#i find the ''we watched every episode numerous times'' to be fascinating in of itself. were they the syndicated cuts or normal

[zanysmurf]

"nanny smurf appeared out of nowhere with no explanation for why she exists" fair enough. i dont get why the wiki page links to sassette when it's more obvious he was talking about nanny. sassette is a girl (not a grown woman) with a clear origin in the show and they would've known that if they watched every episode multiple times. "smurf soup" ok eating smurfs is certainly part of the triad of gargamel motivations in the cartoon. but not the one i'd personally focus on for a movie. was gargamel being powerful/competent "what really goes on in that castle"?

what i'm wondering about is. the wiki said the third movie was going to go over the origin of the smurfs and gargamel conflict (once again going off the cartoon because the smurfnapper comic is right there)... but. gargamel's time trip. and it's a time travel story 🤔 just like what we know about smurfs 3. so i'd say it was loosely inspired or became less inspired by it over time because that ep's lore isn't very movie-worthy

i'd assume the origin of the smurfs (and at least like. some of gargamel's family history) that kerner and such had planned in the 2000s was on full display or heavily retooled for that script draft that got leaked for that movie before it was turned into lost village. there's even a female smurf that came before smurfette in that script (no relation to nanny)

[rocknvaughn]

New Colin Morgan Interview with Edge Media Network about Benjamin - UPDATED

I am reblogging this because, after the author was made aware of an error in the posting of his article (if anyone clicked through to read it on the site, there was a whole question and answer that was repeated), the error was corrected and another three questions and answers were added! I am correcting it here, but they were very interesting, so I suggest you read the full article again!

I shall post the link at the bottom, but I wanted to type it out so that non-English speakers could more easily translate it. (This article was listed in their “Gay News” section of the site, hence the focus on the gay roles.)

British Actor Colin Morgan: How the Queerly Idiosyncratic ‘Benjamin’ Spoke to Him

by Frank J. Avelia

In writer-director Simon Amstell’s sweet, idiosyncratic, semi-autobiographical comedy, “Benjamin,” Colin Morgan plays the titular character, an insecure filmmaker trying to resuscitate his waning career (at least it’s waning in his mind) after one major cine-indie success. Benjamin is also doing his best to navigate a new relationship with a young French musician (Phenix Brossard of “Departures”).

Thanks to the truly endearing, multifaceted talents of Morgan, Benjamin feels like an authentic creation--one that most audiences can empathize with. Sure, he’s peculiar, has a legion of self-esteem issues and an almost exasperating need for acceptance as well as an inconvenient talent to self-sabotage the good in his life. But who can’t relate to some or all of that?

“Benjamin” is one of the better queer-themed films to come out in recent years, in large part because it eschews emphasis on the queer nature of the story. Instead, the film is a fascinating character study with Morgan slowly revealing layers and unpacking Benjamin’s emotional baggage.

Morgan is a major talent who has been appearing across mediums in Britain for many years. His London theatre debut was in DBC Pierre’s satire, “Vernon God Little” (2007), followed by the stage adaptation of Pedro Almodovar’s “All About My Mother” (2007), opposite Diana Rigg. Numerous and eclectic stage work followed (right up until the Corona shutdown) including Pedro Miguel Rozo’s “Our Private Life” (2011), where he played a bipolar gay, Jez Butterworth’s dark comedy, “Mojo” (2013), Arthur Miller’s “All My Sons” opposite Sally Field (2019), and Caryl Churchill’s “A Number” (2020), to name a few.

His TV work includes, “Merlin” (playing the wizard himself), “Humans” and most recently, in a very memorable episode of “The Crown”. Onscreen he can be seen in “Testament of Youth”, “Legend” with Tom Hardy, “Snow White and the Huntsman” and Rupert Everett’s take on Oscar Wilde, “The Happy Prince.”

He’s played a host of gay roles in the past on stage, screen and TV.

EDGE recently interviewed the star of “Benjamin” about the new film and his career.

Why Benjamin?

EDGE: What drew you to this project and were you part of its development?

Colin Morgan: It’s always the strength of the script for me on any project and Simon’s script was just so well observed, he managed to combine humor and poignancy in delicate measure and when I first read it I found myself being both tickled and touched. Then reading it again and from “the actor” POV... I knew it would be a real challenge and uncharted territory for me to explore. I auditioned for Simon and we tried it in different ways and then when I was lucky enough for Simon to want me on board, we began to work through the script together, because it was clear that this was going to be a very close working relationship... it was important for the level of trust to be high.

EDGE: I appreciated that this was a queer love story where the character’s queerness wasn’t the main focus. Was that also part of the allure of the project?

CM: I think Benjamin’s sexuality is just quite naturally who he is and therefore that’s a given, we’re on his journey to find meaning and love and there’s certainly a freshness to what Simon has written in not making sexuality the main focus.

Great chemistry

EDGE: Can you speak a but about the process involved in working with Amstell on the character and his journey?

CM: Simon and me worked very closely over a period of weeks, at that time prior to shooting I was doing a theatre project not far from where he lived so I would go to him and rehearse and discuss through the whole script all afternoon before going to do the show that night, so that worked out well. It’s so personal to Simon, and to have had him as my guide and source throughout was fantastic because I could ask him all the questions and he could be the best barometer for the truth of the character; a rare opportunity for an actor and one that was so essential for building Benjamin. But ultimately Simon wanted Benjamin to emerge from somewhere inside me and he gave me so much freedom to do that also.

EDGE: You had great chemistry with Phenix Brossard. Did you get to rehearse?

CM: Phenix is fantastic, Simon and me did chemistry reads with a few different actors who were all very good but Phenix just had an extra something we felt Benjamin would be drawn to. We did a little bit of rehearsal together but because it was a relationship that was trying to find itself there was a lot of room for spontaneity and uncertainty between us, which is what the allure of a new relationship is all about, the excitement and fear.

Liberating process

EDGE: Did your process meld with Amstell’s?

CM: I’ve said this a lot before and it’s true, Simon is one of the best directors I’ve worked with. Everything he created before shooting and then maintained on set was special. We always did improvised versions of most scenes and always the scripted version too. It was such a creative and liberating process. That is exactly the way I love to work. And for a director to maintain that level of bravery, trust and experimental play throughout the whole shoot stands as one of the most rewarding shooting experiences I’ve had.

EDGE: When I spoke with Rupert Everett about “The Happy Prince,” he very proudly boasted about his ensemble. Can you speak about working with Rupert as he balanced wearing a number of creative hats?

CM: Again, this was an extremely rewarding project to work on and quite a similar relationship as with Simon in the respect that Rupert was the writer/director and Oscar Wilde is so personal to him. And then we also had many scenes together in front of the camera, so Rupert and me had a real 3D experience together. It was a long time in the making. I was on board, I think, two years before we actually got shooting so I had a lot of time to work with Rupert and rehearse. He really inspired me, watching him wear all the different creative hats, such a challenging and difficult job/jobs to achieve and he really excelled--plus we just got on very well.

Playing queer roles

EDGE: You haven’t shied away from playing queer roles. Do you think we’re moving closer to a time when a person’s sexual orientation is of little consequence to the stories being told, or should it always matter? Or perhaps we need to continue to evolve as a culture for it to matter less or not at all...

CM: That’s a hard question to answer, I think certainly the shift in people’s attitudes has changed considerably for the better compared to 40 years ago, but there will always be resistance to change and acceptance from individuals and groups whether it be sexuality, religion, race, gender--we’re seeing it every day.

Evolution is, of course, inevitable, but if we can learn from the past as we evolve that would be the ideal. Unfortunately, we rarely do learn, and history repeats itself.

EDGE: You were featured prominently in one of my favorite episodes of the “The Crown” (”Bubbikins”) as the fictional journo John Armstrong. Can you speak a bit about working on the show and with the great Jane Lapotaire?

CM: I had an exceptionally good time working on “The Crown.” Director Benjamin Caron, especially, was so prepared and creative, and made the whole experience so welcoming and inclusive. It was an incredibly happy set, with extremely talented people in every department, and I admired the ethos of the whole production and have no doubt that’s a huge ingredient to its success, along with Peter Morgan’s incredible writing.

I was also a fan of the show, and it was an honor to be part of the third season. And I can’t say enough amazing things about Jane Lapotaire. We talked a lot in between filming, and I relished every moment of that.

EDGE: You’ve done a ton of stage work. Do you have a favorite role you’ve played onstage?

CM: I’ve been so lucky with the theatre work I’ve done, to work with such special directors and work in wonderful theatres in London. I’ve worked at the Old Vic and The Young Vic twice each, and they’re always special to me. Ian Rickson is a liberating director, who I love. It’s hard to pick a favorite, because the roles have all been so different and presented different challenges, but, most recently, doing “A Number,” playing three different characters alongside Roger Allam and directed by Polly Findlay, was a really treasured experience, and I never tired of doing that show, every performance was challenging as it was.

Miss the rehearsal room

EDGE: You were doing “A Number” earlier this year. Did you finish your run before the lockdown/shutdown?

CM: Just about! We had our final performance, and then lockdown happened days later. I feel very sorry for the productions that didn’t get the sense of completion of finishing a run. I mean, finishing a full run leaves you in a kind of post-show void anyway, even though you know it’s coming, so to not know it’s coming and have it severed must be even more of a void.

Memories of performing just months ago seem like such an unattainable thing in this COVID world right now. I can’t tell you how much I’m hoping we get back to some semblance of live performance.

EDGE: What was it like to appear onstage opposite Dame Diana Rigg in “All About My Mother?”

CM: Well, I think “iconic” is an apt word for both the experience of working with Diana and the lady herself. In between scenes backstage we used to talk a lot and we got told off for talking too loudly, so Diana began to teach me sign language and we would spell out words to each other, maybe only getting a couple of sentences to each other before she was due on stage and I had to get into position for my next entrance-- we did a radio play together two years ago and she remembered, she said, “Do you remember A-E-I-O-U?” signing out the letters with her hands.

EDGE: None of us knows the future in terms of the pandemic and when we might return to making theatre. I’m a playwright myself and find it all supremely frustrating but I’m trying to remain hopeful! Where are you right now in terms of the standstill we are in and what the future might hold?

CM: Yes, I’m so worried for theatre. It’s a devastating blow. I’m sure as a playwright, you know that the creative spirit in individuals hasn’t been diminished by this virus. People are creating important art in this crisis but we need the platforms to present it and bring people to some light again out of this really scary period, but it needs to be safe and it’s a worrying time. The virtual theatre approach must be looked at I think. We need to experiment and find new paths at least for the time being. I’m involved in developing some things right now and how we can work on things in both an isolated and collaborative way. It’s entirely counterintuitive to what the family-feel and close bond of a group in a rehearsal room is like-- I miss the rehearsal room so much!-- but we can’t sit still, we must create and we must act.

What’s in a role?

EDGE: Looking back on the great success of “Merlin,” what are your takeaways from that experience?

CM: Some of the most treasured memories of my life will forever be connected to “Merlin,” the cast, crew, production, everyone! The invaluable training of being in front of a camera every day! The chance to inhabit a character and live with him for five seasons! There’s too much to list and words probably won’t do justice anyway, but I’m truly grateful for everything the show gave me.

EDGE: How do you select the roles you play?

CM: I guess they select me in a way. I can’t play a role unless it speaks to me and provokes me in some way, but ultimately it’s the characters that I have a fear about playing, not knowing how I’m going to enter into the process of living them, when I don’t have all the answers it’s a good indicator of a character I must play. If I have all the answers, there’s less scope for exploration and discovery which isn’t as interesting for me.

Link here

[sohannabarberaesque]

Underwater America with Peter Potamus: Florida’s Treasure Coast

Continuing our cross-country tour (and fictional TV series), our heroes travel further south along Florida’s coast in our latest installment. This episode takes place in July 1970.

The ten of us continued down State Road A1A after finishing off a dive in Pelican Flats off Cape Canaveral—a dive that started with the exploration of a grassy reef and ending with all of us swimming alongside three-dozen-or-so manta rays. What a way to make a living.

“We’re going to a wreck next?” Magilla asked, peeling a banana in the back seat.

“Yep! We’re going to Fort Pierce.” I replied as I waited for the traffic light to turn green.

“Ahhh, but can it top the rays we saw?” Breezly said, still giddy from the experience.

The more I thought about it, the reef dive seemed somewhat ordinary up until that moment. “Who knows. I think we got lucky that day,” I said as I drove the minibus along the street. “We were just…there until that happened.”

Hokey, who rode shotgun that day, agreed. “True, true, Peter my buddy. We may have swam with the rays, but we came out of there wet and hungry, as we always do!”

