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lovenona · 3 years

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LONG ask ahead, sorry T^T

*arrives in a hurry after 2-3 days* *slow, appreciative clap at the ted talk* sweetie, have you got any idea how much i adore hearing you ramble about the creation process??? seeing the whole love and dedication you hold for the odyssey makes my day! (and nooo, i'm totally not reading it again bc i want to have all of it in mind for tomorrow and bc it inspires me to no end hahaha what do you mean :) )

here comes yet another question: what kind of powers do you possess to write so beautifully. your writing literally punches me in the gut every single time, even the simplest of things!! it's hauntingly beautiful and i'm living for it!

(and another one) how did you find out how the odyssey was going to end?

also, it's rambling time because i've been thinking. (i do that sometimes.) each chapter title is a reference to a greek myth, and, in particular, odysseus' myth (no clue if i've written his name right, i've always knew him as "ulysse" in my mother tongue ^^;). and so my brain went: oooh nice, greek lore ^^ and then: yo wait. hold up. which brings me here: analysing the chapter titles. (bear with me please, and feel free to ignore my enthusiastic rambling/correct me if i'm wrong which i probs will)

so first, we have the prelude. david and calypso. while i'm sure david has his importance it's almost 1 am as i'm typing this so i'm going to focus on calypso. poor nymph is stuck in an island because of the will of gods for a reason i've forgotten. but here's the catch: while she cannot leave, others can come to her (good ol' odysseus for instance) until they leave her all alone again. and the cycle unfolds again and again. which brings us to a nice parallel with reader's situation at the beginnig. she, after all, is stuck on an island with no way out but stories. comes the dilf supreme toji aka an odysseus of sorts, until he leaves her. so she's alone again. calypso there illustrates a passive state of sorts. she cannot leave, or so she thinks: while she wants to, we don't see her try per se until sukuna comes in.

ah yes. sukuna’s arrival. chapter title: neptune’s hands. Neptune, god of the seas, all powerful, also known as Poseidon absolutely terrifying if provoked — which is something Odysseus did! well, man is smart enough not to do it to his face. but he did stab a cyclope, which happened to be neptune’s son. son who swore to a haughty Odysseus that he’d pay for it. in consequence: instead of going back to Ithaca without that much of trouble, Neptune goes: nope mate, and promptly sabotage his return (with a storm who leads his ship astray if my memory is correct). Neptune serves as a catalyst in here, to properly start the action. and it so happens to be sukuna’s role! he is, as well, the one who starts reader’s journey — well, odyssey in this case ;) — by making her this offer. plus, if we consider reader as being calypso, a nymph, and sukuna as being Neptune, a god, it shows their difference in power. sukuna is a fearsome curse, captain whose name is enough to strike fear in the cruellest pirate, who can and will kill reader should he get bored of her. reader is but a printer’s apprentice, so weak compared to him it hurts.

ah, yes. the narcissus pool aka siren gojo, aka me simping so hard for this man I might squirt with the mere mention of him. yes, siren gojo is that powerful, feel free to lure me in with them baby blues sweetie *blows him a kiss* hem. anyway. long story short, an oracle said: if narcissus sees his reflection, he’ll die. people prevent him from seeing himself. ofc man is so handsome it hurts and has women and men alike running after him, including a nymph named echo. he rejects her. hera is somehow involved in the mess and makes it so that he stumbles upon a river and sees himself. entranced by his beauty, he desperately tries to reach himself and stays near the river until he dies. this one is a bit trickier (especially considering I’m writing this as I go with no coherent preparation whatsoever but damn if I’m not having fun). but. *proceeds to read it again* *sighs in ‘why the hell ain’t siren!gojo real pls sir take me’* anyway. it’s never mentioned in narcissus’ myth, but I’m pretty sure he was tempted to look at himself. at least once, considering he could wonder why on earth all those people kept falling for his looks. (or he could be pretty dumb. let’s say he isn’t) so he’s tempted by his own reflection. just like reader’s tempted to follow segsy siren gojo. he doesn’t up until hera is involved and ends up seeing his reflection. he falls. not literally, but in love — with his own self. here it’s different (and the reason why i’m strugglingTM to gather coherent thoughts). gojo is the very embodiment of this temptation — so he acts as narcissus’ reflection here. he’s the one seducing reader, the one luring her until she falls in the waters, just like narcissus did. she didn’t die though, unlike him. (thank you sukuna. I guess. yes I would’ve given my life for gojo to consume me in both ways and??) now, this is very simp-tainted (sorry bout that ^^;) and the thing I’ve noticed is this: narcissus isn’t a character in the og odyssey. could it be bc to my absolute despair, gojo’s not as much of an important character as sukuna and toji? only you know!

(the hades, psyche analysis comes in tomorrow *looks @ time* *sees it's 1 AM* well, later on! have a lovely night/day!)

- the LRE (who's very happy tumblr allowed her to do paragraph breaks/to have a pirate history book recommandation! thanks about that one btw, it'll come in handy for a ff of mine (yeah it involves pirate gojo))

wait this is so precious n thoughtful oh my gosh 😭 thoughts n vibes under the cut :’)

first of all THANK U!!!??? ur making me blush out here omg my hEART 😭

as for ur first question, ur SO SWEET n IM LOSING IT bye i genuinely don’t know i just scream and throw a bunch of commas and metaphors everywhere and somehow things happen 💀 i read a lot (english major vibes) and it’s very helpful because i tend to imitate writers/phrases/books that inspire me while i'm figuring out how i want to write !!

secondly: how did i figure out the ending of the odyssey??

answer: i think i just stumbled across this one 😭 i was brainstorming w my bestie (@/suedebunn) n she originally suggested a different version of the ending that i was like “oh wait” and then i played with it for awhile until i arrived at the version i have now ! i want to tell u more about how i arrived from point A to point B and what the process was but i will withhold because i am not giving anything away >:)

onto ur TITLE ANALYSIS!! this is SPECTACULAR! ur pretty much on the nose for all of them god damn i don’t have much to add :’) i’ll give u some of my takes tho!!

david and calypso – ur absolutely on the nose for the calypso aspect; david’s just a passing nod to the pirates of the caribbean portrayal of davy jones and the doomed relationship between him and calypso (mirroring the doomed relationship between toji and reader since he leaves them)

neptune’s hands – yes! yeah! sexy! pirate sukuna is being compared to a sea god!! also a minor teaser but sukuna’s hands are important symbolically ;-)

narcissus pool – ur brain is so big here god damn 🤲 narcissus is more of a loose reference to the idea of pride/ temptation and also hollowness/mirages (the emptiness of a reflection versus the tangibility of the real thing) so it’s not immediately a reference to the odyssey itself or even the myth (i'm taking creative liberties bye homer) but probably the best entity to use when describing gojo – the dichotomy between pride/emptiness is a lot more apparent in part 5

gosh thank u sm for this!! excited to see what u have next!!!!!!

#THIS IS SO SWEET #THANK U??!?!!!?!>!#THANKS FOR NOTICING TITLE IMPORTANCE #UR A REAL ONE #OMG!!!#letters to adele #the odyssey!#LRE anon

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kaesaaurelia · 4 years

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books and reading in 2021

Overall I’d like to read at least 65 books for 2021 and I’d like for most of those to be new-to-me and things I either already own or have listed as to-read on Goodreads.

So far I have read 11/65 books and 4 fanworks.

Themed reading challenge checklists and brief book reviews are under the cut. I may or may not finish any of these challenges; again, my goal is to cut down my to-be-read list and unread books I own, and themes and deadlines help me pick a book rather than hemming and hawing.

Book reviews answer the questions “Did I like it? Was it good? Would I recommend it?” (please note these are very different questions) and how many stars I rated it.

I may put fanfiction, webfiction, and other things that are very much not traditional books down on here as well, depending on how booklike I’ve decided they are.

The FFA reading challenge, 2021 (2/12 books)

JANUARY - The Pandemic Year - a medical thriller, or a book about medicine The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum Did I like it? Yeah! Was it good? I think so. Sometimes the prose meandered in such a way that I felt the author was kind of saying dun dun dun! under her breath at me, and I was like “idk, is that significant?” but usually it was good. Would I recommend it? Do you have a strong stomach? Then sure. 4 stars

FEBRUARY - Macavity/Ratigan - a genre you wouldn't normally read Jane Doe by Victoria Helen Stone, book 1 in the Jane Doe series Did I like it? Yes! Very much! The power fantasy of being able to take vengeance against people who hurts your loved ones, without feeling bad about it, was really appealing to me, a person who feels guilt over a frankly ridiculous number of things. It was also genuinely funny. Was it good? I thought so. The narrator had a really strong voice that struck the right balance between creepy cold indifference and endearing little moments of self-discovery. Would I recommend it? Yes, but with the caveat that there’s some pretty serious emotional abuse of the protagonist’s false persona (which she encourages and privately gloats about), and she also gets close to committing serious violence, including fantasizing at length about it. 5 stars

MARCH – 100+ Comments of Terror - a book set in the arctic, or a book about an expedition In the Land of White Death: An Epic Story of Survival in the Siberian Arctic by Valerian Albanov (ordered)

APRIL - Sexy John Oliver Rat – a book about animals, or a book with a character called Oliver or Olivia A Libertarian Walks Into a Bear by Matthew Hongoltz-Hetling (hardcover)

MAY - A Feud in Wolf-Kink Erotica - a book involving wolves, the legal system, or ripped from the headlines Song of the Summer King by Jess Owen (ebook)

JUNE - Showerhead Wank - a comedy of manners, an etiquette manual, or a book where someone wanks or has sex

JULY – My Shithead Is What You Are! - a book with profanity in it, or a book about themes of censorship

AUGUST - Yep, Still Indoors - a book involving travel, or being stuck in one place

SEPTEMBER - Socktopus, Maybe? - a book where someone has a secret identity, or a book about aquatic animals

OCTOBER - Politics is Sequestered – a book involving politics or politicians Boss: Richard J. Daley of Chicago by Mike Royko (owned in DRM’d ebook)

NOVEMBER - It's Canon in Spanish - read a book originally written in Spanish, or set in Latin America

DECEMBER - Apple Is a One Syllable Word - a book about language/linguistics/etc., or a book with a two syllable title.

Around the Year in 52 Books (8/52 books)

A book related to “In the Beginning...”: (Using the subprompt a book set in the ancient world) The Odyssey by Homer, translated by Emily Wilson Did I like it? Yes; it was definitely a less comfortable read than prior translations I have read, but a more interesting one, I think. A lot of details leapt out at me that I had either forgotten or that had been overlooked in the 3ish literature classes I have read the Odyssey for. Was it good? Yes! Would I recommend it? Probably, with the caveat that if you are just in it for a cool mythology story you would probably prefer an adaptation rather than a translation. 5 stars

A book by an author whose name doesn't contain the letters A, T or Y The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis Did I like it? I really read this for the worldbuilding of Hell, so I liked that; to some extent I did also like some of the musings on how a lot of human foibles that people like to think of as virtues can actually be kind of shitty. On the other hand, Lewis and I disagree about a lot of things -- mostly that whole Christianity thing. So I liked it with caveats. Was it good? It was okay! Again, I was not really there for the Christianity stuff. I am never there for the Christianity stuff. I am either precisely the wrong audience for all of C.S. Lewis’ stuff, or, if you look at it a certain way, precisely the right audience, but even if you look at it that way, he is never going to convince me; I wrote furious postcanon fanfiction about the dwarfs when I reread the Narnia books as a teenager and realized they were meant to represent people like me. Would I recommend it? Probably not? Unless you frequently write demons or other evil creatures trying to figure out how humans work, which I guess I am. 4 stars but only because that reveal at the end is great

