#i love the nuance between dark and light in this show - that nurturing comes from accepting all parts of ourselves and each other | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

j-graysonlibrary · 1 year ago

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The Xiang Chronicles: Book Two Chapter 6

Title: The Xiang Chronicles: Book Two

Author: Jay Grayson

Word Count: 98k

Genres: Fantasy, adventure, drama, LGBT+

Available on: my website

Synopsis: With another Xiang in the mix, for the first time in history, Pangu decides to reevaluate his methods and his place in the world. Along with taking his little sister Heidi as his last disciple, he also chooses to take the more political path in his efforts to end the discord throughout the land—particularly within Terra. (And gaining favor from the handsome Lord of Ultimos does not hurt.)

Heidi butts heads with everyone in the group, save Raine, and tensions are higher than ever. There are failed love confessions, in-group fighting, and demons from Kira’s past but that all comes to a head when they meet a servant of Shakti who is more than what she seems.

Could it be that the Mistresses of Shadow are more nuanced than previously believed? Or that the strict dichotomy between light and dark are, perhaps, a touch exaggerated? That and more begin to plague Pangu’s mind and his faith wavers…

Full chapter 6 under the cut

Chapter VI:

After spending the night and taking far too long to get ready the following morning, the Xiang’s group stood outside in the field, saying goodbyes. It was already nearly noon, far later than Pangu had intended to leave but he did find it difficult to cut any conversation short when he did not know when the next time Baiya would be able to see his family would be.

Feiman clung to his brother almost as badly as Daiji did but Jaimas was in front of Kira, holding a flower up to him. The Terran disciple glanced down with a raised brow, curious as to why she was with him rather than her brother.

He took the flower and offered a brief smile. “Thanks?”

“It’s Lormas,” she said, “An herb to help you sleep better.”

Kira looked at the flower in a new light. He had heard of herbs that helped with sleep but he had never heard this particular name. “Oh?”

Jaimas nodded enthusiastically. “I saw that you have dark eye circles and mom says that means you are not getting enough sleep. So you should take this and rest more.”

Her delivery was a bit brutal in its honesty but Kira could feel the sincerity behind her intent. He had barely spent any time talking to her during any of their other visits and yet she showed him this level of consideration.

“Well…thank you. I will try it tonight.”

The girl grinned. “You can eat the bud raw or crush it up and steep it in some tea. It is sweeter raw though so that’s how I do it.”

Kira arched one of his eyebrows. “You have it sometimes?”

“Yeah.” Jaimas fidgeted with her hands and looked down at her feet. “After all those scary men came, I had a hard time sleeping. Mom said I was getting dark circles too so she gave me Lormas.”

A lot more clicked into place and Kira nearly winced at the stabbing feeling happening inside of his chest. Jaimas had not just noticed his dark circles and put two and two together, she had also seen, in him, a reflection of herself from a few months ago. Maybe she even thought he was struggling with something similar.

“Has it gotten better?” Kira decided to ask after swallowing down the lump in his throat.

“Um…I still have nightmares sometimes but not so many.” She smiled. “I think you need the Lormas more than me.”

Kira really wondered how the girl came from the same family as Baiya. Honestly, he thought much the same about the rest of the man’s family as well. All of them were kind and nurturing yet they had somehow raised him. Then again, Kira was not one to buy into the idea that apples did not fall far from their trees as that would end up painting him with terrible colors as well.

Baiya finished his goodbyes and they were back on the road again, only continuing with their detour slightly. He had the supplies strapped onto his horse and, while it was not much, it did weigh him down so he ended up splitting the bags up between all of their horses.

The sun started to kiss the horizon when they trailed into the town and many of the shops were bound to close soon so they hurried to their destination.

Baiya rushed to the building and caught the clerk just before he could close the shutters. “I have the grain delivery from Daiji’s farm.”

That was enough to stop the clerk who then leaned out from the window and eyed the small entourage. “It’s earlier than we expected. After that storm, we figured it would be another few days.”

“Well, we rushed.”

Each of them took their respective bags from their horses and began to pass it over, ending with Baiya who handed each to the clerk. At the end, the young man behind the window scrawled over a long sheet of paper, recording all of the inventory properly.

“There we are. Six bags of grain, as due, no late fee or tax given the delay due to nature…” he grumbled a little under his breath, “and we are all set.”

“Great.” Baiya smiled and turned toward the others. An orange glow fell over the town as the sun dipped even further behind the distant mountains. “Should we ride out to a camp site?”

“We do have a few hours left before we really need to stop,” Raine seconded the motion.

“Ah, yes, who doesn’t love sleeping on the ground with rocks in their back,” Heidi muttered but also seemed to already be accepting of the outcome. Certainly, she had spent many nights out in the wilds on her way to Ultimos by herself.

Pangu readied himself to agree that, yes, they did need to be on their way so they could return to Viren posthaste but he only got as far as opening his mouth.

“Baiya?” A strange voice called out and Baiya turned first while the others just followed with their eyes. A figure approached them—a man dressed in light armor with a curved sword on his hip. By the looks of him, he was a guard of some sort though he forwent any headgear and, instead, wore a wrap around his temples which allowed his tall, curly hair to poke out the top. “I thought that was you…”

“Crom.” Baiya said his name in a friendly yet short manner. Pangu and Kira, both, noted how his adams apple bobbed when he spoke.

As he walked closer, Crom’s smile was more evident. His eyes squinted as he grinned and he placed a hand on Baiya’s arm, giving a slight squeeze before letting go. “How have you been? It has been a while since I’ve seen you.”

They definitely were familiar with one another and while Baiya did not seem as elated as Crom was, everyone could come to the conclusion that they were on, at least, a friendly basis. Raine was curious as to why the third disciple seemed so nervous and he began to wonder if this guard, of all people, was someone Baiya had worked with in some underhanded capacity.

But Raine was the only one thinking in that direction. Pangu and Kira—even Heidi as well—could tell there was much more just based on Baiya’s body language. Heidi did not known the man very well but she had seen many of the men she worked with be caught up in affairs. Some of their one-night-only ladies had even come to visit them at work and the nervous, almost skittish nature they exhibited was not too far removed from what she was seeing now.

Kira could tell immediately what the situation was. Not only based on Baiya’s reaction but Crom’s face as well. The smile the man shot his way was laced with memory and excitement. Kira immediately looked to Pangu to see how he was handling the news, if he was even grasping the subtleties at all.

He definitely was. Pangu might not have if he and Baiya had not discussed the topic before, back in Phaos, but he would have felt that something was off. Now that he had the information that Baiya liked men and that past relationships had been alluded to, it was simple to piece things together. The downside to that, however, was that Pangu could, quite vividly, imagine what that night might have looked like between the two.

His heart constricted and he watched the scene with a tightening jaw.

“Well I have been quite busy these past few months,” Baiya said before gesturing back to Pangu, “This is the Xiang…I was asked to be his disciple.”

Crom’s smile completely disappeared to make room for shock. “You are joking?” He looked more at Pangu than at Baiya.

“Not at all,” Kira answered for Pangu which he was more than grateful for. “This is the Xiang.”

In a swift motion, Crom curled his hand into a fist, pounded it against his own chest, and then bowed. “Greetings, Xiang.” He straightened his posture and his smile returned. “I hope Agni has not been too inhospitable to you. Most of us are not…”

“Religious,” Raine finished when the guard trailed off. “We are aware. And we have managed.”

“Good. I am, um, not especially faith focused myself but…” Crom glanced back toward Baiya. “Him even less so. I am honestly surprised he is a part of your group. I almost want to think this is some sort of prank.”

“If it is, it’s a long prank,” Kira said, almost in a grumble.

Baiya ignored him and only responded to Crom. “Is it so unbelievable?”

He was answered, at first, with a big laugh. “Are you kidding? You were the one that taught me about the history of the Xiang stealing Agni territory and waging over half of their wars on our soil.” Crom briefly touched Baiya’s arm and then addressed the rest of the group when he said, “He used to tell the others in our squad that did worship Tiandi that they should reconsider since the god clearly hated them.”

“Crom…” Baiya pinched the bridge of his nose.

Heidi snickered. “Oh? You are not just a non-believer but an active antagonist?”

“I was aware when I picked him,” Pangu said, quiet. Everyone still heard him, however, and glanced over. He could not look his Agni disciple in the eye nor could he look at Crom for too long. “Baiya is strong, has a high resonance, and is able to separate me as Xiang from the Xiangs of the past. That is all I care about.”

“He has been invaluable in leading us around Agni as well,” Raine tacked on, offering a short, terse smile.

“It is still so bizarre.” Crom slowly shook his head back and forth and then gave Baiya another once over, as if having to assess him all over again. “Well, I had hoped, when I saw you, that we could…hang out, like old times. I will not take you from your duties, however, since you are busy busy now.”

“Actually,” Pangu spoke before he could even finish thinking. His eyebrows rose in slight surprise at himself as he continued. “It is getting a bit late. We can stay here at the inn for tonight and then just ride a little harder tomorrow to make up for lost time.”

