#all it took was finishing the currently available episodes

[djevelbl]

That's it that's the post

[brucebocchi]

Ranking every new anime I watched in 2023, Pt. 4: #5-1

hey, i just started a ko-fi for my writing and possible other creative outlets. this post will also be available there, so please check it out and consider tipping/donating as i'm currently between jobs. the tumblr version of part 1 can be found here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.

The list is complete! This took a lot of work but I'm over the moon to get this out there. Please consider leaving a tip if you've enjoyed reading.

Here goes, my top five anime of 2023:

5. Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

Zom 100’s debut hit like a freight train, especially coming from a brand new studio. It had everything: Visceral satire of Japanese work culture, incredible animation, vibrant colors in unexpected places, clever cinematography, wish fulfillment for everyone who’s ever wanted to Stone Cold their boss, and most importantly: Zombie titties.

The premise is magnetic: When your job makes you feel like a zombie, an actual zombie apocalypse means certain freedom from the grind. Akira Tendo realizes that he can finally use the vacation time he amassed while being exploited and overworked at a legally dodgy black company, so he writes a bucket list of everything he’s ever wanted to do, with all intention of checking off every single line item before succumbing to a zombie bite. He manages to rescue his hunky fuckboy bestie from college, and they embark on a road trip across Japan to finish out the list, along with a beautiful, risk-averse tsundere and a big-tiddy German weeb. 

It's a perfectly fine elevator pitch, and a welcome break from the guns-and-grit quagmire the zombie genre has been stuck in for the past two decades, but what makes any good zombie-flecked media resonate is the human element, which Zom 100 delivers expertly. You’re quickly given reason to care for all the characters, their motivations are clear and relatable, and you want to see them survive and live out their dreams. But more importantly, you just want to hang out with them through their hijinks. It even delves into more serious matters, like what we owe our parents as adults, the ways isolation and bitterness can drive people to act out in their worst moments, and even the factors that push abuse victims to stay with and even return to their abusers. 

Above all, though, it’s a powerful (if extreme) story of finding joy in the direst circumstances. Akira, Kencho, and Shizuka are all kindhearted, well-meaning people whose situations kept them from what they truly wanted to do with their lives, and there’s something kinda beautiful to be found in them finding a new opportunity during the possible end of the world (Beatrix is a sweetie too, but aside from the whole zombie thing, she’s already exactly where she wants to be). The final arc of the season, in particular, looks you dead in the eye and asks you: If you were suddenly faced with the ultimate freedom, would you use the opportunity to better yourself, improve the lives of others, or do whatever the fuck you want at everyone else’s expense? You may not like the answer at first if you’re honest with yourself, and that’s okay. The world isn’t over, and there’s still time for you to be your best self.

Zom 100, unfortunately, fell prey to a cruel irony in the form of production issues. Bug Films is a new studio made up of a former team from OLM that was responsible for similarly gorgeous projects such as Komi Can’t Communicate and Summer Time Rendering. They clearly saw so much of themselves in Akira's workplace exploitation that they had to swing for the fences here. The firm he works for is named “ZLM” in this adaptation, for fuck’s sake, and he fully destroys his zombie boss in the first episode. But new studio or old, the anime industry is a grind, and Bug had trouble keeping up; animation quality did take a bit of a dip after the stunning first episode, and episodes were frequently delayed as the summer broadcast season wore on and ended without the entire seasonal run making airwaves. Hell, it was impossible to watch the final three episodes until just a few days before I could write this sentence.

For what Bug were able to pull off, though, Zom 100 is outstanding. The paintball-colored blood splatters everywhere are an instantly-iconic look that strike the balance between horror and spectacle. Everything and everyone looks gorgeously faithful to Kotaro Takata’s art, and delivers an appropriately cinematic look that the manga always deserved. I almost don’t know what else to tell you but that this show is a fucking blast.

There’s also a zombie shark. What more could you want?

4. Oshi no Ko

I spent a good chunk of 2023 just assuming Oshi no Ko was going to be a layup for anime of the year. Shortly after moving on from Kaguya-sama, I rushed to binge Aka Akasaka's subsequent manga in time for the anime's feature-length debut. I was taken in by OnK's bonkers premise and sudden dark turn and quickly fell in love with the characters, and my anticipation only grew. I had high expectations for the screen adaptation, but nothing could have prepared me for just how lovingly it all came together. This is as close to a perfect adaptation as you can find, and the same can be said about both the preceding and following entries on this list.

Oshi no Ko is an audiovisual feast. Doga Kobo cleaned up Mengo Yokoyari’s character designs just a smidge, but put just the right flourishes on them to make every single cast member instantly iconic. One look at Kana Arima’s eyes will tell you everything you need to know about the level of care put into the visual design of this anime. The performances are on point as well; though many of the main cast members are relative newcomers to the world of seiyuu, you can tell they truly came to understand the characters before they even recorded one line. I’ve already gushed about Rie Takahashi in earlier entries, but her turn as Ai Hoshino is easily one of the best voice performances all year. Takahashi makes a meal out of every single second Ai spends on screen and gives you every reason to care about her as a character.

Showbiz manga in general is obviously missing an audio element, and when an adaptation can expand on that aspect well, it can help turn even middling source material into something transcendent (see also: Rock!, Bocchi the). Music is central to Oshi no Ko, and the OP/ED combination is already iconic; YOASOBI’s “Idol” has had the best worldwide chart performance of any Japanese song ever, and the prolonged intro to Queen Bee’s “Mephisto” became a meme in Japan in the same vein as JJBA’s iconic use of “Roundabout.” Rather than taking manga characters’ word for it that someone is a terrible actor, we actually get to cringe along to an amateur actor’s hammy emoting. We get to see and hear what turned a fictional idol group into a national phenomenon rather than just see cute girls posing on the page. All of this is to say that while Oshi no Ko is an excellent manga, it needed a screen adaptation, and especially one of this quality.

Oshi no Ko deserves every shred of its success. I've never seen an anime make a splash this enormous with just its debut episode, even if it’s kind of cheating to say so because the first episode is almost literally a movie, and if I were to give an award for the best single episode of anime this year, it would be that one, hands down. Adapting the entire first volume into a feature-length debut was the correct move (mostly because it’s a tonal rollercoaster, and the Big Event that defines the entire story wouldn’t have happened until the fourth episode otherwise), and the investment paid dividends. The hype naturally died down a bit as the season wore on and settled into a more consistent tone and rhythm, but it remains an essential anime to 2023.

You may have noticed that I have said very little of what this show is actually about, and that’s by design: If you still don’t know the plot of Oshi no Ko’s first episode by now, I refuse to tell you: you need to go in blind. All I will say is that it is an idol anime that glorifies nothing. If you've read this far and still trust what I have to say about anime, I beg you to just take my word for it. It's an incredibly rewarding experience.

3. Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

There's just something so wonderful about taking in an adaptation of a work you’re already familiar with and knowing, almost instantaneously, that every single person working on it genuinely loved the source material and relished the opportunity to bring it to life. Nearly every single member of the original cast is in the dub (including the ones who went on to be MCU mainstays), Edgar Wright is back on as executive producer, Anamanaguchi reprise their soundtracking duties from the video game, and even Bryan Lee O’Malley himself helped co-write everything.

That last detail is probably the most important thing about this entire production: It’s not exactly a secret that the original Scott Pilgrim comics are very imperfect portrayals of a very imperfect young man. I knew reading them at the time that the comic did not have a great grasp on relationships and the dynamics between men and women, and that was at a time in my life when I myself was pretty terrible with and to women. O'Malley has said that he would only revisit Scott Pilgrim if it was “the right thing” and that he was leery of a straight retelling of a work he has since outgrown.

So instead, we have the Rebuild of Scott Pilgrim, to put it simply. Takes Off is a completely new story that reexamines the Scott Pilgrim comics, movie, and even game without undermining what came before it. This series is not a repudiation of Scott Pilgrim (the character or the franchise)’s flaws, nor is it purely fanservice; it splits the difference perfectly. It’s both more mature and completely self-indulgent. This show so easily could’ve marched to the familiar discourse drumbeat of “Scott isn’t the hero here” or “he’s actually not a good dude,” but it instead focuses on what should always be the second half of that sentence: “But Ramona still sees something in him.”

Yes, Ramona Flowers is effectively the protagonist of a new work that doesn’t even have her name on it, and it tackles some surprisingly necessary questions: What was her responsibility in creating seven evil exes in the first place? What made them evil? Are they even that evil? This series opens up entire worlds of possibilities within the extended cast and gleefully dives into them. Though Takes Off may not flesh out every single character, it does take its time with several of the ones who really did need a little more meat on their narrative bones, and even gives some characters new roles just because it would be fun to see them in new situations.

I still cannot believe they got Science Saru to make this show. “They made a Scott Pilgrim anime” and “They brought back the movie cast” are already good enough fodder for that Vince McMahon meme, but “It’s produced by the motherfuckers who made Devilman Crybaby” had me falling out of my chair. The animation maintains O'Malley's chunky, cartoony character designs and works wonders with line weights and simulated camera effects to give everything a tactile, weighty feel, like it’s somehow (and very appropriately) splitting the difference between a comic, a film, and even a video game. There’s a wide array of visual effects that helps to place all of Scott Pilgrim’s influences further on its sleeve: Dynamic action scenes, camera depth and chromatic aberration, and our beloved pixel art inserts. It looks like every Scott Pilgrim, everywhere, all at once.

The live action film’s cast did a (mostly) great job reprising their roles for animation, and there are some wildly unexpected cameos in there. Voice acting is not quite the same as stage or film acting, but everyone pulls their weight, and dialogue feels far more naturalistic than your average anime dub. Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Ellen Wong and, surprisingly, Chris Evans are outstanding in their respective roles. I’m gonna have to watch this again in Japanese, though. Fairouz Ai as Ramona, Aoi Koga as Knives, and Yuichi Nakamura as Lucas Lee? Sign me the fuck up.

This is not an apology or revision of Scott Pilgrim the character or work, it is a celebration that still acknowledges and improves on the flaws. If you’re a Scott Pilgrim fan who’d been clamoring for a proper cartoon adaptation, Takes Off may not exactly be what you’ve wanted, but it may be what you needed.  Chances are pretty good that you’ve grown since the first time since you read, watched, or even played something with Scott Pilgrim’s name on it, and it’s a blessing to say that while the character may not have grown, Scott Pilgrim the franchise finally has. 

2. Jujutsu Kaisen, season 2

I’m so glad I picked up JJK this year, if only because I would’ve otherwise been caught in a mudslide of memes I didn’t understand.

Season 2 follows in lockstep with the manga from where season 1 left off, beginning in extended flashback with the Hidden Inventory/Premature Death arc, covering Satoru Gojo and Suguru Geto’s high school life and the events that would eventually create the rift between them that came to shape Jujutsu Kaisen’s story. We see very different versions of Gojo and Geto here, much younger and more naive, but only marginally less powerful as they’re sent on an escort mission with the future of the jujutsu world in the balance. Because this is Jujutsu Kaisen, and because Jujutsu Kaisen is for masochists, nothing happens as planned.

We unfortunately do not get the precious slice-of-life hijinks the OP suggests, but if you watched season 1, you should know better by now than to trust an OP. While the initial arc does have its quieter and goofier moments (and some delicious homoerotic subtext), it wastes little time in declaring that this is a new version of the Jujutsu Kaisen anime: Lines are thinner, character models are looser, and action is buckwild. Two of the best fakeouts in the series happen in the span of five minutes. Those unfamiliar with the source material may have wondered for a bit why there needed to be a five-episode prequel arc to start the season, but the pieces would soon fall into place.

And then came Shibuya.

The Shibuya Incident arc was what made Jujutsu Kaisen a must-read in every new issue of Shonen Jump. It reset the status quo for the story and shaped it into something far beyond another “teenagers with special powers go to a school for teenagers with special powers” battle shonen. Needless to say, the hype for its anime adaptation was astronomical.

The Shibuya arc sets the stakes early: Nobody is safe and there may be no happy ending. Triumph is short-lived, and every threat is existential. Everyone who has been in the series up to this point plays a role, and you’re not going to like a lot of what’s needed of them. This arc punches you in the gut, repeatedly, and in between each blow is some of the most intense and innovative action you’ve ever seen. It will hurt, and you will beg for more.

I liked this arc a good amount in the manga, but by the end I was ready for it to be over. I didn’t get the hype around Toji, thought the deaths were cheap, and was so. FUCKING. sick of Mahito. Seeing it in fluid motion onscreen, though, everything just clicked for me and I couldn’t get enough. I fully get now why the girlies have been wetting themselves over Toji; the character modelers were HORNY horny this season. I see now how even the most unceremonious deaths fit into the narrative, or at least one will make perfect sense to me once Gege Akutami and I have a little chat :). And holy hell do I understand now that Mahito is one of the best shonen villains in the history of the medium, that sick bastard. Season 2 was my Rosetta stone for Jujutsu Kaisen; I see it all now. My sixth eye has been opened. Throughout heaven and earth, I alone am the literate one.

JJK’s second season has a markedly different feel from the first from a presentation standpoint, and I feel it’s for the better. Every aspect of the presentation is on point, and I want to call attention to the audio element: The production music, with a heavy focus on jazz piano, is wonderfully unique for the genre, and the voice acting remains top notch. These are banner performances from the likes of Yuichi Nakamura, Kenjiro Tsuda, Takahiro Sakurai, Asami Seto, and Nobunaga Shimazaki, but the performance that defines the Shibuya arc (and by extension the entire season) is Junya Enoki as Yuji Itadori. 

