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tiramisiyu · 4 years ago

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【恋与制作人】 MLQC: Chapter 35 “The Final Answer” Summary

Translation Masterlist

Summarized Chapters: [to be updated]

Spoiler alert: Please note that all content in this post is content that has not yet been released in the global server.

35-1

Rainstorm, lightning, hurricanes, earthquakes…

An increase in extreme weather and natural disasters resulted in a prophecy that started circulating in the dark –

“Two daughters of the world

One will lead towards the light, one will be corrupted from the dark.

The left hand of the angel wields a sword to puncture through all deception and lies.”

Right now, everyone desires to return to a peaceful life, but the footsteps that have stopped still must go forth, until…

The moment “that” draws near.

There’s been an increase in extreme weather and natural disasters for the past month, such that it’s been a long time since the sun has been seen

MC thinks about how Victor has been out of contact for a month

As MC and Kiki wait for Minor to drive up, they witness a tree topple, then a young man uses his Evol to stop it before it hits a kid. The parents of the kid run over to grab their child and look at the Evolver in disgust. Other passersby also say some mean things.

Apparently, similar things (where people disdain of Evolvers) have been frequent

MC sees that the young man is No.93; he expresses surprise that she’s still alive

Minor drives up, so MC offers to send 93 off, but he says he has elsewhere to be and rushes off. MC notices that he’s desperately clutching onto a black card

On the car’s TV, the news host says that the increase in abnormal phenomena is proportionate to the increase in Evolvers

MC wonders about Black Queen’s words, “Soon, you will understand that I am the person who will save this world” and what it means

Minor steps on the brakes, seeing someone suddenly appear in front of the car –

MC thought Shaw was unconscious, but he is able to speak weakly and gives something to MC before passing out again

They take him to the hospital

STF and LFG delegations are meeting up, including Gavin and Goldman (who is representing Victor)

Lucien walks in with key researchers from Ultima Bioresearch

Helios appears on the room screen, with several people behind him

35-3

MC waits outside the emergency room, confirming what Shaw gave her was the original copy of her dad’s notebook

Suddenly, a young man hands a black card to MC, saying that the address on it will get rid of their Evols and that the card is an indication that they were selected. MC remembers that 93 also had that card

There’s the letter “A” on the card, and MC realizes it’s her other self/Black Queen

The emergency door room opens, and the doctor says that the wounds are dealt with and him falling unconscious is due to Evol overuse

MC asks what happened to him; Shaw says it’s not important, and he got the notebook back because he caused her to lose it

Shaw then says there’s no particular secret to the notebook, and in MC’s hands, it’s just a normal notebook

Shaw notices the black card, says it was made by “her”, and it has an attached Evol that affects those who touch it – this makes people believe that Evolvers are responsible for all disasters and they need to get rid of Evols to end the disasters

Shaw’s Evol has been heavily damaged by her, so can’t touch the card

MC guesses that Black Queen’s Evol is de-evolution of Evols, as Shaw confirms – the more de-evolutions she does, the more power she gets, so MC should stop her ASAP

MC asks about what side he’s on –

Shaw: I study archaeology. Aren’t you curious about why? Those who walk through history have no position. Because those who walk will not stop, we will not stand on any side. The only thing I want to do is discover truth, and then push forward the discovery of truth. The moment that walking stops, this means that this world is headed to the end. Though I’ve always had my doubts, now I can somewhat believe that you just might be able to protect this world.

MC: I definitely will!

35-4

After the hospital, they head to an emergency relief centre for Evolvers with no homes, to drop off supplies

(After Leto’s disappearance, rather than getting better, things got worse between Evolvers and normal people)

The person in charge thanks MC for her efforts in providing supplies and with Miracle Finder, then asks if she knows what the black card that Evolvers have been getting is, and notes that people who got it have been weird

MC advises the person in charge to have them thrown away if anyone gets another one

MC and Minor head to the sanatorium noted on the card; the two are planning to sneak in while disguised

A man dressed in grey suddenly walks out from behind a column, startling both, then takes them inside when MC displays the black card. He says that “she” is here today, so they’re pretty lucky, and that “she” is the world’s savior

MC and Minor’s act involves pretending that Minor is a normal guy whose little sister, MC, suddenly got an Evol

The man takes them to the room with lots of people seeking de-evolution, though MC does not find 93 among them

Suddenly, someone addresses MC and Minor

35-6

The person is Gavin, disguised in casualwear and looking dangerously angry

MC says they’re here for de-evolution; Gavin says that he’s doing the same. MC realizes they have the same target after seeing the black card in Gavin’s hand

Someone comes to take MC and Minor, as it’s they’re turn; Gavin says to let him go first, the person suggests for them to come together.

MC says to let Minor stay out (since he’s not an Evolver), hinting at him to escape when possible

They’re taken to a dark path where “she” is at the end

When MC asks the person why “she” is helping them, he says that “evolution” is just a complete lie and than everyone will soon know that de-evolution is the only way to get the single opportunity to live. MC feels that he’s already lost all reason

MC and Gavin walk hand-in-hand down the dark path, realizing that this path is much too long for the size of the sanatorium

They finally arrive at a wall, carved with some symbols

With the sound of an explosion, a heatwave surges over, lighting up the whole path; Gavin tackles MC down as the corridor collapses

35-7

After the collapsing, the two confirm if either have injuries

They’re completely blocked off on both ends on the path

MC thinks that it’s because her disguising wasn’t complete enough, attracting their suspicions; Gavin says it’s fine, as he came to confirm something and they’re giving him this chance

Using his phone, Gavin realizes that there’s no signal here and… time has stopped

The two search for any places with special characteristics; MC finds a little path with the sound of water

Down the path, they’re blocked again, and Gavin uses his Evol to break it down – behind this wall is a scene of clear skies and a waterfall, which MC recognizes as the waterfall in the north. Gavin confirms that they’ve been taken into this space, though this time there’s no need to leave it around

MC: Can this place be destroyed?

Gavin: Yes. The STF already has a preliminary grasp on the whereabouts of the person behind this, so this place is already useless. Before we make our moves this time, I will not leave them a single path to back out with.

Using his Evol, Gavin destroys that space and they jump down from there to the waterfall scene, the wind carrying them to the ground

They meet up with an STF squad with Eli there, who says their guess was right, which Gavin proceeds to explain

Gavin: Actually, in the past month, more than one “de-evolution points” have appeared in Loveland. These “de-evolution points” have no connection between them and they’re very far apart. The person behind has appeared simultaneously at multiple places. So we theorized that these “de-evolution points” will use some method to lead these people to one location. And the place that’s most likely to be used for this is this place.

MC wonders, if Evols are bringing disaster and since everyone will die at the end, why does she need to bother with Evol de-evolution?

They suddenly get a citywide warning for everyone to be on high alert; soon after, MC feels an earthquake coming on

35-9

Leaving behind an STF squad, they rush to the city, hearing that there was an earthquake in the neighbouring city and the shockwaves reached Loveland, causing panic and damaged buildings

MC wonders if all this really is due to Evolvers

Gavin: MC, don’t waver in your judgement. Everyone has the right to live. If they feel fear due to the unknown, you can get rid of the unknown. You’ve always helped more people understand Evolvers, starting from the first episode of Miracle Finder… I don’t know what to do, but if there really is doomsday… I will face it with you.

On the road they’re on, the cars suddenly stop and Gavin heads off to check it, as a throng of people attempt to surround the STF

MC starts recording this, and notices that these people are holding the black cards

STF members can only defend from the crowd, as they can’t actively harm them; Gavin ends up forming a wind barrier to barricade off the throng of people

Using his wind, Gavin pulls the black cards away from the people into the air and cuts them into pieces, making the people regain their senses

Gavin: Evolvers will always exist beside everyone. They have had nothing to do with the disasters in the past, and they will have nothing to do with them from now on. No one has the right to deprive others of fair existence, and attacking Evolvers is as despicable as it gets! The disasters are the enemy that everyone should be confronting, not Evolvers.

Gavin gives the command to STF to prepare to set off, then goes to MC and gives her permission to use her footage

Gavin heads off after MC convinces him that there’s no need to send her back, as both realize that they need to deal with Black Queen ASAP to handle the disasters

35-11

MC and her staff are working on reporting how the disasters affected Evolvers at a plaza where citizens were evacuated to

MC is also getting a ton of notifications from the video she took earlier, with comments in approval of Gavin’s words; the clouds have also dispersed, revealing the moon and stars

Lucien calls; when MC asks about if he knows about what happened with Black Queen, he says that he got a few of the cards, did some analysis on them, and got some clues

Lucien has MC look at the brightest star in the sky, then close her eyes and walk according to his directions

She arrives at a place where there’s a deep crevice between tall buildings. Behind her is Lucien

Lucien: Were you afraid that I was tricking you again?

MC: I don’t think you were tricking me. Plus, even if you tricked me over here, I haven’t suffered any damages.

Lucien: You’re right. Do you trust me this much?

MC: Yes. This is the last time I will answer this question. This time, are you going to tell me to not trust you that much?

Lucien: This time, I won’t. In the future, you must continue to trust me.

Lucien then says that he created this crevice, then pushes MC into it; MC seems to see him mouth ��Don’t be scared”

35-12

After a fall, MC finds herself in Lucien’s arms, finding themselves in an “unfamiliar yet familiar wilderness”

Following Lucien’s gaze, MC then sees Black Queen sitting in a large room within a crevice at their feet, wearing half a mask

MC wants to escape, but Lucien hints to her that he will explain to her soon

In the room, 93 appears, taking out a black card and looking somewhat vacantly, asking for de-evolution, and Black Queen obliges

Lucien: Do you want to stop this?

MC nods

Lucien: What if he truly does want to de-evolve?

MC: He can make his decision when under no external influences, rather than now.

Lucien: MC, right now I need you to cooperate in verifying something.

Lucien suddenly gets very close to MC, making her heart skip a beat

35-14

A white light comes from MC, and a black whirlpool from Black Queen

MC sees that Black Queen is telling 93 that she’s tired, and he can come tomorrow, and he leaves

Black Queen says that she’s been noticed, and if so, she can’t leave her (presumably MC) for too long, then seems to look at MC in declaration of war

Lucien says that this place is an independent existence, and Black Queen can’t see them

Lucien takes them out of the place, his eyes covering MC’s eyes, and MC is able to see through between his fingers that he pressed his lips to the back of his hand

They return to under the clear starry skies, the crevice gone

Lucien makes a call, saying that “The first test can end now”. When MC asks about this “test” –

Lucien: Do you still remember the space-folding experiment?

MC: But don’t you not have an Evol now?

Lucien: Technology is the best copying power itself. This experiment has been in progress for a long time, and just hasn’t been used before.

MC then expresses concerns about whether Lucien has rested, but Lucien suggests stargazing instead

MC asks if de-evolution is a scam of hers

Lucien: If it’s just de-evolution, then it’s not a scam. But her plan comes entirely from a lie. It’s not to save the world, nor is it to save Evolvers. Because she is your shadow to begin with. The stronger your power, the stronger hers is. Your Evol is “evolution”, while hers is “de-evolution”. After you awakened, changes happened with the relation between you two.

Lucien: So just now, I did a test to prove that this conclusion is correct. Just now, when your Evol was pushed to the peak by emotion, she momentarily lost the power of de-evolution. [This means] Your power can light up this darkness – more accurately, only you can do this. On one worldline, only one of the same person can exist.

MC realizes that the existence of Black Queen comes from all the worldlines being combined into one, except for a single omitted line

Lucien confirms this, but reminds that it is just his guess, that Black Queen aims to get power to destroy MC and join the two worlds together

MC: How will that affect the world right now?

Lucien: Perhaps it will accelerate the collapse of this world, or perhaps it won’t.

MC decides that she will find Black Queen and end everything

Just when Lucien offers to send MC home, they suddenly hear a clamor far away on the plaza and head over to see

35-15

Two groups are fighting with a group of children between; one group is complaining that the kids are Evolvers that will bring trouble; the others, Evolvers themselves, say that there’s no reason for Evolvers to not be there and everyone is trying to avoid the disasters

MC and Lucien realize that it’s the orphanage kids and director

MC sees a vacant-eyed man with a black card coming at her when she tries to use a loudspeaker, and decides to use her light attack to disperse the crowd

Lucien blocks her from the man, and notes that it’s about to rain

The crowd continues fighting as Lucien raises his hand

A light gathers at Lucien’s fingertips, dispersing towards the sky

People gradually regain reason under the rain that’s become light droplets, shaking hands and making peace

Lucien: If this were my true Evol, would you like it? This way, you should be able to have a good dream.

MC: Why do you…

Lucien: Because I felt that you needed it.

Lucien: That was a lie. MC, hold out your hand. I just remembered that I have something to give to you.

Lucien hands a little light ball to MC

Lucien: Now, do you hear what I haven’t said aloud?

> I felt it – a strong colour, sweet and warm, with a faint bitterness. Like an autumn cornfield, like a single rose on barren soil, like a rainbow that occupied the entire sky. Unrestrained, unconcealed, and in my hand right now.

35-17

The camp on the plaza has calmed down

MC flips through her dad’s notebook, remembering what Lucien said before leaving

Lucien: Since she knows that her weakness has been exposed, she will begin the next step in her actions very soon. But we don’t need to be anxious… The biggest connection between you and her is your pasts. Perhaps someone has told you the answer early on.

MC picks up a call from Shaw

Shaw: Just now, her plan changed. Tomorrow, she’s preparing to become this world’s Queen for real. If only one of you can exist in this world, she’s determined to win.

At BS’s old site, Black Queen strokes a grey throne, saying that “It’s time”, looking at a row of 10 people below

Helios: We have already prepared for the coronation of the Black Swan Queen.

#mlqc #mr love queen's choice #mr love victor #mr love lucien #mr love kiro #mr love gavin #mr love shaw #mlqc translation #love and producer #there isn't one of those preview images with the chapter title and the boys #so no header pic rip

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thekriseffect · 5 years ago

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Alone Part 1 (Liam x MC)

[Note: It’s been way too long since I posted anything (inspiration wasn’t flowing for me at all). I know this doesn’t really fit in with The Royal Heir’s timeline very well but I always imagined Freya’s pregnancy to be a surprise rather than something that was planned (I’m also not a huge fan of the demanded pregnant angle in general. Plus angst is just too much fun to write… which sounds kinda sinister when I put it out there like that...) Anyways! I hope you enjoy it! TRH continues to be my writing muse at the moment so expect more of these two from me.]

[Summary: Freya, newly crowned queen with some unexpected news weighing down on her shoulders, struggles with the reality of their situation as her and Liam begin their honeymoon. Set in the first chapter of The Royal Heir. Part 2 can be found here.]

[Tag List: @lodberg, @cora-nova, @romanticatheart-posts @texaskitten30, @bbrandy2002]

It was a strange feeling, sitting across from Liam, eating our meal together in a comfortable silence with the sound of waves and the scent of salt, life, and wet sand surrounding us like everything was right in the world. So strange that I had no idea how to act, let alone what to say. You know your life defies normality when you aren’t sure how to act like an ordinary human being anymore.

What should I do with my eyes? Do I look at him while we eat or would that be weird? Do I look behind him or does that make it seem like I’m not paying enough attention? Maybe I should just look at the food? I think I’ll just look at the food…

It was the first evening of our honeymoon and I found myself more keyed up now than I did before our wedding. Shyly glancing down whenever our eyes would meet and exchanging uncertain, careful touches reserved for people who were still in stage one of their relationships. It was ridiculous, yet every time I looked at Liam I couldn’t hold back the wave of guilt that threatened to drown me. Because he still didn’t know.

It had been almost two weeks since I’d taken the test in that grungy, outdated bathroom with shaking fingers, one week since the attack at our wedding which threatened to take everything away from me, and eleven restless nights of seeing those two hair-raising pink lines every time I closed my eyes. And still I hadn’t told Liam that I was pregnant.

I’d exhausted every excuse imaginable for my reasoning's. The timing wasn’t right with the wedding coming up. Anton needed to be our main priority, not what was cooking in my stomach. Bertrand would go into mother hen mode which was exhausting to just think about. I didn’t want to stress Liam out more than he already was. Though the reality was much simpler; I was still floating blissfully in my own pool of denial and telling Liam would make it real, which was something that I wasn’t even close to being ready for. Call me selfish.

I studied him as he stared off into the horizon, the last of the day’s rays highlighting his cheeks and bronzing his hair before he turned to give me his private smile. The one that was so relaxed and so content that it made my ears burn like I was a bashful schoolgirl. The one that was reserved for me alone. I looked away.

What the hell was wrong with me?

“Hey.” The concern laced in his voice had me glancing up from my nearly full plate. “Everything alright?”

Taking a deep breath, I shook my head. “I still can’t believe that we’re actually here,” I dodged as I artistically rearranged the food with my fork for the hundredth time. “It doesn’t feel real.” It wasn’t a lie, not really.

“I know what you mean. I half expect the kingdom to be in chaos when we get back.”

“Their king is away on a remote island for a whole week, chaos is inevitable,” I teased.

“And their queen,” he corrected.

I blinked slowly as my mind came to a screeching halt at that reality. Oh, right. “It’ll never not be weird hearing that, will it?”

“You were always going to be my queen, Freya. From the moment you decided I was worth it.” He said it so nonchalantly, like he was making a simple comment about the weather, that I had to hide my smirk behind my hand. A silly grin lit up his face. “What?”

“You don’t even have to try, do you? You’re like a walking hallmark card.”

“I’m not sure what that means but it sounded like an insult,” Liam said while amusement made his eyes crinkle in the corners enduringly.

“Of the highest regard,” I shot back.

___

Time passed in a blur. We ate, laughed, and chatted about nothing in particular while the sun set behind us before seeing the staff off for the night, leaving us and the island to ourselves. Stars dotted the night sky as Liam and I walked the beach, my arm swinging his loosely with the rough grains of sand sticking to our bare feet. It felt so easy being here with him, just the two of us. I couldn’t remember the last time we were truly alone. I frowned. Have we ever been alone like this before?

His long fingers played with mine as we wandered. Brushing against the palm, tracing abstract patterns against its skin, tightly interlacing with my own. I loved Liam’s hands. Contrary to popular belief, they were hardened due to calluses with little perfect imperfections spotting his knuckles and thumbs. He had the hands of a man that worked hard which had come as a shock to me at first. You would think that a prince wouldn’t need to lift a finger for anything. Yet after getting to know him I decided it was perfectly in character for him, to be involved in the labor instead of watching from the sidelines. It was one of those characteristics that made Liam, Liam.

He was going to be a great dad.

The spontaneous thought had me stopping dead in my tracks with eyes the size of chargers. I tugged at his hand until he was standing at my side.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Everything’s going to change now.” It wasn’t a question.

He studied me for a moment before answering with a simple yet meaningful, “Yes.”

“What if I’m not ready? What if I ruin everything?”

“You won’t.”

It was meant to be comforting though instead it had anxiety creeping up my throat in the form of tiny little spiders. I broke away from him and squeezed the heel of my hand against my forehead so forcefully that I was sure it would leave a bruise. Maybe if I squeezed hard enough my problems would go away. “You can’t know that.”

I could feel when he stepped forward. He didn’t say anything, didn’t move to touch me, though he didn’t need to for me to know that he was there. I was constantly so aware of him that it sometimes drove me slightly insane. The commanding presence that followed him like a second skin wherever he went, the sound of his sleekly virile voice, that distinctive scent; fresh linens, mint, and something sharp that I couldn’t place. All attributes that I associated home with.

“Frey, I love you, but I also love my country.” Liam slid his palms down my shoulders to turn me around to face him. “If I didn’t think you could handle it we wouldn’t be standing here right now.”

