#funniest shit i’ve improvised for a short story in a long while

[that--unusual-person]

ive come to accept the fact that whenever i try to do a serious piece of art i try too hard and it looks bad. but when im shitposting i let loose and have a fuckall good time and it will always worth every second of my life because i enjoy it while it makes people laugh

[chaniters]

Karaoke night

Sidestep goes deeper into the super-hero underworld. His friends reveal some dark secrets. Also. Sidestep at a party!

Enjoy!

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You pull your mask down as you enter, following Ortega and Anathema. You really didn't want to come, to the party, but Anathema insisted, and Ortega has been down for a while now. He got into a huge fight with Riley about a month ago, and they haven't spoken since.

You were shocked that Riley was male, you had always been convinced Ortega was straight. Perhaps he was convinced too, and that's what makes him so confused. He's had a few flings since you met him, and he's never been so bothered by a breakup before.

You take a good look around you, studying the large warehouse

Ortega has explained how this works. Twice a year, Owl and several heroes organize the party at a different location. All heroes of Los Diablos operating on the west coast are invited, even those that keep their identities secret. So you can go in with your mask if you want.

The crowd is much larger than you expected. You can see Sentinel flirting with Elyse at the back. The Answer sharing drinks with Omega. Bastion and Blast are dancing. 

No cameras or cell phones are allowed. It's virtually the safest place for you.

You turn to talk to your friends.. but they're gone. 

The music is too loud... you only know a handful of people here... Now you can feel them staring at you, the guy with the casted arm (or is that just your perception?). 

So many thoughts... You feel overwhelmed and immediately raise your shields. You slowly creep towards a wall. Panic slowly creeps up like a cold breeze on your back.ed

But then your training kicks in. Parties. You have been thought about how they work. There are ways to change your shields.. to help yourself not be noticed so much by the crowd.

If you can concentrate then you can...

"There you are!" Anathema says bumping into you. "Come! This is going to be epic!"

"What? Where are we going?"

"To the reading contest"

"What's a reading contest?" 

"Oh, you'll see" He snickers. He leads you towards an improvised stage on the other end. The owl is there talking to some people.

"Hey, Can Sidestep and I go next?" He asks cheerfully.

"Sure can" Owl answers. "We're short on victims right now. Did you find a good piece?

"YES!"

Owl chuckles. "Alright, you're next, just wait until Warhawk and Medea are done.

"What... is this?" You ask approaching Anathema. 

"Oh just watch and listen"

You lean in to observe the "Reading Contest". 

Warhawk and Medea each hold texts on their hand, and seems to be enacting some sort of play... it doesn't take long for you to realize the type of play they are in is not for children.

"What's.. going on?" You ask nervously.

"Fanfiction. Hero fans flood the web with all kinds of stories involving us heroes. The reading contest is just that. two or more heroes have to read their parts in the fanfiction stories, and the one who does it best wins."

"Is this a real thing?"

"Yep"

"But why is there so much... Sex in their scene?"

"Oh if you're not the best at acting, then making your opponents laugh or chicken out is the best way for them to lose. Actually, almost every fricken scene is sex. It's the funniest"

"WHAT? WHAT KIND OF SCENE DO YOU HAVE FOR US?"

"Ohhhh forgot to give you your copy. Here you go" he grins.

You scan the pages quickly.

"I-... I'm not reading... any of this!" You aren't sure how to feel about this. It's quite a shock to think people would consider you would do these things to Anathema... and in his sleep...

"Did you see Chapter two when I wake up?" He is beyond himself. 

You look for a way out when...

"And the winner is... MEDEA by a landslide! She's the filthiest of them all! All Hail Medea!" The crowd cheers. 

"And now, ladies and gentlemen... I bring you an old favorite... ANATHEMA!" 

This is so surreal... Anathema is on one side of the stage.. and you feel Owl pushing you into the other side.

"And a newcomer! Never seen before... SIDESTEP!"

"And the piece da resistance they present is titled... "Sidestep/Anathema, AU, Escape from the village of the Rammed, part 3! "

The heroes around you cheer. Anathema takes his lines and starts. You feel yourself growing smaller under the pressure of people watching you...

He finishes his lines. People expect you to say yours... what to do... You look at your text. You try to speak, but your voice is a croak.

Only your training can save you. You focus...

.....................15 minutes later.................................

"I can't believe you fucking beat me" Anathema walks with you to the open bar. "I had rehearsed that shit!"

"THat's what you get for challenging me " you chuckle nervously holding the little medal they gave you. It reads "Filthiest hero". In truth, you are sweating so much under your double set layer clothing. REading that was amongst the most uncomfortable moments of your life, but you managed. 

