#but sometimes some animes source material is like REALLY BAD and the anime basically toned down everything that sucked

[kowaindar0u]

//

it's 5:30am 6:20am and I'm not sleepy enough, and I binged Katsugeki today so ...thoughts ?? probably dumb and incoherent but 👍👍👍

Mostly just "what if" yuichi headcanons and then I veer off into "well a guy can dream" territory

I'm thinking. Obviously I loooove running with the rain theme with yuichi. I'm thinking that when he uses his powers u hear the sound of thunder; more energy used means louder booms. Less means just some rumbles. Rain droplets/mist accompany the sakura petals when teleporting (not enough to soak, just enough to be like. Cool and energizing!!)

And if the above is true then I think new toudans at Nagame are basically born during a thunderstorm 🤔 LMAO in a different context that would be like...classic mad scientist vibes lol (like them animating their new creation, while thunder and lightning flash etc) 💀

I still am not sure how Exactly summonings work in a material sense (does a saniwa get like. The actual blade, like from the govt, just long enough to summon the sword? Or ..?)

But I think however it works, Yuichi performs the summoning alone and I think the...channeling he does is heavily emotional (?) more than simply spiritual, if that makes sense. Like... Maybe through this channeling he kind of... peels back layers to get to his core, where his power is purest and strongest, but also his emotions are most intense, and that's what he used to call forth a new touken danshi...?? It's not always a bad-emotions experience (he may be plagued with sadness and fear but he is more than that!) but still,,, He is probably then quite sensitive/raw after a summoning and might not be seen outside of his room for a day or two afterwards, unless it's necessary. Usually his kinji and/or one of his closer toudans are fine to check in on him but occasionally he'll request they just leave his food and go. Of course that's probably not the healthiest way to go about it but sometimes being near someone else is just too overwhelming.

I think this probably also instills a bit of guilt in him because that means he likely doesn't see any toudans he summons until they've already been there a day or two... :^( but he makes sure to greet them with food or something and try to spend some time with them once he's able. Thankfully, I think, he can do the summoning uhhhh remotely? this way the first thing a new sword sees is not A Mess and have to be like "uh...that's my new master? 😬"... Wouldn't instill a lot of confidence lol

Unrelated to that but I'm also thinking about if Taikyuu saw Harada Sanosuke while on a mission... Agh I think he'd have a hard time (unsurprisingly). Like he KNOWS he's not meant to be used as a main weapon, he's not an uchigatana anymore, and he KNOWS Harada favors spears anyway (he would love that spear to pieces if it ever manifested as a toudan), but I think part of him that's just so desperate to prove himself is so sad to see it in a way? Idk if that makes any sense LOL

Also LMAO on the chance they ran into each other taikyuu would 100% ask to see his scar. Then if he did show I see him saying something like "I did that... I could never have killed you..." etc and then probably weirding harada out LOL

Also I really shouldn't be thinking about my OCs being in toumyu cause I always fall into the trap of being sad my personal made-up characters aren't in the source material :( lol HOWEVER I'm thinking about it anyway

I think Taikyuu and Yams would have a really cool like. Rowdy song y'know, like a duet where they go bonkers on some HRA. They gotta get someone who's a good dancer to play him cause he also needs a... Like a kind of moody, cool tone song to dance to... Like if you crossed Endless Night with Gotta Go by Chungha...????

SUNAO AND KUWANA WOULD ABSOLUTELY 1000000% NEED A SONG WHILE THEY'RE DOING FIELD WORK I WOULD CRY...and then maybe like. A sad/somber reprise of it ohhhh...

Oh my god LMAOOOO... taikyuu and Hasebe would have a song that's just them like. Fighting. Yelling at each other. But to music.

But then during the concert part they would have a fucking bomb ass duet omg... 😳

I LOOOOOVE thinking about this shit omg the only downside is it's impossible HAHA

Ok that's all for now I'm gonna keep thinking about HaseKyuu duet

[bmpmp3]

a lot of anime opening single b-sides get kinda overlooked but Everyone Should Listen to the b-side of fabiniku’s opening Refrain this song has been consuming my mind for the past 48 hours LIKE listen to it

the weirdass white noise/ darth vader breathing noise in the beginning and the quiet parts, the jazzy drums in the verses, guitar riffs that will make any dad who listens to too much classic rock air guitar his heart out, the vocals at around the 3:20 mark, the fantastical synth melody, THE FLUTE ASS SOUND are you listening to me are you listening to the FLUTE? the WOODWIND INSTRUMENT in the ‘refrain... refrain... refrain...” sections and the DISTORTION on the “refrain“s in the final seconds LISTEN TO ME listen to the woodwind instrument

[meruz]

i was gonna draw tonight but i dropped my tablet pen and the barrel of the pen broke off and flew somewhere underneath (??) my bed (?) and now i cant find it so I’m just gonna answer asks before bed instead. just some art asks and more mentions of infinity train LOL

What program and brushes do you use when making your art?

@ravki hi! part of this is in my FAQ but i’ll say it again anyways LOL: I use photoshop CC and have used photoshop for pretty much....my whole art career. I’ve dabbled in clip and paint tool sai in the past but photoshop is my true wife, we eloped away from her awful father adobe many years ago and are very happy together. 

as for brushes... I should prob put this info in my FAQ too lol,... my default brush set is actually free to download here! Tho I will say I also use steve ahn’s storyboarding brush sometimes and lately i’ve been using shiyoon kim’s brushes A TON. Shiyoon’s cost a couple bucks but they’re super worth it imo

How do you choose colors?

This is kind of a difficult one to describe from scratch but hmm.... I’ll put it this way. Generally when I go into coloring or painting something I already have some colors in mind. Like for a certain piece I know I want a bright green, or a magenta, or a dark blue in certain areas. A lot of the time I know a mood I want. So I’ll start with that core color tone and build around it. I’ll use an example from a recent piece

So you can see here that the first color I accessed was that bright cyan. So I start with that bright cyan and then bring in its “friends” in the form of analogous colors (shown below on the far left)

greens greys etc. THEN I know I want the characters to stand out against all the blue so I start laying down warm contrasting colors for them (middle group). the mat under them is orange, skin tones are warm, ryans flannel is red etc. then to get them to work together I work more cool colors into the shadows and slightly warmer (not too warm because its a cool img overall so in this case, greener LOL) colors into highlights. 

hope that makes sense? for me choosing colors is a lot about story and composition. If you know what you want to say, the mood you want to create, where you want to go, the path to get there becomes a lot clearer imo.

Have you ever considered making an art book?

I have! But I don’t think I currently have enough...original illustrations for one LOL? Not that an art book has to be all original work but if I were putting fanart in an art book...at that point I’d just make a fanzine. I’m making more original work lately though so maybe this year....? Who knows. For now, I do have a sketchbook up on gumroad. Hoping to do one of those next year too.

Any tips for keeping background drawings from getting super stiff, especially since things like interiors have a lot of straight lines?

This is a really interesting ask. Really great question that I don’t think gets asked enough - forgive me if I get a bit art school here but I drew up some examples.

First I think we have to investigate the assumption that straight lines make things stiff. That seems true on an instinctual level and certainly proves to be true very often But I don’t think its actually the straight lines themselves but the sort of arrangements and compositions they tend to dictate. Take this for instance.

pretty big difference, right? there’s a couple things that make a composition feel stiff and one of the most significant is lines that are perpendicular and parallel to the frame. it feels locked in and solid, like bricks. but the moment you shift these angles even a little the composition instantly becomes more dynamic because our innate senses of weight, gravity, and directionality can sense movement.

But it’s not just diagonals let’s take this one step further

when lines meet and terminate together those tangents can flatten and lock space so the best way to solve this is with overlap and complete intersection, forms continuing past or behind each other feel more layered and less like a flat mosaic... again, even in the simplest line drawings. So how do we apply this to a background?

ok I drew this really fast so its potentially not the best example but I think the idea is there. This space isn’t even particularly deep, it’s basically a room, a doorway, and a hallway behind it, and we’re not seeing that much of any of those things LOL. but when you draw an environmental object like a doorway in a way that lines up with the perpendicular and parallel lines of the canvas you’re automatically flattening it and making it look rigid.

and when you create tangents with objects and characters you flatten the space around them and make it difficult to tell what is actually in front or behind or if they’re on the same plane.

GOD I HOPE THIS MAKES SENSE. Anyways. avoid those things and you’ll instantly have less stiff bgs no matter what kind of bg you’re depicting.

I wanna mention however that this isn’t to say a stiff bg with flat space doesn’t have its purposes.

sometimes you want to create parallels and tangents. it can make characters feel closed in, trapped, regimented, part of a routine, etc. it’s also great for making a composition look ornamental (especially combined with symmetry).

directors like wes anderson can even use these compositional elements to make images feel uncanny or harrowing! its very versatile. I think the important thing is to just be aware of when you are making something rigid and when that’s the last thing you want to do. conscious choices.

Can you speak Tagalog?

@lemuelzero101​ I can! BUT NOT VERY WELL LOL ;;; both my parents are from Visayas! but they met and had me in the states lol so I’m pretty American born and raised. We go back to visit family on occasion but not regularly. My tagalog is mostly absorbed from listening to relatives at parties lol and my parents speak bisaya at home so I’m marginally better at that. Sorry to any filipinos out there hoping I’d be better educated, I’m like a little baby...

I do love meeting and talking to other filipinos online though, I grew up in an area that was relatively diverse but the asian population was small and the filipino population basically non-existent. I was like one of maybe 2 filipino kids in my highschool of 2000.

Apart from infinity train what shows are you watching now? Have you seen jujitsu kaisen?

Man this is gonna sound so boring but I haven’t watched a lot of tv lately.  It’s not really part of my daily routine. Let’s see... I was sort of watching Amphibia, Craig of the Creek, and the new Digimon Adventure 2020 but I keep falling off watching those for one reason or another. Also there’s a lot of episodes, it doesn’t feel like something I can just binge and be done with.

The last thing I binged was Succession. I want that show and Euphoria back so bad, when I’m done forcing all my friends to watch Infinity Train im cancelling my HBO subscription until Succession and Euphoria return so they know exactly what I’m on their list for LOL. 

I have not watched jujitsu kaisen but I’ve kept up with some of the sakuga news (I keep up with anime industry news and production info like x5 the amt i keep up with actual anime) for it and their compositing/editing looks dope. I’ve read the manga actually LOL or at least part of the beginning. I wasn’t super keen on the whole finger eating thing. Also to be honest I kinda feel like its the new Bleach and I never particularly cared about Bleach. Characters look nice enough tho. I wholeheartedly support jjk fans.

Thank you! Thank you @keznodzieja​! <3

And thank you anons who don’t watch infinity train LOL...it’s always nice to hear when people enjoy my fanart despite not knowing the source material because it lifts a little bit of the “oh god am I being annoying???” fear off my chest. But also I think you should watch infinity train because it’s really good I have no reservations recommending it.

[callsignbaphomet]

Ok, so, originally this was gonna just be a million fuckin questions, and it'll prooooobably turn into one of those question chains from several months ago. BUT to start I think I can do just like, three. First, tell me ALL about the area in Norway where Jelani was growin up, absolutely anything and everything you can think of about it. Secondly, tell me ALL about babby Jelani! Again just anything and everything you can think of! Lastly, how exactly do those magic weapons work? :o Like, once they're made can anyone grab them? Can he only have one at a time? Stuff like that! Basically just use this as a chance to talk about all those things! :3

❤️❤️❤️

So Jelani was born and raised near what is known as Hammerfest today (woohoo subarctic climate!). Honestly he’s been everywhere and just about seen everything but nothing compares to when he was growing up in that area and watching the Aurora Borealis with family and friends in a comfortable silence while just taking it all in, ya know? Being born in 870 CE meant there was no light pollution so every night the sky always lit up and the stars were so shiny and there were millions and millions of them which was absolutely insane to see and had a lot of significance because of his mom’s culture and their relationship to the stars.

They were close to the coast so there was a lot of fishing and sailing. He was also partial to that area because it was close to the sea and close enough to the mountains where it felt like a happy in between. He’s not a fan of being too far from some source of water. That place was perfect as he could see all kinds of sea dwelling animals like whales and seals, squids though he’s not a fan, he’s kind of scared of squid especially the really big ones he saw every once in a while. He especially liked puffins as a kid since he thought they were kinda silly. Inland he saw his fair share of reindeer, foxes, bears, wolves and otters which he completely fell in love with and still loves as an adult. Show him pictures or videos of otters and he’ll melt, if he sees one irl he’ll practically die from the amount of cute. There were also the more supernatural creatures though he mostly grew up around a lot of werewolves.

Oh! And sure, he’s not a big fan of the sun but even he has to admit that the midnight sun is pretty impressive and beautiful in its own right. It was gorgeous to see it and he did enjoy walking around in the middle of the night and still see the sun out.

Also, despite the location, he was exposed to a lot of different people as the village was flagged as a safe area which saw a ton of traders and all were welcome regardless of who you were or if you were human or non-human. He saw everything and interacted with all sorts of people from the local Sámi People, Middle Eastern, Asian and even other African people. And after his mom found out her family were still alive and well they’d also visit each other when they could. Honestly, his upbringing was kinda fairy tale like.

______________________________________________________________

qasdxcfgbhn well, Jela as a little kid was always hanging around his parents, grandparents and especially his brother. Since Loke’s 13 years older than him Loke often watched him and played with him a lot, he wasn’t even asked to he just did it because baby brother. Like the instant Lo first saw him it was like love at first sight type of shit. He learned to speak clearly very early on which surprised everyone at how clear and structured his speech was for a kid so young and then they learned he was a very fast learner and really smart and was always curious and asking tons of questions.

Even since he was little he really loved animals so he was always seen chasing after them or somehow petting them and playing with them. Learned to ride and care for horses pretty fast and when he got his own it was like fireworks went off in his head. Even in present day he sees a horse and it’s like instant childhood memories flooding him. Btw his first horse was a mare he named Dagny, just like his ball python in modern times lol, it was a Fjord with a grey coat and a two tone mane and he loved her to bits. Aside from that there was the family dog named River because she loved to swim. He also liked cats but they didn’t have a cat because Loke was scared of them and Sanaa (for different reasons related to another creature) wasn’t fond of them. They don’t hate cats but they’d rather just keep ‘em at arm’s length.

Then teen Jelani who was...I don’t wanna use the word difficult because he wasn’t but let’s just say different for lack of a better word. It was around this time that he was realizing he wasn’t like his family and it actually hurt ‘im a lot. Especially since his mom was an arcane berserker and it was like a huge deal so they all thought he was gonna be one too. So in come the feelings of alienation and the doubts and the semi angst and the moodiness. He was never disrespectful to anyone but he was often moody and often felt down. Around this time he was also learning he had some unique abilities of his own that no one else had and since no one else had them he learned to control them but not without incidents. Not to mention that since he was very little he could see and hear and talk to things that no one else could really see. Some were friendly and others weren’t. Mix in the regular hormonal shit teenagers go through during puberty and it made for a bit of a mess. This kind of “weakened” him and his old self (which he nor anyone else knew of) was starting to rear in and it was kind of scary. He was actually fluctuating between his old personality which was chaotic af and his present self and both seemed to clash a lot. Once this started happening the migraine attacks and the nosebleeds began as well as the sleep paralysis, night terrors, insomnia and the nyctophobia and they all seemed to hit him really hard and suddenly. So all of that mixed in made the ages of 13 through 17 really, really fucking messy.

But family and friends were with him through it all and at 17 and a half he chilled out and learned to control himself and managed to suppress his old self. He’d learned to use and handle his abilities responsibly, still felt a little out of place but his family was sure to always let ‘im know they loved him no matter what and his grandfather especially let him know that his differences weren’t a bad thing and that they made ‘im special. By 18 he was back to his cheerful old self though sometimes he still felt bad about being different but didn’t let it get him down. However, he now had to cope with migraine attacks, night terrors, nyctophobia, random nosebleeds, insomnia and sleep paralysis which he still has even in present day.

______________________________________________________________ 

Okay so berserkers are non-humans that have the ability to summon powerful weapons and very sturdy armor from nothing thin air. The armor can take a beating but if they get targeted by a barrage of attacks the armor can break and they’d have to summon the armor again but there’s a cool down of about half an hour so it’s better to hang on to the armor even if broken or get your ass to safety. The weapons don’t break though. Oh and if an armor broke and they summon it again it’ll show up as good as new. Berserkers can summon up to two different weapons so which ones they summon depends on the person’s taste and comfort level.

These weapons can be summoned and dematerialized at will and have no cool down. Anyone can grab them if the berserker it belongs to doesn’t mind though why would a berserker use another one’s weapon unless they wanna be offensive and kill ‘em with their own weapon? It’s not offensive, more like yikes.