A book related to the lyrics for the song "My Favorite Things" from The Sound of Music (The cover depicts a rose with raindrops or dewdrops on it.) Ensnared by Rita Stradling Did I like it? In a sense. In a sense, I enjoyed this book. It was a Beauty and the Beast retelling, and I like Beauty and the Beast. There were robots, and I like robots. And it certainly gave me something fun to talk about. However, it also inspired me to try and figure out when and why I acquired this book, and while I still don’t know why I bought it, I was relieved to find that I only paid 99 cents for it. For a more thorough description of the plot, please see my Goodreads review. It was a weird book to start with, and then it really, really didn’t age well. Was it good? IT SURE WASN’T. Would I recommend it? No. However, if you decide to read it I’d love to hear what you think. Please. Please talk to me about this book. 2 stars

A book with a monochromatic cover The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson Did I like it? Yes, very much! Also it accidentally became fic research. I genuinely was just thinking “where do I slip Leonard into this narrative so he can try and fail to sabotage the Ferris Wheel?” and then I began to think about how much Leonard would admire and envy H. H. Holmes’ ladykilling ways. But in general it was a really good read and had a lot of... Chicagoness, which I of course am fond of. Was it good? I thought so! Obviously a lot of the narratives of Holmes’ murders were mostly the author’s speculation, but there were a lot of great research tidbits in there, and the picture the author paints of the World’s Fair was vivid and wonderful. Would I recommend it? Yes, with the warning that this is true crime and there is vivid narration of several murders, including the murders of several children. 5 stars

A book by an author on USA Today's list of 100 Black Novelists You Should Read Wild Seed by Octavia Butler, book 1 of the Patternmaster series Did I like it? Yes, but it was intense. It takes a lot of skill to keep me reading and invested through so many horrors; the protagonist’s children and loved ones die on-page multiple times, in horrible accidents or senselessly murdered, and it hurts every time, but I kept reading. Admittedly I am (predictably) extremely here for immortal enemies-to-lovers-to-enemies angst, so that was probably part of it. Was it good? Yes! I am kind of sad that I’m not just moving on to the next in the series (there are 3 more books), but also, god, I’m not sure I could handle it. Would I recommend it? Yes, definitely, with the caveat that it is very dark and very sad. 5 stars

A love story Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha, book 1 of the Mercenary Librarians series Did I like it? It was good! I gather both of the authors who are Kit Rocha were (are still?) in fandom, and it shows in the right ways; it doesn’t shy away from depicting sex pretty explicitly but there’s a lot of emotion in it, and the main couple is a m/f couple without the book being unpleasantly heteronormative. Like, yeah, it’s about a big butch macho dude who’s broken inside and a woman who’s very caring, but the big butch macho dude is genuinely kind and not like, violent for the hell of it or overprotectively jealous, and the woman doesn’t drop everything to Heal His Pain. (Also I think most of the characters, including the romantic leads, are established to have had same-gender lovers at one point or another without that being considered unusual or wrong in the setting, so that’s nice.) It’s also a cheerful and optimistic post-apocalyptic book about two found families coming together to make the world a better place, despite the very grim backstories of pretty much everyone in the story, which is really nice. Was it good? It was okay. It was good popcorny reading; it’s not winning any literature prizes, but it sets out to be fun and readable and exciting, and it is all of those things. Also, as noted above, the prose has a lot of the strengths of fanfic (not being afraid to mix genres, not being afraid of writing sex earnestly and emotionally but also explicitly, strong emotional focus) without the much-derided stereotypical weaknesses of fanfic. Would I recommend it? Probably? This isn’t a must-read; it’s happy to be idfic so if it sounds like it’d scratch your id I would recommend it, but it might not be Your Thing and that’s okay too. 4 stars

A book that fits a prompt suggestion that didn't make the final list (Using the subprompt a book related to a local industry or small business) The Gangs of Chicago: An Informal History of the Chicago Underworld by Herbert Asbury Did I like it? NO. NO I DID NOT. It made me genuinely angry. It was a useful read for fic research and unfortunately I’ve got it in my little fic-writing reference material corner in my office but I DID NOT LIKE THIS BOOK IT WAS VERY BAD. Many questionable or outright incorrect assertions and implications, and extremely racist and sexist. For details, see my review on Goodreads. Was it good? It was actively bad. Would I recommend it? Not unless you are interested in it historiographically, or on the off chance that you are trying to find some fiddly details about a particular bit of Chicago crime history, but also have no responsibility to make sure those fiddly details are correct when you use them in the project. 1 star

A book set in a state, province, or country you have never visited The Last Duel: A True Story of Crime, Scandal, and Trial by Combat in Medieval France by Eric Jager Did I like it? It was okay. It was definitely interesting but not amazingly life-changing. Was it good? It was fine! I did think the underlying rape case was handled surprisingly sensitively given that this was a male author writing about 20 years ago about a medieval rape accusation and trial, but there is a chapter that is basically just the victim’s account of her rape, and it’s very brutal. Would I recommend it? Do you want to understand more about trial by combat in the Middle Ages, and/or learn about how medieval people treated rape victims? You should definitely read this book. But if that doesn’t particularly interest you, probably not. 3 stars

A book you associate with a specific season or time of year Summers at Castle Auburn (ebook borrowed from CPL)

A book with a female villain or criminal Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys, and the Battle for America's Soul by Karen Abbott (owned in paperback)

A book to celebrate The Grand Egyptian Museum The Oasis by Pauline Gedge (ebook)

A book eligible for the Warwick Prize for Women in Translation The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa (on hold at CPL; est. 3 week wait)

A book written by an author of one of your best reads of 2020 The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (on hold at CPL; est. 10 week wait???)

A book set in a made-up place Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (paperback)

A book that features siblings as the main characters Sisters One, Two, Three by Nancy Star (ebook)

A book with a building in the title

A book with a Muslim character or author

3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 1

3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 2

3 books related to "Past, Present, Future" - Book 3

A book whose title and author both contain the letter "u"

A book posted in one of the ATY Best Book of the Month threads

A cross genre novel

A book about racism or race relations

A book set on an island

A short book (<210 pages) by a new-to-you author

A book with a character who can be found in a deck of cards

A book connected to ice

A book that you consider comfort reading

A long book

A book by an author whose career spanned more than 21 years

A book whose cover shows more than 2 people

A collection of short stories, essays, or poetry

A book with a travel theme

A book set in a country on or below the Tropic of Cancer

A book with six or more words in the title

A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list

A book related to a word given by a random word generator

A book involving an immigrant

A book with flowers or greenery on the cover

A book by a new-to-you BIPOC author

A mystery or thriller

A book with elements of magic

A book whose title contains a negative

A book related to a codeword from the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

A winner or nominee from the 2020 Goodreads Choice Awards

A non-fiction book other than biography, autobiography or memoir

A book that might cause someone to react “You read what?!?” Missing 411: Eastern United States by David Paulides (terrible pdf copy I’m not paying $100 for a book about extradimensional bigfoot)

A book with an ensemble cast

A book published in 2021

A book whose title refers to person(s) without giving their name

A book related to "the end"

There’s No Business Like Snow Business February Reading Challenge (8/8)

Snow is precipitation in the form of small white ice crystals formed directly from the water vapor of the air at a temperature of less than 0°C (32°F).

Read a book that has snow on the cover or snow in the title. Killing Dragons: The Conquest of the Alps by Fergus Fleming Did I like it? It was okay. There was more about the personalities involved in early mountaineering than I did about actual mountain-climbing, which was fine, but didn’t get really exciting until those personalities got really dysfunctional. Was it good? Again, it was okay. The prose wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t gripping, and there was some odd (lack of) translation on occasion. The research seemed thorough and solid, though. Would I recommend it? Not really, unless you are specifically looking to research the Alps or early European mountain-climbing enthusiasts for a writing project or something, in which case, of course. 3 stars

Precipitation: Read a book that has any weather related term in the title. Trail of Lightning, book 1 of The Sixth World, by Rebecca Roanhorse Did I like it? Yes! This took me back to my first forays into urban fantasy as a preteen/young teen. I loved the Diana Tregarde books and also Harry Turtledove’s The Case of the Toxic Spell Dump, and whenever I want urban fantasy that’s kind of the pattern I’m looking for? An unfriendly world full of myths that are real and living and breathing and otherworldly but also they are probably trying to bum a cigarette off you. I haven’t reread my favorite childhood urban fantasy because I think it probably won’t hold up, and later urban fantasy has mostly been not quite what I wanted, but this book was like being that kid all over again. I’m not super familiar with Dine folklore/mythology so it was neat to learn a little bit about that, too, although obviously to learn those stories maybe don’t go to an urban fantasy novel. Was it good? It was pretty good! The prose wasn’t like, stylistically exciting, but it conveyed the plot well, and I did like the narrative voice, and the characterization was good, I thought. Would I recommend it? Absolutely. Content warning for violence (as per urban fantasy) and a child dies violently early on in the book, but if you were the kind of kid I was but you’re not really into paranormal romance or Harry Dresden, give it a try. 4 stars

Small: Read a book that has less than 200 pages. A Butt in the Mist: Stirred to the Core of My Bodice by the Duchess Triceratops of Helena by Chuck Tingle Did I like it? I mostly did, but it wasn’t super exciting. I liked the free book afterwards better. It was funny, but Chuck’s been funnier. Was it good? This 4,000 word book was written with all the quality and attention to detail that I have come to expect from beloved author Chuck Tingle. Would I recommend it? Not really? It was funny, but I think I like his more metafictional stuff better, and I think he gets a lot weirder with his m/m stuff; if I’m reading Chuck Tingle, I want it to be weird. 3 stars

Snow is formed of crystals and is a slang term for diamonds. Read a book in which a gem or other mineral can be found in the plot, title, or cover art. Ombria in Shadow by Patricia A. McKillip Did I like it? Mostly! I love the lush visuals of McKillip’s prose; they more than live up to the also gorgeous covers. Dreamy fairytale stuff but with solid emotions and a good sense of place. Was it good? I think so, although the dreamlike quality of the prose does mean you’re liable to miss something if your attention drifts. Would I recommend it? Yes, I think so. 5 stars

Snow is a dessert made of stiffly beaten whites of eggs, sugar, and fruit pulp. Read a book with a dessert on the cover, or read a book in which a dessert is made. Chocolate Chip Cookie Murder by Joanne Fluke, book 1 of the Hannah Swensen series Did I like it? I enjoyed parts of it, but I thought it really suffered at the beginning, when our introduction to the detective was “not like other girls, not interested in DATING and MEN” and our introduction to her older sister is “she was a DITZY CHEERLEADER and now she’s married with a kid but she’s a HORRIBLE CAREER HARPY who WORKS ALL DAY and puts her child in DAYCARE and CAN’T COOK” and that was all just very tiresome. The sister does turn out to have redeeming qualities and useful interests, but the way these two and their mother interact is all like, if you were asking yourself whether there’s such a thing as toxic femininity and what that would look like, it’s these women. Aside from that, it was fine; it was a cozy mystery novel about a bakery specializing in cookies. I will say, I did appreciate the Midwesternness of the small town Midwest setting. Was it good? Not really. I did kind of have to handwave a lot to let the detective get away with all the HIPAA violations and crime scene disturbing that she does, but it is a cozy mystery. Would I recommend it? Probably not; I’ve heard this series gets better so if you’re interested in the series and/or like the idea of cookie-themed cozies, maybe start with a different book, unless you’re a completist like I am. 3 stars

Snow is slang for cocaine. Read a book about drugs or drug addiction. The Man With the Golden Arm by Nelson Algren Did I like it? It was not a fun read, by any means, but Algren’s prose is fantastic and it was such a novelty to see such a familiar accent represented by eye dialect. (Which I know has fallen out of fashion and is considered the mark of a bad writer, but I really don’t mind it if it’s done well.) It’s one of those books where nobody has a fair shake and everybody is doomed, but it doesn’t feel gratuitous. All the characters are horrible to each other, but in fairness they are also horrible to themselves; it’s all they’ve ever known. Was it good? Yes. It was extremely good and I’m considering buying a physical copy so I can write things in the margins. This is actually really weird for me to do; in high school we occasionally had to turn our books in so our teacher could be sure we were writing in them Correctly, and I found it a little painful, but I did want to do it with this book. Would I recommend it? Yes, if you’re up for a really depressing story about heroin addiction and poverty. 5 stars