“Pangu…” Baiya tried looking at him but the Xiang would still not make eye contact. “You sure?”

“I am pretty tired,” he answered, staring at one of the storefronts in the distance instead of any of them.

Crom was the only one who did not, immediately, pick up on the mood shift. He kept a big grin on his face and bowed again, more loosely this time. “Thank you, Xiang. I will not keep him up too late.”

Pangu finally made eye contact but with Crom, not Baiya. “Have fun,” he nearly whispered the words and forced a smile as the man looped his arm with the Agni disciple, getting comfortable.

Heidi hung back as they left Baiya behind and walked to the inn across the barren street. The entire town was really only a series of storefronts on opposite sides of a dirt road so there was not much privacy afforded to Baiya and Crom. More than anything, however, Heidi was surprised that Pangu even let them stay alone together. Given how her brother looked at the couple, she expected him to jealously claim his disciple as his own, at least on some professional or duty bound level.

“Kira, you and Raine can take a room. Heidi will stay with me,” Pangu announced as he paid for the rooms at the front of the building.

“…You don’t want to talk?” Kira asked carefully.

“About what?” Pangu responded curtly.

“I don’t know…” Heidi muttered, “Your blasé attitude toward Baiya and his…friend?”

“I do not know what you mean.” Pangu forced a smile. “I do know that I am tired and I want to sleep. Baiya can stay out or pick a room to retire to when he comes back. As long as he is ready to leave with us in the morning, what he does is his own business.”

Kira’s worry was blatant but he parted ways with them and left for his room with Raine. Heidi sighed, knowing the burden was now on her shoulders.

The room, like the rest of the town, was severely lacking. There were not even mattresses but mats on the hardwood floor. Heidi grimaced at the sight but sat down on one anyway. She waited until her brother claimed a mat before taking a deep breath and sighing.

“Holding this stuff in is not good, you know.”

“What are you talking about, Heidi?”

She frowned and pulled her legs up to rest her chin on her knee. “I think you know exactly what I am talking about. Your feelings for Baiya.”

Pangu shook his head and then lay down on the mat. He turned away from her to physically block her out but still replied, “You are just looking for opportunities to tease me. I will not take your bait.”

“I am not!” Heidi huffed. “Since you were little I knew you had a thing for guys. I never judged you for that, you know? I am trying to be supportive right now, not mean.”

He folded his arms across his chest and dug his nails in, pinching through the fabric of his robe. “How could you have possibly known back then?” Even he had not figured it out until his later teen years.

Another sigh passed her lips but she relaxed some. “Remember that friend I had? What was his name? …Pik? The boy you always wanted me to invite over each time you were allowed to visit?”

“Pak,” Pangu recalled. He had come to realize the young boy had been his first infatuation though it was short lived. “How did you realize from that?”

“I had a girl friend who also liked Pak,” Heidi explained, “She looked at him the same way you did. I realized the connection and did not say anything. I was not even sure your mentors knew since that sort of thing was against Tiandi and all…”

Though, to be honest, she had kept the information to herself for two reasons. The first was that she had never been one hundred percent positive and the second was a tad more vindictive. She wanted to hold onto the secret until she had a good time to use it. That time just never came and, as she grew older, she realized that she had no desire to “ruin” her brother as she once did. So, she let it go.

“Baiya knows…” Pangu said in a whisper after a short bout of silence. “So does Kira but I have not told Raine. And no, my old mentors do not know either.”

“You told Baiya?” Heidi was rather surprised. Out of everyone, she would figure her brother would avoid him the most in regards to that topic.

“Yes. I mentioned that I liked men and he told me he was similar.” Pangu gulped. “Kira sort of figured it out on his own. He has a sixth sense about these things.”

“Hmm.”

Another pause persisted and Heidi was driven to her feet as a thought entered her head. Pangu heard the commotion and turned his head to the side. “Where are you going?” he asked.

“There was a well beside the building. I am going to get a drink of water.” She did not wait for a response before hurrying out of the room.

It had barely been a half hour so she was not sure if she would see Baiya and Crom outside anymore. There was a possibility that the Agni disciple had retired to the guard’s barracks for the night. In which case, she would have to have a talk with him.

Really, either way, she intended to talk with him.

Once she was outside again, she scoured the area until she heard some muffled voices. She pressed her body against the wall of the nearest building and crept closer until she could peer around the corner.

In a space between stores, two bodies faced each other and, if she focused, she could hear the words being said. “I know, I am sorry.” Baiya.

“That is alright. I just wanted to ask.” Crom.

Heidi leaned even further, only hoping her silhouette would not be seen.

“I understand and, perhaps if we had met up six months earlier, the answer would be different,” Baiya said.

“Is there a rule about it? …being a disciple and all?”

“Not especially…but my priorities and wants have changed since then.”

Silence.

“Is it one of them…?” Crom trailed off.

“N-no. It is not.”

Crom’s dry laugh echoed through the narrow space. “Oh, Baiya…who am I going to tell?”

Baiya took a long moment to respond and when he did, he was so quiet that Heidi almost could not hear him. “It’s the Xiang.”

She perked up and moved away, losing the remainder of the conversation in her internal celebration. Finally, there was something good she could do for her brother. Something to prove to him and his disciples that she really did want to be helpful.

So when Baiya appeared from the alleyway, she stepped out to greet him. “Hey.”

He jumped back and clutched a hand over his chest. “Shit! What are you doing out here?”

“Grabbing some water,” she stuck with the same excuse she gave Pangu, “and, unexpectedly, to give you some good news.”

Baiya’s scarred brow was the one that rose up. “…Good news?”

Heidi smiled and nodded. “I did happen to overhear you just now—sorry—but I can tell you that my brother feels the same way.”

While she expected some level of surprise, she did not anticipate Baiya to scowl. His brows furrowed and he pushed past her to head toward the inn. “Leave your brother alone, will you?”

She spun around. “What…? I mean it. I am not trying to pick on him; I am trying to help.”

He glared over his shoulder. “Whatever joke you think you are playing, it is not funny.”

Heidi watched with a hanging jaw as Baiya stormed into the building, leaving her out on the road. She was not even sure how to react—that had not gone, at all, how she had hoped. Not even close.

#the xiang chronicles #my novel #my writing

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a-man-for-hire-and-his-archives · 4 years ago

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The End: extraordinary true stories that inspired right-to-die comedy drama

by: Frances Whiting, News Corp Australia Network for Geelong Advertiser

Writing confronting new comedy-drama series The End took Samantha Strauss back to her own beginnings.

Back to Queensland’s Gold Coast and its shimmering light; back to her childhood home with E Street actor Marcus Graham smouldering from posters on her bedroom walls; back to her ballet shoes, tied with pink ribbon, and back to a family story that has whispered in her ear for decades.

The End — produced for Foxtel by See Saw Films, the team behind award-winning films The King’s Speech and Lion, plus television series Top of The Lake — is an exploration of how we live, die, and all the messy business that goes on in between.

Back to her beginning for The End, screenwriter Sam Strauss. Picture: David Swift

It centres on young palliative care doctor Kate Brennan (Frances O’Connor), a woman devoted to prolonging her patients’ lives as long as possible.

Kate’s mother Edie Henley (Dame Harriet Walter), however, has other ideas. Following decades of unhappiness, and an unwelcome discovery about her late husband’s fidelity, Edie decides to take her own life.

The attempt is unsuccessful, messy and distressing so Kate — living on the Gold Coast, having long ago fled the small pocket of England where Edie still resides — decides to bring her mother to Australia.

Moving Edie to a five star, Gold Coast retirement village, despite its manicured gardens and aqua aerobics classes proves, not unlike Edie’s unsuccessful suicide attempt, both messy and distressing for both women.

But like the light that dances over the Gold Coast’s sweeping beaches just before dawn and dusk — a light locals know as the “magic hour” — it is also the start of something equally magical.

For Strauss, increasingly in demand as a scriptwriter and producer, and the co-creator of the hit Australian teen drama series Dance Academy, writing The End, was, in part, her own family’s story. It was also a springboard to the ongoing debate about the right to live – and die – as we want to.

“I grew up in Southport on the Gold Coast,” Strauss, now 40, says from her home in Sydney.

“So filming there was a homecoming of sorts for me.

“I moved back in with my parents for a time, it was great, I got my washing done and food cooked, it was heaven,” Strauss laughs.

“I loved filming there. It’s been a mission of mine to show the Gold Coast in its true beauty, I don’t think there’s ever been a show that’s done that, stripped away all the glitz, to go into its Hinterland, and its quieter places, and of course its beautiful light, that magic hour.

“We did one incredible scene with 100 nude extras at dawn at Currumbin Beach,” Strauss laughs, “and I think what we all really enjoyed was filming at a retirement village in Hope Island, where we used the residents as cast members, and they were absolutely wonderful.”

