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shutteredislands · 4 years ago

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REYLO MODERN AU FIC RECS

Hi!! I spent my entire winter break reading reylo fics and I feel like I’ve found some gems! I’m boring and don’t like angst, so most of these are pretty fluffy, however, always read the tags before reading. Anyways, happy reading!

Already Home - College, Roommates, A/B/O, Soulmates AU - Complete - Rated E - 79k

“Oh stop being all Alpha-y.” She flexes her foot, rolling her ankle as if to prove a point, and he doesn’t miss the wince that crosses her expression. “You aren’t my Alpha, and you definitely aren't my soulmate,” she mutters.

He can’t help but let out a dry laugh. “Thank god for small mercies.”

Okay so this is a trope fest but it was so good! I’m not gonna explain the plot in depth because I think going in blind is best for this!

Baby, It's Just Biology - Professor/Student, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 113k

For Rey Jackson, trying to finish your degree in Biomedical Science at Harvard is difficult enough when you're one of the few Omegas on campus.

It's made even more difficult when your Professor is the one to trigger your heat. You can't help it, it's just your biology.

An Alpha Omega love story.

This is the perfect balance of angst, fluff and pure smut. This one Is a lot angstier than anything else on this list, but you can see every stage of this relationship and I loved it so much! Please read the tags on this one!

I’ve got you (under my skin) - Nanny/Single Parent AU - On Hiatus - Rated E - 81k

“Hi, I’m Rey. I’m here for the—”

“Nanny,” Ben blurts out dazedly, still trying to remember how to form coherent thoughts. “You’re the nanny.”

Her smile hitches up a little wider. “Well, I might be.”

Suddenly, Ben thinks he might be in for a whole new world of problems.

Because Rey Johnson is still most likely the only thing standing between him and disaster, that much hasn’t changed, not by a long shot.

And Ben can’t seem to stop staring at her mouth.

In which Ben hires Rey to watch his son... but he can’t seem to stop watching her.

Okay so I almost never read WIPs, but this one was left off in a pretty good place so don’t worry about cliffhangers or anything. I am a sucker for single dad!Ben so expect more of these. I loved this fic so much and get ready for a SMUTFEST.

Light My Fire - Rivals to Lovers, College, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 20k

When rivals Ben and Rey break into a professor's office together, it comes out that Rey might not be the Beta she thinks she is.

I’ve never been the biggest reader of enemies to lovers, until this. This was so so so good! I loved their banter so much, and this is another smutfest lol.

Peacock - Fake Dating, Enemies to Lovers, Neighbors AU - Complete - Rated E - 72k

Thanks to a series of misunderstandings, failed attempts at flirting, and loud Katy Perry music, Ben grows to hate his new neighbor.

Proposing to her wasn't the best solution to his problems.

This is, hands down, one of the funniest fics I have ever read. I cried actual tears because of how funny this is. Slowish burn, but their banter will keep you engaged the whole time. I love this so much!!

An Unexpected Vacation - Scientist, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 62k

“You don’t care that someone, that people will watch you fuck?” He looks two seconds away from puking. “Like multiple, multiple people will be able to describe your vagina. They’ll probably analyze it in a boardroom. Someone will feel proud about a shitty PowerPoint full of annotated pictures. They will use words like ‘arousal fluid’ and consult charts and these things will never not be digitally saved. That doesn’t bother you?”

“Are you suggesting my vagina is unworthy of analysis?”

In which Rey attempts to bolster her bank account by volunteering to fuck an Alpha in a scientific study. Plans go pear-shaped when she accidentally triggers scientist!Ben’s first Rut.

This was a really funny smutfest and I loved that. I loved Rey and Ben so much, and Ben was the perfect “I hate everyone but you” boyfriend! I love this!

She Doesn’t Normally Bite - Single Parent/Teacher AU - WIP - Rated E - 37k

Ben Solo is a single dad to 6-year old Ellis. Her teacher isn't the old-cat lady that he expects and naturally, sparks fly when they meet. Rey helps show Ben that he is allowed to be happy and the romance is DELICIOUS. There will be the happy ending we all deserve.

Both Ben and Rey have a lot to navigate, and of course - things are never straight forward.

Tw: Bens wife died when their daughter was born - whilst it is mentioned periodically, it does not form a significant part of the story. There'll also be warnings in the notes for the particular chapters it'll be mentioned in.

THIS THE ONLY WIP I WILLL EVER READ REY AND BEN ARE SO FREAKING CUTE AND ELLIS IS SUCH A CUTE KID AHHHHHHH! That is all.

Down an Inch, Up an Inch - A/B/O, Soulmates, Gym Rats AU - Complete - Rated E - 60k

Omega instructor Rey has always been the master of her domain at Rebel Belle Barre and wouldn't dream of dating an Alpha.

When her new neighbors at Supremacy Bootcamp start ruining her classes with their terrible music, she storms over to give them a piece of her mind. She challenges the beefy ex-Marine owner Ben Solo to a plank-off and the loser has to take the other's class. When they spark an unusual connection, can Rey stay away for long?

Has she bitten off more than she can chew with the gentle giant Alpha with the warm, sad eyes?

SMUT FREAKING FESTTTTT. Okay but I loved these two so much, even though I am opposed to working out in any shape or form! I love the non-traditional soulmate part, and I really loved Rey in this.

Tea for Two - Enemies to Lovers, University Setting AU - Complete - Rated E - 67k

'"This is a tea house, you know." The plummy, ultra-posh voice startled Rey Kenobi from her day-dreaming, almost spilling the scalding hot coffee over her chest.'

Rey, an American former hacker, turned cyber security expert, has been commissioned by Oxford University to protect their systems from hackers. Unfortunately, she has to work closely with Professor Ben Solo, Merton Professor of English Literature who also happens to be Lord Ben Solo, member of the English peerage. And an unmitigated snob.

She drinks coffee. He drinks tea. He only reads classic literature. She reads Marvel comics. He is nobility. She is a nobody.

Things should go swimmingly, shouldn't it?

SO. MUCH. UNRESOLVED. SEXUAL. TENSION. I loved the slow burn aspect because I sat in bed because I was waiting for them to bone for so long. And after they bone its a smut and fluff-fest I loved this so much!

And They Were Roommates - Roommates, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 49k

“This isn’t going to work.” He points a finger between the two of them. “This arrangement.”

Her eyes narrow. “You didn’t put any specifications on who could apply.”

“Yeah…” He rubs the back of his neck then, the action making it look longer, making her wonder what it might feel like under her fingers. “You have to know that this isn’t a good idea.”

She knows what he means, she does—but she’s so tired of being brushed aside for her designation that she challenges him anyway. “And why not?”

His eyes bore into hers, his expression blank as he says, “Because I can tell how much scent-block you put on—and I can still smell you.”

In which Rey’s new roommate turns out to be a lot more than she bargained for.

EVEN. MORE. UNRESOLVED. SEXUAL. TENSION. Like these two would be eating cereal and I would be chanting, “bone! bone! bone!” the whole time. I loved these two, and the family aspect of this one was so good.

Imprints - A/B/O, Boss/Employee AU - Complete - Rated E - 74k

“I was happy you’ll be working with someone you know. He’ll take good care of you.”

Take good care of you.

The words send a shiver down her spine, sparking memories that flood her with embarrassment. She feels a strange itch just below her ear, her gland giving a phantom pulse as if her body remembers the incident even still.

Suddenly her triumph fades into dread, the idea of working here leaving a hollow pit in her stomach. Poe is still talking, but she doesn’t hear most of it. Her mind is firmly trapped in the vivid memories of six years ago— in a moment she wishes she could forget.

By the time she hangs up the phone— she isn’t sure anymore if she can do this.

Okay so this is pretty popular so I wont say too much, but it lives up to the hype. Smutfest, fluff and angst rolled into one beautiful fic!

Bespoke - Enemies to Lovers, Boss/Employee (?) AU - Complete - Rated E - 38k

When new stylist Rey Jackson receives a request to dress the hottest (and most unfashionable) new actor in Hollywood, she gets a lot more than she bargained for.

Mentally AND physically.

Because Ben Solo is freaking massive.

THIS WAS SO HOT OMG! Smutfest but also super cute. Another “I hate everyone but you” version of Ben I fell in love with. Loved this!

Incognito - Coworkers AU - Complete - Rated E - 30k

“Somehow Rey’s coworkers find out about her Daddy kink. They all kink shame her for it, except her coworker Ben. He has something else in mind.”

This was so funny! Ben and Rey were so cute, and I love Finn and Rose in this too! This was great!

A Home For Christmas - Single Parent, Sugar Daddy AU - Complete - Rated E - 109k

Rey is a struggling single mother who needs to do right by her daughter, even if it means she needs to steal. Ben is sad and lonely, recently divorced for the second time. When Rey's daughter picks him to help her find her mom, their paths cross and their Christmas becomes a little more bright.

This was so freaking cute OMG!! I know I say that a lot, but this was so adorable! I loved Ben and Rey so much, but Nova was obviously the star of the show. I cannot recommend this enough!

Unsuppressed - Office, A/B/O AU - Complete - Rated E - 49k

Rey had only ever encountered two Alphas in her entire life that had been unsuppressed. And now this third one that stunk up the entire building. Not that it stunk, his scent. In fact, it was the most delicious thing Rey had ever smelled. ///////////////////////////////////// Ben Solo closed his eyes as he rode down the elevator from the 40th floor to the lobby, trying not to reach up to his glands to scratch them. Somehow, it felt like he always caught the elevator that was dripping in the Omega’s scent. The one that wandered around the building without any suppressants. The one that smelled better than any Omega he had ever smelled before.

STRAIGHT FLUFF AND SMUT OMFG!!! I loved this so freaking much! This was whatever the opposite of unresolved sexual tension and slow burn. Like Ben and Rey tried to make this a slow burn but they could not keep their hands off of each other. I loved this!

Sunshine and Gunpowder - Hitman, Surprise Parents AU - Complete - Rated E - 48k

She’s a teacher who would do anything to protect her student. He’s a glorified hitman with a heart of black gold.

Together, they make up odd halves of a beautiful whole.

THIS WAS SO CUTE!! Like, yes, I know Ben is a hitman, but when I tell you he was the softest hit man I have ever read, Temiri was so cute in this! I loved Ben and Rey, and their UST made me love them even more. Han and Leia are also hilarious in this!

It Takes a Village - A/B/O, Surprise Parents AU - Complete - Rated E - 40k

Who knew that all it would take for Rey Johnson to interact with her enigmatic Alpha neighbor without wanting to melt into a puddle of hormones was a baby being abandoned at her doorstep?

Not her. That was for sure.

THIS IS THE CUTEST ONE YET! I REREAD THIS QUITE OFTEN! LIKE AHHHHHHH SO FREAKING FLUFFY! NOT EVEN A WHISPER OF ANGST AND A LOT OF SMUT I LOVED THIS SO FREAKING MUCH AHHHH! AND THE EPILOGUE MADE ME CRY!

Sensual Storytime - Office AU - Complete - Rated E - 23k

When Rey Johnson starts a new job, her initially antagonistic relationship with Ben Solo from IT turns into friendship... and maybe something more.

Little does she know he also moonlights as Kylo Ren, the creator of her favorite audio erotica. One day at the office, worlds collide, and she realizes the sweater vest-wearing nerd of her dreams is also the tattooed fantasy man she listens to while getting off every night...

THIS IS MY FAVORITE REYLO FIC EVER. I RECOMMEND THIS TO PEOPLE WHO DON’T EVEN LIKE STAR WARS! THIS IS COWORKER BANTER LIKE NO OTHER. AND THE SMUT ? UNPARALLELED. READ THIS NOW!

That is all I have time for right now, but I’ll make another list later if anyone would like that! Please take care of yourself and have a great day!

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tardytothepardy · 4 years ago

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Fruits Basket - Vol.13

So this one started off pretty emotionally turbulent. I did not like the energies created in this studio today whatsoever. Yuki's mom is not that great.

Right off the bat, this book continues with the parent-teacher conferences, specifically with Yuki. He's been anxious about his for a while, because of the way his mom behaves. Up until this book, I don't remember there being much depth into why he has a bad relationship with his mom, but now it's very clear: she decides things for him, and willfully ignores him. When he fights back, she takes it as a personal insult, "how dare you do/say such a thing, I'm your mother! I've done so much for you!", but you've never once listened to what I wanted. That's the sort of dynamic that Yuki and his mother have. Personally, I don't blame him in the slightest for not wanting to be around her. And I also don't blame him for struggling to say anything against her, even as she's blatantly insulting and degrading him in front of the teacher. That shit's really hard, and you get pretty used to keeping all those thoughts in your head, because only trouble comes if you respond. Because, of course, it's not a response, it's "talking back", which will end up with you being in even bigger trouble, and something tells me that happened a lot to Yuki when he was younger.

There were a few glimpses into a few of their interactions, and it was made obvious that she really doesn't care about his well-being, she cares about hers. She forced him to be around Akito, despite him repeatedly saying that he doesn't like Akito. Her logic seemed to be that Akito is the most powerful person here, if you're in his good graces, how could you possibly be unhappy?

She also doesn't seem to have the best relationship with Ayame, who burst into the meeting fashionably late. He managed to steal the attention away from Yuki long enough for Yuki to collect his thoughts better, but his mother was so riled up by the both of them that she stormed out of the room. Yuki was able to tell his mother that he doesn't want her deciding what he should do with his life, that those are important that he will make on his own, which honestly, good for him, man. I doubt I could have that kind of strength.

After the meeting, Yuki is whisked away into the crazed shenanigans of the student council, where many conflicting personalities seem to explode against each other constantly. The guy who chose all these people clearly did not choose well, as far as how they would all work together. The white board that Kimi managed to snag from one of the teachers quickly got covered in meaningless color-coordinated titles that Kakeru came up with, as if they're all a part of the Power Rangers or something. Yuki says that, as members of the student council, it is their job to meet with the other clubs and access thingies with them, but Kakeru doesn't really see the point. They're all the head honchos, or something, so shouldn't people come to them? Ooh, disagreements. Surely this, with the additional stress and strain of the conference, won't lead to an outburst??

An outburst totally happens. Despite being the class president or whatever, Yuki feels he remains in the shadows, especially with a person as bubbly and energetic like Kakeru running the show. And given Kakeru's tendency to sort of pop labels on things, he says that Yuki seems "kinda unhappy". This falls ever so neatly into Yuki's problem with people talking over him or deciding for themselves how he is, and so he gets properly riled up. It calms down quickly, but he's still caught up in his own thoughts, which make it very easy to lead him to thinking that he should give up, and go back to the way he was before, reclusive and quiet.