Your training makes you a good actor. And you're curious. You don't want to admit it, but you're probably going to browse into more of these "Fictions" of you and other people.

"Where's Ortega?" You ask a bit concerned. You were supposed to try to cheer him up, but you totally lost track of him.

"There" Anathema points. "I left him by The Karaoke area."

"I'll go check on him" you offer. 

"Hey" you sit by his side. "How are you?"

"Hey" For once he's the one startled. You notice a few empty drinks by his side. "I'm alright. I guess."

"Want to talk about it?" You wish you could read his thoughts. 

"It's the same old story... only that it went nuclear this time" he sighs, taking another sip of tequila.

"How? What happened?"

"He wanted some sort of commitment... And I'm..."

"Still in the closet?" You smile 

"Yeah. I haven't figured out how to handle the media about it...."

"So it's over? Just like that?" 

"Well, he hasn't answered a single text or call. I even went to his place a few times. I think I really hurt him"

"I'm sure he'll get over it. It's been a while"

"I just want to apologize. I even invited him here. But he didn't come either"

"Well... you know, there are other ways."

"Hmm? Like what?"

"I could lend you a brick" you jest.

He can't help the smile. "Stop it"

"What? It worked like a charm"

He punches your arm playfully, now laughing.

"Ow. It was a valid suggestion"

"You bastard. You know how much I spent on repairs?"

"Nope" you confess. "I wasn't very good at talking back then."

"Well.. a lot." He takes another sip of his drink. "But don't worry about it"

"Hey, I could repay you"

"Hmm? No need seriously I..."

"Remember the Karaoke machine at your place?"

"Yep. You avoid it like the plague."

"I'll do it now and we call it even. Deal?"

"Ha. You can't do it! You'll just chicken out"

"Just watch me," you say stepping over and picking a microphone. It's not about debts. It's about distracting your friend. You are learning fast how these things work.

Someone connects a light on top of you. Then the music starts.. and the video... 

You are frozen. This isn't like the reading with Anathema. You are alone. And everyone's watching you. The mic slips from your hand. You take it back... your cue is about to start and you can't...

Someone is singing the lyrics. It’s Ortega. He took the other mic. He gets by your side, singing badly.

What the hell. You join in. You are a cuckoo, and birds are supposed to sing, right?

.................... a few awkward moments later......................

"Wow... we are... terrible. We should probably not do that again" Ortega says laughing 

"Hey, we gave it our all," you say drinking from your own glass now. "We should be proud" 

"Yep!" he smiles. "Cheers!" 

You toast and take some more. You only started drinking but he's clearly going to get drunk tonight if he keeps this up. }

"Also.. thanks for the rescue," you say blushing under your mask.

"It was fun. Maybe we should torture them some more" he gazes at the microphone "But right now... I've got to go to the bathroom" he says "where was it?" he looks a bit lost.

"Come, I'll show you," You say guiding him through the crowd. You wonder how many drinks he had before you got to him.

You take him to the bathroom area and lead him to the door. But he doesn't come in.

Instead, he gets closer to you.

"I... sorry I lied. I don't really need to go"

"Oh?" this is unfamiliar ground. "What is it?"

"I just... wanted to talk to you. Out of that crowd. I know how uncomfortable you get"

 "It's true" you admit sheepishly. "So.. I'm here what did you want to talk about?"

"I think... I..." he seems unsure.

"What?" 

"I think I'm having a crush"

"Oh? On whom ?"

"A very close and dear friend." He looks into your eyes. You suddenly feel a bit dizzy

"Ahh.. really?"

He takes your hand

"My best friend"

You laugh nervously. "You are drunk"

"Just drunk enough to speak out," he says

He gets closer to you. "Just... tell me I'm wrong... and I'll go" he 

You say nothing. He pulls your mask halfway up.

You feel your world spin. Half of you wants to panic. The other half just wants to...

He kisses you. His arms go around your back. Your casted arm gets in the way. You make do.

You can't recall how long did you stay there, kissing him. Being kissed by him. 

It seemed to go on forever.

You do know how it ended though.

Riley’s fist on connecting with your left eye.

And not too long after that, Eldritch trying to destroy you all. 

________________________

My Fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior Home and Quibi Edition July 17, 2020: WE ARE FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME, DIRT MUSIC, THE PAINTED BIRD and More!

Apologies for being a day late with this week’s column... things came up. 

