#and then you can just explore all willy nilly however you want instead of having to go in straight lines or struggle with placing your maps

[percreates]

Some sketches of an OC I made for a friend's minecraft smp- Benni, it/they, it comes with Lore (so so much lore)

There's SO many things I want to draw from the server and adventures that have been had, but I'm still figuring out how I plan to draw certain mobs and also fighting executive dysfunction so. Incoming eventually

Some earlier sketches before I actually had the idea to create Benni and just wanted to fuck around with armor concepts (hence the little notes), and then my detail list to refer to when actually drawing it

My first actual drawing of Benni, still my favorite even though the design in my head has changed a little

First (and only so far) attempt at finding a color scheme, definitely not sticking with this lol, I don't like the pants even though this is the closest I could get to my actual minecraft skin. I also just don't like how the pants look even though they look like the reference 🤣

Basically everything in this image gets changed afsfdgdggd

Another sketch figuring out an armor design, based on a moment in game

And then my most recent sketches, trying to figure out exactly how buggy to make them, because it's enderman-adjacent (it's a lengthy explanation. Like I said, Lore), and this is my concept for the endermen. Based vaguely on bullet ants, because I'll also use those as inspiration for my endermite and enderdragon designs

For some reason, despite being a very capable warrior and colonizer adventurer, Benni is perpetually confused in my sketches. I'm still getting the hang of drawing mandibles, and I thought that last enderman looked judgmental so I gave it a thought bubble afsfsgdg

Bug-like creature warning below the readmore

[fanficapologist]

I’ve recently wondered this, but how come Alys needed Aemond’s seed for her spell or magic to work? Is it similar to the concept of equivalent exchange in Alchemy? If you want to gain something you have to give up something.

I’m about to nerd out in anime so please bear with me 😬 But are you familiar with Fullmetal Alchemist?

It is said alchemists can’t just whip stuff up out of thin air - you have to provide something. For example, an episode depicted one of the protagonists (Al) fixing a broken radio using alchemy. At first glance, the radio looks good as new, not repaired - as in no nail mark, solder, etc. However, in reality, Al only “stretched” out the radio’s material to fix it.

I’m not sure if my analogy makes sense. But I think it’s similar to if you were spreading butter or jam and you missed a side/corner of the bread. Instead of getting more butter, you just “extended” spreading the butter better by taking some from spots where you initially spread it thicker to ensure all sides of the bread were coated. So you ended up with your bread all buttered but the butter layer is thinner.

I hope I made sense. But anyway, in ODAM, I think the same principle applies to Alys too. She can’t just create a spell willy nilly, it has to cost something - for some witches, casting spells took its toll on their appearance like those in Stardust, or when the mages used their magic, it taxes their energy like in The Witcher. The point is, you can’t just do magic and expect nothing will be taken from you. I expected blood like Cersei did with Maggy the Frog but is Aemond’s wish/desire too great that it required his seed? Also why should he have to lay with Alys?

Hope I don’t come across as petulant Haha I find myself thinking of possible angles so here I am 🤔

Hello my love! Look at you being all analytical, you clever thing 😏

I’ve haven’t watched anime in so long oh my god they would cause me such emotional damage 😭 (angel beats and clannad, I’m looking at you) but I haven’t seen fullmetal alchemist!

So let’s get down to answers. I’d say my reasoning comes from more of a physics route; energy cannot be created or destroyed, only changed. Something cannot come from nothing, as you’ve said (points!), but the bigger the request, the more you’ve gotta give.

A bit of Aemond’s blood to prove Maera’s virtue isn’t a huge cost as it’s only finding out information. HOWEVER, a good amount of Maera’s family members needed to be wiped out for her to have no other contenders for inheritance of Morne (more to be revealed in an Aemond POV chapter later).

What has the power to do Aemond more harm, is of greater value to him and has the ability to create life, despite him wanting to take it away? Seed 👀 I can guarantee Alys did not need to lie with him to get this spell to work (again, to be explored later) however I think Alys probably knew once she’d done her bit, it was very likely she would be cast aside. She needed some insurance for herself, and a way to get her vision to come to life.

But then again, are her visions going to be right (going back to Alice Cullen)? Watch this space 🖤

[aibiito]

being best friends with the genshin impact boys. (1)

➳ genres: non-romantic, gender-neutral, fluff

➳ characters: kaeya, diluc, tartaglia, zhongli

➳ warnings: mild cursing for kaeya

➳ notes: happy (almost) new year. since this game came out, i’ve been playing non-stop. i really love the husbando gang and finally caved into writing something. please keep in mind that this is only the four tall boys in the game, i’ll do the others another time when i’m in the mood~

『kaeya』

as the calvary captain, he doesn’t have much time to hang out, but when he does, you bet it’s going to be spent at angel’s share getting tipsy. although he comes off as flirtatious around others, the tired kaeya you spend more of your time with is a genuinely chill guy just looking to chat with someone. there are rare instances during the day that you bump into a sober version of this man, in which he likes to pay you back his affections. though, by “affections”, he really means “clowning you until his heart’s content.” yelp when he grabs you by the shoulders out of nowhere? clowned. get hit in the face by a random slime? clowned. he’ll only let you live if you're badly injured and he needs to patch you up, or if he’s drunk as fuck.

『diluc』

he's a man that needs a clear routine, therefore your time with him is structured and limited. once a week, he cancels all his plans to do anything you want, even if it means apprehending hilichurls to look under their masks. though he fights a lot of enemies normally, he prefers a relaxing adventure around teyvat on his off days. his favourite activities are solving puzzles in ruins and collecting ingredients for a homemade dinner. your bonding day can also be extended if you choose to spend the night at the winery. after a nice meal with fresh greens you both picked up earlier, a drowsy diluc may share a more vulnerable side of himself. you can only catch him again during the week on his shift at the tavern. decide to pay him a visit? get ready for a pile of odd jobs that'll keep you there until closing.

『tartaglia』

yet another workaholic. unlike kaeya or diluc, he has absolutely no control over when he can hang out with you. or, so he says. some of your commissions are often suspiciously placed near locations he specified he would be working, and pretty much every time he’ll show up to assist you. after eliminating whatever enemies you were assigned, childe suddenly comes at you full swing. he loves sparring, even if you’re clearly tired and need a break. you’re only afforded that luxury if he catches you in the city. around other people, he can’t exactly aim arrows all willy-nilly, y’know? instead, he likes to buy you local snacks or souvenirs while complaining about his fellow harbingers. on a couple occasions, he has attempted to get you to join the fatui. in his ideal world, the two of you would work side by side as a powerful tag team everyone on the battlefield fears.

『zhongli』

as your certified grandpa friend, he’s almost always free and sharing stories of the old days with you. no matter how smart you think you are in a certain craft, zhongli will know more. however, he likes to let you explore, rather than stuff your brain with his perspective. did you discover a way to pick the highest quality jade? even if you’re way off the mark, he’ll take you to shitou’s store to try it out. the ideas of the new generation truly interest him, and he can't help but allow you to attempt ridiculous antics for a chuckle. if there's nothing urgent from the funeral parlor, he will join you on your daily commissions. this is the only time he will not permit fooling around. your life could be on the line depending on the tricks you pull, and he will give you a stern scolding if you lose focus at any moment during battle. he really is... an old man...

[rachelbethhines]

Tangled Salt Marathon - King Pascal

This is, in my opinion, the worst episode of season two and I’ll get into why under the cut. 

Summary:  The group is stranded on an island after a storm. The tiny islanders, the Lorbs, mistake Pascal for their mystical ruler; the chameleon loves the adulation, until he’s expected to protect his people from a vicious monster.

Since When Did You Learn How to Sail, Rapunzel? 

So they hit the storm and Rapunzel starts doling out orders like she always does, but like, she logically shouldn’t know what to do here. She’s only been out of the tower for a little over a year and sailing takes time to learn. There’s been nothing to establish beforehand that she’s learned this stuff. If anything Eugene and Lance should be the one giving the orders here as their backgrounds could feasibly included sailing as they’re world travelers. 

Here lies part of the problem with Rapunzel’s characterization, and I’ve already touched upon it back in The Alchemist Returns, but Rapunzel can’t and shouldn’t be magically good at everything. She can be incredibly skilled in some areas, like acrobatics and the arts, but she also should have lapses in knowellage just due to a lack of experience and expertise. 

A female character isn’t ‘weak’ just because they have to sometimes rely on other characters. They shouldn’t be written to be magically better than the male characters just because they got boobs. That’s not empowering; that’s condescending. Women are people, and real people have varied skill sets and weaknesses that match their interests and backgrounds. 

So Why Is the Island Tropical? 

According to what few maps we see in the show (and yes, they are inconsistent, but bare with me), Corona is somewhere in Northern Europe near an ocean or sea. According to dialogue at the end Forest of No Return, they’ve been traveling east, and according to the map in Rapunzel’s Return, the Dark Kingdom is north east of Corona specifically. Meaning that they must be somewhere in the northern Baltic Sea right now, which is not tropical at all.  

This is part of the problem with Tangled’s ‘throw it all into a blender’ style of approach to worldbuilding. If traveling the world is going to be a major plot point for a season then we kind of need to know where things are in relation to each other. Climate should help determine such things, but if you’re all willy nilly about culture, which climate affects, than nothing is going to make sense. 

My only guess is that the island is suppose to be magical so it has a different climate to the surrounding environment, but that’s just a headcanon and not actually stated by anything in the show itself. I shouldn’t have to be doing the work of the writers for them. 

So Why are We Separating the Guys Again? 

Back in Freebird the writers needed to get Cass and Raps alone in order for them to have their bonding time and a heart to heart, but here, it’s just lazy writing. This is a Pascal focus episode and it requires that Rapunzel interact with lots of other characters, so splitting the group up doesn’t benefit the story in any way. 

The writers just didn’t want to fool with writing for eight characters at one time (I’m not counting Fidella or Owl, though logically they should be considered characters in their own right and not just props for the story, but oh well); which begs the question of why they wrote in so many characters to begin with. 

It’s also an excuse to make the girls seem more competent than the boys, which, as I explained above, is not real ‘girl power’; just bad writing.  

Let’s Talk About the Outfit Changes and How Marketing Affects the Story 

The entire point of this episode and indeed this whole island arc, is just because of marketing stipulations. Every season is required to have one Pascal focused episode and one Max focused episode, because Disney marketing wanted to sell cute animal toys. Another requirement of the story was outfit changes for the mains so that once again marketing could sell dolls and variants and such. It’s why Rapunzel, Cass, and Eugene get so many alternate costumes, while Lance doesn’t despite being with them on this journey too. 

Which is understandable to a point. American television animation has always been about selling toys and merchandise. It’s how these shows make most of their money back. If there’s a show that you enjoy and you want to support it being on the air, you need to buy the toys. Priating doesn’t do jack to the bottom line, it does not affect ratings as most people don't own a nielsen rating box. (an increasingly outdated method to calculate popularity anyways) But whether or not the toys sell is the make it or break it point of every show. 

However, there are better ways to implement these stipulations then how Tangled goes about it. You want to give Max and Pascal focus? Then actually give them focus that relates to the overall plot and not just meaningless filler. You want to the characters switch up outfits and have that tie into the story? Then make sure it fits all of the characters and don’t drag it out more than it needs to be, because this island arc it too damn long. 

And you want to know what the biggest kick in the teeth is? There’s barely any merchandise for this outfit. There’s like one paper doll set and that’s it. The toys for Tangled the Series did not sell and they stopped merchandising the show after season one. Now add in the rating plummet during seasons two and three, and we’re incredibly lucky the show didn’t get canceled outright because it’s by all accounts a financial flop. 

I suspect there was an upfront contract that guaranteed them three seasons no matter what, and that’s the only reason it managed to escape the chopping block and why Chris and Ben weren’t let go sooner from the project. Because Chris at least no longer works for Disney. He left as soon as production ended on the show. 

The False God Trope is Over Played 

I can find examples of this trope dating all the way back to the early 60s, and arguably even sooner than that. However around the 80s, after Return of the Jedi hit theaters, the trope was inescapable in children's media. Every cartoon since has had this same plot shoved in somewhere. It also became paired with the ‘liar revealed’ trope (the bane of my existence) more often. 

And that’s what this is; an incredibly stale take on an incredibly by the numbers story. I kept waiting all episode for the other shoe to drop, for some sort of twist on the usual cliche, but it never came. 

This episode is boring, aggravatingly so. It’s the main reason why it’s in my bottom five. Because while you could argue that really little kids wouldn’t be as over exposed to the trope like an adult such as myself, the writers themselves desperately tried to distance themselves from that targeted audience. They’re the ones that yell ‘it’s not a kid show’, while feeding us crap like this, and I just have to roll my eyes. 

Tangled doesn’t know who it’s audience is. It should be pre-teen girls, but the creators want shoot for an older audience, teens, while marketing wants this to be a preschool show. So the series careens wildly all over the place in terms of tone and winds up satisfying no one. Older audiences are frustrated by childish filler such as this, while younger audiences are exposed to themes and messages that they probably shouldn’t be. I know several parents who have stopped their kids from watching the series because they don’t approve of the toxic values the show prometes in its incompetence. 

It bungles so many of its attempts to be mature because it won’t actually explore the complexities of the plot. Either cause it’s wasting too much time on filler, it can’t explore it’s more disturbing elements to their natural conclusions due to the audience, or it just mistakes ‘shocking’ as deep. 

King Pascal isn’t mature or deep. It’s pointless guff that adds nothing while actively taking away from more interesting storylines. I say skip this dreck and go watch Doctor Who’s The Aztecs instead if you want to see this trope done right with maturity while still being all audience friendly. 

It’s also has the added bonus of featuring two well developed strong female characters who hold their own with the equally capable guys while actually developing all of those characters simultaneously, and was co-produced by an actual woman. If they could pull that off in the early sixties than Disney and Chris have no excuse today. 