I snickered. “Okay, okay, I get the picture. I suppose we should get some dinner in a little while. We can get a snack before then.” Everyone else agreed. We had lots of time before we got the nitrogen out of our systems, anyway. I decided on a seafood restaurant—complete with patio—in North Hutchinson Island, only a short drive from Vero Beach, one of the northern cities of the region of Florida known as the Treasure Coast.

The food was plentiful, even for the ten of us: a few lobsters, fried catfish and plenty of battered shrimp would keep us full for awhile, and the sides—cole slaw and hush puppies—topped off this delicious meal. “OH, BOY!” we explained, and dug in.

Naturally, the lobsters were claimed by Hokey and Wally, who had desired them ever since a failed attempt to bring back a couple of them from our Pelican Flats dive. We didn’t mind; I filled myself up on the shrimp and hush puppies, while a couple of others, notably Squiddly and Mildew, admired the catfish.

“Oooh, those spices!” Mildew said joyously, savoring the seasonings put into it. “What do you think’s in it?”

“I don’t think they’ll tell!” Squiddly chuckled, biting into a delicious shrimp.

Wally had a pair of shrimp at once, together with plenty of scooped-up cocktail sauce. He found it delicious, although he did not expect the sauce to be as strong as it was—there was plenty of horseradish in it to clear his sinuses. Fortunately, a glass of water helped him through his little coughing spell. “Perhaps a little sauce isn’t a bad idea. Just a little, dont’cha know!” he said, laughing.

The sea breezes added that extra bit of enjoyment indoor eating just doesn’t have. We also got to view some small beach gettogethers of about five or six people, and were able to get an up-close view when we walked along the beach after dinner. Unfortunately for Squiddly, not a single one of those parties had a guitar, though it did have plenty of beer.

For many, the combination of the tides and the wet sand feels so nice between the toes of those who walk along it. For us, the water was just a fact of life. We had been underwater for so long by this point that we simply didn’t experience as much of a pleasant surprise as other people usually have, those who stroll along the beach or wade in the ocean to unwind after a long day. Not to take away from the wet sand, though; we felt it and we liked it—that is, until we were about to get into the minibus. I was adamant about us not tracking sand into the car, and we wiped off our feet with a towel before we got inside.

We spent the night at a motel in Vero Beach, booking three rooms for the ten of us. While Magilla watched some television and Squiddly filled the bath for a good night’s rest, I read up on further information regarding our next destination, the Spanish wreck Urca de Lima.

The Urca de Lima, a 305-ton Dutch-built merchant ship, was one of a dozen ships in the 1715 Spanish Treasure Fleet, tasked with carrying goods and treasure from the New World back to the Spanish Main. The Urca de Lima was one of five ships captained by Juan Esteban de Ubilla.

On July 24, 1715, Ubilla’s fleet, supplemented by six other Spanish ships, commandeered by Antonio de Echeverez, and a French ship, El Grifón, sent to ward off pirates, set sail from Havana, Cuba, intending to reach the city of Cádiz in Spain. Among their combined booty was a large amount of gold and silver. The Urca de Lima, though, mostly carried goods, along with some private silver kept in chests. The fleet, however, made it as far as Florida when a hurricane hit them, pushing the ships to the coast and either sinking or grounding them. Only the French ship escaped unscathed. More than half the crew of those eleven ships died, including both commanders. The Urca de Lima, however, steered into a river inlet, and the hull remained intact. This allowed the goods to be salvaged, keeping the survivors well-fed for a few days.

The ship’s cargo was eventually salvaged and the ship’s hull burned down to the waterline in order to hide it from pirates, although the existence of the sunken fleet was widely known by that time.

In December, the salvage camp was heavily raided by two British privateers—Henry Jennings and Charles Vane—and their men, and made away with gold and silver totalling over $3 million in today’s money!

Since its rediscovery in 1928, numerous salvage permits were granted, but very little came of it, as far as treasure was concerned. There was a silver piece here and there, but that was it.

Those thoughts were still with me even as we took a stroll along one of Vero Beach’s most popular tourist attractions, McKee Jungle Gardens, a botanical garden off U.S. Route 1.

This time it was Loopy de Loop’s turn to enjoy himself, following the semi-carnivorous overtures his lupine colleagues Hokey and Mildew gave at Tosohatchee. He stopped to smell the flowers with every new variety that came into view, and there were well over a hundred different species, in addition to the gorgeous streams and ponds we viewed that morning.

“Ahh, nature!” exclaimed Loopy. “Is there anything as breathtaking as a botanical garden, with so many magnificent flowers on display in a single place?”

“Yeah, underwater!” Squiddly eagerly replied, taking a bit of power out of Loopy’s monologue.

“Uh, yes, that as well, but I’m sure you understand, for you are but an octopus!”

“True…” Squiddly’s voice wandered off.

Having cleared our minds of any ill thoughts, and rejecting a suggestion by Mildew to abandon Loopy at the garden, I drove back onto the highway and headed east back onto A1A.

Upon stopping in the city of Fort Pierce we chartered a boat to take us to the Urca de Lima, east of Jack Island Park on the opposite side of the Indian River. Everyone checked their gear and put it on, while I piloted the craft out of the river and back onto the ocean.

I was happy to learn that, as the wreck was only 200 feet from shore, we would be diving at very shallow depths compared to Pelican Flats: ten to fifteen feet. I set a diving time of sixty minutes, with no decompression necessary. Maybe we would get a look at some more fish, but for now, it was all about the ship. To ensure that the wreck would not be damaged by an anchor, we instead used a mooring buoy to keep the boat in place.

We dove in following the safety briefing. Once we were close to the floor, we split up into our usual groups. As we swam along, we noticed that there was very little of the ship left, with only the keel, garboard and one side of the boat visible after that entire time, and even then what remained had a lot of vegetation grow on it. After all, this was a wreck that was over 250 years old, and a lot of things tend to happen near the shore in that length of time. The sands and the wildlife come and go—mostly come. Nevertheless, some of us were still in awe over what is basically an old-style artificial reef.

Although I was convinced the chances of finding even one coin were slim, that obviously didn’t stop Hokey, who brushed along the ocean floor with his hands in the hope of uncovering said coin. Wally, being his trusted friend and divemate, couldn’t help but join in and also find nothing. Convinced their big score wasn’t going to happen, they continued to swim along the hull.

We explored the area outside the ship for other remnants. South of the ship’s main structure, Lippy and Hardy were able to find some cannons strewn about—five in all. This in itself is a fascinating thing, although there were originally more cannons around the ship; several of them had been salvaged, cleaned up and exhibited. Mildew and Loopy soon joined them, and Mildew had a little fun by peeking inside, and reaching his hand into, one of the cannons. Eventually, the others joined in after seeing enough of the hull.

As they enjoyed themselves, I was reminded of the salvage operations that took place for decades (and which brought several of the cannons to the surface for exhibition) and continue to take place today, and felt that continued operations would evenually diminish the diving and snorkeling experiences many locals and tourists greatly enjoy. After all, it isn’t every day you have a shipwreck in your own backyard, let alone one that is very accessible.

Art by Bob Jiggles

I began to swim with Hokey and Wally away from the cannons after awhile, heading west. We had intended to see the sights of some fish that may be around, but we ended up finding one of Urca de Lima’s anchors instead, laid out along the ocean floor. It appeared to be about ten feet long and, like the cannons, were completely rusted. It gave us an idea as to how much of the ship actually remained, as almost everything else was broken up over time. The other anchor was also among the items salvaged and exhibited to the public.

Meanwhile, Mildew, still hoping for a trinket or two, reached into the other cannons and found nothing but maybe a stray rock or two perhaps making their way inside. Running his hands along several spots on the ocean floor didn’t work, either. Although the others were convinced they weren’t going to find anything, it didn’t stop Mildew, one of the most tenacious among us in whatever he did. Not until Loopy placed a hand on Mildew’s shoulder and shook his head did he give up his own little treasure quest; the bubbles gushing from the regulator hinted at a sigh of disappointment.

Squiddly swam along the remnants of the hull, his camera picking up the entirety of it, along with some of the animals for size comparison. He would tell me later that it might have been better were we to create a chain by grabbing each other’s legs. We might’ve made a good animal yardstick.

Feeling that we had seen enough of the wreck, I called for the whole crew to surface. We made our way back to the boat, somewhat disappointed. It was a delight to view a wreck, sure, but our expectations had been set too high. Although the ship was burned centuries ago to prevent detection by pirates, we still thought there was plenty for us to see.

We continued further south on our journey. Our next stop was Key Largo, home of John Pennekamp State Park, featuring some of the finest coral reefs in the country and home to a diverse group of marine life. Many of us felt like going on another dive before then, so we parked our minibus at a beach in Jupiter, just north of West Palm Beach.

Magilla and I broke out the bike pump and set about refilling the tanks with pressurized air before we could hit the water again. “It won’t be long now!” Magilla said excitedly, even though we had nine tanks to fill.

This time, we entered from the sands of the beach, donning our fins once the water was halfway up to our knees. This was strictly a pleasure dive where we could just play around in the water for awhile at a shallow depth. Usually this consisted of playing tag with one another, as Breezly and Magilla demonstrated, although some others had fun in different ways: Mildew felt like basking in the sun’s rays even in the water, and posed as though he was laying back in a beach chair, letting nothing bother him. Wally, a bit of a zany character himself, joined Mildew a minute later. Hokey and Loopy interacted with the occasional fish passing by them, while Lippy and Hardy just swam around, unsure of what to do themselves; they were simply content with watching.

We explored further by swimming towards the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse. Our heads above water, the view was clear for all of us. Squiddly pointed in the direction of six creatures congregating together. “Manatees!” he exclaimed joyfully.

I removed my mouthpiece. “Must’ve gone after a female,” I said, before putting it back in. We swam closer to the pack while keeping our mouthpieces on, even though our heads were above the surface; we didn’t want to deal with ocean water in the hose.

The manatees turned and started to swim away from the shore, where we confronted them, eager to pet and stroke their heads and play with them for a few moments. Some of us wanted to stroke their bellies, too, and the manatees felt so happy to receive some attention. Squiddly joined in on the lovefest, too, even though his job was to film; I got his back, however, recording him nuzzling against a manatee’s cheek.

We spent a few minutes with them before they had to leave, looking to try again someplace else. We waved goodbye to them and began to head back to where we began our dive. It was getting a little late, anyway, and we needed some food in our bellies. We were also a little exhausted from all the diving, as was easily demonstrated thusly:

“Why’m I walking all topsy-turvy?” Breezly asked, wobbling as though he had a few beers.

“Alors! Those sea cows must’ve made us love drunk!” Loopy added.

Only Squiddly and I walked properly, with my fins slung over my shoulder, as we discussed plans together.

“Hey, how come those two are all right?” asked Mildew.

Everyone else still had their full gear on, well after they had been completely out of the water.

“You need a rest!” Squiddly and I called out to them.

We had to rest up for what I figured would be the pinnacle of our vacation: Key Largo and John Pennekamp State Park, and what better place to do so than what Hokey called “The Entertainment Capital of Florida,” Miami. At least it still is, while Jackie Gleason is still taping his variety show, and until Walt Disney’s next big thing opens to the public.

Avoiding all kinds of alcohol—which probably knocked out half the potential restaurant options in this city—we also wanted a place with prices within our means, which knocked out another quarter of the city. After twenty minutes of driving around the city with no place to go, we decided on a small diner where they not only served the usual fare, but also come Cuban delicacies.

The lively conversation soon switched from the wreck and the manatees to Key Largo. Pennekamp State Park had some of the best coral reefs in the nation, along with a diverse section of marine life. I could hear the excitement in their voices. Some of them even wanted to enjoy a second day there, as we did with Wally’s secret spring.

“If I can find a good motel, sure!” I quipped.

Anyway, that’s our Treasure Coast adventure. If you like wrecks that you can enjoy at shallow depths, I strongly recommend the Urca de Lima off Fort Pierce. If relaxation is more your thing, be sure to visit the almost-endless stretch of beaches. Remember, if you’re interested in diving, please receive proper instruction and follow all safety protocols before going in.

While I’m mentioning relaxation, why don’t you relax awhile yourself? Our next episode will be diver’s heaven—Key Largo. Look for us next week at the same time.

[talesofpanem]

Tattoo Fixers : Panem

Author: @thegirlfromoverthepond

Rating: T

Summary: Katniss needs someone to fix a bad tattoo.

AN: Deepest, deepest thanks to the amazing @xerxia31 who beta-ed this piece.