White is the color of snow. Read a book that contains white in the cover. The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin Did I like it? I definitely did. I haven’t read much Le Guin yet for some reason, and while this did initially start off feeling exactly like just another ‘70s SF story where in the future we’ve solved all of psychology and it’s super mechanistic, it was really fascinating and surprisingly, unpleasantly prescient. Was it good? I thought so! There were some parts of it that were pretty awkward about race, from a 2021 perspective, but it does actually deal with race in a way that made me think “yes, that’s exactly what would happen as a consequence of this plot, and it would be horrible, oh no, oh shit,” and it is horrible. Would I recommend it? I am not sure I would! I would recommend it in like five years, assuming those five years are not much like the last five years. Hoping and praying that those five years are not much like the last five, really. The premise of the book -- which I haven’t explained, I realize -- is that in this near-future environmental dystopia, the main character can change things in real life by dreaming about them, and he would like to not do that, only he is put under the care of a psychiatric researcher who tries to play God. So this poor man literally wakes up every day to a brand new dystopia and it felt... familiar. 4 stars

To snow someone is to deceive, persuade, or charm glibly. Read a book about a con artist, or read a book about deception. Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation by Dean Jobb Did I like it? I did. I have joked that my own personal reading challenge this year is to fill up the Chicago shelf/tag on my Goodreads account, and this book was recommended to me in that spirit, and I always like hearing about a. Chicago; b. the 1920s; and c. con men conning people. Was it good? The prose was fine; it was fun but I think the thing I appreciated most was all the punny newspaper headlines. Would I recommend it? If you are someone who perks up at the sound of at least 2 out of 3 of the themes of “Chicago,” “1920s,” and “con men,” yes. 4 stars

2021 Q1 challenge: Changes (3/20)

Read a book that features:

The word "change" (Changes, Changing, or other variations) in its title. Weeds: How Vagabond Plants Gatecrashed Civilisation and Changed the Way We Think About Nature by Richard Mabey Did I like it? It was all right. I like hearing about plant history, and the chapter on plants unexpectedly surviving/thriving on battlefields and bombing sites was particularly interesting to me. Was it good? It was okay, but kind of poorly-organized; there were chapter themes but it felt awfully stream-of-consciousness sometimes. Would I recommend it? Maybe not unless you’re really into botany and Western anthropology. (As in, the study of Western cultures; this book does not do much with other cultures.) 3 stars

The theme of money or money on its cover (loose change). Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik Did I like it? I really, really liked it to the point that I feel kind of silly about it, gotta say. I’m really, really hit or miss on the author’s work (both fanfic and profic) but the themes of this were perfect for me; Russian fairytales, a cynical but earnest sort of Judaism, creepy fairy abductions, interesting worldbuilding, and women coming together to help each other. (Also some interesting enemies-to-lovers stuff that wasn’t really developed on the “lovers” side, which I would have dug. Like its precursor, this book has a lot of f/f friends-to-lovers subtext and hostile canon het.) Was it good? I don’t know? I liked it enough that I genuinely don’t know if it was well-written. Would I recommend it? I would, but I’m not sure you should trust me on this??? Again, this book really, really hit me in the id. 5 stars

An adaptation of its original format (book-to-manga, translation, etc.) Murder on the Rockport Limited! by Clint McElroy et al Did I like it? It was okay, but not nearly as good as the original podcast’s murder train arc. The art was good and all, but, eh. Was it good? It was fine. I’m not sure how into the DM/character conversations I am, and I found myself having to pause and reimagine the dialogue in the various McElroys’ voices, which wasn’t good because it meant I wasn’t automatically reading them in those voices in my head, which is a major litmus test I use when I’m deciding whether I want to keep reading a fanfic. Would I recommend it? Definitely not as a standalone thing. 3 stars

The author's initials found in the word "change" Helen of Sparta by Amalia Carosella (in progress)

Separate book sections or part of a series of three or more books (make change) The Seduction of the Crimson Rose by Lauren Willig (in progress)

An author or character writing under a pseudonym The Maker’s Mask by Ankaret Wells (in progress)

A topic or character about which you feel differently now than in the past. La Belle Sauvage by Phillip Pullman

Changing one's mind about a life decision. A Tapestry of Magics by Brian Daley

Switching careers/jobs. The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Relocating to a different city, state/province, or country. Fire Season: Field Notes from a Wilderness Lookout by Philip Connors

Cultivating new daily habits. How to Be Fine by Jolenta Greenberg and Kristen Meinzer

A character who shifts shapes or identities. The Lie: A Memoir of Two Marriages, Catfishing & Coming Out by William Dameron

Life changes due to age Two Old Women: An Alaskan Legend of Betrayal, Courage, and Survival by Velma Wallis

A medical transformation Specials by Westerfield, Scott

A life-changing experience. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, & the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright

A changing household The Girl from the Other Side: Siúil, A Rún, Volume 1 by Nagabe

An action or phenomenon that transforms society or the world. Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression by Studs Terkel

Replacing one thing with another (change out) In Vino Duplicitas: The Rise and Fall of a Wine Forger Extraordinaire by Peter Hellman & Charles Constant

Technological innovation Tubes: A Journey to the Center of the Internet by Andrew Blum

A game-changer. The Sleepwalkers: How Europe Went to War in 1914 by Christopher Clark

Fanfic Reading Challenge recs (1)

I have a private checklist with the fanfic reading challenge data, but will not be sharing all of the fics; fanfiction is generally an amateur endeavor, and many people do not enjoy receiving (or stumbling across) criticism of their work. Bad reviews are normal and accepted as part of commercial publishing, and professional authors (hopefully!) get paid for their work, so I’m comfortable criticizing published novels. I would prefer not to publicly criticize someone’s writing when they are just writing for the joy of it, especially since some of the tasks require me to read first-time authors’ fics, fics with relatively low kudos counts, fics for ships I don’t like, etc. So I’m only putting the recs here.

Romancing the Tome by Anti_kate Good Omens; Aziraphale/Crowley; ~40k words; rated Explicit Romance novelist Aziraphale Wilder is pulled from his carefully ordered life when his sister is kidnapped and held to ransom. With the help of antiquities forger Anthony J Crowley, he braves the wilds of Scotland to rescue her and keep a priceless book from falling into the hands of dangerous book thieves. Did I like it? Yes! It was cheesy and cute and basically what I want out of this kind of romcom AU fic. I’m not normally into human AUs and this one wasn’t like, super deep or anything, but it was very fun. Was it good? I thought so! The dialogue was great, I enjoyed the characterization, the sex was good. I do think the Crowley in this fic is pretty self-loathing in a way that I don’t see canon Crowley being at all, but I have a weakness for that and I also think self-loathing works for a human version of Crowley. One thing it doesn’t shy away from is Crowley doing genuinely awful stuff (instead of being a misunderstood woobie) and yet the resolution is sweet and lovely anyway. Would I rec it? Yes! Go read this fic. It’s fast-paced but long enough to be worth settling in to read, it’s funny, and it’s sweet. 5 stars

In Holy Matrimony by Myracuulous Good Omens; Aziraphale/Crowley; ~6.7k words; rated General From the private journal of Alisha Jones, wedding planner, concerning the nuptials of Anthony J Crowley and Aziraphale and the planning process thereof, containing an account of chosen decor, guest list construction, and the holy war against the Antichrist that nearly ruined six months of professional organization and a very nice dinner. Did I like it? Yes! It was extremely cute, and I always really like outsider POV. I did appreciate the fact that poor Alisha definitely knew something was definitely weird, but kept telling herself not to question it because a gorgeous wedding with an unlimited budget and zero issues with scheduling, catering, guest limits, etc. is a great problem to have. Was it good? It was pretty good! The climax and wrap-up felt a bit rushed, mostly due to the limits of outsider POV, but I did enjoy Aziraphale unexpectedly embracing his inner groomzilla while also being unfailingly sweet about it. Would I rec it? Yup, especially if you want wedding comedy/fluff and outsider POV

Wrong Turn by anticyclone Good Omens; Aziraphale/Crowley; ~38k words; rated Teen And Up Lots and lots of somethings are wrong. First, Crowley's nearly hit by a car. Then he almost brains himself tripping over new and excessive piles of books at the bookshop. To add insult to near-injury, Aziraphale starts throwing knives at him. Safe to say his day could be going better.

The thing that's the most wrong of all is the universe, of course. In this one there was never an Arrangement. Aziraphale and Anthony (they can't both be 'Crowley') aren't friends and they certainly never agreed to prep for Armageddon. Unfortunately, the end of the world is two days away.

So that's something Crowley really has to fix before they can figure out how to get him home. Did I like it? Oh yes. I had read bits of this on ffa previously, and also anticyclone is a good writer (and a friend) so like, I was expecting it to be good; I was not disappointed. Was it good? Yes! I was particularly impressed at how much alternate backstory is set up in little hints here and there, and then explained more thoroughly in ways that take the AU Aziraphale and Crowley by surprise when they do finally get to talking. Would I rec it? Yes! Especially if you like a nice dose of enemies-to-lovers along with your friends-to-lovers, and also the awkwardness of meeting your alternate universe self.

Finished in January, not for reading challenges (3 books):

The Way of Kings, book 1 of The Stormlight Archive, by Brandon Sanderson Did I like it? It was fine. Was it good? I think so. I am maybe not the best audience for epic fantasy at this point, partly because I’ve read a lot of it and partly because I habitually read 3-7 books at once at any given time. Would I recommend it? Maybe, but I feel like most of the people who would enjoy it have probably heard of it already. 3 stars

Get a Wiggle On, a Good Omens fanzine Did I like it? Yup! Was it good? Mostly, although as usual with zines and anthologies, quality varies piece by piece. Of the fics I particularly liked “A Head Above Water,” “The Grapes of Mild Irritation,” and “Concerning the Great Serpent Glykon and the Angel Clothed With the Sun,” all of which are now available on AO3. Would I recommend it? If you like snakey Crowley, yes. 4 stars

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Did I like it? Yes, very much! A very silly thing I particularly liked (which unfortunately you cannot really replicate) is that the edition I have is an illustrated hardcover book from 1926 which I picked up cheap at a used bookstore, knowing I would like it because Jules Verne. I didn’t think much about that specific date when I bought it, but I am now writing a fic set in 1926, with a character who has a habit of reading adventure novels and who I have specifically mentioned enjoyed Jules Verne in his childhood, so when I discovered the date the coincidence made me very happy. The book itself smells very nice, it’s nice to hold, and as I was reading it I kept thinking about what Danny would think of the book, and whether he would try reading it aloud to Crowley, and wondering if the book smelled as nice in 1926 as it does now. Maybe I will have Aziraphale give this book to him as a very small thank-you for all he has done to keep Crowley alive and well. Was it good? For the most part. Jules Verne is prone to wandering off on tangents where he shows you his research, but I’m sympathetic to that, and there’s some really cool and atmospheric scenes in this book. My favorite character was definitely Captain Nemo, who we don’t really learn much about. Could have done without Conseil, the bland servant character who could be a naturalist in his own right, if he had any opinions of his own, or the period racism/imperialism, which unfortunately is so built into this kind of adventure novel. But the environmentalism was a nice surprise, and you can definitely read some critiques of certain aspects of (Western?) culture at the time into Captain Nemo’s behavior; I have not yet read The Mysterious Island where Captain Nemo also appears, but I do get the impression a lot of people read him as being disgusted with imperialism. Would I recommend it? Probably! With the caveats above. It was a good adventure story with some awesome visuals, and I kept thinking about what a pretty movie it would make with modern SFX, and how sad I would be that they would inevitably not spend just 3 solid hours on cool fish and interiors of the Nautilus and scenes of the lost city of Atlantis and Captain Nemo being very mysterious and dreamy scary, because they’d probably shoehorn an awkward romance into it. 4 stars

Finished in February, not for reading challenges (2 books):

The Deception of the Emerald Ring by Lauren Willig, book 3 of the Pink Carnation series Did I like it? I did. It was a silly Regency romance novel with espionage elements, it is the third of a series I have enjoyed, and it contained an accidental/forced marriage to preserve a lady’s honor despite neither party to the marriage particularly liking or wanting to have anything to do with each other, and some misunderstandings about that. Also spies. Was it good? Not really. It was fun and I liked the characters, but I don’t think the writing was of particularly high quality. The handling of certain elements of English imperialism was not great, and bothered me enough to note it in my review on Goodreads. Would I recommend it? I’d recommend the series if it sounds like something you’d like; I might not recommend this specific book. 3 stars

The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley Did I like it? No. It was very dark, and I did not enjoy most of the book. A lot of it was because it was very gritty and grim, and because I frequently don’t enjoy military fiction; a lot of it was because many of the dystopian aspects of our present reality that came to a head in 2020 were magnified in the book. Part of it was also that the protagonist’s entire reality and memory was being denied for much of the book, and I think it reminded me of being gaslit. (This is not a criticism of the book, or some kind of weird accusation that the book or its author was somehow abusing me, I just have this personal history. In fact, it turns out the main character is being gaslit to some extent, and the author writes it very well.) It was a minor relief when she finally decided the stuff she was going through was real, and a huge relief when she was able to talk to someone who believed her. Was it good? Yes, I think so. Would I recommend it? Not right now, but I think this would be a good book to read at a time when the world feels more stable. I don’t say this because I want you to wait until everything’s fine to read it; I say this because it feels like a good anti-complacency read. 4 stars (3 for not being an enjoyable read, 5 for the actual plot; it averages out.)