Since this is a relatively quieter week, at least compared to last week,  I want to talk about something that’s been getting a lot of ridicule and unwarranted hatred in recent months, and that is something called Quibi, and so…

IN PRAISE OF QUIBI

You know, I’ve heard a lot of shit-talking about Quibi for one reason or another.  I think it’s mostly the “too cool for school” #FilmTwitter kids, who haven’t even bothered to watch half the programming and content on the streaming platform – which has absolutely nothing to do with movies, mind you -- so they honestly have no fucking idea what they’re talking about. Sure, I understand the trepidation… short programs that you watch on your phone? Why would anyone get behind that? I mean, everything needs to be a 3 ½ hour Martin Scorsese movie that needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible, right?

Well, no. You see, CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg saw how successful YouTube was with their model – maybe not necessarily their original programming – and he figured he could do them one better. Instead of following the normal TV model of 22 to 60 minutes episodes, he decided to make every episode under 10 minutes. Maybe this seems weird to many people but if you watch any commercial network television, that’s actually the norm. All programs are broken up into smaller increments to allow for the commercials, and the smart shows time those breaks with mini-cliffhangers that makes the viewer want to return after the commercial break rather than switching the station. For the comedies and dramas, it just means you can watch as many episodes as you want without investing the hours involved with binging most shows. You can watch a lot of a series in an hour or more, and you’ll know right away if it’s for you. (There are some I really didn’t like at all such as Dummy and a few others.)

The big problem is that we really shouldn’t be looking at Quibi as an attempted competitor to Netflix, Hulu or any of the other streaming services. Quibi isn’t meant to be for watching movies or to be watched on the biggest screen possible. It’s quick, short bytes of entertainment similar to what you might normally watch on YouTube, but with actual programming. It’s a service geared towards people who don’t have 8 hours a day to binge-watch shows and maybe just want something to watch on a 5 or 10-minute break from sitting at their computers working. (That’s another good reason why having to be viewed on a phone/tablet makes it a good way to take a break from the computer.)

I totally understand some of the trepidation based on the early programming, because I haven’t found much in the narrative realm that has jumped out at me. I like Will Forge and Caitlyn Olsen’s Flipped, since it stars two of the funniest people on television, and the second story on Sam Raimi’s United States of Horror was far better than the first one. I also found a great guilty pleasure in shows like Chrissy’s Court and Dishmantled, each which put a spin on favorite TV genres, the court and cooking shows, both which are hilarious. I binged both of those series, which are about 10 to 12 episodes in a little over an hour, and Reno 911 and Jason Reitman’s The Princess Bride adaptation have been some great recent additions to the service.

The reason why you should be watching Quibi is for the daily programming, which is every bit on par with anything currently on television, mainly because Quibi has joined forces with some of the best news sources and content creators. For instance, the BBC show, Around the World with host Ben Bland, takes all of the great news from the BBC and puts together a daily six-minute “montage” of the most important news from outside the United States. There’s also NBC’s The Report, which offers two episodes on weekdays – the Morning and Evening Report – and two Weekend Reports, and it’s solid news reporting but also nothing that outlasts its welcome like the normal 24-hour news.

Then there’s so much other great programming, including Answered by Vox with host Cleo Abram, where you can learn about so many relevant and timely topics, and it’s become a particularly beneficial during the COVID pandemic. I have to admit that when I first started watching this, I was kind of amused by Abram’s twitchy interviews where she seemed unsure of herself, but over the course of the last couple months, her bubbly personality has really come out, as she’s tackled topics of special interest to herself. Quibi has rightfully been promoting the heck out of the show by advertising it on other shows. I also am impressed by the topics Shan Boodram covers on Sexology, an extremely candid and honest discussion of what some might consider taboo topics.

Similarly wonderful to watch every day is EW’s Last Night Late Night with Heather Gardner, which sums up the previous night’s late night shows – the best jokes, the best bits from the interviews, performances etc. – and there’s also Rotten Tomatoes’ Fresh Daily with Maude Garrett, which gives you a look at the best things to watch on streaming and digital on a day-to-day basis. (For full transparency, a person I greatly respect and one of the few I genuinely like in the industry, Mr. Simon Thompson, writes and produces the show.)  Video game fans may enjoy Polygon’s Speed Run, although it recently changed format and is now three days a week, rather than five, and each episode is now on one subject rather than the segment format previously used. I hope this isn’t a sign of Quibi or these companies trying to save costs because there’s some nervous about the platform lasting.  