Now, since Jelani isn’t a berserker he managed to figure out a way to mimic berserkers’ ability to summon a weapon from thin air though unlike grown up berserkers he isn’t limited to just two types of weapons. For example Loke is able to summon a two headed axe and a bow, nothing more nothing less. Jelani can summon whatever he wants as he can manipulate the shape. His mom’s tribe are partial to glaives so he mainly uses a glaive. His weapons however are made of an unknown material that’s insanely hard and impossible to even crack. His weapons can’t be wielded by anyone other than himself bc as soon as someone else touches them they dematrerialize. It also looks weird, like it’s so dark it swallows all light and no light bounces off of it. He can’t summon armor though so that’s where the blacksmith comes in. His uncle Jørgen made his look like his dad’s and his mom’s.

[livayl]

Tusks and Comfort

After getting increasingly annoying with my non snz Azra drawings I thought it´s time to finally post her first story. :P This is about Orcs and takes places before the outbreak of the great war. Meaning Shokhrakka is somewhere in his mid 30s. Azra is his 5 years younger half-sister.

When Azra falls ill during a shared hunting trip Shokhrakka shows off his great big-brother skills. There is also a really cute, young warg named Tusk. Warnings for: slight bad language at some points. Uncovered sneezing that does NOT hit anybody. It´s basically hurt-comfort mixed with a little snark and an adorable puppy. 

Please only reblog this to other snz-kink blogs, thank you. :)

Only enlighted in a dwindling, already dulled sundowns dusk the shaded hollows looked their name more than ever. Once a giant mountain so tall its peak had burst through the highest clouds, frozen and hostile even in summer, now a steep ravine reaching up to the heavens on both of its sides. Its charcoal intestines where streaked with an extensive cave system that intertwined almost infinitely; a careless individual would be forlorn, doomed to an early grave within the former giants cold corpse. Sharp, glistening slopes were disguised in malnourished trees and thorny bushes slightly punctuated with narrow paths only known by few. All cloaked in an ever present opaque fog that, swirling tightly around each figure, created new material for nightmares with each new veil. Obsidian rocks and faded green canopies now glistened with thousands of icy droplets as rainwater poured down heavily. Seeping and carving its own ways, adding new clouds of mist in its wake. As intimidating and dangerous as they were, the towering rock walls and the deeply shaded earth in between were the chosen nights accommodation for a small hunting party. Two orcs sat in a small, shallow cave. Closely huddled together with a full grown warg and its barely adolescent brother under a pointed ledge. Their quarry so consumed the carcass was barely discernible in the dim light. If one listened carefully, the soughing melody of rainfall was split by the edged sound of flint stone hitting gravel.

The wood was still young, freshly grown and thus more in sap than Azra would have preferred it to be. It took a while to ignite the wispy branches until a warm amber glow finally twirled them up in an almost hypnotic motion. She watched them getting devoured by the blazing dance until black billows veiled her sight.  The resulting smoke was thick, accompanied by ascending sparks and stung as it wafted skywards. 

This seemed to be more than her already assaulted senses could handle as the sharp stench crushed her last resolve and triggered a harsh, prolonged coughing fit. If that alone had not been embarrassing enough, successfully attracting her older half-brothers attention and hidden concern, the itch further up her nose seemed to have been kindled as well. Azra barely had time to fully avert her head or shield her mouth, the sudden urge to sneeze so strong it did not build but explode in a single loud almost primal gasp that did culminate in a rushed: "HEHR-ERSSSCHH-uh!" - that, released down her lap and barely restrained by tightly clenched jaws, escaped through the gap her massive tusks naturally left. Right in its wake came the second one, the irritation still persistently present, forcing her head to rear back as a deep inhale strained her chest. If not overwritten by the sheer urgency of this reflex Azra would have been aware of how frightening the displayed snarl appealed: An already grim face distorted even further, many argent piercings mirroring the fires unsteady flicker. Bushy brows drawn deeply together above teary crimson, slightly slanted eyes. The bridge of her orcish nose crinkled even more while her nostrils flared, curling upwards as did her upper lip, revealing mighty fangs: "Huuhrr-EISCHHAH!"

"Ew. Careful where you spit at." Came Shokhrakka reply from her left, his usual sonorous voice vibrating with suppressed amusement. "Fu-hah- Fu~ck-HEH-WRISSSCH! you- Snrfff."

The repeated disturbance had woken and attracted the younger wargs keen senses, made him scoot even closer to its source. His ashen coat still felt slightly damp as out sized, clawed paws scratched over leather clad skin and a cold, wet nose bumped against Azras bare arm. The cool touch evoked a  light shiver.   

"Aww....Sorry for startling you, Tuskie. Just snrrf some smoke drifted the wrong way." She gently cooed and rumpled through the wargs shaggy fur, carefully massaging his big triangular head with her own claws. Tusk immediately felt invited to cuddle into her side. Underestimating his own strength he nearly slammed into the Orc as he tried to climb into her lap. His tail kept wagging excitedly, fluffy butt following suit with each turn, which dulled his already feral appearance to looking like a long overgrown puppy. "Careful there." Azra chuckled, the low hum re-sparking an irritation deep in her aching throat to a burning blaze that threatened to lead to another coughing fit. 

"Gonna sneeze again?" Her brother asked while scrutinizing her facial features that had scrunched up in a subconscious painful wince. "Ugh I hope not. That was enough to last a damned month."

Shokhrakka smiled as the young warg had finally wrestled enough to reach his planned destination and leaned back against his best-friends chest, pink tongue lolling out in a vain attempt to lick over Azras face. His own heart lovingly-ached a little as Azras full lips curved upwards while her strong, long arms embraced his lanky body. Eyes shining brightly as she dodged the juveniles wet attempts of affection over and over again only to playfully pat and kiss Tusks forehead in between. Still, even shrouded by the crackling fires golden glow she seemed pallid and tired, grayish-olive skin that used to have a metallic hue now dulled dustily. Her nose and the area around her eyes were tinted unhealthily dark and the many adornments seemed to feel more irritating than gracing. The soft sheen was not able to blur the indications of exhaustion that had crept deeper into sharply chiseled expressions as the day had progressed.

  Maybe he should have listened to his instincts more than her assurances when this morning his half-sister had woken both of them up with a rattling cough. Sitting in a bed ruffled and damp with a nights cold sweat gleaming sickly like a lost wraith in a swamp. But as much as he already came to understand her, she would have denied any weakness and refused to postpone their hunting trip anyways. Sometimes a culture so obstinately driven with status of strength had its downsides. And little had he known of Azras unrelenting sense of pride born out of pure necessity that came with being a warrior in a culture dominated by men. Only the ever present display of both physical and mental health, a raw force sharpened to comprehensive might, had enabled her to become the warrior that was now feared and admired. Although her nose seemed to have forgotten this important knowledge as the twitching and widely flaring nostrils indicated the urge to relent and release another- or several- sneezes.

He silently observed her crinkling and rubbing said nose, lips already parted more than usual while her mouths corners slowly turned downwards. Then, sudden yet fluent like all her movements, she lifted the heavy warg from both to one knee, hands securely around its waist, inhaled deeply and sneezed harshly off to her free side: "hhhHH-HuhhrESSCHH-UH! -hhh-haah-ERRRSCHHaah!" The expulsions were accompanied by a fine but copious spray clearly made visible by the campfire´s backlight and followed by a volley of rattling, chesty coughs. Tusks ears flattened as he squirmed against her solid grip, his own nose trembled and chaps lifted from sharp teeth with concern at his owners violent spasms. "Hey... You´re alright?" Shokhrakka asked, unable to hide his worry any longer. "It´s all good" Azra sputtered out between coughs, still painfully twisted away from both the animal and her brother as much as possible. "You´re aware that the pup can´t catch anything from you, right?" "There´s nothing to catch." Azra replied, sarcasm unable to mask the rasp breaking her tone. "You were the one who told me to watch my spit. " 

"Come here pal, let´s give her a little more space to breath." Shokhrakka said and lifted the restless warg back down to the ground. "You are not getting sick on me out here, are you?" He then asked again, voice lowered to the warmest big-brother tone it was able to achieve. Shokhrakka could clearly see her conflicted between giving reassurance with a lie and the honesty his younger sister normally valued so much. "I-I caught a chill. Nothing bad. Just a little coughing and sneezing." She replied elusively. "A lot coughing and sneezing." Her brother replied flatly. Which wasn't an exaggeration. Through all the time he had traveled and fought aside his sister he had witnessed her ghastly injured and in oppressed pain but had rarely heard or seen a sign of illness. Neither a prolonged fever, cough nor sneeze. In fact the only incident he could recall the later was a harsh double brought about by one of those nasty herbal ingredients- and that felt like months ago.

Azra shivered violently against Tusks warm body and tried to focus on the steady dripping sound of rain and the swooshing movement of paddling paws. The not so little puppy seemed to hunt in his dreams as well- his legs and ears twitching and moving alertly from time to time. Sometimes emitting a low, humming growl that vibrated his whole frame. Azra had barely managed to suppress any more symptoms but had not been able to eat and now it appeared she had lost her ability to sleep as well. Unable to breath through her nose she had to keep her mouth open which irritated her sore and aching throat even further. Threatened to cause convulsive coughing fits every few minutes that she fought fiercely to muffle and suppress. A fight she was predestined to loose.

Amid one of those battles she felt one of Shokhrakkas big and rough hands clumsily rub semicircles between her shoulder blades. Sadly it did little to sooth the tight feeling in her chest, right above her lungs where all the coughing made it ache deeply. "Gross. If you want to cuddle you´re barking up the wrong tree. Sleep, brother." "As if anyone could with all of your baying." "... Sorry for keeping you awake." "Don´t worry about it." "I could go outside." Azra suggested. 

In truth she had tried to get up to go outside twice after their wargs had fallen asleep, snoring soundly. Either prevented by  a sudden vertigo or Shokhrakkas sudden yet strong grip around her ankle. Not that she could not have been stronger, she thought, when reality was that her whole body felt so weak and wobbly she did not trust herself wrestling with an infant yet alone a fully grown Orc. For tonight it seemed like wrestling that nasty illness was all Azra could spend her remaining strength for. As a new coughing fit forced her to press an already sodden piece of cloth tightly against her mouth, her nose, that damned pesterer, caught the opportunity to follow suit with being intrusive. The prickling tickle spread swiftly, almost stabbing the insides of her already widely flaring nostrils and forced her to suck in a deep rattling breath.

Gods be fucking damned she wished...- "hh hheh HHH-HURRR-ESSCHH!"- she could be- "haah-HERSCHHH-ah!"- more- "HDT-ERSSCHHUH!"- hell not again- "HRAH-EESCHHH-uh!"- quiet... Tusk had woken again, jumped up and looked around confusedly. Sensing no danger, his intelligent eyes stopped their search and locked into Azras own. Two gleaming, golden beacons met smoldering red abysses in the caves dusky twilight. Azras shivering worsened the moment the warm and heavy weight in front of her was gone and she started to curl inward against the sudden chill. "Come on, get up if you can. I´ll spark the fire a little more."

Shokhrakka had tried not to let his worry bleed through too much. But as the awakening flames started their crackling waltz, casting flickering shadows and emitting hordes of glowing sparks, they poured a warm, revealing light over Azras shaking figure. The flaring blaze further illuminated her hollow and pale face that had a glow on it´s own- burning with fever and decorated with glittering droplets of cold sweat around her brow and protruding horns. She squinted her once blazing eyes that seemed dulled to gleaming coal. More swallowing the light than reflecting it.

And it did not seem like she would make it the few steps without an accident. She was swaying dangerously while rising, close to toppling over into the flames. The last thing they needed were burn wounds. "Let me help you." Shokhrakka said, doing his best to sustain his sisters body despite her increasingly growing growls and tension. "Let go or I´ll bite you." She hissed between bared fangs. "Yeah because your feeling so hot you can withstand the flames. Here, sit."   Shokhrakka sat down next to the fire, on the smoke averted side, and leaned her against his shoulder on one and the cave walls on the other side for support. Tusk whined faintly, unable to snuggle against his orcish friend without risking to singe his fur. He then turned to bark at his older sister who, still tired and worn from hunting, just yawned in response.

"I can sit by myself." Azra mumbled hoarsely but felt more steady with her brothers tall body seated next to her. Firm, scarred and even a little protective as the shaded hollows themselves. "Hush." "You don´t have to stay up with me." She said a little embarrassed and watched Tusk playfully biting into Varz tail. The elder warg turned to snap at him with an annoyed snarl that started a bickering not unusual for the diverse siblings. "Psst." "You´ll get sick too." "Thought it was  just a little coughing and sneezing." "Ye-hhehh-yes... Still." "I won´t get sick."

As much as she hated and dreaded it at the same time, this wretched illness seemed eager to test her brothers immune resolve, reigniting a tickle that had been sparked by the sudden firelight. With Shokhrakka so close she saw no choice but to contain the incoming eruptions as best as possible even if she knew how painful that could end. "Huh-" Azras breath started to hitch and as her lungs drew in a deep breath. She crushed her tickling nose between thumb and forefinger while simultaneously shielding her mouth with the palm of the same hand. "-Haaa-HDT-ERSCH-uh! HehDZSCH-ah..." She could not have done anything to avoid the sneezes, neither was she able to bite back the pained groans after every one. "Ouch. Need to wipe your nose?" "Ndo... Uh..." She managed to answer through thick congestion pounding in her even heavier head while pondering if it would be too disgusting to wipe her soiled hand on her tunic. Screw it, she had done worse. 

"Gross." Azras brother mimicked her former statement only to lessen the impact with an olive branch clad in a soft handkerchief. "Didn't know you own a thing like that." "I´m always good for surprises." Shokhrakka replied over her productive noseblow that was followed by an even more yielding yawn. "Try to sleep a little." "I´m not tired..." Azra mumbled. Her eyes caught sight of Tusk and Varz who had ended their little quarrel and were starting to lay down next to each other. Their breaths already coming in slow, relaxed huffs. 

She felt the pleasantly soothing warmth of the campfire caressing her front and her sides steadied against both rock solid and safe surfaces; one cold and the other feeling like home. Azras eyes slowly drifted shut, breathing deepening and less labored through the upright position. The soft cloth fell out of her grip as dreams sung their relaxing melodies from afar. Sleep did not sound that bad....

[rollforsleepy]

So I’ve been working on this for like three weeks! It’s been a tonne of fun but also a tonne of work. Coming up with five distinct subraces meant a lot of drawing! Oh boy! This started as a re write of the Dryad race because I didn’t think the Dryad race i found online was super playable, but it kinda gotta away from me a bit so I left dryads behind and these are fully homebrewed! The main carry overs from dryads are the +2 wisdom that they all get, and the no metal caveat in the weaponry proficiencies.

I spent some time researching different culture’s mythology on dryads and similar creatures. Wikipedia has a handy list of similar folklores at the end of the dryad entry (im not linking cos tumblr screws w posts w external links, but you can check it out yourself if youre curious). Basically I picked a few and wrote down some notes on each one so each subclass had a distinct feeling to it.

The Deep Forest subclass is based off hamadryads. Super long life, connected to a specific tree (i removed the life or death thing and just made it birthed by a tree, cos having a tree that if cut would killed you seemed unbalanced to me), that sorta thing. Cos they’re based on Oak trees, and Oaks are fairly hardy, I gave them some good survival type stuff. I didn’t want long, unfamiliar names so I changed it from Hamadryad to Deep Forest. Also I really didn’t want them to hark back to dryads and just Hamad had a weird ring to it to me

Gillie Du got to pretty much keep it’s name tho. Originally it’s Ghillie Dhu, and there was nothing wrong w that but i wanted things a bit simple in the name department. Ghillie Dhu is a Scottish fairy who (to drastically summarise him) lives in a marsh and plays tricks on people. As I said earlier, I wasn’t using these sources as gospel, just as flavour affects, so the Gillie Du subrace became a more water based thing with the breathing under water and swim speed.

Desert Walkers probably changed most from their original material. I started with the Salabhanjika, a sculpture found in india that’s always got a tree and a musical instrument in it. I wanted a bit of size range (i had to talk myself out of making one of them Large size cos it got too op, but I wanted to so bad) so they got the Small tag, then because India is a hot country and I already had a sub class more tightly woven in with fruit trees I made it more desert based, giving some good boosts to travelling related skills. I really love playing Small races and I wanna play as one of these now, it feels built for a ranger but I think it could make a kickass wizard tbh

The Maliade are based on the Epimelides, who were a kind of nymph associated with apple trees and sheep. I extended that association to fruit trees and all farm animals cos i didn’t want to cramp anyones roleplaying incase someone really wanted to be a Maliade who’s buddies with a bull and makes three magic dragon fruits every day. There’s no information beyond that on wikipeida, but I didn’t have any subrace who had a close relationship with people, so they got that. I like this one, I think the skills are pretty useful in a lot of small ways

And the Kodama! The Kodama are the only ones who actually got to keep their original name. Kodama are a Japanese spirit that inhabit trees. They can also be seen as Mountain Gods. So these guys got the mountain skills. Spider climb is a great skill, but when coupled with a slower speed I thought they cancel out pretty comfortably to make a balanced race. The Kodama has a brief description on wikipedia, but it’s terrifying, “small, white humanoids with large, rattling heads and mask-like features, with asymmetrical black dots for eyes and mouth, and move similar to bobbleheads.” I took the essence of this (pale skin, dark eyes) and dropped the rest. A lot of people (myself included) like their characters to be sexy, and that ain’t hot to me

Click through to read a transcript of the race if the font above is too small/blurry.