In progress, not for reading challenges (1 book):

Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation by 墨香铜臭

#kaesa op

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bondsmagii · 4 years

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☕️ Alina Starkov, ☕️ the Falconer, ☕️ Dostoyevsky, ☕️ the Big Chungus song, ☕️ Athos & Astrid Dane

OH BOY.

☕️ Alina Starkov

my bitch is so dumb but I love her 😩 like a lot of the time I kind of want to shake her but what can you do!! I really do think she put up with far too much shit lmao but at the same time over the course of the three books she does get much better at asserting herself and she stops being so directionless, and I was super psyched to see her punch Nikolai and tell people to suck her long and hard through her jorts and stuff. I see a lot of people complain that she’s boring and whiny but like... I don’t see it? she definitely has her whiny moments but then you remember she’s a seventeen-year-old girl stuck in what was perhaps the World’s Suckiest Situation so I can hardly blame her.

overall I think her defining feature is bravery. time and time again she has to face the worst possible scenario and she still does what she believes is right, when many other people would have flinched away from it. she has a very strong moral code (perhaps the strongest in the series, if I’m honest -- Alina alone does things because it’s the right thing to do, and not because of any ulterior/personal motive) and she’s pretty fucking badass. she’s also funny as hell. like, why don’t more people talk about how funny she is? my girl is a comedic genius.

my main criticism of her is that she didn’t say fuck it and go ape shit and rule Ravka forever on the shadow throne she shares with her hot evil boyfriend the Darkling but like whatever, it would be unrealistic if a character didn’t have flaws.

☕️ the Falconer

I fucking love this asshole. from the moment his pretentious arrogant ass appeared on the page talking like someone out of Shakespeare I knew I was gonna love him. I absolutely love arrogant characters who can back it up and he is the dictionary definition of this; likewise I love it when they get their ass handed to them and guess what! the Falconer provides this, too! everything about him is So Fucking Much and I just love it. I’m super excited after reading the end of The Republic of Thieves, and I’m really hoping that Scott Lynch is planning to bring him in as a Big Villain because that would just be so fucking sexy and definitely the best & most righteous thing to do.

he feels like such a solid character, too -- very often a character’s arrogance can be their only defining trait, but the Falconer has a whole history and personality that’s very solid even before it’s expanded on in the third book. everything about him is just very interesting and I absolutely adore how ruthless he is -- sometimes authors imply or tell but don’t show, but the Falconer is kind of scary, I’m not gonna lie. I would hate to have him pissed at me and I’m very thankful that I am a different Locke. this bitch is so dramatic and full of himself but he’s also smart enough to actually get what he wants and have people look at him and think “yeah he seems like someone to align myself with” and I’m not saying that he’s the kind of person who could lead a cult but I’m also not not saying it.

also the fact that his type of specialised magic is looked down upon in Karthain and seen as Not Desirable but he’s just like fuck you guys birds are neat and does it anyway? very sexy of him.

☕️ Dostoyevsky

bruh... I finally understand what people mean when they go off about Shakespeare or whatever like I’ve never really got Shakespeare and had no idea why people stan him so hard but then I read Dostoyevsky and like. I get it. I get it now. I understand how people feel. I understand the very emotion that Henry Winter felt when he asked Richard what he thought of Homer and Richard was like “I... like Homer?” and Henry fixed him with this death gaze and said “I love Homer.” like that’s me!! that’s me bitch that’s me with Dostoyevsky I get it!!

I can’t even articulate why I feel this way because this love sprung upon me very recently; I read The Brothers Karamazov a while back and adored it and it’s always stuck in my mind since, but then I just read The Idiot this week and holy shit I was just struck by... I don’t even know, Emotions™. I think it’s because The Idiot is clearly Dostoyevsky’s most personal work in terms of themes and opinions, and that combined with the fact that a) Dostoyevsky and I seem to be in agreement on many fundamental issues explored in the book and b) I was literally in the process of thinking about those issues in great detail when I picked the book up has resulted in me just being a full-blown Dostoyevsky Bitche™ now. I love him. I feel so Seen when I read his works but in a way that’s really not bad at all; it’s phenomenal, how he manages to articulate things where I thought I was the only one who thought that or felt that. of course, I know I’m not the only one -- that would be statistically impossible -- but everyone experiences things differently even if it’s the exact same thing, but Dostoyevsky manages to describe how it was for me, and not only that, but also at multiple different points in my life. how does he do it? we just don’t know, but I love him for it.

I absolutely know this is going to be my literary niche and I am absolutely OK with that. it’s made me even more determined in my Russian studies because my goal is now to read all his works in the original Russian. if his work is this beautiful translated into English, I can only imagine what it would be like if I read it how it was intended to be read.

☕️ the Big Chungus song

the Big Chungus song haunts me because the very first time I heard it, I swore I’d heard it before. I had not, because it’s not the kind of song you can forget, but it reverberated deep in my soul and felt familiar on an existential level. I cannot explain this and nor do I want to; sometimes you’re just gifted these things, and it’s within your best interests to accept.

the only other thing I really have to say about it is that it slaps harder than pretty much anything I’ve ever heard before.

☕️ Athos & Astrid Dane

god these two were so great but I wish we’d known more about them! like on the one hand the lack of development is great because I get to go ham sandwich in my fics and basically write their lives for them which I love doing because my headcanons are sexy & righteous and born of only the hottest takes imaginable, but at the same time I have to write it all and I would also like to read it all. you can see my dilemma clearly.

I loved what I did get, because I love it when nasty characters are truly nasty. Athos and Astrid are fucking reprehensible. there’s no redeeming features, there’s no excuse for what they did -- they’re just evil and sadistic, and that’s that. I also love how Astrid is just as evil as her brother, because often the woman is portrayed as Not As Bad in some way, or as the foil to the man, and especially so with twins, but no. they’re both just fucking awful and nasty and they love it and they encourage one another to be their worst-ass self and it’s just brilliant. it’s like the Evil Twin trope, but both of them are the evil twin. it’s really refreshing to see a book commit to the idea of truly sadistic characters who are sadistic for no other reason other than they enjoy it -- the Danes didn’t become this way because they wanted to rule; they rule because they are that way.

the character development past this is kind of eh, but at the same time they’re definitely not just Sadists™ and nothing beyond that. there’s enough there for me to get my teeth into, anyway, and I just have so many questions about them that I can write lots of fic answering. also their aesthetic is brilliant. all pale and washed out and wearing white (naturally so the blood splatters can show up clearer)? veins going black with corruption so they look like walking marble terrors? Makt couture baby.

#[deep breath]#grishaverse #gentleman bastards #shades of magic #fyodor dostoyevsky #big chungus #about me #topic meme #vestriis #asks

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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The Legacy of Batman: Tom King, Kevin Conroy, and Scott Snyder on the Dark Knight

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This year, we talked to Tom King, Kevin Conroy, Bruce Timm, Scott Snyder, Jock, and Pete Tomasi about why Batman still matters.

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It all began with two shots in the dark, pearls spilling onto the blood-soaked cement. No, it all started when the bat crashed through the window. Actually, it was when the boy fell into the cave. Maybe it was that hostile takeover at Apex Chemicals? Dozens of stories have shaped the legend of the Batman over his 80-year history, tales that have made the Caped Crusader arguably the most iconic character in comic book history, rivaled only by Superman.

When Bill Finger and Bob Kane put pen and pencil to paper for 1939's Detective Comics #27, they had no way of knowing that they were creating a new American myth that would captivate readers and movie audiences for decades to come. They certainly didn't expect their first Batman adventure, "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate," to spawn 973 more issues of Detective Comics, let alone become a blockbuster franchise featuring movies, TV series, video games, and McDonald's Happy Meals.

But what bigger testament to the long-lasting appeal of Batman than March’s Detective Comics #1000, written and drawn by some of the best creators in the business? The giant-sized, 96-page issue featured stories by legends such as as Dennis O'Neil, Neal Adams, Steve Epting, Christopher Priest, Jim Lee, Kelley Jones, Paul Dini, Brian Michael Bendis, Warren Ellis, and Geoff Johns as well as the current custodians of the Bat-mythos -- Tom King, Tony S. Daniel, Peter J. Tomasi, Doug Mahnke, Joelle Jones, Scott Snyder, and Greg Capullo. And that's not even including the excellent covers by Jim Steranko, Bernie Wrightson, Bruce Timm, Frank Miller, Jock, Tim Sale, and more.

Batman is only the second DC superhero to reach such a massive milestone, the other being the Man of Steel. What is it about this character hellbent on avenging the death of his parents night after night that has kept him at the forefront of our pop culture?

“I think what makes him deeply enduring is that it’s a really primal folk tale,” Scott Snyder, who’s been writing Batman stories since 2011, says. “It’s a story about a boy who loses everything and turns that loss into fuel to make sure that what happened to him never happens to anybody else.”

While most of us aren't billionaire playboys with the resources to fight crime on a global (and sometimes cosmic) level, we understand pain, both emotional and physical, and a need to rise above it, even if we can't always do that. We sympathize with Bruce's biggest regret -- if only he hadn't made his parents take him to see that Zorro movie; if only he hadn't been frightened by the opera; if only he'd been braver and faster as the thug pulled the trigger. For Bruce, his crusade to stop evildoers comes down to replaying that single fateful moment over and over again and making possible a different outcome.

Yet, Batman perseveres despite all of this pain, which is why people flock to the character, according to Snyder.

"It's a story of triumph over your worst fears, worst tragedy, and about taking your loss and turning it into a win," the writer says. "There's just this kind of power to him that speaks to our own potential, the human potential, even when we're challenged by things that seem insurmountably horrible."

Snyder has spent the better part of a decade showcasing Batman as a symbol of hope for the citizens of Gotham, putting him through the ringer, reopening old wounds while also making new ones -- the writer even killed the hero off at one point -- just so that he can pick himself up again and keep fighting.

But the character isn't driven solely by tragedy. Who could hang with a downer like that for 80 years?

"There are the fun elements, of course, that are similar to James Bond, like the gadgets, and the cars, and the planes, and just the cool factor of his costume."

Tom King, who recently wrapped up an 85-issue run on Batman and currently has a Batman/Catwoman miniseries in the works, looks back to the character's real-life point of origin as the reason he has stood the test of time.

"You have to go back to the moment of creation with him. You've got [Bob Kane and Bill Finger], the children of immigrants, so we're like, what, 1938, '39, we're in Manhattan. And at that time, I mean, go back and look at the pictures, Batman was created like 20 blocks from Madison Square Garden where they had a Nazi rally that attracted a hundred thousand people. They were marching in the streets."

