#ITS JUST SO FUNNY SEEING THE REFERENCE IMAGE THERE NEXT TO THE DRAMATIC DRAWING LIKE YEAH THATS HOW IT BE LMAOOO

[onawhimsicot]

mcyt fanartists (aka @vesperaink) will see the blockiest blockman in the world and go "is anyone going to give him a glow-up and make him look cool" and not even wait for an answer smh

[bigskydreaming]

Okay haha I lied, whoops I do that. THIS is the last one. Again from various parts of ‘Kings of the Sky’ but since I was talking so much about Dick’s grandfather, why not some snippets of him from this series too. (For this AU I imagined what if Dick’s paternal grandparents lived into their eighties, like do we KNOW they couldn’t have? Hmm? Don’t answer that if we do, shh, let me have this. Anyway, so here Dick’s grandmother died when he was two and his grandfather when he was five.)

Dick is retelling this story about him and his grandfather to Jason and Cass.

************

“But there is no King of the Sky, Dickie,” he’d said to me then with a wink. “That’s the joke, you see? No one can claim the sky as theirs, no one can own it. Send your armies to seize it in your name and all you’d see is legions of empty-handed fools all grasping at air! There’s no way to draw your borders, no foundation on which you could build any walls. And where would you even put your throne?”

“He’d laughed then, mischievous and wheezing, as he recalled all the courts the circus had entertained back in its glory days, when Europe’s nobility would always each host some circus or troupe or performers at various festivals. All the kings and queens for whom he’d performed his signature feats, who’d show him off to their most important guests afterwards. The ones who had been invited specifically so they’d see that this court held only the grandest of celebrations, that they and their guests were entertained by only the very best of the best.”

“Oh, but they were always so eager to introduce me by title,” he’d said, rheumy eyes still somehow keeping their sparkle. “There they were, kings and crown princes, pushing me forward and telling their guests to come greet me, this commoner they were all too glad to proclaim royalty no different to them. After all, any king can present his guests with an entertaining spectacle, but how much grander is the king who hosts the spectacle of being entertained by another king? Ah, but they were always more than happy to elevate me if but for the night…in doing so, they elevated themselves as well. Up we all went, all without feet ever leaving the floor!”

“Names can be such a funny thing, don’t you think?” He’d sighed and sort of mused then, stroking his chin like he was pondering some great mystery. “Meaning nothing and everything all at the same time. That’s a powerful trick. Useful too, if you can master it.”

I know I started giggling then, just because as far back as I can remember, names were always kind of a…almost a passion of his, I guess you could say. It was just this thing he did, it was like he could never just let a name be. There was always some trick to a name, he’d insist. You just had to find it. Its why our family colors were red, yellow and green, as a matter of fact. All in only the brightest hues of each, combining to make us the complete opposite of the Gray in our name.

"The crowd comes in to see the acrobat named Grayson,” my grandfather would say, “and what do they expect from just the name? Drab, unremarkable, likely to be lost in the shadows, from just the sound of him. But then he dives off the platform in a burst of colors impossible to miss and the crowd gasps, expectations shattered in an instant….and from there, they think, what more surprises might possibly await? And already you have them at the edge of their seat, eyes caught by the colors of a costume its impossible to lose sight of. You command their attention, you’re unencumbered by their assumptions, and they’re yours from that moment on. And all of that from just a pop of color, a warning that you are not what they thought….and a name. A Flying Grayson, up above as expected, yet unexpectedly the brightest thing in the sky. An inherent contradiction. An impossible sight you can’t help but to see.”

“Anyway, so there I was,” Dick said, straightening up and shaking his head with a slightly rueful smile, as if to physically pull himself out of the undertow of memories tugging him further away from where he’d begun. “Already giggling just from his little chin-stroking act as he started talking about names, because I knew he was bound to say something silly next, just from that. And he’d jumped a little, and turned in his chair to face me directly and with his full focus, because Grandpa thrived off of an engaged audience like nothing else.”

“Yes, a powerful thing, a name,” he’d continued after a moment that was either a dramatic pause or me thinking anything longer than ten seconds might as well be the same as an hour, at that age. “But a tricky business, naming things, as you first have to know what a thing is, before you attempt to claim it by naming it what it is not. Because being named can just as easily be a powerful trap, of course. If a man doesn’t know himself well enough to know he is not what a name claims, he can wind up stuck in a cage that’s not sized to fit him. Simply because he doesn’t know he has more than enough room to slip free of it if he tried.”

“Then he leaned down close enough to me to whisper, and looked around as if checking we were alone before dropping into a raspy whisper like we were conspiring. “But a man who knows what he wants and knows what he’s capable of, and can put the right name to both….that’s where the real magic is. Do you know what kind of power your name has?”

“Richard means lion-hearted,” I remember reporting after some thought. And that he blew a raspberry right after that like he was the five year old of the two of us, but then, Grandpa was just like that sometimes. “Yes, yes, true enough,” he said, making a face like he’d tasted something sour, “But I don’t mean the one your father picked probably to spite me for naming him John in the first place. No matter how many times I tell him I had nothing to do with that, I lost the right to name him in a card game with your Grandmother. Although for the record, I still maintain I didn’t lose, she just cheated. But I still have no idea how she did it so I have to respect that, I suppose. But no. Not that name. The one your mother gave you.”

“And of course then I knew he meant Robin, and said so, and he asked what that meant to me. And I remember thinking long and hard about that one, because as I said, I knew even by that age what Grandpa was like on the subject of names, and so I was sure there was some kind of riddle or game in what he was asking, I just wasn’t sure where. So finally I just referred back to what my Mom always used to say, about me being born on the first day of spring, and being her little Robin. And he just nodded, and then he asked: And do you remember the first time you called yourself Robin to someone else, and why? What you said then?”

*******************

And then from the very last (intended) installment, ‘Its a Long, Long Way To Tipperary,’ again with Dick telling this to Jason and Cass and finishing a conversation started earlier in the series:

“Names have power,” Grandpa said to me, on one of the last days I remember with him before he passed away. We were sitting outside in folding chairs and watching the stars, until he got too cold and we had to go in. But while we were out there, so much of what he said…I didn’t really understand most of it at the time. Honestly, even what I thought I understood, I realized years later wasn’t really right. I could follow the words but so much of what he meant, I didn’t even begin to understand until I happened to look back to that night years later.

But for months I’d heard my parents talking when they thought I couldn’t hear. I’d seen him doubled over and coughing more and more frequently, how tightly he clutched a blanket around him when it wasn’t really all that cold. I may not have fully known what was coming but I think I knew on some level that something was coming to an end.

And I remember him talking so fast that night, words spilling out so quickly in a confusing mess like he couldn’t take the time to shape them properly and just had to get them out….I remember soaking it all in, as much as I could, knowing that it was important even if I didn’t know what it even was, or why. Like I was trying to just….absorb it, make it a part of me the way it almost felt like it was bleeding out of him. I don’t know that the thought, the image of him dying that summer, of soon being without him, I can’t say whether that actually ever occurred to me. I just know that I knew urgency, and I knew Grandpa was only urgent when it mattered, so I listened without understanding and somehow managed to store most of it away. And honestly, I don’t know that he was even trying to make sure he was understood, or even caring….so much as just trying to get it out of him, like what was most important was just that he said it and it was heard. Maybe just so he knew it wouldn’t die with him.

“But however it got there, however it was I managed to remember clearly enough, there it all was, and right when I most needed to hear what he’d said to me that night. The things nobody else could have told me because nobody else knew the secret language of names that he seemed to speak, that he’d spent his whole life learning all so that maybe he could somehow in that find his own name. Not the label he’d been left with, a description or title.....but a name, the one each child is supposed to get, something to say who they are, not merely what.”

“Names have power,” he said to me that night. “They can be magic in the right hands. A man who knows who he is knows his own name. And the things you can do with that, the doors that can be unlocked…oh, Dickie, my boy. There’s a door to anywhere if you can speak the right name when asked for a key. But its not enough to just say them and throw them around, its not the sounds, the words, its what they are. You can’t pretend to know a thing, to know yourself. You have to really, truly know. But once you know….for a boy as bright as you, there’s no end to the possibilities.”

“So here’s what you must always remember, the real trick of it all…..names have power. But the power isn’t in the name. The power is in what you put in that name. You can’t claim a name and therein take its power, you see….because you have to know first what you’re trying to take from it, what you see when you look at it. What you want it to be, want it to give to you, what you want it to make you when you say this is me and I am this. Your father named you Richard, though he calls you Dickie. You were born a Flying Grayson and thus you always will be. Your mother named you her little Robin, born on the first day of spring. And all of these can be you, because no one is just one thing. And yet none of them are you unless you claim them to be.

So if you are to be Robin, as your mother named you but is only you if you choose to say yes that is me…..before you claim it fully, before you truly make it yours, you have to look at Robin and what you want the mirror to show when you look in it and say I am Robin and this is me. You have to see Robin not as even your mother sees her Robin, but as you see your Robin.

That’s the danger and that’s the trick.

You can’t claim Robin while seeing only what someone else sees, and think that by claiming it you’ve claimed its power….instead you’ve just claimed a trap, donned a self that doesn’t suit you because it is not you, only something someone else thought could be you.

Because in claiming that, you claim everything that comes with it….and then you will never be free to be more than whatever they thought you could be. There is no power in that, no potential, no freedom…..just the limitations you’ve accepted as your own, because someone thought you limited by such things, and yet you agreed that they were right when you claimed the name….but only the name as they shaped and imagined it to be.

So who is Robin? What power do you see in that name? Don’t reach out and seize it the moment someone sets it forth in front of you, assuming that is all it can be, the highest it can ever take you. Never claim a name if you haven’t first looked at it as you first see it...and then imagined it bigger, and then imagined it deeper, and then imagined it greater...and then kept going until you can’t imagine any more. And only then will you know what that name is…..when you say this name is who I truly want to be.

Robin is a bird, yes, Robin Red-Breast, a creature of spring, of the air, of new life. You can claim that and make it yours but first…..what else could Robin be?

Can not Robin just as easily be Robin Hood or Robin Goodfellow? Couldn’t you be? And why even be just one, when you can be all three?

No man is ever just one thing, and any man who thinks that he is has more dreaming to do. 

So be Robin, in as much as you imagine Robin to be. Be the bird that flies, or the champion of the poor, or the merry trickster whom even kings fear. Or be all of them in one….there’s power enough for all of that in just that one little name….so long as you put it there first.

Its that simple, and its that tricky. There is no in between. You are whatever you claim as you - but the good and the bad, for better and for worse. The space that name holds and the walls that hold it in.

So if you remember nothing more, Dickie, Richard, Robin times three or however many more Robins you might be…..if someday you say I taught you nothing else, there’s nothing else I gave you or left for you to take with you wherever you go, hear me now, and remember this:

No matter how well you might think it suits you at first, the name you claim because it fits you as you are....will never be more than a trap.

The power in names, the true power…..only comes from claiming the name that fits the you, that you would dream yourself to be.

You can always be more than you are. And any name that tells you otherwise is not truly anything but a lie.

Many kings of the earth have laughed as they introduced your family as Kings of the Sky throughout the years. But the jest they don’t get is for all their riches, they were the ones content to claim titles and deeds that leave them trapped on the ground, confined within borders of their own makings, sealed behind walls they chose to erect between them and everything that was not theirs and thus would never be. But a King of the Sky soars above all of that, needing none of that…..because the sky has no end, and is so much vaster than any of that could ever be.

So if you would someday choose a crown, my little Prince of the Sky, never seek yours on the ground. Reach for one bigger than the ground could ever hold….only that could ever fit all that you might someday be.”

[kimeuchi]

a new way to fly (pt 1)

Part one of a multi-part haikyuu x reader. Not determined on a single character because I’m planning on closing the fic with multiple endings (much like a choose-your-own-ending)! I saw this idea used in different fandoms but not for Haikyuu so I thought I’d give it a shot^^ First chapter takes place sometime before Karasuno’s match with Aoba Josai for the Spring InterHigh Qualifier (towards the end of season 2). Reader is a first-year student, and is referred to with gender neutral terms. Please enjoy!

Chapter I

(L/N) (Y/N), Class 1-4

Yamaguchi Tadashi picked up the familiar math workbook and turned the cover page. Neatly marked on the inside cover of your copy, which he had found abandoned and face-down on the gymnasium floor, he read aloud the name softly. Tsukishima overheard and cocked his blonde head up curiously, but his gaze remained focused on his phone. “(Y/N)? From our class?” He quipped with a dull tone in an attempt to cover up his interest. (L/N)…Tsukishima repeated your name secretly as he thought. You were also in the college prep class and the two boys were only vaguely familiar with their own classmates. You were quiet and reserved, and they never reached out to anyone beyond their duo, so you never really crossed paths with them. You were just another unknown figure whose name only conjured up a fuzzy image of someone in the Karasuno school uniform. Your workbook was somehow found next to the team members’ drawstring bags and water bottles, and Yamaguchi had just noticed its presence.

After school hours, the gym was only used by sports teams. It was unlikely that you carelessly brought your workbook to gym class earlier in the day. So then why..?

“Yeah,” Yamaguchi replied. “Her workbook. I wonder why it’s here.” He voiced exactly what Tsukishima was also thinking as his slender fingers traced the black, inked characters of your name.  

“Oi, Yamaguchi!” Hinata’s cheery bright voice resonated throughout the gym. “Studying during our one and only break during practice?” He teased lightly. Though he would never admit it, Hinata was slightly envious of the academic strengths of the other two first-year students on the volleyball team. But they did seem to have more stress regarding their grades compared to the average student, as well as a more intensive workload.

             Tsukishima looked up from his phone with a shit-eating grin. “No, but you should. Your grades and IQ could use some help.”

             “Tsukishima…your words are too harsh—” “—That’s not a fair comment—" The older members of the volleyball team awkwardly shook their heads in disapproval at the typical interaction between their juniors. Hinata let out a gurgled yelp of offense as he approached the duo. Before he could come up with a comeback, he caught eye of the workbook in Yamaguchi’s hand, noticing the name on the inside cover. “Oh (L/N) (Y/N)? They’re in your class, right? What are you doing with their workbook?” He asked.

             “I don’t know. We just found it on the ground. We have an upcoming assessment so they must be looking for it,” Yamaguchi replied.

             “Oh no!” Hinata piped up. “They must have dropped it before practice!”

             This time Tsukishima replied. “You know them?”

             “Yeah, we’re friends! We went to the same middle school together! They used to help me with schoolwork all the time! We kind of parted ways in high school because of how we got placed into different classes. They stopped by to say hi before practice today, but they got here before me, so they were waiting for me, studying right here!” He pointed to where Yamaguchi was sitting. “I thought it would be funny to serve a ball right at their book bag. I aimed well! But I guess the bag was open or something…” He trailed off. “Oh no! The book must have fallen out when my awesome serve hit her bag. Ah, and you said that there’s an upcoming test…they must be stressed! They get so nervous about their grades..!” Worry washed over his face as his hands grasped at his orange hair. “It’s all my fault…I’m sorry (Y/N)-san…”

             Tsukishima let out a tch, amused by Hinata’s long ramble. So you two knew each other. That’s why your workbook was here. But he still didn’t know who exactly you were…

             “Everyone! Break is over,” Daichi’s voice echoed throughout the gym as he clapped two beats to get everyone’s attention. “Gather ‘round! Our next match for the Spring Inter-High is around the corner!”

             Hai! Everyone scurried back to the court where Coach Ukai and Daichi were waiting. Just before the captain could get into more detailed announcements, the gym doors flung open, an aggressive THUD demanding attention from all those inside the gym.

             You were tired from running to the gym (first to the classroom, then the second floor bathroom, then the bathroom next to the library, then the...and so on..). The panic from noticing that your workbook was missing had fueled your frantic search. You were studying in the library for the upcoming exam until you realized that your workbook was missing. You had retraced all your steps: the classroom, the bathrooms, and the now gym, the last destination. Panting, your hands clutched your knees as you struggled to catch your breath; you definitely got your 10,000th step of the day from the hunt around the school. Your head was bowed over as you inhaled and exhaled, your hair curtaining your face. You had yet to realize that you disrupted the Karasuno boys’ volleyball team practice—and very loudly at that. All eyes were on you.  

             When you finally looked up, warmth crept onto your cheeks from embarrassment. “S-Sorry to disturb you all…I’m just looking for something…” You nervously choked out.

             Almost instantly, two boys, a taller one with a shaved head and a shorter one with a bleached tuft of hair swarmed up to you. “What are you looking for?” The shorter one asked excitedly. “Perhaps a boyfriend?” The taller one added. Your cheeks only got hotter. How did they get here so fast?

             Tsukishima turned to Yamaguchi, who was already walking towards you. So that’s (L/N) (F/N). They’re kind of…cute…The once-blurry figure that your name previously conjured up was now replaced with a new schema.

             “Excuse our senpais. I found your book earlier.” Yamaguchi handed over your workbook and relief washed over you.

             “Yamaguchi-san!” You instantly recognized him by his freckles. “Thank you so much!” As if transferred over, Yamaguchi was suddenly bashful and a blush tinged his face. Your friendliness caught him off-guard, and it sure did not help how cute you were. You accepted the book and bowed your head gratefully. You added a swift nod of acknowledgement to the other boys before turning around to exit the gym. How embarrassing…your own classmate saw how you disrupted their practice, and now you had to face him tomorrow in class.

             “Bye, (F/N)-chan!” Hinata’s voice cheerily called out.

             “See you, Shouyo-kun!” Not even looking back, you ran out, not wanting to draw any more attention, nor wanting to waste even a second more of the team’s practice time.

             “Eh, Hinata? You know such a cute girl?!” Tanaka asked. “Our kouhai knows other cute kouhais and didn’t even introduce us!” Nishinoya dramatically exclaimed.

             “That’s enough!” Daichi was annoyed. “Let’s get back to work!”

             Practice continued, but every so often, details of the mysterious person was exchanged from Hinata to the rest of the curious members. You were cute, everyone admitted. Of course all of the questions were from the excitable second-years, but Tsukishima and Yamaguchi did not miss a single word.

             (L/N) (F/N) of class 1-4. Middle school friends with Hinata. You two were fairly close and even lived near each other. You never dated anyone. You were shy. When you weren’t studying, you worked part-time at a bakery. You studied at the library after school when Hinata was at practice and would sometimes walk home together.

             “Are you guys walking home together today?!” Nishinoya asked.

             “Mm, not today, but tomorrow! They probably will stay quite late because of her exam. They always works too hard…”

             “Kouhai, I think you should bring them to Ukai’s convenience store tomorrow! Let’s all go there together!” Nishinoya commanded.

             And what a surprise it was to find the entire volleyball team waiting for you at the library entrance the next day.

[greyias]

FIC: Smoke and Mirrors - Chapter 18

Title: Smoke and Mirrors Fandom: SWTOR Pairing: Theron Shan/f!Jedi Knight Rating: T Genre: Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn Synopsis: Something’s rotten on Carrick Station, and Theron won’t rest until he  finds out what. But picking at the frayed threads of suspicion quickly  unravels a conspiracy much larger than even the Republic’s top spy can  handle on his own. (A mostly canon-compliant retelling of the Forged  Alliances storyline, as seen through the eyes of Theron Shan.) Author’s Notes and Spoilers: See Chapter 1.