Enoki’s been great this year in lead roles in goofy works like KamiKatsu and Girlfriend Girlfriend (not to mention minor roles in Skip and Loafer and the vending machine isekai), so it’s no surprise that he continues to crush it as JJK’s protagonist; Yuji Itadori is a goofy dude. But the Shibuya arc, for as much ground and as many characters as it covers, is ultimately Yuji’s story as he is forced, time and again, to endure the cycle of the “suffering builds character” meme. His peers and mentors in the first season told him repeatedly that the life of a jujutsu sorcerer is a short and unhappy one, and he now has to shoulder that burden for everyone. Enoki nails every single part of a wide spectrum of emotions Yuji is forced to endure over the course of the Shibuya arc, be it determination, naive confusion, or just pure unbridled trauma. If this isn’t the best voice performance of the year, it’s top five at worst.

Like every major battle shonen release in the age of social media, this season has had its detractors. Reviewers at Anime News Network kinda hated the story, but that’s something you take up with Gege Akutami (and get in line behind the manga readers). I've seen people complain about the animation. Which, like. If you don’t like the new visual style, sure, fine, that’s up to personal taste. But if you think this season isn’t well-animated, you just plain don’t know ball. It may not have a cohesive look, but that was the draw for me: Season 1 was good, but at times I felt like it looked a little too rigid, a little too shiny, a little too samey. Season 2, especially the Shibuya arc, looks like everything. Sometimes it looks like an action film, sometimes it looks like Mob Psycho 100, and at points it looks, most crucially, like Akutami’s most iconic panels brought to life, stroke for stroke.

The varying styles weren’t an accident: Nearly each episode had its own director, and those resumes cover top-tier animations like Mob Psycho, Devilman Crybaby, Kill la Kill, Heavenly Delusion, Oshi no Ko, FLCL, even Akira and goddamn Golden Boy. While the episodes don’t look entirely consistent from one to the next, the variance is less jarring and more “holy fuck, what am I going to see next?”. The looser style of animation is what Jujutsu Kaisen always needed; Akutami’s art is very loose and dynamic, and his action panels are borderline inscrutable at times. Season 2 nails the feel of JJK to a degree that its adaptation always needed and lets its directors, storyboarders, and animators run wild. At times, characters will look like they leapt right off the page; others, they will look like something you have never seen before in your life.

It is unfortunately impossible to talk about this season without also bringing up MAPPA’s working conditions, and how animators were frequently overworked against nigh-impossible deadlines. It was an open secret last year as Chainsaw Man aired that MAPPA’s animation schedule was a meat grinder, but that came bubbling to the surface quickly as JJK’s second season aired. Word got out midseason that MAPPA had its animators sign NDAs about their work conditions, but complaints still broke containment and several staffers took to social media to apologize for their work looking incomplete, and some even publicly announced that they are leaving the studio. It is stunning that the finished product looks the way it does under such conditions, and I respect the animators for putting in such incredible work, but something has to give. Several major series suffered from major delays this year, some of which I gave significant praise, but MAPPA is lucky that all of JJK came out on time. I wish I knew what could push them to treat their workers with the dignity and respect (and pay) they deserve, but that’s a conversation that covers much wider ground than just anime.

MAPPA has already announced that the series will continue through the next major arc. While there is quite a bit of it that I would love to see on screen, I can only hope that the animators get to rest. For now, though, we can be proud of what they made under duress, even if some will forever wonder what it would look like if the staff were treated like something a notch above cattle.

1. Frieren: Beyond Journey's End

Fucking hell. This is why I watch anime.

I was curious about this one because a couple major anitubers I watch had reviewed the manga and were effusive in their praise. I knew the anime adaptation was on the way, so I decided to hold off on reading and see what the anime would be like, and with Keiichiro Saito (director of Bocchi the Rock! and key animator for Oshi no Ko’s instantly-iconic OP) at the helm, my excitement was piqued. That guy turned a B-minus 4-koma into an innovative hit comedy, so what can he do with a beloved source material and the backing of a legacy studio like Madhouse?

I've had so much to say about Frieren since the premiere, and I still have so much to say now, but to talk about what I love about this show is to talk about everything about this show. When the first four episodes dropped, I described it as “Mushoku Tensei without the baggage,” and I stand by that. There were multiple points throughout Frieren’s first cour where I'd nearly forgotten that I wasn't watching Mushoku Tensei. Every single element is on point: The animation is fluid and expressive, backdrops are consistently gorgeous, voice performances are quickly memorable, and the music is evocative and instantly iconic. This is, plainly, one of the most beautiful pieces of television I have ever seen on nearly every level, be it visually, sonically, or thematically.

The initial four-episode debut was a masterclass in establishing the setting, building emotional investment into the characters, and slowly but deliberately laying out the premise of the season to come. The titular Frieren is an elf mage who, for a very brief decade of her millennium-long life, lent her skills to an adventuring party to slay the Demon King. Though she helped save the world, she was never one for stuff like adulation or socializing, so she breaks away from the group to continue her hobby of collecting various spells and arcana. She regroups with them after 50 years, having kept in contact with none of them, only to find them older and frailer. The party’s leader, the hero Himmel, passes away shortly thereafter, and Frieren breaks down at his funeral, having realized exactly too late how important he was to her and that she’d never really bothered to get to know him as a person.

Some time later, she’s called by the surviving human member of the party, Heiter, under the guise of translating an old text, but soon realizes that he duped her into helping train the young orphan girl he adopted, Fern, as a mage. Upon Heiter’s death, Frieren and Fern head out together, carrying out odd jobs and retracing Frieren’s steps from the journey that changed her more than she realized. They soon learn from the other surviving member of the party, Eisen, that (ooh) heaven is, in fact, a place on earth, and that Frieren may be able to properly pay Himmel his final respects in person. In order to do so, they must make a trip to the north, past the Demon King’s castle. The story of Beyond Journey’s End is, quite literally, a nostalgia trip.

Frieren's story is one of grief and regret, but also how we can use those emotions as a way of moving forward rather than looking backward. Her history is a long one and her memories seemingly everlasting, but she uses them to pave the road ahead of her rather than let them shackle her to the past. This is best exemplified by Fern herself, as well as the other companion they pick up along the way in Eisen’s former trainee, Stark. Frieren can carry on the legacies of Heiter and Eisen by helping their young wards grow into the capable young adults they’re meant to be, while Himmel’s legacy lives on in the memories of the towns and villages he helped save along Frieren’s new path, and most importantly, in Frieren herself.

The degree to which Himmel truly mattered to Frieren becomes more apparent to her as the story goes on, and it becomes more evident in her actions. Himmel was a gentle, selfless (if self-aggrandizing) man who was every last bit the hero the modern world believes him to be. With every statue of him she cleans, every flower she plants in his name, every core memory that returns to her, we are watching Frieren become more and more like him in real time. You would expect a thousand-year-old woman to be pretty set in her ways, but we see her holding off on old, bad behaviors because of how Himmel would react to them back then. As Fern and Stark grow into young adults, we see her beginning to treat them the same way Himmel treated her. Frieren doesn’t realize it until later in the season, but it’s apparent to us early on that Himmel well and truly loved her, and I feel that it’s dawning on her that she loved him too and didn’t recognize it. That is tragic in and of itself (this show absolutely is a tearjerker at times and I will cop to getting misty-eyed as I write this), but there is something beautiful, well beyond my grasp, in being able to honor the memory and carry out the legacy of a loved one in how you treat those around you. I don’t think anything could have made Himmel prouder.

Frieren herself is a really goddamn good character too (and expertly voiced by Atsumi Tanezaki, best known for voicing Anya Forger in Spy x Family). Though she is portrayed as quiet and uncaring for the early part of the story, it’s been really delightful to watch her open up, and above all, inadvertently reveal that she’s actually just Really Fucking Weird. For as self-assured and put together as she always seems on the surface, it was great to learn that she’s just an enormous slob (she just like me fr), and any outward expressions of smugness or her offbeat sense of humor are always a joy. “Deeply weird person trying to act normal” is always fun, and there’s just something so consistently delightful about seeing someone so typically calm and intelligent get caught in a mimic chest every single time.

I still can’t get over how fucking good this show looks. Beyond Journey’s End features some of the most intricate, loving animation I’ve seen for stuff as simple as someone putting on a jacket. Action scenes are few and far between, but not a single frame is wasted when shit pops off. Not everyone is as detailed as possible at all times, and they don’t need to be, but everyone looks incredible when they do need to. It’s well above my pay grade to accurately say so, but this show could be a lesson in proper animation budgeting. I could go on and on and on, but I’ve written nearly eighteen thousand words about anime, so I’ll wrap it up. 

The debut season of Frieren will continue into 2024, and if the quality remains a constant, it could very well be one of the best anime of next year too. It has remained as MyAnimeList’s top-rated anime ever for its entire run, warding off the legion of Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood fans. Frieren deserves it. I say with no hyperbole that this is one of the most perfectly realized things I’ve ever seen on television. This is an essential watch for anyone who likes fantasy anime, anime in general, or fantasy in general.

[notyourprof]

F1 Explains – 9 November 2023 – Notes/Summary

When Em @powerful-owl first put out her call for primers (what feels like a hundred years ago now), I swore I had just recently listened to a description of what a race weekend was like for drivers on one of my podcasts, almost certainly F1 Explains. I listened back to the two episodes I thought it might be on, and figured I’d go ahead and take and share some notes on everything, in case there is some useful info in there for others. It turns out I had mis-remembered, because the discussion was about what a race weekend is like for media folks, not drivers, but I think it’s still useful because it does give information about what the drivers’ media obligations are.

In general, I highly recommend the F1 Explains podcast (previously called Formula Why), especially to new F1 fans who want to learn more details about the sport. Katie Osborne and Christian Hewgill co-host it, and on most episodes they pick a single topic (e.g. racing in the rain, street circuits, driver training regimens, etc.) and do a deep dive with a few different experts. But they also do semi-regular “quick-fire” episodes where they cover a bunch of questions that maybe don’t need a full episode to answer. Former Aston Martin strategist and current F1 + Sky Sports strategy analyst Bernie (Bernadette) Collins is a regular guest expert on the quick-fire episodes. (She’s also a regular in MY HEART, because she is amazing and wonderful and has the best Irish accent.) There are a few other rotating experts as well, usually from the F1/Sky Sports family.

Anyways, here is my write-up of the answer to the question about what a race weekend is like for media, which was on the episode from 9 November 2023:

Q: What are race weekends like for media and broadcasters? Are there dedicated times the media can speak to drivers? A: F1 is one of the sports where media actually get the most availability of drivers for the media. Thursday is Media Day. Each team puts out a list of times, usually a 5-20 minute window, where TV or print media can come along and ask questions. For TV it’s called a “scrum” where the media are in a sort of arc around the driver with all of their cameras pointed at the driver and they take turns asking questions. Written media is similar. If the driver misses that time for whatever reason, there usually aren’t any backup times. Media can also request one-to-one interviews at a separate time, but that is negotiated and set weeks and weeks in advance. Each team puts aside one hour for media time on a Thursday that includes the TV and written media scrums as well as any one-to-one interviews. Additionally, every weekend there are two press conferences held by the FIA on Media Day. Ten drivers do the press conference with written media where the drivers are all sat together at a desk or on couches answering questions. The other ten drivers do the TV pen, which is a U-shape with all of the TV crews standing around the outside and each driver works their way around the U talking to each TV crew. Each crew gets a maximum of two questions per driver. After each practice session, qualifying, and the race itself, the drivers will do the TV pen again and speak to written media. The top three finishers also do the post-race press conference.

So feel free to use this information when writing fic, but also remember that you don’t have to have all of your facts absolutely perfectly correct! It’s called fiction for a reason!

There were a lot of other interesting questions and answers in the episode, which I also took notes on, and I will put those below the cut. (Read on to find out which driver has Strong Feelings about the roundabouts near Milton Keynes, and which world champions have accidentally pulled into the wrong pit boxes before, LOL.)

Is this the kind of thing that is interesting and useful? I have a summary written up already for the 2 November 2023 episode, because I thought the "what is race weekend like" question might be in that one, but this is already super long. Should I post the notes on that episode in a different post? I can do notes/summaries for other episodes if that's something people are interested in, but I have a bad history of spending a lot of time documenting things in fandom that no one else ever uses or looks at, so I'm trying to...better allocate my limited spare time.

F1 Explains – 9 November 2023 Quick-fire questions with Bernie Collins & Lawrence Barretto

First, a sidenote: Daniel Ricciardo once did a shoey from one of Lawrence Baretto’s shoes. Daniel signed it and Lawrence has it on desk now.

Q: What construction and logistics have to go into a new street circuit, and how to teams prepare for a brand new track?

A: The streets used for the race track have to be re-laid with new tarmac, there has to be coordination with street opening and closing, hotels and other businesses around the circuit, etc. There is a full episode on racetrack design. To prepare for a new track, teams look closely at historical weather data (including temperatures and wind). They’ll load 2D and sometimes 3D scans of the track into their simulators, although often there isn’t full information yet because the final track hasn’t been finished. Lots of simulations and calculations in an attempt to get as much data as they can in advance. There’s also a full episode about how simulators work.

