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violethowler · 4 years ago

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The Things That Matter

I’ve talked a lot over the last two months or so about the many different ways that the characters, story, and themes of the Kingdom Hearts series align with the framework of the Heroine’s Journey. For the final chapter in this series of essays, I’d like to talk about what it means for this series to follow this narrative formula. Because the fact that Kingdom Hearts fits into this storytelling pattern is critically important now more than ever.

The three most recent series I know of that aligned with the Heroine’s Journey framework all ended up missing the landing in various ways. Two of the three - Voltron: Legendary Defender and the Star Wars sequel trilogy - abandoned the formula in their final installments, while the third one - the Frozen movies - managed to fit into the formula almost completely, but suffered in the second movie from a lack of clarity as to which of the two leads is the main protagonist and which is the Animus. Two of these were under the Disney umbrella, and all three have had evidence found that executive meddling or other behind-the-scenes conflicts over story direction played a role in how the final installments ended.

As I mentioned in my essay “Into the Unknown,” when a story deviates from the structure it appears to be following, it produces a visceral sense of wrongness in the audience. In stories which up toward the end aligned with the Heroine’s Journey, that effect is amplified. The framework of the Heroine’s Journey was designed to uplift the experiences of identities outside of what society considers the default option in storytelling. The lived experiences of those identities are mirrored in the narrative’s themes. So when a story set up around calling out prejudices and double standards about those identities that are ingrained into the audience’s culture deviates from that formula, the result inevitably ends up reinforcing those biases instead, on top of the brokenness of the narrative in general.

In terms of how this applies to Kingdom Hearts, Sora and Riku’s individual character arcs have been noted by many LGBTQ+ fans to have notable parallels with elements of their own lived experiences:

Riku’s arc of learning to accept his darkness as something natural that’s a part of him and which he can express in a positive way mirrors how many LGBTQ+ people grow up with the idea that same-sex attraction is “sinful” and “unnatural” and have to unlearn that mindset in order to realize that there’s nothing wrong with them. Likewise, Mickey’s line in Re:COM about how spending time with Riku has positively changed his opinion about Darkness can be read as an analogy for straight people who are initially unsure of or hostile to LGBTQ+ identities changing their minds with education and first-hand interaction to become staunch allies. Esmeralda’s talk with Riku about how “There are just some things we need to keep separate from the world at large, at least until we have time to figure them out”[1], while on one level is referencing Riku’s Darkness and his inner turmoil relating to Ansem, can also describe the common LGBTQ+ experience of being in the closet and hiding that part of yourself from the people around you[2].

As for Sora, in Kingdom Hearts III he responds to Davy Jones’ comments in The Caribbean about the romantic relationship between Will and Elizabeth by saying that “I still have a lot to learn about love[3],” indicating he lacks understanding of his own feelings in the area of romance. This is supported by the official Kingdom Hearts Character Files book published by Square in February 2020. Short stories in this book featuring Sora’s POV depict him as actively confused about what romantic love is[4], and struggling to define the nature of his relationship with Riku[5][6]. This can be a common experience for LGBTQ+ youth growing up surrounded by media that only ever depicts romantic relationships as one boy, one girl. Many people who grew up like this—myself included—have had similar experiences of struggling to understand our own feelings about someone of the same gender because for our entire lives up to that point we had little or no exposure to the idea that being romantically interested in someone of the same gender as you was an option.

Sora and Riku are each written in ways that speak to common LGBTQ+ experiences, and the fact that so many things—the canon parallels to Disney romances, the match with how love interests are portrayed in the Heroine’s Journey, the fact that one of the series’ Lead Event Planners Michio Matsuura was described by the Co-Director Tai Yasue to be “head over heels for the bond between Riku and Sora’s hearts[7]”, in connection with his enjoyment of “pure love dramas[7]”—are all pointing to the conclusion that these similarities did not happen by accident, but by design.

It makes so much sense for Heroine’s Journey narratives to be used to tell LGBTQ+ stories because there are so many ways that homophobia and transphobia overlap with and are rooted in the very same gender and cultural norms that the framework challenges. Many countries have come a long way towards public acceptance of LGBTQ+ identities, but in terms of the stories that we tell, mainstream fiction is still skewed in favor of stories with protagonists who are straight and cisgender. Storylines with straight romance are treated as a society-wide default, while creators in countries like the U.S. who want to include even the smallest background references to LGBTQ+ relationships have had to fight and push back against corporate pressure to remove them.

This is especially true for media aimed at children and teenagers, as the fact that being openly LGBTQ+ is still widely considered problematic in many countries is frequently used by entertainment executives in ostensibly more progressive countries as an excuse for censoring LGBTQ+ storylines and characters. Multiple creators working on animated shows for Disney and/or its competitors have spoken out in recent weeks about the resistance they faced to including LGBTQ+ relationships[8][9][10] and how they were told that openly acknowledging characters as non-straight was too controversial or “inappropriate for the channel"[9].

As a consequence of this environment, creators wishing to depict non-heterosexual relationships have had to resort to creative methods of getting the implications past the censors in a way that LGBTQ+ audiences would recognize while still maintaining plausible deniability so that the executives could make money off the story in anti-LGBTQ+ markets. The downside to this is that because these efforts are more subtle, most straight audiences will either not notice the implications, or else dismiss them as an accident. Some will go as far as coming up with alternate explanations to justify why any potential LGBTQ+ subtext about a character or relationship could not possibly have been put there by the creator intentionally.

This extends not only to audiences, but also to people who interact with these stories in a professional capacity, such as translating and marketing a story’s international release. Animated shows that feature same-gender relationships have had international dubs change the gender of one character in the pairing to make it straight, for instance. Or there's the infamous example of how the English dub for Sailor Moon in the 1990s changed two girls from lovers to cousins in order to provide an explanation for their closeness that didn't involve acknowledging that the characters were not straight. In terms of the Kingdom Hearts series, the English localization has routinely downplayed LGBTQ+ subtext in the series while in some cases adding romantic undertones to interactions between a male and female character that did not exist in the original Japanese script. Kingdom Hearts III was one of the most egregious examples of this:

Hercules’ recollection of how he dove into the River Styx to save Megara’s soul in KH2 is thematically connected to Riku sacrificing himself for Sora at the Keyblade Graveyard through the phrase taisetsu na hito (literal meaning: “precious person”) when Hercules is talking to Sora in Olympus and when Mickey is talking to Riku in the Realm of Darkness at the beginning of the game. The English version translates this as “person I love most” for Hercules, while changing it to “what matters” for Riku and Mickey to call back to his meeting with Terra in Birth by Sleep, which the scene includes a flashback to. While Mickey and Riku’s original meaning can still be deduced from the conversation around it, especially with Mickey saying "sometimes you care about someone so much," changing the line for the sake of a callback downplays the evolution of Riku’s goals from protecting “things that matter” to protecting “the *person* who matters”.

Donald and Goofy’s teasing Sora in the scene at Galaxy Toys where Sora comments on how much he or Riku resemble Yozora is framed in the English version as “Riku would be a great action figure because he’s cool, unlike Sora.” However the original Japanese indicates that the teasing is centered around the fact that Sora said a character who looks like Riku was good-looking.

When Kairi offers Sora a paopu fruit, she says in the original Japanese that it’s simply a good luck charm so that they don’t get separated, while in the English localization, she says “I want to be a part of your life no matter what, that’s all.” While “that’s all” still fits with how the parallels to Winnie the Pooh indicate her connection with Sora has weakened and she wants to maintain it, the first part of the English line calls back to the legend of the fruit introduced in KH1, which was openly referred to as romantic by Selphie in the original and localized versions of the first game. As a result, this adds romantic implications that contrast with Sora’s unreceptive body language and facial expressions[11] as he reacts to the initial offering of the paopu fruit.

In the original Japanese, Riku’s words to Sora before his sacrifice at the Keyblade Graveyard translate to “I believe in you. You won’t give up.” The English localization changed it to “You don’t believe that. I know you don’t.” Not only does it remove a callback to the original game, but this phrasing dowplays Riku’s faith in Sora and ignores Sora’s very clear feelings of inadequacy.

During the scene where Sora and Kairi are floating through the dark tunnel toward the Keyblade Graveyard, Sora’s line in English, “I feel strong with you,” was originally an acknowledgement of Kairi’s strength that called back to how he wouldn’t let her come along on the return trip to Hollow Bastion in the first game because he thought she’d “kind of be in [his] way”[12]. Removing this callback takes the focus away from Kairi’s growth and brushes aside one of the ways the game shows that Sora’s view of her has changed over the course of the series.

Some fans defend changes such as these insisting that the development team had to have approved of them. However Testuya Nomura himself feels strongly enough about the subject: he stated in a 2018 interview several months before KH3's release that “an incorrect or defective translation risks compromising the comprehension of the whole story,” referring especially to the Kingdom Hearts series[13], and the English localization of Re:Mind—which was much more accurately translated than the base game—directly references the original meaning of Kairi’s words during the paopu scene in one of the DLC’s Kingstagram posts. This all indicates that changes such as these that remove important connections or change the meaning of the conversation are ones that the development team very much do not approve of.

LGBTQ+ fans of Kingdom Hearts who recognize their own experiences reflected in Sora's and Riku’s journeys know that Disney has not had a good track record when it comes to depicting LGBTQ+ characters in properties they are affiliated with. The most we ever get in their movies are background moments or nameless characters that are only there in one scene that easily can be cut out for distribution in countries with heavy anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. And that’s if the character’s orientation is even mentioned out loud in the film at all instead of simply being confirmed by interviews before or after release but never acknowledged on-screen. Television has fared better, but until recent years we never had any main characters who were confirmed in-show to be anything but straight. But things are slowly starting to improve. Within the last few years shows like "Andi Mack" and "The Owl House" have depicted major characters as openly interested in others of the same gender[14], and Pixar recently released a short as part of their Sparknotes program called “Out”, which openly centers on a man worrying about telling his parents he’s gay.

This is why it is so important that the Heroine’s Journey of Kingdom Hearts follow through to a structurally appropriate conclusion, with the development team being given the freedom to tell their story in full without restriction or censorship. Deviating from the formula this late in the series would represent a continuation of the recent trend of Heroine’s Journey narratives being structurally broken by inference from forces other than the main creative team. But if the Kingdom Hearts story is able to complete it’s Heroine’s Journey without executives or localization teams getting in the way of the intended story, then the LGBTQ+ themes already present in Sora and Riku’s journey will break so many barriers,challenge people’s expectations of what is possible, and convey powerful messages of self-discovery and acceptance—just like the framework was designed to.

Sources

[1] Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance; Square Enix; 2012.

[2] Tumblr post by @blowingoffsteam2; December 3, 2019. https://blowingoffsteam2.tumblr.com/post/189461796759/blowingoffsteam2-dont-mind-me-over-here-just

[3] Kingdom Hearts III; Square Enix; 2019.

[4] Translation of KH Character Files Beast’s Castle story by @lilyginnyblackv2; February 3, 2020. https://lilyginnyblackv2.tumblr.com/post/611420864489062401/character-files-beasts-castle-story-english

[5] Translation of KH Character Files Arendelle story by @lilyginnyblackv2; March 3, 2020. https://lilyginnyblackv2.tumblr.com/post/611490139845345280/character-files-arendelle-story-english

[6] Translation of KH Character Files Arendelle story by @notaseednotyet; March 1, 2020. https://twitter.com/notaseednotyet/status/1233993459670765569

[7] “Message from the KINGDOM” Updates!; April 11, 2012. https://www.khinsider.com/news/-Message-from-the-KINGDOM-Updates-2427

[8] “”Steven Universe” and “She-Ra” creators on Representation”; Paper Magazine; August 5, 2020. https://www.papermag.com/rebecca-sugar-noelle-stevenson-2646446747.html

[9] Twitter thread by Gravity Falls creator Alex Hirsch; August 9, 2020. https://twitter.com/_AlexHirsch/status/1292328558921003009

[10] Twitter thread by Owl House creator Dana Terrace; August 9, 2020. https://twitter.com/DanaTerrace/status/1292321440029478917

[11] Frame by frame analysis of Sora and Kairi’s body language during the KH3 paopu scene by @notaseednotyet; September 14, 2019. https://twitter.com/notaseednotyet/status/1172774158167506944

[12] Kingdom Hearts; Square Enix; 2002.

[13] “Nomura stresses the importance of direct translations on story comprehension, and talks about world development as well as the Gummi Ship;” August 27, 2018. https://www.kh13.com/news/nomura-stresses-the-importance-of-direct-translations-on-story-comprehension-and-talks-about-world-development-as-well-as-the-gummi-ship/ [14] Disney’s The Owl House Now Has a Confirmed Bisexual Character; August 9, 2020. https://io9.gizmodo.com/disneys-animated-series-the-owl-house-now-has-a-confirm-1844665583

#kingdom hearts and the heroine's journey #kingdom hearts meta

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bexterbex · 5 years ago

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A Soul to Mend His Own | Ch. 18

Warning, if it hasn’t been obvious in the movies there is Nazi symbolism within the First Order. I will expand on this much more throughout the story. If this is something that bothers you, please just exit the story. The author does not condone any Nazi ideals, this is just for fictional uses only.

A Kylo Ren x Modern! Reader in a soulmate au with some canon divergence. —————————————SLOWBURN————————————–

He is already the Supreme leader, searching the universe to find you, his Empress. Your name on his wrist has been the only constant in his life, while you have doubts about his existence and his acceptance of you. He isn’t in the database and why did the name Kylo Ren cover Ben Solo?

MASTERLIST

Chapter 18: Before the Committee

You woke up early to your alarm. Pausing before getting up you relived the events of the last two days. It was a whirlwind, and you wondered if it was always going to be like this. Shaking your head you got out of bed and ready for the day. You wore one of your work ‘uniforms’ as you deemed them more appropriate for the meetings you had ahead of yourself today. You also decided that you should put on some light makeup, as to make a good impression that you took good care in self-grooming.

When you were finished getting ready you grabbed your phone and started to head out of your room. You noticed that Kylo was not in his room, you entered the living room and Lieutenant Mitaka was there once again.

“Good morning m’lady,” said the lieutenant.

“Good morning lieutenant have you eaten this morning,” you ask while walking to the dining room.

“Yes, ma’am,” replied the short man.

“Well can I order you a cup of coffee or tea? And I am assuming you have been assigned to me again this morning,” you asked.

“I have been assigned to be your personal assistant of sorts, by the Supreme Leader. And a cup of tea would be most appreciated,” you could see relief cross his face. You reminded yourself that the Kylo that you see is not the Supreme Leader everyone else deals with.

You ordered from your phone for the first time. Unlike Kylo’s data pad there seemed to be a long list of Earth foods, and there seemed to be a list of your favorite foods in the favorites tab. How Kylo was able to do this you didn’t know, but you were too nervous to ask him.

The droid arrived in a matter of three minutes before you were really able to ask the Lieutenant anything. But you enjoyed your breakfast and the Mitaka thanked you for the tea.

“I know I have to be at the Health Committee by around 10. I know I need to arrange for transport. If I could I would like materials sent to me on my phone, about what the First Order’s current health policies are,” as you were saying this Mitaka was typing on his data pad.

“I will have everything sent to you. I can arrange for transport at 0800 hours this morning. I have been informed that the Finalizer’s chief medical officer would like to meet with you before the meeting. He would like you to debrief him on what you and the Supreme Leader have discussed on the subject,” said the lieutenant. You received a notification on your phone informing you that the First Order health regulations documents have been delivered.

You thanked the lieutenant and saw that the time was only 7 AM. You walked into your room and took out your work tote. You pulled out a notebook and pen and walked back to the living room. You started to make notes on what you were reading.

Several manuals, the biggest being 'Field Hygiene and Sanitation.’ This seemed very obvious to you. The purpose of the command, which person is responsible for what in terms of their own health. The individual is first and foremost responsible for their own health, then their immediate commander, then the medical/dental officer, then upper chains of command.

The manual went over personal cleanliness, care of the mouth and teeth, care of the feet, food, and drink, exercise, rest and recreation, protection against the elements, protection against disease-carrying insects, avoidance of the sources of disease, special protective measures, cultivation of a healthy mind, and finally rules for avoiding illness in the field. Many of these things could be translated into civilian life and so you made proper notes on this.

You glanced at the time seeing it was 7:45 by the time you were done making these notes. You decided that you should brainstorm some marketing tactics for this health regime. You made a more encompassing list that you previously stated the day before; Posters, pamphlets, video, radio, press releases, and large advertisements.

“Ma’am we should head to the hangar to depart for your meeting,” said the lieutenant.

You nodded and packed up your things. You followed the lieutenant to the hangar to which you saw the command shuttle and Commander Pyre once more.

“Everything is ready for your departure my lady,” said the gold plated commander.

You climbed aboard the ship and everyone strapped in for take-off.

“Tell me commander, am I to expect you to escort me every time I leave the ship,” you ask.

“Yes, ma’am unless Captain Phasma or the Supreme Leader is here. I have been put in charge of your immediate safety otherwise. General Pryde will meet us with the Finalizer’s chief medical officer. Pryde is also in charge of your safety and your movements,” responded the commander.

You thanked him and thought about what he said, that General Pryde was in charge of your movements. Why did you need to be watched or guarded so heavily? You shook that thought from your head as you received a ding from your phone.

There was a notification from the First Order messaging center. You opened it seeing a message from Kylo, ‘Good morning. I will be in strategic meetings all morning but I would like to join you for a late lunch.’

You responded, ‘Good morning to you too. That sounds perfect, I have no idea how long the Health Committee meeting will go, but I will notify you when we are done or at recess.’

The ship landed and you were greeted by the gray-haired general and an equally gray-haired medical officer.

“Hello, my lady. My name is Dr. Crale Koroban I am the chief medical officer aboard the Finalizer. You and I will be working together on the Health Committee as assigned by the Supreme Leader,” said the medical officer. He bowed slightly when introducing himself with his hands resigned behind his back.

“Hello, Dr. Koroban. I was informed that you were wanting to meet with me before the official committee meeting. Why is this,” you ask. You were now all moving into the White House to a conference room similar to the one you were in yesterday.

“Yes. You have some background and first-hand knowledge as to the health and hygiene of your planet. I was also informed that you were quite frank when you recalled the health of many of the countries. It is this honesty that I need before we meet with the health officials from your planet. The First Order cannot afford a large unhealthy population on your planet,” said the doctor.

“What would you like to know,” you ask. The general had taken a seat on the other side of the table, whereas the doctor sat near you as did the lieutenant with the commander guarding the door.

“I know that many of your third world countries do not have access to proper hygiene facilities let alone water. They have no way of properly cleaning themselves nor do they have proper health care, this is not my initial concern. They are easier to rectify. Your ‘first world’ countries, on the other hand, seem reluctant to want to improve their hygiene and health as they view themselves to be clean and healthy when in fact they are not,” responded the doctor. “What I would like to know is what you know and have observed as a ‘first world’ citizen on the health practices of your class. It is obvious that civilians have not been keeping things up to standard and we need to rectify this.”

You thought for a few moments about what the doctor said, “Like you said, we believe we are clean when in fact we are not. It is sad when the Center for Disease Control needs to remind us constantly during flu season or during any disease outbreak that we need to wash our hands, avoid touching our face and to not share food and drink with others. Many adults fail to wash their hands after using the restroom, but they always make sure to scold children if they forget. One of the officers gave a really accurate statistic about it and honestly, it didn’t shock me. We also don’t tend to stay home when we are sick, like we are supposed to because we tend to be workaholics. During outbreaks, people fear things but don’t really change their habits.”

The doctor nodded to you and was taking notes on the data pad you didn’t notice he had until now. “Reminding people is part of their job, but I see your point. Personal hygiene is step number one in preventing the spread of disease.”

“I also know there has been a rise in people against vaccinations, they fear side effects that have been disproven by medical professionals. There are also people seeking out home remedies for things that can only be cured or treated by a doctor. I am not talking about the occasional headache or stomachache, I am talking about skin rashes, diseases, and even cancer. Not that I am opposed to being prescribed rest, fluids and a healthy diet but there are some things only a medical professional can effectively treat. In third world countries, people will walk for miles to receive medicine, vaccines, and the ability to clean themselves, but in ‘first world’ countries we seem to deny these things as a privilege. It can be very frustrating.”