“No, instead it would be Madeleine you’d be whispering sweet nothings to,” I murmured and his lips took a turn south. I sighed and pinched my eyes shut. What was I doing? This was supposed to be our honeymoon. It wasn’t his fault that I had the communication skills of a potato.

Drawing him closer, I circled my arms around his neck so our chests pressed together. My fingers twisted in the short hairs on his nape. “I’m sorry, it’s just a lot to take in at once.”

“Don’t apologize,” he told me. “Just tell me how I can help.”

You can’t help, not with this. Not right now. But I wasn’t going to tell him that, so instead I settled for something that I knew would defuse the attention from the topic. “Well… a kiss wouldn’t be unwelcomed.”

Liam smirked. “As you wish, my queen.” He leaned forward to bridge the space between our lips, his breath mingling deliciously with my own as he grew closer, and closer, and closer…

And just as his lips brushed mine, the anticipation so rich and solid that I could practically taste it, I pulled back smugly to meet his gaze. “That is if you can catch me first,” I said against his mouth before sprinting away with a giggle. He let out a shaky laugh before following me beyond the sands of the shore and into the cool, black water ahead.

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makeste · 6 years ago

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BnHA Chapter 210: Put-Downs, Poltergeists, and Plot Twists

Previously on BnHA: Bakugou’s team defeated class B in record time. Everyone praised them for their flawless performance, and All Might told Bakugou he got chills watching him and Bakugou got super embarrassed and mumbled something and walked off and it was in my Top 10 Cutest BnHA Moments and I love it. Then Deku came along to shower some more praise on him and the two of them went back and forth all “I’m gonna surpass you!” “no, I’m gonna surpass you!” for a little bit and that was really cute as well. Monoma took Tokage’s loss in stride and hashed out a strategy with his team that mostly consists of “take out Deku no matter what.” Deku, meanwhile, was all fired up after his talk with Kacchan, and confidently told his team they would definitely win, and this boy is looking more and more like a hero with each passing day, no joke. Round 5 started up, and All Might got a call from Gran Torino, and then we cut to Tartarus, where the guards were bitching about how dangerous All for One is, and the man in question was sitting in his cell grinning because apparently he can “hear [his] little brother’s voice.” Uh, what the fuck.

Today on BnHA: Gran is all “oh yeah now that you mention it, Nana totally did tell me about some freaky OFA dream bullshit a while back.” Apparently in the dream, a mysterious man shrouded in fog told Nana that it wasn’t “that time. not yet.” Meanwhile Deku full cowls his way through the stage on the lookout for Shinsou. Instead he finds Monoma, who activates his secondary quirk, Antagonize no Jutsu, presumably in hopes of getting Deku to respond so that he can ensnare him with the brainwashing quirk. But Deku is a smart cookie and keeps his mouth shut, even when he hears a scream that sounds like it might have come from Ochako. It didn’t, of course, but in fairness Ochako, Mina, and Mineta are being attacked by Yanagi, Kodai, and Shouda, who have combined their quirks to fling heavy objects at them all. But anyways, so Monoma is all “btw can we talk about how Bakugou destroyed the Symbol of Peace, though,” which, wow, and that does piss Deku off enough to fire an Air Gun attack at him! Or at least that’s what he intends to do. Instead what happens is... well. Something different. Seems like it might finally be That Time, now.

(As always, all comments not marked with an ETA are my mostly-unspoiled reactions from my first readthrough of this chapter. I’m caught up with the manga now at chapter 224, so any ETAs will reflect that.)

so we’re opening with All Might standing off to the side and trying to tell Gran to call him back later because he’s in the middle of class

but Gran is just immediately launching into conversation about how Shimura did in fact once tell him something about “a One for All dream” omg

and All Might is all “and you’re only just telling me this now!?”

and Gran says he didn’t remember until All Might asked him about it

his excuse is that he’s old. whatever, Gran!

“so listen up, but don’t expect much”

listen mister, I’ll expect as much as I damn well please. my plot-spoiled self knows full well that in this case there is a hell of a lot to expect! and I for one am fucking excited about it!

so now we’re cutting back to Team Deku and our boy is sprinting along while the flashback dialogue bubbles recount his strategy

oh shit hold up

...so it occurs to me again that that’s exactly what triggered his first One for All: Avatar State experience to begin with though, way back when. Shinsou brainwashed him and then the Ghosts of One for Alls Past appeared for the first time and activated OFA without him being aware of it -- very much like what happened the night right before this training exercise

and now here he is fresh from that weird dream and possibly about to be brainwashed for a second time. is this really a coincidence? seeing as I’m reading a fucking manga, I’m gonna go ahead and say hell no

shit now I’m even more excited

so Iida is observing that Team Deku’s formation looks similar to Team Bakugou’s, and Sero says that’s not a surprise since they’re similarly balanced. true that

but he’s pointing out that they don’t have a Jirou -- someone who can pinpoint the enemy’s location -- so they need to be more careful

yeah, especially since unlike Team Kacchan, they’re up against Shinsou who can take out their most powerful player in a second if he hits them unawares

anyways don’t mind me I’m just gonna post this part here

so Bakugou watching Deku without that characteristic over-the-top seething rage is still such a novel thing, though. him feeling threatened by Deku’s growth was really the key thing holding that relationship back. now that that’s no longer an issue, he’s observing this match with a surprisingly keen intensity

and what I love about this is that it’s exactly what he said he was gonna do back in chapter 121. he vowed that he would observe and absorb what he sees from others in the same way that Deku does in order to become stronger. he’s watching this match so intently because he wants to learn from Deku. do I even need to say how big of a deal that is and how far he’s come? just, wow

so Deku’s coming to a halt on one of the pipes and he’s silently pointing to something

okay so he’s putting his plan of “I’ll be a decoy” into action

seems like this is his way of compensating for his team not having a Jirou. if they can’t pinpoint class B’s location, they’ll just draw them out instead

now an oil drum is tumbling out from somewhere and it seems like it’s caught his attention

who’s Yanagi. lol I guess we’re about to see, what with the HERE IT COMES

OH SHIT

DEKU IF YOU THINK FOR A SECOND THAT’S HER... COME ON MAN, YOU’RE SMARTER THAN THIS

so he’s turning around and Monoma is there

don’t you dare fucking respond you little green bean. just kick him in the head and knock his ass out. this is a training exercise, you know Ochako’s not at any actual risk. and she can handle herself. these guys are gonna be banking on your heroic instincts in the same way the previous team was counting on Kacchan to be the same self-centered asshole he always was before. you guys are so fucking strong the only way they can beat you is by exploiting your mental weaknesses

oh snap Monoma’s holding up his pocketwatches. way back when his costume was first revealed I speculated that he might use them to time his quirk, so I guess we’ll see if that’s the case? I suppose they could also be support items and have some unexpected tricks to them

anyway he’s talking a lot, as usual

a clever person would also think “I’d better not respond to his baiting here since that’s obviously what he wants”

having said that, Monoma’s not wrong. that would be a good strategy for them to actually have. but I don’t think it’s their real strategy lol

ahh, good, Deku is being clever and cautious and knows better than to respond to him

lol so Deku just go KO him already! why are you keeping your distance?? you once said back at Kamino that you could make it from where you were standing to where Kacchan was in under a second with one leap using OFA. that’s fucking fast. you’re faster than the kid who basically fucking teleported in between Kamakiri and Jirou a couple chapters ago. just zoom over to Monoma and kick him in the head. come on. do it

jesus christ Monoma knows what his strengths are doesn’t he

he knows how to fuck with his opponent, I’ll give him that

so now Deku is finally leaping toward him like I said! about time

not sure if that’s actually the case, but he’s probably not too far off the mark, and I think he’s making the best possible move here given what he knows

uh oh

what is he doing

OH FUCK ME

OH FUCK NO MONOMA. YOU DID NOT JUST

WHAT THE HELL DUDE. IS YOUR SPECIALTY BELOW-THE-BELT ATTACKS OR WHAT?? COME ON OVER AND SAY THAT TO BAKUGOU’S FUCKING FACE WHY DON’T YOU. JESUS CHRIST THAT WAS LOW AS FUCK

and obviously he’s just trying to provoke Deku into responding still! but man, what a way to do it! you’ll resort to anything, huh??

do they have sound on those viewscreens, or just visual? I feel like it’s both, though I’m not gonna stop and go back and check right this second. anyways I’m just wondering if Kacchan heard that, since we know all too well he does feel personally responsible, and now here’s Monoma trying to poke at this recently-healed wound and reopen it again. and Dad Might is probably still on the phone with Gran. damn it Monoma you better not have sent him spiraling again. I will send you the therapy bills

(ETA: so yeah, they absolutely do have audio, it was confirmed in chapter 197. so Kacchan did indeed get to hear that, and everyone else heard it too, and it was probably super awkward, and probably would have been even more so had Deku’s arm not fucking exploded with his goth red vines quirk mere seconds later causing everyone to pretty much forget about anything else.

and by the way, can we just quickly touch on the fact that Hellboy later explains to Deku that “if you wield your power in anger, the power will respond accordingly”? in other words, Monoma pissed him off so much here that he went and activated a quirk he didn’t even know he had and it proceeded to go on a roaring rampage of revenge. so what have we learned today, kids? don’t insult the boyfriend, is what.)

anyway the good thing is Deku’s aiming his air gun at him and still isn’t responding, although he does look fucking furious and no wonder

now we’re cutting back to Team Float/Melt/Stick

and we’re confirming that the “kyaah” was indeed Shinsou which of course it fucking was. Ochako doesn’t KYAA, she ain’t no fucking damsel in distress

lol now I want to see it too

so Ochako’s reminding the others to look at each other’s faces when they talk

what have you been up to Mineta

holy shit a whole fucking lot got stuck to it. what the hell is this anyway

Mina’s protecting them all with a veil of acid, which is fucking badass. Mina I love you

and now we’re cutting to Shouda for a second and he’s watching them and says “they vanished”...?

ah!!!

IS THIS A TELEKINESIS QUIRK!? AT LONG LAST???

HOLY SHIT

THAT’S LIKE FUCKING COMPRESS’S QUIRK. WE’RE GOING FULL ANT-MAN UP IN THIS BITCH. HOLY SHIT CLASS B, IT’S JUST BADASS QUIRKS ALL THE WAY DOWN WITH YOU GUYS HUH

holy shit. I love both of these, but the size quirk especially. that’s so fucking good. I wish she was in class A now, ngl. so many potential applications of this

and how many quirks can Monoma handle at once? he had three pocket watches so I’m gonna go with three. so I’m assuming he took both of theirs along with Shinsou’s, since he was also floating small objects earlier

Ochako’s a good person to have against a quirk like this, though!

and now just smack them away again! take that

NOW WHAT

what the hell

sob omg

I would just like to point out that this was a WAAGH and not a KYAA though. for the record. even when they’re being attacked by rampaging thooming metal objects, class A does not KYAA. we die like men

so here are the deets!

telekinesis quirk confirmed yessssss. this is like a way upgraded version of Inko’s quirk. so glad we finally get to see a hero do this shit too

Kodai’s quirk is so badass and I love it. though it’s too bad she can’t shrink people too. lots of hijinks potential there. ah well

and Shouda’s quirk too!

ngl, I read this and I was like ‘what.’ I had to reread it several times and then go look him up in the wiki just to make sure I got it. this is one of those cases where a “for example” would have really come in handy. but anyways I think what this means is if someone hit a baseball, then he could recreate that impact in the same spot a second time, and not only that but the second impact would be stronger by several orders of magnitude. idk it’s weird and confusing

(ETA: seeing it in action later helped me understand the concept better, but I still for the life of me can’t explain it in words lol. super cool quirk though.)

anyway so even though all this crazy stuff is going on, neither team has actually come face to face with the other yet and they’re all still attacking each other from a distance, except for Deku and Monoma. so now Ochako’s wondering what happened to Deku

and now back to All Might! damn, Horikoshi, you sure know how to cut away from something just when it was getting good

so Gran says it’s probably not what All Might was looking for, but right around when Shimura first inherited One for All, he and her had a casual conversation whilst on patrol

NO, DEKU!!

WHY DID YOU OPEN YOUR MOUTH DAMMIT

WHAT’S GOING ON OH MY GOD. ALL OF A SUDDEN ALL OF MY FAVES LOOK SHOCKED

oh I know this. “plaaaaay the best song in the world. or I’ll eat your souls.” so we played the first thing that came to our heads and it just so happened to be the best song in the world. it was the best song in the world

lol okay so let’s see why they all seem so shocked. IS IT THE SPOILER!?!?

IT’S NOT? OKAY? WHO ARE YOU??

(ETA: this is just the continuation of Gran’s story from the previous page, doy.)

WHAT THE FUCK

okay then! lol. well that explains the “wtf” expressions

so what exactly was Deku about to do that OFA took over and was like DEKU NO. were you going to fucking kill Monoma over insulting your boyfriend. is there some reason OFA lost its fucking shit and activated one of his secondary quirks for the very first (or second, I guess) time, right here and right now? or is the “it’s not that time” what the old man said in Shimura’s dream, and now with Deku it finally is that time?

oh my god. even knowing a little about what’s going on, I still really have no clue and I fucking love it. this is insanely cool and tbh the Joint Training arc is like #4 on my list now and will possibly be #3 by the time all is said and done. IMO this twist is cool and unexpected and will make future battles much less boring (because let’s be honest, Deku’s last couple of fights were really not all that dynamic. this is definitely going to help vary things up a bit), and I can’t wait to see how All Might and Kacchan react too omg

just. thumbs up from me

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alexswak · 6 years ago

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Notes on Animation Quality in Anime

I had a rare chance in 2017 to meet Hiromi Matsushita, one of Minky Momo’s most prominent animators. Matsushita is still active in the industry, and when I entered the room he was focused on drawing a scene, which he finished in around 10 minutes. I think he didn't lose his skills yet. I asked him for a drawing, of Momo of course, a request he found too hard even with the help of an image of Momo from google. More than 10 minutes passed, a lot of drawing and redrawing on the same paper, he handed me the illustration saying: “I’m sorry, this isn’t the real Momo.”

Now, I’m not saying he couldn’t draw her correctly because he got used to the radically different anime drawings of today, it may be because he just forgot how to draw Momo, or any other reason for all I know. Whatever the reason was, anime drawings and character designs had changed radically, evolved if you will, through recent Japanese animation history. The common answer to the reason behind this change always seemed funny to me, which is “because technology.” It’s not enough to just deny this claim, so I’d like to elaborate more on why and how anime drawings change over time. This is obviously a big topic, so what I’ll say here would be more of my (personal) perspective on the matter. Take it however you like.

I should start with defining what I mean with drawings. I’m not talking here about coloring, effects or the like, I mean the bare drawings themselves. This is literally the key drawings (frames), and to a lesser degree the in-betweens. Character designs are their own thing as well. This means that advancements in image quality and related technologies don’t count, since remastering a movie from the ‘70s in HD doesn’t mean the drawings themselves changed at all, forget about improved. Another point is the difference between the drawings on their own and how they move, i.e. the difference between animating and drawing, still there’s a direct influence between these two I’d like to talk about as well.

Sometimes, I feel like people look at the animation industry the same way they look at the gaming industry in this regard, not helped by the fact that mainstream high-budget animation productions in the US adopted the same technology for animating (CG). As for the Japanese industry though, it’s and has always been the pencil and paper. I’m not denying all the technological advancements that happened, but they weren’t fundamental changes that improved the quality of a drawing on paper. Even then, there were mostly only two new major technologies used introduced in anime production in the last decade: Digital coloring in the late ‘90s, and Xerography in the late ‘60s.

Xerography is basically a technique to copy drawings from normal paper to cels for coloring. Cels obviously can’t be drawn on due to their fragile nature, I believe. I rarely saw anyone talk about this technology before (in anime) so I’ll try to do a simple and short introduction. It was first introduced to Japanese companies through Disney’s Delmants 101, which caught the attention of Toei Douga (Toei Animation now). Toei took the device and modified it, most importantly adding an extra camera used for tracking perspective. Mainly to make drawings larger/smaller as they moved towards/away from the horizon. This device first saw use in Toei’s “Ken and Wolves” TV show early ‘60s. It wasn’t cheap nor easy, so Toei sought a better alternative, one of which was a device called “Trace Machine - ツレースマシン”, first used in “Sasuke” late ‘60s. It’s hard for me to point out how these two devices differed, but one advantage of the Trace Machine was conveying the original delicacy and feeling of the traced drawings better, something Disney’s machine didn’t manage to do quite well. Sasuke was praised for capturing the original soul of the manga, and it wasn’t Sasuke alone, Gekiga adaptations saw a rise in that era due to this machine making capturing the roughness of Gekiga drawings possible. Just look at Tiger Mask or Samurai Giants. I’m not sure here, but it seems like Xerography didn’t saw mainstream use until later in the ‘80s, probably because of costs. Anyway, here’s a Japanese article for more info.

As well-known it may be, we need a quick review: Astro Boy. Toei was aiming for a “Disney of the east” status, and really the idea of periodically producing anime was so strange back then, in Japan at least. The ~2 hours movies of the time needed years, so 20 minutes weekly was just insane. And insanely different were those TV productions from the quality movies of the time. You may have heard this before, but really watching clips of Astro Boy is the only way to understand how primitive it was. Nonetheless, it succeeded in becoming the standard for TV anime, and TV anime becoming the standard for anime in general later on even for movies. All the downgrade in quality of animation and everything.

This is where most people would start bashing the TV industry, yet I have a different perspective on the matter. The huge output of the Japanese industry is the main reason it reached its current international success and behind Japan’s status as the animation capital of the world. TV in America may have had a catastrophic effect on the industry, and wasn’t without negatives in Japan, but the way TV was handled and evolved is vastly different between the two countries and in turn the two vastly different outcomes we have now. TV in Japan presented a steady stream of relatively quick and flexible projects for Japanese creators to learn and experiment, a stream that only grew further increasing the variety of works and styles, the best thing the Japanese industry is known for now. Almost all well-known Japanese creators today had their start learning and experimenting in TV.

The huge amount of works produced was pretty useful for training creators in an environment that relies on learning by doing and still, to this day, mostly lacks any effective prior training system. Look no further than Tomonori Kogawa, who had a degree in fine arts, to see the important addition for properly studying and learning art. Kogawa kinda reminds me of Akino Sugino, not that their styles are similar or anything, it’s just that both care a lot about drawings quality. Ashita no Joe, which he supervised, had probably the best drawings quality of its decade.

When it comes to animation though, Toei Douga movies followed a similar realistic approach to Disney in treating characters as if they are actors on a stage. After TV anime emerged the principle remained the same, so creators just tried to replicate life in a working condition much more limited and restrained than that of Toei. Quality improved generally after some adapting and experimenting in this new landscape, but the focus mainly wasn’t on animation quality anyway. It was stories and direction that counted, Tomino and Gundam as a prime example. Even the “anime boom”, initiated by Yamato’s movie in ‘76, didn’t change that. The real change in that regard only came after treating animation in a more free way, free from the obligation of imitating real life I mean, which was the way Yoshinori Kanada treated it.

I won’t get into Kanada and his style, sources on him are enough anyway, what we need here is just the result of his wild popularity in the early ‘80s: Changing people’s view to anime. Before Kanada came, the only industry celebrities were directors, while animators stayed unknown. Not anymore. Kanada was maybe, for a time at least, number one in the industry, and this just goes to show the change in mindset: Animation is at the forefront now. And how did Kanada animate? Pretty unrealistically.

Let me detour a bit to talk about realism first. I remember some saying that Akira ushered in the age of realism in anime, a claim certainly far from the truth. Akira is rather the pinnacle of this long going approach. Pinpointing a start isn’t of much use in this discussion anyhow, and if not for my appreciation of documenting such info I wouldn’t have brought this up at all, but my argument is that the start of realism in animation is the start of animation itself.