Q: How important is the engine manufacturer? Are they a glorified sponsor that provides an F1-approved generic engine or are there real technical differences between the engines from different suppliers?

A: There are differences between power units from different manufacturers. It also gives them a chance to really stretch themselves and bring in expertise from all around the company (e.g. if they also manufacture jet engines) and to hopefully get some good PR that will lead to more people buying their street cars. In 2023 for the first time, each engine manufacturer showed their engine off to the press to show the differences between each unit. 2023 engine manufacturers were Ferrari, Renault, Mercedes, and Honda. In 2026, Ford and Audi will join as new manufacturers.

Q: Why do drivers and engineers do track walks? Do all teams and drivers do this?

A: Not all drivers do it, some of them will do a run or go out on a scooter. Reasons to do it include looking for changes from last year (new bumps, changes to gravel or curbs (kerbs), etc.) as well as having a bit of uninterrupted time for drivers and their race engineers to talk to each other. Also can be helpful to the commentators/presenters. Helps everyone build/remember their muscle memory of the track if they’ve been there before.

Q: Is F1 using AI? Could it be used for race strategy?

A: Yes, most teams are already doing machine learning in calculations and simulations, but for now human input is still required (and probably always will be).

(Repeating this here because this is where it was in the episode) Q: What are race weekends like for media and broadcasters? Are there dedicated times the media can speak to drivers?

A: F1 is one of the sports where media actually get the most availability of drivers for the media. Thursday is Media Day. Each team puts out a list of times, usually a 5-20 minute window, where TV or print media can come along and ask questions. For TV it’s called a “scrum” where the media are in a sort of arc around the driver with all of their cameras pointed at the driver and they take turns asking questions. Written media is similar. If the driver misses that time for whatever reason, there usually aren’t any backup times. Media can also request one-to-one interviews at a separate time, but that is negotiated and set weeks and weeks in advance. Each team puts aside one hour for media time on a Thursday that includes the TV and written media scrums as well as any one-to-one interviews. Additionally, every weekend there are two press conferences held by the FIA on Media Day. Ten drivers do the press conference with written media where the drivers are all sat together at a desk or on couches answering questions. The other ten drivers do the TV pen, which is a U-shape with all of the TV crews standing around the outside and each driver works their way around the U talking to each TV crew. Each crew gets a maximum of two questions per driver. After each practice session, qualifying, and the race itself, the drivers will do the TV pen again and speak to written media. The top three finishers also do the post-race press conference.

Q: How much interaction is there between broadcasting teams from different countries?

A: A lot. They all see each other regularly so they get to know each other, and they often chat amongst themselves to communicate about what drivers have said to their home broadcasters, because they usually give longer/more detailed answers when they’re speaking in their native language.

Q: How does breaking news get shared with everyone?

A: Press releases used to be printed out on paper and handed out in the Media Center. Now each F1 team has a WhatsApp group specifically for media so they send info that way (e.g. about driver availability for interviews or problems with the cars) in addition to email and social media.

Q: Is there a dedicated space for journalists to write up their race reports?

A: Yes, it’s called the Media Center, there are desks, TV screens, food, and drinks (especially coffee!). The press conference room is in the Media Center as well, adjacent to the work area where journalists can sit and write.

Q: Has Bernie ever had a debrief delayed [when she was a team strategist] due to media interviews running long?

A: Many of the debriefs have been delayed by drivers, and blaming it on the media is an easy out when maybe it was actually the driver who stopped to get a coffee or whatever. Each F1 driver has their own press officer who helps them meet all of their press responsibilities. Often the drivers will talk longer than they are supposed to; Alex Albon and Oscar Piastri are specifically named as drivers who are very good at going off on tangents and talking to the media for too long. One time, Alex spent a good amount of time ranting about the roundabouts in Milton Keynes near the Red Bull factory is based.

Q: How is the order of the garages in the pit lane decided? Are there advantages to being in certain positions and does it play into race strategy?

A: At most tracks, the garages are in order based on how the teams finished in the constructor’s championship the previous year, so over a given season, the garages on either side of your teams don’t change. Sometimes the previous champions are right at the pit lane entry, sometimes near the exit, that depends on the track. If you’re right at the entry, it’s easier to come in and pit (i.e. there aren’t any other team’s mechanics in your way), but more difficult to get back out on track. Near the pit exit, the opposite is true (harder to get in, easier to get out). Depending on the track, it can be helpful to be right near the pit exit (e.g. if you want to get right out on track with clear air in front of you, Bernie mentions Monaco) or further back (e.g. if it’s better to have some other cars go first in qualifying, Bernie mentions Monza). The only exception to the rule of “garages are in order of last year’s championship standings” is Silverstone, where the pit lane is at about the same height as the track in the middle but at either end the pit lane is lower than the track so visibility is impaired. Because of this, the garages in the center (with a good view of the track) are considered most desirable and are thus taken by the top teams.

Christian Hewgill points out how surprising/impressive it is that drivers don’t pull into the wrong pit box more often. For example, at the 2011 Chinese Grand Prix, Jenson Button accidentally parked in the wrong garage and it cost him the lead in the race to Sebastian Vettel. Bernie points out that teams have done a lot of things to help drivers get to the correct pit lanes. It often happens when drivers switch teams (e.g. Lewis Hamilton once went into the McLaren pit when he had just moved to Mercedes, Sebastian Vettel went to the Ferrari pit once after he had switched to Aston Martin).

Q: What is parc fermé? What are the restrictions? How are they enforced?

A: Parc fermé is a period of time in which teams are not allowed to touch their cars or make any changes related to performance, however they can make changes related to safety. It promotes sustainability and rewards teams that do well in practice figuring out what works best for that track. During sprint weekends, teams only have one practice before the cars go into parc fermé, which makes it particularly difficult to adjust the cars to the track. Cars do often get taken apart and reassembled while in parc fermé to check components, clean things, etc., but the F1/FIA scrutineers will put stickers on the car parts to make sure the same parts are used when reassembling the car.

Q: What is an anti-stall? How is it different from a regular stall?

A: (Note that I am basically quoting Bernie verbatim here because I’ve never driven a manual/stick-shift car and don’t understand the details of how they work!) An anti-stall is very similar to a normal stall, but F1 have come up with clever ways to make sure the car engines don’t actually stall. In a regular manual car, if you were to let the clutch out too much or not give it enough throttle and the car stalled, the engine would cut out. At the starting grid, the driver might do the same thing (e.g. not give it enough throttle) and the car might stall, but the engine doesn’t actually cut out. (Another note: it’s not explicitly stated, but I think this is a safety thing so that even if the car stalls and doesn’t get a super fast start, the driver will be able to accelerate pretty quickly after, instead of sitting on the grid unable to move while the cars behind start crashing into the stalled car.)

Q: Why do F1 teams change names?

A: OK I started writing this in a way that makes sense beyond the short answers given on the podcast, but it really needs to be a separate post. The short answer to “why do teams change names?” is money. (Shocker!) 

Sometimes a team that also makes something else wants to promote one of their brands, e.g. Renault rebranding to Alpine, which is Renault’s sports car brand, or Toro Rosso rebranding to AlphaTauri, which is Red Bull’s clothing line. 

Sometimes a team will have a sponsor who pays enough money to be a title sponsor, e.g. Oracle Red Bull Racing or the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, where Oracle and Petronas are completely separate companies that pay a lot of money in addition to providing relevant expertise to their teams. 

(In the other post, I’ll get into Sauber/Alfa Romeo/Stake/Kick, don’t worry. 😂)

Q: How is the number of laps in a Grand Prix determined?

A: The number of laps for a given circuit is however many laps are needed to get to a 305 km (~190 mi) race distance. The exception is Monaco where the distance is 260 km (~162 mi).

[elkian]

I've seen a few of my Murderbot posts reblogged with tags to the effect of "I don't go here but I know of it" and for people who are interested in the Murderbot series looking to break in:

Tor.com (now Reactor Mag) has the entire first chapter of the first book, All Systems Red, available free to read on their site.

Link to the article.

ASR is a novella, so this not only covers a lot of ground, but is a pretty good litmus test imo if this book is for you or not.

(I read ASR twice before getting Artificial Condition, and that was the book that got me totally hooked on the series, for what that's worth.)

I'm also just going to post the text under this readmore because free Murderbot.

---

---

I could have become a mass murderer after I hacked my governor module, but then I realized I could access the combined feed of entertainment channels carried on the company satellites. It had been well over 35,000 hours or so since then, with still not much murdering, but probably, I don’t know, a little under 35,000 hours of movies, serials, books, plays, and music consumed. As a heartless killing machine, I was a terrible failure.

I was also still doing my job, on a new contract, and hoping Dr. Volescu and Dr. Bharadwaj finished their survey soon so we could get back to the habitat and I could watch episode 397 of Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon.

I admit I was distracted. It was a boring contract so far and I was thinking about backburnering the status alert channel and trying to access music on the entertainment feed without HubSystem logging the extra activity. It was trickier to do it in the field than it was in the habitat.

This assessment zone was a barren stretch of coastal island, with low, flat hills rising and falling and thick greenish-black grass up to my ankles, not much in the way of flora or fauna, except a bunch of different-sized birdlike things and some puffy floaty things that were harmless as far as we knew. The coast was dotted with big bare craters, one of which Bharadwaj and Volescu were taking samples in. The planet had a ring, which from our current position dominated the horizon when you looked out to sea. I was looking at the sky and mentally poking at the feed when the bottom of the crater exploded.

I didn’t bother to make a verbal emergency call. I sent the visual feed from my field camera to Dr. Mensah’s, and jumped down into the crater. As I scrambled down the sandy slope, I could already hear Mensah over the emergency comm channel, yelling at someone to get the hopper in the air now. They were about ten kilos away, working on another part of the island, so there was no way they were going to get here in time to help.

Conflicting commands filled my feed but I didn’t pay attention. Even if I hadn’t borked my own governor module, the emergency feed took priority, and it was chaotic, too, with the automated HubSystem wanting data and trying to send me data I didn’t need yet and Mensah sending me telemetry from the hopper. Which I also didn’t need, but it was easier to ignore than HubSystem simultaneously demanding answers and trying to supply them.

In the middle of all that, I hit the bottom of the crater. I have small energy weapons built into both arms, but the one I went for was the big projectile weapon clamped to my back. The hostile that had just exploded up out of the ground had a really big mouth, so I felt I needed a really big gun.

I dragged Bharadwaj out of its mouth and shoved myself in there instead, and discharged my weapon down its throat and then up toward where I hoped the brain would be. I’m not sure if that all happened in that order; I’d have to replay my own field camera feed. All I knew was that I had Bharadwaj, and it didn’t, and it had disappeared back down the tunnel.

She was unconscious and bleeding through her suit from massive wounds in her right leg and side. I clamped the weapon back into its harness so I could lift her with both arms. I had lost the armor on my left arm and a lot of the flesh underneath, but my non-organic parts were still working. Another burst of commands from the governor module came through and I backburnered it without bothering to decode them. Bharadwaj, not having non-organic parts and not as easily repaired as me, was definitely a priority here and I was mainly interested in what the MedSystem was trying to tell me on the emergency feed. But first I needed to get her out of the crater.

During all this, Volescu was huddled on the churned up rock, losing his shit, not that I was unsympathetic. I was far less vulnerable in this situation than he was and I wasn’t exactly having a great time either. I said, “Dr. Volescu, you need to come with me now.”

He didn’t respond. MedSystem was advising a tranq shot and blah blah blah, but I was clamping one arm on Dr. Bharadwaj’s suit to keep her from bleeding out and supporting her head with the other, and despite everything I only have two hands. I told my helmet to retract so he could see my human face. If the hostile came back and bit me again, this would be a bad mistake, because I did need the organic parts of my head. I made my voice firm and warm and gentle, and said, “Dr. Volescu, it’s gonna be fine, okay? But you need to get up and come help me get her out of here.”

That did it. He shoved to his feet and staggered over to me, still shaking. I turned my good side toward him and said, “Grab my arm, okay? Hold on.”

He managed to loop his arm around the crook of my elbow and I started up the crater towing him, holding Bharadwaj against my chest. Her breathing was rough and desperate and I couldn’t get any info from her suit. Mine was torn across my chest so I upped the warmth on my body, hoping it would help. The feed was quiet now, Mensah having managed to use her leadership priority to mute everything but MedSystem and the hopper, and all I could hear on the hopper feed was the others frantically shushing each other.

The footing on the side of the crater was lousy, soft sand and loose pebbles, but my legs weren’t damaged and I got up to the top with both humans still alive. Volescu tried to collapse and I coaxed him away from the edge a few meters, just in case whatever was down there had a longer reach than it looked.

I didn’t want to put Bharadwaj down because something in my abdomen was severely damaged and I wasn’t sure I could pick her up again. I ran my field camera back a little and saw I had gotten stabbed with a tooth, or maybe a cilia. Did I mean a cilia or was that something else? They don’t give murderbots decent education modules on anything except murdering, and even those are the cheap versions. I was looking it up in HubSystem’s language center when the little hopper landed nearby. I let my helmet seal and go opaque as it settled on the grass.

We had two standard hoppers: a big one for emergencies and this little one for getting to the assessment locations. It had three compartments: one big one in the middle for the human crew and two smaller ones to each side for cargo, supplies, and me. Mensah was at the controls. I started walking, slower than I normally would have because I didn’t want to lose Volescu. As the ramp started to drop, Pin-Lee and Arada jumped out and I switched to voice comm to say, “Dr. Mensah, I can’t let go of her suit.”