This Is the Same ‘Lesson’ As Pascal’s Story

In addition to being boring and unoriginal, this episode is also redundant. Rapunzel already learned to show appreciation to Pascal back in season one. Why are we having her relearn this lesson instead of giving Pascal a new arc? 

It’s not even consistent as Rapunzel only acts this way towards him in his focus episodes. It’s also not a lesson in behaving condescendingly in general because Rapunzel goes on to be condensing to everyone anyways. 

So Did We Really Need This Episode Just to Introduce the Island and the Firefly? 

Yes both of these things come into play later, but not in any significant way. We’re here on this island for four whole episodes and it only comes back for one in season three, and only to further a side character’s story; not the main plot. Also the Firefly will help resolve the plot in five episodes time, but it’s just given a reintroduction there anyways. Why couldn’t this information have been condensed down and repackaged into another episode entirely? 

That’s what I mean by poor pacing. Tangled is not efficient in its storytelling. It drags things out only to give us rushed endings or no resolutions at all. Stop drop feeding info in the backgrounds of filler episodes where it’s not relevant and actually give us stories that focus on the plot, dang it. 

Once Again, Rapunzel is a Hypocrite 

Just like in Pascal’s Story during season one, Rapunzel is quick to show consideration for her oldest friend but can’t be bothered to admit fault to a teenager that she abused. One that she knows is currently facing horrendous and inhumane treatment inside of a jail cell right now and still does not give a damn. 

You can’t claim Rapunzel is a kind and compassionate person so long as Varian and his story exists.You just can’t. Because no matter how you slice it, being a minor means that there is a power imbalance in how adults and the government treats them. A power imbalance that is constantly being exploited by the mains. 

Conclusion

You won’t miss anything other than the shipwreck itself if you skipped the episode. Which is aggravating because it means it’s technically necessary to the on going story without actually adding anything substantial to it. It’s like the series opener all over again, only made worse by how boring and redundant it all is. Worst episode of season two; and now I just want to go watch Doctor Who instead. 

[mbti-notes]

1) Hi mbti. I’m an isfp trying to confront my teritary loop patterns. In your type development guide you write that “the logical consequence of a failure to develop auxiliary Se properly is that a person often suffers from restlessness despite their blessings and opportunities for enjoyment. Instead of addressing this problem directly, immature ISxPs misuse tertiary Ni to distance from it.” But you never clearly identify HOW to address this problem directly, and I’m assuming that “addressing the

problem is different from “developing Se”.
 I’m assuming there’s an Fi + Se imbalance which is causing the loop pattern. I know that how to develop Se has been covered many times in your ask section and also in the type development guide, so I won’t ask you to repeat yourself. 

I don’t know what to tell you. The solution is indeed as simple as developing Se. The problem is probably that you haven’t yet understood Se and/or how to apply Se properly in your life, especially if you are prone to Ni loop. So, I guess it does bear repeating…

But I will say that I have been looping for quite some time (more on than off, for almost 4 years) and I have some reasons as to why my extroverted functions have been put on hold, as I experienced quite a lot of bullying in school and a parent at home struggled with alcoholism growing up, so retreating and isolation and avoidance became my natural way of operating, to get my self away from painful situations and a way to remain a sense of control. It worked as a protective strategy then, but I can see that does me more harm than good now, and I would like to change it. I wish it could be so easy as to just ‘develop Se’, and I want to ask bout the obstacles I’m experiencing when trying to change this behaviour (i.e achieving healthy Fi + Se), and so I will try to explain the problem: 

It is easy to be under the illusion that you are engaging in “self-care” by retreating and avoiding pain, thereby easy to believe that Fi is healthy and doing its job. However, if you’re always running from situations that frighten or threaten you - before you’ve even started anything - how are you ever going to learn how to handle painful situations and use those experiences to become a stronger person? You’re robbing yourself of opportunities to learn and grow by excessively sheltering your feelings - this is what Fi-Ni loop actually “accomplishes”. 

The reasons I avoid certain Se activities is because there are potential risks attached to them (as it of course is with all actions one takes). The problem is, I often have a hard time determining wether these ‘risks’ fraudulently function as a reason to avoid Se-activity (caused by the loop), or if it objectively is a legitimate risk to properly consider. This has kept me volatile for a long time and I’m not sure if I’m moving forward in the right direction. For instance, I dreamt about moving to a city in a country, a place which I feel at home and where some relatives live, to study at uni. It gave me a sense of hope to travel, experience, meet new people and get new impressions. But I decided not to move because education is very expensive there, compared to where I live now, and a political situation in the country also made moving tricker and more expensive, but I could’ve managed if I really pushed it. The place I live in now makes me feel depressed, restless and as if my growth stifles here, mainly because I relate it to past experiences and feel the need for “new” stimulation. But the benefits are better, cheaper education and better accommodation. Do you see the dilemma? I can’t really determine which option would be better for me? 

General rule of thumb: The option that is better for you is the option that allows you to become the person you are meant to be. The nature of a “dilemma” is that neither option is perfect, that’s why deciding is very difficult. No matter what you choose, you must deal with some negative consequences. So, the question is, which set of negative consequences is more worth it to you to confront for the benefits? Nobody can weigh and judge that except you. You, yourself, just said that you could’ve managed it if you really pushed it. Your heart already knows the correct path, and now you suffer from the feeling of missing out. Is that not what’s happening?

Another example, I dream/dreamt about working within the field of visual arts, and am interested in photojournalism, although this specific area has posed many ethical questions to me after reading/seeing certain images/finding out about all the fakes in the business, and I also find the vast quantity of images that circulate everywhere, almost always with a commercial agenda, just waters down the meaning of it to nothing, there is no journalism there, all I can see is the greediness. But I also love photography and visual arts with political dimensions to it, and it is a substantial source of inspiration to that excites me and make me genuinely enthusiastic… I feel cloven. 

And why do you automatically default to imagining yourself as a hapless victim of a “corrupt system”? Why do you not stop to consider that a corrupt system needs MORE people of integrity to correct it - not fewer? And why do you not see yourself, with your strong sense of integrity, as having the capability to change the system for the better? That is what mature Se+Te would do.

A third and final example could be when I’ve been around friends for a long time and I start to feel tired/“drained” and that I need alone time; should take time to rest or should I practice more active participation and attend those around me more? Which is showing myself and others most care? 

The key is to establish a proper balance between the introverted and extraverted sides of your personality, which means that you should not be too extreme one way or the other. It also means that, in order to develop your “lagging” side, you have to push out of your comfort zone. Introverts must push themselves to extravert more in order to become more capable of it, and vice versa. It is not a case of oversimplistic either/or (”either I care about me or I care about others”), it is about learning to listen to what is required for your development and refining your judgment accordingly. When you care for yourself, do you not become more emotionally available and effective at caring for others? When you care for others, do you not benefit from a deeper relationship and the feeling of having a positive influence? You have created a false dichotomy to choose between when the two things are actually interrelated. 

These kinds of ponderings have sort of put me ‘on hold’ for a long time and I am not quite sure how to proceed in life. I am studying at university in line with my interests, I volunteer at various places I feel are in line with my values, I watch film and photography, draw every once in a while, stay around friends and family, but still I’m feeling this anxiety (or restlessness, as you put it) tapping within me. It’s like a constant, mild depression and I think it is fuelled by my constant questioning of my commitments. And to connect to what I said in the beginning, I DON’T UNDERSTAND HOW TO ADDRESS THE ROOT OF THIS RESTLESSNESS. As you said; “(…) a person often suffers from restlessness despite their blessings and opportunities for enjoyment”. I see my privilege in the world, and I am grateful, but how can I identify what it is that’s causing the “depression”? I mean, I can keep “throwing myself out into the unknown” and explore life forever but never really hit the spot. Do you see what I mean? I’m afraid of turning into a shallow, bitter individual, because there is something telling me that I’m sort

It is precisely underdeveloped/underutilized Se that is the root of restlessness. Unhappy Se creates the feeling that you are not living life to its fullest and taking advantage of every chance to learn and grow through new life experiences. If you run from new experiences via irrational Ni loop negativity, Se will complain vociferously that you are missing out, and how can you feel at peace then? I’m not here to tell anyone how to make major life decisions, as each person must be responsible for their own life. I can only tell you that your restlessness comes from knowing that there is more out there for you but that you’re holding yourself back from exploring it. How you respond to restlessness is up to you. I can only tell you that ignoring it is only going to make it worse over time. 

To have mature Se doesn’t mean that you’re aimless and restless; it means that you are able to set aside negativity and be flexible in the face of challenges. Mature Se means that: 1) you have inherent trust that the world will offer up good things as long as you are on your toes and able to grasp the new opportunities that come your way, and 2) you have inherent trust in yourself to be able to adapt and get through any situation, good or bad. That’s why Se doms are bold and brave and easily leave the past behind.

When you say “never really hit the spot”, it reveals that you haven’t understood how to use Se. It is immature Se that explores the world willy nilly with no direction or purpose. Fi+Se is about having the courage to take the risks that allow you to move toward the life that you want to live and be the person that you know you can be.

[kitzatara]

A little mermaid essay. Because I’m tired of y’all hating her.

A tad long so. Thanks for reading if you do.

So a lot of people call her shallow and dumb to risk everything just so she can get prince Eric’s dick. Haha yeah super funny. However, Ariel is shown to have always had a fascination with the human world and humanity in a kingdom where such knowledge is forbidden. Particularly by her own father.

She frequently finds wonderment in everyday items and is desperate to learn and study more about them. That’s always been the case. Not one person isn’t guilty of having a passion, or mild obsession. And I know s e v e r a l people who actively pursue and are more attracted to forbidden knowledge.

When she meets Eric he’s sailing. What initially attracts her to his ship is fireworks. As in one of the things she doesn’t understand, sang about and is curious about. She see’s Eric. A human who is handsome, has an animal companion (pet), is obviously fond of exploring and adventuring and also struggles against pressures from his kingdom. While listening to him ariel easily see’s kinship with him. He’s like her. Someone so different and from the workd she adores is like her.

So jumping ahead, she wasn’t initially going to ditch everything just for Eric. At first all she wants is to see him again. She doesn’t even consider leaving home. While daydreaming and crushing on the statue her father discovers the her grotto. He destroys everything she’s ever found. He destroys the statue of a human who represents all ariel loves about humanity. He firmly draws the line in the sand and makes it clear that her feelings and passions will never belong or be understood by her society of her family. (this is feeling most queer people relate too, me specifically, so do with that as you will. Hans Christian Andersen was definitely attracted to men and women soooo).

This to Ariel is a very clear rejection. She and her father’s miscommunication is what allows her to even consider Ursula. To Ariel it seems that she literally has nothing to lose. To her Triton is the villain. This allows Ursula to manipulate her as a way of extorting triton. Ursula seduces ariel by convincing her they’re both outcasts, bonded by the same rejection and that Ursula helps outcasts and misfits. Ursula is able to get Ariel to give up her voice because Ariel believes she has nothing left. No family or friends or kingdom. Her only hope lies on land where she believes she’ll be understood.

Yes Ariel is naive to believe Ursula has her best interests at heart but this doesn’t mean Ariel has made the wrong choice. Or that she’s willy nilly throwing away her family for a man she just met. Eric was always a bonus. Her humanity made real. She’d have been perfectly content to live as a himan even if he’d rejected her. But it’s Utsula who put the time limit and focus on winning his affection. Of course it’s all very natural considering he is what she wants but Ariel only agreed because she was desperate, upset, and alone.

But even distegarding allll of that. Eric and Ariel have a good love story. (YES ITS THREE DAYS LONG BUT PISS OFF ITS AN HOUR AND A HALF. WE DONT HAVE TIME TO SHOW A BIG PASSAGE OF TIME ESPECIALLY WITH A VILLAINOUS SEA WITCH ORCHESTRATING THE WHOLE THING!!!! AND ITS ABOUT MERMAIDS SUSPEND YOUR DISBELIEF !JEEZ MAN!)

Eric fell in love with Ariel’s voice and her action of saving him (How many princesses can claim to have saved their Prince Charming? Oh and btw Ariel and Eric tie. They save each other twice each. It’s equality). He finds her voice beautiful but can’t see her that well cuz the sun is shining behind her like the angel she is. He searches everywhere for the mystery girl and instead finds Ariel. WHO HE ALSO FALLS IN LOVE WITH. HE FALLS IN LOVE WITH HER TWICE WITHOUT REALIZING IT.

While she’s staying at his castle he falls in love with her personality. Her excitement and wonderment. Her adventuressness and boldness and literally decides to GIVE UP THE MYSTERY GIRL BY CHUCKING THE FLUTE INTO THE SEA SO HE CAN DATE HER. It’s a very powerful and symbolic gesture. Eric sacrifices his fantasy for the real Ariel. It’s nowhere near as big of a sacrifice but it counts nonetheless. How many princes have sacrificed to be wity their princess? This sacrifice is only ruined by Ursula using Ariel’s voice to bewitch him. (Ever notice that “Vanessa” looks suspiciously like ariel in the sunlight? I’m c o n v i n c e d. That she’s using a glamour or spell to appear as the features he saw. Darker hair, different shape because it was wet. He just couldn’t tell it was Ariel).

So then once Ariel is reunited with her coice Eric realizes that the girl he’s fallen in love with and the mystery voice that infatuated him are one and the same. And he risks his life to fight the sea witch to save her. Ariel saves him a second time and then Eric impales Ursula, saving her for the second time. They just can’t stop protecting one another which is very sweet snd endearing.

Ariel is a bad ass and Eric loves her just as much as she does. If after all this you still hate her fine. But oversimplifying her story to “dumb mermaid wants dick lol so stupid and sexist” is a disservice to the character and this unique twist on the story. Again thanks for reading this essay rant.

[the-desolated-quill]

The Darkness Of Mere Being - Watchmen blog

(SPOILER WARNING: The following is an in-depth critical analysis. if you haven’t read this comic yet, you may want to before reading this review)

Watchmen is often called a groundbreaking work of literature, and I very much agree with that sentiment. It’s also often described as a masterpiece. This I take issue with. While the graphic novel explores some very compelling ideas, I do honestly think the last few issues are where Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons... I wouldn’t say they dropped the ball, but they were definitely fumbling with it a little bit.

