#but it's clear to me with wonderlands for example. that they really want the series to be smth else

[daz4i]

borderlands is like the series that probably has the most wrong fandom for what it wants to be. like it's a huge fictional universe with so much lore, it has really good and emotionally impactful stories. sometimes. bl3&tftbl2 dni, awesome queer rep, solid characters with touching bonds; and then most of the fandom is like. gamer bros who only care abt farming and misgendering nb characters ig

[meimi-haneoka]

Clear Card Trivia 2 ~ Alice in Clockland and its meaning inside Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card

"But in the end...what the heck was that 'Clockland' ?"

Raise your hand if you have thought so at least once! If you did, then welcome to one of the posts of my Clear Card trivia series, an unexpected one I have to say, because I had scheduled to write other posts before tackling this one, but today I suddenly realized, thanks to a conversation in a community, that probably this aspect of the series takes precedence over other things.

I've seen countless of people confused over this matter ever since the play started in the plot, and everybody knows that usually when things get unexpectedly complex, they are quick to be labeled as "useless" and "nonsense".

No, Alice in Clockland isn't just a flex on CLAMP's outstanding drawing skills, it isn't useless, it is very much connected to the plot and DOES have a meaning.

Now that the main story is over, I would like to tackle this issue. I don't presume to have the Big Truth in my pocket, especially cause Ohkawa-sensei was quite eloquent in her recent public speeches: a motto she's going by is "If you think so, then it's surely true....for you", but I feel like the way I understood and reconnected the whole play and the consequent events inside Momo's book do work out pretty well, so I'll just do what I usually do: I'll write my own interpretation out here, hoping that people reading it will find it useful, will find the right angle to look at all this part of the story, and have some of their frustrations with this arc sedated. And maybe share it around to help other people too.

I just want to get my voice out there so that no one can say "no one understood it".

Of course the text below is full of spoilers if you haven't read the chapters from 64-ish / volume 13, also I will talk assuming you know what is Kaito's plan and what feelings moved him to think such plan.

Then, if you're ready, let's proceed to see in details what this is all about, starting from the play.

The Alice In Clockland Play

Let's start from the fact that the play is based on Alice Through The Looking Glass, and that is because….well, Alice in Wonderland is Ohkawa's most beloved book, so she really feels connected to it (and as you might know, this isn't CLAMP's first title inspired in Alice in Wonderland). It's just a preference, but for example many other books are referenced in this arc (as you might know from my other post in the Clear Card Trivia series) particularly "Momo" by Michael Ende (yeah, Akiho chose Momo's name from that book!).

The play (first called "The Two Alice" and then at last minute "Alice in Clockland") is undoubtedly the focal point of the second half of Clear Card. It's during the play that Kaito starts the final stage of his plan (and succeeds). But not only that, the plot of the play itself offers a good foreshadowing to what's going to happen to a certain someone later on. CLAMP used the "parallels" structure a lot in this arc, because it enhances the feeling of interconnection between the characters. "I understand what you're going through because the same happened to me". Sakura is an extremely empathetic character so that fits her and her world perfectly.

So the plot of the play Naoko wrote is quite simple: there are these two twin sisters who get separated by supernatural reasons and one of them ends up lost in another world, becoming Queen of it and forgetting completely about her family of origin. In the play they're both called Alice because of the imagery that twins are initially one same being that gets divided in two… Even the family of origin forgets about the lost daughter, but somehow their feelings for her never get erased, and they keep a chair (which stays empty) at their table. It's like they're feeling that someone is missing and are waiting for her to return, even if they don't really know it. One day, a magical black cat gets to meet the Alice who stayed in her world and ends up guiding her to a magical land: his goal is to lead her to meet her lost sister and reunite them. After wandering for a while. Alice finds her sister/Queen of that land, and touching her hands she suddenly remembers who she is, and what she herself came here for, which is to bring her back home. The two go back home together and we reach the happy ending of the play (which we could only see in the rewritten world, but surely followed the scenario Naoko had written). The most important message of the play is that even if we forget about someone, feelings cannot be erased and those will lead us back to the person we forgot and to remember about them. (Does this ring a bell..?)

The Actual Clockland

It might be useful to remind you that we're currently dealing with two major magical tools shaped like books, at this point of the story: one is the Book of Time Momo is guarding (to which Akiho gave the title "Alice in Clockland" and which will inspire the title of the play), a magical book capable of recording someone's life and, activating the so-called "Forbidden Magic", rewrite it completely. Another one is the magical artifact, shaped like a book, that was engraved into Akiho's body by her Clan and the Association of Magicians, where any magical book that Akiho reads gets "written down" , to store its magical power for use and consumption of those criminals. There's just one "tiny" problem: the more magic gets written on it, the more the book consumes and suffocates Akiho's soul, till the point of no return where the soul will get destroyed. The Clan and Association prefer this outcome as it would be easier for them to manipulate Akiho as an artifact, devoid of any conscience.

In the middle of the school play, Kaito brings Sakura and Akiho to Clockland, which is a "dimension" existing inside Momo's book, to prepare them for the rewriting of the world that he's going to perform afterwards. This world is built using Sakura, Akiho and Kaito's memories (you can see many elements that appeared in past chapters and that come from their memories, like the botanical garden where they had a double date, or the rose garden where Kaito met Akiho the first time). Another thing to be noted is that Hitsuzen (the force of inevitability that rules CLAMP's manga) facilitated Kaito enormously, so much that many things went exactly as he wished and how it was convenient for him (which isn't a good thing, since this led to a big big mess). So following the school play's roles, here Akiho is the Queen of this land, she's the most important character and it makes sense seeing who Kaito is doing all of this for. Sakura keeps being Alice, just like in the play.

In Clockland, Kaito removes Sakura and Akiho's memories and stores them in the botanical garden. He needs to do that for two reasons:

‐ just like the play, he hopes that Sakura and Akiho will follow along their roles and recognize eachother as sisters ‐ as such, this Clockland works as some kind of "primer" for their brain; ‐ he needs to change and rewrite those memories to make them become sisters later on, so he needs to have them collected in one place.

It is to be noted that Syaoran here is an intruder, Kaito didn't initially account for him to join in, and wanted to take on the role of the cat himself. In the play the cat is the one who leads one of the Alices to find the other one and make them recognize eachother as sisters, so this is the one thing Kaito wants to do and the role he wants to take on for himself. Kaito also knows that Sakura trusts Syaoran, even at a subconscious level, so he keeps his appearance to ease her in, believing that she'll follow along without making questions (ha, so much for that, Kaito). Not wanting to be hindered in his plan, he uses the Mirror Sakura Card as a red herring for Syaoran. Syaoran, in that regard, even as an intruder ends up achieving a result very in line with his "cat role", which is to make someone remember (Sakura remembers her identity when he shouts her name). The Clear Cards are inside Clockland because Kaito soon will need to use them to power the forbidden spell. As we know from later events, not all of them are there, and some follow his orders (like Shade), some don't (like all the Cards with appearances of Sakura's loved ones, which are trying to give her hints along the way to wake her subconscious up ‐ this is exactly their role and it worked well because Sakura starts to free herself from the spell Kaito casted to keep her subconscious dormant and to keep her in her "in role", symbolized in the manga by a change of fonts used in the dialogues, a thing that those who have read it in English couldn't recognize because they didn't respect that aspect in the translation).

Another thing that Kaito hopes for, while the two girls interact in this "fairytale" (it is very much considered a fairytale by Kaito, since he calls all of them "characters"), is that Sakura will end up creating the Card he needs to operate the exchange of artifacts between him and Akiho (exchanging his pocket watch for the artifact book inside of her). As we said above, Hitsuzen shamelessly favors him and Sakura does end up creating Exchange at the last minute. Once that is done, Kaito doesn't need to keep them in this Clockland anymore, and by the contract they have, Momo starts to activate the forbidden spell on his request, rewriting everyone's memories to satisfy Kaito's wish to turn Akiho into Sakura's sister after he removed the artifact from her with Exchange.

Now, we know what happened after Kaito activated the forbidden spell. Everyone's memories were rewritten following his wish, and he was turned into a dragon and imprisoned by effect of the Seal of D., which was imposed on him by the Association like some sort of "trap", should he ever mess with Akiho's artifact.

But it's here that the play from above comes back in from the "backdoor", to bring the unexpected parallel: Kaito ends up being the character who's lost in another world and whose existence is totally forgotten by a loved one.

But that loved one got a "memento" of him (the pocket watch, which parallels the role of the chair in the play) and that object causes Akiho to feel strange, to feel like she has to fix it, she's extremely attracted to this pocket watch even if she doesn't know why. In the end, just like in the play, Akiho and Kaito reunite and despite not remembering anything about him, and not even having his true appearance in front of her (cause she meets him as a dragon first), Akiho knows perfectly well that that is the person she loves the most, because her feelings weren't erased (just like in the play).

Sakura's role in the finale ends up being similar to the one of the black cat, making everyone remember who they really are and their connections.

So this is roughly the "significance" of both the play and Clockland in this story. It is to be noted that what happens in Clockland is extremely abstract and full of riddles because Alice in Wonderland + Through The Looking Glass are exactly like that. Have you tried to read the originals by Lewis Carrol? It's quite difficult to follow along and nothing seems to make sense….when actually, with a different reading key, it does. I've had to pause my reading of Through The Looking Glass (that I had started in hope to understand the Clear Card story better) multiple times because it's quite difficult for me to stay focused and understand what's going on. I guess Ohkawa‐sensei wanted to go all out on the references to this story, and give the same narrative vibe. The references of course don't stop at the narrative structure, you can read the others in my post about the literary references that I had linked at the beginning of this post, in the section about Alice in Wonderland.

Kaito's True Feelings

Another thing to be noted about Clockland is that since it's playing a lot with the subconscious of the characters, Kaito's true feelings end up appearing here and there. The Queen's Castle, the most important place, is built on crystals, a reference to his true name (something that Sakura points out immediately and Kaito doesn't reply to, while showing a pensive face). Their memories together are protected and stored inside the botanical garden, once again made of crystals. Sakura hits the bull's eye particularly when she says that the rose garden (where Kaito met Akiho for the first time) feels extremely important to someone (that someone is Kaito, of course), and Kaito (disguised as Syaoran) looks away and urges her to move forward. The "someone" could be interpreted as Akiho too, of course, but the Cat/Kaito's reaction and the fact that the Cards told Sakura that this place is strictly interconnected with someone's "wish", makes me lean more toward Kaito. The garden pavillion appearing with the Repair card is another important place because it's where Lilie told him "you'll find something/someone you'll like, one day". It's quite telling that Sakura, despite not even remembering who she is, is guided by her infinite empathy and recognizes immediately those parts of this land that reveal Kaito's true heart and the core of this whole matter, through the continuous questions she keeps posing to everyone, in a desperate attempt to make sense of what's happening and subconsciously fight the spell that's keeping her in her "role" (she'll do that with Akiho too, later).

It's interesting to note also just how much Hitsuzen played on Kaito's side, guiding Tomoyo's instinct to re-do the outfits for the two Alices and ending up giving to Akiho a serious, dark outfit with a black veil. I remember how me and some friends commented that more than a queen, she looked like a mourning bride. Considering what happened afterwards, the imagery CLAMP chose was pretty spot on. Not only that, but the black veil also served as a metaphor for Kaito keeping Akiho's subconscious dormant, making her act like the role of the play required her to. Needless to say, Akiho was able to slip away from the grasp of that spell basically on her own, without even needing magic, only relying on her strong feelings for Kaito (she didn't even remember her name, but lifting the veil up - a very powerful imagery - she remembered that she had someone she loved, and also Sakura's name. This gets once again conveyed in the Japanese version by the change of fonts in the script). The rose headpiece is also another quite interesting part of the outfit, as Sakura asks to the Cat/Kaito why the roses in the garden are all white, despite being this the Red Queen's land... For sure, that place was referencing the real rose garden where Kaito and Akiho met the first time, where the roses were all white, but that also means that the only Red Rose in that land is....Akiho. I also remind you that the rose headpiece was featured in the color page of chapter 69, with Kaito cradling it in his arms with a sweet smile, as if he were holding something very precious....we could read the color illustration as "that's the only thing he got left of Akiho".

This is the reason why Momo, in a moment where the Alices are on their own, tells Kaito that no matter how much he tries to hide himself behind the Syaoran disguise, his true nature shows up anyway. The whole place is full of elements making reference to very important things in his heart, and his true wish. That is only normal because the whole place is made up of their memories. This is also why Momo says that Kaito gave "all of himself" for the activation of the spell.

Another very interesting part is when Sakura, before meeting the Cat/Kaito, meets her friends Rika, Chiharu, Yamazaki and Naoko in the shape of the corresponding Cards (Appear, Synchronize and True & False). The Cards tell her that what appears in this world depends on what Sakura wishes, but her reply is "This is the Red Queen's land. Shouldn't she be the one to decide what appears here in this world?" which works wonderfully on a metaphorical level to point at how Akiho should be the one deciding what happens from now on, since this place is hers and was built for her alone. Seeing how mad Akiho got at Kaito afterwards for deciding her happiness on her behalf, yes, Sakura's question was pretty legit.

In Clockland we have also lots of meaningful interactions between Sakura and Akiho and words said in conversation that will become absolutely essential to help Sakura reaching the truth in the rewritten world (especially the whole discussion about "memories" and "records"), since they stayed in her heart even with the activation of the forbidden spell.

And I believe this is everything regarding these two parts of the Clear Card plot, a way for CLAMP to undoubtedly experiment with a different kind of storytelling, and to ask their readers to dedicate a little bit more of attention to the story, trying to get out of the logical approach to things, and thinking on a more abstract and metaphorical level.

[petitelepus]

MATCHUPS ARE OPEN!

Alright, everyone, the Mathcups are finally open! They will be open for a day or two, starting this Thursday 05.09.2024!

I will be taking Matchup requests for the following series!