Even though I liked the prompt, it took me times to find the idea for this story - until I watched my TV, which prompted an episode of Tattoo Fixers - London. Maybe some of you from the EuroClub know about it ? Anyways, here is my take at this week’s prompt.

Hope you have fun.

_____________

She would be fascinated by the ballet of assistants running around the shop if she wasn’t embarrassed to be sitting there, being prepped by a team of make-up artists and a hairdresser. 

Just looking at the people putting mascara on her eyebrows or trying to tame her hair was a spectacle in itself, with their tattoos poking out from under every bit of clothing, along with piercings or blue hair. 

Katniss felt utterly out of place, waiting for her turn to appear on a television show she didn’t even want to go on. Alas, it was the only free way to fix something she had regretted since she had woken up after a particularly drunken night with her cousin Gale.

It was all Gale’s fault. It had been the day of her father’ funeral, the day after Gale buried his own. After the ceremony, after everyone had gone home, Gale had taken Katniss out. She hadn’t asked, just silently nodded when he had grabbed the keys of his father’s old pickup, heading out to their favorite spot in town, to get drunk.

In the hopes they could forget the void left by their fathers.

They had spent hours in that bar, drinking until they couldn’t drink anymore, until everything faded into blackness. The next morning, however, they’d woken up together in the bed of the pickup truck, each sporting the mother of all hangovers and a lovely souvenir of their evening

Apparently, they had somehow found their way to a tattoo parlor.

Since that night, Gale had sported a wonderful peacock on his biceps, which he still found funny all these  years later.

Katniss wasn’t as lucky. She all but hated the cartoonish, badly drawn bow and arrow on the inside of her forearm. The only good thing about it was its size - tiny, so a wristband could cover it easily. She took to wearing one everyday. Solid. In leather.

Arrow. Her father’s name, had been inked forever on her arm. She would have loved it if she had been able to choose the drawing properly, instead of having been branded with a cupid-ike tattoo design.

Hence her presence on the set of Tattoo Fixers, a reality show where talented tattoo artists helped people cover up their tattoo disasters with gorgeous works of inked art. 

Removing the tattoo was way too expensive for her bank account. But Prim had convinced her to share her story with all the whole country, risking the humiliation of being branded as a drunk crazy woman on cable TV.

Wonderful.

“Katniss? You’re on in five,” a young assistant told her, making the team of preppers buzz around her like there was a breach in a beehive. One man, Flavius she thought his name was, because why not, was complaining about the state of her nails, how chipped they were, how he couldn’t do miracles, how he couldn’t find time to fit in a manicure in the remaining five minutes.

“I’m a botanist. It would be destroyed by tomorrow anyway.” She shrugged the thought away, almost taking pleasure in the disgusted look on his face. Take that, Flavius.

When the assistant came back, all smiles and happy mood, Katniss followed her out of the parlor and onto the street. Just like any other participant, she would have to walk to the shop, entering as if she was a totally random client.

Bull.Shit.

The only random part was which tattoo artist she would choose. At least she would be surprised by their drawings.

This was staged TV, reality-TV. She usually couldn’t stand it. 

She sighed, taking her place ion the street.

“Remember, start walking when the director shouts ‘Action!’” 

Katniss resisted the temptation to roll her eyes.

She started walking as casually as possible when she was told to, entering the shop as naturally as she could manage, trying to avoid laughing at the host’s attire of the day. Nobody ever bothered telling Caesar Flickerman that he might be colorblind. Today, he was mixing  a flashy orange shirt with beautiful purple bermuda shorts. No doubt the episode would air in summer.

“Here is our next client!” Caesar sounded a little too enthusiastic at her entrance into the parlor. “What’s your name, darling?” He took her hand, helping her sit on the couch facing the one where the three tattoo artists were sitting.

She took a deep breath before answering, hoping her voice didn’t falter. 

As she explained why she was there, Katniss took a good look at the three people in front of her, mentally thanking Prim for the briefing she’d given Katniss before she left that morning.

There was the woman, Jo, whose body was almost fully covered in tattoos and piercings. Only her face remained pristine, making her red hair stand out. She was sitting next to Finnick, who as the star tattooist of the program was sitting between his two colleagues. Finnick’s body was a work of art. Prim had swooned over it for much too long when she had briefed her sister, showing Katniss pictures of the man who appeared to live his life shirtless. Katniss had then been privy to the numerous tattoos that adorned his back, a chinese setting, dragon included. 

She had seen several shots of him, of his so perfect body that made women of all ages swoon over him. Of course, Katniss was well aware of the dispatch of muscles, the Greek-god physique Finnick had, and fully expecting to be struck with lust as soon as she laid eyes on him in person. Yet nothing happened.

Nothing. At. All.

She was much more intrigued by the third tattooist, sitting next to Finnick. If Jo was a picture of the bad girl, Finnick the perfection, this third person was something else. He screamed “normal”, standing out from the two others, in Katniss’ opinion. Maybe it was because she couldn’t see a single tattoo on him, not even the required tribal band around his biceps.

There was something about his blue eyes, about his messy blond air that made her look at him more than the two others. Something that attracted her.

“This is Peeta, but we call him Peet. He’s the newcomer as Cato decided he needed a year off,” Finnick said and Peeta smiled. “So, how do you want us to cover the tattoo? Any specific request?”

“Well, nothing arrow-esque, or cupid-like. I’d like something that’s more inspired by nature,” she said. She just wanted the stupid bow and arrow to be covered.

Both Finnick and Jo grabbed their sketchbooks and started to draw. But she could feel Peeta’s eyes on her, lingering for a few seconds before he in turn, dived in.

“Well, tell us about you, Kathy?” Caesar said,making idle conversation to allow the tattooists time to finish their drawings.

“It’s Katniss, actually. Nothing thrilling, I’m a botanist and I live with my sister, Primrose.”

“Oh, that’s nice, she’s named for a flower!”

Katniss couldn’t help rolling her eyes. She knew this part would be cut because nobody really cared about the chit chat between a host and someone they would forget as soon as she left the office. 

“Just like I am, it’s kind of a family tradition.”

“And you’re a florist! Isn’t it amazing.”

“I’m a botanist, but not far away.”

She was already over her talk with the host. A talk she was quite sure only lasted a few minutes, still felt like two long days. 

“We’re ready, Kitty Kat. Here’s my drawing.” Jo handed over her sketchbook, on which a beautiful cat was displayed. With red fun, he would have been a striking copy of her sister’s cat, Buttercup, aka the bane of her existence. “You strike me as independent and very focused, hence, the cat.”

“It’s beautiful, Jo, thank you,” Katniss said, as she took in the beautiful shape of the cat’s ear, the detailed eyes. The woman had talent.

“I went for something more… natural,” Finnick said. “ I hope you like it!” He handed her his sketchbook, then leaned back on the couch, taking a sugarcube out of his pocket before popping it in his mouth.

On the page in front of her was a display of gorgeous intertwining orchid flowers.

 “I can do them in different shades, like a watercolor painting, you know?” Finnick added, as Katniss stared in awe.

“It’s lovely, wow, I wasn’t expecting that, Finnick.” Between the two drawings, her choice was made. She wasn’t even sure Peeta would be able to compete.

“She’ll pick mine, guys, I’m ready to bet ten bucks!” Finnick lifted his arms in victory. 

“It doesn’t have to be a big one, right?” Katniss asked, hoping his answer would be a no.

“It can be whatever you desire, sweetheart.” Finnick’s voice was sugary, and his green eyes sparkled as he winked at her.

Which made Katniss roll her eyes.

“Well, Finnick, this one’s immune to your charms.” Peeta’s voice, amused, chimed in. “Katniss, here is my take for your tattoo.”

She put down Finnick’s sketchbook to take Peeta’s. There were no words to describe her feelings when she looked down at the drawing on the paper. She had expected something somewhere between Jo and Finnick’s like an animal in nature, or just a drawing of a beach, absolutely not what she had before her eyes.

Peeta had drawn a wave.

A single, simple wave.

Yet, the closer she looked, the more details she could see. The wave was made entirely of flowers.

Primroses and katniss were braided together with such precision, with such attention, it was mesmerizing.

From two feet away the drawing looked like a wave.

But to her, for the closer her eyes got, it was a flower wall.

She opened her mouth to talk, to express how incredible she found the drawing.

No words came out.

She had to take a deep breath before gathering her thoughts before she was able to talk again.

“This. This is what I want.” 

“Shall we go, then?” Peeta asked, rising from the couch.

She nodded her agreement before following him to the back.

She was glad the cameras didn’t filming the whole process. They were busy filming other segments with other “clients”. 

“What prompted you to draw this? I mean I had no idea that was what I wanted until you showed me…” she asked.

“Your talk with Caesar. You told him you were a botanist, that it was a tradition to have flower names in your family. So I checked what Katniss was. It came up with sagit-something…”

“Sagittaria sagittifolia.,” she said under her breath.

He laughed, as he charged his machine with ink.

“Yes, that. You said you live with your sister, and I remembered you told us you got this awful thing after a funeral so I added one and one… You must have a pretty close relationship with your sister.”

“Yeah, we do …..” She was watching him come closer with his machine. She had a question, though. “How do I know you can tattoo? I mean, you don’t even have any of your own?”

“I do have one tattoo, but it’s hidden. I’m not as extrovert as Finn and Jo.”

“I noticed.. Could I see it ?”

“Well, it would involve you seeing me at least half naked… “

She blushed. “Oh, my, sorry…”

“No need to apologize. I did Finn’s dragon, and can show you pictures of previous works I’ve done,  if you need references …. “

“It’s okay, I trust you.”

He smiled, a gentle, kind, warm smile at her words.

As soon as he started working on her forearm the cameras returned. He explained the steps he was taking, using the shape of the bow for the wave, the body of the arrow to line up the braids of flowers.

“It’s done. You can look.” His voice took her by surprise.  She looked down, finding herself at a loss for words, again.

There was no way she would hide this one under a wristband.

After the mandatory shots for the TV, Peeta was wrapping her arm in cello, when he asked.

“I kinda won twenty bucks earlier, thanks to you. Want to share it with a tea?”

“No,” she answered. As his face fell, she added, “But I’d love a hot chocolate with whipped cream, if you know a place.”

He knew a place.

(Turned out he had a tree of life tattoo along his ribcage. She could spend hours tracing it with her fingers. Or her tongue.)

[splatterchatter]

Man of Medan: A game that’s lost at sea

If you listened to Splatter Chatter’s horror video games episode, you’ll know that we were all huge fans of Until Dawn, which was developed by Supermassive Games and published by Sony. Well, after a lot of anticipation, their next horror game, Man of Medan, was released on August 30th, 2019. As horror video games are the one area of the horror genre that I enjoy (thank you Let’s Play Youtubers for making it not too scary for me with your commentary) I sat down and watched the story unfold without any of the anxiety of having to play myself and have pixelated lives in my hands. A win-win situation. The one word that I would use to describe my feelings toward Man of Medan is disappointment. Now, take this review with a grain of salt as I only watched two versions of the single-player mode of the game. Perhaps the cooperative modes added bits to the story that would have changed my overall feelings, but if you are going to have a single player in a game, it needs to be just as engaging as the multiplayer. Man of Medan’s story makes close to no sense if you make certain choices resulting in character deaths or not exploring certain avenues of the game. Also, the overall ‘mystery’ is easily deduced in the tutorial section so while there is some good atmosphere and scares in the game, the main parts of the story felt rushed. 