In the end, it seems that Yuki might be able to have a friend in Kakeru, which is great. We all know how much the world loves the dynamic of "loud eccentric extroverted person" being friends with "quiet soft spoken(or softer spoken, at least) introverted person". That dynamic is the shit, and we live for it. I live on it, anyway. It's a classic.

After that, we see Tohru standing at the gates of the Sohma estate, and hooo boy is she noirvous. She's there to confirm that the Kureno that Uotani liked is the same Kureno that she met while at the summer house. It's difficult though, because Akito really didn't make it seem that Tohru would be welcome, given what he said to her last they talked. So while Tohru paced and fretted, she ran into a little girl who turned out to be Momiji's younger sister. She was standing outside the gate, listening to the violin music that Momiji was making. She tells Tohru that she knows that Momiji is her older brother (both Momiji and Tohru thought that since their mom doesn't remember Momiji as her son, Momo wouldn't remember Momiji as being her older brother), and that she even took up violin in hopes that she could play with Momiji. She helped Tohru sneak into the estate to visit Momiji, where Tohru told Momiji all that had happened. This made Momiji very excited, because he really wanted to be close with Momo, but never has been able because their father distances them. He also says that he would like to get better at playing the violin, so that one day he can hold a small concert for his family. It's overall a very touching scene, and I liked it a lot.

Tohru then tells Momiji that she was looking for Kureno, and, after following a map Momiji made, kinda found him. She asked him about Uotani, and whether he had any intention of seeking her out again (personally, I'm against it, given the fact that she's a high school student, and he's like,, at least 23 years old. It feels icky to me, idk), but he said that he wouldn't. He didn't really explain, and honestly I don't really feel like he had to. It's his own business, never mind the fact that he's usually pretty close to Akito, and since he's Juunishi, Akito has that extra hold over him. I wouldn't want something bad to happen to Uotani just because Akito's being a whiny baby.

A little while after that, there's a school field trip that Tohru, Hanajima, Uotani, Kyo, Yuki, and others go on, and there seems to be a weird expectation for love confessions to pop up? Shigure mentioned it before they left, but you'd kinda figure that's just Shigure being Shigure, right? Apparently not. Tohru feels bad for Uotani, to be seeing all these people grouping up, but Uotani says for her to not worry about it. She's decided to not tell Uotani that she found Kureno and talked to him, because she figured that could do more harm than good.

In the meantime though, it seems that Kyo was pulled aside, and a girl basically asked him to be her boyfriend, despite him not knowing who she is at all. She says that they can get to know each other during the relationship, but in general, that seems like a bad idea. If it were me, I'd like to get to know the person before then, but I suppose there's a chance I'd be locked away forever in the friendzone (which honestly I'd be fine with, because at least I'd have a friend lmao ;-;), but maybe that's just me.

Kyo rejects her pretty roughly, which makes sense for two reasons: we already know that he loves Tohru, and so in that respect, it's a done deal, but there's also that whole "he'd change into a cat if they hugged" thing, which would be,,, awkward, to say the least.

(It still doesn't fail to crack me up that the girl was like "I like you a lot, and think we should be together 🥺🥰" and he's literally like that one vine, "Wait a minute, who are you??")

Tohru doesn't really catch wind of the whole thing, but I think she pieced something together? Idk. She was preoccupied by thinking of souvenirs (just say gift shop shit that's all it is ahhh), and she didn't seem to be there in the first place.

When they all come home, we find out that Yuki got a leaf for the one chick in the student council who seems really quiet and is talked over constantly, and that Tohru is making her own little set of the zodiac animals, not unlike the set that she first saw alllllll the way back in the first book, except this time, it looks as if she's making a cat. Now, idk about you, but that's some cute shit. A tiny cat statue. I love it. I love tiny cat statues, but mostly all they make me want to do is pet one of my cats. Cats are great. Absolutely the best. You could fight me on it, I might cry, but I'll still think cats are great. This has nothing to do with Fruits Basket at all anymore lmao.

oh yeah I think Kyo saw the cat statue. And, if you'll remember back to that first book, where Tohru's mom was telling Tohru about the zodiac story, Tohru said that she wanted to be a cat, so, this isn't completely out of nowhere.

#Part of me wants to go headfirst into the SHHHIIIIIPPPPPPPing aspect of this but I'm holding off #Admittedly for a while I have been wondering how the whole 'romance' aspect of this story will go down #Especially now that we have a confirmation from both Yuki and Kyo that they like Tohru #Will there be a decision? Idk #I'll find out I guess #But for the most part I'm trying to keep that out of my head #I've stayed away from the fandom part of the series so far so I'm just consuming the books themselves #So that makes it easier to avoid shipping stuff #Not that it's bad but I get swayed really easily with fandoms and ships #And I really don't want to run into spoilers #Usually I don't mind them too much but I don't want to get any for this series #It's a 20 year old series and I haven't gotten spoilers for it yet. I'd like that to continue thanks #anyway #tohru honda #yuki sohma #kyo sohma #ayame sohma #shigure sohma #kureno sohma #momiji sohma #momo sohma #that is her name right?#uotani arisa #hanajima saki #akito sohma #fruits basket #furuba #fruits basket volume 13

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thesunnyshow · 4 years ago

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Name: Juliet

Writing Blog URL(s): @wonderlustlucas

Nationality: American

Languages: English, beginner level French, teeny tiny bit of Korean

Star Sign: Virgo

MBTI: ISFJ-T

Favorite color: Pastel yellow

Favorite food: My mom’s Sunday gravy

Favorite movie: Howl’s Moving Castle (The Lion King is a close second though)

Favorite ice cream flavor: Specifically Turkey Hill’s Double Dunker (get it— it’s so good)

Favorite animal: Humpback whale

Go-to karaoke song: She’s Kinda Hot by 5 Seconds of Summer

Dream job (whether you have a job or not): Neurosurgeon! Or a Twitch streamer HAHA

Coffee or tea? What are you ordering? Ahhh probably coffee, I love tea but I need my coffee </3

If you could have one superpower, what would you choose? Shapeshifting! Clearly the superior superpower I don’t take constructive criticism.

If you could visit a historical era, which would you choose? This is weirdly specific, but I would love to be in Scotland during the 1700’s. Alternatively, the 1980’s.

If you could restart your life, knowing what you do now, would you? 100%. I know everything happens for a reason but getting a redo and being able to fix all the big mistakes I made would be pretty nice.

Would you rather fight 100 chicken-sized horses or one horse-sized chicken? One horse-sized chicken! 100 tiny horses would be crazy tiring.

If you were a trope in a teen high school movie, what would you have been? I would probably be the gay side character that gives good emotional advice but is hella lonely LMAO

Do you believe in aliens/supernatural creatures? Yes, both!

What are some small things that make your day better? Driving with the windows down and music blasting, picking up coffee, playing video games, & talking to my internet friends on Discord.

Fun fact about yourself that not everyone would know? I discovered my love for writing through Warrior Cats roleplay😭

What fandom(s) do you write for? Right now, only Kpop, but I wouldn’t mind writing for 5SOS or some of my other fandoms!

When did you post your first piece? On WattPad, December 2015. On Tumblr, April 2018 :)

Do you write fluff/angst/crack/general/smut, combo, etc? Why? I write everything! Fluff/smut/crack is my favorite and slight angst (usually just slow burn though cus I’m soft).

Do you write OCs, X Readers, Ships...etc? Again, I write anything and everything! Currently, second or third person reader inserts are my main style, but I also do ships and would love to write more OCs.

Why did you decide to write for Tumblr? Before Tumblr, I was on WattPad for different fandoms but eventually fell off. Then, when I got into Kpop in 2017, I found that urge to write again and decided to move to Tumblr since WattPad was becoming… weird. Plus Tumblr was a better fit for me!

What inspires you to write? To be completely honest, it’s the little things throughout the day that inspire me. For example, “Honey” was inspired by me not being able to open my locker in high school. “I Hemoglobin You” was based off my friend giving me a head rub while I was donating blood. Kpop idols just so happen to be my muses that I like to put into random moments of inspiration!

What genres/AUs do you enjoy writing the most? High school or college AUs are my favorite, along with some good ol’ friends to lovers slow burn. Angst isn’t my forte so I usually just stick to fluff, smut, and some crack. I haven’t written any but fantasy AUs are some of my favorites too! (RIP to my League of Legends AU that I started and haven’t touched in months.)

What do you hope your readers take away from your work? Just like other fanfiction authors inspire me, I hope some of my work inspires others. Considering fanfiction is free, there is so much out there to read and when I find a good story that inspires ME to write better, I’d love for my writing to do the same.

What do you do when you hit a rough spot creatively? 3 options: 1) Skip that scene and jump ahead to one I’m excited to write; 2) Erase what part I’m on and completely redo it; or 3) Drop it. The majority of my works usually take a few months to write as I will completely stop working on it until I find the right inspiration again.

What is your favorite work and why? Your most successful? “Four” is definitely my favorite work. It’s one of my longer pieces and there was a lot of raw emotion in there on my end. I love the relationship between Hyunjin and the reader and especially love the ending. “Greatest Gift” for Chanyeol is my most successful, and one of my other favorites!

Who is your favorite person to write about? Easily Hwang Hyunjin. It’s so easy to place him in any of my works, and sometimes it’s a struggle to NOT write him. It sounds stupid but sometimes I really feel like I “know” him so being able to describe him physically and mentally is easy for me.

Do you think there’s a difference between writing fanfiction vs. completely original prose? Yes and no. Yes, because most of the time, fanfiction is totally original as well and requires just as much thought as a 400,000 word novel. No, because fanfiction uses a specific person as a muse.

What do you think makes a good story? Detail and realistic dialogue! Of course, everyone has their own style of writing, but detail is especially important to me. Sure, you can have a great plot, but having concise, detailed writing to get immersed into makes a story so much better. I also find realistic dialogue to be a big deal— I hate when teenage characters are speaking in deep analogies because, if we’re being honest, my daily language is 95% just “Bruh.” If you’re like me, I’d actually prefer realistic dialogue over anything else.

What is your writing process like? Process… yikes. Sometimes… I have a random thought and then I’m like… hell yeah let’s write that. I actually have no process. I don’t outline, I just start writing and keep writing until I’m finished. Then I’ll read it all over to make edits, then I’ll use the Read Aloud feature to catch any mistakes I missed, then I’ll run it through Grammarly before posting!

Would you ever repurpose a fic into a completely original story? Hm, maybe? In the future, possibly, but as of right now I wouldn’t use any of my fics to do so.

What tropes do you love, and what tropes can’t you stand? Oh, gosh, tropes. Gotta love them. Friends to lovers, enemies to lovers, stuck together (AKA forced to share a bed), and fake relationships are my favorites. They may be corny, but I also love truth or dare or 7 minutes in heaven games in fics cus… they’re just classics. Also love fics with a popular x shy pairing. I can’t say I dislike many tropes, but I definitely have a love/hate relationship with vampire and werewolf tropes because of how romanticized they are.

How much would you say audience feedback/engagement means to you? Hm, to be completely honest, only a little bit? I mainly write for myself, it’s like a guilty pleasure to just get all my thoughts and desires out, and then I just so happen to make it public on Tumblr. Nevertheless, receiving comments and asks actually make my day, and sometimes I still struggle to wrap my mind around people enjoying my writing! So, thank you to everyone who has ever left me a kind message, I truly appreciate it ♥

What has been one of the biggest factors of your success (of any size)? Getting involved! I think one of the best ways to grow is to join networks, which not only gives you the opportunity to share your work on a greater scale, but also allows you to make connections. Like real life, making connections and making friendships with other writers can play a huge role in growing as a writer and growing your account.

Do you think fanfic writers get unfairly judged? Yes :( As someone who’s involved with other fandoms, I’ve heard the way some people think of fanfiction and it’s really sad. People do not know how much goes into writing and just see it as cringey and disgusting when it’s just… not.

Do you think art can be a medium for change? Yes! In all its forms, art is something a creator can use to influence their audience (in a good way, hopefully).

Do you ever feel there are times when you’re writing for others, rather than yourself? Like I said in #40, I mainly write for myself. Even when I’m writing a request, chances are if I like the request enough I’m going to create a story out of it that fits my personal desires the most.

Do you ever feel like people have misunderstood you or your writing at times? No! However, I’d still consider myself a small account and do not have TOO many works posted. But so far, I don’t think I’ve faced this problem :)

Do your offline friends/loved ones know you write for Tumblr? Only a few! My best friend Maggie is on Tumblr with me and only 2 of my other pals know I write fanfiction.

What is one thing you wish you could tell your followers? How much I love each and every one of them for supporting me and sticking around even when I won’t post for months🥺❤️

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers who might be too scared to put themselves out there? Don’t psych yourself out! In the time I’ve spent on Tumblr, I’ve never received any substantial hate. My main advice is don’t write fanfiction to get popular on the app, write fanfiction because you love to write and love your muses!

Are there any times when you regret joining Tumblr? No, as much as Tumblr can be annoying at times, I love the people I’ve met and the content I’ve found and wouldn’t have wanted to use any other platform.

Do you have any mutuals who have been particularly formative/supportive in your Tumblr journey? @pinktea99 — Mo, you’ve been around since the beginning honestly, and without you I wouldn’t have been able to come out of my shell! Thank you for all your love & support & for being my SF9 buddy❤️

Pick a quote to end your interview with:

“Like mate, stop procrastinating.” — 3RACHA

BONUS ROUND: K-POP CONFIDENTIAL

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betterdaysareatoenailaway · 4 years ago

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Random Review #3: Sleepwalkers (1992) and “Sleep Walk” (1959)

I. Sleepwalkers (1992) I couldn’t sleep last night so I started watching a trashy B-movie penned by Stephen King specifically for the screen called Sleepwalkers (1992). Simply put, the film is an unmitigated disaster. A piece of shit. But it didn’t need to be. That’s what’s so annoying about it. By 1992 King was a grizzled veteran of the silver screen, with more adaptations under his belt than any other author of his cohort. Puzo had the Godfather films (1972 and 1974, respectively), sure, but nothing else. Leonard Gardner had Fat City (1972), a movie I love, but Gardner got sucked into the Hollywood scene of cocaine and hot tub parties and never published another novel, focusing instead on screenplays for shitty TV shows like NYPD Blue. After Demon Seed (1977), a movie I have seen and disliked, nobody would touch Dean Koontz’s stuff with a ten foot pole, which is too bad because The Voice of the Night, a 1980 novel about two young pals, one of whom is a psychopath trying to convince the other to help him commit murder, would make a terrific movie. But Koontz’s adaptations have been uniformly awful. The made-for-TV film starring John C McGinley, 1997��s Intensity, is especially bad. There are exceptions, but Stephen King has been lucky enough to avoid the fate of his peers. Big name directors have tackled his work, from Stanley Kubrick to Brian De Palma. King even does a decent job of acting in Pet Semetary (1989), in his own Maximum Overdrive (1986) and in George Romero’s Creepshow (1982), where he plays a yokel named Jordy Verril who gets infected by a meteorite that causes green weeds to grow all over his body. Many have criticized King’s over-the-top performance in that flick, but for me King perfectly nails the campy and comical tone that Romero was going for. The dissolves in Creepshow literally come right off the pages of comics, so people expecting a subtle Ordinary People-style turn from King had clearly walked into the wrong theatre. Undoubtedly Creepshow succeeds at what it set out to do. I’m not sure Sleepwalkers succeeds though, unless the film’s goal was to get me to like cats even more than I already do. But I already love cats a great deal. Here’s my cat Cookie watching me edit this very blog post.