Strauss’s love letter to the Gold Coast opens with a harrowing scene of Edie’s botched suicide attempt thousands of kilometres away at her home in England, a scene that has its origins in Strauss’s own family history.

“I had a grandmother whose husband died by suicide and she had also gone through cancer and all sorts of things.

“She had been living in New South Wales, and my family were on the Gold Coast, so she moved there to live in a retirement village.

“She was 80, and she had this incredible brain, and artist’s soul, and when she first arrived she was not happy, she wore brown dresses and was sort of all hunched over.

“I remember my mother and father were worried about her, and my mother said, ‘We need to treat this place like high school and get her into the cool group’,” Strauss laughs.

“Not the Queen Bee set, no, but the naughty ones, the rebels. Mum bought a round of drinks for everyone, there was a great restaurant there and quite a party scene, and away she went.”

Six months after her arrival, Strauss chuckles, her grandmother had swapped her shapeless, brown shifts for bright red dresses, was dancing on table tops, and had acquired both a zippy new car and a best friend named Pamela.

Pamela is delightfully played in the series by beloved Australian actress Noni Hazelhurst, who viewers first meet when she greets Edie with a Welcome basket and a cheeky “We’ve got champagne, we’ve got gin, we’ve got Xanax …”

Strauss shows a nuanced understanding of the rhythm of retirement homes like Emerald Fields; beneath the table top dancing there are stories of loves lost and longing; of lives well lived and otherwise, and raw, honest exchanges on declining health and approaching death.

This is because Strauss herself became a part of that rhythm, moving in with her grandmother at her retirement village, where the kindling for The End was first found among its Zimmer frames and zumba classes.

“ I was in that strange place where I was a bit lost,” Strauss remembers.

“I had just finished my film degree (at the Gold Coast’s Bond University) and she had a spare bedroom, so I moved in with her for a while.

“I really liked all the conversations I had there, one 80-year-old woman told me how she had worn out her vibrator, and I liked the idea that you can change your attitude at the very end.

Life and soul … Noni Hazelhurst plays the sassy Pamela. Picture: supplied

“I liked the idea that you can grow old in a way that is fun and not depressing.

“Obviously where my grandmother lived was a very nice place, but I like that it felt like a time of not withering away, but growing.

“There’s a scene where Edie puts a torch under her chin and says ‘I’m a glow worm, watch me glow,’ and that’s what it felt like for us watching our grandmother just sort of blossom again there.”

Strauss says it was also a time of reflection among the residents, including her grandmother, on dying.

“Some of them went to workshops on how to end their lives, they followed (euthanasia advocate) Philip Nitschke, and they were very clear on what they wanted, as was my grandmother.

“When it was the time of her choosing to go, she wanted a glass of whiskey and a Nembutal and that was her plan.”

Instead Strauss’s grandmother’s cancer returned and she died soon after the diagnosis.

“I always had that discussion with her on how she wanted it to be.

“My father is a doctor and death and the right to have a say in your own death has always been a very open discussion in my family. Dying with dignity is something many people believe in and want to happen, as is palliative care, and I have enormous respect for palliative care nurses and doctors.

The right-to-die debate is brought into focus in The End by Brooke Satchwell, who plays one of Kate’s patients. Picture: supplied

“I wanted to show both points of view with The End, and a lot of it is about this hard stuff, but I hope it’s done with a lens that finds the humanity in it, in the idea that whenever things seem impossible, there is light as well.”

Strauss has had experience with that too, turning a very dark time in her own life into light when at just 18 years old, and a promising ballet dancer, she broke her back.

“I had danced all my life, and was pretty determined to make it my career.

“I danced for about 50 hours a week in a hot tin shed in Bundall (a Gold Coast Suburb) with these truly terrifying teachers who would just yell at you.

“There was no nurturing and it was hard for my sensitive, writer’s soul, but I loved it.”

Then, Strauss says, one day during an outdoors training session, an instructor “pushed me too hard” and she broke a vertebrae in her back, shattering both her movement and her dreams.

“Basically I lay on a couch for a year, in between X Rays and treatment, and I can see now I was probably depressed, while my parents looked after me. They were totally there for me, and it can’t have been easy.”

But Strauss’s couch time was not wasted; she read obsessively, escaping to other worlds when her own seemed so hopeless.

Sam Strauss relied on her own experiences to create The End. Picture: Mark Taylor

“I read this book called Alex, the story of an Olympic swimmer by the New Zealand author called Tessa Duder. Because I could relate to it, that book saved me,” Strauss says emphatically.

In the book the title character is an athlete who must rise above personal tragedy to achieve her dreams; and somewhere in its pages, Strauss too found the strength to get off the couch and chase hers.

“My mum made me get off the couch, actually,” Strauss laughs, “but reading all those stories made me realise I wanted to be a part of that, to be someone who told stories too, and so I enrolled at Bond to do a film degree.”

One of Strauss’s first assignments at university was to write a short film. She set hers in a retirement village, and so the first flickers of what would become The End were born.

Like the series she would one day create about it, Strauss too, has come full circle.

The End debuts on Foxtel on February 2. Sunday, only in The Binge Guide: exclusive interview with The End’s Harriet Walters and Frances O’Connor.

credits: Geelong Advertiser Australia

#the end #the end australia #foxtel #luke arnold

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the-infamous-mister-gates · 6 years ago

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The Fury of Mother Bangkok

There’s a reason why you dream what you dream. It’s something you hope for, but know that you’ll never get it. It will never happen. I learned a long time ago that it wasn’t about capturing a dream…

It was about chasing it.

There was one dream I had, where I would be laying in a wide-open wheat field looking up at the orange twilight of the engulfing dusk. A spacious blue sky littered with pink clouds shaped like mythic beings: dragons, slithering in the crisp air; a mighty phoenix, its wings spread over the horizon; angel eyes made of fire, burning with intense love and mystery. The poetic existence of all these mesmerizing creatures broke into obscurity in the wake of the night.

There was nothing to chase in a peaceful dream like that. I could find books detailing symbolism, analogies, and possible meanings, but in a way that would spoil what I already have: A vivid realm different from my life that I could escape to.

. . . .

There were poets and dancers. There were male escorts and silver tongue pimps. There was the underbelly that smelled of cheap cigars, body spray fragrances, and ammonia. Neon lights reflected in marble polished columns and chrome bar counters. A jugular of festive business men stroking the legs of servers, who brought mixed refreshments poured in glittering glasses. Entertainers were situated in the center of the abyssal ballroom where masked men and women copulated in a pit of velvet ambrosia.

Many people came here to witness the cross-cultured display of feverous engorge; the execrable wonders of snakes molesting women in a pool of cloudy water. Spotlights and stage lights spraying the bodies with a gleam of patronage, unwilling to remove their ethereal stare like a perverted God in the absence of an unforgiving way of life. Off-duty cops and underage girls drinking in leather booths where stains of blood and cum reside under their feet.

I stand between it all, the lone American among the locals of a foreign city, with scars on my body hidden from sight until the audience is worthy to see them. I don’t know what year this is or what day of the week it could be, let alone the month. I did not exist for those things. I lived in the now. Not the past or the future. I traded a moment for a moment with brutality and blackouts; the occasional companion and the mornings after.

Excess, no less

Pushing fingers into flesh

Zealous, Jealous

Devil woman tell us

Heavy synth music matches my pulse as I gaze over the occupants. Some were laughing and talking, others motioning some to go under the tables and unbutton their pants. Disco ball lights and shining stars reflecting in the glass frames of an elder gentleman petting a young man with cold sores on his lips and bruises on his face.

My eyes see the truth in the complex feeding off of Mother Bangkok, the place where we go to die and be reborn in a stew of depravity. If I could cut open all these people and spill their guts, all there would be is sludge and gunk within. These incestuous machines eating and throwing up one another over candle lit tables, calling it love and nurturing, filling their wombs with worms and digesting fluids from oozing statuettes.

I can see the show in the middle conclude. A wave of applause scatters around as the horny little masked performers walk off the center stage. The custodian boys run quickly to clean the stage for the next act. I turn my head to the main bar. The man there looks at me and raises his hand displaying five fingers to remind me of the time I have left until show time. I nod to him subtlety. I walked away from the main scene to the bathrooms. I approached the urinal and relieved myself. I noticed graffiti on the rustic green wall:

Mother Superior sucked me off twice

And Daddy Vader put me in a vice

And so it all goes

Long live the show

It’s a maze and we’re the mice

I flushed the urinal and walked up to the restroom sink. My senses begin to absorb the surrounding nuances in the restroom: The flickering of the half-broken florescent bulb above my head; the buzzing of the mating flies in the top corner window; the boosted bass of the outside bar music; the vacant reflection looking back at me in the fractured mirror.

I crack my neck and my back loudly. I wash my hands thoroughly. I pull out some paper towels and dry my hands completely. I look at myself in the mirror. I flex my arms and raise them in front of my asymmetrical face. I crack my fingers and my back again. I roll my shoulders and slap my face. I smack the paper towel dispenser and walk out. I go through the back dressing rooms. The blind masseur was loosening the muscles of the performers as I walk past the dark rooms where questionable things happen all the time.