Chapter Index: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | Crossposted to AO3

The Heorum Complex technically stayed open twenty-four hours a day, because intelligence work never slept. However, the office experience varied wildly depending on the time of day. In the daytime, it was abuzz with activity. Agents sat at terminals working through reports and intel, analysts dutifully sorted through the steady stream of data being fed in from across the galaxy, and all the office support staff bustled about in the typical work day grind. The aroma of fresh-brewed caf would sometimes waft from the various kitchenettes and a constant background buzz of chatter filled most of the rooms.

Nighttime was a decidedly different mood. Darkened terminals and stations replaced the bustle of workers, doused in shadow after the overhead lights switched off for the evening. The shadows of the abandoned desks and chairs stretched across the empty rooms, like long, spindly fingers reaching out. The hum of constant chatter gave way to the clank and hum as the cleaner droids made their rounds on each floor. The sharp, antiseptic scent of the droids’ cleaning solution would overpower everything else. It was almost as sharp and jolting as a steaming mug of caf, although not nearly as pleasant to take in. 

If Theron were being honest, a steaming mug of caf wouldn’t go amiss right now. He needed to focus and had a long, grueling task ahead of him.

Tonight wouldn’t be the first night that he’d lost track of time and been the last one out — although the previous instances were unintentional. Today he’d made a show of getting too absorbed in his assignment; decoding some intercepted transmissions from an Imperial base that Marcus wanted a rush on. Theron had cracked the cipher earlier in the day, but feigned ignorance to draw out his time on the terminal as long as possible. He’d grabbed a station in the far corner of the room where no one could easily sneak up on him and spy the second set of coding he was working on.

Getting into the backdoor of the SIS mainframe was a tough task — as it should be. Technically, Theron shouldn’t have been able to do it himself, but it seemed like every time they closed up one vulnerability, he would nose out another exploit. He’d report this one… just as soon as he wrapped up here. Now, technically he still had access to these files via normal channels, but that would have left a record of him looking into a closed investigation. He needed to keep his inquiries into Darok off the radar until he found the proverbial smoking barrel. Meaning he needed to be very careful about what network activities they could trace back to him.  

Most of his work during the day had been meticulously finishing his code. He’d kept the decryption up just in case any nosy coworkers wanted to stop by for a chat, although most seemed content to leave him be. Jonas once told Theron that he got a certain look in his eye when he was “getting obsessed with a job” — whatever that meant. Of course, Jonas was always saying things like that. Theron was pretty sure his fellow agent made half of it up just to get a reaction.

No matter.

As the chrono edged past the hour and the whir of the cleaning droids faded into background noise, Theron decided he was truly alone. He dropped his subterfuge and used his backdoor to access the data on the Tython and Korriban investigations. With Highwind’s clue in mind, he pulled up the archived security footage from the Jedi Temple. The recovery team managed to save several recordings in addition to what Theron had during the operation. He used Highwind’s liberation of the temple as his starting point and slowly rewound the footage. Even though he’d witnessed it all live, there was something still a little mesmerizing about watching the whirl of her lightsabers, even in reverse. She truly was a master of the form, that was hard to deny. If the action was difficult to follow in holo form, it must be positively dizzying to witness in person.

Her part in the footage was over quickly enough, and he focused his attention on the entire picture. He watched as the imperial figures on the recording in their attempt to set up their doomed attempt at a trap for the Jedi Master and her crew. Some stirrings of angry feelings tried to resurface, but he pushed them away. There was no time to indulge in that sort of nonsense. He had a much more important job to do. 

It was a painstaking and at times infuriating process to watch as the Imperials ransacked the temple in reverse march. But he remained focused, steadfastly analyzing the images until a flash of something caught his attention. He paused the footage and shuttled it until he found it. He grabbed a still frame and brought it over to another piece of software to enhance the image and zoom in on the activity right outside the library. The details were a bit obscured from the cropped image, but was able to just make out a tall, imposing Chagrian in robes handing off what looked like an artifact of some sort to a group of Imperial soldiers. 

Frowning, Theron zoomed in on the artifact more, and ran it through a program specially designed to enhance blurry and pixelated images. It used a combination of algorithmic predictions and artificial intelligence to fill in the blank pixels at higher resolutions. The processing power required by the program was intense enough that it was prohibitively expensive to deploy into the field, so Theron didn’t get a chance to use it much. He watched the screen in fascination as the software worked its image reconstruction magic in almost real time, seeing the pixelated details of the artifact slowly sharpen into focus. If he was a betting man, he’d put a few credits on this being the missing Rakatan artifact. 

Target confirmed, he grabbed a few stills from other angles and repeated the process, until he gathered enough high-resolution stills to stitch together a rough, fully dimensional holographic representation of the stolen item. None of this told him the function of the artifact in question, or even why someone would go through the farce of storming strongholds of the galaxy’s most powerful Force users to retrieve them.

He pursed his lips together and set up a database query on his reconstruction and let it run. As the numbers and results flew by on the screen, Theron let his mind wander to the best way to determine the function and importance of the artifact. There were a few archaeologists in the Republic who specialized in Rakatan culture and tech who might have some insight. There would probably be too many questions though if some agent showed up at their office with an image of some old ruins, asking about their potential destructive capabilities and security risks. There was always employing a disguise, maybe an amateur archaeologist, a writer doing research for the next sensational holonovel. It could definitely yield some answers on why the Empire would go through the trouble of raiding Tython to get the artifact — or it could expose his investigation.

Theron decided not to risk it. Best to see what information the SIS database had and go from there.

While the query ran, he pulled up a report that someone in Analytics appended to the Tython incident. They’d scrubbed the comm logs and been able to get a clean image of the Sith Lord that Highwind had spoken with. Theron couldn’t help but roll his eyes at the numerous comments scribbled in the margins about the Jedi in question. Most of it was speculation about the Hero of Tython’s ridiculously competent combat capabilities, which Theron was becoming fairly familiar with at this point. It was the notes on the identity of the Sith Lord that Theron found more interesting. Apparently it had taken quite a bit of cross-referencing, but the report writer identified the figure as one Darth Arkous, a member of the Dark Council in charge of the Sphere of Military Offense. It made sense for someone in his position to be involved in the raid on Tython, but…

That funny niggling feeling that had plagued Theron from the start of all of this reared its head again. On a hunch, he pulled up the mass of data he’d siphoned off from Korriban. The nerds in Analytics had yet to finish delving into the virtual playground of potential intel, and the security footage that he’d obtained looked like it was on the bottom of the priority list to process. It suited him just fine, especially now that he knew what he was looking for. 

Once again he started at a common reference point. This time was the stormy expression of his Jedi Knight Extraordinaire marching out of the Academy after Jensyn executed the Dark Council member in front of her. Theron tapped his finger on the desk, watching the angry set of her jaw and the dramatic fluttering of her cape as she made her way off camera. He blinked, but kept his eyes on the screen, curious to what he had missed after he’d looked away from the Academy’s interior. As the footage scrolled forward, he watched the dizzying activity of the SpecOps secure the temple. From this angle, they almost resembled little ants darting about. In fact, there was so much activity he nearly missed the elevator doors on the second floor opening as Jensyn stepped out. Theron paused his shuttling and cross-referenced the timecode as he paged through the various files to see if there was a better angle. The third recording that had a clear, unobstructed view of Jensyn handing off an artifact to one of his men. The soldier tucked the artifact under his arm and immediately headed for one of the shuttles leaving the surface. Theron viewed the entire exchange with a deep, troubled frown.

He repeated the process he’d used on the Tython footage, cobbling together various angles of the artifact together into a holographic representation. He pulled up his reconstruction of the other stolen artifact from the Jedi Temple and laid it and its Sith Academy counterpart side-by-side. They were an exact match.

His jaw ached as his teeth ground together, that familiar anger bubbling up from deep within his gut. The brooding session was cut short by an alert letting him know that his database query had finished. A quick reshuffling of his programs had everything up on screen, and Theron stared at the twin stolen artifacts alongside a readout from the SIS database confirming they were Rakatan in origin. The liner notes were sparse, as there was scant information available. No confirmation on their function, but a suspected origin from the Lehon system with a possible excavation date from nearly three hundred years prior.

“Gotcha,” Theron muttered in grim satisfaction.

There was no one around to hear it. And this sort of circumstantial evidence probably wouldn’t be admissible in any court, but it was enough confirmation for Theron that his suspicions had been warranted. Darok lied about the reason for the raid on Korriban. Or, as it was becoming clear, a robbery. 

He made a few discreet copies of all the files pertinent to his investigation, being sure to diligently scrub each step of his data trail. It had edged past dusk into evening by the time he completely wiped his activities from the system. It was late enough that the commuter traffic thinned out, and the hovertrain ride back to his apartment was quiet, with only the occasional drunk swaying in the corner that paid him no mind. The trip was just long enough to mull over the evening’s revelations, and plan to dig further into his files back in the safety of his apartment with some leftover takeout.

A plan that, like most of his well-thought out ideas, derailed the moment he got in the door to his apartment. His implants sent him a ping — the HoloNet trace on Darok had picked up activity. No rest for the weary, nor apparently time for a meal of stale takeout. He pored over the details of the alert. Apparently Darok had arranged for some ships for travel. It was the destination on the manifest that made Theron quirk an eyebrow: Manaan.

“Now why would you be heading there?” Theron mused aloud. Much like in the empty office, there was no one to answer. It was just as well, because there was only one way to answer that question.

It was well past midnight by the time he’d made his own travel arrangements and a craft a proper cover story for them. He was about to close up everything for the night and catch a few hours of sleep, but as he stared at the screen, he hesitated. He sat in contemplation for a few moments, before opening up his mail terminal, and began typing.

To: Greyias Highwind  From:  Theron Shan Subject: Noteworthy

It looks like our old pal is on the move in a few days here to Manaan. I’m gonna tag along — at a distance — and see what our friend is up to. I also found some rather interesting things in my research today. One might even call it noteworthy. If this lead pans out, I’ll have my astromech contact you with the details. Hopefully you’re all rested up and recovered after your little adventure.

I think things are about to get really interesting.

[animatedminds]

What If: Every Character In Dragonball FighterZ Had a Dramatic Finish? (Pt. 1)

Consider this a nerdy thought experiment. I’m a big Dragonball fan, and a big FighterZ fan, and anyone who is either probably knows well by know what Dramatic Finishers are: in one of the most amazing steps of fanservice in recent memory, Arcsys created intricate animated adaptations of some of Dragonball’s greatest moments, which can be triggered in special situations. Huge explosions, great comebacks, cool ends to some of the series hypest fights.

But it gets you thinking - and its something that a lot of fans have asked since the game started: which if X or Y character had a Dramatic Finish, instead of the select few who have some in the current build?

Well, over the next few days we’re going to figure that out. With DLC on the way bringing us a brand new and thoroughly expected Finish for Kefla, this seemed like a great time to do it. Now, let’s be clear: this isn’t an attempt to say that all of these characters should get a Dramatic Finish. Arcsys’ style of animation these days is very intricate and extremely time consuming, which makes any new animation something of a godsend in the first place. As a result, not only are most of the characters who don’t already have one probably not going to get one, I wouldn’t be surprised if most of them weren’t ever considered at all. This is more as a hypothetical: if these characters were considered, what would their Finishes be? What references would be best for them, to give cool moments from Dragonball history? To give another note, for this the point is to ensure every character gets an appearance in a Dramatic Finish. Not necessarily a win (that’s simply not possible for everyone). Some of these characters are going to have losses listed. Some might even have to make due with Dramatic Openings instead. For the most part, we won’t be assuming the existence of any characters who aren’t currently in the game: it has to be within the current roster.

You can listen along to the entire list right now if you don’t want to read a wall of text over the course of several day: just check out the track on Soundcloud! It’s everyone from the beginning to the end of the roster, with dulcet tones and some neat Dragonball music.

But... if you don’t have the time to hear nerd talk for twenty minutes, go ahead: we’re skipping the ones who already have one - I mention them all on the audio even though I still skip them, just for completeness (and so people don’t ask me why I didn’t think of other ones for existing characters) and in order to make quips - but this is going to be shorter.

Part 1, we’ll go over the first three characters - mostly the Dragonball era with one addition - and so the first character to not to have a Dramatic Finish is...

Tien (or Tenshinhan, depending on your version)

Tien spends a lot of time away from the plot - unlike most of the cast, when he’s not there to do something significant he’s typically just absent, only appearing when he does. However, that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have options for a Finish: far from it. I can think of at least two that would make decent choices.

The first is probably the one everyone thinks of when they think of Tien: the moment where stalls Cell with the Kikoho, blasting him into the dirt repeatedly to give 18 and 16 time to escape. It’s a classic epic scene with Tien, and one that a lot of people remember:

A couple caveats with this one: first being that this wasn’t actually a Finish - Cell gets ups just fine afterwards - but if Base Goku’s Finish against Freeza is any indication, that’s not necessarily a problem if the scene is a strong enough moment. The other is that the version of Cell that this happens to - Semi-Perfect Cell - is not strictly in the game: its Perfect Cell. But the game has cheated with this as well in the past. The stage this would happen, however, is already in the game - so no problems there.

It’s not hard to  see how this would work. The typical Dramatic Finish beginning, Cell  looks up and finds Tien already above him, ready to rain Kikohos down  upon him. The way I see this working best is similar to those infamous  Quan Chi and Chronika fatalities in the Mortal Kombat series - the ones  that don’t ever actually end, they just keep going over and over until  the players ends or (more likely for this game) the screen transitions  to the next on its own. Here, you could have Tien just keep Kikohoing  again and again until the Victory Marquee comes up on its own. Very funny, very epic.

The second idea, however, is one I think is  better reference for Tien himself - one of the classic moments from when  his character was more current: the time he narrowly defeated Kid Goku  at the Tenkaichi Budokai:

Albeit without the blowing up the stage on this one.

This fight involved Goku and Tien going at it in midair: Tien able to fly, while Goku couldn’t at the time - they end up plummeting to the ground, but only one is able to avoid a ring out. It’s another one with that same caveat: Kid Goku is technically not in the game, but GT Goku is basically the same character with  few additions, so he can easily be used as a stand-in. This one would also give the World Martial Arts Tournament stage something special, which it doesn’t have yet.

For this, have the fight continue into the scene - a la Super Broly’s - and end up in midair, where they both start to lose steam. Goku knocks Tien down, but Tien is able to knock Goku away. A fun extra they could do is - since the original version had Goku fall into a highway and get his by a car - do like the Jiren Finish and change stages in the middle of the scene, ending at the City. Goku crashes (complete with car, for fun), Tien doesn’t, and the latter enjoys a weary victory pose. Next up:

Piccolo (or if you know what moment I’m thinking of already, Piccolo Jr)

Piccolo, while he’s always around in roles of semi-importance, is another who was phased out of a major slot in favor of stronger rivals and later characters. But he’s always good for a least one awesome moment per arc, and there’s one major scene in particular that I think would be perfect for a Dramatic Finish:

The end of his fight against Goku at the World Martial Arts tournament.

This scene is actually - to me - a no brainer: it and the moment against Piccolo Daimao where the moments where the series really started getting into having villain defeats with built-up, dramatic physical conclusions, and the defeat of Piccolo Jr in particular was the culmination of everything that came before it. I was actually surprised that when Base Goku was released, and this moment wasn’t added in addition to the Saiyan Saga content: I was at least expecting moments from this fight to be represented in Base Goku’s moveset, as it features such identifiable things to draw from. Either way, there are two moments from this fight that would work in a Finish - the second, incidentally, happens immediately after the first, but either would work. The first being what the Budokai games eventually named the “Meteor Combination” - where Goku seems to defeat Piccolo once and for all after blocking his ultimate attack.

Not going to lie, this ranks pretty high one my personal list of the best action sequences in the entire franchise - it’s pictured above for a reason - and I’m a little disappointed I couldn’t find a video clip with the whole bit beforehand with Piccolo’s explosive attack as well.

It’s a triumphant turnaround, a very dramatic conclusion with a lot of flow and weight, and would be perfect animated in a Dramatic finish. Plus, it’s another that gives the Tournament stage some content. You could either have it begin like Cell’s Dramatic Finish - where Piccolo attempts an attack (the Destructive Wave, in this case), only for Goku to turn it around, or you could simply have Goku go straight into the attack, knocking Piccolo to the ground and finishing with a titanic Kamehameha from above.

As I said before, it’s a little surprising they didn’t add it in some way already. End it with a thumbs up to the camera, like in the original scene, and you’re gold. Or...

The moment right after, where it turns out Piccolo is just faking his defeat, and turns it around only to be defeated by Goku in the end anyway:

This is the infamous one where Piccolo tortures Goku, but that doesn’t have to fully be in the Finish. In this one, you would start the Dramatic Finish with Piccolo getting knocked down, and Goku giving that thumbs up I was telling you about... but then Piccolo hops up and blasts Goku through the shoulder - which is easily done bloodlessly. He then presses the attack, laying on the ground, broken, and is about to torture him, when... For this next part, you could either require Tien and Krillin (or Yamcha) on our team alongside Base Goku to perform, or you could do it with whatever teammates you have: they jump in to help Goku, but Piccolo blocks them with a ki attack. Then he looks down, and finds that Goku is gone! He looks about to find Goku rocketing at him to deliver a titanic headbutt that ends the fight for good. In the source, after getting healed Goku did a dramatic leap into the air to celebrate finally winning the tournament - without a healing segment, that can just happen automatically, and that would be a fine last image of the Finish.

With Piccolo out of the way, the next characters up for a Finish skip a whole saga, and go straight to...

The Ginyu Force

This one took a bit of thinking, as all the Ginyu members fought individually, and most against different characters, but I realized if I was going to pick one there was really only the one option: The moment where Ginyu tries to body change with Vegeta, and ends up in the form of a frog.

Forgive the lack of embedded video on this one - it’s potholed above, but I didn’t want the first post to just be two characters, and alas with the combination of Tumblr’s five vid limit, my coming up with two legit ideas each for the previous two (that won’t happen often for the rest), and needing two entire videos for just one of the Piccolo ideas, I ran out of embeds. Still, this one is a keeper.

This would be a Base Vegeta win, requiring Base Goku to be on his team. The original moment was all vertical: Ginyu flew up in the air and Vegeta flew up after him, but you could just finagle it and do it horizontally instead to cut back on extra animation. The set up for this is simple as anything: do the knockback, trigger the Finish, Ginyu gets furious - while Vegeta is too arrogant to notice - and starts the Body Change, catching Vegeta off guard. At the last second, Goku throws a frog in between them, and Ginyu is left stuck croaking. The last shot - like the Janemba Finish - could be the POV of Frog Ginyu as he runs away, while regular Ginyu hops around like a frog. This more funny that epic, but it is a very memorable part of the Freeza arc, and definitely the most memorable thing attached to Captain Ginyu himself, so in my opinion its the best bet for him.

And that’s the first three: 

There’ll be more than three in the next segment, trust me.

If you like the idea, happy to have you. Make sure to listen to the full track on Soundcloud if you just want the list right away without waiting a day for each installment, and let me know if you agree with the list or not - what you would pick instead, that sort of thing. Either way, stay Sparking!

[snowdxve]

What if

Part 3: A Force To Be Reckoned With

Wilford Warfstache x Reader

Warning: Mature Language, Injury, Assualt, Attenpted Murder

< Part 2

A/N: This was fun to write, I have more ideas for the next few parts. I hope you enjoy.