Yet an important question must be addressed here: What realism are we talking about? If you think of it as just replicating life, then you’re oversimplifying animation as a whole. There’s only one way for things to move in real life, restrained by physics and all, but animation offers a multitude of approaches to represent movement, ways that imply realism nonetheless. And different approaches were popular at different times throughout anime history.

Take Utsunomiya for example, who wasn’t sure about joining the industry at first. He knew how the situation was, and how hard it would be to create anime in the same or similar to Disney and early Toei movies’ style that he so admired. I personally always found it weird how people held Utsunomiya’s style for realistic. His style is maybe considered as the epitome of what Toei’s theatrical realism aspired to achieve, and the main characteristics of that are exaggerated acting and theatrical movements, which is maybe not strictly realistic or natural. Nonetheless, as for weight and spacing, there’s no denying his accuracy and fine execution. Akira, and to a lesser extent Gosenzosama-banbanzai, are the embodiment of his and Takashi Nakamura’s approach in animating.

See this scene from Utsunomiya

I don’t know much about 70’s and 60’s realism, but the main description I read at least was, again, the theatrical realism influenced by Disney. The Kanada “revolution” was more of an abnormality, since realism returned to be the dominant style of anime after a while, and its evolution didn’t stop anyway. A lot of the pioneers of the next realism wave started or matured under the Kanada age, such as Takashi Nakamura or Utsunomiya.

There are different aspects to realism as well. One of Takashi Nakamura’s famous scenes, his scene in Gold Lightan, is considered to be a very realistic depiction of debris and stones in his time at least. Others depict effects and liquids realistically and so on. I feel like this is just a matter of approach and perspective. Utsunomiya for example saw the characters as actors on a stage, Ohira saw them a lot of times as gelatinous almost liquidy shapes, but all those approaches and depictions induce a realistic feeling in a sense, and are finely (and realistically) timed and weighed in their movement.

See this scene from Takashi Nakamrua. Notice hand and mouth movement.

Of course not all animators can do realistic movement well. Miyazaki and others complained about every other animator in the early 80s’ being a Kanada knock-off, a bad knock-offs in a lot of cases, yet Kanada’s style wasn’t hard to imitate, maybe not perfectly but definitely to a “good enough” degree. Realism on the other hand is hard, even harder in shows that lack talents such as Utsunomiya or time and budget. It was obvious after Akira, or even a while before Akira, which style the industry (or the audience) will prefer. And at that point the industry took a different approach to realism, not the realistic movement approach seen in Akira and movies that established this style in Japan to begin with, but an approach that gives the feel of realism in different ways, first being character designs and increasing the lines and details in drawings generally.

If we go back to the ‘60s and some of the ‘70s we can see many shows with designs rich in lines or styles close to realism, but it was mainly the exception and didn’t represent the main trend, some of which being caused by things like Gekiga or personal styles such as Sugino’s or Osamu Dezaki’s. Late ‘70s and early ‘80s mainly had simplistic designs which really helped Kanada’s style grow and spread. Simplicity contradicts realism by nature, and adding more lines or details to a drawing makes it harder to draw/animate. Straightforward, and this is just what happened after the demise of Kanada’s style, more realistic designs that barely move. Just look at any OVA from that period and compare it to any OVA from the Kanada wave. Amazing what 5 years could do!

Vampire Sensou in 1990. Interesting character designs, not much movement though.

Difficulty of drawing isn’t the sole problem here. Kanada’s style, despite its energetic nature, doesn’t require a lot of frames, actually the low number of frames is one of its strong characteristics. It’s a style born from the constraints of the Japanese industry to begin with, and if you think about it probably no other industry would have given born to such a style but the Japanese one. While you need a substantial number of frames to achieve a convincingly real movement. Maybe I’m over exaggerating here, but the Japanese TV industry tried two decades to achieve realism in an environment not suited for it and found Kanada’s style that embodied the sole of this industry, just to abandon it for an unconvincing realism.

Kanada’s OVA “Birth” in 1984 is probably the important turning point. Maybe you could say that the story of OVAs is also the story of Japanese anime, as OVAs reflected the state of the industry in general in each period. Maybe because OVAs were the direct way to reach the audience without the need for a TV channel or a distributor or even a high budget, in turn being a demonstration of the audience’s preference. It was definitely the free expression window for creators, young independent ones especially, free from any obligations for any big company. Obviously big companies were there, even more so in the late ‘80s after OVAs matured, but all in all it was the will of the creators that shined through. OVAs also played a decisive role in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, when anime (TV especially) was facing a hard time due to different reason beyond the scope of this article. This led to OVAs influencing the development of the industry in interesting ways, hard to imagine if you look at the state of OVAs now.

The Japanese industry relied heavily on TV since pretty early on, so any problem facing TV anime is a problem for the industry as a whole. Middle/Late ‘80s wasn’t the best time for TV, a long story with multiple causes such as the change in demographics and emergence of video games, but our concern here is the paradigm shift that happened. For the most part and up to that point anime revenue came from games or manga or something else, a separate product. Not the show itself, meaning that its quality wasn’t a concern as long as it supported the primary product well. This obviously didn’t hold Ichiro Itano back from doing his wonderful circus scenes, or Tomino from executing his different depiction of mecha anime, but those again were creative acts on the personal level not the project as a whole, and in the end it wasn’t Tomino’s direction and vision that saved Gundam, it was the Gunpla.

It’s a fine system as long as the audience keeps on buying your primary product, something a lot of companies struggled with later on, reaching the OVA system where you just sell the show itself rather than a separate product. A similar system to movies, but simpler, safer and with less parties involved. We take internet for granted today, but in the ‘80s OVAs were the only choice for creators wanting to self-publish something weird or radically different, something that obviously won’t be backed by big companies.

Anyway, selling the show itself is completely different approach with completely different focus points. Quality comes first now, and first of all is drawings and animation quality, since anime is a visual medium after all. Without constraints or demands from distributors or any tight schedules, and with making less episodes, you’re able to raise quality considerably, the main selling point of OVAs. Patlabor, Gunbuster or Gundam 0083 all had high quality and were big successes, not only setting the standards for visual quality in anime, but also showing how important visual quality in anime is, both for companies and audiences. After this model matured, attempts to replicate this success in TV anime started, where the potential is much bigger due to the wider reach, which led to the contemporary late-night model we have now, maybe the most successful anime model till quite recently. Evangelion is considered to have played an active role in establishing this model, and in increasing visual quality in TV anime generally, and Ryusuke Hikawa claims that what he calls the “Quality Revolution” in the anime industry started in the ‘90s. I also think that Evangelion played no small part in establishing the production committee system we have now in every show, but I’m not quite sure.

Before I end this I want to link two nice resources for further reading. The mecha history research and an article that came in Akira’s Animation Archive, both by Ryusuke Hikawa.

#anime #anime history #animation #Yoshinori Kanada #Satoru Utsunomiya #Takashi Nakamura #Akira #Realism

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todonintendos · 6 years ago

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The Lovely Story of Tingle

Try to think of as many Zelda characters as you can in just a few seconds. Tingle shouldn’t take too long to get to your mind. Love or hate him, that doesn’t matter, as he’s undoubtedly one of the most memorable Zelda characters in the entire franchise. Could it be because of how cheerful and nice his attitude towards Link is, or simply because of how much his weird design and nature contrast with the rest of the main characters? There are opinions of all shapes and sizes, so it’s really hard to tell.

The real question is... what made Tingle more popular than other main characters with the same amount of game appearances?

Tingle debuted in The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000. There, Tingle is introduced as just one more character that gives the player useful resources for advancing through the game, these being maps of the Termina region. He does these maps by deploying a balloon to suspend himself in mid-air and get the best possible view to draw the maps manually.

Majora’s Mask also allows the player to know certain smaller facts about Tingle’s personal life, such as his age, 35, and the identity of his father, who happens to be the man who runs the pictograph contest at the Swamp Tourist Center, also in Majora’s Mask. By talking to him, he reveals that he isn’t proud of him at all, but rather disappointed. Tingle skipped school to “pursue forest fairies” and is surprised that he still does this, and his characteristic green clothes don’t quite suit his father’s tastes.

Tingle’s magic words “Kooloo-Limpah” are a play on “kururinpa”, the Japanese word for Cuccos and to talk about a crazy person.

The other major appearance of Tingle was in The Wind Waker, released for the GameCube in 2003 (2002 in Japan). Tingle was present in Oracle of Ages, released in-between Majora’s Mask and The Wind Waker, but his role was rather insignificant as he just gives Link a map for one single location in the game, the Crescent Strait. Wind Waker might mark his most important role in any canonical Zelda game to date, as the game digs really deep on his personal life and his hobby of drawing maps, even providing a full backstory of Tingle as a secret in the Tower of the Gods.

In The Wind Waker, players first encounter Tingle jailed on Windfall Island for presumably stealing a Picto Box, which Link can obtain after freeing him. Short after, Tingle will give Link a special map with the locations of the Eight Triforce Charts, which he needs to decipher after finding them. Doing this is mandatory to complete the game (unless you’re a speedrunner, that is), as they show where to find each Triforce shard in the game. And you guessed it right, the Triforce happens to be a preeeeeeeety important item in the game.

All good things come with a price. The Triforce may be the key to beating the game, but Tingle won’t help you find it for free.

The Wind Waker also introduces us to Tingle’s brothers, who are identical in appearance, only distinguishable by the colour of their clothes. However, only Knuckle, the one dressed in blue, is a twin brother of Tingle. Ankle, the one dressed in pink, is a much younger brother and David Jr, the white one, is just an ordinary human rescued by Tingle in a shipwreck so, despite looking exactly like Tingle and his two brothers, he isn’t related to Tingle, so let’s just call him an “adoptive brother”. The opinion of Tingle’s brothers regarding him isn’t positive at all, as they state that he makes them work all-day while he just slacks on a side, but his attidude changes while Link is on the island with them.

Earlier I mentioned that Tingle’s backstory can be found hidden in the game. However, I did quite a bait there. This secret can’t be found in the remake as a Game Boy Advance is required, and what you get is a parody of The Wind Waker’s intro, stating that “the fairy saved the Hero of Time by handing him a map”. It doesn’t tell anything that we didn’t know from Majora’s Mask, but you can find it here if you’re interested on reading it.

Official art of Link and Tingle from The Wind Waker. What Link is holding is the Tingle Tuner, exclusive to the GameCube version.

However, from this point in time, Tingle’s presence in the core games doesn’t go much further. In Phantom Hourglass he appears on a wanted poster in the Milk Bar, in Spirit Tracks there are two statues of Tingle throughout the game and a picture of him in Ferrus’ home. In Four Swords Adventures, he’ll attempt to grab Force Gems left on the floor for too long before Link does, this being the only instance where he acts against the player. Finally, in Skyward Sword all we have is a Tingle doll in Zelda’s room, and a special suit for Link in Breath of the Wild.

While Tingle himself is nowhere to be seen in Twilight Princess, I wanted to talk briefly about Purlo, a character from the game whose design looks surprisingly similar to Tingle’s. Purlo hosts the STAR Game in Hyrule Castle Town, is a greedy man and has and obsession with rupees, just like Tingle. However, he has an unfriendly attitude, doesn’t draw maps or think he’s a fairy. It’s said that the design was indeed based on Tingle’s, as they liked to imagine how he’d look in a more realistic style, but this hasn’t been confirmed by Nintendo.

Concept art of Purlo from Hyrule Historia. It’s easy to tell how this design can remind us of Tingle.

After remembering Tingle’s history through the core games, we could ask ourselves, why did he end up getting an spin-off for the Nintendo DS and how did he make it to Hyrule Warriors? What’s next, seeing him in the Smash Bros roster? But most importantly... did he really deserve all of this? After all, he’s the only Zelda character, other than Link, to have games where he’s the main character, having Impa, Sheik, Ganon and even Zelda as possible candidates for an spin-off. Well... the truth might be, Tingle isn’t a character made for your tastes.

According to Eiji Aonuma, Tingle is that weird because a person who flies around in a giant balloon only to draw maps had to be a weird person. The entire character was based on Peter Pan, which is easy to understand not only because of his green clothing, but since he’s a 35-year-old man stuck in childhood who refuses to grow up. These weird characters are more common to see in Japanese media, as American and European creations like these tend to avoid these “creepy” characters, specially around the time Tingle was conceived. I’m pretty sure your parents think Japan is a place filled with crazy and weird people, and that makes them dislike or even reject that culture. That’s simply because they don’t understand or are used to creations such as Tingle, among others.

The fact that Tingle is such a weird character serves both as a reason to love him or hate him, depending on your tastes.

It’s likely that, earlier, when I mentioned that Tingle had an spin-off for the Nintendo DS, the first thing you thought was that other DS Tingle game I missed. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about it. I was just only focusing on the only spin-off that was released out of Japan, Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland. Europe was really lucky to get this title, as the American public didn’t even have a chance for unknown reasons, although I guess it’s because such a creepy character like Tingle in a world where money means everything and your sidekick is a female with a pretty revealing design wasn’t a concept made for the American player.

The other spin-off I didn’t mention is Ripened Tingle’s Balloon Trip of Love, a direct sequel to Rosy Rupeeland. If the main theme of its prequel was money, this time it’s women. Of course that’s going into a much more dangerous terrain, specially seeing what Tingle looks like, and they didn’t even consider bringing this game out of Japan. Fortunately, a group of fans released an English version of the game not long ago, which you can check out here!

This is an official art posted by Nintendo of Europe a few months ago, guess we’re getting used to Tingle by now!

There are two more games about Tingle for the Nintendo DS, though, a remake of Balloon Fight featuring Tingle himself that was given as a gift via Club Nintendo, and a DSiWare game containing many minigames featuring Tingle that was only released in Japan in order to promote Balloon Trip of Love. However, they’re much smaller and don’t really give stuff to talk about. Also, days ago we knew about a cancelled horror game featuring Tingle that never saw the light, because reasons.

In the recent years, Tingle has appeared as a character in Hyrule Warriors and as a trophy in Super Smash Bros, but his presence in the main games has been slowly fading away. Nonetheless, Tingle will never be forgotten, both because of the love he’s gotten and the hate he’s received. I also wanted to point out how non-playable characters in Breath of the Wild get scared when Link walks nearby with the Tingle suit... guess Nintendo really cares about Tingle haters, after all!

...and you reached the end of the article!

You’re free to like or dislike Tingle, but I believe it was worth going through his history as a videogame character. Hopefully you found this article interesting enough no matter what you think of him! Thanks for reading!

~TodoNintendoS, as part of Daily Nintendo Fact #200

#tingle #zelda #legend of zelda #the legend of zelda #wind waker #majoras mask #todonintendos #daily fact #200

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shaoyinzhang · 7 years ago

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Be Creative, and be Changeable

“If we want to achieve something, we must continue to kill ourselves.” My idol, a weird but talent artist, said. He is the idol of mine in art since I stared learning to draw, and also the spiritual mentor of mine in life since I gradually read him from his portraits and paintings. He not only attached great importance to the ideas of the times, but also understood the Enlightenment of the ancient historical civilization. He was brave to expose the cruelty of reality and always kept his great charm and enthusiasm. By the way, his name is Pablo Picasso, and he told me a person should always be creative and be changeable like an artist.

I stared learning to draw when I was 3 years old in the kindergarten, and I met Pablo Picasso when I was 4-year-old in a picture album of my art teacher totally by accident. It was a classic of Picasso, and it made the me, a four years old kid, become more confident in painting. I am so confident that my painting is absolutely at the same level with the painting on the picture album. “I must be the good artist!” I believed that in 4 years old. The picture on that picture album is a classic painting of Picasso: “bull”. At that age, many memories were not clear, but my mother told me that I often painted strange shapes and distorted animals to ask for the praise of the teachers and parents that time. I was pretty shamed to know that story when I was 15 years old, and at that time, I am a good student in my art training school was praised by many art teachers of mine. I could already copy the portrait and many other grate paintings of Pablo Picasso and other grate painters at that time. At that time I was so proud that many people praised me for my painting. Until one day, as usual, I showed my copy to an uncle who was a graphic design. But the answer is not the compliment I expected. My uncle asked me, "these are all other's paintings. What about your own? " I froze. Yes, I was wrong. I was just a good student, not a great artist. I painted the same work as thousands of fine arts students. What was I proud of?

I was an artist actually when I was four, but I was just a good student like a sheep when I was fifteen. I should not be shamed when I heard I have painted the distorted paintings, but I should shamed when I am proud of the copy of grate paintings. Pablo Picasso said that “Every child is an artist, and the key to the problem lies in how he is still an artist when he grows up. I can draw as well as Rafael at 14, then I use my life to learn to draw like a child.” An artist should be creative, but most art students these days are only the sheep who always conform the order by true grate artist or even only their teachers who are the sheep without their own paintings as well. They are workers and good students who could perfectly use the ways or styles created by great artist paint some still life, plaster sculptures, or models. But they do not have their own feelings, thoughts, or expressions. Unfortunately, they could be creative when they are children, but as they trained and brainwashed by society and school, they gradually lose this precious ability. After noticing that, I told myself that I need to find that creativity back like Pablo Picasso, and make a change from the portrait of 15 years old Picasso to the portrait of 25 years old Picasso which has a distinct personality and creative characteristic.

Since then, I occasionally copy the basis of the one or two painting practice, and put more time to consolidate my own style of painting and create my own short comics. Even though it is really hard at the beginning, because I have been trained as a sheep who could only follow the order and copy others, gradually, my creative paintings are also recognized by more and more friends and teachers. I began to master my own painting style and experience skills. Day after day, I began to be complacent again. I am used to the expression of the sketch, because I cannot conquer the color skillfully yet. For a long time, my paintings were all black and white. More and more friends ask me why, but I just ignored them and insist my own way stubbornly. Until I read one of Picasso's words, I felt into thought again: “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Suddenly, I was shamed that I reject color because I am not good at it. I thought if Pablo Picasso could not do something well, he must try him best to try and learn until he could finally master it. I told myself that I have to change, I have to try new things, and I have to rebel the old me, in order to create a new one. Be changeable is important to artist, and “change” is a key word of being a great artist like Pablo Picasso. Someone asks for the representative work of Pablo Picasso, and the other guy replied with a smile: Which Pablo Picasso? Isn’t it sounds like crazy? But we do have the Pablo Picasso in Blue Period, in Rose Period, in African-influenced Period, in Analytic Cubism, in Synthetic Cubism, and in Crystal Period. We have multiple different Picasso, and each Picasso is a total better new one compared to the last one. This change is a combination of life experiences, and every change is like the nirvana of the Phoenix. The old style burnt and died in the fire, and the better new painting born in the ashes. Only keeping changing could help artist have endless imagination, and since that, he could be the first painter in the history to see his own works and be collected into Le Louvre Museum by himself. Now, even though I could not use brush as well as I use my pencil, I am still trying to use color to create the different painting style of mine. However, this is only the first change I have made in my painting, I will definitely keep changing and be always creative to create my own paintings.

I said that Pablo Picasso is not only the idol of mine in art, but also the spiritual mentor of mine in life. Although Picasso's own life is a mess, neither family nor marriage seems to be happy and harmonious, but inspired and changeable lifestyle influence me in many ways. My mentor believes that people have three levels: mediocre, inspired, and changeable. I reorganized them to make them more suitable for the 21 century, and the three levels are: conformity, identity, and changeable identity.