These tumultuous times shaped the fabric of Batman, according to King.

"[Kane and Finger] were living here and their literal cousins and grandparents were getting killed in Europe, right? And they created something uniquely American. Batman succeeds because there's something genuinely beautifully American about it."

According to Batman: The Animated Series voice actor Kevin Conroy, Batman’s continued popularity goes back to something primal. To the classically trained actor who was immortalized as the voice of Batman in the ‘90s cartoon, the Caped Crusader is a modern retelling of myths and stories humans have been passing down for thousands of years.

“He’s such a theatrical character,” Conroy says, admitting he was at first hesitant to audition for the role. At the time, he was a theater actor who'd never done an animated role. But when he read the script, the character clicked. Conroy recognized this story. “They were absolutely right to cast a theater actor, especially one with a classical background, because this is Shakespeare. They’re doing high drama. Batman is Achilles. He’s Orestes. He’s Hamlet.”

The tragic Greek character Orestes, in particular, was on Conroy’s mind when playing Batman. By that point, he’d performed several plays as Orestes, a son who avenges his father’s murder and goes mad because of it. By the end of the story, Orestes has gone through hell and back because of his thirst for vengeance. Naturally, Conroy brought that familiarity with Orestes to his portrayal of Batman.

“He’s a Homeric hero,” Conroy says of the Caped Crusader. “I think of it often when I’m doing Batman because Orestes is haunted by the Furies. He descends into hell. He comes back. He’s resurrected at the end, and I think so often, this is a very Orestial-like journey that Bruce Wayne goes on. His Furies are the memory of his parents’ murder. It haunts him through his life. It’s transformed him."

Conroy calls Batman a “classic character.” Like Orestes before him, Batman has become the protagonist of our very own mythology.

“He’s come out of such a fire and instead of letting life crush him, he turns that metamorphosis into something even greater than himself,” Conroy says. “They’ve been telling that story for thousands of years in different cultures, and this is our culture’s way of telling those stories, and I think they’re just as valid.”

Bruce Timm, who co-created Batman: The Animated Series and designed the show's iconic Art Deco aesthetic, is unsurprisingly most taken by Batman's look.

"I just think Batman looks great," Timm says during our chat at NYCC in 2018. "He's got the best costume motif in comics. Nothing comes close. He's dark, sexy, and broody. It's really intoxicating and compelling in a way that almost no other in comics can come close to it."

He also admires the durability of the character through the different eras of comics, from the Golden Age, to the sillier '50s and '60s stories of the Comics Code era, to the darker takes we're more accustomed to today.

"It is amazing to me how flexible he is as a character. That you could have something as silly as the Adam West show or the old '50s comics, and then you have stuff like Neal Adams and Frank Miller and what we did. And you know, even more extreme, [Grant Morrison and Dave McKean's graphic novel] Arkham Asylum and things like that. And yet their all kind of the same character. It's like that character can encompass all of those different things. He can do space aliens and serial killers, you know? Yet, it kind of works."

This flexibility has allowed plenty of writers and artists to experiment with the Dark Knight, creating different versions of the character over the years. There really isn't a definitive take on Batman. You can love the Batusi, Bat-Mite, or Mr. Freeze's cool party and still be right on the money about the Caped Crusader. You'd be remiss to call the character stale. The guy has done it all.

"It's almost like he's a force of nature, in which stories can happen around him, and there's something primordial, maybe, about the character and the way he looks, as well," says veteran Batman artist Jock, who most recently worked on a seven-part miniseries with Snyder called The Batman Who Laughs. "You could put Batman in a new pose, and he'd still flourish, and I think those kinds of characters are very rare."

Peter J. Tomasi, who is currently writing Detective Comics, puts it best:

"He's a character who can work across all genres. Somehow, someway, he can simply fit into every story, be it a war story, a western, a love story, a comedic angle, sci-fi, horror, fantasy, you name it, and of course any detective story you can possibly imagine."

Superheroes won't always be at the top of our pop culture food chain. It's inevitable that many of the characters we love today will fade with future generations, just as the Shadow, Doc Savage, Zorro, and the Scarlet Pimpernel did. Will we still be talking about Batman in another 80 years? We may eventually embrace new forms of familiar myths, becoming obsessed with new idols. But only a fool would bet against a character who's survived as long as Batman has. Remember, the Batman always wins.

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9 and make sure to check him out on Twitch.

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junker-town · 5 years

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Can a team of 25 Ichiros win the World Series?

If you were to build a team with nothing but clones of a single player, which player would you choose? The correct answer is Ichiro Suzuki, and Kofie Yeboah is going to prove it.

When people talk about MVP Baseball 2005, two words always come out of their mouths.

“Jon Dowd.”

Yes, the EA Sports counter to Barry Bonds turned into a cult icon for many years after the series ended. The character became something people can talk about at networking events and water coolers to prove that they, in fact, also had a childhood. The reason why the 40-year-old wasn’t in the game was due to the fact that Bonds decided to individually license his likeness, rather than work with the MLBPA. So instead of getting dude with an iconic cross earring and a batting stance that oozes swagger, we got a guy that you can’t pick out of an Imagine Dragons lineup with the most generic batting stance.

Seriously, it literally says generic.

I used to do this anyway.

If you ask me, the best player in the game was not Jon Dowd, but Ichiro Suzuki.

While there aren’t official overall rating numbers in this game, Ichiro is listed as the 13th best player in the game behind Jon Dowd, Vladimir Guerrero, Albert Pujols, Todd Helton, Manny Ramirez, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, Scott Rolen, Pedro Martinez, Johan Santana, Adrian Beltre, Randy Johnson and David Ortiz.

It makes sense when you look at this on screen, but when you actually play the video game it’s clear that Ichiro is even better than his already high overall ranking.

To showcase Ichiro’s talents and abilities, I’ve decided to make a team comprised of Ichiro clones to see if they can win the World Series.

But before I do that, let’s take a closer look at the elements that make Ichiro an absolute nightmare for the other team.

Hitting

First, I want to address the hitting mechanics in MVP Baseball 2005. As is the case with many of today’s video games, hitting is separated into contact and power. A hitter with good contact and bad power can theoretically launch the ball into orbit if the pitch is juicy enough. A big power hitter with bad contact can launch many balls into space, but have a higher risk of pop ups and long fly ball outs.

This isn’t the case with Ichiro.

Ichiro is so good at contact hitting that he could also in turn hit for power. Against left-handed pitching, he was given a power rating of 69 and a contact rating of 99. Against right-handed pitching, he was given a power rating of 58 and a contact rating of 97.

The power rating doesn’t seem that impressive until you look at some of the other players in the game. Miguel Cabrera, a player with 33 home runs in 2004, was given a 74 power rating against lefties.

Adrian Beltre — who hit 48 home runs in 2004, but only six against left-handed pitching — was given a 71 overall power rating against lefties. This decent power rating paired with godlike contact skill allowed Ichiro to have a different play style in the video game. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Ichiro had a home run to fly ball ratio of 3.8%. Let’s compare that to Barry Bo … I mean Jon Dowd, whose ratio was 24.5% in that same season.

Ratings aside, you could hit many home runs with Ichiro if you wanted. Of all the hot and cold zone displays in the game, Ichiro is one of the few players with more than 9 total hot zones out of the 18 possible.

Of those few, most are all-stars or legends who have to be unlocked in the game, so that puts Ichiro in elite company. If you gave Ichiro a high 2-seam or 4-seam fastball, there was a good chance he would tag it out of the park.

Ichiro’s power potential isn’t far-fetched either. His longest homer in the Statcast era is 432 feet. There’s even a dope video from the YouTube channel Foolish Baseball that investigates Ichiro’s power-hitting potential.

However, doing so would be disrespectful to real life Ichiro, a player who once said, “chicks who dig home runs aren’t the ones who appeal to me. I think there’s sexiness in infield hits because they require technique.”

With this newfound power, Ichiro could also hit the ball over the outfielders, who would play shallow against him on certain occasions. This allowed for normal fly balls to drop in for a hit, and gave Ichiro another chance to showcase his speed. In his case, if a ball hit the wall, it was almost always a guaranteed triple. Depending on the dimensions of the ballpark, it could be an instant home run.

My favorite part of the game was choosing a retro ballpark with absolutely wonky dimensions and watching Ichiro just go to town with his speed. It was amazing to watch. Let’s look at the Polo Grounds as an example. You see how the center field fence is 483 feet away from home plate? Trust me, this will come up later.

To test Ichiro’s power potential, I put him against Albert Pujols in the home run showdown. Even thought he lost most of the showdowns, Ichiro would often hit the same number of home runs as Albert Pujols. Here is one of the attempts. Yes, Albert won, but it shouldn’t be this close. At all.

This result had me convinced that Ichiro could actually win.

So close.

19 POINTS?! OH COME ON!

It took over 20+ tries, but Ichiro finally beat Albert in a Home Run Showdown.

Even if you didn’t want to go for the long ball, you could still wreck all kinds of havoc on the diamond. Because at the end of the day ...

Ichiro is still fast as hell.

Ichiro’s speed rating is a 97, which is a freaking nightmare for catchers, pitchers and the entire defense at the same time. The only players faster than Ichiro in this game are:

Lou Brock, and that’s it. Power didn’t dominate MVP Baseball 2005. Speed did.

If you started a fantasy dynasty of fast players, such as Scott Podsednik, Rafael Furcal, Chone Figgins, Carl Crawford and Juan Pierre, you could construct the most irritating lineup of all time.

With players like these, you were damn near guaranteed to make it to second after bunting, making it to first and then stealing. If the catcher wasn’t a top-tier thrower, they were screwed. If the pitcher took a long time delivering the ball out of the stretch, they were out of luck.

To put his speed to the test, we had Ichiro attempt to steal 100 bases against the best-throwing catcher in the game, Ivan Rodriguez (Henry Blanco was also an option). Here’s what we found whenever Ichiro tried to steal second base against the best.

If you didn’t throw your hardest fastball or pitch out, you weren’t likely to catch Ichiro. Now, a 57% steal success rate seems pretty pedestrian. Ichiro’s career steal success rate was 81%, including a whopping 85% of his attempts of third base. However, keep in mind that all of this data involves the fastest, most accurate catchers arm in the game.

Imagine if I’d used Mike Piazza.

Let’s not forget about bunting, either

The MVP Baseball drag bunt animation was quick and came out of nowhere, so there really wasn’t any tip-off to what the speedster was up to. When you give that quick of an animation to a player with a bunting rating of 99 and a speed rating of 97, you’re going to see some serious shit. Just look at this.

When you pair Ichiro’s speed with his insane hitting power, he could make some incredible plays. He could bunt for a hit and get down the line so fast that the defender wouldn’t even bother making the throw. They just gave up.

Let’s talk defense.

When you have all that speed, that’s one thing. When you have speed and an arm chiseled personally by God, there’s nothing that can stop you. On April 11th, 2001, Ichiro threw a perfect strike from right field to put the entire league on notice.

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Anyone who has seen this clip should know better than to challenge Ichiro, but for some reason people kept testing this man.

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Here are Ichiro’s fielding stats.

Remember when I said the Polo Grounds center field fence was 483 feet away from home plate? Here’s Ichiro throwing to home from that exact spot like it’s no big deal.

I think this speaks for itself.

Now, I had the idea to make a team full of Ichiros and see how far I could take them. (The first initials are there because the game forced me to enter a first name, and I wanted to tell them apart for statistical purposes.)

This leaves one unanswered question.

What about pitching?

Can Ichiro pitch? He was a pitcher in high school, but what about the professional level? The answer is yes! Luckily I had two frames of reference.

There is the time he pitched in 2015.

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And the time he pitched in the 1996 Japanese All-Star Game.

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Ichiro mainly sticks with the simple fastball-changeup combination, but the occasional breaking ball shows up.

So we have a three-pitch arsenal that we’re going to have to stick with for 162+ games. While it’s serviceable, I’m not expecting any Barry Zito-level performances.

Are we ready? I’m ready. Let’s do this.

Dynasty Time!