Demon Slayer

Twisted Wonderland

Transformers Animated

Transformers MTMTE

WHAT KIND OF MATCHES DO I DO?

Normal - Love is pure and so cute

Yandere - They just love you SO much

Omegaverse - Who is your Alpha, Beta, or Omega

Monsters - Monster Musume AU

RULES

Tell me and be clear about what you want

Let me know if you specifically want a Human match or a Demon match. Otherwise, I will go with my guts and find you a match, no matter their status.

Tell me if you want Autobot or Decepticon or if it doesn't matter and I'll give you a match that fits you best.

You can tell me your Horoscope if you feel like it represents you well, but for now, I’m leaving Myers Briggs results OUT!

I also don’t know anything about Sun and Moon horoscopes so let’s stick to that normal one for now, okay?

If you want Omegaverse Match, tell me what you want, like, are you looking for an Alpha or Omega, and if you see yourself as Alpha, Beta, or Omega

I want to hear from you about what kind of human or demon you feel you are

Are you an Autobot or Decepticon or a Human?

Which Twisted Wonderland Dorm do you think you would be in?

Romance and sexuality are fine, I won’t judge and I’m very open

If you want multiple matches, like Normal and Yandere together, I can do that if you stay with the word limit

ONE rule I really hope you all stick to is that the word limit to request is 200 words! I know it may sound short, but I need info that you feel represents you the most

I can do both SFW and NSFW but you have to be over 18 for naughty ones, this is something I won’t discuss.

I will be writing ALL THE DEMON SLAYER CHARACTERS AS ADULTS, LIKE MUICHIRO FOR EXAMPLE

ALSO, I will NOT be breaking apart Mitsuri and Obanai, you will get either both or neither

THE SAME goes for Tengen and his wives. It’s all of them or none of them

Alright, I think that is it!

If you are confused or something isn’t clear then feel free to ask me for more info, I don’t bite and I like to think that I’m pretty nice.

If I need more info I will ask for it from you guys, remember the 200-word limit! I don't mind if you describe your looks, I'll give you free hands on that, but with your personality and such, I hope you keep them under 200!

Now, I will take a short nap, wake up and start matching! Let's have some fun guys!

[soras-shoes]

Melody of Memory Theory (SPOILERS)

Why Kairi May be More Powerful than We Think:

At the end of Melody of Memory, Xeanort explains that he was testing Kairi's power as a princess of heart by seeing if she would "resonate" with a keyblade wielder's heart. Because Xeanort is using this quality as criteria to test if she was a princess of heart, we can infer that part of a POH's ability is to have deep connections with keyblade wielders. Looking at every POH (Alice, Jazmine, Belle, Snow White, Cinderella, Aurora, and Kairi) ALL of them have had a meaningful interaction with a keyblade wielder at some point. Sora tries to free Alice in Wonderland, Sora tries to save Jazmine in Agrabah, Sora helps Belle with the Beast in kh2, Terra tries to take Auroras heart in bbs, Ventus tries to help with Cinderella's dress, and Aqua helps the Prince wake up Snow White. Not to mention the player, a keyblade wielder, encounters most of these princesses in the mobile game to help them in some way. Even the new seven hearts (Rapunzel, Elsa, etc.) are immediately introduced to Sora, who, at that point, was choosing where to go based on what felt right in his heart. This would have to mean that keyblade wielders are perpetually linked to POHs to help them (besides Terra and Riku ofc bc they went through angsty phases with the darkness.)

Now, let's look at Kairi based on this connection. She succeeds in finding not one, but two keyblade wielders as a child (Sora and Riku) to help her by providing her with a safe home and to get her away from Xeanort, *subconsciously, not even trying.* Then, as a pre-treen, she ends up inside Sora's, a keyblade wielder's heart, to keep her safe. (Yes, I'm aware this is from Aqua's spell, I'm getting to that). This only happens because of her "chance" encounter with Aqua and Mickey years before, who, upon meeting her, are determined they must protect her for no other reason than the "strong light" she has. The benefits of their meeting takes a decade to show up, but its just another example of the heart connection POHs have with keyblade wielders. Nobody has a clear explanation to *why* they want to help Kairi, they just *know* they have to help her and intervene. Meeting Mickey and Aqua was no accident. Meeting Riku and Sora was no accident. It's her *power* as a POH. Kairi getting the keyblade, under this theory, can fall under the "help" that she gets from keyblade wielders, since Aqua didn't mean to bequeath her. Yet, Kairi gets bequeathed, enabling her to better defend herself in the future from Xeanort. I personally think Kairi getting the keyblade is because of her connection with keyblade wielders and her ability as a POH to always receive help from them. What better way to help a POH than giving her a keyblade of her own to protect herself from high profile enemies?

And for Kairi, this connection goes BOTH WAYS. She helps out keyblade wielders as well (resurrecting Sora in kh1, getting Sora and Riku out of the Realm of Darkness in kh2, helping defeat Xeanort in kh3, and getting a lead on Sora's whereabouts in MoM.) It's a symbiotic relationship for her. A you help me, I'll help you kind of thing.

With all of this being said, MoM is the icing on the cake. The reason I think Kairi is incredibly powerful is the final boss in MoM. When Kairi is in trouble, and her own keyblade is failing her, not only does she wield Sora's, she *becomes* Sora. NOTHING like this has ever been done in the series before. Sure, D-links in bbs allows one character to use a small amount of another's abilities. Sure, summons allow a character to bring a helper in from another world and have them join the party. Sure, Mickey saves Sora from time to time in kh2. BUT NOTHING LIKE THIS HAS BEEN DONE. Her heart quite literally reaches out to Sora and borrows him, all because of the deep connection she has with keyblade wielders as a POH to get help from them and get help *for them*, as winning this battle gives Kairi the information she needs to allow Riku to visit the world he's allegedly in. The implications of this are incredible, because Kairi doesn't meerly summon a memory of Sora, because if she did, he would be able to talk, but like Xeanort says, he cannot speak because of the world he is currently in, meaning that the Sora she summons exists in REAL TIME! She is able to temporarily summon Sora (or piece of him - maybe his heart-)*across realms*, wield his keyblade, become him, and have control of *all* of his powers. I-... Imagine if Nomura built on this mechanic for her, like if she were at critical health, she can momentarily embody Sora or any other keyblade wielder. I guess it would sort of work as a drive form. Anyway, I'm getting carried away.

It is also my theory that the desire to help and protect Kairi existing in every keyblade wielder's heart, bc she is a POH, is why she has been benched so often. They can't bring themselves to let her go out on her own if they can avoid it, because of their determination to help and protect her. It's why Riku reacts so harshly for her wanting to go with him at the end of MoM, *but he can't form a single sentence to explain why* until Kairi relents and supplies the reason, her training, for him.

All of this being said, I really hope Kairi training under Aqua gives the others confidence in her, and that she can finally have an adventure of her own, hopefully exploring her powers as a POH. I really hope the unique link she had with Sora at the end of MoM comes into play again, because I personally believe it was Kairi in his body/borrowing his power, and I'd love to see that develop overtime.

Anyway, this is just my personal theory. It probably has holes but its how I'm coping with the ending for now 🤠

[paigegoldie16]

Hello!🤗👋

So this will be first official first post to my book blog page!😊 I’ve already tried to post but Tumblr wasn’t being helpful so I’m going to have to redo it🙃🥲 but I wanted my first post to be my favourite book series😄

1. A Court of Thorns & Roses Series🥀🗡🩸🌌

This series is amazing. The reason being is because it has passion, sex, romance, actual characters and an amazing world. The stories are so brilliant throughout the entire series, keeps you entertained and eager, really wanting more to point you binge read them (like I did) and couldn’t put it down. You don’t realise how much pain I am in awaiting the next book, it’s literal agony! Sarah J Maas has a way where so makes fantasy and mythological creatures so realistic and relatable and she does it perfectly in this series for me. You grow super attach to the characters and there are twists like you won’t believe!🥀🗡🩸🌌

2. Caraval Series🎪🎠✨♠️♥️♣️♦️/💔🦊🍎🏹💘

This series is just so magical, like so beautifully magical. I was so surprised by this series because when I first saw it, I never heard of it. I was just in Waterstones one day and saw Caraval, picked it up and didn’t realise there was more sequels afterwards as I thought it was just a single book on it owns. When I read those first pages, I couldn’t put it down and spent a whole day reading it. No word of a lie. I got so hooked into this world, like you get completely get transported into it and the twists, NEVER ENDING! The entire book series is like a fairytale, for example Caraval/Legendary/Finale definitely give you clear Alice in Wonderland vibes whilst the second part of the series Once Upon a Broken Heart/The Ballard of Never After (tbona hasn’t come out yet🤗) gives you Cinderella and Snow White vibes. I’m just amazed by Stephanie Garber writing and so glad that I picked it up🎪🎠✨♠️♥️♣️♦️/💔🦊🍎🏹💘

3. The Dark Artifices Trilogy (Shadowhunter Series)🗡🌊🎨🔮🖤

Love, emotional, dark and beautiful. I love the Shadowhunter world, always have since I first read The Mortal Instruments and Cassandra Clare always seems to pull me back to the world. Out of the trilogies/books, I was so in love with The Dark Artifices series and I think because I loved the storytelling and how far it actually goes. Out of all the books, I would say this is probably the darkest trilogy and goes much further than you think possible. I haven’t read it for a while so I may be a little rusty but I just remembered the paths it follows with storytelling is so much more intense and brilliant. It opens the doors for the final trilogy to the entire Shadowhunter series (Wicked Powers) which is said to go out with a bang and I couldn’t be more excited for it! The characters are brilliant and the writing a true masterpiece, a truly amazing trilogy.🗡🌊🎨🔮🖤

I’ll just do these 3 as there are so many books in the world I will go on for hours🤣 Hope you like🤗🥰

[mma3youf]

FA222 ,principles of graphic design:

Instructor: mr.munwar mukhtar

@uob-funoon @mnwrzmn

Project 1 : design

Covering up the Cracks: The Return of Wallpaper

How artists from Édouard Vuillard to Dorothea Tanning and Kehinde Wiley used wallpaper in their work

Forget fragrant roses and honeysuckle. Forget soft-throated songbirds and sunflowers. I always see spiders in wallpaper. My eyes trace the patterns, searching them out, those crooked arachnids. The mere hint of one turns my stomach. Look: there’s one! Tarantula-black, wriggling through that ivy-blossom, crouching behind those camellias. See its distended abdomen, those unwieldy legs?

What this says about me, I don’t want to know, but spiders also spring to mind whenever I think of a certain painting by Édouard Vuillard. Interior, Mother and Sister of the Artist (1893) is a most peculiar work, wrought with invisible tensions. The manner in which Vuillard configures his mother and sister hints at a curious dynamic, one more commonly imagined between a spider and a fly. Here is Madame Vuillard, a throbbing black presence, legs set wide apart, hands placed defiantly on her knees in as dominant and sinister a pose as she can muster. To the left, Vuillard’s sister, Marie (or Mimi as she was known within the family), looks as if she is being engulfed by the wallpaper. Or is she already trapped? Can you hear the frantic buzzing as she struggles to escape? It’s almost unbearable. Marie is ensnared; it’s as if Madame Vuillard has forced her into a web. The awkward angle at which Vuillard composes his picture fosters this tension. Somehow, the artist seems to suggest, maman is driving her daughter into dangerous territory.

Or is she? Is Vuillard really attempting to convey that his mother is pushing his sister not only to the limits of physical space, but also of sanity? Although the narrative is not explicit, Vuillard painted several similar portraits of his mother and sister that imply domestic disharmony. In The Door Ajar (1891), for example, Marie appears alone, this time peering into a room as if she wants simultaneously to enter and retreat. Marie’s dress and the wallpaper are barely distinguishable from one another: the maggoty yellow pattern of the latter insidiously overlaps with the strange crescent moons of the former to suggest … what exactly? Is Marie, once again, being pushed in to the web of the wallpaper? Or is something else at play? Could Vuillard be trying to capture some deep-seated predisposition in his sister? Perhaps, psychologically speaking, Marie wants to entwine herself with the background of life. As in Interior, Mother and Sister of the Artist, rather than being pushed out of the room by maman, Marie is perhaps choosing to contort her body so as to escape? Whatever the case, for Vuillard, wallpaper is never simply decorative. Loaded with narratives, in the artist’s hands it becomes a metaphor for the divide between physical and psychological space, between inner and outer realities.

A little less than 100 years after Vuillard completed Interior, Mother and Sister of the Artist, a young woman on the east coast of America took a series of photographs, ‘Space2, Providence, Rhode Island’ (1976–77), one of which could stand as a companion piece to his painting. An eerie connection exists between the two works, a conversation of sorts across the decades. Here is the image of another young woman who appears to want to escape and who uses wallpaper as the means by which to do so. Unlike Marie, however, who is the subject of her brother’s narrative, the woman in this photograph is most definitely the author of her own disappearance. Using strips of paper to cover her face, breasts and legs, Francesca Woodman attempts to take herself out of the photographs she so carefully constructs. Like wallpaper itself, with its repeating patterns and shapes, the desire to remove herself from the picture occurs throughout Woodman’s work.

In other self-portraits, Woodman crouches beneath a tilted door, disappears through a wall, merges with mirrors, windows and fireplaces. She is a ghost light, a will-’o-the-wisp, a haze and a blur; present only in her absence, a non sequitur made physical. Indeed, looking every bit like Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland (1865), with her long blonde hair, floor-length skirts and black pumps, Woodman seems desperate to slip beyond the here and now, to use every available surface in order to vanish – not into Wonderland, but towards some other dimension. Ironically, much like the Cheshire Cat whose smile lingers long after the rest of his body has disappeared, by highlighting herself in the act of vanishing, Woodman’s spectral presence grows ever more compelling. Who is this beguiling figure dedicated to both evading and haunting? The answer is never clear. In fact, the nearest we come to it might be the manner of the photographer’s death. In 1981, at the age of 22, Woodman took her own life by jumping out of a window.