Tags: @calamity-on-cassette

___

Your eyes widen at the man that hovered over you. You twisted your body and grab the other edge of the bed in an attempt to pull yourself away from the man, you hear a loud pop from your ankle as the man’s grip tightens around it. Pain ripples through your body, causing you to let out a yelp of pain. He gave out an irritated growl as he covers your mouth with his large rough hand. “No screaming.” He whispers into your ear as he wrenches your hands-free from the microfibre mattress. The man, who was much taller than you dragged you back into a side room, pushing you onto the ground with a heavy sigh. “Wilford isn’t the brightest man of the bunch. He put you right in my old room,” he chuckles as he walks into the room and closes the door. This room was no bigger than a bathroom or a kid’s bedroom; its walls were sunshine yellow with a few pictures on each wall. Some were pictures of a woman with three men, another was three men, and then there was one of a man who looked almost identical to Wilford. You narrow your eyes as you crawl across the ground to the painting. “So, my dear, this is what is going to happen. You’re going to stay here and you’re going to listen to me and to me only. Wilford took everything from me, so now I'm going to take something that’s precious to him.” The man lifts her chin as he pulls a chair from the corner of the room.

“Who is he? Why does he look so much like Wilford?” You turn to the man as she push yourself up from the ground, “oh? That man? Sweetie, that not Wilford. That’s a deadman who lost everything because he couldn’t keep his hands to himself.” The man’s voice got angrier as he nears the end of his sentence. At the end of his sentence, the man stands and throws the chair, causing it to shatter against the wall. You flinch, putting your hands over your head. You look up at the man. He was staring right at the painting with hatred fuming in his gaze, “William J. Barnum. Aka Wilford ‘Motherloving’ Warfstache. This is who Wilford used to be; that bastard should be dead.” The man snarls. You stand slowly, “that’s Wilford?” You mutter in surprise. “He looks so formal.” You mumble before spinning around and jabbing your finger into the man’s chest, “Oh yeah! Who the hell are you?” You snap as you place your hands on your hips.

The man bows with one hand behind his back and the other over his stomach. “Just call me, Mark.” He says with a small wink. You cringe a bit before hugging yourself. “I don’t think I can do anything bad to Wilford, Mark.” You slide your hands into the pockets as your e/c eyes glance at the door multiple times, making sure you could make a swift exit if need be. “Oh, you won’t be doing anything bad. I promise. Dear.” Mark assures as he caresses your cheek and pulls you towards him. “He’ll come looking for you and when he does, we will play a little prank on him, okay?” Mark assures with a sweet smile. You slowly nod as you watch Mark’s movements carefully. “Uhm, sure. I don’t see why not.” You didn’t have a good feeling about Mark; you try putting weight on your ankle but there was no way you were going to be able to stand the pain. Actor had purposely twisted your ankle and it hurt like hell to walk. There was no way you were going to be able to run if you needed to. “What are we going to do? What do I do?” You ask as Mark draws you in and pulls out a knife; a large grin on his face. “Just play along,” Mark whispers into your ear. You were not going to play along before Mark could put another hand on you; you ran out of the room. You stumble as pain shoots through your ankle and throughout your body. “WILFORD!” You scream as you scramble into the hall, nearly running into the wall. You put your hands up on the wall in an attempt to pull yourself on your feet. “Wilford!” You call out desperately.

Mark wasn’t far behind you as soon as you fell he reaches down and grabs your h/l h/s h/c hair, yanking you up to your feet as he places the cold sharp blade to your exposed neck. “Say one more thing and you’ll be gasping for air.” Mark snarls into your ear as Wilford runs out of the room; he was frozen in place. His cocoa brown eyes focused on the crimson robed man. “Actor, let her go! Y/N has nothing to do with our feud!” Wilford says as calmly as he could; he couldn’t seem to process the situation that was unfolding before him. “What do you want?” Wilford puts his hand out as you whimper, grabbing at Actor’s hand. “Please, please. Don’t kill me.” You beg as you close your eyes tightly. Wilford looks at you then at Actor. “Hey, Y/N, look at me,” Wilford says with a soft smile. “It’s going to be alright. Just focus on me.”

You open your eyes as you sniffle, hot tears race down your cheeks. “Wilford, I don’t want to die.” You whimper out to the rose pink-haired man. Wilford shakes his head and chuckles, “you’re not going to die, Darling. Trust me.” He chuckles as he takes his magnum out of his waistband and sets it on the ornamental carpet. Wilford lifts his hands in surrender, “You got me, Actor.” Wilford says simply before a small smirk forms on his lips. “What’s so funny?!” Actor snaps before he hears the scrapping of metal against metal. The knife rolls up on itself causing Actor to let go You. You stumble to Wilford, wrapping your arms around the bright man tightly. Your body shakes gently in his hold as you bury your head into the crook of his neck. Wilford rubs your back in circles as he soothes you. “Everything is okay.” He whispers. He watches Actor stare at the entity whose coal-black eyes were just as full of hatred as Actor’s. “What do you think you are doing in my home?” The mixtures of blue and red illuminated the room as the entity took a step towards Actor.

Actor looks up at the entity, “is it wrong to come and say hi to an old friend?” Actor chuckles out. He earns a growl from the entity, “You have ten seconds to get out of my sight before I decide to kill you.” The entity snarls, but Actor didn’t need 10 seconds. He was already gone. You broke from Wilford, sniffling and rubbing your eyes as he pats your head with a light-hearted smile turning up his cheeks. The entity walks towards you placing his ash gray hand on your shoulder. “Are you alright, m’lady?” The distorted voice of the entity questions in a friendly manner. You jump a bit, taking a large step away and running right into Wilford’s chest. “Ah, oh, yes. I’m fine! No worries!” You assure the entity. Wilford smiles as he rubs your shoulders gently, “Y/n, This is Darkiplier. We all refer to him as Dark. He, kinda, runs this place.” Wilford chuckles nervously. You examine Dark; He was nicely dressed in a suit and tight, ash gray skin, coal-black eye and an outline like a 3D effect. “It is nice to meet you, sir.” You say with a small nod, earning nothing more than a curt nod.

Wilford gives you a big smile and two thumbs up, “I think he likes you!” Wilford says brightly as you frown a bit and yawn. “Will, I didn’t even get to nap and after all that I don’t think I’ll be able to sleep alone.” You mumble as you bite your nails nervously. “If you wanted to sleep with me you could’ve just asked!” Wilford chuckles, “No! Will gross!” You cringe with a shake of your hands as if you had just touched something slimy. “Whaat? Get your mind out of the gutter! I didn’t mean it like that.” Wilford retorts as he smirks a little. “Are you going to admit that you’re scared?” He asks as he leans towards you. You push his face away only to full-on, lick your palm. “NO! Wilford, you nasty bastard!” You lunge at him to wipe the saliva back on him, but Wilford jumps out of the way. He runs down the corridor into your room with you following closely at his heels. Once you caught up the pink man you wipe whatever saliva, that hadn’t dried out, onto the man’s face.

“Okay, okay. I guess I deserve that.” Wilford chuckles as he flops onto the bed next to You, glancing at you with a soft smile on his face. His eyes didn’t leave you, making you a bit uncomfortable. “You know, it’s not nice to stare.” You crawl further into the bed and pull the satin sheet over your shoulder. Wilford chuckles as he crawls up next to you, pulling the blanket over himself. You stop a moment and turn to face the man next to you. “Will, what exactly is he? It sounds like he is more than one person, but he’s just,,, different. It’s unreal.” You prop yourself up on your elbow as Wilford turns to face you. “Dark is an entity, not a person. If I’m completely honest I can’t tell if he’s the owner of hot topic or if he’s serious about his attire.” Wilford chuckles as he runs his fingers through his fluffy rose pink hair. You laugh at the insult, you could imagine the gray entity sitting at a desk with a beanie on and ripped jeans. The thought made you laugh a bit harder, falling onto your back as you wipe your eyes.

“Well, that’s an image I won’t be able to get out of my head.” You giggle as you turn to Wilford who was laying on his back, staring at the ceiling with a soft smile on his face which slowly fades as he turns to face you. “What did he want from you?” Wilford stares at you, something was different. Instead of the big goofy grin the man wore, a serious expression plastered his face. This wasn’t the goofy man speaking to you previously. You sigh a moment as the atmosphere grows heavy around you, “he acted as if I were a child, telling me we were going to play a prank on you. I’m not naive but he kept saying he was going to take something away from you because you took something away from him.” You were reminded of the picture in the spare bedroom. Wilford put his finger to his chin as he puckers his lips dramatically. “Hmm, well-” “Hold on!” You swing out of the bed, forgetting about your injured ankle, and place both feet heavily on the ground. You quickly retreat back into the bed, pulling your leg to your chest as you clench your teeth in pain. “Son of a bitch.” You hiss out. “Are you-” “I’m fine, Wilford.” You put her hand up as you slowly stand from the bed, being careful not to put weight on your weak ankle.

You limp through the room into the spare room where you find the picture of William Barnum hanging on the wall. You pull the image from the wall, running your thumbs over the dusty cracked glass. You limp out of the room with a small smile on your face, Wilford looked quite charming in the picture; you couldn’t have guessed the man was ever formal with his present behavior.

You sit on your side of the bed and hand the picture to Wilford. Wilford stares at the image for a long while a small genuine smile turns up his lips a moment. The subtle look on Wilford’s face made you peek over his shoulder at the picture. “William J. Barnum, who was he? Where did that man go?” Wilford breaks from his thoughts and turns to you with a nervous chuckle. “We don’t talk about that man, It’s best to let the dead stay dead.” Wilford sets the picture on the mahogany nightstand. You back away and rest your back against the bed frame. “Wilford, Actor told me who that man was.” You whisper. “Don’t listen to that dreadful man. There is a reason Dark hates that man, and frankly, I can’t believe that man has the nerve to talk to Dark. Dark is truly a force to be reckoned with.” Wilford mutters, “He can control things unlike any other. He can command a whole room with a simple wave of his hand.” Wilford laughs a bit, “I’m surprised he hasn’t tried to kill me yet.” He laughs as he looks towards the curtains that had been drawn over the windows.

“Wilford, what did you take from Actor? Who did you take from Actor?” You press curiously. “I thought you were tired, Madam. That man is bonkers. Don’t worry, It’s not right to go digging into other’s business you might just get yourself into trouble.” Wilford mutter as he lays down, pulling the blanket over his shoulder. You look at Wilford before sliding down under the covers. You pull the satin blankets over your chest and stare up at the ceiling. Your mind would not stop going back to the unanswered questions. What was Wilford avoiding? What did he steal? A precious jewel? It had to of been something of importance for Actor to consider murder. Why did Wilford change his name and his appearance? Was he running from someone? Who was he running from if he was?

When you finally manage to push the questions from your mind; you drift into a deep sleep. Everything goes black around you a faint blue and red illumination coming from a corner of the area. You squint in an attempt to get a better look at who it could’ve been. “I am sorry to disturb your sleep, Miss.” The all too familiar layered voice asks. You watch as the entity steps into view; he stood with his back straight and his hands place formally behind his back. “I must apologize for Actor’s behavior; you should not have been put in such danger but it is your fault for not leaving. You should not be here.” Dark says coldly. You stare at Dark in disbelief, “my fault?!” You point to yourself with a look of shock. “How in the bloody hell is it my fault?! Whoever pissed that man off it sure as hell wasn’t me! Do you care to explain what the hell you are?! Or who the hell Wilford even is?!” You snap at the entity. Dark’s body glitches a moment causing an angry scream to echo throughout the void. “Do not raise your tone with me! It is not your place, and you have no right. You are a guest, a guest that a babbling idiot has brought here.” You flinch a bit as you stare up at the entity. “What I am, and who I am is none of your concern. You will leave and you will not return, am I understood?” “Where do I go? Wilford said I could stay here until everything settled down! I’m not leaving!” You protest. You were wearing Dark’s patience thin and there wasn’t a lot of that patience in the entity to begin with.

The entity seemed to grow, towering over your small body. He grabs the collar of your sweatshirt and lifts you into the air. “Do not argue with me, you will leave as soon as you awake! No goodbyes! We are not a hideout for criminals! If you are in trouble that is not our problem! Find your own goddamn safe spot.” The entity snarls before dropping you and straightening out his tux. You scramble to your feet, staring up at the entity in fear. “You leave without a trace; no notes. No apologies, no goodbyes, You never existed here.” The blue and red light fades away as does the entity. You stood in the void for only a moment before you were thrown rudely out of the void.

You set up quickly, taking a deep breath and looking around. The room was much darker than it had been previously. It was dark outside with the moon casting a ray of light through the crack in the curtains. How long had you been asleep? You could hear Wilford snoring quietly next to you; You wanted to shake him awake but that was against Dark’s orders. You slowly creep to the end of the bed, glancing at Wilford several times in case he wakes up. Luckily, the man stays put with little to no movement. You step onto the wooden floors quietly stopping abruptly when the floorboard creeks loudly under your foot. You glance back at Wilford. No movement. You let out a heavy sigh that you didn’t know you had been holding in as you limp across the room to the door but a stop a moment. Dark said not to leave a trace that you were here, so what’s wrong with stealing a little souvenir to remember your stay? You limp back to Wilford’s side of the bed where the picture of William Barnum was face down. Your e/c eyes flick back forth between the picture and Wilford as you open the back of the picture frame.

You freeze up as you feel a hand wrapping firmly around your wrist. “What are you doing up?” Wilford asks firmly as he tightens his grip on your wrist.

[paulineguillouzichnd1]

TRIPTYC

 Project

Without the use of words produce a series of connected images that visually illustrate who you are?

Exploring the work of other photographers and/or artists will help you develop a ‘visual story’ for your own work.

Give some thought to the things that are important to you. Everything you have ever done, the places you visit, the music you love, the stuff you keep, the memories and mementos carefully stored away are all part of what makes you unique. Consider how you might best illustrate who you are?

Produce:

1. Relevant research, planning and development of your work in your blog page.                                                                

2. One A3 ‘triptych’ portfolio quality print (A self-portrait, a place you’re connected to, an object significant to you).

3.Three Individual full res 300ppi jpg files uploaded to My City.

Research:

A bit of history...

Triptych is a kind of painting, or rather a surface where to paint. The first triptych that I could think of was the one by Jérôme Bosch, with his painting called The Garden of Earthly Delights (painted between 1490 and 1510) that I studied back at university in France when we were working on the Renaissance period (XIV-XVI). It mostly means that this period was a clear turning point from Middle Age in Art, Humanism, Science, Religion and generally in life (the printing press invented by Johannes Gutenberg, exploring the world, trade...) and really, the idea of creating my own triptych was very scary at that point.

I kept on doing some research, googling “triptych painting” “triptych photography” and was extremely surprised when I found out that triptych were actually a lot older: Middle Age where

“Les premiers exemples de polyptyques apparaissent en effet entre le Xe et le XIIe siècle, qu’il s’agisse encore de petits objets – essentiellement des diptyques et triptyques – voués à la dévotion personnelle, ou bientôt de grands retables placés sur les autels [dans les] églises et des chapelles.”

(’The first examples of polyptychs appeared between the 10th and 12th century, whether small objects -mostly diptychs and triptychs, destined for personal devotion, or soon great altarpiece, placed on altars [in] churches and chapels’) 

page 1, Du triptyque, ou d’une forme entre tradition et modernité

These 3 panels were, then, not just a biblical reference (Holy Trinity?) but also a practical choice to have your painting standing and seen by the audience from their seats. Easily moved as well from one place to another (I know well enough that kings at that time were packing and moving their furniture, clothes, important stuffs with them from one castle to another-secretly thanking my parents for having me visiting that many castles in France when I was a kid :P)

But then, again, the more I got to see paintings, photographs described as triptychs, the more I came to realise that triptychs had lost their ‘practicality’, being hang on walls, looked at but soon forgotten. It somehow made me feel a bit sad: why should paintings be statics as objects that are going to stand there? It surely is difficult to take your paintings/photographies with you once they’re finished (Ryanair would charge you a lot of money for that...) but in any new place where I’ve lived, my books, photographies and paintings have always been there to remind me of who I was, where I was coming from and I usually have with me a selection of the ones I like the most.

This reminded me of Byōbu (Japanese screen), how you get to use art in your everyday life, hiding/privacy... or worshipping?

Back to History...

During the 19th Century (and especially around 1880-1890) in Europe, painters used this form of canvas as a sort of commemoration of tradition and modernity: religious subjects, structured as the ones produced during the Middle Age, but with far more bigger dimensions (the one example underneath, Saint Cuthbert by Ernest-Ange Duez (1843-1896), was exposed at the Salon de la Société des Artistes Français in 1879 and was more than 6 meters long.

19th Century, resurgence of TRIPTYCHS !

It’s very funny/ambiguous  to see that painters would choose that type of canvas to paint, and especially at that time in History. The 19th century in France (beginning of it - until 1850, roughly) saw the birth of Romantic writers (I’m thinking of Victor Hugo in France, William Wordsworth and John Keats in England, E. T. A. Hoffmann in Germany) or painters (Caspar David Friedrich with his Wanderer above the Sea of Fog, Francisco de Goya, Eugene Delacroix with his self-portrait where he paints himself as Hamlet or his painting called La liberty guidance le people (Liberty leading the people). Romantics like the Bible as it is an endless source of inspiration for them, dramatic stories to paint, or write about (no judgment intended!).

However, at the end of the 19th century, most artists would claim themselves as Realists (or Naturalists) which implied a true-to-life style which involves the representation or depiction of nature (including people) with the least possible distortion or interpretation. It sought to portray real and typical contemporary people and situations with truth and accuracy, and not avoiding unpleasant or sordid aspects of life. The movement aimed to focus on unidealized subjects and events that were previously rejected in art work. Realist works depicted people of all classes in situations that arise in ordinary life, and often reflected the changes brought by the Industrial and Commercial Revolutions.

How comes that in this particular time of History, painters would choose on purpose a type of painting whose main connotations were ‘Middle Age’ and ‘Religious subjects’? when one of their main subjects was real life: working class, farmers, factories, coal mine and that this period is also somehow related strikes, popular movement and the rise of socialism/anarchism?

Life is full of contradictions :) 

L'Oeuvre de la goutte de lait", Jean Geoffroy (1903)

Le bon marche (The good market), Felix Vallotton, 1898.

La Mine: La Descente ; Le Calvaire ; La Remonte, (Mine: descending, the calvary, climbing up)

Other paintings:

Three Studies for Figures at the Base of a Crucifixion, Francis Bacon, 1944

Three Studies of Lucian Freud, Francis Bacon, 1969

Bacon, as a painter, is someone I deeply admire. He’s not afraid of what most people would find scary or shocking. 

Although he was declared as unfit for active wartime service, lots of his paintings remind me of what we call ‘the broken faces’ (Les gueules casses) in French), disfigured soldiers from WW1 and WW2. Looking at his paintings is discomforting, unsettling. You want to look away but it’s also hard to do so. It’s powerful, in your face, disturbing but also hypnotising somehow?

It reminds me of the Motion blur in photography, as a representation of both physical and mental issues or simply this continuous mental conversation people have with themselves. Personal problems that are unresolved.