Before I walk out into the main stage, I look to my right and see her: a slim young woman in a blood red dress and dark make-up. Her southeastern Asian complexion glossed with natural shine. She looked at me worrisomely. I stared back and winked. She forced a small smile in return. At that moment, ear-encapsulating electronica music summoned my presence into the small area of the central stage where just previously, seven people were fucking each other for a hundred people to see. As I walked out, cheers and hollers of praise could be heard, accompanied with an equal amount of boos and detestable rants. I removed my suit jacket and shirt when I walked into the middle stage. The spotlight beamed down on my body like an alien ship. I rolled my head and loosened my body, revealing the gratuitous scars over my muscular definition and vascularity, inflicted from past fights and brawls.

My opponent was a massive South Korean thug for a local black market operation. He sat in a chair, infuriated and tense like some savage giant. The bartender walks into the middle and calls for us to enter the center. My opponent stands up. He’s tall, I’ll give him that, but there is no way he’s fast.

The barkeep says his name is Dae-Su. As the fight is approved, Dae-Su lunges forward and tries to grab me with both his arms. Stupid first move. I saw that coming a mile away. I duck and swoop around, planting my hard knuckles into his side. He swings around; I duck again. He grabs a chair and hurls it towards me. I raise my arms up and try to block the shattering wood. I fall over, anyone would. Dae-Su kicks me in the chest. I can hear the cheering over the booming music. You would think this happens so fast, but to me, it’s like fighting on the moon. I feel weightless and serene. The sound is muffled over the vacuum of space. Everything moves in slow motion: the blood, the fists, and the crowd; it’s beautiful.

I grab a beer bottle and break it over Dae-Su’s fat head. I see some blood fly as he yells in pain, trying to cover his face. I raise my arm up and punch him right in the left temple. He goes down but gets back up. Dae-Su stumbles like a hippo with Down syndrome. I thrust my knuckles into the side of his face and watch as a patch of skin is ripped open by the sheer velocity of my strength. I knock him to the floor. The crowd demands I finish him. They want me to fuel their bloodlust.

I was their vicarious avatar for relentless rage. They didn’t see some goon getting beat up. They saw their bosses, their daughter’s boyfriend, their wives, their school rivals, their wives’ lovers, their father, their mother, their church pastor. They even saw God there being pulverized and beaten to a pulp by me. By the time I’m done, Dae-Su’s face looks like the inside of a cherry pie.

I stand up from Dae-Su’s body. The cheering pencil-pushers and government officials soon begin to really look at what I’ve done. The voices cease into an eerie silence that welcomes the feuding guilt to twist their stomachs. Noticing the change in atmosphere, the club music of Mother Bangkok turns back on as a couple of guys take Dae-Su’s body to the back. I look over the silent faces, all blinking and coming to terms with what they just experienced and how they felt about it: They enjoyed it. They would be back for more no matter how appalled they might feel or how drunk they are.

Meretricious and vicious

Her lips so delicious

Crimson red, silky bed

Sins welcoming the dead

I pull a towel from the back room and head upstairs. I live in one of the many apartments above Mother Bangkok. In my room waiting is my little diva singer. Her red dress hung over my desk chair. She’s waiting for me on my bed. She helps me in and puts me to sleep, watching me and cleaning my wounds.

This place hidden from the all-seeing eyes, but seen from those with all views of humanity, my iron-crafted home where fury bludgeons the underground dwellers and profiteers as souls, deplete and run dry like a desert thirst.

Among Elephant Kings and She-male prostitutes, I’m a wanderer and deserter with no dreams that can soothe the painful embrace of such a hell. The diva’s touch keeps the wrath of the begging dragon at bay, but the dreams I pursue nourish my longing.

How simple a dream is to obtain when it’s the sky of your home far away. The voices of Mother Bangkok tempt and revitalize, never letting go, but infuriating my sole purpose to fight, to please and satisfy. The Diva and I, both are children to a Dragon and a Fury that birthed the cataclysmic endeavor of lost dreams and never-ending brawls.

My dream has been captured, and I go on chasing it and the ones that have claimed it.

#shortstory #contemporary #fiction #transgressive #gritty

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phynxrizng · 6 years ago

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ILLUMINATION, LIONS GATE PORTAL 8:8:18, NEW MOON AND PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE.

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Illumination. Lionsgate Portal 8:8:18, New Moon and Partial Solar Eclipse.

Source by Monika Carless

August greetings Wild Ones!

Can we take a minute here to breathe? I find August so potent and expansive, sometimes I need to run and hide in a cave and eat grounding food to keep myself from floating out into the atmosphere!

Here's what's happening:

Lionsgate Portal, at its peak today, and waning until August 13th.

New Moon August 11th, Partial Solar Eclipse, AND Perseid Meteor Showers!

I've been dreaming, astral traveling, having communication with guides in the last week that have illuminated my purpose with new insights. How about you? What dreams or visions have you been having?

The Lionsgate Portal is something that occurs every year in July/August and is felt most strongly on the 8th. The Sun, Earth and Sirius move to specific points in the sky. Sirius is our Spiritual Sun and what activates the Third Eye, or Pineal Gland. We open to higher wisdom, or in essence, to our higher self, as well as intuition, telepathy, clairvoyance, etc.

The Perseid Meteor shower will be seen most effectively on the Dark/New Moon on the 11th, and its energy can be harnessed for communing with extra-terrestrials, calling up connections with the Fey/Underworld, working with Goddesses/Gods, or deep vision questing. Leave spell casting for the day after the Dark Moon, unless well versed in the nuances of such work, or there is specific banishing work to be done. The darker entities are easily summoned on this day, best to leave this as a day of rest from magic.

If you'd like to work with the number 8, allow it to help you find balance between the material and immaterial worlds. Tap into its magnetic forces of renewal and infinity. 8 also speaks of abundance. Include these elements in your meditations.

I've been marinating in the wise words of TulaFae's astrological forecast for each sign. Check out what it means for yours.

***

Lion’s Gate opens for us to receive radical wisdom. Throwing all things into flux for us to witness and re-calibrate. It is beyond letting go of what is not working our lives.

It is an energy that is asking us to choose ascension in each word or action to ourselves and others.

Who do we have on our side that will support us as we rise in embodying our wisdom? Who can withstand the regal radiance of our expressed heart space? What energies serve us? Take your passion and turn it into light by radical heart centered action.

Currently, meditation is important throughout the Mercury Retrograde. Even if the meditation is just sitting by flowing water. Companions will be clear calcite, Icelandic spur, quartz, rose quartz, and sunstone.

There are now 6 out of 9 planets in retrograde. Retrogrades bring all that needs to be addressed to the surface. If you feel that someone is out of character, it is due to what they have been suppressing. Everyone, even yourself, needs plenty of compassionate patience.

The New Moon is the last partial eclipse of the summer. Peaking at August 11 th at 08:02:08 UTC time with the moon in 17 degrees of Leo, the Sun at 18 degrees Leo.

Aspects discussed further will be the Leo Moon and Mercury Retrograde in 14 degrees Leo quincunx the Retrograde Saturn in 19 degrees Capricorn and Retrograde Neptune in Pisces at 15 degrees. The positioning creates a yod; a geometric positioning in a chart that is also known as the finger of “God” pointing to fate and destiny and karma.

Fate is pointing her finger to the illumination our subconscious desires of our hearts and how we express our talents.

Neptune brings in dreams. The dreams will be more prominent during this time. Especially for Leo, Scorpio, Taurus, and Aquarius. Neptune also brings up manipulation and deceit. We can easily deceive ourselves by believing we cannot have what our heart truly wants.

From this space, it is also easy to continue a pattern from a concern of lack the needs of food, shelter, and love. The retrograde gives insight to how we have been continuing this and the core wounds which manifested the behavior. The heart knows what it needs out of a logic far beyond the analytical mind.

Saturn’s role here unveils karma contracts to either be assigned or annulled. Making it a wonderful time to clear, delete, and dissolve any cords and contracts with your mind, body, soul, and relationships that hold you back from claiming the authority on your radiant, wild power.

As I go about the signs, note that the rising sign is the vital component. Sun is for how life is perceived. The moon will show the journey of the emotions. Mercury is how we meditate and communicate.

Reading the descriptions for one’s Venus and Mars will reveal about finances and friendships or instinct and sexuality. May you use these descriptions in a way to ascends your confidence and consciousness in all aspects of your life.

Aries

The eclipse happens in your 5 th house, eager for you to get the creative project off the ground. Beloved Aries, your expression and creations are perfect as they are now. Yes, even if they do not feel fully formed. People need you to do what you do best for the greater good. Keep being the leader and show up regardless of what is going on or how you feel. Forgive those who trespass against you by not forgetting but by making your boundaries firmer. Be direct in your compassion and understand the most loving actions can be letting go. Allow the bounty of blessings that are ready for you.