According to the definition from social psychology, conformity, which means going along with social norms, customs or norms. Conformity is a normal social influence, and it will usually and easily happen when a group of people getting together. To certain degree, conformity helps people getting well involve in the society with other people, but it also forces people to gradually lose their identity, which means: being a sheep. These days, many friends of mine went to the Ultra. This is a big party without identity, which is composed of several foolish DJs and endless thousands of crazy sheep. Sometimes I think what would Picasso think if he saw those crazy and silly people on the Ultra? Perhaps in his eyes, these people may not be different from the bull, which symbolizes fascism in the "Guernica". The soldiers in the war have no identity, no difference, no thought, and people in ultra are exactly the same. The human beings in this level are even not humans. They are sheep, but the lovely controllable sheep trained by our society, including family, university, workplace, and so on. Everyone has to hold an ID to live in their own countries, and their countries use a long number to named them. It seems they have their own identity, but the truth is totally opposite: they become the silly sheep owned by the society which give them the “fake identity”. But what is ridiculous is that sheep always feeling good about themselves, like the 15 years old me, who was proud of my sheep-like copy work without creativities. Another example is very ironic: the fashion, which is the coolest thing in most people’s mind, and actually the most uncool. I've been fascinated by fashion, because I thought the fashion styles make me very cool and different. Like thousands of fashion seekers, I mimicked the elements or costumes of fashion shows. Every sheep wanted to be the pioneer in the front, but they forget that the pursuit of fashion is an imitation of the so-called new style created by others. We want to be different, but this same mentality, “be different”, is the same. In fact, chasing fashion itself is also a kind of special conformity, not from our own identity.

We need to be creative not only in the painting, but also in the life. Nietzsche told us that God is dead, and if we do not want to be the silly sheep, we have to create ourselves and be our own God. As long as by creating ourselves, people could gradually find the identity, controlled and belonged to themselves. Actually, creating is hard, but many great people have their own identity started a really simple step to begin. Identity means breaking from the group to become an individual, which is super difficult for people nowadays. Only the cool people always rebel the group, rebel the order of others, rebel becoming similar with others, and due to these ways, cool people could finally have chance to find their own identity. As my idol, the first step to fining identity is to choose a name for his painting career. When young Picasso successfully admitted to the Royal Academy in Saint, he could not stand the atmosphere there, and then, he returned to Barcelona's parents. During that time, he felt disappointed about painting , but the mother encouraged and supported him, which made him rekindled the confidence. In order to express gratitude to his mother, he changed his signature to his mother's surname, Picasso. Another example is an famous psychologist, Eric Erickson. When he grew up, he knew that his father is not his real father, and he was raised by foster parents. From then on, he began to look for the whereabouts of his own father. After unremitting efforts, he finally heard his real father named Erick. Thus, he changed his name to the name of his father, and his surname to Ericson because he does not know his real family name. Erickson’s famous development stage points out that people will face a change between “identity confusion” and “identity” when they are adolescents. He believes people have to go through this period to grow up, change from the adolescents to the real adults. After given a name for ourselves, people should continue creating. After Pablo Picasso use his mother’s name to name all himself as a painter, he continued creating his painting to express his emotion and thoughts. Some paintings reflect his love story, and others may reflect how he viewed the suffering world. This Picasso, who lives forever in those paintings, and all his paintings are created by Pablo Picasso. All of these is his most precious identity. For me, I think I am still seeking for my own identity. Even though I may not change my real name, but I give myself an English name and a pseudonym. I try to gradually know what kind of person I want to be and create what I really want step by step. I hope one day, I could create my own identity, just like Pablo Picasso.

There is a higher state above the identity: the changeable identity, which means not only being creative, but also being changeable. When people gradually create their own identity, they still need to keep changing and improving to become better. Pablo Picasso told me there is two reasons why people need to be changeable. First of all, people need to continue changing to try new things to know what is most suitable for them. Pablo Picasso tried many kinds of different painting ways: oil painting, stench, engraving, flat plate painting, and sculpture. Changing help him know which one is the most suitable way for him in that situation and age. Not only on painting, he made lots of changes in his love story. As we all know, Picasso had three wife in his life, and many other lovers. Due to too many changings, maybe he is not a good husband or a good father, but I believe that having so many emotional experiences, at least to show that he had always believed in love and wanted to find the most suitable woman for him. His love story influenced his painting style and made his artistic successful achievements. Thus, always keeping changing, because you never know whether the next when is better than now. I love trying new foods in different place, and lots of new things make me feel like they are better than any of foods that I could taste in my daily life. I believe Pablo Picasso must envy me that I can study abroad and experience life in different countries. Facing a totally different environment could help me find my changeable identity. At least, there is two of me now. One is Shaoyin in China, and the other one is Shaoyin in Miami. “We” speak different language, use different way to study, eat different food, and so on. Which one is better? I have no idea, but when facing a certain situation, I must have a more suitable identity to face. Secondly, always keeping change for cool people means they are always keeping dealing with uncomfortable things. Cool people like Picasso know that life is full of uncomfortable and suffering. All people are the comfort-seekers, but most people only seek for comfort which makes them never be comfortable in the life. Only cool people know that the key to really find comfort is trying best to deal with as much uncomfortable things in the life. Picasso said that “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.” Thus, after master the things that he originally cannot do, he will make a change to face another new thing, or called an uncomfortable thing, which he cannot do. Now, I am not a changeable people, but I will try to challenge myself to find my different identities. The first step for me is finding something I am uncomfortable with, not good at, or even afraid of it. Personally, I am a little bit afraid of water, and I am terrible at swimming. Then, I need to face it, to change myself become stronger to deal with those uncomfortable feeling. Nowadays, I plan to swim every week to deal with that uncomfortable feeling, and I believe one day, I will enjoy the water comfortably. “If we want to achieve something, we must continue to kill ourselves.” Picasso said. I would like to kill the weak me, in order to create a stronger me.

Most people nowadays are sheep without thoughts and identity. Do not have to be depressed. As long as you want to change, do something from now. Create yourself to find your own identity, and then keep change to improve your multiple identities. Pablo Picasso, my idol and mentor, told me that people should be creative and changeable.

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denizerkli · 7 years ago

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Miller is simply too harsh on writing. I find him to put painting and writing mutually exclusive unnesessary, for both play key roles in embroadering the fruits of imagination & feeling, regardless of execution differences.

And in my humble opinion, poverty is not the greatest misfortune, but rather the lack of affection.

The remaining article speaks volumes on my behalf.

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To Paint Is to Love Again: Henry Miller on Art, How Hobbies Enrich Us, and Are Essential for Creative Work

“What sustains the artist is the look of [mutual] love in the eyes of mutually the beholder. Not money, not the right connections, not exhibitions, not flattering reviews.”

BY MARIA POPOVA

One particularly icy winter day not too long ago, I reluctantly retired my bike, took the subway into Manhattan, and gave up my seat to a kindly woman a few decades my senior. We struck up a conversation — an occurrence doubly delightful for its lamentable rarity on the New York City subway. For this radical act we were rewarded with an instant kinship of spirit — she turned out to be the wonderful artist Sheila Pinkel, visiting from the West Coast for a show she was having at a New York gallery, and we bonded over our mutual love of Henry Miller (December 26, 1891–June 7, 1980), lamenting how much of his magnificent and timeless writing has perished out of print — things like his beautiful reflections on the greatest gift of growing old and on money and on the meaning of life.

Right before I hopped out at my stop, Sheila mentioned one particular book that had made a strong impression early in life, but which she had been unable to find since — Miller’s 1968 lost gem To Paint Is to Love Again (public library). Naturally, I tracked down a surviving copy as soon as possible and was instantly enchanted by this rare and wonderful treasure trove of Miller’s paintings — for he was among the famous writers who were drawn to the visual arts, producing such lesser-known treats as J.R.R. Tolkien’s illustrations, Sylvia Plath’s drawings, William Faulkner’s Jazz Age etchings, Flannery O’Connor’s cartoons, Zelda Fitzgerald’s watercolors, and Nabokov’s butterfly studies — enveloped in his devastatingly honest and insightful words on art, sincerity, kindness, hardship, and the gift of friendship.

With his characteristic blend of irreverence, earnestness, and unapologetic wisdom, Miller — who began painting at the age of thirty-seven in 1928, while he was “supposed to be at work on the great American novel” but was yet to publish anything at all, bought his first watercolors and brushes in the midst of poverty, and was soon painting “morning, noon and night” — explores the eternal question of what art is and what makes one an artist.

Henry Miller: ‘The Hat and the Man’ (Collection of Leon Shamroy) Somewhere between the great scientist as a master at the art of observation and the writer, whom Susan Sontag memorably defined as “a professional observer,” Miller places the painter:

What is more intriguing than a spot on the bathroom floor which, as you sit emptying your bowels, assumes a hundred different forms, figures, shapes? Often I found myself on my knees studying a stain on the floor — studying it to detect all that was hidden at first sight. No doubt the painter, studying the face of the sitter whose portrait he is about to do, must be astonished by the things he suddenly recognizes in the familiar visage before him. Looking intently at an eye or a pair of lips, or an ear — particularly an ear, that weird appendage! — one is astounded by the metamorphoses a human countenance undergoes. What is an eye or an ear? The anatomy books will tell you one thing, or many things, but looking at an eye or ear to render it in form, texture, color yields quite another kind of knowledge. Suddenly you see — and it’s not an eye or an ear but a little universe composed of the most extraordinary elements having nothing to do with sight or hearing, with flesh, bone, muscle, cartilage.

In this art of seeing Miller finds the essential question of what a painting really is:

A picture… is a thousand different things to a thousand different people. Like a book, a piece of sculpture, or a poem. One picture speaks to you, another doesn’t… Some pictures invite you to enter, then make you a prisoner. Some pictures you race through, as if on roller skates. Some lead you out by the back door. Some weigh you down, oppress you for days and weeks on end. Others lift you up to the skies, make you weep with joy or gnash your teeth in despair.

Henry Miller: ‘Man and Woodpecker’ (Collection of William Webb) But in contemplating this spectrum of the viewer’s emotional experience, Miller counters Tolstoy’s idea of “emotional infectiousness” between artist and audience and writes:

What happens to you when you look at a painting may not be at all what the artist who painted it intended to have happen. Millions of people have stood and gazed in open-mouthed wonder at the Mona Lisa. Does anyone know what was going on in Da Vinci’s mind when he did it? If he were to come to life again and look at it with his own two eyes it is dubious, in my mind, that he would know himself precisely what it was that made him present her in this immortal fashion.

And yet the intensity of the artist’s own emotion, Miller argues, is the true lifeblood of art and of optimism about the human spirit:

To paint is to love again. It’s only when we look with eyes of love that we see as the painter sees. His is a love, moreover, which is free of possessiveness. What the painter sees he is duty-bound to share. Usually he makes us see and feel what ordinarily we ignore or are immune to. His manner of approaching the world tells us, in effect, that nothing is vile or hideous, nothing is stale, flat and unpalatable unless it be our own power of vision. To see is not merely to look. One must look-see. See into and around.

Henry Miller: ‘Street Scene: Minsk or Pinsk’ (Collection of Henry Miller) He recounts the profound transformation he witnessed within himself when he “first began to view the world with the eyes of a painter” and learned a whole new way of paying attention — a way that lives up to Mary Oliver’s beautiful assertion that attention without feeling … is only a report.” Miller writes:

The most familiar things, objects which I had gazed at all my life, now became an unending source of wonder, and with the wonder, of course, affection. A tea pot, an old hammer, or chipped cup, whatever came to hand I looked upon as if I had never seen it before. I hadn’t, of course. Do not most of us go through life blind, deaf, insensitive? Now as I studied the object’s physiognomy, its texture, its way of speaking, I entered into its life, its history, its purpose, its association with other objects, all of which only endeared it the more… Have you ever noticed that the stones one gathers at the beach are grateful when we hold them in our hands and caress them? Do they not take on a new expression? An old pot loves to be rubbed with tenderness and appreciation. So with an axe: kept in good condition, it always serves its master lovingly.

Unlike his longtime lover and lifelong friend Anaïs Nin, who believed that “if one changes internally, one should not continue to live with the same objects,” Miller extols the gladdening assurance of the old:

I have always cherished old things, used things, things marked by the passage of time and human events. I think of my own self this way, as something much handled, much knocked about, as worn and polished with use and abuse. As something serviceable, perhaps I should say. More serviceable for having had so many masters, so many wretched, glorious, haphazard experiences and encounters. Which explains, perhaps, why it is that when I start to do a head it always turns into a “self-portrait.” Even when it becomes a woman, even when it bears no resemblance to me at all. I know myself, my changing faces, my ineradicable Stone Age expression. It’s what happened to me that interests me, not resemblances. I am a worn, used creature, an object that loves to be handled, rubbed, caressed, stuffed in a coat pocket, or left to bake in the sun. Something to be used or not used, as you like.

Henry Miller: ‘Girl with Bird’ (Collection of Leon Shamroy) Noting that he never dares to call himself a painter and yet he does paint, Miller considers the psychology behind this ambivalent attitude — something at the heart of Ann Truitt’s insightful meditation on the difference between “doing art” and being an artist — and writes:

I turn to painting when I can no longer write. Painting refreshes and restores me; it enables me to forget that I am temporarily unable to write. So I paint while the reservoir replenishes itself.

This, of course, is a strategy that many celebrated creators used — Madeleine L’Engle read science to enrich her writing and Einstein, who termed his creative process “combinatory play,”, is said to have come up with his greatest physics breakthroughs during his violin breaks. But it also makes sense under more formal psychological models of how creativity works, all of which require some form of incubation period, or what Alexander Graham Bell called “unconscious cerebration” — a stage during which “no effort of a direct nature” is made toward one’s creative goal and the mind is instead allowed to perform its essential background processing.

This notion comes very much alive in Miller’s account of those early days when he first became besotted with painting and its singular way of seeing the world:

Though my mind was intensely active, for I was seeing everything in a new light, the impression I had was of painting with some other part of my being. My mind went on humming, like a wheel that continues to spin after the hand has let go, but it didn’t get frazzled and exhausted as it would after a few hours of writing. While I played, for I never looked on it as work, I whistled, hummed, danced on one foot, then the other, and talked to myself.

It was a joy to go on turning [paintings] out like a madman — perhaps because I didn’t have to prove anything, either to the world or to myself. I wasn’t hepped on becoming a painter. Not at all. I was simply wiggling out of the strait-jacket.

He draws a further contrast between painting and writing in their respective effects on the creator’s psyche:

I enjoy talking to painters more than to writers… Painters give me the impression of being less used up by their daily task than writers or musicians. Also, they use words in a more plastic way, as if conscious of their very substantial originals. When they write … they reveal a poetic touch which writers often lack. Perhaps this is due to living continuously with flesh, textures, objects, and not merely with ideas, abstractions, complexes. Often they are mimes or story tellers, and nearly always good cooks. The writer, on the other hand, is so often pale, awkward, incompetent in everything except the business of putting words together.

The disposition of the painter and the writer, Miller observes with the warm wryness of someone very much aware that he is first a writer, differs not only in their psychic state during creation but also in how each relates to their finished work:

To paint is to love again, live again, see again. To get up at the crack of dawn in order to take a peek at the water colors one did the day before, or even a few hours before, is like stealing a look at the beloved while she sleeps. The thrill is even greater if one has first to draw back the curtains. How they glow in the cold light of early dawn! … Is there any writer who rouses himself at daybreak in order to read the pages of his manuscript? Perish the thought!

And yet Miller notes that many celebrated writers were also “painters, musicians, actors, ambassadors, mathematicians,” of which he observes:

When one is an artist all mediums open up… Every artist worth his salt has his [hobby]. It’s the norm, not the exception.

Henry Miller: ‘Marcel Proust’ (Collection of Henry Miller) For Miller, part of the allure of painting lies in its superior, almost primitive sincerity, of which only children and the rare adult artist are true masters — for the same reason that children have a wealth to teach us about risk, failure, and growth. Miller writes:

For me the paintings of children belong side by side with the works of the masters… The work of a child never fails to make appeal, to claim us, because it is always honest and sincere, always imbued with the magic certitude born of the direct, spontaneous approach.

Paul Klee … had the ability to return us to the world of the child as well as to that of the poet, the mathematician, the alchemist, the seer. In the paintings of Paul Klee we are privileged to witness the miracle of the pedagogue slaying the pedagogue. He learned in order to forget, it would seem. He was a spiritual nomad endowed with the most sensitive palps… He almost never failed, and he never, never, never said too much.

Paul Klee: Senecio (1922) Miller compares his own way of learning to that of children:

We all learn as much as we wish to and no more. We learn in different ways, sometimes by not learning…. My way is by trial and error, by groping, stumbling, questioning.

Noting that very few American painters excite him at all — among the exceptions he admiringly cites Georgia O’Keeffe and Jackson Pollock — Miller condemns the toxic effect of consumerism, something he had spiritedly condemned three decades earlier, on the creative spirit:

To paint is to love again, and to love is to live to the fullest. But what kind of love, what sort of life can one hope to find in a vacuum cluttered with every conceivable gadget, every conceivable money maker, every last comfort, every useless luxury? To live and love, and to give expression to it in paint, one must also be a true believer. There must be something to worship. Where in this broad land is the Holy of Holies hidden?

The practice of any art demands more than mere savoir faire. One must not only be in love with what one does, one must also know how to make love. In love self is obliterated. Only the beloved counts. Whether the beloved be a bowl of fruit, a pastoral scene, or the interior of a bawdy house makes no difference. One must be in it and of it wholly. Before a subject can be transmuted aesthetically it must be devoured and absorbed. If it is a painting it must perspire with ecstasy.

Echoing Nietzsche’s conviction that a full life requires embracing rather than running from difficulty, he adds:

The lure of the master lies in the struggle he engenders… [In America] for everything which taxes our patience, our skill, our understanding, we have short cuts… Only the art of love, it would seem, still defies the short cut.

Decades before Lewis Hyde’s now-legendary manifesto for the gift economy and half a century before its modern-day counterpart, Amanda Palmer’s manifesto for the art of asking, Miller writes:

Certainly the surest way to kill an artist is to supply him with everything he needs. Materially he needs but little. What he never gets enough of is appreciation, encouragement, understanding. I have seen painters give away their most cherished work on the impulse of the moment, sometimes in return for a good meal, sometimes for a bit of love, sometimes for no reason at all — simply because it pleased them to do so. And I have seen these same men refuse to sell a cherished painting no matter what the sum offered. I believe that a true artist always prefers to give his work away rather than sell it. A good artist must also have a streak of insanity in him, if by insanity is meant an exaggerated inability to adapt. The individual who can adapt to this mad world of to-day is either a nobody or a sage. In the one case he is immune to art and in the other he is beyond it.

Henry Miller: ��A Bridge Somewhere’ (Collection of Howard Welch) Miller traces this purity of intention back to one of his first mentors and greatest influences, the painter Lilik Schatz, who never condemned Miller’s lack of technique in painting but had no tolerance for “lack of feeling, lack of daring.” Miller quotes Schatz’s memorable advice:

Do anything you like, but do it with conviction!

For their sincerity and integrity of conviction, Miller held painters in high regard his whole life. He describes them as “all lovable souls, and some … possessed of a wisdom altogether uncommon.” Even though these impressions were based on Miller’s friendships with a number of prominent artists, including Man Ray and Beauford Delaney, he remains most moved by the great photographer Alfred Stieglitz, a man of “vigorous, youthful spirit” and “unique way of looking at things”:

No one had ever talked painting to me the way Stieglitz did. It wasn’t his talk alone either, but the look in his eyes which accompanied it. That he was not a painter amazed me…. If ever the artist had a friend, a spokesman, a champion defender, it was in the person of Alfred Stieglitz… He was one of the very few Americans … whose approach to a work of art inspired reverence for the artist, for his work, for art itself. Lucky for us who come under his spell that he was not a painter, that he had created for himself the role of interpreter and defender.