Personally, I love Quibi, and I didn’t even hesitate for a second to shell out the $5.30 a month (including tax), mainly for the daily programming. Honestly, I really hope that we’ll get more of Chrissy’s Court and Dishmantled, and I hope to eventually get to some of the shows I haven’t watched, as well. (I’ve had a few issues with streaming and buffering in the last week, which I hope Quibi will resolve, because it’s very frustrating to sit down for my daily watches and just get the spinning ball repeatedly.)

Anyway, let’s get to the movies… and is it possible that Hulu may be receiving the coveted “Featured Flick” two weeks in a row? Certainly looks like it. If you’re trying to figure out what to watch after watching Hamilton on Disney+ for the 20th time, how about going back to the very beginning?

Andrew Fried’s doc WE ARE FREESTYLE LOVE SUPREME (Hulu) looks back at how Wesleyan alum Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale put together the group of improvisational performers that would include one Lin-Manuel Miranda. I was lucky enough to know about Freestyle Love Supreme way back when they were starting out, since a good friend of mine managed the East Village club, Mo Pitkins, where the group frequently performed. I knew pretty early on how much talent Miranda had from seeing him perform. Make no mistake that this is not a movie only about Miranda, as it’s as much or more about Kail and Venziale’s efforts to keep the group’s shows happening while Miranda is pulled away to do In the Heights on Broadway, and then ultimately doing his magnum opus, Hamilton.  

For some reason, I thought this doc would mainly be about the idea of bringing Freestyle Love Supreme back for its limited stint on Broadway, but it goes all the way back to the beginning and how they met and came together, plus how they found new members to fill in for Miranda and Christopher Jackson when they went to Broadway.  Freestyle Love Supreme is a pretty amazing group because as the name implies, they’re a bunch of freestyle rappers who improvise every show based on things they get from the audience, but it also allows them to explore their own personal lives and histories and incorporate them into each show. I’m actually a little bummed I never got a chance to see it even though I’ve known about them since the early ‘00s. This doc might feel a little long even at under 90 minutes, but it’s worth sticking with since they’re such an interesting group and the combination of performances and interviews makes it a fine doc about these amazingly talented individuals and how the sum is bigger than the whole of the parts.

Another long-gestating project that has finally seen the light of day is the romantic drama DIRT MUSIC (Samuel Goldwyn), based on Tim Winton’s popular Australian novel that people have been trying to adapt since back when Heath Ledger was still alive. I believe Russell Crowe had been trying to adapt it, too. It stars Kelly Macdonald, who I’ve loved since her first appearance in Trainspotting and who I’m always hoping will find some of those great roles we see other actors her age getting. (Sorry, but Puzzle just wasn’t one of them.)  In Dirt Music, she plays Georgie, a woman living with fisherman Jim Buckridge (David Wenham), a widowed father with two sons, although they’re not married. When Georgie begins a relationship with troubled local musician Lu Fox (Garrett Hedlund), it causes problems within the tight-knit community, but instead of getting into a confrontation with Jim, Lu runs off.

I actually quite enjoyed this drama, partially because it marks the return of Gregor Jordan, an Australian filmmaker who has quite a few decent movies under his belt, including an earlier Ned Kelly movie. It is a little hard to figure out what is happening, partially from the accents but also from the decision to tell the story in a non-linear fashion that isn’t always apparent where each of the characters are in the story. Obviously, a major thing to pay attention to is how great Macdonald and Hedlund are in their roles in this possibly unlikely romance. You can totally see Ledger in the role of Lu, and the fact that Hedlund is so good should help you appreciate him more as an actor. Macdonald also still has this youthful energy despite being in her ‘40s, and that gives their relationship something akin to her relationship with McGregor in Trainspotting.

What really captured my attention was the gorgeous music by the Fox family, and I was even more  impressed to learn that the actors – Julia Stone, George Mason, Neill Maccoll, and yes, Garrett Hedlund – all performed their own vocals in the songs, which includes a gorgeous version of Tim Buckley’s “Song of the Siren” (famously covered by This Mortal Coil). Frankly, I’m most surprised by the fact that Hedlund had musical talent I never knew about, and you can combine that with the emotion he brings to Lu with very few words, and you have another example of why Hedlund just isn’t getting the credit as an actor he deserves. I really liked the way this story was unfolded and where it ended, and I hope we’ll see more great work like this from Jordan.