These are our team goals. I think we’re going to win more than 2 Silver Slugger awards and score the most runs in baseball.

April 2005: 16-8 (first in A.L. West)

After one month of play, the Seattle Ichiros are 16-8. In 24 games, three Ichiro clones are hitting .400 or higher, and seven are batting over .300.

SEVEN OF THE TOP 11 players in the stolen base category are Ichiros. Another Ichiro is leading the team with six wins and two saves already. He’s also 7th in the league in strikeouts. WHAT.

The team has combined for 72 stolen bases and has been caught stealing only 6 times. GOOD LORD. As expected, the pitching staff is marginally mediocre.

For this team however, that’s more than good enough.

May: 19-8 (35-16 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

For some reason, the Seattle Ichiros have regressed into the 29th-best pitching team in the league, but thanks to incredible hitting and fielding, we are tied for the best record in baseball. Nine Ichiros are in the top 10 for stolen bases. Everything is going well, except for R. Ichiro. We also had a trade offer for Ray Durham. Do we make a deal?

Hell no. We’re the Seattle Ichiros. All or nothing.

June: 17-9 (52-25 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

The Seattle Ichiros have the best record in baseball at 52-25. Seven Ichiros are hitting over .300, and eight have over 20 stolen bases. The only other players in the league with more than 20 are Carl Crawford and Bobby Abreu.

The pitching has not produced a single shutout win the entire season so far, but it looks like what’s working is working. Score a lot of runs, tank pitching, win, repeat. My manager grade is also an A- which is weird because I’m not even watching the games. Maybe I should watch a game.

*The Ichiros won 11-5*

This is a baseball game unlike any I’ve seen before. I’ve never seen such aggressive baserunning spread all throughout the roster. The Ichiros stole 6 bases and never got caught. It’s like watching all the racers in Mario Kart with endless speed mushrooms. I wish real baseball was like this. Watching this team field is similar to watching superheroes do pedestrian tasks with their powers like it’s no big deal.

This is definitely a championship team. Can the Ichiros really bring Seattle their first World Series title ever?

July: 15-11 (67-36 for the season, second in the A.L. West and 1st in the Wild Card race)

So. Apparently the Angels are really freakin’ good. See what happens when you have good pitching? Wow.

Even still, the Ichiro collective is doing their best to rectify this with some solid hitting. By the way, nine Ichiros made the All-Star Team, which if I had to guess would be the first time that’s ever happened? Nine All-Stars and they’re not even leading the division. Incredible.

Meanwhile, don’t look now but Jon Dowd is going for a Triple Crown.

August: 17-11 (85-47 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

Jesus Christ, what happened to the Angels?

Even though the Ichiros didn’t have a weird surge, the Angels seem to be going through it. Seattle has opened up a seven-game lead on the Angels. Luckily, the Angels have a chance to make up ground in September, as they have six games against the Ichiros.

The Ichiros have scored 931 runs this season; the next closest team has 767. That’s wild. They also have six players with at least 15 home runs or more, which is of note because Ichiro’s season high in the real world is 15 home runs.

We have 30 games left.

(I’m very impressed with the fact that none of the Ichiros have sustained an injury yet. I’m lying I turned injuries off.)

September-October: 16-12 (102-60 for the season, first in the A.L. West)

Thanks to four head-to-head wins over the Angels, the Ichiros were able to clinch the division and finish with 102 wins and 1,135 runs scored — 4th-most in baseball history, and most since 1894. Did they win the most games this season? Nope, the Boston Red Sox netted 106 Ws thanks to a solid lineup and *cough* good pitching *cough*

Despite being walked 139 times. Jon Dowd hit for the Triple Crown. Thanks for putting a potential hole in my argument, EA.

One of the Ichiro clones finished with a whopping 70 stolen bases. The team as a whole combined for 452 stolen bases while being caught 101 times. That’s a whopping 82% success rate as a TEAM. These were the next teams that came close.

Two Ichiros had more 200 hits while everyone in the starting lineup hit more than 170. We also achieved two of the five team goals. The two realistic goals!

ONE OF THEM ALSO WON AMERICAN LEAGUE MVP!

PLAYOFFS, BABY! My only rule going into this is that all the elimination games will be a live gameplay sim.

ALDS: Ichiros vs. Yankees

Off-screen computer simulations:

Game 1: Yankees 13, Ichiros 11

Game 2: Yankees 14, Ichiros 11

On-screen simulations:

Game 3: Ichiros 14, Yankees 5

Game 4: Ichiros 12, Yankees 3

Game 5: Ichiros 11, Yankees 3

So, something of importance that I should note: there are two types of simulations in this game. There is the quick sim that doesn’t show any gameplay, and then there is the longer simulation that showcases gameplay. Now, the quick sim was for most of the regular season and held true to the ratings and what each player would theoretically do. However, the gameplay sims showcase a different element of all of these things. You get to see just how much chaos this team can cause. I also think this sim does a better job of highlighting just how many runs a team full of Ichiros can score on offense and prevent on defense. This is the main difference between the two types of simulations.

ALDS: Ichiros vs. Red Sox

This is going to be the toughest challenge yet for the Ichiros. Not only will they have to face the best-pitching team in the league, they also have to go up against some fearsome left-handed hitters. Since all the Ichiros throw right-handed, there is no way to neutralize David Ortiz, Johnny Damon or Trot Nixon.

Game 1: Ichiros 12, Red Sox 6

The Ichiros went to town on Curt Schilling in spurts and it got so bad that Bronson Arroyo had to relieve him in the 3rd inning. You hate to see it.

Game 2: Ichiros 18, Red Sox 2

Going up against David Wells was easy pickings for the Ichiros, who absolutely destroy left-handed pitching. The dimensions of Fenway are also advantageous to the Ichiros. Normal flyouts in other parks turn into off the wall doubles/triples.

David Wells only lasted 5 outs. These Ichiros do a great job getting out on these hot starts and then jumping all over the relief pitching. It’s a magical strategy.

Game 3: Ichiros 6, Red Sox 5

After the Sox take a 5-0 lead by the 3rd inning, the Ichiros face their first test of adversity in the series, but answer back with three runs in the 3rd and three more in the 6th. The Ichiros leaned on their mediocre pitching and great defense to move one win away from the World Series.

Game 4: Ichiros 13, Red Sox 8

After scoring EIGHT runs in the third inning, the Red Sox give up 13 unanswered runs thanks to Ichiro, Ichiro and Ichiro. The Ichiros hit three home runs and six triples to keep putting pressure on the Red Sox pitching staff. Honestly, if Boston hadn’t won the World Series in 2004, I would think this was some part of a curse or something.

This was an unreal fight from the Ichiros. It’s a shame we never got to see them face off against knuckleball god Tim Wakefield. But now the Ichiros are heading to the World Series to face off against. Jon Dowd and the Giants. THIS IS OCTOBER!

World Series: Ichiros vs. Giants

Here we go. A team full of Ichiros vs. Jon Dowd and friends. Statistically speaking, the Yankees and Red Sox were both better opponents, but the Giants are still ranked higher than the Mariners because of our team’s lack of pitching. However, the Giants are one of the slowest teams in the league. It’ll be interesting to see how this dynamic plays out.

Game 1: Ichiros 6, Giants 2

Jon Dowd went 0-4. YOU LOVE TO SEE IT.

Game 2: Ichiros 17, Giants 6

A Jon Dowd grand slam couldn’t stop the Ichiro task force, which hit 5 home runs.

Game 3: Ichiros 12, Giants 1

A Jon Dowd solo home run was nowhere close to enough to stop the flurry. I never thought I would say this, but get Jon Dowd some help!

Game 4: Ichiros 9, Giants 3

GO CRAZY SEATTLE! THE ICHIRO CLONES HAVE TAKEN HOME THE WORLD SERIES TITLE!

ABSOLUTE PLAYOFF DOMINATION!

Offseason

Because we won the World Series, I have been rewarded with a team budget increase of 3.6 million dollars. However, since I put every create-a-player on a one-year contract, nearly the entire team is asking for a new deal.

I really didn’t think this through. Let’s see if I can re-sign them all.

DYNASTY TIME BABY! We made it to spring training with all of the Ichiros intact. On that note, we will end our simulation. We’ve had a hell of a run, but now it’s time to conclude and debrief.

Conclusion

When we used the non-gameplay simulation, the game stayed true to the stats that Ichiro was capable of producing. Those stats added up and allowed us to win dependently. Now, the hitting side sounds believable to a sense. When you duplicate someone that possessed a league-leading .372 batting average, you’re in for a lot of baserunners and scoring opportunities.

The shakiest part of the non-gameplay simulation has to be the pitching. A team of Ichiros giving up only five runs a game doesn’t sound that believable to me, especially when other teams full of actual pitchers in the game gave up more runs. It’s hard to tell whether the defensive prowess of the Ichiros was accounted for in these simulations.

The gameplay simulations were a different story, however, as you can see just how dominant the Ichiro squad was on offense and defense. On offense, the Ichiros barely struck out and every single ball put in play looked like it could be a hit. The Ichiros preyed on slow outfielders like Jon Dowd and middle-tier arms like Johnny Damon. Using these two advantages, the Ichiro squad could turn doubles into triples whenever they wanted. Every time an Ichiro walked, a steal seemed imminent and there was little you could do to stop it.

Now, watching Ichiro pitch in real-time made me nervous, but he does just enough to mitigate the damage. When the pitchers were in a jam, they would often get bailed out by the amazing speed and glove of an Ichiro. It’s nice to have someone with 10 career gold gloves at every position on the field.

The gameplay sims took everything that Ichiro was good at on paper and amplified them to a point where they looked absolutely unbeatable. When they faced elimination against the Yankees, I switched gameplay simulations to “document the end” but I realized that these sims make the Ichiros seem like gods. I do wish that I had done gameplay simulations of the entire playoffs so that those two Yankees losses wouldn’t be there, but at least I switched over before it was too late.

If I had done real gameplay simulations for all 162 games in the regular season, I think that the Ichiros could have won 140+ games easily. There was no way I was going to do that because that would be way too much time put into this project. I barely watch real baseball right now, you think I was going to watch weeks of virtual baseball? Hell no.

The regular season simulation allowed us to make the playoffs and that’s all that mattered to me at the end of the day. The chance to have a chance.

Ichiro is one of the greatest players in baseball history, but he’s overshadowed by most video games he’s featured in. In MVP Baseball there’s Jon Dowd, in Backyard Baseball there’s Pablo Sanchez and Pete Wheeler. In The Bigs, it was basically every power hitter in the game.

He never was a cover athlete for MVP Baseball, Triple Play Baseball, MLB 2K, The Bigs, or MLB: The Show. He never got the recognition he deserved for being OP in multiple video games. So the next time you hear MVP Baseball 2005 and someone mentioning Jon Dowd, bring up Ichiro. Bring up this article that I spent way too much on to show a video game legend the respect he deserves.

Finally, as a reward for making it through this article, here is a wholesome picture of Ichiro smiling.

Getty Images

You’re welcome.

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savagegardenforever · 5 years

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Darren's Quotes

We love whiz bang, woo hoo"

"Starbucks Decaf coffee... caramel whatsitsname... I can't spell it!" -On his favourite drinks

"I don't have a hangover, 'cause I don't drink. But some people in our touring party might have been up to 4 in the morning... But I don't really think it's necessary to point the finger at anyone, DANIEL?"

"I can't understand a single word you're saying but when you sing I get tingles all over my body"' - on the worst pick up line

"I learned some new cuss words today folks."

"The first thing any Australian does when they come to America is watch the toilets, thanks for bringing us to America."

"Why the hell do people assume we're into gardens?"

"We blew up the garden gnome to destroy any future references to gardens."

"I have one final comment. Up until recently, it has been extremely difficult to determine which is the order line and which is the pickup line at a Starbucks. And I'm happy to see that more and more Starbucks are beginning to place signs for the pickup and the ordering. Thank you."

"We were young, and they said those photo's would never be published."

"I go to movies a lot. I'm tragic."