This time the doctor took more time taking notes and seemed to think a bit more before responding, “I agree with you. Your planet seems to have shifting parallels when it comes to health and hygiene. Your input on this is very valuable to me. We will be meeting with the others soon, but tell me who the three officials you have chosen are.”

You did not remember choosing anyone, you had simply mentioned that it may be best to include someone from the CDC, the WHO, and the Surgeon General. This may be what the doctor is asking.

“While I never directly chose anyone I merely suggested that we have some of the most respected health officials in the room,” you said.

At this point the lieutenant spoke up, “we have the director of the CDC and the director from the WHO coming along with the Surgeon General.”

“Explain to me why you chose the CDC and the WHO,” asked the doctor.

“The CDC is the Center for Disease Control and Prevention here in the U.S. they help set medical standards and are a resource many people trust. The WHO or the World Health Organization does the same thing but worldwide. The Surgeon General is one of the top public health officials in the world. They are chosen by the president of the united states and have significant experience in public health programs. I chose these three because they care for health and not for maintaining public appearances as to how clean we really are. They would like for the world to have high standards and health practices, unlike the politicians who like to refuse the truth about how unhygienic we really are.”

The doctor nodded at this response and seemed to be in deep thought for a moment. “If these are people whom your world trusts than it is of utmost importance that we get them to agree to First Order health practices. Dr. Xero Dabrini will be assisting me in this committee along with a handful of other First Order doctors and nurses. I hope to look to you for help with any mediation that may need to happen between us and these health officials. Note that the First Order wants healthy and hygienic citizens. We want to be able to provide the health care necessary for this to happen.”

You nodded and agreed with the doctor. The First Order is a military. They need healthy soldiers and citizens. You knew Kylo was counting on you to assist the doctor in this committee and you did not want to disappoint him you were ready for this meeting. The first meeting that you would handle on your own, helping him with the First Order.

A/N: Note that this is a PSA from the Author: WASH YOUR HANDS, AVOID TOUCHING YOUR FACE, STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK, AND GET PLENTY OF REST AND FLUIDS. The COVID-19 is going around and the next few chapters will be centered around health. In my worldbuilding propaganda, there will be useful hygiene and health tips. Heed them if you would like, and stay safe from the virus and listen to the CDC and the WHO.

A PSA from your lovely Author.

#kylo ren #kylo ren x reader #kylo ren imagine #kylo x reader #kylo x you #first order #sw first order imagine #star wars first order #first order propaganda #star wars #star wars imagine #Star wars soulmate au #a soul to mend his own

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rewatchdoctorwho · 5 years ago

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My Top 10 Classic Series Episodes

This list was incredibly difficult to compile. You’ll no doubt notice how many of the stories I listed as my favourites from particular Doctors are not present. You’ll likewise notice the complete absence of a couple of Doctors from this list altogether. Ultimately I decided to go with the stories I would automatically think of when considering different eras of the series, even if those particular stories might not be the ones I think are the best or even the ones I like the most. Doubtless many of you will curse my name and hate me forever after reading this list, which is fair.

10. The Seeds of Doom

There are many superbly classic stories from the famous Season 13, but my personal favourite has always been “The Seeds of Doom,” one of the darkest and most horrifying tales Doctor Who has ever told. I mean yeah, it’s more or less ripping off H.P. Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness and the original Howard Hawkes version of The Thing from Another World, but it’s still wonderfully told and manages to keep the tension ratcheted up throughout all six parts, something very few stories of this time period manage to do. The scenes in the arctic, showing a man slowly transforming into a plant monster, is still quite horrific to this day.

9. Remembrance of the Daleks

A cherished fan-favourite, “Remembrance of the Daleks” is one of the most exciting and action-packed stories of the Classic Series, and carried long-term consequences for the series as a whole and its titular character. Never before had the Doctor seemed so powerful, so intense, and so frightening. There are a lot of subtle hints that the Doctor, in his words, is “more than just another Time Lord,” and while these implications have been more or less overlooked in the modern series, this was the beginning of the controversial “Oncoming Storm” interpretation of the Doctor, and the story would go on to influence the legendary Time War storyline that still resonates throughout the series to this day.

8. The Keys of Marinus

Despite how much I love stories like “The Space Museum” and “The Tenth Planet,” I always find myself going back to “The Keys of Marinus,” what I consider to be the first really good Doctor Who story, and the one that is of high quality through all six installments. I’ve always loved the structure of this story, with the first chapter introducing us to this strange planet and the challenge of the Doctor and his companions having to recover the titular keys that lie scattered across that planet. The next four chapters see us taken to four very different parts of the planet of Marinus, each with a different challenge for our heroes to overcome in their quest to collect the Keys. This also offers the characters rare opportunities to have the screen more to themselves than usual as they pair off to pursue the Keys in different places, giving the actors a change to develop and show off their characters to greater degrees than previously afforded.

7. The War Games

What really makes “The War Games” so notable, beyond its ingeniously-written structure that keeps the dramatic tension up for the entirety of the mammoth ten-part story, is the sheer wealth of mythology the story introduces. We learn for the first time that the Doctor belongs to an alien super-race from the planet Gallifrey call the Time Lords, a race he abandoned after stealing the TARDIS to wander the universe to both of his heart’s content. We see the introduction of the famous Sonic Screwdriver (which is actually used to unscrew something), and witness the beginning of the Doctor’s long exile on Earth as a punishment for breaking the Time Lords’ most sacred rule of noninterference with the timeline of the universe. Virtually the whole of the broader mythology of the series was birthed here, and watching it unfold was an unforgettable experience.

6. City of Death

When most people talk about the magic that was Tom Baker’s performance as the Doctor, scenes from “City of Death” are usually what they’ll reference. Every Doctor Who fan worth their salt can recite the iconic “Wonderful Butler” scene from memory, and the sparkling writing combined with some truly beautiful location photography in Paris make for an endless memorable story. The plot is a brilliant piece of melodramatic science fiction courtesy of the great author Douglas Adams, who penned many of the show’s best stories from the late 1970’s.

5. Tomb of the Cybermen

Patrick Troughton’s Second Doctor is one of my very favourites, and in no other story is everything that is wonderful about this portrayal so well displayed as the legendary “Tomb of the Cybermen.” Aside from the beautiful photography and iconic sequences, this is the episode where the Doctor’s gentler, nobler, and wiser side is first really centre stage, which contrasts wonderfully with the titular Cybermen at their most disturbing and sinister. I was always a fan of the Cybermen, but this story really catapulted them into my number one spot on the list of favourite Doctor Who monsters.

4. Genesis of the Daleks

This is the first story where Tom Baker really got to show us what he could do in Doctor Who, and was (in my opinion) the first step on his road to becoming the greatest Doctor of them all. The legendary moment when he, with the future of the entire Dalek race literally in the palm of his hands, questions whether he has the right to exterminate them just as they have exterminated so many other races, is still talked about as a definitive moment for the character. The story is notable for other reasons too. It fully fleshed out the origin story of the Daleks, something that had only been hinted at in previous stories despite their huge popularity with fans, and introduced what I consider to be the Doctor’s greatest enemy, the megalomaniacal Davros, the father of the Dalek race.

3. The Curse of Fenric

“Curse of Fenric” might just be my favourite Doctor Who story of the 1980’s, and I pin that mostly down to the very strong direction and borderline apocalyptic themes. It’s a prime example of how one can tell a large-scale story on a small-scale budget and location. The elements of gothic horror, Viking mythology, transcendental science fiction and complex emotional drama are blended together seamlessly into one very pleasing package. This is the kind of story that I would have watched over and over again as a child had I known about it then, even if I would have done so from beneath the safety of my blankets. A real masterpiece.

2. The Caves of Androzani

For a lot of the Classic Series, the viewer has to more or less meet the program halfway. The quality of the writing, acting, directing, and especially special effects aren’t always up to the standards we have these days, but if you can overlook that, there’s still a lot of fun to be had. “The Caves of Androzani,” however, need no such contextual crutches. This story holds up unbelievably well even today. The plot is nuanced and sensitive without being too complex, the directing feels very modern with a uniquely strong pace and sense of immediacy, the special effects are pretty strong by Doctor Who standards, and the acting is among the finest the program has seen in the entirety of its history. There’s not a lot I can say about this story I haven’t already spoken about at length, but considering how poor the series would get in the next couple of years following it, it’s emotional clout and thematic weight is even more remarkable.

1. Shada

“This is absolutely unfair; ‘Shada’ was never finished and surely animated reconstructions can’t count” I can hear many of you say. Well it’s my list and “Shada” is my all-time favourite Doctor Who story. Of course it had to be a Tom Baker story, and this story shows off everything that was good (and everything I liked best) about his time on the show. It’s simply a delightful story that takes you into places of complex morality and science fiction madness that few other stories from the Classic Series have dared or done so well.

What I like most about “Shada” is its tone. As we’ve seen, Doctor Who is a show than can tackle a variety of different stories, some light, some dark, some heavy, some silly. But the kind of Doctor Who story I always liked best were the ones that sparkle, the ones that show us just how magical and delightful the Doctor’s life can be, the ones that give us the biggest sense of how wonderful travelling through the universe aboard a spacetime machine that looks like a phone booth on the outside must feel. And “Shada” is by far the best exemplar of this in the Classic Series. Is it the best Doctor Who story ever told? No. Is it the most fun? I say yes. And if you don’t like that, well, I don’t like your tailor.

#doctor who #classic #tom baker #patrick troughton #bbc

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comicteaparty · 5 years ago

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June 8th-June 14th, 2020 CTP Archive

The archive for the Comic Tea Party week long chat that occurred from June 8th, 2020 to June 14th, 2020. The chat focused on Devil Tongue by Samuel Soto-Saines and Lucas Soto.

Featured Comment:

Chat:

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB START!

Hello and welcome everyone to Comic Tea Party’s Book Club~! This week we’ll be focusing on Devil Tongue by Samuel Soto-Saines and Lucas Soto~! (https://deviltonguecomic.com/)

You are free to read and comment about the comic all week at your own pace until June 14th, so stop on by whenever it suits your schedule! Discussions are freeform, but we do offer discussion prompts in the pins for those who’d like to have them. Additionally, remember that while constructive criticism is allowed, our focus is to have fun and appreciate the comic! Whether you finish the comic or can only read a few pages, everyone is welcome to join and chat with us!

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 1

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic?

2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)?

3. Who is your favorite character?

4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most?

5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores?

7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content?

8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

1. I really appreciated how this comic felt really authentically shonen manga right off the bat without feeling tropey or overwrought. 2. I liked when the protagonists confront the ghost in the theater. I just really enjoyed the ghosts dialogue and dramatic jestures. 3. Moira is my fav so far. She's got a sword and seems capable, though is also still an apprentice so I'm looking forward to seeing how she grows.

boogeymadam

1, ALL THE CATS!! :D but more seriously, the way the characters are introduced through their job, and yet their personalities still shine through~ 2, i liked the scene when they're leaving the Lemaire house and walking on a dark misty neighborhood street at night. It's so atmospheric and perfect for their discussion on what kind of ghost their target might be, as well as what kinda threats it may pose :0 3, I can't decide, they're all interesting. Leera was introduced last but I like her enthusiasm! 2, Moira and Leera during the scene where Moira is explaining tinctures to Leera. Moira's so goal oriented and focused while messing with some apprently-very-dangerous stuff and Leera's just trying to avoid boredom. Moira seemed patient of Leera (for the most part) and willing to explain stuff, which was cool. It made me smile. 5, Oh Man, a lot!! The lines are so very clean and precise, every characters' silhouttes is distinct. It's hard to pick which page is my favorite, but I'd have to say https://deviltonguecomic.com/comic/chapter-01-page-32/ because of all the dynamic angles and expressions on the characters. 6, Pupils taking over from the mentor. I like how Emery is allowing his pupil, Moira, to prove herself, and she seems extremely eager to do so and also: good at it! I can only imagine what Emery is like at this job :0 8, A fun and classic premise of paranormal investigators, of a sort, but with magic of their own, making it even more interesting. It's easy to root for the protagonists and feel curious about what got them into this business, or what they were like before they reached this level of fame and skill. And also, there are talking cats!! Huge draw!

mariah (rainy day dreams)

I agree with your #6 Boogey. I do really like how Emery is like "I'm just here to mentor, this is Moira's job." I like seeing the apprentice really get to take point on the mission. I did see though on the cast page that Emery's magic type is just "?????" which definitely makes me what to see him throw down some magic now XD very curious what it is

boogeymadam

OHHH i hadn't spotted that! a secret, how exciting :0c

copperine (Lady Changeling)

I'm not familiar with this one, but I'm intrigued now (and should stop reading this channel till I've read the comic...)

I'll read in the morning and try to give some thoughts

RebelVampire

What I like about the beginning is the character development. Cause we get a lot of it and find out things like Emery being an ex-magician, his relationship with Moira, etc. Yet, at the same time, the plot is not sacrificed and the story is still moved along smoothly, which is a great balancing act. My favorite moment in the comic so far is actually all the times Emery feigns that he doesn't care but then we get those shots of him peeking and spying. I find those adorable but just also really nice character moments. My favorite character at the moment is Emery. I like aloof characters and he fits that bill. I also like his general cynicism about life. Emery is the sort of character who I'd have as a friend in real life. XD As for characters interacting the most, probably Leera and a combo of Emery and Moira. Leera has pretty different motivations for being there, is somewhat opposite in personality from the main pair, and just all around adds an interesting dynamic too the group that kind of makes certain elements of the story seem more grounded. I really just in general love the comic's linework. Not only is everything super clean (making the action easy to follow), but it really knows how to bulk up the shadows to create specific atmospheres that really work for each panel and add so much to each scene.

In terms of themes, I like that the comic somewhat explores with Emery the concept of what to do with your life after your previous life fails. I think we all kind of like to believe we'll do X forever and X comes to define us in a lot of ways. But then suddenly X might not be there and it's like, what is life now? How do I deal with life? And with Emery, I do think we get to kind of experience one path that kind of takes. What I like about the comic's overall content is the...strange mix of fantasy and realism. I can't really put it into words. Like this is definitely a fantasy story, yet there's elements of realism thrown in I wouldn't expect. Like things are almost scarily normal in some respects like the houses or journalism, etc. So everything about the world really intrigues me since it feels super unique in tone. Finally, for strengths, I'm referring back to the art here. I think the atmosphere the art adds to each scene really helps give the comic that extra oomph.

Erin Ptah (BICP | Leif & Thorn)

Everyone's covered all the stuff I like about the characters, so let me just throw in some extra praise for the backgrounds. Those elaborate buildings! That towering opera-house interior! That one sequence with light streaming through elegantly-patterned windows!

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 2

9. What do you think Emery did that caused him to be exiled by the Magician Order? How does this factor into his general cynicism and bitterness? Also, do you think Emery will ever be a magician again?

11. Besides following Emery and Moira around, what role do you think Leera will have in the story? How might Leera’s presence hurt or help the duo on each case? Also, how will Leera change as she experiences things firsthand?

12. How do you think Moira and Emery will resolve the haunted opera house situation? Can the kidnapped girl be saved, or is she truly gone forever? Additionally, what other sorts of cases do you expect to see after this one?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

RebelVampire

Honestly, I get the impression that Emery was good but also just a rebellious rule breaker type. So he probably got exiled for just not fitting in with the club regardless of anything else he might have done. Which to me would explain the cynicism cause it would show him how much of life is just a popularity contest. As for being a magician again, maybe, but the bigger question is would he want to? My current theory for Moira was that she's just ill-suited to the order. I'm sure she's heard awful things about it from Emery, so why join team lame when you can join Emery and be on team winner. As for how Moira will grow, I think she'll just learn to take things a bit more seriously and mature (though probably still pretty happy and excited). I've talked about Leera a bit already, but I think her major role in the story is the grounding element and reader's eyes. Cause someone needs to ask questions for the readers, and I think that will be Leera. But in terms of plot, I also think Leera will just help them get more work by spreading their name to lands far and wide. I think in terms of how Leera will change, I think mostly she'll maybe find better things to publish about and the power she wields with words. I think the kidnapped girl can be saved, but that it needs to be done quickly. As for how this will ultimately resolve, I assume epic battle followed by emotional ghost revelations. As for other sorts of cases, I actually am expecting lots of drama ones with heavy emotional reveals from side characters. I could be wrong, but that feels like the route the comic is going. O_O

Comic Tea Party

DISCUSSION PROMPTS – PART 3

13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic?

14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic?

Don’t feel inspired by the prompts? Feel free to discuss anything else that interested you!

Ryccomics

1. What did you like about the beginning of the comic? Very good dynamic introduction between Moira and Emery. Very quickly and effectively I understood Emery is an older cynic, and Moira is the energetic and out to prove herself. 2. What has been your favorite moment in the comic (so far)? The magic reveal of what the potions/chemicals do is fun. I do not really understand how they work at this time, and I don’t really need to. 3. Who is your favorite character? Mauretta, she’s a lot of fun in design, and she gets to talk more than usual character type. I’m not sure what this character type would be called, but I’m going with person who starts the Scooby Doo mystery. 4. Which characters do like seeing interact the most? Moira and Emery have good chemistry. Having the young rookie be more powerful than the experienced partners adds to the dynamic. 5. What is something you like about the art? If you have a favorite illustration, please share it!

So much going on in this panel. All 5 characters are doing something. 6. What is a theme you like that the comic explores? I don’t have an answer yet, because how this encounter goes will shape the narrative, everyone could die. It could be resolved peacefully, it could wrap like a monster of the week story, or lead to bigger things. 7. What do you like about the comic’s story or overall related content? I like the map in FAQ area of site is cool. Gives information for those who want it, but can be safely ignored by those that don’t. 8. Overall, what do you think the comic’s strengths are? I like your line art, a lot. The silhouettes read really well. And when working in black and white having distinct shapes is so important, you’ve color code your characters. 9. What do you think Emery did that caused him to be exiled by the Magician Order? How does this factor into his general cynicism and bitterness? Also, do you think Emery will ever be a magician again? I know from the Cast FAQ, he broke their laws, in what contest will tell a lot about Emery and the Order. I am a little unclear what the Magicians are at this points, how powerful they are in this society. Are the Magicians outside of the Magician’s order?

10. How do you think Moira became Emery’s apprentice despite Emery being an ex-magician? Similarly, why do you think Moira hasn’t joined up with the Magician Order? As the story develops, how do you think Moira will grow and change as a magician? I think Moira will have to confront what caused Emery’s cynicism. I expect she will get more powerful as the story begins. 11. Besides following Emery and Moira around, what role do you think Leera will have in the story? How might Leera’s presence hurt or help the duo on each case? Also, how will Leera change as she experiences things firsthand? I Leera’s role will be mainly to ensure the characters get back onto the plot. Most stories have some form of this function, whether it is the Greek gods, a ticking clock to motivate the characters to act right now Given she works for a newspaper, she can prod the characters to do news worthy things. 12. How do you think Moira and Emery will resolve the haunted opera house situation? Can the kidnapped girl be saved, or is she truly gone forever? Additionally, what other sorts of cases do you expect to see after this one? I feel it will have a happy ending, monster defeated girl saved. This is because the character dynamics would change really drastically if Moira had to confront extreme darkness so early, she would get cynical. 13. What are you most looking forward to seeing in regards to the comic? Will be interesting to see how the combat functions with regard to group dynamics, are the other characters going to plan a part in the combat, or are they on the sidelines. 14. Any final words of encouragement for the comic? I was sad when it ended.

RebelVampire

I am looking forward to finding out more about Emery and what Emery is capable of despite the circumstances. As for final words, this is just a lovely comic with tons of unique aspects about it that I really like.

Comic Tea Party

BOOK CLUB END!

Thank you everyone so much for reading and chatting about Devil Tongue this week! Please also give a special thank you to Samuel Soto-Saines and Lucas Soto for volunteering the comic and creating it! If you liked Devil Tongue, make sure to continue to support it via some of the links below!