I was a little more tentative about Wetlands director David Wnendt’s THE SUNLIT NIGHT (Quiver Distribution), which was adapted by Rebecca Dinerstein from her own novel, but not only because it premiered at Sundance way back in early 2019. If you’ve been reading the past few months of columns, you’ll know that there are a lot of recurring themes of movies that play at Sundance, and this one stars Jenny Slate, who had such an impact at Sundance with the movie Obvious Child, which I really didn’t like.  Yeah, I’m not really a fan, even though I like her in smaller roles like her role in Gifted a few years back. In this one, Slate plays Frances, a New York artist, whose parents are about to break up and looking for a change, she accepts an internship with an artist in Northern Norway where the day lasts for months.  It’s a pretty obvious “fish-out-of-water” comedy premise like one we may normally see at Sundance, but it never really delivers on  

Probably my favorite part of the movie was seeing David Paymer as France’s father, mainly because we just don’t see Paymer in many movies these days, but Zack Galifianakis’ character, one of the Norwegians who has an affinity for Vikings, just doesn’t add very much to the story. While I liked the set-up for the movie and Slate is generally likeable in the lead role, the movie just isn’t funny enough to be deemed a comedy nor enough drama to have much of an emotional impact, and the romance between Slate and a local didn’t do much for me either. By the end of the movie, Sunlit Night had veered too far into the most obvious indie territory, so it ultimately fell short for me. I just wish Dinerstein had more (or anything) to say with this story, and I feel like Wnendt and his cast probably did the best they could with what they had to work with.

A movie that’s finally being released after playing a number of festivals last year is the Czech Republic’s 2019 Oscar selection, Václav Marhoul’s THE PAINTED BIRD (IFC Films), based on Jerzy Kosinski’s novel about a young Jewish boy navigating the landscape of WWII-era Eastern Europe all on his own, ending up in one horrifying situation after another.

While this is a beautifully-told story featuring equally beautiful and quite stark black and white cinematography, I can’t wholly recommend it to everyone, because that beautiful camerawork is used to depict some of the most horrible depravity and violence, all experienced by this young boy who just can’t seem to catch a break.

There is very little dialogue in a film that takes an episodic approach to following this young boy’s journey as he either watches horrifying things or is put through grueling torture and even rape as he’s handed and bartered from one adult to another. The “painted bird” of the title is a literal bird that’s painted to attract other birds that attack it, and it’s clearly meant as an analogy for the boy.

If you’ve watched any Czech films over the years, you’ll know that they’re generally pretty grim (they’re a grim people), and you’ll probably know fairly soon whether you want to sit through the entire 2 ¾ running time to see how this boy fares with everything he faces. (Note: A big deal has been made about some of the more horrifying violence in the movie, but honestly? Being in black and white, it isn’t that gory, and I’ve seen far, far worse. A lot of the worst of it is off-screen and your mind tends to fill in the blanks much like last year’s The Nightingale.)

Barely saying a single word, Petr Kotlár is able to carry the film, and it’s interesting when more familiar actors like Udo Kier, Harvey Keitel, Stellan Skarsgaard, and Barry Pepper are brought into this world Marhoul has created from Kosinski’s book. Like so many other movies right now, it’s a shame this won’t be seen on the big screen where you’re forced to really focus on what you’re watching without distractions.  

The Butterfly Effect writer/director Eric Bress’s latest horror film is GHOSTS OF WAR (Vertical) about a group of American soldiers -- including Brenton Thwaites, Sklar Astin and Theo Rossi -- who travelling across France during WWII when they come upon a French Chateau where they decide to hole up. That is, until they learn there’s a supernatural enemy that may be worse than the Nazis they’re hiding from.  

The premise for Bress’ latest venture into the supernatural is a fairly simple one, and it’s hard not to watch this movie and not think of the far superior Overlord from a few years back. As soon as the soldiers get to the estate, it’s pretty obvious (mainly from the title) where things are going to go from there, and unfortunately, the bland casting doesn’t do very much to elevate that simple premise, the weak writing, and none of it feels particularly scary.  If that general premise doesn’t seem very interesting to you, then Ghosts of War introduces a pretty out-there last act twist that’s either gonna be praised for changing things up or it will be condemned for being so out there. The problem is that the movie just hasn’t built enough good will to earn its twist, and viewers will probably just be even more annoyed by it.

Ghosts of War will be available On Demand, via Virtual Cinema Screenings and digitally after being on DirecTV for the past few weeks.

Down at New York’s Film Forum, you can rent Elizabeth Coffman and Mark doc Flannery (Film Forum), winner of the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize with its look at author Flannery O’Connor. The repertoryVirtual Cinema adds Jean-Luc Godard’s Made in the U.S.A. (1966) and Carl Theodor Dreyer’s Michael (1924), the latter part of the Forum’s “Pioneers of Queer Cinema” program.

Starting on Film at Lincoln Center’s Virtual Cinema this Friday is Koji Fukada’s Mayak (Andreevsky Flah Film Company/Anniko Films), while FilmLinc is also starting its annual Dance on Camera Festival, the 48th edition, although this time virtually.