It took her a second to realize what I meant. She said hurriedly, “That’s all right, bring her up into the crew cabin.”

Murderbots aren’t allowed to ride with the humans and I had to have verbal permission to enter. With my cracked governor there was nothing to stop me, but not letting anybody, especially the people who held my contract, know that I was a free agent was kind of important. Like, not having my organic components destroyed and the rest of me cut up for parts important.

I carried Bharadwaj up the ramp into the cabin, where Overse and Ratthi were frantically unclipping seats to make room. They had their helmets off and their suit hoods pulled back, so I got to see their horrified expressions when they took in what was left of my upper body through my torn suit. I was glad I had sealed my helmet.

This is why I actually like riding with the cargo. Humans and augmented humans in close quarters with murderbots is too awkward. At least, it’s awkward for this murderbot. I sat down on the deck with Bharadwaj in my lap while Pin-Lee and Arada dragged Volescu inside.

We left two pacs of field equipment and a couple of instruments behind, still sitting on the grass where Bharadwaj and Volescu had been working before they went down to the crater for samples. Normally I’d help carry them, but MedSystem, which was monitoring Bharadwaj through what was left of her suit, was pretty clear that letting go of her would be a bad idea. But no one mentioned the equipment. Leaving easily replaceable items behind may seem obvious in an emergency, but I had been on contracts where the clients would have told me to put the bleeding human down to go get the stuff.

On this contract, Dr. Ratthi jumped up and said, “I’ll get the cases!”

I yelled, “No!” which I’m not supposed to do; I’m always supposed to speak respectfully to the clients, even when they’re about to accidentally commit suicide. HubSystem could log it and it could trigger punishment through the governor module. If it wasn’t hacked.

Fortunately, the rest of the humans yelled “No!” at the same time, and Pin-Lee added, “For fuck’s sake, Ratthi!”

Ratthi said, “Oh, no time, of course. I’m sorry!” and hit the quick-close sequence on the hatch.

So we didn’t lose our ramp when the hostile came up under it, big mouth full of teeth or cilia or whatever chewing right through the ground. There was a great view of it on the hopper’s cameras, which its system helpfully sent straight to everybody’s feed. The humans screamed.

Mensah pushed us up into the air so fast and hard I nearly leaned over and everybody who wasn’t on the floor ended up there.

In the quiet afterward, as they gasped with relief, Pin-Lee said, “Ratthi, if you get yourself killed—”

“You’ll be very cross with me, I know.” Ratthi slid down the wall a little more and waved weakly at her.

“That’s an order, Ratthi, don’t get yourself killed,” Mensah said from the pilot’s seat. She sounded calm, but I have security priority, and I could see her racing heartbeat through MedSystem.

Arada pulled out the emergency medical kit so they could stop the bleeding and try to stabilize Bharadwaj. I tried to be as much like an appliance as possible, clamping the wounds where they told me to, using my failing body temperature to try to keep her warm, and keeping my head down so I couldn’t see them staring at me.

PERFORMANCE RELIABILITY AT 60% AND DROPPING

Our habitat is a pretty standard model, seven interconnected domes set down on a relatively flat plain above a narrow river valley, with our power and recycling system connected on one side. We had an environmental system, but no air locks, as the planet’s atmosphere was breathable, just not particularly good for humans for the long term. I don’t know why, because it’s one of those things I’m not contractually obligated to care about.

We picked the location because it’s right in the middle of the assessment area, and while there are trees scattered through the plain, each one is fifteen or so meters tall, very skinny, with a single layer of spreading canopy, so it’s hard for anything approaching to use them as cover. Of course, that didn’t take into account anything approaching via tunnel.

We have security doors on the habitat for safety but HubSystem told me the main one was already open as the hopper landed. Dr. Gurathin had a lift gurney ready and guided it out to us. Overse and Arada had managed to get Bharadwaj stabilized, so I was able to put her down on it and follow the others into the habitat.

The humans headed for Medical and I stopped to send the little hopper commands to lock and seal itself, then I locked the outer doors. Through the security feed, I told the drones to widen our perimeter so I’d have more warning if something big came at us. I also set some monitors on the seismic sensors to alert me to anomalies just in case the hypothetical something big decided to tunnel in.

After I secured the habitat, I went back to what was called the security ready room, which was where weapons, ammo, perimeter alarms, drones, and all the other supplies pertaining to security were stored, including me. I shed what was left of the armor and on MedSystem’s advice sprayed wound sealant all over my bad side. I wasn’t dripping with blood, because my arteries and veins seal automatically, but it wasn’t nice to look at. And it hurt, though the wound seal did numb it a little. I had already set an eight-hour security interdiction through HubSystem, so nobody could go outside without me, and then set myself as off-duty. I checked the main feed but no one was filing any objections to that.

I was freezing because my temperature controls had given out at some point on the way here, and the protective skin that went under my armor was in pieces. I had a couple of spares but pulling one on right now would not be practical, or easy. The only other clothing I had was a uniform I hadn’t worn yet, and I didn’t think I could get it on, either. (I hadn’t needed the uniform because I hadn’t been patrolling inside the habitat. Nobody had asked for that, because with only eight of them and all friends, it would be a stupid waste of resources, namely me.) I dug around one handed in the storage case until I found the extra human-rated medical kit I’m allowed in case of emergencies, and opened it and got the survival blanket out. I wrapped up in it, then climbed into the plastic bed of my cubicle. I let the door seal as the white light flickered on.

It wasn’t much warmer in there, but at least it was cozy. I connected myself to the resupply and repair leads, leaned back against the wall and shivered. MedSystem helpfully informed me that my performance reliability was now at 58 percent and dropping, which was not a surprise. I could definitely repair in eight hours, and probably mostly regrow my damaged organic components, but at 58 percent, I doubted I could get any analysis done in the meantime. So I set all the security feeds to alert me if anything tried to eat the habitat and started to call up the supply of media I’d downloaded from the entertainment feed. I hurt too much to pay attention to anything with a story, but the friendly noise would keep me company.

Then someone knocked on the cubicle door.

I stared at it and lost track of all my neatly arrayed inputs. Like an idiot, I said, “Uh, yes?”

Dr. Mensah opened the door and peered in at me. I’m not good at guessing actual humans’ ages, even with all the visual entertainment I watch. People in the shows don’t usually look much like people in real life, at least not in the good shows. She had dark brown skin and lighter brown hair, cut very short, and I’m guessing she wasn’t young or she wouldn’t be in charge. She said, “Are you all right? I saw your status report.”

“Uh.” That was the point where I realized that I should have just not answered and pretended to be in stasis. I pulled the blanket around my chest, hoping she hadn’t seen any of the missing chunks. Without the armor holding me together, it was much worse. “Fine.”

So, I’m awkward with actual humans. It’s not paranoia about my hacked governor module, and it’s not them; it’s me. I know I’m a horrifying murderbot, and they know it, and it makes both of us nervous, which makes me even more nervous. Also, if I’m not in the armor then it’s because I’m wounded and one of my organic parts may fall off and plop on the floor at any moment and no one wants to see that.

“Fine?” She frowned. “The report said you lost 20 percent of your body mass.”

“It’ll grow back,” I said. I know to an actual human I probably looked like I was dying. My injuries were the equivalent of a human losing a limb or two plus most of their blood volume.

“I know, but still.” She eyed me for a long moment, so long I tapped the security feed for the mess, where the non-wounded members of the group were sitting around the table talking. They were discussing the possibility of more underground fauna and wishing they had intoxicants. That seemed pretty normal. She continued, “You were very good with Dr. Volescu. I don’t think the others realized . . . They were very impressed.”

“It’s part of the emergency med instructions, calming victims.” I tugged the blanket tighter so she didn’t see anything awful. I could feel something lower down leaking.

“Yes, but the MedSystem was prioritizing Bharadwaj and didn’t check Volescu’s vital signs. It didn’t take into account the shock of the event, and it expected him to be able to leave the scene on his own.”

On the feed it was clear that the others had reviewed Volescu’s field camera video. They were saying things like I didn’t even know it had a face. I’d been in armor since we arrived, and I hadn’t unsealed the helmet when I was around them. There was no specific reason. The only part of me they would have seen was my head, and it’s standard, generic human. But they didn’t want to talk to me and I definitely didn’t want to talk to them; on duty it would distract me and off duty . . . I didn’t want to talk to them. Mensah had seen me when she signed the rental contract. But she had barely looked at me and I had barely looked at her because again, murderbot + actual human = awkwardness. Keeping the armor on all the time cuts down on unnecessary interaction.

I said, “It’s part of my job, not to listen to the System feeds when they . . . make mistakes.” That’s why you need constructs, SecUnits with organic components. But she should know that. Before she accepted delivery of me, she had logged about ten protests, trying to get out of having to have me. I didn’t hold it against her. I wouldn’t have wanted me either.

Seriously, I don’t know why I didn’t just say you’re welcome and please get out of my cubicle so I can sit here and leak in peace.

“All right,” she said, and looked at me for what objectively I knew was 2.4 seconds and subjectively about twenty excruciating minutes. “I’ll see you in eight hours. If you need anything before then, please send me an alert on the feed.” She stepped back and let the door slide closed.

It left me wondering what they were all marveling at so I called up the recording of the incident. Okay, wow. I had talked to Volescu all the way up the side of the crater. I had been mostly concerned with the hopper’s trajectory and Bharadwaj not bleeding out and what might come out of that crater for a second try; I hadn’t been listening to myself, basically. I had asked him if he had kids. It was boggling. Maybe I had been watching too much media. (He did have kids. He was in a four-way marriage and had seven, all back home with his partners.)

All my levels were too elevated now for a rest period, so I decided I might as well get some use out of it and look at the other recordings. Then I found something weird. There was an “abort” order in the HubSystem command feed, the one that controlled, or currently believed it controlled, my governor module. It had to be a glitch. It didn’t matter, because when MedSystem has priority—

PERFORMANCE RELIABILITY AT 39%, STASIS INITIATED FOR EMERGENCY REPAIR SEQUENCE.

[authorsadiethatcher]

I wanted to write an update earlier this month, but I was waiting on a piece of news to report. It took most of the month, but now I can talk about it fully below.

April was exciting, May started out great, but little bits of panic and anxiety have set in. Nothing to fear, but damn, have I needed a couple wins recently.

Amazon is where most people find my books, so here’s a link to my catalogue: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Sadie-Thatcher/author/B00B4MINAC

Smashwords is a great place to buy books, especially if you don’t like Amazon’s evil empire. You can find them here: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/sadiethatcher

Plus, you can find them at the Google Play bookstore: https://play.google.com/store/books/author?id=Sadie+Thatcher

I’ve added a new way you can get my books. It’s called Ream and it’s a bit like Patreon, but its author specific, made by authors for authors. I’m still working through a few kinks, but this is an opportunity to get all of my books at each month and a few bonuses. You can see my Ream page here: https://reamstories.com/page/lhssployqw

Additionally, my books are available through Apple, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Scribd. I don’t have links to those stores handy, but if that’s where you like to buy books from, my books will show up there, eventually. I distribute through Smashwords and have to wait until the review team there approves my books for distribution. This can take days or even a week.

Big News Alert

My next fantasy novel is here, written under the name Libby Feron. Rogue Elf is the second book in the Magic’s Most Wanted Series, continuing Tempest Ravifort’s saga. She’s a bounty hunter trying to keep the magical world a secret from the humans, and put her sister through college. Poor, but noble. The book is currently available for preorder and the release date is May 30. That’s next week! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C5ZTQFS3/

Plus, the cover is absolutely gorgeous.

If fantasy is your thing, take a look at all of my novels here: https://www.amazon.com/stores/Libby-Feron/author/B09PJ9J5RN

And if you sign up for the Libby Feron newsletter, you get exclusive content and updates like cover reveals before anyone else. I have a bonus prequel scene up for the Magic’s Most Wanted Series that will be exclusive to newsletter subscribers. You can sign up here: https://libbyferon.com/newsletter/

With the fantasy novel plug complete, let me also mention some of the cool stories I have coming out in the next month month.

I’ve got two more books in the Bimbo Records Series to release. Women trying to break into the music industry find success, but only after they bimbofy themselves for their manager.

I also have a series coming up that features women who feel left behind by society’s rising beauty standards and they will do anything to keep up. Even though they know images are airbrushed and altered before going online, they push past that and make their realities as good or better. There might be an addiction to social media likes involved as well. I haven’t decided yet.

And in the second half of June, I will be beginning a Bimbo Academy series. It could be a finishing school or someplace where wayward women are sent to be rehabilitated into happy bimbos. We will see where my muse takes me on that.

Finally, the days of Fake It Until You Make It being available on Amazon Kindle Vella are numbered. I have requested the story come down from Vella so that I may publish it in other forms, including turning it into an audiobook. I don’t expect anything to happen on this until about June 7, but this is your warning to download those episodes now so you can read them at your leisure. Now I just need to get my narrator working on the audio.

[suhxin]

Worry

Genre: angst💫 but also a bit fluff💌?

Pairing: Yuki x male!reader

A/N: This will maybe get a part two, depending on how the first elimination goes.