OR

Edward Honaker

Kyle Thompson

General:

When I started looking into what triptycs were, I loved this one example and the use of lines and the characters’s way of looking at each other and guiding the viewer into the paiting:

I also felt slightly claustrophobic about the idea of having so much details and stuff going on in my triptyc so I thought that the best way for me to give the viewer some space would be to make it as straigthforward and empty as possible but I wanted the “place” to be the same on the three pictures and be my link between the different photos as in the example above (cathedral?).

I came up with this drawing which was a first idea of what I wanted my triptyc to look like in the end:

On the left side, OBJECT, in the middle PLACE and on the right side SELF-PORTRAIT.

I would have to be very careful with the left and right pictures that were meant to be taken at a specific angle and match each other. The central picture would have been a family portrait. The table was meant to be the element that the 3 pictures had in common, guiding the viewer into the photo.

Black and White: I didn’t even really concider using colour pictures as I think Black and White Pictures give a better sense of what I wanted to express in my triptych.

OBJECT: Memories.

I chose to use my diary as an object because I’ve been journalling since I was roughly 8 or 9  and still have my notebooks from that time. It’s an incredible experience for me to open and re-read these journals. It feels like I’m back in the past at that exact moment and I almost see the younger version of myself, sitting on a chair and recording her memories. It felt a bit cheesy and cliché at first but it then became a cathartic exercise. It has now become a daily habit, 20 mns of writing, no lie, just the plain truth, my truth as it is (and its not just pretty and beautiful!)

PLACE: Rest[e]. In French, Reste means stay. I have always found funny that this particular word was so close to the English word Rest which involves an idea of settling, relaxing and peace of mind. For me staying and relaxing have long been two words that were almost like enemies: I needed to travel, I needed to go to the next place, I didn’t want to stop because that’d have been the end of me. But the older I get, the more I realise that I need to rest[e], I just don’t know where. Home is where I grew up, and more than a place, home is a composition of people that I have always had around me: parents, brother, sisters and friends. I wanted them in my pictures: memories of birthdays, Christmas and laughters . These endless meals sitting at the table and time stops.

SELF-PORTRAIT: I personally find it hard to deal with emotions and have had mood swings since a young age, experiencing panick attack and depression since I was a teenager. As many of us, I have learnt to put a smile on my face because that’s easier. I felt that having a static self-portrait would be a lie as my personality is so changing. When I found out about Picasso. I remember watching some of his paitings and seing them moving (face, places) and fet impressed. I also wanted to use where I was looking as a way to ‘direct’ the viewer in the tryptic, looking back at my PLACE and OBJECT, living with memories. The outside photos are black and white and could be anywhere. The central picture however is home, or a memory of home, one of the numerous ones recorded in my diary.

First attempt self-portrait: I was working with a shutter speed between 3 and 6 seconds. The 2 main challenges were to find a shutter speed that would have my faces standing and lying on the table with the motion blur in between.

One thing I didn't really consider was the angle of the table because ideally I wanted my triptych to have a symmetrical effect between the picture on the left (my object) and on the right side of the middle picture (family table).

This is my second attempt: same shutter speed but now, the table has a different angle. I made sure the left angle of the table was visible (I wanted the table to be on each picture, almost as a timeline/virtual line to give a sense of unity.

Last week, when we critted each other’s tryptic, one o the comments that was made was about the corner of the table (self portrait) that wasn’t visible enough, so I also worked with photoshop (shadows, highlight and exposure + brightness) to change it. It still isn’t perfect but the photos were taken one week apart in different studios.

The way I sit is also an echo of the middle picture (the one where I am sitting at my table back in France). Memories, and sometimes the sadness of being apart from your family can be heavy at times.

I am looking towards the first picture, looking back (at my memories?).

OBJECT:

As mentioned earlier, the object I chose is my diary. I almost wanted it to look like a still life picture: the viewers can see that someone has just left and was writing at that table a few minutes ago but has now left. What they need to focus on is this page: Why is that open? That’s the end of a diary. Why has the person gone?

I made several attempt at taking that picture: with a different pencil, with a hairdryer (and the pages being blurred). I also thought about being on the picture a bit like a ghost but then it just ended not having a good effect, there was too much of me in the 3 pictures.

OR

FAMILY PORTRAIT:

The place was meant to be an echo of my living room back in France (food, family or friends, wine, laughter), and opposed to the two sides of the table, that aren’t home to me. The table clothes, the mess, the framing that looks more of what my dad would take as a family picture isn’t even correct: the lady on the left is off-frame, and so is her plate. What we see here is someone just grabbing a camera and shooting without really thinking about composition. Spontanous, recording a good moment. I think this triptyc talks a lot about recording, remembering, not forgetting as well.

I used two ladies to help me (their matching clothes and hair is pure coincidence) as I live in a family of women and women are extremely strong in my family (men too!!).

The two students were super patient and we tried different head movement (up and down, left-right). Grant played my part while I was framing the photo and then I sat in the middle.

The way I sit is meant to be an echo of the way I sit in my self-portrait, as a memory kept in my mind, a version of myself I used to be but that has partly gone now. It’s also a triptyc about moving on but being stuck in memories as well

Material I use : a tripod, my DSLR, a 24-105mm lense set at 70mm, the school studio and a few people to help me with the PLACE.

FINAL TRIPTYCH:

Evaluation:

I have been surprised from the feedback I got from the other students who, I thought, got it very well. I feel that I would have wanted to try to have the tables not on a straight line but rather with an angle, as first plan but I feel that I didn’t have the technique (studio wise) to achieve it in a rather short period of time (studios being available only on certain days). I think that if I was to redo it, I’d probably make sure I’d have a better control over the light (first and third picture) and plan my second picture a little bit better (models, position of my models). I am really happy about my third picture and to have attempted to try the motion blur, as it is a technique that is widely used amongts photographers (I’m thinking about the exhibition on portraits with Francesca Woodman!)

[damian-lil-babybat]

Damian: Batman and Son (Re-imagined)

Summary:

'Father,' the tip of Damian's sword ran slowly across the caped man's neck, the pressure has all the intent to kill and yet was never enough to break the skin, 'I imagined you taller.'

AN: Highly based on the first appearance of Damian Wayne in the issue of 'Batman and Son.'

Inconspicuously, his head tilted towards the driver's seat. Damian's eyes shifted under the blindfold securely placed on his eyes. Ballistic nylon, double stitched with 90% rayon and 10% silver, anti-EM/RF radiation cloth. Impressive, to say the least. Even if he could easily take it off, he let the constraints stay to appease the man whom his mother claimed to be his father.

The title came too easily, so natural that it felt—right, in its own way.

His mother, after all, had briefed him extensively and exhaustively about his biological father, both as Batman, and Bruce Wayne. No, not Bruce Wayne. Mother was not much interested in the man behind vigilante crusader. But only a few minutes of searching on the League's connections was all Damian needed to know everything about the billionaire philanthropist playboy of Gotham City. And, of course, the Batman.  

He scoffed as he remembered the menacing cowl, entirely theatric, the cape, again overly dramatic, and the symbol of a silhouette of a bat on his chest, in case an idiot would not get the reference, perhaps?

Being under his mother's tutelage and Al Ghul's brand of education, Damian had seen his fair share of worse and crazy. A full-grown man with no augmentation or mutation, wearing a costume every night would be on the lowest end of the spectrum, in his book. And after all, he had never expected his biological father to be normal to begin with. Any man who gets the attention of Talia Al Ghul should be nothing if not—exceptional.

It is interesting, he thought as he continued silently sitting in the passenger's seat of the Batmobile.

Typical of mother, to leave him on irritatingly amusing situations with nothing but clothe on his back and his sword. She gave him one statement and one statement alone before ushering him to follow his father. He clicked his tongue. He had stopped questioning every and all of his mother's actions at age four, he'd rather not start now. But this time, he could sense something momentous.

To study and learn from his father, the boy can't help the smirk that works on his lips.

Damian had proven himself worthy of the heir of grandfather and had received his mother's approval. Should it not only be natural to have father's too?

 'You can open your eyes,' Damian felt the tension on his blindfold loosen and finally saw the scene before him, 'We're here. This is my cave,' father continued and the older man made a poor show not to mix the pride in his voice.

Granted, Damian would have quipped a comment or two about the lack of utility of space, but the boy held back, still trying to capture the overall inexistent layout of the place. A looming dinosaur on one end, a joker card hanging from the ceiling, and the 'toys' for lack of better term to use on his father's gadgets. Months of studying the Bat meant he has garnered data and information that needed only a few seconds of cross-referencing.

By the time the boy had already devised five escape routes, ten to infiltrate and another six methods to disable their alarms and servers (the ones visible were boringly modeled around Wayne Tech), the man in the cowl had already finished his topic about 'his new home.'

Damian was too preoccupied that before the boy could act, his father was already kneeling in front of him with two firm hands placed on his small shoulders. The gap on their size had never been more evident at that moment. The gauntlets precariously resting on Damian had even covered up to his collarbone.

One simple maneuver and it was enough to break bones.

The image put alarm bells on the young assassin's head but he stifled the urge to retreat. Doing so would mean he saw Batman as a threat, and that would defeat the purpose of why he was here.

Then in one breath, his father offhandedly gave him a role to play with, and orders to obey.

'If you intend to stay with me, we'll put that training to good use in the fight against crime,' he heard him announced loud and clear and Damian did not appreciate it.

But when he looked up, in a split second, Damian finally felt that he was face to face with the man, Bruce Wayne, and not the vigilante superhero. The few features that can be gleaned from his mask shows clearly a pair of eyes that mirror his own with the only difference in color. Damian had his mother's eyes, he could see that now, however, the ones directed at him looked...disappointed, and full of pity.

What is that? Why is that?

Damian snapped, flinging away from the unnatural intimate gesture and those sad looks. 'Fight crime? Hah!' don't make me laugh. What exactly is so great about fighting crime? He wanted to retort but clamped his mouth shut as he felt his temper rising again.

There's this growing impulse to drag this person on the ground and wiped that look on his face.

How dare him mock me. Pity? What part of me should be pitied?

Damian tried to change the subject to mundane stuff, things he had no time to think about as he tried to reign in his unjustified indignation. It's been years since he received such condescending stares, and the last time it happened, that very same person had begged with his own eyes as tributes.

'Damian, your mother said she sent you here to learn,' Bruce continued without masking the irritation in his voice, emphasizing the word 'learn' as if Damian himself was lacking. Two hours flight, thirty-three minutes in Batmobile, and this was the first time Damian heard him said his name. And it felt nothing, it meant nothing.

'My mother was never there for me...' Damian said in an even voice as he tried to remember his mission. He turned his back on his father and continued mouthing off a useless justification for his mother's decisions. Decisions, he once tried to understand. But what is the use?

Before long, he was already having his way at the Batcave. Half of what the boy was saying was lost as to what he was actually thinking. 'Is this your new Batmobile?' he callously remarked as he flung the blanket away from what he supposed to be one of his father's pet project.

'It is not finished yet,' the boy felt Bruce loom behind him disapprovingly. There was an undeniable finality on those words that simply irritated Damian. It's been such a long time since he heard that tone from anyone, it filled him with such a jarring nostalgia that he was gritting his teeth. 'We need to talk,' the man added, a clear dismissal of his behavior as childish. Him? Damian Al Ghul Wayne, the rightful heir to League of Assassins, the same ruthless blood of Al Ghul was coursing through his veins...childish?

They might be of blood, but they have not met more than a day ago, and the man has the gall to use a high handed tone as if he knew him. But when Damian saw that unwavering stare of his father, he had enough.

And with this range, it was more than enough.

'Fight me!' Damian almost growled and leaped at the man, grabbing the chance to lash out. He hated how it sounded shrill on his ten-year-old voice when the challenge was an honest duel with his life on the line.

'Don't be ridiculous,' a simple backstep was all it took to counter his kick. He had good reflexes, Damian thought. And when Damian's jab connected, he knew the older man had enough brawn to overpower him, and yet his father pulled back and had even stubbornly refused to draw weapon.

Why?

'Show me respect and fight!' he shouted, going low and landed a solid one on Bruce's stomach.

'You're good...but,' was that a compliment, funny how it sounded sarcastic. Damian was too busy figuring out how to take Batman down that the next statement was drowned in his anger. And just as Damian was trying to calm himself, it was followed by words he had heard all his life, 'you're not good enough.'

You're not good enough. Ra's Al Ghul used to say that. And he had made sure all his life that he would be immune to such remarks, and yet...damn it.

Damian continued his assault.

  'My weekend in the mountains was pretty uneventful,' all of a sudden, a stranger's voice cut through their duel. Cheerful, nonchalant words without a hint of hostility, echoed throughout the cave. And there standing a few boulders away from them was an equally ridiculously, albeit less monochrome, dressed masked teen, 'What did I miss?'

'It gets worse,' Damian muttered under his breathe, as he spied the young man behind his father.

'Robin. I'd like you to meet Damian,' the relief of his father was too obvious, it was stuck ringing in his ears. 'He'll be staying for awhile.'

So this is the third Robin. Timothy Jackson Drake. Instantly, a list of background checks clicked on his mind as he retrieved his brass knuckles back under his glove.

Drake walked closer, all smiles and friendliness. From where he stood, Damian already found the intruder insufferable. 'Hey, how are you?' Robin asked while giving a knowing look at his father as if saying, 'again? You've brought another lost boy, somewhere?'

Damian could almost hear Bruce sigh as an answer.

This is wrong. What is wrong with this man? Why is he not protecting father? Aren't I obviously trying to kill Batman, so then why is he simply standing there on a sideline?

Damian's gaze moved up and down on the newcomer. The will to fight left his small body in tension. The exchange of blows now seemed to have been discounted as nothing more than a 'ridiculous' with no one taking his challenge seriously.

On instincts, he studied Robin meticulously and ended up staring at Tim's outstretched hand in deep thought. The fourteen-year-old had his shoulders slouched, stance relaxed, feet unbalanced...too many openings, too many weaknesses to exploit, and not enough vigilance. A liability. And this adopted prepubescent runt is supposed to be the partner to father? This 'thing' was what father deemed to be 'good enough' to stand at his side? Preposterous.

'Umm,' the teen added, his extended hand awkwardly kept hanging in midair, 'here in my world, we call this gesture a handshake...'

'Don't patronize me or I'll break your face,' it was not a warning, it's a statement. A threat this Robin should take heed if he had a functioning brain.

'Enough! Alfred will help you unpack,' that tone again. What is with these people? 'It's been a long and difficult journey. You should get some rest.'

'Don't tell me what I should do!' Damian declared with as much authority as he was breed to have since he had learned his destiny. And yet, why is no one listening to him? He had been used to people hanging over to his every word, his every utterance the same weight as mother, and just as revered as grandfather, and yet these people can't seem to take anything he says seriously. It was exasperating! 'Mother let me do what I want!' he added sharply before he could stop himself, and Damian knew all too well how petty and petulant it sounded that he cursed inwardly.

'Things are different here,' his father made his ultimatum, and for all its worth, he has to agree. Things are very different. Nothing seems to work on common sense.

Bruce repeated his command. Before he could say anything more, Damian walked out bitterly. And with the old butler following behind his heels, muttering some servile perfunctory sentiments, Damian finally left off the curse that was stuck in his throat.

 This is aggravating. What did I do wrong?

Damian looked at his surrounding, the soft four-posted bed, the nightstand with its lamps and vases that would not be out of place on any museum or art gallery, and an entertainment set immaturely designed for underdeveloped youth. He was standing at a table, stubbornly refusing to take a seat with a plate of roasted pheasant, grilled potatoes, and rigatello cheese placed in front of him, and a promise for more from a butler, named 'Alfred' who was content to stand guard behind Damian.

With the way the butler was looking down on him, Damian won't be surprised if the man was contemplating whether he had seen enough of civilization to know how to use a fork and a spoon.

He had dined with princes, and broke bread with sultans and oil magnates alike. This home-cooked fine dining was a joke in comparison. Add the room's obvious modern youthful exterior made him heavily feel like they were gravely treating him as a kid.

Pathetic. The boy returned the servant's scrutinizing stare, equally, and frowned at everything the butler and this room represented.

Comfort. Silence. Safety. With no one attempting at his life for half the night.

How is this supposed to educate me?

Comfort breeds complacency. Silence is suspicious. Safety is an illusion. Unless it was taken by your very own hands, one should question all. And not once did Damian had felt this emptiness to his surroundings that it creeps to his skin. Instead of helping him rest, it simply made his guard on so high alert that it was putting him on edge.

'Pennyworth, isn't it?' Damian said. Loathingly, even at his full height, he could only reach up to the servant's pristine white waistcoat.

'How may I serve you?' Alfred Pennyworth, butler to Bruce Wayne and his appointed babysitter, said courteously. Too courteously, it was almost an insult.

'I want my sword,' Damian said, dragging the words as he picked up the butter knife and twirled it expertly between his fingers. If their form of torture was to bore him to death, then they are gaining grounds.

'It is in my opinion that children should stay away from sharp objects,' Damian raised an eyebrow, he would have added how contradictory that was when his father had a literal line of boys armed, but the butler was quick to add, 'Awfully true to those reared to maim and kill, young sir.'

The boy scoffed, 'An unsolicited opinion from a servant. Father's management of his properties must be crippling to hire one of you.'

'I was not hired by Master Bruce.'

'You must have come with the inheritance then. Tell me, butler, exactly how am I expected to train without a weapon?' Damian clicked his tongue, 'Unless father wants me to be creative, that is.' The boy threw the knife across the room and struck, base deep, at a bust of a historical figurehead he would not waste time to learn. The rebuke was plastered all over the old man's expression.

'Yes, the arts of silver cutlery, impressive, if not extravagant," he shook his head and added monotonously, 'If I may, Master Damian, if you wish to train, a gym had been installed within this room,' and the butler gestured towards a punching bag hanging beside the window.

Damian frowned, 'you meant these decorations?' he strode towards the punching bag and started testing the boxing equipment—with test, he meant beating the bag with all the temper of a grade schooler. The restraints rattled like trinket.

'I prefer the cave—somewhere I could break things,' he exclaimed.

'A flair you seem to share with Master Timothy, no doubt.'

'To compare me to a future road-kill, you must have a death wish, Pennyworth,' Damian made a series of high kicks and jabs at the thing as an example. Despite his efforts to be menacing, the bag proved to be well-made and sturdy, and the only reaction he got was the old man's mouth twitching.

Still, the butler must have sensed that his concentration was elsewhere and mechanically offered the boy a towel. The motion seemed to have been practiced so many times that Damian could see the moment it dawned on the old man what he just did. That was, until his usual cold professionalism sets in once more.

Damian shrugged it off but did not refuse the towel.

'I also require a laptop, and a working net access, get to it, or do you need to demonstrate to me again how useless you are?' Damian demanded, taking care to make his voice as sullen and testy as he could.

The old man's calm facade seemed to crack.

To his defense, Damian was patient enough to let the old man pester him with more than the adequate amount of lectures which included a full explanation (with footnotes) about the stately Wayne Manor's rules on how not to raise a budding tyrant.

Satisfied he had the butler distracted, Damian scrutinized the plan again on his head while trying to work out his evening session without damaging any more properties.