Miller’s deep appreciation for such champions of the artist echoes, coincidentally, what Georgia O’Keeffe — the love of Stieglitz’s life, and a legendary artist whose own career was sparked by a friend’s unflinching faith — once wrote of the only true measure of success in art. In a sentiment that Robert Krulwich would come to echo half a century later in his magnificent commencement address on the importance of “friends in low places,” Miller extols the enormous spiritual value of such supporters:

Usually the artist has two life-long companions, neither of his own choosing… — poverty and loneliness. To have a friend who understands and appreciates your work, one who never lets you down but who becomes more devoted, more reverent, as the years go by, that is a rare experience. It takes only one friend, if he is a man of faith, to work miracles.

Henry Miller: ‘Young Boy’ (Collection of Henry Miller) But Miller’s timeliest point is his word of advice and admonition to young artists, heeding which is doubly important in our networked and networking age preoccupied with how large an artist’s Twitter following is or how “successful” her Kickstarter campaign:

How distressing it is to hear young painters talking about dealers, shows, newspaper reviews, rich patrons, and so on. All that comes with time — or will never come. But first one must make friends, create them through one’s work. What sustains the artist is the look of love in the eyes of the beholder. Not money, not the right connections, not exhibitions, not flattering reviews.

Miller intuits with great poetic precision what we now know empirically about grit being more important than “genius”:

To win through by sheer force of genius is one thing; to survive and continue to create when every last door is slammed in one’s face is another. Nobody acquires genius — it is God-given. But one can acquire patience, fortitude, wisdom, understanding. Perhaps the greatest gift [is] to love what one does whether it causes a stir or not.

In yet another stroke of prescience, Miller reveals himself as an early proponent of the pay-what-you-wish model of funding creative endeavor — the model that makes Brain Pickings possible — and adds:

Who knows what is good for man in this life? Poverty is one of the misfortunes people seem to dread even more than sickness… But is it so dreadful? For me this seemingly bleak period was a most instructive one, because not being able to write for money I had to turn to something else to keep going. It could have been shining shoes; it happened to be water colors. To make water colors for money never gave me the least qualm. I set no price on my labors. Whatever the buyer chose to offer, whatever he thought he could afford, no matter how ridiculous the sum, I said yes… I earned just enough to keep my head above water. It was like writing songs and getting paid to whistle them.

Henry Miller: ‘Clown’ (Collection of Hoki Miller)

Having written about the beautiful osmosis of giving and receiving nearly three decades earlier, Miller closes with a wonderfully touching personal anecdote — the kind found in Charles Bukowski’s beautiful letter of gratitude to his first patron. Illustrating the mutually ennobling effects of this kindness economy, Miller recounts one such early friendly spirit to whom he owes his creative destiny:

All this good fortune — of being able to work like a dog in happy poverty — was the result of a chance encounter with Attilio Bowinkel who ran an art shop in Westwood Village. One day I entered his shop to buy two tubes of paint. I asked for the cheapest water colors he had. When he asked me if that was all I needed I told him frankly that that was all I could afford at the moment. Whereupon the good Mr. Bowinkel put me a few discreet but pertinent queries. I answered briefly and truthfully. Then he said, and I shall never forget it: “Choose what you like … paper, paints, brushes, whatever you need. It’s a gift.” A few days later he came to the Green House to inspect my work. I blushed when I showed him what I had on hand. He didn’t say whether they were good or bad but on leaving he took a few with him, and the next day, on passing his shop, I noticed two of them in the window, beautifully framed. They were sold that very day, to Arthur Freed of M.G.M., a collector of modern European paintings… In Attilio Bowinkel I found a friend and a saviour.

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imwastingmylifeinhere · 7 years ago

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Magnus Chase and the Obligatory Hogwarts Au Ch21

(My parents were asleep and the keys were in their room, I had to climb out of the door's window to go post this on the stairs. The things I do for you) The second task is here! Just so you know, when I told my sister what this task was going to be she looked me dead in the eye and told “Wow, Dumbledore must be jealous he didn’t think of that” and “Oh, shit. Please tell me they have cursed at you for what you write”. So, yeah. Also, if you think the chapter with the first task was big you haven’t seen anything. This thing is almost 10.7k words. Yes, it’s big, but I assume you don’t mind that. Anyway, time for the pain. Enjoy!

Dating Alex Fierro was great. Actually, great was an understatement. It was bloody fucking amazing. And no, he wasn’t overreacting. (Okay, maybe a little bit, but cut him some slack.)

Since they got together right before Christmas and everybody left for the holidays, they had all the time in the world to go on as many dates as they wanted and boy, did they take advantage of that. They were out of the house pretty much every day, sometimes doing little more than just walking around holding hands, but Magnus loved it nonetheless.

They’d walk around London hand in hand, bundled up in warm clothes and just enjoy the city and the festive atmosphere. They’d visit some park – whichever they stumbled upon – and play in the snow. They’d make a competition out of building things from snow and Alex always won but then Magnus would through snow at her and they’d start a snowball fight. One time, a little kid asked if he could play too and soon enough every child in the park was divided between the two of them and they were having the most epic snowball war in history.

They’d eat lunch outside and they wouldn’t go back at Perthro until it was time for diner, after which they’d cuddle up on Magnus’s bed and watch a movie (or multiple movies). Making Alex leave his room when it was time to go to sleep was probably the most difficult thing because Alex would just cling on him more, make puppy eyes at him and kiss him to distract him (she was a cuddler and Magnus was like her own personal heater, don’t judge her). It worked and she would win one extra hour before Magnus made her leave. They didn’t need another awkward talk from Blitzen and Hearthstone.

Their teachers and guardians picked up on the fact that they were together fast, probably because Alex would tease Magnus all the time to make him blush and once she succeeded she’d call him cute and kiss him on the cheek.

…Yeah, they weren’t subtle.

And that lack of subtlety lead to them being sat down by Blitzen and Hearthstone so they could be given the Talk. The whole thing ended with Magnus and Alex blushing like mad and knowing where the, um, “safe products” were kept. Needless to say they weren’t eager for a repeat of that conversation.

The same routine went on for the entirety of the holidays and Magnus couldn’t be happier. The message on the parchment and the Task he would have to compete in next were completely forgotten until he stepped foot on the Hogwarts Express.

They were walking to their compartment at the train, hands clasped between them as Magnus talked about that to Alex, letting his boyfriend today know about his worries concerning the Second Task.

“Hey,” Alex said as he squeezed Magnus’s hand to make him look at him. The familiar feeling of Alex’s hand in his helped to calm him down, but he could still feel the worry creeping up his spine like a snake.

“It’s going to be alright,” Alex said. “You’re gonna go out there and mop the floor with Helga’s face and you’re going to be awesome while doing it, I’m sure of it.” Alex leaned forward to kiss Magnus on the lips and Magnus smiled into the kiss.

It was then that the door of the compartment opened and T.J walked out. “I’m going to go find-“ he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Magnus and Alex kissing in front of the compartment and he turned back to their friends. “Found them!”

Magnus was flushing brighter than a light bulb as they walked into their compartment, their friends all looking at them and their joint hands with big smiles on their faces.

“Well, we were gonna have to tell them somehow,” Alex amended, not sounding guilty at all. Magnus would have glared at him if he wasn’t too busy glaring at Mallory who was wiggling her eyebrows at them. “Guys, Magnus and I are dating. This dork is mine!”

“It’s about time!” Mallory yelled.

“If you took any longer we would have tried to set you up,” T.J, who was plopped down next to Mallory, said. “Honestly, we were expecting you to get together by the Yule Ball at the latest.”

“That’s when we got together, actually,” Alex said as he and Magnus sat down next to Sam, who smiled at them and gave them thumbs up. “I call dibs on best woman at the wedding,” she whispered into Magnus’s ear, making the blonde go red and glare at her before he got an idea and whispered to her, “Only if I’m best man at your wedding with Amir.” Sam blushed redder than a tomato and Magnus felt satisfied.

“I knew it!” T.J yelled as he jumped to his feet, fists up in the air in victory. “In knew that’s when you’d get together! Mallory, Sam, pay up!”

“You betted on us?” Magnus asked incredulous.

As Mallory and Sam were digging in their pockets for their money, T.J looked at Magnus over his shoulder with the most confused expression in the world, like Magnus had just asked him if fish can swim. “Well, duh.”

Magnus couldn’t help himself; he burst out laughing. It was there, laughing with his friends in a compartment in the Hogwarts Express like they always did, that Magnus was able to put his worries about the second task aside for now. It was going to be fine, like Alex said. How much worse than the First Task could it be?

///

Magnus could only wish that he was feeling that confident a few weeks later, at the morning of the Second Task. He was already wearing his uniform for the Task, and so was Raphael, who was having breakfast at the Beauxbatons table. Strangely enough, Louis wasn’t by his side today and it surprised Magnus to say the least – those two were practically joined at the hip. He didn’t ponder on it for long, though; Louis could simply have slept in late, or maybe he was in the kitchens stress-baking. Besides, he had his own troubles to worry about – like the fact he kept postponing figuring out the riddle in favor of spending time with Alex.

He just – he forgot about it. He told himself he would work on it during the holidays, but then he and Alex got together and it flew out of his mind. He’d then tell himself it didn’t matter and that he still had time to solve it when school started again but then they got back at Hogwarts and Magnus would put it aside in favor of dates and cuddling and even studying together. So yeah – he forgot. Damn Alex and her nice kisses!

Speaking of Alex, the green-haired troublemaker was nowhere to be seen. Magnus hadn’t seen her since yesterday, when they had spent the afternoon together at the Room of Requirement, just hanging out and working on homework (and kissing) to get Magnus to relax before the Second Task.

“Are you sure you haven’t seen Alex around?” Magnus asked as he played around with the food on his plate.

“I had gone to sleep before she came back to our dorm, but her bed was made this morning so she must have left before we woke up,” Mallory said casually. It wasn’t weird for Alex to come back to their dorm late – she did that a lot when she was working on a drawing and needed to get a change of scenery.

Still, that didn’t reassure Magnus a lot. He heard Sam and Mallory complain about Alex never making her bed hundreds of times – something in him doubted that if she suddenly wanted to draw in the morning she’d take the time make her bed. He wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t even put clothes on because she was too busy drawing!

He didn’t get to ask his friends any more questions because the bell soon sounded and the students run out of the Hall of the Slain excitedly, eager to see what the Second Task had to offer.

“Good luck, Magnus!” Sam called out to him as he was making his way to the back door of the dining hall, like Headmaster Odin had instructed him.

“Kick their asses, Magnus!” Mallory yelled, her cupped hands making a cone in front of her mouth to make sure everyone in a ten kilometers radius will hear her.

“Go show them who’s boss!” T.J cheered, fist pumping in the air. Magnus smiled at them and gave them a thumbs up before walking through the door.

The three Headmasters were waiting for them in the back room. Raphael and Helga were already there and Raphael waved at him with a smile. Magnus returned the silent greeting as they all sat down on a bench so the Headmasters could explain to them what the task would be about.

Or, that’s what Magnus thought they’d do, but instead their explanation was just as cryptic as the riddle from bottle. Apparently the task relied heavily on them not knowing much about what they were going to face. The pre-task speech was more about the importance of fair play than anything else and Magnus soon found himself tuning it out – and from what he could see, Raphael and Helga were doing the same thing.

He started repeating the riddle in his head, trying to see what he could come up with.

In dusty corridors you will find us. That’s the location of the Task, but it told him little more than the fact they would compete in a closed space.

And know our guards will not let us go without a fuss. That, along with the line after the next, what they guard you need to save that for which you care unconditionally, made it clear to Magnus that they would have to take something that someone was guarding, but he wasn’t sure what that something was or what they would need to save with it.

As for the guards themselves, they only had three characteristics to go off of and Magnus really regretted not taking his time to research that part to see what they might be referring to.

The last two lines were the time limit, but what send chills down Magnus’s spine was the last line. Too late – we’re sorry, your treasure is gone. It brought back memories of the night four years ago, the scorching heat of the flames as the home he had spent his whole life in burned down around him, his mother trapped under the remains of their ceiling.

“Alright, let’s get going,” Headmaster Sonia said as she gestured at the door leading back to the dining hall. The three Champions got up from their bench and stood behind the Headmasters, their expressions deadly serious. They all knew what they were about to take part in wasn’t going to be a walk through the park.

The moment the door opened and Magnus stepped back into the Hall of the Slain he was greeted by the cacophony of voices from the stands. The hall had been cleared from tables, looking like it did when Magnus and the other Hufflepuffs decorated it for the Halloween party. The stands were the audience was sitting were mounted on the walls, like balconies in a theater. Magnus noticed his friends on one of the balconies, their eyes locked on him. His stomach dropped when he saw that Alex wasn’t there and he realized why when he looked at the middle of the hall.

There, in the middle of the room were three long tables arranged in a triangle, each with its own cauldron and items needed to brew a potion. In front of the tables was what made Magnus’s blood run cold in his veins – Alex’s body was lying motionless like a corpse on a table, her eyes closed and her cheeks devoid of color. She looked like a dead body waiting to be dressed before a funeral and Magnus hated thinking of her like that.

“A-Alex!” Magnus found himself crying out as he ran forward to where Alex was lying. He grabbed her hand immediately and he gasped at how cold her skin was. His fingers fumbled as her tried to take her pulse and he almost dropped her hand once in his hurry. His eyes burned with unshed tears and he felt his heart stop beating when he wasn’t able to feel a pulse.

“No no no no no…” He kept chanting his mantra without realizing as he moved his hands, hoping with everything he had that he had made a mistake, that Alex wasn’t – that she wasn’t-

She’s not dead. She’s not dead. She can’t be dead. Merlin almighty, please let her not be dead.

But he felt nothing, nothing but cold waxy skin –

Thump thump thump.

Magnus let out the breath his was holding when he felt Alex’s pulse underneath his fingertips. He smiled relieved, but the smile soon fell from his face when he realized how slow and faint it was.

“Louis! Louis! Mon cher, s’il te plait, reveille toi!” Raphael was by Louis’s side, holding the blonde’s face in his hands and whispering French at him. Yet as much as he talked and cried out, Louis remained unmoving.

“Agatha!” Helga was standing by Agatha’s body, her knees trembling visibly, her palms covering her mouth as if they would stop her crying from coming out. Her knees seemed to give out and she rushed forward, taking Agatha into her arms. She held her friend in her arms as she mumbled rapidly in Swedish – “Fan, snälla vakna, jag ber dig, vakna”. She cupped Agatha’s face gently before moving her hand downwards to her slender neck and feeling for her pulse.

“Champions!” Headmaster Gilbert called out. “Please step aside from your friends!”

“What’s going on?” Raphael was looking at the Headmasters but he didn’t stop cradling Louis’s head in his hands. Agatha was still in Helga’s arms and Magnus was holding Alex’s hand in both of his own.

“We will explain shortly, but please step aside for now.” As much as they didn’t want to, the three Champions stepped away from their significant others and friend like they were told to, if only just barely.

“Students of Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, my dear guests, it’s time for the Second Task of the Triwizard Tournament!” Headmaster Odin’s cheery tone felt very out of place as Magnus held onto Alex’s cold hand. “As you know, each Champion got a bottle with a piece of parchment inside at the end of the last task. On that parchment was a clue about today’s task.”

Headmaster Sonia went on to recite the poem from the parchment as Magnus let his eyes wander back down to Alex’s body. She looked so calm. One could have assumed she was just sleeping if it wasn’t for her being a bit to still, her breathing a bit too slow, her skin a bit too cold. It was so easy for his mind to replace their surroundings with crumbling walls and scorching flames.

“On each table is parchment,” Headmaster Gilbert went on. “On the parchment is a lead to the first of three special ingredients necessary to heal their friends. Each one of them has been given a slow-acting poison. It will take two more hours for it to take full effect. In that time they must get all three ingredients and brew the antidote according to the instructions they will find on their table. The-“

“You what?” A loud, furious voice interrupted the Beauxbatons’s Headmaster. Helga had put Agatha back down on the table carefully and was now walking to the Headmasters like a soldier on a mission. Her shoulders were held back, her brows were furrowed and her eyes seemed to have fire burning inside them – she looked like she was willing to bring down a building to get what she wanted.

“You mean to tell me you poisoned three students, you poisoned Agatha, all for your stupid Tournament?” Venom dripped from her every word and she was glaring at the Headmasters so hard it was a wonder they hadn’t dropped dead on the spot. For the first time since he met her, Magnus found himself agreeing with Helga.

“Miss Leifsson, please calm down,” Headmaster Odin said as he put a hand on Helga’s shoulder. She whipped around to him and threw his hand off her like she wanted to break it.

“Don’t you dare tell me to calm down! I knew this Tournament was dangerous and I was prepared for that when I put my name in the Goblet, but you have no right to put Agatha in danger like this!”

“Miss Leifsson.” The stern voice of Headmaster Sonia made Helga turn around. “I suggest you leave your complains about the Tournament for later.” Helga opened her mouth to talk but her Headmaster cut her off. “If we have this discussion now it will cause your friend valuable time.”

That seemed to finally calm Helga down, or at least enough so that she looked like she was only thinking about murdering the teachers in front of her instead of being on the brink of doing it. “Alright,” she said with a tight voice and moved back to her table.

“I believe we are now ready to start,” Headmaster Odin said. “Like last time, the floating cameras will be showing the Champions’ progress to the audience. Champions, please take the parchment in your hands.”

Magnus didn’t want to let go of Alex’s hand. He knew what happened to his mother when he let her go that night in the fire; he didn’t want the same to happen again.

It won’t, he told himself with all the confidence he could master. You’ll save her. You’ll get those goddamn ingredients and make the antidote. You can do something this time.

He took the parchment in his hands.

“Get ready.”

He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath. He could swear the air around him was getting warmer, like he was standing inside an over. He could hear the crackling of flame in his ears.

“Set.”

Focus. You have this. You can do it. Alex won’t burn.

“Go!”

Magnus untied the thin string that was holding the parchment together and opened it. One of the floating cameras was flying over his shoulder, showing the message of the parchment on the screen.

“My guardian’s bite is worse than its growl you’ll find me in the room of souls. They have tales to tell but they have no voice; they have scenes to show but they have no sight.”

Magnus’s first thought was that the ‘room of souls’ referred to ghosts, but then the last two lines made no sense – Magnus knew plenty of ghosts in Hogwarts and not one of them was close to having no voice. He couldn’t think of any ghosts that were blind either, so that ruled ghosts out.

Paintings were ruled out in much the same way. He raked his brain to figure out what it was the riddle was referring to. The ‘room of souls’ wasn’t much help, so he focused on the last lines. Stories told with no voice, scenes shown with no sight… No sound, no pictures…

Magnus’s eyes widened as he realized were he needed to go. He scrunched the parchment in his hand, not bothering to fold it, and run out of the Hall of the Slain as fast as he could with the bag he found on the table hanging from his shoulder.

“Magnus Chase is leaving the dining hall, ladies and gentlemen! It seems like he has figured out the riddle!” Professor Thor was the announcer once more and hearing his cheery voice made Magnus’s pulse pick up with rage. You’re commenting on a competition with people’s lives in the line! You shouldn’t sound happy!

Magnus was running down the corridor, his steps almost as loud as the beating of his heart. There was a bad, sour taste in his mouth at the thought of what would happen if he took one wrong step, if he was a minute late, but he pushed it down. Don’t think about it. Focus on the task.

He saw the floating cameras flying by his side but he paid it no mind, letting his legs follow the path he had taken so many times in his seven years at Hogwarts. Yet the familiar halls felt strange and cold now without the students milling about. The knowledge that Alex’s life was in the line made the once well known castle feel unwelcome.

