#i was more sad for its impact on lloyd and the impact it would have on wu but. | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

asoulofatlantis · 1 year

Text

XD I am laughing my ass off here. What a great reaction *lol* Tita was so in awe by the technologies used for Lapis that she was like "I need to take her apart to look at the tech" she surely didn't mean it in a bad way, but she scared the heck out of Lapis, so apparently Agate has to put a leash on her XD

Look, I want my class 7 to be back together as much as they want to reunite with Rean but this was just an ridiculously stupid move. First of all all 3 teams would have reunited at the tower eventually anyway. It would have been much more useful for all teams to remain the way they were until then and reunite at the tower, which was their meeting point anyway. Second, Reans team is by default the biggest and thus didn't need the extra support of Alisa, Towa, Machias and Sharon so damn badly. And third, breaking of into small team to reunite with whoever will put them at a disadvantage compared to staying in this big and thus stronger groupe. But... whatever.

OKAY I admit it does feel good to have all my class 7 ducks in a row again. But I still stand by that this was a stupid move...

Obviously... when would he ever not?

FOUR FULL CHAPTERS my boy! I waited for chapters for this reunion and NIS just fucked up the translation to make it even less impactful than it already was for your standards. Seriously.

Are you now? Well... I guess you have to with this man by your side XD

I am not sure why everyone is so tense about this fight. Look at what we have at our disposal. Thors united Class7 in all its glory, including the super maid as well as the complete SSS AND Liberls greatest bracers and their ZFC Maskot. Among our team are two freaking Gralsritter. We have 3 former Jeagers among us too. What the hell could go wrong with such a team?

I am lucky that I am playing on very easy, because I am pretty sure otherwise I would need to put my team together with their strengths, weaknesses and Crafts in mind, instead of making a full out shipping-team XD

You know what is really frustrating? With almost all the other character, their redemption never felt like they really did anything change for the better or change their mind about things... in fact, I believe even at the end Crow still thought he had the right to kill Osborne. Most of them were hiding behind sad pasts, the influence of the curse and some brainwashing here and there. Few actually truly admitted that they have been wrong. Yes, some of them admitted that they did horrible things, but often not with it looking like they truly and fully regret them. And most of the time their way back into the world of the nice guys was just because the nice guys wanted them there, or accepted them there for one good deed. Rufus is one of the characters you just want to see dead after everything he did, after all his betrayals and the backstabbing and even after he decided to take all the blame on himself and with that managed to keep Lechter and Claire free. So starting this game, you wish him the worst. But you can just not keep that up, because he does actually has the most realistic change of all and he actually truly works for his redemption and deals with his faults and weaknesses along the way. It sucks so much that you don't want to like him, but the game made it plainly impossible to still hate him as much as before. And it makes you feel bad for hating on him, while people like Crow simply get away with what is basically nothing in comparison and yet you still can't help but somehow like them.

Yeah and here is a big "FINALLY!" from me. It was about time.

Then maybe it is time to become a lover... but there is no sense in even thinking about going down this road even tho it is cleary right ahead of us, given how Rixia still seems to after Lloyd in Kuro. It sucks but... nothing can be done about it. This moment will have to be enough.

You know its bad when this happens...

He hasn't done anything particularly bad in Kuro so far, aside from a few jabs at the empire and stuff like that... but seeing his damned face makes me so angry!

I guess I make my way into the reverie corridor and that it will be it for me for today.

Now that I am done for today I have a few quick choice words on the translation of this game that I have mostly been holding back, but can not hold back any longer.

First of all: The Ebon-Defense-Force originates in the Ebon-Knight and thus, they should have pronounced it in the same way. Dieter Croise is not called DieEter and its weird that Elie says it wrong and Lloyd says it right.

ALSO I do not claim to be able to read Japanese (I wish I could) but there are immense differences in translation between the Spreadsheet and the NIS-Translation and while I was at first assuming that since the spreadsheet was done only by a fan and very fast at that, that that meant it was a very rough translation there are certain parts, multiple that is, were I did somewhat understand what was said and I can definitely confirm they made some unnecessary changes multiple times.

Just to name the ones that obviously are the strongest to me is that they immensely towned down Reans favoring Alisa thingy when mentioning the guys stuck in Crossbell or even when greeting them when Reunited. There have been multiple occasions throughout the game were I know for a fact that Rean has either only mentioned Alisa (like when he was meant to reach Crow and then said he can not reach Alisa - I checked the translation back then because it seemed weird to me he would only mention Alisa instead of Towa who is his colleague - he actually really just mention Alisa and not Towa and Machias) or kept saying stuff "Alisa and the others" when talking about them as well as the Reunion-scene were he said "Alisa. Everyone", where I didn't need to even read Japanese because it was voiced and he did indeed only say Alisas name, but in the Translation of NIS he said: "Hey, over here!" or something like that without mentioning any name at all.

There have been multiple other occasions where I know for a fact that the lines were altered sometimes extremly. Even in "The fallen Prince" we have multiple moments that were changed that pissed me off. The red constellation mentioning that Cedric was worth being under Shirleys watch was an important point in that Story, because it was necessary to see between the lines what exactly Shirley had to lose, if Cedric would fuck it up. Instead they only said that théy now understand why Shirley sees potential in him, but the meaning is simple not the same. This is not just me nitpicking. Just seeing the potential in Cedric isn't enough here, the red constellation has to accept the work and time and effort Shirley puts into that boy. Speaking of which... as endearingly cute that "our boy" was, that is definitely NOT what Shirley said. Who does this "our" even refer too? Her and Garrath? Are they raising him together or what? It would have been a different story if she would have said "Our princeyboy" instead but I know for a fact that she never used his nickname in that story either.

And all the changes are even worse than some of the changes made in CS4. Titas and Agates scenes have been altered a lot in CS4, going to the point were they didn't allow Agate to actually hint at Tita being the most important person to him. Or changing the conversation were Rean is asked if he things the feelings Agate has for Tita are just the feelings of a Guardian and he says he doesn't believe its just a guardian thing.

I do partly get why they felt the need to tone down Tita and Agate as a ship but I don't get the sudden need for toning down Rean and Alisa or anything that could hint to much at Shirley and Cedric. Nor do I understand how it comes that Lloyd voice actor pronounces Dieter right and Elies doesn't.

Its frustrating and I feel like next time I play with the Japanese voices again just to here all the times they fuckt up the translation so obviously.

#tir mona version

0 notes

lloydskywalkers · 4 years

Text

heLLO i’m so sorry this took so long!! tumblr did not, in fact, eat your ask this time, i just took five years with the response T-T i did very much want to write something about Jay and Cliff (because that’s a criminally underused relationship), but unfortunately season 12 has come out since i wrote All I’m Asking For and kind of...made things...a lot angstier :’( so this leans much more on the angst side than the fluff, but!! there is some in there, i promise

It happens mid-battle, which is never a good time for anything to happen, really, other than a spontaneous victory. If it had happened at any other time, Jay would’ve gone with him. Any other time, he tells himself, he would’ve found the time to talk.

But it’s mid-battle right after Sensei Wu’s gone missing in time, and ironically enough, time is the last thing Jay has on his hands.

It’s not even the worst of battles — just some jerks who actually happen to have too much time and advanced high-grade weaponry on their hands — but it’s enough to send the city’s civilians screaming for cover as another chunk of building comes raining down toward them. Normally Cole would take this kind of thing, since Jay’s more about the agile, dynamic stuff (not because his arms are a whole lot like half-cooked spaghetti noodles next to Cole’s, not at all). But Cole’s on the other side of the city running collateral damage watch with Zane, so Jay’s the only one around to snatch the poor man out of harm’s way before a chunk of concrete squashes him.

“Whoo, that was close,” he breathes out, as dust mushrooms out from the impact nearby. Jay carefully sets the man down, coughing briefly and tugging his mask into place. “You alright?”

The man doesn’t reply, staring at Jay with wide, eerily familiar eyes. “You,” he breathes, as if Jay is some miraculous apparition — which, sure, Jay just saved his life, but like, he’s Jay. He’s a whole two or three inches shorter than this guy, he’s not super impressive.

“You’re the lightning ninja,” the man continues. “You’re — Jay?”

Caught between being pleased he’s recognized and being slightly creeped out, Jay opens his mouth to reply. Then he looks at the guy, actually looks at the guy, and immediately shuts it. And a good thing, too, because Jay’s mouth suddenly goes so dry it kinda feels like a dust vacuum.

“Y-you’re Cliff Gordon,” he manages, on a wheezing kind of whisper. “H-hi. Hi, hello, it’s—”

An honor? Jay’s half-hysterical mind throws at him. What is he supposed to say? Hello, long-lost father who gave me up as a baby, I figured that out, by the way? Does Cliff even know Jay’s his son? Does he even know his name’s Jay? Oh, why oh why has Jay put off acknowledging anything that happened with Nadakhan for this long, just because the entire thing’s a minefield worth of trauma and it makes him wildly nauseous to think about it at all, it doesn’t mean—

“Jay,” Cliff Gordon repeats, his eyes wide and shiny, and Jay’s stomach drops like he’s on a roller coaster. Because the way he says his name — it’s like he knows, it’s like he cares—

“You, uh,” Jay swallows, utterly oblivious to the exploding building two blocks back. “I think…you knew my mom?”

Alright, points for Jay for the lamest segue into this possible, but the beaming, almost-painful smile that splits Cliff’s face at least drowns part of the shame out.

“You could say that,” he murmurs, looking part-overjoyed, part-terrified. “If you know that, then — you must know I’m your — I never meant to lose—”

Cliff cuts off painfully, dragging a hand through his graying hair. Jay vaguely notes the puffs of dust that go drifting off from it, before the awkward silence gets too heavy and his mouth kicks back into action.

“Yeah, kinda…figured that out,” Jay laughs, nervously. “I don’t, um, I’m not mad…? If that’s what you’re worried about, but it’d be uh, nice to…”

“Of course,” Cliff nods fervently, as if he’s somehow psychic and can mind-read the ten thousand words’ worth of questions barraging across Jay’s brain. “Of course, we should talk, there’s so much I need to explain, I—”

Jay’s radio interrupts him in a bursting screech of static, leaving them both wincing.

“Jay, any day you wanna get back in the game, we could use a little help here!”

Kai’s voice is strained, and Jay glances from the battle to his — Cliff — with wild eyes. Cliff shakes his head, waving toward his teammates.

“Go on, go on,” he says, something like pride in his voice. “You’ve got a much more important job to do.” He pauses, his eyes bright and painfully hopeful. “But you’ll — you’ll come and visit me sometime, will you?”

“Yeah,” Jay nods, feeling oddly shaky. “Of course, I’d — I’d really like that.”

Cliff Gordon’s face splits into full smile, and Jay takes that as his cue to leave before he does something hideously embarrassing, like run his mouth or try to — to hug the guy. His eyes catch the bright flash of the Destiny’s Shadow, and he jumps up as Lloyd tilts the plane, Zane reaching a hand out to snag Jay and haul him in.

“Nice timing,” Jay gasps in thanks as he finds his seat, fumbling once with the tight squeeze. “Sorry about the wait.”

Zane simply squeezes his shoulder briefly. “I am merely glad to see you in one piece,” he says, wincing briefly as another explosion goes off. Jay cringes as his eyes rake over the smoking flames. Man, they’re gonna be stuck doing repairs here forever—

“Who was that?”

Jay startles back to himself at Lloyd’s voice, blinking rapidly. He opens his mouth, prepared to unleash a floodgate’s worth of “you’ll never believe this”—

Then stops dead as Zane and Lloyd stare curiously at him, awaiting answer. Jay shuts his mouth, and swallows.

How is he supposed to announce he’s met his father — his second, whole father, in addition to the super great one he already has — to them? To Zane, who barely got any time with his only parent before he died? To Lloyd, who's still actively grieving having lost his only dad for like, the third time? How’s that gonna go over, huh, motormouth?

So Jay shakes his head, forcing an easy laugh instead. “Just some random fan.”