Read and Comment: https://deviltonguecomic.com/

Devil Tongue’s Story: https://deviltonguecomic.com/store/

Samuel’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/sainezart

Lucas’ Twitter: https://twitter.com/lucaswordcraft

#ctparchive #comics #webcomics #indie comics #comic chat #comic discussion #book club #bookclub #webcomic bookclub #webcomic book club #comic tea party #ctp #devil tongue #samuel soto-saines #lucas soto

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inmyownlittlecorner5 · 5 years ago

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Moonlight Chapter Seven: Settling Up

A fanfic Novel by la-topolina

Rated for Mature Audiences

Warnings: Language, Violence, Sexual Content

Chapter 7/26

Moonlight Masterpost+

<< Chapter Six+

Chapter Eight+ >>

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"Hem, hem, May I assist you?" asked a high, girlish voice.

Miranda had been accosted by the stout, pink-clad woman almost the instant she had set foot inside the massive doors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She eyed the shorter woman and thought she strongly resembled a pink toad.

Miranda forced a friendly smile and replied, "I hope so. Would you mind showing me to Headmaster Dumbledore's office?"

"And what might your business be at Hogwarts?” the other woman demanded in a sickly sweet tone.

"It's private," Miranda said lightly, easy smile still on her face.

"I don't think I caught your name Miss?"

"Rose," Miranda shook the toad’s pudgy hand firmly. "I'm from the other side of the pond."

"I can see that." The other woman stared at Miranda long enough that she was beginning to wonder if the woman was ever going to comply. Finally she drew herself up to her full, if diminutive, height and said importantly, "Well, this way."

Being as Miranda did not know any of the school passwords, the pink toad accompanied her into Dumbledore's office. Miranda studied the magnificent assortment of objects with obvious pleasure as they waited. They did not have to wait very long before a thin wizard with a long white beard and bright blue eyes entered the office.

"Ah, Miss Rose, very punctual I see," he said pleasantly. "That will be all, Professor Umbridge, thank you." Umbridge puffed up as though she were going to argue—or croak—but settled for sniffing and waiting just outside the door in a futile attempt to overhear their conversation.

“I’m not always punctual," Miranda confessed after the door was closed on Umbridge. "but I wanted to make a good first impression."

They sat and tea appeared for both of them. “I appreciate the effort and the honesty,” Albus said, smiling at her over his half-moon glasses. “What brings you to my office?"

Miranda felt a bit of pink creeping across her cheeks. "Actually, my business is with one of your staff. Since I'm a stranger, I thought it best to introduce myself to you first, rather than simply barge in."

"I see. A wise decision. Which of my staff is the fortunate one?"

"Professor Severus Snape."

Albus's eyebrows raised and his eyes twinkled merrily. "Really? Is he expecting you?"

"No, I doubt it. Perhaps I should explain a bit more. I’ve been working in England for the last six months. I’m a bounty hunter and twice over the summer Professor Snape was kind enough to assist me. I wasn't able to repay him after the second incident, as term started just after it. I wanted to wait until everyone was likely to be settled in here before coming to finish up the business."

"I see." Albus steepled his fingers, "Severus is a very useful man. May I ask what he did this time to deserve such a visit?"

Miranda hadn't intended to tell the Headmaster any details, but the merry twinkling of his eyes put her at ease. Perhaps they reminded her of her own father's eyes and she found herself recounting the events of both the vampire and the werewolf case more completely than she had planned. "I'd probably be dead if he hadn't taken it upon himself to help me. He proved to be a proficient healer, much to my surprise,” she finished.

"Severus is proficient in many things," Albus observed.

Miranda's blush returned and she felt frustrated that she was acting like a schoolgirl with a crush. "I was thinking that if I came by on a Friday afternoon when classes were over it would be a good time,” she said.

"Well, I don't keep tabs on my staff during their off hours. Is there a reason that you didn't send him an owl?"

"I like having the element of surprise."

Albus didn't seem shocked by this answer. "Understandable. Well," he said, glancing at a clock with twelve hands and no numbers, "there is about a half an hour left in Severus's class. Why don't you go down to the dungeons and sit in on the end of it?"

"Oh, I wouldn't want to interrupt him while he’s working," Miranda protested.

"I understand that, however it would be wisest if you were not wandering the corridors with Professor Umbridge again. She will be trapped in her own classroom for the next half hour as well. If I know Severus at all, he'll have you stowed away before the dear woman has a chance to catch up to you."

"Understood." Miranda smiled broadly at the Headmaster. "Thank you for the advice. And the tea."

"You're most welcome dear. Oh, one more thing."

"Yes?"

"If you intend to return another time, do let Severus know that you have my full permission to use the staff entrance."

"Thank you, Headmaster."

"Of course. Now off with you!”

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

Severus sat at his desk marking scrolls, looking for all the world like a malevolent bat. School had been in session for a month and he was now sure that Miranda would not be making her promised appearance. He was displeased by this thought and angry with himself for caring. He was also angry with himself for having wasted so much time with her after the werewolf incident. He hated wasting time and he hated feeling like a fool and his anger bubbled just beneath the surface of his cold exterior. Most of his students could sense it and took extra trouble not to draw his attention. They worked quietly and tensely, dreading the time that he would rise from his desk and begin stalking up and down the aisle of the classroom, criticizing their work.

“Your potions should be purple by now,” he snapped.

“Purple, purple, has no rhyme, hope to get it right this time,” Luna Lovegood sang quietly from the back of the room.

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He found teaching potions to Luna Lovegood even more trying than teaching them to Neville Longbottom. She was not a bad student per se— in fact, she was usually rather capable. However, it was impossible to tell when she would simply begin working on something completely different. She was impervious to both criticism and sarcasm and neither extra assignments nor detentions seemed to have any effect on her. Honestly, he was a bit concerned that she would blow up the potions room before she earned her O.W.L. He settled for pairing her with Margaret Baskerville, a quiet Ravenclaw with very good reflexes, and sitting them in the back of the room far away from the supply closet.

“Oh look, an American!” Luna observed, pointing at the closed door to the potions classroom.

In spite of their fear of Professor Snape, most of the students could not help looking from the closed door to Luna and giggling.

“Silence!” Severus hissed. Immediately, the offending students choked down their laughter and tried to appear focused on their work.

As soon as order was restored, the classroom door creaked open, and everyone’s heads turned to see the disturbance. Severus, expecting to see Professor Umbridge—he knew she had begun sitting in on other teacher’s classes and “evaluating” them—rose slowly from his desk and turned to glare at her. His face froze however, when he saw that Miranda Rose was standing in the door of his classroom, and not Professor Umbridge.

Miranda had the grace to blush when she realized that the entire classroom was staring at her. She put on a brave smile, entered the room, and closed the door behind her. She crossed to Severus, very aware of how loud her boots were on the stone floor, and leaned in to whisper in his ear,

"Sorry to interrupt. Headmaster sent me down so I wouldn't run into that Umbridge woman again. I'll sit in the back until you're done."

Potions forgotten, the class continued to stare at Miranda as she took a seat in the back of the room, near Luna and Margaret.

Severus barked, "Get back to work!" Then he sat back down at his desk, making a show of mark scrolls while he attempted to rein in his racing thoughts.

Miranda smothered a smile and pulled out a book, trying to pretend that she was invisible. The students were busily adding ginger root to their cauldrons and the room was again silent, except for Luna who was chanting,

“Moses supposes his toeses are roses, But Moses supposes erroneously; For nobody's toeses are posies of roses, As Moses supposes his toeses to be.”

“Miss. Lovegood!” Severus snapped. “How many times to I have to tell you not to chant foolish incantations in my class? Ten points from Ravenclaw.”

Luna stopped chanting, but did not look at all troubled by his outburst. Miranda bit her lips to keep from laughing, and tried to focus on Death Comes for the Archbishop.

By the time Severus had regained control of his mind, class was over. The stern look on his face warned most of the students not to talk as they hastily bottled samples of their potions and set them on a shelf for grading. Their eagerness to begin the weekend overcame their curiosity of who the stranger was, and they quickly cleared their desks and filed out of the room.

Luna, however, lagged behind. She had taken time to draw a few flowers on her vial’s label and painstakingly rearrange a few of the shelves in the store closet, muttering something about “good energy.” She returned to the back of the classroom, put away One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, and pulled out a magazine and a spiral bound notebook with a quill attached. She approached Miranda, who looked up from her book to return the girl’s smile.

“Hello. I see you’re almost finished with your book. I expect you’ll be waiting around quite a bit this evening, so I thought this would help you pass the time,” Luna said, handing Miranda the latest issue of The Quibbler.

“That’s very thoughtful of you. Thank you,” Miranda replied seriously. She took the magazine and put it in her bag.

“I was wondering if you’d like to sign up for a subscription. Its completely secret,” Luna explained, showing her the blank notebook. “Once you put down your information, nobody can see it. And you can cancel at any time. My father’s the editor, you see.”

“I’d be delighted.” Miranda took the quill and wrote down her information, which glowed briefly and then disappeared.

“Have a nice weekend. I think it’s going to rain,” Luna said.

“You too,” Miranda replied.

Luna took her things and headed for the door. “Good afternoon, Professor,” she said, as she passed Severus’s desk.

During Miranda’s conversation with Luna, Severus had finished closing up his classroom for the weekend. He locked the door and shuttered the windows, stalking ominously towards Miranda, his face an unreadable mask.

When he got to the back of the room he ordered, “Come.” Then he turned and started striding away.

Miranda quickly put her book in her bag. By the time she had done so, he had disappeared through another door and she had to run to catch up with him. They passed through a narrow passageway filled with potion ingredients and books. This led to a tidy, if a bit disturbingly decorated office. He didn't stop there, but went through another passageway, narrower and darker than the previous. With a flick of his wand, the door at the end of the passage opened, and they entered a dark sitting room, walls lined with books. He slammed the door and locked it with another flick of his wand.

They stood facing each other, both catching their breath after the flight.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded curtly, his dark eyes unreadable.

"I came to settle up after the werewolf case," she replied. She kept her voice even, although she was beginning to wonder if coming had been a good idea. "I thought I should give you time return to the school routine before I came barging in."

He paused. "That was...considerate," he allowed. "Who else knows you are here besides Albus and Umbridge?"

"No one. And Umbridge doesn't know who I am or why I am here. Headmaster knows basically everything."

"Does he?" He ran his eyes over her body and she felt a blush creep over her cheeks.

"Well, I didn't go into all the scandalous details, but he seems shrewd enough to have inferred at least some of them."

He managed to look both amused and annoyed at this. A bell rang, magically amplified, signaling dinner and his amusement disappeared.

"If I do not appear at the staff table after your interruption of my class, there will be questions that I do not care to answer. Stay here. I will deal with you after dinner," he commanded. And, without waiting for a response from her, he strode out of the room, locking it behind him.

She felt a bit less confident now than she had when she had first arrived at Hogwarts that afternoon. Perhaps she should have sent an owl first. She supposed that not everyone appreciated being caught off guard. She started pacing restlessly around the gloomy sitting room. It had small windows, high on the walls, that seemed only to view the indoors. What little light they let in only served to make the room appear darker. There was a fire burning in the stone fireplace and one armchair covered in black leather. On one wall stood a desk with quills, ink bottles, and parchment all neatly stacked. The other walls were lined almost to the ceiling with leather bound books. She started shelf-reading and noticed that while many of them were on magical subjects--potion making, charms, dueling, dark arts--there was also Coleridge, Blake, Byron, Shakespeare, Dante, and Kipling.

After pacing around the room and resisting the urge to rifle through Severus’s desk, Miranda started looking for the washroom. There was only one interior door and as she went through it she realized she was in Severus’s bedroom. It was also dark and filled with books. There was a wardrobe on one wall and a four poster bed draped in black and green on another. A third wall held a door that led to a washroom done in dark marble and green mosaic tile. It was scrupulously clean and she again resisted the urge to snoop.

When she emerged from the washroom, she spent a few moments in the bedroom, considering whether or not she should stay. He had not seemed particularly happy to see her. Perhaps she should simply leave his payment on his desk with a note of explanation and cut her losses. While she was contemplating her next course of action, she wandered over to his night table and picked up the book that was sitting on it. It was The Complete Works of Edgar Allan Poe. A slow smile spread across her face and she set the book back on the table. Then she went back out into the sitting room, settled herself into the armchair, and took out her book to wait.

An hour or so later Severus reappeared, carrying a tray for her. She had indeed finished the Cather novel, and had started on The Quibbler. When he saw what she was reading he snorted and said, “That girl is a lunatic.”

“I thought she was rather nice,” Miranda replied. “Don’t you think the tray looks as suspicious as you not showing up for dinner?"

"I went down to the kitchens and returned by another passage," he replied curtly. "The house elves aren't going to tell anyone."

"Thank you. It's kind of you to think of me," she said honestly, taking the tray.

He sat down at the desk and started marking scrolls while he waited for her to finish eating. When she had, he spirited away the empty dishes with a wave of his wand. She reached into her bag and pulled out a package wrapped in brown paper.

"This is for you," she said, depositing it on his desk. She leaned her hip against the desk and tried not to look too eager as he opened it.

The book was thick, old, and bound in dark leather. He raised an eyebrow and opened it carefully. As he perused its contents he realized it was full of spells and directions for potions that he had never seen.

"Where did you get this?" he asked.

"More secret wisdom from the States," she replied with a grin. "And just like the Snakewood, you don't have it. And if someone catches you with it, you didn't get it from me."

Engrossed in the book, he stood and wandered over to his armchair. As he sank into it, Miranda watched him, a pleased expression on her face. Severus read for perhaps twenty minutes before he remembered her presence. When he did, he set the book down on the table next to his chair and gave her the barest hint of a smile.

"Thank you," he said shortly.

"Thank you," she replied simply, looking up from The Quibbler. She set it on his desk, crossed the room to him and took his hand. "I said it before, but I doubt I would still be alive if you hadn't helped me. And considering how I had insulted you on our previous meeting, I appreciate it all the more."

His expression turned sour. "As I recall you were not the only one doing the insulting during that previous meeting," he muttered. Her hand was warm in his and he turned it over, bringing her wrist to his lips. He smirked as he felt her pulse quicken. "I presume you are fully healed from your idiotic scrape with death?"

"None the worse for wear," she answered, her silver eyes glittering in the firelight.

"Good," he drawled, pulling her onto his lap. "Then I can do some damage of my own."

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

Much later, she lay on her stomach on his four-poster bed, practically purring with satisfaction. He lay next to her, idly tracing patterns on her bare back with a long finger and studying her in the candlelight.

"How long can you stay?" he asked quietly.

"I'd say the entire weekend, but I suppose I shouldn't seem too eager," she replied playfully.

"I think you've already expressed your eagerness," he said, his eyes gleaming arrogantly. "I'm surprised you can spare that much time from your usual sport of trying to get yourself killed."

"Oh, I have a case, but I'm taking it slowly."

He arched an eyebrow in question.

"I've been asked to take up the bounty on Sirius Black."

His finger paused on her back and he looked at her sharply. "Who hired you?"

"That's why I'm taking it slowly. Minister Fudge and someone named Lucius Malfoy put me on the job. They approached me about it while I was finishing the vampire case and were very unhappy that I put them off while I tracked the werewolf, especially since it put me out of commission for another month."

"Why are you stalling them?" He had resumed his idle tracing, but his tone sounded serious.

"I don't like Malfoy. He makes the hair on the back my neck stand up on end. I can tell when a job is bad."

"Why did you take it then?" He was beginning to sound angry.

"Malfoy doesn't seem like the sort of fellow you just say no to."

"That is true."

She shrugged, "I've dealt with men like him before."

"I seriously doubt that."

"I see that you know him."

"I do. Tread very carefully around him. He is ruthless, powerful, and extremely well connected."

"I already know all that. I'm starting by investigating him and Minister Fudge. Something seems off about the job, and I’m not going to haul someone in until I know that it's the right thing to do."

"I don't like it."

"I'm an American. They're not going to do anything to me, it would be an international incident. My family knows where I am, I talk to them almost every day. If something happens to me, they will know and they will raise hell."

"I still don't like it."

"Severus, you care. How touching."

"Why aren't you asking me for more information about Malfoy and Black?"

"I try not to mix business and pleasure. During the course of this investigation I may decide to question you officially, but for now I'd rather enjoy you. That's why I haven't been snooping through your rooms or asking you about your business."

"You mean like I am asking you now?"

"You are being rather nosey, but I seem to have less to hide than you do."

"You are a very strange woman."

"You certainly know how to make a lady feel special." Miranda's temper was beginning to flare. She hadn't really meant to tell him quite so much about her business and was irritated with herself. "Look, I can leave if I'm bothering you."

"No." He spoke very slowly, as though savoring each word. "You are going to stay." He turned her onto her back, the better to expose her to his mercilessly clever fingers. "I don't like ordinary women."

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

Severus was sorry to see Miranda go when Monday morning arrived. It was true, he had accomplished almost nothing that weekend with regards to his work, either for his job at Hogwarts or for his two masters; but he had found the time exceedingly well spent. He was, however, a bit disturbed that she was now connected to Malfoy, and this seemed to be on her mind as well.

"So, do we know each other, or not?" she asked, all business. “I didn't mention you in any of my official Ministry reports. Papa knows I had help, but he doesn't know from who and Umbridge doesn't know I was here to see you. I assume Headmaster won't be saying anything, so we can keep our lives totally separate if that seems best.”

He mulled this over in his mind. There was no longer any question that he would be seeing Miranda again, as often as possible. He told himself that it was a calculated risk. She was an outsider, and thus could not call his loyalty to the Dark Lord into question. She was simply a bit of recreation. True, it would perhaps be better if she were pure or even half-blood, but he thought the Dark Lord would only deride him for having common taste in women.

“I don’t think we should print it in The Quibbler,” he answered dryly, "but in the unlikely event that anyone is entitled to know our private business, it would be safer to be honest than to try to invent a story."

"Understood," she nodded. "So, we met the way we met, jumped in the sack together, and have been fucking like bunnies ever since?”

"It sounds so tawdry when you put it that way," he mocked. "I fear for my reputation."

"Your reputation?" she laughed merrily. "I'm the one who's going to bed with some Brit she knows next to nothing about." She kissed him hard. "In fact, I think I started this whole thing."

"You did,” he agreed. "It is, in fact, all your fault. You have no one but yourself to blame." He returned her kiss, his hands roaming freely. "And if you are not in my bed by nine o'clock on Friday evening, I will come looking for you."

"Speaking of," she murmured, "Headmaster said to tell you to show me the staff entrance."

"Meddlesome wizard," he muttered. "Give me your wand.” When she complied, he used it to unlock and lock the door of his sitting room. Handing it back to her, he explained, "Now you will be able to unlock this door. When you come, take yourself straight to the bedroom and don't get caught."

He showed her to the private entrance to his dungeon and gave her the password--"Lily." She raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't ask any questions.

"Until Friday," she said, and ducked out into the morning sun.

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

Moonlight Masterpost+

<< Chapter Six+

Chapter Eight+ >>

#harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fandom #severus snape #severus snape fanfiction #severus snape fanfic #snape fanfiction #snape fanfic #snape x oc #hogwarts #ilvermorny #american magic #second wizarding war #espionage #spying #romance #adventure

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gottaenjoythelittlethingzz · 6 years ago

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Character Creation Tag

I wasn’t tagged directly, but I saw @kainablue do this and it looks really creative/cool. I love talking about my OCs (mainly my MC, but I’ve just created two more to add to the canonverse).

I’ll be filling this out for Schuyler, of course, since she’s the MC of her long winded tale.

1) What was the first element of your OC that you remember considering (name, appearance, backstory, etc.)?

Her gender. She’s in a male dominated society/community/organization with some backwards or outdated views of women. Her being such a strong and prominent woman in the story is going to change those views. Next would have been backstory as I had to fight tooth and nail against canon in order to get her introduced to the canonverse. Then character. Name was last and actually the hardest. I knew the general character I wanted nearly from the beginning, but the name had to fit and really mean something.

2) Did you design them with any other characters/OCs from their universe in mind?

Most canon MCs because I knew I wanted her to have deep relationships with each on an individual level as well as her parents who I created as OCs to fit into the canon story.

3) How did you choose their name?