Taurus

Uranus became retrograde in your sign on the 7 th . It is too easy to fool yourself in being unable to manifest what you need. Go back to your values. Dig into your stubbornness when in the manifestation process. Remember your worth as you appreciate all that you have at the point you are in now. Walk barefoot on grass, smell the sunshine, and close your eyes and breath and smile into your heart. Things will shift quickly. All of it is working out as intended for your alignment. Remember being in bliss is what ascends us. Placing concern in money, finances, shelter, and romance are all distractions shielding your eyes from absolutely accepting the goodness that is coming to you.

Gemini

Eclipse in your 3 rd house of communication. Honor your truth, speak it with your heart, and allow others to show up with their truth. Saturn in your 8 th house has been nudging you to build own resources for your future. Uranus retrograde in your 12 th is leading to spectacular insight. It is a perfect time to shift patterns of belief that have karmically played out in your lineage. Look to how your parents have had relationship to money, themselves, and others in their life. Chose what you adore and what is time for you to shift.

Cancer

Uranus retrograde in the 11 th house will bring friends and connections. These connections are usually people you have just started to get to know or have always admired you from afar. The eclipse in the 2 nd house of your own image and values. Your finances reflect how your feel about yourself. If you feel you are radically changing, accept it. Lose all concept of what others expect you to be for them.

Leo

Simply radiate from your heart. Meditate with your hands on your heart. Uranus in your 8 th beckons your intuition and spiritual growth. Go back to old practices that have been swept under the pace of life. Most likely practices and routines you had in 2016. Saturn is bringing a lot of awareness to your body so take care of it kindly.

Virgo

Mercury retrograde is bringing up aspects of the subconscious that need to be deleted. The inner critic can hold you back from choosing your own reality. The words that speak in your mind as you think are potent during the eclipse and new moon. What you think, you will create.

Libra

It will serve you well to change around the furnishings and decorations in a room. Maybe an altar in a certain direction that is specific to your desires. There are some activities in the home that have not been addressed. Perceive who truly has your best interest within your community. Network with those that wish would want to give you the leg up. Express yourself passionately to all you know. Please don’t attempt to censor your heart.

Scorpio

Career is changing; traveling will create more ideas. The 9 th house is activated bringing in innovative ideas, new ways of teaching, and new psychic connections. As ascension is happening to your consciousness, you are being gifted with ascended guides that have witnessed your journey recently. You are becoming clear with what you want and need. It is time to place all events and relationships to the universe. Follow the flow of the ascension as you transmute.

Sagittarius

Being honest with your values. Communicating your perceptions and intuition is needed by everyone who surrounds you. It is necessary to be in the heart. You are not one to mince words, yet truth from you sets others free. Recognize and own where you are not being truthful to what you sense and believe.

Capricorn

Relationships will take the focus during the eclipse and the new moon. It is important to have some space to yourself to perceive your needs and your changing values. Relish in the relationships who support you and nurture you. Spend extra quality time with those who matter the most after your alone time.

Aquarius

Holding space for creating your dreams. It may be only in visualization for five minutes in a day. Be in the process of creating it. Let it happen even though it will not be perfect or make much sense. All that is holding you back is a deep-rooted doubt.

Pisces

Finding new ways to communicate and express yourself. See it as a way of expanding your vocabulary with precision of describing where you are at emotionally. The world needs your service of intimacy by the way you speak and connect with others. Spending time at home and writing will help in this process. The eclipse is offering a way to reveal yourself to all who seek the medicine of your wisdom.

***

Darlings, we are in a continual cycle of ups and downs, the planets do their thing, externalizing our internal landscape. We won't ever be done with retrogrades or full moons or eclipses. We will always play with fire, light and dark will color our soul journey. There is barely a breath of relief between one celestial occurrence and another. The wheel turns and we with it. What we make of it - that's where the magic is.

Let's support each other during this incredibly powerful period in time - non-linear of course, haha! Let us be kind. Let us observe the sky and our internal universe. We are but stars. And that is a beautiful truth.

TulaFae is a well-being coach, astrologer, yoga teacher, world traveler, and a candidate pursuing a license in naturalistic medicine. Her work uncovers blocks in the energy, mental, and physical bodies by illuminating the blueprint of each soul set in and individual’s star charts. She helps others connect to their purpose in life through astrology, meditation, and essential oils. Dissolving confusion and delays of desire by using the body and mind to get tuned into one’s inner compass with harmony and trust.

TulaFae can be reached via these links: Blog

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***

Intuitive Coaching for the Wild Soul. Work with me!

Monika Carless | August 9, 2018 at 1:09 am | Tags: astrology, channeled messages, Making Magic, Moon Lore, Pagan, spirit | Categories: Musings | URL: https://wp.me/p44EFj-KJ

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miraclejin1204 · 8 years ago

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Mandatory bughead post #2: My thoughts on Bughead and why it is important.

I’m aware that the words ‘bughead’ & ‘important’ in the same sentence seem like a misfit but there is a good reason why I’ve chosen to write it so. This thought came to my mind whilst trawling through the morass of ‘ships’ & ‘ship-wrecks’ on tumblr & twitter about Riverdale.

Now, I’m not someone who watches a lot of TV shows ,however, Riverdale was a serendipitous discovery that happened to me two weeks ago.

I have been a fan of Archie comics since I was little & my two favourite characters were Jughead & Betty, in that order. Watching Riverdale was a revelation as it brought me back to the Archie’s world and I saw it in a new light. I went into it without expectations.

What I was not prepared for was how Bughead would gently creep up on me and reign over my entire existence in such a short span of time.

You see, I have had a few ships, some fleeting and some enduring,some canon and some fantasy, however nothing as rabid or as intense that’d induce an “I’m SHOOK” moment. Until bughead happened.

When I used to read the comic books, I had wanted Archie to one day wake up & realize that Betty was the one for her, because I could so relate to her as a kind & sweet girl, being taken for granted every time and with a history of unrequited love. I’m 30 now and life-experiences, especially of the bitter kind has certainly changed my perspective about these things, especially about romantic relationships. No more suffering fairy-tale princesses for me.

In the comics, although Jughead and Betty were my favourites and they always were good to each other, the thought of them as a potential match had never crossed my mind. I was intrigued and amused by Jughead’s woman-hating stance and had imagined that one day an extraordinary woman worthy of him would come and sweep him off his feet.I had no concept of sexuality and its associated complications that we see today, it was only a pure and innocent fantasy in my mind.

I had only been familiar with the ‘classic’ and humorous golden age Archie comic digests and was unaware of the modern reboots and the various universes. Therefore, when I started watching Riverdale, I was immediately hooked to its modern,quirky & dark narrative and had my assumptions broken down bit by bit with each episode. When I started with the show, five episodes were already in so I binge watched them in a single night, which left me with little time to process the minute details and subtleties, which is why I missed noticing the growing chemistry Betty and Jughead.

It was only when I began exploring the show on the internet and understood the whole narrative and tone of the show,re-watched the episodes, saw the interviews, trawled Tumblr & youtube and accidentally saw the leaked bughead kiss is when it hit me like slap on the face and a swift kick in the ovaries. It nearly felt like enlightenment!

Once I had seen and felt it, there was no going back. It was a like a virus firmly implanted in my psyche. I resurrected my dormant and inactive tumblr and twitter accounts only to ship bughead. I’m sure fellow bughead fans know the drill of our coming undone so I won’t go into much detail.

Coming to the next part. Riverdale or rather Bughead has come into my life as a breath of fresh air when I am going through a very dark and stressful phase. I have been going through a very difficult divorce from a man, who caused mental abuse and cheated my family of money & absconded and left me to deal with the consequences and legal battles, triggering my anxiety,fear and depression. A man whom I had trusted with my everything and was completely vulnerable to, used me and left me with a deep fear and mistrust of relationships, trauma and some very hard learnt lessons. I’m an eternal romantic but a part of me has become cynical about it.

Riverdale is a unique show as is evident in its excellent writing,for those who care to notice the nuances and characterisations. The symbolism, fore-shadowing, word-play, subtle body-language cues of the characters, parallelism and of course, a quality mystery is the gold-standard of writing. Can we also talk about the wonderful and talented cast who have given life to the characters? The show is a slow burn and not for those with a shallow mind who are looking for popcorn entertainment with a lot of mindless drama and illogical and unstable romantic pairings based on lust and superficial chemistry,

Bughead is not just a run of the mill ship that people are fangirling over. It is beautiful union which tells you the story of two woefully young and tender yet jaded individuals, thrown together by a tragic fate, who are battling the darkness within and without, fighting for something that’s bigger than them and their personal problems. They are fighting for justice, light and hope. In spite of their struggle with their personal demons. Can you imagine what they are going through? For any child, parents are the safe space when the world around them crumbles, but both Betty and Jughead’s parents let them down with lies, manipulation and broken promises and the possibility that their families could be the perpetrators of murder. Under such horrible circumstances, they find the safe space with each other.