************

He means to follow up right after. He does, really, but everything goes to hell in a handbasket so quickly Jay barely even has time to breath. First it’s the months of searching for Sensei, then it’s guarding the royal family, then they’re on the run, then they’re watching Garmadon brutalize their baby brother on live television and he’s dying on a table and the city’s being destroyed by a giant and the Bounty’s being crushed with them on it and they’re running for their lives in the First Realm and Sensei Wu’s a teenager and—

They’re kind of busy, that’s the point he’s trying to make.

Eventually, there’s a brief spot of time he could go, maybe. It’s right after they’ve returned from the First Realm, though, and that’s...not a great time.

The city’s still stumbling back to its feet, for one, and the loss of the emperor and empress doesn’t exactly help. Their little family’s left stumbling back to its feet even slower, as beaten down and utterly exhausted as they are. The four of them had their own run of it in the First Realm, but Lloyd and Nya didn’t have it any better back in Ninjago, and the whole thing’s just — just a big mess. And sure, maybe reuniting with his long-lost biological father now could like, actually benefit Jay’s half-shredded mental state, since the guy seemed pretty happy to see him, but…

But fathers.

Lloyd still wanders their apartment like a ghost at night, his eyes dull and haunted from whatever night terror he’s been graced with now. He wanders a little bit like that in the day, too, eyes glazing over and hands trembling at times. Jay knows why, of course — they all know, it’s not a secret. Not with the high-definition TV footage that keeps circulating. And they — they try to help, of course, they do their very best, but there are some things only time can fix.

Jay watches Lloyd’s eyes shutter at the mention of his father, and wonders if his entire life is enough to fix whatever’s been broken with his own.

In other words, Jay decides to be a coward.

Ironically enough, however, it ends up being Lloyd that encourages him to go. Not that he realizes that.

“Don’t bother making extra for dinner tonight, Zane,” Lloyd announces wearily, as he trudges through the kitchen. “My mom’s on the road again.”

Zane blinks at that, then frowns. “Where is she off to now?”

“Don’t know,” Lloyd says shortly, before promptly stalking off toward the rooftop exit. Jay and Zane stand there in silence for a moment, Zane still methodically stirring the rice. Then he turns to Jay, and fixes him with a look.

“Grumpy-about-parents Lloyd is normally Nya’s job, you know,” Jay huffs, but he relents, following Lloyd’s quiet footsteps to the roof. Lloyd’s curled up in his usual spot, close enough to the edge that it frightened the life out of Kai the first time they found him. Jay doesn’t exactly get why, because Lloyd’s sad, yeah, but he’s not—

Well, maybe Kai’s just scared Lloyd’ll trip and fall off the roof. That’s what Jay’s choosing to believe, for his own sake.

Either way, Lloyd looks pretty sad now, so Jay plops himself right down next to him with a huff, neatly startling Lloyd so badly he almost does trip right off the roof.

“Woah, hey, it’s just me,” Jay says quickly, throwing his hands up. Lloyd glares at him, and Jay makes a face. “Don’t give me that, you’re the one that’s supposed to have ninja reflexes.”

“Hmph,” Lloyd grumbles, wrapping his arms back around his knees, but he looks slightly less likely to zap Jay’s nervous system full of energy, so he takes that as a go-ahead.

“So, your mom, huh,” Jay starts, with all the intent of comforting Lloyd and comforting Lloyd alone. “Hey, random question, but how did, um, why’d you decide to let her back into your life, in the first place?”

“What?” Lloyd stares at him. Jay cringes. Oops, that wasn’t supposed to come out. Classic Walker, he’s brought his own issues right into the middle of it, like an absolute selfish—

Great, now he wants to throw himself off the roof.

“Sorry, sorry, forget I said that,” Jay babbles, desperately trying to re-route the conversation. “Just — forget I opened my mouth, okay? Please?”

Lloyd shakes his head, looking more concerned than sad now. He’s even unfolded from his tight little Lloyd-angst-ball, which Jay would count as a victory if it weren’t for all the wrong reasons. “Jay, is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course!” Jay blusters. Lloyd stares at him. Jay gives him a bright smile back. Lloyd continues to stare.

“Okay, fine, not really, but — that’s not why I came up here,” Jay admits, cheeks flushing.

Lloyd’s eyebrows furrow in concern. “Is everything…okay with your parents?” His voice is tentative, as if he’s almost scared of Jay’s response, and Jay can’t have that.

“My parents are fine,” he replies, firmly. “But, uh, thanks for asking. I’m just…” Jay trails off, abruptly realizing that explaining this is going to require mentioning Cliff Gordon, which is going to require mentioning that he’s adopted, which is going to require explaining why he hasn’t told the rest of his team this. None of which are options Jay wants to explore at the moment, so he desperately tries to backtrack.

Lloyd, faithfully caring brother that he is to the bitter end, beats him to it. “Well, even if they are fine, um. To answer your question, I guess I…I needed to know.” He blows his breath out, glancing out over the skyline, half-broken buildings forming dark silhouettes against the setting sun. “I needed to know why she - she left me. If it was me, or if it was her, or…whatever, you know?” Lloyd bites his lip, and Jay suddenly feels like a horrible person for putting him through the mother thing right after the father thing’s been blown to smithereens.

And yet.

“Yeah, I get that,” Jay says quietly, letting it sink in. And he does, really. More than he thought he would, and this is probably a big glaring sign from the heavens, huh.

“But I don’t know,” Lloyd continues, sounding small as his hands tug on a frayed thread from a torn spot in his gi. “Maybe sometimes it’s better to cut people out entirely, too.”

He looks terribly worn when he says that, too young and too old for his age all at once, and Jay decides he hates the expression on his youngest brother.

“I’ll remember that, next time you steal the last of my coffee stash,” he says.

Lloyd gives a startled huff of laughter, before jabbing him in the side with his elbow. “That’s not what I meant,” he rolls his eyes, but there’s a smile edging his mouth now — not quite the Lloyd smile he’s used to, but it’s not as frail as it��s been, either. Lloyd doesn’t look so much like porcelain that’s been stepped on anymore, and the proud spark of joy Jay feels from that is enough to convince him that it’s a good idea.

He did promise Cliff Gordon he would, after all, and besides — knowing can’t be that bad, and Jay’s a firm believer in the wisdom of knowledge, and all that.

He’s also a firm believer of closure, but he’s stopped claiming to be one, since it probably comes off pretty hypocritical lately.

************

Jay doesn’t tell anyone where he’s going. He doesn’t even tell them he’s going at all, he just…waits for a convenient opportunity to slip out when no one will notice.

He wishes he had. He wishes he’d told Cole, told Nya or - or anyone he was going, and at the same time he’s glad he told no one at all. He’s not quite sure he could bear anyone else seeing whatever look’s on his face right now, on top of everything else.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so sorry,” the woman at the estate tells him, her eyes teary. “Cliff Gordon passed away a month ago.”

That…doesn't make sense, at first. It takes a minute, to sink through the odd roaring noise in Jay’s ears, and finally reach his brain.

“Passed…away,” he repeats, blankly.

The lady nods, looking at him with so much pity Jay kind of wants to kick her shins. “It was his heart, poor man. He hasn’t been so well the last few years, you know.”

“Right.” Jay feels a little like he does when he’d used to jump off his dragon, except this time he’s been tossed from it and he’s free-falling to a short and sudden stop.

“Did you know him?” she asks, curiously.

Jay tries to make some form of response, like “I was his son”, except all that comes out is a whole bunch of nothing. Nothing, just like what’s left in Jay’s head. He blinks rapidly, trying to banish the image seared into his brain.

Cliff Gordon’s eyes, bright and painfully hopeful.

You’ll come visit me sometime, will you?

Jay swallows thickly. “Sorry, if you’ll, uh — excuse me, I think lunch was bad.” Then he ducks for the nearby bushes, and proceeds to be horribly sick.

He tells himself, through heaving gasps, that the hot tears are only reflexive.

************

And that’s that. Jay, stupid, selfish Jay, waited too long and now he’s lost his chance forever. Because he was — what, scared? Nervous?

He’s not scared now. He kind of just hates himself, which isn’t the newest thing in the world, but this time it burns like the worst of scrapes and crawls up on him in the middle of the night, screaming what-if’s into his brain until Jay’s biting down on his pillow before he starts screaming himself.

It hurts, but he’s got no one to blame but himself. Jay messed this up all his own and he sure as heck doesn’t deserve any sympathy from his team for it. So he’s not going to even give them the chance, because they’ll never know. Jay will take this secret to the grave, because imagining the looks on everyone else’s face when he tells them he ruined this makes him want to put himself in the grave.

How long did he wait for Jay, how long did he—

Jay’s just going to drive himself insane with his own stupid brain and that’s that.

Well, that’s supposed to be that. It would’ve been that, except Cole is perceptive and Cole knows him too well, and Cole spots the look on his face when he’s telling him everything he’s found out about his mother, since Jay can’t even hide that from him.

And maybe Jay’s just weak, or so desperate for some form of reassurance or - or attention that he cracks, and spills the whole sorry thing to Cole. To his undying credit, Cole doesn’t even look like he despises Jay once. Instead, he looks at him with all this sympathy and kindness and oh, if Jay was a crier—

Well, actually, Jay is a crier, and ends up bawling into Cole’s gi at two in the morning, but what else is new.

The important thing is that Cole is Jay’s very best friend and possibly favorite person in the whole entire world, and Jay is going to murder him in cold blood for dragging him to Cliff Gordon’s estate and forcing their way in.

“If he cared enough to want to meet you, he’ll have cared enough to leave you in his will,” Cole reminds him, staunchly. “He knows how busy your life was, so I’ll bet you anything he understood.”

“Stop trying to make me feel better,” Jay hisses, as Cole manhandles him down the mansion’s — the mansion’s! — hallways. “I don’t deserve it.”

“For the love of—” Cole cuts off with an exasperated huff. “It is not your fault this happened. This is not on you. How many times are we going to have to do this, Jay.”

“Until the time you let me wallow in miserable peace,” Jay mutters. What does Cole know, it’s not like he totally bailed on his parent and then let them die. Not that Jay could do anything about that last part, sure, but the rest of it.

Cole stops them in one of the massive living rooms, finally fixing Jay with one of those stares. Uh oh.

“At least read the letter,” Cole says, suddenly pleading. “You don’t have to look at anything else if you don’t want to, but please read the letter. For me?”

Oh, Jay hates him. He tells him so, even as his glare falters in the face of Cole’s stupid puppy eyes.

“Is that a yes?” Cole replies hopefully, offering the letter they were handed with the estate key. Jay gives him a last, withering glare before snatching the letter from him.

“You’re the worst,” he mutters, as he tears open the envelope with shaky fingers. He hesitates for a beat, before mustering whatever pathetic courage he has and tugging the paper out, unfolding it as his eyes find the carefully scrawled words.

My dear Jay—

He promptly bursts into tears.

“Jay wha — Jay what’s wrong, is it that bad?” Cole is frantic as he hovers over him, his hands half-caught between reaching for Jay and reaching for the letter in his hands. Jay shakes his head, trying to stifle the sudden waterfall’s worth of tears that decided to make an appearance, and clutches the paper tighter.

Cole makes an anxious sound. “Jay, you know he’s — if he’s said something bad, it’s — he doesn’t know anything, right?”

Oh no, now Jay wants to cry harder. Cole sounds desperately concerned, kind and caring and genuine like Cole always is, and Jay feels like the worst person in the world.

Stupid, Jay, he scolds himself hotly, swiping angrily at his eyes. Stupid, selfish Jay. He’s got nothing to be crying about. Zane only had one dad, and he doesn’t go around whining about it. Lloyd’s got one dad who’s died three times, and may as well be dead now ‘cause he’s such a jerk. Kai and Nya didn’t even have any parents until last year. And Cole lost his mom who he loved, he loved so much, and he’s still here supporting Jay — stupid, selfish Jay, who’s got two entire stable parents who he’s never once doubted love him, and yet here he is, crying over the one he never really knew.

“Jay,” Cole tries again, quieter this time. “Jay, you’re allowed to be sad about your dad. It’s not a contest.”

Stupid, perceptive Cole.

“He said he loves me,” Jay finally croaks, swiping at the tears all over his face. “He didn’t even know me, Cole, how was he supposed to know that?”

