#how one can go about judging/critiquing these stories from our specific perspectives is a different story though

[shesnake]

I'm a lesbian and i see myself in media about bi women, also in media about gay/bi men. even if it's not Entirely made for me, it's still for me. and I know and hope that other gay/bi people are able to see parts of themselves in lesbian media. sorry to be cheesy but we are more similar than we are different and it's those experiences we share that draw us to these stories in the first place, and the reason we're even telling them <3

[calliecat93]

Since I can't go to RTX and they aren’t streaming it this year but I wanted to do a masterpost of something RvB related, I decided to write a wrap-up of this interview with Jason Weight on The SHizno RvB Podcast. Please go check it out because there was now ay that I could fit everything in here and there’s so much good stuff in it. SO please go and check it out! But anyways, here we go:

Joe had told Jason about the plan for a Donut and Wash season back at RTX, which Jason at first wasn't on board with. But once he began writing it, he got into it and became very attached to Donut. 

When rewatching the show to prep for S17, one scene that took note of was in the caves when Grif was making the Reds not look at Kai when naked… except for Donut since he just paid attention to the Blue’s base. It felt like he had depth in those kinds of moments and it got him to like him. He was very happy to see more people join Team Donut after the season. He feels like only the surface has been scratched for him.

He confirmed that Donut’s innuendo in the finale was intentional (even putting ‘tongue and cheek’ in the character notes) and any made after will likely be intentional by him.

When they talked about Donut and Tucker’s development, Jason joked that Simmons would be next to receive development. So it seems that Jason is at least aware of our desire for a Simmons season XD

The Everwhen was devised essentially as another method of time travel different from the previous methods seen before since doing it the same way again would have been boring. 

The timeline after the paradox in the Writers Room was called Schrodinger’s Ass. 

The version of time travel we got was the third version. Jason spent a month on Verison One, but Burnie had rejected it. Then he, Joe, and Miles devised a second version, but near the end they threw it out and the third version that included The Everwhen was made.

How it worked in previous versions was that Chrovos has made the alternate Blood Gulch as a containment unit type of thing to contain the Reds and Blues as she went backwards in time, giving them a limited amount of time before she reached the beginning of time and… honestly, IDK how to type the whole thing out. But to put it simply, it was very convoluted and thus The Everwhen was made. The first version was also rejected due to being too similar to S9.

Jason is on Red Team! His explanation? “Red Team is an actual team.” 

He really liked the direction that Joe took Wash, especially since him now having a disability gives him a new unique perspective that, even if he doesn’t get to write in the future, he looks forward to seeing the direction that Wash is taken. He also believes that if they focus on Wahs’s rehabilitation, Caboose should have a major role in it. HIRE HIM RT, DANG IT!

Simmons original nightmare was the same scenario and the same joke… except that the one int he UFO was his dad. The higher-ups rejected this since it could come off as, well… incestuous/pedophilic. Which while I think the ‘dad’ bit would have made more sense… yeah, I… can’t blame them for that one. Jason DOES say that in his mind, Simmons feels that he’s in his father's shadow and the scene was supposed to be in a Freudian reference to those feelings.

Genkins was originally not as intimidating int he script. Much of it came from the direction, especially in Episode 10 after he got skewered by the golf club. Same with Wash and Carolina’s scene in Episode 9. He greatly loved seeing the direction that Austin and Josh took with the scenes.

Miles had toyed with having a scene set directly after S13 (he says 10 but I think he meant 13), but Jason felt that it was best to leave that area alone since it had ended on such a perfect note and talked him out of it. Jason also toyed with having the guys see Epsilon’s final message ala Princess Leia hologram and Tucker picking them up/explaining Episolon’s nature. But it was too talky nor did it really affect anything, so they instead went with Tucker re-living Crash site Bravo which was done by Miles.

If RvB ended up a Seinfeld-esque comedy, Grif and Simmons would live together with Grif trying to get Simmons out of his shell. Sarge is essentially Dan DeVito. Tucker would live alone and use his sword to open up beer bottles. Donut would live in a gym due to, in his mind, him having severe allergies and is why he wears the Power Armor all the time. Carolina and Wash would live together and have a dog, and they both suck at dating due to judging the other’s dates (which Jason feels their relationship is brother and sister). Caboose owns the building they all live in. Lopez is maintenance. I want this show now.

Jason reads all the comments after all the episodes, including on Tumblr (I’m going to be so much more paranoid over my reviews now...) and one post he really liked was the idea of an RvB Road Trip since he used to be a roadie.

Jason doesn’t know how the whole Shisno thing came about since it was Joe’s idea. He does say that it used to be spelt ‘shizno’ until they found out how it’s officially been spelt as ‘shisno’. Whoops. They DID consider involving Wyoming’ time distortion unit in the story, but with all the other time shenanigans they felt it would make it too complicated.

Koen Wooten, a 3D Producer at RT, joked about putting time travel into every show from now on. Miles and Jason were unamused XD

He had a lot of fun with things like writing The Labryinth and Kai messing with Tucker

The hardest part was balancing out the time travel and figuring out what to look into and what not to. 

Jason is very used to being a director due to his own show, Starship GOldfish, and his scripts for himself are MUCH longer and detailed than they end up being in the final draft. For, he had a specific way that he wanted to have Chrovos done, so he was Skype’d in to direct Lee Eddy. Speaking of, he pushed for her after seeing her do Gwen from Camp Camp live at RTX 17 and he really wanted to have her in the show in some form.

For RvB Movie Nights, Jason thinks that Grif would like Caddyshack, thinks that Carolina is terrified of horror films like Paranormal Activity (which makes Wash confused) and ends up panic stabbing the TV, Simmons and Donut both do documentaries, Lopez liked Mr. Bean… then after going back to the beginning of time, he hates that kind of media and just watches an aquarium screen, and Kai likes Alien.

For Halloween, Jason would want to dress as the Fishman from S3 of Camp Camp. 

When questioned about the show potentially hitting serial escalation after the Cosmic Powers stuff, Jason talks about how they feel that they have now sealed off from that and can move more laterally again. But he does also feel that there are larger threats out there that affect you more personally, such as everyone trying to kill you which he thinks could be much stronger than fighting some ultra-powerful God. But we’ll have to see where things go from this point.

He believes that moving forward, Doc can be more important since he now is a nice guy with the danger of O’Malley in him. 

He also has seen that fans feel that the Reds and Blues need a rest, which he agrees with. One idea he likes that he did in PSA’s was do some Grif and Sarge bonding since he feels there’s plenty left unexplored there, Caboose helping Wahs rehabilitate, giving Simmons an arc, and Donut exploring the universe to do some world building. He and Joe liked the idea of maybe doing a mini-series, especially since Halo 6 won’t be out for quite a while and doing one can explore some new options. He also brings up ideas for the future like Locus on trial, Wash’s rehabilitation, and Tucker seeking out Junior to bond with him more after what happened in The Labryinth. I mentioned that RT needs to hire Jason ASAP, right?! RIGHT?!

He also feels that there would, ideally, eventually need to be a new villain… and suggests himself cause of him being British. HA! He also really loves villains and if he got to keep being the writer, he would absolutely voice the villain like Miles did as Felix. Although he does bring up the ‘self-insert’ critique but thinks it would be okay since as the villain it would be okay to hate him!

At the end of the interview, Jason talks about how collaborative the entire process had been and how Miles greatly helped him with the writing as well as Josh and Austin’s direction, who he hopes will still be on it. He says to thank them.

Well, that was fun! I will say, Jason hit all of the right buttons for me and I do legit hope that he can come back. But even if he can’t, this was so great and having his contribution was amazing. Thank you again for everything Jason~

[comicteaparty]

February 8th-February 14th, 2020 Creator Babble Archive

The archive for the Creator Babble chat that occurred from February 8th, 2020 to February 14th, 2020.  The chat focused on the following question: 

Which of your characters is most like you, and how does the similarity affect how you write them?

Nutty (Court of Roses)

Every one of my main characters in Court of Roses https://courtofroses.spiderforest.com/ has a little piece of me, but Merlow takes a big chunk of me, and/or the person I try to be, in his character. I tend to feel for him a lot and get deep into his emotional highs and lows.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

In Whispers of the Past (https://www.webtoons.com/en/challenge/whispers-of-the-past/list?title_no=191366), I am actually most similar to my villain, Ryukou, which.... is a bit concerning and also oddly cathartic at the same time. Ryukou, like me, is book smart rather than street smart, just an absolute nerd. He obsesses over details and frequently gets lost in his work (often as a detriment to his health, forgetting to eat and sleep and such). He is a severe overthinker about pretty much everything, and he bottles his emotions inside. He is also asexual and generally has a hard time showing affection. This is to the point where when he finds someone he really cares about, losing them is like losing the one friend he ever had. Pretty much all of these traits are directly inspired by me, which leaves behind an interesting feeling, because even through all of his evil acts, his horrible deeds and unforgivable sins... I still want to redeem him. I don't want to call him "evil," because to do so feels like accepting myself as evil. So I do a lot of labeling him as "troubled" instead of "evil."

Mei

People say that I'm a lot like my character Bruce but with a spattering of Kenneth's sardonic nature. I feel as if I just split myself in two to write them! My friends do joke about Kenneth being the vent for all my frustrations, and honestly... they are not wrong... I do think a lot of my characters have a bit of me in them. Whether it's the sense of humour or the sass, I think it's just a part of the writing process for me. That being said... I love all my lil characters beans and I cherish them and I just want the best for them, even if I sometimes write them into terrible situations... what can I say, I am a terrible parent to my lil characters

DanitheCarutor

Both my main characters have a little bit of me in them. Apollo has some of my music interests, which is old country and 70's - 80's stuff, mostly rock. Julian, even though their interests and general personality are being overshadowed by their mental state right now, they like science and reading. Although their interests aren't exactly like mine, I like geology as well as biological sciences like medical science and zoology, while Julian enjoys biological plant sciences like botany and horticulture. They're not really THAT similar, but I guess I consider them so since it's all nerdy science bs. I do have more than just interests, but I'll put those behind a spoiler since they're generally sensitive topics and also really personal: SPOILER Since my comic is a vent comic, I use my characters are tools to explore my own issues, and see them from a different perspective. I filter a lot of my mental issues through Julian, which is stuff like long-term suicidal depression and self-hate. Not gonna lie, I've been living with urges to die since I was 11, and have been feeling like crap for longer than that. Apollo is loosely in a position of a kid seeing a parent in an abusive relationship, having that feeling of being powerless and not knowing what to do, although he doesn't take notice of the situation till the end of chapter 5/beginning of chapter 6. (Although it can also extend to the friend or non-child relative, 3rd party type affected by the situation. I've been in that position as well...) Also later on living with a person who has PTSD and other serious psychological issues. Being a person who was raised by a parent with PTSD and anxiety due to an abusive ex-husband, it quite an experience, especially since neither of us were educated in the slightest on mental health. (I was a child, so you know, I didn't really know better.) In my teens she married a guy who was all emotional abuse, so that's where the "helpless kid" stuff comes from.(edited) END SPOILER

DanitheCarutor

Even though people who know me who've seen the comic think it's a bad idea, working on it actually been super cathartic. It puts to paper emotions and experiences that I have a lot of trouble putting into words, while also letting me see "myself" from a different perspective. Also with how dedicated I've been to researching for this comic I have explored a lot of the good sides to mental health, good coping mechanisms, and general self-care. Which later on becomes the main focus in the story. So my comic has been really nice for me. You can say I'm personally invested in seeing it through till the end.

Lol you know, the more I post on the more I feel like I just make everything uncomfortable. Uh, just kick me from the server if you all feel like I'm ruining the mood, I'll totally understand! xD

keii4ii

It's totally fine as far as I'm concerned! I just hope you're not feeling too uncomfortable

DanitheCarutor

I see stuff like this as me just using myself as an explanation or example for the nature of my comic, the focus isn't really on me specifically so it feels less awkward. It feels more technical and less personal, even though the subject matter is super personal... if that makes any sense.(edited)

So yeah, I'm good!

DanitheCarutor

Er, better explanation: It's easier to talk about personal stuff when it's for my comic than when it's for me. Sorry, my wording was bothering me.

kayotics

I mean, you're not the only one to use comics or characters as a way to deal with things emotionally. I've absolutely done that before. Both Toivo and Rosemary in Ingress Adventuring Company (https://www.ingress-comic.com/) are inspired a lot from me and my own experiences. Rosemary is modeled after me as a teenager: irritable, a know it all, annoyed, and then has a single parent who she has a very hard time relating to because of how different emotionally they are. Toivo is inspired in a different way. He has traits that I wish I had (like emotional vulnerability and cheerfulness), and faces problems that were inspired by events in my life. both of them seem to actually share a lot of the flaws that I have, just manifested in different ways.