He turned the corner and run into the Hogwarts library. The bookcases were pushed to the side, making a wide corridor was created down the middle to the windows. Magnus realized what the room of souls must have meant; this was a room full of books, works that their authors had poured blood, sweat and tears into. He had heard people saying that a book held a little bit of the author’s soul in it (the librarian in his old neighborhood would say that), but that was still a very dramatic way to describe a library.

Magnus recognized the window where his favorite table was, the place he had studied at so many times and exchanged gifts with his friends at Christmas.

Sitting in front of that very window was a large beast. Its body was that of a lion, its golden fur glistening in the light coming in from the windows. But instead of a lion’s head it had a human one, its long hair looking like a mane. It’s face looked human enough, but the closer Magnus got the more details he was able to make out. Its eyes were yellow and its pupils silted, its nose resembled a snout and sharp teeth picked out from its lips.

Magnus knew what it was very well. A Sphinx.

Behind it, inside a glass box, was a vial of purple liquid.

“Ah, so you are the first Champion that has come to try and solve my riddles.” The beast’s voice was low and it reminded Magnus of a lion’s growl. He recalled the line in the riddle and his stomach dropped when he remembered what a Sphinx does to anyone who can’t answer its riddles.

“I have to admit, you’re shorter than I expected,” the Sphinx went on. “But then again, a man’s intelligence is not measured by his physical might. I should know, I’ve eaten many a strongmen with not a drop of knowledge in their heads.” The Sphinx shrugged, Magnus never though he would have seen a lion (or someone with a lion’s body) shrug. “They were tasty snacks.”

“What’s your riddle?” Magnus asked as confidently as he could. Yet as much as he tried to make his voice sound even he knew it trembled a bit at the end, that his hands were sweating way too much where they were clenched by his sides.

The Sphinx frowned at Magnus before sighing deeply. “Now, don’t be so serious. Let’s have some fun, shall we?”

Magnus would have protested that he has no time to have fun with a beast that could easily kill him when his girlfriend’s life was in danger but the words stuck in his throat when the Sphinx started getting up. It stood up on its hind legs, easily two heads taller than the bookcases. Magnus pictured really clearly how easy it would be for the beast to pick him up by his head and eat him like a piece of falafel.

The Sphinx gave a sharp jab at the wall with its elbow. The curtains by the windows fell closed, plunging the room in shadow. Then, as Magnus was looking around alarmed, a spotlight fell on the Sphinx, making its hair glow under the light. It pulled a bowtie and a top hat from somewhere inside its mane and looked at Magnus with a smirk on its lips.

“It’s time for everyone’s favorite game, ‘Riddles and Disembowelment’!”

Magnus was left speechless as a two shining blue podiums rolled in, not unlike those in game-shows. The one that stopped in front of the Sphinx had a shining name plate on it that read “Alfred the Sphinx”. The one that must be for Magnus had a name plate reading “Fool #1”.

“Please, take your place!” The Sphinx – Alfred – said, gesturing to Magnus’s podium with a paw. Magnus went there quietly, still very confused about what he was seeing. Did someone slip something into his food this morning?

“The rules of the game are simple,” Alfred started, wearing that stupid game-show host smile on his lips. “I tell you three riddles and you have as much time as you want to answer them. If you answer at least two correctly, you can get your reward.” He gestured at the glass case. “If you don’t get at least two correct, well, that’s better for me, I suppose!” Magnus saw Alfred’s paw press down slightly and a recorded laugh track rang out in the library. Magnus wondered if the laugh track would play while Alfred ate him, but he decided not to think too much about that.

“So, should we start?” Alfred asked with a wide smile that showed all of his sharp teeth. Well, that just helps my confidence.

Despite the fear coursing through him at the sight of those teeth, Magnus nodded. “Yes.”

Alfred seemed delighted by his answer and he smiled even wider. “Alright! First riddle!” The Sphinx took of his top hat and made a big show of searching inside it, moving his paw inside it a lot and making faces, as if he was consecrating very hard on this. Finally, he pulled his paw out with a loud “Aha!” It was a bizarre enough sight as it was but what made it weirder was the dramatic music playing in the background.

“How do you build a house whose every wall faces the south?” Alfred said the question the same way every game-show host did; in a stern, deadly serious voice, with pauses between words for extra dramatic effect.

Magnus repeated the riddle in his head, trying to figure it out. It was weird how he felt confident he’ll be able to solve the riddles easily a moment ago yet the second it was asked his mind went blank.

He tried to see if it would be possible for a house like that to be build in any normal neighborhood, but that was quickly scrapped. Even if two walls faced the south at an angle, the other two would face the north. Then he thought of building it in the South Pole and he almost opened his mouth to answer. Alfred raised an eyebrow at him but Magnus shut his mouth as he realized that if the house was in the most southern point in the earth all its walls would face north.

So, then…

“You build it in the north pole,” he said. “This way, everything else will be south from it.”

Magnus couldn’t deny that his heart was beating louder in anticipation as Alfred’s remained serious, giving him no clue as to whether he was correct or not. The dramatic music rose steadily in tempo and after a good minute of looking straight into the contestant’s eyes, like any good game-show host should, Alfred spoke.

“And that was…” A wide grin spread across the Sphinx’s face. “Correct!”

A recorded applause started playing when Alfred slapped the podium in excitement over Magnus’s correct answer.

“Let’s move on to the next riddle then! You have a room with a single light-bulb inside and three switches outside the room. The door of the room is closed, you can only open it and go inside once and you can’t leave it open. How do you figure out which is the correct switch?”

Magnus scrunched his eyebrows and ducked down his head, drawing designs in the slick surface of the podium so he wouldn’t get confused. His first thought was that you just open and close the switches with the door open, but the Alfred said he couldn’t leave it open.

How do you know if the light is on in a room with a closed door?

Memories came back to Magnus suddenly, his young self clutching his goat plushy as he looked up and down the hall for his mother after a nightmare. He’d see the light spilling out from the crack under his mother’s bedroom and he’d run to her, tears almost falling from his eyes.

“You turn on and off each switch and look under the crack in the door to see if any light is coming through.”

Once more, Magnus didn’t know immediately if what he said was correct because of that goddamn dramatic music. Who made that music, anyway? Because it was getting annoying. There was even a part that sounded like someone had told a five year old to count to five and then press the same stupid piano note.

“That was….” More of that blasted drum roll. “Wrong! Oh, too bad!”

Booing sounded out in the library and Magnus was considering taking whatever sound box this Sphinx had and making him eat it. I don’t have time for this! I need to get to Alex!

“The correct answer is this,” the Sphinx started. “You turn on the first switch and leave it on for a few minutes. After you turn it off, you turn on the second one and open the door. If the light is one the correct switch is the second. If the light is off and the light-bulb is hot it’s the first switch and if it’s cold it’s the third one.”

Magnus felt like hitting his head on something for not thinking of that. (Or maybe he could hit Alfred’s head on something.)

“Aww, don’t be like that! You still have one last riddle!” Alfred’s over-exaggerated sympathy wasn’t really helping him much – Magnus was still annoyed at him. Why are all show hosts like this?

“Of course,” the Sphinx continued, “it’ll be the most difficult one, but people love an underdog, right?” More of that blasted applause track.

“If I don’t answer it correctly you’ll eat me, right?” Magnus wasn’t sure why he asked. Maybe he wanted to make sure that if he died today at least Alfred would make his corpse into a healthy meal.

“Eat you?” Alfred started laughing, his laughter just as exaggerated as everything else he did. “Oh, please, do you know how unhealthy humans are? If I ate you not only would I be in trouble with the Ministry and have to pay a heavy fine but I’d get indigestion for two weeks! Nah, I’ll just have a limb. Probably from the knee below too, to be honest. I prefer females. They have juicier meat.”

Magnus took that in quietly. There was something very bizarre about a giant cat with a human face speaking about you like meat at the butcher’s.

“Anyway, enough with my dietary habits, time for the last riddle!” The music’s tempo picked as did Magnus’s heartbeat. He had to get this one right. If he didn’t get this one right Alex would be a goner and he’d be a limb shorter.

“You have ten sacks of gold coins. Each sack was a hundred coins at the most. Each coin weights 10 grams but one sack has fake coins that weight 9 grams. You can weigh the coins, but only once and you’re not allowed to take or add anything to what you weigh. How do you know which sack has the fake coins?”

Magnus’s eyes widened as he heard the riddle and he gulped. Oh great, he’s back at math class. “Can I have a piece of paper and a pencil?” he asked.

“Oh, of course.” The Sphinx handed him what he asked for and he got to work.

First, he tried to calculate how much each sack would weigh. But the riddle never specified how many coins were in each sack; it just said it they had a hundred coins max. So then what about calculating how much ten coins from each bag would weight? That’s 100 coins that weigh 1000 grams. If one sack has face coins then ten of those coins would weigh 90 grams and the total weigh would be 990 grams instead of 1000. But then that doesn’t tell you which sack has the fakes. So then…

Magnus did a few quick calculations before allowing himself to grin. Yes, this must be it!

“Do you have the answer?” Alfred asked. The music was low and ominous.

“Yes.” Magnus’s heart was beating louder than the music and something in him told him to stop and reconsider, but he had two more ingredients to find and he couldn’t afford staying here any longer. “You weigh one coin from sack number one, two from the second, three from the third and so on. That should give you a total weight of 550 grams for 55 coins if all coins were real, but one sack has fakes, so it’ll be less than that. You know what sack has the fakes because of how many grams are missing. If the final weight is, for example, 547 grams you’re missing three grams, so the one with the fakes is the third sack.”

Magnus let out a breath when he finished his answer. The music had become white noise and he no longer paid attention to it. Alfred’s expression was truly surprised, his silted eyes wide and his mouth hanging wide.

“I… wow. That’s the one most people get wrong,” he said quietly and Magnus was so surprised by the fact his reaction wasn’t over-the-top that it almost didn’t register in him. “Well, guess I’m not having you as a snack today! You won!”

“Magnus Chase has done it! The Hogwarts Champion has managed to get the first ingredient!” Magnus could hear Professor Thor making announcements from somewhere as ‘We are the Champions’ started playing in the library.

Confetti burst out from somewhere behind the bookcases and Alfred handed Magnus the glass box and the key that opened it. Magnus snatched the key out of the Sphinx’s paw faster than he thought he could and opened the box, putting the vial inside his back. Under the vial was a slip of parchment.

He run out of the library with a hasty bye (he knew creatures like Sphinxes valued manners) and read the message on the parchment.

“Come find me quick ‘cause I’m afraid of heights. To my guardian, manners hold lots of weight. My guardian wants to take to the sky but he’s stuck underground. At least there’s a lot of space around.”

Magnus didn’t think much about and immediately started running for the dungeons. The guardian is stuck underground, so that’s obviously in the dungeons. Afraid of heights and a lot of space around… Magnus was finally glad for all the time he had spent wandering around the castle with Alex and Annabeth and Percy. He knew just were the second ingredient must be.

His steps sounded louder and louder the deeper he went into the dungeons, the sound echoing of the walls. The air was much more humid here, he could practically taste the moistness in the air. He run past the classrooms, past the corridor he knew lead to the Slytherin common room, past the locked storage rooms.

Finally, he found the room he was searching for. Magnus and Alex had found it back in fourth year, when he was showing Alex around the castle and she wanted to explore the dungeons. They found this room, circular and tall, taller than the dining hall, and they nicknamed it “Echo Room” because it their voices echoed really loudly there. They spent a little more than half an hour here, yelling stupid things at the top of their voices. Magnus really wished he was there again to hear Alex yell “I WANT A DIVORCE” and “MOTHERFUCKING GOLD SHITTING DUCKS” instead of trying to get ingredients for the antidote to the poison she was given.

The room was used for storage, like most unused rooms in the dungeons, and it was one of those rooms that was completely forgotten. Everything inside it – old broken desks, filling cabinets, chairs, bookcases of yellow-paged books – were covered by a thick blanket of dust. Alex had joked that sneezing inside here would create a dust-storm.

And in the middle of the room, inside an object-free clearing, stood a Hippogriff. The feathers on its head were snow-white and they changed to brown at its neck. Its horse hind legs matched the color of its brown feathers perfectly. Its black tail and its wings twitched irritably, its large talons scratched at the ground. Magnus knew it really didn’t want to be down here, trapped under the weight of the whole castle, and its annoyance meant trouble for Magnus.

One wrong step and I’ll get my eyes clawed out.

He took slow steps around the room, making sure to stick to the unused objects lining the walls. He knew the winged beast wouldn’t attack him if he kept his distance and that’s what he did as he looked around for where the next potion ingredient was. Yet as much as he looked, opening cabinets and searching the top of bookcases, he couldn’t find it. He had circled the whole room and found nothing.

Afraid of heights, afraid of heights…

An idea came to him like a flash and he looked upwards. There, stuck to the ceiling, was a glass box with a bunch of some sort of weeds inside that Magnus couldn’t recognize from the ground.

Magnus gulped as he realized what he had to do and he steadied himself before taking the first step. He waited until the Hippogriff had turned to him and he locked eyes with the large beast. He remembered what he had learned at Care of Magical Creatures and he didn’t break eye contact with the winged beast.

Fortunately, the Hippogriff didn’t lunge at him. It recognized Magnus etiquette, that the human in front of it respected it and showed back the appropriate politeness. Magnus walked forward excruciatingly slow, careful not to make any sudden movements. When he was bet a few steps away from the Hippogriff, he bowed.

He stayed there – bowed over, the dusty floor the only thing he could see – for what seemed like a century. Every second felt like an hour, every beat of his heart like a week. All he could think was Alex on that table, cold and motionless, getting closer and closer to what he hated to think about with every moment he spent here. He wanted to get this over with, he wanted the Hippogriff to just bow back already so he could get the ingredient and save Alex.

Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the Hippogriff bowed down and Magnus saw its feathered head touch the ground. He waited until it stood up again and followed suit. He gently placed his hands at the side of the beast’s head and looked into its orange eyes. He knew attempting to ride a Hippogriff the first time he met it could be trouble but it was the only idea he had that didn’t result in him having one less eye.

“Please, may I ride on your back?” He asked slowly. He looked into the Hippogriffs eyes, trying to convey all the things he needed to tell it and couldn’t find the words for. “Please, it’s urgent. Alex… she…”

Thankfully, the Hippogriff seemed to understand the desperation in his eyes and made a crooning sound in the back of its throat. It bowed down its head again along with its legs, his body now low enough for Magnus to climb on.

Once on the beast’s back, Magnus wrapped his arms around the Hippogriff’s neck. “Up there,” he said, pointing to the ceiling. The Hippogriff seemed to understand because it made a high-pitched noise before jumping up in the air, its wings unfolding at each side of its body.

Magnus screamed despite himself; the sudden take off startling him and making him almost slipping off the Hippogriff. He managed to hold on, his hands clutching at the beast’s feathers. The Hippogriff flew in circles around the room, relishing in the feeling of finally using its wings. It didn’t indulge in it for too long though – it knew that the little human ridding on its back needed its help and it could cost such a polite human his mate.

Finally, the Hippogriff reached the highest point it could each inside the enclosed space. Magnus carefully stood up on the beast’s back, feeling the Hippogriff’s muscles move under his feet as it beat its wings. He reach up and screamed when he felt himself wobble, but he quickly spread his arms out to steady himself.

He tried again, his fingers brushing the cool glass. He found that this box didn’t have a lock and key like Alfred’s, but getting to the box was more challenge than finding a key. Opening the glass box, he reached his hand inside and took the small bunch off weeds along with the small parchment under it.

“Alright, I got it,” he said as he petted the back of the Hippogriff’s head. The Hippogriff responded with a happy cry and flew to the ground.

“And Magnus Chase has taken the second ingredient! He only needs one more before he can make the potion and save his treasure! The time that remains is an hour and five minutes!”

One more ingredient. One more and I can save Alex.

He turned back to the Hippogriff and bowed. “Thank you,” he said and then left the room. His feet carried him through the familiar halls without him thinking much about it. He unfolded the parchment as he turned a corner and he read the message written on it with dark ink.

“Come find me where the present, past and future are seen but know my guardian will show you things you won’t want to see. Be prepared, Champion, be brave; Fears cannot be easily tamed.”

Magnus cursed inwardly. The Divination classroom was at the other side of the castle – walking, it would take him twenty to twenty five minutes to get there from the dungeons. Taking that long was out of the question so he started running.

His feet hitting the stone floor sounded like the ticking of a clock, each step bringing him closer to the two-hour time limit. He run through the halls as fast as he could, his legs and lungs soon burning but he didn’t slow down. He would have enough time to collapse on the ground and pant after he saved Alex; right now he had not time to spare.

He pasted the empty classrooms, pasted the vacant corridors, the portraits on the walls looking at him with curiosity as he run by. His blood run through his veins so hard he could hear it in his ears and his heartbeat seemed to drown out all other sounds. He crossed paths with Raphael at one point, but they didn’t acknowledge each other past a quick glance – they both had something much more important to do now.

He reached the stairs that lead up the tower to the Divination classroom and climbed them two at a time. His legs were yelling at him to stop but he didn’t, not until he reached the top of the stairs. He let himself take a deep breath before sprinting to classroom. He had never taken this class, but Mallory and T.J had and he often came with them up here when he didn’t have a class and wanted to walk around. Even despite all the times he had come up here, he had never been inside the class.

The room was more like an attic than anything else; you had to open a trapdoor and pull down a folding ladder to get to it. Inside, the roof made a tall cone above his head. Tapestries decorated the walls and drapes were hung across the ceiling, making the room feel like the inside of a dark circus tent. The desks – meaning the low tables and cushions the students sat on – were pushed to the walls, leaving space in the middle of the room. Opposite Magnus, next to wooden chest, was a small table with the only source of light in the room on it, one lit candle on either side of the glass box. Inside it was a much smaller wooden box with a metal clasp at the front.

Magnus took a moment to look around, baffled by the absence of a guard. This was the last and final ingredient, he expected this to be the most difficult part and yet no one was around. Something in him didn’t like this, it seemed too easy, felt too much like a trap. Still, he found himself stepping forward, his hand reaching out for the box in front of him. Whatever this trap might be, he would face it and win. For Alex.

He had hardly taken two steps towards the glass box when a gust of wind blew out the candles. At the same there was a loud bang and the trapdoor behind him shut closed. What little light there was in the room disappeared and Magnus blinked to try and get used to the sudden darkness. He looked around him frantically, searching for the source of the wind and this ingredient’s guardian, but he could see nothing in the dark. He run to the trapdoor and pulled on the handle. Locked. Of course.

“Lumos,” he said, but nothing happened. What? “Lumos,” he tried again and again nothing. Fear spread through him and he felt his blood run cold as he realized what was happening.

Magic nullification. They’ve made it so no magic can be cast inside the room.

Cold sweat run down his skin as he darted to the walls. Being without his magic, something that was a part of him for so long, made him feel vulnerable, naked. He pulled the tapestry covering the stone wall away roughly, the thick fabric falling to the ground. Hidden behind it was a rune Magnus knew was used to bind magic. Similar runes were no doubt behind every tapestry in the room. Magnus wouldn’t be able to cast magic without exiting the room and there was no way to do that with the locked trapdoor behind him.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the darkness disappeared, replaced by a bright, scorching heat. Magnus shut his eyes tight to shield them from the sudden light and brought his arms up to his face. He blinked until his eyes got used to the new light and looked around him.

The Divination classroom had disappeared, replaced on all sides by flames. They licked the walls that seemed to crumble under their heat, stained black by soot. The ceiling was in the same state, the now flat plaster cracking from the high temperature and falling to the ground. The flames seemed to be drawn to him, the fire forming shapes like wolves that pounced at him and tried to bite at his legs.