I’m gonna be making more of these and if there’s some interest I’ll start doing some stuff on Patreon, let me know if you thinks that’s something worthwhile. I’ve got a race in the works now that is like a living statue. Super slow but super durable. It’s a bit min/max but could be fun for some campaigns

Nature Spirits

Nature Spirits are a known phenomenon, a wandering essence of the land who appear commonly in the land. Some Nature Spirits are chosen and come into being through a birth touched by the land, some choose the path themselves and give their souls over to the land, some are simply brought into being by the powers of the land. It is a difficult life as a Nature Spirit, your priority is not yourself rather the protection and love of your home land. You have features and traits specific to the type of land you hail from.

Varied Childhoods

Each Nature Spirit is different, some wander far from their home, travelling and researching the world at large to better safeguard the continued life of their land. Others never leave and are rarely if ever seen by a civilised person. Some live in harmony with the people of their land, others seek to drive out humanoid peoples. You path in life is up to you, but the land you are from is your home and your priority.

Nature Spirit Traits

Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom score increases by two.

Languages: You speak Common and Sylvan

Weapon Proficiency: You are proficient with the quaterstaff, club, greatclub, and slings. You cannot use this proficiency to use metal weapons and must use naturally found projectiles (such as wood, stone, nuts) for your sling. If your Class gives you proficiency in any of these weapons the metal caveat no longer applies

Alignment: Nature Spirits can have any alignment, but their loyalty lies with the land that powers them

Choose one from the following Racial Variants

Deep Forest

These spirits emerge from an ancient tree once in the trees lifetime, sometimes living incorporeally their whole lives, other times taking humanoid form to explore their forest in that way. They are ancient, tough, and fast, living the longest of any of their brethren Nature Spirits. Their hair forms as moss does atop their head. They are the least likely to leave their home unless they must.

Age: You age slowly, up to about 1000 years, and you age in time as a human would, at 80 years old you appear 8, at 900 years old you appear as a 90 year old human

Size: Medium

Speed: Your speed is 35ft

Ability Score Increase: Your Strength score increases by one.

The Hard Trek: Rough and difficult terrain does not affect you

Vision: You have Darkvision to a distance of 60ft

Survivalist: You are proficient in the Survival skill

Gillie Du

The Gillie Du find home wherever land meets water, be it ocean, river bank, or a swampy marsh. They are generally cheerful and occasionally make themselves known as a trickster to strangers in their land. Their skin is a dusky green tone but otherwise they appear somewhat elven. They can be born of humanoids, but more often are formed over some time in their land, and very occasionally a humanoid will show such a loyalty to the land that they turn into a Gillie Du. They are comfortable in both water and on land, but prefer land.

Age: You are fully grown at about 40 years old and do not age until your death at about 700 years of age.

Size: Medium

Speed: Your speed is 30ft, and your swim speed is 30ft

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by one.

Powerful Lungs: You can hold your breath for fifteen minutes plus a number of minutes equal to your Constitution modifier (minimum of zero)

Vision: You have Darkvision to a distance of 60ft

Sleep with Ease: You can cast the Alarm spell once a day without components

Desert Walker

Desert Walkers are born in deserts and find themselves comfortable in a hot climates. They are the most inhuman in appearance, still humanoid but with grey black skin, ears that connect behind their heads, and everlastingly young. Their age, of course, is not reflected in their appearance and they often speak with an experience that startles people. They are soft spoken and have learned from the many cultures they have encountered in their time.

Age: You live up to roughly 200 years, always appearing someone younger than an adult

Size: Small

Speed: You move quickly despite your size. Your speed is 30

Ability Score Increase: Your nomadic lifestyle has caused you to meet with the odd civilisation and learn from many varied cultures. Your Intelligence score increases by one

Inexhaustable: You have advantage against effects that will cause Exhaustion

Fire: You can cast the Cantrip Produce Flame

Musically Gifted: You have proficiency in one musical instrument of your choice

Keep an Eye Out: You have Expertise in the Perception skill

Endurance: You do not need to eat

Maliade

The Maliade Spirits are the most civilised, often the child of a townsperson who is touched by the powers of nature. They grow up with a community of humanoids in a small town hidden in the forest, or a larger city connected to an expanse of untouched flora. They are Medium size even if their birth parents are Small or Large, their size is determined by their Nature Spirit soul. They are friendly with animals and people alike, used to the constraints of town life as well as the freedom beyond. They are the most normal in appearance, the least likely of their kin to turn heads

Age: You age at the same rate as the average human, and die at roughly 100 years of age

Size: Medium

Speed: Your speed is 30ft

Ability Score Increase: Your Charisma score increases by one.

Language: You can speak to all farm animals

A Good Fruit: Everyday you can create four fruits of your choice, each feeds the average person for a day and restores 2 Hit Points. You cannot use this abiliy again until your next long rest

Find a Ride: At 3rd level you can cast Find Steed once a day, you are restricted to animals that would be normally found in a farm such as a horse, sheep, or cow.

Cook: You are proficient in Cooks Tools

Kodama

The Kodama are usually the result of a lost traveller or explorer who commits their life to protecting the land they’ve found and accepts the physical changes that entails. They are drawn to the roads and paths through their mountain range, watching and learning the different plants, animals, and humanoids that grow and pass through. They are pale skinned with dark irises and are generally more lean than strong.

Age: You live up to 400 years, aging to appear as a human would in their 60s

Size: Medium

Speed: You’re used to moving carefully across treacherous mounains, as such your speed is 25ft

Ability Score Increase: The mountains are a hard life. Your Constitution score increases by one

Natural Defence: You are more likely to defend yourself than attacked, as such once a day you can cast Barkskin

A Life of Climbing: You are forced to carefully climb your way throug life, leaving you with an ability most professional climbers would marvel at. You can Spiderclimb, climbing across walls and roofs live gravity doesn’t affect you

Sight: You have 30ft of Darkvision

[onetoomanysteps]

Regarding the problematic dilemma that is SnA’s eight episode

“The source of every crime, is some defect of the understanding; or some error in reasoning; or some sudden force of the passions.”

��� Thomas Hobbes

..Okay, so, here I am again with a long-ass critic post about Shoukoku no Altair’s anime release.  Yes. It has been a while and the anime had long ended. I know. Maybe some of you would say that roasting the anime again after all of this time is moot point, since it’s less likely that many people will come and search for it as it’s already out of season. But then again... compulsory community service in the middle of holiday time unfortunately can’t manage to shift my saltiness towards SnA anime, and once again I decided to resume doing this review that I initially thought I would abandon at the pilot episode.

Whew. Okay then, OOT rant out, now time for some content.

Warning: Spoilers, as usual. Also, quite more opinionated than the first review. Differing opinions are welcome, but please relay it with class. 

Maybe some of you would be surprised when this particular episode became the next choice for my reluctant SnA anime bashing session: after all, compared to the other ones, this one is quite tame and consistent in regards to pacing, nothing out of ordinary as it was basically adapted from the interlude-type story of 4th volume of the manga. No sloppy scene cuts and merge like the ones littering the pilot episode, the seiyuus’ expertise shining through their well-executed lines delivered with emotive and fitting voice acting, fairly decent editing for supposedly dynamic scenes like Mahmut’s gambling parade (though a dark glittery effect and Katou-sensei used in the manga would make it 100X more awesome, as it added to Manga!Mahmut’s rightfully conspiratory look when he swindled the bar patrons’ money), the smoothness of it would not give the impression of another episode that messed up so bad that it needed a bashing post of its own.

Except that that was apparently not the case. As with most of its notable adaptations recently, there is a disturbing theme that repeats itself across some of Mappa’s recent adaptation works: For some god-knows-why reason, Mappa reeeally likes to change some aspect of the story, so that it diverges from the original source material and transform the show’s overall tone. This, in my opinion, is a kind of hit-or-miss situation; when it’s done well, it can make the story even more interesting and/or bringing out a kind of freshness to it, but when done poorly, it can destroy it into barely recognizable piece of... whatever it is instead.

Two of the most apparent examples of this theme is how Mappa did Dororo and Kakegurui’s anime adaptation. In Dororo, the important, plot-relevant differences shown since the beginning created a darker story that has a whole unique and interesting nuance compared to the more lighthearted original source. Meanwhile, in Kakegurui, in which the noisy, fanservice-laden changes only happened at the very end of the season, it felt abrupt and destroyed the tension that had been building since the first episode. For me, it gave an anti-climatic impression like the ending was written from a completely different story altogether and just slapped on the rest of the season like some kind of poorly made band-aid.

Apparently, it turns out that SnA anime also followed (or maybe some would say preceded, as it was aired even before Mappa!Dororo and aired together with Kakegurui) the same trend. To some extent. Here I see that SnA anime, as I had written about in the pilot episode critique, had changed some components of the story, in which the change didn’t really stem from technicalities and more of an artistic license to change the story’s overall tone. The problem is, the way that the anime changed scenes here and there is not consistent and overall not suited to the kind of story SnA is trying to tell us: the anime tried to somehow mix an image of Mahmut as a righteous, morally superior protagonist that always thrive in his every impulsive, ego-driven endeavors with a particular shape of world- building that centers on realpolitik-esque international politics, in which the highest reward would go to the actor that appeals the most to pragmatic rationality in ensuring their goal’s attainment. In this work, this mostly meant the characters’ goals regarding the wellbeing of their respective nations (i.e. national interest). In other words, the anime tried to blend two things that was supposedly not put together, and somehow tried to make it work. This made the overall tone inconsistent, as the anime was not clear on what kind of message it wanted to tell us.

This flaw was, in my opinion, most apparent in this particular episode. Why, you ask?

Because of this sly, sly, fabulous piece of work.

As some of you might already know, this magnificent bastard of a doge above is one of the, if not THE one, most pragmatic character SnA had to offer. Even more Machiavellian than other magnificent bastards such as Zaganos and Louis that has their own momentary emotion-controlled decision resulting in abject barbarism, Lucio for the most part managed to keep his underlying human emotions to himself, dividing his emotions as a human being with his rationality as a statesman with such surgical precision that even some of us sometimes forgot that he, like all other characters in the series, still has a heart underneath all of that smug diplomatic farce of his.

On one side the manga showcased his ability to create carefully balanced moves, crafted in order to maximize his city-state’s gain as a middle power with decent defensive capabilities and flourishing economy, but otherwise not immune to the effects of Turkiye and Baltrhein’s power struggle that reverberated throughout the region.

On the other hand, the manga also explored his inner, more vurnerable moments through carefully placed flashbacks and delicate showcase of blink-and-you’ll-miss micro-expression from time to time, creating a subtle nuance of conflicting desires in his mind that never truly surfaced for the whole world to see, painstakingly contained lest it becomes a crack that will rupture the delicate balance of his conscience and affect his decision-making abilities.  

This two images of Lucio that the manga expertly portrayed, to me, is a good crystalization of the implicit rules of pragmatism present in the SnA universe already mentioned above. The ‘rewards’ for his ideal behaviour are readily apparent throughout the storyline, up until now. Venedik, the city-state that Lucio currently leads, always occupies ‘safe zone’ in the manga’s plot progression: it never suffered a crippling destruction that robs it of its sovereignty (compare to Phoenicia and some of Rumeliana mainland’s city states); haven’t experienced the kind of back-and-forth win-and-losses that causes drastic depletion of its resources (compare to Baltrhein that lost a lot of human and material resources along with their territories, and Turkiye that also lost a lot of human resources, intellectual properties, and arguably their subjects’ trust); and last but not least, it is able to participate actively, according to its own terms, in securing its interest throughout the great war that engulfes the entire region (somewhat of a luxury, certainly not possessed by the Cuore that depends on the Alliance to conclude the war in favorable terms for them).

In my opinion, those advantages that Venedik has would not be there without Lucio’s careful and logic-driven way of directing Venedik’s domestic and foreign affairs and masterful management of his personal sentiments. This is especially apparent when we compare Lucio with other policy makers in the story, that more often than not commited grave errors when they let their personal sentiments cloud their judgement (Mahmut’s impatience to save Ibrahim regardless of his position that led to his demotion in the story’s early stages; Zaganos’ thirst for revenge that led to many unnecessary sacrifices in recent chapters; Constantinos’ pride that led to Phoenicia’s harsh subjugation by Lerederik’s troops; Louis’ apparent prejudice at other other states that emptied Baltrhein’s coffers to fund a costly war, et cetera). The message is quite clear: as a statesman/woman, it’s imperative to separate one’s personal sentiments from his/her job as clean as possible; or else he/she will suffer grave consequences as a result; it doesn’t care what kind of personal morality or quirks you have, it decides that you’re finished when you let them dictate your actions (although still, being shonen manga, Mahmut as the protagonist still gets more ‘redemption’ than most...). Despite it being a value that is somewhat a bit foreign and outdated in manga world, (especially when considering the modern world’s worship of Romanticism and animanga’s reputation as one of the most expressive medium of storytelling), this subtle nuance is what separates SnA from another works in the same medium, even the ones with the same umbrella genre of historical fiction.

It’s this whole nuance that the anime failed to capture in its entirety, thus creating an underwhelmingly generic show of shonen adventure that moves because of Hero vs. Villain plot based on black-and-white morality. The drastic change they did to Lucio’s character, the character that I thought of as the ‘It’ standard of the manga’s reward-and-punishment system, presented this error clearer especially when combined with their hideous portrayal of Mahmut throughout the series already realized by a lot of other manga reader. In the anime, I didn’t see the realpolitik-savvy, confidently prudent Doge that I know and admire. In here, I saw a man so insecure about his own political inclinations that his most trusted subordinate deliberately hid a crucial intel in anticipation of an error in his judgement.

As this is already quite long, here are some screenshots to ponder on. Go figure.

Manga:

An elaborate, brilliant piece of roasting that we never knew we needed, yet the anime never gives

Anime:

Seriously? That’s all?? How about.. the Magistros’ death?

Totally blindsided by an unanticipated jab on your personal sentiments thanks to some missing intels, possibly showing your weakness and incompetence in front of foreign politicians and your own subordinates. Fun indeed.

Um... I think this is not a matter of personal preferences anymore... do you really not trust each other that much??

....Who are you, and what have you done to Lucio?

[paulisweeabootrash]

First Impression: That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime

I started writing up this review with the intent of shelving it for this year's end-of-year cleanup (yup, I intend to make that a yearly thing), but the more I watched, the more I felt it deserved a longer writeup.  Especially given how popular and well-received it was, because frankly I don't think it lives up to the hype.  So shapeshift into a more comfortable form as we talk about...

...That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime (2018)

Episodes watched: 14.

Platform: Crunchyroll.

The victim of a freak stabbing, a nice but forever-single 37-year-old has his dying thoughts — from wishing he weren’t feeling pain to wishing he could have a shot with many women in his next life — granted as wishes by a mysterious voice.  The voice turns out to be "Great Sage", a sort of... user interface(?) of a fantasy world that functions according to very RPG-like rules.  Generic monsters vs. named human and humanoid heroes, powers that can be acquired and leveled up, that sort of thing.  Those "granted wishes" come in the form of a new body, that of a slime, impervious to many things and able to absorb the abilities of other monsters by engulfing them, which he can apparently use either to literally eat them or to keep them alive “stored” inside him (which sounds... horrifying) — "analyzing" them using the Great Sage and gaining the use of their abilities in either case.  Granted the name Rimuru by Veldora, a godlike dragon he befriends (and then eats in order to carry him around), our slimy protagonist goes out into the world to explore and fix other people's problems.  Monsters, as we soon see in much more detail, typically have no names and minimal organization or skill, and once named, "evolve" into more powerful variants with not only superior strength but also the capacity to use superior magic and technology.  It's an interesting mechanic/premise that really feels like it would be at home in an ancient etiological myth.