Cole’s eyes soften, all melty and gross. “You’re his son, Jay, he knew you.” His lips quirk up in a smile. “Besides, he talked to you once, right? You make some pretty impactful first impressions, motormouth.”

Jay can’t decide whether to be insulted or more flattered than he’s been in the last six months. He decides to punch Cole weakly in the shoulder, before crying harder. Cole doesn’t even flinch at the hit, built like a rock as he is, and simply snatches Jay’s arm and tugs him close, wrapping his arms around him tightly. And oh, Jay wants to pull away, he doesn’t want to break down in his dead father’s mansion like this, Jay doesn’t have a lot of dignity but he’s at least got his shreds, but—

Cole gives the best stupid hugs in the world, and what’s Jay gonna do, deny such instant love and comfort? The risk of hurting Cole’s feelings far outweighs Jay’s tattered dignity, he tells himself. That’s why he clings to Cole like an overgrown barnacle and wails into his shoulder like a broken faucet. That’s the only reason, obviously.

“It’s okay to cry, you big moron,” Cole says after he’s calmed down, briefly squeezing tighter. “I get it. But you really should read more than the first lines of that thing. I think…I think it’ll help.”

“This is all I’ve got, though,” Jay sniffles. “I don’t — I lost any other connection I’ve got to him.”

“Sometimes you just gotta work with what you have,” Cole says gently, a little bitter, a little sweet. “And somehow, you have to make it enough.”

Jay pauses at that, thinking back to the statue miles and miles beneath a mountain, the delicate locket Cole had turned over in his fingers. He looks back to the letter in his hands, the lines and lines of all the words his father left for him, and remembers Lloyd’s words about knowing.

His fingers tighten on the edges of his letter. Jay, he decides, is done being scared. He’s got Cole at his side — what’s he got to be afraid of, anyways?

“Okay,” he says, swiping once more at his eyes, and giving Cole a watery smile. “Okay. Help me read through the whole thing?”

“I wore my old sweatshirt for a reason,” Cole replies, making a show of wringing his sleeve out. Jay whacks him with the envelope, but the laugh he shudders out feels real, this time. He gently spreads the letter out atop his lap, focusing on the words again.

It’ll be enough. It’ll sting, but…it’ll be enough.

Like Lloyd’s tattered photograph, like Cole’s mother’s last words — it has to be.

#lego ninjago #ninjago #jay walker #cole brookstone #lloyd garmadon #since they're both...fairly present at points gdnkfgj #i just have many feelings about jay apparently T-T #my fic #answered

274 notes · View notes

courage-a-word-of-justice · 4 years

Text

After much watching...I cut it down to 5 anime and 1 short.

Suppose a Kid… 1

I am not writing out that full title every time! Anyways, here’s the first “real” debut of winter 2021.

For some reason…this series reminds me of Pokemon. Probably how at the start, Ash tries to get along with Pikachu by doing all sorts of things like what Lloyd is doing here. (<- learnt protag’s name through synopses)

The name “Shouma” rang a bell and I was right – Shouma is voiced by Souma…Saito.

The Japanese title has “monogatari” on the end there…so it probably doesn’t fully translate into the English title.

These orange flecks in Lloyd’s eyes are kinda distracting…

Isn’t Kunlun in China, though…?

If this is just going to be Marie yelling…I don’t see why I should stay. (<- turned volume on for everything so far)

*facepalms* Lloyd is so dense…

That fight scene’s not very good…

…oh great. Selen’s fallen in love with Lloyd already…*sigh*

The missing princess is certainly going to be a plot point later.

Wow, that tiger looks impressive! If only they could’ve done that for the fight scene…

…oh great, Selen is a low-key yandere…

Didn’t Lloyd say he sucked at combat…? Anyways, I’m not keeping this. The designs are colourful and the tiger was good, but it’s meant to be a comedy and it’s not funny.

Hortensia Saga 1

Here for Ume! He’s voicing a guy called Defloitte Danois.

I-Is that CGI? So early on into the anime???

*a dude gets bitten into by the werewolf*…welp, at least this series isn’t afraid of its own gore.

I had a sinking feeling our real protag was Alfred…and I was right, according to the OP.

Huh? The song goes silent for a second near the end…what the heck?

The book appears to use English, albeit English so faintly inked in you can’t quite tell what language it is.

Alfred, governing Albert…? Isn’t that a bit redundant?

I swear all the female voices in this anime are squeaky as all get out…

All these high fantasy anime – or heck, any high fantasy series full stop – ever justify why the country is worth fighting for. It’s why I find war stories pointless and senseless.

You can tell from the voice and short stature “Marius” is Mariel…but she uses boku, which is why Alfred can’t really tell the difference. (Also, he wasn’t privy to the fact Mariel cut her hair.)

This almost smacks of a game tutorial. The CGI is still there…it’s not as bad as other examples I’ve seen, but you can tell it’s CGI when you look at it.

Roy’s kind of pretty, in a generic way.

A close-range archer! Ho, you’re kinda impressive yourself, Roy. (The feeling of a game tutorial has disappeared by this point.)

Hortense…of Hortensia…how confusing.

The scruffy guy you keep seeing with the dark hair is Defloitte. Keep an eye out for him for me, would you?

The ED seems to consist mostly of…anguished pop screams. *cringes slightly*

Anyways, this anime isn’t bad. It’s quite average though and its CGI could easily get worse.

Kumo Desu ga 1

…you know I don’t like 1st person cam, yeah?

…this is just Kumoko (as I’ve heard her being called) yelling so far…plus there’s quite a bit of CGI.

I like how the ED has an English overlay and the style they’ve used for it. The music, though…? Nah.

Wait a second? Millepensee? Shin Itagaki? That would explain the CGI!

“…a spider that just happens to have my memories.” – A butterfly dream, huh?

…well, at least this anime is well aware of the genre space it inhabits. Maybe you could say…it’s an isekai light novel, so what? *groans from the audience*

…well, you didn’t really “bring” your “brother’s” (?) corpse in case of an emergency, now, did you?

…welp, to have guts, you must eat guts. I guess that’s how it goes.

What’s a “skanda”?

This anime’s quite monologue-y (as expected of an LN). I can live with it, but I don’t know if it can carry the entire thing through the season.

…humans? Haven’t seen them almost all episode. What are they up to?

These designs sort of look like SAO’s. They’re not a dealbreaker yet, but they could be down the line…

This ED seems to take cues from Cop Craft’s OP (same studio). It also has some…“Aggretsuko rage”, I guess you could call it.

2.43 1

…Another confusing title, I see. I normally don’t do sports anime, but I’m here for Ume.

*sees the colour of the volleyball* - Basically anything volleyball has to collaborate with volleyball maker Mikasa, doesn’t it?

This anime seems to like putting characters’ thoughts on the screen for dramatic impact. The CGI is sort of visible, but not a dealbreaker.

I’d thought I’d heard of this OP artist before, but it turns out I haven’t.

This series has a nice sense of force. You see those moments where the ball squishes, or when Yuni presses against the wall without thinking? Those.

LOL, way to burn Yuni, Chika…

These transitions are a bit hard to detect. I think I like Akudama’s more overt ones more.

LOL, Dr Popper (sic).

The serves are nothing special. Haikyuu does the same thing from the episode I saw of it. (You know I don’t like Haikyuu, yeah? Dropped it after 1 episode because everything I heard the fans talking about caused me to connect the dots.)

The way Yuni blushes…it’s more than someone usually would, even if it is out of embarrassment. It may just be the entertainment I consume, but I could swear that’s going somewhere in more of a BL manner.

I get the feeling Chika has a bit of Virgo or Taurus in him somewhere. The sort of guy who nags at everyone to do stuff his way is probably like that.

Pocari Sweat (unaltered).

I gave myself dimples by puffing up my cheeks and poking them until they became permanent. I guess you can do the same thing with ambidexterity…?

For some reason, I can detect Chika’s jealousy when he discusses blocks and natural talent.

…wow, this anime is pretty serious for a volleyball anime.

The ED scene where the face is replaced with flowers is pretty creepy. Like Jigokuraku or something.

Cells at Work!! 1

What are these blob creatures you see in the OP, anyway…?

I think I remember reading something that the numbers assigned to the cells aren’t arbitrary – they’re hexadecimal colors, e.g. RBCs get shades of red as their numbers.

D’aww, Platelets warm the heart. They really do.

Platelets have a master…? I thought they were all just lil’ kids.

“What the cell’s going on?!” – Oh, I remember seeing a tweet about this. I love that pun! Kudos to whoever was responsible for that.

LOL, no. 4989 dancing in the background.

Hmm…those nets look like CGI.

…uh, I did not need that shot of the Megakaryocyte’s camel toe…that’s distubring.

Wait, Backward Cap is a she?!

Aw, lookit WBC being a dad. That’s cute.

Backward Cap = Ushiromae-chan.

Is that…a construction worker holding a giant pudding?!

Cells at Work Code Black 1

This anime is called “black” due to black companies. It’s Code Black to avoid being racist, I guess. I’m looking forward to it because it’s undoubtedly going to show a dark side to the main series…

…and there it is, the RBC complaining.

I assume OJT = on the job training.

I knew “pespin” (sic) was a typo. It’s pepsin.

Now that I’ve been working at customer service for two years (give or take COVID), I can see where the senpai RBC is smoothing over the relations.

…that also means I know where to suppress my emotions. I’m not a person who opens up to people easily without getting used to them, so people never see me as suitable for customer service anyway, but it’s the only experience I have so *shrugs*.

…oh gosh. I haven’t seen these words since…the time I was still learning biology.

…*sigh* Rookie RBC is worried about boobs.

The fact Senpai lost his iconic hat…is kinda sad, actually.

“Don’t let his resolve be for nothing.”

Hmm…does the male WBC from the main series wear black fingerless gloves?

I thought I’d heard of this artist before…but turns out I just can’t distinguish really autotuned artists from each other…(lel)

…and stuff goes ka-blam. It’s the spiritual successor to HypMic, even if I wasn’t asking for it. (LOL)

Back Arrow 1

…I heard you said “hot guys”? (Yes, I am predictable as all get out.)

What’s with that episode title…?

Stereotypes, eh? I kind of expected as much from the promo, but where’s the title character…?

…was that yuri fanservice? I can’t quite tell because it was the aftermath of an action scene, but I can see the shippers gearing up in my head.

…after a bit of waiting, there he is. Back Arrow himself. He kind looks like Takuto (Star Driver).

“I’m not trying to hide anything!” – Well, that’s…true.

…*sigh* Why do girls always have more feminine-looking mechs? (Plus this one has boobs…*sighhhhhhhhhhhh*)

So it seems mechs in this anime are the form of one’s conviction and they have skills along those lines, eh? An interesting concept.

…you do realise I abandoned an entire anime based on a joke about lucky underwear? However, this anime is so absurd and just keeps running with the joke that I just can’t say no to it. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt from volunteering at a charity store, it’s that when it comes to selling stuff, you can’t say no to a lot of stuff…including selling potentially used underwear, so long as it’s not dirty or stinky.

Whoa! Those things break?!

Why does the title card mention the wall...?

Anyways, I…like it, surprisingly enough. Let’s keep going.

Back Arrow 2

…eh? Didn’t expect inflatable clothing, LOL.

I suspect Shu Bi is scheming something.

What’s the long thing…?

“…tomorrow might not come.” – A good reminder to have in these times of COVID.

Peath = Peace. (Heh. What a stupid name…*thinks about the name “Quattro Bajeena” suddenly* Okay, “Peath” pales in comparison to that.)

What is that creature that circles in the sky…?

I know this is meant to be a serious fight, but…that attacking guy’s hat seriously looks like a bamboo stalk and so I keep seeing it and trying not to laugh.

I only just now realised there’s CGI. CGI these days is getting much better than it used to be.

Tomozaki 1

LOL, Yontendo. It’s clearly Smash Bros + Nintendo Switch and the character designer was also around for Iroduku, so that’s why this style looks familiar.

…lemme guess, since this is a romance, it’s likely NONAME is Aoi. Or some other girl.

I would pay for a romance where it’s the girl building the guy up to be presentable, instead of a girl building other girls up to be presentable a la Ageha 100%.

Didn’t the anime show us Tomozaki reflecting to himself, though…?