Started 17.02.2023 Finished 18.02.2023

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

The TV in front of you was shining brightly at your face as you were waiting for your result. This was your chance to get at least 1 star, you thought. Hours of training shouldn't have been for nothing. No one is going to care for a 0 star if they don't have an outstanding personality. And you were one of those that didn't have it. Quiet, reserved and shy. You were everything people looked past at, at survival shows. You tried to get out of your comfort zone in front of the camera to get people to notice you more, but to no avail. And not only did your stars show that but also your rank. The changing picture of the TV made you come back to reality. You were staring at your result trying to understand what exactly you were looking at. Well, you knew what you were looking at, but your brain couldn't really process it. You entered the main room again where all the trainees were waiting for you. Everyone was talking at the same time so you decided to just go to your spot without answering any questions. All eyes were on you as you sat on the stairs for the 0-star trainees again. Right beside you was sitting Yuki on the 1-star spot, looking at you with a worried expression. You gave him a small smile before you looked away and started spacing out. After today's episode finished you all got to leave to get back to the dorm. The only thing you currently had in mind was letting your emotions out. You went to your room, ignoring your roommates while getting some skincare stuff to take with you to the bathroom. As you left your room your roommates gave each other knowing worrisome looks. Before you were able to close the bathroom door a hand stopped it from moving any further. You let go of the door, shocked, because who would follow you to the freaking bathroom. Yuki stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. Before he could even open his arms for you you were already hugging him, putting your head on his shoulder. Tears were flowing even before he got a chance to hug you back. He knew that you had to let it all out right now, so he was just silently patting your back. And after a few minutes, you lifted your head to see the wet stain you had left on his shirt. „I'm sorry.“ you muttered between sobs. A chuckle left Yuki's mouth as he pat your head to tell you not to worry about it. He took your face in his hands and wiped away the remaining tears with his thumbs. You sniffed one last time before you looked him in the eyes. „I trained just as hard as the other, why am I not getting better, why am I so untalented.“ You said to him in a quiet voice. „I out of everyone know how hard you're working, and if the judges don't see that it's their problem, that doesn't mean you're untalented “ You wished his words would make you feel any better, but you were feeling the same way you felt ever since you found out your score. Tears were daring to fall again, which made you look to the floor. You felt so humiliated. Not only because of your score but also for crying in front of someone else because of it. Yuki hugged you tightly again which made you bury your face in his shoulder again. „We're going to train even harder and show everyone how good we are. I won't ever leave you behind, we are going to debut, and we are going to do it together.“ Yuki let go of you which made you step back. „You promise we will debut together?“ „I promise.“

[blazehedgehog]

Thoughts on One Piece?

I've told this story, but since Tumblr search is so awful, I'll tell it again.

The short of it is: I really wanted to get into One Piece. When One Piece started, pirates weren't really a subject you saw a whole lot of in anime. I thought Oda's art style was fresh and cool, too.

I did not like dealing with fansubs. They were kind of difficult to acquire (relatively), and at the time, I had a router that would absolutely crap its pants if I left a torrent running (it would have a firmware crash and all internet traffic would die until you power cycled the device). So the Kaizoku stuff was right out for me from the start.

I forget which came first, the 4Kids dub or Viz launching American Shonen Jump with their version One Piece. I think the 4Kids dub was first, because I remember being angry at Viz for adopting "Zolo" instead of "Zoro." Either way, I was angry about the 4Kids dub, but I was lucky enough to pick up the entire first 12 months of Shonen Jump, and figured that's where I'd start with One Piece.

Didn't have the money to keep buying new Jumps past that first year, so I figured I'd have to slum it with scanlations at least. I believe I left off in the back half of Baratie, and the only scanlations I could find from that part of the manga were like, truly awful quality. I have described them as "third generation Yahoo Groups quality scans." They were dark, blurry, heavily compressed, and the dialog was barely a step above an automated machine translation. I almost wish I could find them again, because it was nasty.

Around this time I think Funimation announced they wrestled the rights to One Piece away from the decaying hands of 4Kids, so I was happy to wait for that. We subscribed to Netflix in those days, the original DVD-by-mail service, so I'd rent each new set as they came out. Got all the way up through Baratie, up through Arlong Park, up to where they visit and prepare to leave Loguetown.

I think by the time the DVDs hit the fifth set, I ran into a problem: physical rental locations like Blockbuster had hard rental deadlines. You had to bring the disc (or tape) back in a day or two. Netflix, famously, had no rental deadlines. Keep things as long as you like.

While I had no trouble getting 1-4, some clown got set 5 before I could, and sat on it. For over a year. I complained to Netflix, and Netflix just shrugged at me.

Within a year or two of that, Funimation officially launched a One Piece website, like my memory is saying it was onepiece.com or something (which it isn't, that's a clothing store), but the point was they were announcing they were going to simulcast subs of the anime, for free, on this site. They were also adding dub episodes to this site, again, to stream for free. Back then, this was pretty unprecedented. Hulu was only a few years old at this point.

I figured: wow! Now's my chance! Go to check the website and...

The free episodes ended at the exact same point I left off at with the Netflix DVDs. Episode 53. It went from Dub Episode 53 straight to Sub Episode 230, which is where the simulcast began. Looking at Funimation's current site, this is what they consider "Season 1."

So I earmarked it. "Maybe I can finish it some day."

Some day never came. One Piece is over 1000 chapters (100 volumes) and 1000 episodes. There is over 430 hours of One Piece available to watch. The manga is so big people have talked about it taking up an entire shelving unit. I even saw photos once of somebody who had their shelf break because their One Piece collection was so heavy.

It took me over a year to read 16 volumes of the original Dragon Ball. There are almost ten times as many volumes of One Piece.

I have given up. I will never read it. Never watch it. Never see it. It's great that it's this amazing thing, truly this long journey, but even at 500 chapters it would have been too much.

Even if I wanted to, it's grown to be such a thing that when something happens in the anime or the manga, there are instantly spoilers for it all over the entire internet. 107 volumes of that is pretty disheartening.

I know about One Pace. One Pace is still too long. Some of those videos are over 20 hours. For a single video. And One Pace still has gaps in their coverage anyway.

It's just not happening.

[adultswim2021]

The Xtacles #1: “Operation: Mountain Punch” | November 10, 2008 - 12:00AM | S01E01

Hey, this was actually fairly good!

This is set a year after Frisky Dingo. Xander Crewes is still in space, which means we don’t have to listen to Adam Reed’s voice. The Xtacles are on the Xcalibur (that’s the name of the ship; information I managed to not retain despite watching every episode of Frisky Dingo) just waiting for his orders. Command has been taken over by Jack, who insists that they can’t so much as change the airship’s course without Xander’s say-so, despite him being gone. Hell bent on upholding Xander’s absent leadership, Jack refuses even to navigate around the Rockies, America’s most beloved mountain range. So the ship is just crashing into (and obliterating the tops of) various mountains.

With each mountain, the ship is getting closer to a crucial point at which it can no longer withstand the collision and explode, killing everyone on board. The stubborn Jack is vigilant, insisting that they remain on this track. Eventually the computer’s intelligent hologram is activated to try and talk sense into him. Meanwhile, the Xtacles decide to party, since it could be their last chance to get wasted. 

Okay, from what I can tell, this show was put together because Adam Reed was “on hiatus”, probably so he could commit–I mean, experience sexual… uh, encounters, and NOT crimes, in Prague. Matt Thompson took the lead on this show, which seems to aim to make the Frisky Dingo franchise a little more episodic. I’m saying this without having seen the second episode, and if there’s an interview floating around where he says “we were laying the groundwork for a tightly woven continuity unparalleled in the world of television” then I didn’t read it. Continuity-wise, this does refer to the events in Frisky Dingo, and characters like Mr. Ford and Stan carryover as well. But, this has more in common with I, Robot than it does Meet Killface. Personally, I think that’s a great thing. 

Other notable differences: the Xtacles all mostly have their helmets off, which seems like a wise move. There are some honest-go-god recognizable actors in the voice cast. Stan is now president of the United States, and there’s a fairly funny scene where he hears about the mountains getting exploded while doing an appearance in a grade school, reading a class of small children a book about *A* pet goat. This is a parody of the real-life incident of George W. Bush being alerted about 9/11 while taking part in a similar appearance. Bush opted to finish reading the book to the kids as to not upset them. Stan immediately jumps to the conclusion that terrorists are destroying America and not only does he coldly alert the children to this fact, but he also passes out cyanide caplets and encourages them all to commit suicide to avoid a fate worse than death. 

This is available on Adult Swim’s website. Just go to “Specials”, filed alphabetically on the series page. It’s also currently on youtube, which is actually how I watched it because the Adult Swim app isn’t working correctly on my new (hand-me-down) TV. Quality could be better, so lower your expectations.

[bb-donghae]

Hello babe! 🥰

I wanted to ask you a favor 🥺 I haven't had the opportunity to listen to snsd's discography and I haven't had the opportunity to watch their shows like I did with suju and I don't know where to start. I don't consider myself sone because I don't know their discography and their stories (yet) but I really have a huge affection for them, I've grown up listening to their most famous songs and when they had their Forever 1 comeback I fell in love with them even more.

When I'll have time and opportunity I would like to update myself. Could you help me by recommending where I can listen to their complete discography as a group and as soloists? And what programs should I watch to learn more about them and where to look for them? I know maybe it's too much to ask, but your love for SNSD and SuJu reminds me that I want to get to know them more. You can take as long as you want to answer this message, without pressure. Thank you very much in advance 🤧💓

This took me too damn long. I want to say that I was super busy but I can honestly remember the many times when I was free and could have answer this ask. I believe it's been 6 months already smh.

TV SHOWS

Truthfully, I have commitment issues and have a hard time finishing any shows I watch. At the time, I only watch clips available on Youtube which were usually snippets from variety shows. Luckily, I was not only able to find clips but also full YouTube playlists of the shows SNSD starred on.

Below are some the links to the clips/episodes/playlist that got me into SNSD. Apologies if this list is super messy.

Short Clips:-

Hyoyeon scaring Jessica

Makeup ranking - (pretty controversial especially in this current time. i’m only putting this because this was one of the first clips i watched of them. i found this funny at the time but i can perfectly understand if anyone doesn't find this tasteful)

Tiffany and her love for pink

Yuri and her cute sleeping habits

Compilation of some random clips from their old shows - (it's a recent upload but it brings me nostalgia. also, it helped me remember all the clips I used to watch in the past)

Full episodes:-

Horror Movie Factory EP01 - (I love a good horror variety show. also, Taeyeon was so cute throughout this episode. this version appears to be clearest. the account doesn't have a playlist of the series but it does have most of the episodes)

SNSD Hi 5 Ballerina: Episode 1 | Episode 2

Playlists:-

Horror Movie Factory - (slightly lower quality and a different account)

Hello Baby - (Kyungsan is so grown up already T_T)

Invincible Youth Season 1 - (only includes Sunny and Yuri but other beautiful 2nd gen idols are also part of the cast)

Girls Go To School - (predebut show and probably one of the most important ones. also, how come I just found out that this show was narrated by Sungmin lmao)

Other than these shows listed, I used to watch a lot of Running Man and SNSD was featured in some episodes.

As you can tell that most of these episodes are subbed by Soshi Subs.

GROUP SONGS

I feel like I'm someone who doesn't have the best music taste and that I'm probably just gonna list out whatever I listen to. I assume you probably know their more popular songs, so I'm just gonna list out the underrated(?) ones. Some I've linked and some I've not.

Into The New World: Music Video | Ballad Version (LIVE) - (not an 'underrated' song but it's a must to listen to it. not just because its their debut song but because of the cultural impact it brought. this song is so powerful, people sing this song at protests. i really suggest you listen to their live performance, especially the ballad version. the one i linked is not an OT9 performance but it always moves me to tears.)

Divine - (i love this song. i believe it's one of their last song as OT9. unless you count the leaked version of Catch Me If You Can.)

Born To Be A Lady - (literally the same song as Demi Lovato's Mistake but their harmony was heavenly)

Galaxy Supernova: MV | LIVE - (it's a unique song but i really love it more when they perform this song live)

Flower Power - (a 'weird' song i know but i like the chorus)

Hoot: MV | Album Poster - (while this is their more popular song, I don't see people talking about this one as much anymore. i don't know why because the concept is so unique and i have yet to see another group take on a similar concept. oh also, there's a familiar face in the music video)

Little Touch - (it's a crime that this subunit has very little songs. they still prove they can slay even without all the members. especially Sunny)

The Boys: LIVE - (one my least favourite songs but an instant fave when it's sung live. there's probably a better live performance than the one i linked)

Holler - (one of their popular songs i know. i just wanted to mention it)

There are probably some other songs that I've missed but I don't want to make this list super long since I want to talk about their solo songs as well.

SOLO MUSIC

Now that I’m thinking about it, I actually think I know listen to their solo music than group music.

By the way, I have yet to listen to all of their music.

Taeyeon:-

Fine

UR

Stress

Gemini - (love love this song)

Make Me Love You

Cover Up

Fire

Siren

Here I am

Love You Like Crazy

Spark - (i love the concept of her Purpose Album)

Something New

Starlight ft Dean

Can't Control Myself

Weekend - (lowkey a Say So copy especially with the concept but I still enjoyed it)

INVU - (SM really upped the budget for the MV, i couldnt complain anymore about the low quality of the Weekend MV)

Rain - (sometimes i forgot about this masterpiece)

Hate That - (a feature she did for Key's song)

Four Seasons

When We Were Young - (a cover of Adele's song)

All With You

There's probably some more that I forgot to list. Like Taeyeon has some really nice songs from drama OSTs. I really love Taeyeon's breakup songs so so much. But every single time she comes out with one, some people will annoyingly relate it to her past relationship(s).