And here’s one of my other cats, Church, named after the cat that reanimates and creeps out Louis and Ellie in Pet Sematary. Photo by @ScareAlex.

SPOILER ALERT: Do not keep reading if you plan on watching Sleepwalkers and want to find out for yourself what happens.

Stephen King saw many of his novels get adapted in the late 1970s and 80s: Carrie, The Shining, Firestarter, Christine, Cujo, and the movie that spawned the 1950s nostalgia industrial complex, Stand By Me, but Sleepwalkers was the first time he wrote a script specifically for the screen rather than adapting a novel that already existed. Maybe that’s why it’s so fucking bad. Stephen King is a novelist, gifted with a novelist’s rich imagination. He’s prone to giving backstories to even the most peripheral characters - think of Joe Chamber’s alcoholic neighbour Gary Pervier in the novel Cujo, who King follows for an unbelievable number of pages as the man stumbles drunkenly around his house spouting his catch phrase “I don’t give a shit,” drills a hole through his phone book so he can hang it from a string beside his phone, complains about his hemorrhoids getting “as big as golfballs” (I’m not joking), and just generally acts like an asshole until a rabid Cujo bounds over, rips his throat out, and he bleeds to death. In the novel Pervier’s death takes more than a few pages, but it makes for fun reading. You hate the man so fucking much that watching him die feels oddly satisfying. In the movie, though, his death occurs pretty quickly, and in a darkened hallway, so it’s hard to see what’s going on aside from Gary’s foot trembling. And Pervier’s “I don’t give a shit” makes sense when he’s drilling a hole in the phone book, not when he’s about to be savagely attacked by a rabid St Bernard. There’s just less room for back story in movies. In a medium that demands pruning and chiseling and the “less is more” dictum, King’s writing takes a marked turn for the worse. King is a prose maximalist, who freely admits to “writing to outrageous lengths” in his novels, listing It, The Stand, and The Tommyknockers as particularly egregious examples of literary logorrhea. He is not especially equipped to write concisely. This weakness is most apparent in Sleepwalkers’ dialogue, which sounds like it was supposed to be snappy and smart, like something Aaron Sorkin would write, but instead comes off like an even worse Tango & Cash, all bad jokes and shitty puns. More on those bad jokes later. First, the plot.

Sleepwalkers is about a boy named Charles and his mother Mary who travel around the United States killing and feeding off the lifeforce of various unfortunate people (if this sounds a little like The True Knot in Doctor Sleep, you’re not wrong. But self-plagiarism is not a crime). Charles and Mary are shapeshifting werewolf-type creatures called werecats, a species with its very own Wikipedia page. Wikipedia confers legitimacy dont’cha know, so lets assume werecats are real beings. According to said page, a werecat, “also written in a hyphenated form as were-cat) is an analogy to ‘werewolf’ for a feline therianthropic creature.” I’m gonna spell it with the hyphen from now on because “werecats” just looks like a typo. Okay? Okay.

Oddly enough, the were-cats in Sleepwalkers are terrified of cats. Actual cats. For the were-cats, cute kittens = kryptonite. When they see a cat or cats plural, this happens to them:

^ That is literally a scene from the movie. Charles is speeding when a cop pulls alongside him and bellows at him to pull over. Ever the rebel, Charles flips the cop the finger. But the cop has a cat named Clovis in his car, and when the cat pops up to have a look at the kid (see below), Charles shapeshifts first into a younger boy, then into whatever the fuck that is in the above screenshot.

Now, the were-cats aversion to normal cats is confusing because one would assume a were-cat to be a more evolved (or perhaps devolved?) version of the typical house kitty. The fact that these were-cats are bipedal alone suggests an advantage over our furry four-legged friends, no? Kinda like if humans were afraid of fucking gorillas. Wait...we are scared of gorillas. And chimpanzees. And all apes really. Okay, maybe the conceit of the film isn’t so silly after all. The film itself, however, is about as silly as a bad horror movie can get. When the policeman gets back to precinct and describes the incident above (”his face turned into a blur”) he is roundly ridiculed because in movies involving the supernatural nobody believes in the supernatural until it confronts them. It’s the law, sorry. Things don’t end well for the cop. Or for the guy who gets murdered when the mom stabs him with...an ear of corn. Yes, an ear of corn. Somehow, the mother is able to jam corn on the cob through a man’s body, without crushing the vegetable or turning it into yellow mash. It’s pretty amazing. Here is a sample of dialog from that scene: Cop About To Die On The Phone to Precinct: There’s blood everywhere! *STAB* Murderous Mother: No vegetables, no dessert. That is actually a line in the movie. “No vegetables, no dessert.” It’s no “let off some steam, Bennett” but it’s close. Told ya I’d get back to the bad jokes. See, Mary and Charles are new in town and therefore seeking to ingratiate themselves by killing everyone who suspects them of being weird, all while avoiding cats as best they can. At one point Charles yanks a man’s hand off and tells him to "keep [his] hands to [him]self," giving the man back his severed bloody hand. Later on Charles starts dating a girl who will gradually - and I do mean gradually - come to realize her boyfriend is not a real person but in fact a were-cat. Eventually our spunky young protagonist - Madchen Amick, who fans of Twin Peaks will recognize as Shelly - and a team of cats led by the adorable Clovis- kill the were-cat shapeshifting things and the sleepy small town (which is named Travis for some reason) goes back to normal, albeit with a slightly diminished population. For those keeping score, that’s Human/Cat Alliance 1, Shapeshifting Were-cats 0. It is clear triumph for the felis catus/people team! Unless we’re going by kill count, in which case it is closer to Human/Cat Alliance 2, Were-cats 26. I arrived at this figure through my own notes but also through a helpful video that takes a comprehensive and complete “carnage count” of all kills in Sleepwalkers: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmt-DroK6uA

II. Santo & Johnny “Sleep Walk” (1959) Because Sleepwalkers is decidedly not known for its good acting or its well-written screenplay, it is perhaps best known for its liberal and sometimes contrapuntal use of Santo & Johnny’s classic steel guitar song “Sleep Walk,” possibly the most famous (and therefore best) instrumental of the 20th century. Some might say “Sleep Walk” is tied for the #1 spot with “Green Onions” by Booker T & the M.G.’s and/or “Wipe Out” by The Surfaris, but I disagree. The Santo & Johnny song is #1 because of its incalculable influence on all subsequent popular music.

I’m not saying “Wipe Out” didn't inspire a million imitators, both contemporaneously and even decades later…for example here’s a surf rock instrumental from 1999 called “Giant Cow" by a Toronto band called The Urban Surf Kings. The video was one of the first to be animated using Flash (and it shows):

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So there are no shortage of surf rock bands, even now, decades after its emergence from the shores of California to the jukeboxes of Middle America. My old band Sleep for the Nightlife used to regularly play Rancho Relaxo with a surf rock band called the Dildonics, who I liked a great deal. There's even a Danish surf rock band called Baby Woodrose, whose debut album is a favourite of mine. They apparently compete for the title of Denmark’s biggest surf pop band with a group called The Setting Son. When a country that has no surfing culture and no beaches has multiple surf rock bands, it is safe to say the genre has attained international reach. As far as I can tell, there aren’t many bands out there playing Booker T & the M.G.’s inspired instrumental rock. Link Wray’s “Rumble” was released four years before “Green Onions.” But the influence of Santo and Johnny’s “Sleep Walk” is so ubiquitous as to be almost immeasurable. The reason for this is the sheer popularity of the song’s chord progression. If Santo and Johnny hadn’t written it first, somebody else would have, simply because the progression is so beautiful and easy on the ears and resolvable in a satisfying way. Have a listen to “Sleep Walk” first and then let’s check out some songs it directly inspired.

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The chords are C, A minor, F and G. Minor variations sometimes reverse the last two chords, but if it begins with C to A minor, you can bet it’s following the “Sleep Walk” formula, almost as if musicians influenced by the song are in the titular trance. When it comes to playing guitar, Tom Waits once said “your hands are like dogs, going to the same places they’ve been. You have to be careful when playing is no longer in the mind but in the fingers, going to happy places. You have to break them of their habits or you don’t explore; you only play what is confident and pleasing.” Not only is it comforting to play and/or hear what we already know, studies have shown that our brains actively resist new music, because it takes work to understand the new information and assimilate it into a pattern we are cogent of. It isn’t until the brain recognizes the pattern that it gives us a dopamine rush. I’m not much for Pitchfork anymore, but a recent article they posted does a fine job of discussing this phenomenon in greater detail.

Led Zeppelin’s “D’Yer Maker” uses the “Sleep Walk” riff prominently, anchored by John Bonham and John Paul Jones’ white-boy reggae beat:

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Here it is again with Del Shannon’s classic “Little Town Flirt.” I love Shannon’s falsetto at the end when he goes “you better run and hide now bo-o-oy.”

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The Beatles “Happiness is a Warm Gun” uses the Sleep Walk progression, though not for the whole song. It goes into the progression at the bridge at 1:34:

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Tumblr won’t let me embed any more videos, so you’ll to travel to another tab to hear these songs, but Neil Young gets in on the act with his overlooked classic “Winterlong:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV6r66n3TFI On their 1996 EP Interstate 8 Modest Mouse pay direct homage by singing over their own rendition of the original Santo & Johnny version, right down to the weeping steel guitar part: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VT_PwXjCqqs The vocals are typical wispy whispered indie rock vocals, but I think they work, particularly the two different voices. They titled their version “Sleepwalking (Couples Only Dance Prom Night).”

Dwight Yoakam’s “Thousand Miles From Nowhere” makes cinematic use of it. This song plays over the credits of one of my all-time favourite movies, 1993′s Red Rock West feat. Nicolas Cage, Lara Flynn Boyle, Dennis Hopper, and J.T. Walsh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tu3ypuKq8WE

“39″ is my favourite Queen song. I guess now I know why. It uses my fav chord progression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kE8kGMfXaFU

Blink 182 scored their first hit “Dammit” with a minor variation on the Sleep Walk chord progression: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sT0g16_LQaQ

Midwest beer drinkin bar rockers Connections scored a shoulda-been-a-hit with the fist-pumping “Beat the Sky:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSNRq0n_WYA You’d be hard pressed to find a weaker lead singer than this guy (save for me, natch), but they make it work. This one’s an anthem.

Spoon, who have made a career out of deconstructing rock n’ roll, so that their songs sometimes sound needlessly sparse (especially “The Ghost of You Lingers,” which takes minimalism to its most extreme...just a piano being bashed on staccato-style for four minutes), so it should surprise nobody that they re-arrange the Sleep Walk chords on their classic from Gimme Fiction, “I Summon You:” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teXA8N3aF9M I love that opening line: remember the weight of the world was a sound that we used to buy? I think songwriter Britt Daniel is talking about buying albums from the likes of Pearl Jam or Smashing Pumpkins, any of those grunge bands with pessimistic worldviews. There are a million more examples. I remember seeing some YouTube video where a trio of gross douchebros keep playing the same progression while singing a bunch of hits over it. I don’t like the smarmy way they do it, making it seem like artists are lazy and deliberately stealing. I don’t think it’s plagiarism to use this progression. And furthermore, tempo and production make all the difference. Take “This Magic Moment” for example. There's a version by Jay & the Americans and one by Ben E King & the Drifters. I’ve never been a fan of those shrieking violins or fiddles that open the latter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bacBKKgc4Uo The Jay & the Americans version puts the guitar riff way in the forefront, which I like a lot more. The guitar plays the entire progression once before the singing starts and the band joins in: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKfASw6qoag

Each version has its own distinctive feel. They are pretty much two different songs. Perhaps the most famous use of the Sleep Walk progression is “Unchained Melody” by the Righteous Brothers, which is one of my favourite songs ever. The guy who chose to let Bobby Hatfield sing this one by himself must have kicked himself afterwards when it became a hit, much bigger than "You've Lost That Lovin' Feeling."https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiiyq2xrSI0

What can you say about “Unchained Melody” that hasn’t already been said? God, that miraculously strong vocal, the way the strings (and later on, brass horns) are panned way over to the furthest reaches the left speaker while the drums and guitar are way over in the right, with the singing smack dab in the middle creates a kind of distance and sharp clarity that has never been reproduced in popular music, like seeing the skyscrapers of some distant city after an endless stretch of highway. After listening to “Unchained Melody,” one has to wonder: can that progression ever be improved upon? Can any artist write something more haunting, more beautiful, more uplifting than that? The “need your love” crescendo hits so fucking hard, as both the emotional and the sonic climax of the song, which of course is no accident...the strings descending and crashing like a waterfall of sound, it gets me every fucking time. Legend has it that King George II was so moved by the “Hallelujah” section of Handel’s “Messiah” that he stood up, he couldn't help himself, couldn't believe what he was hearing. I get that feeling with all my favourite songs. "1979." "Unchained Melody." "In The Still of the Night." "Digital Bath." "Why Does My Heart Feel So Bad?" "Interstate." "Liar's Tale." “Gimme Shelter.” The list goes on and on. Music is supposed to move us.