It starts off feeling very much like watching a pretty good adaptation of an RPG or maybe point-and-click adventure, as the plot progresses mainly via Rimuru using items and abilities he has incidentally acquired for unrelated reasons to stumble into and complete quests for other characters.  It bounces wildly in tone from fantasy combat to ecchi to adorable wholesome content, and I assume at some point there will be some kind of confrontation with or followup on the human hero who imprisoned Veldora in the first place?  But for the first five episodes, it's mostly "ooh what's this?" followed by a sort of self-imposed quest to create a goblin nation-state from the ground up by naming everyone, taming the dire wolves who are threatening the goblins, and importing technology from the aforementioned named humanoids.  Then it takes an abrupt turn for the serious, laying on us three episodes of backstory about Shizu, a character who I can't really talk about at all without spoilers, but that short arc was engaging and resulted in Rimuru finally being able to take on a humanoid form, which turns out to be a great disguise in future episodes.

Meanwhile, the vague world conquest plans of majin (a term used here to refer to powerful humanoid magic-users) and demon lords having been taking shape in the background, as a vast orc army is steamrolling through every weaker group of monsters it can find.  The next few episodes focus on a group of oni, ahem, ogres (but they’re totally traditional Japanese depictions of oni) who join Rimuru's village after their own is destroyed by the orcs and an underground civilization of lizardpeople who attempt, in a hilariously clumsily and overconfident way, to join forces with Rimuru's followers against the orcs.  The oni are pretty great, especially Rimuru's secretary/bodyguard Shion and scout/diplomat/spy/whatever Souei, as is the unassuming goblin Gobta, who has frequently been the comic relief up to this point but becomes important to the looming conflict.

The lizardpeople/Rimuru-followers alliance is eventually formed and the show tries to make their war against the orcs epic and dramatic, but... here it largely fails.  This arc is full of tedious repetitive exposition about the same characters and tedious repetitive exposition about the same characters and tedious repetitive exposition about the same characters and tedious repetitive exposition about the same characters, as if they expect the audience goes into every episode having forgotten the events of the previous episode and even several recurring characters' names.  Add to this some sudden new abilities getting pulled out of Rimuru's and others' asses, increasingly frequent jarring tone shifts from scene to scene, combat scenes where everyone is stationary and stupid, and cap it all off with a "boss fight" that only gets started after some villainous exposition monologuing worthy of Dragon Ball Z and an exposition dump flashback about the orcs that raises more questions than it answers, and at this point I'm only still watching to find out where the hell it goes from here.  This feels like a bad adaptation of a game now... but maybe a bad adaptation of a good game.  Maybe it would work better, honestly, in RPG format.  It's not like this doesn't have potential as a premise.  But I don't get the hype, because I really don't think it lives up to it.

W/A/S: 4 / 5 / any random number 3–8, depending on episode / !

Weeb: Like I said about Death March, "not weeb so much as geek".  But this is getting a higher weeb score than that because some basic elements (such as, uh, the main character himself) probably come off as really weird if you've never played any of the Dragon Quest (a.k.a. Dragon Warrior) games, which are responsible for the generic low-level slime monster we know today.  Not to mention that this show's versions of orcs, ogres, and demons are more like depictions of those various races in other Japanese media than they are like the Germanic/Anglosphere/Tolkien-influenced fantasy canon.

Ass: Rimuru likes boobs.  He likes to talk about them.  He likes to cuddle up against them.  He checks out everyone.  He's... a sad old virgin.  Expect gag boobs and gratuitous camera angles, but not all the way to anything sexually explicit.

Shit (writing): Again, it really does feel like we're watching Rimuru complete a series of quests or puzzles to advance through the predetermined areas of a game.  Which is probably the point, but that doesn't work quite as well as a storytelling technique when the audience isn't actually figuring out how to complete those quests.  The sudden tone shift for Shizu's three-episode story arc and the weird exposition dumps throughout feel like they're trying to cram a lot of source material into relatively few episodes and it's not going well — which is odd considering that they got a 24-episode season instead of the more typical 13.  And considering that the source material has been going in some form or other for five years prior to the anime (it originated on Shōsetsuka ni Narō, the same self-publishing website responsible for a great deal of the last decade’s epidemic flourishing of isekai, including the above-mentioned Death March and Re:ZERO).

Shit (other): I like the character designs.  And they did a great job in particular making Rimuru expressive despite not... uh... having a face.  But the animation is sometimes embarrassingly bad, especially in action scenes — I swear, there was a fight at like 4fps at one point, the CG orc army is just painful to look at, and the "battles" between the orcs and lizardpeople are mostly just them staring at each other and then occasionally weakly thrusting a spear forward.

Content: Brief surprisingly violent shots, given the often-silly tone of the show.

-----

Stray observations:

- I said Rimuru pulled new abilities out of his ass, but... wait, do slimes have asses?  Can he form a temporary ass, like a comb jelly?

- Rimuru is not only lusting after the various elf and oni women; he is also obviously attracted to Souei, one of the male oni, and this is not played as being surprising or gross or funny in-universe, so, uh... yay bi representation... I guess...

- PS: I continued watching (even though this is frustrating) past the episodes this review covers, and I just want to add that I hate the pegasus knights.  Nobody had the sense to equip them with either ranged weapons or large melee weapons like lances.  They just fly around with swords that wouldn't be able to reach their enemies unless they pull up right alongside them.  This might make sense if they attempted a charge and attacked at point blank, which is the entire point of the distinctive cavalry saber, or maybe they could even dismount to fight on foot, and use the ability to fly for extreme maneuverability getting to a particular point on the battlefield?  Nope.  The closest they come to either of those tactics is to just fly leisurely towards Charybdis's open mouth without even unsheathing their swords in ep. 19.  WTF?  Look, I'm hardly a military expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I think these pegasus knights were dreamed up by someone who has only dimly heard of the concept of cavalry of any kind and hasn't spent more than a few seconds thinking about how you even can use horses in war, let alone bother to look up even a basic overview of how armies actually historically did.

[ask-shakespearehigh]

Q&A post with the Mods!!!!

This is going to be a long one oh boy

How strict is the delineation of creative control vis-a-vis characters/plays between the mods? (@pedanticlecturer)

We generally have the plays split up along lines of “what we know”— we have a list at the very beginning of the blog. Sometimes we’ll draw the others’ characters (mostly me drawing some of Star’s…) but even then the final say on characterization is up to the “main” mod for that play — mod aster

what aster said -- mod star

What is your favorite play? What is your favorite character in terms of how they were written in the source material? (@pedanticlecturer)

I think my favorite play overall is Macbeth, just because I like the vibes (and the fact that I too could kill Macbeth), the fact that you don’t say it’s name in theatres, and the fact that it’s a play I did a full read through and analysis of in class. Favorite character? Puck from Midsummer. — mod aster

uhhhh,, hmm. ive always had a soft spot for midsummer since i saw it with aster esp bc of how fun the costumes were. of the comedies it has the largest potential to be the most visually pleasing bc of the concept of fairies,,,and im gay and dramatic so i love that. id die if i got to costume design for midsummer,,,or be in it,,,yeah. fav character. hmm. probably mercutio?? i recently saw a version of romeo and juliet where mercutio was played by a woman and oh my god it was amazing!!! not to mention mercutio’s portrayal in baz luhrmann's INCREDIBLE version of r n j!!! (I based my mercutio design on him) he just spends the entire time making dick jokes. love that. -- mod star

How do you answer asks so fast? I mean it's great but I'm impressed 😂 (Anon)

Personally, it’s a mix of: notifications on, quick drawing speed, and using the blog to avoid my class work — mod aster

aster is fast and (as you can see from all of my answers) im lazey -- mod star

Are there any elements/characters of the plays you're covering that you would have liked to work into this blog's plot, but couldn't due to the constraints of the setting or the synthetic nature of the blog? (@pedanticlecturer)

I wanted to make everyone gay but unfortunately due to plot constraints we have to have some hets but that wont stop me from making it lgbt as possible. -- mod star

I did want to make The Tempest more of a central play, but it just didn’t translate well. Similarly, other supernatural elements like the witches in Macbeth. This isn’t so much a constraint mentioned, but my own time/energy means that I want to show the Macbeth backstory, in a specific format, but I can’t right now— mod aster

Is there a hierarchy of import when it comes to each play's individualized impact on shakespeare high's general arc? If so, what plays are crucial to the foundation of the story? Which ones did you do mostly for shits and giggles? (@pedanticlecturer)

This is phrased like an ACT question and i might not answer it right so sorry in advance but: mod aster and i only selected a few plays for each of us to do given we dont know all of shakespeare’s works, but we tend to put more emphasis on the the more well known. But it also comes down to 1. How much we have plotted out for each play and 2. What the followers ask about most. Our two most popular are hamlet and macbeth bc people are familiar w those but around march caesar always becomes relevant again. I didnt even have designs for some of the characters until someone asked about them. -- mod star

I would say the same as star— it generally comes down to what people ask about. I will say that the overall plot is sort of separated into “has happened” and “is happening”. Like, the human potion of Midsummer, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth are all in the “aftermath” portion, while Twelfth Night, Hamlet, and Romeo and Juliet, among others, are happening. We’re trying to incorporate as much as we can, and I don’t think any of them were really put in without some thought.— mod aster

What personal significance does shakespeare hold in ur guys' lives? (@pedanticlecturer)

I go to a theater school rn and so ive dealt w shakespeare (although not all of them) it also helps that i was in loves labours lost last year as moth and that i read hamlet and r n j. Theres also a theater in my state that always does One Big Shakespeare per season and they always do them super well!!! My love for shakespeare probably started w seeing midsummer at that theater w mod aster!!! So. Theater kid rights!! -- mod star

To be honest, I got back into Shakespeare Because of the blog. I’ve been friends with some people that got really Pretentious about Shakespeare, and it kinda put me off of it. I did have a book of abridged plays (the plays’ plots written out in prose, basically) that I read as a kid, which is what got me into not only the plots of a lot of the plays, but also the idea of having them illustrated. And, same as star, the theater in state does the One Big Shakespeare— and they tend to do some really cool things with the costumes, setting them in diff time periods. I haven’t been able to see any lately since I’ve moved, but they still slap. — mod aster

🥰😘💙🥰🥰💜💟🥰I 😍💗💚😍😍LOVE🖤🖤 YALL ♥️♥️🧡💛💚💝❣️💕💘💖💗💓💞💝❤️💛💜 okay now i have a question i swear— how long have the two of you been doing art??? and what were your first shakespeare plays??? (@hellaghosts)

Uhh i started drawing when i was like idk 12 and i have the giant boxes of sketchbooks to prove it!!! I moved to digital art at abt 14-15 but mostly stayed traditional until this yr when i got a Neat New Tablet so some of my sketchbooks are sitting abandoned rip. My first shakespeare was either romeo and juliet or midsummer nights dream and i love both of them v much!!! I have a very old piece of art that i did for r n j for my freshman class assignment on it and it hasnt aged well alsdjfjafd circa 2016 i think??? -- mod star

Oh man. I started drawing when I was about 10, but it was Bad. I don’t think I got much into drawing again until I was about 14? Sometime around the end of middle school/beginning of high school. I would say I started getting into drawing as more than doodling/coloring edits sometime around 2015-16? I would draw on my iPad with my finger, then I got a tablet for my computer, and now I pretty much stick to my iPad with an Apple Pencil. My first Shakespeare play was….. uh…… probably Midsummer???? I have No idea. We would go to plays when I was little, so I honestly don’t remember if I saw others before. It may have been Romeo and Juliet— I had that book where it was the original and the “modernized” with the little dog that explained things— which, if you know it makes sense, but if you don’t is probably a bonkers answer. — mod aster

Do you think this blog has like? An overarching thesis (be it b/c intentionally or simply b/c ur own take on the world has bled thru to the point where u believe it’s central to the piece at this point)? (@pedanticlecturer)

Not gonna lie, I had to read that like three times AND dm you to figure out what you were asking from us and all I have is “be gay, respect women, write your own happy endings”. — mod aster

This blog started with an ides of march shitpost and you think we have enough brain energy to write a whole thesis? I projected feelings of found family onto my half of the blog but idk if that counts. Be gay do crime 420 69 -- mod star

What’s the nature/rough dynamic of ur relationship? How do y’all know each other? (@pedanticlecturer)

Met mod aster when i was like 4 and even tho we didnt live close we became like, best friends although the Best part didnt start until we were like 13-ish and eventually we talked like non stop (about anime and homestuck. Yknow. 13 year old kid things) and we didnt see each other a lot bc of Distance and now its even worse bc aster is in colleg.,e but we consider each other siblings regardless of family bc we’re adopted into our own respective families so that bled over into our friendship and it would feel weird calling him anything other than my brother now. We’ve seen each other at our best and worst and if you really want a good insight on what we’re like as siblings watch griffin and justin mcelroy’s overview video of catlateral damage wherein i am griffin and he is the long suffering justin. -- mod star

Star is basically my long distance sibling and functionally the only cousin I recognize bc like their parents are basically an aunt and uncle and like our dads look enough alike that we’ve both accidentally gotten the wrong dad for a hug or similar so like. Anyways yeah Star is the Griffin to my Justin, complete with our absent middle brother who we love dearly— mod aster

Dubiously relevant q but what kind of music do y’all listen to when u do art (if that is indeed a habit either of u partake in) (@pedanticlecturer)

It can depend on the piece? I was working on some (unrelated) oc prints that were song-focused, and for those I just listened to said song on loop. Sometimes I have playlists. Sometimes I’ll just be in a Mood and throw a song on loop. But a lot of time for the blog, I’ll listen to The Adventure Zone for the billionth time, because I have Too Much Attention. I’ve also, on request from Star, linked the most recent “loop song”.— mod aster

I tend to obsess over the same like 3 songs every few weeks so those get listened to on repeat but it also depends on the tone of what im drawing or who im drawing i might genre switch bc of that. If im drawing ophelia i stick to lana del rey and if im drawing hamlet its the neighborhood, horatio is sufjan stevens etc. i have categorized,. Most of the characters i draw into different songs/genres/energies of music but not like i ever follow that. Sometimes i just pull up a really long nonsense video and forget to draw. Essentially: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ -- mod star

How’d y’all come up with ur pseudonyms? (@pedanticlecturer)

I love space so much and my main blog is starryeydsailor space gay rights!! Im also tiny and full of energy and bright so basically i;m star -- mod star

Uhhhh i was like “hey i want to do uhhhhhh flower?” And then I google searched flower names until I found one I liked —- mod aster

How did you end up deciding the rough timeline of events in canon? (@pedanticlecturer)

It’s mostly determined by like. How we choose per story? If that makes sense. Like, we just take story by story, and decide “is it happening, has it happened, and when?” And then we fit them together in relation to each other just by dint of. All existing at once. Like, I knew I wanted Macbeth to be in aftermath, because like, even though there’s no murder, the way I’ve translated it to the AU is still kinda heavy, and it’s something that I don’t know that I could do properly if it were happening right now. Also, it’s more interesting IMO to have them at different times. Tl;dr we wing it per story and slot them together— mod aster (mod star agrees I just can word better, in theory)

If you could tell the story of shakespeare high in a different format than an ask blog, would you? Obviously y'all are making very good use of the format, but would you want to write this as a animated series or like? a comic book? or is the form inseparable from the story? (@pedanticlecturer)

I kinda wanted to do a webcomic or maybe to plot develop through like, animatics but the element of surprise comes from the asks we get and really makes us think so the blog is a good start. We didnt think we’d get this far -- mod star

Pretty much what Star said— there are certain elements where it’d be neat to do as a comic or as an animatic. Like, the fantasy dream is like, an anthology webcomic of each story, where you can like, see other characters in the background and stuff. But to be honest, we develop a lot by what we’re asked— there was a post about developing worldbuilding by being asked questions and then pretending you’ve thought about the answer, and it’s not far off. Personally, it’s hard to just lay out a story, because I have a whole WORLD and what’s relevant? What are people interested in? It’s by getting questions that I can then focus in on an area to develop. And yeah, we Super didn’t think we’d get this far lmao — mod aster

Any headcanons about your characters that you don't think will ever come up on the blog through asks or plot posts? (@pedanticlecturer)

I could make a whole separate post for this!!!!! Mostly its voice headcanons (and by mostly i mean like 1 or 2) or relationship hcs!!!! -- mod star

Honestly same. I don’t think I have voice headcanons for mine, though I bet I could find some. I’ve got a bunch of miscellaneous headcanons that just kinda float around, but like they’re scattered, too numerous for this post, and also not always things I’m sure are canon yet.— mod aster

[inky-thoughts]

How to Organize a Zine 101 #3

Hello~

I already talked about figuring out your zine and the zine’s schedule as well as what you should bring with you to successfully manage a zine.

I think the next step should be building up

Web Presence

I already talked a wee lil bit about it in Part 1 but I think I should elaborate a bit more on it as it’s basically the backbone of almost every fanzine nowadays.