Appearance and disappearance. Repeating patterns and shapes. Integration and disintegration. A year before Vuillard completed Interior, Mother and Sister of the Artist, a novel was published in America that foreshadowed it. The Yellow Wallpaper (1892) by Charlotte Perkins Gilman takes as its subject the agonizing mental decline of an unnamed narrator who has just given birth. Confined by her husband to an upstairs nursery with bars at the window, the woman is advised to empty her mind and do nothing but rest. Instead, she begins to tell us about her predicament. Having been deprived of any mental stimulation, she begins to believe she has seen glimpses of a woman trapped behind the room’s sickly yellow wallpaper. As a metaphor for the morbidly restrictive society into which 19th-century, middle-class women were born, The Yellow Wallpaper is highly effective; on a psychological level, it is unsurpassed. As with the walls in Vuillard’s painting, the paper crawls with meaning; the narrator projects her fears onto its ‘bloated curves and flourishes’, its ‘sprawling flamboyant patterns’ and ‘wallowing seaweeds’ until, finally, they take on a life of their own and begin to seep through the paper in the shape of a deranged ‘other’. The wallpaper, in other words, has become a reproduction of what is playing out in the narrator’s misshapen psyche.

It is hard to think of Gilman’s work without being reminded of that doyen of the 19th-century British arts and crafts movement, William Morris. The intricate wallpapers and textile designs he created for Victorian homes could easily have graced the room in which Gilman’s narrator was incarcerated. This made American artist Kehinde Wiley’s first UK museum solo show, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, at William Morris Gallery in London earlier this year more than a little intriguing. ‘The Yellow Wallpaper is something that has haunted me for years,’ Wiley says of the novella in a short film about the making of this work. ‘The idea of being in a room and not being taken seriously.’ This is not something that can be said of the six black women and two children Wiley met on the streets of east London, whose strikingly beautiful portraits filled the exhibition. Whether sitting or standing, whether their faces turn away or directly look out, each sitter is centre stage. More than that, each is engaged in a serious dialogue with the background patterns from which they emerge. These patterns are based on Morris’s own wallpaper designs that would have papered the walls of mansions inhabited by, among others, former slave-traders and plantation owners. In doing so, Wiley’s work plays on the conflict between the sinister history embedded in the prettiest detailing and the self-possessed women who emerge from the patterns, who seem to defy anyone to repeat it.

Lindsey Mendick, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, 2020, installation detail, Eastside Projects,Birmingham. Courtesy: the artist and Eastside Projects; photograph: Stuart Whipps

Coincidentally, artist and sculptor Lindsey Mendick’s exhibition at Eastside Projects in Birmingham earlier this year was also titled ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’. Featuring untitled videos, ceramics and miniatures, the show pivots on a disturbing episode in the artist’s life when, during a nervous breakdown in 2006, Mendick glanced from her bedroom window to see six men dressed in black, walking up and down the street speaking into walkie-talkies. Mendick related the incident to her mother who, given her daughter’s vulnerable state of mind, found the story difficult to believe. A few days later, however, news broke that the former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, had been poisoned; he was Mendick’s neighbour.

Unlike Gilman’s narrator, what Mendick had seen was real; however, in her exhibition she, too, played with the idea of wallpaper as a borderland between sanity and insanity. The show also included other domestic items as receptacles into or onto which all that was unendurable could be projected. A large teapot (with a hole in one side through which you could view the vessel’s interior) contained two small ceramic figures taking tea from a large teapot containing two ceramic figures taking tea from a teapot, in what felt like a claustrophobic dance to the death. Nor did the claustrophobia end there, for all the pieces in the small, over-lit gallery spoke of other confined and confining spaces – from the hollowed-out, ceramic head of Russian President Vladimir Putin, inside which the figure of a distraught woman (Mendick herself?) sits on a toilet within a cramped bathroom, to a 1960s-style bedside cabinet inside which reside Mendick’s family members, configured weirdly as Russian dolls. But, of all the dialogues taking place inside this room, the loudest is also the most hallucinatory: the one inside my own head between Gilman and Mendick. What is it they are saying? That yellow is an unfortunate colour with which to decorate a room? That the divide between sanity and insanity is paper-thin? Or that even the most innocuous of objects can pulsate with the unconscious?

This is a sentiment with which the surrealist artist, sculptor and writer Dorothea Tanning would surely have agreed. Writing in the catalogue for her 1979 exhibition at New York’s Gimpel-Wietzenhoffer Gallery, she declared of her hometown of Galesburg, in rural Illinois, that ‘nothing happened but the wallpaper’. Tanning’s Chambre 202, Hôtel du Pavot (1970–73) is a three-dimensional, life-sized room in which two grubby pink torsos, shaped as if carved from ham, poke through the dingy wallpaper while the chimney breast gives birth to three further mutations – although whether these are animal, vegetable or some other tumorous mash-up, it is impossible to say. The work was partly inspired by a song Tanning recalled from her childhood: ‘In Room 202’ (1919) composed by Dave Harris with lyrics by Edgar Leslie and Bert Kalmar, tells the story of Kitty Kane, a gangster’s moll who poisoned herself while staying at a hotel in Chicago.

In room two hundred and two The walls keep talkin’ to you I’ll never tell you what they said So turn out the light and come to bed.

But if the song suggests talking walls, Tanning pushes this idea to its very edge, wishing to create a space in which the wallpaper, as she once explained, would ‘tear with screams’ while maintaining ‘an odd banality’. The latter is captured by the dreary ordinariness of the installation’s wallpaper while the former is contained in the hotel’s name: pavot is French for poppy, the flower from which opium is derived. By conflating these disparate ideas, Tanning succeeds in heightening the room’s creepiness; this in turn precipitates a sense of impending doom. What springs to mind is a back-street abortionist’s or the lair of a serial killer such as John Christie who, over several months in the early 1950s, murdered (among others) Kathleen Maloney, Rita Nelson and Hectorina MacLennan, hiding their bodies in a kitchen alcove, which he subsequently wallpapered over as if it were a solid wall. The women’s bodies were only discovered after Christie moved out of the house and his landlord, wanting to redecorate, tapped on what he thought was the rear wall to the kitchen only to discover it was hollow. As Ludovic Kennedy wrote in Ten Rillington Place (1961), the landlord then ‘pulled away a small piece of paper and shone his torch inside. Whatever he expected to see, it could hardly have been what he did see: the naked seated body of Hectorina MacLennan.’ You can almost envisage the landlord stumbling backwards in horror, just as the chambermaid might have done when she pushed open the door to Chambre 202. This is a room that distils much of what the work of Mendick, Vuillard, Wiley and Woodman makes clear: that wallpaper does not so much cover the cracks, as serve to reveal them.

Main image: Lindsey Mendick, ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’, 2020, installation view, Eastside Projects, Birmingham. Courtesy: the artist and Eastside Projects; photograph: Stuart Whipps

[papermariosuggestion]

What are you hoping for from a new Paper Mario? What's your "golden ideal", I guess?

I could spend, like, years thinking of things I’d like to see in a Paper Mario game, but I’ll try to narrow it down. Here are some of the main things I’d really like to see:

☆ New partners (plural)

• Based on previously established Mario species, preferably “enemy” species, as “The circumstances of one’s birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.”

• Unusual, but believable, and perhaps even poignant, backstories and fully realized character arcs. I want to care about these characters because I’m invested in this world, its inhabitants, and those inhabitants’ personal successes and failures, not just because their design is so kawaii and/or their dialogue is so funny, though those things are a plus.

• Distinct personalities and opportunities to show those personalities off (through design, body language, dialogue, etc).

☆ RPG mechanics

• Built on the solid foundation established in Paper Mario (N64)

• Turn-based combat

• A leveling system where you get to choose which stat to increase

• Badges (Including superficial badges like the L Emblem and Attack FX badges)

• Something new, like being able to use two partners to perform a Bros.-Attack-like move, or maybe even stats specifically pertaining to your partners.

☆ New locations

• It’s a delicate balance. Locations should both feel like they could realistically exist in Mario’s world and feel like something we’ve never seen before. TTYD has some great examples of this (Rogueport, Boggly Woods, Twilight Town, etc). Super Paper Mario has some creative locations as well, but because it takes place in another dimension, not in the typical world that Mario inhabits, none of them really feel particularly “Mario-esque” in nature. They’re all a bit off-brand, so to speak.

• On a technical level, graphics are improving all of the time, but that doesn’t automatically lead to more intriguing and/or more visually satisfying designs. At it’s core, Mario is a fantasy franchise, an escape from reality, and the Paper Mario series is one of the few series in the franchise that really builds out- or at least used to really build out- its world, and that world was interesting because it was new and mysterious, it practically begged to be explored. Paper Mario games should show me something I can’t see in reality; I know what paper and cardboard and lemons and steaks look like, show me underground cities and palaces, show me sprawling gardens with talking flowers, show me a floating tourist trap in the sky. The biggest limit is your imagination, so let it run wild, and show me that, show me that Alice in Wonderland-like controlled chaos.

☆ An interconnected world and motivated backtracking

• No stage-selection maps. Even if the game is fairly linear, I don’t need to have that shoved in my face. I don’t want to feel like I’m working my way down a to-do list, glued to a track, I want to journey through the world and explore somewhat freely.

• No fast travel by default (maybe you unlock fast travel after beating an optional challenge like the Pit of 100 Trials)

• No pipes that take you right from the hub world to the chapter area; I wanna walk…

…and I want it to be through a believable, expansive, intricate world that changes as I progress through the game, a world I could see hundreds of times and never get sick of because its details are constantly in flux, and because those details are the kind that make it feel realistic and lived-in. I don’t want to be teleported from A to B, or confined on a path from A to B to C, I want to explore, I want to discover, I want to experience this world and to form an attachment to it. This alone would make backtracking more worthwhile, but…

• …another way to make backtracking even more enjoyable would be to add events that make walking into a game in and of itself, like having to follow a creature up in the trees, or having to get through a cursed area in Mirror Mode, or having to dodge and weave through falling rocks because there’s a huge earthquake destroying- and altering the actual geometry of- the area. Walking doesn’t have to be a chore for you to complete in order to get on with the game, and it shouldn’t be, it should be part of the game, just as engaging as anything else you’re involved in.

☆ Non-linear elements

• The game should still be fairly linear overall, because Paper Mario games are chapter-based stories with beginnings, middles, and ends, but having some say  in which chapter comes next, or which partner you meet, or even just which puzzle you solve next would give the player a stronger sense of agency. Story-driven games are at high-risk of making the player feel like they’re just along for the ride, and this would help to counteract that.

☆ Spin dashing

• Gotta go fast! Getting rid of spin dashing always felt like an odd choice to me. Characters like the Yoshi kid, Carrie, and Dashell kind of replaced it, in the sense that they allow you to move quickly, but being able to speed up without switching partners, as well as being able to spin attack and just to witness the utter chaos of Mario flinging himself across the screen again, would make backtracking and walking around in general less of a slog. It would also give you more agency in the overworld and serve as a nice callback to the original game.

☆ Free-moving NPCs & situational dialogue

• In past games, NPCs have been confined to certain paths and locations. They might move from chapter to chapter, but they would always stay in the same general area until you triggered an event that placed them somewhere new. I’d like to see characters wandering around, going in and out of buildings, visiting other locations, having private conversations with one another, getting into fights, buying and selling items at the shop, putting on different clothes, and doing just about anything else they would typically do in-universe. Obviously this would be huge challenge to program, but we’re talking about an ideal here, and anything in this general direction would be an improvement in my eyes. We already see a bit of this in the series, but I’d like to see even more.

• When NPCs say things like “Where are your manners, Mario? You shouldn’t climb on the table” and “Don’t be so careless. There are too many enjoyable things in the world to gamble with your life!” it makes it feel like they actually see what you’re doing and care about what you’re doing. Having NPCs respond to you differently because of where you’re standing, or what partner you have out, or what badges you’re wearing, and so on, makes them into more than just set decoration or a sign to read, it makes them people, or at least more person-like. Nintendo’s been pretty good about this in recent years, probably because technical improvements have made it easier than ever before, and I think it would be fitting for a series known for its world-building.

☆ Dynamic lighting design & a day/night system

• This is all about aesthetics because, as it turns out, visuals are pretty important in a video game. Paper Mario (N64) had some really interesting lighting design, notably in darker areas like the secret passage in Peach’s castle, and we haven’t really seen a lot of that since, despite having more advanced technology that would allow for advanced lighting.

• I’d like to see things like swinging chandeliers that cast beams of light, and cracks in the ceiling that light pours through, and mirrors/reflections that Mario uses to solve puzzles, and shadows that hint at secrets. Lighting is a huge part of shaping a world, and using it in a variety of different and meaningful ways just makes your world seem that much more complex and grounded.

• As for the day/night system, I am picturing a game that visually changes based on the actual time of day, kind of like Animal Crossing games do, but not a game that requires it to be a certain time of day for any gameplay purposes, not for the main quest, not for side-quests, and not even for easter eggs. All I want is for it to be bright when I play in the morning, orange when I play at sunset, and starry when I play at night. This also would add to the game’s replayability, as different chapters would look and feel different depending on what time of day it was when you played through them.

☆ Easter eggs that reference other games in the franchise

• I want it to be clear, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Mario we see in Paper Mario games is the same Mario we see in other Mario games, not another person, and talking about the time he visited Isle Delfino or when Bowser fused with a sentient tennis racket would really drive that home.

• Make me really look for some, though. It’s cool to spot easter eggs in plain sight, but what’s really rewarding is having to dig for them. I don’t just wanna see Luigi standing in the background, I want to spot little inconsistencies and cracks in the walls and cryptograms spread throughout the world. Sure, the five-year-olds playing might not find them on their first playthrough, but when they’re fifteen and they remember that awesome Paper Mario game they played a decade ago, they won’t just be revisiting a world they’ve fully explored, they’ll be playing on a whole new level, figuratively speaking.

