#but my stories are specifically written in a way to be showy and flashy

[isekyaaa]

I said what I did, but my writing currently is extremely flowy. There's no bumps, crevices, curves, hills.... It's complete and total legato. However in my case, the issue isn't with sentence variation. It's the way I word my sentences. It's too poetic and vibey. Honestly pretty cringe in many aspects, like it's doing its best to sound meaningful and deep. It works well writing oneshots, but if I ever wanted to write an actual chaptered story, it'd completely fail. I really need to learn how to write proper prose again...

[t00thpasteface]

I forgot if I've already asked you this question, but who is your number one favorite Fictional Antagonist from Media? Rules are as follows; feel free to ignore:

If you want to choose a recurring villain like Bowser or The Joker, you have to choose a particular incarnation of this character. Like Alan Moore's Joker or Paper Mario 64's Bowser.

Specific Characters/Entities Only. You can't say, "Haunted Houses that aren't haunted by, like, a single ghost or anything in particular" like my mom wanted to. She settled firmly on "The Overlook Hotel" and she's a stronger person for it.

Villainous Duos like Boris & Natasha are accepted.

People have a hard time picking a #1, so you're allowed to list as many runner-ups as you like. Listen to your heart.

Protagonists who are their own worst enemies don't count!

Villainous characters who are protagonists in their story are very begrudgingly accepted. Whether or not George Costanza (A Villainous Protagonist) or Detective Columbo (A Heroic Antagonist) count is beyond the scope of this paper.

Thank you for your time!

hmmmm!! that's a really interesting question to chew on actually.

i'm not usually drawn to villains or villain-driven stories, outside of games that necessitate it as a gameplay mechanic or genre staple a la mario games or your standard JRPGs. and i wouldn't call a glorified game mechanic a character if they really don't do much besides throw barrels at the player to jump over. porky and giygas are exceptions but honestly not much; they aren't very complicated characters, even though they're snappily written, and most of where they shine is just the fact that they're one well-placed load-bearing piece in a larger cohesive narrative. they don't really capture my attention outside of their gameplay role.

i'm overall much more compelled by Romantic with a capital R stories about internal, oftentimes more abstracted struggles. i mean, i don't have to tell you that my favorite books EVER are "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and "The Great Gatsby," both of which play with deuteragonists as foils to the narrator that inevitably spiral and leave the reader with something of a thought exercise regarding the intersection of nature versus nurture, intent versus action, past versus future, et cetera. the characters themselves are symbolic of sociological concepts so much larger than themselves, and because of that, they can't truly be classified into "hero" or "villian", because the topics those books grapple with are so incredibly messy and morally-fuzzy that the characters who exemplify them must reflect that same complexity and nuance.

as soon as a story starts to veer towards "all our problems are caused by One Guy who we can remove from the equation forever," it usually loses me, or if nothing else it just makes me zone out when the villain and his evil army of doom is on screen until we're back to introspective character-building moments between the protags, deuterags, etc. i'm the boring guy who likes slow, dialogue-driven things more than flashy show tunes.

ALL THAT BEING SAID......

villains really only shine (for me) if they're funny as fuck. that's the one way they can really get my attention as a character that has, by definition, been written into a unilaterally negative role that must be booed. they get to be FUNNY! and they get to be my favorite kind of funny: insane slapstick funny. i like seeing cartoony villains get absolutely pulverized, thrown around like wet dishrags, set on fire, flung off cliffs, you name it. the zanier the better. so here's my own elite 4 in ascending order:

fourth is 2012 avengers movie Loki. very hammy, very showy, extremely puncheable face, and he takes SO much physical punishment and writhes like a worm the whole time. super fun.

third is pokemon's Archie. emerald is my favorite game but archie SHINES in alpha sapphire. he's such a huge personality and he takes hits with a smile. and then he gets a big fuzzy redemption at the end because this is a game for kids, but even that is so over-the-top cornball that i just laugh and smile the whole time instead of rolling my eyes. a good wholesome time was had by all.

second is Mr. Burns in the simpsons. let me preface this by saying i really don't watch anything after, ehhhh, i'd say season 8 or 9, because that's about where my box sets ended growing up. any episode where Mr. Burns gets some slapstick gags about his incredibly frail body that runs on pure evil is a good episode. i especially love "the springfield files," "homer the smithers," "homer at the bat," and "who shot mr burns" parts 1 and 2.