I knew I needed a generic western European name. One that was strong and looked cool helped. I also wanted one that could be easily turned into a nickname. Schuyler (Sky) fit perfectly.

4) In developing their backstory, what elements of the world that they live in played the most influential parts?

The culture surrounding the club. She was designed to be the black sheep, but she also had to be accepted if she was ever to be allowed to join. It’s a balancing act to say the least.

5) Is there any significance behind their hair color?

I just like blondes. Also, for her character design I wanted the “Idealistic” or “perfect” female lead in terms of her looks for American/white standards. Spoiler: The progression of the story shows that she is anything but idealistic as far as her personality/character.

6) Is there any significance behind their eye color?

Again, blue eyes. Kinda typical white girl or idealistic. Operating in an non-idealistic or unsophisticated world.

7) Is there any significance behind their height?

Good height beside her partners and other characters I suppose.

8) What (if anything) do you relate to within their character/story?

I love the canon story and the characters she adopts as family. She’s a strong female lead that I, as a reader/creator, respect greatly. Her love of animals and food for sure. We’re also both from Texas, but this has standing reasons in canon.

9) Are they based off of you, in some way?

Blond hair, blue eyes, curvy, stubborn, from the south, GNC. But she’s way stronger and way more confident than myself. She’s a leader which I really respect.

10) Did you know what the OC’s sexuality would be at the time of their creation?

For the most part. Sex is part of the culture she was raised in. Of course, she’d be a player because she was raised by players alongside players. Her best friend is a total lady’s man. Sex became a competition between them. She doesn’t see gender, race, or size. Sex is just a common everyday occurrence. An activity or a fun thing to do to pass the time. Because her whole club is into the “casual sex” scene it is also expected as part of the culture.

While she respects her partners to a certain degree unlike her brothers she still isn’t capable or interested in commitment at the start of the story which is very similar to the rest of the cast. And I started the story idea with the intention of, spoilers, her ending up in a poly triad relationship with two men (I’ve always been interested and curious to tackle such a relationship dynamic in writing), so her being bisexual made the most sense for her story.

Her gender orientation is a different subject. I knew she had to be female to break the social norms of the canonverse. However, she’s not a priss or a girlie girl. And I wanted her character to be more meaningful than a normal ‘tomboy’. Not that there’s anything wrong with writing either character type. Yet, starting with a closeminded group and having no previous experience writing for NB, agender, or transgender characters, I decided that GNC was the term that fit Schuyler the best. It’s a term I believe she herself would be the most likely to use and thus it was chosen.

11) What have you found to be most difficult about creating art for your OC (any form of art: writing, drawing, edits, etc.)?

Creating her voice in dialogue. I know how she thinks, but as a writer I’m kinda new to dialogue. I’m getting better and it gets more natural with every edit or new scene, but creating a voice from scratch (not a FF/canon character) has been an experience.

12) How far past the canon events that take place in their world have you extended their story, if at all?

From Schuyler’s birth to canon. Including family linage and setup for canon events leading into the story. As well as several weeks after canon ends. I’m planning on adding a few chapters in between canon time jumps which would also deviate from canon and maybe lead to some changes, but have yet to draft them as I’m still in the drafting phase of the project.

My WIP TROD follows the story of SOA from the pilot to the final ride. With this in mind, though I plan to use a majority of storylines and respect the canon, it can be viewed as a sort of AU and I plan to add as many original characters/scenes/maybe a story arc(?) to make it my own and interesting to fans who have seen the show a million times. I want my readers to be entertained from start to finish.

13) If you had to narrow it down to 2 things that you MUST keep in mind while working with your OC, what would those things be?

1) Respect canon & 2) Schuyler is a leader not a background character or follower

14) What is something about your OC that can make you laugh?

She’s generally suppose to be a funny character with a good sense of humor. Being a woman, she’s suppose to be level headed and fight with words before using fists. However, she has a habit of taking on the biggest guy in the room and hilarity ensures.

15) What is something about your OC that can make you cry?

Her backstory maybe? It has some dark spots. As far as the actual story, nothing (has yet) happens to her, but many things happen around her that she can’t always control or that effect her/her family deeply.

16) Is there some element you regret adding to your OC or their story?

I'll let you know when I find it. Still in the drafting or honeymoon phase with her character. I just thinks she’s great all around!

17) What is the most recent thing you’ve discovered about your OC?

She has a sweet tooth! While she’s attractively curvy and built a little bigger than the other females in the story she never gains weight no matter what she eats. This is most likely due to the fact that she tends to have a healthy relationship with food even when she binges sweets.

18) What is your favorite fact about your OC?

It takes a long time and a lot of trust for her to form real lasting bonds with people, but once they form there’s no going back. She’d kill or die for those she loves and deems as family.

I tag: @failbetterwriting, @boredwriter-16, @themildestofwriters, @squaaad-goals, @turtwig387, @thatfizzyyyy, @sashathewriter, @tiredbard, @moony-wolfstar-padfoot, @rhikasa, @allisonilluminated, @annelaurant-writing, @leave-her-a-tome, @durzarya, @ryebbread, @aspire2bu, & @lone-mezzo-of-the-mezzorealm, as well as anyone else working on a WIP/OC who sees this and wants to participate!

No pressure if you’ve already done this or have no interest in doing so. I’m just saying hi! This is a list of some of the blogs I often see in my notifications and some writers who I know are in the middle of some cool projects of their own. Have fun!

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phantomtutor · 2 years ago

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SOLUTION AT Academic Writers Bay 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 67 Chapter 4 G U N N , G E N N I S E Introduction to Service-Orientation 1 Problems Solved by Service-Orientation 4 Challenges Introduced by Service-Orientation 1 Additional Considerations 7 T Effects of Service-OrientationSon the Enterprise Origins and Influences of Service-Orientation Service-Orientation 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 4.6 4.7 Case Study Background SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 68 H aving covered some of the basic elements of service-oriented computing, we now narrow our focus on service-orientation. The next set of sections establish the paradigm of service-orientation and explain how it is changing the face of distributed G computing. U N 4.1 Introduction to Service-Orientation N In the every day world around us, services are and have been commonplace for as long , as civilized history has existed. Any person carrying out a distinct task in support of others is providing a service (Figure 4.1). Any group of individuals collectively performing a task is also demonstrating the delivery of a G service. Figure 4.1 Three individuals, each capable of providing a distinct service. E N N I S E Similarly, an organization that carries out tasks 1 associated with its purpose or business is also providing a service. As long as the task 4 or function being provided is well-defined and can be relatively isolated from other associated tasks, it can be distinctly classified 1 as a service (Figure 4.2). 7 Certain baseline requirements exist to enable a group of individual service providers to T service. Figure 4.2, for example, discollaborate in order to collectively provide a larger plays a group of employees that each provideSa service for ABC Delivery. Even though each individual contributes a distinct service, for the company to function effectively, its staff also needs to have fundamental, common characteristics, such as availability, reliability, and the ability to communicate using the same language. With all of this in place, these individuals can be composed into a productive working team. Establishing these types of baseline requirements is a key goal of service-orientation. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 69 69 4.1 Introduction to Service-Orientation Figure 4.2 A company that employs these three people can compose their capabilities to carry out its business. G U N N , G E Services in Business Automation N In the world of SOA and service-orientation, the term “service” is not generic. It has speN cific connotations that relate to a unique combination of design characteristics. When I solution logic is consistently built as services and when services are consistently designed with these common characteristics, S service-orientation is successfully realized throughout an environment. E For example, one of the primary service design characteristics explored as part of this study of service-orientation is reusability. A strong emphasis on producing solution 1 logic in the format of services that are positioned as highly generic and reusable enter4 prise resources gradually transitions an organization to a state where more and more of its solution logic becomes less dependent 1 on and more agnostic to any one purpose or business process. Repeatedly fostering this 7 characteristic within services eventually results in wide-spread reuse potential. T Consistently realizing specific design characteristics requires a set of guiding principles. S This is what the service-orientation design paradigm is all about. Services Are Collections of Capabilities When discussing services, it is important to remember that a single service can provide a collection of capabilities. They

are grouped together because they relate to a functional SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 70 70 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation context established by the service. The functional context of the service illustrated in Figure 4.3, for example, is that of “shipment.” Therefore, this particular service provides a set of capabilities associated with the processing of shipments. Figure 4.3 Much like a human, an automated service can provide multiple capabilities. G U N N A service can essentially act as a container of related capabilities. It is comprised of a body of logic designed to carry out these, capabilities and a service contract that expresses which of its capabilities are made available for public invocation. References to service capabilities in this bookG are specifically focused on those that are defined in the service contract. For a discussion E of how service capabilities are distinguished from Web service operations and component methods, see the Principles and N Service Implementation Mediums section in Chapter 5. N I Service-Orientation as a Design Paradigm S As established in Chapter 3, a design paradigm is an approach to designing solution E design approaches revolve around a logic. When building distributed solution logic, software engineering theory known as the separation of concerns. In a nutshell, this theory states that a larger problem is more effectively 1 solved when decomposed into a set of smaller problems or concerns. This gives us the option of partitioning solution logic 4 into capabilities, each designed to solve an individual concern. Related capabilities can 1 be grouped into units of solution logic. 7 The fundamental benefit to solving problems this way is that a number of the solution T concerns while still remaining agnostic logic units can be designed to solve immediate to the greater problem. This provides the constant opportunity for us to reutilize the S capabilities within those units to solve other problems as well. Different design paradigms exist for distributed solution logic. What distinguishes service-orientation is the manner in which it carries out the separation of concerns and how it shapes the individual units of solution logic. Applying service-orientation to a meaningful extent results in solution logic that can be safely classified as “service-oriented” SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 71 4.1 Introduction to Service-Orientation 71 and units that qualify as “services.” To understand exactly what that means requires an appreciation of the strategic goals covered in Chapter 3 combined with knowledge of the associated design principles documented in Part II. For now, let’s briefly introduce each of these principles: Standardized Service Contract Services express their purpose and capabilities G via a service contract. The Standardized Service Contract design principle is perhaps the most fundamental part of serviceU orientation in that it essentially requires that specific considerations be taken into account when designing a service’s publicNtechnical interface and assessing the nature and quantity of content that will be published N as part of a service’s official contract. , aspects of contract design, including the A great deal of emphasis is placed on specific manner in which services express functionality, how data types and data models are defined, and how policies are asserted and attached. There is a constant focus on G ensuring that service contracts are both optimized, appropriately granular, and stanE dardized to ensure that the endpoints established by services are consistent, reliable, N and governable. N principle in detail. Chapter 6 is dedicated to exploring this design I Service Loose Coupling S Coupling refers to a connection or relationship E between two things.

A measure of coupling is comparable to a level of dependency. This principle advocates the creation of a specific type of relationship within and outside of service boundaries, with a constant 1 emphasis on reducing (“loosening”) dependencies between the service contract, its 4 implementation, and its service consumers. 1 The principle of Service Loose Coupling promotes the independent design and evolution of a service’s logic and implementation 7 while still guaranteeing baseline interoperability with consumers that have come toTrely on the service’s capabilities. There are numerous types of coupling involved in the design of a service, each of which can S impact the content and granularity of its contract. Achieving the appropriate level of coupling requires that practical considerations be balanced against various service design preferences. Chapter 7 provides an in-depth exploration of this principle and introduces related patterns and concepts. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 72 72 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation Service Abstraction Abstraction ties into many aspects of service-orientation. On a fundamental level, this principle emphasizes the need to hide as much of the underlying details of a service as possible. Doing so directly enables and preserves the previously described loosely coupled relationship. Service Abstraction also plays a significant role in the positioning and design of service compositions. Various forms of meta data come into the picture G when assessing appropriate abstraction levels. The extent of abstraction applied can affect service contract granularity and U can further influence the ultimate cost and effort of governing the service. N Chapter 8 covers several aspects of applying abstraction to different types of service N meta data, along with processes and approaches associated with information hiding. , Service Reusability Reuse is strongly advocated within service-orientation; so much so, that it becomes a G core part of typical service analysis and design processes, and also forms the basis for E key service models. The advent of mature, non-proprietary service technology has proN vided the opportunity to maximize the reuse potential of multi-purpose logic on an N unprecedented level. I the positioning of services as enterprise The principle of Service Reusability emphasizes S resources with agnostic functional contexts. Numerous design considerations are raised to ensure that individual service capabilities E are appropriately defined in relation to an agnostic service context, and to guarantee that they can facilitate the necessary reuse requirements. 1 Variations and levels of reuse and associated agnostic service models are covered in 4 Chapter 9, along with a study of how commercial product design approaches have 1 influenced this principle. 7 T For services to carry out their capabilities consistently and reliably, their underlying S Service Autonomy solution logic needs to have a significant degree of control over its environment and resources. The principle of Service Autonomy supports the extent to which other design principles can be effectively realized in real world production environments by fostering design characteristics that increase a service’s reliability and behavioral predictability. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 73 73 4.1 Introduction to Service-Orientation This principle raises various issues that pertain to the design of service logic as well as the service’s actual implementation environment. Isolation levels and service normalization considerations are taken into account to achieve a suitable measure of autonomy, especially for reusable services that are frequently shared. Chapter

10 documents the design issues and challenges related to attaining higher levels of service autonomy, and further classifies different forms of autonomy and highlights associated risks. G U Service Statelessness N The management of excessive state information can compromise the availability of a service and undermine its scalability potential. Services are therefore ideally designed to N remain stateful only when required. Applying the principle of Service Statelessness , requires that measures of realistically attainable statelessness be assessed, based on the adequacy of the surrounding technology architecture to provide state management delG egation and deferral options. E Chapter 11 explores the options and impacts of incorporating stateless design characN teristics into service architectures. N I For services to be positioned as IT assets with repeatable ROI they need to be easily idenS tified and understood when opportunities for reuse present themselves. The service E design therefore needs to take the “communications quality” of the service and its indiService Discoverability vidual capabilities into account, regardless of whether a discovery mechanism (such as a service registry) is an immediate part of the 1 environment. The application of this principle, as well as4 an explanation of how discoverability relates to interpretability and the overall service discovery process, are covered in Chapter 12. 1 7 T As the sophistication of service-oriented solutions continues to grow, so does the comS plexity of underlying service composition configurations. The ability to effectively comService Composability pose services is a critical requirement for achieving some of the most fundamental goals of service-oriented computing. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 74 74 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation Complex service compositions place demands on service design that need to be anticipated to avoid massive retro-fitting efforts. Services are expected to be capable of participating as effective composition members, regardless of whether they need to be immediately enlisted in a composition. The principle of Service Composability addresses this requirement by ensuring that a variety of considerations are taken into account. How the application of this design principle helps prepare services for the world of comG plex compositions is described in Chapter 13. U Service-Orientation and Interoperability N N One item that may appear to be absent from the preceding list is a principle along the lines of “Services are Interoperable.” The reason, this does not exist as a separate principle is because interoperability is fundamental to every one of the principles just described. Therefore, in relation to service-oriented computing, stating that services must be interG operable is just about as basic as stating that services must exist. Each of the eight prinE ciples supports or contributes to interoperability in some manner. N N Service contracts are standardized to guarantee a baseline measure of interoperI ability associated with the harmonization of data models. S Reducing the degree of service coupling fosters interoperability by making indiE vidual services less dependent on others and therefore more open for invocation Here are just a few examples: • • by different service consumers. 1 all interoperation to the service con• Abstracting details about the service limits 4 of interoperability by allowing underlytract, increasing the long-term consistency ing service logic to evolve more independently. 1 7 • Designing services for reuse implies a high-level of required interoperability between the service and numerous potential service consumers. T • By raising a service’s individual autonomy, S its behavior becomes more consistently predictable, increasing its reuse potential and thereby its attainable level of interoperability.

• Through an emphasis on stateless design, the availability and scalability of services increase, allowing them to interoperate more frequently and reliably. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 75 75 4.2 Problems Solved by Service-Orientation • Service Discoverability simply allows services to be more easily located by those who want to potentially interoperate with them. • Finally, for services to be effectively composable they must be interoperable. The success of fulfilling composability requirements is often tied directly to the extent to which services are standardized and cross-service data exchange is optimized. A fundamental goal of applying service-orientation is for interoperability to become a natural by-product, ideally to the extent that Ga level of intrinsic interoperability is established as a common and expected service design U characteristic. Depending on the architectural strategy being employed, this extent may or may not be limited to a specific N service inventory. N Of course, as with any other design characteristic, there are levels of interoperability a service can attain. The ultimate measure is,generally determined by the extent to which service-orientation principles have been consistently and successfully realized (plus, of course, environmental factors such as the G compatibility of wire protocols, the maturity level of the underlying technology platform, and adherence to technology standards). E N NOTE N Increased intrinsic interoperability is one of the key strategic goals associated with service-oriented computingI(as originally established in Chapter 3). For more detailed information about how service-orientation principles S directly support this and other strategic goals, see Chapter 16. E SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS 1 of eight distinct design principles, • The service-orientation paradigm consists each of which fosters fundamental design 4 characteristics, such as interoperability. These principles are explored individually in subsequent chapters. 1 • Interoperability is a natural by-product of applying service-orientation design 7 principles. T S 4.2 Problems Solved by Service-Orientation To best appreciate why service-orientation has emerged and how it is intended to improve the design of automation systems, we need to compare before and after perspectives. By studying some of the common issues that have historically plagued IT, we can begin to understand the solutions proposed by this design paradigm. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 76 76 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation NOTE This book fully acknowledges that past design paradigms have advocated similar principles and strategic goals as service-orientation. Several of these design approaches, in fact, directly inspired or influenced service-orientation (as explained further in the Origins and Influences of Service-Orientation section of this chapter). The following section is focused specifically on a comparison with the silo-based design approach because it has persisted as the most common means by which applicaG tions are delivered. U N Life Before Service-Orientation N In the world of business it makes a great deal of sense to deliver solutions capable of , the course of IT’s history, the majority automating the execution of business tasks. Over of such solutions have been created with a common approach of identifying the business tasks to be automated, defining their businessGrequirements, and then building the corresponding solution logic (Figure 4.4). E N N I S E 1 4 1 7 T Figure 4.4 A ratio of one application for each new set of automation S requirements has been common. This has been an accepted and proven approach to achieving tangible business benefits

through the use of technology and has been successful at providing a relatively predictable return on investment (Figure 4.5). SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 77 77 4.2 Problems Solved by Service-Orientation Figure 4.5 A sample formula for calculating ROI is based on a predetermined investment with a predictable return. G U N N , applications is usually inhibited because The ability to gain any further value from these their capabilities are tied to specific business requirements and processes (some of which will even have a limited lifespan). When new requirements and processes come our G way, we are forced to either make significant changes to what we already have, or we E may need to build a new application altogether. N In the latter case, although repeatedly building “disposable applications” is not the perN fect approach, it has proven itself as a legitimate means of automating business. Let’s explore some of the lessons learned by firstI focusing on the positive. S they only need to be concerned with the • Solutions can be built efficiently because fulfillment of a narrow set of requirements E associated with a limited set of business processes. • The business analysis effort involved with 1 defining the process to be automated is straight forward. Analysts are focused only on one process at a time and therefore 4 only concern themselves with the business entities and domains associated with 1 that one process. 7 • Solution designs are tactically focused. Although complex and sophisticated T automation solutions are sometimes required, the sole purpose of each is to autoS processes. This predefined functional mate just one or a specific set of business scope simplifies the overall solution design as well as the underlying application architecture. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 78 78 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation • The project delivery lifecycle for each solution is streamlined and relatively predictable. Although IT projects are notorious for being complex endeavors, riddled with unforeseen challenges, when the delivery scope is well-defined (and doesn’t change), the process and execution of the delivery phases have a good chance of being carried out as expected. • Building new systems from the ground up allows organizations to take advantage of the latest technology advancements. The IT marketplace progresses every year G to the extent that we fully expect technology we use to build solution logic today to be different and better tomorrow. As aU result, organizations that repeatedly build disposable applications can leverage Nthe latest technology innovations with each new project. N These and other common characteristics of traditional solution delivery provide a good , indication as to why this approach has been so popular. Despite its acceptance, though, it has become evident that there is still lots of room for improvement. G E It Can Be Highly Wasteful The creation of new solution logic in a givenN enterprise commonly results in a significant amount of redundant functionality (Figure N 4.6). The effort and expense required to construct this logic is therefore also redundant. I S E 1 4 1 7 T S Figure 4.6 Different applications developed independently can result in significant amounts of redundant functionality. The applications displayed were delivered with various levels of solution logic that, in some form, already existed. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 79 79 4.2 Problems Solved by Service-Orientation It’s Not as Efficient as it Appears Because of the tactical focus on delivering