☆ amiibo Compatibility/functionality

• I’m not a big fan of DLC in general, as it’s often overpriced, but I do think amiibos are neat; using a real object to unlock something in a virtual world makes the virtual world feel just that much more alive to me, that much more like it’s a little world I can actually affect.

• The Paper Mario series never really got official merch, and while you do see a bit of your partners’ lives in the epilogue, it’s only a glimpse into their future, so getting little figurines of past partners that make them appear in the game, tell you about a recent adventure they had, and give you a unique badge based on their abilities/personalities/experiences, would be like a dream come true.

☆ Just be creative (I know it’s not that simple, but like, figure it out)

• Surprise me; throw in something inventive and revolutionary, like Wall Merging from A Link Between Worlds or The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device from Portal.  There’s a whole universe of possibilities out there; please dream a little bigger than items disguised as a gameplay element and a hammer that fills in glaringly obvious gaps in paint. Nintendo’s always pushing the video game industry forward with their creative consoles. Use that, take whatever whacky control method they come up with next and integrate it like Super Paper Mario did- but hopefully even better than Super Paper Mario did- with the Wii remote.

• I see fans writing stories, and drawing characters, and making sprites, and working with all kinds of mediums to make art that knocks everything from recent “Paper Mario” games out of the park. Obviously Intelligent Systems can’t just steal those ideas, but I’d love to see them get on that wavelength and match that passion.

• Make a game that you’d never want to put down because you just can’t get enough of it, and don’t even bother with that “You’ve been playing for a while. You wanna take a break, grab a snack, chill out for a sec?” message; if I die playing your game because it’s truly that good, I see that as an absolute win. That’s legendary game design, my friend; aim to make a Paper Mario game so good it’s worth dying for, and if you fall short of that, hopefully you’ll still land on something pretty awesome.

[omniversalobservations]

Reality Shifting, or How To Travel the Omniverse in Five Easy TikTok Videos!

If you’ve been anywhere on the internet recently, you’ve likely heard about “Draco Malfoy TikTok”. It’s exploded in recent weeks — at time of writing, the hashtag #dracomalfoy currently boasts over 2 billion views. There’s a mix of videos and trends to be found within the #dracomalfoy tag: wholesome fan edits of clips from the Harry Potter films, PoV imaginings of what life would be like as Malfoy’s girlfriend, and general musings about just how unbearably hot he is.

In among these videos of Tom Felton being extremely, extremely fit, it’s not uncommon to stumble across a video explaining how you can literally be with Malfoy, through a process called reality shifting or just “shifting”. “Shifting is moving your consciousness from one reality to another reality,” this video explains. “You can train yourself to shift into an entirely different reality, such as Hogwarts.” There are shifting communities on apps like Amino and sites like Reddit, but it seems TikTok is home to the largest online shifting community.

The app’s hashtag #shiftingrealities has over 26.1 million views. While there are some videos from other fandoms, the overwhelming majority of these shifting videos are from Draco stans explaining how you can mentally transport yourself to Hogwarts. Interested? Of course you are. Well, there are two popular ways of doing this: “the raven method” involves lying down in a starfish position and counting down from 100 while imagining your desired reality, while the “the Alice in Wonderland method” requires the “shifter” to visualise themselves running after a person from their desired reality (for instance, Draco) and jumping down a rabbit hole with them. It sounds similar to lucid dreaming, but most members of the shifting community would argue that it’s far more intense and realistic than any dream.

Helen, 15, is a member of the ‘shifting community’ from Ireland. “I saw a lot of stuff on TikTok about shifting around a month ago and that was the first I’ve heard of it. I became very interested in it. I was confused at the idea of it at first, but I have a deeper understanding of it now that I’ve shifted myself,” she explains.

“Shifting is a very strange experience. It’s like an extremely vivid dream, yet it’s more real than any dream I’ve ever had. Before I plan on shifting I write myself a script in the notes app on my phone, in which I plan exactly what happens in the desired reality. This makes it easier to visualise exactly what I want to happen - so I might script that I want to go to Hogwarts and for Draco to be my boyfriend, or that he will flirt with me.”

LA-based Allison, 18, is another TikToker who’s dabbled in shifting. “I first got into Harry Potter in elementary school. My grandma loved the books and she would read them to us before bed — I always identified with the Slytherin house and had a crush on Draco,” she recalls. “Recently TikTok has reopened my love for the series.”

“Shifting is just something I found fascinating and I thought I’d try it out,” she explains. “The shifting experience is different for everyone. I see bright white lights flickering and my body begins to vibrate and go sort of numb. My legs will twitch and I’ll start to feel my thoughts get ‘lighter’. I’ll also hear people from my DR [desired reality] speaking - usually Draco.”

So what’s the science behind the strange phenomenon? Grace Warwick is a therapist with expertise in anomalous experiences. She says that this isn’t lucid dreaming, but is instead something called a “transliminal experience”. “Transliminal experiences occur when awake and are most common when the mind is in a soothed state - for example, upon waking and before falling asleep,” she explains. “The ‘instructions’ [for shifting] that abound on social media include being half asleep as a start point. They then introduce repetitive music [or] counting backwards slowly. All these factors would induce a state conducive to a transliminal experience. An interesting aspect of the techniques is the central part that a prepared ‘script’ plays - I would liken the role of the script to creating a guided meditation or working with active imagination.”

15-year-old Mavi lives in Florida and is another active member of both the shifting and Draco communities, boasting an impressive 149,000 followers on TikTok. Unlike Helen and Allison, she’s been into shifting for a long time. “Ever since I was little I have used daydreaming and lucid dreaming as an escape from my reality. About one year ago I came across shifting and I immediately felt drawn to it,” she explains. “Shifting feels like real life. I have only shifted to Hogwarts once [but] it was amazing. I made so many amazing friendships with the trio, Draco, Luna… it was the best time.”

Mavi says that she considers shifting a “hobby” - it’s clear she has a lot of varied interests, and shifting isn’t something which dominates or interferes with her day-to-day life. “I don’t wish I was in my DR full-time because I have so many things to live for in my CR [current reality], like acting and modelling.”

Evidently, Helen, Allison, and Mavi are all happy and healthy individuals, but Warwick says that these experiences can be different for different individuals. “For the vast majority, the current trend is simply the next iteration of our relationship to altered states — enjoyable and seemingly magical — but I would urge a sense of caution,” she says. “Key indicators to seek mental health support would be if the ‘shifter’ experienced anything that created fear for them, or challenged their belief system regarding what we could refer to as ‘consensual reality’. Also seek help if there is any ongoing drifting into altered states outside of intended ‘shifting’ sessions.”

Thankfully, as Warwick points out, “the vast majority” of shifters have a good experience: she says shifters can return to their current reality “[feeling] revived and energised by an experience that fitted with their belief system and experiential limits”. It’s also clear that both the Draco and shifting communities foster a healthy online space. “[The community] is actually a really nice environment and a great place to talk and express your common interests with people,” Helen says. Allison thinks “it’s definitely one of the kindest areas of TikTok”. And honestly, given the shitshow that 2020 has been, I think a (largely) wholesome community of young women who are all simultaneously Draco Malfoy’s girlfriend is the last thing anyone should be concerned about right now.

Source: i-D

(image via YouTube)

[redisriding]

King of Scars - Review

I have just finished reading King of Scars and let me tell you, I have some THOUGHTS™

I don’t want to spoil anyone though, so read below the fold at your own discretion…

(Also contains spoilers of the Shadow and Bone Trilogy and the Six of Crows Duology, but it is unlikely that one has not read those books but has read King of Scars).

Nb. I word vomited this onto the page so apologies for any typos/misspellings/incomplete trains of thought!

Okay so, let me start by stating my position in respect of the other Grisha Verse books. I enjoyed the Shadow and Bone Trilogy. I really liked the first one, thought the second one did nothing but elongate the story, but found the third one redeeming. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the two main characters/love interest as I found both Alina and Mal annoying in parts, but I have to remind myself that I am in my mid-20s reading YA books so maybe I can’t be too critical of the behaviour of teenagers(?!). I am however a sucker for when the female lead chooses the good boy they grew up with over the mysterious creepy stranger, so yeah I shipped them. What made this trilogy for me was the amazingly vivid universe that was created – the Grisha Verse – and the absolute romp of supporting characters. So, not wanting to leave the world behind just yet I read the Six of Crows duology and I LOVED THESE BOOKS. Not only did we get to delve deeper into the Grisha Verse, but the storyline is fantastic, the characters are brilliantly painted, and the dialogue is some of the most witty, most wonderful dialogue I have ever read (Jesper anyone?). Plus, the Nina x Matthias dynamic is my absolute favourite romance trope!!! With honourable mentions to Kaz and Inej of course.

Going into King of Scars I was hopeful for a thrilling adventure across the Grisha Verse I have come to know so well, with some excellent characters and cracking banter.

 Was that what I found?

 In short, no.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate this book. It was an enjoyable read. However, I do think the King of Scars is Leigh Bardugo’s weakest work. Now, I don’t know whether she was writing under pressure from her publishers, fans etc., if there was something going on in her life perhaps to throw her off her game, or if the King of Scars was genuinely the direction she wanted to take this series/story/universe. The characterisation was good as always, I enjoyed learning more about Nikolai and Zoya’s respective backstories, and yeah, I ship them hard, but there wasn’t as much witty banter as I had hoped. Particularly from a character like Nikolai who gave so much in previous books. Sure, the argument can be made that this book is about him battling his own demons, so fair enough if he was somewhat off his game. I think however this book fell down in two key ways, (1) the universe and (2) the story itself.

What do I mean in respect of not liking the “universe” as conceptualised in King of Scars? This might sound a little strange, but in the Shadow and Bone trilogy and Six of Crows duology the “magic” that the Grisha possess appears very “real” (if magic can indeed be real). There are rules about how Grisha power works and thus seems plausible to me. I feel like King of Scars departed from this. I don’t mean the Zoya/Dragon story line. I actually quite enjoyed the exploration of “but aren’t we all things” and the blurring of the lines between different Grisha powers. I think that will make an interesting development in the story. What is less clear in how magic works in the Grisha Verse is (1) the demon that possesses Nikolai (but sure I can get on board with it for the purpose of the story and to be quite honest I don’t REALLY care about a lot of the minute details about the world’s in fantasy books operate), and (2) the whole mid-section of the book where Nikolai and Zoya are sucked into this Twilight Zone/Alice in Wonderland alternative dimension that emerges in the fold. This is where the book lost me. I didn’t totally understand what was going on, and I think the writing fell down here. It was like even Leigh Bardugo didn’t have a clear idea as to what was happening. Trying to make sense of it was a bit like trying to look through fog. Dragons, bees, three-headed bears, a big rock that became a palace, thorns??? I was totally baffled by it all. Where they in the fold or the Unsea? How did they just suddenly disappear? Where did that pilgrimage camp go? Was any of that real or just an illusion to trap Nikolai and Zoya there? Even at the end I’m unsure as to how much Yuri knew, how much he was leading them knowing what was going to happen or was he just a hapless buffoon that got caught up in the whole thing? How exactly did Zoya defeat the bee witch queen? What happened with Nikolai and his demon? Is it is half defeated? Is the demon the Darkling himself rather than a residue of the Darkling’s monster? Does that mean that the Darkling lives half within Nikolai and half within Yuri? Maybe some of this is deliberately vague and will be cleared up in the next book, but I honestly think that a lot of it has to do with the writing because there are parts that are perfectly clear and I do understand what is happening, for example when Zoya slays the dragon. Perhaps this was because I had read the previous books and I understood what it meant to kill a creature to create an amplifier, but equally, I believe that Leigh Bardugo wrote this section clearer because she had written the previous books!

Essentially, I felt that I had a good grasp of the Grisha Verse but this whole section is too off the wall for it to be believable to me and just doesn’t feel like it “fits” with the universe that had been created/developed in the other books.

The second thing I dislike is the story. Yes, see previous thoughts above in respect of the whole mid-section of the book, but this whole story was just angling to bring the Darkling back? Nah, I don’t like it. Not because the Darkling is a baddie and the thought of him being back can only mean bad things, but because I think its lazy writing. There is already so much conflict, or potential for conflict, in these books with Nikolai becoming King and trying to save Ravka that there was no need for the Darkling to return. For one, I think it undermines everything that happened in the Shadow and Bone series for him to return and presumably be defeated in the next book?. Mal sacrificed himself for Alina to destroy him, only for her to lose her power afterwards. It doesn’t seem right that he went on “living” in this alternative universe. The whole body swap thing was just bizarre, and again, lazy writing. I’m not a fan of people suddenly appearing back from the dead as a trope anyway, but this was particularly sloppily done. (Yes, I know Mal came back from the dead too but there was some explanation as to have him having two souls/lives inside him and as I say I was an Alana/Mal shipper so I was prepared to overlook it). I just felt that the Alina/Mal/Darkling storyline was wrapped up so nicely at the end of the Shadow and Bone trilogy that is doesn’t seem right to bring the Darkling back as the villain in a Nikolai/Zoya story. The final line in the Shadow and Bone series about Alina and Mal living a normal life if a life with love could ever be such a thing absolutely destroyed me (I wept for the evening after reading that – it’s my catnip), but that story felt complete. I don’t see how the Darkling can come back within at least Alina being involved again, and she doesn’t have her powers anymore which were the only things that defeated the Darkling. I think what my uneasiness boils down to is, presumably Nikolai and Zoya are going to defeat him in the next book, but no matter how comprehensively they do so, I’m never going to believe that he is actually dead, or that death in the Grisha Verse really exists. That at any time, anyone, not matter how long they have been dead for could just reappear with some absolutely insane story of how they managed to remain living even though they were totally, utterly, completely, without a doubt dead. 