Now I am not going to go into detail about the plot of the game as it will change due to the player’s choices. What I will say is that Man of Medan tackles the mystery of the SS Ourang Medan. However, no matter what choices, there are still major problems with the plot, character motivations, and characterization in general that make the game feel almost unfinished. While there were cheesy moments to Until Dawn, the game flowed in an understandable way and while the numerous times of splitting the party didn’t make much sense, you could see a bunch of scared twenty-year-olds doing that. The conversations also, while having some hiccups, were believable. Yet, in Man of Medan, almost every interaction was cringe-worthy or made no sense. If I didn’t know better, I would have thought they were released in reverse order. While the atmosphere was well done once they made it to the Medan and there were some spooky moments, mostly the game felt unfinished and it lacked the love and attention that were obviously given to Until Dawn. One of the biggest problems with this game is that none of the characters felt real and neither do their relationships. Julia and Alex have apparently been together for a while and are now in a long-distance relationship, but that is only mentioned once in the beginning. There is exactly zero chemistry between the two of them and Julia seems to know more about Brad, who apparently she has never met before, than about her boyfriend. Neither pair of siblings act like siblings and all of the dialogue is stilted and unbelievable. In Until Dawn, you care about relationships and the characters, so the threat of getting someone killed was heightened. Man of Medan missed that mark, which really took the anxiety out of the life or death situations. The plot itself went the long way around to get to its main stage for the events of the story. At first, there is the dive that apparently they shouldn’t be going on because undiscovered wrecks need to be called into the authorities. However, Fliss knew that they were looking for a wreck to start with, so why didn’t she make her objections known earlier? Did she think there wasn’t a wreck there? Did she really need the money that badly? Also, how did Brad even find out about this wreck? Moving past that, Alex and Julia find the coordinates for the Manchurian Gold in the plane, so why were the worst kidnappers on the planet even introduced into the story? We learn absolutely nothing during the hostage scene on the Duke of Milan and if you just wanted more bodies for gore, you could have had the national guard see the Duke of Milan next to a huge ass military ship and come on board to check it out. Why do I have such a problem with the kidnapping storyline? Well because nobody acts like they are kidnappers/kidnapped. There is no sense of urgency in this entire game from anybody, which doesn’t raise the stakes for the player. From a video game perspective, there is a lot less gameplay than in Until Dawn and many choices that you make don’t have any real consequences. It doesn’t engage the player when there are long periods of inactivity, then quick-time events that could end up in a character's death. That just feels as if you are setting the player up for failure as well as frustration. Now to the actual horror aspects of the game, the beginning focuses mostly on jump scares, but once the group gets onto the SS Ourang Medan, the real spooks start to happen. There are things that move just on the corner of the screen or a body getting up from a bed as the character moves past a doorway. It is subtle things like this that I find very effective in setting the atmosphere and dread you lack when a game relies only on jump scares. I think they had a good concept, but the lackluster mystery, framed as such by the Curator even though the player knows the answer, and awkward characters take the punch out of what could have been a fascinating and chilling four-hour game. One last critique now that I have mentioned him, the Curator doesn’t really have a purpose. In Until Dawn, the therapist both moved the story forward, recapped events, gave hints to what was going on, and ended up being part of the twist. In Man of Medan the Curator gave “hints”, but it wasn't anything the player couldn’t figure out themselves. Mostly it was a save point and a hint that this was a larger world and more stories to tell as this game is part of an anthology, but nothing more. Everything that made Until Dawn interesting is lacking in this game. Overall, this is a classic ghost ship story with a not too original twist, partially because it is based on a well-known myth. There are a lot of threads that are presented to the player that are never explored or explained. I am hoping that the developers will learn from the less than favorable feedback I have seen other people giving to the game as well. While there are some good scares, I would have been disappointed if I had paid money for the game. Maybe the multiplayer version adds something that is lacking from the single-player, but if you are going to provide both options, both need to stand up, and that’s not the case. If the rest of the anthology has the same rushed feeling and unbelievable characters, it is going to be dead in the water.  Do you agree? Disagree? Want to talk about it? Send me an ask or drop a message. I would love to discuss this.  Keep up the Creep! Miss Colleen

[elizabethrobertajones]

“The Most Meta Finale”  Or, on trying to disown old canon since season 11.

To be honest, I was going to spend today re-watching some season 6 episodes to see if I could come up with a much more modest plausible theory about the reason there was so much AU and time travel nonsense especially in the latter half of the season, was because of a theme of shattering canon, quite deliberately. In a way of staking a claim but also washing hands of messing up the stuff that came before. And instead I ended up giving myself a migraine seeing canon since season 5 as something that's been repeatedly disowned and carefully distanced from over and over.

In 5x22 Chuck ends the story with his definitive THE END on the whole mess. Of course it's a bit ridiculous because season 6 was already long foretold and the story was going to have to continue. But Chuck sits there representing the author, in a very unsubtle way, with his finished drink, finished manuscript, and all cleaned up, washing his hands of the Chuck the Prophet persona and going on to chill out and enjoy the ~finished story~

6x15, though, represents in the most meta ridiculous ways the trouble the show felt, or lampooned itself being stuck with, having to continue on into season 6, with the theme in 6x15 and then seriously in 6x20, being what to do when the original story was over, and how to continue on. In The French Mistake "Bob Singer" dismisses the entire idea of season 6 out loud, rolling his eyes at the fact they're continuing to make the story. At the end of the episode he is killed off, and "Kripke" is taken out with much dramatic fanfare (and the same music as 6x18's cowboy confrontation, which amuses me no end and is another weird link between the episodes about travels in time and space, testing the bounds of the universe they're written in, and breaking them.) Of course killing "Kripke" off is the very unsubtle message about the death of the author, a metatextual image that goes with God leaving the story and sending it off into the wild. Kripke (the real one) wrote 6x22 as his final episode, before leaving it all in others' hands since then. On pretty much every level of the story it's handed off to writer after writer.

I think it's interesting that the "original story" is captured within the show as the Winchester Gospels (and my tag for that has plenty of amusing exploration of the ways this makes canon fascinatingly more complex) - but also that it makes SUCH a clear divide between the Original Story aka the subject of the Gospels, and what comes after. Charlie giggles in delight at discovering that the seemingly random hunters she meets later in their story have been the subject of the books and have such a meta backstory, and in 8x20 their lives are turned into a low key conflict between the real and the novelised in the way Charlie interacts with them. 

In 10x05 they see their lives from the outside, Marie's canon which echoes their lives up to the point the Original Story ends, and we get another line which is one of my favourites in that episode, dismissing everything that comes after 5x22 as terrible fan fiction. Not that Calliope thinks she did much better...

I've written somewhere else about the meta episodes or characters such as Metatron showing the writers' anxiety about taking on the story, and it often comes with this deep horror of the weight on them to continue the story, the meta story within the story also making this shove on them that shackles them to this narrative of the Original Story. I also should have really included Metatron being waved off into the Empty or wherever in between Chuck's disappearances but I ran out of gif space up there... 

Rewatching 11x20 recently I was deeply struck by how alike Metatron and Chuck are even down to their little curly haired vessels, though of course with wonderfully acted different bearings to make their personalities and place in the story clear. 

Metatron has his own huge part to play in representing the story and the deep, deep anxiety they had about following on from it. In 9x18 Metatron burns a copy of Tall Tales while trying to stand above the old canon, and Chuck takes him to task for it in 11x20, and Metatron folds and admits he's a terrible copy-cat writer, the anxieties you can see all over his appearances in Carver era while trying to wrangle the story in his favour. And in the end Chuck leaves his desk with a manuscript on it again just like in 5x22, though this time going to what he thinks may be his end:

These moments of trying to end or box off old canon with Death of the Author moments are incredibly numerous. We have Chuck leaving in 5x22, "Kripke" dying in 6x15, the entire plot of 10x05 being about Calliope coming to consume the author, and the meta nonsense there, and then Metatron's death, Chuck slated to die but saved by network panic about what you can and can't show on screen... 

This shot of Chuck was a zoom out in comparison to the zoom in on dead "Kripke", but feels very similar, especially with Amara having raged at him about the story, after in 11x20 Chuck refused to allow it to be her story. Of course the resolution allows the suppressed, forgotten, fridged feminine side of the story to be released, and Mary is brought back. And after Chuck and Amara - now joint authors of the story with her action to bring Mary back creating the narrative of season 12 and flipping the influence from the douchey male creator to the women whose stories were never told, we've had ANOTHER absconding of the authors of the story, once again leaving the story in a sort of 5x death of the author situation, and once again like season 6, which season 12 mirrored in many ways, scrambling to understand their ends of the story.

I think the destruction of old canon seems almost like a necessary sort of household chore on the story - a chance to try and reclaim it, to put it into the hands of new author figures within the story, and an attempt for those left behind after showrunners and enormous creative influences like Edlund (who set Metatron up to go, threw him at the story, and left) or Robbie (who set Chuck up, threw him at the story, and left) have gone. Once Carver left somewhere before the end of season 11, we entered the rather strange world of the first time since season 2 not having part of the "Carver Edlund" duo the show's own God was named after on the writing team, and Dabb, who had been with the show almost as long as Carver and written more episodes than any other writer by like, the end of season 10, so will probably hold that title forever now, was left to remove the characters related to all this from the show, to start fresh.

And it seemed like everyone was having a stab at telling the story - the BMoL in particular twice referenced 9x18 and Metatron in a bid to wrangle control of the story with face on talking to the camera asking for stories or typing them - although lampshaded that the story really wasn’t going their way.

I find it really fascinating then to look back to season 6 and these other examples of trying to disown and distance the story from the old canon, to try and strike out and say the story now belongs to someone else, that these old parts of it are no longer our parts of it, though they influence us and we draw from them. If season 6 was using these AUs and time travel stories (The French Mistake, My Heart Will Go On and Frontierland) to explore the shattering of the world (before 6x21 and 6x21 explored smashing open Purgatory and bringing in new monsters and new plotlines to change the game for season 7), then season 12 referencing the most meta of all these examples when bringing in its own AU seems to me to be very deeply relevant.

The premise of the AU is one that in a way wipes the slate clean - removing the Winchesters, their entire influence, trashing every single word in those gospels, so the story can never happen that way, in a way is the freshest start so far. If season 13 focuses on characters like Michael or Bobby's experience of this AU and give us another history, an explanation of where it all went different, which all seems fairly likely at this point that we should learn more and understand the motivations and lives lead in the Winchesters' absence, then I think this really will live up to the threat that this was the most meta finale yet. A throwaway reference to the French Mistake doesn't SEEM to make it all that meta on the surface. But in the immediate context of the episode, the AU's description, of being turned on Mary's deal not being made, was used to absolve her and lift up Sam and Dean in the context of their own world - that they'd made the right choices, that they had authored their own world far better than it would have been without them.

I am very curious to see what Dabb does with his clean slate, after he used season 12 to try and tie up as many loose ends as humanly possible, and churn up references to almost every part of old canon into the story to give it another hearing, another perspective, another chance to be told. I think season 12 was very much the tidying away season and an AU with potentially completely different rules, and definitely an entirely other history and sets of characters, is an interesting way to re-make the show in... something's image. I suppose these thoughts are for revisiting in the aftermath of the end of the season and whatever that ends up bringing...

[lindoig7]

Saturday-Tuesday, 17-20 October

Saturday

Another night of fairly consistent rain.  It started just as we were turning in and kept up until we were getting up this morning.  We are parked under a big elm tree and everything has been coated with its big soggy seed clusters ever since we arrived.  They form a soft blanket on everything and it clings!  I have picked off hundreds of clumps of it from the car, but the awning also needs attention as does the whole roof of the van.  And when it rains, we hear two distinct sounds on the roof: the rain pitter-pattering gently on the roof and the big drops that collect in the seed clusters in the tree and ping loudly on the roof when they fall.

The rain eased off during the morning so I went birding for about 45 minutes and saw 31 species – the best count I have had since about our second day here when I think I saw 43 species in 3-4 hours. And one special thing I saw today was a Grey Goshawk (light morph).  We saw a dark morph in Queensland some 14 years ago, but this was a good sighting for me. I watched a couple of Magpies dive-bombing the top of a big tree across the river so knew they were trying to scare something away – so looked closely with my binoculars and saw the magnificent Goshawk just before it took off and flew quite low right over me with one Maggie in hot pursuit.

I also had a go at the HWS.  There seems to be two different problems – electrical and gas/air issues.  I suspect the ‘repairs’ resulted in some electrical modifications and one of the terminals seems suss.  I have improved the connection and it is working again OK at present, but it still burns unevenly and periodically fades to the point where it blows out and has to restart itself.  We can cope fairly easily at present, but will need to get it fully resolved before we head into much more remote areas.

We spent the rest of the day inside the van. We had intended going for a walk, but we had another exciting thunderstorm in the early afternoon and then it rained for the rest of the day.  We donned our raincoats and went outside during a lull in the rain to try to clean some of the elm seeds off the awning.  We rigged up a second hose and washed most of it off – and within half an hour, it was raining again and more clumps of seeds were falling on to our nice clean awning.  They clump into big gluggy, ultra-soggy lumps that stick to everything and are hard to remove.

We had a delightful hour and a half on the phone with our kids - a really lovely special time that we hope they enjoyed as much as we did.

Sunday

We had a slow start to the day today. It rained most of the night again and we had a leisurely brekky.  I cooked bacon and eggs under the awning and we just lazed around for an hour or so until it’s was time for a Zoom AGM for our LAC Club - the Inner Melbourne one (we are members of three). That lasted almost an hour with a bit of socialising at the end.  We hadn’t seen any of these people since New Year’s Day and it was fun to just chat with them for a few minutes.