King George II stood because he was moved to do so. Music may be our creation, but it isn't our subordinate. All those sci-fi stories warning about technology growing beyond our control aren’t that far-fetched. Music is our creation but its power lies beyond our control. We are subordinate to music, helpless against its power and might, its urgency and vitality and beauty. There have been many times in my life when I have been so obsessed with a particular song that I pretty much want to live inside of it forever. A house of sound. I remember detoxing from heroin and listening to Grimes “Realiti” on repeat for twelve hours. Detoxing from OxyContin and listening to The Beach Boys “Dont Worry Baby” over and over. Or just being young and listening to “Tonight Tonight” over and over and over, tears streaming from my eyes in that way you cry when you’re a kid because you just feel so much and you don’t know what to do with the intensity of those feelings. It is precisely because we are so moved by music that we keep creating it. And in the act of that creation we are free. There are no limits to that freedom, which is why bands time and time again return to the well-worn Sleep Walk chord progression and try to make something new from it. Back in 2006, soon after buying what was then the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs album, I found myself playing the album’s closing track over and over. I loved the chorus and I loved the way it collapses into a lo-fi demo at the very end, stripping away the studio sheen and...not to be too punny, showing its bones (the album title is Show Your Bones). Later on I would realize that the song, called “Turn Into,” uses the Sleep Walk chord progression. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exqCFoPiwpk

It’s just like, what Waits said, our hands goes to where we are familiar. And so do our ears, which is why jazz often sounds so unpleasant to us upon first listen. Or Captain Beefheart. But it’s worth the effort to discover new stuff, just as it’s worth the effort to try and write it. I recently lamented on this blog that music to me now is more about remembrance than discovery, but I’m still only 35 years old. I’m middle-aged right now (I don’t expect to live past 70, not with the lifestyle I’ve been living). There’s still a whole other half life to find new music and love and leave it for still newer stuff. It’s worth the challenge, that moment of inner resistance we feel when confronted with something new and challenging and strange sounding. The austere demands of adult life, rent and routine, take so much of our time. I still make time for creative pursuits, but I don’t really have much time for discovery, for seeking out new music. But I’ve resolved to start making more time. A few years ago I tried to listen to and like Trout Mask Replica but I couldn’t. I just didn’t get what was going on. It sounded like a bunch of mistakes piled on top of each other. But then a few days ago I was writing while listening to music, as I always do, and YouTube somehow landed on Lick My Decals Off, Baby. I didn’t love what I was hearing but I was intrigued enough to keep going. And now I really like this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMnd9dvb3sA&pbjreload=101 Another example I’ll give is the rare Robert Pollard gem “Prom Is Coming.” The first time I heard this song, it sounded like someone who can’t play guitar messing around, but the more I heard it the more I realized there’s a song there. It’s weird and strange, but it’s there. The lyrics are classic Pollard: Disregard injury and race madly out of the universe by sundown. Pollard obviously has a special place in his heart for this track. He named one of his many record labels Prom Is Coming Records and he titled the Boston Spaceships best-of collection Out of the Universe By Sundown. I don’t know if I’ll ever become a Captain Beefheart megafan but I can hear that the man was doing something very strange and, at times, beautiful. And anyway, why should everything be easy? Aren’t some challenges worth meeting for the experience waiting on the other side of comprehension or acceptance? I try to remember this now whenever I’m first confronted with new music, instead of vetoing it right away. Most of my favourite bands I was initially resistant to when I first heard them. Queens of the Stone Age, Kyuss, Guided by Voices, Spoon, Heavy Times. All bands I didn’t like at first. I don’t wanna sleepwalk through life, surrounding myself only with things I have already experienced. I need to stay awake. Because soon enough I’ll be asleep forever. We need to try everything we can before the Big Sleep comes to take us back to the great blankness, the terrible question mark that bookends our lives.

#sleep walk #santo & johnny #neil young #queen #dwight yoakam #led zeppelin #the beatles #betterdaysareatoenailaway

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picturejasper20 · 4 years ago

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Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts Review

Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts is animated show that was created by Radford Sechrist ( Kung Fu Panda 2, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Penguins of Madagascar) and developed by Bill Wolkoff (TRON: Uprising, Star Wars Rebels and Once Upon a Time). It´s based of the webcomic ¨Kipo¨ created by Radford Sechrist. The show was produced by Dreamworks Animation Television and animated by Studio Mir.

The story of the show takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, in which mutated animals called ¨mutes¨ live on the surface while humans live in underground cities ¨Burrows¨ to ensure their safety from the dangers of the surface.

The protagonist is Kipo Oak, a 13 year old girl, that is forced to leave her own burrow and search for her father, Lio Oak, after she is separated from him. On the surface she meets other humans survivors and friendly mutes than join her in her journey.

Animation

The show was animated by South Korea’s Studio Mir, which is known for animating shows like The Legend of Korra and Voltron: Legendary Defenders.

The animation of Kipo and the age of the wonderbeasts is good overall, is not Rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles´ animation but it works well for modern animation standars.

At first glance, is easy to notice the show is highly inspired by anime.Radford Sechrist has admitted he is inspired by anime films such as Tekkonkinkreet (2005) and the Studio Ghibli films.

The show has some good character design as well, while they are based of anime, the show has its own style that makes them feel more unique.

While the humans designs are decent, the series really shines when it comes to the mutes designs. Each is different from the other and it is hard to find two mute that looks exactly the same.

It also has some wonderful backgrounds that really make you feel that you are in a post-apocalyptic setting, with human cities ruins that have been abandoned for more than two hundred years.

Soundtrack and sound design

The series has some pretty memorable soundtracks that usually fit well with the scenes and rarely feel out of place.

The person behind the soundtrack is Daniel Rojas, who also wrote many songs for the series.

In a interview, Daniel Rojas explained that while working on Kipo they tried to have diverse soundtrack, they would mix up different genres that would change depending on the episode.

¨Rad Sechrist’s vision for the show was to be diverse and inclusive on all fronts, including the music. We wanted to tap on a ton of different genres and mix them all up: take folky banjo riffs and put them on top of a trap beat, write a classical piece for Scarlemagne but do a hip-hop remix of it – it was a purist’s nightmare!¨

The music and songs of Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts are one of best parts of the show in my opinion, and i think it wouldn´t be the same without them as they are important for story and characters.

As for the voice cast, most of them work well for the show,some performances are better than others but overall they are decent.

Story and characters

The story of Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts is quite unique for modern cartoons: It takes place in a post-apocalyptic world, which is rare to find in Western animated series.

There has been some animated series whose setting is post-apocalyptic like ¨Adventure time¨ and ¨Steven Universe¨ but these story elements were usually secondary or part of the lore in those shows. The fact that Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts is post-apocalyptic is very important for the story and characters.

The show also has 30 episodes and each one lasts between 23-24 minutes, which means that many things can happen in one episode. The pacing, however, is well-done despite being a short series. There are some episodes that focus more in the story while others help developing the characters and their relationships.

The foreshadowing is well-executed most of time, sometimes is very subtle, which makes it easy to miss the first time watching it. Since many things are foreshadowed it rarely makes the story elements feel that they came out of nowhere or just appear for the sake of the plot

The lore its very interesting as well: In almost every episode a new type of mute is introduced. Each type of mute has their own culture and lifestyle, which keeps the story fresh and nonrepetitive.

For example: The timbercats are anthropomorphic cats that live on trees and are woodcutters, they love to sing and would do anything they can to protect their home.

One of the main themes is about the unending war between mutes and humans that has lasted more than 100 years. The relationship between humans and mutes is one of the most important aspects of the story and its what drives the main characters.

Kipo and the age of wonderbeasts pacifism and human´s relationship with nature themes seem to be clearly inspired by Studio Ghibli´s films, specially from Princess Mononoke.

Another big theme of the series is that people have the capacity to change, to grow and become better individuals, which shares a few similarities with the animated series Steven universe. It´s not uncommon for the series to have antagonistic characters that become allies later in the story.

As for the characters, they are well developed, each one having its own arc and backstory. Many episodes focus on their relationships which are quite complex and change over time.

Kipo Oak, the main protagonist, is someone who always believes there´s good in everyone, even those who hurt and take advantage of others. She´s unique in the sense that she tries to be positive in a world where pretty much everyone is selfish and only care about themselves.

To quote the exec producer, Bill Wolkoff: ¨I loved Kipo instantly. Here is this relentlessly positive person with this great sense of wonder, set it in a dangerous world, which would turn most people cynical. This was the perfect character to root the rest of the show around.”

While she prefers solving conflicts through talking, Kipo is someone who is not afraid to fight if someone dares to hurt her loved ones. She usually tries changing her methods according to the situation.

The other protagonists are: Wolf, a tough yet caring girl who grew on the surface and has a dark troubled past; Benson, a carefree teenager who loves music and his best friend Dave, a talking bug mute; and Mandu, a small pig mute that is adopted by Kipo.

Each character is given enough screen time to develop and explore their psyche. However, some character arcs can felt a bit rushed at times due to being a short series.

Another thing i liked about the series is how the conflict is not black and white, many characters have a reason that explains why they act in a specific way and we get to learn about both sides of the conflict, no one is 100% good or 100% evil, which feels accurate with post-apocalyptic setting

Kipo and the age of the wonderbeasts has also been praised for having a inclusive cast: Many characters in the show are POC and some even are LGTB+. Wolkoff has talked about how it was important for the show to have this type of representation since times are changing and so does the media we consume.

“We also have a really diverse cast that is reflective of the world today,” he adds. “It was really important for Rad and I to have a creative team that was diverse and inclusive to tell these stories in the best way. We wanted to empower our team to make decisions that we couldn’t have made on our own. That’s why the show feels authentic and has a fresh perspective. It’s also very funny.”

Conclusion

I think Kipo and the age of the wonderbeasts is very well done and is a good example on how to make an good animated series. It would be great if more creators in animation tried taking more risks and making shows that both kids and adults can appreciate.

Due to its setting, characters and story, the series also manages to feel unique and different, which is good in a medium that sometimes relies on using the same tropes and story elements.

It´s a short series but its worth of watching if you enjoy Studio Ghibli films, anime or shows like Steven universe.

Sources cited:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kipo_and_the_Age_of_Wonderbeasts

https://www.animationmagazine.net/tv/its-the-end-of-the-world-and-shes-just-fine-kipo-and-the-age-of-wonderbeasts/

https://www.whats-on-netflix.com/news/interview-with-daniel-rojas-composer-on-kipo-and-the-age-of-the-wonderbeasts/

#Kipo and the age of wonderbeats #KATAOW #kipo kataow #wolf kataow #benson kataow #Western animation #post apocalyptic #sci fi #Series review

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deckspair · 5 years ago

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May’s Musical Director’s Commentary

Hey guys! I'm May. You might remember me as "the one who did those nifty chatlogs and the roster page" or "the one who did all the music" or "that one mod who never said anything." Los and Mints agreed to let me write up this "director's commentary" on the music I did for DECK. There's no secret lore tidbits in here or anything, but if you liked my music you might find this an interesting glimpse into the process.

A Note On Sampling

Sampling is the practice of using preexisting audio to make new music. When I talk about what I've sampled here, I'm only going to mention particularly interesting cases. Almost all of the music I've done for DECK features audio from Free Wave Samples, so I figure that's not really worth mentioning except here. It's the other stuff that's interesting. EarthBound was an influence on my decision to pull in a bunch of audio from outside sources. I've always admired that game's use of sampling.

The First Chatlog

The chatlogs have consistently been pretty fun to do. I knew from the start that I didn't want to edit this together by hand, so I wrote a Processing sketch to render the video. It's not the most elegant thing in the world, and adding new features is a massive pain, but it's a lot easier than putting these together any other way. All I have to do is swap out the script and background shader and write a new song and I can just let the program churn away rendering a new video. (Of course, fiddling with the shader until it looks presentable takes so long that it kind of eats into the time savings.)

There's not much to say about this one. The typing sounds were graciously provided by Mints. Those with careful ears might notice the instrument playing the chords in other chatlog songs.

The Second Chatlog

One of the only interesting things about this one: the melody is actually a musical cryptogram! What it spells out is an exercise for the reader. ;) The miscellaneous background sounds are all distorted versions of stuff I recorded myself one day when my film teacher let me wander the halls with a microphone. Film school has its perks.

Rio Hachimitsu's BDA

Doing the first body drop music was pretty intimidating. The body discovery music in Danganronpa has a particular instantly recognizable quality to it. If I wanted to go for that style, I'd have to get it down perfectly. (Otherwise I'd come off as a cheap imitation.) So I decided to be original. After school PSAs would be proud.

The melody here is probably pretty familiar to you all by now. Every BDA has used some variation of this melody because I'm a sucker for leitmotif. The melody itself is a slightly modified version of the Dies Irae. (Yes, I know I'm very pretentious, but being pretentious is fun.) This is also the first instance of what I call the "death rattle." I put that strange scraping sound into every BDA and execution for consistency's sake. You can see it as the moment the soul leaves the deceased's body or the moment the onlookers realize somebody's just died... or something. The really fun part is what it is - it's a bell tree! Yknow, those tinkly whimsical things. It's just been reversed and slowed down and drenched in reverb. It's fun how malleable audio is.

Minnie Minami's EXE

This was fun! Despite being a film student for a while, I've never had to write music to sync up with a video before. (I still haven't - I'm pretty sure the video was edited to match up with the music and not vice versa.) The overall tone of this one was pretty obvious. Of course a ringleader's execution would be accompanied by messed up circus music. Anything else just wouldn't be right. There's not really much else to say about it other than that it includes samples from my toy accordion and slide whistle.

Sampled:

An old recording of Auld Lang Syne

Yasu Kozakura's BDA

The body drop's usage of mirrors really hit me in the art gut, so I figured the BDA jingle should have something to do with mirrors. This is why the melody plays forwards and backwards simultaneously, because mirrors. (Some call that kind of thing a "crab canon.")

My incredibly good and quality cat piano is also in here. A stretched out meow recorded from it forms the basis of the background chord.

NANIKO's EXE

For this one, I gave the video editor three different tracks, one for each "segment" of the execution. I did this as a cop-out because I didn't want to have to try to sync my music up with the video - this way, the editor could mash it all together.

The segment with the mirrors was an exercise in what's called "phase music", where two lines drift out of sync with each other, creating different rhythmic textures over the course of the song. (Piano Phase and Clapping Music, both by Steve Reich, are two classic examples of the form.) For some reason, echoey piano lines phasing in and out of sync feel mirror-y to me. They also form a nice musical callback to the BDA.

Sampled:

Me switching frequencies on the radio

Sayuri Nishi's BDA

Shoutout to Free Wave Samples for having a heartbeat sound. I didn't want to try to make that sound myself with drums.

Kosuke Nakamura's EXE

This execution is significant because it's the first non-video one. Execution art wasn't my department, so I'm not going to speak on how that change affected the artists, but I found it liberating to be able to follow the more general emotional arc of the execution rather than being tethered to the pacing of a video.

When I asked Angela for guidance on where to go musically, we came to the conclusion that the proper genre would be "Tom and Jerry noir." That description alone is why I loved doing music for DECK - where else do you get the opportunity to write something with that as guidance? The most natural interpretation in my view was a song that starts out jazzy and segues into slapstick-esque classical to mirror the transition from the safety of noir to being mauled by a giant robot cat.