So just to forewarn you, these reviews are going to be a tad more critical from here on out.

The Darkness Of Mere Being continues directly on from the events of Old Ghosts after Doctor Manhattan has taken Laurie to Mars. It has apparently been predestined that the future of Earth and of mankind would be decided there as Laurie has to try and convince this emotionless, all powerful entity that the world is worth saving.

From a conceptual standpoint, this works really well. You feel Laurie’s frustration and desperation as she tries in vain to convince her ex that humanity has value. Over the course of the graphic novel, we’ve seen Manhattan grow more and more distant from humanity, and now that he’s been accused of giving those closest to him cancer, the last remaining ties to his humanity have been severed. He’s distanced himself from Earth because he finds life too complicated and tiresome. He’d much rather live in exile on Mars playing with atoms because, unlike people, atoms have structure and order. Once again, it’s a meditation on the nature of power. How Manhattan is paradoxically both powerful and powerless within the world of Watchmen. He’s a godlike figure and yet is completely at the mercy of predestination theory. As he himself puts it:

“We’re all puppets Laurie. I’m just a puppet who can see the strings.”

At the core of this issue is the question of what possible reason could a superhuman have to care for mere mortals like us. And the answer is... there really isn’t. As we’ve discussed before in my previous reviews, the only reason Manhattan stuck with Laurie was more out of a sense of obligation rather than genuine love or affection. So this isn’t like Superman and Lois Lane where Kal-El/Clark Kent was raised on Earth and became humanity’s champion with Lois being his main source of inspiration. Whereas Superman’s perspective is focused exclusively on the people around him, Manhattan’s goes beyond that. He understands the whole of time and space. He can see the very atoms of everything around him and control them at a whim. He has no reason to truly care for anyone because humans, to him, are mere atoms in a sea of atoms. Again, as he himself puts it way back in the very first issue:

“A live body and a dead body contain the same number of particles. Structurally there’s no discernible difference.”

Even his change of heart at the end isn’t motivated by emotion or a sense of moral duty. As the two discuss Laurie’s life, she discovers that the Comedian, the same man who raped her mother, was her biological father. While she understandably breaks down over this revelation, Manhattan sees inspiration in this. That a woman is capable of falling in love with the man who raped her to the point where she would give birth to his child proves, in Manhattan’s mind, that humanity is worth saving after all because of their unpredictability, comparing it to a thermodynamic miracle of turning air into gold. So he’s going to save humanity. Not because he cares about us, but because of a newfound fascination with them. His goals may have changed, but the character is still just as cold and uncaring as he was before, seeing us like microbes under a microscope to be studied rather than actual lives.

The ideas are all sound. I even like the idea of the Comedian being Laurie’s real father because it ties in with the overall themes of Watchmen. Sally Jupiter falling in love with and having consensual sex with her rapist is similar to Nite Owl partnering up with Rorschach despite his ultra right wing, bigoted and extreme views. It all speaks to the nihilistic nature of both the characters and the book. There’s no black and white and things are often much more complicated than we would like. Also credit has to go to Dave Gibbons for his stunning artwork in this issue, including the final image of the real life smiley face crater on Mars, which hammers home everything I’ve described very effectively.

However...

Yes, this is where the criticism comes in. Brace yourselves.

One aspect I find very suspect is the revelation that Manhattan may not quite be as omniscient as we first thought. You see despite being able to predict future events willy nilly throughout the graphic novel, when Laurie asks him to just tell her how the debate ends, he’s conveniently unable to do so because of a sudden burst of tachyons blocking his vision. Now I don’t know about you, but this has the tiniest whiff of bullshit about it. It’s like Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons were halfway through writing the story when one of them suddenly realised that Manhattan’s omniscience could potentially lots of plot holes later on, so they just pulled this out of their arses to cover it up. It’s kind of stupid, especially when there’s a perfectly reasonable explanation without the use of tachyons. Like with the Kennedy assassination, Manhattan could have been aware of what would happen at the end of the graphic novel, but doesn’t do anything because of predestination theory. That would have been fine. That would have been perfectly in-keeping with the character and his themes. Instead we get the biggest bloody plot convenience this side of the pissing Sorting Hat from the second Harry Potter book. I mean if his vision is being blocked by tachyons, then surely he shouldn’t be able to see the future at all, right? Why is it only affecting him now? Utterly ridiculous.

My second complaint centres around Laurie herself.

Up until I’ve been very much enjoying what Moore is doing with Laurie and her alter ego Silk Spectre. Using her sexualised, impractical costume and the clash between her and her mother as a way of exploring and critiquing how women are often viewed and presented in comics. The problem I have however is, having now thoroughly explored it, at no point does Moore ever try to challenge it. This problem first emerged back in A Brother To Dragons where we see her serve Dan’s power fantasy, but this is where it really becomes apparent. She’s just made a shocking and terrible revelation. That her father is the Comedian. A rapist, a murderer and a bastard. Naturally she’s very upset by this, but Manhattan, being so distant, doesn’t fully comprehend her distress. Now this isn’t bad in and of itself for the reasons I’ve just explained. It works from a conceptual standpoint. I’d honestly be fine with it if we see this properly addressed in a future issue. And that’s the problem. Aside from a few brief mentions, we never get to see Laurie fully come to terms with the knowledge of who her father is, which is just crazy to me. It’s as though Laurie serves no purpose as a character in and of herself, but rather how she influences the story’s of the male characters. Laurie discovering her real father isn’t important. It’s Manhattan’s change of heart that’s important. She’s just a means to an end. I can’t tell if this was deliberate or accidental on Moore’s part, but either way, I don’t like it because it reduces her as a character and completely undermines the feminist critique she was offering. It reminds me of the anal sex gag from the first Kingsman movie where it crosses the line between mocking the reductive roles of women and actively reinforcing them. Whereas before Laurie’s character was making a mockery of the unrealistic way women are often portrayed in comics to support a man’s story or to titillate a male reader, now she’s become the very thing she was designed to mock in the first place. It’s such a shame because it just feels like a missed opportunity.

The Darkness Of Mere Being has some brilliant ideas and doesn’t shy away from exploring them. However a few missteps along the way unfortunately lessens the impact of those ideas, at least in my opinion.

[colorisbyshe]

The Ariana topic is a headache bc 1) I ask myself if it was not for history of appropriating, would I still doubt her ''coming out''? Idk I think I might not have 2) Bisexuality / no preference to labels has always been dogged with suspicion. Whether they are celebrity or not. And I fear by always finding reason to doubt celebrities ( yes including Rita) we are repeatedly sending out message, either you know for sure how you identify or else you are not valid. And I think that is so wrong 1/2

           2/2 Specially given all this celebrities we talk about are in their teens and 20s and really isnt that the time for exploration? If you asked me when I was 23 how I identify I would straight up have panic attack. bc I didn’t know. So is it fair to expect celebrities to know their sexuality & have a perfect answer? Idk man at this moment, the only people I have issue with are those who fake come out , other than that, let everyone identify however the hell they want & even change their minds            

Ariana’s situation is not something applicable to like... any other person in the world, so I don’t think bisexual women getting together to discuss how it rubs them the wrong way.

Not to mention, there is literally nothing and I do mean nothing stopping Ariana from saying, “I don’t actually know what label I want to use at the moment,” “I think I might like girls and am exploring that right now,” or even just “Hey, let me figure it out first.”

Ariana made a deliberate choice to sing along to a song her bisexual friend wrote, if she isn’t ready to talk about it at all... she could have just... not done that?

There is a significant difference between “This celebrity must have a perfect answer on hand and that answer must NEVER EVER change” and “This celebrity suggested she was bisexual, so I just wanna know if she even vaguely is.” The difference between the first and the second one is Baiting. Ariana is baiting people.

Non-celebrity people... don’t do that? I don’t go up to someone and say “I LIKE GIRLS! AND ALL OTHER GENDERS!” and then if they go, “Oh, so you’re bisexual? Thats’ cool, so am I!” I don‘t go on to say, “Actually, how dare you assume,  you’re gonna have to just guess because I might still be straight!”

There is tons of language for questioning/confused people to use, definitively stating, “I like women and men” isn’t really it, nor is taking it back when immediately met with PRAISE. Like... her LGBT fanbase was happy? This freed her from criticism? Normal LGBT people aren’t met with literal, tangible benefits (more money) when coming out... which is why we can’t say “Criticizing the weird shit Ariana has been pulling impacts how bisexuals view themselves” when it’s primarily bisexuals criticizing her for how she has made them feel (excited to have someone like us and then to have that taken away).

Ariana could easily say, “I don’t know what label I wanna use right now,” and be met with swaths of praise for “starting a dialogue about how not everyone has a concrete label tehy’re ready to use,” but instead she’s playing a game... the same way she does with how she promotes her music or plays around with her ethnicity.

Celebrities are two things: Human beings, like the rest of us, and they are also brands, companies, products.

As human beings, they are deserving of privacy and exploration. Which is why before this, no one (well, not no one, but most of us) was demanding that she label herself or reveal any personal details to us besides that which she wanted to share.

But she made her “coming out” into a literal product--a song which we can stream and purchase. And then essentially said “I will not confirm or deny that this song applies to me as a person,” meaning the song where she came out is ONLY a product.

So, with her potential bisexuality being only a product, we, as bisexuals, are allowed to express the skepticism we do when we see Nike make rainbow shoelaces or some a show say they have a gay character before killing them off half a season later?

With non-celebrities, there is a 0.01% chance they can use bisexuality to get further in life. We cannot apply our skepticism towards Rainbow Capitalism and the like to people who aren’t making bisexuality a product.

Why should we believe Ariana who was criticized for being a straight person headlining pride AND for hurting LGBT people by making pride inaccessible and then said “It’s not my fault, I’m an ally, but also sucks to suck that LGBT people go to pride?” was REAMED for that, and then a month later makes a gay product and then says “MAYBE this applies to me just enough for us to get over that Pride thing, yeah? Also, can we maybe forget the multiple instances where I teased being bi but actually it was just about me loving myself! Which if I’m actually bi means I’m telling people bisexuality by extension is just narcissism and literally just looking for someone just like yourself to have fun with?”

Her coming out doesn’t fix any of the problems she started (LGBT people still can’t go to fucking pride because of her, she still has a video where loving girls = making out with yourself???) but it sure seems like she thought it would make us forgive them for that.

Bisexuals who have literally everything to lose don’t come out willy nilly and then get to take it back. They don’t do the shit she has done. Even if she is bi, she’s gone about this in a very harmful way which would be more excusable if she actually does at some point come out as literally anything but like... would still have caused real harm.

Again, this is a dialogue primarily bisexuals and other LGBT people are having. Asking us to silence it because a woman who still very well be straight is struggling just... isn’t fair?

Like, I’ve been an “ally” who used being an ally to figure out my sexuality and then come out, so I know what that actually looks like, and it still doesn’t look like that nor would a dialogue like this influence my coming out at all because I would know... it doesn’t apply to me.

“Hey, could this woman who said she was straight just a couple weeks ago, clarify if she actually meant it when she said she liked women and men? She doesn’t even have to say she’s bisexual or use any specific label, can she just say if she meant it or not?” would have nothing to do with my reality because I wasn’t ever saying I liked women and men as someone DEEPLY IN THE CLOSET.

When I finally did say it, I meant it, and would have zero problem saying I meant it because why would I say it if I didn’t mean it? I had everything to lose by saying it--still have almost everything to lose every time I say it.

Ariana’s situation in in no way applicable to like... actual bisexuals. Or even questioning people, lmao.

[heartroadtarot]

Ethony's New Moon In Sagittarius Spread: Reading 12/16/2017 (plus extra cards drawn) 1. "What area of my life could use some expanding?" The Hierophant: The child depicted is examining art tools but does not know how to use them... Everyone has creativity and even a child can finger-faint, but learning skills to improve my technique could help me bring my inspiration to life with finesse and detail. If I would like to attend college art classes, I will need to build a portfolio. 2. "Where do I need to listen more?" The Corsair/Knight of Spirals (Fire): I think someone in my life is trying to help me.... A god particularly...and I've been mistrusting several times... I feel like this representative them... Asking instead of assuming is probably for the best in most situations... :/ Also, I feel I should listen to my desire to expand and explore, rather than constrain.... But to do so with skill, discernment, and coordination, and not let it get to be willy- nilly. 3. "Where do I need to speak more?" The Illusionist/Knight Of Stones (Earth): Re-writing self-doubt. Changing neural pathways and thought patterns takes diligence. (Dogs just barked and I felt Hekate's presence... I remember that she is a goddess of pathways... I hope to work with her as I go through more therapy for these things.) 4. "Where can I bring more fun into my life?" Eight of Stones: In my work life and home-work life. The cauldron also reminds me of magic and witchcraft! I do want to use more magic and fun will help it pack a punch! :) 5. "What lesson have I been learning?" Kali/The Tower: There is a light at the end of the tunnel-- When most of my life so far has been the "Breakdown," then the progress of recent times, and still to come is the Breakthrough. I haven't known how to build anything, because I've not known what to found my efforts on -- or been stable in my own self to determine what was worth it... And now I get the change to find those things out and begin working from a solid place-- in my home life and in my well-being. Summary: The Hermit , Seven of Mirrors. "Going within will help you bring all the pieces together!" The ravens remind me of Thought and Memory... And how entrenched they can be, pre-healing, in the case of mental illnesses... I haven't wanted to work with the Norse god, Odin. I've kept getting signs that I've ignored. But maybe it's worth facing my fears, if it can help... Maybe there's something there worth exploring... (I notice that I've mentioned three different gods during this reading... And the remark to not "expand willy-nilly" is not lost on me... However, I wonder if some of these elements can be brought together harmoniously, along with my current projects and ideas and worship... The impulse to expand outward in so many directions is based in ADHD and mental disorganization, which could very well be helped with therapy or medication, which I will be pursuing with Hekate. One of the other gods at least has been helping me with other mental issues, and has encouraged me to work with Odin before... I am wondering if investigating this possibility may bring in another layer into it all.... )

[jeichanhaka]

Audrina: Ch. 04

Prologue || Chapter 01 || Chapter 02 || Chapter 03 || Chapter 04 || Chapter 05 || Chapter 06|| Chapter 07 || Chapter 08|| Chapter 09 || Chapter 10 || Chapter 11||

Chapter 04: The World In a Grain of Sand

Humming, that's the first thing he noticed - a rhythmic and soothing lullaby being hummed above him. It reminded him of his childhood, of wandering the gardens and chasing butterflies with his sister. She'd be ahead of him, running and smiling, her blonde locks bouncing behind, while he struggled to keep up.