I think the crux of my disappointment with King of Scars can be summed up as follows:-

Will I be reading the sequel?

Yeah...probably.

Will I be thinking about what is happening to these characters every day until that book is released?

No.

[jjonassevilla]

How Ecommerce Company Packlane Delivers On-Brand, Targeted Campaigns with Custom Landing Pages

Step inside the marketer’s brain and you’re likely to find some healthy skepticism. Does this $50 Airbnb come with a three-digit cleaning charge? Will “free shipping” require my firstborn to clear customs? Why does this anonymous benefactor need a credit card number to give me my millions? (And how did he get my email?) Do “fully customized” landing pages secretly mean slower launches, a bulkier building process, or not-totally-customizable-but-hey-close-enough?

Not so—at least when it comes to landing pages. Just look to the customization masters at ecomm packaging company Packlane. They make retail-ready, custom corrugated mailer boxes, shipping boxes, and folding cartons for subscriptions, ecommerce, and gifts that can be as simple or fancy as your heart desires. And they get real meta when it comes to their customization. Not only is it a pillar of their service, it’s also instilled in their marketing with oodles of customized landing pages. 

But do oodles of customized landing pages equal oodles of time? Oodles of effort? Oodles of conversions? We pulled the lid off a few of Packlane’s landing pages to find out how they use them to create speedy, beautiful, super-targeted campaigns. 

Are you an ecommerce marketer? Learn how Unbounce can help you turn more browsers into buyers.

When you need to publish fast

It’s no secret that ecommerce is a highly competitive and fast-paced world—one with so many options, you can buy your chicken a leash for both casual and formal occasions. 

No matter which ecommerce niche you’re in, keeping up often requires working fast to get new promotions to market. But the catch-22 is that your landing pages can’t look like they were created quickly. When they do, they undermine your campaign thanks to inconsistent branding, rushed copy, or poor-quality images.  

Full disclosure, one of the reasons we approached Packlane is because we have serious :heart-eyes: for their gorgeous branding—and how seamlessly it’s woven into each of their landing pages. We asked Remy Tennant, Packlane’s Director of Growth, about getting pages published fast while running a tight design ship.

One launch comes to mind. We had to get a page up really fast to get this campaign out the door. We often work with an agency, but this was a complete DIY job for our marketing team with no development or design resources.

The page—where customers can apply to be featured as part of Packlane’s Custom Packaging Inspiration Gallery—is relatively minimal and, says Remy, “admittedly not our most beautiful.” But at an 18% conversion rate and climbing, it’s a rush job that’s more than delivering on its investment. 

Image courtesy of Packlane (Click to see the whole thing.)

It’s also easy to duplicate and rework, opening the floor for testing and expansion within the campaign. “Word on the Lane” is a video series featuring Packlane customer stories, with a similar submission landing page (converting at a cool 23%) to add a multimedia element to their customer showcase.

Image courtesy of Packlane (Click to see the whole thing.)

Being able to build and customize landing pages quickly creates more breathing room for experimentation, lower-stakes launching, and higher margins of ROI. Says Remy:

On our own, the entire process of launching a page—from initial content creation, to picking a template, to building and customizing it—takes about four to six hours. Our marketing team can easily get a page up within a day, working completely in-house.

Get inspired with 27 jaw-dropping examples of ecommerce landing pages in our Ultimate Ecommerce Landing Page Lookbook.

When you need to collaborate

A more typical scenario for Packlane’s marketing team involves working with outside resources. Though their agency is an ocean and several time zones away, collaborating on landing pages is a simple process. Remy explains:

I can tell you, right out of the gate, that collaborating with third-party developers and designers without having to involve our internal tech team and get lost in the mess of our custom website is a huge win.

Everything we do on our main site has to go through our engineering team, and we don’t have in-house design resources. So we work with an agency that’s based in Poland for the vast majority of our design initiatives.

Their “Size Matters” page, where customers can calculate custom sizing, is a ringing example of what this can accomplish. Pixel-perfect branding, slick design, animated graphics, and a dynamic calculator that gives recommended dimension and style options for your packaging make for a landing page that’s not only beautiful, but fully interactive. 

Image courtesy of Packlane (Click to see the whole thing.)

It’s versatile, too. This page is used at several points of the customer journey, particularly as an onboarding and educational tool.

Our sales team and customer service team use this page to lead prospective and new customers through the customization process and help them figure out the right measurements for their packaging.

It’s simplified what can be a very complex and technical process, and has definitely helped convert more customers.

Learn from another ecommerce success story and how landing pages helped Zola boost their conversion rates from 5% to 20%: How Hyper-Targeted Marketing Helped Zola Take Over the Wedding Industry.

When you need to really target

With great customization power comes great responsibility. Packlane offers endless packaging options—be it by style, size, material, design, and labeling. They service customers from all sorts of verticals within ecommerce, and they cater to all of their different needs based on product type, seasonality, and audience. It’s a tall order, pun intended. 

How do they tackle this complexity? Custom landing pages for specific industries and campaigns. Instead of relying on visitors to browse their website, or talk to a sales rep, or sign up to see their smorgasbord of packaging options, Remy describes how Packlane comes to them with targeted landing pages. 

Our custom cosmetics page is one of our most-visited pages and ranks pretty well for custom cosmetics packaging. We do a lot of SEO, and the ability to add metadata is obviously really important.

We’re also big into A/B testing—one page I recall saw a conversion lift of 15% after testing headlines—so we’re looking forward to running experiments with this page. Results TBD!

Image courtesy of Packlane (Click to see the whole thing.)

Seasonal promotions are another example. For ecommerce marketers, the holiday season brings more than just sleigh bells and eggnog and strained small talk with your distant uncle over a shrimp cocktail platter. It brings massive opportunity for sales and festive campaigns. 

Packlane answered opportunity’s festive knock with their “winter wonderland” White Ink landing page. It showcases white-ink designs for Packlane’s customers to get their customers (didn’t lie when I said they get meta) in the holiday spirit. Plus, they get a free downloadable package with 30 holiday-themed design assets. 

Image courtesy of Packlane. (Click to see the whole thing.)

The results put Remy in a merry mood, too:

This page gets a good amount of traffic as well, and was a great way to test different promotional techniques like the free graphics package. We’ll probably do something similar in the future.

So whether you’re in a mad rush, managing a lot of cooks in the kitchen, or creating a bunch of different pages for specific audiences with specific needs, it doesn’t have to be accomplished at the expense of brand quality. Just ask Packlane.

Customize your way

Ready to start building and customizing your own ecommerce landing pages? Publish as many as you want, for free, with a 14-day Unbounce trial. And if you have any comments or tips of your own you’d like to share, fire away below. 

from Marketing https://unbounce.com/landing-page-examples/how-ecommerce-company-packlane-delivers-on-brand-targeted-campaigns-with-custom-landing-pages/ via http://www.rssmix.com/

[flyingthehedge]

Setting Up Your Astral Garden/Office

Last year in my Hedge Riding Series, I mentioned that I often visit my Garden in the Otherworld. In fact, I do much of my work within my Garden. I failed in that series, however, to explain exactly what that is or how to create your own. I wish to remedy that today and seeing from the survey many of you want more hedge riding posts, so I am killing two birds with one stone! You may notice that I am tagging this post as part of the series as well, which will make it easier for people to find it.

What is Your Astral Garden/Office

Like a physical office, your astral office or garden is a place from which you can work in the Otherworld. These two sacred spaces work in tandem with one another, allowing you to safely and efficiently conduct spirit work. Different witches refer to the sacred space within the Otherworld differently. For example, Poppy Palin refers to it as an astral office, Katie Weatherup a sacred garden, and Devin Hunter a White Room. Personally, I just call mine my Garden because that is really what it is. Whatever you call it, your sacred workspace within the Otherworld likely already exists in some fashion within the deep recesses of your mind; you just have to activate it to travel there and work out the details. I agree with Palin in that referring to it as an office, we recognize this space as important and work related. However, unlike a real office, this place is a sanctuary, free of harsh lights, buzzing computers, and weird smells. Your sacred workspace should be a place of safety as well as a place that is stimulating and calm.

Each person's workspace will be different and will likely be a mix of reality and fantasy. I love how Palin refers to it as Alice in Wonderland meets National Geographic. This is by far one of the best explanations as to what your workspace will end up looking like in the end. When you set up your workspace you will use both fantasy and natural realism. You could have rivers of gold, talking trees, singing meadows, large crystal caverns, faerie rings, endless moors, or something less fantastic, like a simple lake with a tree stump beside it. The last example is exactly what my Garden looks like. It is a temperature deciduous forest, like those found here in Georgia and Michigan where I was born, with a cool, clear lake in the middle. Beside the lake is an old tree stump where I spend most of my time sitting and talking with my guides. Around the outside of my garden is a wrought iron fence. Normally it is advised to not have concrete or steel trappings of modern society within your garden, but this is the boundary that spoke to me as the protector of my sacred space. Furthermore, most creatures don't like iron, meaning anything that wishes to hurt me can't pass through the gates. Some people say there should be nothing that is modern manmade inside of your garden, as it brings pollution and destruction into the Otherworld. Others say go for it if it helps you work. I strongly encourage you to do what works best for you, whether it be a garden or an actual office space. You may find, however, that it is naturally natural. That doesn't mean that there won't be buildings in your workspace, but they may not look like the buildings we are accustomed to today.

How to Set Up Your Astral Garden/Office

To begin setting up your sacred space within the Otherworld, begin jotting down or making a mental note of what you would like your space to be like. I knew mine would be a forest right from the get-go and that's really all I started with. I did not elaborately plan my Garden, but you are more than welcome to. Spend time making notes and even sketching some drawings if you like. Whatever helps you make a mental note of what would be the perfect space for your spiritual practice within the Otherworld.

After you have a plan, you will need to journey there. Begin by setting your purpose for your journey. This can be as simple as stating, "I will journey to my sacred space within the Otherworld." If you want, add in that you will meet your guides there. Setting the correct purpose and traveling with intent will guarantee you travel to the correct destination. For more on this and hedge riding, please refer to my post How to Hedge Ride.

Once you have successfully arrived in the Otherworld, you may notice that some things are missing or that the space is completely blank, even with all of your elaborate planning. Each person starts building their astral space differently, so don't be upset if there is nothing or only a partially complete space. Mine has grown over time and continues to change as I grow. If the space is completely formed, which is rare, spend time exploring it and getting to know it. Otherwise, you will need to begin making your dream a reality. Begin walking the space, even if there is nothing there and imagine what you have designed coming to life before you. You may do this by waving your hands or calling forth what you want. My personal experience was less formal. I remember seeing the wrought iron gate and a dense forest, but beyond that was nothing. As I walked through the gate and into the forest, the world began to develop on its own exactly how I wanted it to be. The deeper I walked more details appeared. I didn't expect a lake at the center, but there it was, perfectly round with a beautiful moss-covered stump on its shore. It was perfect.

I encourage you to spend no more than 20 minutes at a time setting up your office or garden or whatever you want to call it. It will take a lot of energy out of you, so be wary of spending too much time there when you are designing. Also, bring your guides along with you! They will love to help you design your space. Meka galloped around, flowers growing in her wake. She was so happy to help me create a home. I'm sure your guides will want to do some designing too, especially because they will be spending a lot of time there as well. And that's it!

Honestly, this is one of the easiest things to do regarding hedge riding and a heck of a lot of fun! I would absolutely LOVE to hear about your gardens and offices or whatevers in the comments below. I always love hearing about other people's experiences in the Otherworld, so please leave a comment, send an email, or leave me a message on social media.

[theonceoverthinker]

OUAT 4X03 - Rocky Road

Will Ingrid succeed in ICE-olating Elsa from our heroes?

Shut up! That was funny!

Hit up my review below the cut to find out what we think of her cold con (And to see if I make any more bad puns)!

Main Takeaways

Past

Kristoph and Elsa’s friendship runs the show here and it does so very well. It was a really smart idea tackling the unconventional ways that the both of them grew up as a means of having them bond. And as I’ll go over later, I like the use of trust as a theme in this segment.

Beyond that, apart from a just really solid story, there’s not a lot to talk about here. So onwards!

Present

I remember when I was just a lurker in this fandom, people for some reason were up in arms about why Ingrid froze Marian’s heart and for me, it always made sense. Elsa was getting to be buddy-buddy with the heroes and would soon be welcomed into the town. Because of that, while there was still time for people to be suspicious and doubtful of Elsa, Ingrid froze Marian’s heart so that the ensuing fear of the townspeople could combat the trust that the heroes had in her and give Elsa that sense of rejection. Like, while I don’t like this arc in the sense that it quite literally fridges Marian, it does make sense in terms of Ingrid’s motivations. It’s actually a genius plan on her part and really sets up the type of villain she is. She’s complicated in that she wants her sisters to come to her willingly, but has no problem using her control over memories to manipulate exactly what “willingly” entails.

Snow’s story is really good. I know a lot of people feel like Baby Neal should have more focus, but I feel the opposite. He’s a baby. He’s gonna poop and cry and most of the interesting content regarding him is the reaction of his parents and sibling to his presence. I feel like all we really need are to see glimpses of Snow and David parenting every now and then and this was probably the best of them. That’s because it got right to the heart of the matter: Snow is afraid for Baby Neal because of what happened with Emma. She lives in Storybrooke, Maine, the land where danger goes to have a fucking bar mitzvah! That fear is something clear and understandable and I’m happy that it got the attention it deserves.

Operation Mongoose is born! ...Well, officially now! I like how Operation Mongoose is portrayed as an operation that is in some ways extremely flawed in the places that it’s coming from, but also that involving Henry allows for it to refocus it into something good! It adds a nice layer of complexity to this operation and serves as a reflection of the Regal Believer dynamic!