They both are mature beyond their years, insightful, righteous, kind, compassionate, supportive and caring and there for each other without being asked. They communicate with their heart and eyes (sometimes with heart eyes too ;) ) It is not a connection based on lust and hormonal surges. Something very old-fashioned and real in the era of hook-ups. An oasis in a desert.

People who keep harping on about how there is no chemistry at all between Jughead and Betty and that it was rushed and illogical, then I’m sorry that you’re oblivious to everything that is going on in the show. They have been friends since childhood.

I think we do not give the writers enough credit for writing something so profound and refreshing in spite of it being a teen drama. A homeless, abandoned, rudderless boy, an outcast who is bullied, selflessly helps a girl find her sister and uncover the truth, not because he wants to get into her pants. A stifled, lonely yet nurturing and loving girl giving strength, support and courage to a lost and scared boy failed by his father and society. They are each other’s guardian angels.

So I ask this to all the haters..can’t you see this? Are you so blinded by your superficial hate and violent desire to stuff your ship down everyone’s throats because it gives you some sort of false sense of control over others that you have lost the ability to objectively see what the show is striving for through this beautiful narrative within the confines of what is ostensibly a teen drama? Can we not rise above our pettiness of mindless and hostile shipping to learn from it? Everyone is free to ship whomever and whatever they want but it is another thing to be so vitriolic and spiteful towards the others to have your way. Isn’t shipping supposed to be all about love anyway? Bughead is so much above all this petty drama, it is transcendental.

There’s so much that all of us, teens and even adults can learn from this ideal of a super healthy relationship that both television and our lives need. We need to move away from toxicity both in entertainment and our lives. Can we not be inspired to work on ourselves and build supportive, organic and nurturing relationships? This should give so much inspiration to the teens of today. With Betty & Veronica, the show strives to re-build the idea of strong, female friendships which seems to have become an alien concept in the world of ‘frenemy’ culture. Why can’t two girls be healthy best friends without the assumption that there is something sexual between them? People are hating on Bughead also for a fact that they are a heterosexual couple. As I see it, love is love in any shape or form.

Also, I do agree that all sorts of representation must have a place in popular culture and thankfully it is happening. However, those who are unhappy with Bughead saying that it erases Jughead’s asexuality, I disagree. Are you saying that Asexual people can’t fall in love? That they don’t deserve an intimate bond with another?

Now, in the larger Archie comicverse, Jughead was never portrayed as being an asexual, he simply was smarter and wiser and had other priorities compared to his hormone crazed pals. He was always the voice of reason. I’m sure that there are people like that, not everyone who doesn’t choose to be a crazy, horned dog is asexual. Besides, Jughead is shown to be asexual in only one version of the comics. There can be multiple variations of characteristics in the larger universe. Riverdale chooses its own narrative and characters as it sees fit for the context of the show. Therefore, in this version, Jughead isn’t asexual or aromantic. There is no erasure of any kind. Even if he were asexual, I’m sure that Bughead still can have a loving and healthy relationship.

It is my personal opinion and I am not trying to belittle anyone or trivialising the serious issue of representation in anyway. However, I do feel that in today’s world where there is so much hate and strife, showing love and companionship in its true and purest form is the most important issue here, first and foremost. It doesn’t really matter whatever is the sexuality or orientation of the characters in question. So, let us all keep our differences aside and show our love and support to something is for the greater good. Love is universal and not restricted to a specific type or form. Besides, it is fiction,let’s remember that.

I also think that we must avoid pressuring or attacking the creative team, actors and show runners into bullying them to change their vision for the show. That truly doesn’t serve any purpose other than being detrimental to the quality of the show and making the team de-motivated. Let’s all appreciate the hard work and love everyone has put in to present to us something that is so beloved and cherished by all.

Why is showing a healthy, supportive, wholesome and stable relationship necessary? I can tell you why, because I have suffered greatly in an unsupportive, toxic and abusive relationship that was all about selfishness and greed with no regard or love for the feelings of the other person. Where one person only gave and gave and the other only took everything. I was left drained and battered and I’m still bearing the burden of its ruins.

So, when Bughead came along, it was catharsis and relief. It was about having the hope of bright sunshine in the pitch black darkness. It was about selflessness and having high standards and working for the greater good, something that is bigger than us. It was about women not wallowing and pining after some boy who had little value or regard for them and not allowing a man decide the course of their lives .It was about unconditional love and support without labels. It was pure beauty and art, like a perfect symphony.

Bughead isn’t merely escapism. It is the light of goodness that illuminates our hearts and fills us with compassion and hope for something beautiful. It is the delicate flower that grows in the parched desert of hopelessness and deceit.

Let us protect it all costs.

#bughead #riverdale #jughead jones #betty cooper #betty x jughead #archie #archie comics #i ship it #fanfic #fandom #rant

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pod7 · 8 years ago

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Winter Anime* 2017 Lightning Review

*just the shows I watched of course

Shows included - ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka, Ai Mai Mi: Surgical Friends, Akiba’s Trip The Animation, All Out!!, BanG Dream!, Chain Chronicle, Chaos;Child, Demi-chan wa Kataritai, ElDLive, Fuuka, Gabriel Dropout, Gintama., Hand Shakers, Kemono Friends, Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon, KonoSuba S2, Kuzu no Honkai, Little Witch Academia, Masamune-kun no Revenge, Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu, Mori no Yousei: Kinoko no Musume, Nobunaga no Shinobi, Nyanko Days, One Room, Onihei, Piace: Watashi no Italian, Pokemon Sun & Moon, Sangatsu no Lion, Seiren, Spiritpact, Urara Meirochou, Youjo Senki

Settle in for some long reviews, and probably the worst reviewed season since I started doing this! Wow!

ACCA: 13-ku Kansatsu-ka It’s a MADhouse production, so I went in pretty sure I would like it. I was a bit wrong on my first impression; I thought it would be a man on the run type show, but it was actually a more nuanced, spy-that-doesn’t-know-he’s-a-spy type story. I liked the character design. It reminded me of some of the manga series in the “non-moe art” tag on Dynasty Scans. I was in love at first sight with Director General Mauve, voiced by Atsuko Tanaka (Motoko, Ghost in the Shell), and hoped she would play a bigger role than she actually did. I was completely taken off guard by Jean’s confession of his feelings for Grossular at the end, which Mauve had in common. If it had to be someone, I would have guessed it to be Niino, in the old ‘observer falls for subject’ cliche. Still, a welcome, and very low-key revelation that is certainly welcome. The music is really great in this series, especially the intro and outro themes. I would have like for some of the female cast members to have more to do; there were seemingly more women in the show, but they hardly ever had any relevancy. Also, a bit more action or urgency would have been nice. It felt towards the end like this would be called “the hipster’s anime”. Definitely recommended. 9/10

Ai Mai Mi: Surgical Friends Just as ridiculous as ever, though it had some oddly serious parts in some episodes as well. I am appreciating more and more the bit during the credits of each episode where an alpaca recounts an awkward tale of the life of the mangaka who writes AMM. I think the randomness is wearing thin now though. 7/10

Akiba’s Trip The Animation I had never played the game before so I didn’t really have any idea what this was about besides being located in Akihabara. It had a lot of parallels with Punch Line, which I noted in my first impression, just chock full of references and insider humor that I think ended up being lost on a lot of the Western viewers (including me, obviously.) I enjoy the first eight or so episodes, but right when most probably thought it got interesting, for me it was like I just couldn’t stand to watch it anymore. I ended up skimming through the last episodes, but honestly, unless you are REALLY into Akihabara as a culture or just otaku interests in general, I would pass on this show, sadly. Having to watch the idol performance more than once was torture. 6/10

All Out!! The not-so-subtle pattern that is emerging in my anime viewing habits, is that I will start a sport or game series, as soon as it becomes entirely focused on the sport or game itself, I lose interest almost immediately. The same unfortunately happened here; as soon as they hit training camp, it was like I was watching a completely different show, and just couldn’t stand to even skim through it at the end. They can’t all be winners, and even MADhouse can’t be perfect all the time. Dropped

BanG Dream! My first impression was pretty much right on the nose; this is literally what would happen if the people behind Love Live adapted K-On. The melodrama of Love Live with similar archetypes to K-On. Unfortunately, no super gorgeous teacher steps in to help, and instead of a school they have to save the local girls-only concert venue by playing a pop rock version of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. I wish I were kidding. Not horrible or offensive, but just felt like a phoned in effort from the waifu buffet factory. 6/10

Chain Chronicle Sadly I just kind of forgot this show was even on, even though it showed signs of promise, I just couldn’t bring myself to care enough to catch up on it. Dropped

Chaos;Child The edgiest of edge. It made me appreciate the GOOD parts of Occultic;Nine that much more. I might have watched more if the adaptation of the prequel (episode zero) wasn’t just about the most boring thing I’ve watched in years. Dropped