DanitheCarutor

Pff I mean making people uncomfortable by going into detail about it. Usually I'm more vague, or don't bring up personal stuff, but it's behind a spoiler so eh.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

I don't think there's anything wrong with that. The nature of the question itself is to be personal, considering we're talking about how similar we are to our characters.

I have similarities to one of my other characters as well, but I decided not to talk about it because I'm still working through my issues atm The fact that you're able to talk about these sensitive topics means that you've made a lot of progress.

Eilidh (Lady Changeling)

I personally put bits of myself into my characters deliberately, because it makes it easier to write them in a way that feels authentic to my own experience and feelings (the only first hand references I have for reality)

DanitheCarutor

@Cronaj (Whispers of the Past) It helps a lot that my previous job had an on-site Psychologist who I used to talk to. Before she moved out of state she helped me through a board interview, and got me in the mindset to be open about discussing mental health issues. Although I don't usually talk about my own issues since most of them are self-diagnosed, and saying I have that stuff for sure doesn't feel right, when the Psychologist was around we really only got around to diagnosing and tackling my social anxiety.

It's funny because a lot of our discussions were me asking her about the nature of her work, along with experiences she had with patients since therapy and stuff like that is a large part of the later part of my comic.

But back on topic, poor Julian gets the brunt of my issues, poor thing! Poor comic characters, they deal with so much shit. Lmao!

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Indeed they do.

LadyLazuli (Phantomarine)

It's not well-hidden that Phantomarine's (http://www.phantomarine.com/) main character Phaedra is extremely similar to me But over time, she's become less of a carbon copy, and more of a critique/exploration of myself when I was younger. Partly just because the comic has gone on for almost five years now - she's remained locked in time, while I've gained clearer hindsight as to who I was at 19. At my best, I was caring, empathetic, hard-working, and thoughtful - at my worst, I was stubborn, stiff, quick to judge, slow to change, and mightily self-righteous. But when some bad life events happened, I was forced to mature in unexpected ways. I wanted to channel that same energy for Phaedra. She's strong in her convictions - but maybe a bit too strong.

Her journey doesn't involve a total invalidation of her convictions, but more of a broadening. Someone inflexible becoming more willing to question her beliefs in the event of new knowledge. Especially with the threat of death/erasure on the line. It's my greatest critique of my younger self - not something I outright hate in retrospect, but something I needed to work on. Phaedra both annoys me and stirs up great pity in me. I think that's a healthy and relatable combination for a teenager/young-adult.

snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights)

In terms of, like, her backstory, and how her life unfolds in general, Mizuki is basically nothing like me. But in terms of dialogue... Mizuki talks exactly how I talk in real life.

Tuyetnhi

a lot of folks asked me if Cara is a self-insert when I explicitly states she's kind of an experience between me and my mom's relationship with each other. Though she has some personality from me, that's the same goes with everyone else I create for my comics or written stories.

idk it might just an inherent thing I recognize

twothirty

Like most people have mentioned all my characters in Verse (http://versecomic.com/) have parts of me in them, it's the only way i can write them in a believable way. But if i had to pick just 1, it's definitely Fife. Just 100% anxiety, a constant inner dialogue of self-doubt, and my own nervous tics like playing with hair and picking at nails. It makes writing how he handles problems kind of weird, because I get a bit too much in my own head with it.

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I can relate with all my characters in some way and definitely throw some of my own culture and experiences in mental illness into them. I feel like I'm able to write those things in better and make them feel more natural because I know what it's really like and how I would be responding to a situation. There's also one character I'm about to introduce (in an update for tomorrow or Monday) who's kind of like how I was as a child.

Capitania do Azar

I feel like I'm just going to repeat a lot of the replies I see here by saying I sprinkled a lot of traits and issues through the characters so I can see them interact and figure things out I don't think there's one of them that gets more than the others though. And it's usually really small things here and there, nothing too big because that would ruin the purpose of trying to have my characters being their own persons

Tuyetnhi

yep, i agree on that

renieplayerone

same here, I kinda spread out between a bunch of different characters. I really wanted to be deliberate in not having a self-insert character while still being able to talk about things I've experienced. I think for me what helped was figuring out what werent things I related to about these characters and went out and talked to people who did have that experience

DanitheCarutor

I dunno, I think it's all in what kind of people... creatures you make your characters. Like, I only have the two and really give Julian the majority of my personal stuff, to where they can superficially be a carbon copy of myself. Although overall their background, personality and how they deal with issues are different. You can put a lot of yourself into one character but it's all in how you have them handle those traits, coupled with what kind of personality they have, and where they come from that makes them their own person, so to speak. People are complicated, you can put a group who share the same interests through the same scenario, and how they react or what they take away from that experience will always be a little different.

Urg, sorry if I'm coming off rude, or stating the obvious!

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

You know, I was thinking, "none of my characters are like me," but then @snuffysam (Super Galaxy Knights) 's comment made me remember that, wait, they do sort of talk like me. I don't really like it. Especially when I catch them using words that I use too often, like "just" and "actually." It doesn't help that my friends have said that I have a very "particular way of speaking," whatever that means. How do you guys prevent that kind of thing? Obviously my natural instinct when writing dialogue is to write in my own voice. It feels unnatural to go against that.

keii4ii

One tool you can use is to model a character after someone else. This doesn't really show in my comic, as it's in English only these days, but the characters canonically talk in Korean most of the time. The MC is not fluent in Korean. I modeled his speech after two Korean-American dudes I know IRL, who are not fluent in the language. He doesn't talk exactly like them, as they have very different personalities, but knowing the exact level of brokenness (as in broken Korean) helped a lot back when I was writing the comic in Korean.

Tuyetnhi

I sometimes caught that too with my characters. I try to think of the type of vocabulary they'll use to speak. also what keii said too. I have a handful of characters based on people I knew, and experiences I had in the past as well.

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

Luckily, my my comic takes place in a much "older" setting, so none of my characters really speak like me. The language is so dated at times that you would have a hard time comparing it to my style of talking at all. Actually.... I do have ONE character who speaks like me. But he's also a 4th wall breaker.

Tuyetnhi

we love characters like that lol

carcarchu

My verbal ticks definitely slip into my characters's dialogue but some of my characters have super wacky speech styles such as the character who only speaks in haiku and the one that only talks in kaomojis so that helps to differentiate them

Deo101 [Millennium]

I give everyone an accent and then just by trying to read it in that accent it kind of loses my voice in that process

DanitheCarutor

To add onto what Keii said, depending on the language, the person who isn't a native speaker may also speak more formally. I used to work in a squadron with a bunch of Dutch pilots, and while their English was exceptional, some of them never used word shortcuts like 'they're' or 'you're' but would instead say 'they are' or 'you are'. Their English was very proper compared to people who were native to the language. You can also base a character's speech off their education level. Like a person who isn't well versed in their grammar, or has a limited vocabulary is going to have related issues while speaking. You can also akin this to how they were raised, if their parents had a specific speech pattern, or they grew up in an area where everyone spoke a certain way they might as well. They might also use different words, such as when I lived in Ohio for a bit I noticed how most people referred to soda as pop, and said words like creek (crick) or pond. As opposed to where I grew up, Arizona, where I rarely heard those specific words being used. Especially creek and pond since we don't have an abundance of natural bodies of water, we usually call everything rivers or lakes regardless of size.(edited)

Uh, to answer more directly. I usually figure in the character's education level, upbringing, and location. For example one of my MCs is a hardcore hick, and doesn't like reading or learning in general, so his speech is very simple and not always grammatically correct. As opposed to my other MC who isn't a native English speaker but put a lot of effort into learning the language, is a very technical person, and worked really hard to hide their accent. Even though they do use shortcuts, their speech is more proper and they use a larger vocabulary because they like reading. They also cuss a hell of a lot more than the other MC because they're extremely salty.(edited)

kayotics

Getting a character's voice right is really hard, honestly. What I have to do when writing dialogue is ask myself "Is this in the character's voice?" dialogue is my favorite thing to write, but it's hard to remember to keep in a specific voice. Sometimes i go back a few times in the dialogue to tweak it so there's the right words being used, and the right sentence structure. It's always a battle between how to say something in the most concise way on the page, but still keeping in the right character voice. Like Dani above me said, there's a lot that goes into figuring out a voice, like education level and upbringing and localisms. I just ask myself "ok, how does this character speak? He feels like he's dumb and he wants to make himself sound smart, so he might use words that are too big here" Eventually with each character I figure out what they're like, but for side characters I try to pick a quirk so they don't all mesh together.

DanitheCarutor

@kayotics Aah! The best thing is when that dumb character uses the wrong big words. "Ah yes sir, I love your work! Your brush strokes are very circumlocution."

Cronaj (Whispers of the Past)

See, I have a dumb character who knows he's dumb, so he just doesn't talk if he thinks he doesn't know what he's talking about

Which is quite often

sssfrs (JOE IS DEAD)

I have a very specific tone I use in my comic & I honestly find it harder to avoid slipping into that tone when writing normal stuff than slipping into my own voice writing the comic

Eightfish (Puppeteer)

you do have a very specific tone, sssfrs. Big part of why I read your comic(edited)

I like and agree with kayotics and dani's advice to try to put myself in the character's mind.

Problem is, most of my main characters have similar education levels and grew up in the same place. I mean, there's a reason they're friends.

But that's kind of an excuse, now that I think about it. I've never met two real people with the same voice, even if they're superficially similar. It's probably just a matter of effort differentiating fictional characters.(edited)

Capitania do Azar

How dialog is structured is a great way to show the relationship between the different interacting characters I have two characters who are interested in each other but don't know each other very well and are constantly tiptoeing between using closer pronouns and first names or going back to formal speech and last names/ranks when they feel they're not getting their way. Similarly, a character may speak only in very short, concise sentences to one and be more expressive and take up more words with another. And don't get me started in the weight of silence

AntiBunny

I originally said Hannibal is the most like me in http://AntiBunny.net/ but he and I have grown in different ways since the comic began. Though much of the main cast has bits and pieces of my personality.

sagaholmgaard

I feel like I'm the most like Styrka, mind-wise. I gave her all my anxieties and she's the way I feel like I'd act if I weren't also lucky enough to be in a very positive place in my life, lol. She's the easiest for me to write at least, because I feel like I have the best understanding of her mind out of all the characters. (Behavior-wise, though, I'm more like Albus. I try to be positive if I can!) https://tapas.io/series/_Reclaim_

[eorzeasntm]

ENTM Tumblr Cycle 11  Round One Winner

Hi everyone!  For our first week’s challenge, I asked the models to go out and play in the snow and show us a scenic Winter Wonderland.  Our chilly models took us to all sorts of frosty places, but the model with the coolest shot this week was:

Adam Evershot

Congratulations!  The picture frame around this shot made it feel like a post card, and the judges and I all loved that your character was looking at the small light.  Eureka may hurt, but it sure can be pretty. 

Our guest judge this week was Cullen Dionysion of Mateus, the winner of ENTM Forum Cycle 2.  For all the models, the judges have prepared critiques below the fold.  

Host’s Notes on Judging:  The judges were asked to critique a minimum of three or four models this week.  However, they were allowed to critique as many as they wished, so some judges have provided extra critiques.  Our guest judge Cullen was asked to critique all nine models, since he will rotate out with a different judge next week.

Judge Cullen

Yomu: I love the colors in this shot! The background is well-chosen to the theme but bright enough to appreciate the details. The lines created by the sparkling crystals that direct attention to you is well done too! I think your pose is cute as well though I think directing your body just slightly away from the camera would have felt more like a truly candid shot - regardless it was one of my favorites this week. 

 Yojimbo: This is a really interesting monochromatic shot, it’s very striking to the eye. I think of the sky just had a bit more blue to help contrast the background and foreground it would have been a much stronger shot. I love your choice of glamour in this shot as it’s very theme appropriate and strong, and I can still see you apart from the background but your pose is a tad confusing. Is it mid-walk? Mid-frolic? I would recommend really thinking about the frame of the emote you capture a bit more, but you’ve got a lot of great elements! 

 Luma: The background here is gorgeous. Excellent amount of light and really does match the theme. I can see your story both in your caption, glamour, and pose-so excellent consistency! My only tip would be to consider additional lighting for your face so that your expression comes across more clearly, but I can appreciate the natural light you’ve chosen as well. Ni’ko: This shot has a lot of wonderful elements. I love the choice of weapon to try to act a focal point, so even with the bright sky the viewer is drawn to you as well. The glamour certainly conjurers a God of ice/snow vibe and the aurora is a really creative element with the sky to think of! I was slightly torn with part of the background fading slightly and not as much visible snow but I think this shot is an excellent take on the theme!