Heather cut some sangers and we went for a drive.  We went a few clicks down the highway to Newmerella, then cut south to Corringle.  We did a short walk over the dunes to the beach and then went on to the estuary, another walk almost immediately across the Snowy River from Marlo.  I did a 20-minute bird survey and will post it tomorrow.  (National Bird Week officially starts tomorrow and I usually do about 20 or 30 surveys during the week and post them on the Birds in Backyards app so that will be my first for this year.  It is interesting that although it doesn’t start until tomorrow, more than 7000 surveys, listing 230,000 birds, have already been submitted.)

We ate our lunch out there then wound our way back past the lake to the Snowy again and followed that back to Orbost.  But we never stopped there.  We kept going a few kilometres up the Bonang Road and turned off to Young’s Creek. We parked at the Picnic Area and did a walk to the Waterfall.  It was quite impressive with a lot of water flowing down the creek, but we never went swimming!!!!  We then started walking on a side track that took you to the base of the Falls, but thinking of the climb back up again, we wimped out halfway down.  We did see lots of flowers though, including plenty of orchids.  The voracious mosquitos were fierce there.  Despite smothering ourselves with repellent and covering up every spare/square inch of skin, I still got a few bites. They bite right through our clothing.

We were going to do one of the other walks that started from the same place but it was closed - in fact all the other walks were closed due to fire damage.

We retraced our steps (actually, it was our wheel-tracks) and went on to another area where there was an old reservoir. It wasn’t huge, but we walked to the weir (a kilometre or so) surrounded by birdsong, but mainly invisible birds. I was able to identify about 7 species there, but there were numerous other calls from birds that I simply couldn’t recognise.

Getting out of the area was more difficult than expected.  We took a few wrong turnings, but my brilliant navigator enlisted the aid of her Maps.me app and we finally found our way back to the Bonang Road, a few kms north of where we left it a few hours earlier.  It was an interesting drive over very rough roads and we had to engage our low ratio 4WD for the first time this trip to get through some deep muddy water and exceptionally rough patches before we got back to the bitumen.

We had carried a big rubbish bag full of recycling with us all day, but jettisoned that at the Information Centre before reaching home. They had suggested that it was the best way to recycle anything in Orbost so we have taken advantage of their offer to use their bin a couple of times.

Monday

Despite it being a (technical) home day, it was really enjoyable.  We went for a longish local walk in the morning along the side of the Snowy River as far as we could go from here and then cut up into town to get a couple of things.  En route, we found a fascinating display of art and history at the Orbost Cultural Centre.

They have quite a few large painted panels in the big outdoor under-floor area that walk you through a lot of the pre- and post-colonial period, but there are also three others with an audio history of the region since long before the age of the dinosaurs.  It was quite engaging without being overly indigenous in character and while looking at it (and watching some equally fascinating birds over the fence - a Grey Butcherbird and a family of Grey Shrike-thrushes) we fell into conversation with two of the artists who were also running the Centre.  It is closed of course, but they are looking forward to reopening soon and one of them invited us back next Monday for a private tour.  The other one was a young indigenous woman and she told us about a few interesting places to go to around the area so we will explore them too.  After our negligible shopping excursion, we walked to the other end of town and down to the Sensory Garden. It was lovely!  There were quite a few birds that provided an audio experience – as did the frogs – and there were heaps of trees and flowers to look at as well as several to touch and feel.  There were herbs and other plants to smell and even some interesting leaves and vegetables to taste – we brought some herbs and rainbow shard silver-beet home to add to our meals too.  It was really interesting and occupied us for about an hour just exploring.

In the afternoon, I went birding and did 5 surveys around the area that I will post as part of my contribution to BIBY - Birds In BackYards as part of Bird Week.

After dinner, we decided to watch a movie rather than another episode of Justified but it was so pathetically dated, we turned it off and got Justified anyway.

Tuesday

A great day today.  We followed the advice we got at the Cultural Centre yesterday and drove the Murrungowar Forest Road.  It starts about 20 km from Orbost and is a 30.2, 32, 34 or 38 km route (depending on which sign or brochure you read) estimated to take 2 hours – of course, we took nearly 5.

Before we left, we had to arrange some new scripts for all the drugs we take and due to circumstances, that took well over an hour with multiple phone calls and a longish email, even though we had to order it online.  No problem, but it was nearly 11.30 before we started our day’s drive.

There were eleven ‘stops’ along the way with lots of interesting information about the forest, the trees, and the logging operations over the past 100 years or so and there was also the the opportunity to do a few walks along the way.  The main walk was closed (and maybe the second main one too, but the sign was a bit inconclusive so we did that one anyway).  There were side roads criss-crossing everywhere as well as numerous rivers and streams with narrow bridges.  We got out and undertook short explorations several times, mainly looking at plants and flowers, but we also walked to a couple of waterfalls, and along a creek or two.  Most of the area was burned out in the bushfires, but logging is still going on – maybe salvaging the timber that won’t survive the fires – so we had to drive carefully in places where log-trucks and other heavy equipment was still working.  It was a really interesting drive and we probably learned a fair bit about forestry, but it was sad to see so much fire carnage throughout the whole area.

When we got back to the Princes Highway, we went directly to Go (did not pass Gaol) and started the whole drive again.  We wanted to find the Rocky River Crossing that we had been told about at the Cultural Centre as a wonderful place to visit – and the Rocky River Road turned off about 10 km along the Murrungowar Road.  Alas, we never found it due to the plethora or roads, tracks, confusing signage and so on, but we may well go back to look for it again.

Along this road, there was a really big crossing over the Brodribb River and we walked around that area and saw numerous Gippsland Water Monitors – lizards about half a metre or more long.  I photographed one on the first day we were in Orbost (and posted the pic to the blog) but these guys were obviously camera shy and just ran away and hid from us.

We got home early enough for an extended Happy Hour – and being still quite warm, we enjoyed having it outside for the first time this trip.  That was the last of our bubbles so we now need an urgent shopping trip to replenish our supply.

[tekka-dan]

I see your posts for Boruto and I love them because I think they are so accurate. I am actively in the Naruto fan base, with Boruto though I am really starting to hate it. Your posts make it seem tolerable!

thanks so much, darling. honestly i’m not exactly in the fandom anymore myself with naruto. something i don’t tell people is that i stopped watching when tobi was introduced so you can imagine how far back that was. there were so many characters being introduced that i lost track of what the hell was going on, i remember the exact episode i said fuck it on too. i played ninja storm naruto so i felt like i had a good handle on the storyline but i didn’t actively come back until the ending. which was utter trash. i’m not an advocate of boruto whatsoever, i expose it for what it is; also trash. it’s rehashed and copy/pasted bullshit, nothing original. i make fun of it because there are people who probably don’t understand how they are supposed to feel about it, so i ad-lib the series to make it something where they can at least laugh at it.the sasusaku and naruhina fandoms are toxic. naruhina fans don’t pay attention to actual material and sasusaku makes up whatever the hell they want to. the ONLY fandoms apart of naruto that actually have main positivity is sasukarin, narusasu and narusaku. if you go into those tags you won’t feel the animosity, i swear to you those tags are in their own worlds and it feels NATURAL. it doesn’t feel forced or toxic. if you wanna feel good about anything in naruto–search those tags and bask in the positivity.

want my advice though? there are other animes that are nowhere near as toxic/underdeveloped that i’ve recently become apart of. there aren’t any ship wars, there aren’t characters we have to say “pro them and anti them” it’s all..full of love.

hunter x hunter – naruto derived from hunter x hunter and if you want a series where they handle everything right, this is one to hop on the train for. this is one damn good series where the antagonists you actually feel empathy towards. not like apologetic but hunter x hunter exposes the fact that antagonists are not evil people, with evil morals. like it makes you sorta wanna be on their side, basically it makes it hard to dislike them. which is GOOD writing. their motives aren’t “save/destroy the world” either, the author actually made their motives and interests relatable/personal. which is something a LOT of authors don’t do well. he doesn’t alienate his audience. also a side note is character development is magnificent. watch some youtube videos behind the theories of this anime, your mind will be blown out of the water. there are parallels i’ve NEVER noticed the first time watching between characters. also there isn’t a main protagonist.

my hero academia – this is basically naruto done RIGHT. you have your characters that the story starts with but doesn’t stay on. it expands, you get subtle background on characters but not so much where your attention shifts from other characters, it keeps you guessing and it keeps you engaged. battles aren’t dragged on for ten episodes or five damn years. there’s also something relatable about the series, with izuku being a true definition of underdog. also the characters actually TRAIN. that’s a massive plus, we don’t just see these power ups. i also love how the power ups also aren’t overly done or asspulls. the characters also have weaknesses!!! like they have LIMITS!! the main character LOSES battles!! the main character reflects on OTHERS!! on HIMSELF!!! it’s not all about HIM!!! this series will make you cry, will make you laugh and actually make you sit on the edge of your chair. in the fandom itself we all have one main spoken rule; everybody fucking hates mineta.

assassination classroom – talk about underrated as hell. you want a true underdog? this entire series is about achieving the impossible and gaining true utter respect. it also has antagonists (aside from that ONE guy, y'all KNOW the one) who become likable. it’s not centered around romance because it doesn’t matter. what you THOUGHT you knew, you DON’T know, meaning this series ISN’T predictable. it keeps you engaged and i have to admit i’ve rewatched it numerous times and i cry, laugh and breakdown every time. there’s something about this series that brings you to life. these kids aren’t even the definition of “troubled” either, there’s a kid in that classroom who is literally there only because his family is poor and he was caught with a job making money, which is illegal for families to rise even slightly above the poverty line because it’s essentially stealing from the government i guess.character development and plot twists GALORE!!! the only spoken rule in this anime; korosensei is everybody’s daddy. (sexual or familial, all up to you, in most cases people wouldn’t mind either)

gintama – for a series with 80% of it making no sense, it actually makes more sense than naruto did as a whole and that says a lot because gintama doesn’t have a set and stone plot line. yet the characters are relatable. there was an episode about the man who didn’t say a word to anyone because he was too scared, he was relevant for one or two episodes and we got an ENTIRE character development. it was fascinating. we also have characters that looks can be deceiving with. Sougo who has a baby face, is a sadist yet the most loyal bad ass there is. Sarutobi is also a sadist yet she has incredible development on her own aside from trying to rape gintoki basically. Katsura is a damn idiot but he’s gorgeous as hell. Kamui talks like a child with a gentle smile and he’s actually brutal as hell – basically this series is everything you could ever not expect. And what’s even BETTER about gintama is there is absolutely no hatred for anyone or anything. search this fandom in the tags and you won’t find a single thing centered around hatred. this fandom is as healthy as it gets because there’s nothing but love.

this is just a few. i promise on my life to you that the naruto fandom isn’t all there is. and believe me – no other fandom is even nearly as toxic/unlikeable.

[thegreatallanquatermain]

Sechs, Drugs, and Rock ‘n Roll, Chapter 4 - Art May Be Subjective, but Your Opinion is Wrong

With the start of our third week, so came the start of a new course. Bard, Saskatoon Pirate, Dynamo, and Awesome, joined me in lessons about German history, particularly focusing on social and politic change since the end of the Second World War. I was so excited to start the class, especially when I found out a large section of Party Bus was going to be involved. Yet, somehow, I managed to fall asleep in almost every class. For a future teacher, I was one the biggest asshole students around, because it’s kind of hard to not notice the hefty fat guy, peacefully snoring in the front row of your class. Things did not get better when we had our first paper due at the end of the week. I sat myself down to start trying hard, and actually dedicating some time to some real work for once. Then I got a message that everyone was meeting for drinks at the MKC, so I cobbled together a mess of text for only forty minutes, using Wikipedia as my primary source of information, and submitted it without even proof reading my work. I got an A, obviously.

There was also an excursion to see the local mosque, and to chat with the local Muslim community. I was so excited to hear about their experiences, and what it is like to worship in a small German town. I feel asleep there too. It wasn’t subtle either, because I was sitting next to our host when I passed out. I tried to stay awake by looking intensely at him the whole time, which only resulted in a wide-eyed stare that surely unnerved everyone around me. When asked about the Muslim communities in Australia, my response of continuing to seemingly glower at the poor guy did not go down as well as I would have hoped.

During this week, Dynamo made a very interesting discovery. Boy Virgin would always drop hints about her room, and that she had some space to hang out. Well, it turns out that her initial roommate decided to move into a hotel for the month, and she had an entire apartment to herself. The fridge even came with alcohol, which was to our benefit, because Boy Virgin refused to touch anything as haram as hazelnut liqueur. Dynamo on the other hand drank that shit straight from a plate. It’s a lot of fun being adult. Unfortunately for our host, her guests were usually too inebriated by the end of the night to really be able clean up after ourselves, so she would be left with dozens of empty bottles, and a laptop covered in bright pink beer.