His sister, being older and acutely aware of his struggle, would often slow down until he caught up. Even during races. She'd never however simply let him win - not after the tantrum he threw after their father had done so. Even at five years old, he was stubborn and hated such gestures. His reasoning was that if he was one day going to be a king, he should be just as strong and gallant as their father.

"Hm." Prince Neal gazed around, groggy and with such a blurry vision that he wondered if he was drunk. Or perhaps he had dabbled a bit too much with the exotic herbs and tinctures sometimes found amid the wares of port merchants. There were just so many, and with effects more potent than anything produced by vine or grain, he couldn't help sampling them on occasion.

He searched around, realizing only then that he was standing and that what surrounded him was a strange mix of wall and forest. His vision blurred, almost like he was quickly falling, but he felt no vertigo. It was the walls that were moving, not him. Or at least appeared to.

"...what the hell did I take?" He mumbled, only to rethink his assumption when he realized his body was completely steady. That and when a woman, her face and body obscured by a oversized cloak, spoke.

"Nothing. You're dreaming." The woman spoke, approaching Prince Neal, though not close enough that he could see under her hood.

"Dreaming? This seriously doesn't feel like a dream. At least not one not brought on by herbal tinctures or other alchemical mixes."

"That's because it's not a normal dream." The woman replied and held out her hand, revealing her palm and a tiny grain of sand nested in it. "This speck is from the sands of Morpheus, and it has brought your consciousness here."

Prince Neal stared askance at the speck, shaking his head. "....I've travelled a lot, and it takes more than one grain of the sands of Morpheus to do anything. Besides, it doesn't create dreams - it lets one enter another person's dream."

"And you have entered mine." The woman answered, gesturing around them. The walls that had once been mixed with forest were now solid gray slabs of stone, as was the floor. "It's not much, I know. But...." She sighed, her lips quivering

Prince Neal noticed the tremble on the woman's lip and that of her hand grasping the sand. Whatever this room was, it seemed that it brought nothing but pain to the woman. 'Why doesn't she just dream of something else, if it pains her so?'

"Because it's not just a dream." She answered, making him wonder if he'd spoken the question aloud rather than thought it. "It's a memory. My last." She chewed on her bottom lip, a tear sliding down her cheek.

"When you say last, do you mean...?" Neal asked and the woman nodded before he even completed his question. He blinked and took a step back from the woman, his eyes widening as he stared at her. "Wait, if you're dead, then how....how can I be in your dream?"

"Because of my last wish." The woman whispered and pointed towards the tiny window through which the only light in the room shined. It was night, he finally realized by the dark expanse welcoming his gaze. "That star, that bright star there, I made a wish upon it while drawing my last breath."

Neal listened and stared at the star, the only one in the sky - at least it seemed such by how brightly it outshined the rest. Even the moon was nowhere to be seen.

"And that same star was in the sky when Audrina cast her curse." The woman finished, her voice wistful throughout, particularly so when she said the name.

"...." Neal scrunched his face, thinking. "Audrina said it was a karma spell she cast, not a curse."

"A karma spell is ancient magic and can become a curse under certain conditions." The woman grimaced and twisted her lips, mulling over Neal's words. "It could've become a blessing instead."

"I...." Neal pulled a face and averted his gaze from the woman. His brow furrowed as he noticed the numerous tally marks etched into the stone walls. There were so many, and a few were specked with red, like the hand that carved them had been cut. "....How long were you here?"

"Too long." The woman replied, her lips pulled into a frown. She didn't elaborate, but rather pulled her cloak tighter around herself, her hands lingerings for the briefest of moments on her abdomen.

"I..." Prince Neal exhaled and crossed his arms, unsure what else to say or ask. A heavy silence enveloped the room, making the place more surreal and uncomfortable.

"You're probably curious why you're here." The woman broke the silence, for the first time gazing up at the prince. Her tired, blue eyes searched his face, beseeching him to listen. "I had hoped that my daught...." She stumbled over the word, her lips trembling. Clearing her throat, she steadied herself and continued. "I'd hoped she'd be the one to see this. So I could....but that's no longer possible. She can't dream anymore. Not while the curse remains unbroken."

"...is that why I'm here? You want me to break this curse?" Prince Neal laughed, and shook his head. "I...I didn't come back to break curses or play hero. I came to...." He didn't continue, but simply shook his head, his thoughts on the vials Audrina had taken from him. The Dreamshade.

"You have to. You're the only one who can."

"Why? I am not at all hero material. Other than who my parents were, there's nothing special about me. My sister was to be the Savior, and my nephew the future king. I...." He scoffed and rubbed his chin, shaking his head. "I'm just the black sheep in a family of heroes. Not once have I done anything heroic. I...what makes you think I could or would even try to? Why not bother my nephew? He'd make a decent hero."

The woman slowly shook her head, frowning. "You're the only one. The only one to not succumb to the curse. The only one who even attempted to think something good about the Evil Queen."

"What? But wait...I thought...." He grimaced, thinking about the sheer pain that ran through his veins when the curse light touched him.

"If you'd succumbed to the curse, you wouldn't be here. The karma curse Audrina used takes away the ability to dream. Not even the sands of Morpheus can overcome that." The woman spoke, her voice gradually becoming quieter and more ephemeral. The room too grew dim, fading into a blur.

“What? Hey!” Prince Neal exclaimed, his whole body growing light and his vision blurry. Everything soon grew as dark and deep as the night sky, and even as he continued to call out he knew it was futile. Whatever had caused him to dream in the first place was wearing off, and he soon became aware of warmth and the crackling of a fire.

It contrasted with the rough, cold floor beneath his back. The clanging and clunking of someone hectically searching through and tossing objects further pushed away the comfort provided by the fire.

“....on. Damn it!” Someone shouted from another room, loud enough to carry through thick the walls.

Prince Neal opened his eyes and sat up, his head groggy and haunted by a dull ache. He rubbed his eyes, noting the fire crackling in a large fireplace and the musty scent old castles gave when left uninhabited too long.

“Damn it!” The person swore again, followed by a loud clash as though smashing something with all their might. It was followed by a few more choice words and then footsteps stomping closer.

Prince Neal bristled and climbed to his feet, not caring for the anger in each step. He desperately grabbed for his bow and vials, only to remember how Audrina had taken them.

“Shit.” He cursed, almost jumping when the room’s door crashed open. It was then he realized how large the room was, especially compared to the tiny dungeon room from the dream. More like a grand dining chamber or trophy room, going by the various items, tables, and chairs scattered willy-nilly. His eyes widened as they locked on the man who entered.

Dressed in a dark attire that was pristine yet foreign to any realm Prince Neal had traveled through, the man seethed. His dark brown eyes searched the room and its scattered objects, not showing any surprise just frustration. “Where the hell did he put it?”

“....” Prince Neal tensed and grabbed the closest object he could find, his instinct cultivated from years of exploration and facing dangers kicking in. He brandished his makeshift weapon and growled at the stranger. “Who are you?! And...where am I?! Answer me!”

Rumplestiltskin glowered at Prince Neal, though his anger was tempered slightly by the sight of the younger man holding out a two-pronged fork as a weapon. “...what are you going to do if I don’t? Stab me with that dinner fork?”

“I…well, I’ve slain a bear with a sling and rock before.” Prince Neal boasted, recalling an incident from some years back when he hunted a ginormous brown bear for its bounty and a bet with a stranger in a pub. “This should be easier.” He blustered, though it didn’t stop his arm from becoming covered in goosebumps.

“I don’t care if you’ve slain a dragon by shouting at it. That fork isn’t going to hurt me.” Rumplestiltskin scoffed, his bemusement at the other’s bravado not enough to curtail his anger.

“Well, I….” Prince Neal shrugged, glanced at the fork and then tossed it away. “Whatever. I just want to know where I am so I know how far it is to the closest port. Between Audrina and that dream I just had, I’m done.”

“You’re in the Dark One castle.” Rumplestiltskin answered, his lips twitching as he noticed the alarm in the younger man’s eyes.

“The Dark….and you’re just tossing everythin….” Prince Neal paled, his widened eyes taking in the mess.

“Don’t worry. I don’t mind. And this realm’s version of me won’t either, not after I get my hands on him.” Rumple seethed, not caring about the effect of his explanation on the younger man.

“Wait...what?”

[tuchimuchibrainvomit]

EPISODE 2:

Aloha, fellow Sakuga Seedlings!

Welcome to my case study series, Brain Vomit.

Name’s

Tuchimuchi Yoshinori – or just Tuchi…

And I enjoy animation. Especially animation from the eastern archipelago of Japan, also called “Anime”

In this series, right here, I’ll be exploring Japanese Animation Production and enlightening this growing community and myself to the power they have in this expansive animated medium.

Today’s Lesson is on Animation Principles!!

So, you want to learn the basics of animation--which are completely universal, so this may be our most accessible… Maybe, I should have made this the first episode instead.

Oh well, my show, my rules…

Back onto topic--

Q: What is animation?

A: Animation (n): the technique of photographing successive drawings or positions of puppets or models to create an illusion of movement when the movie is shown as a sequence.

“I GET SO EMOTIONAL BABY!! EVERY TIME I THINK OF ANIMATION!!!”

Or basically, moving pictures one after the other in sequence.

But you can’t just go in and animate all willy-nilly, yet. Not until you’ve learned the basics of Animation.

Think of them as analogous to the Art Elements of Line, Color, Form, Value and Texture.

But since there are far better sources to give you a more in-depth analysis of each principle -- I’ll take a rudimentary approach to save myself time because it’s Saturday and I have like a billion other things to do...

I’m a human, damnit! Fight me!!

So let’s break them down, shall we:

-- Squash and Stretch: My favorite principle, and in short, exaggerating proportions in movement to allow for stronger illusions of motion. A great example of this from both an animation and writing standpoint is Monkey D. Luffy from One Piece, who is written completely around this principle.

But how can I use this in my own animation?

Well, it can be used for a myriad of things, from effects to specific character motions. However, due to the limitations of frames, these stretches and squashes have to be calculated and takes a lot of experiments to get it right!

-- Anticipation: As it sounds, setting up actions between other actions. Be it holding a motion back, extending a keyframe to a longer period or slowing down/adding more frames to a specific action. Like in horror, anticipation is about slowing things down and snapping when necessary. Snaps without anticipation look choppy and anticipation with no pay off is unfulfilling. Unless you’re like horror movies and trying to troll your audience into a false sense of security.

In this example, the Obari Punch method is literally an exaggeration of Anticipation. A build up to an action -- thus anticipation for the punch itself. Take it away, Saitama:

-- Staging: While one of the more vague. Staging is both literally and metaphorical. Staging a set or scene, is knowing your layout, your characters and the context.

But staging in this sense is more about clarity.

Is the idea of your action, scene or emotion being delivered clearly? That’s the most important question.

The start of a Pokemon batlle is just a style of staging. You know the scene, two trainers, two monsters, battle. Stage set.

Bonus: JEDI LUNGE!!!

-- Straight Ahead Action and Pose to Pose: While less of a type of animation and more a method of animation, these two together are different ways of animating and both are integral to understanding animation.

SAA (Straight Ahead Action) is when you draw each frame and in-between one after the other, letting the outcome from the action’s flowing.

P2P (Pose to Pose) is drawing each pose and filling the transition between them in. This is most commonly seen in limited animation as Keyframe Animators draw Keys which are main poses, and In-between Animators fill in the rest with--in-betweens.

Both are integral, but I find using a mix of the two depending on the situation and direction to be the most successful. Better tool sets.

Here is an example of more clear straight ahead animation...

And my Animator Husbando, Imaishi is an obvious lover of pose-to-pose animation.

Both have merits in different situations, ya see.

-- Follow Through and Overlapping Action: Probably the most literal of the components, Follow Through is literally following through the action, making sure motions stop when they are supposed to and Overlapping Action follows, setting up the next action. Like people, characters never stop existing and Overlapping Action and Follow Through keep that sense to never be lost. A great example of this is imagine a jump, when you land, you impact (possibly stumble or roll), Follow-through and Overlapping Action.

All of these Rolling Girl animations, while traced from an original base, are full of follow-through and overlapping actions. Each movements flow and adapt to one another.

Knowing how weight works in reality is one of the many facets needed to master FT and OA.

In my opinion, anime can be very -- flaky to weight and overlapping action in general anime. But then there is Mitsuo Iso.

An animation is worth 24,000 words per second.

-- Slow In and Slow Out: Or more commonly known as Ease On and Ease Out, is the natural acceleration and deceleration of an action beginning and ending. When a ball rolls, it doesn’t just start at top speed or stop on a dime. It starts slow and gains speed, then tops off and comes to a stop.

See how a bouncing ball steadies as it reaches the apex and accelerates as it bounces?

Slow in and Slow Out.

-- Arcs: Curves. Real life is about curves. This is one principle that can have several different meanings.

Curves as in curvature motion is one. All human motion is done through curves, angular motion is often more attributed with mechanical systems.

Curves can also mean line of action, or a character’s basic motion can be broken down into a series of curves.