Demi-chan wa Kataritai Top 3 of the season. It definitely felt less wacky than the manga, but I was okay with that. Satou-sensei stole the show, but Machi held her own in my opinion. It was funny to see how fast people tried to turn on the show when Hikari made Machi’s body hug Sensei and he was embarrassed because her boobs pressed into him when he wasn’t expecting it. However with a certain maid being INCREDULOUS, that movement died out before the next episode even came out. It was a good adaptation, and I think may just be my “comfy” show of the season, though again, a certain maid gave it a run for it’s money there too. 9/10

ElDLive I stand by my previous Space Patrol Luluco comparison. It was silly for the sake of being silly, but tried to add various chuuni and action tropes in to spice it up. To be quite honest this was a bit of a stinker, and only watched it for Misuzu to see if she grew any over the season (she did, but just the tiniest bit.) 4/10

FUUKA This was basically KimiKiss Pure Rouge but flipped love interests and included music to make more money off of the property with. It doesn’t do anything new or interesting, and it wasn’t satisfying at all. Like even knowing that Fuuka would end up being the girl the protag had feelings for, I still thought that maybe, just maybe she would do SOMETHING endearing in the least, but no, she just kind of was a brat at all points. Everything was really pretty, but zero substance. 3/10

Gabriel Dropout I think I started reading the manga for this before reading Demi-chan or Maid Dragon, so it’s kind of a surprise that of those three, this felt like the weakest effort. Something was lost in translation to animation to take away the magic presented in print. It was still enjoyable, it just didn’t have the punch I was expecting it to have, and I don’t know if it’s the low key music or the voices or what. Calling it a disappointment is going too far for me, but I certainly thought it would be better. 7/10

Gintama. Top 3 of the season. Pretty much just the adaptation of a single story arc, but an important one. Also, a super kick-ass, pulls no punches season. Loved the hell out of this show before, but this took it to a whole new level. I mentioned in my first impression that the period was a bit scary, but I now see that it was more of an affirmative statement, “GINTAMA, period.” 10/10

Hand Shakers This was really bad. Like, it’s a known thing that this show is bad. It was excruciating to give this show three whole episodes, but I managed it somehow. As admirable as it is that they went out on a limb to make their own original series, that doesn’t save it from being an over-designed, poorly thought out mess of a show. Dropped

Kemono Friends I just want the record to show that I was on board with this show from the very beginning, whereas the MAL user score was as low as 4.2 at the start of the season. It’s the innocence of Serval mixed with the goofiness of the friends, rounded out by the mystery of Kaban that give this show it’s oomph. The character design is really great too. Basically what it boils down to is that this show has four or five things that the internet typically hates when it comes to an anime, yet somehow captured the hearts thousands, from 4chan to tumblr and everywhere in between. It’s hard to imagine this not getting a second season of some kind, whether it’s a continuation of this season or an adaptation of the manga. 9/10

Kobayashi-san chi no Maid Dragon Top 3 of the season. A loving relationship between two adult women, albeit each loves the other in a different way (or do they?) A nurturing and caring relationship between an office worker and a young girl she adopts on sight. A family unit of two moms and a daughter that works. A dragon woman with giant boobs teasing a young boy that meant to summon a demon. Well, okay that last one isn’t exactly the squeaky-cleanest thing to happy this season, but the people who demonize this show because of it are missing out on an other wise great and potentially important series. I was surprised to find this was a KyoAni series; they tend to work in a very specific style, so the fact that this turned out looking anything like the manga is a miracle of it’s own, I think. Once I knew it was KyoAni though, I could see their thumbprints everywhere; the suddenly very poignant moment with great lighting and super appropriate music is something they’ve managed to perfect almost to a fault (to where it feels forced), but the couple examples in this show just added to the already cute moment that was happening. I am writing this the week before the finale, which features the dreaded anime killer Big Boobs Loli, but having read what comes after her initial appearance, I think that, should this get a second season, people will understand her character once the story moves forward (though the big boobs thing is kind of ridiculous, admittedly.) A wonderful, lovely, heart-warming supernatural comedy. 10/10 highest recommendation

KonoSuba S2 I may get some flak for this, but I felt there was a noticeable drop in quality between seasons. The writing was still good, and the performances as always were hilarious, but the animation seemed to have worsened quite a lot. I haven’t read any BTS for this series but it seemed like some of the more involved shots were rushed. Darkness continues to steal the show for me, even though I know Megumin is everyone’s waifu. I think it’s because I tend to always gravitate towards the girl in a show like this that has the least chance of ending up with the protagonist (Nisekoi, Toradora, Zero no Tsukaima, etc.) Not bad by any means, but I’m concerned for a season three should it happen. 8.5/10

Kuzu no Honkai Despicable trash. Soap opera level characters with midnight softcore love scenes between teenagers, some of which are borderline rape at best. Not even the legit lesbian love interest could keep me watching this show, that should tell you everything. Five episodes makes about 90ish minutes of my life I’ll never get back. Dropped, avoid

Little Witch Academia This didn’t quite get the hype I thought it would, but it still seems most people that watch it are enjoying it immensely. However, I feel like it may be losing steam a bit, which is worrisome since it still has 12 episodes left to go through. It’s a bit frustrating to watch sometimes as someone who watched the first two movies/OVA, waiting for things like Ursula to be revealed as Chariot, and for Akko to get to a respectable level of magic use, things like that. I do enjoy the extra development that Lotte and Sucy have gotten, and I hope it extends to Diana, Amanda and some of the more prominent girls too. Continues!

Masamune-kun no Revenge The show had a bit of a twist on the usual formula, but by the fifth or sixth episode it was pretty clear it was the same old contrived tsundere harem romance series. When the guy seems to have some redeeming qualities, I can stomach a show like that for the sake of decent characters and performances, but this just ended up being a chore to watch. Even the debut of a late game older woman/love interest’s retainer wasn’t enough to save the show for me. I can’t see myself tuning in to a second season of this without some kind of huge plot twist like a female rival that the love interest is actually interested in (ha ha HAHAHAH) 5/10

Minami Kamakura Koukou Joshi Jitensha-bu In my first impression of this show, I wondered if it would be as dumbed down as the previous season’s cycling anime whose name I’ve already forgotten. It is. It’s basically the same show but with more characters. Has a good, cute sensei, but also has generic foreign student trope character, which was insufferable because she was basically the same character as the foreigner in Akiba’s Trip. Dropped

Mori no Yousei: Kinoko no Musume The amateurish charm I thought I saw in the first episode of this show quickly dissolved into frustration. If it had been a high school clubs project, then I would have supported them whole heartedly, but this seems like a bad mobile game cash-in, and unfortunately it came out in a season that had a GREAT mobile game cash-in. Dropped

Nobunaga no Shinobi The first season ends, but the second season starts in like two weeks, so I’m tempted to not even include this, because it’s silly that it will be considered separate seasons. It’s a charming, and surprisingly bloody show about feudal Japan and for those that have studied the history of that time period, there are some great gags pertaining to certain figures not shown in the best of lights. 8/10

Nyanko Days Once again, this was just a cute fluff series that hopefully paves the way for Nukoduke. If you need a cuteness shot in the arm between heavy shows, this is a good choice. 8/10

One Room My hopes that they would keep the viewer genderless were dashed pretty quickly with a onsen episode early on, and then the sickening imouto arc in the middle. The final four episodes featuring the childhood friend chasing her dreams was the redeeming factor here, I would recommend just watching those episodes to be honest. 6/10

Onihei One of the better shows of the season. It has a different vibe to anything else on at the moment, probably because the source was originally published fifty years ago. There is very little that is lost in translation, and I think it plays well to the modern audience. There is a bit of a problem with character design, which @fucktsunderes pointed out to me, that because there’s more realism to it, some of the characters end up looking pretty similar. Actually, not just some, but a lot. To the point where I wasn’t sure if a character that died was a character that I liked or not until they showed up in a later episode. Other than that though, a great crime thriller action show. 9/10

Piace: Watashi no Italian After an incredible year of short form series in 2016, it’s an odd feeling to only have Piace as a stand out show this season. It was just the right about of silly and cute, while also being about food and food service. A highlight is the outro being sang by two different cast members each week, with the finale having everyone singing. 9/10

Pokemon Sun & Moon The most fun I’ve had watching pokemon since I was a kid, fantastic show. I am somehow even more in love with Japan’s Musashi than America’s Jesse. I am definitely on the Mao/Lillie ship. Also the only theme song this season that I listened to for every single episode, it is so awesome. Continues!