Tiffany:-

Heartbreak Hotel - (my absolute favourite)

I Just Wanna Dance - (listing this here because it's the most memorable for me. not just because of tiffany's fairy ending but because i got scolded by my mom for listening to this song on blast)

Lips on Lips

Born Again - (another favourite. her lower register in this one is really gooodd)

Seohyun:-

Don't Say No - (she was an absolute woman in the music video. i love the cute little hip-shake incorporated in the dance)

Hyoyeon/Hyo:-

Deep - (if you like spiderman, you'll love the concept lmao)

Second

I don't listen to most of her music but she's the member that I'm most proud of at the moment. I feel like she's gotten to a point where she knows what kind of music she wants to establish and what kind of performer she wants to be.

Jessica:-

Fly

Wonderland

She's no longer coming out with music but whatever. I loved these songs because it's bubblegum pop and Jessica’s voice suits these types of songs. Off topic, but Jessica creating a fashion brand is so herrrrr.

Yoona:-

A Little Happiness - (a cover)

Yuri:-

Into You

I guess that's it? I'm honestly too tired to list out more LMAO.

Again. I'm sorry for taking too long with this one <3

[thepacksurvives]

Tag Game!

Rule: Tag 9 people you want to get to know better

Tagged by: @oneeyedaemond thank you so much for tagging me! I'm so glad you did (even though it took me a while to respond) 😊

Last song: Classroom Idea by Seo Taiji (a song I'd recommend to all metalheads)

Last show: The Purge (that I haven't finished tbh. TV shows aren't my thing, I can't seem to be able to watch them entirely lol). And I watched j-hope IN THE BOX this morning. I don't know if it counts as a show but I don't often watch anything really so I thought I'd mention it x')

Last movie: Everything Everywhere All At Once (watched it for the first time last week because it finally became available in my country and I loved it!)

Currently watching: Daisy Jones & The Six (I'm on the fourth episode and it made me want to pick up one of my own short stories)

Currently reading: A Day of Fallen Night by Samantha Shannon. Might be a bit of an unpopular opinion (I don't know) but I already like it better than Priory 😅

Current obsession: picking up the piano and writing. Picking up my hobbies in general but I need to wake up my creativity and blow off some steam. And also... I'd like to actually get an actual book published some day so I do need to start writing again. And even though I'm not really good at it, playing the piano helps me focus and calm down my mind

Oh and Smoke Sprite by Soyoon (ft. RM) and Set Me Free pt.2 by Jimin have been on my mind ever since they came out. Like I need someone to inject them directly into my veins. There's not one moment of the day when one of them isn't playing in my mind - Smoke Sprite, especially (a big favorite of March 2023).

Tagging: @saltywinteradult @starstrucksnowing @arocknrollswindler @kassia-lind1 @moonknightassappreciator @lumyart @claraisms @whogirl42 @casualpolicepenguin

[princesscolumbia]

And on today's episode of "I was today years old when I found out that not everyone does it that way..."

I have been writing with varying degrees of productivity and mostly been really trial-and-error with what makes me a good writer. Sometime last November (more like late-October, but I only really noticed in November), some bit flipped and now I can just sit down and write, every day, whenever I want, for hours at a stretch sometimes.

I have, in fact, gotten to the point where I need to consciously NOT choose to write on days when I'm low on spoons or I'll burn myself out...again.

I kinda knew it was a bit exceptional when I had wrapped up what, in my mind, was the starting section, the first establishing story arc, of a novel...or at least it's one novel in my head. I threw the whole blob of text for the establishment of my setting, what makes this variant universe of the setting in which my fanfic is based unique, and I popped in an author's note saying, "Okay, setup's done."

My first comment was the following, single-line reply:

This was all SETUP?

And that made me realize that most novels usually don't take 45k words for the setup.

It also made me realize that I'd powered through an entire novel's worth of writing in around a month...right on the heels of another 110k+ word novel that I'd written in the course of about 2 months, right after I'd body-slammed the NaNoWriMo word-count in November and blew right past it with four short stories and an update to a WIP.

I currently have a word-count daily goal of 1,400 words...and I often rocket right past that without noticing. I have to intentionally take days off for my mental health and physical well-being or I will write.

I don't know what caused this, I don't know why I do it, I am very aware there are many authors out there that are insanely jealous of my ability and I've been asked for the secret sauce a dozen times, and I just haven't really known what to tell people...until reading this post and realizing that this is just the stuff that I do and I thought every author did it.

So without further ado, minor supplemental commentary of my take on the prev author's advice, with the assurance that everything they said is 100% correct and at this point I'm just gilding the lily:

1. Writing nonlinearly

Seriously, if you have ADHD and are pushing yourself to write linearly, stop. For 3 of the last five completed projects I did I had something like an epilogue or novel climax already written before I'd finished writing chapter 3. Yes, you may have an idea how you want a fic to go and you'll be conscious about making sure your writing gets there, but nothing helps an ADHD brain like a target to hyperfixate on.

1.a - Jump around! Jump around! Jump up, jump up and get down!

Now that I've shown my age; if you have ADHD (and maybe if you don't, not like I've never not been ADHD so I wouldn't know), your brain doesn't work linearly at all and you're only fighting yourself if you try not to follow the dopamine.

On my current WIP, I jammed through chapters 14 through 19 all in a row...then suddenly had a yen to do some text for the tentatively numbered chapter 25. I hammered out a daily-goal's worth of scene chewing (currently available as a sneak peak to all tiers, even free, on my Patreon /shameless_plug). I then bounced back to do ch. 20 before my brain locked in on exactly how I wanted to write the climax of the entire book and that took me all the way to the end (but before the epilogia). I'm not back to chapter 21 and practically pouring the words out from the full pitcher that is my brain because I allowed it to fill with content at the pace it works best at.

2. Rereading my own work

Of course I re-read my own stuff! I'm the only one who knows exactly what I want to read! 😋 Quite seriously, I have gone back to reading stuff I wrote, like, 10 or even 20 years ago because my brain is saying that's where it wants to be...and it turns out that was just what was causing me to not be able to write. Whether I just needed to take a break, needed to revisit a headspace, or I wrote something that reminded me of something else and I wanted to write it again, I've learned to let my brain lead me in the direction it needs to go.

3. Marinating in the headspace of the story

OP is probably right that this isn't a necessary thing for your writing. Heaven knows I've got a day job and can't just stew in my headspace for my fics all the time. But one thing that cannot be denied is sometimes it's hard to get back into the right headspace, and for me the solution turned out to be; playlists.

This is the playlist for my current WIP. Obviously, at a 2+ hour runtime, what you see above isn't the entire list. That list constitutes, however, all the music that I have, in whatever fashion, mentally associated with the headspace for Code of Ethics. I've done this for every WIP I have for nearly 20 years, and even if I decided to go back to one of those early, early fics that I haven't touched since before Trump was elected, all I need to do is dig up the playlist for it (even if that means re-launching iTunes for the first time in over a year) and hitting "play" and I'm back in that headspace.

Going to tag on one more thing that works for me 99% of the time:

4. Read OTHER PEOPLE'S work!

I write because I was inspired to write. There's other ways to tell the stories I want to tell and be creative and be good at it. I chose writing because other people wrote stuff that 'spoke' to me. Fission came about because I had some ideas that I knew could work because @burgerbecky had already done similar stuff with her writing. I knew Deviation was a thing that could be successful because I'd read plenty of Omegaverse fics. Double Isekai was going to be written by someone and so I figured I might as well get in there first because I'd already read DOZENS of isekai fics. And Code of Ethics came out of, "Okay, but what about...?" while I was reading QuietValerie's Troubleverse. Whatever inspired you to write, sometimes you just gotta go back in and read it again, read the sequel, read more of whatever it was that got you into writing so you remember, "...oh yeah, that's why I write!"

How I learned to write smarter, not harder

(aka, how to write when you're hella ADHD lol)

A reader commented on my current long fic asking how I write so well. I replied with an essay of my honestly pretty non-standard writing advice (that they probably didn't actually want lol) Now I'm gonna share it with you guys and hopefully there's a few of you out there who will benefit from my past mistakes and find some useful advice in here. XD Since I started doing this stuff, which are all pretty easy changes to absorb into your process if you want to try them, I now almost never get writer's block.

The text of the original reply is indented, and I've added some additional commentary to expand upon and clarify some of the concepts.

As for writing well, I usually attribute it to the fact that I spent roughly four years in my late teens/early 20s writing text roleplay with a friend for hours every single day. Aside from the constant practice that provided, having a live audience immediately reacting to everything I wrote made me think a lot about how to make as many sentences as possible have maximum impact so that I could get that kind of fun reaction. (Which is another reason why comments like yours are so valuable to fanfic writers! <3) The other factors that have improved my writing are thus: 1. Writing nonlinearly. I used to write a whole story in order, from the first sentence onward. If there was a part I was excited to write, I slogged through everything to get there, thinking that it would be my reward once I finished everything that led up to that. It never worked. XD It was miserable. By the time I got to the part I wanted to write, I had beaten the scene to death in my head imagining all the ways I could write it, and it a) no longer interested me and b) could not live up to my expectations because I couldn't remember all my ideas I'd had for writing it. The scene came out mediocre and so did everything leading up to it. Since then, I learned through working on VN writing (I co-own a game studio and we have some visual novels that I write for) that I don't have to write linearly. If I'm inspired to write a scene, I just write it immediately. It usually comes out pretty good even in a first draft! But then I also have it for if I get more ideas for that scene later, and I can just edit them in. The scenes come out MUCH stronger because of this. And you know what else I discovered? Those scenes I slogged through before weren't scenes I had no inspiration for, I just didn't have any inspiration for them in that moment! I can't tell you how many times there was a scene I had no interest in writing, and then a week later I'd get struck by the perfect inspiration for it! Those are scenes I would have done a very mediocre job on, and now they can be some of the most powerful scenes because I gave them time to marinate. Inspiration isn't always linear, so writing doesn't have to be either!

Some people are the type that joyfully write linearly. I have a friend like this--she picks up the characters and just continues playing out the next scene. Her story progresses through the entire day-by-day lives of the characters; it never timeskips more than a few hours. She started writing and posting just eight months ago, she's about an eighth of the way through her planned fic timeline, and the content she has so far posted to AO3 for it is already 450,000 words long. But most of us are normal humans. We're not, for the most part, wired to create linearly. We consume linearly, we experience linearly, so we assume we must also create linearly. But actually, a lot of us really suffer from trying to force ourselves to create this way, and we might not even realize it. If you're the kind of person who thinks you need to carrot-on-a-stick yourself into writing by saving the fun part for when you finally write everything that happens before it: Stop. You're probably not a linear writer. You're making yourself suffer for no reason and your writing is probably suffering for it. At least give nonlinear writing a try before you assume you can't write if you're not baiting or forcing yourself into it!! Remember: Writing is fun. You do this because it's fun, because it's your hobby. If you're miserable 80% of the time you're doing it, you're probably doing it wrong!

2. Rereading my own work. I used to hate reading my own work. I wouldn't even edit it usually. I would write it and slap it online and try not to look at it again. XD Writing nonlinearly forced me to start rereading because I needed to make sure scenes connected together naturally and it also made it easier to get into the headspace of the story to keep writing and fill in the blanks and get new inspiration. Doing this built the editing process into my writing process--I would read a scene to get back in the headspace, dislike what I had written, and just clean it up on the fly. I still never ever sit down to 'edit' my work. I just reread it to prep for writing and it ends up editing itself. Many many scenes in this fic I have read probably a dozen times or more! (And now, I can actually reread my own work for enjoyment!) Another thing I found from doing this that it became easy to see patterns and themes in my work and strengthen them. Foreshadowing became easy. Setting up for jokes or plot points became easy. I didn't have to plan out my story in advance or write an outline, because the scenes themselves because a sort of living outline on their own. (Yes, despite all the foreshadowing and recurring thematic elements and secret hidden meanings sprinkled throughout this story, it actually never had an outline or a plan for any of that. It's all a natural byproduct of writing nonlinearly and rereading.)

Unpopular writing opinion time: You don't need to make a detailed outline.

Some people thrive on having an outline and planning out every detail before they sit down to write. But I know for a lot of us, we don't know how to write an outline or how to use it once we've written it. The idea of making one is daunting, and the advice that it's the only way to write or beat writer's block is demoralizing. So let me explain how I approach "outlining" which isn't really outlining at all.

I write in a Notion table, where every scene is a separate table entry and the scene is written in the page inside that entry. I do this because it makes writing nonlinearly VASTLY more intuitive and straightforward than writing in a single document. (If you're familiar with Notion, this probably makes perfect sense to you. If you're not, imagine something a little like a more contained Google Sheets, but every row has a title cell that opens into a unique Google Doc when you click on it. And it's not as slow and clunky as the Google suite lol) When I sit down to begin a new fic idea, I make a quick entry in the table for every scene I already know I'll want or need, with the entries titled with a couple words or a sentence that describes what will be in that scene so I'll remember it later. Basically, it's the most absolute bare-bones skeleton of what I vaguely know will probably happen in the story.