A small disclaimer: Please take everything with a certain grain of salt as I am not a professional when it comes to social media managment. These are just some pointers I consider useful/helpful as they worked for me or other zines I had a brief overview of.

Where to post?

First of all, think about what platforms you want to use, and get familiar with them if you aren’t already. Learn “the way” of it to know which rules/guidelines to follow, because not every platform is the same in tonality or which kind of content spreads fastest.

The most common platforms that I’ve found to work with zines pretty well are Twitter and Tumblr. As both are available as apps for practically almost every phone, it’s also easy to check and keep updated with when you’re on your way.

Tumblr is quite interesting because it’s bascially like a website (and yes, you should keep in mind that the mobile version doesn’t support tumblr sites) and you can conveniently store all info to your zine, answer questions in public, and reblog post e.g. previews of zine entries. It’s easy to spread information quickly if you use the correct tags and post them in the best time frames for your audience.

Twitter is kind of like a news ticker, or gets used by many like this. It’s easier to engage with people and “spread the word” by tagging people who might be interested in the zine.

Also, think about where you as a manager have the bigger following so you can forward e.g. tweets or posts or make your own announcements about the zine to your following and potential customers.

What to post?

Obvious things are announcements like schedules, FAQ, details on the zine, application progress, previews, contributor lists, links to online shops, etc. This is kind of basic together with updates like if important e-mails to the contributors went out etc.

However, this isn’t everything at all. What I found great in other zines (which we completely ignored for our zine and I think that’s a very sad thing actually) was having specific dates (in fandoms stuff like characters’ birthdays, anniversaries etc.) or more general things like widespread holidays, or “event dates” (? - like world women’s day, labour day, you get the twist) that somehow correlate to your zine. For example, one zine I participated in was about the girls of a certain fandom, so they chose the Day of the Girl to start previews to kickstart the preorder phase - and I really loved that! It brings everything in another perspective because it’s not just a zine for a few little nerds to enjoy, but it conveys a much more pronounced message that way. Including those kind of dates, whether it’s just a small post like “Happy New Year” with a small update on the zine progress, or a special sale because it’s xy character’s birthday and it happens to also fall perfectly into your schedule, it just makes your zine feel more honest and considerate of their passion for the zine’s content. It isn’t mendatory, but it definitely has a more lasting impression.

Also, you might want to think about what medium you want to choose - photos/pictures generally get more attention as it is highly visual (plus it’s easier to find on a twitter accound for example) and can be a nice addition to your text. This is where you definitely should think about some kind of corporate design for your zine that is eye-catching enough to get attention from a lot of people and still matches tone and intention of the zine. Gifs may give a post a bit more animated, funny, or simply emotional expression, so having a few sets of gifs/images (perhaps from the source material if it’s a fan zine) handy isn’t such a bad idea. It’s something we didn’t have and I basically have only regret about it.

How?

You also might think about the tonality of how you appear on the zine’s social media. Generally, fandoms are a rather friendly and casual place to be, so you can slip a small joke or something like that into your posts, however, you shouldn’t go all “LOLZ dat boi xDDDDDD” because you still want people to take you seriously and (if it’s a for-buy zine) pay real money for your zine. Keep a certain level of professionalism but don’t have a complete stick up your butt is all I’m saying as you don’t want to alienate people because of one thing or the other.

If you’re modding the zine with several mods (which I highly recommend!), also add signatures at the end of each post (we did it with -Mod [our name]) so it’s easier to clear up misunderstandings etc. as people know who they’re talking to and maybe one mod just didn’t read the memo or something. With tweets it’s just wasting precious characters but on tumblr you aren’t limited at all.

Also remember tagging: It feels like a science itself, and partly it is. First, tag what it’s about. You need to reach the fans, so if it’s about a certain ship or characters, tag those. Tag the fandom, and, very important, tag that it’s a zine. having those covered at first makes you pop up in e.g. tumblr search more as tumblr had changed that only the first 5 tags will be where you’ll appear. Some blogs which collect zine posts have a specific tag they’re tracking, so including some of these comes in quite handy. The rest is mainly to maintain a system on your blog, which everyone needs to figure out themselves. Tagging on twitter is kind of different as you have a limit, I would always go with ships/content first, then perhaps fandom, and zine only if you’ve got some characters to kill. Also please don’t use completely unrelated tags only because they’re currently trending - this is just plain annoying and it’s more likely that people will ignore you instead of gaining some interest in your project.

When?

Do your research on what times are the best to post your content to get your target audience, especially as shipping can be very expensive so you want to have national interest in first place. Every social media has their own specific timeframes where content goes viral the fastest. There is no 100% correct formular, but some tendencies at least, so you can help your luck out a little bit.

Grooming Your Media

To most social media, the key to success is consistency, so you definitely shouldn’t sleep on this. Luckily, social media are (except for most forums but then again your phone usually also has a web browser) usually available as app version, meaning you’re quick to responst or check in. - That’s what you usually think but truth be told, apps also don’t always work perfectly, and especially the tumblr app is known to be rather wonky. I also (this is a personal preference, though) find it easier to compose posts and pick the right pictures on my computer, so if you’re the same way as I, I would advise you to calculate half an hour up to maybe 3 per day/every two days to check in on all your zine’s accounts. It depends a bit on how active the current phase is and how many questions/inquiries people are sending your way.

Tumblr luckily has the queue option, and it definitely saves you a lot of time when you need to bring up an important post regularly. Through the queue, the blog also stays more active, thus has likely more traffic or is simply more noticible as it stays fresh in mind.

Twitter, however, doesn’t have this function (or I’m definitely not aware of it), and, truth be told, also isn’t concipated for this kind of thing. There aren’t really many updates you can post during certain phases of the zine, but there might help the above mentioned dates you might want to keep in mind. Tweeting about the occassion and connecting it with your zine might raise interest and more traffic on your account. And yes, then there are the really busy phases where you simply can’t keep up with social media as the zine demands all your attention. However, sometimes people just want to know how busy you are, so tweet it! A sentence or two are probably enough, and then you’re basically good to go for the day. Just remember to retweet your tweet during your breaks.

And, again, checking on your media should be a regular thing because waiting for an answer for 1-2 days is a different thing than a month or so later (this accidentally happened to us because we didn’t get a notification), so don’t just check “does the system signal me that there are new messages” but actually go into all possible messaging systems directly to check because sometimes tech is a bit wonky. (Also check the message requests!!!)

To maintain a certain level of activity can be a pretty tough job and by now I’m actually inclined to believe that one of the mods should be responsible solely for the social media management while the others work on the actual zine. However, I can’t say I’ve had experience with handling stuff like this that way. It definitely would have gotten a lot of pressure off my shoulders (I mean there’s a reason why companies have a special department handling all this stuff.)

Also, when I say “post regularly,” you can determine what is regular. This can be 24/7, every other day, or once a week, maybe also every two weeks but I suppose no less than that or people might forget you even exist. It’s just important to keep that schedule up so people can build a habit of expecting and getting to see a new post at a certain time.

It feels a bit hypocritic for me to talk about this topic because I think I’m not doing a very great job at it myseld simply because I easily neglect stuff like this, but again this small series is about learning from our/my mistakes so you don’t have to make them with your zines.

Thank you for reading, I hope I’ll find the time to write the next installment soon!

<< last | next >>

Masterpost

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #473

Top Ten Deleted or Restored Scenes

This week I watched Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which is obviously distinct from Joss Whedon’s Zack Snyder’s Justice League, which I saw in 2017. One of the ways it’s different is that it’s literally twice as long. Another is it’s been much more warmly received by fans and critics, rather than greeted with ferocious opprobrium like the earlier, allegedly studio-mandated version.

The road that led us to this moment, with this expensive re-edit of an earlier, unsuccessful film, is long and tumultuous, as well as tragic on a number of levels. Personally I was one of the few who actually had a good time with what I suppose we might as well call Whedon’s League; it weirdly felt cheap and inconsequential, but after two overwrought, self-important, and joyless exercises in grimness and misery, it was a breath of fresh air. It was like the feature-length pilot of a superhero TV series that, y’know, is starting off on slightly shaky ground, but there’s enough there to enjoy: the banter between the characters, the hints of future plot arcs, the general tone of daffy adventure. To quote Aquaman from that film (but not from the Snyder version): “I can dig it.” The new edit feels a lot more epic, more like a proper movie; the much-slowed pace allows all the characters room to breathe. We get some great moments, such as a heroic introduction to Barry Allen as he rescues his future girlfriend from a car crash, and a cute little scene of Alfred teasplaining to Diana. The plot is detailed a lot more thoroughly (albeit in a scene of incredibly clunky exposition), and we spend more time with Steppenwolf, learning more about his relationship with Darkseid and why Earth is so cosmically special. All told, it’s an improvement, even if the second half resolves into basically the same CG-heavy punch-fests as the theatrical cut; here the action is a little bit more coherent, but it’s a hell of a lot slower and as such (in my opinion) often a bit more boring. Plus I personally found the Cyborg story a bit of a drag; he’s a very dour character, moping over his lost life and bombarded by tragedy, and we get very little of the verve of his comic characterisation, and absolutely none of his animated counterpart’s sense of fun. In fact, the thing that I always butt up against is that for the most part these characters feel utterly divorced from their source inspiration; Superman looks and acts nothing like Superman, Batman is incredibly one-note. Flash and Aquaman are more successful in giving a new spin on those characters, even if Barry Allen is basically just Wally West. Only Wonder Woman looks and feels like what we collectively imagine Wonder Woman to be, and is by a country mile the best thing in the film.

I don’t really want to be too negative about it though, even if that was me just being negative for a very long paragraph. At the end of the day, I just do not get on at all with Zack Snyder’s interpretation of the DC Universe, to the point where I feel aggrieved at missed potential (treating the New Gods as just random conquering aliens!) and do not see anything of characters I love (Superman wearing black is not cool in any way shape or form). However. The existence of the “Snyder Cut” and the fact it ended up as a film that we can watch if fascinating, and it’s gotten me thinking of other films where we know additional material exists. Probably the earliest example of this I can remember is Biggs Darklighter in Star Wars; I remember seeing a grainy low-res version of that scene on the Making Magic behind-the-scenes CD-ROM that came out around the time of the Special Editions. Since then, as my knowledge and interest in film has grown, the existence of deleted or alternate scenes, or even entire cuts of movies, has grown and grown. Some of these have a kind of mythic status; others are curios. I remember reading the “removing the chip” scene in the Terminator 2 comic adaptation, so getting to watch that in the Special Edition DVD years later was fascinating. And, of course, you have The Lord of the Rings, which has spun deleted and alternate scenes into additional material for a whole other set of movies – the Extended Editions, which to my mind are the definitive versions of the films (even if Peter Jackson considers the theatrical cuts to be “official”).

And let’s not even get started on Anchorman: Wake Up, Ron Burgundy, which probably is a Top Ten all of its own.

So what we have here, then, are my ten favourite deleted scenes. Sometimes it’s just that I like the scene; sometimes it’s that I genuinely think it adds a great deal to the film overall. Some of these are now common knowledge, or part of a longer cut or special edition; some retain a sense of mystery. At least one I’d never seen before! But they are all very, very cool in their own right, and testament to the difficulty and organic nature of film production.

The Death of Saruman (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, 2003): despite the theatrical King already heading well into three hours, it’s a shame Peter Jackson and co couldn’t find room for this scene, tying up Saruman’s story. It gives Christopher Lee one more moment to shine, spitting insults and attempting to divide the assembled heroes with his wizardly words, before he receives his comeuppance via beleaguered servant Wormtounge. It’s a great death, homaging one of his Hammer Horror deaths, and I genuinely feel the film is a poorer without it. It’s an excellent addition to the Extended Edition, and restores Lee’s visage to the beautiful end-credit portrait section where it belongs.

Removing the Chip (Terminator 2: Judgement Day, 1991): another scene now part of an extended Special Edition, this was mythical for a while; it seemed we knew about it even in ’91. In order to learn new things and adapt his programming, Arnie’s T-800 has his brain chip removed, basically; but once Linda Hamilton has taken it out of his head, she wants to destroy it and kill the Terminator while she has a chance. This is great characterisation, but the fact that the T-800’s ability to change and grow is referenced a couple of times in later scenes (“Are we learning yet?”) makes its absence feel all the greater.

Luke and Biggs (Star Wars, 1977): talking about “mythical”, this is one of the doozies. “Did you know there was a scene where Luke met his friend Biggs on Tatooine and they talked about joining the Rebellion?” – it was the stuff of legends. It foreshadows the later scene of Biggs at the Rebel base and gives his death more weight. However, I can understand its removal; it’s rather long and comes at a time when the film needs a lot of momentum to just get the droids to Luke and the adventure to really start. Plus Luke’s teenage friends ripping on him for claiming to have seen a space battle feels a bit atonal with the rest of the film at that point (funny as it is).

The Spider-Walk (The Exorcist, 1973): this one was another widely discussed with my friends (not in 1973, obviously), after its appearance in (I think) Mark Kermode’s documentary about The Exorcist. A supremely creepy scene where the possessed Regan walks on all fours, upside down, down the stairs. William Friedkin said the emotional intensity of it comes at the wrong moment in the film, and he’s probably right, but taken on its own terms it’s a really disturbing visual.

The World Trade Centre (Spider-Man, 2002): I guess this counts as a deleted scene, as it was supposed to form part of a montage in the middle of the film, but most people who saw it at the time will think of it as a banned trailer. Basically, Spider-Man traps a helicopter full of criminals in a giant spider web spun between the towers of the World Trade Centre. I remember watching it, and awing at it, when at university in 2001. Following the terrorist attacks of 9/11, the trailer and scene were understandably shelved. I’m not sure if it’s available officially even twenty years later, which I think is a shame; it’s a fantastic scene (apparently one not directed by Sam Raimi, though) and the final image is actually both moving and powerful.

Pig Headed (Who Framed Roger Rabbit, 1988): something that I’m not sure is quite as prevalent today is film fans discovering deleted scenes by reading officially-licensed adaptations, whether that’s books or comics. This scene I read in the Roger Rabbit comic adaptation. Bob Hoskins’ Eddie Valiant is assailed by the bad guys and dumped in the street with a bag over his head; when he removes the bag, this toon-hating ‘tec discovers to his horror they’ve given him an animated pig’s head. He promptly rushes home and attempts to wash it off in the shower. It’s both funny and a little disturbing, and leads nicely into the scene with Jessica Rabbit in his apartment, but I kinda understand why they cut it. For one thing, I think it raises some disturbing questions about what constitutes a “live” toon and ways to “kill” one other than the film’s Dip.

The Smart Guns (Aliens, 1986): that Jim Cameron really does like his Special Editions; I could have added something from The Abyss here, too. This scene is iconic, and to be honest it’s only recently I discovered it was part of the Special Edition; to me, Smart Guns and Aliens go hand-in-hand, so I must have watched the ol’ Spesh Dish quite early on. These are some awesome automatic gun emplacements, turrets that seek out and shoot anything that comes near. That’s cool in and of itself, but the tension as the crew watches the ammo count drop ever lower, and the Aliens keep coming, is masterful.

Finding the Crew (Alien, 1979): speaking of deleted scenes from an Alien movie, what about this doozy? Now included as part of an extended/director’s cut of the film (Ridley Scott’s another one of those who likes tinkering with his back catalogue), it’s a cool and incredibly creepy scene, but one that doesn’t make a lick of sense given the subsequent direction the franchise took. Ripley, near the end of the film, discovers the crew all gunked up in cocoons, and in the process of being turned into Alien eggs. Obviously this has been retconned, with Cameron concocting the Alien Queen in the sequel, but the scene on its own is very powerful. It’s also, incidentally, the first time we hear a strung-up human say “kill me” in an Alien film, aware that their fate is going to be so much worse than death.

Principal Ford (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, 1982): I thought this was more-or-less mythical until I searched for it on YouTube this week. After Elliot frees the frogs in his science class, he’s brought before his principal, who believes the young boy is off his tits. He spouts some cringy commentary about drug use, peers out of his blinds, and is oblivious to E.T. psycho-kinetically raising Elliot’s chair off the ground. The twist is, despite never seeing his face, the principal is in fact played by Harrison Ford (presumably doing a favour not just to Spielberg but his then-wife, screenwriter Melissa Mathison). It’s a funny scene, and I think it could still be added without straining anything (unlike the bath scene that was briefly re-inserted), but as the film is practically perfect in every way, why mess with it? Steve knows what he’s doing.