“…rules working in combination.” - Well, there’s social norms (e.g. knock before entering a room), laws, contracts, societal standards (e.g. in Japanese society, you bow to others as a greeting or apology)…(continues to blabber on for a bit)

I think Aoi said something like “onitadaku”, but I’m not sure what the joke is there. Oni is in there, sure, but what’s the original phrase she’s playing off?

…LOL, it’s a good time to remind people to wear a mask.

LOL, Krout.

Anyways, this seems decent. I like how it’s going the way I want it to.

Tomozaki 2

“…make sure I’m nearby…” – Okay, that’s just being pushy, Aoi.

Minami and Hinami…so confusing…

*Minami chomps on Natsubayashi’s ear* - …okay, that’s not a thing girls do in real life unless they’re lesbians. This is likely trying to take the fanservice route.

They didn’t even show why the “kiss” was broken up…meaning they were doing it to make potential girl-on-girl look hot. Just great.

*Aoi touches Tomozaki’s butt* - Dude, that’s groping…

I didn’t think we’d get the story on Aoi’s “hexactly” so soon.

…well, that episode just made me feel mildly bitter. I’m dropping it here.

Praeter 1

…aw s***. Only a few seconds in and this looks like a terrible game…

It’s like someone barfed paint across Durarara…

The only time the background buildings look any good are when there’s a fight scene…

These Seals (or whatever those designs are called) seem to act like mini shields. Update: They’re called tattoos.

That transition was a bit fast for my liking…

Seems like the series is mildly peppered with Greek terms.

“To Infinity and Beyond” by…some author I can’t really read the name of.

Suddenly, they throw in more characters…?

Where does Eiji keep those bullet cases of his…? In his jacket?

Having a guy die in the 1st episode is cheap. I mean, we don’t quite care for him yet – it’s too early in the anime for that.

Now there’s Norse terms on top of the Greek ones…

Even more characters? You kidding me?

Lemme guess, Eiji gave up his tattoo because Yamato inspired him and now he’s a goner.

Welp, the weight of the world is in your hands, Yamato. Including that dead dude on your back. (<- sarcastic)

Sk8 1

I’ve been hearing good things about this anime! Let’s go! (<- about a week late to the debut)

That politician is probably relevant…probably someone’s dad, if HypMic taught me anything.

LOL, a beef. They call this stuff “beef”? Where’s the chicken? (<- joke from HypMic)

Haemanthus…apparently a flowering plant from S. Africa.

That’s rare, you don’t see Canadians in anime all that much. I was just thinking as I came home from volunteering how you know British people all have fancy names like William and Australians are Johnno, Danno etc., but Canadians? No clue. Update: Apparently you’d call one Arnold or something just as generic…?

Why are all foreigners in anime half-Japanese with the mother being the Japanese side, anyway?...Because people can make their character speak Japanese while looking foreign. Right. Moving right along.

Ahh…I understand your plight all too well, Reki.

…Hmm. It seems Reki’s surname is written kiya, but read “Kyan”. His name literally translates to “history (calendar/age) of bravery (military might)” Update: Turns out his surname is 3 characters (read “kiyan”, although I’ve never seen that final character ever being read as “n”) and his first name is one, so his first name is just “history (calendar/age)”.

Even I suck at balancing on bikes and stuff (…yeah, I still can’t ride a bike even though I’ve done so many other things in my life) and I know you have to support yourself with one foot on the ground before you do things like trick flips. I may not have observed Tony Hawk all that much, but he was on the periphery of my knowledge.

“What’s your hourly wage?” – Ouch, I feel ya, Langa.

Koko ni netete actually means “Lie down here”, but…okay.

These eyecatches are cute.

That’s a cute fox.

Yikes! 60 mph = approx. 97 km/h!!!

Random umeboshi, LOL.

Aghhhhhhhhhhh! Cherry Blossom’s so pretty~! I love him already!

Thank you, based Bones!

Something that can be enjoyed, even without sound: this is why I enjoy both action and comedy anime!

Okinawa? We’re in Okinawa?

Well, that was cool! I didn’t even ask where the location was until the end. Update: Why is this anime sometimes called Sk8 the Infinity anyway…?

Horimiya 1

Horimiya…I’ve been aware of this series for a while. There’s even a Chinese volume of it at a library close to me, although due to contact tracing I haven’t bothered to check it out.

Oh, I bet Hori is the otaku!

Ooh, Marketing Script!

Because I’ve been behind on the premieres, I’ve seen enough to know this boy with the chain is Miyamura.

…argh! Miyamura is cute! Y’all were right!!! (<- likes blushing bois)

I bet there’s going to be an emergency meeting!

“Sorry, it’s egg time!” – Oh, I’m laughing so hard! So that’s the context behind the Wonder Egg Priority meme!

“…see these?!” – Well, it’s not like you have a tattoo or some-*Miyamura shows his tattoos* Never mind…

Oh, I just realised they even animate the minute movements of the eyes Miyamura does…cool.

Notice how Miyamura is blocked from the other guy due to the window.

Miyamura goes “Ishikawa-kun” but “Hori-san”…hmm. No wonder he’s letting Ishikawa get Hori.

The problem I find with romance series is that they’re generally tied to heteronormativity. Hori is coded with red silhouettes and Miyamura with blue…*sigh* Whatever happened to gender ambiguity?

Good heavens, what is up with this ED?! It looks like Pocoyo! (…Does anyone else know that cartoon…?) Aside from that quibble, this anime is great though.

Mushoku Tensei 1

Apparently this is the grandad of all isekai. Why it took so long for an anime of this…who knows?

…and of course this guy’s a loser virgin. Go figure.

*sighhhhhhhhh* He’s just ogling this woman’s boobs…

…oh, sorry. I was so distracted by the man candy, I didn’t care about Rudy.

I-It’s actually quite refreshing to not have an OP protagonist from the get-go for once. (Or maybe I’ve developed such a disdain for isekai since SAO rolled around that everything here suddenly feels fresh.)

You can see the birthplace of isekai without having watched any of the others right here, it looks like.

“…what’s the point of incantations?” – To make it easier for you to cast spells, I gue-spoke too soon.

…wow, they shamelessly showed off Rudy’s privates. I know he’s still young at this stage, but that reminds me of how I dropped Dragon Ball around the time Goku was shown the same way (which is…very early on, by my own admission).

I believe, based on the name of the spinoff I see in the 7 Seas emails, the magic tutor is called Roxy.

You’re thinking about marriage?! At your (reincarnated) age?!

Oh no! The tree again!

LOL, Rudy’s acting like a kid who’s been in COVID lockdown for a while.

I think what most of the isekai that spun off from here missed is that the loser is job age. Losers at life at job age are relatable and high school geniuses are relatable (albeit sometimes insufferable), but losers who become NEETs for no reason whatsoever and then get banged up by Truck-kun are not.

Anyways, this was good, but a risky kind of good, since it seems like this male gaze will continue to be around as Rudy gets older.

Update: Dropped after learning Rudy was a paedophile in his past life.

Update 2: Apparently the anime toned down this paedophilic tendency of Rudy’s, so...now the verdict is that I move on while I let other people tell me if this is true of the anime or not.

Kemono Jihen 1

“Kemono Jihen” means something like “creature incidents”. I wonder why Funimation didn’t change the name…?

Kabane means “summer wing”.

Kanoko Villa, I’d assume, is named after the deer (the name means “deer’s child”).

My experience with Sho Aimoto (creator of this manga) is reading a bit of Hokenshitsu no Shinigami. (That, by the way, reminds me of Nube, but it’s nothing spectacular.) However, Hokenshitsu no Shinigami has a very detailed artstyle…That’s why I’m pretty shocked Kemono Jihen has such a scratchy one…

Ooh, edamame!

Oh, I see…this is like Furuba or a werewolf story, huh? Rather than a Natsume Yuujincho sort of thing.

…I thought Inugami and Dorotabo had seen everything of each other because of bathing together…I guess not, then.

…is Yataro going to die?

It seems the “immortal demons” are oni, so…why subtitle them as “immortal demons” and not just “demons”?

Ohhhhhhhh…this shite’s good. It seems to have a throwback feeling to it, moreso than even Yashahime or a lot of the sequels I’ve seen recently.

Cells at Work!! 2

I was going to move right along to Wonder Egg Priority because I’m really behind on the debuts right now, but I accidentally opened this up while I was cleaning up so I might as well watch another episode or two before setting it aside.

He’s dead, Jim. (<-joking)

…gosh, these walls look like Hover all over again and that’s from 1995…

LOL, these background cells don’t even have any details. They’re basically stick figures with fat bodies…

I think that phrase that appeared, “Take good care of B Cell!”, may be a pun on Give My Regards to Black Jack (written with similar Japanese, “B Cell wo Yoroshiku!” vs. “Black Jack ni Yoroshiku!”).

LOL, “you sure have the guts”…while they’re in the guts.

The certificate says something about it being presented to someone in the face of bravery, I think (<- just looked at it briefly).

“You have a good head on your shoulders,” says the T cell as WBC struggles with the disguise…stuck on his head.

Wonder Egg Priority 1

I’ve been hearing this series is surreal, but no more surreal than Flip Flappers. So…I don’t know if I’ll like it or not.

What’s this K?(?96…?

There’s a sunflower on her raincoat…so that’s why I saw a post called “You’re the sunflower”. Personally, that just reminds me of Post Malone.

Those Seeno Evils…they’re CGI, aren’t they?

As Boueibu once said (but I may be paraphrasing here), “nothing is more scary than free”.

…to be honest with you, I haven’t had a best friend for at least 2 years now. I only really feel close to people who are like me and who I have sustained contact with over many years, so I end up cutting contact with people after we part ways and never trying to fix it.

I always find it slightly absurd when anime girls get a little pudgy and go, “I’m so fat!” (See, for instance, the Dumbbell series.) Or, in this case, Ai’s going, “I’m so ugly!” when there’s nothing wrong with her. She’s only a bit different from everyone else due to her heterochromia - she doesn't have any physical or mental difficulties.

IChu 1

Here for Ume and, of course, dem bois. Bring it!

I seem to remember one of the magazines called an “Ichu” “an idol egg” (i.e. a fledgling idol)…More egg puns for me, then.

I found him! Ume! He’s Akira Mitsurugi! Update: Turns out that’s Toshiyuki Toyonaga…Oops. (Ume is actually Lucas from I*B.)

Huh? For a second, I imagined Akira with a dubbed voice. Of course, I could only be dreaming, because idol anime normally don’t get dubs, but…it was interesting to think about.

LOL, “Onsta”.

This Akio-type character is popular lately. The sort who’s timid but has an outstanding talent they themselves might not see.

…uh, but Kocho means “Principal”…?

An idol bear?!

Torahiko is crazy…(Note the tigers. Tora = tiger.)

Specifically, that’s black coffee with no sugar.

As much as I want to keep watching this, I’ll hit pause on it here. There’s much better offerings this season.

YuruCamp s2 1

…grandpa’s writing is so…neat.

*glares at CGI car…*

This OP just doesn’t compare to Shiny Days, y’know…?

OOPArts.

Talking pine cones! They’re back!

Curry rice! Literally had some of the Japanese-style stuff the other day. It was great.

All this talk about jobs…I personally don’t like jobs because I like to work at my own pace (hence one reason why I’m working on being a translator), but…money…I’m jealous, girls.

I’m trying not to rely on the subs for those texts that appear on the screen so that I can keep my reading skills up…I kept up with them for the most part…but then I got distracted by the croquette sign at one point…

“…buy you some local food?” – That’s omiyage, normally translated “souvenirs”. “Local food” actually does make more sense in that gap, though.

…man, I’m jealous that the girls all got jobs suitable for their personalities and everything. Lil’ ol’ antisocial me sucks at retail, even after 2 years.

Design-bu 1

LOL, that man and his bunny. Update: That’s Unabara-san.

…geez, these utaite are everywhere now. I’ve seen 96neko, USSS, Eve and more being more central to anime song creation…

Thise characters in the OP seal (<-the stamp, not the animal) are saiyou, meaning “recruited”, or in this case, “accepted”.

OEM = original equipment manufacturer.