Adam: This shot was my favorite for the week. The composition with the diagonal line separating the snow and sky and running to your character draws so much focus especially with your more subtle pose and slight turn from the camera. But it feels like a natural, candid expression of winter wonderland, and the framing is a cute accent to what really could be a poster/framed shot. Well done! 

 Haila: The glamour choice is very cute, very ‘Alice in Winterwonderland’ which I’m sure is no coincidence. I love the colors in the background and the illumination of the crystal, and your pose with the slight camera certainly sells me on the unease of your surroundings. I like the bit of contrast with the green on the foreground though I the lighting is a tad on the too/bright/unnatural side, I think tweaking it slightly would have made it a stronger shot. Still overall great job! 

Peaceful Ursa: I love the glamour choice for this shot! Not obvious snow-related but a creative take with the same tones and colors. I love a good action pose with the snowball throw, but I do think this would have been slightly stronger with just a change of angle to not directly face toward the camera. Also consider the rule of thirds to help draw focus without having to be directly in the middle. Some really great elements though! 

 Kota: I really love the perspective in this shot-facing down a path with the angle really helps unite the foreground and background. I love the snow and the moon as an additional focal point too! It’s a nice adventurous take on a winter-wonderland shot. The pose is a nice mid-motion one but I do think the shot would have been stronger with a specific expression/emotion you wanted to convey on your face, as yours does appear a little static.

Bria: I do appreciate that you made a shot with as the model as the strong focal point. Your glamour looks lovely and I can see some snow on the tree in the background, however, there isn’t much to the story here and I think the shot would have been a lot stronger if you hadn’t cropped out so much with the black circling effect. Think about scene setting more then think about what you as the model can add to stand out without physically cutting it out.

Judge Kusuh

ADAM EVERSHOT I was super excited to hear that this was the first round, because I honestly love every single area that is snowy and cold. With that in mind, I really enjoy how your picture captures a beautiful cold landscape and really fits the definition of “scenic” in my mind. My major critique for this picture is that there is a bit of a lighting imbalance in this picture, with the sparkly star off in the distance (I’m not sure what it is but boy is it bright!) pulling my attention a lot more than your character is. You’re looking at the bright spot, so I’m assuming that this is intentional, but the contrast between yourself and the bright spot means that I look at the shiny thing first, not your character and the line-of-sight to the shiny. I’m a major fan of the lighting/mood overall, because the cold weather along with the twilight lighting make for a really atmospheric scene! For the future, I’d either look into balancing your lighting overall, or making sure the contrast draws my attention to you, not away.  Looking forward to your next shot!  

HAILA WETYIOS: For a scenic shot, going with a vertical camera shot is a risky move that isn’t usually considered, but in this case, I think it works. Your outfit and pose give me some very Alice in (Winter?) Wonderland vibes. I get the feeling that you are lost out here, and the dark and spooky background really reflect that! The one possible issue I see is that the dark background combined with your face so close to the bright snow crystal really starts to wash out your face. Your face doesn’t look to ghostly this time around, but I’d be careful in the future. Other than that I think is is a very strong start to this cycle, and I’m excited to see what you come up with this time!

NI’KO SHAE: I’m getting some major Sailor Moon crossed with Ice Queen vibes from this image! You did an excellent job catching the night sky and all the beautiful lights! Your placement in the image is also excellent; standing over a cliff gives a wonderful scenic view alongside the WHM cane leading my eye up to the night sky above. My one thing to lookout for in regards to this image is that you are a pale character with an equally pastel hairstyle and outfit. In a snowy environment such as this you’ve got to look out for being washed out with the white and cool blue lights you used. You’re starting to fade away into the snow! My main suggestion for this would be to try messing with some warmer lights, you can still get the cold effect without washing out your complexion! Overall this is a great start to this cycle, and I can’t wait to see where you go! 

 YOJIMBO KASAI: Where is this? I ask because you’ve done a great jobs finding a spot that really activates some memories for me; this area actually looks a lot like the winters of where I grew up! The trees are my favorite part of this image because of the way the branches split and break up the background of the image. Here’s the main thing I notice, though: your image is bright. The background is very overexposed, which makes the light become almost blinding. This can have a great effect if used right! With your mostly-totally white outfit though, you very much run into the problem of fading into the bright background. This can be easily fixed by either wearing a color that contrasts better against the very bright background, or but finding a way to have your background be less bright. I can’t wait to see what you come up with next!

Judge Ona

Bria – Although I think your background has “snow”, it is difficult to see the scenic snow that is a requirement of the round. I love the use of particle to highlight the idea of sparkling snow, however this would have had a stronger effect with more to see. The vignette is very large and chokes out the background. Although this helps to focus on you, the scenic element is missing. Remember that all aspects of the round description matter. If the round calls for scenic, find a gorgeous background and have yourself go and enjoy it. If it calls for Battle, make sure you are fighting some monster for your life.

I have always liked this outfit and I definitely love that shade of blue, however I am unsure of the outfit’s connection to the story of this image. It is lacking a theme due to the loss of other elements in the image to influence the viewer to feel a connection to the image. If we were able to see what else was going on, we could connect to the emotions of the image.

I like how at this angle, your hair falling across your face does not fully obscure your face and we can see emotion; however, your face does not show emotion and since you are not focused on the camera, or on an element that the viewer can see, we lose another level of connection.

I would work next week on making sure your images follow the theme and have an element that connects the viewer to the feelings of the image.

Luma Lee - I would have loved to see more of this village! Look at those lights, they are so cozy and inviting! I would try to pan out a little more and add some more of the background to the image. Let me see the darkened night sky!

You are certainly dressed for this cold weather; however, the drab color of the coat tends to blend with the overall earth-tone of the village. My eye tends to be drawn to the gold on your plume because it is different from the rest of the color palate. If possible, try to add a varying color to your image so that one area pops. If this image had been taken at night, and most of the image was a darker blue, then the glow from the windows would have drawn my eye towards the scenery, instead of your plume.

I can definitely feel your theme from this image. Adventurer in Pyros seeing snow instead of what they heard! I am wondering, however, why you are allowing your book to get ruined by all of that falling snow! I would have liked to see you under the porch of a building, writing in your book looking out over the village, almost reflecting on the day. Work on adding some subtle lighting onto your face for next week, as your features are hidden by your hair and glasses, and a little light may have helped to sharpen them up!

Ni’ko - The silhouette of the mountain range in the background is a wonderful way to show scenery especially with the stars tucking in behind it. I love how there is some definition with the trees and the building directly behind you almost insinuating that you walked directly out of that building to cast the borealis into the night’s sky.

Speaking of which, the green of the borealis seamlessly blends into your staff, definitely creating the feeling that you, Ni’ko, are the summoner of the northern lights. Although I would have loved to see more of your signature pink, I love how you intentionally chose to mute the colors in an effort to make the green of the lights pop and bring the viewer’s eyes from you, directly to the scenery and the gorgeous view.

The lighting from the staff, and direction of your gaze, allows for a clear view of your face, allowing the viewer to identify the focus you are taking on your staff and the spell you are casting. Although I am generally concerned for you freezing to death in that outfit, I do love this image overall.

Yumo - You look like you are enjoying that snowfall for sure! Almost breathing in the crisp winter air! I love the intricacies of the scene. Snow covered spires litter the background and are clearly a different approach to “wonderland” than trees and mountains. It is an interesting choice to add ice sprites to the image as well. I am just not sure that they are assisting with the feel or the story. Also, their color is the same as the background causing them to blend a little too much.

You look very warm in your outfit.  I do love that hat too! I am concerned, however, that you are so sharpened and the rest of the image is very soft, and due to the darker shades in your clothes being a strong contrast to the background, that you seem almost photoshopped into the image. If the sharpness was a little softer on you, these harder lines would not make it seem as though you are not part of the image. However, I do LOVE your expression, and the fact that I can clearly see your facial features! Your light source is spot on! I look forward to seeing more images from you!

Kota - I love the angle of this image, the upward shot from your feet while you walk away from the castle, tells a story and asks questions to the viewer. It is the middle of the night, where are you going Kota? The composition is great! The angle of the trees and castle form a valley to the road, and your position takes up the space where the sky would have been empty. I also love that low hanging branch on the left side, obscuring the castle just a bit, it adds another dimension to the image.

I like how your outfit contrasts to the background. The white top against the blue/grey sky, and the boots against the brown road, however, I would have liked to see another color added to this image to help you pop. Maybe playing off the reds/pinks in the items on your belt, however the contrast to the background works here.

One thing I would definitely have liked to see more, however, was your face. Although a spotlight directly on your face would have ruined the feel of the image, a subtle light source above your face to the front (think sun/moon minion) would have cast enough glow that your features would not have been drowned out in shadow.

I would love to know what the story is for your image. I look forward to seeing more images from you!

Judge Terrini

Adam: This is such a peaceful landscape, very tranquil and I love the composition of the icy slopes on the diagonal between sky and forest. It really feels like a postcard, particularly with the white frame. And that Sprite manages to look like the star atop a Christmas tree. The choice of cool blue and purple for your glamor has you match your setting nicely, but I might suggest that you add some more lighting on you to make you pop a bit more because the bright sprite is more striking than you are.. 

 Bria: The bright white sparks with the blue star shimmer makes this shot really look magical and the limb darkening to make you in a little Christmas Ornament or Snow Globe is a nice touch! However, your treescape in the background is rather unfocused and your pose isn't particularly strong. It's like a faint memory of a pretty lady looking back at me at a party, but I can't remember what happened before or after and the glimpse in my head isn't telling me anything. .

Haila: It looks like Alice got a little lost in this Wonderland. It's a really pretty shot and your image composition is great! But that ice sprite seems to be shining so brightly as to be blinding and you're looking right at it! It leaves me a bit unnerved. Your lightling also highlights the green ground you're standing on more than the winter wonderland behind you so I am a bit underwhelmed. It's kinda like you were in Arendelle and suddenly Elsa made the summer into snow. Very interesting concept, but I feel it's a bit weak for the theme. . 

Kota: Such a nice peaceful stroll at night down a well worn path. It has a lovely sense of purpose and it showcases this area beautifully! Your outfit is very practical and brings to mind a certain hero in a certain land known as "Hoth". The angle unnerves me a little... probably because I'm a Lalafell and you're looking up into the sky and not where you're going. Careful not to run me down! .

Luma: You could have framed this shot a bit better. I like your position in the frame, but you have a very plain field of snow stretching out next to you and it would have been stronger to have one of the cabins closer to fill more of the frame. Also, while I love the Scholar poses, they do suffer from the question of what are you documenting? Up close like this, we don't get to see and it can weaken any story that you're trying to tell without you being engaged within the tableau of your image. . 

Ni'ko: Now let me present the new embodiment of Shiva calling up the Aurora Borealis on a crystal clear night. The concept of this shot is great, the setting and timing spot on. I do think that the choice of light on yourself is a bit too washed out and cool. Maybe if you had offered more contrast with a more red tinted purple or even a green like the lights in the sky. . 

Peaceful: I love the individual elements I see in this shot, but your composition leaves me wondering where to focus. You have all these interesting elements to the right half but with you right in the middle of the shot, it just becomes too much. And I like the icicles to the left but the imbalance makes me wonder why you have them there at all? If you had been positioned to the far left I would have been able to naturally take in the picture from you, to the icicles, the trees and then the ice crystal in the foreground to the right for a much stronger image. 

Yojimbo: I actually love how you've managed to get these starkly contreasted pine needles in this picture. It is beautiful and striking. The color of your glamor, however, is not, particularly with the fact that you are particularly dark featured. You get lost in the greater picture and it would have been a lot nicer to have seen you in red to really pop and also de-emphasize that bush behind you that is  the only color and ends up drawing more attention than you. 

Yomu: I somehow feel like you just jumped across all those floating ice crystals and are going "See? I told you, I could do it!" I think that this is a great composition and I love your background. I kinda wish it was more in focus, but I think what you've pulled off is lovely and with you and your shadow being the only things with crisp detail, you stand out wonderfully in your ice blue outfit, that otherwise would blend in quite a bit.

Judge Nadede 

Bria Rirsa:  While these appears to be a nice image of your character, however, I honestly do not know what is going on here at all. It appears that the trees in the background have snow on them but it is so hard to tell with how dark the background appears. I also feel that whatever is causing the blue “burst” (?) off the left shoulder is distracting. My eyes keep drawing towards it than your character just because of how it radiates out from that one point. If you are going to use an effect of sorts, pose the question to yourself “Will this help draw attention to my character or detract from it?” Also keep in mind of body parts that are cut off, like how your left hand is here in your image. It can detract from what could potentially be a nice image. Your image is really a good start, just keep some of the things I’ve mentioned in mind and you’ll do just fine.