Sergeant Candy (Terminator 3: The Rise of the Machines, 2003): unlike the deleted scene from T2, this is neither useful character work or important plot-building. Rather, it’s one big gag, and in that sense I guess your mileage may vary on whether it’s worthwhile or not. A bunch of army and intelligence brass watch a video about the development of the cybernetics program, and we are introduced to Sergeant Candy, a soldier who will serve as the template for (essentially) the Terminators. He’s, obviously, Arnie, but the gag is he has an incredibly strong Southern accent, something that one of the assembled brass criticises, and then… well, I’ll save the punchline for if you wanna watch the link. I think it’s funny, and in-keeping with the slightly more frivolous tone of the first two-thirds of T3. It’s probably just as well they removed it, but on the other hand, there’s as much stuff in that film that doesn’t work as stuff that does, so maybe they should shove it back in just for the lols.

There we are; ten fun or important deleted scenes. Surprised/disappointed that I never had room for the famous “Octopus Scene” from The Goonies (which, like T2’s chip scene, is a cut moment that’s actually referenced later on!). maybe in a few years I’ll come back and do a Special Edition of this list, and include, like, fifteen items or something.

[curriebelle]

Episode Ignis Feels Like Fanfiction and That’s a Good Thing

Ok so I’m having a Thought.

You know when people say something reads “like fanfiction”, and it’s meant to be a criticism? The phrase is one of those intangibles, one of those agreed-upons, where no one can define it quite accurately but everyone thinks they know what it means. Usually it’s a combination of deviation from the original tone, bleaching out character flaws and complexities, a lack of understanding of nuance, and a reverent or worshipful attitude towards old characters, moments, settings, and iconography (and iconography is just the Stuff. Star Wars iconography is lightsabers, wookies and Jedi robes).

That’s a pretty reductive description of fanfiction of course, because a lot of fanfic - whether it’s well or poorly written - doesn’t necessarily follow those patterns. Weirdly enough, saying a sequel or reboot reads “like fanfiction” often implies that the writer doesn’t understand something about the source material - that they’re oversimplifying, or they’re fanning about while failing to understand what a “good” sequel would actually require. And that’s pretty ironic, because fans - obsessive detail-hoarding, secondary-character-worshipping pastiche-crafters that they are - often know the source material better than anyone, sometimes better than the creators themselves, and they are very aware of what they are erasing or changing when they move Marvel into a fluffy coffee shop AU. 

But I’m kind of digressing, because my point is that “this feels like fanfiction” shouldn’t be seen as a criticism, but rather as a gut feeling that we need to unpack. Sometimes it leads to legitimate criticism that, while worth addressing, actually has very little to do with fanfiction. And sometimes it leads to this weird 4:30 am conclusion: Episode Ignis is when “this feels like fanfiction” should be deployed as a compliment. Spoilers onward, for both Episode Ignis and FFXV.

I’m talking specifically about the alternate ending, here, which is tantamount to an FFXV fix-it fic. In this version Ignis averts the tragic ending of FFXV, and though he prepares to sacrifice his own life to do so, it ends up costing nothing. Ignis survives with even prettier hero-scarring than he gets in the regular plot. The episode fills in a sizable story gap after Leviathan knocks Noct out, and closes a few additional plotholes (I wondered what happened to that one obnoxiously overdesigned Imperial guy: turns out Ravus stabbed him). It spends some time with likable characters (Ardyn, yeeee) and underdeveloped characters (again, Ravus). Ignis gets roughed up and drenched, loses the glasses, and I’m 90% sure the animators made his eyes bigger in the cutscenes for extra pretty. He gains maximum plotline power, and Adam Croasdell voice acts the shit out of some sassy comebacks and anguished screaming (ok, this is unrelated, but when he’s doing the regular stormbind combo, it sounds like he screams FUCK in one of his battle grunts and it makes me laugh every time). He can liberate Altissia more or less by himself, and that’s before he drives a goddamn speedboat away from pursuant megarobots. So for anyone calling Mary Sue, yes, Ignis dives headfirst into that. He basically becomes Magic James Bond.

The whole episode is also pretty blatantly queer-coded. We get a very cuddly flashback to kid Noctis, and Ignis’s vow to stand at his side. Ignis is monomaniacal when it comes to finding Noctis. Noctis eiher drops the l-word, referring directly to Ignis and the freshly fridged Lunafreya (I’m still salty about that one, sorry), or says Ignis will always be in his heart depending on the ending. There’s a fantastic gifset going around of the official couples in previous Final Fantasies (Squall and Rinoa, Tidus and Yuna) declaring the exact same thing Ignis does in the alternate ending. “Rinoa, even if the world turns on you, I’ll be your knight”. “There’s no way I’ll let Yuna go”, even if I have to break all the rules of your stupid religion. Even if it costs my own life, I won’t let you take Noctis away. The queer subtext here is one of those things where it’s purposefully vague - just enough emotional evidence and physical contact that you can read romantic feelings there if you want, but just short of an actual romance to leave interpretations open. If you’re convinced Noctis and Luna were in love, Episode Ignis probably won’t debunk that.

So Ignis and his Episode are both powerful, emotional, pretty, potentially kinda gay, and ridiculously awesome.

And honestly, it is phenomenal.

Episode Ignis is a blast to play. His combat style is very fun and quick and fluid and flashy, and the grappling hook in the first portion makes you feel superheroic. Killing Ardyn, meanwhile, makes you feel godlike. It is an incredible surge of adrenaline to take on armies and deities by your lonesome. The gameplay and narrative reflect each other here, just like they do in the base game. FFXV seems happy at first, and the combat is pretty entertaining with all the goofy combo-attacks, but that game is a tragedy. It’s all the more tragic by how fun it is to begin with, and by the end it is painful to play. Characters get older, places fall apart, people die, and you have to escort Ignis around for a chapter while he grows used to being blind and Gladio constantly bitches at you for walking too fast. The photo mechanic is introduced to break your heart later, to show you how fleeting youth and pleasure can truly be under backbreaking destiny.

And in retaliation, Episode Ignis thrives on the power of Fuck You. Long commutes by car, mundane in the moment but peaceful upon reflection decades later? Fuck You, I have a grappling hook. Sections that force you to walk slowly through a dungeon and think about what you’ve done? Fuck You, I’ve got two daggers, lightning teleportation and button-mashing hands. Musings about the ravages of time, and aching nostalgia for youth? Fuck You, Ignis is prettier than ever. A tragic ending pre-ordained by prophecy? Fuck You, Ignis is going to re-write that fate by being clever, patient, and brave enough to sacrifice his life, but double Fuck You, he gets to live as well. Bullets flying, health bar low, multiple explosions and Atlas Ripped decking airships in the background? Fuck. You. It’s time to make some fucking soup.

With all that in mind, it makes sense that people might accuse Episode Ignis of being tone-deaf, of being fanfiction in all the “bad” ways - it neglects the nuance of the original, and papers over complex themes so everything can end up hunky-dory, but I still think that’s too easy.

Here’s the thing: Episode Ignis can only exist as fanfiction - or as alternate-ending DLC, I guess. FFXV is the story of Noctis and his story has an ending and it’s horribly, horribly sad, but it’s also what the story is built around. You might find it too depressing or too grim or you might find it just right, but it is well-structured. FFXV is careful with its themes and patterns and foreshadowing.

Because of that care, Ignis screwing Ardyn’s plans out of whack and saving Noctis from his fate couldn’t occur in the main game. FFXV is not about Ignis. It’s about Noctis. And the gameplay, built as it is around creating nostalgia - photographs, long car rides, camping, friendship - wouldn’t work if the ending wasn’t agonizing enough to make you long for the good old days. Maybe Noctis didn’t have to die or maybe he did, but the ending of FFXV was always going to hurt.

FFXV is an emotional project, and that project is to make the player painfully nostalgic. With that intriguing goal achieved, Episode Ignis exists as a response, and it can never really be more than that. It’s an ending I like better, but it is an alternate ending.

If you think about it, Episode Ignis didn’t need that alternate ending. It could have existed perfectly well as a companion to FFXV, filling in a much-needed blank (and without the alternate ending that’s exactly what it does). But in making a response to FFXV instead, they challenged a lot of assumptions FFXV needed to make in order to tell its story. FFXV assumes its prophecy is the only answer, as do its characters. FFXV yanks a great deal of agency away from Ignis, Prompto and Gladio when it asks them to sit still for a decade and wait for their friend to die without hunting for an alternative

Why can’t they try something else? Why can’t they defeat their nemesis on their own terms? I mean, who the heck does Bahamut think he is, anyway? Who says the ending can’t be happy, and the future can’t be bright?

Those are exactly the questions a fanfiction writer would ask. FFXV created those questions, and Episode Ignis addresses them, but in a way that acts as more of a breach than a closure. It’s one route to a happy ending - so maybe there are more. This is also the reason I brought up the queercoding in Episode Ignis. If there is any genre that needs a complete overhaul from grimdark tragedy into happy endings, it’s the scourge that is the modern queer romance story. There are so many of those bloody stories ending in anguish or separation or suicide or displeasure, and not nearly enough fairytales. Having a tragic ending overturned by the power of queer love is an insanely empowering experience, and that’s probably why you see so many posts about how Ignis’s gay love can pierce the veil of death and save the day. Episode Ignis didn’t need its queercoding any more than it needed its alternate ending, but the two make sense together: both of them are stories that people are absolutely aching for.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anything quite like this - a company actively revising their story, overturning its mood, questioning its plot, granting a completely different ending, and then asking fans to pay 6.99 for it. It’s different from alternate film endings, because those are DVD extras and one always wins the theatrical release. It’s different from re-imaginings or adaptations because Episode Ignis is...just not quite that. It can’t exist on its own, unlike most remakes. Video games are always fluid texts to a certain extent, but now developers are even relinquishing the solidity of lore and cutscenes. It’s so odd.

At the decision point of Episode Ignis, you can use R1 and L1 to flip the camera back and forth, moving between a shot of Ardyn and a shot of Ignis. It’s a tiny, insignificant moment, one that almost feels like a mistake - like maybe the developers couldn’t figure out how to stage a normal shot-reverse-shot. But that moment became an oddly powerful synecdoche for what Episode Ignis was to me. If you want to look at this story from a different angle, well, go for it. Here’s another place you can point the camera. Maybe the sun will rise over there too.

[appleflavoredkitkats]

Y'all I fucking love the villagers so much and I'm sad no one talks about them a lot??

So have some headcanons under the cut.

Nabulungi

- She loves flowers, like, a lot. She's very fascinated with them, so much so she started her own flower-crown making shop. At the same time, this place kinda is a mini book shop because Arnold started writing a lot so he'd make up maybe small short stories for the villagers to practice reading. The shop has this Tumblr-aesthetic feel to it, and when Arnold brought Nabulungi back to the US, I think they'd open up a proper book-flower crown store.

- I would think that Nabulungi might be pansexual, so with that, she used to date Sadaka when they were in their mid-teens. They might've thought at some point their best-friendship can excel even more, but after three months, they decided it was a platonic relationship. Nabulungi and Sadaka kinda are sensitive about this topic, so they don't bring it up that often. Though, after a week, they turned to be best friends again and never plan to break their friendship.

- She probably is the best English-speaker in her village (and maybe one of the best in Uganda who knows) and usually Nabulungi might hold some English-teaching lessons for the Ugandans. That's probably how they learned how to speak English.

- With her typewriter, I like to think she holds a small journal with pages made out of her typewriter. The journal contains all the thoughts of Nabulungi with her experience in Kitguli along with the elders (and maybe the rest of the villagers too).

- When the general turned good and returned all the stolen things, Arnold got his camera back. At some point he probably took a video of Nabulungi and fell in love. So, Arnold probably started asking Nabulungi to model in some of his pictures.

- Though I like the thought of Nabulungi having an interest in flowers, I think she'd be a great nurse as well. With most of the village suffering a disease, I'd like to think Nabulungi is always there to help them. She loves the village so much (they're like her family) and always checks on everyone if they're feeling okay or not. This probably started when Mafala, her father, started getting sick frequently. Nabulungi likes caring for him, and eventually her interest in helping people grew.

Sadaka

- Sadaka usually gets nicknames from the villagers and the elders for some reason, and she's used to it. It's started with her father (I headcanon her father to be Gotswana) who called her "Sazzy Dazzy" and "Stardaka" in public and people just kept adding on with nicknames. The elders like to call her "Sad Sad" as a joke (Connor said, "If Kevin calls me Con Con, you should be called Sad Sad!"), and her boyfriends liked to call her "Lioness", "Slaydaka", or simply "Sazz". Nabulungi once asked her what name she would change her name to if she had the opportunity, and Sadaka chose the name Bianca. Naba asked why and she just said she saw it in a magazine she found and liked it.

- Throughout her life, Sadaka had bad encounters with romance. First, it failed with Nabulungi, and then when Connor came around, she really really liked him, (but you know what happened to Connor). So, she was a bit heartbroken until she mean other Elders, starting with Elder Davis. They both kinda fell in love with their fondness towards animals, and then Elder Zelder came in and they kinda both had the same vigor and wildness. So, it kinda turned into a healthy poly relationship with the three.

- Sadaka has a love for animals. There's a pack of lions which she really loves and treats as family, but really, she can make friends with any animal. During wild animal attacks in the village, all the villagers needed to call was their "Animal Whisperer" and the animals would calm down immediately. (Also, Sadaka is accused of being a furry sometimes, which makes her furious.)

- With her fondness towards animals, Sadaka would want to become a vet. She knows the basics already, treating hurt wild animals, but she strives to learn more. Eventually, when she gets her studies right, she would love to open an animal clinic in the village so she can help the villagers love the animals instead of just plain out hate them.

- Since she wants to be a vet, she looks up to her father, Gotswana, a lot. Usually, when she was young, she would visit her father in the clinic and try to observe what he was doing to his patients, even if it was surgery. Gotswana was a big inspiration to Sadaka, so of course, she loves her dad very much.

- Sadaka is wild, like really wild. Despite her serious dreams, she likes to be informal all the time. She's sassy, she's cool, she's a prankster, she's just wild, like I said. She's like the rebel of the village, as she didn't really like the serious attitudes of the other villagers. So, she just wants to try her best adding some wild fun in the village.

Kimbay

- She and Elder Church have a very close mother-son relationship. I think Elder Church's and Kimbay's family members have died at some point (Church's mom and Kimbay's baby might've died from a sickness, Church's father is imprisoned, and Kimbay's husband was killed by the general) and they really supported each other through these tough times. They met in an accident, where Kimbay accidentally hurt Church too hard in a wrestling match, and basically everything escalates from there.

- I like to think Kimbay is a genius. She might be the brains of the village, usually helping people when they have some problem they can't solve. Basically, she's the problem-fixer, and with her wit, people appointed her to be the teacher of the school. As a teacher, she loved educating students and helping these students to strive for a future bigger than her own.

- Kimbay, knowing how bad the state of the village is, usually tries helping the village by maybe helping Kalimba with her cooking service and making simple clothes for the villagers. When the general used to steal their things, Kimbay alongside some other helpers try their best replacing the things the general has stolen like making food for them, making clothes that can replace the stolen ones, etc.

- The Book of Arnold was probably one of the biggest inspirations to her, and she probably is one of the main people who speaks out and proselytizes for her religion. It really had brought her hope. So, I think she would transfer from village to village alongside some friends she has and try their best spreading the religion to a lot of the villages in Uganda. But not every proselytizing session is a success, but when it is, she is the main one who baptizes the people into the religion.

- Kimbay is a strong woman and loves children a lot (since she is a teacher and all) and one time the village was rampaged by other warlords (this is post BoM) and in her part of protecting the village, she did her best fighting for the children. Thankfully, she succeeded, and scared of the warlords, leaving no one harmed.

- Kimbay also runs the Kafe from time to time, usually just there for the purpose of getting paid and help people go through stuff. She isn't fond of alcohol so she kinda thinks coffee is a better way of drowning your sorrows. She also likes giving some people counseling while they drink coffee. (maybe except for Elder Price, he was a fucking douche (but we all still love him))

Kalimba

- Darlesia and Kalimba are both in a relationship, both together since their early twenties. Their relationship isn't completely lovey-dovey and cute, though, they're usually rowdy and sassy, maybe playfully insulting each other daily. They like making fun of each other and out-sassing each other, but even with all these joke arguments, they love each other dearly.

- Kalimba is the main cook of the village and helps Mutumbo with the animals in the farm (mainly because that's her source of food). Her cooking's amazing and she doesn't like the American dishes the elders make so she teaches them how to make true Ugandan dishes.

- After the fear of warlords kinda toned down in the village, I like the concept of them actually starting to form a small group of leaders and defenders for their town. So, the idea of being the main leader or mayor or whatever came around and the villagers definitely wanted wanted some leader to help guide them. Mafala obviously ran for it, but with enough convincing from Darlesia, Kalimba ran for it too. Sadly, she didn't win, but she still is a vice leader who would help Mafala and the villagers when Mafala is down. (And she's pretty damn good at being a leader)

- The most popular dish in Kitguli is the infamous "Nsenene" which is basically fried crickets. Majority of the town love nsenene and tried cooking their own variation to the point that people wanted a Nsenene Day where they held a competition on who cooked the best fried cricket. Kalimba usually participates with the help of Darlesia and usually becomes the winner or gets a high place in the rankings. (Other villagers like Nabulungi and Mafala join, but also people who don't cook get to taste evertone's nsenene for free)

- Since Kimbay donates clothes, Kalimba donates food. She likes to make food for the really hungry people who can't afford food just because she wants to help others. She was at that state once when she was younger with her family dying, and she only had herself for support. She didn't want others to suffer the same fate as her.