solutions for specific process requirements, the scope of development projects is highly targeted. Therefore, there is the constant perception that business requirements will be fulfilled at the earliest possible time. However, by continually building and rebuilding logic that already exists elsewhere, the process is not as efficient as it could be if the creation of redundant logic could be avoided (Figure 4.7). G U N N , G E N It Bloats an Enterprise N Each new or extended application adds Ito the bulk of an IT environment’s system inventory (Figure 4.8). The ever-expanding S hosting, maintenance, and administration demands can inflate an IT department in budget, resources, and size to the extent that E Figure 4.7 Application A was delivered for a specific set of business requirements. Because a subset of these business requirements had already been fulfilled elsewhere, Application A’s delivery scope is larger than it has to be. IT becomes a significant drain on the overall organization. 1 4 1 7 T S Figure 4.8 This simple diagram portrays an enterprise environment containing applications with redundant functionality. The net effect is a larger enterprise. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 80 80 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation It Can Result in Complex Infrastructures and Convoluted Enterprise Architectures Having to host numerous applications built from different generations of technologies and perhaps even different technology platforms often requires that each will impose unique architectural requirements. The disparity across these “siloed” applications can lead to a counter-federated environment (Figure 4.9), making it challenging to plan the evolution of an enterprise and scale its infrastructure in response to that evolution. G U N N , G E N N I S E Figure 4.9 Different application environments within the same enterprise can introduce incompatible runtime platforms as indicated by the shaded zones. 1 4 Applications built only with the automation of specific business processes in mind are 1 generally not designed to accommodate other interoperability requirements. Making 7 later point results in a jungle of convothese types of applications share data at some luted integration architectures held together T mostly through point-to-point patchwork (Figure 4.10) or requiring the introduction of S large middleware layers. Integration Becomes a Constant Challenge SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 81 81 4.2 Problems Solved by Service-Orientation G U N N , G E N N The Need for Service-Orientation I After repeated generations of traditional distributed solutions, the severity of the previS This is why service-orientation was conously described problems has been amplified. ceived. It very much represents an evolutionary state in the history of IT in that it E Figure 4.10 A vendor-diverse enterprise can introduce a variety of integration challenges, as expressed by the little lightning bolts that highlight points of concern when trying to bridge proprietary environments. combines successful design elements of past approaches with new design elements that leverage conceptual and technology innovation. 1 The consistent application of the eight design 4 principles listed earlier results in the widespread proliferation of the corresponding design characteristics: 1 7 reduced dependencies between units of T solution logic reduced awareness of underlying solution S logic design and implementation • increased consistency in how functionality and data is represented • • details • increased opportunities to use a piece of solution logic for multiple purposes • increased opportunities to combine units of solution logic into different configurations SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl.

Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 82 82 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation • increased behavioral predictability • increased availability and scalability • increased awareness of available solution logic When these characteristics exist as real parts of implemented services, they establish a common synergy. As a result, the complexion of an enterprise changes as the following distinct qualities are consistently promoted: G Increased Amounts of Agnostic Solution Logic U N (services) encapsulate functionality not Within a service-oriented solution, units of logic specific to any one application or business process N (Figure 4.11). These services are therefore classified as agnostic and reusable IT assets. , G E N N I S E Figure 4.11 Business processes are automated by a series of business process-specific services (top layer) that share a pool of business process-agnostic services (bottom layer). These layers correspond to the task, entity, and utility service models described in Chapter 3. 1 4 1 Reduced Amounts of Application-Specific Logic7 Increasing the amount of solution logic not specific to any one application or business T process decreases the amount of required application-specific logic (Figure 4.12). This S blurs the lines between standalone application environments by reducing the overall quantity of standalone applications. (See also the Service-Orientation and the Concept of “Application” section later in this chapter.) SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 83 83 4.2 Problems Solved by Service-Orientation G U N N Figure 4.12 , Business Process A can be automated by either Application A or Service Composition A. The delivery of Application A can result in a body of solution logic that is specific to and tailored for the business process. Service Composition A would be designed to automate the process with a combination of agnostic services and 40% of additional logic specific to the business process. G E Reduced Volume of Logic Overall N The overall quantity of solution logic is N reduced because the same solution logic is shared and reused to automate multiple business processes, as shown in Figure 4.13. I Figure 4.13 S The quantity of solution logic shrinks as an enterprise transitions toward a stanE dardized service inventory comprised of “normalized” services. 1 4 1 7 T S SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 84 84 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation Inherent Interoperability Common design characteristics consistently implemented result in solution logic that is naturally aligned. When this carries over to the standardization of service contracts and their underlying data models, a base level of automatic interoperability is achieved across services, as illustrated in Figure 4.14. (See also the Service-Orientation and the Concept of “Integration” section later in this chapter.) G U N N , G E N N Figure 4.14 Services from different parts of a service inventory Ican be combined into new compositions. If these services are designed to be intrinsically interoperable, the effort to assemble them into S new composition configurations is significantly reduced. E SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS • The traditional silo-based approach to building applications has been suc1 cessful at providing tangible benefits and measurable returns on investment. 4 • This approach has also caused its share of problems, most notably an increase in integration complexity and an1 increase in the size and administrative burden of IT enterprises. 7 • Service-orientation establishes a design paradigm that leverages and builds T upon previous approaches and proposes a means of avoiding problems assoS ciated with silo-based application delivery.

SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 85 4.3 Challenges Introduced by Service-Orientation 85 4.3 Challenges Introduced by Service-Orientation As much as service-orientation can solve some of the more significant historical problems in IT, its application in the real world can make some serious impositions. It is necessary to be aware of these challenges ahead of time because being prepared is key to overcoming them. Design Complexity G With a constant emphasis on reuse, a significant percentage of a service inventory can U ultimately be comprised of agnostic services capable of fulfilling requirements for mulN tiple potential service consumer programs. N Although this can establish a highly normalized and streamlined architecture, it can also , introduce an increased level of complexity for both the architecture as well as individual service designs. G E increased performance requirements resulting from the increased reuse of agnostic N services N reliability issues of services at peak concurrent usage times and availability issues I of services during off-hours S single point of failure issues introduced by excessive reuse of agnostic services E (and that may require the need for redundant deployments to mitigate risks) Examples include: • • • • increased demands on service hosting environments to accommodate autonomy1 related preferences • service contract versioning issues and 4 the impact of potentially redundant service 1 contracts 7 by a combination of sound technology Design issues such as these can be addressed architecture design, modern vendor runtime T platform technology, and the consistent application of service-orientation design principles. Solving service reliability and perS formance issues in particular are primary goals of those design principles more focused on the underlying service logic, such as Service Autonomy, Service Statelessness, and Service Composability. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 86 86 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation The Need for Design Standards Design standards can be healthy for an enterprise in that they “pre-solve” problems by making several decisions for architects and developers ahead of time, thereby increasing the consistency and compatibility of solution designs. Their use is required in order to realize the successful propagation of service-orientation. Although it can be a straight-forward process to create these standards, incorporating them into a (non-standardized) IT culture already G set in its ways can be demanding to say the least. The usage of design standards can introduce the need to enforce their comU pliance, a policing role that can meet with resistance. Additionally, architects and develN inhibit their creativity and ability to opers sometimes feel that design standards N innovate. , realization of standardization is when A circumstance that tends to aid the large-scale the SOA initiative is championed by an executive manager, such as a CIO. When an individual or a governing body has the authority G to essentially “lay down the law,” many of these cultural issues resolve themselves more quickly. However, within organizations E based on peer-level departmental structures (which are more common in the public N require negotiation and compromise. sector), the acceptance of design standards may N The best weapon for overcoming cultural resistance to design standards is communicaI tion and education. Those resisting standardization efforts are more likely to become supporters after gaining an appreciation ofSthe strategic significance and ultimate benefits of adopting and respecting the need for design standards. E Top-Down Requirements 1 A preferred strategy to delivering services is to first

conceptualize a service inventory by 4 defining a blueprint of all planned services, their relationships, boundaries, and indi1 associated with a top-down delivery vidual service models. This approach is very much 7 of up-front analysis effort involving strategy in that it can impose a significant amount many members of business analysis and technology architecture groups. T Though preferred, achieving a comprehensive S blueprint prior to building services is often not feasible. It is common for organizations to face budget and time constraints and tactical priorities that simply won’t permit it. As a result, there are phased and iterative delivery approaches that allow for services to be produced earlier on. These, however, often come with trade-offs in that they can require the service designs to be revisited and revised at a later point. While this can introduce risks associated with SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 87 4.3 Challenges Introduced by Service-Orientation 87 the implementation of premature service designs, it is often considered an acceptable compromise. The principles of service-orientation can be applied to services on an individual basis, allowing a reasonable degree of service-orientation to be achieved regardless of the approach. However, the actual quality of the resulting service designs is typically tied to how much of the top-down analysis work was completed prior to their delivery. G U It is recommended that, at minimum, a high-level service inventory blueprint always be N defined prior to creating physical service contracts. This establishes an important “broader” perspective in support of service-oriented analysis and service modeling N processes and, ultimately, results in stronger and more durable service designs. , BEST PRACTICE Counter-Agile Service Delivery in Support G of Agile Solution Delivery Irrespective of the potential top-down efforts E needed for some SOA projects, the additional design considerations required to implement a meaningful measure of each of the N eight design principles increases both the overall time and cost to deliver service logic. N This may appear contrary to the attention SOA has received for its ability to increase I agility. To achieve the state of organizational agility described in Chapter 3 requires that Simplemented. This is what establishes an service-orientation already be successfully environment in which the delivery of solutions E is much more agile. However, given that it takes more initial effort to design and build services than it does to build a corresponding amount of logic1that is not service-oriented, the process of delivering services in support of SOA can actually be counter-agile. This can cause issues 4 for an organization that has tactical requirements or needs to be responsive while build1 ing a service inventory. 7 BEST PRACTICE T An effective approach, when sufficient resources S are available, is to allow SOA initiatives to be delivered alongside existing legacy development and maintenance projects. This way, tactical requirements can continue to be fulfilled by traditional applications while the enterprise works toward a phased transition toward service-oriented computing. Appendix B provides additional coverage of SOA delivery strategies that address tactical versus strategic service delivery requirements. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 88 88 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation Governance Demands The eventual existence of one or more service inventories represents the ultimate deliverable of the typical large-scale SOA initiative. A service inventory establishes a powerful reserve of standardized solution logic, a high percentage of which will ideally be classified as agnostic or reusable.

Subsequent to their implementation, though, the management and evolution of these agnostic services can be responsible for some of the most profound changes imposed by service-orientation. G In the past, a standalone application was typically developed by a single project team. U Members of this team often ended up remaining “attached” to the application for subN This ownership model worked because sequent upgrades, maintenance, and extensions. the application’s overall purpose and scope N remained focused on the business tasks it was originally built to automate. , The body of solution logic represented by agnostic services, however, is intentionally positioned to not belong to any one business process. Although these services may have G been delivered by a project team, that same team may not continue to own the service E logic as it gets repeatedly utilized by other solutions, processes, and compositions. N Therefore, a special governance structure is required. This can introduce new resources, N roles, processes, and even new groups or departments. Ultimately, when these issues are under control and the IT environment itselfIhas successfully adapted to the required changes, the many benefits associated with this S new computing platform are there for the taking. However, the process of moving to this new governance model can challenge E traditional approaches and demand time, expense, and a great deal of patience. 1 4 Applying service-orientation on a broad scale can introduce increased design complexity and the need for a consistent 1 level of standardization. 7 and time-consuming, introducThe construction of services can be expensive ing a more burdensome project delivery lifecycle, further compounded by T some of the common top-down analysis requirements that may need to be in S place before services can be built. SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS • • • Service inventory governance requirements can impose significant changes that can shake up the organizational structure of an IT department. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 89 89 4.4 Additional Considerations 4.4 Additional Considerations To supplement the benefits and challenges just covered, this section discusses some further aspects of service-orientation. It Is Not a Revolutionary Paradigm Service-orientation is not a brand new paradigm that aims to replace all that preceded Gproven and successful elements from past it. It, in fact, incorporates and builds upon paradigms and combines these with design Uapproaches shaped to leverage recent technology innovations. N This is why we do not refer to SOA as a revolutionary model in the history of IT. It is simN ply the next stage in an evolutionary cycle that began with the application of modular, ity on a small scale (by organizing simple programming routines into shared modules for example) and has now spread to the potential modularization of the enterprise. G E Enterprise-wide Standardization Is Not Required N design standardization is achieved globThere is a common misperception that unless ally throughout the entire enterprise, SOAN will not succeed. Although design standardization is a critical success factor for SOA projects that is ideally achieved across an I enterprise, it only needs to be realized to a meaningful extent for service-orientation to S result in strategic benefit. E For example, service-orientation emphasizes the need for standardizing service data models to avoid unnecessary data transformation and other problematic issues that can compromise interoperability. The extent1to which data model standardization is achieved determines the extent to which these 4 problems will be avoided. The goal is not always to eliminate problems 1 entirely because that can be an unrealistic objective, especially in larger enterprises. Therefore, the goal is sometimes to just mini7 mize problems by taking special considerations into account during service design.

T In support of this approach, design patterns exist for organizing the division of an enterS prise into more manageable domains. Data standardization is generally more easily attained within each domain, and transformation is then only required when exchanging data across these domains. Even though this does not achieve a global data model, it can still help establish a very meaningful level of interoperability. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 90 90 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation Reuse Is Not an Absolute Requirement Increasing reusability of solution logic is a fundamental goal of service-orientation, and reuse is clearly one of the most associated benefits of SOA. As a result, organizations that have had limited success with past reuse initiatives, or with concerns that significant amounts of reuse cannot be achieved within their enterprise, are often hesitant about SOA in general. While reuse, especially over time, can be one of Gthe most rewarding parts of investing in SOA, it is not the sole primary benefit. Perhaps even more fundamental to serviceU orientation than promoting reuse is fostering interoperability. Enabling an enterprise to N interconnectivity an intrinsic quality of connect previously disparate systems or to make new solution logic is extremely powerful. N , You could ignore the principle of Service Reusability in service designs and still achieve significant returns on investment based solely on raising the level of enterprise-wide interoperability. G E N One could argue that reuse and interoperability are very closely related in N is always the opportunity for that if two services are interoperable, there reuse. However, traditional perspectivesIof reusable solution logic focus on the nature of the logic itself. A service that is designed to be specifiScross-cutting to address multically agnostic to business processes and ple concerns will have a particular functional E context associated with it. NOTE Therefore, reuse can be seen as a separate design characteristic that relies and builds upon interoperability. See Chapter 9 for more details. • • 1 4 POINTS SUMMARY OF KEY 1 past computing platforms and Service-orientation has deep roots in several design approaches, and is therefore not considered a revolutionary design 7 paradigm. T Global standardization within an enterprise is not a requirement for creating S service inventories can be service-oriented enterprises because individual established (and separately standardized) within different enterprise domains. • Although fundamental to much of service-orientation, if reusability were to be omitted as a design characteristic, significant interoperability-related benefit would still be attainable. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 91 4.5 Effects of Service-Orientation on the Enterprise 91 4.5 Effects of Service-Orientation on the Enterprise There are good reasons to have high expectations from the service-orientation paradigm. But, at the same time, there is much to learn and understand before it can be successfully applied. The following sections explore some of the more common examples. Service-Orientation and the Concept of “Application” Having just stated that reuse is not an absolute requirement, it is important to acknowlG edge the fact that service-orientation does place an unprecedented emphasis on reuse. U percentage of reusable and agnostic servBy establishing a service inventory with a high ices, we are now positioning those servicesN as the primary (or only) means by which the solution logic they represent can and should N be accessed. As a result, we make a very deliberate move , away from the silos in which applications previously existed. Because we want

to share reusable logic whenever possible, we automate existing, new, and augmented business processes through service composition. G business requirements are fulfilled not by This results in a shift where more and more building or extending applications, but by E simply composing existing services into new composition configurations. N When compositions become more common, N the traditional concept of an application, a system, or a solution actually begins to fade, along with the silos that contain them. I Applications no longer consist of self-contained bodies of programming logic responsiS 4.15). What was an application is now ble for automating a specific set of tasks (Figure just another service composition. And it’s E a composition made up of services that very likely participate in other compositions (Figure 4.16). 1 4 1 7 T S Figure 4.15 The traditional application, delivered to automate specific business process logic. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 92 92 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation G U Figure 4.16 The service composition, intended to fulfill the role of the traditional N application by leveraging agnostic and nonagnostic services from a service inventory. This essentially establishes a “composite application.” N , An application in this environment loses its individuality. One could argue that a service-oriented application actually does not exist because it is, in fact, just one of many service compositions. However, upon closer reflection, we can see that some of the servG ices are actually not business process-agnostic. The task service, for example, intentionally represents logic that is dedicated to the E automation of just one business task and N therefore is not necessarily reusable. N can still be associated with the notion What this indicates is that non-agnostic services of an application. However, within service-oriented computing, the meaning of this I term can change to reflect the fact that a potentially S large portion of the application logic is no longer exclusive to the application. E Service-Orientation and the Concept of “Integration” 1 When we revisit the idea of a service inventory consisting of services that have, as per 4 into standardized and (for the most part) our service-orientation principles, been shaped 1 this can challenge the traditional perreusable units of solution logic, we can see that ception of “integration.” 7 T In the past, integrating something implied connecting two or more applications or programs that may or may not have been compatible S (Figure 4.17). Perhaps they were based on different technology platforms or maybe they were never designed to connect with anything outside of their own internal boundary. The increasing need to hook up disparate pieces of software to establish a reliable level of data exchange is what turned integration into an important, high profile part of the IT industry. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 93 4.5 Effects of Service-Orientation on the Enterprise 93 G U N N , G E N N I S E Figure 4.17 The traditional integration architecture, comprised of two or more applications connected in different ways to fulfill a new set of automation requirements (as dictated by the new Business Process G). 1 4 Services designed to be “intrinsically interoperable” are built with the full awareness that they will need to interact with a potentially large range of service consumers, most 1 of which will be unknown at the time of their 7 initial delivery. If a significant part of our enterprise solution logic is represented by an inventory of intrinsically interoperable T services, it empowers us with the freedom to mix and match these services into infinite S automation requirements come our way.