Luma Lee:  Not too bad of a start, but I feel that the caption you used for your image does not really suit what is going on in the background. Feels that if going to go with the caption you used, a more scenic shot of Pyros would have been ideal. If you feel like a caption for an image is needed, try to keep in mind that it should make sense with the overall image. The same goes when using the facial expressions when using an emote. It should make sense with the overall image. What I see for an expression is not one of confusion but one of you’re trying to concentrate on something. Before going into gpose, you can do an emote that you are wanting and then you can select an expression to use. After that, go into gpose and see if it is something you are trying to go for or not. It is all trial and error. Another thing that will help you out with your image is how your character is lit up. Right now, you are off to the side and in a shadow while the background is a bit brighter. I suggest playing around with the lighting to help make you stand out from the rest of your image a little bit more, while again, having it make sense with the overall image. I do look forward to what you do with your image next week with the suggestions given. Good luck!

Peaceful Ursa:  Yay it is nice to see a male Roe for a change participating this cycle! That said, I’m trying to figure out what is going on in your image. In your image, your toon feels like it is almost too centered for my liking. Try to play around with what is called “the rule of thirds” a bit more to make your composition even more interesting. I am also a bit distracted with how your feet are clipping into the snow. If where you took your image is where I think it is, it is one of my favorite spots to go to when I play with gpose but same time have a field day where my feet will not be clipped from the snow. Lighting will also be your friend as well. As of right now you almost blend in with the background with just the color of your skin and hair alone. I tend to have that same problem as well when taking gpose shots. Play around with the lighting and also look into using complimentary colors to help make you pop out more. I can’t wait to see what you will come up with next week.

Yojimbo Kasai:  Hold on for just one second. Where are they? Oh good, here they are *puts on her shades* There much better. Your image is very, umm, bright and the lighting of it needs to be toned down quite a bit. I do wish that you could have added a bit more color in the image just so that everything wasn’t just white or shades of white. That might have helped tone down how bright your image is as well. With how bright everything else is, I do wish that you could have played around with the lights to light up your face some so you could pop out some from the background. Your character also appears to be a bit too centered. Just like I suggested to another model, try playing around with what is called “the rule of thirds” to make your composition more interesting. Also keep in mind if body parts are cut off or not that they do not detract from your image. Here, your feet are cut off, taking away from the image. Try to pull back just a little bit with the camera to where perhaps your feet are just close to touching the edge of the shot. I do not think you’re off to a bad start, just try to work with lighting to where it isn’t so bright, which is the challenge within itself with the given theme. Hopefully you will have better luck with the lighting in your next challenge. Good luck!

Yomu Kazul:  This is one of the images that I actually do like this week. Do wish that your face was a bit more lit up though so I can see it more. I also do wish that there was a way your were facing the ice sprites instead of away from them. Would make it look like you are conversing with them (perhaps) instead of leaving me wondering what you are looking at. They are also, in a sense, being used to help draw my eye towards you and your pose continues that line off the page (if that makes any sense lol). I like it when I see an image that has elements within that can have me move my eyes around it and then go back to the main subject matter. It really is a good start and I can’t wait to see what you come up again for next week.

Ni’ko Shae : Welcome back Ni’ko! Your image is another one that I actually liked for this week. Is that within Eureka??? If so, just the aurora borealis alone makes me want to actually go in and try Eureka just to see that. The only thing that I can point out is make sure your feet is not cut off. It does detract from the image big time. Just pull back with the camera just a lil bit to where your feet are just about to touch the edge of the image. I would also work with how the back half of your character is lit. Try to look up what is called “three point lighting” and especially of examples using what is called rim lighting in photography. It will help make you pop out just a bit more playing with the lighting. Looking forward to see what you come up with next week. Good job.

Adam Evershot:  Welcome back to you as well. You were another whose shot, at least compositionally, I liked for this week. How you are sitting looking at the background  and the way the tree leads you to the other side of the image helps me out with looking at the overall image. Only thing that I suggest is working on your lighting. The main lighting source is from the ice sprite and has me wanting to look at it a bit more than at your character. Just as I had suggest with Ni’ko, look into “three point lighting” and play around with the lighting in gpose. Overall not too bad of a job, just work on lighting some more. Good luck for next week.

Haila Wetyios:  Another former ENTM model to welcome back, so welcome back! While I like your image with the lighting and composition, I felt as if you really missed the mark with this week’s theme. It just did not make any sense to me whatsoever. I’m sure your outfit would work for a cosplay round but it did not help resonate a “winter wonderland” like vibe with me. Have a feeling you focused too much on the “wonderland” aspect and not really on the “winter” part of it. I am all for pushing boundaries but same time make it to where it makes sense with the given theme. While this week might be a nope for me I do look forward to seeing how you interpret the given theme for next week. Good luck.

Kota Tumet:  Your image is a good start for the cycle. While I like it, how your right (forward) foot is cut off in the image detracts from the image for me. Zoom out with the camera just some so that you can actually see it, even if it is just barely touching the edge of the image. I like the fact that you have given me something to help guide my eye around the image with the road and moon behind you. I do wish that you can work on your lighting some so that you can pop out some more like the moon in the background. I also wish that there was a tilt in the head or some other expression on your face than just the basic straight faced look. Personally, I would be looking around taking everything in when walking about, whether with just my eyes or wanting to touch something I see. Keep lighting in mind and good luck with your next image.

[scifimagpie]

Elegy for a Mistake: My Toxic Friendship

My usual post style and topics tend to encompass writing techniques, analytical bits and riffs on TV and movies, or even the odd podcast. Once in a while, I turn my attention inward and try to offer lessons by example from my own experience. Today, I find myself talking about a humbling and painful, yet freeing experience: the release of an unhealthy friendship.

Normally, I'm a peppy, jocund, and self-assured writer, with solutions ready at hand by the time an article is ready to go. In public and private, I am known for my likeable and kind personality - though I would privately describe myself as a haplessly bumbling, well-intentioned blowhard.

Let us presume that both cases are simultaneously true. This time, I have only an ouroboros of self-doubt and a cautionary tale. Bear that in mind: this essay lacks an easy or blithe answer to the questions I've posed and struggled with.

A word of warning

To protect this person's anonymity, I will call them "Micah." I have changed their gender pronouns for this article to enhance their privacy as well. I won't talk about their personal circumstances at much length, either, for the same reasons. Figuring out their identity from context clues in my personal life and my blog is possible, but ultimately, unimportant.

For the same reason, I will not be including screenshots or "proof" or other receipts. I don't want to roast Micah's books or sabotage their career. (For reasons I will outline below, they do a great job of that on their own.)

Another big issue with Micah was my long-term working relationship with them. No matter how much you like someone and trust them, never work for free. More precisely, never work for free. or for exposure, or work trades if you find yourself shouldering a very unequal load.

I did this. I knew better - but Micah (and my own affection for them) let me talk myself into it over and over. And that was far from all that went wrong.

"Everyone has dead people," insisted Rocket Raccoon in the first Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Everyone has their share of mistakes, ghosts, demons, and regrets. Perhaps Micah had more demons than most. But at the time, I saw them as a dammed fine writer and a tough person, a marvel of endurance.

That's still true, but their coping techniques to maintain that survival were another matter. Micah had ways of judging people and justifying their reactions to relatively small incidents that, over time, caused a lot more harm than I realised at first.

The warning signs I ignored

The thing is, Micah had a thin skin and a very sharp tongue. They were happy to nitpick and harangue anyone and everyone - usually in the safety of our private messages. This included people who thought of them as a friend and authority.

Everyone has gripes with friends from time to time, nitpicks about media, and qualms about significant industry names. Micah had all of those - and a long memory to boot. Eve their partner was far from exempt from critique and bewailing.

Yet I was, until the end of our friendship, the one person almost always exempt from these critiques. Not that I always got praise, but the mildest compliments were gold in the context of their otherwise unceasing criticism.

Surely this seems like an unflattering picture, but consider, reader, the burden of guilty pleasure that lies at my feet. I did not think I was complicit in their unhealthy patterns of criticism; I would sometimes softly defend people, but always in private.

On many occasions, I took the brunt of a fight to defend their honour - from a person who often had no idea Micah was offended. But I got to be the one good person in the world, who measured up - until I didn't.

But even before the change in tenor and tone, things were starting to go wrong. I was avoiding my favorite social media platform and my many friends there, because I dreaded the gloom and pain in Micah's messages. Our primary mode of communication was inevitably draining and depressing. Nobody has to be happy all the time, but unceasing misery is simply not okay.

The problem

While Micah and I do struggle with similar mental health issues, they had many severe physical issues to boot. I let this excuse their temper, their dark moods, and sometimes arbitrary coping mechanisms fat more than I should. They refused to deal with their mental health issues with medication or supervision - even though said issues were life-threatening.

And I, who normally would have spoken up about that, kept tolerating it.

Micah went to no small effort to convince me they knew best for themselves...even though the benefit of hindsight makes me question that deeply.

The problem is that Micah's depression was thick in their writing, and I think - I know - it sometimes negatively affected my own. Refusing to write happy or happier stories that were "not true to their experience, " they chased off potential fans and professional allies with endless cutting and overly specific arguments.

But I found their positions and their writing eminently defensible. They were very good at articulating arguments which I found persuasive.

When Micah excoriated me on a thread in public, in private, and on Twitter at various points, over a variety of issues, I began to question the state of our friendship. I think it's pretty fair to say that most of us know it's not good form to rip a buddy a new one "in public" or in private, as it were. Especially when, say, you actually agree on an issue, but have failed to state things in the exact way they require and prefer - and when that is an offense meriting a hard scoldin', it's a sign that something's awry.

Unfortunately, smart people can talk themselves into anything.

The fallout

I was unable to complete a dark and melancholy book for Micah, and they had a mental health crash - which was,  by that point, indistinguishable from their usual state. They said they wanted to talk less to me because they were deeply hurt that I hadn't recognized the toll of their books on my own mental health - even though I told them as soon as I realised it was a problem, and had found a reasonable way to articulate it. (That took probably 36 hours, for the record. I was unable to criticize their books to myself before that point.)

They were deeply upset, and I blamed myself - for their mental health crash, just as they wanted me to. Realising that I could no longer work for free or be fast enough, I found myself questioning many things about their books - and even Micah themselves.

I even asked a celebrity (whom they'd caused me to pick a fight with by complaining at length about her "horribly offensive, ableist" perspective that writing books too fast and immediately publishing them does not result in good books) for her insight.

Jenny Trout was kind enough to hear me out, and even warn me that a friend like Micah may not be a real friend. That really made me think. Ms. Trout was so eminently reasonable, and I thought about how repetitive Micah's books had been lately, and I just couldn't disagree with her point.

When we continued discussing the topic, Micah had the temerity to refer to artistic writers (as opposed to commercial writers) as "blowhards". When I admitted that had offended me, they took the tack of insinuating that ghostwriting, editing, or enhancing are "not real" writing, or part of a shadowy underground industry, not deserving respect as part of the industry (even though ghostwriting and editing have been present in writing for as long as books have been made.)

Frustrated and upset beyond communication, I had to get my partner to write the message saying I needed a break from Micah.

I spent the next two weeks in agonizing tension, worrying about the future of our friendship. About twelve days into the proposed three-week hiatus, I messaged Micah to check in, hesitantly extending an olive branch.

They ripped into me, accusing my partner and myself of unhealthy and unsafe behaviour towards them - for sending a short, clipped message in the middle of a hard mental health crisis.

As I stared at the screen and skimmed through their messages, I had to face the facts: I would never be good enough for Micah.

I was bound to bump into their exacting rubric of communications and requirements eventually. It had finally happened.

But when I realised I needed to end things, I felt almost deliriously free. I spent a good week smiling and laughing more, and enjoying a generally great mood. But then I had to think about everyone I had blocked or critiqued or mocked with Micah, and the way they encoraged me to shred others. In all, it is almost a wonder that through my relationship with them, I kept the vast majority of my friends.

How does one proceed?

Having patience for friends with mental health issues and complex disabilities is vitally important. Learning to talk about people and vent in private, rather than picking fights or airing the pettiest of grievances, are both important. How do I use the best of what Micah taught me while critiquing their perspectives after the fact? Is hard to say what would be different if we had never become close, but there will be no escaping their impact on my music taste, writing, and memories.

There are no tidy answers or how-to charts to figure out whether a friend simply has complex needs, or is facilitating and enabling your bad habits. Unhealthy friendships can also involve a lot of mentorship, support, and intimacy. If they were straightforwardly awful, they wouldn't last.

but at present. I seem to be, for the first time in my life, unencumbered by any toxic relationships. I have more energy and time for my friends and chosen family, and even my partners (my original partner Andrey, and our queerplatonic housemate Kit).