Hrm…you can tell it’s a giraffe by description, but…that “base everything on the horse” is interesting as you could count several things as horse derivatives. Also, the angels’ names are all standard Japanese names with natural components to them (Ueda = upright rice field, Shimoda = frost rice field etc).

Is this pink-themed guy…a guy? Or a crossdresser? Update: That’s Kanamori-san.

I like how the suits have little wing-like flaps. Also the wings on Shimoda’s back.

…I never thought an anime episode would make me so concerned about giraffes.

That guy in the green I remember from the Wave x Tendebu (Heaven’s Design Team) collab, his name is Kimura.

Oh, so there is a bird like that!

The random wiggling the chibis do in these short segments…it’s a bit disorienting. (<-Just a small quibble of mine.)

Oh! Galapagos effect!

Agonistic: “polemical; combative.” I thought they meant “antagonistic”.

Oh man, that punch line was great! It took me a while to get into the spirit of it, but this anime is great!

Update: Oh, that’s where those nature names come from! They’re actually meant to be gods! (Or…named after gods…?) Also, Ueda vs. Shimoda (the “shimo” could be the kanji for “below”).

Ex-Arm 1

I’ve heard this anime looks bad…even well before its debut. How bad? Let’s find out.

*stifles laughter* From the first pan, I know this anime is doomed on my list. Even Praeter was better than this!

*stifles laughter again* This OP really does look as bad as the stuff I was seeing prior to winter 2021! Like a game I shouldn’t take out of my archives! (It’s not as bad as Hover’s graphics, but still…that’s from 1995. Cut it some slack.)

That’s the 2nd Kimura this season…

Yugg is just…ugly. Never try to render elaborate eyelashes in CGI again, people.

Dimension High School was better than this because at least that had puzzles. This is even jankier than that!

Wait, why is Akira 3D when his dad is 2D? It’s not that obvious, but I notice these things. Update: That’s not his dad…but close enough. (That’s his brother.)

…and here comes Truck-kun! (LOL)

This would be good…if it weren’t rendered in the jankiest CGI known to man…

Alma’s gun strike doesn’t have a lot of force to it.

The fire is rendered so terribly…*stifles laughter*

This part with a disembodied Akira is what I assume I got up at 6 am for…but I can’t hear it, due to background noise. Remind me to confirm this later. (Minami’s mouth is rendered so terribly…augh.)

No force to any of these recent motions, either.

LOL, this censorship.

Wave 1

Ever since this project was announced, I’ve been watching developments unfold on Anime News Network. I knew it would get an anime or something similar I could follow…and now here I am. I mentioned in the Sk8 comments I have basically zero knowledge of surfing, so…this is very unexpected, in one sense.

Was that a drone…?

“Wizard of the Waifu Board”?! Are you kidding me?! (LOL)

There seem to be shots where I can see the CGI here, but…anything’s better than Ex-Arm. Let’s say that.

Actually…yappe is a derivative of yabai, meaning “cool” or “crap” (in an ironic sense). So it would probably be better to translate it as “Surfing’s the greatest!” or “Surfing’s the coolest!” Anyways, what I was thinking before I was going to say this was that the waves are so enticingly animated, it feels like a summer anime. Basically the only other anime I’ve ever said that for is Grand Blue.

If I’m understanding where Isokichi’s name comes from right, “iso” is the character for seashore or a rocky beach (磯).

LOL, the teacher just wrote “Show must go on.”

Hayama, Kanagawa. Kanagawa’s capital is Yokohama, so it’s not quite Tokyo, but somewhat close.

“Murphy”? I have zero clue what that means.

Oh, I see. The title is translated that way due to context. Now that I can accept.

I just burst out into laughter when I realised Nalu hasn’t dropped or put down his ukulele once.

BSD Wan! 1

Here comes my past to haunt me…aside from me being a fan of BSD, I’m here because I influenced this series. How so? Once upon a time in the now-distant year of 2016, I was a scanlator for a brief period. Most of the work I’ve done hasn’t influenced the world at large, but this is the most influential manga I had a hand in working on.

Oh no! They’re starting with the dog AU?! (That comes from pretty far into the manga, IIRC. Further than my work was on it, at least.)

It’s Rashomon, but Rashoken (that last bit means “dog”). Hence Ruffshomon.

Basically, they just insert dog-related words everywhere…don’t make me explain every one!

Ouch, I can only imagine how much pain it was to translate Inu Shikkaku. Literally, it’s “No Longer a Dog”, but how would anyone make it in line with the other puns…?

I wasn’t fully aware of how the dog AU was connected to the main Wan series because I haven’t really looked at it after I quit due to aggregators, but…that was a nice fakeout. Also, I was concerned as to whether this was going to be a full-length ep or a short…seems like it’s a 10 minute short, so I have more chances of taking it.

…oh gosh, that pose! I remember it! I worked on this one! (Now that I know it’s a TV short, I won’t cover future episodes, but I want to at least finish this one because I started it.)

I think they added a bit there. I remember Kunikida’s and Yosano’s were in the manga, but not the other members or Fukuzawa going “the wind is smiling” + Kenji working on the roof at the start.

Oh yeahhhhhhhhhhhhh, I remember Rampo. I think I had to approximate how he would say stuff with Pocky in his mouth, but Slug (current scanlator) went the extra mile and stuck food in his mouth to do the same panel.

It seems to make a short ep., they strung a bunch of the chapters together. Also, I don’t think we ever found out what Yosano’s puddle was and that was…probably for the better.

Oh yeah…I think I remember this one.

Now I remember it! I remember having fun explaining what a youkan was.

Whoa, Higuchi scrapped the SFX! That wasn’t in the original…

The ED seems to be an Atsushi cover of Namae wo Yobu yo.

Oh noooooooooooo! The flower gazing episode! That’s the one I remember most, because I was trying to figure out how to translate 移動 while making it smooth-sounding English…(I remember the final result was something like, “Move! Move~!”

Dr Stone: Stone Wars 1

Final debut! Let’s go~!

The last time this series was on the air was about 1 year ago. I can remember that far back…

I like how that recap is framed as Gen talking to the kids.

Senku overcomes every problem with science.

…not much to comment on here.

5 notes · View notes

ericvick · 4 years

Photo

New COVID-19 numbers greatest in state's youngest age group

Confirmed COVID-19 infections between Massachusetts residents younger than 20 are higher than they have been by way of the full pandemic, prompting 1 primary qualified to say the rising caseload is probable a reflection of greater testing and a further to alert it could forecast a wave of transmission in older older people.

Although some communities are backing absent from in-individual studying amid a statewide increase in conditions, the an infection rate among the the state’s youngest age group has developed extra rapidly in the previous two months than any other cohort. Officers have been continuously pointing to unsafe conduct amongst young grown ups as driving a substantial part of the uptick.

Concerning Oct. 5 and Oct. 18, the Section of General public Overall health recorded 1,914 new instances of the remarkably infectious coronavirus amid inhabitants among the ages of and 19, additional than in any of the 7 other age teams, according to information published Thursday.

That figure is greater than any two-week sum for the state’s youngest residents since March, a Information Support investigation discovered, an unusual record that no other age teams — all of which saw significantly much more considerable spikes in the spring — mirrored.

Several industry experts explained the trendline for small children and teenagers does not warrant sounding the alarm, pointing to the expanded access to testing and noting that hospitalizations and fatalities have remained virtually flat along with mounting circumstance figures.

Dr. Lloyd Fisher, president of the Massachusetts chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, mentioned the new stages of good checks amongst the youngest is “a good factor,” describing it as evidence that the community health and fitness apparatus is catching conditions and responding with make contact with tracing and isolation.

“In the past, we were not screening the mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic youngsters,” Fisher mentioned. “We have been only screening the genuinely unwell young children. So we are not looking at much more sickness, we are just looking at much more positives.”

Massachusetts Basic Clinic Center for Disaster Medication Director Paul Biddinger, also an MD, struck a much more worried tone.

The explanations behind the raise in pediatric COVID instances could be partly tied to enhanced testing, he reported, but “in any age array, growing scenario quantities are of concern.”

“On top of that, in other elements of the region, when we’ve witnessed situation rates rise between youthful populations, two to four weeks later on, we see circumstance prices increase in more mature populations,” Biddinger stated. “Just one of the major concerns is whether or not this is a harbinger of rising ailment in older adults who do want hospitalization, intensive care device care, and sad to say do expertise death at increased fees as well.”

Thursday’s weekly info report was the initially time in DPH records that the -to-19 vary counted the most new instances out of all age groups.

Modified for populace, the an infection fee was better between four other teams masking ages from 20 to 59. But that metric, much too, demonstrates quickest growth amongst the youngest: the an infection rate for each 100,000 people has tripled considering the fact that mid-August for ages to 19, even though for all other groups it has multiplied roughly two to two and a 50 % times.

Better numbers of recorded circumstances have not coincided with more clinic admissions or fatalities amongst the youth. Two-week sums of new hospitalizations proceed to hover in the single digits for the youngest team, several occasions reduce than any other age assortment, even though the DPH has only counted two COVID-connected deaths amid small children and teenagers considering the fact that April.

Though case figures are mounting amongst all those aged to 19, hospitalizations for COVID-19 have remained almost flat among the the youngest age cohort. [Graphic: Chris Lisinski/SHNS] A further situation is the group’s variety: compared with most of the age ranges tracked by DPH that depend a single ten years, the most affordable tier counts two a long time, from newborns up to 19-yr-olds, so it is unclear if a subset these kinds of as school learners is disproportionately lifting up the cohort’s totals.

Considerably of the improve has taken spot at the exact same time that numerous K-12 college districts welcomed students back again for partial or comprehensive in-particular person understanding. Some districts, like Boston Community Educational institutions, have reversed training course and shifted to all-remote mastering amid climbing statewide scenario counts.

Experts interviewed by the News Provider offered a variety of thoughts on the overlap between educational facilities and young COVID bacterial infections.

Biddinger said there is not still adequate data to figure out if college students returning to school has affected transmission, although both Fisher and MGH infectious disease expert Dr. Sandra Nelson claimed they believe that the offered evidence indicates that instruction is not immediately driving infections.

“If educational facilities ended up driving transmission, we would see a disproportionate maximize in cases in young adults, the 5-to-17 age range, relative to instances in the relaxation of the condition,” Nelson, who has served as a professional medical adviser to the state concentrating on instruction because June, claimed. “What we are looking at is rates in the to 19 (assortment) are growing in parallel with charges somewhere else.”

By contact tracing backwards from confirmed situations, gurus have located quite a few bacterial infections amongst children ended up probably contracted after a family member was uncovered somewhat than at faculty, Fisher said.

The state Office of Elementary and Secondary Education’s knowledge also does not suggest common infections in schools, Fisher and Nelson claimed.

“Pretty much all of the situations in universities are one particular case in this article and there,” Nelson said. “They are not reporting several situations or evidence of clusters, and the only clusters that have been reported normally have been attributed to out-of-college activities.”

Numerous schools and universities in Massachusetts have provided tests to their pupils and colleges, occasionally quite a few times for each 7 days, but the similar alternatives are typically not created out there to general public faculty families.

Gov. Charlie Baker has aimed his emphasis in latest weeks on youthful adults, warning this week that those people amongst 19 and 39 represent “where by the vast greater part of the enhance in optimistic checks has been occurring.”

Significantly of the uptick, he argues, is joined to unique behaviors such as web hosting or attending large gatherings and disregarding public wellbeing safeguards, alternatively than the resumption of business enterprise actions or in-person education.

“The real-everyday living encounter and the investigation with regard to educational facilities is overwhelming at this place that schools are not spreaders,” Baker reported Thursday when questioned about Boston’s determination to go remote. “The youngsters in educational facilities are not spreaders of COVID.”

He declined to “Monday morning quarterback” the choice by metropolis officers, then once again stressed that “people are not obtaining colleges, K-12 educational facilities, to be a large problem with regard to distribute.” Baker mentioned the 150-as well as conditions joined to community colleges in Massachusetts occur from a pool of “hundreds of thousands of folks,” symbolizing a reduced positive take a look at price.