It was careless of his father and that sorry excuse of a Robin to discuss a case within his earshot. They might not know that he could hear exceptionally well, but that was still unacceptable if they would prioritize security. Though standing for a lapse of time at the door long after the butler had closed and entered the passkey might have been unsafe, still, he had deemed it as a necessary risk.

And Damian found his eavesdropping to be fruitful.

He doesn't care if they talk behind his back. Though he can't help but frown at his father's supposedly obligatory 'love and respect' due to their filial relations. How archaic. The lip service on his behalf, that, he could also disregard.

If he needed to prove his worth, then there was only one way to prove it. How was it again? Vigilante work, is it not? Being a hero? Would that be too hard? The city is small, and there seems to be no end to criminals. Maybe a few initiative on my part wouldn't be too bad.

And he had to thank Drake for giving him that initiative. 'Spook'. 'Blackgate Prison'.

Now if only he could get a hold of more information and his sword.

Just to make sure, Damian continued to torment the servant and made an extra effort to his role as the demon spawn they all seem to equate him with.

'Why can't I get a laptop!?' Damian yelled once more, with his fist leaving a deep impression on the bag.

Just as he expected, Bruce came barging to the room.

At the sight of his father, Damian can't help but recall those shadowed eyes that seem to bear down on him. This time—it was filled with regret.

'He's all yours, sir,' Pennyworth dragged his exhausted body towards the door, 'My tolerance for colorful insults is wearing a little thin, I'm afraid.'

Perfect, he thought derisively, 'What have you done to my sword? Where are we?' the boy asked, straining his ears at the sounds of Pennyworth typing the key pass, while strategically spying at his peripherals as the butler made his way out of their father-and-son talk.

And while we're at it, why not torment father, too?

'This is part of my home, where I grew up. And you'll get a computer and the sword when I decide it's safe,' Bruce, still in his Batman suit, declared, 'I still don't know much about you, Damian.'

Then let me rectify that, for one thing, 'I hate it here!' Damian complained, not dropping the act.

'Too bad. You'll still be staying until we figure out what you mother's up to,' Damian opened his mouth to say something, but his father unceremoniously advised, 'you should eat.'

His mood dropped, which seemed to be the norm whenever he attempted to talk to his father, 'Eat? You call this food?!' Damian flung the plate and the sound of breaking porcelain was grating.

'It's actually pretty good...when you don't mix it with the wallpaper,' just hearing his father talk made Damian lose his calm. Somehow, the act became reality with every punctuation from his father pushing his displeasure.

Complaisant, disdainful...what exactly does...

'I suggest you rest.'

'Rest'. This was the second time he had ordered Damian to rest. As if his father was shooing a cat, or any domestic animal, out of his way. A burden he wanted to be tucked away to bed and out of sight.

Something gave way inside Damian. The fury came like hot metal searing him into a numbness that he simply blurted out his anger unthinkingly.

'I've been sent here against my will!'

Damian didn't choose to be here. But he is. Now. Here. And the first thing his father wanted was to play 'house' and leave him with a bumbling servant who has no sense to heed orders, and consequently preserve his own life!

'You can't make me do anything I don't want to do!'

His father won't even test him. Won't even give him merit. Or a trial to show what he was capable of! And he wanted Damian to call it a night?

He's still not finished with his outburst, when his father bellowed, 'Enough!'

The fires fueling his emotions ebbed just as instantly when he saw his father's unreadable expression.

Batman had mastered intimidation to perfection and he seemed to have no qualms to unleash all of it to his son, 'You dishonor your sensei with this loss of composure! Your rage is born of fear and is unbefitting in a student of martial arts!'

The older man stepped closer, the dark cape cast a shadow as dark as the deepest of abyss, and the boy didn't realize that his body has reeled back until he felt the corner of the table pressing from behind. The threat from those eyes was real that Damian could feel the sweat forming in the palm of his hand.

'You'll be given opportunities to prove yourself to me. Until then, Boy...Patience is a virtue!'

Damian gulped. He could feel goosebumps from his spine.

'Yes, yes father' he repeated his answer automatically, a natural response only his mother could pull out of him.

When he raised his eyes once more, his father was already gone. And he heard the unmistakeable locking mechanism of the door, shutting him in, indefinitely.

 He paced the room. The butter knife he had retrieved a while ago was now tight in his grip.

Nothing changed, the boy thought while replaying the scenes with his father. If he had to take his father's words into consideration then that meant he was on the right track.

And Damian, of course, had drawn only one conclusion, it was a challenge.

He must proceed with the plan.

With that in mind, Damian took a deep breath and shifted on his seat in front of the television. A number of the latest playing consoles were sprawled on his feet and an audio system at one end. He took on the remote control and started clicking away, like a person going over his groceries.

He waited and skipped a few news channel.

Gotham's cable reception apparently was filled by hourly crime reports of the mean and the gritty and accentuated with base gossips and distasteful luxury.

But even so, Damian would find himself pausing a few seconds more whenever a channel would feature Batman. He had to admit, seeing things on a screen was different from seeing it in person.

He had watched and rewatched his father on footages going on nights on end, with his vigilante works, and it does not take half a brain to know that Batman was out there doing just that.

Despite their bouts, Damian was—is 'excited' the correct word for it?

In fact, the first time he saw his father's nightly escapades, under the supervision of his mother of course, he initially found it...cool. A man dressed as a bat, stalking the shadows for justice, ah yes, he would be taken to his grave before he would confess such thoughts.

He glanced at the mess of his dinner still left untouched and sneered.

Another chess piece.

It would take a miracle for that old man NOT to came checking up on him. The butler might not act like a servant, but Damian can recognize the pride in which Pennyworth carries himself as a caretaker of the Wayne family.

He was surprised at the confidence he had at the butler, but he was sure Pennyworth would definitely clean up after him and for that, he had Damian's regards if nothing else.

After a while, the boy found himself lost in his own thoughts. The changing visage of the monitor toss dancing lights on his face. The frown was gone and despite the intense look on his hazel eyes, Damian had looked exactly like any harmless innocent child lounging lazily in front of a screen.

But all of it changed when he saw his target. The assassin's mind instantly took over as his whole body became taut with precise sharpness drilled to him from countless training.

Spook.

It took considerable restraint on Damian's part not to roll his eyes. Questionable aesthetic both on the criminal name and on his wardrobe. Such a small fry was not even a blip on his radar when his data consisted of international threats and contingencies. He sighed when the news anchor zoomed in to show the hostage-taking. Granted even the minions had it bad. Blanket with cut holes for eyes? What a cheap preference only fitting for children stories.

Oh, how he would just fit right in.

With the name and face of his mission acquired, and the butler's timely, unmistakable, British drawl announcing his own intrusion, Damian took off the towel from his shoulders and silently slipped behind the door.

'Now, let's hunt,' he whispered to himself.

[johannesviii]

The Adventuress of Henrietta Street

Some highlights of the last EDA I’ve read (The Adventuress of Henrietta Street).

I took these screens while reading, along with my reactions. As usual, this is full of spoilers.

“Let’s wish for something simpler next time. I need a break.” (me, right after reading Grimm Reality)

OH SHIT OH PLEASE NO NOT NOW. NOT. NOW.

This is not what I wanted.

I’m not going to make any friends here, first because I’m sure this book has a ton of fans, and second because I don’t dislike it for the reasons you might expect. Sure, it sidelines Fitz and Anji, sure, the ideas aren’t as numerous or groundbreaking as the ones in Alien Bodies and Interference, sure, the pace is extremely slow, sure, it does some debatable things with the internal logic of the series, and yes, sure, it mostly takes place in a brothel. But while these things can be considered problems, they’re not real problems to me. Some of the most creative things in this story are actually possible thanks to them.

No. I have a problem with the way this story is written and framed. And I can already hear someone saying something like "what, is the academic style too much for your small brain?", but I actually think it doesn’t go far enough with its fake academic style.

By all means, write a fake pseudo-academic paper! Invent a ton of fake sources and names! Write horribly long digressions in footnotes until they eat up the rest of the page! Analyse this story like a bad history student and put on paper some really weird conclusions about it- most of them probably wrong. Even if you don’t go all out and write House of Leaves lite, at least write Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell lite, please. Have. fun. with. it.

But it’s not written like a fake master thesis, because there’s no sources, no footnotes, no actual goal or real analysis (right or wrong), and in the end, it’s mostly written like a normal novel, except it has a very flat tone and often digresses to talk about historical events. Reading Henrietta Street is not like proof-reading a badly organised master thesis written by a dispassionate student: it’s like trying to read a novel buried under piles of gratuitous infodumps. And that’s a real shame, because there’s an interesting story somewhere in there. 4,5/10

Okay, this is interesting.

That’s VERY cool.

That part made me laugh pretty hard.

Apparently the biggest danger that sex workers face in their line of work is accidentally summoning demons, and that also made me laugh pretty hard.

I’m not sure this is supposed to be funny, but it sure is.

Aaaaaaand she actually summoned a demon by accident and that guy was killed. Okay.

That’s very nice but there’s a distressing lack of footnotes and fake references in that pseudo-academic book. Also if there’s no quote from the dream journal (or if there’s some, but boring), I will riot.

Okay, first, I have to say Scarlette sounds incredible.

Second, I immediately pictured her like Mylène Farmer’s 18th century libertine persona, except with black hair.

This is probably a bad thing.

Oh my god

Ah, I was starting to wonder where our main idiot was.

Please tell me Eight is fencing with Scarlette. PLEASE.

YESSSSS Oh my god what a wonderful mental picture.

SCARLETTE, NO.

WAIT WTF EIGHT HAS A BEARD NOW?!

Ooohhh, he has finally discovered where he was from and probably what happened to Gallifrey! Interesting!

We already kinda knew that was what made The City of the Dead and its magic possible, but it’s always nice to have a clear confirmation.

I’M HOWLING

"Hello I’m the Doctor, can I stay here" "Sure"

So he’s looking for magicians. And clearly doing some research. I have to ask, though: where are Anji, Fitz and the TARDIS?

Meanwhile, on "The Doctor Is Asexual", episode 75647

These books have recently acquired a strange taste for tarot reading.

Wait, the Doctor is sick?

That’s all very interesting but could you please hurry up a little bit?

Again, I wish this kind of fake document had fake sources and/or footnotes to accompany it.

Again, I wish there was a fake drawing and a fake source there.

Interesting.

Also... is it bad if I’d like to read that book instead of the one I’m currently reading?

So the demons actually look like apes. Uh.

How much do you want to bet these creatures were inspired by this painting?

I love this dialogue.

What is your plan and what the hell are you trying to do.

"When Scarlette asked reasonably what on Earth she thought she was doing"

I laughed out loud at this awful, awful typo in French. That should be "par les couilles" and the level of sheer incompetence on display here is worse than any misused French ever printed in these books (yes, even the non-sentences of The Turing Test).

If you don’t speak the language, don’t pretend you do & send it to an editor anyway. You already know I don’t speak English very well, but you don’t see me trying to get my English typos printed in a book costing actual money and bought by actual people.

What are you trying to achieve.

Well you’re not wrong.

FINALLY

This is a wonderful little scene.

"It’s worth stopping" YEAH YOU THINK

WAIT WHAT, THEY DIDN’T ARRIVE WITH THE TARDIS

WHAT’S GOING ON

Another wonderful mental image.

Okay so I think that’s an important character. I don’t think anyone spoiled me anything too important about this book, but I’m pretty sure this guy comes back later.

The fact I didn’t stop to consider how awkwardly Fitz would behave in a brothel is all you need to prove how innocent minded I tend to be

This would be so much better if it was either written completely like a fake academic work or completely like a novel, because this weird hybrid thing isn’t working.

CUTE

How much do you want to bet he did a James Bond impression.

Fitz no.

Also this is a pretty great scene.

Is that a compliment or an insult

Oh. So he was looking for magicians of sorts who could act as a replacement for the Time Lords?

Anji as a prophet and a force of nature is a marvellous thought.

"But they had a tendency to giggle every time [Fitz] walked past"

Okay, I guess Sabbath is bad news, then.

 Is Sabbath actually human? Because if he’s a Time Lord survivor, that would explain a lot of things.

Probably panic.

It’s not a real EDA until someone is coughing up blood

Or because this book is clumsily organised.

And here’s another typo in French (éventrés).

Also who is that random guy with a rosette and why is he, like, metaphorically eating popcorns in the background?

Is that battleship a TARDIS?

It’s completely anachronistic, so it could very well be.

A question you could be asking yourself in quite a lot of these books, Doctor.

Take a shot every time an adjective reminds you that Sabbath is fat.

I’M HOWLING

Ohhhh is it his fault because he destroyed Gallifrey? Is that it?

What the fuck are you two talking about.

So the wedding is some sort of ritual? What?

What inspired the author to sit down and write this book also remains unclear.

That still sounds wonderful and I’d gladly read that book if it existed. Although it’s easy to picture it like some sort of Codex Seraphinianus variant.

A strange way to talk about regeneration, but a pretty cool one.

Of course, Doctor, of course.

Why is the author so fucking terrified by this very mundane detail about women.

"Assassin" as a noun doesn’t have a feminine equivalent so this is yet another typo in French.

Ohhh, is he trying to rebuild a TARDIS? Where is the real TARDIS, anyway?

You really don’t want Anji to have any kind of major role in that story, do you?

So this is what the ‘horizon’ is like. I like the black sun thing. Well okay it’s a bit of a goth cliché, but still.

I SPAT OUT MY TEA

DON’T MAKE ME THINK OF BETTER STORIES

And I’m pretty sure this would be a lot more dramatic if this book was written like a novel OR like a cold academic piece, but it’s neither, so it just sounds disinterested.

At least we have excerpts from the dream journal mentioned at the beginning!

...we know. It’s a very, very mundane thing, dude. It happens when a lot of women are living together. It happens in nunneries too. There’s nothing magical or evil about it, and this is getting very ridiculous.

Recently, in one of these liveblogs, I was wondering how many stories had living planets in Doctor Who and particularly in the EDAs... so I’m glad somebody else thought it was a recurring theme as well.

No seriously who the fuck is this guy.

Okay okay I laughed pretty hard.

I seriously doubt that.

138 PDF pages, and next to nothing has happened yet, apart from a lot of exposition.

Yes okay but could you please do something with this idea instead of just exposing it layer after layer?

A bit too meta for my taste, but still enjoyable.

Again, more explanations for this very cool concept, but nothing new.

Okay. Now do something.

We knew this already. Now do something with it.

An interesting parallel but the book still refuses to do anything with its ideas at this point.

Meanwhile, nothing happens.

YOU DON’T SAY

OH. Okay. At least we know the purpose of that wedding thing now.

It’s… very weird, honestly. I mean, the Doctor never really had ‘roots’ with Gallifrey, he hated the place (in Classic Who, at least – and in New Who as soon at it existed again) and tried to get away from it as soon as he could. But hey, fluidity in canon and all that, so why not. Can’t say I like it, but yeah, why not.

Meanwhile the Doctor gets worse and worse and Fitz finds yet another girlfriend "out of boredom"- which is understandable at this point.

Usually I would be like "OH NO" but since something is happening at last, I’m like "OH MY GOD, FINALLY"

Wait wait wait.

You know I try to avoid spoilers for these books but I couldn’t avoid this one. So.

Is this the book where Eight loses a f█cking HEART

I WISH

And now the Babewyns have a leader, since you persisted to do nothing.

Again, I wish this book was full of fake sources for this kind of things.

Good description of the TARDIS’ sound!

Finally, someone’s doing something about the Babewyns! Go Scarlette!

I like this detail.

WAIT A F█CKING SECOND

IS THAT THE MASTER

IS THE MASTER JUST CHILLING IN THE BACKGROUND OF THIS STORY WITH POPCORNS WHILE WAITING FOR THE SHIT TO HIT THE FAN

Okay, so the wedding plans had to be changed and now the bride will be Scarlette.

And the Master is drinking in the background, like:

Eh eh, so Moffat wasn’t the first one to think about this!

Take a shot every time an adjective reminds you that Sabbath is fat.

Holy shit, Scarlette rules.

And this is very sweet.

Well you’re not wrong.

Eight you are literally dying, there is no shame in using a wheelchair, okay

This is a great mental picture.

I’m pretty sure "howl of laughter" wasn’t the intended reaction, but I’m sorry, he kissed Scarlette and instantly started the apocalypse, I can’t stop laughing

You know what, just for fun, I am going to pretend this is a post-apocalyptic version of the Library of the Serpent’s Hand from the SCP mythos.

Ooooooh boy.

YEP. YEP, YOU ARE THE MASTER. YOU LITTLE SHIT.

At least he’s being reasonable for once.

How very convenient for you.

Yes I was about to ask, could you please hurry up and die already?

OH SHIT JULIETTE HANGED HERSELF.

YEAH YOU THINK

ISN’T THAT OBVIOUS WTF

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

FDSDFGHFDSGHFDFH I KNEW IT

To be honest, this book is FINALLY getting intense and interesting.

WELP, FITZ ISN’T THE LEADER ANYMORE, BYE BYE FITZ

YOU DON’T SAY

Bye bye, Master.

You weren’t very useful, were you.

YOU DON’T SAY

This place looks terrifying in my head.

Finally, FINALLY, this book is gripping.

But it took the Doctor, literally dying on the floor, in a pool of black blood, in a post-apocalyptic dimension for it to become gripping.

Or just a self-insert.

OHHHH HERE IT COMES, FOLKS.

Ah yes, one last typo in French, just because.

YOU DON’T SAY

Hey, isn’t that the cover?

SFSDFGHGFDHHHH ONE OF YOUR HEARTS WAS LITERALLY TORN AWAY FROM YOUR DYING BODY FIVE MINUTES AGO, CAN YOU PLEASE SIT DOWN FOR A SECOND BEFORE CHALLENGING GIANT MONSTERS IN A FIGHT TO THE DEATH

Hi happy Eight, we missed you!

YES BUT SCARLETTE WITH A SWORD IS AMAZING

Holy shit, Eight.

Holy shit dude.

I hope Scarlette isn’t really dead.

Apparently she is. F█ck.

There’s hugs, though. Hugs are always good.

DOCTOR WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING

COME BACK HERE THIS INSTANT

OH SHIT SCARLETTE FAKED HER OWN DEATH

And she’s still pretty great, too.

How very convenient for you.

EXTREMELY OMINOUS.

Phew. I’m glad this book is over. It was just as exhausting as the previous one, although in completely different ways.

[sparda3g]

Gintama Chapter 685 Review

I don’t know how much fuel I have left in my laugh box. Honestly, I’m amazed with Sorachi’s talent in comedy, even at this late of the stage. You wouldn’t think that we are in a final arc with a serious problem for these characters. We are deluded by a series of hilarity. This chapter had me rolling with laughter from hilarious twists and the cliffhanger that seriously got me really curious, just to see how this would end.

After the false death report of Binbokusai, his face is covered in mosaic for whatever reason. Supposedly, he’s being recorded for documentary. He monologues his life and his view on trash. He comes off like an old wise man that fulfilled his purpose within his family. It’s no wonder the last chapter had a mellow tone. The way he sees trash basically follows the concept, “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” It’s simple and delightful; nice to see him moving forward to something he enjoys. Then hijinks ensue…

Till this day, Gintoki is still acting like a mannequin. I know he is hiding from his friends, but this is dedication level or even worse. It’s funny how Bin uses him as something that defeats the purpose or rather wrongfully used. It was fine with him putting a jacket that reads, “Third Generation,” a reference to a band, but out of nowhere, he uses him as a roach swatter. I believe I get the joke behind the Third Generation part. As dumb that was, he tops it with Hijikata, who still acts like a mannequin, and uses him as a replacement. Seriously, he doesn’t really need to act like one, but whatever I suppose. Funny he was written with “YouTuber.” Is this a message from Sorachi to us?