There are so many good dynamics here, and besides my front runner for favorite dynamic, I really have to give credit to Emma and Regina’s here. While I don’t like the upcoming resolution to their conflict, what I do like is the buildup here. Regina, still angry with Emma, is back to making cutting and snippy remarks and Emma, while not taking them sitting down, does let those words get to her in a way. Those feelings of inadequacy, while the basis of which is wrong, are valid feelings for her to have and how they’re brought up and affect Emma throughout the episode is brutal.

...It should say a lot about how little of an impression Will Scarlet left on me that I kept forgetting that this was his first episode in the main series. I just...I just don’t get it. Well, I get that apparently, Will’s actor was still under contract and thus needed to be part of the main series, but to trap him in Storybrooke in such a tragic way, one that went presumably unsolved until the end of the series (Which was one hell of a jump) was just awful. I loved Will in the Wonderland spinoff and his friendship with Alice so to know that he loses that connection as well as his relationship with Ana really hurts! And to do what? Something that maybe another one of the more sidelined side characters could’ve done in his place? They just did him dirty. That all having been said, within the context of this episode and the arc, he’s...serviceable. He’s himself and Will Scarlet is an enjoyable character. He has good chemistry with Emma and David.

BUT let’s move aside from that to touch upon Ingrid and Emma’s dynamic! I love how just Emma’s appearance is enough to distract Ingrid from her plans. Like, she’s honestly about to freakin’ win and Emma pulls her from victory!

All Encompassing

Trust is the big theme of today’s episode and it gets a nice deep exploration. Elsa puts it best: “When you have the weight of the world on your shoulders, it can be hard to let people in, to trust them. Even when they want what’s best for you.” And this applies to several characters in this episode, namely Elsa in the flashback, Emma, Snow, and Rumple (A weird example, I know, but I’ll explain).

The thing that these four have in common in the context of this episode is that they think they know best, when that’s not necessarily true, if at all. I think in the first three examples, they’re rather self explanatory in the episode. Snow doesn’t want to trust anyone with Baby Neal because of the weight of raising a child again is something that scares her. Elsa doesn’t want to trust anyone else with her mission to get the urn because she feels that as the queen, she should be able to take care of this herself and later that she -- as a magic user -- should be able to use the urn herself to find out more about other magic users. Emma doesn’t want anyone coming along on her current mission so that she can save the day and regain her sense of purpose.

As for Rumple, I think this sentiment applies to him in the sense that the weight of the world for him now is his power and Belle. With Bae (And by extension, so much of his purpose in life) gone, Belle and his power is all he really has left. With the weight of his unhindered power now on his shoulder as it’s a possibility thanks to the hat, he doesn’t want to trust Belle with that information because he knows that if she knows the cost of it, she’ll try to deter him from pursuing his goal (And rightfully so, both with how Belle would act and how just that is). But especially after having his powers manhandled for a year, he doesn’t want to lose his chance of being free of the dagger.

Stream of Consciousness

-”And ice cream.” You know, a lot of people have all sorts of HC’s about Roland after he and the others go back to the EF and I love them, but if I may contribute my own, I want Roland to bring ice cream, the sweetest magic of all, back to his home!

-”Please mom? Regina let me.” Roland, you adorable and conniving little boy! You are going to run the world through three scoops of ice cream and a smile that can melt them!

-I also just realized that with the context of Marian being Zelena, I’m sure she’s just THRILLED with someone else comparing her to Regina! XD

-Marilena, order the carrot ice cream! It will surely leave you STONED! XD

-”There is no problem that can’t be solved with a little ice cream.” This may be my favorite opening scene in the show! XD

-”Any Given Sundae” is one of my favorite puns in this series, and given how much I love puns, that’s saying something!

-”Well, an all too common affliction around these parts.” ...It really is!

-Gotta say, Rumple’s counter to the super power was fucking great! Like, he had that down to a science! I actually HC that he may have given that to her. On some level, he knew she’d be on her own, so he decided to give her some aid in the form of her super power so that she could have a little help.

-”But I wish you the best of luck finding her.” Yeah...I refuse to believe that no one outside of Killian found that one specific line fishier than Ariel in her grotto.

-I’m very glad to know that Storybrooke is anti-wall! :D

-”I’m not worried about the wall. I’m worried about who made it.” I just love this line! XD

-I LOVE Regina’s outfit in Granny’s! Look, I’m a sucker for short sleeves and the vest part of it just seals the deal for me. This is a comfy cozy Regina! Also, Lana is ROCKING that ponytail!

-Regina, you have great taste in comics! Also, you’re kind of as subtle as a brick with your goals, but it works out really well! :D

-I love the slam down of the painting! Regina is 100% right. As someone who just gushed about that office, that painting completely messes with the colors and has got to go.

-”People like me?” “With magic.” I like how Kristoph wastes not even a second before ensuring Elsa that he doesn’t mean “people like me” in a bad way. He really gets his sister-in-law and knows that such talk has the potential to upset her deeply and as soon as he sees an inkling of that, he springs to action.

-Elsa and Killian also have a great dynamic here! XD

-”What are you going to do?” “Something drastic.” I think he was looking for something a TWINGE more specific, Regina! XD

-Okay, so I don’t often like to pick apart plot holes, but why wouldn’t Killian have Elsa secretly listen in on their convo and then tell Belle herself? Like, he promised Rumple “his” silence. He said fuck all about Elsa! XD

-You know, if magic can never be destroyed as Rumple claims, than when his own curse broke, did the darkness equilibrium that I’ve hoped for for so long just sweep the land?! Because I hope so.

-Any Given Sundae has really strange hours of operation! XD

-David, you may be “fine,” but your shirt needs an iron STAT!

Favorite Dynamic

Golden Hook! I’ve waited FAR too long to gush about this rivalry again and now I can!!! This episode is I think one of the bests for their rivalry and I mean that usually, Rumple has far more of a pull over Killian than vice versa because of his magic, but here, it really feels equal because Killian’s win comes from a sensible place. Killian’s been tracking down Rumple and his weaknesses for a century and thus, has an understanding of the man. And so, he’s able to have a real and tangible advantage in this moment, one well prepared. It’s a stupid, dangerous, and even kind of selfish, but it does work out this first time around and it’s fitting of Killian’s character. There’s an actual clash and seeing that confrontation is so engaging.

Writer

We’ve got one veteran writer and one newbie today, David Goodman and Jerome Schwartz, as they enter into Season 4. And damn, what a start! What we have here are several really solid narratives that are well paced and balanced. Nothing here felt like a character was being given too much or little focus. Additionally, the conflicts and dialogue make sense for the unique positions of our characters, making this episode feel quite organic.

Rating

Golden Apple. This is a fairly layered episode! Its main draw for me are the fantastic dynamics that we get to see fleshed out as well a theme that is powerful but not too overbearing. All in all, it comes together nicely to deliver a really satisfying episode!

Flip My Ship - The Home of All Things “Shippy Goodness”

Captain Swan - I really do like the exploration as to some of Emma’s distance in starting up hers and Killian’s relationship. By this point, romance has on three occasion spelled doom for whoever she’s been with and she’s nervous about Killian too. She had little control over the fates of Graham, Neal, and Walsh due to her lack of knowledge about the truth of her fairytale background and the danger that comes with it, but Killian’s different. She can make that choice and with all the facts, she’s nervous to make that step. But Killian gets to have a say in this as well. He’s survived so much of the fairytale dangers and his existence is proof of that. And that bit of information, alongside Killian’s just straight-up dedication to her and her growing feelings for him (Anyone else hear the hesitation in Emma’s voice when she pushes aside that she wants a man?), is what finally allows for her to be willing to give them a real chance. It’s no wonder that the ensuing kiss is one that enraptured the fandom and why the line beforehand stuck with us so hard. It’s an optimistic that follows this couple until the end of the series and really feels so equalizing for them. Emma and Killian are trying to help each other, but in different ways and this kiss doesn’t signal the end of that by any means, but that they’re going to change tactics so that they can help each other and be together. And that swell of music makes the moment so triumphant and beautiful.

-----

Thank you all for reading (If you do...honestly, I’m never sure, but if you do, I’m really grateful for you for doing so)!!! Shoutouts as always to the fine folks at @watchingfairytales and to my super amazing buddy @daensarah! Happy New Year!!!

Season 3 Total (29/230)

Writer Scores: Adam and Eddy: (9/60) Jane Espenson: (10/40) David Goodman and Jerome Schwartz: (10/50)

*Links to the rest of my rewatch will no longer be provided. They take posts with links outside of searches and I spend way too much time on these reviews to not give them that kind of exposure. Sorry for the inconvenience, but they still can be found on my page under Operation Rewatch.

[lorelylantana]

Chapter 1: Catalyst

Sing, oh stars in the heavens above, and through me tell the story of that great warrior.

Tell me how she danced across the battlefield for the sake of her adopted country,

Sing the song of the storm of blades as she slashed through her enemies,

The story of her journey to that shining castle on a mountain,

Tell the tale of her rise to power and glory,

Sing of the . . .

Wait

No seriously, I think this is a problem.

See? This is the story I was telling you about.

It seems like a normal story to me.

It’s not I swear! Just keep watching.

Alright let’s get this over with so I can go back to being dead.

When you read the epics and hear the legends, you expect every great tale to have a remarkable beginning, some sort of sign or omen warning of turbulent times. Whenever I look back to that day I can't help but wonder at how unremarkable, how ordinary, that turning point was. One decision. One mistake to turn the tide.  And one mistake can bring entire civilizations to their knees. 

Or maybe I was just bound by destiny. Maybe, as arrogant as it may seem, I was born for this life of mine. All I know is, for better or worse, this is the day it starts.My mother was driving me to school on the way to her law firm when she spoke.

“Allie, sweetie, how is school going?” I looked up from putting the finishing touches on purple eyeshadow to glance at her.

“It’s going well, we started to read The Outsiders in English, and I’ve already read ahead,” she nodded, knowing that I usually did this with English assignments.

“Just don’t let that get in the way of completing the work from your other classes,” I smiled at her and assured her I wouldn’t.

“I’m worried about you, Allie, the principal called me yesterday and she said she suspects you’re being bullied. Is that true?”

I tensed, this was a conversation I had been dreading for months. I quickly recovered and put up a smile.

“I’m fine Mom, really. You shouldn’t be worried, it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Just because you can handle something doesn’t mean you should.” 

I gazed out the window to avoid looking at her. I knew she was right, but I didn’t see a way to stop those teasing me. I tried everything they teach you to when you were a little kid. I tried being nice to them, and they scoffed. I tried to ignore them, but they kept coming, so I gave up on making peace. Now whenever someone tried to mock me I just found whatever flaw I could find and threw it back at them as fiercely as I could. Mom sighed, pulling into the drop off lot.

“Allie, I’m worried-”

“Just forget about it,” I snapped, not wanting the conversation to go on.

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow.” 

I opened the car door to leave, relieved that I didn’t have to face anyone just yet. I strode toward the entrance, ready to begin the morning as I had every day for the past three years. I slammed the school doors open and the hall crowd quieted, turning to stare as I stepped inside. I stood and waited with one hand on my hip as the crowd lowered their eyes and parted for me, not wanting to be caught on my war path. Once clear, I continued on my way, black high heeled boots cracked against the floor as I made my way to the cafeteria, staring down anyone who dared to meet my eye. I took my seat at the center of my table, as always, to wait for the first bell to ring. 

When the harassment reached the point where my friends abandoned me, they stopped sitting at my lunch table. Back then, we sat at the back of the room, away from the eyes of teachers and hall monitors. Shortly after, I decided to move to the center of the cafeteria, I arrived before the clique that typically sat there, and when they saw me, they quickly migrated to the now vacant back table. Now I could always expect the center table to be empty for me each morning. 

Before I could relax, however, I was approached by the one person who made an effort to annoy me each morning.  He gave me a once over, noting my bodycon dress and leather jacket. He raised his eyebrows at the yellow carnation necklace I bought after reading a book on the language of flowers. 

“Impeccably dressed as always, I see. Really Alice why do you even bother? No amount of footwear will be able to drag you out of the rabbit hole you’ve fallen into.”

Word around school claimed Lance was the son of Genevieve Pendragon, the author that famously brought the Tales of King Arthur to life. In her novel series documenting a King in a country named England and claimed a throne by drawing a sword from a stone and went on to found an organization of knights that gathered around a round table. I admired her work but thought that her son could use a bit more revision before being released into the world. He didn’t bother me much at first but pretty soon he became the pack leader of those who got a kick out of toying with me. Lance wasn’t the cruelest of the culprits but he was certainly the most frequent. 

His popularity made him infuriating. He often looked down at me from the throne being a seemingly chivalrous scholar on the school soccer team bestowed upon him. His eyes in particular caught most girls’ attention. They were a dark, night sky blue, framed strands of smooth raven hair that seemed to captivate anyone he spoke to.

Unfortunately for him, that affect never had much sway over me. After all, his throne once belonged to me.

“What I do and don’t wear is none of your concern, Lance, and My name is Allie, not Alice. Get it right or go bother someone else,” I snapped, irritation making me harsher than usual. Lance recoiled, looking taken aback for a moment before recovering.

“Someone’s feisty today, hmm? It appears someone’s woken up on the wrong side of the looking glass.” 

Harmless as he was, that didn’t stop him from being obnoxious. It was really a shame though, because Alice in Wonderland was one of my favorite stories before he showed up. 

“Yes, it seems I did, I was unfortunate enough to land on the side with you in it.”

He looked as though he was about to respond before the bell rang. I hurried to get my bag in my locker and march to english class. I made it to my seat just in time and took out my copy of The Outsiders.

“Good morning class,” called Ms. Grean from her place at the front of the room, 

“Today we will be finding and analyzing examples of foreshadowing in the novel. Now when Ponyboy refers to the lit end of a cigarette-” 

A piece of paper landed on my notebook. All over the page there were crude drawings of white rabbits and card soldiers, at the top was an attempted depiction of me dressed as Alice in front of the Queen of Hearts. Below the caption said: ‘Off with her head!’ I sneered. I didn’t know who they thought they were dealing with, but a scrap of paper certainly wasn’t worth my time, especially if it was sent by a coward too rabbit hearted to sign their work. 