Available via Film Movement’s Virtual Cinema is Emily Harris’ adaption of Joseph Sheridan le Fanu’s Gothic vampire novella, Carmilla, starring Hannah Rae as 15-year-old Lara who lives in isolation on her family’s country estate with her strict governess Miss Fontaine (Jessica Raine) until a carriage crash brings a mysterious girl into their lives.

Now we’re getting to more movies that I just didn’t find the time to see even though I had screeners for a couple of them, like the latest in Hulu’s popular monthly horror series, INTO THE DARK:  THE CURRENT OCCUPANT, which will hit the streamer this Friday. It’s directed by Julius Ramsay and written by D.C. speech writer Alston Ramsay, taking place in a psychiatric ward where a man trapped with no memory, played by Barry Watson, believes that he’s the President of the United States and the subject of a political conspiracy. No, it’s not a documentary.

Over on Netflix, there’s Catrin Einhorn and Leslye Davis’ doc Father Soldier Son, which follows a former platoon sergeant and his two sons over a decade after his return home from a serious injury in Afghanistan, showing the long-term effects of military service on a family.

Dan Wingate’s doc Kaye Ballard - The Show Goes On (Abramorama) will get a Virtual Cinema release this Friday. I actually am not familiar with the actress, singer and comedian but apparently, she’s had a career that has spanned eight decades, starting in the 40s, and her friends include Ann-Margret, Carol Burtnett, Carol Channing, my good pal Red Reed and more, all of whom are interviewed, along with Ballard.

Also out on Digital this week is Steve Ohi’s sci-fi horror comedy Useless Humans (Quiver Distribution) about a ruthless alien who crashes a 30th birthday party causing four friends to team up to save the world. Will Addison’s Easy Does It (Gravitas Ventures), stars Linda Hamilton, as well as Ben Matheny and Martin Martinez, the latter two as friends who want to escape their Mississippi hometown when they learn there’s a cache of hidden loot in California. Hamilton plays their hometown criminal matriarch “King George” who learns of the money and has her bounty hunter daughter (Susan Gordon) chase the friends down.

On Friday, New York’s Japan Society will kick off its annual “Japan Cuts” program of new and repertory Japanese cinema, and like most other festivals and series this year, it’s going on line, beginning with Shinichiro Ueda’s Special Actors (the Opening Night film), Fukushima 50 (the Centerpiece) and Labyrinth of Cinema, for $7.00 each, which is a pretty good deal. (There’s also a new competitive section called “Next Generation” which focuses on new Japanese talent.) And then for $99, you can get an all access pass to watch all 42 films in the festival, which includes a lot of movies you may never have a chance to see in the States otherwise. You can watch a playlist of trailers from the movies here. All 42 films will be available starting this Friday, so make sure to include this in your weekend plans.

In related news, the New York Asian Film Festival (which cancelled this year altogether) and the Korean Culture Center of New York are teaming once again for Korean Movie Night, this year doing them virtually with a new program called “A League Of Its Own,” which focuse on Hit Korean Baseball Movies, plus there’s a bunch of other Korean films you can watch (FOR FREE!) here until July 25.

Also, if you’re anywhere near some of the drive-ins taking part in Amazon’s summer movie program, you can catch “Movies To Make You Proud” Black Panther and Creed on Wednesday night.

Next week, more movies mostly not in theaters!

By the way, if you read this week’s column and have bothered to read this far down, feel free to drop me some thoughts at Edward dot Douglas at Gmail dot Com or drop me a note or tweet on Twitter. I love hearing from readers … honest!

[f1uffy-turtle]

Fanfic Writer Asks

[SOURCE: criminal-minds-fanfiction: Most of the writer ask posts I come across are only like ten or so questions long so I thought I’d try to make a longer one because we like talking about our writing! Feel free to reblog!]

I got this from @wickedobsessed101 and copied and pasted the questions so I can fit my own answers too. You can find the post I got from them here.

1) How old were you when you first starting writing fanfiction? I started around 2011, so I was around 13 years old at the time.

2) What fandoms do you write for and do you have a particular favourite if you write for more than one? I am currently writing for The Owl House fandom, but I am intending on broadening my scope to She-Ra as well as Lord of the Rings, Zelda, and ATLA bc gay fantasy brain go brrr.

3) Do you prefer writing OC’s or reader inserts? Explain your answer. I prefer to write original characters myself. Y/N stuff is not exactly my forte. It gives me more control as to how I know the characters will act depending on their own characterization and backstory.