Also, the Slack notification sound is in there, since Los suggested a social media notification sound in the background somewhere. (Slack's basically social media for tech dorks, right?)

Sampled:

Slack

Tom and Jerry

The Missing BDAs

Unfortunately, I got preoccupied and neglected to do BDA music for the deaths in Chapter 4. Generally, there's not many interesting things to say about stuff that doesn't exist. The plan was to sample Pomp and Circumstance for Law N... but I didn't. Sorry, Froggy. I didn't have any other plans for this one.

Ukiyo-Maemi's EXE

This one relies so much on sampling it almost makes me feel bad. I got so much mileage out of the clanging percussion and the spooky background sounds that it's basically cheating.

Sampled:

My lovely girlfriend 💕

OFF

Akira Akatsuki's BDA

I was in a very percussion-heavy mood when I wrote this. (Can you tell?) Listening to the FLCL soundtrack had me jonesing for some dramatic cymbals.

Sampled:

Earthbound

Genko Junshu's BDA

Junshu's body was found in the Navigation Station. This called to mind sonar beeps and garbled radio messages and such. This is another one that wouldn't be nearly as interesting without the sampling. Hopefully this is transformative enough to not get me labeled a hack.

Sampled:

Earthbound

Law Kiyuu's EXE

This execution actually freaked me the hell out the first time I read it. Freaked me out for like a week - something about the combination of incredible writing and the subject matter. It honestly felt calculated to scare me specifically.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this one. I wanted to write something as unsettling as the execution it was accompanying. The intro is supposed to represent Law thinking he's already dead. Next comes his terror (evoked with the hilariously dissonant Altered scale), and then the final spooky arrhythmic section is supposed to be him being cut apart. (Note that part of the music drifts out of sync with itself to represent Law, uh, going to pieces.) The return of the piano is supposed to evoke the flashback section. That kind of piano sound always sounds spooky and/or sentimental to me.

Not much else to say now that I've dissected (heh) basically all of the decisions I've made for this one. I'm really proud of Law's execution song - it might be my favorite out of all the ones I've done for DECK.

Sampled:

Earthbound

Persona 2: Innocent Sin

The Doug Theme

Death Note

"It's a Long Way to Tipperary"

gamer butt song

Frogbot's EXE

The original plan for this one was start this one off with a hocket-y medley of all the previous body drops and executions. However, it would have been really tedious to export then import all the relevant instruments, so I didn't do that. Instead I remixed the typical BDA theme. It's supposed to convey the shift from FrogBot's reign of despair to the triumph of getting them executed. I realized part of the way through that this segment was far too triumphant given how many people died and the fact that the submarine is about to explode, so then I just ended it by lingering on a diminished chord. I'm not a very subtle person. Frogbot's execution lacks the death rattle 'cause there's no horrifying realization that one of your classmates is dead. (Exercise for the reader: find where I hid the Flintstones theme in this song. Good luck.)

Conclusion

DECK was a lot of fun to work on. I wrote some extremely messy code, made some sick as hell videos, and wrote some pretty baller music. I got to see some wonderful artists do their work, and I got to skim some pretty intense roleplaying. Thank you to everyone who said nice things about my music and to the mods for being really cool dudes. Special thanks to Mints and Los for letting me put this long-winded rant on their blog, and thank you for reading this whole thing.

See you on the flip side, y'all.

#music

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her-culture · 6 years ago

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My Top 10 Books of All Time, and Why You Need to Read Them

In my first article for Her Culture, I thought it would be fitting to write about books that have changed my life and shaped my world views in one way or another. My mom was a journalism major, so I guess I could say I got my love of reading from her. She used to read to me every night as a kid and imparted the importance of good literature to me. As a sociology major currently, these were very formative books in my adolescence that not only challenged certain misconceptions about the world, but allowed me to think in a more macroscopic way by reading different perspectives and experiences as well. I put my favorite quote from each book, if it had one, underneath each title—hopefully those will be enough to give you the general gist of each book. These aren’t listed in any particular order, but they are all relatively equally important to me, and it was incredibly hard to narrow it down (stay tuned for honorable mentions at the end):

The Great Gatsby – F. Scott Fitzgerald

“So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”

When I think of this book, I have so many fond and nostalgic memories of adolescence. Even though it was not too long ago, I think this book was really my turning point to begin truly questioning the social facts that govern our society. Although the novel is relatively short, the story holds a much-needed allegory for some of the major plights of Western society: elitism, greed, class, consumerism, etc. I would call this book a buffet of sorts; I say this to mean you can take a plethora of different meanings from Fitzgerald’s relatively straightforward tale. Moreover, I recently learned that Fitzgerald was an Irish immigrant, so the concept of Gatsby’s relentless pursuit to be from East Egg is similar to his own trials and tribulations of fitting into American society—and invariably, not being able to in the end. I really love the imagery and the language in this book as well; essentially, Fitzgerald paints an exquisite portrait of the problem of the consumerist God we worship in America. My favorite imagery in the book is probably the eyes of Dr. T.J. Eckelburg; that’s one of my favorite images ever in literature, actually.

Mrs. Dalloway – Virginia Woolf

“Fear no more the heat of the sun”

This book reminds me of the conversations I’d have with my best friend in high school every day after AP Literature. We’d get coffee and drive around and talk about the various existential topics the book discusses. The book takes place over the course of 24 hours, it essentially covers a middle-aged woman’s retrospective meditation of her life and past decisions as she prepares to throw a party. Although it seems like a simple plot, it delves into ideas about purpose, free will, and even the profound effect strangers can have on your life. I loved the interpolation of other people’s narratives into the story as well; it made the story richer than just Mrs. Dalloway’s narration. Furthermore, I like the stream of consciousness style that you don’t see in many critically acclaimed works, but it makes it feel all the more intimate. Not only do you feel for Mrs. Dalloway, Septimus, and others, but the power of this style of writing makes it seem like you are in that character’s predicament. It reminds me not only of the fragility of life itself, but of the gravity of what you would consider menial everyday interactions can have—the butterfly effect.

Song of Solomon – Toni Morrison

“If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”

My mother is specifically to thank for reading this book. She suggested it to me the summer before senior year, and since summer had always been my prime reading time in high school, I read it. Toni Morrison is one of the best writers of the century, without a doubt, and this book is all the proof you need to believe this claim. She created an intricate masterpiece, intertwining various double-entendres—especially with the names of characters, time periods, storylines, and more. Her language is vivid, and every word is meaningful; she has no fillers. Every aspect of the story adds to the jigsaw puzzle that is solved at the end of the book. I’d hate to give any of the plot away, but one of the characters is named Guitar because he’s instrumental to the development of the protagonist, but that’s just one example of her mastery. It explores race, ancestry, colorism, and the power of self as well. This is one of my top favorites of all time, and if I were to order them, this one would without a doubt be close to the top.

Flowers for Algernon – Daniel Keys

“I don’t know what’s worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be, and feel alone.”

When I first read this book, I was relatively young, but it still had a profound impact. I think it challenged me to think about the power of sentience and that it’s one of the many things we take for granted. It reminds me a bit of some themes in Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men (an honorable mention), but in my opinion, it’s less cliché in a way. Although it’s technically supposed to be a young adult novel, I would say it has a lot of adult themes, so it was a good stepping stone into adult tragedy. Charly’s connection to Algernon is one of the most poignant relationships in literature, and I do feel like this book gets overlooked frequently when we discuss the greats. On another note, it also caused me to evaluate the power of interactions and relationships with others, as humans are innately relational; this book does a fantastic job of capturing that aspect of life.

Jazzy Miz Mozetta – Brenda C. Roberts

“Okay, young cats, let the beat hit your feet.”

This is the only children’s book in my top 10, but for a good reason. This is another book my mother introduced, but way earlier than the others she suggested, as she would read it to me at night. She’d read it probably 3-5 times a week because this was one of my favorite ones. When I see this book, I have so many fond memories of my mother tucking me in with my matching pajamas and warm milk at night. To this day, I appreciate this book as one of the most incredible children’s books of all time. Roberts’ incredible vision of music, color, and sound made me proud to be black at such a young age, in a world that doesn’t want you to feel comfortable in your own skin. Moreover, you don’t see many children’s books with black protagonists, and this was such a fantastic representation. Especially because I also love music, she did such a good job of creating that through the illustrations. It emphasizes community, music, and living life to the fullest.

Tuck Everlasting – Natalie Babbitt

“Don't be afraid of death; be afraid of an unlived life. You don't have to live forever, you just have to live.”

Tuck Everlasting was one of the first books that really caused me to examine mortality in a secular sense. I went to church school once a week as a kid, and that was the only space where we discussed life and death in that way, so this was an important introduction to the concept of death altogether, in a sense. We’ve all heard about the fountain of youth at one point or another in our lives, and this novel explores that idea essentially. I also really like the tension between immortality and a normal life, somewhat reminiscent of the Greek myth of Eurydice when Orpheus goes back to the Underworld to retrieve her. This is another book connected to my mother actually, who read it at the same time as me so I would have someone to discuss my reading with and bounce off my ideas. I think this is part of the reason this book resonated so deeply with me; I had an adult to converse complex topics of mortality with.

The Virgin Suicides

“It didn't matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them, and that they hadn't heard us calling, still do not hear us, up here in the tree house, with our thinning hair and soft bellies, calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time, alone in suicide, which is deeper than death, and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together.”

The above quote is relatively long compared to the rest, but it’s one of my favorite passages in literature. I love the effervescent, ethereal nature of this book. I almost feel nostalgic reading it, although I didn’t grow up in the 70s, but there’s somewhat of a vintage quality to it. These aspects are kind of similar to Lois Lowry’s book A Summer to Die. If you can get past the gruesome, macabre aspect of the actual storyline—young girls committing suicide—you can bask in Eugenides’ masterpiece. His syntax is honestly unmatched, as well as his symbolism. In my opinion, this is a much better version of the popular young adult novel 13 Reasons Why, as it goes into detail about what led to the suicides and you get a look inside the minds of the girls, but from an outsider perspective (as young boys are the narrators of the novel, along with an occasional third person narrator). As a male, Eugenides encapsulates not only youth but the experience of adolescence as a girl as well. The writing is just beautiful, and that’s all I can say about it. The interesting part is that although I guess this would be categorized as a tragedy and certainly has a melancholy tinge to it, you don’t finish the book feeling sad necessarily. I was unsettled, but I still wouldn’t consider it a tragedy per se. Eugenides’ genre-defying classic is one that needs to be acknowledged as the phenomenal work that it is. To this day, I don’t know if I’ve read a book like this one, in the best way possible.

Slaughterhouse-Five – Kurt Vonnegut

“Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.”

The way this book was introduced to me was as a book “about World War II and aliens,” and that is basically the most accurate summary I’ve ever read. It’s hard to say exactly what the premise of this book is because it really is about a wide array of topics, but it’s all connected, and it makes sense when you read it. It had a huge impact on me because I’ve never read a book as non-traditional as this one. I appreciate Vonnegut because he doesn’t subscribe to anyone’s rules—another genre-bender, one could say. It would be diminishing to this work to say that it’s about existentialism, but it is in a sense. The Tralfamadorians (the aliens in the novel), teach Billy how to look at his life macroscopically, and also about the deceptive nature of time. In Vonnegut’s words, “so it goes.”

Tess of the d’Urbervilles – Thomas Hardy

“Beauty lay not in the thing, but in what the thing symbolized.”

I can’t lie, I wasn’t the biggest fan of this book when I started it because I wasn’t sure where it was going. It has a Pride and Prejudice nature to it at the beginning before you delve into the plot that makes it seem sort of outdated, and although it is a timepiece technically, the actual message of the novel is timeless. There’s a lot more than meets the surface in this novel, and the imagery is also incredible. Hardy’s message is essentially about “crass casualty and dicing time” which is basically the notion that random things happen to us at random times and there’s nothing we can do about it. This also counters the notion of free will which is an interesting stance especially for the time this book was written. In fact, when this book was first published it was banned because of the depiction of rape and of secularism as well. At the time it was written (The Scarlet Letter era), the woman was the party at fault if she was raped, so it was met with generally negative feedback at first. Once I finished the book, I was a huge fan just because Hardy went against all norms to write such a tale. I specifically like the idea that Tess essentially saves herself in every scenario in the novel; Hardy knew even in 1891 that she didn’t need a man to save her.

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao – Junot Díaz

“Each morning, before Jackie started her studies, she wrote on a clean piece of paper: Tarde venientibus ossa. To the latecomers are left the bones.”

This book needs to be regarded as one of the best ones of our generation, as well as Junot Díaz as an author. Not only is this book timely, but it is also timeless. I really liked the integration of the actual history of the Dominican Republic into the novel, and also the acknowledgment of the intersection of race, language, history, and culture as the book is written in Spanglish. We don’t read many books in school or any books that garner any major media attention about Afro-Latino comic book nerds and their histories, so it’s important for a number of reasons. Díaz takes us on a long, vibrant journey through many genres, full of culture, and unrefined.

These are my top 10 books, at least as of right now, as the more books I read, the more the list changes. However, many of these will always remain at the top as classics to me. These are all must-reads not just because of how significant they were to me, but because of their respective contributions to literature. Outside of the fact that a few of them aren’t even categorizable into a genre, these books were truly eye-opening and formative for me. If you like to conceptualize the world and read about various topics from free will to mortality, I would highly consider reading at least a few of these, if not all.

Separately, I would like to think of this list as an ode to my childhood, and even more to my mother. She gave me this passion and this insatiable love of literature, so I truly thank her for taking the time to read to me, with me, and even for her suggestions. I can’t thank her enough.