Then I start writing, wherever I want in the list. As I write, ideas for new scenes and new connections and themes will emerge over time, and I'll just slot them in between the original entries wherever they naturally fit, rearranging as necessary, so that I won't forget about them later when I'm ready to write them. As an example, my current long fic started with a list of roughly 35 scenes that I knew I wanted or needed, for a fic that will probably be around 100k words (which I didn't know at the time haha). As of this writing, it has expanded to 129 scenes. And since I write them directly in the page entries for the table, the fic is actually its own outline, without any additional effort on my part. As I said in the comment reply--a living outline!

This also made it easier to let go of the notion that I had to write something exactly right the first time. (People always say you should do this, but how many of us do? It's harder than it sounds! I didn't want to commit to editing later! I didn't want to reread my work! XD) I know I'm going to edit it naturally anyway, so I can feel okay giving myself permission to just write it approximately right and I can fix it later. And what I found from that was that sometimes what I believed was kind of meh when I wrote it was actually totally fine when I read it later! Sometimes the internal critic is actually wrong. 3. Marinating in the headspace of the story. For the first two months I worked on [fic], I did not consume any media other than [fandom the fic is in]. I didn't watch, read, or play anything else. Not even mobile games. (And there wasn't really much fan content for [fandom] to consume either. Still isn't, really. XD) This basically forced me to treat writing my story as my only source of entertainment, and kept me from getting distracted or inspired to write other ideas and abandon this one.

As an aside, I don't think this is a necessary step for writing, but if you really want to be productive in a short burst, I do highly recommend going on a media consumption hiatus. Not forever, obviously! Consuming media is a valuable tool for new inspiration, and reading other's work (both good and bad, as long as you think critically to identify the differences!) is an invaluable resource for improving your writing.

When I write, I usually lay down, close my eyes, and play the scene I'm interested in writing in my head. I even take a ten-minute nap now and then during this process. (I find being in a state of partial drowsiness, but not outright sleepiness, makes writing easier and better. Sleep helps the brain process and make connections!) Then I roll over to the laptop next to me and type up whatever I felt like worked for the scene. This may mean I write half a sentence at a time between intervals of closed-eye-time XD

People always say if you're stuck, you need to outline.

What they actually mean by that (whether they realize it or not) is that if you're stuck, you need to brainstorm. You need to marinate. You don't need to plan what you're doing, you just need to give yourself time to think about it!

What's another framing for brainstorming for your fic? Fantasizing about it! Planning is work, but fantasizing isn't.

You're already fantasizing about it, right? That's why you're writing it. Just direct that effort toward the scenes you're trying to write next! Close your eyes, lay back, and fantasize what the characters do and how they react.

And then quickly note down your inspirations so you don't forget, haha.

And if a scene is so boring to you that even fantasizing about it sucks--it's probably a bad scene.

If it's boring to write, it's going to be boring to read. Ask yourself why you wanted that scene. Is it even necessary? Can you cut it? Can you replace it with a different scene that serves the same purpose but approaches the problem from a different angle? If you can't remove the troublesome scene, what can you change about it that would make it interesting or exciting for you to write?

And I can't write sitting up to save my damn life. It's like my brain just stops working if I have to sit in a chair and stare at a computer screen. I need to be able to lie down, even if I don't use it! Talking walks and swinging in a hammock are also fantastic places to get scene ideas worked out, because the rhythmic motion also helps our brain process. It's just a little harder to work on a laptop in those scenarios. XD

In conclusion: Writing nonlinearly is an amazing tool for kicking writer's block to the curb. There's almost always some scene you'll want to write. If there isn't, you need to re-read or marinate.

Or you need to use the bathroom, eat something, or sleep. XD Seriously, if you're that stuck, assess your current physical condition. You might just be unable to focus because you're uncomfortable and you haven't realized it yet.

Anyway! I hope that was helpful, or at least interesting! XD Sorry again for the text wall. (I think this is the longest comment reply I've ever written!)

And same to you guys on tumblr--I hope this was helpful or at least interesting. XD Reblogs appreciated if so! (Maybe it'll help someone else!)

[pers-books]

The War Doctor Rises 

27 March 2024

Jonathon Carley stars in a new era of full-cast audio dramas for the War Doctor, announced today from Big Finish Productions. 

The Doctor’s disavowed Time War incarnation first appeared, played by Sir John Hurt, in the 2013 Doctor Who TV episodes The Name of the Doctor, The Night of the Doctor and The Day of the Doctor. Hurt later reprised this role for twelve audio stories at Big Finish, before his tragic passing in 2017. 

In June 2021, Jonathon Carley took over the mantle, playing a younger version of the character in The War Doctor Begins, an origin story for the incarnation which ran for six volumes. 

Now, beginning in August 2024, Carley will reprise the role in Doctor Who – The War Doctor Rises. The War Doctor’s story will continue as he faces the ever-increasing horrors of the Time War. 

Producer David Richardson said: “The younger War Doctor has now established himself, and so we’re heading into different territory for his era. For The War Doctor Rises, I wanted us to hand over to the writer – each box set will be one writer’s vision, as they give their own take on the War Doctor and the Time War. 

“So, each volume will feel like a vast sweeping movie for audio, with richly developed characters and deeply imaginative worlds. There are no boundaries on creativity, no pressure to tie up a story within an hour. We’ve recorded two of them so far and I promise you, it’s working beautifully.” 

Jonathon Carley added: “It’s the next chapter! The War Doctor Begins was about the character finding himself and coming to terms with the choice he’s made, which has been a fascinating story to explore – the identity crisis the character has had. Now he’s going to have a harder edge, because he’s learned to let go of that past identity, and now he’s on a mission to deliver what he set out to do. 

“The longer stories add a whole different dimension in terms of the scale of the storytelling, because we can really dig deep, not just in terms of the plot and what’s going on in this complex landscape of the Time War, but also the characters who have been such a rich part of all the stories we’ve done so far – we can really explore their experiences in this chaotic space and this enormous conflict.” 

Volumes 1 and 2 of Doctor Who – The War Doctor Rises are now available for pre-order exclusively here, either as a collector’s edition triple CD box set, starting at £22.99 per volume, or as a digital download, starting at £18.99 per volume.

Big Finish listeners can save money by pre-ordering The War Doctor Rises Volumes 1 and 2 in a bundle for just £44 (collector's edition CD and download) or £36 (download only).

Further details about Doctor Who – The War Doctor Rises, including cast, writers and story details, will be announced nearer the release date. 

All the above prices include the special pre-order discount and are subject to change after general release. 

Please note that Big Finish is currently operating a digital-first release schedule. The mailout of collector’s edition CDs will be delayed, but all purchases of this release unlock a digital copy that can be immediately downloaded or played on the Big Finish app from the release date.

[rohitgurumith]

SOURCES AND SIGNIFICANCE - CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Weaver, T. (2013). Comics for Film, Games, and Animation: Using Comics to Construct your Transmedia Storyworld. [online] CRC Press LLC, Oxford, pp.15–16. Available at: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/herts/detail.action?docID=1092832 [Accessed 3 Jan. 2023].

Tyler W. Weaver is the author of only a few volumes In addition to a large number of short stories and articles. He is presently working on his next novel while also living in the Midwest's wilds with his wife and their canine offspring. In one of his books "Comics for film, games and animation : Using Comics to Construct your Transmedia Storyworld", he pitched a very interesting take specifically in the chapter "Elements of story: character," which immediately caught my eye and made me want to pick this for my critical analysis. I immediately felt like this would be the most helpful for my researches compared to all the other readers since im the type of peron to focus on well developing polished characters as my first priority. Getting back to the book, he challenges the readers by posing a general question regarding why viewers enjoy movies and television programmes. After stating the obvious response, "Entertainment," he goes further by posing the question, "What makes it entertaining?" He responds to this question by stating that we watch these movies and television series more for the characters than for the storytelling, plot twists, etc. because seeing these characters gives us the same feeling as having friends or family over. He then expands on this comparison with some logic that I find both interesting and very valid, namely the idea that watching these characters on a weekly basis fosters our natural propensity for empathy and causes us to care about and relate to them. As a result, we support and cheer for these characters when they face challenges in the series, just like we would do for any of our friends and loved ones.

He then continues by discussing one of his current personal favourites, the American science fiction drama television show "Lost." He admitted that it took him more than two months to finish the entire show, which I would say is fairly outstanding and dedicated for a show with more than a hundred episodes, each of which is close to an hour long. He also acknowledged that he didn't realise he was going to write this book at the time, but the notion that characters are the heart and soul of a show propelled him to spend a year conducting extensive research and analysing well-known television programmes that extol the value of characters. Just to name a few, these shows included Leverage, Human Target, Fringe, and House.

Returning to the topic of the "Lost" series, he said that it exhibited plot density with branching narratives, perceived interactivity, and plot twists that couldn't be captured by a single medium. He called it a unique product of 21st century media consumption. But the author said that none of these factors were important to him because the characters were the only thing that kept him reading and were important to him.

His argument is that the characters, not the mysteries and plot twists, were what made "Lost" so enduring and brilliant. He also discusses how series like the event, flash forward, and V tried so hard to emulate and mimic the "Lost" formula but failed because they did so in the wrong way. He noted that the loss of specific show characters, such as Jin and Sun, left a void in his life that he is still trying to recover from, and he asks if any readers share his sentiments.

The author admitted that because he believed in and cared about his characters, he created them first and built the story around them. The end aim or the ending of the story would be for the character to fulfil an inciting incident caused by their defects, which initially sparked the story. He also asserts that "fully developed and engaging" does not always equate to "likeable," and he used Greggory House from the television drama "House" and Louie de Palma from the comedy "Taxi" as two of the few instances he provided to support this argument. He refers to these tales as "Midwest stories" because they include passive, one-dimensional people who agree on everything. The chapter is then concluded with a humorous note before moving on to the next.

In this specific chapter, I found myself being astonished by the author’s views on several instances, which gives me more confidence and makes me happy that I chose this one for critical analysis. I also find his viewpoint reasonable though it could be controversial to a big group of people that think otherwise. I also strongly believe that a well contructed character/ characters are one of the most vital elements in media and will keep the audience engaged even if the plot isn’t the best and there are so many examples I can give to back that point. I have seen movies with little or no plot, yet very enjoyable mainly because of the characters and the characters alone. Some great examples would be Iron Man 2, Spiderman 3 etc. these movies were hated by the critics so much yet holds such a special place in fans hearts. I would argue that the biggest reason behind that would be the well developed and lovable characters such as tony stark, peter parker etc, the emotions they express and the solidification of their legacies. To me that does justice to an enjoyable film rather than a film with a great plot but boring characters.

I would like to summarise and conclude this analysis by saying that the author has dedicated a chapter to how characters play the biggest role when it comes to movies and tv shows. He first tells us that we watch films and tv shows to entertain ourselves. He then follows up by saying that the characters are what makes the media object entertaining. He asks us to contrast between the characters in the tv shows, to the characters in real life ,and tells us how we get more attached to these characters the more we see them and their behaviours and start rooting for them and caring about them, just like we would for our loved ones in our lives. To back his points up, he gives out a few examples of some of his favorite tv shows and explains to us why his points are actually reasonable and after which he also explains how the other shows failed despite trying to replicate the same formula and pointed out that they replicated the wrong “formula”, referring to the characters and making his whole argument reasonable and almost flawless.

[idrellegames]

Wayfarer Dev Log 2022.04.01

Hi friends,

Spring is here and while I didn't finish everything I had planned for the winter quarter, I have still completed a significant amount of work on Episode 2.

March was a pretty stressful month in terms of personal events and work/life balance. Unfortunately, this means that we'll be looking at a public launch later in spring/summer rather than earlier, but I am really pleased with the shape of the episode and I think the extra work is going to make it even more worthwhile to play.

Because Episode 2 is still in development, I will not be answering any coding or writing asks during the month of April. My inbox will stay open for all other types of questions. 💕

✦ The Public Build [Version 1.1.1.]

Patch 1.5.2 was released on March 28. This is an extremely small patch to fix an inventory bug and a couple continuity errors in Aegineta's scene.

If your Episode 1 playthrough took you to the Cove and you received duplicates of jewelry in your inventory from Lars Drakehand, you will have to restart from before that section to correct the error.

✦ The Alpha Build [Version 1.1.2.2.]

The alpha build received the same patch as the public to fix those errors.

Episode 2, Scene 4 is currently at 95,000 words of cumulative content. I am hoping to finish the rest of Episode 2 this month. Regardless, the next update to the alpha build will be the last. This is a beast of an episode and I will be very happy when it's complete!

✦ Special Announcement

Playtester applications are open! This will be for playtesting Episode 2 prior to its public release. Applications close on April 30th. Selected playtesters will be contacted by May 7th.

You must be 18+ and have a Discord account in order to playtest (all bug reporting is done through private playtester-only channels in the Wayfarer Discord server).

See this post for details. ✨

✦ On This Blog

No Twine, coding or interactive fiction writing tutorials were posted this month.

✦ On Patreon

Two in-depth progress reports on Episode 2's development.

I am now posting weekly sneak peaks of WIP material! These are available for all tier levels.