"I didn't forget the words it was the sound" "Actually, I’m a vegetarian so I'd make a really bad vampire." "That was whos-er and what's it with 'Truly Madly Deeply'...Sausage Garden!" - Back-announcing Truly Madly Deeply

"I just asked Daniel to say something and, characteristically, he refused"

"I cook quite a lot but you don't wanna eat what I'm cooking let me tell ya. Well I can cook 2 dishes. I can cook this stir-fry which kinda has like a sauté sorta vibe and the way I cook stir-fry is I get a tub of peanut butter and melt it and apparently that's not the why the way you do it."

"They call me taboo in the band, because I say the unsayable and do the undoable. I pull pranks and say whatever comes to mind."

"If someone tells me not to do something, then that just encourages me."

''Daniel has been abducted by aliens.''

''Gosh, you've got nice breasts!'' (Darren says that he sometimes says stuff without thinking)

''Play with my breasts all day and masturbate.'' - on what he'd do if he could be a woman for a day

''My passport's a slut, it's been with everyone.''

"I'd run around the back yard in red socks - that would be the play. I'd be devastated when nobody turned up."

"How was that experience for you Dan, pretty good?"

"This is a commonwealth country isn't it? Thank god, I would have sounded SO dumb!"

"Papa says its okay to love your pet as long as you don't LURVE your pet"

"I'm only doin' this 'cause I love you."

"Sleep in. Do Yoga. Write songs. Have friends over for dinner. Make love! Sleep." - Darren on what his typical day would be like

"We're decent people, but every now and again we feel like throwing a tantrum. Like, everywhere we go the record company sends us pastries. Why? We don't ask for them. And there's fruit everywhere- you get a huge basket when you're only in the country for one day. There's even a pineapple in there. I mean, how do you consume a pineapple?!" "We try to be in... try to be hip... but we can't!"

"I'm an absolute, zany nutcase most of the time. I am always impersonating people, things, sometimes plants." "Today I was a little tired boarding the plane...and, well, kind of delirious... I invented an alter ego. His name is Edwardo Phillipe and he's a Latin Australian born in Brazil but RAISED in Australia. Due to an unfortunate rollerskating incident he is no longer able to perform the Salsa or other related sexy Latino dances. Don't ask me to explain. Hey..if I could dance don't you think I'd be makin' my own sexy butt videos?"

"Stay clear, take care and wear condoms."

"I can't remember what it's called again because I have the memory of a vegetable." "We were at the the circus watching monkey trainers, and we just shared an affinity for monkeys." - getting punchy from answering how he met Daniel

Darren: The airlines lost some of our baggage, and now I'm wearing my manager's underwear as a consequence of that. Interviewer: Do they fit? Darren: No, they're a little small actually.

"I've been talking about fabric softener all day."

"Ok...so.....I love my band. There's Anna Maria-Laspina who's just adorable...incredibly talented and my co-star in THE UP NOD.. And the ever sly and top secret squirrel Lee Novak...master of illusion. Ben Carey still looks more like a rock star than any of us...I love his new cowboy hat. Jennifer is our wonderful new keyboard player and she is SMOKIN'! And Angie...the evil counterpart to Anna on Backing Vocals...she is such a wonderful addition to our crew... beautiful voice..all calm and zen like and gorgeous too. Karl Lewis is constantly getting stressed over the fact that I lean..put fingerprints on and sometimes even lick the plastic shield that separates the apocolyptic bang and crash of his drums and my vocal mike. It's this barrier that prevents his drums drowning out my sound on stage... he spends hours polishing it and in an instant on stage I can reduce him to a mere SMERE..completely unrecogizable...with the pressing of my face against it. It's fun."

"Did someone say, OH MY GOD???" -, on Madonna attending a Savage Garden concert on the 'To the Moon & Back Tour' "Daniel doesn't let me have any... he's got em all... maybe I'll get this one..." - on what he does with his ARIA Awards

"Homer Hudson Chocolate Rock Ice Cream. Hmm, then straight to the doctor for liposuction." - when asked what he would go to "The Moon And Back" for "It's me! It's me! It's always me!" - when someone asked who smelled so good in the room (MTV Live) "It's DISGUSTING, don't believe the hype. [Looks at camera] Don't believe the hype. It tastes like someone scraped off the bottom of a birdcage and stuck it on a piece of toast." - on vegemite "Actually, I had my first alcoholic drink this year. It was a mudslide - a chick's drink! I was wasted after it." Interviewer: You're allowed to invite six people, alive or dead, to a dinner party... okay, only six! Who would they be? Darren: Michael Jackson, Madonna... Adolf Hitler, Jesus Christ... Ginger Spice... and myself.

"After the show...we all ended up on Billie [Myer's] bus...disco dancing and acting like complete morons. Had a blast."

"I don't know anything about football. You can tell that from the way I dance."

"I love it up the back as much as I love it up the front." - Manchester 9/12/00 concert when he told the audience he couldn’t see the people on the balcony things at the back

"I don’t know what’s wrong with me - maybe I need to get laid" - after the CTY dance at Manchester concert

"[In my worst nightmare], this evil clown with sharp teeth came to my bedroom. I swear I was awake and it just said 'I'll be back.' I've been waiting for that damn clown to show his face for the last 20 years!"

Interviewer: Boxers or briefs?

Darren: Shit…er...er… let me think…I’m a boxer boy

Interviewer: Addaboy

Darren: Yeah, just recently, boxer boy

Interviewer: What about your partner there? [Daniel]

Darren: You know I don’t even wanna even go there (laughs)

Interviewer: (laughs)

Darren: I don’t even wanna know (laughs)

(in a Dr evil voice) "She’s a semi-fan, she’s the diet coke of fan!"

"It's not very masculine to say that the moon is beautiful tonight, but it is"

"The truth starts and ends with my lips"

"I did but believe it or not I didn't make the connection until she was on the set. Until Kirsten asked me where we got the name of the band and I just said 'Oh my God you wouldn't believe it!'" - answering if he'd seen Kirsten Dunst in "Interview with a Vampire" before working with her on the "I Knew I Loved You" video

"I think you go crazy for any accent which is not your own, I think that's what the deal is." - on why people love his Aussie accent so much

"I was the kind that noticed how some concrete sparkles because of the quartz. There's beauty in concrete if you look for it."

"I have had weird dejavu and premonitions, but I'm no psychic. I believe in God/Karma/the goodness of the universe and the power of the soul, so I don't rule anything out."

"Elation and pain are experiences that make you realise you're alive. Thank God you feel them; otherwise you'd be numb"

#darren hayes #Savage Garden #quotes #intreview

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mangokiwitropicalswirl · 8 years

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On the 8th Day of Christmas...

1. One Fancy FBI Ball / 2. Two Women, One Man. Trouble / 3. Three Final Words / 4. A Dance in Four-Four Time / 5. Five White Berries/ 6.Six Degrees Fahrenheit / 7. Seven Dollar Cocoa

8. Eight Ways of Looking at a Kiss

Scully measures her breaths carefully and feels the weight of Mulder’s hand in hers. She presses her eyelids together tightly – once, twice – as the image in front of her blurs through unshed tears. The memories triggered by the painting have made her a little dizzy, like she’s stepped through the frame and back into another time.

But she’s here, now, holding Mulder’s hand in an empty gallery, missing her father. She takes a deep breath in and turns her face upward.

“So what did you want to show me, Mulder?” She ventures a little smile, trying to let him know she’s alright.

“We can go now if you want Scully,” he says quietly. “We’re warmed up now.”

“No, no,” Scully urges, “I want to see your favorites. You snuck us in here, it’s gotta be good.”

“You sure?”

“Wouldn’t miss it,” She grins and squeezes his hand again.

Mulder guides them through several hallways, around corners that he seems familiar with, stopping only briefly at pieces that catch their eye. Scully makes a mental note to come back more often, to bring her mother to see the Winslow Homer that had graced their kitchen for so many years.

Finally, they come to a room filled with bronze and marble sculptures. To Scully, a few of them look familiar, like she should know the artist. She glances at Mulder who is leading them toward the long wooden bench at the center of the room.

“Let’s sit,” he nods. “You must be tired.”

She’s immediately grateful for the chance to rest her now-throbbing feet. Say what you will about sexy shoes, she thinks, they don’t look sexy when you’re limping.

“So?” Scully stretches her legs out and crosses her ankles, leaning back on her wrists a little. Mulder plops down next to her, his knee careening into the side of her leg and his hand coming to rest next to her hip.

“These are my favorites,” he says, nodding to the sculptures surrounding them. “They’re Rodin. Do you know him?”

Scully’s a little surprised. She’d have expected him to like Goya or Dali, maybe Bosch – surrealists, depictions of myth and horror – not these lyrical, polished figures.

“Not really,” she confesses. “Freshman art appreciation is a long time ago.”

“Well,” Mulder begins, and Scully can hear him gearing up for one of his lectures, “at Oxford, we studied him alongside Freud during one of my psych classes.”

“Why’s that?” Scully humors him, moving just a little closer to him on the bench so her leg is flush against his.

“Apparently Rodin was one of few artists of his time interested in exploring the sexual experience of women, and his sculptures were quite anatomically correct.”

Scully gulps. Mulder’s interest is making more sense now. She can feel the heat rising to her cheeks, but she lets him continue.

“Look at this one.” Directly in front of them on a low stone dias is a small bronze figure of a man and a woman bent toward one another in embrace. “This is a cast model of a much larger work. But look at the woman, the way her arm is around his neck, pulling him toward her. She’s not a passive subject.” He pauses.

Scully raises an eyebrow and waits for more. She knows there’s more, but she’s feeling warmer, the flush on her cheeks moving down onto her chest. She loosens her scarf.

“Look at his hand on her hip.” Mulder shifts his arm behind Scully on the bench. “He isn’t grasping her as closely as she’s holding him. Not yet.”

He takes another breath before diving further into the story. “The piece was supposed to be part of a larger work depicting Dante’s Inferno, and these were two lovers trapped in hell for their sins of the flesh. Dante modeled them on a famous scandal of his day, the ill-fated Paolo and Francesca.”

“What’s it called?” Scully’s voice lowers, she’s almost hypnotized by Mulder’s description, her eyes taking in the sensuous lines of the woman’s long limbs and torso, the breadth of the man’s hand against the stone woman’s hip, the arch of her foot.

“It’s called ‘The Kiss.’” Mulder explains, concentrating his gaze on the figure, “which is funny because if you look closely, you can see they’re not actually kissing. They’re frozen forever in that moment just before their lips meet.”

“Really?” Scully laughs lightly.

“But we wouldn’t know anything about that? Would we?” He turns to her, his eyes wide and his pupils dark. He intently smooths one hand along Scully’s leg and watches her own eyes widen as he curves his fingers down into the crevice between her knees, just below where the hem of her tight dress has ridden up.

The heat of his hand on her leg sends a jolt through her. She tries to concentrate on his words, but her brain is beginning to buzz. The phrase “would we?” echoes through her mind. Then it hits her. He’s talking about last summer, the moment in his hallway, the glacial pace at which they had moved toward one another. The goddamn bee, and everything that had followed.

“That would be torture,” she whispers, voicing what she’s felt in the months since. “To be so close.” She turns her whole body toward him now, his hand slipping further up the curve of her leg. “But never get there.” She brings her arm up around his neck, watching as his eyes widen further and his mouth parts slightly.

Scully moves her head toward his with the same agonizing pace she remembers. In her peripheral vision, she sees Mulder’s hand move from between her knees and reach up to undo the lowest buttons on her coat. She feels him slip one button then the next tenderly through each buttonhole until she feels the cool air of the room nip at her bare neck.

Neither of them have moved to bridge the gap between them. Mulder’s breath is warm on her cheek as she feels him move his hand back to grip her hip, while his arm behind her presses between her shoulder blades.

“Do you wanna know the story of Paolo and Francesca?” he whispers into her ear.

Scully almost laughs. “Right now?”

“Yes, right now,” he smiles, making no move toward her, but not pulling back either. She can almost feel each word vibrate through her jawbone as he speaks. “Legend says that the two lovers were alone together reading a book of courtly love, probably the story of Lancelot and Guinevere, and felt so strongly that the story they were reading was similar to their own that they were overcome with passion and had to set the book aside.”