I casually got up to throw the paper away, wary of any attempts to trip me. Tossing the sheet into the recycle bin, I reaffirmed my disdain. After a few rounds of getting shoved into a corner by hostile groups of students a half-baked attempt at mockery was of little consequence.

The bell sounded the end of class and a reluctantly headed to P.E. As soon as I walked into the gym I saw the obstacles set up on the field inside the track. Mr. Barnes had the girls running exercises for the gymnastics unit while the boys took the pacer test inside, which I was grateful for, because it gave me a reprieve from Lance and his constant annoyances. My relief, as I was soon to find out, was short lived. It began when I was running laps around the track, taking care not to step in puddles left by the previous night’s storm. The track itself was mostly dry, with a few wet spots here and there. Along the edge, however, there was a large murky pool where the pavement dipped. I was wary of it because I was running along the outer ring of the track. I was coming up on it for the third time when a shout was heard over the girls’ pounding feet.

“Hey Alice! Long time no see!”I groaned. The voice belonged to none other than Rose Hart. She was built like an amazon and had  long red hair tied back in a braided bun. She was one of my main tormentors aside from Lance but where Lance acted out more often than Rose, her attacks were more severe, and often resulted in minor injuries. 

“For what must be the hundredth time, Rose, my name is Allie, not Alice.”  She only snorted as she continued to stalk toward me until we were at arm’s length. We were both the same age but she towered a full five inches over me at 5’9. I forced my face into an expression of apathy as she opened her mouth to retort.

“Are you sure, Allie? Because last time I checked you were as mad as a hatter, so the name Alice suits you better, don’t you think?” I clenched my jaw, normally these kind of remarks were standard practice, but I found they ground on my nerves more than usual today. 

“Rose I really admire your persistence in being pathetic but to be honest craning my neck to look down on you does grow tiring so could you go somewhere else? I don’t want to waste my time talking to you when there are more intelligent conversations to be had.” 

Rose’s face went blank, other than correcting my name, I never talked back to her in favor of ignoring her. All was quiet, but then I felt her hand grab my shoulder and shove me into the water behind me. I didn’t really think about what I did next; all I knew was that I was angry. For years I had been tormented, teased, and made fun of, but now I was done. I was done with so many days ruined by the humiliation, of constantly turning the other cheek. I was sick and tired of the burning feeling in the pit of my stomach whenever I had to reign in my anger. If she wanted to fight then so be it. 

Before I could register the action I drew my leg back from my position on the ground and lashed out against her knee. She fell back with a yell but I was already up and walking away. I tracked muddy water into the gym as I made my way to the locker rooms. The boys had finished their test, and were resting as Mr. Barnes went outside so the girls could start their sit and reach test. I slipped his notice as he made his way behind me, so I stormed across the gym unhindered.

Lance came up to me as I was opening the door to the locker room, his face flushed with concern when he saw the state I was in. His words came out at a rush.

“Blades, Allie are you alright? You’re not injured are you?”

I bared my teeth at him and continued on, flicking my hair as I tore past him to splatter mud on his face before I yanked the door to the locker room open. Before crossing the room I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror. I saw my slightly upturned nose smeared with mud and brown eyes framed by raven hair that now hung in wet clumps around my face. My bangs came down above my eyebrows until it hung lower at the corner of my left eye.

 I spent more time than I would have liked analyzing my reflection. The longer I gazed at the mess the more I looked like someone down on their luck. I looked like someone who let themselves be pushed around so I stood up straight and began to clean my face. I turned away after wiping the mud from my face and went out the door. I had a brush in my bag. I fought back tears and gripped the locker door. 

I wouldn’t let myself fall apart. This had happened before and I would deal with it the same way I always did.  Instead of crying I walked around the side to the school where a dense forest grew and the sidewalk was trapped by grass that grew tall and unchecked. 

I searched the ground before I found a trail of flattened plants that marked where the thief broke off to walk in the forest. Whoever took my bag had emptied its contents and hung them along the trees, each item deeper in the wood than the last. The trail led pretty deep into the forest, ending with my necklace in the dirt. After fixing my necklace around my neck I sat down against a tree’s trunk, emotionally exhausted, and finally let myself cry. 

I looked like I didn’t care, like I was above all of the harassment, but I would be lying if I said it didn’t take its toll. How had I fallen so far? One day, I’m the talk of the town, then the next I’m a pariah. I refused to believe I was the problem, but being shut out still hurt everyday.

It doesn’t matter how badly it hurts, though, I refuse to break.

The air started to hum and I looked up, startled. The trees around me had changed. I didn’t recognize the woods anymore. It seemed as though the forest exploded with life. I could hear the flutter of birds wings and the wind rustling the leaves. 

The scent of fresh air felt intoxicating, a taste of spring in the midst of winter. My vision sharpened, the green of the trees and the rich blue of the flowers lining the forest becoming more vivid than ever before. I felt like I could grasp lightning in the sky and drag it crashing down to earth.

I stood there for a few moments, drunk on this newfound sense of power. I closed my eyes and felt the air hum with energy and crackle along my skin and settle in my palms and solidified. Startled I looked down at my hands to find each curled around a small dagger. It shouldn’t have been possible but somewhere in my bones I knew I made them. I knew how easy it would be to send blades flying into any target my eyes landed on.

I dropped the daggers like they were coals and backed away into a tree. I wasn’t bloodthirsty. I was a target of the bulk of the student body but I didn’t want to kill anyone.

Why did holding those daggers feel so comforting? So natural? 

“Hey, I found one,” called a gruff voice from behind me.

I whipped around, accidentally sending another blade in the direction of a voice. For a split second I was terrified I would kill the old man who spoke. His hand lashed out and the dagger froze in mid air, trapped in what looked like a glass bubble. The dagger twisted as his hand spun and brought it to his face for closer inspection.

“Nice craftsmanship, though I don’t really appreciate being attacked so early in the day. I haven’t even finished my coffee,” he grouched, waving a coffee cup in my direction with one hand while absentmindedly sending my dagger into the woods in the direction he pointed it at with the other. A squirrel scurried up him and settled on his shoulder and gazed at me without a trace of fear.

“What’s going on?” I asked with a quaking voice. The man took an obnoxiously drawn out sip of his drink before speaking. His clothes were strange, a black cloak covered a silver breastplate emblazoned with a black dragon and black trousers. A hood was drawn over pale purple eyes surrounded by smile lines.

“They didn’t brief you on this before they sent you over? I should report your world’s praetor.” he inquired with a raised brow. I shook my head. Not wanting to create anymore wayward weapons I curled my hands into fists and tucked them under my arms. His old lavender eyes softened.

“You poor thing, scared of your own magic. You must come from a stale world.”

“A what?” I quivered, still shaking.

“A stale world. That’s what we call places where magic doesn’t come naturally to humans. Magic is intuitive here, though every person has a different way of manifesting it,” his voice took on a strict, clipped tone, like he was talking to a recently recruited soldier. 

“Where is ‘here’?” I asked, calming down.

“We’re in Ivaline, the world that connects all worlds. More specifically speaking we’re in Spade, one of four countries.”

“Wait. How do I get home? I can’t stay here my mom and dad will be worried. I have to go back,” I stammered, sure this man would understand where I was coming from but he shook his head.

“It’s not quite so simple. Getting into Ivaline is easier then getting out. Ivaline connects all worlds, so most gateways between worlds lead into Ivaline. If you’ve seen doors shaped in trees or stones, or a shadow where it wasn’t supposed to be, that’s a gate. Stepping through it will put you to the country your most compatible with. Your soul’s drawn to it, see? The thing is in order to get back you have to know how to make a gateway in this world that leads to yours and from the looks of things you come from a stale world, so the connection between the two probably hasn’t been documented.”

“So I’m stuck here? I can’t leave?” I despaired as tears started to roll down my face. I looked down. A dagger formed in my palm at will only this time my hand shook 

“I hate to say it but you may not belong in your old world anymore.” The man’s voice was soft but stern, the voice of a parent when telling a child a harsh reality.

“What do you mean? Of course I belong there. It’s all I’ve ever known,” I protested with quivering lips only to have the man shake his head.“The magic within you has been unlocked. Brought to the surface. It’s a part of you now. Even if you returned right now that’s no guarantee you will be treated the same as you were when you left.”I threw the dagger into the ground.

“You think I don’t know what that feels like?” I sobbed, “I know what it’s like to be singled out. I can handle it.” The old man’s tilted his head and regarded me again.

“Just because you can handle something doesn’t mean you should.”My head snapped up. 

“What?”

“Facing adversity is admirable, yes, but if the challenge doesn’t benefit you it’s okay to leave it behind. If you don’t pick your battles wisely you may collapse from the strain when the one that matters begins,” he said and everything stopped. I looked to the sky, so blue and vast, not at all like the dreary clouds that hung over my school. My school, where everyone put me in their crosshairs. And all I did was take it.

Why did I do it? Up until now I seethed in my own indignation, furious with the world for dragging me down so low. But what if I let that anger go? Would it be easier? Could I be happy?

“Do . . . Do you think things could be different? Could things get better?” I asked, voice still broken and shaking from tears. The old man smiled.

“Now that’s up to you, now isn’t it?” the man said with a smile, and I smiled back.

“Yes, it is. Thank you,” I said as I wiped the last of the tears from my face.

“Good. Now what’s your name?” the old man asked, taking a small pouch from inside his cloak.“Allie. Allie Sage.”

“Pleased to meet you Miss Sage. The name’s Carrick. Now my job is to send new arrivals like yourself north, toward the Spade capital,” he introduced himself, pulling out a silver gauntlet as he did so. He took my hand then, slipping the cool metal over my forearm. The metal warped magically to fit my arm and was engraved with an eagle with its talons around a sword. On the end closer to my wrist there was a built in compass whose needle didn’t quite point north.

“What is it?” I asked.

“This marks you as a student bound for the Spade palace. This world is used to newcomers see? Other worlds have become accustomed to sending some of their youths to Ivaline every year, so every nation has their own policies in place for taking care of those newcomers and assimilating them into the population. Here in Spade you’re to travel towards the capital, where you’ll be trained in our lifestyle and eventually choose a trade. You’re to travel alone but the compass on that gauntlet twill point you in the direction of a family paid by the government to house you and buy any supplies you may need. The nearest town is Avanye, you’ll know it by the barracks and training fields. Off you go, and best of luck to you.” 

 This seems like a normal beginning to me. Good call going a few hours back in time by the way. Gives Allie some character before she becomes the protagonist.

Thanks, but the beginning isn’t the thing I was talking about, it happens later in the story, a couple books ahead. 

So why did you bring me so far back? Just show me when it happened.

I want you to get to know her first.

Why?

Because . . .

Because what?

We might have to bring her here.

. . . . What?

Just listen-

Are you insane? You know how dangerous that is?

That’s why I want you to watch. I think she can handle it.

But what could possibly justify making her a Tale Spinner? What did you see that was so bad?

Just watch her okay? 

Find out what kind of person she is before you judge.

 . . . Fine . . . 

--

Next

[breadknight-likes-things]

Spyro Reignited Trilogy Review: How To Re-Train Your Dragon

It’s 1999, i’m 7 and i’m at my friend CJ’s house, we’re passing the controller back and forth as we play the hottest new game two Playstation owning kids could want: Spyro 2 Riptos Rage.  It’s 2018, I’ve just come home from a grueling day of college classes but I’ve got it, I’ve got the hottest new game a Playstation 4 owning adult could want: Spyro 2 Riptos Rage.  The more times change the more they stay exactly the same, and thankfully in the case of the Spyro Reignited Trilogy that ends up being a good thing.

The Good:

The Fulfillment of an Imagination:  Looking back on the visuals in the original three Spyro games can be a rough time, in fact I’d say that entire generation of video games has aged incredibly poorly in the visuals department.  Spyro Reignited Trilogy however, uses the same imagination that developers asked people to tap into back in the day to create absolute wonderlands of spectacle and color that 5th gen consoles couldn’t even dream of producing.  Levels that were once unclear and painted with broad ideas and concepts are now all incredibly distinct.

For instance, in Spyro 2 the level Hurricos was always presented as this odd clifftop society, the closest thing it came to the title, obviously named as such to be close to the word “Hurricane”, was the fact it was raining.  Today though, Hurricos is a small island, locked in the middle of an endless storm and surrounded on all sides by whipping waves, with the grass being violently blown in the rain and the science loving people living their suddenly making sense for choosing this chaotic place as one in which to do research on the wind!  Every level in the trilogy has a loving amount of detail put into it, if there was something you always imagined being a part of the Spyro games but was never really there, well I have news for you, chances are it’s there right now waiting for you to see it.

The updated world designs extend beautifully to the mid level homeworlds, which all feel ripped straight out of an animated movie you get to play!

Spyro’s Just A Little Airborne, He’s Still Good!:  Last year when the Crash Bandicoot remakes came out, there was a fervor of questions raised about the originals in relation to the remakes.  Were these games always this hard or was I just really patient as a kid?  Has the “Sonics Ass” game franchise always been this linear?  I didn’t find myself asking any of those questions about Spyro.  The Spyro games gameplay were always very simple, it’s all about finding a way to glide to that far off platform or hunting down that last gem you missed in a level.

In this way Spyro has aged leaps and bounds better than Crash before it, because the mechanics were just the right kind of simple and laid back for the time that they’ve translated incredibly well to our modern era.  I was almost never stressed out playing these games again, and while you could argue they’re maybe too easy in retrospect I’d say that relaxing pace and lack of roadblocks is a feature we all always loved, even if we didn’t realize it at the time.