A common evening usually involved an attempt to watch an episode of the ‘90s television masterpiece Mystery Science Theatre 3000, only for Princess to bust out a bottle of alcoholic strawberry Nesquik, Bard would dust an entire bottle of rosé, Saskatoon Pirate would mix her $5 vodka with anything to make it taste less rotgut, and Awesome and I would try to drink as much of each other’s beer as possible. We eventually managed to get half way through a single episode, before victoriously giving up. The tales of the Party Room were numerous, but usually ended the same way.

Two of the most famous alumni of Marburg are The Brothers Grimm, who are best known for collecting and publishing folk tales. They popularised Cinderella, Snow White, Hansel & Gretel, and Rapunzel among many others. Now, they didn’t collet these stories in Marburg, in fact they were law students who were not even treated especially well due to their low social standing. With all these factors, it’s no wonder that Marburg’s tourism department jumped on the chance to cover the city in images and statuettes detailing the many famous Grimm tales. On Friday morning, all the students from every German language class separated into different groups to venture around the city to find the many fairy-tale references. This in itself sounds almost whimsical, and as a fan of folklore, I was very excited to go. Then it started raining. I was a scout for many years, and I have always believed in their motto “Be Prepared.” That is why I did not bring a jacket or an umbrella with me to Europe.  

Saying I was a little damp, may have been a bit of an understatement. The worst part of the experience wasn’t the small lakes that were forming in my shoes, the damage our oh-so-important sheets were enduring, or even the annoying videos we kept having to film. No, it was the incessant comments on how wet I was. Oh really? I’m wet? Sorry, I didn’t notice, because there was too much water on my goddamn glasses to see anything. Thanks for keeping me so informed. Just image what would happen if I didn’t know that I was soaked to the bone. Thanks to you guys, I can now just start being dry. On the Brightside, our efforts in filming the stupidest activities in the world were rewarded when we I won a University of Marburg shirt that was only two sizes too small. Worth it.

With the weekend came another excursion, this time we were taking a train about an hour north to Kassel. Every five years, Kassel hosts a large contemporary arts exhibition known as documenta. Although each documenta is only open for one hundred days, our visit coincided with documenta 14. Due to Kassel’s link to art, the city is covered in interesting art projects, both those that are part of documenta 14, but others that have lingered from past documentas. I was expecting a city full of fine art, but the first “art work” I witnessed was a fibreglass bear with a shotgun, drinking a beer. I was a little concerned about what was to come. We also arrived in the middle of a torrential rainstorm, so in an attempt to get everyone to stop asking me about whether I was happy with my choice of clothes, I went out and purchased an expensive, and colourful umbrella. Then it immediately stopped raining, and my new umbrella had the fascinating problem of refusing to close ever again. Whatever, let’s just get this art stuff out the way.

Our first tour of documenta 14 was a little less than exciting. Sure, there was a very large replica of the Parthenon covered in banned books, but there wasn’t much else outside. Our tour guide was trying very hard to get us excited. “See this tree? It’s got a rock next to it. Art.” I suppose art is subjective, because to me it looked like a tree with a rock next to it. She did not stay with us for long, because before we knew it, we were separated into groups, with Ian being the unlucky individual tasked with baby-sitting us again. We met our new tour guide, a dude who was quite well dressed, as long as you ignore the fact he was literally wearing pyjama pants. Pyjama Pants was very excited to show us around a large art gallery with “BEINGSAFEISSCARY” adorning the entrance. We snuck in though the back to escape the large queue that had formed in the front of the building. I would have liked to talk about all the fascinating art works inside, and how deep and interesting each of the ideas being represented were, but one of the pieces looked like a prolapsed anus ejecting itself out of the wall, so it’s a little hard to think about anything else.

We were definitely not the ideal tour group. Every time Pyjama Pants asked about our thoughts on an art work, we would not give the insightful response he may have been expecting. “Is that supposed to look like a vagina?” asked Ian. “That video says God is a lemon. All hail Lemon God!” praised Princess. “That picture shows a woman exposing her growler,” mentions Slim Shady, followed by me having to awkwardly explain to Pyjama Pants and Boy Virgin what “growler” means (mons pubis, for those wondering). However, Pyjama Pants was not being completely professional, very clearly displaying an enormous crush on Boy Virgin. Every time she said anything, even when it was quite obviously a delirium induced hallucinatory response to something she was seeing in her own mind, he treated it like she was the most perceptive comment he had ever received. When she pointed out that a painting had a single red drop on it, he almost audibly moaned he was so impressed. No one had ever shown him that exact dot before. This changes everything.

It was finally deemed it necessary for us to escape, so we bid Pyjama Pants farewell, and as an enormous group, we followed Ian to a potential exit. This exit was behind a closed door, that we could only get to by walking through a theatre full of people watching a movie. We barged past everyone, only to find that Ian’s “exit” was just a dead end. It was time to barge back through the theatre of now irate viewers, and awkwardly return to Pyjama Pants, who pointed us I the right direction.

We spent the rest of our time in Kassel slowly walking around the muddy sidewalks, taking pictures, and generally avoiding the art to look at the far more interesting parks and buildings. This was a truly enlightening experience, because we found out that Slim Shady is the single worst photographer ever to grace our planet. I wanted to see him take pictures, just because he would always come back with a new way of messing up a seemingly simple group photo. Before long, we all just decided to head back to Marburg, and met up at the MKC for a beer.

[myanime2go]

15 Anime Like Dr. Stone [Recommendations]

I am ten billion percent sure you have been compelled by the power of science and you’re looking for more anime like Dr. Stone. Well, you have come to the right place!

And for readers who have not watched Dr. Stone yet. Dr. Stone was one of the most popular anime of the Summer 2019 anime season, and for good reason. It was a fascinating show with a unique premise, interesting main cast, educational, insightful and fascinating to watch. Summary One fateful day, all of humanity was petrified by a blinding flash of light. After several millennia, high schooler Taiju awakens and finds himself lost in a world of statues. However, he's not alone! His science-loving friend Senku's been up and running for a few months and he's got a grand plan in mind—to kickstart civilization with the power of science! By resetting the world, animes like Dr. Stone really allow us to explore human nature and the future of society. Can we be better? Is it possible to restore technological advances to what it is now? It's definitely a fun topic to watch.

let's get started!

Anime Similar to Dr. Stone

15. Planetes

Studios: SunriseEpisodes: 26Aired: Fall 2003  If what you loved most about Dr. Stone was its commitment to scientific accuracy, you should give Planetes a try, it can be slow-paced but for your patience, it rewards you with amazing character development that sets Planetes apart from other anime. Summary Haunted by a space flight accident that claimed the life of his beloved wife, Yuri finds himself six years later as part of a team of debris cleaners on a vessel called the Toy Box charged with clearing space junk from space flight paths. The team consists of Hachimaki, a hotshot debris-man with a sailor’s affinity for the orbital ocean; Fee, a chain-smoking tomboy beauty with an abrasive edge; and Pops, a veteran orbital mechanic whose avuncular presence soothes the stress of the job. https://youtu.be/IzfiI1jIGi8 Planetes features distinct realism in its storytelling, relatable characters, a genuine sense of humour and motivational dreams. 14. Are You Lost? (Sounan Desu ka?)

Studios: EzόlaEpisodes: 12Aired: Summer 2019 Dr. Stone and Are You Lost? both have characters that must survive the peril they are kept in and characters that know a lot and come up with ideas to help survive. Summary Four girls are stranded on a deserted island after surviving a plane crash. How can they survive? Because of a plane crash … starting today, we're spending the springtime of our lives on a desert island!! There's nothing here, so we have to make everything!! And eat everything!! (Ugh!) Check out our high-school-girl survival story of courage and knowledge. We're actually doing pretty well! https://youtu.be/wwP8TQE2P0c Are You Lost? doesn't take itself too seriously, it is a little more light-hearted, funny, fan service fueled and filled with cute girl anime. while with some of the same themes as Dr. Stone, Are You Lost? maybe a good choice.  13. Space Brothers

Studios: A-1 PicturesEpisodes: 99Aired: Spring 2012 Space Brothers and Dr. Stone are both animes about science and engineering. Both characters also dream of going to space and both plots are rooted in real science. Summary One night in 2006, when they were young, the two brothers Mutta (born 1993) and Hibito (born 1996) saw what appeared to be a UFO heading for the moon. They decided that night to both become astronauts and travel out into space. In 2025, Hibito has become an astronaut, and he’s going to go to the moon. Mutta ended up following a more traditional career path with an auto development company. However, Mutta just ruined his career through a violent altercation with his boss. Now, not only has he lost his job, he appears to be blacklisted in the entire industry. Maybe this is a rare opportunity for Mutta to once again chase his childhood dream and become an astronaut like his little brother! https://youtu.be/ciS3fDqT1Vw Space Brothers is a well-constructed anime that mixes a heartwarming story with delightful comedy and relatable characters to show the audience just how difficult it is to become an astronaut. 12. Moyashimon

Studios: Telecom Animation Film, ShirogumiEpisodes: 11Aired: Fall 2007 Moyashimon like Dr. Stone is very educational and entertaining. It may not be survival based like Dr. Stone but most of the skills learnt in it, will be needed by Senku and Taiju if they are going to survive and kick start civilisation. Summary Meet Sawaki Tadayasu, second son of yeast preparation suppliers, who is forced to go to an agricultural university and continue the family business. He has the unique ability to see and communicate with microbes, and so he and his friend, Kei, are taken as students to the fermentation-process obsessed Itsuki-sensei. This anime follows Sawaki as he tries to make his way through university as discreetly as possible…which is pretty impossible if you’re as talented as he is. https://youtu.be/CzKecuRFICw Every now and again an anime comes along that is quirky, odd, and oftentimes underrated, Moyashimon is just such an anime. 11. Steins;Gate

Studios: White FoxEpisodes: 24Aired: Spring 2011 Steins;Gate like Dr.Stone is a science fiction anime that anyone who loves this genre should be sure to give it a try. Summary The story of Steins;Gate takes place in Akihabara and is about a group of friends who have managed to customize their microwave into a device that can send text messages to the past. As they perform different experiments, an organization named SERN who has been doing their own research on time travel tracks them down and now the characters have to find a way to avoid being captured by them. https://youtu.be/27OZc-ku6is Steins;Gate was one of those animes that made me laugh, cry and really connect with our characters. It also made me think, and it rewarded my thoughts by having closure and clarity. 10. 7 Seeds

Studios: GonzoEpisodes: 12Aired: Spring 2019 After watching Dr. Stone you are probably now into series that depict people trying to survive in a post-apocalyptic future. Well, 7 Seeds is a much more realistic take on this narrative, with ordinary people trying to come to terms with the idea of everyone they knew and loved being dead while trying to survive in the wilderness. Summary Scientists had predicted this disaster, and in response, the leaders of every country met to develop a plan for human survival before the meteor hit. The Seven Seeds project was developed out of this meeting. Each country froze a number of young healthy people, which allowed them to survive the meteor. After the computer determined that Earth was once again safe for human life, it released them into the world. The Japanese government created five groups of survivors: Winter group, Spring group, Summer group A, Summer group B, and Fall group. Each group consisted of seven members and one guide. The guide carried small tubes of poison on their necks to allow them to end their lives if their situation became unbearable. The Japanese government prepared seven "Fuji" as refuges for the groups. In each Fuji, the group would find seeds and numerous books instructing them on survival in the wilderness. https://youtu.be/7iCWs2HigSw Much like Dr. Stone, 7 Seeds is all about learning to prevail in the wilderness without the benefits of modern technology. And it's definitely can be seen has a more realistic, less comedic take of Dr. Stone's end-of-humanity plot. 9. The Promised Neverland (Yakusoku no Neverland)

Studios: CloverWorksEpisodes: 12Aired: Winter 2019 The Promised Neverland like Dr. Stone is a survival anime though not completely the same, but with its psychological thriller element it keeps us at the edge of our seats. Summary Emma, Norman and Ray are the brightest kids at the Grace Field House orphanage. And under the care of the woman they refer to as “Mom,” all the kids have enjoyed a comfortable life. Good food, clean clothes and the perfect environment to learn—what more could an orphan ask for? One day, though, Emma and Norman uncover the dark truth of the outside world they are forbidden from seeing. https://youtu.be/JIcjo7XVlOY The Promised Neverland starts off cute and harmless but it turns out there is more than meets the eye in this anime, with its cliffhangers, extremely suspenseful, tense and heart-rending moments. It's definitely a must-watch. 8. No Game, No Life