4) What is your favourite genre to write for? I actually really prefer to write really tense stuff, despite my misleading username. I live for the conflict of the moment and it does lean into some pretty angsty stuff sometimes. I mean, look at Soul Bound. However, I also do like writing light-hearted comedies as well as some fluff whenever I can get around to it. My heart yearns and so too must the romantic tension.

5) If you had to choose a favourite out of all of your multi-chaptered stories, which would it be and why? I really only have one that is published, but it is definitely the one that I do like the most. Soul Bound was originally a story that was going to stand on its own. It was set in a world that I created meticulously from the ground up, taking inspirations from Lord of the Rings, Legend of Zelda, ATLA among other things. I do have other multi-chapter projects in the works that I absolutely love, however out of my published babies, it's SB 100%.

6) If you had to delete one of your stories and never speak of it again, which would it be and why? The Legion of Lenny Faces was a crack fic that I just posted for funsies. I wouldn't mind getting rid of that.

7) When is your preferred time to write? Since I am starting to work again, I'm thinking about starting work on my writing around 2PM. It's normally around that time that I start anyway, so it works out.

8) Where do you take your inspiration from? Movies, music, sometimes even my own songs that I write. Inspiration really comes from anywhere that hits me. However, it hits especially hard whenever I make a playlist for a particular mood that I want a story to have.

9) In your xxx fic, what’s your favourite scene that you wrote? In Soul Bound, my current favorite scene that I have written was the scene in the chapter Confrontations with the scene between Amity and Odalia. I essentially channeled everything I ever wanted to say to my abuser into Amity's words and it was the most cathartic thing that I ever wrote.

10) In your xxx fic, why did you decide to end it like that? Did you have an alternative ending in mind?In The Bean that I wrote for April Fools, while it definitely is a crack fic, I still wanted it to read like an Owl House episode or at least an Owl House short. However, I did think of an alternate ending in mind where the bean just kept on multiplying until it flooded the entirety of the BI. However, That would mean by those rules, duplicating all non-living things on the isles.

11) Have you ever amended a story due to criticisms you’ve received after posting it? I split an entire chapter into two pieces and rewrote another one just because of criticisms that made complete sense to me. In all honesty, I did blame the burnout, however all of that and the small break I did take helped a lot to reinvigorate my love for this story that I am writing.

12) Who is your favourite character to write for? Why? Skara. 100%, she is babey and I love her.

13) Who is your least favourite character to write for? Why? Gonna be honest, while I love King as a character, I don't exactly like writing him. I feel like if I wrote him as more of an active part of the story, it would detract entirely from the whole thing. Second would be my OC, Robert Almade solely because I feel like he can be much more fleshed out, but also because there are parts of his character that I did write that just don't make complete sense to me. This should be worked out later.

14) How did you come up with the title for the xxx? - You can ask about multiple stories. For Soul Bound, I literally asked a Discord server for ideas because all the titles I did think of were shit XD. However, I recently came up with the title for my Skarlow punk band AU, Skara and the Wallflower, based on the book/movie The Perks of Being a Wallflower as well as band names in general.

15) If you write OC’s, how do you decide on their names? I normally think about the themes the character embodies and how they may change and grow throughout the story, and then I translate specific keywords into different languages and trim them in a way that sound like a name.

16) How did you come up with the idea for xxx?[Ask me about a specific story]

17) Post a line from a WIP that you’re working on.“Oh, sure! Protect me from him, but let Amity take the brunt of it and possibly die? What if she is dead, Eda? What if I can’t see her again?”

18) Do you have any abandoned WIP’s? What made you abandon them? I'd rather not talk about it.

19) Are there any stories that you’ve written that you’d really love to do a sequel to? Possibly I may have one for Skara and the Wallflower if I feel up to it, however Soul Bound is going to be a one-and-done deal.

20) Are there any stories that you wished you’d ended differently? Yes!

21) Tell me about another writer(s) who you admire? What is it about them that you admire? @lunanight2012 @quirkquartz @descendantofthesparrow

22) Do you have a story that you look back on and cringe when you reread it? Any story that I haven't published.

23) Do you prefer listening to music when you’re writing or do you need silence? I do listen to music just to set in the general mood and once I get going, I can go either with or without it.

24) How do you feel about writing smutty scenes? I can write smut. However I don't ever feel comfortable publishing smut. It really just isn't for me.

25) Have you ever cried whilst writing a story? YES! I ABSOLUTELY HAVE!!!! SO MANY TEARS BECAUSE OF THE ANGST!!!