Fisher, who has also communicated with the Baker administration to offer his insight, reported DPH must work to split down circumstance numbers by age groups in every community, which would offer you a clearer indication regardless of whether any spikes are relevant to college or other leads to.

His advice: prioritize instruction as the “to start with to open and the past to close” via the class of the pandemic.

Devoid of in-particular person understanding, Fisher reported, small children face massive dangers of destructive mental and social health and fitness impacts. Gurus have currently noticed an raise in depression, nervousness and suicidal ideation among youthful children, and the hurt could be disproportionate on English language learners or families with vital employees for whom little one care is difficult to attain.

“We could be resulting in seriously sizeable hurt to the foreseeable future of this generation, especially for underserved populations,” he claimed. “I am quite apprehensive, and we all are, about the influence on our susceptible populations.”

Condition officers described 202 new instances of COVID-19 in Massachusetts community colleges this week, like 129 amongst students engaged in-particular person and hybrid studying styles. The other 73 cases noted to the Section of Elementary and Secondary Training have been among college district personnel with setting up entry. The whole situation quantity in the department’s Thursday evening report was up from very last week’s 92 scholar and 68 employees instances.

The education and learning department this 7 days started including in its situation report the whole selection of men and women who are accessing public faculty structures, saying the 129 COVID-positive college students arrived from around 450,000 who are attending in-human being college at least some of the time, and the 73 employees circumstances were among the a workforce pool of around 75,000.

window.fbAsyncInit = operate() FB.init( appId: "270847243020841", status: true, cookie: true, xfbml: accurate, oauth : legitimate, channelUrl: "https://www.dotnews.com/fb_social/channel" )

FB.Function.subscribe("edge.generate", functionality(href, widget) _gaq.drive(["_trackEvent", "Facebook like", "Drupal", href]) )

(operate() var e = doc.createElement('script') e.async = legitimate e.src = doc.place.protocol + '//hook up.fb.net/en_US/all.js' document.getElementById('fb-root').appendChild(e) ())

#age #COVID19 #greatest #Group #Numbers #states #youngest

0 notes

jenniferdiazisatransgirl · 7 years

Text

Progesterone

Gonna see if I can talk my GP into giving me progesterone on Monday.

My prescriptions are coming up to that time of year where they need reviewing and it seems the perfect time to bring it up. And although GICs and GPs even more so can be iffy about prescribing it, I have a few points I plan to raise which I hope can sway him in my favour:

1. I’ve been on citalopram for nearly 6 months now and would quite frankly like to come off of it. My mental health still isn’t immensely stable though. Just slightly better than it was. It be nice to have something to guarantee me not going into a spiral again and something that is more natural for the body to have in its system.

2. A while back Lloyds Pharmacy must have been out of regular estradiol tablets and so they gave me climagest, which is basically estradiol and progesterone. It was a brilliant month. My emotions were a bit all over but I felt really good overall. And when I did dip, it was more like, “Oh, I want to pick a sad movie and have a good cry.” Not “Oh life is so miserable, I just want to die.” I found it really beneficial to my mental health.

3. Estradiol and progesterone can come prescribed as one single tablet, where as right now I am on estradiol, citalopram and montelukast (and that is just tablets). It is a hell of a lot of medication to keep track of. So if my GP agreed, I could cut my present 3 sets of tablets down to 2 which I imagine should be appealing in present times. And it makes it easier for me to keep track of my medications too.

Anyway, I have to have a review of my prescriptions anyway, so I can raise it then and the worst he can say is no. It’s worth a try. Plus, generally the large reason GICs and GPs refuse to prescribe it to my knowledge is due to its impacts on mental health typically being negative. Which I have experience that proves it impacts me in a way that improves my mental health. So it is worth a try.

#transgender #miscellaneous

6 notes · View notes

lovetheangelshadow · 7 years

Text

N'Pressions: Lego Ninjago Movie

So I watched the Lego Ninjago Movie over the past weekend despite the mixed reactions people have had to it since the trailer came out earlier this year. And honestly I can’t blame them, nor can I really be too angry at fans now that the movie has been released. It would make sense for a Ninjago movie to be made considering Ninjago is one of Lego’s biggest selling themes and thre is a large of both kids and adults that would support that kind of investment; not unlike ANOTHER certain toy line that is also getting a movie out in less than a week. Granted it would be a quite a challenge seeing as the show is still going and second only to Bionicle; Ninjago has the plottiest of plots for Lego, so you would have to figure out where in the timeline you would put the movie and make it mesh up with any new season that might be on the rise without too much continuity error. Granted they HAVE done it once before with the Shadow of Ronin video game so it’s not impossible. I also think that releasing it so close to the other lego film Lego Batman also hurt it. This movie might have served better if it had been held off a year or two to keep things from getting stale.

The movie is a one-shot alternate universe where Garmadon attacks are so regular that they are part of the weather forecast. And on cue there is the Super Ninja team who fight Garmadon with…mechs. Yeah they are less ninja and more Power Rangers which still felt more like Power Rangers than the actual 2017 movie. Granted the first half really felt like a toy commercial because the mechs do little else for the second half of the movie and they felt a bit out of place for Ninjago. Ninjago has HAD mechs before but mostly on smaller scale and were more means of transport than actual combat. That being said I do like how they really feel tailored to each ninja.

In this reality, Lloyd has some serious daddy issues, not being helped by being treated pretty much like a leaper by the general public. Sheesh, it’s amazing he DIDN’T want to become evil. Thankfully he’s got his buds, uncle, and mom to reel him back in because hoo boy there were a few instances of him really tip toeing that line there. Anyway, the ninjas suddenly lose their mechs as Garmadon one ups them and they must journey to find the Ultimate Ultimate Weapon. Garmadon follows them and he and his son have that typical rocky bonding film that you’ve seen before. On that note Garmadon is the best thing about this film. He is one of those over the top self aware bad guys, but he is really enjoyable. Even when he does evil things you cannot help but laugh with the guy.

While I did like this film a little better than Lego Batman (mostly because emo Lloyd isn’t as aggravating as man-child Batman) I will definitely acknowledge that it is the weakest of the current series. The sad part about all this is that this film had a lot of potential. The rest of the crew really didn’t have much impact in the story as the main focus was on Lloyd’s and Garmadon’s bonding. This is especially frustrating when you know they were fully capable of doing that with Ninjago’s initial pilot (and that only had a runtime of 44 minutes). Honestly the film feels more like a Warner Bros production than a Lego film like “hey we’re totally NOT cashing in on something that’s popular because we’re more focusing on doing what other studios are doing instead of working on our own brand of films” thing. Overall though even with its flaws I still enjoyed the film and might have a few toys in the semi near future. I’m Noctina Noir and I am one Nox of a Nobody.

#the lego ninjago movie #ninjago #ninjago movie review #n'pressions

5 notes · View notes

redsoapbox · 5 years

Text

28 BANDS / WHAT HAPPENED TO MY TIPS FOR THE TOP?

18 months ago, in an attempt to nudge the redsoapbox blog outside of its comfort zone, I spent many a long hour trawling the internet in search of up and coming artists with the potential to make an impact on pop culture. 28 bands (click the archive link to find the original article) featured acts from the blog’s base here in Wales, from many other parts of the U.K. as well as musicians from America, Canada, France, Sweden, New Zealand and Finland. All manner of genres were included - from country, soul and easy listening to indie-noir, psych-funk and art-punk. Some artists were easier to identify than others - Liz Brasher, for example, seemed an obvious star in the making, while others, such as Turku’s Those Forgotten Tapes, had yet to play even a single gig!

So, how have they all fared? Well, as might be expected, it’s something of a mixed bag. There have been successes - one artist appeared in an Academy Award-winning musical, another in a long-running BBC soap, national album prizes have been won and summer support slots with Dylan and Neil Young secured. There have been dispiriting failures too - one or two bands have barely gigged, some have remained unsigned (though in many cases they continue to self-release sublime music) and one group folded straight after an excellent debut album.

Taking the artists in the original order in which they were featured, here’s an update on progress made -

Hand Habits

Meg Duffy released sophomore album Placeholder in January 2019 to widespread critical acclaim. Pitchfork said it best, describing the album as a ‘bucolic mix of pleasing melody, soft guitars and gentle vocals’.

Boy Azooga

It’s been a massive year for the Cardiff combo. Storming singles “Face Behind Her Cigarette” and “Loner Boogie” secured the band a spot on the cult show Later... With Jools Holland and a record deal with Heavenly followed. The band’s debut album (One) (Two) (Kung Fu) won the 2018 Welsh Music Prize (for which I was a juror) and the group has recently been confirmed as support for Bob Dylan and Neil Young gigs later in the summer. I interviewed frontman Davie Newington for New Sound Wales last year http://www.newsoundwales.com/interviews/boy-azooga-interview-by-kevin-mcgrath/

Liz Brasher

As mentioned in the intro, North Carolina’s Liz Brasher seemed an obvious choice in the ‘next big thing’ stakes. In 28 bands, I predicted a ‘tidal wave of hype’ would greet the release of her debut album. I wasn’t kidding, either, with PopMatters declaring Painted Image to be evidence that Brasher is ‘one of the next thundering and commanding voices of soul music’.

youtube

Liz Brasher live

Family Jools

A run of exceptional tunes through 2016 - 2018 including “Get Off”, “Fallacy” and “Don’t Know” was supposed to lead to a debut album by the end of last year. The departure of Jack Hawkins (guitar) was the first outward sign that the project was in danger of veering off the rails and there is no sign at present of that elusive album. Another fine single “She’s a Mother” surfaced a few months back and exactly five hours ago they band have announced a forthcoming single by the name of “California Sun”. I’m still a true believer, though. You can find my interview with the band via the archive link.

There is a Family Jools gig available here https://bndrmusic.io/

Sarah Munro

Sarah released a fine sophomore album Angel Road in June last year and, somewhat bizarrely, turned up busking outside a hospital in the long-running BBC soap Holby City which aired in February.

Armstrong

The fact that I became somewhat smitten with Armstrong last year will be no secret to readers of this blog. That this fellow Welshman’s incredible music had hitherto escaped me boggled the mind somewhat. Discovering timeless albums like “Under Blue Skies” and “Songs About The Weather” gave me one hell of a kick. In an interview I conducted with Julian Pitt (the sole member of Armstrong) for Wales Arts Review in April last year, the singer/songwriter was excited about a planned re-release of Under Blue Skies (with a whopping 8 extra tracks!) and his continuing work on a brand new album Happy Graffiti. Anyone who read the interview closely, though, might have been a little worried about how long those projects might take to come to fruition. Happily, I can confirm that the sterling efforts of The Beautiful Music and Country Mile Records have borne fruit, with Under Blue Skies available to order from the following links

http://thebeautifulmusic.com/

http://www.countrymile.org/Releases/Armstrong/armstrong.html

You can read the interview here -

https://www.walesartsreview.org/interview-armstrong/

Keeva

While the much-hoped-for album has yet to materialise, there was a richly tender EP Four Sad Songs and a Ballad to cling on to in the meantime. Keeping my fingers firmly crossed that an album is just around the corner.

The Salient Braves

Aside from a single track,“Slob,” released last July, all seems deathly quite. I assume the Braves continue ‘pissing into the indie wind’ as their twitter profile proudly boasts! Until we hear anything new then, we’ll just have to resort to re-playing the majestic Delusions of Grandeur over and over again. Believe me, that’s no hardship!

https://thesalientbraves.bandcamp.com/

Estrons

Local favourites with a fantastic live reputation, Estrons released a corking debut album You Say I’m Too Much, I say You’re Not Enough to huge approval and then promptly split. They made their mark though, 2015 single “Make a Man” should be on anyone’s shortlist for best song of the twenty-tens.