Studios: MadhouseEpisodes: 12Aired: Spring 2014 No Game, No Life is a beautifully colourful world, filled with wonder and brilliance. And like Dr. Stone, there is a lot of tactical thinking used by the characters which are very exciting to watch. Summary The internet is full of rumours about the Neet and Hikikomori genius gamer siblings Sora and Shiro. The two go as far as to refer to the world as a “shit game“, but then one day a young man calling himself “God“ summons them to a parallel universe. There, God has forbidden war, and “everything is to be settled with games“. Yes, even the national borders. Driven into a corner by other species, the ’human species’ is down to its last city. Can Sora and Shiro, these related failures of society, become the saviours of humankind in this parallel world? https://youtu.be/fV7nGIUuyzA No Game No Life is a brilliantly exciting masterpiece that challenges and excites viewers all at once. And just like Dr. Stone, you will find yourself needing to binge-watch the whole series if you decide to give it a try. 7. Cells at Work! (Hataraku Saibou)

Studios: David ProductionEpisodes: 13Aired: Summer 2018 After watching Dr. Stone, if you’re curious about science and biology, Cells at Work! Is definitely the show for you, it will satisfy and entertain you to no end, with its educational substance, comedic take and like Dr. Stone, it is an exciting take on the 'science is fun' trope. Summary Within the human body there is said to be approximately 60 million cells. White blood cells, red blood cells, platelets, macrophages, memory cells, killer T cells, natural killer cells, B cells, mast cells and many more! All these different cells work tirelessly within the body, never resting for a moment, at any time willing to resist invading foreign entities like germs and viruses to the bitter end! From Akane Shimizu, winner of Shounen Sirius’ Rookie Award, comes an informative tale about anthropomorthized cells! https://youtu.be/HMXWvvjAJek Cells at Work! is definitely different from a lot of anime shows, I mean how many shows are set inside the human body, humanizing all the cells and microscopic organisms within. It's definitely a must-watch if you liked Dr. Stone. 6. Astra Lost in Space (Kanata no Astra)

Studios: LercheEpisodes: 12Aired: Summer 2019 Kanata no Astra is definitely an underrated anime, looks can be deceiving and that's how this anime feels at first glance but it's a real gem and like Dr. Stone is a whole new breath of fresh air. Summary The year is 2061 when space travel is now possible and commercially viable, and the students of Caird High School embark on their Planet Camp. But soon after Group B5 arrived at their planetary campsite, a mysterious and unforeseen sentient light sphere warps its 9 members into outer space, stranding them 5012 light-years away from their home planet. With the discovery of an old, unmanned spaceship nearby, the students must stay strong, manage their limited resources and remain united in the darkness of space, so that all of them can survive their long and likely perilous trek back home aboard the Astra. https://youtu.be/wD9o_8UjOvg Kanata no Astra is a really decent anime, with a lot of mystery, logic and survival. Each element is done in a reasonable and accurate way like Dr. Stone, even the humour and drama aspects are well balanced and perfectly timed. 5. From the New World (Shinsekai Yori)

Studios: A-1 Pictures Episodes: 25Aired: Fall 2012 From the New World is like Dr. Stone just a lot darker and with a more serious tone, looking at how humanity has survived its destruction and rebuilt society. Asking the big questions what is yourself? society? and the importance of humanity? Summary The story is set in Japan a millennium from now. Five children — the protagonist Saki, Satoru, Maria, Mamoru, and Shun — have been born and raised in a tranquil town that can be described as a utopia, overflowing with water and green foliage. The world is ruled by people who have the “cursed power“ or the “gods’ power“ of telekinesis. After a certain incident, Saki and the others come to realize the true nature of their world. Before long, they learn everything, including the bloody history that brought humanity to this state. The five throw themselves into life-threatening adventure, fighting to protect friends and a world on the brink of collapse. https://youtu.be/hJn3FNPoY5A From the New World is a slow-paced anime but if you are patient with it, it's an amazing and thought-provoking anime that you will be glad you watched. 4. Silver Spoon (Gin no Saji)

Studios: A-1 PicturesEpisodes: 11Aired: Summer 2012 When I started watching Silver Spoon, like Dr. Stone I had my reservations thinking it would just be another fun little slice of life anime but it was much more. Summary Yugo Hachiken aspires to live separated from his family, so he takes the initiative by enrolling in an agriculture school. He thinks, with his talent in studying, no problems will arise no matter what kind of school he attends. He is quickly proven wrong. Raised as a city boy, he is forced to uncover the inconvenient truth about agricultural life. Enjoy the story of Hachiken, as he tries to keep up with his new friends, farmers’ heirs, who are already accustomed to the harsh world of farming. The story of a sweat, tear, and mud-stained youth begins! https://youtu.be/b-yCzcYqH5E Silver Spoon like Dr. Stone is the perfect example of an anime that encourages us to believe in our abilities to set our own path and with hard work and teamwork, we can overcome hardship. 3. Death Note

Studios: MadhouseEpisodes: 37Aired: Fall 2006 When Tsukasa Shishiou reveals his intention to revive only the young, destroy the petrified adults and leave society in the Stone Age, Dr. Stone started to remind me a lot of Death Note. With the strong rivalry between our protagonist and rival, the way they used their intellect to get things done, outsmarting the rest of the cast or just the lengths they went to achieve their dreams. Summary An overachieving 12th grader, Yagami Light is an aspiring young man who seems destined for success. Unfortunately, his daily habits bore his incredible intelligence. So when a strange black notebook falls from the heavens during his class, it isn’t long before he takes it for himself. In his room, he finds, to his horror/fascination, that the Death Note is real, and owned by Ryuk, a Shinigami (Death God). Any person’s name written in the Death Note will die in 40 seconds.... without fail. With this supposed gift of God, Light swears upon his grave that he will ’cleanse’ the world of the evil and needless people that inhabit it, thus creating a utopia for all. With the world’s greatest detective, L, hot on his tail, will Light’s ideals prove too fantastic to realize, or will he succeed bringing justice? https://youtu.be/Vt_3c8BgxV4 Death Note is definitely one of the best anime series of all time. 2. Ascendance of a Bookworm

Studios: Ajia-DoEpisodes: 14Aired: Fall 2019 Ascendance of a Bookworm starts off like Dr. Stone the main character is removed from her world and brought back to a world that is primitive to her own. Using science and history knowledge from her time period to adapt and influence the new world and its native inhabitants. Summary Reino, a book-loving college student who just got her Librarian certification and was just hired to be the librarian of a large university library. Just before graduating and entering the job of her dreams, she was killed by a massive earthquake crushing her underneath a pile of her own books. Wishing for reincarnation in order to read evermore, where she got reincarnated to was a world with a low literacy rate and very few books, limited only to the nobility of the world. As she reincarnated as the daughter of a lowly soldier, no matter how much she wants to read there is no way there are any books around. If there are no books then what do you do? Why you make them yourself of course. What her goal is, to become the librarian of a library! In order to live a life surrounded by books, she starts with making books. https://youtu.be/KfPyxG-ZbFM Ascendance of a Bookworm is Dr. Stone for viewers who want a slow-paced plot, that explores more of the ordinary life of a bookworm. It's a beautiful isekai anime I recommend you give a try. Honourable Mentions Tokyo Magnitude 8.0

Studios: Bones, Kinema CitrusEpisodes: 11Aired: Summer 2009 Uninhabited Planet Survive! (Mujin Wakusei Survive)

Studios: Madhouse, Telecom Animation FilmEpisodes: 52Aired: Fall 2003 Kemurikusa

Studios: YaoyorozuEpisodes: 12Aired: Winter 2019 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

Studios: Studio Hibari, TopcraftEpisodes: 1Aired: Winter 1984 The Disastrous Life of Saiki K.

Studios: J.C.Staff, Egg FirmEpisodes: 120Aired: Summer 2016 Jyu-Oh-Sei: Planet of the Beast King

Studios: BonesEpisodes: 11Aired: Spring 2006 1. Girl’s Last Tour

Studios: White FoxEpisodes: 12Aired: Fall 2017 Girl’s Last Tour is quite similar to Dr. Stone in both plots happen in an apocalyptic world, where our characters survive the day-to-day hostilities of their environments. Summary Civilization is dead, but Chito and Yuuri are still alive. So they hop aboard their beloved Kettenkrad motorbike and aimlessly wander the ruins of the world they once knew. Day after hopeless day, they look for their next meal and fuel for their ride. But as long as the two are together, even an existence as bleak as theirs has a ray or two of sunshine in it, whether they're sucking down their fill of soup or hunting for machine parts to tinker with. For two girls in a world full of nothing, the experiences and feelings the two shares give them something to live for… https://youtu.be/SuVVs4giZrI Girls’ Last Tour is lighthearted and emotionally; it excels through simplicity and thoughtfulness. Making it one Of best shows of its year.

science!!!!! Well, that's my list. Do you think there is any anime I missed let me know in the comments section below? Till next time stay safe. Read the full article

[meowsaidmayaanime]

What I'm Watching August 2016 as of 8/31

Natsume's Book of Friends 8/31 partial watch

This is an adorable anime, I started watching italmost right after Durarara, and if school hadnt just started this week, I would have been fully caught up. As of this post I have only watched seasons 1 and 2 fully, and a little bit of season 3. So in technicality I will write my opinion of it after I am all caught up on the September monthly watches, but because I got halfway through the series while still in August I decided to put this little note here, haha.

So yes, I have been watching this super cute, heartwarming, feel good anime. It's about a boy named Natsume who can see yokai. Often times I get very weary about plots (whether anime, tv show, movie, ect) where the main character can see something no one else can. However this anime does a good job focusing more on the stories rather than simply torturing the main character through ostracization. Well, I will pick this first impression review that I usually do in September when I finish the four season that have been released. So look forward to it!

Durarara 8/27 Addendum (see original post below Time of Eve)

I talked about this anime a little further down in this post after I finished the first season (so read that first if you haven't yet). I finished the entirety of the show last night and wow. It's an incredible story, so intricate and everything is woven together. It's one of those shows where because they switch between multiple characters and plot lines within the show, and because it is a mystery with new information and twists happening all the time, that you forget your own emotions about the characters sometimes.

Tons of things happen that make you feel for the characters and suddenly exclaim in reaction to something, but because your so constantly wrapped up in the story line, trying to figure out how this relates to that, and what this persons motives are, and whats going to happen next that you focus so much more on that than anything else. It constantly has you thinking, which I love about the show. A show that doesn't rely on pure emotion and shock to keep the audience in, but sheer curiosity. It's a good mystery, a really, really good one.

Though I can see why some people may not like it because it makes you think too much, or because there's less pure emotion, or because it's so intricate and you can't keep up, or even because the pacing is somewhat relatively slow. But I assure you, if you can get past all that, this is an amazing show. It's not one that I will gush over, and try to force you to watch, because that's not the kind of show it is. It's just well put together, as I assume the light novel is.

I've just starting reading the light novel, and there is so much more to it. I'm on chapter two and while the anime's first episode did a wonderful job capturing the events and feel of the light novel, the light novel has the intricate detail and thought of the characters that is impossible to convey through any other medium. I am really excited to be reading the source material, and I hope that it will be able to expand and close up some of the holes from the anime that the studio could not fill. When I finish, I'll definitely talk about it (when is the question since not all the novels have been translated...), so look forward to that, because I know I will.

Great show, good to watch if you like intricate, multi-character, multi-story, mystery, action, somewhat supernatural, 'semi-natural' anime. (p.s the dub is pretty dang good.)

Time of Eve 8/21

Yes, yes, I'm well aware that in this giant span of time I've only managed to watch one short 6 episode-er anime. I was on vacation and then fell down the rabbit hole which was the Lego Harry Potter years 5-7 game.

Anyway, I had seen this anime in passing a few times, but finally decided to give it a chance when one of my co-workers recommended it to me. It was definitely worth the watch. Time of Eve is a sci-fi anime taking place in the not quite as distant as you might think future, where androids are commonplace within the average family home. We follow Rikuo who, after reading the location log of his family andriod, discovers that the andriod visited a cafe of her own free will. Confused and concerned, he visits the cafe to find that its only rule is to treat humans and androids equally without discrimination. From here on he, and the audience discover that there is more to androids than just being a robot, and that they are, or have been steadily developing their own individuality.