I completely lost it with the next page. Even the mightiest edgelord Takasugi is caught in the middle of this stupidity. I don’t even know how he was even buried in the garbage and still kept his cool face. Hijikata and Gintoki’s reaction just don’t cut it anymore; this is very dumbfounded. Someone has a grudge against the director since they suggest to write it on Takasugi in order to make it a target practice. I’m sorry, but I’m still baffled by the fact this edgelord is in this mess and I don’t mean the garbage.

He falls on Bin before any ridiculous stunt happens. I guess the edgelord knows his limit after all. It’s the perfect time for the other two to roll out and escape, but no, grudge runs deep when they went over there to beat up Bin. That or trying to free Takasugi, I don’t know which, but they’re pretty pissed off for a reason. Well, at least the documentary has ended. Can’t wait to see the complete version.

Finally, Gintoki stops playing as a mannequin. I was close to be convinced that Gintama is about mannequin. Funny how he channels the fans’ thought about Takasugi goofing around, even mocking his edgy characteristics. I love how this series is so self-aware and understands its fans. Then a twist happens and it turns out that guy is not him. He was wearing a wig.

Gintoki actually believe that Takasugi has gone bold. Wow, his reason to destroy the world is definitely reasonable. It’s even funnier that he asks him to shout out his catchphrase. I cannot believe this series is really mocking itself. But I got to say, it’s a shame that it wasn’t Takasugi in the first place. He threatened the guy to swap places and that guy took the role of a mannequin. Oh well, it’s understandable since Takasugi is too serious for that kind of stunt; even Hijikata thought the same.

Oh how dumb I am to underestimate Sorachi. Sure, Takasugi didn’t act like a mannequin, but he still pull a stupid tactic as he dressed up as a cartoon character out in the open. What’s even stupider is he is even wearing an eyepatch for the costume. Why?! This series is going to end me. Gintoki takes the wig from the guy to disguise as Takasugi or going by Nisesugi. Now we are in disguise arc. What a transition.

Not even a page in, he’s already stopped by someone. What the hell did he expect? He is the most wanted man on Edo. When I saw kunai, I thought it would be either Sacchan or Tsukuyo, though more on the former, and surprise, surprise, it’s Sacchan. She looks about the same, just her uniform is revamped. It looks similar to Nobume’s, though later on, it’s addressed that she works under Soyo, so that does explain the concept. Needless to say, she still looks nice. That all said a new set of hijinks ensue. I’m surprised I’m alive to write this.

It’s hysterically funny to see how far Gintoki has to stick to the role, up to the point he has to rely on the special effect to display his intimidation. It is fourth wall broken at its finest. It is hilarious how Sacchan didn’t care about Takasugi with his two eyes, already signaling fake, so she just take out one. Irony. Gintoki’s logic to recover an eye is to use a marker to draw a dot and somehow it replaces its pupil, even if it is too large. And so, the story begins with the fake Takasugi.

I love how Gintoki has to imitate him with his over exaggerated edginess. It’s so damn hard to take him serious with his disjointed eyes. His dialogue is so humorous; it must end with dark and sinister tone by default. The panel always darkened for dramatic effect with the “kuwah” sound effect. It got to the point that Hijikata took notice of his stupid antic. Gintoki goes so far to even reference a TV personality with “Indian people don’t tell lie,” just for the sake of the effect. Now that’s just being too desperate.

For some reason, he transfer his sinister vibe towards a stranger because he needs to go to the bathroom. Shouldn’t he cut down the charade when dealing with other? In a surprise twist, he asked for the bathroom because he was feeling odd in the stomach. It turns out that Sacchan threw a kunai with a toxic that will force him to explode in his bowel movement. Now that is worthy of “kuwah.” Sorachi is genius on timing and execution.

I should feel bad for Gintoki to be humiliated, but I feel like this is an indirect way to punish him for leaving them. He’s now enslaved to Sacchan and in order to get the antidote, he must find himself. Go figure. The guy is so helpless; any minute now, he will blow up inside. One of the dumbest (which there are many already) yet clever move is the bathroom tactic, and I am not referring to Gintoki’s idea. He wants to go to the bathroom but lies about Gintoki being in a convenience store. Somehow, someway, every single one of them is occupied by Shinobi. It’s all according to the plan. Unbelievable…

It’s comical how this revelation transitions to a flashback, but it’s a nice and somewhat touching scene. It’s a shame that Zenzou did leave Edo after the war. Even with his latest development, he felt that he would have been a problem for Soyo, since he believed he’s dangerous. This confirms Sacchan to be the one in charge of Oniwabanshuu. It’s a heartfelt farewell because how well they know each other. There’s this undertone feeling that they can be more than friends, especially when tough things get going. It’s gentle of him to rely on her with upmost confidence. Hopefully, he does return later on…

Because she is using her forces to find Gintoki and force him to marry her! Sweet merciful heaven! This must be her ultimate trump card; do or die attempt. Hilarious that she will bring him back by force, yet here he is on a leash. He didn’t say the famous quote, “Wait for me,” to her. Not to go into shipping mode, but maybe he’s, ahem, not the one for you. Well, it is the final arc, so go for broke.

I love how there’s a store named, “Shits.” What a fitting message for Gintoki in his stance. But it’s not exactly what I thought, because he’s awkwardly walking to the store, and when you see someone doing that, it cannot be good. He wants to change clothes. Why? Because well, let’s just say he doesn’t need to go to a bathroom anymore. Yep. It happened. That’s just sad. What’s even sadder is he could only afford a man’s diaper; a perfect image to describe him in this chapter. My mind was blown when Gintoki decides to put an underwear over his face again. We are freaking back to the mannequin charade! Oh. My. God!

At least I cooled down with Tsukuyo on the scene with a new look. She reminds of the second movie design; I quite like the mature feel. I wonder if she has her pipe still. I also wonder if she can sense Gintoki, but not sure how to react with her being chained with him. It’s nice to know that she is with Kyuubei since they did form a nice friendship from the war. That said that means all 4 girls are in one place. Harem Round 2? Even worse, Gintoki is wearing Kyuubei’s underwear. Yep. Our protagonist, ladies and gentlemen.

This chapter was a trip. I laughed throughout the chapter and it only differs in its volume level. The comedy was gold with hilarious twists and turns. It’s hilarious to have Hijikata being the spectator throughout, reacting with how we would react. It has one touching scene and it was pleasant. The cliffhanger is very interesting honestly speaking. Very curious where do we go from there. The editor’s note says that Gintoki may die in the next chapter. Who’s ready to say goodbye?

[maiji]

Process and wip images for A House That Holds Long Limbs (Part 8)

Previous process and wip documentation: Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Parts 6 and 7

Read the pages here: Part 8 (full complete version will be linked from YYH North Bound master post)

I personally love exploring character dynamics and character interaction! It's definitely what I tend to focus on in comics and stories. Plus you get to draw lots of closeups of people's faces and have a lot of fun with expressions. And that's what Part 8 is full of.

IN THIS EDITION, after the usual script and thumbnails, I'll take a bit of time to talk about expressions and characterization (my thoughts on Raizen and Hokushin specifically, but also some general thoughts on how I approach writing characters and character interactions). More details of some of the panels from part 8 so you can see the faces better!

Script and thumbnails

(If you look closely at the top of pg 2, you can see the page behind was where I started drawing my random dream sequence hahahah)

It’s always kind of funny to look back at the script and see my rushed typing (or texting on my phone, since I’m often doing this on mobile...) - odd typos and dangling/incomplete thoughts like ”my blodd” (lol).

Part 8 was one of the first sequences conceived in the development of this story. As a result, the script and the thumbnails both line up very closely to the final, because I’d already been thinking about it for so long and playing the scene out repeatedly in my head. I had a very concrete sense of how I wanted to direct it, unlike many of the action sequences from previous parts. The main areas I struggled with were historical details (the karaginu was originally labelled “tarp” in the script as a placeholder until I decided what it would be), and the biggest pagination change was probably moving Raizen’s “Maybe you just didn’t take enough off lol!” to the previous page so that Hokushin’s (literal) punchline would be at the beginning of the next.

Expressions

I have a huuuuge soft spot for subtle expressions - the kind where just a bit of extra line or texture around the eyes or the mouth, plus the dialogue or context of the scene, adds nuance to an expression. Especially ones that otherwise can read as relatively neutral. Even a very simple expression that’s just dots for eyes and straight lines for the upper/lower lids and eyebrows can have a lot of variation in how you interpret them, simply based on context and slight adjustments. Here are some examples with Raizen, where his face is super basic:

A: pretending nothing is wrong, calmly answering question

B: pleased with self for being smart - clearly a happer expression than A

C: similar to A, chillaxing and answering question

D: no big smiling mouth so he looks more like he’s focused on intensely sniffing the air

E: same as B basically, but a bigger smile of “everything’s fine!” (when you read the text)

F: extra thickness for his upper lid gives the sense that he’s in the middle of his casual sexy/chivalrous how ya doin’ expression

G: ... which changes in this panel to be more a realization (“oh shit I’m on fire”)

Actually, Raizen and Hokushin are both pretty difficult face types for me, being more “mature” looking male faces with stronger features/jawlines and narrower eyes. Hokushin especially has been challenging because his design has really low eyebrows which result in a default glare. Togashi still manages to make him fairly expressive and not look like he's glowering all the time. With my more limited art skill and lack of confidence, I tend to soften his expressions by really laying on the top line of his eye (this sounds like I'm putting mascara on him or something lmao), and also adjusting the size of his pupils (within reason or it starts to look even less like how I draw him normally, which is a big problem since his shaved head is a defining aspect of his series character design so he already looks pretty different). Here are some comparisons of his face - bearing in mind I had to keep his eyes wide open because of the seals in the story:   

A: crying/relief

B: this one here is supposed to be a bit miserable/self-loathing because he really didn’t think Raizen was going to look for him

C: shock, unexpected

D: thinking + “ugh plan B”

E: worried/apologetic and then “OOF/URK”

F and G: a progression to show the differences in rendering the eye. First is a bit angry because he’s realizing where all the blood for the seals came from, then he notices Raizen’s hands, and G is that example of softened expression (more lines on the top eye, larger pupil) to show how bad he feels about Raizen’s injury. 

One last thought on expressions. They can easily lose their nuance when inking (the slightest shift to a line can change the expression completely), and especially for someone like me who has unsteady hands it can be a bit of a nightmare. The nice thing about ballpoints is that they can retain a bit of the pencil sketch quality, which helped me freak out less when inking the last page with Hokushin’s glare. Here’s a comparison of the progress:

Though this particular expression isn’t that subtle, you can still see some differences as the drawing gets built up. When the pencil lines are gone and the drawing gets rendered in bw only, a lot of shading is lost. The messy lines can be interpreted more flexibly by your brain since they’re less defined and you haven’t “committed”, so the final version looks and feels less expressive. (This is why a lot of artists prefer their sketches to the finished piece, myself included...) Characterization This will get very specific to this comic, obviously, but hopefully my approach (and biases haha) will come through. With something like a fancomic, there are obviously existing expectations around the characters, but the benefit of working with these guys is that they’re not as prominent in the story or the fandom, so I feel more comfortable playing around and filling in the gaps. (This is probably why I like minor characters so much.)

In the case of Raizen and Hokushin, we know these two have a close relationship and history only through assumption and insinuation. We never see them interacting directly in the series at all. Actually, we don't see Raizen interact with anyone except Yusuke in non-flashback sequences (aside from the kudakusushi. In the anime, more scenes were added with his estranged friends, mostly their fond memories of him beating them up lmao). But it's very clear that they're extremely important to each other. Hokushin obviously speaks of his king in an exceedingly respectful fashion. Meanwhile, Hokushin is actually the last name Raizen says before he dies - his second last line, to Yusuke, is "Take care of Hokushin and the others" - or in my Taiwanese edition, "I leave Hokushin and the others to you". (Lol “the others”. Also I need to draw a comic about this at some point.) Despite this zero actual interaction, it's still extremely easy to imagine it because their characters are so clearly defined. In fact, they're both such consistent archetypes with enough particular quirks that they practically write themselves. So it wasn't difficult to extrapolate and imagine much younger versions of them, and how they may have interacted if they had only just met, which is the foundation of North Bound. Archetypes and stereotypes walk a fine line together, but they do serve as really useful building blocks for sketching characters quickly. This is why I really enjoy symbolic systems like astrology (or some of the the modern incarnations - personality assessment frameworks) because of all the character sketching it helps you do really quickly. Astrology in particular because, without even caring about birth dates or charts or whether astrology is "real" or not, the basic idea of a sign and its bucket of traits and symbols is simply a great resource when you want fleshed out character archetypes to build off of. I talked a bit about this in my Lenormand post, but I think of zodiac signs as one of the many games humans have developed in our attempts to categorize our world into recognizable patterns, and since we've been at it for thousands of years, there's a wealth of reference material, scenarios, analyses not only of the individual archetypes, but for all sorts of combinations and relationships. Some of it very well-thought out, and some of it just lots of fun to read. For my purposes, applying this to North Bound, Raizen is basically a Leo. He's dramatic, positive, powerful, passionate, a straight-shooter. Not only does he embody its main traits, he's literally a king (or eventually one in this story, I guess). And he even has a mane, for crying out loud. Meanwhile, Hokushin is a solid depiction of a quintessential Virgo - hardworking, practical, analytical, stoic, kind - and literally the loyal servant that typifies the Virgo paradigm. The Leo/Virgo duo is a classic partnership, and at the point where we meet them in the series, the relationship we can see has stabilized to exactly that. At the same time, there's tons of potential for a hilarious dynamic as well, especially imagining how they got to that point. (If you wanna have a laugh, look up some analyses of Leo and Virgo relationships and you'll see what I mean.) His freakouts next to Raizen's "hahhaa everything's fine!" carry most of the humour (similar to how his freakout at Yusuke's vandalism of the rurimaru stones carried a ton of the humour in that episode lol). Obviously there are other things that further finetune their characters so that they're more than bland cookie cutter personalities (Raizen's deep thinking about the future of the Demon World, for example, and Hokushin's sense of humour and appreciation/enjoyment of fighting), but in broad brushstrokes, these archetypes work incredibly well, and make it so easy to come up with scenarios and write interaction to the point that I'm now ridiculously behind in actually turning them into comics ahhhhh...

[castielartandcomics]

OKAY. THE TIME HAS COME FOR THIS POST TO BE MADE. Even if it will be just a bunch of projects and me talking about them, it’s something I’ve been willing to do since a lot of time, mostly for a bit of self-esteem and to let you know that I’m actually working on stuff.

Since this will be a long post with some pictures, everything is under the cut! >:3

Honestly, I could start with a list of all the reasons why I haven’t been posting much, but the main reasons are low self-esteem and little to no time to do my stuff. School has been killing me slowly in the latest times, so the main reason why I post so little it’s actually academic work, nothing more and nothing less. ... this being said, let’s begin from what is REALLY interesting. >:3c

Gastertale

First of all, YES, I’m still working on Gastertale! And I’m extremly sorry for the long gap between the pages: the next page IS done, I just need to add dialogues, but I still haven’t for the simple reason that I don’t want to publish it only to make you wait other three months for another page. Hopefully soon I’ll return to have a bit of time, and at this point I’ll make pages more often and way better. I’ve improved a lot in this months, and despite there will probably be a little gap of style too between one page and another, I think I’ll be able to give you something more! My objective when I’ll restart to post it is to make at least one page a week and give a bit of a regular schedule, but about regularity it’s something that we’ll have to see (again, academic work). But hey, at least I’ll try to make you wait less than three months for the next page! </3

Plus, to confirm that something IS actually done:

preview, WOHOO!!

Sonic Humanitymorph & Sonic Battle Remastered

Basically. I want to draw more Sonic, and I want to draw him with a purpose. It’s... kind of a long story, but I’ll make it short for you because I don’t want to annoy you with melancholic and dramatic stuff (?). In a few words, I want to build new memories with Sonic and company, since my first memories are... kind of lost. I literally grew up with him, yet I remember little to nothing about his stories and about me in that period, and it’s something that makes me suffer a bit. SO! I’d really love to build new memories and honour a hero I’m really fond to, and I’d love to make this with you all! Since I also noticed that you really like my human!Sonic characters, so-! /)u(\

So, basically, the ideas are: MORE human characters. I still have your suggestions, I simply didn’t have the time to think about them, but I will surely do it! I’d love to make a lot more of the characters, if not all of them! And together with it, also another thing inspired by @slightly-gay-pogohammer‘s adaptation of Rayman “I’m Only Human”, which consist in adaptations of some of my favourite Sonic’s games, but in human form. And with some basic differences of course. I’m already working on it - my idea is of comics (as you could imagine, since I’m writing this on my art blog) but with a “much faster” style that will let me publish pages with a pretty fast rate (gotta go fast). Basically, sketches, and my sketches are very clean so the result should be pretty good. I’m working on Sonic Battle (which name will be Sonic Battle Remastered), which... SOMEHOW is still one of my favourite games of ALL TIMES, but in the list there’s also Sonic Riders Zero Gravity. And for the otheeerrrssss... well. I’m open to suggestions? :3

Rick and Morty: Kattebel

Remember him?

Rick I-T2B2, my personal interpretation of Rick Sanchez. WELP, I made him with a story in mind - and I actually thought of this verse’s versions of Morty, Summer, Jerry and Beth, even if I still haven’t drwan them because, again, freaking academic work. I’m tired, guys. What I have in mind with them is telling the story via comics, but in a slightly different way. I have little images with them, nothing that can be considered a full episode “worth” of a classic comic adaptation, that I think would be pretty cool if done in the simplest way, like a series of images without the need of making a full page. ... I’m not sure if I explained myself correctly, but in two word: SIMPLER STUFF. I’d love to make them, mostly because it’s a little and fun way of exploring this verse and its dinamics more than with just drawings of the characters. After all, I do want to tell you stories, and I should start to actually do it FOR GOOD, even in the simplest of ways! ... despite... yes, I actually have a more complex comic with Rick I-T2B2, about the “origin” of the condition of him and Morty (and by reflection of the whole family). So I think you can expect something bigger here too, despite it will be a MUCH shorter comic!