All I can do is try to wrap my head around both how much and how little I really lost, and apply my lessons to improve my friendships with others, ensuring they feel heard and cared for. At the same time, I must remain safe and self-critical enough to avoid perpetrating the abusive cycle and behaviors all survivors must constantly guard against.

At the end of the day, they left me with conjecture,. and not much else. I thought we were the closest of friends....yet I never heard their voice, met them - or even knew their given name. And there is only so much you can love a friend who won't share their true self with you.

*** Michelle Browne is a sci fi/fantasy writer. She lives in Lethbridge, AB with her partner-in-crime, housemate, and their cat. Her days revolve around freelance editing, knitting, jewelry, and nightmares, as well as social justice issues. She is currently working on the next books in her series, other people's manuscripts, and drinking as much tea as humanly possible. Catch up with Michelle's news on the mailing list. Her books are available on Amazon, and she is also active on Medium, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Tumblr, and the original blog.

[cryptoquicknews-blog]

New Post has been published here https://is.gd/4zIvK4

Hodler’s Digest, May 13–19: Top Stories, Price Movements, Quotes and FUD of the Week

This post was originally published here

Top Stories This Week

Coming every Sunday, the Hodler’s Digest will help you track every single important news story that happened this week. The best (and worst) quotes, adoption and regulation highlights, leading coins, predictions, and much more — a week on Cointelegraph in one link.

Bitstamp Starts Investigation After Large BTC Sell Leads to $250 Million Liquidated on BitMEX

Major crypto exchange Bitstamp launched an investigation this week after a large bitcoin (BTC) sell order heavily impacted its order book. Bitstamp reported on the execution of the large bitcoin sell order from BTC to United States dollars, without specifying themselves the details of the transaction. Other crypto media noted that it involved a sell order that led to a liquidation of $250 million long positions on the BitMEX exchange with 5,000 BTC sold at $6,200, which further resulted in price declines on other crypto exchanges. Some crypto commentators suggested that the sell order could be made by mistake, with the order’s owner having meant to sell his/her bitcoin at $8,200 instead of $6,200.

Flexa Launches App Where Shoppers Can Spend Crypto at 15 Major U.S. Retailers

Payments startup Flexa unveiled an app this week that allows consumers to spend cryptocurrencies at major American retailers. The app, called Spedn, is currently set up to work with retailers including Barnes & Noble, Bed Bath & Beyond, GameStop, Lowe’s, Nordstrom, Office Depot and Whole Foods Market, with more stores to be added in the coming months. Stores that aren’t able to accept cryptocurrency will require the crypto to be instantly converted to fiat when an item is purchased. As of now, purchase on Spedn can be made with bitcoin, ether (ETH), bitcoin cash (BCH) as well as the gemini dollar (GUSD) stablecoin.

U.S. SEC Delays Decision on Bitwise Bitcoin ETF, Seeks Public Comment

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has again delayed its decision to approve or disapprove cryptocurrency index fund provider Bitwise Asset Management’s bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) application. In this week’s filing, the SEC also noted that it requested public comment from interested parties, asking for “written submissions of their views, data, and arguments with respect to the issues identified above, as well as any other concerns they may have with the proposal.” Bitwise had initially filed for an ETF in February, under the condition that the SEC would reach a decision in 45 days, with its application differing from others in that it draws prices from a variety of cryptocurrency exchanges, with the aim of better representing the market.

Bakkt to Roll Out First Bitcoin Futures Testing in July 2019

Institutional crypto exchange Bakkt plans to roll out testing for bitcoin futures trading in early July 2019, according to its CEO, Kelly Loeffler. Loeffler noted in a Medium post this week that Bakkt is working with both the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures U.S. exchange and ICE Clear U.S. clearing house to prepare the first testing of bitcoin futures trading and custody. In the announcement, Bakkt noted that it has been working with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission in order to be compliant with federal regulations, as well as to meet major requirements in terms of investors protection. Bakkt was first introduced in August 2018, with the stated goal of offering physically backed bitcoin futures.

EBay Denies Rumors It Will Start Accepting Crypto, Despite Advertising at Crypto Event

EBay has denied rumors after Blockchain Week that it is going to start accepting cryptocurrency as a payment method. Rumors have mounted that the online retail giant would be offering crypto as a payment option since ads were shown at crypto conference Consensus stating: “Virtual currency. It’s happening on eBay.” However, it does currently have a section marked Virtual Currency, where people can use traditional monetary forms to purchase crypto from sellers. In response to the rumors, an eBay spokesperson said that “cryptocurrency is not accepted as a form of payment on the eBay platform, nor is it part of our payments strategy.”

Winners and Losers

The top three altcoin gainers of the week are ultra coin, icechain and pwr coin. The top three altcoin losers of the week are segwit2x, blockport and sharpe platform token.

For more info on crypto prices, make sure to read Cointelegraph’s market analysis.

Most Memorable Quotations

“The more interaction, and willingness that people want to engage with us, the happier we are because we want this to work. We want there to be innovation in these markets. We want there to be change.”

– Amy Starr, chief of the office of capital markets trends at the U.S. SEC

“It is a useless currency, that’s what I believe. Look, I realize that people have different opinions, but to me, it’s garbage.”

– Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary

“In a small number of months, we should have a fully operational testnet and possibly, by the end of this year we’ll have a fully operational phase 0 Ethereum 2.0.”

– Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder

“I believe that there are use cases that makes sense today, we have yet to find them at scale in financial services. We’re experimenting heavily, we have more patents than any other financial institution in the blockchain space, but have yet to find something that makes a difference for our clients or our customer.”

– Catherine Bessant, chief technology officer at Bank of America

“There is a broad discussion in Washington around 5G being dominated by foreign firms and the U.S. being reliant on foreign technology and foreign expertise. […] With blockchain and crypto, I think there’s a recognition now that these will be part of our future infrastructure. […] It’s important both for national security and from an economic perspective, that the U.S. is a leader in that.”

– Ryan Zagone, Ripple’s Director of Regulatory Relations

Prediction of the Week

Joseph Lubin on Ethereum 2.0: ETH to Become 1,000 Times More Scalable Within 24 Months

Joseph Lubin, Ethereum co-founder, said in an interview with Cointelegraph this week that the Ethereum blockchain will become about 1,000 times more scalable in 18 to 24 months. In the interview, Lubin noted that Ethereum 2.0, also called Serenity, will be responsible for bringing the drastic scalability increase to the ecosystem. The development, which Lubin noted is divided into four phases, already has eight groups developing clients for the new chain. He explained that there are several ways in which the new chain could be connected with the old one, noting “there may be bidirectional mechanisms” in moving ether (ETH) tokens from the old chain to the new chain.

FUD of the Week

Floyd Mayweather and DJ Khaled Escape Lawsuit Brought by Defrauded ICO Investors

High-profile boxer Floyd Mayweather and music producer DJ Khaled were dismissed this week from a lawsuit brought by investors in a fraudulent initial coin offering (ICO). The two celebrities had been involved in promoting Centra Tech’s ICO, and had originally been charged last November with unlawfully advertising the aforementioned ICO. This week, a judge ruled that the investors who had brought the legal action against the ICO had not proven that they had bought tokens as a direct result of the pair’s actions. In the settlement where neither of the parties admitted to nor denied the charges against them, Mayweather was fined more than $600,000, while Khaled was fined more than $150,000.

Tron Co-Founder and CTO Leaves Project, Alleging Excessive Centralization

Lucien Chen — the former chief technical officer and co-founder of blockchain protocol Tron — announced that he is leaving the project, citing an excessive centralization. In his announcement, Chen noted that in spite of the project’s success, irreconcilable contradictions between himself and co-founder Justin Sun have led him to choose to leave Tron. In the post, Chen noted that Tron is no longer staying true to its founding principle of decentralizing the web, critiquing Tron’s delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism and Super Representative governance and block production nodes.

Hacked New Zealand Exchange Cryptopia Appoints Liquidators, Trading Suspended

Hacked New Zealand-based cryptocurrency exchange Cryptopia said this week that trading was suspended and it was appointing liquidators. The exchange specifically said that it has appointed David Ruscoe and Russell Moore from consultancy and audit firm network Grant Thornton New Zealand as the aforementioned liquidators. In mid-January of this year, Cryptopia had said that it was the target of a security breach resulting in significant losses. According to the liquidators, the exchange decided to go into liquidation, as it has been unable to return the business to profitability, notwithstanding management’s reported efforts to reduce costs. The liquidators plan to conduct an investigation with the aim of securing assets for the benefit of the stakeholders.

Best Cointelegraph Features

Major Crypto Exchange in Korea Shut Down in April: 2018 Was a Nightmare for Most

Joseph Young explains what’s been happening with South Korean cryptocurrency exchanges, as they suffered through a freeze on accepting new registrations as well as the overall bear market.

What Crypto Exchanges Do to Comply With KYC, AML and CFT Regulations

Since most altcoins require crypto enthusiasts to purchase them via cryptocurrency exchanges, Cointelegraph takes a look at how these exchanges work with Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Know Your Customer (KYC) and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) regulations to ensure both safety and regulatory compliance.

Blockchain as Key to Vienna’s Digital Future — Interview with Ulrike Huemer, CIO of Vienna, Austria

Cointelegraph’s German division spoke with the chief information officer of Vienna’s digital future initiative about the ways the city can evolve to integrate more emerging technologies, including, of course, blockchain.

#crypto #cryptocurrency #btc #xrp #litecoin #altcoin #money #currency #finance #news #alts #hodl #coindesk #cointelegraph #dollar #bitcoin View the website

New Post has been published here https://is.gd/4zIvK4

[modernmelting]

Mattias Pilhede Interviewed by Darren Liang on Art

1) How long have you been drawing, and how did you learn how to draw? Were you self-taught or did you receive formal art education?

I did not draw at all in my youth. I always liked art but I was too afraid of drawing, scared that someone would see something bad I had drawn and laugh or judge me for it, but I was always interested in art. When I was around 22 I was walking to buy lunch during a break at work when I started thinking, man, is this all my life has become? Working all day and then going home to play videogames? Right then I decided that I would start doodling every day, and the doodles didn't have to be good, but I could look back on my doodles and remember what I did that day. Then over time the doodles became sketches, and around a year later I got my first critique and thought, wow, I think I want to take art seriously. So I started drawing every day. I never went to art school, but instead sought out different things on the internet. What the artists I looked up to recommended, forums for art and online groups for critique. I guess from that you could say self-taught, but I've sought out so many sources to learn from that I don't really see it that way. I just tried to find my own education.

2) What are the best instructional books or resources to learn the fundamentals of art?

If you tell a stranger to draw a hand, chances are they will draw five lines, like something for a stick figure. That's not what a hand looks like though, that's a symbol that exists in your head for what a hand is. Try to look at objects like your hand as if it was a foreign object you have never seen before. Judge it by it's weird shapes, it's forms, don't our fingers and nails look strange? Draw that.

For any absolute beginner, seek out "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards, it has a lot of good exercises that go into this. This is called proportions and form. I think it would also be good to start with learning gesture. Gesture is not focusing on the anatomy of someone, but the movement of things. It's like capturing the movement of someone with a stick figure, except it looks more classy. A great book for this is "Force" by Michael D. Mattesi. Everything has gesture, and it's a good way for what you draw to not look stiff. A common beginner mistake it to draw people standing straight like robots, but nobody stands like that unless forcing themselves to. For color, look up "Color and Light" by James Gurney. It's a master-class in color along with how to approach and think about color theory. Sometimes we approach color in the "logical" way that we have always understood colors, only to find that's not true. When putting grey with red it looks blue. When drawing shadows, most are actually blue and not black. In most cases things that are lit look colder, and dark areas look warmer. Color does not exist without the context of other colors, and everything in the world is basically a mirror reflecting light. It's really weird to think about. With anatomy, I recommend "Figure Drawing" by Michael Hampton.

Sometimes we want to jump straight into drawing like the people we look up to, but actually we can't draw like them until we understand things the way they understand them. All your heroes were not born with genius knowledge of how the human body works, they had to learn it too. If you don't feel like reading books I recommend the youtube channels Ahmed Aldoori, Proko, and Marco Bucci.

3) In what order should one learn the fundamentals of art? In what order did you learn the fundamentals of art?

You could learn it in a specific order. Gesture, construction, proportions, perspective, values, anatomy, color. However, as you start making art it won't really work that way, "completing one thing and moving on to the next". You have to keep making things that are interesting and appealing to you. Then you have to  re-evaluate yourself and where your faults are, where do you lack the most knowledge? What can you do about it? You will never 100% know one topic, but you can keep improving your flaws by making new things and studying new things. As you patch up some mistakes, others will become more apparent that you had never considered before.