- Kalimba loves to fuck with the elders--well, most of the villagers do too. But, she is the main initiator, usually just doing it out of boredom to just drive the elders insane. Once, she made a horde of pigs chase after the elders and they were left breathless.

Darlesia

- Darlesia likes to make bracelets out of simple materials. Each bracelet she makes has some secret symbolism through them, and she at least had given everyone in the village including the elders a bracelet that represents who they are.

- She runs a spa in the village which gets tons of business quickly. The village is always in distraught so people would come to her spa to just chill and relax.

- When Kalimba is grumpy, Darlesia is usually the sweetheart in these situations. She's very patient and stops joke arguing for a moment and does her massaging skills to help calm down the pissed off Kalimba. She'd lay on the bed and just massage her the way she likes it, then they sleep together right afterwards.

- Even if she fake argues with Kalimba a lot, she's a total sweetheart. She's like the mom of the village, usually the one who reminds everyone to stay healthy and be happy. She's usually the peace maker of the villager, usually helping angry villagers to relax. This is probably the reason why her spa is one of the best spas in Uganda.

- Darlesia has beautiful freckles and Nabulungi once told her that her freckles remind her of her mom. Nabulungi tells everyone with freckles that their freckles are like Skin Stars because they look like small stars on your face. Darlesia appreciates her freckles because of that. (Sometimes she also likes watching Connor because his freckles remind her of her own freckles.)

- Weekly, she has yoga sessions near a tree where she helps the villagers relax and stretch. She also has some breathing excercises to help them feel calm, and maybe she meditates as well just because she wants people to relax, damnit.

General Butt-Fucking Naked

- It was uneasy when the general first came in the village, people would glare at them or spat at them. But with some help from Mafala, Darlesia, Nabulungi, and the elders, they helped him and the other members change. One step that made them refreshen themselves a bit is to remove the nicknames they gave for themselves and use their real names, for the general, it was Koni. And as time passes, they became a part of the community, and a very important one as well.

- With the unused weapons, Mafala assigned them to be the defenders of the village. After convincing the village to turn the cave from a wrestling ring to a small police station, Kitguli had gotten a lot safer. When there was trouble, they'd rush to the rescue, especially when other warlords came to attack. They really improved themselves and changed for the village's safety.

- Weirdly enough, these people loved to dance. They thought it was weird when they were warlords so they ignored it, but when they were accepted in Kitguli, they held zumba sessions for the village to energize with them.

- The villagers, when they started to fully accept the gang, held a small feast for them and their changes. Koni was really shocked, as well as the rest, and was really touched by the occassion to the point Koni cried of happiness. They all hugged it out in the end anyway.

- okay but do u ever think their gang is like,,, a group of friends who are just "dude i would die for you but no homo"

- I also like to think they'd be badass rockstars. They probably just started people discovering Koni can play the guitar, then they realized the others can play instruments as well, so they just kinda rock out when there's a party.

Ghali

- He's like the old grandpa of the village, maybe that kind of person who would scream for you to get off of their lawn when you barely stepped in it. He's also that traditional wisdom person who would go "back in my day..." whenever he sees Nabulungi holding her typewriter or when anyone shows him new technology.

- He loves his religion because it actually gave him hope as an old person who has no family, but at the same time he dislikes some of the elders because he thinks they're irrationally too good looking to be an actual person. It's not like he's saying it likes the elders, but he's just somewhat in disbelief on how perfect they look. (it disturbs him, really, he thinks they're aliens)

- He probably is the conspiracy theorist of the group who believes in ghosts and aliens and all that. He usually looks out for Elder Neeley because he's scared that Neeley is an actual alien and has a twin alien. (hello welcome to kitguli unsolved where we solve unsolved mysteries and im elder ghali)

- People might think he's old and grumpy but when you really get to know him, he speaks of when he actually had a family and how happy he was before. But at some point he realizes that the village is basically his new family and becomes really thankful for everyone there helping him.

- He's probably the expert of Kitguli meaning he knows the history of his village and practically knows who everyone here is. If they need help solving a crime they usually ask Ghali for help identifying places and people in the village. With his knowledge of Kitguli, he eventually started being a detective helping Koni and his group fight for justice.

- Since he's usually alone and has nothing to do, he usually feeds stray dogs and cats who pass by his hut. Since he has some leftovers usually, he gives the cats and dogs food, eventually making the stray cats and dogs fond of him. He even started keeping some of the cats and dogs since he knows no one in the villgae (except maybe Sadaka) would actually keep and adopt these little critters.

Mafala

- After Nabulungi's mom (I named her mom Kamali) died, Mafala became a hardworking father for his daughter. He did his best to protect his sweet daughter from harm, even fighting off some warlords so that she wouldn't get hurt

- He has a history of fighting warlords since Kamali has died protecting Nabulungi from horrid warlords. He knows every single kind and he knows who these warlords are. He notes them down and tells the village to be wary of them. He also tries his best finding each of the warlords' weaknesses so he can help the village prepare for an attack when they come to the village.

- He and Gotswana are constantly arguing on who's the better daughter between Sadaka and Nabulungi. When they meet up, they would often bring up a new good thing their daughter has done and try to counter the other. These fight usually just end with them glaring at each other or Sadaka and Nabulungi would both be really disappointed at them for comparing the two (since, you know, they're best friends).

- He and Mutumbo constantly argue about this one damn chicken who each person claims is theirs. They usually fight for different objects that they claim is theirs, really, but it usually ends with one other villager complaining about the arguments and they would just get the item for themselves making neither person win the argument.

- He is very protective of the villagers and elders. He sacrifices and does his best for the safety of everyone, always putting himself last during dangerous situations. He claims that anything wrong that has happened to anyone will be his responsibility and he needs to take care of the problem himself.

- Without the elders and villagers knowing, he usually goes to Kampala and negotiate with the mission president at times. He is the reason why the elders probably still stick around because he does his best convincing the president that what they have done to the village was for the best and it really changed every person there to be happier. The president usually gets defeated in these negotiations and just continues to support the elders and give them funds.

Mutumbo

- After believing in the Book of Arnold, he had started making up better philosophies to believe in instead of believing in whatever his family believes. And these philosophies, inspired by the Book of Arnold, are usually changing him for the better, eventually making him the best speaker of the town. He usually preaches about the book and also does his best making a speech on his thoughts and interpretations.

- This also makes him a very good psychiatrist or counselor. His wisdom really grew to help people even the elders started seeking help from him when Gotswana's ways were too eh to them. His counseling actually works for his clients and eventually he a got a new job helping people through his words.

- Eventually, Nabulungi started letting him borrow her typewriter so that he can start writing out his speeches because people in the village really wanted to remember all his speeches. So, when he wrote all his speeches down, Arnold did his best putting it all in one book so that it can be a separate novel from the Book of Arnold.

- With his wisdom growing, he also started making comedic mockery towards the real leaders of Uganda. A lot of the villagers loathe their leaders because of their lack of action, so, he made this small play which mocked the leaders and it really amused the town. Despite that, he also wrote down different things he thought about Uganda's leaders and Uganda itself, questioning why things are like this and like that.

- If he doesn't write and he usually just starts thinking about what speeches he'll make, he usually gets a small tube floater and go to the lake to cool down. Once he's relaxed, he just stay there and brainstorm.

- He someday wants to pursue a career in writing with Arnold as his main inspiration. He wants to write about his small community, the Kitguli Village, and hope to publish it one day so people in the outside world could see the struggles they faced. He hoped he can make a difference to suffering villages like his so that poor countries like his can strive again.

Gotswana

- Though he's a bit of a douchebag, this guy knows his stuff. That's probably why he became a doctor. As a child, he strived to finish his education and actually go to college. When he got his degree, he went back to Kitguli so that he can become a doctor and actually start helping the village. And it did change a lot, less people would get sick because of him, and he would make small talks to the village on how to keep healthy and live longer.

- He lost his wife to the same reason on why Mafala lost his wife, through terrible warlords. Despite the arguments, Mafala and him like to talk about their struggles as single parents and they just liked to talk about how proud they were of their daughters instead of arguing for once.

- Since he's a doctor, he's probably the richest in the town, and actually has a generator in his hut. He doesn't have many electrical appliances, but he does have a few. So, some villagers like to sneak in just to use them because they're usually lazy to do it the traditional way. Gotswana, at some point, got used to it even if they were sneaking in at 3AM.

- Because of his generator, when it is hot in Uganda, the villagers reverse camp inside the room where it has air conditioning. Even if it might be an invasion on Gotswana and Sadaka's personal space, it was nice to have friends over for socializing once in a while.

- They actually have wifi. So, the elders come over with maybe cheap phones and computers and usually call their families from the US there with Skype. Sometimes, though, Gotswana likes pulling pranks on them while they call, like acting like there's something wrong happening so they can scare the parents, or maybe insert himself in the conversation and say something horrible like "oh the lions are out today by the way".

- As a doctor, he pledges that he someday will find a way to cure the diseases the villagers are suffering through. The main reason he actually wanted to become a doctor is to help the village he grew up in. Even if he's far from reaching his goal, he still works on it, hoping to end the diseases once and for all.

Okay that's all but feel free to add more, folks!

[arkus-rhapsode]

What do you think of Black Clover's anime compared to its manga?

Oh boy the anime…

Rather than going into a long essay of thoughts and studio perriot bitching, I’m going to try and break the anime do into sections and talk about those like I did with Fairy Tail Dragon Cry.

Visuals: If there is one thing I love about the anime it’s the color. The color manages to be both bright, but still have a darker tone. Something the med evil aesthetic of the show really benefits from thematically. If is on no small part of the animation studio being veterans and really knowing how to polish the scenes. Regardless of their “made in a single week” product, it at least looks touched up enough. But that’s all in the pallet.

In terms of character models the anime can do characters like Asta, Noelle, Finral, Vanessa, Mimosa, and Yuno pretty well, but guys like Yami and Magna… Well they look all rubbery, as if their models aren’t properly rendered. Yami looks less like his anime model and more like a butter statue in a few shots. Then again, Perriot has a history of really wonky character models.

As for magic, well I like the way Perriot uses that experience it’s had to touch up ways the magic looks and add a bit more detail to it, like Magna’s fire and Yuno’s wind all looking very well done. I know I’ve made jokes about the color, but Sekke’s bronze looks good, BUUUUT then there’s the shitty cgi. Oh my god, it is awful. Like, Berserk 2016 bad. The chains in the first episode to the ice Heath use all look awful. Noelle’s water with stuff like the sea dragon cradle is such obviously lazy cgi that it hurts. In the manga, Tabata’s way of drawing water is amazing, it really looks great, but it’s the worst thing to look at in the anime. A1 pictures is also pretty cut corners themselves, but at least when watching Fairy Tail, I actually thought Juvia’s water looks like real water.

As for the layouts and lighting, they’re all pretty good. I actually was surprised to see the evening sun in the magic knights entrance exam. It was really effective.

Animation: The Animation in this fluctuates like crazy. There are times it looks pretty good and doesn’t have the Fairy Tail 2008 problem of trying to look so much like the manga it doesn’t actually try to have the attack connect, just use the reaction shot of the critical damage because, “Y’know, it’s like the manga”, even though the reason for watching the anime is to see fluidity and not stills. At times Black Clover does it okay with animation like Asta knocking Heath out, but then there’s the time Asta knocks out Lebutty and it looks awful. The anime really relies on blurry vision way too much.

I know BC is a manga and you basically use snapshots to tell the story, but in a different medium you have to make some level of change and mak it quality.

Soundtrack: It’s generic. Like it could go with any fantasy anime. I know this might seem lke over nitpicking, but this is the same studio that did the Naruto and Bleach soundtracks, which are great. Soundtracks really do matter and stuff like FT have shown me that even a generic fantasy setting can atleast have definition through music. Black Clover’s is just blah. Not memorable, not overly scored, just…  there.

Now the openings I rather enjoy. these OPs are pretty much the feeling of shounen distilled into music, it is rockin’. Not the greatest thing I’ve heard, but damn, it’s fun.

Cast: Actually I really like the cast for both the sub and dubs. Both are pretty unique in their own ways and all fit how I imagined these characters have sounded. I however have made separate posts on my thoughts on the actors specifically so I will not bore you.

And last but not least, Pacing: Oh lord this is what kills the anime for me. Every complaint I’ve had could be ignored and or possibly just the sin of being a weekly series, but the pacing just is awful. BC’s manga is very fast paced and it used that early on to its advantage, but the anime, the filler fucking takes forever. It thinks introducing character ill have more impact, but this is studio Perriot they don’t know how to deviate from the initial character source material. While Toei has a bunch of problem, it knows how to write its characters for DBZ and to a lesser extent, One Piece. But perriot just reuses the character’s known personality and doesn’t offer any new layer to the character. The filler just makes this a slog to get through, initially I wasn’t even that mad at the filler, I liked seeing young Yuno and Asta, but then I realized something, it isn’t saying anything new, it’s just a reaffirmation of how Asta and Yuno are friend and grew out together. Then there are just one sentence long events that get bloated like the Yami and Magna gambling scene.

Sometimes I get the filler, extending Yuno’s fight with that rich asshole, the boar hunting scene, but we don’t need the Sister Lily thing out the Rebecca cameo, because they aren’t important later down the story. Look at times Black Clover’s fast pacing is to its detriment, but it really benefits the series as a whole, but this anime just can’t pace itself.

As an adaptation, it’s bad. As an anime it’s just below average. I really would say check out the manga before the anime.

[authoratmidnight]

SO, now that that monstrosity is over with, a more lengthy er, rant, about why the movie is shit(and comparing it to the source material).

So, obligatory warning for book and movie spoilers.

The big problem is, they tried to put too much in. They tried to cramp together the first three books, into a ~2 hour length movie. That’s a bad idea, even if these books aren’t that long.

Because, these books are set up for everything to come.

Book one introduces the Cirque and the freaks, introduces us to vampires and the fact that such things exist, sets up some lore for them, it introduces us to Steve and sets up his reason for wanting revenge(which is massively important later down the line).

Book two sets up Darren’s relationship with the Cirque, and has him over come his repulsion to human blood(and explains why he can’t live on animal blood alone), it introduces us to Mr. Tiny and the Little People.

Book three introduces us to other vampires, to the vampaneze(Murlogh to be exact), to the conflict between them, to Debbie(Darren’s human love interest who appears again later, she’s not a one off character) and basically sets up things for the big plot later on and gives us more worldbuilding.

There’s probably more but it’s been a while since I read them. But they’re set-up books, they establish things. Important things.

So squishing these three into one, doesn’t work.

You could, possibly, squeeze book one and part of book two into one film, and the rest of book two and book three into one, but not all three into one(book two is the only one that could be condensed into one of the others for a film tbh).

And it makes the pacing so awful.

The first part is so rushed, it rushes through everything, through meeting Steve, through sneaking out to the Cirque, through the events at the Cirque, everything. It’s mostly faithful to the source material(enough as it can be being as rushed as it is), but pretty much everything after Darren’s dug up is, off the rails.

And then the rest of the movie is all over the place crushing together the events of the third book with the whole ‘I won’t drink blood’ from the second book(also, this is another thing that causes the age up to be weird) with things that either never happened at all or didn’t happen until much much later(like Darren and Steve fighting, they do clash several times but not until much later in the series). As well as adding in characters that never existed/removing characters(Debbie and Sam), events that literally never happened(Darren’s family getting kidnapped along with his love interest and having to pick between them, that did not happen. Hell, his parents never find out he was alive, only his sister ever does, when she’s a grown woman!) or having them know things that they literally should. not. know(such as the name Harkat, this is literally not revealed until book 4, and by Harkat himself).

And it loses pretty much all of the worldbuilding (what’s the difference between a vampire and vampaneze? what does and doesn’t affect vampires? what animals can they drink from and which can’t they? what speed do half vampires and full vampires age at? all of these are answered in the books, but not so in the movie)

Now, changes from book to film are bound to happen, and sometimes they can work. But not in this case. Literally none of the changes work.

As I mentioned during my liveblog, they aged everyone up, Darren and Steve, who were ~12 in the books, are now 16. This is, problematic because as I said, it was in fact a plot point. Because 12 is very young and it’s generally frowned upon(if not taboo) to blood someone so young. So Darren’s young age becomes a plot point in book 4 when everyone is basically like ‘Larten wtf?’ when learning what he did and trying to figure out what to do with Darren.