composition configurations to fulfill whatever As a result, the concept of integration begins to fade. Exchanging data between different units of solution logic becomes a natural and secondary design characteristic (Figure 4.18). Again, though, this is something that can only transpire when a substantial percentage of an organization’s solution logic is represented by a quality service inventory. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 94 94 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation While working toward achieving this environment, there will likely be many requirements for traditional integration between existing legacy systems and also between legacy systems and these services. G U N N , G E N N I S Figure 4.18 E A new combination of services is composed together to fulfill the role of traditional integrated applications. 1 4 Applications, integrated applications, solutions, systems, all of these terms and what 1 associated with the service composithey have traditionally represented can be directly tion (Figure 4.19). However, given the fact that 7 many SOA implementations consist of a mixture of legacy environments and services,Tthese terms are sure to survive for quite some time. S The Service Composition In fact, as SOA transition initiatives continue to progress within an enterprise, it can be helpful to make a clear distinction between a traditional application (one which may reside alongside an SOA implementation or which may be actually encapsulated by a service) and the service compositions that eventually become more commonplace. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 95 4.5 Effects of Service-Orientation on the Enterprise 95 Figure 4.19 A service-oriented solution, application, or system is the equivalent of a service composition. If we were to build an enterprisewide SOA from the ground up, it would likely be comprised of numerous service compositions capable of fulfilling the traditional roles associated with these terms. G U N N , G Application, Integration, and EnterpriseE Architectures N as IT, when technology architecture as a Because applications have existed for as long profession and perspective within the enterprise came about, it made perfect sense to N have separate architectural views dedicated to individual applications, integrated appliI cations, and the enterprise as a whole. S When standardizing on service-orientation, the manner in which we document technolE ogy architecture is also in for a change. The enterprise-level perspective becomes predominant as it represents a master view of the service inventory. It can still encompass 1 including conceptual views, physical the traditional parts of a formal architecture, views, and supporting technologies and governance platforms—but all these views are 4 likely to now become associated with the service inventory. 1 A new type of technical specification that7gains prominence in service-oriented enterprise initiatives is the service composition architecture. Even though we talk about the simT plicity of combining services into new composition configurations on demand, it is by S no means an easy process. It is a design exercise that requires the detailed documentation of the planned composition architecture. For example, each service needs to be assessed as to its competency to fulfill its role as a composition member, and foreseeable service activity scenarios need to be mapped out. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 96 96 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation Message designs, messaging routes, exception handling, cross-service transactions, policies, and many

more considerations go into making a composition capable of automating its designated business process. BEST PRACTICE Although the structure and content of traditional application architecture specifications are augmented when documenting composition architectures, there can still be a natural G tendency to refer to these documents as architecture specifications for applications. U While an organization is undergoing a transition toward SOA, it can be helpful to make a N of a service composition and tradiclear distinction between an application consisting tional, standalone or legacy applications. N One approach is to consistently qualify the term , “application.” For example, it can be prefixed with “service-oriented,” “composite,” “standalone,” or “legacy.” Another option is to simply limit the use of the term “application” to refer to non-service-composed soluG tions only. E Furthermore, a composed service encapsulating a legacy application can be docuN architecture specification that identifies mented in separate specifications: a composition the service and points to an application architecture N specification that defines the corresponding application. I S SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS E • The traditional concept of an application can change as more agnostic services become established parts of the enterprise. 1 • The traditional concept of integration can change as the proliferation of 4 increases. standardized, intrinsic interoperable services • Architectural views of the enterprise shift 1 in response to the adoption of service-orientation. Principally, the enterprise 7 perspective becomes increasingly prominent. T S 4.6 Origins and Influences of Service-Orientation It is often said that the best way to understand something is to gain knowledge of its history. Service-orientation, by no means, is a design paradigm that just came out of nowhere. It is very much a representation of the evolution of IT and therefore has many SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 97 4.6 Origins and Influences of Service-Orientation 97 roots in past paradigms and technologies (Figure 4.20). At the same time, it is still in a state of evolution itself and therefore remains subject to influences from on-going trends and movements. G U Figure 4.20 N The primary influences of service-orientation also highlight its many origins. N , more prominent origins and thereby help The sections that follow describe some of the clarify how service-orientation can relate to and even help further some of the goals from past paradigms. G E N In the 1990s the IT community embraced a design philosophy that would lead the way N in defining how distributed solutions were to be built. This paradigm was object-orienI tation, and it came with its own set of principles, the application of which helped ensure S These principles defined a specific type of consistency across numerous environments. relationship between units of solution logicEclassified as objects, which resulted in a preObject-Orientation dictable set of dynamics that ran through entire solutions. Service-orientation is frequently compared 1 to object-orientation, and rightly so. The principles and patterns behind object-oriented analysis and design represent one of the 4 most significant sources of inspiration for this paradigm. 1 In fact, a subset of service-orientation principles (Service Reusability, Service Abstrac7 tion, and Service Composability, for example) can be traced back to object-oriented T counterparts. What distinguishes service-orientation, though, are the parts of the objectoriented school of thought that were left out and the other principles that were added. S See Chapter 14 for a comparative analysis of principles and concepts associated with these two design approaches. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall.

Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 98 98 Chapter 4: Service-Orientation Web Services Even though service-orientation as a paradigm and SOA as a technology architecture are each implementation-neutral, their association with Web services has become commonplace—so much so that the primary SOA vendors have shaped their respective platforms around the utilization of Web services technology. Although service-orientation remains a fully abstract paradigm, it is one that has historically been influenced by the SOA platforms G and roadmaps produced by these vendors. As a result, the Web services framework has influenced and promoted several U service-orientation principles, including Service Abstraction, Service Loose Coupling, N and Service Composability. Business Process Management (BPM) N , BPM places a significant emphasis on business processes within the enterprise both in terms of streamlining process logic to improve Gefficiency and also to establish processes that are adaptable and extensible so that theyE can be augmented in response to business change. N The business process layer represents a core part of any service-oriented architecture. N From a composition perspective, it usually assumes the role of the parent service comI technology reaffirmed this role from an position controller. The advent of orchestration S implementation perspective. E A primary goal of service-orientation is to establish a highly agile automation environment fully capable of adapting to change. This goal can be realized by abstracting business process logic into its own layer, thereby1alleviating other services from having to repeatedly embed process logic. 4 While service-orientation itself is not as concerned 1 with business process reengineering, it fully supports process optimization as a primary source of change for which services 7 can be recomposed. Enterprise Application Integration (EAI) T S Integration became a primary focal point in the late 90’s, and many organizations were ill prepared for it. Numerous systems were built with little thought given to how data could be shared outside of the system boundary. As a result, point-to-point integration SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. 05_0132344823_04.qxd 6/13/07 4:44 PM Page 99 4.6 Origins and Influences of Service-Orientation 99 channels were often created when data sharing requirements emerged. This led to well known problems associated with a lack of stability, extensibility, and inadequate interoperability frameworks. EAI platforms introduced middleware that allowed for the abstraction of proprietary applications through the use of adapters, brokers, and orchestration engines. The resulting integration architectures were, in fact, more robust and extensible. However, they also became notorious for being overwhelmingly complex and expensive, as well as G requiring long-term commitments to the middleware vendor’s platform and roadmap. U The advent of the open Web services framework and its ability to fully abstract propriN etary technology changed the face of integration middleware. Vendor ties could be broN opposed to proprietary platforms, and ken by investing in mobile services as organizations gained more control over the, evolution of their integration architectures. Several innovations that became popularized during the EAI era were recognized as being useful to the overall goals associatedG with building SOA using Web services. One example is the broker component, which allows for services using different schemas E representing the same type of data to still communicate through runtime transformation. The other is the orchestration engine, N which can actually be positioned to represent Nimplementations. These parts of the EAI an entire service layer within larger SOA platform support several service-orientation I principles, including

Service Abstraction, Service Statelessness, Service Loose Coupling, and Service Composability. Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) S E A primary goal of AOP is to approach the separation of concerns with the intent of iden1 tifying specific concerns that are common to multiple applications or automation scenarios. These concerns are then classified4 as “cross-cutting,” and the corresponding solution logic developed for cross-cutting concerns becomes naturally reusable. 1 7 Aspect-orientation emerged from object-orientation by building on the original goals of establishing reusable objects. Although notTa primary influential factor of service-orientation, AOP does demonstrate a common goal S in emphasizing the importance of investing in units of solution logic that are agnostic to business processes and applications and therefore highly reusable. It further promotes role-based development, allowing developers with different areas of expertise to collaborate. SOA Principles of Service Design, First Edition, by Thomas Erl. Published by Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2008 by Pearson Education, Inc. CLICK HERE TO GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WORK ON THIS PAPER AND OTHER SIMILAR PAPERS CLICK THE BUTTON TO MAKE YOUR ORDER

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cmhoughton · 6 years ago

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I am not happy with this episode, nor with me taking so long to write this review, but the review of 4.02 is almost done so you won’t have long to wait. I hope to have that posted tomorrow...

NOTE: Spoilers ahead, so read no further if you haven’t seen the episode or read any of the books, especially “Drums of Autumn.”

Screencap courtesy of Outlander Online. Map of Colonial North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia courtesy of UNC University Libraries.

NOTE:

Set in 1767, this episode was largely based on Chapters 1, 2, 6, 7, 8, and 9 of “Drums of Autumn, though the stone circle in North Carolina was originally revealed in Chapter 51. Ian and Jamie’s conversation about what happened with Geillis was from Chapter 62 of “Voyager” (book 3) and the story Bonnet tells Claire about the drowning nightmares he’d had all his life was revealed to a different character in Chapter 105 of “A Breath of Snow and Ashes” (book 6).

Written by Executive Producers Matthew B. Roberts and Toni Graphia, the events in this episode dealt with a pretty large chunk of the book, totaling more than 130 pages (the Kindle edition). That totals about 1/8th of the book, so there was a lot of material to jam into the episode.

While the series in the past had successfully crammed huge chunks of the books into a single episode, their efforts in this episode in that regard were a bit more hit-or-miss. Also, jammed full with expository elements, the episode struggled to maintain a consistent tone. It was talky, funny, tragic, sexy, romantic, suspenseful, and at times chaotic… It was like the episode didn’t know what it needed to be.

That said, there was also some great stuff in this episode. For one, I liked that they introduced Stephen Bonnet (Ed Speleers) earlier than they had in the book. In the book, the conversation Jamie (Sam Heughan) had in the jail with Hayes (James Allenby-Kirk) took place ‘off-screen,’ as it were. Jamie only talked about it after the fact. It was good they fleshed out that scene. Hayes had a smaller part in the book and his loss didn’t seem as emotional for Jamie and Claire (Caitriona Balfe), but in the show, the role was expanded. It really paid off when Hayes (inevitably) was executed and made the loss more impactful. (Though, in the book, he was executed for theft, not murder.) So, not only had we a better introduction to Bonnet, we got to spend more time with Hayes.

I adored the caithris (a lament for the dead) that Lesley (Keith Fleming) started. It was nearly perfect. Keith has a remarkably beautiful voice, and the scene was touching. It was heartwarming and beautifully staged.

Another great choice was having Ian (John Bell) experience a flashback to his traumatic sexual assault at the end of last season. The scene was based on one in “Voyager,” but it happened without a flashback there. The show hadn’t had time to spend on it in 3.13 (Eye of the Storm), which is where it would have happened last season, so it was fitting they put that scene in here. It was also a welcome change they gave Ian a flashback. The change made the scene more visceral and reminds show-only fans and new viewers of what happened to Ian last season. It was also not only a wonderful bonding moment for the two men but showed the immensity of the emotional impact Geillis’ assault had on Ian.

“Outlander” has been criticized as using sexual assault too much as a plot point, but in other shows, sexual assault is usually a plot expediency and the characters don’t really seem to have any long-lasting consequences. In ‘Outlander’ they have the aftermath be far more profound for the characters. What is not usual for television shows, in general, is that this show also gives the characters time to struggle with the impact and show how they are healing. It was good to see Ian struggle with the aftermath of the assault.

One thing I had a problem with was that Stephen Bonnet confessed to Claire (Caitriona Balfe) about his history of having nightmares about drowning. Not that it wasn’t a good idea, I liked how the show used that to give Bonnet an opportunity to try and have a bonding moment with Claire, but it seemed like such a non-sequitur. I mean, Claire said something about avoiding Bonnet needing to avoid the noose in the future, then all of sudden he’s talking about a nightmare? It seemed to come from out of the blue. It’s things like that which added to the choppy feel of the episode. But why would they foreshadow something that won’t likely happen until late in season 6 (“A Breath of Snow and Ashes”) anyway? It seemed an odd choice.

I didn’t like the opening either, perhaps it was good to show just how the stone circle might have come to be built (and maybe shows the one that should make an appearance in the show later this season). Again, it just seemed like something that came out of the blue. It didn’t really mesh with the voice-over either, in which Claire talked about circles created over ‘centuries’ but the text on the screen said ‘North America 2,000 BC…’ So, shouldn’t she have said something about ‘millennia’ instead?

I also didn’t like how the show changed the geography of North Carolina. While the Colonial boundaries of the Carolinas in the 1760s don’t match up to the modern state borders…

…Tennessee wasn’t a thing in the colonial period, the Cape Fear River is not in the foothills and there’s no way a day’s wagon ride from Wilmington would give Claire and Jamie a view of the Smoky Mountains. I can only suppose that it’s due to the location they built River Run on in Scotland, which might be in view of mountains, but I guess that will remain to be seen.

The change to the circumstances Jamie was asked to accept the land grant from Governor Tryon (Tim Downie) was a bit unexpected. In the book, Jamie was under extra pressure to get men to fight under threat of disclosure that he was Catholic since royal land grants were only allowed to go to Protestants. If the fact he was a Catholic got out, he would immediately lose the land grant. It was a remarkably effective method of extortion in the book.

Here, in return for the land grant, Jamie will be under pressure to muster men at the request of the governor or he would need to pay a quitrent. It wasn’t a term I was familiar with since quitrents were not brought up in the book.

Although in looking into them online the change makes sense. Quitrents (a type of rentbased on ancient English custom) were common fees charged to Colonial land grant holders so it was probably a mistake on Diana Gabaldon’s part to have not ever to have mentioned that. They were often waived to encourage settlement, which was what Tryon offered to do in this episode. Historically, the quitrents were unevenly imposed and corruption was common since the payments were required to be in cash. The quitrents in part led to the War of the Regulation (which will be a bigger factor in next season).

So, it makes sense they made that change and is also probably why they brought up the Regulators. The lack of ready cash is a problem in a barter economy like Colonial North Carolina. Poor cash flow will be a problem for Jamie and Claire throughout the rest of the series (if the show follows the books in that regard), so the promise to waive the quitrents in return for providing men for the defense of the government is probably a perfect shakedown for Tryon.

While I had no major problems with the episode as a whole, I did not like the ending. Like, at all. It wasn’t the musical choice, the Ray Charles version of ‘America The Beautiful’ is wonderful, and I liked the juxtaposition of that with the ugliness of what was going on while the music played.

It just felt like they were trying to recreate the emotional power of the ending of episode 3.04 (“Of Lost Things”), when Jamie rode away from Helwater. It was a heartbreaking ending, but the situation was very different so using modern music wasn’t going to work the same way. No one’s life was in danger in that episode, and what action there was wasn’t that involved (Jamie riding away and Willie running after him) and there wasn’t much dialogue.

Maybe it would have worked better if the dialogue hadn’t been totally silent. In the beginning of the song, dialogue played, with the music underneath it, and that worked. Yet, as the scene continued, the music got louder and the dialogue and sounds were completely cut out so all that the only sound heard was the song. It turned the ending into a sort of an overly melodramatic pantomime that didn’t work.

Not hearing everything that was going on, the actions the actors took seemed extremely exaggerated and overwrought. It reminded me of the more melodramatic silent films I had seen in a Narrative Film History class I took in college. D.W. Griffith’s “Birth of a Nation” or Sergei Eisenstein’s “Battleship Potemkin” particularly come to mind.

Worse, music replacing the natural sound robbed the performances of any nuance, diluted the emotional impact and, which is worse, completely pulled me out of the scene. It left a sour taste in my mouth at the end of what was otherwise a fairly solid episode.

I don’t feel like I can adequately critique the actors’ performances in their entirety with the ending the way it was, so I won’t even try.

Overall, this episode was enjoyable but the ending robbed it of some of its power, so I give this episode 3.5 out of a possible 5 Claire’s Wedding Rings.

#outlander #review #sam heughan #caitriona balfe

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hypeathon · 6 years ago

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RWBY Volume 6 Adam Character Short - A Shot-by-Shot Analysis

Trailers and shorts in RWBY are very interesting and unique format as far as works of fictional entertainment go. They can be so tricky to describe that even the show’s late creator, Monty Oum himself, admitted he was not entirely sure what to call the pre-volume 1 trailers at the time they were first released. Whatever you or I call them, these small works can serve various purposes for this serialized web-series. On the one hand, they can give a very thorough idea of how the characters being focused on engages in combat through their movements. At the same time, they can also provide a piece of a character’s story, igniting many theories from within the show’s fan base.

How well a short or trailer can convey either of those aspects or any other ones depends greatly on its presentation. This is why I believe the Adam character short sticks out so well.

Before RTX, things were dead-silent as to what the future of RWBY’s main story would entail. So when RTX Austin 2018’s first RWBY panel showed the premiere of the Adam Character Short, word had naturally spread about the implied quality. This extended to a handful of fans learning of a snippet of the short without the post-production polish via a stream of the RT Animation Audio panel (oops). But aside from this, there was only so much to interpret. That is until Friday, August 17th, when the piece had officially been released to the general public. With the Adam short being the longest of any of the previous character shorts yet at a whopping 7 minutes, there is a lot to cover regarding both the animation and the visual presentation.

Speaking personally, this is by far the strongest of all the character shorts by far based on one factor: its visual direction. And there’s a strongly implied reason as to why this is. Back on February 12th, RWBY’s director & writer, Kerry Shawcross and Miles Luna respectively, as well as RWBY Chibi director, Paula Decanini, took part in an “Ask Me Anything” Session over at the RWBY sub-reddit. It was there when Kerry particularly responded to a question about the matter of “show, don’t tell” by stating that was what stuck with him the most. Love it or hate it, volume 5 left many fans with various mixed emotions, including concern for how the show would visually convey its story in future installments. However, between this character short and the announcement at RTX that Connor Pickens, the lead editor for volumes 3-5 of RWBY being promoted to co-director, these were signs how much Kerry took such particular feedback to heart.

Although it’s one thing to state the short itself applied “show, don’t tell”. It’s a whole other thing to elaborate on all the different ways it was utilized and why it matters. Sadly, there’s no confirmation as to who provided the storyboards, another important role in visual direction. In fairness though, who provides boards for the characters shorts are rarely ever stated to the public with one exception being that Kevin Harger did the ones for the Yang short at the “Just the Fights” RTX panel. What can be confirmed though are the animators confirmed to have been involved with the Adam short, as stated by volume 6 animation director, Joel Mann:

Melanie Stern

Matt Drury

Joe Vick

Asha Bishi

Hannah Novotny

Michelle Yi

Erika Soosar

Vince Cappelluti

Just like with the matter of “show, don’t tell”, equal concern has been expressed regarding Gen:Lock’s production have more of an influence at Rooster Teeth Animation, leading to certain fan-favorite animators in RWBY’s production being permanently taken away. However, I have gone on record on how vital it is to acknowledge the merits of both newer and veteran talent since like it or not, the former will have more of a presence in RWBY. The Adam character short is especially noteworthy due to not just the number of animators being double that of past shorts, but five of the eight animators were recruited during volume 5′s production while two were recruited during volume 4′s and Melanie Stern, the assistant lead animator for volume 6, was first brought on during volume 3. This makes things both interesting and complicated, the latter of which has to due with how for some animators, there are little-to-no sources confirming who did what in RWBY thus far. Though certain animators have confirmed or at least implied what sequences they did, making for a good opportunity to examine their skills.

With that said, now is the time to decipher how the Adam short stand outs shot-by-shot and scene-by-scene.

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Scene #1: Outside of the Schnee Dust Company Plant

The biggest thing worth talking about in this scene is how the cinematography is in great effect. When Adam is introduced, we don’t just see his model in plain view first thing. We see a shot of his shadow, then his feet, then his mask, and finally a slow pan up to his face as we are teased with not seeing how he actually looks. With reaction shots of the other faunus characters sandwiched in-between, this captures not just importance in Adam’s character for the short itself, but also to his own kind that look up to him. When fans of RWBY think of cinematography, it’s generally believed to not be capable of more then making things prettier. This completely mis-represents the purpose it serves. Cinematography is more about using elements of camera direction, lighting, staging and timing of each shot to help tell the story within a scene. Camera direction as one element, has played a role into helping convey different characters in RWBY since volume 3, as confirmed by certain people in the show’s storyboard and camera layout departments. Ozpin’s level-headed mindset by having the camera point straightforwardly at him, Ironwood’s display of authority from low-angles, Qrow’s drunk nature through the camera tilting, and Nora’s bundle of energy by having the camera dramatically pan and zoom along with her. Their characters have been further utilized by the camera in varied ways and Adam is no different.

Beyond that, one other aspect of visual direction in both this scene and the short in general is the use of transitions, namely the invisible cut. It’s a fairly common trick used in film-making but it has never used in RWBY outside of chapter 9 of volume 2, nor has it been used as consistently until now. More will be talked about this technique, but the gist as to what it greatly presents is the passage of time for Adam’s story.