It’s also a meaning for the fact the visual path is in arcs. As in how you see and perceive motion. This principle is all about knowing how the human eyes work and acclimating that to extend to the illusion of movement.

Bouncing Ball is the best animation study subject. It can hit most everything. Just draw the arcs in animation, it’ll make more sense and will become handy as I hit more topics and animators down the road.

-- Secondary Action: As we know, all moving parts are not created equal. This is that principle, animation is the exact same idea, If you have a character with a long flowing tail, it will animate far differently and at a different pace than the rest of the body and clothing. Secondary Actions are the motions created by the actions of another. Such as moving cloth, the smoke leaving the character’s mouth or water splashing from a character taking a dive.

A scarf or hair is a great way to practice Secondary Action.

-- Timing and Spacing: Arguably the most important principle, understanding what time actions occur and how to space the drawings to be believable. The best way to practice and understand Timing and Spacing is to research, research, research and then experiment.

What movement speed feels right for the actions I’m working with?

Now how do I space the drawings to emulate that timing?

In limited animation, am I using the same frames or all new ones?

Am I animating on the ones, twos, or threes?

These are important things to remember and ask yourself. On the ones, twos and threes is merely how long each frame is held, often messing with the natural times.

Experimenting with timing and spacing can lead to strong impacts and more believeable formats.

I know this was in one of my last posts, but this GDC conference about Skullgirls animation goes into timing manipulation to add to fighting game impact. I’m putting it here again because it’s truly worth watching.

-- Exaggeration: How far can your character’s proportions be warped for the sake of movement? Knowledge of this is omni-important.

Exaggeration can be both in art, as well as a specfic metaphor or motion. Tsuritama does a really good job at both metaphorical and artistic exaggeration. But that’s just one example.

Other anime that do a great job are anything directed by Akiyuki Shinbou,

This -- just this... Everything about the facial expression, the wind, the camera, the shot composition and negative white space... It leads to an exaggerated sadness and feeling of loneliness -- hell, it could even see as a loss of innocence in an imperfect world, when you see the weight of the left side of the frame breaking the of subtly overpowering the white purity on the left and her intense motion breaking the balance even further...

It’s Monogatari so probably both and more, because this series is all about visual metaphors and exaggeration of emotions. But I digress, I didn’t come here to become the next Mother’s Basement or Digibro -- I love them both, so don’t flame me.

Moving on...

-- Solid Drawing: Simply defined, difficult to master. Solid Drawing is the ability to draw your character from ANY POSSIBLE angle in any pose and make it look accurate. This comes with knowledge of both manipulating a metaphorical camera, knowing your character’s design and body and form. The best advice I can give is to practice.

Model sheets are a must-need for solid drawing, especially with a team of animators from different backgrounds and styles.

-- Appeal: Simple and conclusive, draw something that is satisfying to the audience’s eyes. Make it feel authentic, whether it’s horror or action, it has to come across that way to the audience. Appeal is a broad spectrum as not everyone can be satisfied by one thing. So know your audiences well and appeal to them. However, my best piece of advice and in my honest opinion in amateur animation is to appeal to yourself and enjoy what you are making.

If you don’t enjoy it, you wouldn’t do it, right?

Goddamnit, Pusheen... You’re too appealing that I cannot...

And this is a great segue into our topic for Episode 3, where Appeal matters most: Character Design.

I’ll see you all next time!!

ON THE NEXT BRAIN VOMIT!!

EPISODE 3: CHARACTER DESIGN, THE LIFE FIBER 100% SYNCHRONIZE -- KAMUI SENKETSU!!!

STAY TUNED NEXT SATURDAY AT 7PM EST FOR NEXT EXPEDITION INTO SAKUGA GOODNESS!!

DON’T MISS IT, OR I’LL HAVE TO PUNISH YOU!!

Remember: Always bloom proudly,

– TUCHI OUT!!!

[fae-fucker]

The One: Chapter 26-27

Chapter 26

America mopes around at home. Just a couple of things to note:

I didn’t even want [Lucy] serving me, and it seemed she was mostly fine with helping Mom however she could or playing with May.

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but there’s something icky about the fact that America accepted people serving her so easily. She’s supposedly someone who’s super poor, I feel like she’d be more squicked out by the idea of having servants, since that’s a rich people thing. Especially considering that Lucy admitted that they’re basically slaves. WHICH YEAH, WHY DID I SUDDENLY FORGET ABOUT THAT. Probably because the book did, but WHAT THE FUCK.

But I guess since America harbors no ill will toward the upper class, because they’re actually all good and precious and can’t help that they’re creating this caste system, she probably thinks that servants are totally cool. Maybe she’s such a NATURAL LEADER that it’s in her nature to have people wiggle around like worms at her feet.

Anyway, because KCass is a hack and TWU WUV can only happen once, we find out that America suddenly thinks that her thing with Aspen wasn’t real love, unlike what she has with Maxon. Which I call bullshit, because she describes her “love” for both exactly the same way. But I guess when your TWU WUV shows up, you realize that all those other times you’ve been in love was actually fake and worthless and terrible. (Sideyes SJM, too.)

You know what pisses me off though? We’ve spent three books with America as she tried to figure out which boy’s dick she wants to sit on the most, only to find out that one of the dicks wasn’t even a real seat in the first place. 

Like, we all knew that Maxon was going to win from the first time we read the blurb, but the fact that Aspen didn’t even mean shit to America herself (not as much as Maxon apparently does anyway) at all makes this whole thing feel even cheaper.

Anyway, America talks to her older sister about the fact that she can’t admit to Aspen that she doesn’t love him anymore, despite also never having loved him for realzies in the first place. Why?

“What if Maxon picks someone else? I can’t walk away from this with nothing. At least if Aspen still thinks there’s a chance, maybe we could try again when everything’s over.”

She stared at me. “You’re using Aspen as a safety net?”

I buried my head in my hands. “I know, I know. It’s awful, isn’t it?”

THIS IS SOMETHING THAT’S A LEGIT CHARACTER FLAW THAT SHOULD BE BROUGHT UP AND EXAMINED AND RESOLVED. NOT SOMETHING YOU THROW IN ALL WILLY-NILLY AT THE END OF THE BOOK. 

HOLY SHIT, KCASS, WHAT’S WRONG WITH YOU?!

This isn’t anything new, we all know America is a selfish twat, but still. What the actual fuck?

Whatever. The chapter ends with Aspen trying to talk to America about something (the fact that he’s in love with Lucy I bet), but because KCass doesn’t know the concept of having mercy, America nonsensically shuts him up and tells him to fuck off before he can spit out the truth.

Chapter 27

America returns to the castle and all the other Selection girls have a surprise party because Maxon is announcing his engagement tomorrow!

The room exploded with cheers, and I was so confused. Emmica, Ashley, Bariel . . . everyone was here. I hunted, but I knew it was pointless. Marlee wouldn’t be invited to this. 

“This celebration that isn’t meant for me is POINTLESS because my personal dick-sucker isn’t here!” Cry me a fucking river, you selfish little bitch.

Apparently Celeste and Elise were kicked out and only she and Kriss are left. If Maxon really wanted to show America that he’s chosen her, picking her only real rival to stay as the last girl is ... suspicious. Why didn’t he just kick her out too? Oh right, because KCass can’t fucking live without idiotic last-minute drama, so Kriss has to stay for when Maxon and America inevitably break up again so he can pretend he’ll marry her for “tension”. 

SJM (claims that she) lets her characters control the plot and steer it to nonsensical levels of idiocy, KCass forces her characters to do shit that makes no damn sense for the sake of the plot. 

Both exremes are bad, children.

America confronts Kriss about being a rebel (because she’s wearing a dumb star necklace around her neck like an idiot) and acts weirdly pissed about it?

“I haven’t done anything illegal. I’m not mounting protests anywhere; I just support the cause.”

“Fine,” I spat. “But how much of your part in the Selection is you wanting Maxon and how much is your group wanting one of their own on the throne?”

Why the fuck is America being an uppety bitch about this? Her dad, whom she supposedly loves so much, was a rebel. Why the fuck is she suddenly so anti-rebellion? I know she loves to suck rich dick but what the fuck?

Oh wait, is she worried that poor Maxi Pad will be UUUUUSED for POLITICAL REASONS and not marry for TWU WUV. Poor Maxi-Waxy!!! Spare him from this horrible fate!!! 

KCass, what’s wrong with you?

I wanted to tell her that Maxon and I could do great things, too, that we’d probably already done more than she could guess.

Oh, really? Tell me one thing. ONE THING, BITCH, CAN YOU DO IT?!

Besides, she and I had a lot in common. I came here for my family; she came here for a family of sorts.

You came here for your family? Lmao what? Don’t give me that bullshit, America. You were always motivated by men. You came because Aspen rejected you, and any time Maxon rejected you, you wanted to leave.

KCass, don’t try to pull this. I know you didn’t expect someone who can actually think about what they’re reading to read your schlock, but this retroactive motivation patch won’t fool me. 

Should I keep my mouth shut? Should I at least let someone know? Was this even a bad thing?

Well, Kriss is a rebel sympathizer and remember how you refused to sentence one to prison even though he was already sentenced? Or do you not care if it’s a woman and she’s a rival competing for your maaan?

Fuck off.

Kriss also says that she won’t “back down” even if America tries to sell her out or blackmail her, but she’s like ... in no position to make such statements. We know how the rebels are punished. America could tell the king and have Kriss arrested and she’d become the princess because there would be no one left. I’m not saying America would do such a thing (but she obviously considers it), because that would require being proactive and ambitious and we’ve already established that America’s greatest strength is her being a passive doormat, but I’m saying that Kriss is overestimating her power here. 

If there was something real between Maxon and Kriss, any attempt to expose her would look like a desperate last effort to win. And even if that worked, that wasn’t how I wanted to get Maxon.

I wanted him to know I loved him.

It’s all about Maxon. Everything revolves around Maxon. 

Speaking of which, America leaves the party to mope and Maxon comes into her room to suck her dick some more.

“I’m glad I at least got to meet [her dad]. I can see bits of him in you, you know.”

[...]

“Your sense of humor, for one. And your tenacity. When he and I spoke during his visit, he grilled me. It was nerve-racking, but kind of funny at the same time. You’ve never just let me off the hook either.

“Of course, you have his eyes and I think his nose, too. And I can see your optimism beaming out sometimes. He gave me that impression as well.”

Sense of humor?? What sense of humor?? What tenacity?? Optimism?? 

Sense of humor: Where???

Tenacity: *anything goes slightly wrong* OH NO I’VE FAILED BETTER GIVE UP.

Optimism: *boy does something slightly mysterious* OH NO HE DOESN’T LOVE ME ANYMORE!! EVERYTHINS IS RUINED!!

Sure. Uh huh. KCass is just pulling these traits out of her ass at this point.

Anyway, Maxon apparently has bought her family a house. So that’s ... great.

He did this so they could live closer! But??? Why???? What does it all mean!!!! America is still as dumb as ever, I see.

They start making out but because they’re GOOD GOOD CHRISTIAN CHILDREN, we don’t get any dick-in-vag action. 

I was going crazy, wanting so much more of him, aching to know if he’d let me have it.

FEED HER THE LITTLE PRINCE, MAXON. SHE NEEDS IT INSIDE HER.

He doesn’t. Instead, they finally exchange I love yous and:

I wanted to stay up all night with him, to explore this new feeling we’d discovered.

“New”? NEW? BAROLD, ROLL THE CLIP!!

Before long we were tangled together on the dirty, thin rug. Aspen pulled me on top of him, and I brushed his scraggly hair with my fingers, hypnotized by the feel. He kissed me feverishly and hard. I felt his fingers dig into my waist, my back, my hips, my thighs. I was always surprised that he didn’t leave little finger-shaped bruises all over me.

We were cautious, always stopping shy of the things we really wanted. [The Selection, Chapter2]

BUT I GUESS IT WASN’T REAL HORNINESS WHEN YOU WERE WITH ASPEN, RIGHT?! IT WAS ALL JUST A LIE!! ANYTHING THAT HAPPENED WITH ASPEN WAS IN THE MATRIX, THIS IS ALL IN THE REAL WORLD AND YOU AND MAXON ARE CURRENTLY MAKING OUT IN ZION WHILE THERE’S A HUGE RAVE OUTISIDE!!

There’s some noise outside (the rave probably) and Maxon freaks out and tells America that he can’t fuck her right now, because he’s so stressed out.

“Don’t be sad. I want to take you on a proper honeymoon. Someplace warm and private. No duties, no cameras, no guards.” He wrapped his arms around me. “It will be so much better that way. And I can really spoil you.”

[...]

“You can’t spoil me, Maxon. I don’t want anything.”

[...]

“Oh, I know. I don’t intend on giving you things. Well,” he amended, “I do intend on giving you things, but that’s not what I mean. I’m going to love you more than any man has ever loved a woman, more than you ever dreamed you could be loved. I promise you that.”

“I’m gonna dive in your cooch for so long I’ll develop gills, babe.”

I sighed, promising myself that we’d talk about Aspen tomorrow. It would need to happen before the ceremony, and I felt sure I knew how to explain things in the best way. For now, I would enjoy this tiny bubble of peace and rest securely in the arms of the man I loved.

Good fucking night.

[teamcalamity]

Opus Explorations - First Impressions of Planet 8

Welcome to Opus Explorations, a regular feature hoping to provide some inspiration to those of you stuck on the world map, not sure where to turn.

In each installment we will present deck ideas along with a brief summary, a suggested list and the verdict based on actual results when run at Team Calamity OP nights (usually a 4 round Swiss). If the summary sparks a tingle in your loins, then you can access in depth profiles of each deck in separate linked articles.  

With Opus VIII just about to launch, rather than deck lists this time we decided to just go with a few cards we are looking forward to trying (note we haven't seen the full list yet) . If you haven't already then read our previous post which might give you a bit more insight/context into some of the choices we make below...