And why he’s excited about finally getting to experience his teenage years(and highschool while he’s basically undercover) after ‘the purge’ basically makes him go through several years of puberty in like, a night, and he ages straight into being 15/16(and why meeting #2 with Debbie is so awkward, he’s a teen and she’s now a grown woman).

Plus, it makes them all look like idiots. I mean yeah, the string of bad decisions they make in the books are absolutely dumb (sneaking out to a possibly illegal freak show, confronting a vampire, blackmailing him, asking him to make you one, stealing his deadly spider, trying to train said spider etc...) but when you frame it with the knowledge that these were decisions made by 11-12 year olds it’s at least, slightly understandable, cause kids do dumb things ad think they’re good ideas. But 16 year olds? Now they just look dumb.

Also, book!Steve at 12 years old was able to figure out, on his own, that Daren was a half-vampire. 16 year old movie!Steve needed fucking Desmond Tiny to practically spell out to him that Darren wasn’t actually dead a what he really was. Our future Lord of the Vampaneze everyone. :|

I want to make a correction to my liveblog. Evra wasn’t aged up as much as I thought. In the book he’s described as being ‘about fourteen or fifteen’, while he’s 16 in the movie. The movie still fucked him up though. I like book!Evra, I don’t like movie!Evra.

Crepsley’s scar. Oh boy.

In the book it was a large, prominent one down the side of his face, made remarkable due to the fact that he just, doesn’t talk about it, which is odd for a race that is proud of scars earned in battle. In reality he got his in a very embarrassing way(he drunkenly flirted with the wrong woman and she slashed his face).

The three small scars are 1) implied to be a battle wound, 2) actually have an in-universe meaning.

When Vampaneze choose a victim, they mark them with three small scratches on the left cheek. There is only one vampire ever shown with those marks, one we don’t meet until book 4, with the marks intending to hint as what he’s been up to(meeting wit them in secret).

Giving Crepsley those marks is, odd. And proof that someone did read the later books. I am not sure the reason for this change aside from maybe, giving him Kurda’s role in the story, which would *really* fuck things up.

On the note of bad movie changes, the Little People. No, not people with dwarfism, Little People, the small(roughly book!Darren’s height, so probably ~3ft tall) creations of Mr. Tiny. That’s what they’re called, though I question if they are technically “people”.

In the first book all we know about them is that they’re about Darren’s height, wear blue cloaks with hoods that hide their faces/bodies, and don’t speak. Ever. They just shuffle around the Cirque doing this or that and that’s about it. It’s not until later (at least book 4 but possibly in book 2 while Darren’s with the Cirque) that we get a look under the hood and get a better description of them.

Where in we learn they are-grey skinned and appear sewn together, have no neck, lidless green eyes atop their head and a lipless mouth full of sharp teeth, have no nose or visible ears and wear a sort of mask over their mouth to so they can breath(earth air is toxic to them, though they can breath it for a time). The ones in the movie....look like a rejected house elf design and there’s no sign of the breathing mask.

And everyone’s, too chill around them. They freak everyone out due to their connection to Mr. Tiny + their appearance. And none of them have names, which is why it’s such a big thing that Harkat Mulds has a name (and can speak! luckily the movie didn’t spoil that). Something not revealed until book 4. By Harkat himself, not someone from the Cirque.

Which brings me to my next point, Rebecca. She literally does not exist in the books. I mean, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Cirque had a monkey girl as part of its line up-goodness knows there have a large group and not everyone is always there-but one never appears in the books.

She seems to be filling the roll of Debbie, and to some extent, Sam, both of which were cut from the movie. Which does not work. Both of these characters had specific roles, Debbie esp, which can’t really be swapped out, and not like this. Debbie’s role can’t properly be filled by making her a member of the Cirque. Also worth noting, Debbie wasn’t the one who was kidnapped(she’s actually fairly self reliant and takes an active role in later books), it was actually Evra! So the movie went and turned the love interest into a damsel in distress. :/

And Sam...*sigh* Sam dies and his death is a tipping point, that moment that readers realize that no one is safe, that good people, innocent people, will die. Because that’s what Sam was, an innocent. The moment Darren realizes this, and realizes that he has to drink human blood if he ever hopes to protect the people he cares about(b/c he held off on feeding on human blood he wasn’t strong enough to fight off the Wolf Man and protect Sam). Rebecca dying during the fight, would actually have been truer to the book(and the tone of the books). But no, we get awkward love plot(and an awkward one for Crepsley too, for some reason)

And Mr. Tiny. Oh man. He might be the master manipulator in the series, but he has rules he has to follow. Rules that if broken would unleash even worse beings(his family) onto the world, which even this chaos loving nut, does not want. And the movie basically ignores all this. As far as I recall, he can’t directly interfere with things, which is why he has to manipulate people into doing things for him. And you’re not supposed to even now any of this until pretty much the end. Until then he’s a seemingly neutral party that no one really likes and is just unsettling. He’s more than he seems and has his own agenda, we just don’t learn it till the end.

Except the movie basically gives away that he’s the antagonist and the one behind everything and has him all but telling everyone what to do.

I guess the writers realized their movie was so bad that they couldn’t do anything without a character literally telling them what to do to move the plot along(for example, Steve discovering Darren was a half vampire and going after him, in the book he figured this out all on his own, in the movie he literally needed Tiny to spell it out for him).

The characters, as you can tell, barely resemble their book counterparts, both in appearance and personality. In some cases the only thing they share is a name(the bearded lady for example, name and ability-to grow a bread at will-are all they have in common).

The movies took everything I liked about the characters, about the books, and just, threw it out. I can’t even bring myself to like the characters, because there’s nothing TOO like.

And honestly, it makes me sad and mad. Because I love these books, and back when I heard there was going to be a movie made I was ecstatic! And then the movie came out and I felt so betrayed. This was not the story I liked, the characters I liked. This was, garbage.

Fuck, I’d sooner sit through Eragon again. At least that has dragons and magic and is interesting and visually appealing.

[tipsycad147]

Psychic empathy: Understanding and developing your empathic gifts

Posted by Michelle Gruben on Jul 03, 2019

Empathy: It may be the most common of all psychic experiences—so common that it often seems perfectly ordinary. Have you ever “caught” a bad mood from a coworker as if it were a cold? Have you ever been swept up in the excitement of a sporting event, yelling and cheering, even though you didn’t really care about the outcome? If so, then you’ve experienced the transfer of emotional energy known as empathy.

Is empathy really a psychic ability?

As social creatures, most humans have a high degree of empathy. In the language of psychology, empathy simply means we can recognise emotions in other members of our species and tend to respond to those emotions in kind. Empathy can also be observed in social and emotionally perceptive animals like dogs, horses, and elephants.

In humans and animals, empathy probably evolved as a way to maintain group bonds and keep us safe from danger. Brain science researchers are fascinated with empathy and have done piles of research to discover why some people experience it strongly, and others seemingly not at all.  And we’re getting there. “Mirror neurons”—neurons that fire in the brain when an action is observed as well as when it is performed—go along way toward explaining why humans experience empathy.

So…is empathy a psychic ability? A lot of New Age-y, pop psychology fluff writers like to hedge on this question. But as a garden-variety occultist with no letters after my name, I’m going to come down firmly on the side of “yup.” Spiritual people know that material science can explain a lot of our experiences with empathy—but not all of them.

Psychic empathy has nothing to do with observing facial expressions, tone of voice, or body language. For example, that feeling in your gut that a friend has bad news in the moment just before you pick up the phone. Or walking into a room minutes after a fight has occurred and feeling an immediate shift in your mood. These experiences point to the truth of the vibrational theories that have underpinned esoteric practices for centuries.

Everything has energy, and these energies are constantly interacting with each other. A psychic empath is someone who is more affected than normal by this invisible external energy.

How do I know if I am an empath?

Empaths report many of the same traits and experiences: Picking up emotions from friends and strangers. Being told they are “too sensitive” or “too emotional”. Knowing when someone isn’t happy or isn’t being truthful. Feeling anxious in crowds. Being alternately emotionally empty and overwhelmed by emotions.

If you’re wondering whether you are an empath, the answer is probably yes! It’s my conviction that most people experience psychic empathy, although some people are more sensitive to emotional vibes than others.

As any empath will tell you, empathy is not always fun. Empaths often pick up on mild to moderate negative emotions that are streaming in from other people: Frustration, fear, regret, shame, and anger. Empaths can suffer from mood swings as their emotional environment constantly shifts. Empathy is most stressful when you’re near other people, but it’s possible for psychic empaths to pick up on emotions even at a distance.

Empathy can coincide with (and is often confused with) social anxiety. And no wonder: It’s unsettling to walk out of the house feeling fabulous one minute, and then fall into a deep funk because someone smacked you with a sadness bomb.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, you feel me? (Heehee, empath joke!) In this article, I’ll share seven of my best coping strategies for managing psychic empathy.

Learn the art of grounding, centring, and shielding.

Centring, grounding, and shielding are ways of manipulating your own energy body to produce various (positive) effects. They are most often accomplished through visualisation. These terms contain a lot of information, and everyone uses them slightly differently, but I’ll do my best quick rundown of what they basically mean:

Centring: To centre is to quiet external stimuli and become aware of your physical and energetic bodies. It’s often the first step in preparing for meditation, prayer, or spellwork. When you’re centred, you feel focused and secure. More to the point, you’re aware of what energetic “stuff” is yours and what isn’t.

Grounding: To ground is to establish a connection to Earth energy or another primal energy stream outside of oneself. When you’re grounded, energy can easily enter and leave your body as you will it. You have access to all the energy you need—but not too much—and a release valve for the stuff that you don’t want to retain.

Shielding: To shield is to manipulate your outer energy field to control how it interacts with the outside world. Shield comes in all different shapes, sizes, and functions. Many experienced empaths prefer to maintain a semi-permeable shield. With selectively open shields, you’re not sealed off from the world, but not being constantly bombarded, either.

Shielding, grounding, and centring can be performed separately or together, but they are all interrelated. (And there is some overlap in how they’re defined.) This cluster of energetic practices can be daunting to learn at first, but with practice they will become second nature. It’s worth learning how. Empathy is a psychic/energetic phenomenon, and psychic/energetic solutions are one of the most direct ways to manage it.

Choose your friends (and lovers) carefully.

Being an empath means that you are more likely than others to encounter people who are angry, needy, depressive, dependent, and just emotionally screwed up. Why? Distressed and unbalanced people are attracted to empaths because the empath naturally absorbs some of the negative crud they are spewing out there. That’s very convenient for them…less good for the empath.

If you’re around someone who leaves you feeling drained or unhappy, ask: Why do I feel this way? Why does this person want to be my friend? Is this relationship serving both of us, or only one person?

Boundaries are important for everyone—but especially for empaths, who tend to slip into the pattern of becoming emotional providers. You’ve probably heard all this before, but I’ll say it again: You can’t care for others if you don’t first care for yourself. It’s possible to be loving and kind at a distance. Good fences make good neighbours. “No” is a complete sentence.

Speaking of “no,” empaths also need to be careful with physical touch. Touch is one of the ways that emotional energy can be transferred most easily, so reserve physical contact for people who you love and trust.

Embrace the positive.

While being an empath can sometimes be a burden or source of stress, it comes with a bunch of hidden superpowers:

Empaths are great listeners. They have the ability to listen not only to the words that are spoken but the feelings behind them—and often, the unspoken words as well. Empaths also tend to possess a high level of emotional intelligence and a caring disposition. For these reasons, empaths make loyal and generous friends.

Empaths are amazingly good at picking up on subtle emotional signals. You can use this secret sense to steer clear of drama, navigate complex social situations, and even get ahead in business. (Hey, if you’re going to deal with challenges of being an empath, you might as well scoop up some of the advantages too!)

Some believe that empaths are souls that have been called upon to raise the frequency of human beings globally by fostering communication and understanding. If that’s your mission, may you go forth and fulfil it! Just don’t let it erode you in the process.

Which bring us to:

Practice good emotional hygiene.

If being an empath is like being a sponge, you gotta remember to squeeze out that sponge occasionally. Maybe put in the microwave for a couple seconds if it picked up something really nasty.

A daily self-care routine would improve most people's lives, but for empaths it’s an absolute necessity. So make time: Meditate for ten minutes a day. Or five. Go for solo walks. Talk to a friend you can vent to for a change. A beneficial practice for many empaths is keeping a journal—it aids in sorting out which emotions are yours, and where the rest are coming from.

Doing emotional house-cleaning will also improve the quality of your interactions with friends and strangers, I guarantee it. As we often hear in the realm of magick, like attracts like.

You know that beacon over your head, the one that says, “Hi, I’m an empath, please dump all your emotional junk on me?” It doesn’t dim just because you’re carrying around your own emotional junk—if anything, it shines brighter. Misery loves company, and other people will use their empathy to tune into your crappy mood and potentially amplify it. When you’re feeling stable and balanced, you can make better choices about who and what enters your energy field.

Partner with animals, plants, and stones.

Empaths intuitively understand that they are never truly alone. Just as some beings can make your life more difficult by swamping you with energy, some beings can help you shake off the excess and reconnect with your centre. When people are too much to handle, try turning to plants, animals, and minerals and make them your magickal partners.

Spending time in nature is one of the easiest ways to fix your energy. Go outside! Make contact with a tree, a body of water, or even a potted plant if that’s all you’ve got.

Animal companions can help you smooth out your energy when it’s been frazzled by interference. Cats, dogs, and human children are often seen taking on this role lovingly and willingly.

Certain stones and crystals can also be helpful in transmuting and re-directing empathic impressions. A piece of crystal jewellery or a smooth stone can help deflect or absorb energy until you’re ready to deal with it.

All beings (including plants and mineral beings) have consciousness, and any of them can become an ally in managing psychic empathy. As silly as it may sound, be sure to thank any plant, stone, or creature that assists you in circulating and balancing life force energy.

Work with your other psychic senses.

Are you interested in developing your psychic abilities? I’ve often observed that psychic empathy can be a gateway to other psychic talents. If you regularly gather emotional energy from others—then congratulations! You already know what it’s like to receive non-sensory or extra-sensory information.

Psychic empathy is related to clairsentience, the “just knowing” or “gut feeling.” Empaths and clairsentients both tend to receive psychic information in the heart, solar plexus, and belly area. Pay extra attention to those parts of the body—what they are telling you, and what type of care they need.

One of the most frustrating things for beginner empaths is not knowing where all the feelings are coming from. Empathic impressions are usually non-verbal and non-visual—which means it’s harder for our conscious mind to process them. Harder…but not impossible. Practice!

The next time you receive emotional energy that doesn’t belong to you, close your eyes and see if you can pinpoint the source. Where in your body do you feel it? Does it have a sound, texture, or colour? Can you manipulate or change the energy? Are you able to identify a direction that it’s coming from (or even a specific person)? Honing these skills will help you block or deflect unwanted impressions when you’re out in public.

You can also work on your psychic skills while in the presence of a friend or loved one. When you notice that you are empathically “tuned in” to their energy, try reaching out and seeing what other information you can gather. Do you receive any visual images? Any thoughts, sounds, or sensations? With a little practice, using your empathic gift can help cultivate latent clairvoyant or clairaudient abilities. Many empaths also excel at psychic healing due to their natural sensitivities to energy.

Don’t give away your power.

“I match energy, so YOU decide how we’re gonna act.” Wait…what? I’ve spotted this garbage meme-ing its way around spiritual communities. It’s a cute T-shirt (I guess), but the idea it expresses goes against all my training as a Witch…hell, as an adult human being.

Don’t give away your power. In other words, never let anybody be directly responsible for how you feel—much less how you act.

I wish that “I’m an empath” could be an empowering statement for more people, but all too often, it’s used as an excuse. Psychic empathy is very real, but it’s not a good reason to engage in erratic emotional behaviour or blame other people for your state of mind.

If you choose to wear that “E” on your lapel, there are three very important things to remember. One: Psychic empathy is very common. It’s special, sure, but not unusual—imagine if every empathic person acted like a basket case? Two: It’s your responsibility to manage your gift. There’s a big difference between the psychically gifted person who’s tossed about like a leaf in the wind, and the one who has learned to feel all the breezes and come to useful conclusions about the weather.

Finally: The stories we tell ourselves matter. (Especially the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves.) If you tell yourself that you can’t have close friends or go out in public because you’re too empathic to function, it’s likely to become a self-fulfilling prophecy and your life will be poorer for it.

As an empath, your challenge is to practice openness and compassion without cultivating weakness. May you always be strong and thrive—the world needs you!

https://www.groveandgrotto.com/blogs/articles/psychic-empathy-understanding-and-developing-your-empathic-gifts