Thou Swell

Absolutely fell in love with the demo version of “What’s Your Name” that appeared on Soundcloud in December 17. There was a smattering of London gigs in the first half of 2018 and the promise of a live EP, but everything has gone worryingly quiet since.

https://soundcloud.com/user-911275129

The Regrets

Seattle’s pristine purveyors of jangle pop released a new EP, Endless Desire, which featured five frothy tracks including the rather marvellous “Under a Sideways Moon”.

https://wearetheregrets.bandcamp.com/album/endless-desire

Head Noise

Mitch Tennant’s electro art-punks continue to battle Welsh music establishment indifference. A sequence of intriguing EP’s has been met with stunned silence. Hopefully, a debut album, due before the year's end, will finally break down some of these artificial barriers. As Mitch himself often says, ‘D.I.Y or Die, Baby!’.

youtube

Head Noise

You can read my interview with Mitch here

https://www.walesartsreview.org/interview-head-noise/

Jade Jackson

Jackson’s sophomore album Wilderness earned across-the-board critical acclaim on its release last month with American Songwriter complimenting the singers ‘tenacious honey-and-grits voice’. Opinion former’s No Depression called it the same way, highlighting Jackson’s ‘warm, confident vocal delivery’.

QTY

The band seem to have disappeared from all thing social media! Still, we’ll always have the eponymous debut album!

HOTEL LUX

Hotel Lux’s latest single, the stunning “English Disease”, had more than a dab of Robert Lloyd about it. If Hotel Lux can measure up to theNightingales, then you won’t hear me complaining. Set to play Cardiff’s Swn Festival in October, where I can get a closer look at them.

youtube

Hotel Lux

Cozy Slippers

Seattle’s three-piece Cozy Slippers released a cracking EP Postcards last April and are set to follow up with a new single “A Million Pieces” for German independent label Kleine Untergrund Schallplatten on the ninth of August. The band has also confirmed that plans for a U.K. tour are in the pipeline.

https://cozyslippers.bandcamp.com/album/postcards

Common Holly

The band is about to launch it's Back From the Dead’ tour later this month, taking in Toronto and Winnipeg along the way before hopping across the border to support Mauno on their short American sojourn.

BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD

An enforced name change saw Cardiff outfit Buzzard triple their moniker in an unfortunate start to Tom Rees’ campaign for superstardom. Rees aims pretty high, recently telling N.M.E. that the combo’s single “Late Night City” made him cry in a way that only “Wichita Lineman” ever had before. Fresh from playing the BBC Introducing stage at Glastonbury, the band are set to release a new single “Love Forever” later this month. Mark them down as potential world-beaters!

Nervous Dater

The band is currently opening for Los Campesinos! on their ‘Save America Tour’. If you haven’t invested in their spiky Don’t be a Stranger album, then why the hell not?

The Greek Theatre

As recounted in the original 28 bands blog, Swedish duo Sven Froberg and Fredrik Perrson wrote an entire series of albums and then decided on a date for their break up all within weeks of their formation in 2009. So far, the Greek Theatre masterplan has yielded two sublime albums Lost at Sea (2013) and Broken Circle (2017). I have struggled in vain to discover when the next record is slated for release, all to no avail. We can only assume that their surreal plan is still in force and that a third album is on the way!

oblong

Andrew Clement, Hwys Grav and Rob Daniel should apply to join the magic circle forthwith. The Llanelli post-punk band’s trick of conjuring up two feisty, furious and humorous albums Brilliant...Gwd (2017) and Hollulluog (2019) in double-quick time deserve the respect of their musical peers.

https://oblong1.bandcamp.com/

The Glad Machine

Nothing to report here, save for the release of a Christmas single “Days Gone By” and, wait a mo, a brand new single released this very day (5th of July). Just going to take a listen.......be back soon! Okay, the song is called “Virginia” and sits pretty neatly alongside the material from their debut album - file under thumping, melodic American rock.

Illuminati Hotties

The Hotties’ terrific debut album Kiss Yr Frenemies, the sound of which is described as “tenderpunk” by the group’s sole permanent member Sarah Tudzin, was rapturously received by the music press. Pitchfork, in particular, was persuaded, claiming that “every emotional abrasion and pang of longing on Kiss Yr Frenemies is conveyed with just the right mix of sadness and acerbity”.

Somehow

Erwan Pepiot’s tantalising description of the Somehow sound - ‘halfway between Joy Division and Belle and Sebastian’ should grab the attention of even the most jaded pop music consumer. The duo’s brand new single “Shut Your Eyes and See” certainly lives up to the billing. A new album, Low Tide, will be released on October the 25th.

youtube

Somehow

Crystal Furs

Having released a new album, Pseudosweet, in January, the band seems to have successfully overcome the departure of lead vocalist Amanda Hand (now fronting electro-pop combo Big Heaven).

Jetstream Pony

A rip-roaring EP, Self-Destruct Reality, captured the group on top form. A new song “Mitte” has just been demoed and is a forerunner for an album release later on in the year.

Sandra’s Wedding

The band’s debut album, Northern Powerhouse, is a certifiable classic of indie-pop. An album for the ages! How to follow that? - with a corking EP Good Morning, Bad Blood which builds the anticipation for a much-anticipated sophomore album.

Marlon Williams

William’s sophomore album Make Way for Love racked up three New Zealand music awards, but perhaps the most surprising development among the 28 bands featured here was Marlon’s role in Bradley Cooper’s Oscar-winning remake of A Star is Born.

Those Forgotten Tapes

I’ve left the most disappointing news until last. Sadly, Those Forgotten Tapes have put their rock ‘n’ roll project on indefinite hold. When I interviewed the Finish combo shortly after blogging 28 Bands, the group was in the midst of recording a debut album and there was a real air of optimism around. Following the interview, I kept in touch with Jari Oisalo, the driving force behind TFT, but as time went by without any word of an album it became clear that something had gone awry. Without breaking any confidences, there have been health issues which contributed in large part to the dissolution of the group. Jari intends to remix the four recorded TFT tracks (which you can hear below) and has hopes that a TFT album will see the light of day at some point.

In the meantime, Jari has recorded an album Tahtijuttuja as Salainen avaruusohjelma (Secret Space Program), there is a link below to their track “Buffalo” as well as resuming work on a shoegaze album under the moniker Tyynyt. You can listen to their track Pusuudelleen, reviewed positively in the N.M.E back in the day, below.

https://soundcloud.com/thoseforgottentapes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bd91VstQyWk

https://soundcloud.com/solinarecords/tyynyt-pusuudelleen

A number of the acts featured here are reviewed/interviewed in Pop Hack, my debut collection available now via Amazon Kindle and are included in my Spotify Pop Hack playlist (see the archive link for details) while I have also created a brand new 28 bands’ Spotify playlist which can be can be accessed here -

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/5tKzsqVHGTQZzZVUDkxlGd?si=F1G7ZFTRTI2SXJ1uBOo_gg)

0 notes

trendingnewsb · 7 years

Text

Glenn Close: You lose power if you get angry

From vengeful mistress to Agatha Christie matriarch: the actor talks about Harvey Weinstein, mental illness and growing up in a cult

Glenn Close and I sit at the corner of a large boardroom table in an intimidatingly minimalist office on the 14th floor of a Los Angeles talent agency. Its the kind of environment in which Patty Hewes, the ruthless lawyer Close played in Damages for five seasons, would feel at home and Im almost waiting for her to stand up, slam both hands on the table and shout, Ill rip your face off or any of the other terrifying put-downs that defined her double Emmy award-winning performance.

But Close is in high spirits and radiates such warmth I barely notice the chill from the tower blocks air-con. After we fiddle with the settings on our swivel chairs, which are so high they make anyone under six foot kick their legs like a child on a swing, the 70-year-old, six-time Oscar nominee and star of stage, television and film starts telling me about her dreams. I have had a lot recently, full of this wonderful love for a younger man. The dreams just keep coming and I wake up thinking, that was wonderful! It wasnt necessarily us doing the sexual act, just the feeling of love.

With her white hair cut to a sharp crop, and wearing a relaxed navy blazer, chinos and black scarf on account of the arctic corporate temperature, she looks stylish and fit. I have never felt better in my life, and I am, like, 70, she says. Im really a late bloomer.

She says she feels a disconnect between how she sees herself and how people may view me when I walk down the street, like: Theres an old lady. You know, there is now this cult of the model. Everyone on the red carpet is made into a model. That is very hard to not play into I have a bit of podge I am trying to get rid of, but its hard. I just think, Oh fuck, Ive been doing this my whole life! But the irony is, you just get better and better with age. You dont feel less alive or less sexy.

In Agatha Christies Crooked House. Photograph: Nick Wall

We are here to talk about Crooked House, the Agatha Christie adaptation debuting on Channel 5, before its theatrical release, in which Close plays Lady Edith, a matriarch of a very dysfunctional family. Close says, Christies grandson came to the set and he validated the fact that it was her favourite book, and the one that had never been adapted. He said when she handed it to the publisher, she was told she had to change the ending, because it was too upsetting and controversial. She refused. Its still pretty controversial.

This production, co-written by Julian Fellowes, might not be as spendy as Kenneth Branaghs $55m Murder On The Orient Express, but the ensemble cast is equally starry: joining Close are Gillian Anderson, Max Irons, Terence Stamp and Christina Hendricks. Close presides over her co-stars with gravitas and grace, in an understated performance that finds the humour in an otherwise bleak setup. But youd expect nothing less from the actor whose 40 years in the business started with star turns in Broadway productions (she won a Best Actress Tony in 1983 for Tom Stoppards The Real Thing). Her first film role, at the age of 35, was with Robin Williams in The World According To Garp, for which she received an Oscar nomination as she did for her supporting roles in The Big Chill and The Natural. Her performances in Fatal Attraction, Dangerous Liaisons and Albert Nobbs, about the life of a transgender butler in late 19th century Ireland, which she also co-wrote, racked up further Oscar nominations but still no win. This is seen by many as a travesty: Close brings a precision to her film work, honed through her years on stage. She has that rare taut quality Jack Nicholson also has it where you believe that beneath the steely control she is capable of snapping at any moment.

It was this that led Andrew Lloyd Webber to cast her in 1993 as the tragic silent movie star Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard on Broadway. Close reprised the role 23 years later, getting her old costumes out of storage (she has kept all her costumes and recently donated the collection to a university in Indiana) for its revival in Londons West End.

As Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction: Clearly she had mental health issues. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

But it was her Oscar-nominated turn as Alex Forrest in Fatal Attraction in 1987 that proved career-defining. Thirty years on, Close still counts Forrest as the character of whom she feels most fond; she has admitted to fighting tooth and nail against the films eventual denouement, which turned the character into a bunny-boiling psychopath and Close into the casting directors go-to woman on the verge for years afterwards. Now we have the vocabulary to talk about these things, clearly she had mental health issues, she says.

Close sits regally still as she speaks, emphasising her points by leaning forward and locking eyes. Shes comfortable with silences and often takes a theatrical beat or two before answering questions. Shes all poise and control, but does she ever lose her temper?

I express my feelings quietly. I am not afraid of confrontation, but I am not particularly good at it. If I get attacked, I am not good at attacking back. There is fight, flight and freeze and I tend to freeze. That is not a strength of mine. I love the fact that my daughter Annie [Starke, an actor] is more of a fighter than I am. She doesnt let people get away with shit. While she agrees that women have a harder time being angry, publicly, than men, she says, I have played a lot of characters, and actually anger makes you lose power. Patty Hewes [in Damages] she hardly ever lost her temper, but when she did, it was very specific. I have always felt you lose power if you get that angry.

The collective outpouring of anger among women in Hollywood right now is something of which Close is acutely aware. She says that sexism in the industry has shifted more slowly than it should have done throughout her career: It took Harvey Weinstein and someone calling him out [for real change to happen]. I know Harvey, and he has never done that to me, but people would say he was a pig. I never knew that it was that bad and I dont personally know anybody who has endured that. I would like to think that I would have done something about it.

We discuss whether its possible to separate the work from the personalities involved in it. News has just broken that House Of Cards will be back for another series without Kevin Spacey, after it was originally canned because of harassment claims brought against its leading man. Close wraps her scarf around her chest and fixes me with her electric eyes. Artists, to make a huge generality, walk on a very thin line. Sometimes, like my beloved friend Robin Williams, who was one step away from madness, whatever makes them a great artist also makes them very complicated human beings. Again, that doesnt mean they can prey on and abuse people.