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mwolf0epsilon · 7 years ago

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~~~Coco and the Beanstalk AU~~~

Yeah, I promised myself I wouldn’t make more, but alas here is another AU! I’ve noticed that fandoms have very specific fairytale AUs, mostly Beauty and the Beast, Alice in Wonderland, Cinderella and The Little Mermaid. But me? I’m a fan of the older classics really, so here’s a fairytale I rarely see adapted into an AU! Jack and the Beanstalk! I won’t make this much longer, the AU Info will all be under the cut! ---Enjoy!---

---{Intro}---

“Once upon a time, in the small far away village of Santa Cecilia, lived a young woman named Imelda. Now Imelda, she wasn’t like the other girls of her village. She was fiery tempered, independant and iron-willed, which made it very difficult for her parents to find her a husband, as no man wanted to risk incurring her wrath if they so much as took a misstep around her. They much preferred the other pretty women of the village, who fell for their charms without much of a fuss. Imelda did not care, for she had greater dreams than courting men who couldn’t keep up with her. She wanted to explore and have adventures, which her mother always found very unladylike. Her brothers Oscar and Felipe however, found it to be an admirable trait. They always did support her in all her plans. One day, while taking a stroll on the outskirts of town, she found a small little bean among the pebbles. Curious as to where it came from she looked around, but saw neither a vendor’s cart nor any merchants to be found. Thinking nothing of this, she carried on to her path towards the river, where she decided to plant the bean as a personal marker. Much to her amazement however, the tiny green bean quickly sprouted into a gigantic beanstalk that rose up into the clouds. Not one to leave her curiosity be, she decided to climb up and see just how high the beanstalk had grown. After making sure the long curling stalks were secure enough, Imelda began her ascent up into the clouds above, where she came upon the most amazing of sights. Up in the clouds were several houses! And not just any kind of house either. Cottages as big as mountains! With barrels and carts that would dwarf even the village church! She’d stumbled upon the Kingdom of Giants. As she marveled at her fantastic discovery, the ground bellow her began to shake as a huge shadow fell upon her. Looking up, Imelda quickly noticed the gigantic person that was currently peering down at her. So very tall that she could not make his upper half, which was hidden by shadows. She tried to run, how could she not when a behemoth stood right above her? But running got her nowhere if not in the grasp of the giant that had found her. Imelda surely thought it would be her end there and then, but to her surprise she was not being crushed nor was she being dropped into the maw of a hungry colossus. Instead, she was being held very gently and raised to meet the giant’s gaze. Kind chocolate eyes looked at her with curiosity and worry, and the giant spoke to her in a gentle tone which sounded as sweet as honey-milk to her ears. Before her was not a monster but a friend. A gentle man the size of two cathedrals stacked one upon the other, and yet nothing of him spelled the workings of a brute. Imelda had very quickly made a friend out of Hector, a simple bard who lived in the Kingdom of Giants. Days passed. Imelda would leave home early in the morning to climb up the beanstalk where her friend would await her arrival. The two bonded, joked, and talked about everything and nothing. They became very close, close enough that love began to blossom between them. But how to make it work? Surely a human woman could never be with a giant? Hector had the answer. A good friend of his, a potionsmith named Chicharrón, would brew for him an elixir that could make him temporarily small. That way Imelda wouldn’t have to be the one to visit all the time. And for a while, this was the norm. It became less frequent for Imelda to climb up, and more frequent would she see her lover climb down in his smaller size, which was still taller than her but quite twiggy and silly looking compared to the brutes that tried to court her before she put them in their place. She did not care, to her Hector was the most handsome man she’d ever met. With time, things became more serious between the two. So serious in fact, that Hector asked Chicharrón one day if perhaps he could make a potion that would permanently change him into a human for all eternity, so that he could remain with Imelda. His friend told him that such a thing was possible...But just as he’d agreed to do so, the door to his shop opened- There stood Ernesto, a long time friend of Hector’s and the ruler of the Kingdom of Giants. Now, unlike Hector, Ernesto had a great hatred for humans, viewing them as inferior and nothing more than pests. So hearing that his friend and favorite bard was leaving to be with one forever? It angered him to no end! No matter how much Hector explained that he loved Imelda, Ernesto would have none of it. Instead, he promised that if Hector were to leave, then he would climb down the beanstalk himself and destroy her village and all who lived in it, including Imelda herself. Horrified at this, Hector begged for his friend not to hurt anyone. Seeing that he had Hector right where he wanted him, Ernesto patted his friend on the back and said that, if Hector were to ensure Imelda would never return, then no one would ever be hurt. With a heavy heart, Hector agreed to these conditions. On the next time that Imelda came to visit, Hector tried to persuade her to give up on the idea of marriage. Upset and confused, Imelda asked why he would change his mind, when they’d both been so invested in starting a family together. Too scared to explain the situation with the king, Hector kept trying to make her leave, to no avail. Imelda would not budge...Which left him only one option. Raising a massive hand, Hector slammed it down near his lover and screamed at her that he could never love something akin to vermin. Terrified, Imelda ran and climbed down the beanstalk, leaving behind the heartbroken bard. She never got to tell him that she was expecting a child. Twelve years later, a young Coco Rivera always felt like she never quite belonged. Her mother was known around their village to be cold and unloving, hating all that brought joy to one’s life, specially music. All she knew how to do was making shoes. Coco wondered what had made her mother so bitter and sad. She also wondered why she did not have a father, but those were two questions she’d never gotten an answer for. She was on her way to the market to buy supplies for her mother’s shop, when an old beggar came to her holding a bag. The beggar took out one singular bean and told her where to bury it. If she did so, answers would come to her. Coco was much like her mother when she was young. Adventurous and curious, so she accepted the gift and ran to the location she was told to plant the bean in. There she found the remnants of a very big withered old beanstalk, which looked to have been chopped down many years ago. She planted her bean beside it and watched in amazement as it grew upwards into the clouds. She did not hesitate to climb up. Answers would come, one way or another...”

---{The Plot}---

The story takes place after Imelda and Hector parted ways, with a very young Coco struggling to belong in the village of Santa Cecilia.

All her life she’s wondered what caused her mother such heartache, and why she never had a father. One day a lone beggar gives her the key to answering her questions: A tiny green bean that, when planted in the right location, grows into a gigantic beanstalk that leads into the Kingdom of Giants. Being the adventurous girl she is, Coco climbs up and winds up getting chased by Ernesto’s guards, who ensure no human ever sets foot in the land above the clouds. Coco ends up hiding in one of the gigantic cottages. She tries to leave when she thinks it’s safe but ends up running right into a giant’s foot. She scrambles back in terror and hides under a piece of furniture. When the giant doesn’t give chase and instead crouches down and asks if she’s ok, she’s very obviously confused. One moment ago she was being hunted, and now on of the beasts is offering her kind words. What an odd day. She ends up on top of a massive table, being offered small pieces of food (which are quite big for her still) and discovers that the giant’s name is Hector and that he’s spent the last twelve years keeping an eye out for humans so as to keep them out of trouble. He explains his king hates humans and that he decreed that should any climb into the Kingdom of Giants’s territory, then they’ll be killed immediatly. This didn’t settle well with Hector, thus he became a sort of protector for any confused humans he came upon. Coco tells her tale, about how she’s always felt like her village doesn’t at all seem like home to her, and that her mamá has lived a life of heartache and bitterness. She also explains she doesn’t have a papá and that the only people in her life are her mother, her twin uncles and her their house cat Pepita. She tells Hector that the person who gave her the bean told her she’d find answers in the Kingdom of Giants. Hector is perplexed but after a lot of consideration decides to consult Chicharrón on the matter. Being one of the oldest people he knows, he might know what to do to help her. The whole ordeal becomes an adventure, where Hector and Coco slowly bond and find out they are family, while Ernesto tries to thwart them and Imelda frantically searches for her daughter only to see a massive beanstalk out in the distance. This AU promises a lot of sad moments and genuinely cute Papá Hector moments (Because when you’re a giant and you’re trying to protect a tiny 12 year old, you are bound to act like a papa bear)..

#Eps Draws:#Disney #Pixar #Coco #Hector Rivera #Imelda Rivera #Coco and the Beanstalk AU #Size Difference #Hector's outfit is a homage to another disney character can you guess who? It's theme appropriate!

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theamazingdrunk-blog · 8 years ago

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Reposting DarkAngel's spec without permission

Little Know Facts about Louis and Lestat © Dark Angel

[email protected] Spoilers: VampChron

Status: Complete Characters: Lestat & Louis Disclaimer: This piece of speculative fiction is not meant to infringe upon, sidle up to, nor slip in on top of the rights of the author of the Vampire Chronicles, Knopf Publishing or it’s subsidiaries, Kith and Kin, Geffen Pictures, Warner Home Video, Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, The Estate of Pointe du Lac, L’etat d’Auvergne, The Talamasca, Pointedulac Renovation and Construction, The Lion Court - Bar and Strip Club, Dulac Real Estate - New Orleans, LA, Melmoth Prophylactics Company, L&L Gazebo and Porch Swing Manufacturing, Amadeo World Enterprises, Molloy Bourbon Distillery, any other SPEC Authors, any SPEC readers, their pets, close relatives or chiropractors. Thank you. Author’s Notes: I began writing this in 1996 when I first discovered the a.b.a.r Archive. I want you all to know that if any of the statements below directly or indirectly oppose or contradict anything that has been written in your or any other SPEC, this is unintentional, and I am sorry. Conversely if anything contained below has already been stated in your or any other SPEC, this is also unintentional and again I am sorry. It is just for fun. One vampire’s view. Please enjoy. Dedication: With generous suggestions from Father of Lies to whom it is dedicated.

I am a vampire, one who is known to you from the writings of the aforementioned. I do not wish to identify myself further than this, as I am not possessed of the need for fame. I have read the “Anne Rice” books as well as the literature which has been appearing in alt.books.anne.rice. These are very interesting. Some are so close to reality that I feel convinced that I am not the first one of our little family to submit writings here. The portrayal of Louis and Lestat, in the books and in these specs, compels me to reveal a few of these facts (personal traits, mortal experiences, abilities, likes and dislikes) which may give everyone a clearer image of them. Even in their own writings, they fail to describe themselves or each other the way that I see them to actually be.

I do know them personally. I have lived with them. I am extremely fond of them both, this is why I feel the need to dispel the notions of a weak, whining Louis and a violent, self-centered Lestat. These are stereotypes which emphasize the very worst (notice I don’t actually say non-existent) qualities of these two very charming and well-rounded gentlemen quite out of proportion.

Lestat de Lioncourt *******************

-loves puns. The worse the better.

-plays radio and CDs extremely loud. Has been made aware that this is quite annoying to every one else, but seems to revel in causing others to yell at him.

-often breaks into to song with little or no provocation, usually accompanied by dancing. Has actually danced on tables.

-being the last surviving member of his family, is technically the Marquis. He sometimes mentions this , as in “is this any way to treat le Marquis d’Auvergne?”

-is very sweet, often presents a member of the family with a single flower, for no reason at all.

-is terrible at video games and has very little patience for them, though he loves new technology and is very knowledgeable about computers. He can take them apart and put them together, though if he is asked to fix one, he is more likely to appear with a brand new one instead.

-writes poetry incessantly, some of it is very good, and a few are truly beautiful, but with the volume he produces, invariably most are going to be quite bad. This is also true for lyrics and music which any passerby is unfortunately subjected to.

-whenever he sees Tom Cruise, in magazines, videos or on television , has taken to exclaiming “There I am!” This started with the film and has now progressed, everyone has now picked it up, “There you are, Lestat!”

-still occasionally buys dolls, I am not sure what he does with them.

-will do nearly anything, including acrobatics, to make someone laugh. (this is usually practiced upon Louis)

-loves riddles.

-seems to know an infinite number of songs which he plays on the piano, he is a virtuoso. Plays more ragtime than classical, however.

-is a very tactile person. Hugs everyone as often as possible.

-takes an intense dislike to certain media (personalities, programs, movies, bands, songs, etc.) and will go on long tirades about these people or whatever it is, each and every time they appear, to the point where many of us offer to just go and kill them if this will in some way placate him.

-is still enamored with the Shakespearean play, “Macbeth”, to the point of obsession. He has seen it countless times and purchases copies of it in print, on video and even on CD ROM. It is due to this obsession that the rest of us have been treated to : “Macbeth-the one man show”, “MACBETH!-the musical”, and even “Lady Macbeth-an all-drag revue” (the specifics of which I do not care to go into, and how he convinced the others to participate, I’ll never know )All have been delightful!

-is still deep in mourning over the seeming demise of the heavy metal music scene. You would think it was a close relative. Now he has closets full of black leather clothing which he claims he can’t wear anywhere.

-is terrible at spelling, but loves to work crosswords and cryptograms.

-would do anything, at any time, to help a member of the family.

-pouts often, over trivial things mostly, but this is usually short-lived.

-has sent the entire coven personalized autographed copies of all of his books, with his dialogue printed in red, of course.

-loves fresh flowers and has new bouquets delivered every night.

-has an intense dislike of insects.

-is much more generous and adorable than he has been described. Is constantly buying things for someone, or giving things away.

-is actually very paternal. He likes to take care of people and animals, and can be very gentle and comforting. Often teases his fledglings by referring to them as a father would “this is my youngest, David”, or “Well, Louis is a middle child, so we must expect these things”, “tell Papa what’s wrong”, or even “Bedtime for you, young man” and “Go to your Room!”

-loves books, has stacks of them everywhere, including at other vampire’s lairs.

-his nicknames among us are “Trouble” and “Brat” (shortened from “Brat Prince” of which you are all aware). Once, at Night Island , several of us were sitting quietly together (reading, playing games etc.) when Lestat appeared suddenly in the middle of the room, striking a rather affected pose. “Who am I?” he demanded, trying to start a game of charades. Louis looked up from his book and said quietly, “The Nyades Road ghost?” Lestat has been The Nyades Road ghost ever since, as in, “Telephone call for the Nyades Road ghost”, “Who do these boots belong to? ” “The Nyades Road ghost” “Of course I didn’t do that, what do I look like, the Nyades Road ghost?” Daniel has taken to calling him NRG (energy).

-loves to play hide and seek in its many different variations.

-loves pseudonyms and uses them as often as possible. Often they are names of established characters, such as Clarence Oddbody. Has also used: Timothy Cratchit, Samuel Spade, Nick Charles, Dorian Gray and Rick Blaine. He also uses other people’s pseudonym’s, such as Oscar Wilde’s Sebastien Melmoth, has also used: Richard Bachman (Stephen King), Alan Smithee (any director who does not want to be associated with a film he or she made), Max Schreck (Name given for actor who portrayed Nosferatu, but strangely no records of a Max Schreck can be found), Apollo C. Vermouth (Paul McCartney) Dr. Winston O’Boogie (John Lennon) and even Pandora Spocks (Elizabeth Montgomery as Serena). Also likes Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Mark Twain, David Banner, Peter Parker, Thomas Mapother and Howard O’Brien. When making reservations or holding tickets for himself and Louis, loves to put them under some variation of Louis’ name, ie. Louis Lioncourt, Louis Armstrong, Lancelot DuLac, Joe Louis, Ludwig Loch, Luigi Punta Lago, Pointdexter Lewis or of course, Brad Pitt. And then makes Louis pick them up.

- is a dog person, as you have probably guessed. Talks more to Mojo than anyone else. Bathes and brushes him often. Takes those disgustingly cute pictures of him - Mojo on the couch, Mojo at the table, Mojo reading a book, Mojo in front of the Christmas Tree, Mojo at the computer, Mojo calling his broker, Mojo fixing the VCR, Mojo kicking back having a beer.