Right off the bat I was immediately reminded of both Ghost in the Shell and Chobits. Mostly Ghost in the Shell for the political-socio topics the anime discuses. Its actually quite fascinating, not just the topics and themes, but the personalities of the characters as well whether or not they are human. Its a very realistic/natural anime, with a surprising amount of character development for being only six episodes long.

My only critiques would be about the animation itself. Its generally rather smooth, the art style included, however there are many moments where the movement of the camera and characters is very choppy and shaky. This happens mainly when there isn't much movement happening during the scene. Whereas scenes where characters are doing a large amount of movement are very smooth and well animated. I'm not sure how intentional the 'choppiness' of the animation was, but I can tell that the studio chose to focus its animation budget on certain areas more than others.

Regardless, the animation is easy to brush off considering how well the show drew me into the story, mentally and emotionally. I would recommend this to anyone interested in sci-fi, robots/androids, and those who like to question what it is to be 'human'. (It's also a good commentary on 21st century culture and what kinds of things our technology could lead to).

Durarara (season 1) 8/8

Its about a boy named Mikado who decides to go to a highschool in Ikebukuro to fulfill his longing for the excitement of city life in contrast to living in the country where nothing every happens. Here he hears about and witnesses strange rumors about the headless rider, gangs, and other odd phenomenon that are happening in the city. That's how it begins, but we learn very quickly that Mikado is not the only main character, and that there is a lot more going on in the city than just Mikado would know.

I actually decided to start watching this because of this shirt I got with my Akibento back in May featuring Celty the headless motercylcist from Durarara and Haruhi from the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. (btw not my own image)

Yes this was back in May, and yes I did start watching it a few months ago only to now finish the first season. Its a very slow paced anime, like a slow burn, which is why it took so long for me to get through. Don't get me wrong its a good anime, and I did want to watch which is why I periodically came back to it after i finished binge watching a bunch of other anime. It's just slow paced, and not one that will hook you and chain you down to your seat for the next 6+ hours. Hell, I've binge watched anime that I've liked much less than this one.

That being said, its not just slow paced but it also has numerous stories happening at once. Which makes it hard to give a good synospis on. We immediately learn about or at least meet almost all the characters, and are introduced with a number of plots, topics and questions. All which seemingly have nothing to do with each other, but end up intertwining to create a complex and fascinating story. by the time I finally managed to get halfway through, I consistently watched the remaining episodes back to back. The fact that it was available in English dub on crunchyroll also really helped, that way I could do my packing for my vacation while watching it.

Its a great low key supernatural mystery anime. I say low key, because the supernatural aspect is sort of laid back? It's not an in your face over the top kind of supernatural, and it being supernatural is not even the main point of the show. Which is very nice. It's like a semi-natural action/mystery/supernatural anime. Further the characters and story lines are well put together.

All in all, I really like it and I'm going to keep watching. I don't know if it's something that I would necessarily be able to recommend, because that relies heavily on what kind of anime you would like. If you like semi-natural, complex, slow paced, laid back action/mystery/supernatural then you'll like this. But if you cant handle the slow pacing, or prefer more out of the above genres this is not one for you.

Dance in the Vampire Bund 8/6

I actually remember watching this anime, or at least i remember watching the first episode, back in middle school? Possibly? we either way, I loved the first episode, even re watching it now I still really enjoyed it, which was disappointing when the rest of the anime turned out to be so different.

In the show, vampires have just come out of hiding and declared their presence to the world. The princess of the vampires, and current ruler Mina, pays Japans debt and intends to use her political hold over the government to purchase an Island and have it become its own separate country designated only for vampires. Meanwhile Akira a highschooler who recently lost his memory finds out he and Mina have an important past that he cannot remember.

The problem that I have with this anime is that they try to mix a very 'young' or immature story line with a significantly more mature one. They try to mix a highschool vampire warewolf memory loss, basically everything that is the epitome of a bad pre-teen romance with mature themes such as the VERY heavy political aspect that takes up a good 50% of the anime. And not just government politics, but socio-historical political relations between different species and cultures. Don't get me wrong, its still a better love story than twilight, but the fact that it is a highschool love story pretty much ruins it for me.

I wouldn't recommend this, hell i didn't even have the will to finish the last few episodes. The political parts were great and fascinating, but the immaturity of how conflicts are resolved between the main characters is very disappointing. The show either tries too hard to appeal to an older audience, or tries too hard to appeal to a younger audience. Either way I didn't really like it.

Hyouka 8/2 TOP PICK FOR THIS MONTH!!

So the first thing i need to mention is that this show is first and foremost a slcie of life that happens to include a lot of mystery. Not a mystery that happens to be a slice of life. I originally thought it was the latter which was why I was disappointed that it didn't end the series with a mystery arc, but instead the way a slice of life would.When you acknowledge the show for what it really is, a natural slice of life, it is amazing. For numerous reasons.

First the artwork is so incredibly detailed and beautiful. Second the visuals are distinctly different for each thing ti tries to convey, and completely succeeds in doing so. The audio is amazing, the music is beautiful, the animation is so smooth and they even animate things that aren't necessary to the plot but are animated anyway to make it all feel so REAL. Not to mention the episodes and mysteries are so well written!

look at the incredible amount of detail they put into EVERY SINGLE SCENE.

even when the background is blurred!

even people who we never learn about or see again have details in their clothes, faces, and expressions. I checked, we NEVER see these people below actually interact with the main OR minor cast.

I almost forgot, this show is about Houtarou a high schooler that sees the world in 'gray'and whose motto is "If I don't have to do it, I won't. If I have to do it, I'll make it quick." Convinced by his already graduated sister, he joins the classics club which was endangered to be disbanded because there were no more members. He meets a girl named Eru who also joins the club and discovers that he has a knack for solving mysteries. That is, only when Eru earnestly goes to him and yearns for him to solve the mystery because her curiosity cannot be contained. From there they quickly discover that the classics club has a past shrouded in mystery.

Its incredibly well done, I love slow the pacing myself, because it fits the flow and nature of the anime. However I do have a number of issues with it myself (some reveal content spoilers so I won't state those here).  I admit that the way they ordered large mystery arch and single episode mysteries was not handled well at the very end. Don't get me wrong the ending fit the characters incredibly well and was very good and realistic, however considering the quality of the larger mysteries that were prevalent through the rest of the anime, I feel that they should have ended the series with a multi-episode arc and then one final single episode arc, rather than many single episode arcs strung together.  The anime was an adaptation of a light novel, which covered 4 out of the 5 published novels. I've taken a look at the titles of the chapters and it seems that the 5th book is quite the elaborate story. One I would have liked to have seen in the anime, though would clearly have gone over the 22 episodes the anime ended at. Perhaps since this write up for the episode is already so long, I will create a post just about this anime. It definitely deserves more talking about!

Anyway, I do recommend it to veteran-ed anime watchers. It has a wonderful pace that does not push by quickly, great character development and insight, and fascinating mysteries and dialogue regarding such. Its perfect for anyone who loves natural slice of life. Those who enjoy mysteries would also enjoy this, as long as they understand that it is mostly a slice of life, and thus will follow the format of slice of life and not the format of a mystery anime. Its a stunning anime.

[vileart]

We Need to talk About Dramaturgy (Off Eastenders): George Attwell Gerhards @ Edfringe 2017

We Need to Talk About Bobby (off EastEnders) will be performing at the Edinburgh Fringe from the 14th-28th of August at 12:40pm daily at ZOO Southside (Venue 82).

Annie's thirteen and she wets the bed. After landing a huge role in a late-night television drama, she's left alone in an adult world, struggling to make sense of the things she is told to say on camera. Soon, Annie's comfortable childhood begins to fall apart. Charting the decline of a young TV actress, this daring new play explores society's uneasy fascination with child violence.

What was the inspiration for this performance?

The show started as a response to the EastEnders advert in which Bobby Beale is about to kill his mum; there’s a threatening shot of him coming towards her with a hockey stick and the audience is meant to be hooked in by the question of whether he will kill again.

We felt this was one of numerous examples of violent children being used to titillate audiences without exploring the actual experience of that child and why he had come to be so violent.

Our play isn’t about EastEnders and you certainly don’t need to know the show to enjoy it, but it situates itself a response to a genre of plays, films, songs and shows which focus on violent or psychopathic children.

Bobby responds to, amongst many others, EastEnders, Lionel Shriver’s We Need to Talk About Kevin, “Punk Rock” by Simon Stephens, “I Don’t Like Mondays” by The Boomtown Rats and even the most recent episode of Sherlock.

Is performance still a good space for the public discussion of ideas? 

I believe so, yes. Quite often we talk about the first moments of performance as people telling stories around a camp fire. Those stories were told to entertain people, to foster relationships and to teach each other about different lived experiences, how to handle threats, how to love etc.

I think going to the theatre still presents a space to do that and the live nature of performance, especially at the Fringe where audiences are particularly interactive and talk to each other more easily; making it the perfect space to stage shows which open up a conversation. We hope Bobby will be entertaining and captivating but what we want at the end is for people to be excited about what the show made them think about, not how we staged it.

How did you become interested in making performance?

The core Paperback team met whilst studying at the University of Warwick. We had all been interested in theatre and acting at school but it was at university where we became interested in making work. 

We have been heavily inspired by the swathes of emerging companies coming out of Warwick. The enthusiasm for and discipline of making new work that is fostered at the university has been a huge part of leading us to making the work we do now.

Is there any particular approach to the making of the show?

The process was fairly simple; once we had identified the themes we wanted to talk about the writer, George Atwell Gerhards, went away and wrote up a script. We felt that the best way to examine the topics we were looking at would be to tell one girl’s story in a simple way. This way we aren’t claiming the show to be representative of every child actor or every young girl. Also, we felt this was the best way to allow the audience to find their individual responses to the show rather than being told what to think.

Once the play was written myself (the director) and the writer  I spent a lot of time with the writer (who is co-director of Paperback) talking about how to structure the play, what we needed to show the audience, what we didn’t etc. We stuck the scene titles to our living room wall and spent a lot of time staring at them, moving them around and trying to cut out the unnecessary bits… like literary butchers trying to get something lean.

He’s also been popping in and out of rehearsals to see how we’re getting on. He’s a fantastic person to work with in that he’s not precious about the show and open to suggestions from the cast, which has helped them to get a real ownership of the text and their characters.

Does the show fit with your usual productions?

Paperback are based in adaptation but we try to create shows which respond to a group of texts, films or stories rather than adapting one novel. We want our work to ask questions about the stories we choose to remember and the stories we make now. We are not tied to a particular genre or style of theatre; seeking always to choose and fuse the styles which most successfully serve the stories we want to tell and the audiences those pieces are directed at.

Our last production relied much more on the devising process in order to create the content of the show. Our next show - which will look at the prevalence of the “taming narrative” in modern rom-coms in order to explore the relationship between feminism, femininity and what it means to be vulnerable - will probably have a very different format which includes much more “live theatre” elements.

What do you hope that the audience will experience?

Bobby, a three-hander, explores the experience of a child actor (Annie) who is cast in an adult TV drama. In our staging, we try to help the audience see the play through Annie’s eyes - to help them experience her confusion and isolation.

What I think the play does that I haven’t seen many other shows do is to explore our societal relationship with teenagers. We’re trying to open-up a dialogue about the best ways to protect, educate and safeguard young people, to talk about the fact that half of them are watching Game of Thrones and understand what implications that has. We hope that by the end the audience will be asking questions about how they talk to teenagers.

What strategies did you consider towards shaping this audience experience?

We thought a lot about casting, about sound, and about how the design of the show could replicate the disorientating world of a T.V. set.

It was very important to us that the play showed the audience the world through Annie’s eyes. For that reason all the other characters are played by just two actors who switch between parts - we felt this helped to stage Annie’s disorientation and how it is difficult to understand, distinguish and trust adults when you are young.

In our sound design we also make use of the sound of TV static which is played at different intensities to reflect when Annie is feeling stressed, upset or disorientated. This came from us talking about how it felt to be a teenager, especially when experiencing the hormonal maelstrom that is puberty and reflecting on the fact that quite often it felt like your brain was straining with the stress of it all.

We Need to Talk About Bobby (off EastEnders), the debut play from George Attwell Gerhards, is a response to the depictions of “crazy child killers” in We Need to Talk About Kevin, Punk Rock - even the most recent series of Sherlock.

Produced by Paperback with the generous support of the Lord Rootes Memorial Fund, and the University of Warwick Vice Chancellor’s Fund.

Paperback are a West Midlands based theatre company formed in 2016 at the University of Warwick. They use a vigorous process of devising, writing and discussion, to ask questions about the stories we choose to remember and the stories we make now.

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