Scene #2: The forest skirmish between the White Fang and the Humans

Before going over the next scene, it’s worth quickly addressing the setting. Some fans have speculated that too much time and resources may have been spent on the Adam short which could affect the production of volume 6. However, in terms of the models of the environments, specifically the forest set, it seems similar to the set in chapter 4 of volume 5, albeit with more varied placements of trees and open space and different lighting. The same goes for the set in the next scene with Blake and Adam which may have been from the Blake Character short. Although it’s all speculative, these observations can imply that at least on the modeling team’s end, not too much time was spent on the short.

Moving on to the beginning of the sequence itself, one bit that stands out is Sienna’s ears and the way they move. This is actually something seen a little earlier with the one faunus girl when she sees Adam and it’s noteworthy for three reasons. First, while there’s not a lot of information as to how real life tigers communicate through their ears, it’s possibly similar to how house cats use their ears to express various emotions. This in turn leads to the second noteworthy reason, how it adds depth to what certain faunus characters express at a given moment. It can even be seen with Sienna’s character which, assuming such similarities between tigers and cats are there, indicate that Sienna was feeling defensive and alert in the first shot next to Adam. There will be more moments where the animal ears add to a character’s emotion both from Sienna and Blake later on.

The third and final reason this is all worth bringing up is the matter of who animated the beginning of this scene. One animator in RWBY’s production that has made consciously applied movement to animal ears and tails is Asha Bishi. I’ve mentioned before how her way of moving characters, faunus, human, or Grimm, usually feel snappy and lively which makes character acting her greatest strength. And while the character acting is also strong between Ghira, Adam, Sienna and other minior characters here, I’m not positive it’s her. If I were to take a guess, Hannah Novotny may have animated this sequence. Hannah and Asha were both recruited during volume 4′s production and while both are great at providing expression through the characters they animate, the former is slightly less snappy with her movements based on the confirmed shots she did and thus feel a tad slower. That said, she does provide little touches herself when animating scenes like shrinking and shaking of pupils within the eyes and even movement of animal ears, hence my guess.

In the midst of the skirmish, there’s a brief as a bullet hits the window next to Ghira, it leaves off an neat electricity effect. Jumping ahead to when Ghira gets shot with more electricity and aura effects, we get to the first big action sequence in the short and right as he lands on the ground, I love the look of the small dust that forms. The VFX team have expressed in the past taking inspiration from visual effects seen in anime to help compliment RWBY’s aesthetic. They were already accomplishing that by volume 5 in the Anime Skies Fight and I think they almost perfected it here. We’ve definitely come a long way from the days how smoke and dust use to look like in the show.

We then get a quick rotation shot to show where Adam’s target is and according to Matt Drury, this moment is what he animated. He has gone on record as to how much of a fan he is of Adam’s character to the point where he did motion capture for him in volume 5 and even dyed his hair red, and boy, does it show in how he made Adam fight. Between him dashing, parrying, doing jump-inside kicks, and turning around as he crouches to jump for the tree and use it to spring himself across in rapid succession, Adam rides this balance between being using martial arts and being animalistic. The part where he jumps off the tree is an especially good use of squash and stretch and not an example of bad animation, in case anyone considered that. To get a clearer idea of what does and doesn’t make bad animation, Youtube Anime Ajay provided a very insightful video explaining what is and is not bad animation to respond to a practice commonly made by fans in the anime community.

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Going back to the short, the camera steadily follows Adam barrel-rolling to the far right, leaving some more good-looking anime dust and then sets some nice staging between him and his enemies in front of him as he blocks their attacks. One quick thing to note is how Adam twirls his weapon with the smear effects. The spinning smears throughout this short have invoked some big groans within the fan base and I would be lying if I didn’t have my minor gripes with it. However, the smear effects themselves are not inherently a problem and there are two instances where I believe it works for different reasons. This is one of them. The reason why it works here is through a combination of where the camera moves and zooms and how Adam’s hand moves is seen twirling the weapon. It’s very subtle when playing in normal speed, but it is there. Really, if there’s anything off about the animation is how the spinning just starts without a slow-in and thus feels a little too instantaneous. Though more will be elaborated on this later.

That tangent aside, what I love is how the camera zooms to angle Adam as being seemingly bigger in perspective compared to both characters he’s blocking bullets from. As icing of the cake, you see the shift in facial expressions from the girl on the right with the hoodie as she expresses being intimidated by Adam and ends up anxious for the girl next to her as she looks to her right. After pinning the one girl in the yellow outfit unconscious, we see a brief yet clean combination of smears and sparks as he blocks another bullet and then he dashes to trip the gray-hoodie girl and hit her in mid-air. As nice as it is to see action scenes done at a break-neck pace, having a moment where a character winds-up before performing a certain action can add more impact. What Adam did as he swung his weapon back before gutting the girl was a classic example of anticipatory action, one of the 12 principles. My only criticism regarding this moment was that I wish the moment where the girl was hit lasted a few frames more. Though it helps that in the next shot, we see the facial expressions of the girl who deeply regrets having faced Adam before being knocked back down to the ground. I can’t help but feel sorry for her in particular.

We then cut to Adam going towards another gunman while swiftly dodging bullets and once again using the tree to his advantage before kicking the latter unconscious. With the bright gunshot effects, because they are so close enough to the center of the camera, it helps makes the speed of Adam’s sidesteps feel somewhat blinding. The only slight problem is the smear effect of Adam’s kicks. Similar to the moment where he kicked the gray-hooded human, both use just red for the smears when they could benefit more from using a combination of red and black to consistently follow with the color of his shoes. But in the grand scheme of everything in motion at normal speed, this is all relatively minor. Then we cut to what is either the end of Matt’s sequence or the start of another animator’s. Either way, the faraway wide shot is really great at showing how unstoppable he is while appropriately charging like a bull. The next set of shots that follow a clever way to make the launch of Adam’s sword show how much force it had to make the girl emit such a reaction when being hit in the gut. Then follows the sword twirling in mid-air and here is where I started having issues with the use of smear animations. Though as I said before, more on that later.

Then there’s the human hiding who gives an anxious facial expression before deciding to fire, effectively displaying the fact he is making a split-second choice. Between what came a couple of shots before and what comes next, Hannah Novotny might have animated these parts. Though it’s somewhat of a shot in the dark based on her tweet of doing some action shots. Speaking of darkness, we then see Adam’s signature slash, which the compositing itself is presented slightly differently from the Black trailer. There, it’s timed so that the darkness fades after he absorbs the laser attack. In this character short though, it’s timed so that it disappears after he strikes. It’s different, but it works well here due to how it blackens his body, making him appear as a silhouette while the background fades to near-black and that all disappears once he draws his swords and strikes, making for great impact. It also helps that the way he’s posing with his back facing the camera and his should in front of him makes him more menacing in a manner akin to that one shot of Neferpitou from Hunter x Hunter.

As the human is struck in the next shot, there’s an interesting effect where the pupils in his eyes disappear that feels like something out of the One Piece anime. Just as an aside to talk about the music, I love how it suddenly stops to add to the shocking effect of Adam having brutally killed someone. Next, in the shot where Ghira and Adam look down at the human, we get really clever staging. Not only are they both framed so that only they follow the rule-of-thirds, but your eyes are easily drawn to the remaining humans that appear behind the tree in the far right and then flee. As the scene follows with Sienna defending Adam and calling him a “hero”, Adam makes a surprised reaction that tells a fair bit considering we can’t register his emotions through his eyes. To close the scene, we get the White Fang members cheering as they walk towards Adam, creating another great invisible cut while Sienna and Ghira stare down.

3) Adam and Blake at the rooftops

I mentioned before that there was another scene I believe Asha Bishi animated and Blake and Adam’s scene is it. At first I was only 70-80 percent sure it was her. But this was before Joel Mann confirmed who animated the short. Since then, I’m now 80-90 percent sure. Much of her tells can be identified here, especially with Blake. The various pupil shifts, the slight expanding and wincing of the eyes, and the abundant character acting with their body language and even Blake’s cat ears.

What I especially liked was the end where her hair is flowing in the wind for two reasons. First, it created an opportunity to show that the strands of.. hair, fur maybe, were flowing from her cat ears, something I’ve admittedly never seen before. It’s a small thing, but it showed a neat attention to detail in the modeling. Second, the way her hair flowed and how her fingers seamlessly dug into them is another sign of how we’ve come a long way from the days where hair when being touched or pull around felt more like large clumps than individual strands that could be felt between the fingers.

We are then shown another invisible cut and by far my favorite one of the fall leaves flowing after the wind gets stronger and harsher, indicating that Blake feels a hidden bit of uncertainty by trusting Adam’s words. These invisible cuts have really excelled at presenting the passage of time in Adam’s story and they reminded me a lot of how the anime Haikyuu used a combination of match cuts and invisible cuts to help visually enhance the story of certain characters. Again, I’m very unsure who provided the storyboards for this short and thus the transitions. Though the invisible cuts may be applied by the editing team. Either way, this is how cinematography is displayed in great effect.

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4) Adam, Sienna & Ilia at the White Fang facility

As the short transitions to the second set of action sequences, we are treated to a several-second rotation shot where Sienna flails her chain weapon at her enemies wildly but precisely. Melanie Stern confirmed she animated Sienna fighting and honestly, I had initially thought animator Austin Hardwicke may have done her scenes. So I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong this time. As camera stops to face her, we get more of her cat ears shift, this time to help her confidently stay one step ahead of the Atlesian Knight about to attack her from behind. Next, Sienna uses the mech as a spring board to launch across the hall. Although the camera as she leaps over the Adam and Sienna is zoomed a bit too much and makes the shot feel slightly more claustrophobic than warranted. That being said, moments that follow with Sienna kicking her chain weapon against one mech and then shooting the snapped off arrow-end to the other mech opposite of her are examples of the sequence riding this balance between being chaotic and readable. Sienna delivering her smirk right after also adds a lot to her personality in the limited time we see her fight.

Now would be a good time to quickly talk about the Atlesian knights themselves. First, while seemingly trivial, it’s an interesting attention to detail to have the electricity around them be red as oppose to a more generic yellow or blue to better match their color scheme. Whether that was the VFX or compositing team’s idea is unclear, but it was neat to see regardless. Second, the way we see one of their feet into the camera after the one prior fell is a brief yet smart way to draw focus to the remaining androids. It also helps that between the White Fang being blurred from afar helps stage the distance between them and their opponents. One thing the camera does consistently well in this entire second fight sequence is stage the distance between characters, as we’ll done again shortly. Moving on, Adam blocks more bullets with with some sword spinning smears, though we do get a bit of slow-in and slow-out smears as he as he draws his sword and again before sheathing it. Then get the staging of the previous shot mentioned in effect as Ilia runs ahead with the camera making a nice low-angle shot with some slight rumbling as it trails her.

Once she finishes her attack, it’s Adam’s turn to run ahead and we see a classic case of slicing a few mechs which cuts pause as he sheathes is sword for dramatic effect. This is where Matt’s other animated sequence in the short is presented and a few things are worth highlighting: First, the slash effects quickly fading one-by-one. Second, the way the ends of Adam’s coat flaps down as a follow-through after he pauses. Third, the way the mechs slightly shifted from where they were cut. And fourth, The way the camera tilts to indicate how much damage was in effect. All of these aspects demonstrated how swift and overwhelming Adam’s attacks were. It also helps to given that quick moment of pause. As I said before in the forest skirmish scene, having a time and place to slow down can make for greater impact on a certain action. The same can go for having a character pause before a certain action is performed as demonstrated here.

The scene then proceeds with a sequence of Adam destroying two Atlesian Knights in quick succession. Right away does this moment one-up the previous one in terms of both direction and animation. With the direction, as Adam shoots his sword, we cut to the hilt hitting the first android and with another example of the camera, perfectly staging the set-up and distance of where Adam’s targets are, The sword being shot and bouncing up also easily draws the viewers eyes to where Adam will go next. We then cut to another shot of the sword twirling in mid-air and here is where the smear animation is best presented in the short. In previous cases, the spinning sword lacks the slow-in and slow-in frames. Here, it properly displays the momentum of the sword as it slows down which leads to the next thing Adam does. Hopefully, this settles the matter that the smear being used at all isn’t the problem, nor is it what it’s referencing to. Rather, it’s about how it’s animated which if you look at various anime, there are a myriad of ways to present smears. Back to the sequence, as Adam jumps to the android and off it by shooting its head, he then kicks the sword in mid-air to the other android in a manner similar to animator Ken’ichi Fujisawa did in a fight scene in Naruto Shippuden.

We end Matt’s animated sequence to move on to the next one where the Schnee Dust Company personnel fire across the hall and we get a nice change to red lighting to signify how treacherous things will get for both sides. As Adam, Sienna and Ilia dodge the bullets, we see some good character acting maintained in how they each take cover. Adam using his sword skills to defend himself, Sienna acrobatically staying out of fire and Ilia clumsily back-stepping which makes her inexperience compared to the former two self-evident. Next is more of Sienna’s tiger ear shifts as she and Adam notice the canister creating some anime smoke screen effects, through they’ve been visually filtered a bit. As Adam and Sienna counterattack, the latter climbs up the wall and jumps off which gives a glimpse of how much her weapon resembles a tail. And following that, we get more of her using her chain weapon to flail the gun she lassoed to knock all three of her enemies around her with slightly chaotic but steady camera shifts,

Next is Adam getting more action through a brief shot of him charging towards the camera which reminded me of how Winter first struck against Qrow in chapter 3 of volume 3. The latter cut was part of animator, Ian Kedward’s sequence in that fight, but I’m unsure of who animated Adam’s portion of this sequence from here-on. Jumping slightly ahead, we get an interesting transition from Adam slicing to Sienna throwing her chain around. Only it’s not completely a transition, but because it’s a split-second and their actions flow well, it feels like one at normal speed. With more of Sienna’s agile moves, she snaps off her arrow again which starts with her facing towards the camera to then cleverly rotate around the arrow to highlight what it’s going to do. Moving ahead, we get one more action moment with Adam, this time with some additional funny character acting from the SDC guard as he tries to dodge the former’s strikes and attempts a right hook only to get schooled by Adam’s hilt again. Though it doesn’t end right there as we see a couple of shots of Adam framed dominantly, about to stab the guard while he’s down and he pleads for his life. Though there’s an excellent delayed reaction where Adam responds to Sienna’s call as if he got caught up in the blood lust. This short has been a good opportunity in general to add character to Adam and Sienna through just their facial expressions alone.

5) Adam and Sienna in the Throne Room

After all is said an done, we get another invisible cut to the throne room with another White Fang member running across the SDC facility hall. It would’ve been funny if it’s the same member that did the invisible cut after the forest scene, but they have different skin tones so that’s sadly not the case. In all seriousness, we don’t get any visual direction that’s too daring aside from the establishing overhead shot starting the sequence. An interesting observation is how in comparison, the seen that first introduced Sienna in volume 5 had he and Adam’s positions mirrored only she’s on her throne and Adam’s kneeling. This may visually support the fact Sienna was considering treating Adam as her equal in the future, so long as he did overstep his boundaries.

Not much else to add before moving on to the next short sequence through a transition that’s not an invisible cut but is something more like a jump cut? It’s honestly hard to describe, but it does go along with the motif of passage of time. One other thing to mention is the flame and how it’s animated. it doesn’t feel at all like a 3-D visual effect and is instead more like it was animated in 2-D with some filtering effects. Beyond that, not much else to add for the remainder of the short, though that’s not a bad thing since a moment of rest is needed to close off after two extensive action scenes. The only two things worth stating have to do with Adam. First is how when Adam is on the throne, there’s one shot where he is of distance from the White Fang members and another where we don’t see his full body from behind the throne. Both indicate the relationship between him and his followers. At this point in his story, he is less concerned about looking out for his fellow kind as he is about stroking his ego. To conclude, we get the most ironically-funny shot in the short where Adam gets exactly what he deserves and walks off leaving his mask behind feeling defeated. Some would find the choice to have him animated walking awkwardly to be strange when connecting to his last scene in volume 5. But in the context of the story of his character short, it works thematically.

Final Note

This was quite a short to cover, but there was so much packed in that both reinforced some things spoken by Blake before about Adam’s character while still peppering in insight into his psyche through a combination of facial expressions, adjustments to his line of dialogue and the in-genius transitioning techniques used. And there were still a couple more small details that weren’t fully covered like the red markings in Adam’s design added after the first scene or Ghira’s slightly younger character model. The visual direction demonstrated in just 7 minutes how in-spite of his hostile streak, Adam’s shift from the White Fang hero looked up to by his people to the tyrant whose thirst for power and dominance made his own followers turn on him.

While the short not totally perfect, its storyboards outmatch even the Weiss character short, which is saying a lot considering it was one of my favorites. It’s still a shame we don’t know who did the boards, but between them, Kerry and Connor, the ideas definitely payed off. The animators themselves also cannot be commended enough for the effort they poured into the short. There have been a few newer recruits being recognized by other more veteran animators, including Erika Soosar, John Yang, Michelle Yi and Jason Dickol. With Matt Drury added as another name, I do hope more fans will keep an eye out for them. Though none of this is to leave out the other animators involved with this short whose shots were unconfirmed, as they deserve to be kept an eye on in the future.

No doubt will there continue be criticisms and concern regarding the short though, as many wonder whether this will hinder on volume 6′s overall production. While the debate is a whole other subject for another day, it’s worth bearing in mind for now that shorts and volumes are two different things and the scale between them in terms of skill-set and more importantly, management, are night and day. For now, I intend to keep enjoying this short for both its story and as a potential sample of things to come.

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speckeh · 7 years ago

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Speckeh’s 2018 Book List

It’s 2018! Last year my book list was a decent size but I didn’t read a lot of sparkling novels! So this year I’m focusing on decent books with the occasional textbook thrown in!

1. Cappiello: The Posters of Leonetto Cappiello: 5/5 stars. I haven’t had time to sleep more than 8 hours let alone time to breathe to read book this semester. I’ve never been busier which has been a nice experience, but boy do I miss reading books! I found this at Tuesday Morning 40% off and it’s huge and beautiful and needed it. I love this book! Cappiello has a wonderful drawing style. He draws multiple body shapes, various commercial posters, and GINGERS. HE DRAWS SO MANY BEAUTIFUL RED HAIRED LADIES. I’M SO FUCKING THRILLED. If you find this book hella cheap and have the shelf space for it, it’s a great art book to have!

2. The Elements of Rhetoric - How to Write and Speak Clearly: 4/5 stars. This is for my Proposal Writing and Development class. Everything this book states, I’ve already read or learned about in Argument Writing during summer last year so nothing really jumps out as me as amazing or eye opening. The writer does some relevant story telling with the different styles of rhetoric to use and how to use them effectively, but it’s not the greatest read. I’ll probably keep it as it’s a great little book for quick glossary terms or brushing up on information. If this is your jam, this might be a cheap book you can add to your academic shelf!

3-4. Kamisama Darling Vol 1 and 2: 5/5 stars.

5. Namae mo Shiranai Machiawase 4/5 stars

6. Star Trek Cats: 5/5 stars. I hung out with one of my quickly growing best friends yesterday and I saw this book when we were in the humor section. My heart MELTED. I read this as B&N and even though it’s short, I needed to buy it. It’s one of my favorite art humor books I’ve flipped through recently. It’s full of episode jokes and just fucking ADORABLE cats that make the weirdest faces.

7. The Prophet: 5/5 stars. Another book I bought with one of my best friends. It was recommended to me by the really nice (and very sweet) worker there who complimented me on my outfit. I was going to ask we could trade numbers and hang out and gain a new friend from her, but she was very busy. Anyways. The friend I was with told me he absolutely loved this book and it spoke to him on a spiritual level. And I have to agree. Having been raised in a mormon household and then realizing I was hella queer and questioned E V E R Y T H I N G about organized religions, this book was excellent. Because The Prophet isn’t any certain religion, he’s just giving people a way of life and he never condemns anyone or anything. The Prophet and the Siddhartha are essentially my religion. The whole belief there is no “set path” for a religious life and happy ending, that no one is right and no one is wrong in their religion, and that it depends on how you treat others and how you service others but also how you serve yourself. An excellent read for the beginning of the year for me.