4) If you were to train me for 8 weeks for an art competition, and you had one million dollars on the line, what would training look like? What about for 2 years? What about for a decade? What would the daily training schedule look like?

I think first you would need a role for yourself. Are you a character designer? An environment artist? Storyboard artist? Concept artist? Or, what industry do you want to work in, videogames, comics, film? Sometimes we think "I want to be a great artist", but what does that mean? Do you want to have the best technical skill in the world? Do you want to have followers on social media? I think it's easy to get caught up in the artist world where artists obsess with the details other artists make, but the general audience doesn't really care. Along with that, chances are we didn't get into making art for the sake of amazing detail, but what the art communicated to us.

I think in this challenge, no matter the amount of time, you would both be trained in all of the fundamentals of art and in finding yourself. If you had all the technical skill in the world but no way to communicate it, people wouldn't care for it. Your communication or message doesn't have to be an epic saga like Lord of the Rings or a painting fit for a cathedral. I'm not saying it has to be the best thing in the world, just do what you care about. If more than anything you want to paint armored knights, or cute anime girls, then do it. Don't be an artist "making art for the sake of great art", be a person using art as a tool to show a character you always had in your head, a landscape you want to live in. Tell the story you always wanted to see; but no one else will ever do it, so now you have to.

In a very short amount of time, your training would probably be the fundamentals that can quickly show communication. Gesture, composition, then along with construction, values and perspective.

5) Even at a professional level, what is hard, and what are common mistakes?

I think a lot of professional artists get too comfortable and stop learning the fundamentals. You don't really reach a level with them where you have learned everything, you have to keep learning them as you go along. I'm guilty of it too, and I have a lot left to learn.

If you want to post frequently it can get tough once you work for film or game companies. You will have "non-disclosure agreements" where you can't post your art for a certain amount of years, and sometimes never. It can cause some confusion, does this guy still do art? Why does it take so long to post things? The social media feeds of a lot of artists just die out. It's hard to say what the most common mistakes are since there are so many of them and I have yet to learn from all of them. Don't undercharge for paintings or drawings. If you are charging less than what is worth your time, then you might as well be working in fast-food instead. Take everything in small steps instead of daydreaming about grand visions. Always be honest, people can smell lies.

6) What is the biggest mistake when approaching art? What is the biggest waste of time? A lot of beginners have odd attitudes to art. They think their favorite artists are god-like beings who were bestowed magical powers of talent. They weren't. They are regular human beings just like yourself, and that means that if they can learn to do it, so can you. A lot of beginners also get caught up with perfection, sometimes you have to relax, because you will never live up to the expectations that are in your head.

I also think a lot of people spend too long copying photos and copying favorite artists. Do you understand the structure behind what you are drawing? Would you be able to re-draw it from memory? Would you be able to draw it from a different perspective? Don't copy it, study it. You will fail a hundred times over, but each time you will improve. Don't give up because you failed, that's where most people quit. Every time you fail and try again, you are learning something new.

7) What separates a good artist from a great artist? I think what all good artists have in common is a foundation in the fundamentals of art. Anatomy, perspective, composition, etc. What makes a great artist is very subjective since it has to do with what they are using that to tell. My great artists probably won't be the same as your great artists.

I don't like a lot of modern or contemporary art, where someone can scream "I'm expressing myself" as they are throwing eggs against a wall. That's just terrible communication. What I often look for is storytelling, if I look at this individual character, landscape or illustration, can I place a story in it? Did the artist intend a story with it? Can I tell who the character is by what they are wearing, their posture or expression? Is there a calm atmosphere to the landscape, or is something happening? Do I relate to this character, or this mood? Things aren't simple. You will have to learn how to learn. You will fail a thousand times over. ... And yet it's pretty exciting.

[spotlightsaga]

Kevin Cage of @spotlightsaga reviews… Untucked (S09E06) Snatch Game Airdate: April 29, 2017 @wowreport Ratings: 593,000+ on @youtube as of 6/15/17 Score: 8/10

**********SPOILERS BELLW**********

I made a specific contestant a promise I would go ahead and watch Untucked to not only highlight the juxtaposition of my styles of writing when it comes the two totally different series (one competition, one what’s morphed into a show of spirit and sense of community), but also because Drag Race is simply a tough one for me to review. I have a lot of respect for everyone that comes on the show and demonstrates that ‘fire’, and I get caught up in trying to both critique ‘Drag Race’ as the competition style calls for and pad my blunt critiques with humor that can be sometimes taken the wrong way. Last week’s 'Untucked’, I focused heavily on Nina, I recognized a pattern, certain tendencies, withdrawing fro. The group, and a look of the eyes that I know all too well because I myself have battled depression, addiction, dependency, a slew of shit (as most of us have) and had to figure out how to maneuver life without throwing up too many buckets of water on myself when I start to get white hot. It’s not easy, but for some people it is… And sometimes those very people want to say, 'Get over it’, 'Suck it up’, or write you off… Depression, self doubt, all these things that plague us in the cycle of the human condition are not something you can just wipe off the mirror like lipstick… But I see you Queens struggling with that too, so…

We start this 'Untucked’ off with a bit of fun, the same fun we aren’t exactly seeing translate to VH1 on the 'Main Stage’… Then again VH1 was the network that picked Wendy Williams to host the between breaks 'Viewing Party’. Just ask our buddy Jonny McGovern & his friend Erickatoure why that’s not the best move… Better yet just go subscribe to his channel on YouTube. 'Hey Qween’ is literally just waiting for you, calling your name, just sitting on YouTube Red’s digital shelf waiting for you to watch until your eyes turn glossy & red, leaving you pupils dilated to the size of mega saucers… And when you finally emerge from your house everyone will assume your either a tweaker or from Wilton Manors.

Apparently Trinity Taylor, God Bless her Floridian soul, has never seen 'Bad Girls Club’ or been the only white girl in the room… As she has no clue what 'edges’ are. I can’t tell you why this is so damn funny to me, maybe it’s Shea’s earnest and surprisingly highly detailed & accurate attempt at educating Trinity on the matter (This is emerging as Shea’s specialty, not the history and extensive knowledge of edges, but breaking things down in articulate manner that anyone can follow - plus she’s talent personified)… Maybe it’s Valentina’s adorably juvenile delivery of the line she delivers to Trinity explaining to her that she has her own form of edges, 'that black spray stuff you be spraying, DUH!’ But as god as my witness, there are simply no words to describe the laughter this scene inspires!

Trinity still doesn’t get it, she’s 'from the south’ she says we don’t use words like 'Edges’… Tho, again, I’m gonna have to break something down… South Florida and even parts of Central Florida aren’t really the south. Consider us more of the North Caribbean, hell we aren’t even really a part of the United States, thats just what it looks like on the map so everyone including your parents and teachers have told you so. But yeah, 'edges’ are most definitely still a word down here in the 'North Carribean’. Valentina’s adorableness continues… Her Hispanic background leads her to really appreciate Trinity’s astonishing ability to be 'so evil and so nice at the same time’. See, that’s how we do it here in South & Central FL… We love you, but we simply don’t have time to dance around your feelings. We’ll give you the shirt off of our backs then have you lay down in a mud puddle so we can walk over you. I’m kidding, of course. We’d obviously pick you you up and give you a peck on the cheek, dust off the mud and take our fn’ shirt back. It’s just the way the bottom half of Florida works, and that’s why I 'get’ and love Trinity Taylor so very much. Now that we got some proper Florida representation, maybe S10 we can get South Florida’s legendary 'Daisy Deadpetals’ finally on this show! Ru, please?

Enter the tops and the bottoms… Tho Alexis clearly states, 'This top is versatile.’ Told you, Alex, we could have so much fun. Tho for me it’s always much more about the passion and connection than it is about the final act. We’re getting way off topic. Sasha and Alexis go back and forth telling the others how much the judges praised each other… There is a deep respect between the two and though I absolutely loved Sasha’s 'Marlene Dietrich’ and did pad my opinion with a bit of comedy on the 'Main Stage’ review… I do want to set the record straight and say Alexis’s Liza was most definitely a highlight. Seeing the top two sit across from each other with their dignified 'Northern Poise’ is quite the scene… And Alexis’s shape from the side is nothing short of astounding. If the hair was different and the dress were pants, it would be spot on to my favorite Madonna… 'Bedtime Stories’ Madonna, particularly 'Human Nature’. Either way, I love it and for some reason Sasha’s poise is so proper I can’t help but keep rolling the word 'Yankee’ through my head… I don’t know how to interpret that for you, but I have it on pause and can’t stop laughing.

With VH1 taking the show in such a vastly different direction, I can’t say how much I appreciate this 'Untucked’ enough. Alexis, Shea, and Sasha look to immediately focus on Nina who needs a bit of love after the strange exploitation of her depression reared its ugly head the episode before last of 'Drag Race’. It’s clear Nina is feeling a bit better at this point but those kinds of battles are never over. These three obviously are aware of that and I want to show love to all three of them, particularly Shea who goes the extra mile for her and really tries to continue to hammer things back into perspective for Nina. This is the 'Drag Race’ I want to see. People have criticized the show for being too 'best friend race’ as they have with Slice’s RHOT… But we do enough of beating each other down, especially when you are in a high pressure situation constantly trying to squeeze every last drop of creativity that you can for the next challenge and the next and being paraded around on a runway and criticized, by both the judges and the world… I’m happy to see (however you want put this) the brotherly/sisterly… Straight up human empathy shining under the bright stage lights of television.

The bottoms… Peppermint, Cynthia Lee Fontaine, and Farrah Moan speak next. Peppermint is frustrated that she nailed Brittany in a prior challenge, but couldn’t nail Nene Leakes. It’s much different when you are given a character with lines & direction than when you literally have to create one from scratch… Then again, everyone knows 'Snatch Games’ is coming, so they really do need to be prepared. Farrah looks stunning, and is clearly saved by her fantastic runway look, I’m still curious as to who Gigi was or why anyone would care… Then again I’m in my 30’s and an ex-athlete, Ginger Cub who thinks the thicker the better… Im not scouring the internet for makeup tips. Either way, Farrah is just very young for this competition. Bring her back in 5-10 years and she’d be a massive threat. Her talent is there, it just needs a few years of experience before she can really show what she’s made of.

I often find myself very frustrated with Cynthia Lee Fontaine. This is a competition, I want to see the best of the best battle it out. This is Cynthia’s second time on the show and she’s screwing up essential Drag Race portions of the show… But here, she’s just so defeated, but she instantly goes through a horde of emotions within 2 seconds and is all the sudden firing herself back up with her own words, and it melts me. Despite any critiques I give as a judge would in my reviews of the 'Main Stage’, I’m a softie on the inside and nobody does Cynthia like Cynthia Lee Fontaine. I just don’t think a 2nd stent on 'Drag Race’ was in order, but there is something about that fighting spirit Cynthia displays that I feel needs to be seen, not just by this younger generation, but by everyone. Alexis takes note and proposes a toast, “L'chaim”, bitches!

World Of Wonder, come through! If VH1 has the producers focusing on the negative, then WOW always has their own freedom with 'Untucked’ to make up for that… And they do. Our girl Nina needed this video message from her mother, and that soft, loving, and tender look Nina shoots the screen that you can see if you pause the show right at 13:49 is all I needed and wanted for Nina. Keep pushing, girl… And listen to Shea! That’s a true friend, and there aren’t that many of those in the world. Like I keep saying, you can always tell who the strongest men and women in the room are… They are the ones lifting everyone up, instead of tearing them all apart.

Before I close out yet another long-winded love letter to World Of Wonder’s 'Untucked’ and all the contestants in this show… As I’ve explained in the past, I’ve always had an extremely tough time with the gay community. I sold myself at Johnny’s in Ft Lauderdale for years and nearly destroyed myself after my Aunt (who was like my sister) took her own life. My past experiences made it difficult for me to separate sex and shame, I will not point fingers as to why, but I’ve opened up about it in other reviews and will continue to do so as I sort it out as I go along. My critiques for the main stage of 'Drag Race’ are always difficult to navigate. I have a deep respect for the art form and contestants of Drag Race from Jaymes Mansfield to Nina BoNina Brown to Alexis Michelle and everyone in between, but like Trinity Taylor I try to tell it like it is from a loving place. I enjoy writing about the show. I enjoy watching the show. And if I’ve ever offended a contestant or said something that crossed a line or was taken the wrong way, I apologize. I fight to kind of hold onto the gay community in a weird way through this show, because my experiences with said community have been mainly negative in real life… Whether I was selling myself on stage at Johnny’s or Boardwalk… Or being introduced to methamphetamine at an early age.