DEPONIA LIKE THERE’S NO TOMORROW

[FINGERGUNS] LET’S TALK ABOUT DEPONIA. First objective: actually finish the games. I have them since... a lot, and I still haven’t finished them for-- well, you know by now. An objective is surely to finally play the last two chapters and cry my eyes out, but we’re here for art, so here’s my project with Deponia:

first, drawing it more. Like... a lot more. I have many little ideas for illustrations and many others for little sequences that I think are pretty funny that I’d LOVE to do. I just need to DO THEM. Also, I have a whole lyricstuck in my mind with the Deponia series, and I’d love to make it! Or at least try, I’m not used to lyricstuck. But they’re so good,, Then, I have two projects comic related: one is... little stories. Pretty much it. Something probably of no more than five-ten pages long per story, little missing moments that might be interesting. And angsty, maybe, probably, I’m not sure. The other is... adaptation. Yes, at this point you might have noticed that I love adaptations. It’s just a little idea, but I’ve always found (probably because I’m a comic artist tbh) that the Deponia games would be... really good in comic format. And mostly for training I thought, “hey, I might try some!”. An idea would be of making the whole series as a comic, but I’m not really sure I can do it - but I’m pretty sure I can make little parts of it! It’s a project I had in mind for quite some months by now, and I remembered about it some days ago since I was looking in my folders and...

a WIP was found. Ten points and a biscuit to whoever guesses the scene. This will probably be mostly training, unless things change or something very cool happens. I lowkey dream sometimes that they’ll hire me, but. It’s just a dream. On the other hand, I might open suggestions for scenes to adapt in the games! uvu ... when I’ll finish the games.

Left 4 Dead 2

Am I late?... naaah. You don’t even have idea of how many ideas I have for this fandom, and all in comic form, just to make my life easier. I have no idea of when I might make these, but will probably be sketchy, pencil stuff, and I will enjoy every moment of them. Boy, I love these characters. I want to tell stories with them,

Oxygen Not Included

I HAVE. A STORY IN MIND. And it will be long, angsty, harsh and tragic probably. I don’t have any WIP nor I can tell many details at the moment because,, I guess it would be spoiler? But, it will be an experiment and something that it’ll be interesting for me to try! All that is needed to understand is,, when I’ll be able to make it, honestly-

And for something less comic-y: references

Because I realized I often post sketches, but not actual references of my OCs. I mean fullbodies fully coloured, with palettes and objects and STUFF. It will be a pretty funny thing for me to do, because the versions I’ll give you of my OCs will be slightly different from the “final” version I’ll show you when I’ll be able to tell you their story - because YUP, I’m working on those too, but for now it’s still a very big work in progress, so I’m still not ready to show you stuff. ;3c But basically, an objective of mine is references. Make those darn characters references with nice palettes and cool stuff, so that you’ll actually have,, at least some more infos than a black and white sketch. ... and a good reference in case you want to draw them? I don’t know just,, dreaming a little bit,, I’ll make the references for the OCs I’ve published (so most probably the ones I’ve put and will put more on @mcmentics, because I’ll surely add someone else in there soon), and after making Leda’s reference sheet (because Gio requested him to be the first >:3c) I might put it “to the vote” to decide in which order make all the others. <3 ... or simply go and make them all with the order I want. I don’t know. Let’s see what the future will offer us. <3

And those other projects?

SECRETS (?) But actually, I have told you just the main projects I have. Some (many, actually) I’ll keep as a secret for now, some are just too vague to make a post about it. But, another project is surely to livestream more! Again, I’ll need to see when I’ll have some time, but as for now I’m starting to have some free moments for myself, and I’d love to share them with you! >:3

AAAAND okay, this post got really really long. </3 Sorry, I thought I would have been much faster, but I had so much to say, haha- I’m sorry if something isn’t explained very good, I’m a bit tired after waking up at 5am for academy (and it’s 10.30pm now so,,), but in case something interests you and you wish more infos, my inbox is always open!! <3

Have a wonderful day/afternoon/evening for now, and hopefully,, I’ll start to make something BIG soon! :D Thank you for reading! <3

[shorthaircutsmodels]

Coco Rocha's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts - 20+ - https://shorthaircutsmodels.com/coco-rocha-short-hairstyles-and-haircuts/ - Coco Rocha's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, a kind of creative vision Coco inspires in fiery brunette bands. The cut is a modern look at the much-loved 70s rock look. "We knew that layering and overall shape would improve Coco's bone structure facial framing bursts would open her beautiful eyes to a naturally and sharper alternative to the lob of a popular trend over the past year Oh my god girl this short bob is dried to soften the top while turning the ends slightly for a gorgeous finish. Coco Rocha's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts Coco Rocha's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, The two squares of the face from the explosion and the overall appearance of the brightness are completely worn out. Regular decorations are needed to maintain this hairstyle. Coco Rocha's sleek and timeless blunt bob looks flawless here. This cut is ideal for showing strong facial features, especially in the eyes and mouth. Grown blasts provide her face with a beautiful frame, while the rest of her hair retains a smooth sculptural shape that crosses her chin. Coco Rocha's Short Hairstyles Coco Rocha's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, The blunt ends give her locks a healthy look and keep her hair looking thick. The wet look adds to the Eighties feel and you'll love or hate the overall effect, but with features like this you can wear any style well. Her hair is coloured in a pale auburn shade and perfectly smooth and silky Coco Rocha wears a good retro side sweep. This vintage-inspired style relies on a deep side sweep to bring hair to fall in reverse shoulder waves but the parting here doesn't go round Coco's face enough and the style extends her face and draws attention to a. Coco Rocha's Short Haircuts Coco Rocha's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, combative box jaw with a soft feminine fifties hairstyle. I remember working with Agyness Deyn at the time when she was the only one with short hair as a model. We all remember him being so jealous because we were pulling our hair backstage for two hours and he was getting a new haircut on almost every show. It drove me crazy because this girl just gets free cuts and doesn't have to build another blow dryer. I just remember it as a particular haircut I loved. Coco Rocha's Hairstyles Coco Rocha's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, Short-haired girls are taking over. First Beyonce's dramatic pixie crop was the talk on Twitter last week and now social media savvy supermodel Coco Rocha has been parted at the top and swept back for a formal look and feel while following this chic 'hand-tapered head and back suit. This is a great hairstyle for those with medium hair who want an easy style to manage style with regular trimmings every 4 to 6 weeks. she has the experience of cutting her hair and on Twitter. Coco Rocha's Haircuts Coco Rocha's Short Hairstyles and Haircuts, Take a look at this quirky hairstyle from Coco Rocha. She made a statement with her hair at the Blood Cancer gala honoring Evan Sohn and the Sohn Conference Foundation in New York. She appears to be growing her hair out after cutting it into a fairy. This is a cool cut that you have as a very short bob between styles. This very brave bob cuts off his cheekbones and returns straight to the nape line. Clear lines and smooth finish give this short hairstyle a very edgy and futuristic look. The hair is ironed straight stick. So much so that her hairstyle looks almost like a wig. Coco Rocha's Short Hair A flat iron was painstakingly passed through each section of the hair so that the hair was completely flattened. When you use a flat iron on wires, remember to always use a heat-protective serum on your hair. And that jawline. Why didn't he have short hair? Rocha couldn't stop smiling while her hair was cut for this Tilda inspired look. He also decided on the mid-cut that he wanted shorter than originally intended. Coco Rocha's Hair Can we officially declare a short-haired revolution? What a good way to start your day than through the web you need to click on talking points curated by us. Do you have a story you'd like to nominate? We'll post our best stories every morning so we can tweet at @BeautyHigh #BHbuzz 1. Coco Rocha posted another new short haircut to Instagram along with the video. Do you like his fairy haircut. 2. No makeup look this video breakdown has everything you need to know. Phew is here to stay a glamourous look that will be so easy for hard Coco fans to copy and look amazing. Coco Rocha Interview - Supermodel Coco Rocha Pixie Haircut For this flapper-inspired hairstyle, style your hair with a deep side piece and then place it on the rollers to create Old Hollywood-style waves. Brush it out with a paddle brush to create a soft swung look and then spray it in place. For makeup, you can start by creating a smoky eye using grey and black eyeshadow, followed by a sleek black liquid lining line on the upper lash line and loads of mascara on the upper and lower lash lines. Best Coco Rocha images Keep the rest of the face straight and flawless, but add resistance to the thick red lip. Go for a real cherry red, as Coco does here. Or choose a red black tone for an extra vampire look. 3. Gold eyeliner. if you're not using it, you're missing it. Coco Rocha is one of the hottest models right now. I tried to do that six months ago, but in my line of work, you have to ask a lot of people for permission. Coco Rocha two ways to style a short bob! I had to make sure the customers weren't upset, or I had to make sure the look of next season wasn't going to be too different from this cut, or I shouldn't have been dropped for what I did. So six months later I finally had the opportunity to do it. Did anyone hesitate to see you move? I think he was my agent from day one. He saw my hair up to my hips and suddenly told him I really wanted to cut it. Coco Rocha Sports a New Crop Hairstyle It was really hard for him. It's almost like an older brother saying he's grown up. You're getting a real lady haircut. But once you do that you're like you'll never make a big deal again. How important it was for you to choose a short style that would be versatile. It is especially important to make sure all customers are happy. You don't want to be stuck in a corner and people now think you're just taking a look. Coco Rocha Hairstyles, Hair Cuts and Colors So I think if everyone does it all round looking for that kind of short style of short cut on the sides and giving yourself a bit of length on top. You can make it give yourself a piece of slippery oil back or curl up like a man. They curled my hair in my first photo shoot with cuts and it looked like a 2020 - 2021 style. You can make a rocker pompadour in front of you can make it look feminine and you can even make it look like you have a slick ponytail. I've seen my hair grow like crazy during and after pregnancy, and while I'm really happy with its length it's all hanging loose. I spoke to my executives at. Coco Rocha New Haircut on Instagram IMG about changing my ready look for the new show season and we all agreed it was a great inspiration for her to be Joan Jett this time around. The woman has always had the amazing hair game and she still does but we wanted to go for Joan, especially circa 1978. Back then, graduates had this amazing rock and roll shag haircut with multiple layers, and it wasn't as heavy on the product as it was in the early 80s. Another excellent reference that IMG President Ivan Bart revealed, I'll be honest, was Suzi Quatro. Coco Rocha live tweets her haircut Whom I was never familiar with. Apparently he was in Happy Days in the late 70s and then had a music career in the 80s.Ivan took out this old Rolling Stone cover with him and this became another inspo picture for Anh. Coco Rocha displays a perfectly flattened auburn brown bob to soften the top while the ends are kicked too lightly for a gorgeous finish. This cut is ideal for showing off high cheekbones and bold facial features. Bob has lighter layers with tips and will fit most face shapes as well. Coco Rocha short haircut Regular decorations are needed to maintain this hairstyle. The brunette do was cut from the back and sides to achieve a firm finish to the edge that perfectly framed her cheekbones. The blasts are blunt cut to frame the top of the face, complementing this look with Edge and precision. It corrects regularly every 4 to 6 weeks to maintain this shape, and a small amount of product is required for brightness and grip. Quiet, everyone. It's funny enough in time that I realise my hair will suddenly feel like there's no product in it anymore and I just have to start over and do it again. Coco Rocha's Pixie Haircut If my hair feels dirty at the beginning of the day, it's weird since I feel dirty at the end of the day. But now I have to make it dirtier. Fashion Week is just around the corner. What do you do to prepare for this hectic time. I'm still waiting for my vacation to start on Monday. I haven't had a vacation since last June. We're going to Greece. I'll be back the day the shows start. So I'm still excited to celebrate my holiday. Coco Rocha Short Straight Hairstyle Everyone's already back and saying how great their break has been but I haven't even left yet. Is there a particular show you're looking forward to this season? It's like a high school modeling session backstage. I'm so excited to see all my girls again to watch the shows because I'm too old now or to be in a few shows with the girls. I'm also excited to see designers I haven't seen in a very long time. Do you have a model or designer BFF that you're particularly looking forward to seeing. Coco Rocha Bangs Haircut I'm excited to see Behati Prinsloo. We're best friends. I miss hanging out with him because we used to be backstage at every show. I'm also excited to see Jean Paul Gaultier and Zac Posen. What's the next logical step when you have a pixie cut as famous as Coco Rocha? Go shorter. At least that was on Coco's mind and stylist anh Co Tran yesterday when the stylist took a lap in the chair. As for make-up she went for a crazy smoky eye consisting of copper brown and black shades that Coco applied all the way to her brown bone. Coco Rocha Haircut on Instagram The normally brunette model works a cropped platinum blonde do with embroidered tops. The hairstyle was done by Balmain Hair creative director Nabil Harlow's hands. Frankie Boyd worked on makeup with Victoria Pavon making it for the shoot. To prepare, she looked at pictures of famous pixie cuts from past and present, and settled on a cut similar to Tilda Swinton's longer version of an increasingly popular look. I love that she can wear it in more ways than she told hairdresser Anh Co Tran from Beverly Hills for a Rocha cut. I still have to maintain that versatility for my job. Coco Rocha haircut I want to play with him and shape him in different ways. Beyoncé's big chops weren't enough to set the social media world on fire, now Coco Rocha has boosted Ms. Carter by live-tweeting the entire process of her once pixie cut for Allure. With my work, my hair is constantly dyed and fried and no longer growing, so I decided it was time to get rid of it, Bright said. Tilda Swinton served as the model's muse and hairdresser Anh Co was the one who wielded scissors except her husband James Conran who made the first snip after lopping off three long ponytails when Tran decided to go even shorter on the side resulting in a rebellious Red swoosh on top of Rocha. Coco Rocha red hair There is a lot of movement to do this and it works both comfortably and in formal attire. It also makes her slim hair type look cut and thick thanks to backcombing throughout. Coco looks gorgeous on her skin and white blonde locks which trend to receding eye colour. Having blue eyes and a cool skin tone, she looks best in shades of beige and platinum blonde as well as her natural brunette colour. This particular colour accents her cool skin and has a hint of silver white on it which makes her eyes pop.

[srta-jax-blog]

Summer Camp I mean NTPRS Day 2

I didn’t take that many notes today, because overall, I think today was a lot more hands on. Now… do I remember what we did at the very beginning of the day super well as a result… no, but I’m going to do the best I can to cover the important stuff.

Story asking and assessment in Mandarin

In the beginner track during our Mandarin lessons, we experienced some real story asking and ended up with a fairly complex story in the first hour. (Okay… complex to someone who has barely had two hours of Mandarin.) After lunch, we had another hour of Mandarin, but in that session, Linda Li demonstrated various ways we could assess our student’s acquisition. First, we did three different activities that reviewed the story and reactivated it in our minds. Each time we reviewed, Linda incorporated more details from in the morning. Then we did eight or nine things to assess our comprehension. Most of this assessment was informal. One of them (the timed retell) I think could be used for a grade in a level 1/novice class if necessary. Several of these “assessments” were great for students to prove to themselves that they actually understood what they were hearing. And the last two things involved us speaking in groups of three. I don’t know about all the other groups, but in my group, we didn’t want to stop talking, and it was so cool to see and hear Mandarin falling out of the mouths of my partners and my own mouth too!

Image description: A picture of a whiteboard with two sheets of paper attached. On the left sheet are six boxes. Each box has a drawing that goes along with one sentence from the story. Box 1: A stick figure named mark looks at a stick figure named Lindsay. Box 2: Mark gives Lindsay pizza. Box 3 shows only Lindsay and that she doesn’t like pizza. Box 4: A stick figure named Rob looks at Lindsay. Box 5: Rob gives Lindsay a heart, which represents love. Box 6 shows Lindsay with Rob and a bunch of hearts between them, showing that Lindsay likes Robs gift and likes him too. The sheet on the right side of the board has the same story written in Chinese using roman letters. Some pieces of information are emphasized with smiley faces. End Image description.

Props

With just a few props, specifically, a pizza slice mask, a hamburger hat, and a giant cardboard heart, the two stories we did today in Mandarin came to life and were way funnier. We did a warmup story with the whole class, and one woman wore the piece of pizza, because she was a piece of pizza, and another wore the hamburger hat. It was very funny, very lighthearted, and foreshadowed the real story for the day. In the real story, two guys liked a very pretty girl. One gave her pizza romantically. The other gave her love (secretly). She did not like pizza, but she did like the love. Having the pizza and the heart props really supported the action and helped increase the humor for the audience. As of right now, I don’t have many props. I plan to fix that. I also plan to actually use student actors in my classroom next year, because they did make it way more entertaining.

Image Description: Student actors are being coached by the teacher in their dramatization. The student closest to us is a man playing Mark’s character. He is on one knee facing away from us so he can romantically give pizza to the very pretty girl named Lindsay. Lindsay is standing between Rob and Mark, the teacher is in front of Lindsay. She has her hands on the piece of pizza that Mark is trying to give her, but she is looking at the teacher for direction. Behind the teacher Rob is standing and holding a large piece of cardboard shaped like a stereotypical heart to represent “love” in front of his chest. End Image description.

Practice, Practice, Practice

One of the other things we did in our sessions was practicing using circling and triangling with a mock class. We were broken down into groups of 8-10 and each group member took a sentence from a basic story about a boy named George who was in California but had a problem. (The problem was that he wanted a Coke but didn’t have one). This story was being told in the past tense (but in the real world… you could choose to tell it in the present tense too. Preferene and needs will dictate that.) Our groups were able to work with a coach to develop a script for us to use that first had us circling a statement, then triangling it with an actor, then adding a statement about a “parallel” (read: additional) character, triangling that with another actor, then adding ourselves as a parallel character, circling the statement about ourself, and then triangling that statement using the two actors once again, and triangling the actors with statements about each other.

That sounds really really complicated, and I’ll be honest, I only got to practice the first part (up to where I introduce myself as a character) but it was really neat to get to go through that coaching process as the teacher, as a student, and as an observer. In my group, we had several Spanish teachers, a French teacher, a Mandarin teacher, an English teacher (ESL) and a German teacher. I only speak two of those languages fluently, but the three that I don’t speak fluently I still understood and was able to participate in the conversation about their given sentence. I look forward to practicing adding myself into the story and the advanced triangling at the end, but that may have to wait until open coaching tomorrow.

Image description: Several pieces of paper are hanging on a wall. The piece in the middle is the largest and is meant to be written on like a whiteboard. The rest are 8.5 inches by 11 inches. To the right of the large center piece are three sheets arranged vertically that explain the roles of the coach, the student, and the observers. Below the center piece is a single sheet that states the purpose of coaching. To the left of the center piece are three sheets arranged vertically. The top sheet has question words in English for the “teacher” to point at when they are speaking. The middle sheet options for the type of circling question that can be asked based on the answer they elicit (a No question, an Either/or question, a yes question, or a question using a question word like Who, How, Where, etc.) The bottom sheet reminds the teacher of the options they have as they go through their lesson. Above the center piece is a piece of paper that talks about pre-teaching considerations for the “teacher” to consider before they teach to their mock class. End Image description.

Speaking of open coaching…

I went to that today, and it was awesome. I taught a very simple sentence to students who were Chinese speakers and it was really successful. One of my main takeaways here was the types of gestures I used to get feedback from my students. In the demonstrations, Linda used a fist strike on an open palm to indicate that we didn’t understand something she said, and one to slow down. I struggled to get my students to do that consistently back in the Spring semester, but I realized that the gestures I tried weren’t good enough because if my back was to that student, then I didn’t know they didn’t understand. I also saw the power of “teaching to the eyes” which is a phrase I learned from Tina Hargaden. The feedback I got from the coaching was all positive by design, but it was so affirming and such a confidence boost. I have a much better idea of what it means to go slow and celebrating accomplishments.

Getting out of my shell

One of the other things I loved about today was getting to know some other attendees. I don’t remember the names of everyone I talked to and chatted with today, but it was so awesome to get to know colleagues from around the world and hear their stories as educators and pick their brains about different things they do and strategies they use and how they got into CI. The encouragement and affirmation that I got from those five or six conversations throughout the day will last me for a while and will help me on those hard days. (I also finally got a grasp on what International Baccalaureate and Seal of Biliteracy are, much to my joy and relief.)