and my favorite is undoubtedly Sheldon J. Plankton. similar situation as simpsons; i don't watch anything after seasons 1-3 and the first movie. he commands every single scene he's in, which is especially impressive given that he's literally just a single tiny copepod. he's got the best villain laugh EVER. he's even a delight in the game "battle for bikini bottom"... you GOTTA check out BFBB Rehydrated if you like the spirit and snark of the early seasons. i love him in "walking small," "F.U.N.," "the algae's always greener," and of course, the movie. he's evil! he's diabolical!! he's LEMON SCENTED!!!!

[x0401x]

Hoshiai no Sora Production Notes #03

Akane Kazuki answers questions asked by the fans!

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Q.: Between traditional Japanese, Western and Chinese cuisine, what’s Maki-kun’s specialty? Also, I would like to know if there’s any cuisine that he’s good at in particular.

A.: He can generally cook anything without having a particular specialty. The reason why he often made Chinese food in the cooking scenes of the series is that Chinese food can be made in a short span. For dishes that take up time, he makes and stores them on Saturdays, then uses them for his lunch boxes.

Q.: I want to know the hobbies of all the club members!

A.: Maki has an interest in astronomy, so astronomical observation. Touma likes dinosaurs and fossils. Rintarou collects cat goods. As for Nao, fishing. In Itsuki's case, I guess it would be horror-type shooting games or the like. I feel that his older sister, Namie, likes them indiscriminately and would join him. Taiyou plays with his father using his miniature cars, which are also his hobby. Tsubasa might not have a hobby that actually seems like a hobby. Shingo watches anime with his little sister.

Q.: I want to know the reason for everyone except Maki to have joined the soft tennis club!

A.: I guess the only one who joined it because he wanted to play soft tennis was Touma. Middle schoolers in general must join some club, and many of them join clubs that they pick due to having no other option. I think that the club members of Shijou Minami also ended up gathering there because each of them had no other place to go, but as they all carry wounds that do not show on the surface and have formed a relationship where they understand one another without saying anything, it has turned into their own little place to belong.

Q.: The production of not just the soft tennis scenes, but also daily life scenes where Maki cooks and everyone eats with relish in their own way, is rather sensible, to a surprising extent. With what kind of policy did you proceed on that?

A.: What is interesting in animation is not just showy action; there is also warmth, reality and sense of presence in simple dramas, so this time, I wanted to make an anime where these things would become its charm by being portrayed sensibly. The detailed play of the cooking and daily life scenes were interesting even for me when I watched them, so I think they turned out as something that the viewers can enjoy too. This is of a higher difficulty level than flashy action, but even worldwide, I believe it is something that can only be done with Japanese animation.

Q.: At the beginning of episode 2, when Touma helped Yuuta, he was described as someone to be feared, but what was the reason for that?

A.: Because he snaps easily. He must be famous for it.

Q.: What were the words that Nakao-kun threw at Itsuki-kun on episode 3?

A.: He chose cruel words and spoke them out. Sakurai also says it during the series, but his words were meant to show that they can hurt someone. However, that terminology unfortunately seems to be forbidden from being said on TV, so during the post-recording, we decided to mute it.

Q.: Who made the lemon honey pickles that were placed on those two benches at lunch in episode 11?

A.: It was Yuuta. Yuuta was also making drinks for everyone during practice, so I think he was providing modest support while nestling close to the feelings of the club members.

Q.: I want to know what the recordings are like!

A.: The number of people was so big they could not fit inside the booth, but I could feel an unanimous enthusiasm towards series from all of them. There were also many cast members who came to me with questions even about things that were not depicted in the animation in an attempt to understand the characters’ personalities. On the other hand, when the New Year’s issue was announced, we gathered in front of the TV and made merry, and we got along well.

Q.: I want to see the floor plan of everyone’s houses!!

A.: I believe this will be included in the setting reference book, although it is just a part of it, so please look forward to that. When making the rooms, we created them after deciding on the floor plans, having in mind the daily life style of each family. I had even the parts that were not animated be made in detail, so I think I gave the settings designer a hard time. *laughs*

Q.: Were there any references to actual players or games for the soft tennis parts, such as forms and play styles?