I write because it’s my passion, and I’m starting to make a nice living at it and turning my dreams into reality. I said something in my last review of 'Drag Race’ and attempted to pad it with humor and the person who it affected respectfully came to me and talked to me about it directly. I appreciate that… And I think we were both able to see where each other were coming from and hopefully a friendship will come of it. But then this morning I wake up to death threats, 'kill yourself’, and a variety of hate speech from a community that I’ve never been able to find that true piece of love and acceptance I needed… One that for some reason is the hardest on me than any other community or subject I write on. I’m not over here crying about it, but all that nastiness will get you blocked real quick. My Spotlight Saga project, which is growing fast, and I’m happy to tell you all is being built into an online magazine slowly but surely - as well as a place where people can share perspectives to open hearts, minds, mouths, and ears, is my baby and I will fight for it till the end of time. There’s nothing in this world that I do half assed, my momma sure of that. So show love, address each other with respect, and fools… Don’t come at me crazy, cuz I’m not throwing the towel in anytime soon.

[synthsizedproductions]

Presenting SynthTube!

Hey, hey, guys, gals, and in between pals! Hope your week has been good so far no matter what day I post this!

In my last post, I mentioned that I would be doing more videos and specifically a couple of video series. Now, I’m already doing But That’s a Different Story and I have no shortage of stories to tell you all. I have lived in interesting times.

(Interesting is a good way to put it.)

As you may have noticed, I try to make each of the BTaDS video topics connect with each other. My first three videos all focused on some of my interactions with bullies. I hinted in the last video that I would be talking about something to do with theater. However, I was hella unspecific about what it would be.

(Remember, folx, plan your outroduction before you record it.)

Anyway, my next video in this series will be about my final performance in my senior theater class in which my friend and I performed “Who’s on First” but didn’t let our teacher know what we were doing until we were on stage. It took a lot of trust from my teacher to let me do that, but I didn’t let her down.

The next two videos will also revolve around times in high school where my teacher’s confidence in my skills allowed me to get away with more than they might let other students get away with.

(Protagonist protection pays.)

I mentioned a new video series in my last post called Continuity Critic. I enjoy watching movies and TV shows and, as a former theater student, I am compelled to analyze the creative choices made within those pieces of media. I have many opinions about these choices and one of my big ones is that each piece of media should be as consistent as possible within its own established rules and boundaries. This does not happen as often as I would like. Sometimes, things don’t match up, especially in long-running shows or movie series.

My plan with Continuity Critic is to both review pieces of media and judge how well they stuck to their established setting. It doesn’t matter if something would work in the real world. The real world is awful. No, instead I will be basing everything on the internal logic of the media I am reviewing. Why can a character solve an issue in one episode, yet cannot do the same exact thing in an extremely similar situation in a different episode?

(Whomst to say?)

The second series I teased in the last post is called Chance Encounters. It’s pretty self-explanatory, but the whole series is me, and sometimes my friends, encountering interesting or new things. Now, this one has become a little harder with the whole world in quarantine. I live in Pittsburgh where there are a lot of cool things to encounter. From random dinosaur statues to unique restaurants and beyond, the Greater Pittsburgh Area is a cool place to explore. Can’t really do that right now.

However, that does not stop me from encountering interesting things at home. I already have my first concept in the works in the form of a fitness routine, potentially with a twist. How far that twist goes depends on me hearing back from a different content creator about using some of their work, clearly with links and such to their actual site.

Another concept that is near and dear to my heart is queer and transgender topics. I am a transmasculine individual and have been on testosterone for just over a year now. I want to talk about what I’ve been through and interview some of my other friends in the community to hear about how they have handled the changes they’re going through so they can be the person they really are inside. There are so many issues and situations that folx in the queer community go through that I want to give a platform. Yes, I know, there are plenty of channels dedicated to these topics, but none of them are from our perspective.

(Did you really just do that thing where books or movies drop the name of said books and movies into dialogue? Why are you so dramatic sometimes?)

Anyway, those are the series I have planned at current. Not all of my videos will be in these series and some will only be available for Patrons who will also be getting behind-the-scenes updates on my progress such as notes I take while watching things to critique and which things I’m in the process of encountering.

I am also going to be moving my videos off of my personal channel and onto SynthTube. I intended to do that when I first put them up, but then didn’t change accounts and didn’t care enough to move them. So, I will be posting new links to all of my videos on the new channel. That process will be happening over this week and I’ll give an update when I’m finished.

So, exciting things ahead. I don’t know when the videos will come out, but I will put content out as much as possible. Videos aren’t the only thing I have planned which I will be talking about in my next post. I will try to get that out by Wednesday or Friday.

Thank you for sticking with me in these trying times.

Hope you enjoy the show.

~Chance

[abmcj3a-blog]

By Jesusa Javar

In my three years of studying mass communication, I have gone to conclude that maybe Niklas Luhmann made a good point in saying, “Whatever we know about our society, or indeed about the world which we live, we know through the mass media”—this is to give you all, my point of view about how I have concluded that today’s reality is indeed influenced greatly by our dear mass media. Many of you would likely be enlightened (a little), and maybe to some this would just be a joke, no big deal, just a rant. But whatever you put your opinion in my context, I just want you all to know that this is built with a little help of how I understood different studies and perspectives of several sociologists and also a little bit effort of observation. To give you more specific introduction to my paper, I will be a little sad to inform you that I would only be setting limit in concluding mass media’s reality to the society. I chose to tackle a specific topic, which is the ideological imposition of how mass media gave society idea of stereotyping, specifically in looks. About how I think the media had created into our minds a picture of how “ugly” looks like and what “beauty” is how we understand “weird” and “normal”. How the media let us unconsciously be conscious of our everyday looks. In advance, I am gravely asking for everyone’s consideration, if ever I’ll be stepping a little on someone’s dignity.

                             In present situation, everybody seems to be a little obsessed with everything about Korea, especially to the Filipinos. I have known almost all of my friends being already eaten by the system. Good thing, it’s not something illegal to be addicted about. And even though, it takes me a little harder to admit, I guess, I am also becoming one of them. Now, I have watched several recent Korean t.v series, but so far what has caught my attention the most was “She was pretty. You might be wondering, why. In connection with my topic, this seems to be so intriguing. The theme of the story is romance and as usual, it revolves around a story of love. We Filipinos are very much enchanted on stories about rags to riches. Stories about transformation. About change, and that change, that transformation is something fruitful. Strong and avenging, that transformation that would definitely give you the sense of “wow”. And this is very much alike to our choice of plot. The main character here, went from several transformations. On her teenage years maybe around 12-15 years old, the character was portrayed by someone good looking. She was tall, skin(specifically in the face) was smooth, emphasizing the absence of acne and pinkish cheeks, intelligent, has a silky-shiny-long hair, is always neat and appears to be so feminine. All the innocence and decency plus her family is all wealthy. And during this stage of her life, everything was so smooth, so perfect and very much appreciated. Very different from her adolescent life, of which where her family experienced feeling so downtrodden, everything in her smooth life turned into a downward spiral. The lost of their wealth, was also the cause of her change. She shifted from what the society preferably call, ugly. How was she called ugly? The presence of acne’s on her skin was emphasized, she grew a kinky hair, all dry and dull, and they made her wear untrendy clothes, all too plain and loose. Too 80’s and 90’s. People around her would always give her a judgmental look. In fact, she even tried finding a job, but several times she was rejected because of her physical appearance. By now you should notice, the media has the power to construct an image on your mind. It doesn’t need to forcefully attack you with certain more explanations and imagery of ugliness, right then and there, you are unconsciously imposed into an idea of a certain image they are creating on your mind. Going back to the story, after a couple of tries, she then eventually gets a job. On her first day of work she doesn’t want to be late on her first day so she decided on taking the elevator, a crowded elevator, she managed to get in first until this last person, but the elevator was too overloaded, some obliged her out of the elevator instead of the maiden who came last, take note the maiden was more feminine and prettier. Even though it is out of her will, she gave way. Although one good thing happened on this scene, two manly characters right what was wrong. Of course let us not forget that this is still a love story. But still her struggle doesn’t stop there. She was assigned into a more challenging and life changing job. A writer/worker in a magazine company, take note, this is not just simply a magazine company but a fashion magazine company. Where she experienced to be judged by her looks more harshly. And where another transformation took place, because it is a “necessity”. After her boss saw how she dress and how she looks, she called her for a conversation in her office and demand her worker to change into something “most-like”, a term that their boss frequently used to mean, “fabulous”, “trendy”, “in style”. She added her reason for wanting the main character to change is for “her”-the main character to not be “left behind”. Korea as we all know is now home to fashion and trend. And we Filipinos follow whatever trend there is. This is the kind of ideology I was trying to articulate. We want to change, we are dragged into an idea of “trend” and “fashion”.  And what dragged her even more to change is because she was afraid that her romance will eventually fall. That she might be unappreciated by the guy that he likes.

                            Another material I had for critiquing is, a Korean movie entitled “200 pounds beauty”. Just in case you are wondering, I am not a hater of any Korean beliefs and practices, in fact my philosophy in life is no hate, just appreciation. And I appreciate Korea from top to bottom, I definitely respect their culture and everything about them, it just so happen that their films are very much suited for my paper. Now going back, the story is about, again transformation. But this one, the main character was obliged to transform herself just so she can keep up with her job and because she was triggered by the ideologies of the society, because the entire world become so harsh about her. She experienced depression and self-down but, the main character wants fame. She’s got the talent, a very charming and ear refreshing voice. Very much appreciated by the people, but she can only showcase this talent behind a beautiful face of another actress. To those who haven’t yet watched the film, you might be guessing why she needs to hide. Well, simply because she is a 200 pound fat lady. And for the institution that she works for, her physical appearance doesn’t qualify her to be showcased onstage, and in front of all people. So, she decided to undergo plastic surgery from head to toe. In show business industry, we all know the number one qualification, if you want fame, you’ll need the looks. And this is what triggered her to change herself. You see how the media is giving you the thought, when you are obese, overweight, fat, or whatever you call it, you are underappreciated in the society. This is how despising the content of this film contain, or even other films that shows the same example. In George Gerbner’s cultivation perspective, with the media showing this kind of content can impose an idea to young minds that fat people are therefore underrated and degraded in the society. Do you realize how this can be viewed where bullying comes from? Being bullied because of my size, I have been there. And I know how hard it is to feel all the insult, because they made me feel so insulting. They made me look at my size so insulting. You see what kind of mindset we are all imposed into? The media is obviously creating its own reality, and it wants us to internalize what they have been continuing to externalize. The hegemonic power of media. You’ll never question about it. You are unconsciously just following and internalizing things that have been told to you. What’s is even confounding is the idea that after she did transformation, she gain more appreciation and the fame that she wants. But after people found out her real story, only few remained to appreciate. What I love about the film was its perplexity. People ask you to be real, but once they saw your authenticity, your real person, they care less. Will they ever appreciate her if she’s fat? Some may and some may not, but she will never know fame the same as she had known how it felt when she was skinnier. When the ideologies of the society changed her. It is therefore the kind of idea that was imposed into her, that there will always be standards and stereotypes.

                            Now before you all lose your grip of my critique, to those who never get to relate on Korean-stuff, here’s a change of atmosphere. Have you ever heard or tried reading, Jerry Spinelli’s novel entitled, “Stargirl”? I’ll be honest to you, there is not much to critique about this, and I only have few standpoints on this novel, because honestly I admit this is a one good writing, and it also has that perplexity and paradoxical enlightenment standpoints. But what was surely intriguing in this novel in connection with my topic is its creation of “weird” “atypical” “different” all words paradoxical to “normal”. So how does the story go? This is a story of a new girl in town, probably a little bit similar to the novel “the schwa was here” if you’ve ever read that, or heard of that. So this girl named “Stargirl” is creating the image of “weird” in her new school. She became the talk-of-town in her school because she is showing different attitude compared to most students of their school. In what way? She wears clothes that are too loose, too big, too 80’s and 90’s that as if it’s a hand-me-down cloth from her grandma to her. She always brings with her a ukulele that she strum most of the time, she smiles a lot, that made everyone think that she is a project of the school. Most people think she doesn’t belong to the “average” or normal but rather too “atypical” and weirdo type. Not did this novel just created an imagery of weird but also the idea of how normal looks like. If you are one with the domain, you are normal. If you are not socially awkward, is capable of socializing and handling the imperatives of the society and institution you belong, no question, you are normal. Not just that, but also this novel depicted the ideological superiority of campus heartrobs and campus royalties. The ruling of femininity. That you are an “it” girl if you belong to the cheerleading squad, you are hairy, pretty and you’re girly. There’s a creation of ideological role. To young minds, this is surely unquestionable and real especially if you are a product of Disney movies, you’ll never be new to this kind of idea. Although, what I really admire about this story was the fact that the author did not attempted to change the character, and at the last part, there is that appreciation and understanding.