Rich

Cloud

I might be completely wrong about this card, but I feel that Cloud has the potential to dethrone some of the more frequently played 5 drop fire forwards. Whilst the damage dealt in the early game feels a bit underwhelming, his damage will grow the longer the game goes on. I think the closest comparison to Cloud is Baugavern - except Cloud fits better into dual element decks, replaces the special with the ex burst effect and doesn't damage for a fixed value. And Baugavern by all accounts is a decent card for mono fire, right? The second ability is probably not going to be utilised unless it has the potential to win you the game, but it's mostly going to be risky to just use willy-nilly.

Ultimately, I think Cloud and the presence of efficient finisher damage like Iroha or Rain, could lead the the emergence of an up-tempo mono fire deck that's heavily centred on enter the field effects. Feel free to taunt me 4 weeks after release about how wrong I was, which is often the way when I open my mouth about newly spoiled fire legends...

Lasswell

Lasswell is the card I'm most excited to play this set. It is packed with power that can be problematic for your opponent on a short, medium and long term basis. The most important of Lasswell's effects is his enter the field, as I feel that in today's environment, any card without an enter the field ability is instantly less playable. It's not the most efficient way of generating an on-entry dull and freeze (I'm looking at you, Genesis...), but the efficiency comes from keeping him alive and using the on-swing effect every turn - which for 1 fire cp is nuts.

The special is a bonus more than anything - I imagine that most opponents will immediately respond to Lasswell more than any other forwards due to the pressure he brings, and keeping him alive long enough to use Azure Sky might be problematic.

The one drawback to Lasswell is that he realistically only fits into Fire/Ice decks, and even then I feel like that he requires the deck to be centred around him. Sure - he can be run as a 3 of, and devout'd back if necessary. But I think how the deck runs when Lasswell ISN'T on the field could be an issue. Still, if he performs as well as I think he can, he could be the revival piece to the competitive fire ice decks of yore.

Yuffie

Yuffie represents the ultimate value card, even if it does require a specific setup. Luckily, it will be quite easy to fulfil the 3 Category VII characters requirement via backups - had this card said forwards instead of characters I would feel very different about it.

Despite the necessity of being tied to other Category 7 cards, I think there is a lot you can do with a sneaky Yuffie ninja attack. The 1k AoE on-swing provides a cheap proc for a plethora of other decks (namely Barbarricia and Diabolos in wind, possibly Orlandeau or Opus 5 Ramuh if you feel like getting spicy with Wind Lightning featuring the Turks).

I don't think that Yuffie will be much of a game changer, and she is far from a high impact card. But I think the card represents good value if you meet the criteria and run Godo, and it nailed the flavour of what Yuffie should do in this card game - which does not include being Vincent's or Red XIII's side bitch.

Mitch

Earth – Ardyn. 1 million CP.My pick for earth card is Ardyn. Now I know what some of you are screaming at the screen “but Mitch, the world’s best player, surely you must see that this dies to Famfrit” (*Replace with your favourite way to bone this card) and let’s be honest, if this card couldn’t be removed in any way, this game would just go to deck out and be really boring, god forbid this counter play. I’m under no illusion this card is great verses all match ups and as a result isn’t going to be a 3 of. Just don’t play it vs water…But now I will get to why I like the card; it actually has nothing to do with playing the card. I like it because it forces your opponents to build their deck in a way that they have an out to it, be it Deathgaze, Vayne, Deathgaze, Famfrit or even Deathgaze. This legend will auto win some match ups if they have no easy way to remove. I understand that this card also has “counter play” in that you can break your own characters to stop this beasty from blocking. Okay. Break your stuff. Let’s take earth wind for example, what would they want to break? Cactuar? Nope A back up? Nope, that deck is so refined that it will really struggle to deal with it. Earth Wind can adapt,  but while this is true it that just feeds into my first point.

Lightning – Alphinaud

I know I should of picked the Kpop girls, but honestly they don’t excite me as cards, until they get the support to search or something to make this consistent. I may be wrong but the hype isn’t there for me at the moment.

I also see a lot of promise for mono lightning this set, you have that legend that deals 1k more than a fire legend who shall be shunned (BAD PALOM) and an action that makes this card a kill on sight.

My Card however is Alphinaud, searchable, haste with the right set up, but my interest is more in the deck it opens up. I believe that WOFF monsters, paired with this, lava golem and Urianger will actually become a thing. Urianger can bring back WOFF monsters with this card; it is a cheap aggro deck with a huge aggressive side. Originally I was thinking WOFF monsters would be 9k beasts, but with Alphinaud they won’t even be blocked!

Water – Shitty finger Zidane

I think fire might actually get to see some play this set, finally becoming a game of six colours. Fire got some great cards but it also got cards in other colours that compliment it. Everyone has thought of the Sage on Zidane first turn, and don’t get me wrong, it’s incredible. But I do think Zidane is viable in any water deck.

Zidane, to me, has given something to water which was sorely lacking or at least not strong enough to play and that is an aggressive early game. Everyone knows when you play water they need to set up, but this gives them a different playstyle. Then we come to the ability that it can’t be blocked if you have 6 or more in hand. Keeping 6 in hand before you swing should be viable which forces early removal for your opponent. This allows you to keep your hand up while setting up. Oh by the way, did anyone mention this was good with Fire?

Tom

It's easy to cream over new legends so i'll go for some that are a little less obvious, but I think will be really fun. 

Ice - Palom

2cp Ice forward with discard.....turbo is back!  Well no it's not, thank fuck, but for 2cp you get a multi choice card with all very viable options that you can flex depending on your situation and place a forward on top.  Ground breaking hero, no but I'd love to see ice evolve out from the standard Setzer, Locke VI discard package and I think there's options now to really play around with some different combos/deck setups. 

Fire - Marche

This was spoiled fairly early on and I think has gone under the radar.  Fire was crying out for some consistent value plays and this offers that with an EX to boot (it's searchable too).  I generally don't like cards that force you into mono situations but I like fire so i'll let this pass.  I'd never thought I say it but with Opus 8 buffing fire somewhat, will you be able to find space for this into a mono fire deck?! One to test out for sure.

Earth - Gladiolus  

FF15 slowly crawls it's way into FFTCG, this will probably be one more for fan service.  Limited to Earth CP yes, however, you are going to be running Noctis so that shouldn't be an issue meaning you get a 2cp 9k forward with a dreamy 6 pack.  I also love a special and this one is decent if not a little costly.  You will mainly be running for the cheap body (no pun intended).  Meta defining no, but if you are a fan this will be fun. Depending on the rest of the crew and if we get another Noctis could get interesting.

Peter

Sherlotta 8-053H

Ok so for a 2cp investment, at some point in the game you can cash in Sherlotta. Put her to the break zone to generate 1cp of any element.

You could do this immediately after playing her. For just 2cp! She's certainly my hero of this set.

Let's take a look at the possibilities of this mysterious woman.

Sherlotta will be a card I'll be looking to get 3 foils of, 100%.

Wind is my favourite element and the fact that this card now exists puts wind in a very fun position. You can add any card u want into the deck. You can play Phoenix L, Exodus, Dadaluma and even Opus 2 Yuna. Oh wait... noone plays that anyway :)

From a competitive aspect. Wind is a very popular element choice currently in the meta. Now every wind deck has access to the best bkup in the game. Shantotto. Scary thought huh?

So maybe it will even bring a psycological factor now I'm thinking about it.

As you know Shantotto is like Chaos/Cosmos and taps for any cp. In fact it gains the elements so there's synergy with H Bartz straight away.

I may be mistaken but up til now there isnt a way of playing a 6cp card without discarding from your hand. I feel this is important to mention because you're taxing your hand less which is great for high ceiling turns.

Honestly can't wait to build with this card. I'll be happier than a Catholic priest in an orphanage.

Team Calamity's OP runs every Friday from 7pm at Calamity Comics in Hatfield (North of London). You can also follow us on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook (teamcalamityfftcg), contact us on email (teamcalamityfftcg@gmail.com). Alternatively just write anything on the FFTCG Fans Facebook page, Team Calamity's James Stevenson will no doubt comment on it.

[someone-drank-the-tap-water]

Vallaslin Chapter 2 : DA:I Fanfic

Chapter 1 Here

***

The cave Aelin had spoken of was much further east than Pelle had imagined. When the First had said she was with Fen when she found it, Pelle had assumed it would be nearby. Almost an hour later Pelle was sure he'd underestimated just how far this cave really was. Perhaps to Aelin it wasn't far, but to Pelle...a league was a decent walk!

Pelle pressed his thin hands against his knees slouching over lazily. Compared to Aelin, Pelle was dangerously out of shape. He was not graceful like the First lightly jogging through the woods leaping over roots and weaving the trees with such elegance. She really was a force of nature when she got moving, it was no surprise many of the Hunters wanted to marry her.

At the moment the First was standing tall, her hands rested upon her hips as she stared down into their destination. She'd been there for quite some time, she only left the healer in the dust entirely. He was lucky he didn't get lost. It was the sound of Pelle's wheezing and labored coughs that alerted Aelin of his presence. The young woman shifted her weight to the right turning to look at him, a pitying smile painted on her face. "Was I too fast for you?" She asked.

Pelle answered her with a loud cough and a lift of his index finger. He would need a few more moments to collect his bearings before he would be ready to speak again. His ribs ached terribly and his throat throbbed dry from his excessive breathing. Letting out a deep sigh, the younger elf pushed his blond waves away from his face and took a look at the cave he'd nearly killed himself to find.

"That looks....ominous." He commented.

"It's a ruin." Said Aelin. "Did you think it would be lit with pretty candles?"

Pelle bit his tongue, he'd almost fussed that she ought not make fun of the person watching over her body. That would however sound like a threat, a threat he would never be cruel enough to enact. He gave a pained grunt pushing himself back up to stand.

"Let's just go." He said with a pout picking himself up and wandering past the First and down into the cave.

"I..I wouldn't just walk in all willy nilly Pelle." Said the First.

Pelle was not listening. She already told him there might be spiders, she already told him it would be dark. What other way did she want him to enter? He shrugged off her warning and pressed on into the darkness. The light only grew thinner the further the young healer ventured downwards. How did the Hunters manage this? They wandered into caves all the time right? How could they bear the feeling that the darkness was swallowing them? Pelle glanced behind feeling a sudden unease wash over him. He could see nothing but the darkness.

"Aelin?" The young healer called the First.

There was no answer. Pelle felt his stomach turn to knots instantly when the only answer he received was the sound of his own voice trailing back to him. He hadn't gone that far had he? Come to think of it, the stairs he'd descended down had been quite long hadn't they? There was no way a cave like this could delve so deep into the earth, and Aelin had no reason not to answer him.

Something was wrong...

Gingerly the elf looked around him. Why did he feel like he was standing in a shadow box? He glanced at his feet only to notice something strange. The stairs were gone... A surprised yelp escaped the healer's throat, clumsily he spun around in half circles back and forth trying to identify anything familiar. Again he turned back to face the darkness from whence he came and reached out his hand to feel for the First, he was desperate to feel the fabric of her leathers by now. What he felt instead made his heart skip a beat. It was a solid wall....a solid...black wall. Pelle swallowed hard, this was a bad idea, a very bad idea. Of course a cave like this would be crawling with more oddities than just spiders. What he was seeing...there was no way any of it was real. The Fade loved to twist and taunt your mind into seeing things that were not real. Being conscious of that was the first step to escaping. The elf shut his eyes tight chanting in a low voice. "It's not real...it's not real...it's not real."

If he reminded himself enough perhaps he could break free from the grasp holding onto his senses. Pelle opened his eyes slowly taking in a deep breath. There was still a wall standing in between him and his freedom. There was but one way to go until the hallucinations ended. He would have to wander further inside, he was sure if he did not...something would usher him forward.

And then there it surely was. The source of his troubles. A set of six glowing red eyes staring into his amber eyes. Pelle leapt back a terrified shriek erupting from his vocal chords so loud that it caused his voice to crack and fall flat. Then, as if he'd been snapped awake from a terrible dream he saw a knife crafted from Drakestone pierce through the face of a giant spider. Pelle lay on the stairs awkwardly the spider's hairy legs falling limp onto his thin frame.

"I knew you were afraid of spiders Pelle. But not that afraid." Said Aelin.

Pelle shot up streams of tears pouring down his face. His entire body trembled, had Aelin not seen the strange things he did? How was she, someone whose connection to the Fade much stronger than his, been spared from the horrific hallucinations? Pelle looked behind him, he was more relieved to see the First than he was willing to admit.

"Where did you go?" He asked her.

"Me? Nowhere." She replied extending out a hand to him. "You just stopped walking all of a sudden, you looked confused, and then a spider crawled up and you screamed."

Pelle gave a bewildered expression. The things he'd seen and the things she'd seen were almost two different worlds. She had taken his unease as him being jumpy, but in reality he had been trapped in a dream. He wondered would she experience the same should she drift off to sleep in this place. Perhaps he ought to warn her. He did not wish for Aelin to see the eyes he had seen, to be ensnared the way he was.

"Aelin...I think we should leave." Said Pelle taking her hand.

Aelin smiled softly. "Pelle, it's alright." She stated taking her thumb and brushing the rogue tear from his face. "You're just scared, and that's okay. But I do really want to explore. Stay behind me alright? You'll be fine."

Pelle sighed. So what, he was just weak per usual. He knew what he saw! Suppose he couldn't blame her. While he trusted Aelin not to treat him like everyone else did. He wouldn't put it past her to treat him like a child. The two had been stuck with each other since Pelle came to the Clan at the age of three. Having been adopted by her grandmother it must have been hard for her to see him as someone who was...well...should have been an adult.

"Fine..." He murmured. There was no use arguing with her. He knew once she'd made up her mind it seldom changed. "Just...listen. The Veil here is thin, you'll be putting yourself in danger by sleeping here."

"The Veil?" She inquired. "I can't say I have heard the term." She admitted.

"The Kee...mother uses it quite often when she tells stories." Pelle reminded her.

"Pelle...?" Aelin said flatly.