A.: We actually went to collect data at middle school competitions in Tokyo, and used references from the practice skills of middle schooler clubs such as the ones from Seimei Academy, as well as the Lucent Cup and other such tournaments that involve influential national athletes, including their different levels of prowess.

Q.: Do all the club members know that Touma-kun likes dinosaurs and Nao-kun likes fish?

A.: They do, somehow or other. I think boys their age have their hands full with their own matters, so they do not mind other people’s tastes that much.

Q.: What kind of practice do the soft tennis club members of Shijou Minami do on rainy days?

A.: We have depicted a little bit of this in the drama CD of the second volume, so please look forward to it.

Q.: About the incident that happened in the soft tennis club five years earlier, which Sakurai-sensei knows of. Does it have anything to do with Ryouma, who was the ace back then, and his pair, as well as little Touma and Maki? I am also concerned about the clover protection charm.

A.: The story of their past is one of the things I want to write about in the future. There are also hints in each of their lines, so please try to watch the main story again.

Q.: What was the intention behind not giving a title to each episode?

A.: “Hoshiai no Sora” was written through taking cuts of those children’s lives, so we did not make any conveniences for the developments of the stories from each episode. Therefore, our intention was that the first episode was the first story and the last episode was the last story, thus we did not give them titles.

Q.: I want to know in detail the reason why the Itsuse brothers started playing soft tennis, their family structure and their school lives! (Sorry if this has already been made public...)

A.: This is part of what I want to depict in episode 13 onwards.

Q.: Why did Itsuki only give pet names to Maki and Kanako? Is there any sort of specific criteria for Itsuki’s usage of pet names?

A.: Itsuki has actually given everyone a pet name in his mind. They are peculiar nicknames fitting of a cynic person like Itsuki. He merely does not voice them because he thinks the other person will get angry if he says it to their face.

Q.: Why does Tsubasa-kun wear a T-shirt that says “15”?

A.: It is 15 as in “fifteen years old”. He looks up to that age, or rather, he might just want to ride off on a stolen bike. *laughs* Tsubasa is still thirteen, though. Thirteen-year-olds think of fifteen-year-olds as grown-ups.

Q.: Everyone’s individualities show through in that scene from episode 2 where they are all running and I quite like it, but how did you decide on and animate the particularities in the way each of them runs?

A.: I drew a rough sketch of the characteristics in each of their running styles, then had them clean-copied by the animation director, Irie-san.

Q.: Who has the best grades amongst the characters? Also, who has the worst ones?

A.: Rintarou has the best grades regardless of subject. Since he is a hard worker, his grades are top-class in his school year. On the other hand, the biggest dummy is Shigo. I am thinking of including the anecdotes related to this in episode 13 onwards.

Q.: I have the impression that you write about “things that might not be commonplace, but are a part of commonplace daily life”, without making the issues that each character bears into something excessively tragic. If there was any point in the shooting where you planned this out, I would like you to tell us.

A.: I believe animation already has a special filter for the shooting just from the fact that it is hand-drawn. That’s why I thought that dropping the ostentatious performance and making pure animation art would suffice this time. Since we were handling sensitive contents, we did not do an unnecessarily exaggerated staging. This might not be as interesting if shot in the same way as live actions, but the portrayal as animation is in itself enough for the shooting. Shots where they are walking, for example, are already an incredibly special picture, so isn’t this the greatness of animation?

Q.: Are Yuuta-kun’s feelings for Touma romantic love? Or is he sitting on the fence between love and friendship? Maybe it is admiration?

A.: I think there’s a part of him deep inside that has not yet figured it out. Surprisingly enough, Maki is the one who seems to understand it accurately.

Q.: How did you choose the rackets of each club member? Please tell us about the rackets of Arashi, Joy, the Itsuse brothers and Ryouma as well.

A.: For the rackets that have models, I picked them after deciding on my images of the position and skills of each one. Rackets have their own levels and popularity in real life, so for that part, I referenced the information I received from each maker. For example, I selected a racket that is, just as Touma said, easy for beginners to use as Maki’s first racket.