                            Being physically conscious, we are already there. Every single time of the day, believe me. And the reason why the mass media never fail to make us regret this realities, is that because we keep on accepting these realities. In today’s world, what you look and how you look will always be a big deal. It is a burden and also your power. Also a commodification for others.

[mikkagals-blog]

Information Literacy – START (Assessing Websites)– CN20

“Information Literacy – START (Assessing Websites)”      Want to let someone know something or perhaps you want to let everyone living in this world know? Want to update a person or a group of people on how your everyday life is going through? Want to share a personal opinion and give other people advice to whether you are friends with that person or not? Today, this is not impossible with all the technologies our great scientists have invented. No matter how far the person is or the people are, one’s message will be sent to him or her without doubt.       Particularly in collaborative blogs or should I say blogosphere, people who write these kind of things typically post entries or pictures which are based on a single theme. The blogosphere is often compared to grassroots journalism in that each member is able to post on any topic that catches their personal interest. Whether it would be a fashion blog, food blog, political blog, news blog, health blog, or maybe many more, any person can post their own personal belief or interest and share it with all the people that are also interested in seeing what other people think about in this specific scope.      The blogosphere is a powerful social network in that many popular bloggers have an audience measured in thousands and in some cases, millions rather; nonetheless, it is also very diverse which is why it does not represent a unified social unit – even though some of the social sub-groups within the blogosphere are.       Although bloggers can become influential and even profit from their posts, blogs are often maintained out of a desire to share thoughts with like-minded people rather than profit; therefore, in my perspective, joining a group blog is good idea, but obviously, it has its own bad side. It may help enhance one’s skills, for instance, in cooking. It allows aspiring chefs to explore the different kinds of recipes and cooking techniques. One may also ask for other people’s or critiques’ opinions on how a certain recipe tastes like. “Does it taste good or bland? Does it taste bad?” Questions like these will only be stuck in one’s mind if he or she won’t ask for other people on what they think about a recipe that the blogger has made and how to improve the recipe to make it taste good.       Trending things in such topics like fashion blogs would be known by the members of the blogs and it may help the fashion victims to keep themselves updated as they wish.      As of its bad side, since different people has their own different tastes and beliefs, members of a blog may tend to team up to debate and judge one another’s belief. At times, for example, people that belong to Group A forces Group B to change their beliefs and to follow what Group A believes is right and true; however, the Group B has its own belief of right and true, which is why this kind of method is not going to work.      In wikis, however, the developer of the first wiki software described a wiki as “The simplest online database that could possibly work.” Random people can freely edit or create a web page for a topic using any web browser wherein nitty-gritty details are needed for the readers to fathom the needed information that they are looking for, but these pieces of information are sometimes deceiving, sometimes true, sometimes right, and sometimes incorrect; consequently, whatever kind of information that can be found in a wiki is very skeptical.      Like many simple concepts, open editing has some profound and subtle effects on wiki usage. Allowing everyday users to do this is kind of exciting that it encourages democratic use of the web and promotes content composition by nontechnical users.      Yes, it really is the simplest database since one could find almost or perhaps everything in a wiki. It is kind of convenient if you really trust that wiki, but giving it a double check would be better and safer. Of course, having to know a wrong information is troublesome and annoying, especially when you suddenly realized that that piece of information is incorrect, and I admit that I have felt that kind of feeling.       According to some people, it is important to create a wiki since it is the most flexible, yet underrated tool in modern newsrooms. Because a reporter never knows everything about a subject, chances are there is a reader or a viewer who knows something that could greatly enhance a story. Public wikis are a great way to aggregate information from the people who know the subject matter best and is perhaps the best use of a wiki in today’s modern era is journalism.      Not only that, a wiki can also make our lives easier by sharing notes and details in one place that those who are involved can access any time. Having to know the news that goes around the world is really essential in our lives. Economic and cultural state of a country can also be found here. Plus, recognizing these things and respecting them would help a person to get along with others. This may also help us maintain our social health healthy.      The authors and editors of both wikis and group blogs are inspired to share the pieces of information that they know to the whole wide world. It is like scratching a friend’s back since knowing an information given by somebody else is a very big help and vice versa. Whether it would be a belief, an interest, an experience, or a fact, sharing things like these would literally help other people understand how the world and our lives work much better. Some may see this as kibitzing, but actually, it may still be useful without noticing it being useful.      As our technologies continue to ameliorate, everything, and by everything I mean literally every single thing in this world, should be dealt with care because we never know when we will need it even if it harms us, I suppose.

References: https://www.techopedia.com/definition/4862/blogosphere http://wiki.org/wiki.cgi?WhatIsWiki http://www.adweek.com/digital/5-reasons-you-should-create-wiki-now/

[recentanimenews]

Quan Zhi Gao Shou – 03

The Gist: This week introduces Xiao Tang, a female player who appears to be new to Glory and has come to the cafe for guidance. Like many in the cafe, she’s become aware of Ye Xiu, not only for his string of skilled first-kills but also for his unusual classless-character and all-crafted gear. To the cafe owner’s annoyance, Tang wants to pursue a classless like Xiu. However, the two women quickly move on from any conflict when Tang is willing to watch the owner’s deep collection of tutorial videos… even though Xiu snarks that they are 9 years out of date.

Tang has decent APM and is a quick learner but we don’t know anything significant about her. While it’s likely that she will end up in Xiu’s team of noobs and weirdos, her current role is the same as the unnamed onlookers of the cafe — simply a perspective to show us Xiu’s growing impact on Glory’s popular culture.

To QZGS’ credit, showing us Xiu’s impact through Tang and keeping Tang only one step removed from the background, is a decently subtle conveyance. Unfortunately, QZGS also has nameless characters utter unintentionally hilarious lines like “I’ve truly broadened my view today” and “He is truly wearing money” when they view Xiu’s all silver armor and gatling-gun-spear-warhammer-umbrella.

This is unfortunate because the crowd-tells-us format is much more conventional and the opposite of subtle. (It’s used by many manga artists to convince the viewer that a character or action or item is cooler or more important than would be obvious to the viewer on visuals alone) The resulting contrast makes Tang’s more restrained and interesting expression of the same narrative concept less impactful. It feels like the creators don’t trust the viewers to be smart enough to get the point, which is kinda insulting…

It’s worth noting that King’s Avatar is brought to you by McDonald’s. At least, that’s what appears to be the case, as several long-sweeping glamor shots are dedicated to the brand (and it featured prominently in the background of the first episode).

While the scene itself isn’t terribly obtrusive, perhaps even making a cultural point about the characters, the product placement itself is jarring. Not counting an inexplicably photo-textured tree outside an office window, the food packaging is the highest detail content in the episode. The rendering quality is high enough, it may even be output with real commercial grade frames and textures from McDonald’s itself.

This choice is bizarre for a few reasons but the biggest is one of QZGS’ core failings. Simply, if Glory is so important to QZGS’ world, and the pro-players are a significant vector of Glory’s connection with the masses, we should see physical evidence of Glory and the pros all throughout the world. Putting Glory branding and themes on the food packaging would have been a very easy way to show that. However, since no such attempt was made, the food only reads as a commercial for a real world brand, and the believability of the QZGS world is again diminished.

Similar can be said about the photographic tree. From a technical stand point, it’s a very lovely panning shot with a shift in ‘camera’ focus from the tree to the wall of the office. The colors are rich and it sets an interesting mood… except it doesn’t. Like the food, it doesn’t expand our understanding of the world beyond being ‘pretty’ and if it is an intentional attempt to contrast the beauty of the real world against the claustrophobic, dark, and lower render quality of the online world and the interior of the cafe, it fails without more scenes to reinforce that point. Animation is expensive and time consuming so, if a scene does not aadd value, why create it in the first place?

Back in Glory, the three most powerful guilds are camped outside a graveyard watching a bunch of noobs foolishly go after a world-boss. While none of the guild captains especially like or trust each other, often having lost major club events at the hands of one another, they eventually agree to work together to take down the boss when the noobs get squashed.

Except one of the noobs turns out to not be a noob so much as a chaotic idiot who passes up finishing-move-openings of his own making to do things like slap the boss and cause said boss to go into rage mode. (comically, this character has wolverine claws on his right hand and carries a brick in his left)

Xiu shows up too and quickly takes charge, APM/Umbrelling the heck out of the vampire-gunman-boss’ head. Of course this spurs the guilds into action, as they don’t want to let Xiu score another first kill on the server. Too bad for them, Xiu has anticipated this outcome and uses the noobs to max out the Boss’ redline counter attack, effectively dumping an army of zombies into the charging guilds.

Xiu, Wolverine/Brick, and the noobs from Xiu’s previous party manage to take down the boss in the ensuing chaos. Little Little Moon is even there. As before, Xiu only wants the glory and the crafting materials and everyone but the guilds leaves happy. And even though the guilds are not happy, a quick back and forth over messenger leaves them without much room to complain. World bosses only exist for first kills anyway…

Can a westerner appreciate the nature of Chinese storytelling, which has not yet adopted western standards as universally as the Japanese? Can a Chinese show be criticized for failings in timing, sound design and narrative purpose as established by western convention? Should Chinese viewers be expected to have the ability to the difference between nationalist propaganda, clichés, or quality?

There are two core ways to approach art made outside of your own culture and choosing which is appropriate depends on context. The first approach is to judge the art strictly on its source-cultural’s standards and is appropriate for art made exclusively within those cultural standards and for that culture only. Think of this as the art history method, because it applies mostly to pre-global cultures or situations where the artist knows something ‘isn’t right’ technically, but has a reason to do it anyway. For example, pre-renaisance art often contains figures of all different sizes that make no sense in space but that isn’t important to critique because, in that cultural context, the figures size showed his or her importance.

The second approach is reflective of the foreign culture’s response to your own culture. The key is that the artist/creator is aware of you own culture’s norms and is either emulating them or using them to make a comment about the foreign culture. In this case, critiquing the effectiveness of that culture’s use of your own conventions is just as important as what that culture could be saying about those conventions. A funny example of this is Russian ‘Cowboy’ movies in the 1950s, which had a political message, as well as a popularity because all-things-american were popular, even in Russia.

QZGS clearly falls into this second category, as it employs many western techniques, and its subject matter is relatable to topics in the western world. In techniques, QZGS uses discordant sound effects to punctuate sight-gags and guitar/rock music to assert ‘coolness.’ It is also clearly made to be an ‘anime,’ which could be argued to be cultural appropriation from the Japanese for the sake of coolness too.

In topic, QZGS touches on capitalism, sense of identity and belonging, virtual addiction, and aging out. While the views on capitalism (notably spearheaded by villainous blonde people) are obviously Chinese-state message norms, westerners can relate to all of these concepts. Quite easily in fact, because so many western norms are exploited in their delivery.

The delivery of those norms fail miserably. Take the sound that accompanies Tang’s decision to try Classless for example. It’s not only misaligned with the gesture, but the sound itself is wonderfully out of place. The result feels slapped on because the creator knows a western-style joke would have a discordant note there, but the creator has no idea why or how to use it specifically.

In another example, as seen in the image above, we are treated to 6 seconds of floor tile. Eventually, Ye Xiu steps into said frame, after hearing people talk about him in the background, but the 6 seconds of floor tile is mostly without sound or motion or purpose. Certainly this creates nervous tension through our expectation that something will happen, which is based on conventions of story telling where showing the viewer a dark and empty space at shoe level will mean something… but, in this case, it appears to mean nothing.

More importantly, lingering on floor tiles and empty frames has no Chinese cultural significance either. It’s just empty, unanimated space and like the photographic tree it begs the question: why?

Verdict: Thus far, QZGS features a hero that’s smarter and nicer than most. The fighting is conventional and the twistless-take on the virtual MMOs, there are no stakes to be had. The viewer knows that hero will win the fights at hand and even if he didn’t, what would it matter? There is no drama.

Then there’s the product placement, which you could read a few ways. The cafe boss is proud, ignorant, and hauty so, of course, she’s taken by western fried foods and a bit of a glutton. (She’s not even willing to give thanks to Xiu for buying the food for the group) Is this misogyny a Chinese cultural norm or is it simply to reinforce how this glutton woman is losing her connection with Chinese culture (she’s not even aware that a cultural hero is sitting next to her) or does it have no meaning at all? It’s hard to answer, given how un-thought-out QZGS has been to this point.

Yes! QZGS is constructed well enough to be watchable. In the future, it may even serve as a snapshot for how far Chinese animation and popculture has come or where they are going. QZGS may even produce interesting musings on intenet adiction and the emptiness of modern life — the core cast all exist only to play a game, which is just an MMO.

For now? It’s just people hanging around playing an MMO that isn’t notably original or interesting. If that’s not enough to hold your attention, go watch something else.

By: oigakkosan