“So what you’re saying, Mulder,” Scully smiles against his cheek, threading her fingers more tightly through his hair, “is that we’re sitting here getting turned on looking at a work of art depicting two lovers who got turned on by reading a work of art?”

“You could put it that way.” Mulder moves his mouth from her ear down her bare neck, leaving a trail of hot breath as he goes, but he refrains from actually pressing his lips to her skin. He just hovers, half a centimeter away, mimicking Rodin’s lovers frozen in their longing. “Scully?”

“Yes?” She feels like a damp fire has begun licking up the inside of her legs, settling in her core and radiating shivers out to the tips of her fingers.

“Are you gonna put us out of our misery or what?” He brings his face level with hers again and she understands. This next step is up to her.

Like the woman in the statue, she pulls him toward her. There’s the soft warmth of Mulder’s lips and then the almost violent interruption of his tongue. He crushes her to his chest so swiftly, it steals her breath. She gasps and squeezes his side where her hand has snaked beneath his suit jacket.

“Oh God!” Scully exclaims as one of his hands swiftly works under her skirt and strokes the skin of her inner thigh. The arm that had been holding her upright from behind is now sliding into her coat and winding up to the back of her dress. Mulder groans into another fierce kiss as her hand hurriedly finds the buttons on his dress shirt and tries to find a way in. When he finally releases the kiss, he quickly presses an open mouthed kiss at the base of her neck before he begins kissing down the slope of her chest as Scully moans and tips her head back to allow him more access.

The damp fire settled at her core is now a full blaze, and she’s afraid she might leave a wet mark whenever they finally get up from the bench. Mulder is pulling her as close to him as he can, kissing a trail toward where her breasts are rounding over the top of her gown.

Scully fumbles at reaching the bare skin of his chest, thwarted by his undershirt and the fact that she can’t quite yank hard enough to pull the shirt from the waistband of his pants. She whimpers in frustration and then sighs with pleasure as Mulder’s tongue leaves little wet spots along her neck.

Suddenly, she wants him, needs him. Badly. Immediately.

She moves her hand down to smooth over his thigh, and then she cups the hard length of his erection with a swift caress. Mulder jolts up and muffles a squeal by pressing his mouth to her skin.

“Scul-ly,” he draws out her name and sits up, giving her a quick kiss on the mouth. She doesn’t want him to slow down and pulls him back toward her. They lose track of a few minutes as their tongues meet again and again.

Mulder is the first to pull away and he rests his forehead against hers with a sigh. “Security cameras,” he mouths.

Her eyes widen and her cheeks redden. Mulder stands slowly, smoothing his hands over the front of his pants and adjusting himself. He offers Scully his arm and she rebuttons her coat as she gets up.

“So,” she asks smiling and running a hand over her mussed hair, “do you use that story on all the girls?”

“Only on the one who’ll appreciate it,” he replies, his eyes gleaming. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

#twelve tropes of christmas #somehow Mulder knows everything about everything #msr fanfic #x files fanfic #mywriting

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andrewuttaro · 5 years

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State of the Support (S1: Ep 4): Teaching Silence

State of the Support will be a reoccurring series on the Rochester Rhinos Soccer team written from a fan perspective. This series will follow the ups and downs of Soccer Support in Rochester, NY in one of its most trying times in decades.

So what are we doing here? I am not trying to be an ass about anything, but I can only hold out being a massive homer, patient with these owners, for so long. In August the details of Pat Ercoli’s comments on the Uncle Sam’s Soccer Podcast illuminated where the organization was going. I went over it in some detail in our last episode but there was a lot to go through there and frankly I couldn’t fit it all. I’ll probably go deeper on those comments here, but the mindset of the owners is a more important mystery right now. Pat Ercoli doesn’t write the checks. If he hadn’t done that podcast we couldn’t even be sure he was receiving his checks.

So what are we doing here?

Most of the craziest supporters of this club are getting to the point of becoming borderline histrionic. We had a discussion last month about the quality of the fabric the 2017 merchandise was made with. Yeah, that happened. We all just BADLY want to rally behind a reborn club but there is so little public knowledge to go on. That said, Ercoli’s comments amp up a reoriented club culture and renovated club mission that is so sexy I don’t mind waiting until 2021… but again… maybe tell us what’s going on. Ercoli’s word only goes so far, it’s only binding really if it is from the mouths of the ones making the final decision. I understand business negotiations can be touch and go; certainly not to the extent two lawyers do but come on: there isn’t a bond villain level threat waiting in the wings to… wait for it… torpedo the plans once they go public. I’ve really grown to hate the word torpedo as it smashes through all dialogue about this team and it’s future plans. I get it: you want to be really careful with the survival of this club.

Hell, that gives me more faith in you guys. But we’re all getting to a point of profound worry. No number of private messages can alleviate the worry like a public statement would. Not just because public owners comments are the only remotely binding things in this chaotic American Soccer World we live in but because in this state of profound worry something else happened…

Lansing Ignite folded. Yes, the USL League One Lansing Ignite. The team that just wrapped up its first season. That owner was excited to get this mid-sized post-industrial city going for a new soccer team and the expenses of the first-year financials supposedly scared him off from going forward into a second year. Something about that hits a little too close to home. You know what a lawyer and a real estate agent with a lot of local expertise maybe really good at assessing: financial outlook. Rhetoric aside, if our Rhinos owners look at past financials and then look over to the basics of the deal they’re mulling with even a shred of doubt… well would we even hear about their divestment within weeks or even months? For how many of us Rhinos weirdos chat with the owners on a regular basis I’m not confident that contact wouldn’t evaporate over a couple more months of silence if the numbers just don’t add up. It’s not like there’s a lot of public outcry for a return beyond a very specific segment of soccer people in this City. This two-year haitus, going on three, is no longer a teaching silence for anyone; not even that very specific segment.

That’s the thing isn’t it? Ercoli said all the right things to trigger that specific segment that aren’t letting their Rhinos memories fade. He methodically hit those perfect talking points: the new venue will be out of the City on the east side, the whole organization will focus more on developing local talent, there’s going to be a greater community connection at the League One level and on and on and on. It’s coordinated. They know who they’re targeting. I’m sure the Dworkins are smart enough to know Uncle Sam’s Soccer Podcast isn’t going to hit headlines in those tougher media outlets we don’t want to torpedo our plans! But you know who might hear about Ercoli’s interview there? All the crazy soccer fans who still have a dying need for this club. I’m sorry if this reads as condescending or sarcastic, I sincerely don’t mean it that way. Just trust us enough to tell us to our faces! The ones who care have learned everything they’re going to learn from this “Teaching Silence”. The ones who don’t care were never going to learn anything from a “Teaching Silence”. Drop the act.

The hot new theory bouncing around right now is that they’re holding up going fully public with the 2021 news to release it with other, more encouraging information about their new plans. My theory is it must be out of their control at the moment. They are almost certainly negotiating with a University on the east side for a venue that already exists: one of Nazareth, Fisher, MCC or U of R. The institution must be waiting to finalize a set of 2020-2021 budget figures and that’s why they’re holding off making a commitment. That’s just my theory given how much they’ve been eager to say a lot is going on via the private channels with fans. To that extent I trust they are up to something.

The faith I have in you, David and Wendy, tells me you guys are waiting for one or two more pieces to fall into place. Believing that my heart can handle a little more silence. I wish it was just about our hearts now, but my head tells me Halloween is next week and we’re deep into the Fall now. We know something has got to give. We know getting into calendar year 2020 without a peep, the year the casual fan thinks you’re coming back, would not be great. We also know that no matter how much Rhinos green maybe in our hearts, we know there are deadlines and we know there’s going to come a moment even us diehards begin to scatter. I don’t think that moment is too soon but it’s long before 2021 I’m sorry to say.

Let me be clear: David and Wendy, if you’re reading you must know it’s not an acceptable strategy to signal to your most hardcore supporters through podcasts and targeted leaks forever? There needs to be a more compelling strategy that is, for lack of a better term: public. That one little tweet about this “Teaching Silence” set some of us hardcore folks into a rage. While you’re locking down a suburban venue that will make Pittsford soccer parents comfortable you’re signaling to us is getting tiresome. It’s like you’re putting us at the kids table. We understand the strategy of that geographic move, we understand the move to a development model, all that long-term planning makes plenty of sense! We get it. Give it to us publicly like we’re just as important as the suburban soccer parents. This information dispersal via new media (podcasts and the like) comes across patronizing when it’s been a full year since anything public has been said.

By all means make the decision that is best for the future of the Rochester Rhinos Soccer Club; but don’t phrase it like a teaching silence because your supporters are getting impatient. We’re getting roasted right now by locals and an American Soccer world that isn’t interested in the texts we got from you after dinner last night. We’re sticking by you as any sense of a public end date for the haitus fades. Please give us something to hold onto sooner rather than later. The ones who have learned in the silence have graduated and the new classes are only going to get smaller.

Let’s Go Rhinos!

#rochester rhinos #soccer

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aion-rsa · 5 years

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Batman at 80: Why the Dark Knight Still Matters

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Batman turns 80 this year. We talked to Kevin Conroy, Bruce Timm, Scott Snyder, and more about the hero's legacy!

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Yet, Batman perseveres despite all of this pain, which is why people flock to the character, according to Snyder.

But the character isn't driven solely by tragedy. Who could hang with a downer like that for 80 years?

"There are the fun elements, of course, that are similar to James Bond, like the gadgets, and the cars, and the planes, and just the cool factor of his costume."

“He’s a Homeric hero,” Conroy says of the Caped Crusader. “I think of it often when I’m doing Batman because Orestes is haunted by the Furies. He descends into hell. He comes back. He��s resurrected at the end, and I think so often, this is a very Orestial-like journey that Bruce Wayne goes on. His Furies are the memory of his parents’ murder. It haunts him through his life. It’s transformed him."

Conroy calls Batman a “classic character.” Like Orestes before him, Batman has become the protagonist of our very own mythology.

Bruce Timm, who co-created Batman: The Animated Series and designed the show's iconic Art Deco aesthetic, is unsurprisingly most taken by Batman's look.

Tomasi, who is currently writing Detective Comics, puts it best:

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9 and make sure to check him out on Twitch.

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Feature

Movies

John Saavedra

Sep 21, 2019

Batman

DC Entertainment

Scott Snyder

Kevin Conroy

Bruce Timm

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SDCC

SDCC 2019

from Books https://ift.tt/2SsKpdl

#aion-rsa #Books

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aion-rsa · 5 years

Text

Batman Celebrates 80 Years: Why the Dark Knight Still Matters

https://ift.tt/2JHaNx5

Batman turns 80 this year. We talked to Kevin Conroy, Bruce Timm, Scott Snyder, and more about the hero's legacy!

facebook

twitter

tumblr

Yet, Batman perseveres despite all of this pain, which is why people flock to the character, according to Snyder.

But the character isn't driven solely by tragedy. Who could hang with a downer like that for 80 years?

"There are the fun elements, of course, that are similar to James Bond, like the gadgets, and the cars, and the planes, and just the cool factor of his costume."

Conroy calls Batman a “classic character.” Like Orestes before him, Batman has become the protagonist of our very own mythology.

Bruce Timm, who co-created Batman: The Animated Series and designed the show's iconic Art Deco aesthetic, is unsurprisingly most taken by Batman's look.

Tomasi, who is currently writing Detective Comics, puts it best:

Read and download the Den of Geek SDCC 2019 Special Edition Magazine right here!

John Saavedra is an associate editor at Den of Geek. Read more of his work here. Follow him on Twitter @johnsjr9 and make sure to check him out on Twitch.

facebook

twitter

tumblr

Feature

Movies

John Saavedra

Jul 20, 2019

Batman

DC Entertainment

Scott Snyder

Kevin Conroy

Bruce Timm

Instagram

SDCC

SDCC 2019

from Books https://ift.tt/2SsKpdl

#aion-rsa #Books

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