Q.: Jizue-san’s music was impressive as there is a sense of transparency to it, but the environment sounds were rather effective in that scene right before getting to the EV at the end of episode 5, so it felt like an extention of daily life and the sense of tension came alive. What kind of points were you particular about when making it?

A.: Music and sound effects can convey what the dialogues and acting do not. Even if a character is laughing, they aren’t always truly smiling on the inside. On the other hand, it’s not like we are going to play dreary music just because they’re scared. We did not put music in that scene precisely in order to enhance the unease. If we put music in it, we end up restricting its image. What we wanted people to feel was not fear, but the anxiety of wondering if something was about to happen.

Q.: How did you do the paste-up of the rackets’ gut strings?

A.: We had it pasted during the shooting. There were so many materials to be pasted other than this, such as books and cloth bibs, that the photography staff screamed. There were also many parts that we ended up omitting in the main story. Speaking of gut strings, there were special scenes where we did them as animation instead of paste-ups. The scene where Maki’s racket was destroyed was also entirely hand-drawn.

Q.: What was the reason for the OP and ED being cut off in the last episode?

A.: To emphasize that episode 12 is not the end of the story. The story of those boys that exists inside me is not yet complete, and I have only depicted half of it. I wanted the viewers to feel that the story would continue after this, so I directed it that way.

[i-want-my-iwtv]

Lestat, Louis is a sad sack of a man and doesn’t really seem to be worth loving. Ok so he’s “beautiful” that’s not enough to make a relationship last. Why is Louis worth loving?

//ooc: This is another fairly old ask, from November, 2017. I think anon was trying to rile Lestat by calling Louis “a sad sack of a man and doesn’t really seem to be worth loving.” Limiting him to just being “beautiful.” And while it is fun to rile Lestat and see how he reacts, idk… I was kind of taken aback by this and I had too many thoughts about it to have Lestat respond flippantly, which he would have. I think Lestat either gets defensive about loving Louis, or just dismisses these kinds of comments, one less person for him to compete with for Louis’ attention, lol.

TL;DR: I think when ppl ask that, part of where they may be coming from is that THEY feel like a “sad sack” who’s maybe not worth being loved, especially by the main character in a series, a flashy glittery murder machine. They worry that even if they’re loved for being “beautiful” that that really isn’t enough for a relationship, and that’s absolutely true, if we’re defining beauty as superficial characteristics. The beauty of Louis, to me, is in his character, and the emotions of the scene. 

I’ve written a lot about what draws me, as a reader, to love Louis, probably the best stuff is in my #we appreciate and love louis in this house tag. But I’ll try not to go overboard and answer you here, anyway!

I think the deal with describing Louis as *~SO beautiful~* is partly that, hey, it’s fun to do, like having a favorite flower, and AR takes the opportunity to remind us of it, and put the camera on him in a scene, so we know he’s present. It also serves a purpose, we usually get at least a scrap of context about him and/or the scene:

“I glared at him, at the sharp graceful angles of his imperturbable face, […] his wide-set eyes, with their fine rich black lashes. How perfect the tender indentation of his upper lip.” -Lestat, The Tale of the Body Thief

^Let’s take this line and unpack it a little:

Lestat glares at Louis. –> Lestat is clearly pissed.

Louis’ imperturbable face –> Louis is not scared of Lestat being pissed.

And then Lestat lavishes this extra description on him, appreciatively. Attention on the lip area, now we’re picturing him pointedly staring there, which might precede a kiss, so we can infer that Lestat desperately wants to kiss him, probably. What I get from all that is the exquisite tension of Lestat wanting someone he can’t have, someone he treasures and wants even MORE bc of the difficulty. 

It’s the tension of Lestat and other characters pining for Louis that AR wrings every drop out for us, she’s showing us how helpless these other characters are that they can only try to capture Louis with descriptions since he defies being owned by anyone. Unrequited love is a powerful thing.

Bringing these back, in case anyone else missed them and want to indulge in some Louis praise/discussion:

The first anon in this series: Honestly I can’t believe how gay everyone was for Louis ask and my response

“Louis rant” anon here.