Major takeaways:

1)   Rapid fire review and mini assessments don’t have to be hard, but should give me an idea of where my students are at and give the students the opportunity to see where they are and own their learning. They should also build in complexity and rigor over the course of the assessment.

2)   When the students feel safe and confident in what they know and see that confirmation repeatedly, they take more risks.

3)   A few simple props and gestures go a long way to helping students comprehend what they are hearing and reading.

4)   Teaching to the eyes helps me go slower and catch when my students aren’t understanding, which means I’m less frustrated.

5)   I need to have an “I don’t understand” sign that makes noise, AND ENFORCE ITS USE.

6)   Talking to colleagues who teach a world language is some of the best professional development I’m ever going to get. Thanks to some of the conversations I had today with colleagues, I feel more confident that I am on the right track, I can do this and I have a pretty good plan for how I’m going to get my bosses to give me the money to support the methodology changes I’m trying to enact. (Mua ha ha haaaaaaa)

Oh... and here’s my retelling of the story. I had 7 minutes to complete it, and I was allowed to extend the story or add details if I had time, which I did.

Image description: a picture of a legal pad. The author wrote the class story in Mandarin using roman characters. The text is written on every other line, but takes up almost the entire page. The last two lines make note of the activities that followed the timed writing for later reference. End image description.

[lostlegendaerie]

Using the Unusual; Metaphors and Similes in Creative Writing

while i was getting my bachelor’s in fiction writing, one of the most useful classes i ever took was a poetry class taught by a woman named Mary Leader because she really taught me to examine my prose. poetry, at least in her class, was an excellent way to fully capture the visuals, sounds, and setting of a particular moment in time, which is a skill (i believe) that prose writers can use as well.

but today I’m gonna focus on my particular favorite thing in writing, which is the Unexpected Metaphor or Simile.  (long post, and some really personal takes/analytical perspectives, but i hope this helps some people who want to get more creative with their analogies!)

The Anchor

A good metaphor or simile is one that is based on a single, clear idea. 

“But soft! What light through yonder window breaks?  It is the east, and Juliet is the sun. Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon, who is already sick and pale with grief ” 

The above passage from Romeo and Juliet is an excellent example of this; Juliet is the sun, and the rest of the metaphor revolves (or orbits) around her, and the rest of the passage has that kind of space/heavenly body theme. Having a clear idea or a clear theme is an excellent starting point for good metaphors or similes, and it can be anything. It can even (and often should) build upon itself, such as the more modern example in the song One Week by Barenaked Ladies. 

How can I help it if I think you're funny when you're mad Trying hard not to smile though I feel bad I'm the kind of guy who laughs at a funeral Can't understand what I mean? Well, you soon will I have a tendency to wear my mind on my sleeve I have a history of taking off my shirt

Here, the theme is that the narrator is inappropriately chipper or open at times, which each line building on the abstract idea of the other (even down to the last two lines being about wearing clothes, and I really hope that I’m the first person you’ve ever seen compare BNL to Shakespeare but damn it’s so good.)

Below, I’m going to try to logic this whole thing out in a way that makes sense and makes it easy for you to train your mind how to do this really cool thing as well.

How to Branch Out; A Step By Step Method

we have hundreds and hundreds of well-worn phrases like “as dark as night” “as cold as ice” and etc, and they’re popular bc they’re approachable. most people have seen a dark night or felt the temperature of ice, so it’s immediately understandable. but lets try to take one of these a step further.

1) The Second Thought

so, say you’re trying to trying to describe something that’s cold in temperature; don’t go for Ice, the obvious choice, or snow. Think about something else you’ve felt in your life that’s been cold. Maybe a operating table, or the glass in a window on a November morning. Sometimes the second (or third) thought it the best thought, and using a more selective experience can paint a more vivid picture. “as cold as an operating table” has a definite menacing, uneasy, vulnerable feel to it whereas “as cold as a windowpane in November” could have a feeling of more curiosity or domesticity to it.

2) The Alternate Definition

if you look up ‘cold’ in the dictionary, it will likely list both the definition of something physically lacking heat, or something morally devoid of ‘warmth’ or compassion. let’s once again return to the idea that you’re describing something that is physically cold; consider describing it as morally or emotionally cold instead. “as cold as murder” is one that carries a lot of threat and menace to it (and is probably a little heavy-handed) but you should get the idea.

3) The Dual Purpose

using both of the methods described above together can really give your simile or metaphor some weight. let’s say we have a chill winter day and we want to add a sense of foreboding, darkness or unease; “as cold as an executioner’s blade” works on two different levels for this goal. the first is playing off the Second Thought - ice is cold, yes, but so is metal and steel. the second aspect is drawing from the Alternate Definition, where cold means detached from compassion, and someone tasked with the ritualistic killing of another person is exactly that.

Keeping Your Momentum; Layering and Compounding Similes and Metaphors

when you want to really capitalize on one specific idea or image, such as “cold = death” it’s important for all of your metaphors, similes and even imagery to reflect that idea in some way or another. now, this doesn’t mean restating the same thing over and over again; it means building on a basic idea. 

let’s say you are describing a snowy evening where the protagonist is facing something they dread at the end of their route. reflecting their hesitation, their reluctance, and their sense of morbidity is important to set the tone of the piece. 

1) Sympathetic Setting

a good way to really make someone feel the weight or emotion in a piece is to have the setting mirror the emotions of the moment. classic examples of this is rain at a funeral, a sunset for a climax of a movie, etc, but nearly any setting can be influenced to fit your tone depending on how its framed in the narration. say that the protag in the above example is seeing other people around town go about their business; instead of just having people around them walking, maybe have them “shuffle uncertainly over the ice” to reflect the protag’s reluctance and fear. they are projecting their feelings on their surroundings, and having those sentiments returned.

2) Contrasting Setting

another good way to emphasize an emotion is to have the setting contrast the mood, or pit the world against the protag. kisses in the rain are a common example (a heated, joyful moment in a cold, wet, usually despair-inducing setting). to pull on the above example, the other people in the city could be described as “gliding in their heavy coats like low-flying crows” to contrast them to the protag (either as carefree like flying birds or as funeral omens). 

3) Layering and Repetition

If you’re wanting to really linger on one specific moment or idea, remixing your metaphor or simile and repeating it can be an excellent way of doing so. but with all of these, it’s important to keep in mind your anchoring idea. continuing with our current chilly despairing example, lets have the protagonist looking at the ground. “Above her head, the melting icicles pockmarked the snow below, like a hundred ghoulish faces all clustered beneath the overhang, crying out in pain.”

the first part, the ‘pockmarked snow’ is meant to describe dark holes in white snow. the ‘ghoulish faces’ is a reference to how skulls and ghosts are often stylized as black holes or spots in white, and now that we’ve established a connections between the snow and faces, we can build on this idea by having them cry. if we skipped the middle section, the image doesn’t make as much sense (which in poetry can sometimes be a good thing, because it’s that much more unusual)

Breaking It Down; Applying This Process to Pre-existing Work

i’m a huge sucker for a band called Dry the River. (not a coincidence that words intended to be spoken or sung have such a sense of compacted beauty and meaning to them, IMHO.) so lets analyze this piece below from their song History Book.

Beneath an angry Bible flood, Did you and I first learn to love. In my father's car we came to know. And shivered in our painted clothes and paired like every animal below.

So the first line is pretty clear to anyone familiar with classic Bible stories; the Flood here references Noah, so we can assume that it’s pouring down rain. The next two lines illustrate that these two characters are virgins and teenagers (his father’s car, not his own) and the next line not only tells us their clothes were wet (clinging to their skin as though they were painted on) and that they’re having sex (paired like every animal) but it also has an excellent callback to this kind of religious imagery (every animal below, as though told from God’s perspective.)

That’s probably a little too dense to craft a long narrative out of, but using these ideas to craft specific moments for dramatic tension can really do wonders for your story!

In Conclusion

To TL;DR you can take something as far as you want to go, so long as you start off with a very solid A = B comparison. And that can be something classic like cold = death or something more unusual, and you can even mix ideas (to a degree) as well! Well worn metaphors and cliches are a great starting point, but don’t be afraid to take it one (or more) steps further!

[courage-a-word-of-justice]

Girls’ Last Tour 1 - 2 | Juuni Taisen 4 - 5 | Ancient Magus’ Bride 2 - 3 | Idolish7 1 - 2

The only one I’ve properly kept up with out of my 5 shows this season is Juuni Taisen, so I’m going to roll out the tag for that show first. Also, the Idolish7 first two episodes became free recently so I cover them here too.

Girls’ Last Tour 1

Pipes…grunge…hey, doesn’t this look familiar? *glares at Princess Principal*

I’ve only seen one episode of Made in Abyss but I get a bad feeling about these character designs…

I’m worried about this falling into the Yuri Divide. Sure,the fandom can do what it wants, but please don’t ship the lolis.

Oh right. Wind, meaning there’s an opening somewhere.

That dramatic eye opening made the outside world seem like an anticlimax. C’mon, show. You can do better than that.

I feel like Chito says “shut up” a lot, even though she’s only said it twice. I get how she’s kind of relatable, but this show’s not on the level of MMO Junkie or even Juuni Taisen. It’s just kinda…average.

Did Tangled ever teach you how to use a pan, Yuu?

Everything’s kinda WWI-esque. It’s kinda unsettling for a person who’s never properly seen war.

Even in this snowy world, you could still learn to hunt and cook, right?

If you kill your friend in a post-apocalyptic world, you’ll be lonely by war. Don’t kill each other, kiddos. Lives are precious.

This is serious, kiddos! C’mon!

Eating snow is meant to quench your thirst, but it’s not any good for hunger. Apparently.

Well, I’m quite lukewarm on this. I’ve already found my seasonal hits and I study globalisation, so it’s no surprise I find this stuff a lot like my weekly content. Nonetheless, whoever decided to put Classicaloid behind a paywall’s gonna have to pay (pun not intended)!

Girls’ Last Tour 2

I half expect a “hey you!” joke but they don’t work in Japanese…

What are the wiggly things on the ground next to Chi and Yuu in the OP??? Leeches???

Oh geez. Now they even draw cleavage on the lolis. Meaning these guys are just drawn young. That’s both a good and a bad thing.

Those letters seem to be…no language in particular.

Book burning. What a thing to throw in.

Oh. The blocky writing is actually hiragana or katakana. You just need to look at it closely.

I think that was meant to be comedy…but it was so cruel. Poor book.

I think what they’re saying is “don’t burn history”, but I think we learnt that a long time ago when the Chinese burnt books.

Maybe if these gals had Bear Grylls they’d survive a bit longer…?

Lemme guess: either Yuu burnt them all, destroyed them all or read them all.

The original joke was gomen wa, where ne is similar to wa. At least, I think it’s a wa. It could be a re.

The red circle said Yuu wrote the me wrong, so it’s actually probably gonun ne.

Well, someone funded a sakuga ending. Like the one from ACCA with dancing Lotta.

Juuni Taisen 4

I find it heavily symbolic that Nezumi likes eating eggs. Eggs represents chickens…and conundrums…

Ooh…bam. Nisio Isin’s going the Middle Eastern proxy route.

Hmm. Interesting, it’s basically Bystander Effect: the War.

The anime’s currently ahead of the manga, so I got slightly startled by Boar’s appearance. However, I’ve read some spoilers elsewhere, so I knew she was going to be in Monkey’s story somewhere else. I just didn’t think it was this soon.

Recycled footage…bad show! Bad!

LOL, CGI tank. Sorry for ruining the mood, but that stood out a bit too much for my liking.

“…participation is mandatory…” – Huh. I never saw that detail coming.

“Ow. I thought you were against violence.” – (LOL.) Yeah, but apathy isn’t good when something’s coming to get you in the sewers, so I’m with Monkey on this.

Wa-wait! Y’mean, Rabbit can use Chicken to use Eye of the Cormorant…so Monkey will die this ep??? [Monkey dying]’s exactly what I’ve been fearing for the duration of this episode. Update: If you want the spoiler version from the end of the ep…she didn’t die.

Notice Monkey uses moves that use the strength of her opponent against her. It’s a very pacifist touch, so to speak.

There are a series of images that flash by before the casual clothes part of the ED. If you observe them closely, you’ll see a lot of them involve the number 12. (Example: the cubes have lines on them that read “12”.)

LOL, I think I only just now spotted the bodyguard behind Boar. He’s hard to spot behind all the splatter.

Home boy and his T-bars make me laugh every time. Then of course, there’s Mr Floofy Jacket.

Oh, it’s Duodecuple who’s doing these next ep previews. I couldn’t figure out who it was last time I tried.

Juuni Taisen 5

Genius, with a capital letter? They keep calling him the Genius of Slaughter in his backstory, so I guess that’s where it’s from.

A Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing is the same in Japanese as it is English, so at least the pun is there.

LOL, this episode is pretty much all “stuff goes kaboom!”, and that’s pretty much the way of the Sheep. Haha.

Of mice and men, eh??? (I read enough spoilers to know who the victor is…but I don’t know how they win.)

Whoa, yeah, baby! Bring that action! (That happens to be exactly the way I imagine my own action stories – from the front seat, so to speak.)

The snake’s winking! So cute! I want me some plushies like those!

Old-Timer. Haha, great pun on so many, many levels.

Ancient Magus’ Bride 2

I started doing a productivity blog and got caught up in it so much, I neglected anime! Imagine that – me, neglecting anime!

Oh, there’s a little “open” sign near the door.

It’s anime Hogwarts! Only the train is more colorful…LOL. (Actually, Little Witch Academia is anime Hogwarts, so scratch that.)

Ooh, Elias has a good taste in faces. Not that I’m complaining or anything. (Looks like En-chan, to boot.)

Elias is like the NEET genius of the magic world here. It’s kinda funny.

What’s a Gem’s Bee? (No spoilers, I’m not a manga reader!)

Angelica’s like her (Chise’s) mother, LOL. Seeing Elias properly emote is hilarious, hilarious! (Why I procrastinated on this show? Because it’s a slow mover that should be appreciated in its own time, but I’m not good with binging so…that’s why I’m only watching it now.)

Oh! No wonder Angelica seems like a mother. She is a mother.

Ooh! Ice flowers. Pretty. I’ve already gotten way too many screenshots for my own good out of this show…As a writer, I feel like I could never make a story like this.This is a story best fostered under someone else’s hand.

Poppies, eh? To me, poppies symbolise war and sticking out, but that’s just a product of where I was born. In the case of war, poppies represent the blood of the fallen and those who rise above that.

Speaking of stories I couldn’t write, I’m currently bringing Next to Me to a close. I feel like that’s my best match to AMB, which is why my thoughts dwell on stories so much right now. Next to Me is one of those stories where the world matters just as much as the character building, if not more, which is why the understated majesty of AMB is a good match.

Seeing a blonde Englishman use –kun like a Japanese is a bit disorienting.

Simon really treats Chise like a child, eh?

The “open” sign now says “close”. What is this house, an apothecary?

The CGI door was a bit weird…

Whoa! That was a bit of a fast approach into the dragon scene, but apparently the dragon part of AMB was really hyped…

Ancient Magus’ Bride 3

How does skelly-man see like that?

The dragons look like…Pokémon! (That was my first thought, LOL.)

This blonde is Lindel from the promo material I’ve read. He looks like zaShunina (Kado), so it’s best to be wary of him.

Ooh, now there’s an application of shadows I’d never be able to think of!

Holy flame spirits, Batman! Elias has a tongue! (I got spoilered on that by ANN, but it’s crazy seeing it in context.)

Ancient mages shouldn’t be hot like zaShunina! Where are the real old fogeys like Kiku(hiko, SGRS)?

Uncle Nevin! I found it extremely charming this uil has a name beyond “Uil”.

Can these dragons read minds? Or is it just the power of Dragon Knowledge (TM)?

When they say “Anime saved my life”, I guess they never meant it this literally…or at least, Chise never meant it this literally.

That dragon has way too many eyes!!! Yipes.

Huh. I haven’t felt this feeling since SGRS. The feeling of a masterpiece on my eyeballs.

羽鳥チセ <- That’s how you write Chise’s name, so they did another “Western creature uses Japanese knowledge” thing…

D’aww. That was beautiful! No wonder people like it, now I like it too. Nothing short of majestic, guys, nothing short of majestic.

Hey, the guy who voiced Nevin is called Ryuuzaburo. Ryuu means dragon in this case. (Meta pun!)

Idolish 7 1

Crunchyroll really tried to hype this thing up! Wow. So, here I am at what could pretty much be called a premiere event of the simulcast commentary. Enjoy, friends.

By the way, I’ve tried a bit of the Idolish 7 game (but since it was on BlueStacks, I couldn’t do the “rhythm” part of the rhythm game very well and subsequently couldn’t get too far) and of course, there’s a vested interest through Shirai, Masuda and Nishiyama. Update: There’s no Nishiyama in sight. Sorry, guys.

Oh wow. This is exactly as I remember it in the game, right down to the word!

Yay! I was looking forward to seeing the basketball scene adapted, since it’s possibly the only scene I got to experience in the game in its (Japanese) entirety. Bring the dang game to the Western world, Bandai!

Riku is such a pure cinnamon bun when he gets the basketball back.

LOL, Nagi is such a flirt, kyaa~ (semi-sarcastic).

I don’t remember them dropping Trigger’s name so early…geesh, my memory must be sketchier than I thought it was.

Just as a reference, Iori (black) is 17 while Riku (red) is 18.

Ooh, I just spotted a Trigger ad on one building during that cut.

Ooh, good sense of drama these guys have got going.

Idolish 7 2

Expressiveness for a grump like Yamato, LOL.  

LOL, there’s a shark in the back…

Iori has a cat shirt, hahaha.

Cool and sharp…stationery? Like a compass?

Iori’s so sarcastic, I can’t tell f he’s ever being serious or not.

I don’t know who’s my favourite so far out of these i7 boys. Probably the one similar to my husbando, Tamaki.

Ahh, gotta love me a good, honest hardworking anime gal. You don’t see them very often, y’know. It’s refreshing.

That was a great Iori impression Mitsuki did, even visually (note: I didn’t listen to Mitsuki do the impression, I only read the subs…hence my comment). Troyca really captured the style of the game, to boot, which is another cherry on the cake.

Notice Iori stands in front of the D.C. (da capo) and leaves to reveal it.

I researched who Riku’s brother is while I was watching ep 1 and…(spoilers for the uninitiated!) the brother is Tenn of Trigger!

There was a soba ad in the back in one lingering shot…

Hey, I get the feeling there’s CGI involved in this dance segment, but it’s…hardly detectable! Amazing! These guys seem to have gone a long way since the horribly animated Monster Generation MV.

Notice they (Troyca) only use CGI in (mostly) shots which don’t involve closeups.

Of course Nagi winks in the middle of his performance…

Whoo, yeah. That was a bold move by Crunchyroll, and of course that would grab me more than just leaking the first ep. I wonder if any critics covered this on their blogs…? Or would it not matter, since critics wouldn’t cover this “uncritical slop” anyway? Nonetheless, I covered it, and that’s what matters! (Update: Yeah, all the critics – Frog-kun, Lauren in Space, Mage in a Barrel etc. - passed on it. As expected of those critics…)