog]

The Stacks Two Year Anniversary Thing’a’ma’jig

Hey, ya so two years ago, today, August 11th 2018, I published the first chapter of The Stacks. I realized a bit too late that the anniversary was coming up, but I wanted to do something. So first I wanted to make this:

If The Stacks ever were to become an actual book, I would like to think the cover would look something like this (please excuse the poor coloring)

Secondly, I just wanted to talk about the story, how I came up with it and all, so yeah let’s do that-

So I didn’t have any actual plan for the book when I started writing it. The only ideas I had were: steampunk, and Virgil is a clockmaker. That was all I had. Then when I started to write the first chapter and began world building I realized two things: this isn’t steampunk, and Virgil being a clockmaker doesn’t make sense.

I honestly didn’t know what or where I was going with the story when I started it, and I only got an idea around chapter 15 (which was around where I had originally planned to end it.) But I credit @impatentpending‘s Powerless as inspiration and drive for my story. Her take on societal issues (although a superpowered one) really inspired me to continue my story and gave me a bit of direction (also what’s not to love about enemies to lovers). My other inspiration was John Steinbeck, one of my favorite authors, specifically his book Grapes of Wrath, since my story had a lot to do with poverty and social class issues that were similar to the Great Depression and the plight of the Oakies.

Once I had this goal of what I wanted to portray in mind I started to delve deeper into the main four characters.

Virgil: I wanted to show the anger and strife of the oppressed, as well as showing the comradery that tragedy often brings out in people. This as well I also wanted to portray the feeling of helplessness and entrapment that abuse situations often brings, but also the kindness that can come out of it. In addition: his ‘romance’ (or lack of one for the majority of the story) was meant to display how looking to other people in romantic entanglements due to trauma can often be harmful to one or both parties. I wanted to show that Virgil first took the time to work on himself and heal from old wounds BEFORE he went into a relationship.

Patton: I wanted to mainly use him as a way to show the differences of social class, since he was the only one two live in both worlds as a Stacker and as a Non-Stacker. His interactment with new ideas and technology was meant to show just how little the Stackers have and know due to their confinement.

Logan: He was a tricky one to develop, as he kind of had his own subplot all together and didn’t interact much with the other main four besides Patton. However, I decided to use him to show how ignorance of other’s issues while being in a position of power can actively cause damage for the suffering minority. Those in power should know the intimate lifestyle of all citizens so that everyone has their needs met and recognized. I also used his perspective to show the corruption in Politics, and how some politicians actively choose do to evil to specific groups because they view them as less than another.

Roman: I said that Logan was tricky, but Roman was a whole ass struggle to write. Roman’s role is similar to Logan’s but taking a different approach. He’s ignorant to the struggles of the Stackers not because he doesn’t know anything about them, but rather because he was raised and taught perpetuated stereotypes about them. This was to demonstrate how generations of people who look down on or abuse certain groups act because of conditioned thinking taught to them by parents/school/media, etc. Not to excuse the bigotism that these people exude, but rather to show that this way of thinking can be unlearned if given time and self-checking. (This and also that when it comes to romantic pursuits with someone who deals with trauma, to never pressure them into anything or make them feel bad for not being able to give themselves to you the way you’d want.)

Bonus!:

Damien: Although I love and adore Janus, Damien can go burn in a pit of fire. Nevertheless the reason I wrote him to be so despicable was to portray those who take advantage of the suffering around them to benefit themselves. People who come from a harsh background and come out of it can sometimes shun those who live in similar situations that they did, or even make their lives worse, due to a lack of empathy, a feeling of superiority, and being a sociopa- I mean a dick.

Q/A Time! :D

 @dreamyzworldlove​ asked: do emile and thomas ever call logan dad??

A: Yes they do, they did in the last chapter. I tried to show the difference by having them call Logan ‘dad’ and Patton ‘pa’

Anonymous asked: Weird question I know but, in the stacks, if things had (from whatever point) played out differently, what other pairings do you think could’ve ended up together or you might have paired together in the World you built??

A: If Virgil hadn’t ended up with Roman than I like to think he wouldn’t date, at least not anyone from the main cast. I also think Patton and Roman would have made a cute couple if they interacted more in the beginning. 

Anonymous asked: did you have an idea in mind for Damien’s age?

A: I never thought too much on it but I had the idea that Damien took to power at age 17 or 18, ruled the Stacks for about three-four years before Virgil came to him to help Patton. That would mean he’s about 25/26, so around the same age as Roman and Patton

Final Thoughts:

The Stacks is my favorite work I have done so far, and I credit it for being the reason why I realized I wanted to be an author and what helped me develop my skills the most. It’s hard to believe it’s already been two years, and that it took took two years to write the damn thing. Nonetheless I am eternally grateful to all of you for being with me along the journey, and if you’re new, thank you for reading, and if you haven’t read it, then the story just got spoiled for you. Sorry.