26) Which part of your xxx fic was the hardest to write? This most recent chapter was actually the hardest to write because I was already so scared when writing Scrying of the Soul that when I started writing this one, I didn't know how to settle down with this whole thing. I knew Luz needed to process her trauma before I introduced the ghost, but exactly how I felt like I had trouble with.

27) Do you make a general outline for your stories or do you just go with the flow? I have a varied mix of ways I outline. Yes, I do have a list of bullet points about what major plot points go where, but really that's all that comes together before I start writing. Soul Bound is completely plotted out in the very broad strokes, but the rest is just improvisation.

28) What is something you wished you’d known before you started posting fanfiction? That writing would be the single most fun thing that I have ever done and to be fair while I do want my stories to be the best they can be, just the fact that I'm getting them out there makes me happy.

29) Do you have a story that you feel doesn’t get as much love as you’d like? Gonna be honest, my one-shots don't get a lot of love, but it is entirely understandable.

30) In contrast to 29 is there a story which gets lots of love which you kinda eye roll at? Ya know, Imma just say a song title that I wrote that many people love that I've grown to just not like. Ticking Time Away.

31) Send me a fic recommendation and I’ll post it for my followers to see! (The asker is to send the rec, not the answerer)Yeah, sure!

32) Are any of your characters based on real people? The way I characterize Odalia is based on a mix of what is already established. That and a heavy doseage of my abuser and their mindset. Which is kind of why it felt cathardic writing that scene in Conflicts.

33) What’s the biggest compliment you’ve gotten? Honestly, whenever I make a revision and it is heavily praised by either a reader if I edited an already published chapter or a beta reader if I had revised a particular scene they didn't like. I thrive off of any good critique and it makes me want to do better.

34) What’s the harshest criticism you’ve gotten? I mean there are people who wouldn’t read just because what I wrote was a ghost fic, but tbh it wasn't even that harsh.

35) Do you share your story ideas with anyone else or do you keep them close to your chest? I normally share with other writers when I'm really excited so I can bounce ideas off of them, however specific story elements I keep close to my chest because that part feels like my personal touch moreso than the general idea.

36) Can you give us a spoiler for one of your WIP’s? HAHA NICE TRY BEYOTCH YOU JUST HAVE TO READ IT!! (Other than the fact that Amity does get her body back, but that's already been promised.)

37) What’s the funniest story you’ve written? The BEAN

38) If you could collab with any other writer on here, who would it be? (Perhaps this question will inspire some collabs!) If you’re shy, don’t tag the blog, just name them. I would honestly be willing to collab with anybody from the Good Witch Society on Discord. As well as my partner which we already talked about quite a few ideas that we had for stories.

39) Do you prefer first, second or third person? So, I do love writing inner monologue, however if I was ever staying in one character's perspective, it would just feel way too limiting. I prefer third person omniscient so I can at least give the reader insight into what's going on in everybody's heads.

40) Do people know you write fanfiction?IRL, yeah. But I have established that I am using this to exercise my own writing skills.

41) What’s you favourite minor character you’ve written? Emira I would actually consider a minor character in the grand scope of my story, however I absolutely adore writing her.

42) Song fic - What made you decide to use the song xxx for xxx.I write my own songs and to be completely fair, it was really spontaneous in Soul Bound, but I found out a plot point that could definitely weave in extremely well within the story.

Skara and the Wallflower being a punk band AU will definitely be a songfic with all original songs.

43) Has anyone ever guessed the plot twist of one of your fics before you posted it? Actually, nobody has ever really guessed a plot twist yet.

44) What is the last line you wrote? This really can't be good.

45) What spurs you on during the writing process? I already really adore the stories that I write and my goals are to write them and get them out there. I think about how the characters react and how things can go wrong in a way that makes sense.

46) I really loved your xxx fic. If you were ever to do a sequel, what do you think might happen in it?[Ask me for a specific story]

47) Here’s a fic title - insert a made up title. What would this story be about?[Ask me]

48) What’s your favourite trope to write? Friends to Lovers, hands down.

49) Can you remember the first fic you read? What was it about? To be completely honest, the first fic I read was a Zelda fic. I forgot what most of the plot was about, but it did involve Link and Zelda going into Termina and meeting up with this original character who did everything he can to fuck with the both of them. It's very vague, but I absolutely loved it and I never remembered it updating.

50) If you could write only angst, fluff or smut for the rest of your writing life, which would it be and why? I'd have to cave and say angst. I like to have conflict in my stories, but I never like to have it be complete brooding. Just some light trauma, you know?

If you wanna read my stories, they’re all right here: F1uffyTurtle