-is not particularly fond of cats, even as a meal.

- when they are living together, almost constantly messes with Louis’ hair, to the point where Louis threatens to smack him, and I believe actually has on occasion. Frets over it more than his own, even. HATES it short. Would only cut his own hair if it were somehow unavoidable.

- loves shopping, for himself or others.

- calls Louis “Precious Darling” if he thinks no one can hear him. It always makes Louis smile a little embarrassed smile. Louis almost certainly has little private names for Lestat, but he is far more discreet about them. I suspect, on the basis of some very circumstantial evidence, that one of them may be “Tomcat”.

-would secretly love to have the entire existing coven living all together

Louis de Pointe du Lac **********************

-has a beautiful voice. Sang in the choir of his parish cathedral as a child. Still sings softly to himself. Will sing with Lestat if cajoled long enough.

-loves the smell of grapes. It reminds him of his youth, there was a grape arbor at Pointe du Lac.

-often becomes enamored of certain television shows and will not miss them. Uses the VCR more than anyone else in the family, to the extent that he has worn out several machines. Has closets filled with shelf after shelf of tapes.

-often asks Lestat to play the piano for him.

-though they do argue and fight, even physically, Louis does have the best rapport with Lestat, and is often asked by others in the coven to “ask Lestat something for me, won’t you?”. Which Louis always does.

-plays practical jokes, like sending Armand a series of tapes entitled, “How To Speak With A Spanish Accent”, or sending boxes of cheap plastic fangs to any one of us. Since the film has come out, he always makes certain that a crimping iron is prominently displayed in their bathroom whenever they have guests. He has even had it engraved with Lestat’s initials.

-is a very good story teller.

-has a subtle , yet very lively , sense of humor. His standard greetings to Daniel include, “I’m sorry, but I’m not allowed to talk to you” and “I never give interviews, monsieur”. He had a fake book jacket with the title Daniel Molloy-Boy Reporter by Anne Rice made up, put it around a copy of their book (IWTV) and sent it to Night Island.

-is the “family” photographer.

-has an iron will, matched with a vicious temper. Though he is very slow to anger, and does tend more toward depression, when he is finally provoked, he is intimidating to us all, strength, age, and powers notwithstanding. All of us who have witnessed, or even heard about one of Louis’ rages (which have been few, four in over two hundred years) do all we can to avoid him during one of them. I can say with confidence that we would all fear to be the focus of one. You have certainly read about one, recorded in IWTV, in which he burns down the Theatre des Vampires. Another occurred during the time that we were all together, while Lestat was with Akasha. It was so upsetting to everyone that even Lestat, with his well known penchant for publishing even the most disturbing things about all of us, declined to include it in his book.

-keeps a record of everyone’s “birthdays”(some significant date in their lives if they don’t know their actual birthdate) and sends gifts.

-is an excellent speller and mathematician. He was trained early to keep the books and the plantation journal at Pointe du Lac. He has proof-read all of Lestat’s books, is the only one Lestat trusts to read his proofs without taking anything out, or changing anything. Has often been asked to check up on various mortal accountants retained by one or the other of us, to be certain that our investments are being handled wisely and honestly.

-usually pays little attention to his surroundings, allowing Lestat to decorate as he pleases when they are together, and doing nothing when he is alone, but enjoys the traditional holidays very much and loves to drape the entire house in greenery and ribbons and fruit for Christmas, as was done when he was a child at Pointe du Lac. Lestat loves to counteract this by buying the brightest, cheapest tackiest decorations ( huge plastic lighted Santa with reindeer for the roof, brightly colored elves everywhere, Fake-snow-in-a-can on the windows, lights that play Christmas carols and blink in time to the music, welcome mat that says “Ho Ho Ho” when stepped on, silver icicles strewn everywhere, mistletoe in every doorway, all kinds of automatons, such as are usually seen in store windows - Santas, Little Drummer Boys, Elves working, Christmas trees that fall over, ect. Shiny red and green garlands everywhere, and even one of those cardboard fireplaces, next to the real one) and putting them up before Louis wakes, or while Louis is out.

-loves candlelight. He often turns off the lights in his room and lights several candles instead. He has been lectured about the danger of this, but he persists in secret. When he is discovered he will blow them out and use electric light for a few nights. He has had his candles confiscated after setting off the smoke alarm.

-knows how to drive and usually has a car, but prefers motorcycles and nearly always has one. Says it is closer to horseback riding.

-when annoyed or irritated with Lestat will call him “Lestat Christophe Marie!”. No one knows if this was Lestat’s actual name. When asked, Gabrielle claims she doesn’t remember, Lestat claims that it was not, Louis made it up. Louis will say only, “It is Lestat’s name.”

-often disappears without warning. For instance, once, in 1990 when he was living with Lestat, he was sitting on the floor, watching a video in the living room, Lestat was in a chair behind him. Louis got up, turned to Lestat and said, “I’ll be back.” Went into the kitchen, apparently out the window and was gone for three weeks. Lestat has threatened to put his face on a milk carton.

-according to Talamasca files, the name on Louis’ baptismal certificate was “Louis Michel Rene Antoine”.

-loves to gamble. He generally stays away from casinos, but has cleaned every one of us out during card games. Always has a bet going somewhere. His nicknames among us are “Lucky” and “Ace” (we can’t all call him “Beautiful One”). Loves to play Pool or Billiards. Has been known to hustle other players.

-is still somewhat claustrophobic and suffers from vivid nightmares often.

-loves film and video. Avoids quoting them very much, but can identify nearly any quote that is put to him.

-adores video games, although he owns none himself. Becomes immersed in them for hours and loses all track of time. Has had to be literally dragged to safety at dawn.

-is the most avid and interested listener of all the vampires. Will sit for hours and listen to Maharet, Khayman or any of the others describe their lives as mortals or vampires. Has asked Daniel to tell him of all of the other stories he had collected before they met. Loves to listen to David’s adventures.

-has very refined manners. Still stands when a lady enters a room, opens doors, pulls out chairs, sends thank you notes, etc.

-is a very graceful dancer. Had lessons as a child.

-periodically puts great sums of money in church poor boxes.

-often uses the French pronunciation of our names, such as, Davide, Erique, Danielle.

-can discuss philosophy and religion at length.

-draws and paints but doesn’t want anyone else to ever see his work. He often burns it once it is completed. Lestat has stolen some of the sketches while Louis was out hunting, and he says they are quite good.

-loves jigsaw puzzles and board games, especially chess.

-was a cat person in his mortal life, and was always making pets of the cats at Pointe du Lac. Now however, he avoids pets mostly, but since he has had Mojo foisted upon him, takes very good care of him, and I believe, loves him very much. Mojo has formed a very close attachment to Louis, taking any opportunity to lay on his lap. If Lestat is gone, Mojo will follow Louis and never leave his side. Is somewhat opposed to all the picture taking, but only as much as to say, “Lestat, leave poor Mojo alone.” Speaks to Mojo in French, claims that Mojo is bilingual.

-hates to shop for himself, but will shop for nights and nights to find just the right gift for Lestat.

-has no particular attachment to his hair, if not with Lestat, will cut it very short as soon as he wakes, but does not burn it, because he believes the odor would attract attention. As a result, has garbage bags full of hair that he regularly disposes of. Lestat likes to take them and give them to wig-makers and doll makers. This distresses Louis, but he cannot quite explain why.

-knows much more about Voodoo than you would ever believe. Not that he practices it …as far as I know.

-still uses his real name as much as possible, though Lestat advises against it. As forms and registrations have evolved, has changed it to Louis DePointeDuLac, then Louis Depointdulac, now it is usually Louis Pointedulac, or if the name space is especially short, Louis Dulac. When Lestat does prevail in forcing him to use a pseudonym, always uses something as far from his own name as possible, which results in Louis’ mail and phone messages coming for : Giovanni Martelli, Ciaran O’Shea, Bobby Lee James, Alexei Andropov, Angel Martinez, Dmitri Stadopolous, Biff Weatherington, Ping Chang Lee, Casimir Pulaski, DaShawn Lincoln, Ingmar Thorvaldson, Kefentse Unika, Israel Goldberg or Trinity Lovechild Smith. Lestat gets great joy out of this, and if he happens to retrieve the mail, or take a phone call, will often call Louis by whatever pseudonym it came under, for the rest of the night.

-has never, ever gone underground. There are other unsaid explanations for his disappearances.

FINIS

THE END

#not my fic #fandom #for discord

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waterworldcraze · 5 years ago

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Here Is How Incredibly Smart Goldfish Really Are

How smart is your goldfish? They are smarter than most people believe, but in comparison to other fish, they have a lower IQ level.

Most people think that goldfish only have a three-second memory, much like Dory on the beloved Disney movie, Finding Nemo. This isn’t the case. Studies have shown that your fish have longer memories than you think. In fact, it’s even possible to train your pets some simple tricks.

How smart are my goldfish?

Studies have shown that goldfish have an IQ of about 30 – 40. In a human, we wouldn’t really consider that to be a sign of intelligence, but they are far ahead of the low bar we humans have set for them.

In fact, they have, in some cases, shown more intelligence than some warm-blooded animals.

Goldfish are a member of the carp family, which also includes koi. Fish in the carp family have shown that they have memories at least three months long. In some cases, studies have suggested their long term memory is twice the length.

Your goldfish can recognize you, respond to music cues and can see the same spectrum of color that humans can. Even young goldfish have a harder time seeing the color blue, much like human babies.

Goldfish have also been trained by scientists and young enthusiasts alike to do different things such as:

Recall sounds

Move through mazes

Recognize different colors

Swim through hoops

Push balls around

So the next time someone says, “Oh, you just have fish,” you can tell them that you can train them to do tricks just like you can train your dog.

How do you measure the intelligence of a goldfish?

When we think of intelligent animals we think of sentient animals, like dogs or cats. It’s easy to imagine a stream of consciousness for your dog and even give him a voice. Goldfish don’t exactly give the impression that they have any thoughts. We tend to think they only have instincts.

Part of being sentient is having a sense of “self” and some level of emotions. Through many studies goldfish have been found to have a level of fear, this is an emotion that shows a level of memory and cognition.

This means that the fish is smart enough to remember when something may cause pain or a bad experience.

Fish can also feel pain, discomfort and their moods can change depending on the conditions of their aquarium, showing they have a recognition of well-being.

In 2019, a fish called the cleaner wrasse passed a test called the Mirror Test. This fish showed that it recognized itself in a mirror. Scientists placed a colored mark on the fish and the fish tried to scrape it off.

This showed that the fish understood that the mark is not supposed to be there. It didn’t react the same to a transparent mark, or if the mark was on the mirror. The fish could also tell if there was a different fish across from it, and didn’t attempt to remove the mark.

This means your goldfish could have an understanding of its basic self. How cool is that?

Goldfish are used in scientific studies

Because Goldfish can be trained, they are used widely in scientific studies around the world. In fact, they are second only to mice.

Scientists have used goldfish to try to understand memory and learning. Some of the studies have included running the fish through mazes and measuring their ability to remember their environment, which they can do well.

Others have included studies with music to see how the fish react to different sounds. Scientists found that goldfish will react to jazz and classical music. So if you want your pets to have a good day while you’re at work, leave some Bach running for them.

Goldfish have also shown their ability to differentiate between colors. When fed with their food around a red leggo, they learn that color means they are getting fed. Later on, they will respond quickly to that color looking for food.

With the newer studies emerging, showing that fish are sentient, it’s possible that there may be a change in laws regarding fish. They may even be offered some of the same protections that other pets, like cats, might get.

How can I train my fish?

Like most animals, goldfish are mostly motivated by food. So if you’re expecting to train your fish, you will have to be patient because you don’t want to overfeed them. Goldfish can and will eat to the point of death if the food is made readily available.

Also, don’t expect your goldfish to have a large number of tricks up their sleeves. While their memory is better than originally thought, they can only remember so much.

The fish with the record number of tricks is in the Guinness Book of World Records for remembering ten different tricks.

These fish are trained regularly and unless you have lots of extra time, you may find it difficult to get your fish to that point. If possible, do the training at the same time of day.

This will help your fish develop a routine that they will eventually remember. Once you get that down pat you can show your pet off to your friends.

There are some basic things you will need to do if you want to train your fish. The first is familiarizing them with yourself. Try to interact with them on a daily basis and, if you can, have them eat out of your fingers. This will take time.

Here are some more tips to help you along with the training:

Positive Reinforcement

Positive reinforcement is the best way to train your fish. Reward them for behaviors that you want by giving them treats.

Use tools

Use a special tool to feed your fish. They will eventually come to associate that tool with food. Aquarium Tweezers like these will do the trick.

Use the same method over and over again

Give your fish some sort of indication that the food is coming. You may have to tap on the glass or have a specific piece of lego that you put in the tank. This will let your fish know to look for food.

Consistency Is Key

Be consistent in your training. Fish may have longer memories than most believe, but they need to have the same actions reinforced repeatedly so it’s ingrained in their long term memory. You will need to start by familiarizing them with your tweezers and your finger tap.

Provide optimal living conditions

Make sure your fish are happy and healthy. If your goldfish are bored, overcrowded or ill they will be less likely to participate or cooperate with you.

For some ideas of tricks, you can teach your goldfish, watch the video below.

youtube

What tools do I need to train my fish?

The most important tool you will need will be food. Pick food that can easily be given in small amounts. This is how you’ll motivate your little one to do what you want.

You may also need some kind of feeding device unless you plan to just use your fingers. Aquarium tweezers will work, but you can also try other things like feeding tongs or feeding clips. They just need to be long enough to get down to the bottom of the tank so you can guide your fish.

Other things to consider are:

Hoops

Ping pong balls

Limbo setups

Tunnels

Mazes

#Fish keeping #Aquariums #Pets #Aquarium Tips

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connorrenwick · 5 years ago

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Where I Work: Stéphanie Marin of smarin

Our first brush with smarin was back in 2006 when Design Milk was just a baby and our founder came across their oversized, pebble-looking pillows called Livingstones. Since then we’ve continued to appreciate the nap-worthy designs that the French brand and their founder, Stéphanie Marin, have created. For this month’s Where I Work, we virtually travel to Nice, France, to see Marin’s smarin headquarters and to investigate how and where they make it all happen.

What is your typical work style?

The studio opens quite early, but every one has a specific schedule. Mine is 10am to 6pm, with a break in midday. I often travel, for installations. I have a coffee when I arrive, it is the first thing I do of the day. It helps me going into the work world.