But worse of all, there, in front of the chest and the little table, under a broken bean and a large part of the ceiling, was his mother. It was like not a single day had passed since that night and he was back at his living room as it burned down around him. His mother was trying to get out from under the broken ceiling, but the plaster wouldn’t budge no matter how much she struggled. There were tears in her eyes and down her cheeks, her face the definition of panic.

“Magnus!” She cried out. Magnus felt tears sting his eyes at the sound of his mother’s voice, the fright, the helplessness in it. “Magnus! Help!”

Magnus was frozen on the spot. He’d seen this scene play out again and again in his nightmares after the fire - he still did sometimes - but to be back here, back at his burning house, to see his childhood go down in flames around him, realer than any dream, was almost too much. Something in him screamed at him to rush forward, to save his mother now that he had a second chance, but he held himself back, as horrible as it was.

This wasn’t his mother. She wasn’t here, in this burning room in Hogwarts. She was buried in a London cemetery with wild geraniums on her grave.

Still, despite knowing this wasn’t real, it hurt. It hurt watching his mother die all over again in front of him. Tears welled up in his eyes and run down his face as the flames licked at her trapped body and she wailed in pain.

Then the fire flickered and suddenly his mother wasn’t there anymore. Alex was in her place, the tears in her two-colored eyes shining in the light of the flames. Her hair smoked at the ends and soot covered her face. “Magnus!” She cried out, her voice breaking at the end as she started coughing hard from the smoke. She reached out for him desperately, the tears rolling down her face in fat drops that were burned away by the heat. “Where are you?”

Magnus darted forward to get to her, his arm already outstretched to pull her out from under the rumble. “Alex!” He called out, his voice sounding like it was ripped out from his throat.

He had only taken a step when Alex disappeared, consumed by the flames. Sam was in her place now, coughing frantically as smoke filled her lungs. Her hijab was charred by the fire, flames burning away the fabric whose color couldn’t be made out anymore. She pushed her body up, trying to get the heavy bean and debris off of her. She was doing good but then she coughed again and slumped down on the floor, crying out from the weight that fell on her. “Help!”

Magnus’s step faltered for only a second and then he was running to the other side of the room. With every step the person under the rumble changed, but the fear in their eyes and their cries for help didn’t.

Sam was replaced by T.J, his dark skin glowing with sweat under the light of the flames, his face transformed by fear.

“Magnus!”

Then Halfborn, his hair singed, coughing hard and struggling to pull himself out from under the debris and failing.

“Please!”

Mallory took his place, her face burned red at the side, tears in her eyes as she fought to get out.

“Help!”

Annabeth, her strong arms covered with burns and blistering skin as she struggled to free herself but couldn’t seem to get her legs from under the debris.

“Magnus!”

Blitzen and Hearthstone, trapped together under the broken bean and ceiling, crying for help with tears in their eyes and soot on their faces.

“Magnus!”

All the other kids from Perthro, boys and girls and everything in between, all of Magnus’s new family, trapped and crying and begging for him to help them.

“Help!”

With each step the cries grew louder, the flames rose higher and hotter. Magnus’s eyes were blurry with tears and he seemed to be moving slower, as if time had froze and he’d have to stay here, watching his friends, his family, the person he loves burn to death because he couldn’t help them.

They switched again, Alex, Blitzen and Hearthstone, Annabeth, Mallory, Sam, the kids from Perthro, Halfborn, T.J, Alex, Annabeth… They screamed and cried, wailed as they fought to get out and called for help, their frightened broken voices clawing at his ears, making the tears come out harder.

“Magnus!”

“Help!”

“Please!”

He fell on his knees in front of now Mallory and tried to push the beam off her as she turned into Sam. Yet as much strength as he put into it he couldn’t make the burnt wood budge. Sam was grasping his shirt his soot-covered hands, crying with broken sobs.

“N-No! L-leave, Magnus!”

Alex took her sister’s place, taking his face into his hands and looking into his eyes with frightened, tear-filled eyes.

“Leave me behind! Go!”

Then his friends from Perthro were under the rumble, Sarah and Helen, little Cheyenne and Tommy.

“N-n-no! P-please don’t leave! Help!” Cheyenne cried, her body shaking like a leaf by her sobs.

The people changed, teary eyes and frightened screams, they clawed at his clothes begging for help. Magnus was crying so hard he almost couldn’t see them anymore because of the tears in his eyes. His heart was beating like a drum and his breathing was fast and shallow. He felt his hands shake and the air seemed to catch in his throat, stopping him from breathing properly.

You can’t, save them, they’ll die. They’ll die and it’s your fault. You couldn’t help them and they’ll die like you feared.

Magnus’s body was shaking now, the sobs reaped out from his throat. Mallory was reaching out to him with her burnt hands and Magnus wanted to lie down and let the flames eat him along with the whole room but something about that last thought shook him like cold water in the face.

Feared. “Fears cannot be easily tamed,” the parchment said. This guarding was supposed to show him “things you won’t want to see” and there was a chest on the wall next to the glass box.

A boggart, he realized with a start. The final guardian is a boggart. You need to get through your worse fears to get the last ingredient.

The realization helped ground him and his shaking stop. He knew how to take on a boggart and that knowledge helped, even if he wouldn’t be able to cast the spell with the magic-binding runes on the walls.

Slowly, with trembling legs, he stood up. T.J’s fingers were tugging at his leg desperately, but he moved on. He stepped towards the glass bow, tried to shut out the shrill voices of his friends under the debris.

“Magnus! No! P-Please!”

He wasn’t able to figure out who was screaming anymore. All the voices had blended together into an ear-splitting cacophony. His fingers touched the glass lid and opened it as the nightmarish chorus shrieked, “Your fault your fault you let us die your fault.”

Magnus took the small wooden box and the key that lay behind it and turned for the door. The boggart’s appearance was changing so rapidly now that he couldn’t make out each person, only characteristics – the grey eyes he shared with Annabeth, Mallory’s red mane, T.J’s dark skin, Sam’s shinning eyes and Alex’s green hair. The shrill screaming kept coming out of the creature’s mouth was yelling accusations at him – your fault your fault you left us your fault – and the tears didn’t stop pouring from his eyes.

Still, he kept going, reminding himself with each painful step that these weren’t his friends, his family, his Alex. They weren’t dying, they weren’t in danger. And even if they ever were, if they ever got in danger, he wouldn’t let them get hurt.

He pushed the key into the keyhole and unlocked the trapdoor, falling through onto a heap on the floor. The trapdoor closed behind him, keeping the boggart inside.

Magnus lay there on the floor for a second, panting heavily. Then he pushed himself up despite how much he wanted to stay on the floor, wiped the tears out of his eyes and run to the Hall of the Slain.

“And Magnus Chase has taken the last ingredient! He’s making his way back to the dining Hall!”

Magnus tripped as he was climbing down the stairs, half-paying attention to Professor Thor’s words. He picked himself up and kept running down the necks at breakneck speed. He jumped over the last three steps and sprinted down the halls to the Hall of the Slain, pushing his body as much as he could and then some.

“The Hogwarts Champion is almost there!” Magnus heard Professor Thor say as he run. “Raphael Beaumont is close behind him and Helga Leifsson…” Thor’s voice faltered there and when she spoke again his voice sounded more distant, like he had turned away from the mike and was talking to someone else. “Are you sure she’s fine? She doesn’t look too good.”

Magnus finally reached the doors of the dining hall, which were thankfully open because he would have probably run straight into them at his speed. He rushed to his table and emptied the contents of the bag on it, scrambling to find the parchment with the instructions for the potion.

“Magnus Chase has set to work! He has thirty minutes to make the antidote!”

The room around him was a mess of screams and cheers but they were white noise to him as he put his cauldron on the fire and started heating water. He was cutting up the weird glass he got from the Hippogriff when Raphael came running into the room and started making his own antidote.

Magnus was moving his spoon in circles inside the murky contents of the cauldrons, hating the five minutes he had to repeat the action according to the recipe. His eyes were trained on Alex’s body the whole time, the shallow rice and fall of her chest. Once he was done stirring he dumped inside the ingredients from the wooden box, a fine ashen dust.

Twenty minutes remained in the clock when Helga arrived looking like a complete mess. Tear tracks run down her cheeks, her whole face was red from crying and her hair looked like she had been pulling at it. Blood had seeped through her sleeve and she must have cast a spell to stop the bleeding. Thor made an announcement about her arrival but Magnus wasn’t paying attention to him, only to the liquid that bubbled inside his cauldron, changing from brown to a deep green. The recipe said it had a sky blue color when it was ready.

Ten minutes to go and Magnus was measuring the amount of the purple liquid he had to add to the mix. His hands were shaking as he tracked each drop falling from the bottle.

Just then, a loud clanging sound sounded, startling Magnus and making everything he held in his hands fall to the ground. If he had looked up from the spilled liquid on the floor he would have seen that the source of the noise was Raphael pulling all the measuring cups out of their place under the table.

Gasping was heard from the stands. “Oh no, Magnus Chase just spilt one of his ingredients!”

Magnus was understandably freaking out. He was almost done with the antidote too. What was he supposed to do now? What would happen to Alex?

“H-here,” he heard a voice saying. He looked up and was surprised to see Helga holding out her bottle of purple liquid to him. He hadn’t recognized her voice at first, not with how broken it was. “I-I only n-need half of it.”

Magnus couldn’t believe what he was seeing but he took the bottle from her hand. “Why?’ he asked.

Helga didn’t answer, just stared at a spot in the stands and when Magnus followed her gaze he found her parents looking at them with angry eyes.

Magnus measured the liquid he would need and gave the bottle back to Helga with enough inside to use for her own antidote. He stirred the antidote in his cauldron and raised the temperature in the fire. The liquid’s color was changing from green to blue and Magnus felt his pulse pick up and a smile break out on his face the closest he got to completing the potion.

Once the liquid had a light blue color her scooped it up and put it in a small bowl. His eyes were stuck to it as he walked as fast as he could to Alex. Every time it sloshed inside the bowl and got too close to the lid his heart dropped but he managed to reach his girlfriend’s unconscious body without dropping it.

He cradled Alex’s head in his hands and touched the bowl gently to her lips, opening her mouth to make her drink it. He was thankful for his Healing classes showing him how to do this. The blue liquid trickled past her lips and into her mouth, a drop trailing past her chin.

Once the contents of the bowl were drained, he waited. With every passing second he felt his fears grow – what if he had made a mistake, what if it didn’t work, what if it was too late and she never woke up?

Then Alex’s eyes opened and she shot upwards. She started coughing violently, like she was trying to force a rock out of her throat. Magnus let out the breath he had been holding and broke out into a wild smile, tears welling up in his eyes, happy tears. He couldn’t help the joyful little laugh that left his mouth as he surged forward and hugged Alex close to his chest.

Alex had stopped coughing and she wrapped her arms around Magnus, looking at confusion at the laughing and weeping boy in her arms. The world around her came into focus and she looked up to see the students of the three schools looking down at her and Magnus. To her right, Raphael was pressing a bowl to Louis’s lips, who was lying on a table. Helga, face red and tears in her eyes, was rushing to finish a potion of some sort while Agatha lay on a table in front of her. Magnus was still holding her like he thought he’d never see her again and his tears were seeping into her shirt.

“Um, not that I’m complaining for the hug, but what’s going on?”

Magnus looked up at her, a smile brighter than the sun on his face and tears in his eyes. Alex cupped his cheek, wanting to kiss the tears from his face. Magnus leaned into her touch and the love she saw in his eyes left her breathless.

“Remember the treasure I was supposed to save for the second task?” He asked softly. Alex nodded.

“Well, I saved it.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers, kissing her gently and softly, like he wanted to take his time and do this for the rest of the day. Alex relished in the feeling of his lips and put her arms around his neck, pulling him closer and drowning in him.

They pulled apart, but just barely, staying close enough that it was like the rest of the dining hall didn’t exist and they were the only ones there.

“You’re a sap,” she told him quietly, affectionately, making it clear that she loved that about him even if she teased him.

“But I’m your sap,” Magnus replied with a smile. Alex wiped a tear from the corner of his eye and pulled him in for another kiss as the crowd clapped around them.

Goodness, that was huge. In case you’re curious, I got the first two riddles from my dad and the last from my grandpa’s crossword magazine. You can thank my sister for the name Alfred for the Sphinx (I asked her what I should name the Sphinx and she told me to name him after Batman’s butler) (I hope I remembered the name correctly). The top hat and bowtie are also thanks to her because I wasn’t sure if I should include that but she said I should. If you’re wondering, Helga got injured when she insulted the Hippogriff. Mon cher, s’il te plait, reveille toi! – My dear, please, wake up! Fan, snälla vakna, jag ber dig, vakna - basically "Shit, please wake up, I beg you, wake up" Until next time, see ya!

#Magnus chase and the obligatory hogwarts au #magnus chase #alex fierro #fierrochase #fanfiction #fanfic #my fic

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zodiac-enthusiasts · 5 years ago

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Cancer in Love Relationship Sex And Affair Dedicated Lovers Cancer gives it all to a loving relationship with their partner. It may take Cancer a little time to find the right partner and a little longer to fall in love. Once Cancerians get what they want they will do their best to keep healthy. To get to know someone suitable for their own character, Cancer will have to use their charm to attract a possible future partner. Cancer character is locked in a shell, so they have to wait until they meet the right partner. Cancer isn’t an excellent first-time face to face talker. They'd struggle to speak out their feeling in just a few words. Usually, they make a mess when talking nonsense. But strangely it is fun to hear as they try to speak out their heart. Occasionally they are shy to the point where they can't make the first move. Usually, Cancer will hold back until the right moment comes. The Sense Of Self-Security One of the particular characteristics in love for the sign of Cancer is the sense of protection towards home, towards the concept of family and tradition. Cancer's insecurity leads them to be very selective and generally saves them from difficult situations. The influence of the Moon is very strong, and the emotions of Cancer vary depending on the alternation of the lunar phases. Once Cancer has withdrawn into their “shell,” in the secure heat of private life, they will show all their inclination towards earthly and sensual pleasures. As it’s usual for every sign of water, their mood can vary from calm that verge on apathy, until it reaches the fury of a stormy sea. Future Partner Once Cancer spots the right possible future partner, he/she will slowly open up. Cancer will display to their potential future partner the real magic hidden inside them. Cancer will put this magic into use only when they're about to fall in love. Their favorite partner will enjoy the fascinating world hiding inside every Cancer, just like the pearl hiding in a shell. Cancer’s expectation in love is to make it last forever. They tend to love sincerely and will go through anything to get where they want to be. They will take their time to show their future partner how they feel. Their possible future partner should understand this. They’ll have to wait for Cancer to make the next move of the proposal. Cancer will do everything possible to avoid rejection. If it happens, it will hurt them a lot and probably will take them a long time to heal. What Cancer Need From Their Partner? Cancer man wants from their partner some unusual demands. One of those demands is “babysitting” Cancer (more visible with the man). Cancer man just like Cancer women will demand to create a family as soon as possible. Both male and female have a natural mothering instinct, so there should be no problem having a healthy family. The Cancer female will ask her partner to take care of her just like a prince would do with her princes. She’ll demand a living place according to her likes. She will require a comfortable, clean, spacious, secure living place. The Cancer man, on the other hand, will demand security. Also, Cancer man will demand their partner’s attention to everything they have to say. This may affect their relationship since some other zodiac signs won’t cope well with Cancer’s demands. Sagittarius and Aquarian tend to have a free-living character and won’t accept compromises. Cancer and Jealousy Cancer assumes a provocative attitude with the intent to analyze the reaction of their partner. To Cancer, jealousy is compatible with love. After knowing the possessive nature and the almost insane need for affection for Cancer, it is evident that jealousy takes most of their thoughts. Jealousy arises from that kind of symbiosis that Cancer establishes with their own half. To detach jealousy from Cancer's character is equivalent to a small trauma. To Cancer, it seems reasonable to dominate the partner to continuous checks and tests or to claim all their movements, if not the thoughts. Sudden appearances at work or at home will settle within the standards of the sign. Cancer Man in Romance and Passion Cancer loves to entertain in the game of love, and also proves to be very skilled in this field. Cancer's approach, initially polite and delicate, soon reveals all the passionate side of this sign, and it will be tough to resist the charm of a person who is able to involve everyone in front of him emotionally. The romantic charge of Cancer man reveals itself entirely within the home, an environment in which he feels safe and where he can openly express his emotions. Physical and psychological well-being, these are the goals that he intends to achieve. Failing this he tends to withdraw his life into a protective shell, but with the help of a thoughtful and reliable partner, all this can be avoided. Once Cancer has achieved stability on a psychological and sentimental level, Cancer man will feel in seventh heaven and will prove to be a protective lover and always ready to satisfy his partner's requests. Cancer in Romance, Passion, and Jealousy Sexually Cancer needs many initial reassurances. Once the gear is provided, they will reveal the other side of the Moon in bed which they keep hidden. So Cancer could deny the first impression made, upsetting partner with her hidden passion. Cancer is a pleasantly creative and passionate lover with whom no one mustn't make the mistake of being too open, at least in the first few times. From a sexual point of view, Cancer will be very suspicious and will fill their head with questions asking about partner’s previous love experiences. Therefore becoming jealous of those who had attended before is normal. There is no sex without love and vice versa. For Cancer, the emotional attachment is an irresistible impulse that spices their life. Cancer is shy and impulsive. They’re tender sin lovers, ready to put everything at risk for true love. Love and Sex Life Love and sex can’t be separated from Cancer as both play an essential role in Cancer life. Such is love life in marriage which Cancer tend to think a lot. Cancer is simple in nature so they will prefer a pure love and sex life too. Any complication along the way may bring confusion and probably will bore them. Love and sex life must be perfect or nothing, this way Cancer will feel better. Through sex, Cancer wants to express love for the partner. Cancer reckons that this is a chance to tell their partner that they are the right one. While Cancer is demonstrating their secret trick, they want to make sure to be in control of the action. Taking control of the situation will make Cancer feel more expressive of emotions. Will be a devoted partner Will hold back from making the first move He or she will try to avoid rejection Expect partner to understand their hidden emotions Just like the crab will try to hold firmly in love Have a great heart Could be mysterious and weird sometimes Uses charm to get the right partner Wants love to last forever Prefer to have a partner with money to offer financial security Once they find their partner will start making future family plans Making future plans may shock the new partner Sometimes Sex Is Never Enough Born in one of the hottest seasons surely explains why Cancer is always demanding sex more often compared with the other zodiac signs. Yes, Cancer tends to live in the shell, but this doesn’t apply to the sex department. If they start the act of sex, there is nothing to hold them back until they or their partner are fully satisfied. Cancer, sex is not a single role-play but more like a team player. They will make sure to communicate with their partner first and somehow must understand their likes and dislike. Cancer wants to make sure they get connected with the partner while having sexual intercourse. Oh yes, Cancers know how to love. They love at their best, except for one weakness. Demanding more from their partner could really be annoying. A partner may not fully satisfy with so many constant demands. Cancer could trigger the end of their relationship. The End Of An Affair Cancer will love with all their heart and will give love a real meaning. On the other hand, they could be possessed with love and may cross boundaries. Either partner may not handle the pressure and possessive attitude. This may make they end the relationship. At this point, Cancer could become aggressive which is not what they should do at this point as this is not the way to bring back their lost cause. Cancer has excellent communication skills. Therefore communication should take place to settle new grounds. Breaking up with a partner isn’t on Cancers list. If Cancerians aren’t loved as expected, they’ll look for missing love somewhere else. Loving and talking about love or telling Cancer how lovely they are is the key to satisfy them. Otherwise, Cancer will feel the emptiness. Feeling ignored could make them break their relationship. Cancer with a partner will get along very well unless Cancer knows where to draw the line and not overreact negatively towards their partner. As well Cancer partner should understand that Cancer is obsessed with more and more love demand. Partner mustn’t underestimate this. Cancer tries very hard to keep love alive and healthy. If cancer partner accepts the fact that Cancer is always demanding for more love and sex than relationship or marriage will survive.