An Adventure Reborn:  All three of the original Spyro games are present in this collection and if you have a favorite character or moment in any of those I feel I can guarantee you that it’s here and it’s been redone in loving detail.  Spyro the Dragon has unique models for every dragon in the game, a far cry from the repeating six or seven we saw on the PS1.  Spyro 2 lovingly re-designs all the supporting cast, from Hunter the Cheetah no longer looking like a Muppet and Elora still looking exactly like a Faun you dork.  

The cast of Spyro 3 gets the same treatment, with all the new playable characters sporting looks that are clearly updated but evoke the same classic feeling they gave off in the original release(Except, unfortunately, Sheila who comes across as massively over designed).  The Homeworlds in Spyro 2 still exude a sense of peace, The Gnorcs still moon you for some reason in Spyro The Dragon and even the Skateboarding mini games in Spyro 3 have aged about a hundred times better than you’d imagine.  It’s the small details that really decide whether or not a remake team got the spirit of a game right, and i’m glad to say all of those are here in the Reignited Trilogy.

The remade Autumn Plains absolutely took my breath away, it’s always been one of my all time favorite environments in a game and with it’s new level of detail it’s going to keep that place for a long time.

Copeland Plays The Hits:  I’ll readily admit that I was worried for the music in this game, Stewart Copeland of the police turned in incredible soundtracks for the original three games.  Not only am I happy to say his tracks are here and undisturbed if you want them that way, but the remastered versions of them are incredible as well.  They all feel just like you’d want them to in these updated versions of the games that were all so driven by their tunes, with new wrinkles like a soft thump tone being added into the peaceful tracks of the Spyro 2 home world and new instrumentation adding a layer of depth to some of the first games more simplified tracks.  Honestly as it stands, it’s the choice given to you the player to listen to the new stuff, or just go back to the originals you love that puts this game over the top in regards to the music.

The Bad:

Well, for one, Jack here looks like someone used voodoo to bring a Funko Pop to life, does that count as bad?

Supercharged Past That QA Huh?:  Much like the Crash remakes last year, it’s not only clear these games were made on a very tight time frame, but that they were made sequentially and their quality decreases the further you get into the series.  Now to be fair, I encountered nothing game breaking, but I did notice that bugs, visual quality and other smaller details tended to fall by the wayside the further you get into the series.  Where the original Spyro seems to have got the most attention, Spyro 3(Ironically, much like it’s original release) had a fair amount of bugs waiting to rear their weird looking heads.  During the skateboard races, for example, the enemy A.I would sometimes just seem to switch off.  Only to reactivate at random intervals and jerk back into place, suddenly shutting down any lead you may have gained due to their non action, even if you were still playing properly while they were freaking out.  

Where levels in Spyro one and two mostly escaped this, you could see the beginnings of a reliance on re-used assets and quick production in Spyro 3.  Like Crash before it, the third game in the franchise seemed to get the least amount of attention, which is a bummer because that one has always been my second favorite.  The game was delayed once, last minute even, and I’m very glad it did, because despite what I’ve written here the game never stops functioning or is ever unplayable, if anything these bugs are just minor annoyances, but i’d have definitely hated to see what a version of Spyro 3 even more rushed out the door would have looked like.

Didn’t stop me from platinum-ing the thing!

Spyro Reignited Trilogy, despite a couple nagging issues, is a damn near perfect way to bring back our favorite purple dragon’s original three adventures.  The games not only look great with their fresh coat of paint, but have aged beautifully in both gameplay and general tone.  I’d heavily recommend The Reignited Trilogy, not just to Spyro fans, but to anyone yearning to feel like that 7 year old kid again.  Holding that dualshock and completely enraptured by the 10 or so polygons making up that little purple on the TV in front of you.  Welcome back Spyro, I hope we can look forward those wonderful words showing back up the future “An Adventure Begins”.

[kordeliiius]

Spring Anime 2018 First Impressions

This season is looking up to be a pretty big one. For some people, it's because several huge series such as Tokyo Ghoul, BnHA, and Stein's Gate are returning to the screen all at once. But for me, who got into hardly any of those, it's more because I feel like I have more on my plate than before. Heck, there were a few more shows here and there that didn’t quite make my watchlist, but I feared I wouldn’t have enough time to get through all of them, so it’s back to the usual one or two per day. Without further adieu, let’s get into it!

Notes:

I won’t be doing impressions for anything continuing from last season. This consists of: Black Clover, CCS Clear Card

Decided to not watch Golden Kamuy after all; Decided to add Comic Girls to the list

Kakuriyo no Yadomeshi - A show like this might remind a person of Noragami, Inuyasha, Kamisama Hajimemashita, or Spirited Away because of the heavily-emphasized youkai theme, though none of them put such an emphasis on food, so I'm looking forward to how the show sets itself apart from the crowd. At the moment, I'd say it's alright. The animation is nothing special, but I immediately became a fan of the color usage, with the OP drawing me in, and I specifically remember seeing that initial shot of the Hidden Realm with a color-contrasting town and mountain range against the night sky. I found a few of the character designs to be intriguing as well, though I'm a little concerned as to how far the show will go in terms of personality. It's gonna take a little more than them being attractive to drag me in this time. I'm at least glad that the main synopsis is out of the way and we've already landed in wonderland. I decided to watch this show pretty last-minute, but I like it enough to keep going!

Magical Girl Ore - Hooooooh boy where do I even begin with this one? So. Basically it draws you in by throwing all the cliches in your face. Reusing shots, childhood friends, embarrassing teenage drama, the sentient ahoge, super long attack names, the power of love, etc etc. The intro to the first episode was like Tokyo Mew Mew and Precure (and maybe even One Punch Man?) had a child that liked to occasionally break the fourth wall, and I loved it. I wouldn’t say the show is quite as outrageous as something like Pop Team Epic, though it certainly is outrageous. Certainly looking forward to the fun I’ll be having with this one, though I’ll probably dread watching it in public...

Tada-kun wa Koi wo Shinai - I don’t watch very many romcom animes, though for one reason or another I decided to check this one out. After looking into it, I discovered that it’s being made by the same studio who adapted Nozaki-kun, so this’ll be interesting. Getting into the actual show, I admittedly didn’t like Teresa riiiiight away (probably because she was introduced with the typical “gaikokujin” stigma), though like some other watchers, I can’t help but feel like there’s a mystery surrounding her. She did hesitate in saying her last name, after all. I recall the synopsis saying that she and Alec were from Luxembourg, though in the show they’re calling it Larsenbourg? Weird. At the moment, a voice that really stands out to me is that of Ijuuin’s, I found it amusing to listen to. (I also looked up his VA, and found out he’s apparently a big deal.) I feel like the voice acting is good in general. This show has a slow start, so I honestly don’t have much to say about it, yet it seems promising to me.

Comic Girls - Sure enjoyed watching this one! I first showed interest in Comic Girls because I like to draw a lot, myself, and I plain and simply love manga, so I thought that a whole series dedicated to the process would be an excellent idea. And I feel like the first episode got the feeling of an artist down pretty well. Though I'm more experienced with general classroom settings rather than a (college) dorm, I think this anime accurately portrays communication with artist peers, the joys and pains of creating, and living in a new environment. It's also good as a comedy, and it makes good use of gags such as typical manga cliches, using panel-like screens for scene portrayals, Kaos' oddly adorable nervousness amped to the extreme, and how everyone is gay for Tubas, but don’t quite admit it. While some things are obviously exaggerated, all the characters seem real, and the fact that this is a cutesy, colorful slice of life doesn't prevent it from showing us their struggles as artists. I almost didn't test this show out, but I'm ultimately glad I did.

Hinamatsuri - I REALLY LIKED IT! I really liked it. That’s the least I can say right now, haha. We’ve just begun and this show is hilarious. You wouldn’t think a show with a yakuza and a psychic little girl would work, but it honestly does. I’m not sure why it took so long for it to be uploaded anywhere, but the intro hooked me with its fast-paced, non-stop animation, and from what I can tell, that part was a flash-forward that gave us a preview of the plot. I like the setup and the characters quite a bit, and I just know there’s gonna be more along the way. Also, can I just say that I really like how they draw the hair in this show? I don’t think I’ve seen something quite like it before.

Boku no Hero Academia Season 3 - Not the strongest start for a new season, to be honest. A lot of the episode was simply dedicated to flashbacks, recap exposition, and what some people would call filler, I guess. So far not a lot to get us prepped for the upcoming plot, other than what was already stated or implied at the end of the last season. Other than that, I thought the OP and ED were quite nice! The OP song was really hype and modern-sounding in my opinion, and I liked the ED because it started off by showing pencil concepts and keyframes, which are something I always like to see. Tasty. Can’t wait for new characters and for things to get real dark in the near future.

Piano no Mori - I actually liked it more than I thought I would. the characters and their personalities drew me in immediately, and I can’t wait do see how the relationship between Kai and Shuuhei grows. This is just a little suspicion, but I’m hoping the series uses magical realism somehow. The prominent example in this first episode was when the piano in the forest would play for Kai and no one else, and for this to truly be MR, it can never be explained. It’s something I’ve been wanting from an anime ever since I started studying the genre again. And you know what? I’m just gonna say it. The use of CG isn’t bad. In fact, they kinda had to use it, considering how fast these kids’ fingers are flying and the kind of camera movement they’re going for. It looked something straight out of a game to me; it clearly looked like it had effort put into it. And hey, why couldn’t Houseki be that smooth most of the time? I’ll be looking forward to the rest of this show, and appreciate some quality music while I’m at it.

OOOOOOF that was a lot to get out. For now, I’m gonna sit back and watch what I’ve chosen and just have fun with it. See you in a few weeks for the usual ongoing impressions!

[auroraborealia]

Ship-a-thon meme

I was tagged by the amazing @ladynorbert a while ago and, due to my terrible time management skills, am showing up a day late and a dollar short as usual. But I am very grateful for the tag! <3 I won’t tag anyone in return, since I figure most people did this already, but if you haven’t and would like to, consider this your chance!Answers below the cut due to length.

First ship you ever read fic for: I believe it was Anthony/Johanna from the film version of Sweeney Todd, but I could be wrong about that.

First ship you ever wrote fic for: I wrote fanfic before I even really knew what fanfic was, but the first fanfic I wrote knowingly was for the Johnlock ship - John Watson/Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock. Those early fics are truly dreadful by my standards today, but it helped get me on the path to fanfiction and Tumblr, so I can't complain.

Ship you write the most now: Oh my gosh, Cullevelyan, without a doubt - that is, Cullen Rutherford/Female Trevelyan OCs from the game Dragon Age: Inquisition. Cullen is my darling, so I love writing him and I most often get to write him opposite the brilliant @ladynorbert and her OC Evangeline Trevelyan. But I also love shipping him with my Trevelyan Inquisitor Rowan and with ladynorbert's Inquisitor, Victoria, who appears in the wonderful "All This Sh*t Is Twice As Weird". In pretty much all incarnations, I adore Cullevelyan.

Ship you read the most now: I've been doing so much writing and editing and posting of my own fic that I haven't had too much of a chance to actually read a lot. But a few months ago I did binge read a whole bunch of stuff for Morse/Joan from the tv series Endeavour. God, I love those two (plus they remind me of Cullen/Evvy, so it's like double shipping).

Newest ship: Hmm. Probably the aforementioned Morse/Joan.

Rare ship you want to read more of: Ooh, an oldie but a goodie that I quite nearly forgot about - Switzerland/Belarus from Hetalia. Most of the fanfics about them are crackfics or fics people wrote as part of contests that spat the pairing out at random, but I want more of them as actual pairing.

Your taboo ship: I am the most vanilla person you could ever meet, so I don't really think I have too terribly many taboo anythings in my life, LOL.

"They never met in canon" ship: Switzerland/Belarus definitely fit that. Another one of my favs is Rosalie Rutherford/Cremisius Aclassi from Dragon Age. Rosalie doesn't appear in canon at all (only in mention), but when ladynorbert and I wrote our longfic "The Lady and the Lion," we thought it would be an adorable pairing and boy, were we right. A lot of the ships in that story fall into that category, come to think of it, like Josephine Montilyet/Branson Rutherford. That was fabulous too.

Your unexpected ship: The ones I just mentioned above, plus Nygmobblepot (Ed Nygma/Oswald Cobblepot) from the show Gotham. I hate superheroes, so the fact that I willingly watch Gotham is still wild to me, but add into that shipping Riddler and Penguin? Yeah, didn’t expect any of it.

The ship you always forget to love: I tend to write and ship as the wind blows, so a lot of my ships do get lost in the shuffle. Some that I adore and have ideas for but haven't had a chance to write include Mulder/Scully from The X-Files, Howl/Sophie from Howl's Moving Castle, and Haymitch/Effie from The Hunger Games. Also, until I started doing this meme, I forgot a bit about the spectacular Will/Anastasia from Once Upon a Time in Wonderland. They were fabulous.

Ship your OC with a canon character: Probably the best example I have of this is my OC (and admitted author insert) Rory Norbertson from the “Skyhold Academy Yearbook” series whom I accidentally started shipping with Cremisius Aclassi. And I have loved every single second of it.

A ship you're embarrassed to ship: Nygmobblepot. Just to be clear, I have made some awesome friends through this ship, so it’s not that I’m embarrassed about that. I’m just a little embarrassed about how obsessed I was for those few months, LOL.

Your most romantic ship: Oh, Cullevelyan. Without a doubt. The romance practically writes itself.

Your sexiest ship: Cullevelyan again. I mean, ladynorbert and I are the queens of the “fade to black” so nothing is ever shown, but the implication is there. And, in some cases, it’s there frequently. Have you read “The Lady and the Lion”? Yeah.

Your most tragic ship: You may notice that my blog description reads "Fangirl, Aspiring Author, Shipper of Tragic Ships". I have QUITE a few ships that are extremely tragic (*sighs*) so it's hard to pick just one. Pretty much any of my ships in Downton Abbey or Merlin come to mind. (*sighs again*) (*sighs forever*)

A ship you want more content for: ALL my ships!