We are working most of the time for public spaces and try to create new situations in various places. Although we do the production of our concepts and design in our workshop in the South of France, we also have a repertoire we produce as a small artisanal factory. Meanwhile, we have a research process, and make objects following our favorite themes, such as therapeutic and mechanic.

What’s your studio/work environment like?

I still draw, I need to model maquettes with my fingers. We love to make our prototypes by ourselves. We are experts in textiles, but also quite fluent in metal and wood solutions.

We can be messy, we love music, and we make a lot of movements – we do not stay seated all day long.

Our studio is a great experimental workshop. We have reversible equipment using our construction system YET! everywhere so that our space can be adapted to all our needs which are often changing.

How is your space organized/arranged?

Our space is 1000 m2, with half the space allocated to series production, which we make ourselves. We use quite low tech tools to produce our simple textile objects. 100 m2 is for our administration team of 5 people and 400 m2 is for the conception process. There’s a simple photo or video studio and a small mezzanine office for 3 designers and myself with good devices (nas / VR / 3D / video). Finally, there’s a space for experimenting and making prototypes with basic tools and a CNC machine. We are very lucky because we are surrounded by beautiful plants and very close to the sea.

How long have you been in this space? Where did you work before that?

First, we got the 500 m2 production space in 2000. Prior to that, I was working in a village with my expert textile team where we were producing textiles with our own natural dyes.

The 500 m2 for the conception studio and administration office came in 2014. It was an old Pasta Factory and we got it in ruins and had to renovate it with chalk paints, copper plumbing, reused wood materials, and other things. We didn’t buy any new, we just repaired and made it work.

If you could change something about your workspace what would it be?

I would open a door between the administration space and the designers’ office. I would make very small offices for everyone that we could have open or closed.

Is there an office pet?

We had 4 chickens, very friendly and interested in design. Since last year we met two beautiful cat brothers who are very nice workmates.

Do you require music in the background ? if so, who are some favorites?

We love music and choose the programming together. Sometimes it is silence. We love a lot of different styles of music: classic, soul…and specially nowadays a new band, FELI XITA.

How do you record ideas?

We use drawings, plans, notes, references, and clay models.

Do you have inspiration board? What’s on now?

Not in the classic way of a mood board… Instead, we have books for ideas, philosophy, economy, micro-sociology… Our boards are related to lists of functions, scenarios, and hypothesis of different uses we want to find.

What kind of art/design/objects might you have scattered about the space?

We are our first critics, so all of our displays are tested in our space – we actually live with our prototypes and experiment with them for the long term. It is very interesting and allows us to think about how we behave with our body. We all still sit on our sChairs since the firsts prototypes came out.

Moreover, we have strong relationships with artists such as Celeste Boursier Mougenot, Yto Barrada, Jean Dupuy, and Philippe Matula. We very much enjoy displaying their gifts in our space.

Are there tools or machinery in your space?

The telephones are now becoming quite important tools whether we like it or not. And of course our coffee machine is important

What tools do you most enjoy using in the design process?

My two favorites tools are: modeling clay and a camera, for two very different steps of the creative process.

Play YET !

Is there a favorite project/piece you’ve worked on?

I love Play YET ! because of the efficiency of it, the infinite possibilities, its reversible aspect, and the highly natural materials we used. I love the sChaise, especially for the fact that we succeeded to reduce the pressure points on the ischios (hamstring) and give the user naturally and constant comfort. In the near future, I want to work on different aesthetics of the sChaise.

sChaise

Do you feel like you’ve made it?

Absolutely not, as I am inventing my processes and my practice, I always have a lot to think about. I am worried about our world. This is driving me to think and rethink about the proposals we can make in economic sustainable models, taking into account the ecological impacts but also the renewed social relations such as the future of work. There is so much to do.

What has made you feel like you’ve become successful?

I felt very happy when I became able to have an apartment out of the workshop. Success in the design game is very relative. The marketing and the importance of the work are not always proportional. The financial equilibrium is necessary, and this is a first sign of sustainable success. My research makes me feel successful when, for example, I am very well seated on the sChaise.

Sign System

At what moment/circumstances have you felt successful?

The success of the Sifflu made me happy because I designed it on the request of an editor for a kind of designer’s box. He refused the project because this was too crazy! I was able to make it anyway, and made it existing in the design field. I got encouragement from the medical world and that was great. Same thing for Sign System, one of our new projects, thought as a new sort of typology. This project’s development allowed us to meet very interesting partners in the research field.

Or what will it take to get there?

I would love to keep on meeting very good project partners, in the architecture field and environmental research.

Nénuphares

Tell us about a current project you’re working on.

I am constantly working on a number of projects, including large scale projects such as project requests, future collaborations with artists, or cultural institutions. My conception of design includes taking into account these 3 scales.

Nowadays we are thrilled to work on two ambitious projects among others: – a new set up/disposal for public space making an inter-relation place for scientists and students. – a reflexology object that proposes a new healthy and funny habit.

Do you have anything in your home that you’ve designed/created?

As I never buy anything new, I am surrounded by our prototypes. I can experiment with all my principles, critic them, and imagine others.

via http://design-milk.com/

from WordPress https://connorrenwickblog.wordpress.com/2019/12/17/where-i-work-stephanie-marin-of-smarin/

#Uncategorized

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ilyashrayber · 6 years ago

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The Mission

When I first entered high school, I knew absolutely nothing. No work ethic, no plans, and perhaps most alarming, almost no friends to speak of. I was so young, and yet, it felt like the world was already closing in around me, as if some metaphorical caution tape was already cropping up on things I wanted to do and people I wanted to meet. I had no knowledge of what was around me, and even more so, it felt like I never would. But as you get older, things start to change, and you feel more and more doors open up, one after the other, in a way that could only make sense with the passage of time. If I’m coming off as vague, it is because it’s hard for someone like myself to specify exact moments when you feel validated, satisfied, and as if you’ve broken away from an almost self-imposed mental barrier. But if there was a place that embodied the transition from the timid, smelly, and raggedy boy I was to the slightly less timid, smelly, and raggedy man (by Jewish law) I am today, it would be the Mission District.

I would be remiss to bring up the Mission without addressing the growing, all-encompassing wave of change that is hitting it right now. What used to be a primarily Latinx community comprised of families, artists, and blue collar workers has been all but washed away by white software engineers in search of some strange, exoticized concept of ‘urban grit’ and ‘authenticity’. Where there once were family owned groceries, optometrists, and photo studios, I now see exorbitant pre-fixe menus, ‘organic’ clothing stores, and the occasional (read: extremely common) misuse of local history to sell me something. I am exhausted, and I don’t even live there. Additionally, the privilege of being a cis, white man is something that makes me just at fault when I do not speak up as those who are actively destroying a piece of what makes this city so dynamic. It is a tricky tightrope to walk on, and the best thing people like myself can do is listen, and help when asked, whether that is giving our time, money, or a mix of the two to help preserve the integrity, and magic, of the Mission.

I remember the first time I ever had a sleepover. It wasn’t with the kid next door to me, or at a birthday party, or even in the first 14 years of my life. Instead, my first sleepover happened in my freshman year of high school. This isn’t super uncommon among children of immigrants, but nonetheless, I felt like I was missing a key piece of the American experience. When it came to mind, before I actually went to one, I had, like most things, romanticized each and every single aspect of a sleepover. I had imagined a world where we would get to the house, only to be greeted by plates of fresh grapes, served to us on priceless marble while enjoying French brut in tall glasses. Instead, we made eggs at midnight and drank Tropicana Orange Peach Mango (henceforth known as ‘OPM’) straight from the carton. In place of sampling liquors from around the world and discussing literature, we downed Kirin Ichiban and talked about girls from our high school we would definitely want to go out with but definitely would have no idea what we would even begin to do if we ever did. Usually crouched down, in the basement, trying to stealthily sip our brew while an adult was upstairs. All this happened in a Victorian on the corner of 27th and Guerrero, a house purchased by my friend’s father for $70,000 right when he got out of the Navy in the 1970’s. It had four bedrooms, an insane kitchen leading out into the backyard, and a circular top floor window, one situated right above the bed of my friend who would always invite me over. It was through this window that I had witnessed car break-ins, smelled the waft of burritos only a couple blocks over, and totally messed with other people trying to get in at the front door. They are good, sacred memories that put a smile on my face when I remember them, both in their quality and the sheer quantity that I have of them.

The Victorian sat on the cusp of Noe Valley and the Mission, leaning more to the former when you went east and more to the latter when you went west. And boy, did we go west a lot. We would often leave the house at night, with no plan at all, burnt out from playing video games, and simply walk down Mission Street trying to process what it was we were seeing as little baby birds sprouting their wings for the first time. People were out drinking and dancing, the air had a palpable energy to it, and it seemed as if everything was right with the world. It was a sensation I knew I wouldn’t have for a long time, but I wanted it anyway. Street vendors, taquerias, and the only CEX in the city were the main draws, but it was the friendly faces, life experience, and exposure to cultures outside our own that really made us want to stay.

The stretch of 24th Street that begins on Mission and ends on Potrero is perhaps my favorite dozen or so blocks in the city. It has everything anyone could need, ever. Casa Lucas is the exclusive grocery store I shop at when my folks are out of town and I’m calling the shots, and believe me, it’s worth every penny of the Muni fare I feel disillusioned to pay. The fruits and veggies there taste better than any trustfund soulcycle hayes valley bullshit they’re trying to feed you over at Whole Foods, and at a fraction of the price. Plus, they’re the only grocery in the city I’ve found that stocks the very specific kind of kola I’ve become dependant on, imported all the way from Oaxaca. When I say that this kola fucked up my world, I am being modest in the effect it had on me.. I don’t even know the name of it, but I reach for the stuff everytime I’m on 24th because it has that kind of hold on me. Days get brighter, and nights get longer, whenever I feel the sweet, smooth liquid gold pass through me. Anyways. Moving on. Not only does 24th have the most kick-ass grocery in the entire world, they also have maybe the best cheap seafood ever, in the form of Basa Express. Ignore the sign that was made in Microsoft Paint. Appreciate the fact that this is a no frills, what you see is what you get kind of seafood place where you can grab a freshly made California roll for 5 dollars. With ceviche and sashimi being just a little bit more than that, it’s a refreshing change of pace from the recent increase of trendy seafood places with exposed wood and vintage buoys hanging everywhere. There is no exposed wood here. There is no old photo of a ship captain the owner bought on eBay. There is no lengthy description of how the fish lived and died along with a short obituary. It is just good, cheap seafood that you can feel good about eating.

Walk up and down 24th and you’ll realize the plethora of people and places that feel like hidden gems, but have been there all along. I stand by Humphry Slocombe as the best ice cream in the city, while the vast majority of my friends cry out in support of Mitchell’s, another place that is very good but in no way a competitor to Humphry and his offerings. The classic at Humphry’s is to walk in, have no idea what you want, and then have the young college kids behind the counter begrudgingly ask if you want a sample. That is just the way it works. If I can just be bougie for one second here; they have a Wine & Cheese flavor. And it’s delicious. If this is the hill I die on, so be it. After a nice little ice cream break, I like to peruse the various cultural offerings, in the forms of records and books that 24th has to offer. I always have to walk into Pyramid Records, which, dare I say, is the most finely curated selection of wax in the entire Bay Area. Is there a huge selection? No. Do they have deep discounts and unbeatable prices? Not really. But is there a dude behind the counter who compliments my sneakers everytime I’m there? Yes. There is. For myself, Pyramid has a beautiful mix of international, lounge, and soundtracks on vinyl, which just so happen to be some of my favorite genres in music. It’s all designed in a super clean, minimalist-but-nowhere-near-boring type of aesthetic. I feel like I’m in a music video for a bedroom pop artist when I’m in there, and that’s all I could ever ask for. When talking about literature however, it’s hard to beat Alley Cat, a big bookstore with a gallery and event space in the back. I’ve picked up some of my favorite graphic novels from this spot, and their mystery section makes me feel good. Adobe Books a few blocks up is great too, and it sports a much more intimate setting for falling in love with any number of books, local or not. I’ve seen many a performance inside of Adobe, ranging from Chicana poetry, all the way to a solo performance from the bassist for Real Estate. Great books, great vibe, and it always feels nice to support a place that feels like an institution. For any bookstore, that should be a slam dunk. And it is. Usually directly into my wallet.

There are tons of other great places on 24th, especially if you’re into just sitting down and having a good time. There’s the OG Philz, a coffee shop with perhaps the comfiest furniture in any cafe, and Haus, half a block down, where I may or may not have a crush on every single female barista that works there. Again, this is unconfirmed. I would really love to recommend Wise Son’s, a jewish deli with an insane breakfast salad, but every since I took edibles right before I ate there and thought I was in 1920s New Orleans, it has been a tough sell. They have a very nice restroom, however, that they’ll let you use if you ask nicely. St. Francis Fountain, a diner nearing the very end of 24th, has the best pancakes in the city. I am sorry but everyone got together and voted on it, and there will be no recount. Whether chocolate chip, banana, or even, dare I say, vegan, these guys are a home run every. Single. Time. It is almost uncanny how good they are, and are the definition of a food that is ‘good for the soul and not so much the love hips.’ Lastly, when you come up on Mission, you’ll no doubt see a line going out the door for the much beloved El Farolito. If you ask me? It’s good, but it’s definitely not my favorite. I try to explain it in terms of ice cream flavors. When you take your kid to go get ice cream, you always start with vanilla. There’s a reason it’s the default, you know? Well rounded, satisfying, and very inoffensive. I feel the exact same about El Farolito. (Cue the thinkpieces attacking me.) It is the vanilla ice cream of taquerias. My favorite, however, is also in fact on 24th, and it goes by the name of Taqueria Guadalajara. More salsa options, less rice, and juicier meat is what drives me to make this almost sacrilegious decision. Plus, there’s never a line. And that in and of itself should be celebrated.

The Mission is so, so many things. But most of all, it is not mine. And it’s probably not yours, either. I simply play, and for a little bit, worked there. There is so much to celebrate about this neighborhood, and so, so much that we as a city should try to preserve, even if it considered by many to be ground zero for gentrification. Be respectful. Think about your actions. How will this affect others? If you live there, try broadening it to a macro level. How will this affect my community, one that is already going through an incredible amount of change, and the heartbreak that comes with that? What can I do to make things better? Always say thank you, and respect those that came before you. These seem obvious, but it’s easy to forget with everything going on. At the end of the day, I like to hang out in the Mission, and I bet you, the reader, probably do too. So let’s just try and not be complete asshats about what we choose to do in a community that is experiencing an immense shift, both culturally and economically. Let’s just try and be a little better next time we’re there.

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