Sangatsu no Lion As I covered in my review for All Out, when a show has a game or sport in it, if it becomes too focused on that game or sport, I lose interest quicker than a hiccup. It’s a good show, but the shogi was just not the good part of the show for me. I enjoyed Rei’s interactions with his sister and the three Kawamoto girls the most of the whole season. It’s when the show felt the most alive and relatable to me. Not to mention Momo is just too darn cute. Shaft does cute very well, and also does cold depression very well, too. A spinoff with the Kawamotos as the star would be the ideal second season for me, but I will continue to watch just about anything Shaft decides to gift to us. 8/10

Seiren I should have dropped this show, but I didn’t for some reason. The middle arc was definitely the best, the epilogue was really cute too. Not really much to say about this series, it just kind of was there every week. One of those “each path of the romance vn is animated” shows, so your mileage may vary. 6/10

Spiritpact Yaoi bait adapted from a Chinese comic iirc. The main characters were both unbearable, and the way they treated the first significant female character in the show was gross, so I dropped this quicker than a hot rock. Dropped

Urara Meirochou Controversial opinion time: This show would have been better without Nono and Koume. They added nothing to the story that couldn’t have been done by either Kon or Chiya, and honestly the four girls thing is so over-done that I end up comparing it mentally to all the shows I’ve already seen before I even watch the first episode. The teacher and the... morals officer? Whatever Saku was stole the show, with some great late game performances from Kon’s mother. It was a cute show, and I’ll watch another season if it gets one, but I’d like it to be a bit more focused on the divining stuff going forward, or at least more focused on Kon and Chiya. 8/10

Youjo Senki Not really sure about this show. I spent the first half of the season mistakenly thinking it was glorying the third reich, but even after being corrected, I still didn’t really understand who I was meant to support or sympathize with. I end up rooting for Tanya a lot of the time because I understand a lot of the anti-theological sentiment she has, but I’m not sure that’s really the intent... Like in the last episode, we see the young daughter of the man who was killed by Tanya after encountering more than once enlisting in what is the equivalent of the American army. Rather than sympathy and compassion for what is obviously a scared young woman going for revenge, I felt pity, because I know far too many people in real life who FROG it up big time (that being ‘full relying on God’, btw) when any sort of hardship comes their way. I don’t really think I could watch a second season of this, it would have to be more than just ‘Tanya pushes back against Being X, BX recruits someone else, etc’, like, if Tanya went the whole season pushing back but never heard a peep out of BX, and started to wonder how much of it was just in her head, and began to doubt the things she remembered from her past life, that would be intriguing, but I don’t really see it heading that way. Also, not nearly enough Visha screen time for my taste. 7/10

#winter anime 2017 #anime review #lightning review #anime

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marjaystuff · 6 years ago

Text

Author Interview of Beth Kendrick by Elise Cooper

In Dog We Trust

Beth Kendrick

Berkley Pub.

Jan 8th 2019

In Dog We Trust by Beth Kendrick says it all with the title. This fun-loving book is a must read for all dog lovers and those that want smiles on their faces. In addition, readers get an interesting mystery where greed is the antagonist. The story is enjoyable, amusing, and entertaining.

The plot takes place in the Delaware seaside quirky quaint town of Black Dog Bay. It has become well-known for being the “best place in America to bounce back from your breakup.” Charming seaside diners, boutiques, bakeries, and a bed and breakfast capitalized by having names of “Home to Better Off Bed-and-Breakfast, the Eat Your Heart Out bakery, the Jilted Café, the Rebound Salon, and the Whinery bar.” The owner of “Black Dog Bay Books” created a legend about an apparition of a black dog as a harbinger of hope and change.

The main character Jocelyn Hillier helps her mother run a laundry rental business in the beach town. A chance encounter leads to Jocelyn’s meeting Mr. Allardyce, the owner of several pedigreed Labrador retrievers and living in one of the fanciest shore-side mansions. He is gruff, a penny pincher, and a social outcast, but decides to hire Jocelyn as a dog walker and dog sitter. After Mr. Allardyce suddenly dies, he leaves all of his money to his three show dogs, appointing Jocelyn as their guardian. She has control of the money and is able to live in the mansion. An interesting premise that encircles the story, how an eccentric dog owner would appoint a trustee of the dogs who inherited the wealth. But life becomes troublesome when his estranged son, Liam, and the dog’s trainer, Lois, decide to sue her for the inheritance left to the dogs and her guardianship.

Besides having likeable characters and cuddly dogs this story delves into scandal and betrayal. The humorous banter allows for a very fun read.

Elise Cooper: The dogs are a background to the story?

Beth Kendrick: I like writing about the relationship between the owner and the dog along with the dog’s spirit and the environment surrounding everybody. The story cannot happen without the dogs, who are agents for change. People and pets have a very significant relationship.

EC: Dogs are a special breed?

BK: Dogs know who is kind and nurturing. It is that saying, ‘if my dog doesn’t like you neither do I.’ There is something about having another being to rely on us. There is a deeper level of nonverbal communication that is satisfying and profound. My vet once said to me, dogs want to be useful and serve. I think we have an obligation to give that back to our dogs.

EC: How did you come upon the premise?

BK: The name of the town is Black Dog Bay. In the first book, Cure For the Common Breakup, these is a mystical and magical legend in the town, an Irish Wolfhound. The dog is a symbol for hope and change. But in literature it is the symbol of depression and despair. I like playing off both: how hopelessness turns into hope, the dark into light, and the feeling of being totally isolated/lonely into finding a companion. This is the kernel of the whole series.

EC: Is this town made up?

BK: Yes. It is loosely based on some of the Delaware beaches such as Bethany Beach. I like the atmosphere and vibe that has the old-fashioned boardwalk and huge mansions along the beach. Too bad this prime real estate is empty most of the time and not occupied.

EC: How did you get the silhouette of the dog in the beginning of each chapter?

BK: I wanted a simple outline. I think we went through five to ten kinds. Some were too distracting and some were unclear. I could not find an Irish Wolfhound since most are so shaggy they look like sheep. For me, this silhouette is like a lucky penny bringing good luck.

EC: How did you come by the storyline of a dog’s inheritance?

BK: I was reading with my eleven-year-old son a National Geographic story. It was how all these dogs are bequeathed millions and millions of dollars. There is plenty of legal precedent even though the dogs actually cannot spend money. All they want is food, water, and a human. Pet trusts are routinely now part of estates. I understand how we owners want them well cared for.

EC: Are you a dog person?

BK: I write a series set in Black Dog Bay that includes a book titled In Dog We Trust, so I think we all see where my loyalties lie. I wrote a book, The Lucky Dog Matchmaking Service, that helps humans find their canine soul mate, making sure the humans and dogs get their needs met. In this book, I write about dog breeders and dog shows even though I have adopted all my dogs from the pound. I think dog people have a spiritual and creative streak that are mostly kind and helpful.

EC: Do you go to dog shows?

BK: Yes. A scene in this book is inspired by true events. Jocelyn takes the dogs to a show and they are boisterous and badly behaved in the ring. They were not naughty but just could not control themselves. The judge remarked that they are acting like labs. All the other breeds appeared like they wanted to win. But the labs just wanted to say hi to each other and other people.

EC: How would you describe Jocelyn?

BK: Sweet, attractive, smart, and sensible. She has been restrained her whole life and is aware of the limits placed upon her by family, friends, and the community. She has a great sense of responsibility, especially to the dogs. She is very practical and has a sense of obligation to the dogs, her mom, and her friends. Once she has been given some financial freedom she is able to let go a bit.

EC: How would you describe Liam. I think readers will fluctuate between liking and disliking him?

BK: He is determined and obstinate. He has a clear understanding of how money changes someone’s life. For him it is not personal, but business. In a sadistic way, I had fun torturing him when the money mixes with the personal. I think one of the turning points is when he helps with the puppies’ birth where he had a metaphorical and spiritual transformation.

EC: How would you describe the three labs?

BK: Carmen is the rebellious one. Hester is sensitive and sweet. Curtis is charming and goofy. I wanted to show how each have their own nuances with a distinct personality.

EC: The humorous banter?

BK: This is my natural voice. I have tried to write very dark and serious perspectives but cannot do it. Even when I watch TV I still gravitate toward shows with some humor. I think life can be short and complicated, but we can deal with it through humor, even when things are really messed up.

EC: Why the book quote, “My dogs are better than most people.”

BK: I wanted to say something nice about the dog owner, Mr. Allardyre who had some tough times in his life. In some way, this is the theme of the book. Dogs are not selfish or prejudiced, and are willing to engage, serve and connect. Mr. A. left all the money and made Joselyn the dogs guardian because he wanted a guardian that could be trusted. Even though when he was alive he treated her badly and paid her practically nothing, she still hung in there for the dogs. He saw that in her and trusted that she would treat the dogs well.

EC: You even have a dog romance?

BK: Yes between Carmen and a mutt, Friday. I based him on my own dog because both dogs are very charismatic. I liked to compare this romance to the Disney movie, “The Lady and The Tramp.” I think this relationship was very spontaneous and organic.

EC: Do you like the group Duran Duran?

BK: Yes. I put their songs in the story as a shout out to my college roommate. I also needed a group that would be age appropriate. I would go to see them in concert if they appeared.

EC: Next book?

BK: I am still in the process of deciding on the next book. I do think there will be another “Bay Dog” novel. Right now, I am working on something else that I am not allowed to talk about, but if I had to bet there will be a dog popping up.

THANK YOU!!

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