8. The Non-Profit Narrative: 2/5 stars. It’s the same for the Elements of Rhetoric book I read, I’ve read all of these terms before in my nonprofit management class so nothing was very new or interesting to me. I skipped through 70% of the book. If you want a short, short ass book on how to run nonprofits and social media, this is a great little read. If you’re already familiar with the contexts of nonprofit, don’t waste your money.

9. When The Body Says No: 5/5 stars. This book is.. just wow. This is the first time I have ever marked up my own personal book with highlights, pens, and pencils. I only ever do it to copied school books on computer paper. It’s no secret I’ve been going to a counselor off and on since I’ve been 13. And I’ve seen and confronted death for a long time. I’m very traumatized from my experiences and I have a lot of issues I don’t really deal with. My counselor told me to read this book because I am the post child of when your body says no for you when you can’t. And I am. It’s.. amazing how well he knows me and my experiences I’ve been through. I learned amazing facts about myself how my childhood forced me into emotional repression, that children who lose a parent before 17 are 40% more likely to develop cancer, that the underlying stress of never being able to say no to your family because you don’t want to disappoint them causes a turmoil in your body that can turn deadly. If you have anger issues, stress disorders, genetic diseases, autoimmune disease, any sort of illness you developed later as an adult, read this book. Because I promise you, you’ll find something about you you never knew about.

10. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao: 3/5 stars. This was a book I had to read for my intro to English literature class (I’m changing emphasis so I have to take more entry level classes BLEGH). While I did devour this book so fast, I wasn’t particularly impressed with this book. I guess I’m kind of sick of the narrative of “geeky boy is a virgin and hates himself and the world,” and people around him either patting his back or deciding to take it upon themselves to fix him, no matter what cultural background they are. While I’m thrilled I could read about a Dominican cultural and have a non-white narrative and characters, this book didn’t sparkle to me. Maybe it’s because this book wasn’t written for me, or maybe I don’t really care for Diaz’s writing style. Either way I barely earned a 3 stars from me.

11. Pictures of the Gone World: 4.5/5 Stars I bought this book at a liquidation sale. I either find amazing poetry books at random, or duds. Luckily this was a fantastic one that held a lot of elements I love in poems: historical themes and humor. He helped pushing and defend one of my new favorite poets, Allen Ginsberg so you know I have mad respect for him. This was his first poetry book and he quickly became famous in the beat poetry world. Compared to other poets, he’s definitely a easier one to get into for beginners but the words still hold beauty and harsh truths. Definitely a great way to introduce yourself to beatnik poetry!

12. I Capture The Castle: 5/5 stars. Do you ever pick up a book that’s been calling to you for ages and by the fifth page in you know you have a new best friend? I’m not one for first person narratives, it takes a special way of writing it to keep my interest. I Capture The Castle with repressed and writer’s voice of a 40 year old woman from 17 year old Cassandra just melted my heart. I have a soft spot for Dodie Smith and she won me over with this book. From the beautiful scenery of a decaying castle, to a 17 year old’s first encounter with love, it’s just so so captivating. it hasn’t been since the Shadow of the Wind that my heart literally raced and I couldn’t read fast enough to know what happened next. And the last sentence of Cassandra’s journal of “I love you, I love you, I love you,” keeps playing over and over in my head. If you want to get lost in a old English castle and a young girl’s narrative, you will not regret picking this book up.

13. A Concise History of Hawai’i: 3/5 Stars. I’ve always wanted to know about my birth state since we moved away when I was too young to remember anything. I’ve always been called a island girl and have had a fascination with water. I stopped being interested in calling Hawai’i my birth state because I was so young and my family memories are bitter sweet. But I finally returned to Hawai’i in May 2016, and I was shocked to feel like I was Home. I’ve been missing Hawai’i like crazy and have been trying to read this book forever. I bought it on my trip there. Well I finished it. It was pretty interesting, it’s concise, and quick and I learned a lot. But the book also brings up an important question.Can a white man write about a cultural history on Hawai’i? I’m not sure and I was somewhat bothered by that question throughout the book so that dampened my star rating. I feel like a history of Hawai’i would be so different and way more vibrating if a Native Hawaiian had written it. But, if you want a general and quick history of Hawai’i from the formation to 1999, it’s a decent read.

14. Wyoming Poems 1994: 5/5 Stars. I really like this short poetry book. It’s only 26 poems and all about Wyoming and the life there. It’s from 1995 so you know it’s more of a modern take on Wyoming. Definitely a great little book. Really debating on joining the Wyoming Writer’s mailing list ahah!!

15-21: Various Manga. between 3-5/5 stars.

22. Secret Garden: 10 minutes classics: 2/5 stars. I love the Secret Garden. It’s one of my top 5 books of all time in my life and will always be in the top 5. The 10 minute classic books is great for a reader wanting a short synopsis of the Secret Garden and it has lovely pictures, but it really loses the magic, the world building, and the characters’ relationships in just 10 minutes. I’ll probably keep the book just because of lovely pictures, but it was a let down!

23. Lovers Legends: The Gay Greek Myths. 4/5 stars. My love for reading and history can be pinpointed exactly to D’Aubaires’ Book of Greek Myths. It planted the seeds of my career ambitions, the types of research I love to conduct, and the person who I am. I always knew the Greeks were more gay than society teaches children, but this book really paints it simple for you. First off, it uses a poem by one of my favorites Allen Grinsberg, and then the author reiterates the gay greek myths in clear and easy stories, and shows how they all connect. The symposium style chapters were long and tedious and I ended up skipping them, and the book really only has 110 pages of stories with the next 80+ being sources, research, and a bibliography. Either way, love me some truth bomb gay ass greek myth!!

24. Colonel Brandon’s Diary: 4/5 Stars. I’m a sucker for Austen continuations or different perspectives. It comes from a personal reason from childhood memories with one of my parents. I’ve read 2 other of Amanda Grange’s diaries of Austen men. Brandon is not my favorite Austen hero and while the book I liked him enough, he doesn’t sparkle as much as say Knightley for me. I’m sure as I get older I may like him more, but for now it was nice to read a 300 page version of Sense and Sensibility that is a great companion novel for like.. better spark notes. If you need a quick summer read to last you a day or two, I highly suggest Amanda Grange’s books! (Except for Pride and Prejudice and Pyramids. That was just… bad)

25. Reunion by Fred Uhlman 5/5 Stars: I really started to enjoy World War II stories, but fictional ones about non-American centric stories. Reunion is a beautiful, fast read, about a teenaged Jewish boy who meets a handsome and captivating Lord’s son at his school. It really is about a first love. Hans is obsessed with Konradin; he thinks he’s handsome, educated, and lonely like him. The two go off on trips, Konradin often comes to his house, they read poetry and discuss coins together. It’s very easy to think of Konradin and Hans sharing firsts. It’s a beautiful little story that wrenched my gut with the very last line, and the descriptions had me drawing little scenes in the book. If you have 3-4 hours to spare, this is a great read if you can get it.

26. Instructions to a Young Bookseller: 5/5 Stars. As someone hoping to enter the book world after graduating University, this was a great little read. Obviously any sort of written conference has an edge of boring to it. But the book is full of gem quotes and advice that can be used for anything and not just young booksellers. If you’re able to find this book (most likely in the Heffer bookstore at Cambridge) give it a read. It’s a short 46 pages but a great way to pass the time and to give you advice that transcends passed 1933.

27. Among the Janeites: 2/5 Stars. I wasn’t impressed with this book, which is a shame because I desperately wanted to like this book. I loved when Yaffe described and told the stories of her fellow Janeites, but I really couldn’t stand her narration. I don’t know if it’s because I’m annoyed by the “I’m an elite Jane Austen fan because of these reasons” or I just don’t like the way she writes her narratives. Sometimes, you just don’t clash well with a author. I applaud her efforts to write this book, but I have to admit I was disappointed that she admitted she only focused on white North American Jane Austen fans. What a waste!! How amazing would it have been to have read more diverse fans? Hear about their efforts, their stories? Instead I found myself reading some of the same stories over and over again. I didn’t even finish the last two chapters because everything was the same rhythm and nothing was interesting any more. I wanted to put down the book many times, but found I couldn’t whenever I read the stories of those who did amazing things with their Jane Austen passions. But other than that, kind of disappointed I brought this book on my trip to England. :/

28. Tea with Mr. Rochester: 4/5 Stars. Sometimes a collection of short stories takes me awhile to read, this was not one of those!! I have had my eye on this book from Persephone’s for at least 2 years now, and I finally got to go to the shop two weeks ago! I really enjoy the literary metaphors and the descriptions are beautiful, but Towers has a way of writing that has you go: “..did.. did I skip a page?” Often the story would jump and you would feel confused of where the characters are now, how much time had passed, and how did these two characters meet. The lack of background, time, and setting is discombobulating, but not too distracting from enjoying it! If you have the pleasure of going to Persephone’s Book, definitely give this book a try!

29. For Your Eyes Only: 4/5 stars. I think I’m now a little more than halfway done with the original James Bond series! For Your Eyes Only is very different as these are short stories. Some of them are action pact while others are Bond at dinner parties listening to stories. It was an entirely new take and very interesting for sure! Some of the stories were hard to get through, slow, which is why I dropped it down to four stars, but a lot of them were really fun. I especially loved Quantum of Solace which explained the title and now I’m wanting to rewatch the film now knowing the definition of the phrase. I can tell that Ian Flemming is now aware of his homoerotic writing with James Bond and is starting to cut it out, which is a real shame since they’re so beautiful. But his obsession with eating eggs for nearly every meal is back which made me happy! I’ll have to see in the next book if the homoeroticness comes back!

30. This One Summer: 4/5 stars. Ranted and raved about since the debut of this comic, with one of my favorite illustrators who drew SuperMutant Magic Academy, an awarded comic! And I can’t help but feel disappointed in the story. I know this is directed at teens and if I had read this when I was between 13-16 it would have BLOWN my mind. Now at 23, this isn’t the most poignant story. I think it’s important for teens but it isn’t really for me. I’ll probably gift this comic to my friend Ramona because I think she will like this comic a lot. But for me it’s just.. beautiful artwork. But nothing much more than that.

31. The Alchemist: 3/5 stars The Alchemist was suggested to me by my BFF and my other friend told me he hated it. I’m in between. While I understand why some people absolutely LOVE this book and I appreciate that the author had a passion for his story and didn’t settle for rejection, I think the story is lacking a lot of magic and luster it could have had. It’s kind of like a book trying to follow after The Little Prince in an Arabic/South American story with a christian spin to it. I enjoyed reading it and experiencing a well loved story, but I gave it to another friend and I kind of regret buying it from a story and not borrowing it from a library.

32. Omae no Koi wa Ore no Mono: 5/5 stars. Good manga. Lovely characters. Story is good. I enjoyed it thoroughly!

33. The Fall of America: 4/5 stars. Allen Ginsberg is my second favorite poet right behind Billy Collins. After reading Howl and falling in love with everything, this book was a let down. A lot of the poems were loooong run ons that seemed to forget what he was trying to talk about. My favorites were when he was un-ashamedly GAY and talking about sucking cock and having sex with guys, and a very real Vietnam war poem, but the rest was very on the fence. If I didn’t love him so much I would have skipped a lot of the poems in this book. But I also know this is a similar complaint from other readers. It’s hard to follow after such a massive success and nationally known poetry book of Howl, but he did his best. Not all of your own poems will be sparkling and rich in something new and world opening.

34-36. Various Manga: 34 5/5 stars, 35 4/5 stars, 36 4/5 stars.

37. Twisted Romance Volume 1: 2/5 stars. While some of the stories were beautiful and drawn amazing, I felt like the collection was disjointed and didn’t go very well. It was weird to have a comic book also be split up between stories with a written novel. I’m sure this would be someone’s cup of tea, but not mine.

38. My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness: 4/5 stars. My dear friend Ramona put the first and second novel in front of me to read while we spent like 4 hours at Barnes and Noble today. It was super fun to be with my sweet sweet friend and just, decompress. I read this book and so much of it I could relate to. Not only am I a Queer female, but I also struggle with mental health, depression, and feelings of abandoning my mother. Not to mention being touch starved. But I docked it down from a perfect score because Kabi’s narrative was so frustrating. That never ending cycle of getting so close and then self-sabotaging herself is so frustrating and makes me mad. I put the book back after I finished reading it, and then decided I had to buy it at the last moment.

39. My Solo Exchange Diary (Sexual to My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness) Vol 2: 3/5 stars. Unlike the first book, this was even more frustrating and was hard for me to be empathetic to her. Someone who obviously struggled hard with her mental health and struggle against her parents, I felt like her Solo Exchange Diary was just an excuse to not do what she wanted. I didn’t think Kabi grew much between the two volumes which is super disappointing. As a reader you want her to be better. Though when she mentioned how her happiness is tied to abandoning her mom, OOFFFF. THAT SURE IS MEEE.

40. Close Range: 2/5 stars. I actually stopped reading this book entirely. I started off reading the Brokeback Mountain story in this anthology, and it hooked me! Sadly, the rest of the stories didn’t capture me as much as BM. Eventually the characters bled to be the same: stoic, struggling with family, very Wyoming. That was it. It was all men, white men who struggle to be “men” and then proceed to do stupid shit/hurtful things that you want them to die over. I lost interest and I’m sad because I wanted to love this collection, but I couldn’t do it anymore.

41. Bond By Design: 5/5 Stars. Back in 2016, Shennelly gave me a mini version of this book and for Christmas last year I got the full version. It’s fascinating to see the drawing progression and what the art team focuses on drawing. It’s a shame to see the Daniel Craig films not having as much hand drawn art, but they were created more in the era of computer art and less relying on storyboard sketches. Needless to say, it was pretty awesome to see all the thumbnails and knowing a lot of them came to life in the films I watched! P.s. I went to the museum and Turner painting features in Skyfall over the summer!

42. The Hobbit Comic: 4/5 stars. This is a comic I’ve had on my shelf before I started uni so around 3-4 years it’s been sitting on my shelf waiting to be read. I picked it up because I was going on a car trip and I wanted something light and easy for the 4 1/2 hours it took to reach our destination. While the art was awesome, this was not a light read. It felt like reading the Hobbit all over again with how exact dialogue and scenes were written out. And I docked this comic down a star because I felt like I would be so overwhelmed by the reading I couldn’t enjoy the art. That’s a big problem with direct story comics. They’re so much dialogue and story they want to use, they don’t realize how tedious it becomes for a reader. Other than that, if you’re a die hard LOTR fan, this is a great edition fo the Hobbit to have!

43. The Adventure Zone - There Be Gerblins! 5/5 stars. I started listening to The Good Brothers after Percy told me to back at the end of 2016. I started to their The Adventure Zone podcast right before my trip to Norway. I have great memories of listening to the first 3 adventures, nodding off on the plane, during down time at our various hotels, on the way back home, desperately trying to download as many possible while I had wifi. I love TAZ and so when they announced a comic book a year ago, I’ve been waiting ever since! It isn’t a let down! Where the Hobbit had issues with too much dialogue, TAZ There be Gerblins didn’t run into that issue! Also I love that even though the characters have never been officially designed, there was opportunity for diversity, AND THEY DID A TON OF DIVERSITY. Also the Director was exactly how I envisioned her and that made me so fucking happy. Please support the good boys and buy the comic if you like it!

44. Monstress Vol 3: 5/5 stars. While the art is dynamic, the plot hella feminist, interesting, so many cool female characters! The plot is still confusing volume 3 in. I might have reread the other two before reading the 3rd since it has been a year since I’ve read the book. But the darkness and “real” themes of disabilities and responsibilities is just great!

45. The White Cat: and two other stories: 5/5 stars. The art for this children’s fairytale book is gorgeous. Though some of the pictures feel like they’re a few pages behind or ahead of the events that actually happened. But JEEZ you guys! These are some fucking dark stories. A cat behead, Jack the Giant Killer, Rip Van Winkle just being lazy as FUCK. We don’t get children’s stories like this. It was an awesome edition I found that was originally 30 dollars that was for sale for 5 dollars due to a liquidation sale. It’s great.

46. The Young Visitors or Mr. Salteena’s Plan: 5/5 stars. The Young Visitors is such a treat. I first found my copy in England in a discount shelf and loved the frayed pink cover with interesting illustrations. And then at another going out of business sale, I found a red cover and bought it without thinking much of it. I absolute LOVE this book. This story is written by a 9 year old Daisy with the themes of a true Victorian novel. An older man chasing after a young woman who falls in love with a rich young man and the older man cries at his defeat. It’s an excellent little read that is amazing from being written in 1919! I have plans to eventually see the manuscript in the museum it’s held in! I’m using my second copy as a lend out to my friends to make sure they’ve read this story!

47. What Makes My Cat Purr? : 5/5 stars My friend bought this for me at an antique mall because it melted my heart. Reasons why little kittens purr???? Mostly because you show them love??? UHHH HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THIS NOVEL?

48. Sock Monkey - The Glass Knob: 4/5 Stars. Sock Monkey and his friends ned to replace the door handle with glass and a random assortments. Silly, but sweet.

49. The Paper Doll Wedding: 4/5 Stars. Fun. That’s all.

50. Spot’s Favorite Colors: 4/5 Stars. Bought this for my nephew. We used to have matching cards with this!

51. That’s Not My Dinosaur: 4/5 Stars. For my nephew! He loooves it. Touch and feel.

52. The Mitten: 5/5 Stars. This book was read to us each winter in elementary school. I bought it for my nephew!

53. Toot: 4/5 Stars. For my nephew! A book about farts!

54. Erte Art: 4/5 Stars. Erte’s art which was dazzling and seemed to be something from the 2000s rather than the 1900s. Loved the different designs of his work and that he included women of color and not just white models throughout his work!

55. Sea Prayer: 4/5 Stars. Everyone was ranting and raving about the poetry, but I love the watercolors. It was an impactful story, but I felt the story was a bit rushed. Over all beautiful.

56. The Prince and the Dressmaker: 5/5 Stars. I’ve had this comic book in my shopping cart for a year! I finally asked for it at B&N and bit the bullet. UHMMMM. GORGEOUS.

57. HeartStopper Vol. 1: 5/5 Stars. UHM WOW. I funded this on kickstarter without really knowing much about the comic. It then sat on my shelf for a couple of months and a friend, randomly, asked me if I read it. I finally read it and goooood, I loooooved it!!!

58. Fuddles: 3/5 stars. A fat cat gets out of the house and lost, I hated it but loved the illustration.

59. Birdsong: 5/5 Stars. All the different birds and songs they sing, silly, fun.

60. Santa’s Snow Cat: 4/5 Stars. A silly Christmas story about how Santa loses his most beloved cat in New York.

61. The Tiger: 5/5 Stars. A dialogue-less comic about a tiger in the jungle, living its life, trying to hunt prey (unsuccessfully), and other predators. Beautiful art, I would recommend!

62. The Angel’s Game: 2.5/5 stars. Sadly, this is the second time I’ve been disappointed by Carlos. Angel’s game had a slow start. A writer being worked to death by underpaying publishers until he develops a brain tumor. He meets a mysterious man after much travesty and agrees to write him a book with no money as an issue. But as the story progresses, the narrator becomes distressed and stupid to discover the truth. He loses so much, and by the end of the book it feels like a bad fever dream. It really seems the hype after Shadow of the Wind is so hard to defeat. Hopefully his newest, final, and largest book in the quad series will be like the first. Let’s hope it’s not like the middl two!

63: Ore no Omawarisan: 5/5 stars

64: Goriyou wa Keikakuteki ni: 4/5 stars.

65. The Shotgunner: 3/5 stars. As I was trying to compile my favorites of 2018, I realized I completely missed three books?? Shotgunner was finished the last day of 2018 and I think I was just totally exhausted from everything. The book was extremely silly but fast paced. A man wanted for murder runs back to his home town to find his brother has been murdered and his widow (an old fling) needs his help to get out of town. It doesn’t end how you think it would and it seemed to move in a very fast paced way. It wasn’t my favorite western book I’ve read, but it certainly had layers to it I wasn’t expecting!

#2018 books

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