"Aelin..?" Said Pelle in the same dry tone.

"Do you think I listen to Isthamathoriel when she talks?" The First asked him.

That was right. She didn't did she? That was only the boiling source of most of Aelin's and the Keeper's quarrels. Aelin was pigheaded and wanted to do things her way. She did not let anyone tell her what to believe, especially when it came to Fen'Harel. The First may as well have been a Fen'Harel fangirl at this point. She certainly went on about how he was pariah to the Keeper enough to earn the title. Still Pelle was surprised Aelin didn't know about the Veil. She spent so much time sleeping, when she wasn't sleeping she was looking for places to sleep, and apparently hunting for meat to feed spiders. He hadn't planned to have to educate Aelin about the Veil, but when he really thought about it...it almost sounded just like her! Aelin was certainly the type to lay on the floor in the middle of some strange place and take a nap without even thinking about the consequences that might follow. How she not been possessed by now was his new mystery regarding her.

"Aelin, the Veil is a place that exists between the world of the living and the Fade. It is sort of like a gate that keeps the two worlds separated. Neither spirits or mortals can pass through it easily or touch it. ..or I guess except in special cases with people like you can but you're not conscious of it." Pelle explained.

Aelin shifted her weight crossing her arms brandishing a face that just screamed of disinterest. "That's great and all Pelle but that doesn't explain what you said about it being thin."

Pelle groaned irritably. "You're just like a dwarf you know that!" he retorted his face falling into the palm of his hand. "It's not this difficult...if the Veil is thin it means the barrier keeping the Fade and Thedas separate is weak, it means things may come creeping in from the other side, means spirits and occasionally demons, means Aelin could be possessed, means a lot of bad things."

The First scowled her sapphire eyes narrowing to thin slits. He might also note that her left ear started to twitch ever so slightly. That was a clear sign...a red sign to back off. Had she been rude in blowing off his kind gesture to explain? Yes. Was it worth facing her wrath to proceed? Definitely not.

"I'll be fine." Stated Aelin coldly continuing on into the cave.

Pelle groaned his elvish ears drooping with disappointment. She was utterly impossible! Did she even understand how risky this was? Clearly she did not. The young healer followed after her gingerly

[deadlydagger]

HOW I REBELLED AS A CHILD!

I think I inherit my stubborn quality from my mother rather than my father. My father was a great negotiator in business, was a true optimist, always trying to work with all parties to come up with a positive conclusion. Not my mother! She would fight to the death to prove a point. I guess that was her Irish heritage as opposed to my father who was half German and half Irish. In his case, the stubborn values that he inherited from the German side of his family were somewhat minimized by his Irish blood. Even though I am only 25% German, it seems like that was a dominant factor in my life.

The most prominent example of my rebel nature occurred when I was five years old in kindergarten. This portends my future for the next 74 years. Even today, I am astounded at my determination to follow my own lead in spite of very clear instructions from my teacher. What escapes me was why the teacher wanted all of us to stand up and march around the classroom, bending over, letting our arms and hands dangle and swing back and forth like the trunk of an elephant. To me, it was embarrassing to carry out this charade. The easy answer was to simply say to the teacher: "I am not going to do that."

At this stage of my life I look back and wonder: how incredible was it that a little five year old child, in school for the first time of his life, having a conflict with an adult teacher, and the child wins the argument by sticking to his guns. I do clearly remember sitting in my desk, watching the rest of the kids parade around the room supposedly acting like an elephant. I still clearly remember that I thought how stupid they all were and how did they have the willingness to participate in this fiasco. Actually it took more courage to walk like an elephant then to sit at my desk and act like a normal student. Apparently this was a controversy between my teacher and my parents as my mother told this story for the rest of her life.

In an earlier essay, I made reference to the two occasions whereby I had some sort of conflict with my mother and advised her that I was no longer going to live in this house. I would go somewhere else to live where the people would treat me with love and affection. This was before I was of school age. My mother wisely took me up on my challenge, helped me pack a suitcase, and sent me out the front door of our house. I don't remember how far away I got but at some point my brilliance won over my stubborn attitude. So I turned around and headed back home. My mother had locked the door so here I was standing on the front porch, having to ring the doorbell of my own house. On both occasions, my mother acted very surprised and wanted to know what I was doing since I no longer lived there. She finally let me in and that was that.

One thing that I do not recall but was told to me by my brother as my mother told it to him. Apparently, when I would misbehave, my mother would send me to my room as a punishment. However, when I had served my time and could return to civilian life, she would call up and tell me that I could come down now. Ha, fat chance! Apparently I would refuse to come down, staying in the room as long as I chose. In other words, she imposed the punishment to start but only I would determine when it would end! Shades of Finn Ferguson.

During my years in grade school, I was a member of the Boy Scout troop for our school. During the course of each school year, we would typically have some sort of outing over a weekend. I was not a big fan of these outings but it was an annual ritual and I chose to join in with the rest of my friends. When the weather was warm, we would pitch tents and set up a campsite where we would eat and sleep, but would also go on hikes to explore the area. One year, we had one of these outings during the winter. So, instead of having a campsite, we stayed in what they called a longhouse at Camp Lazarus, which was a few miles north of Columbus. It was colder than the North Pole that weekend and the meager potbellied stove was not adequate to keep the longhouse warm. So we did the best we could to catch a few winks throughout the night even though our body temperature probably dropped below 50° for most of the time.

When we got up on Sunday morning, it was still extremely cold outside and overnight a couple of inches of snow had fallen. The plan that had been laid out the day before was for Sunday to hike throughout Camp Lazarus, then set up a mini campsite, cook our breakfast, eat, and then return to the longhouse after which we would pack up and go home. Since we were facing inclement weather that Sunday morning (at least in my wise judgment), I was certain that the troop leader would call off the hike and simply prepare breakfast in the longhouse. No such luck. But if the troop leader thought that I was as crazy as he was, he was deadly mistaken. I told him that I was not feeling well and would elect to stay in the longhouse and make my breakfast there. One of the other guys who was two years older than I followed my lead and stayed back as well. So the adult chaperone, the other scout, and I cooked breakfast in the longhouse, ate at a table and chairs and, all things considered, had a pretty sweet meal.

When the bedraggled balance of the troop arrived back at the longhouse, the scout leader looked me in the eye and said: "listen buddy, you need to learn how to follow orders." It was kind of like being ordered to walk like an elephant. If the order was stupid, little Danny Connor was not about to comply.

This next issue was not exactly about being a rebel; it was more about outfoxing the teacher but it kind of fits in this essay as well. My fourth grade teacher was Sr. Mary Quentin. She made it very clear on the first day of class that she was in charge and would impose strict discipline on us, her meager students. One of the rules that she imposed was that she would not stand for us waving our hands in the air willy-nilly to either ask a question or answer a question. The only time that we could raise our hands would be if we had to go to the restroom. Otherwise, if she posed a question that we wished to answer, we must sit up very straight with our arms across our chests and, depending upon who did this the best, she would then call upon that person. Well, it looked pretty hilarious for all of us attempting to sit up straight, folding our arms across our chests and literally jumping up and down in our desks to try to get her attention so that we, more so than any other student, would be called upon. Well, this lady was the dedicated purveyor of malice. She had lots of rules that made no sense at all and, of course, this was clearly a challenge for yours truly. After a few runs of almost throwing my shoulder and elbow joints out of whack trying to do what she said to get her attention so that I could answer the question, I discovered that she would never pose the question to anyone who clearly could answer correctly. Instead, she would call on the person that was slinking down in their desk, portraying a student who knew absolutely nothing about the topic at hand.

So it does not take a rocket scientist to figure out how to solve this problem. Whatever question was posed by her to the class that was something that I understood thoroughly and was prepared to submit a long-winded monologue, instead of sitting up straight and folding my arms, I would simply slink down as low as possible in my desk, hang my head, and avoid any eye contact with her whatsoever. Well, that hit the jackpot. Anytime I was ready, willing and able to provide the answer that she was looking for, I portrayed this sad sack presence. Of course, she would then call on me only to be gob smacked right in the kisser when I laid out the answer to the question and even gave her more information than she wanted. Then, after a while, she could never figure out whether I knew the answer or not. She might have been a fox but she could not outfox the super fox! In any event, it was a real reward to get rid of her and pass on to the fifth grade.

The principle of Our Lady of Peace, Sister Lucille, was my teacher for the rest of the time in grade school except for sixth grade. She was no peach either. There were many issues that I had to deal with concerning her but two stand out that involved, not only me, but my mother as well. It is kind of funny how the way people in our society wear their hair becomes a cultural issue, changing from year to year. In each case, hair could determine a person's acceptance in society. In the early 1950s, most men and boys wore their hair fairly long. When one entered a prison his or her hair was totally cut off or at least cut down to just a stubble.

During each school year, I would wear my hair fairly long according to my mother's desires. However, around May or early June, when the weather warmed up, my mother would have my hair cut very short, called a crew cut. This displeased sister Lucille but she never made a big stink about it until I was in eighth grade and graduation was coming up. At this point, Sister Lucille put her foot down and ordered me and/or my mother that under no circumstances was I to have my hair cut short for graduation. Well, you can guess where this is going. No one is going to tell my mother how her children are going to dress or present themselves. So off I go marching to the barbershop to have the shortest crew cut in history. I was more of a pawn in this deal at that point; I was out of the picture in terms of the conflict for the rest of the year. Whether Sister Lucille had the stones to confront my mother about it or not, was out of my purview. I do know, however, that I did graduate with the best looking crew cut Sister Lucille ever saw.

This was only one of the sagas that took place on the battlefield where stood Mary Connor and Sister Lucille holding their ground. I was only the third class to graduate from our Lady of Peace. And I was fully aware of the goings-on between Sister Lucille and the two classes ahead of me. Threats were made on a daily basis by Sr. Lucille vowing to cancel graduation because of the alleged misconduct of the students in the graduating class. Day after day these threats prevailed. However, both classes ahead of me did graduate and attended a party afterward put on by Sister Lucille and the other nuns.

When I reached eighth grade, the same drum role of threats thundered on a daily basis. She said that we were not the kind of students that were acceptable to graduate. And even if we were allowed to graduate, we certainly did not deserve a post-graduation party and that was just that. Well, the swords of combat were raised again. My mother contacted Father Foley, our pastor, and advised him that Sister Lucille had threatened not to have a party after graduation if we were even capable of graduating. And my mother said that she was happy to have a party for the graduates at our house. But she wanted Father Foley's approval before she took any action on this issue. Father Foley gave her his full stamp of approval.

So my mother went to work planning the biggest and best graduation party that our Lady of Peace ever thought of.  Sooner or later, the word filtered down to Sister Lucille that there was going to be a graduation party and that she was to have no role in it. A couple of weeks before graduation, the telephone in our home rang and I answered. It was Sister Lucille who wanted to talk to my mother. I was standing by to hear my mother's side of the conversation. Apparently, Sr. Lucille said that she would like to host the graduation party and she understood that my mother was planning to have one as well. So she wanted my mother to back off and she would carry the ball. My mother simply said that Father Foley had given her approval to have the party and that she would follow his lead one way or the other. So she instructed Sister Lucille to contact Father Foley and my mother would follow whatever orders he issued. A day or so later, Sister Lucille called back and advised my mother that she had spoken to Father Foley and that he instructed Sr. Lucille to let Mary Connor host the party since the planning was well underway. (I have often thought that Father Foley absolutely jumped on this opportunity to stick a hot poker up Sister Lucille's rear end because she was pulling this kind of stunt every year and Father Foley was sick of it).

Anyway, we had the graduation, we had a great party, and my class went on to greatness. My guess is that, on graduation night, Sister Lucille spent a lonely few hours. I don't think anyone was gratified by Sister Lucille's misfortune but she did need to learn an important lesson, which definitely occurred on this occasion in June 1953. The next year Sister Lucille put out the word very early in the school year that last year a student had his hair cut like a convict and came to school wearing a black and white striped shirt looking like a convict and that would not be permitted this year at all. This event was not a demonstration of my own stubbornness but I had kind of a role in playing out that of my mother. I guess that's where I got it.

Finally, this is an issue more of arrogance than rebellion. When I was at Officer Candidate School in Newport RI for 18 weeks, I seriously considered making a career in the Navy. However, after 4 to 6 months of active duty on my ship, I realized that the bureaucracy of the Navy was too much for me. I was willing to serve my time and to work hard in performance of my position, but, after I had completed my service, I will have felt that I had performed my duty to my country.

However, about that time, the Western Pacific Fleet Admiral put a notice out to all young officers. The tenor of his instruction was that too many young officers were leaving the Navy, which was a great loss to the service. So he asked that all young officers who intended to leave the Navy after their term of duty, would they please send a letter to him explaining the reasons why and what could be done to change things. I was very impressed with the fact that the admiral, instead of letting the status quo continue, he wanted to sincerely make changes that would benefit the service. So I got to work on my letter in good faith advising him of the things that were paramount in my deciding not to make this a career. Of course, anything like this has to go up through the chain of command. Therefore, my department head had to see it, the executive officer had to see it, the commander of the destroyer had to see it, the Commodore of this division group and so on all the way up to the admiral. Whether it reached him is questionable.

When my contemporaries on my ship realized what I was doing, they cautioned me severely and encouraged me to leave it go because I was jeopardizing my position on my ship due to the critical nature of some of my comments. None of the rest of my friends sent any information at all. But I truly felt that this was a sincere request and should be sincerely responded to. I don't know that anything changed but I did my part and I do not regret any of it. Maybe there was a little bit of rebel on this issue but, as a Naval Officer, my duty was to carry out my responsibility to the men under my command as well as those above me in the chain of command including the 7thFleet Admiral. I may have taken a hit because of this. My work load was enhanced significantly and others who did not match my skill were awarded responsibilities ahead of me which was totally unjustified. Maybe this was to teach me a lesson. If so, it did not work as to this day, I am still a rebel.  Notwithstanding all of this, I served my time and have nothing to regret.