Twine tutorial on everything you need to know to make a character creator. This covers the basics (name, gender selection, pronouns, and custom pronouns) and advance options (such as appearances and backgrounds/origins), gives multiple examples of different methods, and comes with a Twine HTML file you can download and pop into the editor to play around with the code. [Apprentice tier and above]

If you’ve enjoyed Wayfarer, used my tutorials, or would like to support my work, please consider supporting me on Patreon (patreon.com/idrellegames). Patrons receive access to the alpha build, private channels in the Discord server, exclusive previews, bonus content, and other benefits.

Wayfarer is a passion project and creating it is a full-time commitment. Any little bit goes a long way to help me bring it to fruition.

If you aren’t in a position to support financially, reblogs, shares, ratings and comments, and spreading the word about the game are much appreciated and do a lot to help me out! 💕

[easternmind]

Interview with the creators of Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 2

The following interview was translated from the EnterBrain! guidebook for Zettai Zetsumei Toshi 2 (2002), known in the west as Raw Danger. While the original episode benefited from some cult following in the west due to how experimental and rudimentary it was, it is my sentiment that the sequel was far more polished and ambitious, taking the concept of interwoven character arcs much farther than any of the other episodes that followed. I would not hesitate to consider Zettai Zetsumei Toshi one of the most original and daring independent PS2 games coming from Japan. Kazuma Kujou, the lead designer of the original, acted as producer at Granzella for the release of the third installment, Damaged Town and Her Song; as well as the fourth part which, as I reported many years ago in this page, was halted due to the Fukushima incident in 2011 - a principled decision that speaks volumes of the creator's moral fiber. The game would later be recovered and published for the PS4 under the name "Summer Memories". Playstation Plus Premium users can currently download it for gratis.

Up to the birth of “2”

On the left, Maki D. (designer). On the right, Kujou Kazuma (producer).

-- Firstly, what were your thoughts at the end of the game’s development?

Kujou, Kazuma (herein referred to as Kujou): In a word, I think it was a long development cycle. From speaking with Maki D. (herein referred to as Maki), it seems that we began before the end of development on his previous project, and so it took until about February or March of 2001.

-- He already started on something new before it was finished?

Kujou: That’s right. I suppose, because it was Maki who was directly creating the game, my feeling that it was taking a long time was quite different to his.

-- How about you, Maki?

Maki: Thinking about it now, I was under quite a lot of pressure from my uncompleted project, and I felt like I was being stretched in different directions. Especially when I was considering the initial planning, and when I was searching for the best way to proceed, I was spread a little thin.

-- Before your course of action was finalised, what kind of ideas did you have?

Kujou: The fact that the main character is not a hero in the city’s disaster never changed. There was the element of cold though.

-- The idea of the cold was there from the beginning, right?

Maki: In the beginning we envisaged a snow storm game, at that time we planned on having snow falling down.

Kujou: From initial development, I mentioned the winter-like setting amongst the staff and they told me that it would be difficult to create. Afterwards we came up with the idea of stopping an earthquake. However, if we made “Zettai Zetsumei Toshi” about an earthquake, it would have become just an ‘earthquake game’, so if we wanted to create a true ‘disaster game’, we had to come up with something else.

Maki: Although at the beginning we had all kinds of ideas and images of snow and volcanic eruptions, the cold aspect was leading us to an impasse. So, we planned what would happen if we made it about a flood. This was also the time we started to build a rough map.

-- And that’s when you moved on to set up the characters and scenario?

Maki: That’s right. The story doesn’t just begin with the disaster. From the beginning we had thought of having it start from a peaceful place.

Kujou: Yes, since, in our previous project, we had the main character thrown into a place that had been left a ghost town right at the beginning.

Maki: Although it’s a peaceful party scene, if you notice, there’s one person who is without a date. With this project I also wanted to show the contrast between that elegant scene and its turning to total confusion. Maybe that’s the reason the map took so long to create.

-- As for the party, a lot of preparation was put into the choices available in the subevents, is that right?

Kujou: That’s right, the choices… well, we emphasised it so much, by the end I felt like I was writing a thesis on it! (laughs). It’s because the method of inserting these choices made it so difficult. It was weird, and the order was all jumbled up and things like that. I thought that because the player is only watching the images that have been directed, they don’t feel that they’re playing a game. That’s why we wanted to add choices to the important scenes.

Maki: Yes, and on top of that, as the choices were added, the forking conversations just kept piling up (laughs).

-- Did the branching aspect cause you trouble, what with so many characters?

Maki: Oh yes. Staff members didn’t have an accurate overall image of the project’s stages because there was a lack of communication and they weren’t giving their opinions when they were unsure of the characters’ time schedules.

Kujou: Right until the end, discussions got a little bit warped and because it was easy for it to become incoherent, they were having to constantly reconfirm why they were working together and what the scenario writers were working on.

-- There was also a mutual interference?

Maki: As far as that goes, I was thinking about how simple it was for the main character to get out of scrapes, maybe just brushing past, and that the player might find this a little boring; I wanted to stick my nose in and add some gaming strategy, that’s why the game turned out more like this.

About the main characters

-- You created Shinohara (Joshua Harwell) first and added the other characters afterwards, is that right?

Maki: Looking back on it, Shinohara was there from the beginning, but when we got down to the other 5 characters, I felt they were not as rounded, and we needed to add something.

-- Of all the characters in the game, which one caused you most trouble?

Maki: Tsuge (Isaac Schiller) was the most problematic. Of course, he’s driving around in his taxi, and he covers quite a distance. Because we’d said for a long time we were going to use the same map, in order that you can’t see it being reused, we made it at the end.

-- Don’t you think there are a lot of characters with a negative image? People getting arrested, losing their memory, and all kinds of skeletons coming out of the closet (laughs).

Maki: Although we originally planned for Nishizaki (Paige Meyer) to win friendship, it ended up developing quite unhappily. But by the end of Saeki’s (Amber Brazil’s) character arc, I felt very happy inside.

-- Were there any characters you discarded?

Kujou: During the organisation of the game scenario, there were changes to the characters, but we wanted to add meaning to the number of people, so we came to use them all.

-- Comparisons to your previous work were being drawn?

Kujou: That was for characters that were decided much later. About a year ago I suggested that we include them, but it wasn’t taken seriously.

Maki: The characters from my last work came from inside me, and there’s a part that was eaten up, and I didn’t like that. On top of that, since the character set from my previous work had almost no bearing on the new, we could do whatever we wanted with them, which added a little element of fear.

-- Did you want to include the Woman Looter from the beginning?

Kujou: At first, before I even knew we were going to include her, I just had this feeling, of doing things my own way (laughs).

Maki: For some reason she was a very easy character to use, from a positional standpoint.

-- Sudou (Keith Helm), who was a character in your previous work, also makes an appearance, and his image changed quite a lot from the last game.

Kujou: Well, I guess we added that character because we wanted to contrast him with the cuteness of the impudent Honda (Sophia Briggs). We also wanted to give the player a feeling of recognition when his name appears onscreen. At that time, he was a non-controllable character, but autumn last year, around October, we changed him to a playable character.

-- That was fanatastic timing.

Kujou: We were also wondering about the end of Tsuge’s (Isaac Schiller’s) segment, so we brought them together and included them in the modified Editorial Department’s map.

-- Did you make any other modification?

Maki: We also changed the scene in which Shinohara and the head chef fall off the expressway, at short notice.

Kujou: The designer got angry with that scene too. The falling scene was decided around November, but of course, because there was no terrain underneath… we started to develop the idea of Shinohara and the head chef dropping off here.

-- And you had sudden talks about that too?

Kujou: About the ambiguity of whether the head chef lives or dies in the end, and whether he could be thought of as a main character, is what we discussed, and in the end we added him. I think it turned into a good scene filled with ideas.

-- Were there any elements that you wanted to add, but had to leave out?

Kujou: We were wondering if it would be possible to tie all the endings together.

Maki: It was just, the amount of endings… there were twice as many as there are now, so we had to cut some of them.

The little details

A page borrowed from Tomonobu Itagaki's fashion book.

-- So why is there no health gauge this time?

Maki: In order to make the coldness stand out, we got rid of the health gauge. Of course, unable to rely on a health meter, the player has to concentrate on the movement to determine where to go.

-As the body temperature drops, the character’s movement gradually slows down and the player starts to panic, especially when visibility worsens.

Kujou: It turns that way right at the start. When it’s so tough at the beginning you really feel like you’re about to collapse.

Maki: Thing about the cold is, although the player understands the cold, it’s hard for them to know the effects of the temperature, and the items, and so they wonder if they’re going to run out, so in the end we added the TP gauge which shows the character’s body temperature and if they are wet.

-- Were there any other last-minute alterations?

Kujou: We also changed the characters’ names, didn’t we?

-- Like Avolon?

Kujou: Calling it Avolon happened much later. We also had talks about the name ‘Echidna’ (laughs).

Maki: His role was always like this, even though some things had already been decided, he would rearrange things, like scenes which would suggest characters’ motives or true colours.

-- I was surprised when I saw the number of choices.

Kujou: The number of choices was greatly cut down, but in the final scenes, they have real consequences; I wanted to hit the player with some tough choices. We could only add up to 7 choices at that point, but I asked them if we could have 8 choices, so they added it in for me (laughs).

Maki: Because the number of choices increased, at first, we had to place a cursor to the left, but this made them difficult to read, so we gave the choices colours.

-- There are some choices that people probably won’t make, right?

Kujou: There are. Even though some choices might only be selected by one in a hundred people, the voice actors still recorded them for us.

-- Were there any issues with the sound?

Maki: As much as possible, I wanted to refrain from having the music define the atmosphere, and instead let the sound effects create the atmosphere of actually being there. As you’d expect the sound of rain falling was essential, and when you can hear that, it makes you feel melancholy, and that was an atmosphere that was important to the game.

-- Lastly, could you tell me your greatest highlights of the game?

Maki: Probably the scene in the second half of chapter one, when Shinohara (Joshua Harwell) causes the train to derail. Also, when the characters die (laughs). -- How about you, Kujou?

Kujou: Let me see, there are so many great scenes. What I want the players to see is obviously, the presence of the disaster, but I hope they enjoy the freedom of the choices. Whether it’s a disaster, or something heart-warming, it’s all the same when it comes to creating a fun game. I think the choices are one of the most Irem-like features of the game.

[dribs-and-drabbles]

BL ~ Drama Asks

Tagged by @biwichapas over two weeks ago (!) but thank you for thinking of me!

1. If you had to watch one drama forever what would it be?

This is too hard...maybe one of either Bad Buddy, To My Star (1&2), or HIStory 3: Trapped.

2. If you could change the ending of a drama which one would it be?

I have to say HIStory 3: MODC, of course, but maybe controversially I'd change He's Coming to Me. Hear me out: I cried. I cried SO MUCH when I thought Mes and Thun weren't going to get a HEA. I mean, it made sense... Mes was a ghost and Thun a human...how would this work? But the series handled that journey of grief really well so by the end I could accept it. BUT then they brought Mes back. Now, it would have worked if either a) he didn't come back at all and Thun could move on, fallen in love with someone else, and forever savoured that memory, or b) if Mes had come back as a human again - then they could have had a proper life together. As it was, coming back as a ghost still, there is an inevitability that their time together will end at some point when Mes does have to leave. I don't know... I was left unsatisfied because it was only a HFN.

3. Name your favorite drama and tell who your favorite character was.

The series currently top of my top ten list is Bad Buddy...so I should say that. Favourite character...ah this is hard...Pran? Maybe...

4. Name a drama you dropped within the first few episodes ~ we all have at least one!

Tharntype 2 (I just couldn't...), Peach of Time (partly availability issues, partly the prospect of not getting a HEA), Top Secret Together (it just got bad but I think it was a victim of the pandemic), and I have started Coffee Melody but don't know if I'll finish (It's slow and I don't have time for things that don't grab me).

5. Name a popular drama you’ve never watched and why?

I Told Sunset About You (and I Promised You the Moon). First it was availability issues, then I felt a bit wiggy about watching it because a) the characters are so young and b) I had heard it was a bit to 'real' for some people and I just didn't want to go through the angst.

6. Name a drama you regret watching.

I don't regret anything I've watched. I would have stopped watching anything that may have ended up being a 'regret watch'...so I guess I could just repeat those.

7. Name a drama you thought you’d never watch but did and did you end up liking it?

HIStory 2: Right or Wrong. It took me a while because I wasn't sure about the student/teacher dynamic...but it's a great series and the age gap/potential for abuse of power was dealt with well enough.

8. Name a pairing you want to see?

Well, I've been wanting to see Poppy in a lead for a long time and I have already suggested a polyship with him and the two Perths...but actually, thinking about it, I want to see TONG and POPPY together. Both EXCELLENT goofy/character actors but I believe could pull off something more mature and dramatic. So, yeah, them.

9. Name a pairing you didn’t think had chemistry?

Maybe controversial but I don't really think Jimmy and Tommy have chemistry, certainly not as Saifah and Zon in Why R U?

10. Name a pairing you have seen in another drama that you like?

I presume this means in a drama I haven't seen...but if I like the pairing I probably would have seen the series, so I don't really have an answer. Instead, I'll offer a few secondary pairings who I would like to see lead a series (the actors or the characters): Pitch and Bank from Golden Blood, Jack and Zhao Zi from HIStory 3: Trapped, and of course Ram and King from My Engineer.

Tagging @jemmo @liyazaki @taytawan @minhhyung @pranpats and @laowen if you haven't done it and feel like having a go...or anyone else who wants!