A recent Louis canon hair fanart and commentary

Reply to an anon re: “fanon has cast Louis as a beautiful, frail flower destined and carried by Lestat’s will”

Anon grateful for “that whole “gay for Louis” ask reminded me of how much I love Louis” and my invitation to anyone to send rants about loving Louis (or any VC character!)

Also somewhat relevant: thoughts on Louis having a living lineage.

So, re: Anon might be identifying with Louis: 

We can find ourselves slipping into the characters we love and identify with. Some ppl find Lestat relatable in his lust for life, self-centeredness, refusal to quit, constantly screwing up and berating himself in the narrative (but rarely being able to outright apologize to those he hurts)… a flawed character for sure but an inspiring one.

I think some ppl who relate to Louis and feel less flashy, less glamorous, there’s smtg very appealing about how such a character could be so idolized by the more flashy and glamorous one. What could such a *rockstar* like Lestat find attractive in Louis?? You said yourself Louis is a sad sack. And yes, beauty is not enough to keep a relationship going. But, as I mentioned above, Louis’ beauty is often described in a context that charges it with the emotions of the scene. At least to my reading, there’s more conveyed than just eye color.

Still, why wouldn’t Lestat demand someone who was more like himself?

But here’s the thing I think a lot of ppl miss when they’ve only seen movie!IWTV, or only read a few of the books. 

^Louis & Lestat by @garama​

I personally believe that Lestat sees in Louis a similarly wounded soul with a lust for life. At their core, neither really want to die. Louis kept getting into fights with ppl bc he couldn’t kill himself as a mortal. Lestat has stubbornly refused to die his entire life and has had plenty of reason to want death. They’ve both almost killed themselves and been brought back. There’s a similar torment in them dealing with their natures.

As an anon put it so eloquently: “I think ppl forget that Louis is just as passionate and vengeful as Lestat, it’s just that he isn’t as vocal or showy about it. He’s more intimate and intense.”

The way they communicate/express themselves, and the way they practice self-care is vastly different. Lestat builds up his beautiful shell with retail therapy, redecorating and refurbishing his dwellings, and attending all kinds of shows and making elaborate plans with his kills, just spoiling himself silly. Always down for indulging his senses. He’s chasing new experiences, learning the new slang, trying to keep himself in the latest fashions. Novelty.

Louis prefers his nights at home, low-drama, in his own creature comforts, with his books and poetry to escape into. We don’t know much of what he’s read but he seems to want to spend eternity reading. What is reading? Even if it’s nonfiction, it’s learning, being told a story, being more informed. It’s novelty, too. Escapism through the imagination.

And their personalities seem to complement each other. Lestat’s lust for adventure spices up Louis’ otherwise too-calm existence. Louis’ calm and dignified manner brings Lestat back down to earth when he gets too untethered. Their bickering is bc they care for each other, can see beneath each other’s disguises. Louis sees the frightened boy inside the frustration that makes Lestat lash out and attack first. Lestat sees the potential in Louis of someone who, if he could get over his inhibitions, could experience so much more in his life.

When AR was kind of RPing as Lestat in her #Fan Questions for Lestat series, she was asked smtg similar:

“…but if I did have to choose, the companion would be Louis. My longest most enduring friendship and love affair in this world was with Louis. And though his limitations can be maddening, they can also be as inspiring to me as his virtues… the best choices we make are not always the wise choices. Sometimes they are intensely emotional choices. And I’ve always had a deep Romantic respect for emotion. My love for Louis transcends wisdom. And I may need the pain as much as the consolation that an eternal relationship with Louis would involve.“

^This is one of those moments I talk about where I feel like she recaptures the old magic, taps into the vein (pun intended) that got us all addicted to this series in the first place. Why I can’t just discard the crackier later books. She’s not all that specific here, but it’s believable. At least, to me. Lestat admits that Louis’ limitations (and this can be so many things, things Lestat disagrees with him about as well as things Louis refuses to do) can be maddening, and inspiring. 

And he admits that his love for Louis transcends wisdom. That may be a cop-out answer, but I’ve felt that kind of love in my life. Inexplicably bound to someone, despite the math of the personalities not seeming to mesh. 

Love works in mysterious ways. Even for beautiful sad sacks and the arrogant bastards who love them