Daniel D. Connor

November 4, 2018

[creative-salem]

Local Artists Blend Chaos with Zen in Kokeshi

By Joey Phoenix

When restaurateurs Tim Haigh and Larry Leibowitz begin a new project, they don’t go about it all willy-nilly. Kokeshi Salem is just about to introduce it’s brand of Ramen to the North Shore.

They have a plan.

A good plan.

When they opened local favorite Bambolina in 2015, they didn’t settle for standard street corner pie. No, theirs had to be Neapolitan-inspired, wood-fired, made from local ingredients, handcrafted with culinary personality — it had to wow its audience. Two years later, all the reviews are in, the people are wowed.

Now they’ve set their sights on Asian style street food deliciousness, and Salem has been buzzing about it for months.

This time around, they’ve gone a little off the rails, but in the best way imaginable. With their creative vision, and the help of some ridiculously talented local artists and craftsmen, they’ve transformed the space behind the former Salem laundromat into more than just a restaurant.

They’ve created an experience.

Planning Kokeshi

Tim and Larry’s original plan was on a much smaller scale than what Kokeshi would eventually become. The initial thought was to have a more traditional space with a single bar seating eight-ten guests. Yet, although the physical space was going to be conventional, the ambiance and the food were never going to be.

“Every noodle shop I’ve ever been to has been quite serious.” Larry explains. “It’s very sterile in their approach, the menu is very simple — usually one thing done really well — without a lot of variety.”

Tim and Larry wanted to do things differently. “We’re not looking at classic preparations or to follow a protocol to making the broth.” he continues. “We want to be able to do it our own way with our own spin, like how we approached the pizza.”

When negotiations for the original smaller space fell through, they had to look elsewhere.

“When we saw this new space available it was four times the size of what we envisioned,” he recalls, “and we realized we could do this in a grand way.” The space adjacent to the former Salem Laundromat used to be an ambulance depot, and the industrial features of the building stood out to the team, including the high ceilings and asphalt floors with exposed cobblestones.

“It had a lot of street vibe to it.” Larry says. “We knew that we could make this industrial raw chic space really complement the food.

“We decided that if Bambolina was Brooklyn, Kokeshi was gonna be the Bronx.”

The two of them shot ideas back and forth, attempting to stitch together a design that would make the most sense. They even toyed around with the idea of bringing in a food truck, sans engine and gas line, as a means to both impart a a working kitchen and add an evocative focal point to the space.

Unfortunately, the logistics of this endeavor proved impossible, and they had to look to other ideas.

So instead, at the suggestion of master welder Scott Lanes, they brought in a shipping container, which Tim converted into a working hot kitchen with the help of a laser cutter.

“What a lot of people don’t realize is that Tim is super dynamic.” Larry explains. “If he doesn’t know something he’ll watch a three minute YouTube video and then become an expert.”

Using the parking lot of Salem Laundry as his workshop, Tim cut out the roof, the back, a pass window for the front, and a door to enter and exit. Then Larry, Tim, and a group of six guys with his truck and dragged it into the building.

The first piece installed, it was time to look to transforming the walls.

The Walls — Danny Diamond

One of the most striking features of the space is the art in the vestibule, on one of the main walls, and on the shipping container. The design of the pieces were a collaboration between Tim, Larry, and mural/graffiti artist Danny Diamond of skribblefish.com, but the implementation was Danny’s alone. Danny is a wizard with paint, and his works can be seen from the garage doors of the North Shore to the industrial spaces of Santa Cruz, CA.

Danny grew up exploring a number of artistic mediums including theatre, graphic design, and creative writing. He graduated in 2006 from UMass Boston with a major in creative writing and a minor in philosophy, and it wasn’t until his late twenties when he realized that painting could be more than just a hobby. He had no idea it would ever become such a lucrative career.

Larry and Tim decided to bring Danny on board after Tim saw some work Danny had done for a mutual friend. Danny has a unique style, and its vibe immediately stood out to both Tim and Larry, so they brought him on board.

“There was such a cool edge to his work, and he works in his own language.” Larry recalls, “So we gave him a shot in the vestibule.”

Danny initially proposed a large graffiti piece with distinctive colors that would fade up to midnight black. He did a sample sketch, Larry and Tim made a few tweaks, including the suggestion that Danny incorporate the Kokeshi logo onto an abstract bowl of noodles.

Larry and Tim enjoyed the work so much that they asked Danny to do a second piece, a mural — but they weren’t certain how they wanted to look just yet.

“I wanted something, whatever it was on the wall,” Larry says, “that when people would come in they would stop and take their picture in front of it.”

Danny brought some ideas to Tim and Larry and the three of them set about finding a concept.

“I always put the onus on the client to put me in the right direction,” Danny explains, “and when they told me about their idea of a samurai with tattoos as a showpiece for the dining room, I set about finding reference pieces to make that happen.”

“It’s been my experience that when you hire an artist, you gotta give them free reign to let them do what they do best.” Larry adds.

It’s such a big deal to see the stroke of someone’s hand in a piece. It was important to me for my work to have this feel, because art like this has a humanizing effect.”Danny Diamond

One of the things Larry discovered was that Danny has a knack for high contrast, elegant murals that look as if they’ve been drawn in charcoal onto a sketchpad. So the three of them came up with the idea of having a female Samurai wielding a large sword. It would be mostly black and white, except she would have a tattoo of a carp on her shoulder, and the tattoo would be in color.

During the process Danny realized that the tattoo idea wasn’t going to be able to work. The shoulder wasn’t quite big enough, and there wasn’t enough curvature.

“So much of how we’ve worked throughout this project is about having faith in the artist.” Larry explains, “I told him, ‘say no more, I trust you.’ And it came out awesome.”

In lieu of the carp tattoo, Danny added detail to the hilt of the sword, as well an an array of beautiful cherry blossoms around the piece. The effect is wonderful.

“Everything is so digital nowadays,” Danny says. “So it’s such a big deal to see the stroke of someone’s hand in a piece. It was important to me for my work to have this feel, because art like this has a humanizing effect.”

The Branding — Andrew Bablo

Another element which plays into the dynamic Kokeshi vision was the branding, which was brought from the heads of Tim and Larry into being by Beverly native and Montserrat Alum Andrew Bablo.

Andrew is a multi-talented tradesman with skills ranging from graphic design to metal work to large scale murals. His work is well-known in Boston and the North Shore, and it’s been featured recently in the Hair of the Dog show at the Cabot, the Letterform Show at Mingo Gallery, and on the walls and silo of Bent Water Brewing, to name a few. He was also the owner and long time editor of Steez Magazine.

“People are looking towards more artists to do more unique work.” Andrew explains.

Andrew’s work is some of the most original and dynamic around, and this has a lot to do with the fact that he hasn’t settled on any particular style or material.

“I try not to do the same thing twice.” Andrew claims. “I have a really hard time when people say I really loved when you did this here, can you do the same thing?”

This drive for newness led him to reach out to Tim and Larry after hearing about the Kokeshi project. He realized that he had done a lot of things in Boston and Beverly, and very little in Salem. Knowing what they had done with Bambolina, Andrew knew it would be a good fit.

After some initial hesitation, mainly due to budgeting reasons, Tim and Larry agreed to bring him on board. It was a match made in culinary branding paradise.

“I would jot things down on a bar napkin and he would polish it.” Larry recalls. “I would ask him, what do you think of this? And he would come back with an idea and we would talk about it.”

“Larry had a pretty good idea about what he wanted to do,” Andrew says. “it was a lot of back and forth, a lot of process.

“It was nice,” he continues, “because I prefer that more than someone who just says yes to the very first thing. It’s not mine at the end of the day, because I want it to evolve to become the best product it can be.”

One of the biggest aspects of the branding — and Andrew did everything from the menus to social media collateral and much more — was the actual logo itself.

“Things kept snowballing.” Andrew recalls. “The beginning process was really long, and when we thought we had it locked down and done, he came back and said it’s not done.” He laughs.

The logo is based off of a Japanese wooden doll known as a Kokeshi. Like the name Bambolina means baby doll in Italian, Tim and Larry landed on the name Kokeshi as the Japanese equivalent.

Yet, even though the doll is traditionally female, Larry didn’t intend to have the doll be female.

“I didn’t want it to be too classic,” Larry says. “So I had this idea of doing a fu manchu with a man bun.”

However, this idea didn’t make it very far. So Andrew and Larry went back to the drawing board, before ultimately landing on the final version some time later.

“The colors changed, the logo changed, and so the doll that we have now is really soft and playful.” Larry describes. “The whole idea behind the logo was that I wanted people to see it and immediately smile. And I wanted them to know that what they’re about to get isn’t classic, isn’t authentic, isn’t serious.”

“I think we came up with something totally unique that’s also really a lot of fun.” Andrew says.

Branding, as a whole, is something Andrew would like to see more businesses consider more seriously.

“Brick and mortar is so hard, so expensive. If you’re going to make this investment in opening up a restaurant or retail location, you’ve gotta be different. You’ve got to be unique enough to pull people in. If you’re not gonna go for it, then why do it?”Andy Bablo

“Brick and mortar is so hard, so expensive. If you’re going to make this investment in opening up a restaurant or retail location, you’ve gotta be different. You’ve got to be unique enough to pull people in. If you’re not gonna go for it, then why do it?”

Fortunately, Larry and Tim agree.

“I see a ton of value in what he does. I really respect his craft a lot.” Larry explains. “He brought our ideas to life.”

In addition to his work with Kokeshi, Andrew is in the middle of a number of other expansive projects — among which is a mural project set to go up beneath the Salem/Beverly Bridge — but perhaps the most significant thing he’s doing is his role as creative partner for Hubweek.

Founded by the Boston Globe, Harvard, and MIT a couple of years ago as a platform to do keynote speaking events on science and tech, they’re looking to expand this year’s Hubweek (October 8–15) to be the intersection of art, science, and technology.

“It’s really going to be a spectacle.” He says.

The Structures — Scott Lanes

Salem State Alum and well known photographer Scott Lanes has been a North Shore resident for almost his entire life. Beginning his career as a set designer and builder for theatre productions, Scott works with endless amounts of odd materials from metal to fiberglass to glass and just about everything between.

“I primarily do metal,” Scott says, “that’s my main medium, but I work in fiberglass, I’ve done casting. I did a project for Roger Williams Zoo and they wanted a tree house, and they asked me to fabricate a whole set of insects cast in clear resin to be up in the walls.”

“We weren’t originally going to use Scott, but he kept coming up with all of these awesome ideas.” Larry recalls.

“I was over at Bambolina one night about a year ago,” Scott says, “and Tim was telling me about this restaurant he wanted to open — something with a real industrial feel to it.”

Tim then told Scott about Larry and his idea for the food truck as a kitchen, and asked Scott if he had any suggestions. They worked the problem for a while before realizing quickly how unrealistic it was. Then they decided on swapping the truck idea for the shipping container.

“I thought that it would look really cool,” Scott says, “like somebody just opened a restaurant Mad Max style at a dock.”

About halfway through the shipping container install, Tim asked Scott if he’d be willing to fabricate some shelving for the kitchen. Then another project came up. Then another.

“I’m halfway through the shelving and Larry’s like we just got a quote for this stairway going up to the second floor, you got any ideas for doing a stairway?” He laughs.

“And I said, yeah, I do. I’ve had that design in my head for a while and I just had no place to put it.” He recalls. “When I showed them the idea, they loved it.”

In addition to his work on the shipping container, the shelves, and the staircase, Scott also fabricated the tables and the table bases, as well as a number of other small metal work throughout the entire restaurant.

“They kept me busy from November 1st until about a week ago.”

“The design comes in day by day,” Larry says. “there are things happening today that I didn’t know about last week.

“Scott and Tim have just done an unbelievable amount of work just stitching the whole thing together.” Larry adds.

The Sign — Concept Signs

Located off Bridge street in Salem, Concept Signs has been crafting signage for businesses around the North Shore for almost two decades. Run by Ken McTague with the help of his production assistant, local artist Dan Gilbert, Concept Signs is the team behind — as you would expect — the Kokeshi sign.

The shop where the sign was made is a marvel in it’s own right. The back alleyway is filled with old vintage signage from the last 60 years, a stripped ’54 ranch wagon is being refurbished in the workshop, double hinged refrigerators from the 40s and 50s are in the workshop and office, and Ken’s art fills the walls of the office.

“Before I came back to Salem,” Dan begins, “I was working in a more corporate sign shop. It was really boring. For example, I was doing awnings for Dunkin Donuts.

“Working here it’s much better,” he continues. “Theres only like one Gulu Gulu. There’s only one Flying Saucer. All the signs have character.”

Concept Signs’ specialty is New England style gold leaf signage, which can be seen from the Devereaux House in Marblehead to Anmol Restaurant in Beverly to Salem Wine Imports on Church Street. So the Kokeshi sign was a bit of a deviation.

“Letters were cut out of this PVC and we made studs for them and spacers,” Dan explains, “So when you look at the Kokeshi sign the letters are lifted above the sign to cast a shadow.”

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Concept Signs also makes it a point to use automotive finishes on their signs, and the blue paint in the Kokeshi sign is automotive paint as well. The reason for this is durability.

“We did the Devereaux house sign about four or five years ago — the one with the pineapple,” he clarifies, “and If you go by it now it still looks brand new.”

The Future

Kokeshi is having their soft opening this coming week, and it’s certain from day one the lines will be out the door. The team has been working since November to bring about something that will be truly unforgettable.

“Our idea is to whisk you away and make everything tie into it,” Larry says, “but also use a lot of tongue in cheek sense of humor.

“We’ve always said that we don’t take ourselves too seriously and we never want to. We want to have fun and we want the staff to be fun and we want the experience to be fun.”

Also, rumor has it, they’ll be projecting Kung Fu films on the wall. So stay tuned. Stay tuned for information on menus and hours on the Kokeshi website.

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Local Artists Blend Chaos with Zen in Kokeshi was originally published on Creative Salem