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easythingstodrawtutorials · 6 years ago

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Kids Drawing Revamp #1 - Easy Things to Draw

New Post has been published on https://easythingstodraw.net/kids-drawing-revamp-1-easy-things-to-draw/

Kids Drawing Revamp #1 - Easy Things to Draw

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Kids Drawing Revamp #1 – Easy Things to Draw

This is a revamp of my little cousins drawing. I do it in my own style to show you my decision making in action. This is my version. This video was uploaded from my old channel, but I dubbed over it. Check out other stuff on my channel.

Hi guys, how are you doing, I’m Enrique and this is Easy Things to Draw, one thing that I said before and I’ll mention it again, is that I’m merging my two channels together, Sketch Monsters and Easy Things to Draw, I am taking a lot of the older videos from my channel Sketch Monsters and I’m going to put them here, although they are not exactly the same videos, I’m dubbing them again, because, the way that I spoke in those videos it wasn’t the best, especially with this one.

I don’t remember the pencil that I use with this drawing, but it’s not very important, you can use a regular pencil, it’s going to be okay.

What I’m going to do today is take a drawing of a child, which I think it was my cousin who drew it, and what I’m going to do with this is revamp it in my own style. if you like this idea, like the video that I posted on YouTube and let me know your opinion in the comments section or do something to indicate that you like this idea…

since I’m thinking of doing a series with this idea, getting kids drawings and revamp them, but the only way I have to know is if you guys tell me.

The first thing I have to do to start the drawing is to divide the head into thirds, I don’t really remember why I did that, this is a drawing that I made some years ago and the way to draw proportions for me has changed, I want this character to make it more like a vampire style, I mean in the child’s drawing he’s kind of a vampire, but I want to draw him with big bad ears and make it more notorious, since vampires tend to have bigger ears, although I don’t want it to look just like Spock.

I also want to do the section of the brown biggest and I want the character to look angrier, but it’s not making any furrow though, I’ve always been a fan of farrowing eyes, then continued with under the eyelid and add like some kind of bags under his eyes, I guess this character is like a vampire or something, now I’m going through the middle area of the eyes pushing up, it’s kind of pinching to that muscle from that area.

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He’s got a pretty big brow, I like that and besides, it’s very similar to the one Piccolo has, in the picture it doesn’t really look that big, but I feel like that’s what the picture is indicating so I’ll do it in this way. And again I’m changing my proportions since I want this character to look like a real face, so I’m giving him proportions of real faces, but as I said before I also want to give him that vampire atmosphere. the atmosphere of vampires it can vary depending on the style that one gives to them, some characteristics of these beings are, they were human beings, but now they are in a state where they are not completely live or dead, they need fresh blood to live.

Although this may vary because in other stories it is said that they took the souls of people, possess tusk, can infect other people and turn them into vampires, possess great strength and speed, may look like normal humans but also can look like monsters, this, as we can see here, depends on which style you like best, they cannot be reflected in mirrors, and many other things. There’s no definite style for vampires, but for me, I like the style of monster more than the human style.

Then I go with the nose and it’s like a lower flat nose, I’m going to draw the nostril kind of open and also this is very up. The nostril is really flat to the face, for examples like Michael Jackson or something like that, I’m not drawing the nose completely, I’m just doing the nostrils lines and I want to connect them using the half shade or halftone technique, no matter the name since it’s the same, it’s just up to you how you like to call it…

Now let’s check out the mouth and it’s making an angry face, there will be furrowing though, kind of like a laugh line, so I’m going to just put that in, and also, I’m gonna make the mouth asymmetrical, the reason why I want to do it in this way, is because I do not like that a drawing looks identical on both sides, I like to have some variety on the sides of the drawing, I like that both halves are different, even a little bit.

I could match it as much as I can with the picture but I don’t want to do that, so on one side of the mouth, I’m going to angling it off, you know, like “Rawr” and on the other side, it will be a little more relaxed.

I also want the gums to show up on the side that’s less relaxed, the teeth will be totally line along to the top, the ones that are in the most relaxed part of the mouth obviously you won’t see the gum, and not all the teeth have the same length, since this is a vampire one of its main characteristics of them are the tusk, I’m new in the vampire design thing, but a design of them that I really like, and I know everybody hated, it’s Van Helsing’s vampire design and I also like his werewolf design…

I think they’re really cool, the Van Helsing movie with Hugh Jackman, which most people don’t like, And I don’t blame them, it’s not really a very good movie but I like the design in it.

Then I mark the laughing line a little bit more, you can look at your own face if you need references, I don’t say that as an insult, I mean you can see how your face moves in the mirror, this is something you can see in animators, they usually have a mirror near them, so they can just look at the mirror at some point, and it makes it easier for them to add realistic movements to the faces of their characters, even when it’s the design of a cartoon you want that kind of realism in the way they express themselves.

Now I go back to the lower part of the lips, and also I mark the part of the jaw, I do the same thing I did before with my mouth, I’m angled it off a part of the jaw by pushing it down, and on the other side, I make more relaxed, I also fill the inside of the mouth and making this pushes the mouth back, then I finish connecting the head. I put this furrowing on the forehead so that way I continue pushing down the eyebrows and doing that gives my character an angry face effect.

Right now it looks strange without the ears, so I’ll put them on, I just wanted to finish the face before doing that, and this is something I’ve talked about in the past, I want to have that confidence in the drawing where I can continue and not feel weird about it, the general rule should be, that you slowly should bring up the drawing together, so for example, let’s say you have to deliver it at some point to a client, and they will know what’s going on with the drawing, because they will have a general idea, I wasn’t doing that with this one.

Then I go to the ear and I add the lobe, the good part of this face, is that it’s pre-generic and you can take many different directions. One thing that I didn’t put, is a piercing in his ears, because in the image you can see clearly that the character has them, then we move to the inside of the ear to give them more detail, one thing I really like to do is clean the edges, for this, I use shading and this makes the drawing look a lot better…

Now I have to draw the ear on the other side and I have to make them look similar, I mean, I still want to make them a little different and also doing this releases the pressure of having to match everything, I just say, well, it’s going to be asymmetrical, but in a way that the audience will know it’s going to be asymmetrical, I still have to measure these things anyway.

I go on with the ears and I’m trying to hit all the key shapes that make my character look symmetrical in that way without being a total slave to it, you know, then I’m hitting these cheek marks and continue with what follows. I continue putting a little bit shading to kind of ground and it’s looking pretty good so far, you could almost call this done, right now I’m just fiddling stuff trying to slightly even things out. To me, his right eye looks a bit like a smudge, as you get better you’ll always notice your own mistakes. One of the mistakes that I can notice is in the neck because now it doesn’t seem too strong to carry those ears.

The next thing I do is connect the nose with the mouth in the nasal area, putting what I think is called the philtrum. I go back and add a little more value around the eyes, you know with a little more shade, since I want the character to look a little more ominous, kind of giving it some dramatic effect,

now I’m just adding small details, you know, you’ll always going to wonder what’s missing, I also add Adam’s apple and we’re pretty close to the end, darken the mouth a little bit more, and add some key dark points in the eyes to kind of anchor the whole thing and that’s it…

One thing I want to say before I finish is that I have a page in Patreon and one of the things that I do there is correct your drawings, well not correct them, what I do is add another layer in Photoshop and I tell you in what you should work a little bit more directly in the drawing, I assess you personally as an artist and I give you some exercises that will help you improve, guys if you want to do that, go to my Patreon which is “easy Things to draw” and if you don’t, you can just go and say hi, I would also appreciate it if you would subscribe to my YouTube channel and give the notification bell, that way you can learn different aspects of art and become good at them…

And well, that’s all, thank you guys, I really appreciate your support throughout this time and I will continue to do these tutorials about how to draw easy things Where I’ll teach you how to draw step by step. The things I like to teach in my channel are anatomy, superheroes, monsters, robot or things related to mechanics, about how to learn new techniques, and more things.

I am also interested in teaching how to make drawings for beginners, but if you already have more experience, you are completely welcome to stay, it is always good to go over some themes. Although not all I do is teach how to draw, but I also like to talk about experiences that happen to most artist, If you have any doubts you can always comment or let me know in another way, and I will see how I can help you, also as I said before, tell me what you thought of this idea, goodbye and see you later.

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#artist #beginner art #drawings #easy things to draw #fun things to draw #How to Draw Easy Things #how to draw for beginners #how to draw step by step #Kids Drawing Revamp #learn to draw #New

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purplestarkatz93 · 8 years ago

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My FT questions answers

So regarding my previous post here are my answers to my Fairy Tail Questionnaire.

1. How did you first heard about Fairy Tail?

From my friend Beth. I saw how much she liked it and when she suggested that I check it out I did. I have been hooked ever since. And it’s become my favorite anime of all time, because I never have been more emotionally invested in an anime before.

2. Do read the manga, watch the anime, or both?

I do both. Haven’t been watching the anime lately, but I’ve been keeping up with the manga now. BUT I HATE SPOILERS, SO DON’T TELL ME ANYTHING UNTIL THE TRANSLATION COMES OUT!

3. Who are your favorite character(s)?

I really love all of them, but my top 3 are:

Levy McGarden, I like her because she’s a fellow bookworm, she’s cute, intelligent, and really needs to be the focus more often. Pantherlily. I love how he can go from this big creature, yet can change back into this small cute thing. He’s bad ass and adorable. I call him Badorable. And really my absolute favorite character is Gajeel Redfox. I could really talk for hours on why he’s my favorite, but to sum up I like him because he’s a complex character.

A Complex character, also known as a Dynamic character or a Round character displays the following characteristics:

He or she undergoes an important change as the plot unfolds.

The changes he or she experiences occur because of his or her actions or experiences in the story.

Changes in the character may be good or bad.

The character is highly developed and complex, meaning they have a variety of traits and different sides to their personality.

Some of their character traits may create conflict in the character.

He or she displays strengths, weaknesses, and a full range of emotions.

He or she has significant interactions with other characters.

He or she advances the plot or develops a major theme in the text.

Gajeel has done most of those things on that list.

And to be honest when he first appeared I really didn’t hate him. Yes what he did was wrong, especially regarding Team Shadowgear, but I had this small feeling, ever since I found out that he was a Dragon Slayer that he was going to be an ally to Fairy Tail, never expected him to join though. I’m so glad he did!

4. What is a character or characters that you absolutely hate? And not even love to hate, you wish they were never in the story to begin with.

Future Rogue. That bastard kill Future Lucy, and I will never forgive him for that. Even if he apologized. Seriously I cried so hard when I watched that part in the anime.

5. Do you own any FT merchandise?

The first 20 volumes of the manga, a Capricorn key charm, Natsu plush, Lily plush, small Happy loaf plush or Tsum Tsum, a Mirajane keychain, a Gajeel keychain, a notebook, exceed bracelet, a FT symbol keychain, a wallet, and 2 T-shirts.

I think that’s it.

6. What is your favorite opening?

I have 3.

Snow Fairy ( the first and probably the most recognizable)

https://youtu.be/T2dy-atGDyg

Rock City Boy ( Fun fact the singer is actually American, but he lived most of his life in Japan)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LX3v651Ip8E

I wish ( I like this one because it’s the only one where I think I could do a cover of it. It’s in my vocal range)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTDpmFv4Ovc

Honorable mention goes to the 1st movie’s opening 200 Miles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=br0zVupkx-c

7. What is your favorite ending?

Be as One

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8n5em5vZoaQ

You, He, Me, and She

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=470d_pi1F3w

8. What is your favorite character song?

Well, since Gajeel is my favorite character, my fave character song, is his song My Iron Blues. It’s awesome, fun to sway to, has female back up singers, and I like his singing very much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdS93Qp9H84

Also for you Yuri on Ice fans, this the same guy who sings You Only Live Once

You’re welcome for that random piece of trivia.

9.What is your favorite instrumental track?

Any version of the main theme.

Original https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6kb96YWXMA

Slow https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Loi4bYzXvAw

Piano https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qk2jYmZerD8

Metal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiT8Ct0cQzM

Tenroujima https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At_zB-pK3JQ

I also like Dragon Slayer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJoKUq8j1Ns

Natsu’s theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AhevjjbvWmw

Lucy’s theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L26TQP7Qe9I

Happy’s theme https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAIFonqW4SY

One thing I love about FT’s music is the Celtic feel to it. My family is Irish and Scottish, so it makes me think of my heritage.

10. What are your FT ships?

I ship:

Nalu (Natsu x Lucy)

Gruvia (Gray x Juvia)

Jerza (Jellal x Erza)

Elfgreen (Elfman x Evergreen)

Laxana (Laxus x Cana)

RoWen (Romeo x Wendy)

LoRies (Loke x Aries)

Albis (Alzack x Bisca)

Rerry (Ren x Sherry)

Cappy (Carla x Happy)

Kinbara (Erik x Kinana)

StingYu (Sting x Yukino)

But my OTP for the series is Gajevy (Gajeel x Levy, which is canon now! YAY! )

11. What is an unpopular opinion you have aka something that you do that is not normal to the FT fandom?

I’m a NaLu fan that does not hate Lisanna at all. I hate how so many Nalu fans hate her just because she “gets in the way of NaLu”.

That’s one thing that bothers me with any fandom. When people hate on a character just because they get in they way of their precious OTP.

I’ve said it before, but I think that is a stupid reason to hate a character. If the only reason you hate a character is because they ruin a ship for you, kindly go back into your small corner of the world, where you can bitch and complain all you want like the immature brat that you are.

The rest of us adults, are going to ship what we want, and respect each other’s choices, and not hate on character solely for that purpose.

Lisanna did nothing wrong, and all those fan fics that portray her as this bitchy chick who “steals” Natsu from Lucy and makes Lucy all depressed and shit makes me want to gouge my eyes out every time I read one.

I respect the fact that some people don’t ship NaLu, I respect the fact that I don’t ship NaLi.

NOW CAN WE PLEASE ALL JUST GET ALONG AND BE NAKAMA LIKE WE’RE SUPPOSED TO BE?!

12. Do you draw/write FT fan art or fan fiction?

Yes, check out my DA here http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/gallery/42409453/Fairy-Tail

Maybe I’ll post stuff here soon, old and new.

13. What is one thing about FT that pisses you off?

So many unanswered questions, for example WHERE THE HELL IS LAXUS’S MOTHER AND GRANDMOTHER?! I KNOW HOW BABIES ARE MADE SO HOW THE HELL CAN IVAN AND LAXUS EXIST WITHOUT A MOTHER?!

At least we know about Makarov’s mom now.

And we do know more of the dragon slayers’ past, but I still have my headcanons about their biological parents, or at least Gajeel and Wendy’s. Like how Metalicana and Grandeeny found them. Let me know if you want to hear them. Bear in mind they are quite depressing.Don’t have any for Sting and Rouge. And as for Natsu, well I did have one, but that went out the window and I think you know why.

14. If you could put the FT cast into another show what would it be and why?

It’s a weird choice but I chose Scrubs. I could just see it. Natsu=JD (It be funny to see Natsu have all those crazy daydreams, wouldn’t it?) Lucy=Elliot (If Natsu and Lucy did live in another universe, I think they would be an on again off again couple until they were ready to be with each other.) Juvia=Carla (Putting Carla as Carla would be too obvious, and I know it doesn’t exactly match up, but I have this headcanon that Juvia can speak Spanish, because Juvia;s name is the Japanese spelling for the Spanish word rain or lluvia) Gray=Turk (I know it doesn’t really fit, but had to keep him and Juvia together.) Laxus= Dr,Cox (Can you just imagine how funny it be if Laxus did a Cox rant?) Cana=Jordan (I feel a relationship between Laxus and Cana would be like the one Jordan has with Dr.Cox) Gajeel=Janitor (One of the best characters in the show, and it be funny to see Gajeel prank Natsu) Levy=Lady (She’s the Janitor’s girlfriend and later wife in Season 8) Hades= Dr. Kelso (Hades is evil but a recent chapter in the Tartarus arc showed that he kind of still has a heart, so that’s why I picked him)

Freed=Ted (I just think it be funny)

Loke=The Todd (both are bit of playboys and be funny to see Loke question his sexuality) I do have others, but they’re only characters that appeared in one or two seasons so I’m not going to bother.

15. What are some musicals you put the FT cast in? (I only put this question in cause I’m a theatre geek)

Shrek the musical

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast

Hairspray

Barbie as the Princess and the Pauper

Barbie as the Island Princess

Barbie and the Diamond Castle

If you want I can tell you who I would have play each part. Some I’m still figuring out, so not all roles have been cast yet.

16. Do you cosplay or plan on cosplaying any of the characters?

I cosplay as Mira(no pictures available) and Levy which I do have pictures of on my DeviantART account. Let me know if you want to see it.

I’m gonna post it on here soon.

Now all I need is a Gajeel.

17. What are your favorite arcs?

Phantom Lord, Fighting Festival, Edolas, Tenrou Island, Key of the Starry Sky, Grand Magic Games, and Alvarez. What do they all have in common? There is focus on Gajeel in all of them. Some more than others.

18. If you could join any guild what would it be?

Fairy Tail, duh.

19. Have any FCs?

Yes, Valerie Saline who you can learn more about here http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Fairy-Tail-OC-Bio-361202036\

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Valerie-FT-OC-1-353209499

I even made an Edo version of her

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Edo-Valerie-FT-OC-1-353209586

Then my next gen kids

Mckenna and Iggy (NaLu kids)http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/NaLu-Kids-360992943

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Mckenna-Dragneel-Bio-362665020

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Chibi-McKenna-and-Iggy-397665037

Nieve, Brendan, and Tally (Gruvia kids) http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Gruvia-Kids-360992503

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Nieve-Fullbuster-Bio-362674059

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Chibi-Nieve-Brendan-and-Tally-397665310

Conor and Olivia (Gajevy kids, they’re the older siblings of the canon Gajevy twins. Although they’re born years later when Conor and Olivia are much older. In my FT future they were a surprise aka they were not planned. BTW do they have names? I keep trying to look it up, but come up with nothing. The FT wiki literally has nothing about the light novel they debut in http://fairytail.wikia.com/wiki/Fairy_Tail_3:_Trouble_Twins

Actually they have barely anything about the light novels expect for like the first one.) http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/GaLe-Kids-360992447

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Conor-Redfox-Bio-362676935

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Olivia-Redfox-Bio-362678246

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Chibi-Conor-and-Olivia-397664556

Matthew and Sarah (Jerza kids) http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Jerza-Kids-361673144

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Chibi-Jerza-Kids-397664727

If you’re wondering why they look nothing like Jellal and Erza, it’s because they’re adopted.

20. If you were a wizard what kind of magic would you use?

Singing magic, like a Siren. I would sing and hypnotize people and when there out of it, attack them.

21. What is a magic item you would like to have?

A light pen http://fairytail.wikia.com/wiki/Light_Pen It be fun to draw/write in thin air.

22. Did you enjoy this questionnaire?

I sure did, seeing how I created it.

Oh and let me take this opportunity to talk about something else FT related.

I have the Todd Haberkorn (the Eng VA of Natsu 3 times at different cons)

Here’s proof http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/I-TOLD-YOU-SO-463572927

And here’s some autographs he gave me I don’t have a picture of the third one up yet

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/Todd-Haberkorn-Autograph-463573351

http://purplekatz93.deviantart.com/art/2nd-Todd-Haberkorn-autograph-555102329

Okay that’s all.

And please don’t mad at me for my answers.

#fairy tail #my thoughts #nalu #gruvia #jerza #gajevy #not gonna tag all the ships #that would take forever #Please be kind #respect my opinions #i'll respect yours

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