With Harvey Weinstein in 2013. Photograph: Mike Coppola/Getty Images

At the root of the problem of sexism in Hollywood right now is, Close says, biology. I think the way men have treated women, from the beginning of time, is because they have different brains to women. So I am not surprised by it at all. I say to a guy, Tell me the truth, if you see a woman walk into a room, what is the first thought that goes through your head? His answer, always, is, Would I fuck her? It doesnt mean they act on it. If you can evolve into a society where men know that they should not always act on it then there has been a positive revolution. But you cant just say that theyre not going to have the thought that is ridiculous. It also has to be the women, who are not powerful, to be OK to say no and leave the room. I think its unrealistic to say were going to change but we have to evolve.

I ask Close who she thinks is a great man today. She is silent, thinking, for what feels like a full 60 seconds in which I am so tempted to throw out some options: Barack Obama, the Pope, the friendly security guard on reception who let us in

Nelson Mandela, is her final answer, but Im not sure shes convinced. I guess for me, she says, greatness is taking your humanity and still doing the good thing. Its sad to say that there are very few men, who are leaders, who have some sort of moral code that they dont deviate from because of popular opinion.

She thinks we are undergoing a crisis of masculinity: In the public mind, yes. I was outraged when I heard that there was a war against men I was like, are you joking? What do you think has been happening against women for centuries?

Close knows all too well about the misuse of power, because her own upbringing was, as she puts it, complicated. When she was seven, her parents joined a cult. Moral Re-Armament or MRA was a modern, nondenominational movement founded by an American evangelical fundamentalist which extolled the four absolutes: honesty, purity, unselfishness and love. Her father, a physician working in the Congo, sent Close with her brother and two sisters from the family home in Greenwich, Connecticut, to live at the MRA HQ in Caux, Switzerland (Closes mother, Bettine, was a socialite).

She is vague on the details but clear on the impact this experience had on her as a teenager: I was repressed, clueless and guilt-ridden. The timeline is patchy, but Close travelled with MRA in the 60s as a member of their musical groups, and spent time back in Connecticut at an elite boarding school. I had a wonderful time at Rosemary Hall, a girls school, she says. I was in a renegade singing group called the Fingernails: A Group With Polish. But she remained, as she calls it clueless. A lot of my friends knew boys youd have these horrendous dances with boys schools and they would get the guys they wanted and I would just stay with the person I was with.

As Patty Hewes in Damages. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

She was briefly married before going to university. It is a complicated story for me. I was married before college, and kind of in an arranged marriage when you look back on it, and my marriage broke up when I went to college, as it should have. I was 22. But my liberal arts school had a wonderful theatre that was my training, my acting school.

Was that where she finally learned about sex, popular culture, the ways of the world? Not really, she says. I still am learning.

Close has two sisters, Tina the eldest, and Jessie her younger sister; and two brothers, Alexander, and Tambu Misoki, who was adopted by Closes parents while living in Africa. At the age of 50, Jessie spent time in a psychiatric hospital and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, a weight that had been hanging over the family, undiscussed, for years. Talking about mental illness just wasnt done, Close says. You dont have a vocabulary for it and youre also very aware of appearances. You dont want to appear a crazy family.

In 2010 Close founded Bring Change to Mind, a charity that aims to end the stigma around mental illness by talking openly about it and its effect on families. It was my nephew who was first diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. This is basically schizophrenia with an ingredient of bipolar. And when that happened, it was like, What? My sister Jessie, his mother, didnt know what was wrong. He went to the hospital for two years and that saved his life. Then Jessie was, finally, correctly diagnosed herself.

With sister Jessie in 2009. Photograph: Getty Images

Close felt a duty to her family to give them a high-profile person who is not afraid to talk about it publicly. It affects the whole family. We always knew my grandmother and mother had depression my sister does, I do to a certain extent. But I didnt know my great-uncle had schizophrenia. I knew my half-uncle died by suicide. There was a lot of alcoholism addiction, self-medication. Nobody ever talked about it. I knew my grandmother was depressed, but at first I thought she lived in a hotel, not a hospital, because she always said how good the food was.

Close says she and her siblings are of one mind politically, but admits she does have members of her family who voted for Trump. I tried to understand that. Theyre not crazy people who have been brainwashed by Fox News, but I try to understand the anger, because I think that has been building up ever since Watergate. It was watching that scandal unfold that made her realise Americans have always been naive, we just take for granted what we have, and we always thought of our leaders as good people. With Watergate, people became cynical about government.

Today, she says, Washington is a bunch of self-serving She searches for an expletive and after a second settles on men. She says, Its hard to believe that people are so out for themselves. It goes against what you would like to believe about your country. I feel eloquence is incredibly important for a leader, and we had that with Barack Obama, who made his initial impact because he gave that incredibly eloquent speech, but he lost his eloquence in his presidency. We always need someone to say, I hear you, someone who can put their words into unity and hope and we dont have that. I think the last person may have been Robert Kennedy.

And now you have Trump tweeting nonsense.

Its devastating. Social networks are now like our nervous system, and if you keep pumping that kind of crap into the nervous system, it is going to have an effect on a population.

With Kevin Kline in The Big Chill. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

Close doesnt talk politics with her friends because she doesnt really have many friends. I have always forced myself into situations I am not comfortable in. I am an introvert, and I was painfully shy as a child. I think I still have a big dollop of that in my persona. I read a book called Quiet: The Power Of Introverts In A World That Cant Stop Talking and it was a real comfort to me I realised I was that person I had always been. And it was at that point I told myself to stop pushing myself into situations that I dont enjoy. I dread cocktail parties.

She tells me shes pretty reclusive and can count her closest friends on two fingers. I ask if shes still good friends with Meryl Streep.

I have never been close friends with Meryl. We have huge respect for each other, but I have only done one thing with her, The House Of The Spirits.

I apologise for assuming they were pals, being of a similar age and stature in Hollywood, and admit this negates my next question: Who would win in an arm wrestle, you or Meryl?

Close laughs. Oh, I would, because I am very strong.

***

The tightest bond Close has is with her only daughter Annie, 29. Annies father is the film producer John Starke whom Close dated for four years from 1987, but never married. Annie was never a door-slamming, difficult teenager. Close tells me: When my Annie was three, she looked at me, and said, I want you. I knew what she meant. I, at the time, was a single working parent, sometimes even when I was home, working or producing something, I was there and not there.

With daughter Annie Starke in 2010. Photograph: Rex/Shutterstock

She doesnt think its any easier for working mothers today and acknowledges, I had it easy because I could afford to have help think of the women who cant afford it and have to put their child in some shaky childcare centre. No, I think it is incredibly hard for women. Any person, in any profession, feels that tug [of guilt]. We discuss the intimacy of the single-parent, only-child bond. Once, I went to vacuum Annies car seat as we were moving house, and a lot of life had happened there, so I was crying. She said, Mummy, are you OK? I said, Yeah, Im OK. And she said, Here I am.

She was married to businessman James Marlas from 1984 to 1987 and then, following other relationships, including that with Starke, she married again, in 2006, to venture capitalist David Evans Shaw, divorcing him nine years later.

Would she marry again?

I dont know.

Does she think marriage is important?

I think it is a positive evolutionary component that we are better with a partner. I think to have a partner that you can go through life with, creating a history with, that you can find a comfort with, have children with there is nothing better. This is an opinion I have come to very late in life, at an ironic moment, where I dont have any of that. I dont know if I will again. But I do think its a basic human need to be connected.

Despite this, shes happy on her own right now. This is a good time in life. I do think, what would it be like to have a partner again? But it would have to be very different from what I had before. Then I have that great dream and wake up happy.

Crooked House is on Channel 5 at 9pm on 17 December.

Commenting on this piece? If you would like your comment to be considered for inclusion on Weekend magazines letters page in print, please email [email protected], including your name and address (not for publication).

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/16/glenn-close-harvey-weinstein-mental-illness-cult-fatal-attraction

from Viral News HQ http://ift.tt/2npFUB4 via Viral News HQ

#IFTTT #Viral News HQ

0 notes

woodswolf · 8 years

Note

okay i really want to know, 5 things you'd change about ninjago

honestly the bigger question is 5 things i wouldn’t change about ninjago, but i suppose i’ll narrow down the top of my list of things that Need To Change

1. I’d fix the timeline so that it Actually Makes Sense and allows more room for exploration of other elements. Biggest thing is really to make the Serpentine War take place a long ass time ago with none of the ninjas’ parents being involved. By extension, I’d also end up changing the way the elemental powers work or carry from generation to generation (like one of my 50-some fleshed-out explanations of how the powers should work, instead of this arbitrary “and YOU get it from your parents, and YOU get it from your parents, and YOU’RE obviously adopted because your parents don’t have it, and YOU get it from your parents” etc. etc. etc. because honestly just no. No. That’s not good enough for me sorry. :P

2. More emphasis on the everyone’s relationships with other people, rather than just the core cast. I wanna see more of Kai and Nya bonding over remembering their parents. I wanna see more of Jay interacting with his parents. I want to learn who Cole’s mom is and see how that impacts Cole and Lou. I want literally anything to happen with Zane and Julien and Echo, because after S6 we are Incredibly Ripe for a discussion which I really want to see. Basically, I want to learn more about who these characters are, who they care for, and who they care about - unlike in canon Ninjago, where the team pretty much Exists as a singular entity that has no ties to any people in particular. TL;DR: I want a minor characters to exist for more than one episode sometimes.

3. No romance bullshit. Listen, back in S1 and S2, Jaya was cute. Now, though, after everything that happened in all the recent seasons? Sorry, no. It’s quite literally the opposite of a healthy relationship 90% of the time - the one example I can think of where they actually communicated with each other without all the other bullshit is TLR, but considering TLR is probably one of the best Ninjago episodes of all time, that pretty much shows the state they’ve been in. All the two of them ever do is try to kiss each other, even when they’re fighting almost constantly, which really isn’t a good way to figure out what’s wrong in your relationship to try and fix it. Basically, fuck the love triangle.

4. Fuck S3 in general. Sure, you can have a season with some of the same general ideas in its plot - I mean, if you can even find an overarching plot in S3 to imitate, which is a pretty fuckin hard task if I do say so myself - but the sudden genre switch from “mostly fantasy” to “mostly sci-fi” is a really fucking sudden transition, and it really doesn’t work well with the show’s strengths. The sad thing about S3 is that a lot of the concepts introduced in it are wonderful - Cyrus, Pixal, Hiroshi’s Labyrinth, Pythor’s return, the Serpentine underground city, etc. - but the plot is so unfocused and all over the place that it just comes off as complete bullshit. Hell, even the sudden genre switch could’ve felt more natural if the plot took a bit more time and cut out the love triangle bullshit. But it didn’t. So fuck S3.

5. General characterization cleanup. In the last few seasons, everybody’s really been coming off as pretty flat - Kai’s the impulsive one, Cole’s the sorta-serious one, Zane’s the smart one, Lloyd kinda exists, Nya doesn’t have character unless she’s arguing with someone, and Jay is a nightmare and makes me want to die. This one I’m going to split up into subcategories for each of the main characters because this is a huge problem.

Jay: He’s been so screamy and whiny all the time in recent seasons, and sure, he also was a little bit back in the earlier seasons, but the Hagemans have slowly turned him up to eleven over time. S6 was literally so bad at points that I could hardly sit through it. It’s gotten to the point where I can instantly tell that the Hagemans haven’t written the script for something if Jay doesn’t piss me off - and so far I’ve always been right, because I’ve been able to successfully predict it for Day of the Departed and S7, neither of which were/are written by them. It’s worth noting that both of them portray Jay a lot better and have a “normal” amount of focus on him, so it’s possible that S6 was only really especially bad because the camera was on him the entire time.

Cole and Lloyd: Back in the second half of S2 or so (though it only really became obvious in S3), Cole and Lloyd actually swapped a lot of their “personality” traits. Before the swap, Lloyd was more of the “foodie” character and Cole was the “default leader”, but around Child’s Play their traits actually got swapped around. Now, back in the olden days, all of the characters were more 3-dimensional, so it was really hard to tell - but as soon as S3 started it was very obvious that Cole was suddenly “goofy food-lover” and Lloyd was “default leader the team would be incompetent without”. I’d switch them back. #MakeLloydSillyAgain

Zane: Honestly, of all the Ninja, Zane’s the one that most pisses me off right now, even more so than Jay. While Jay’s just annoying and screamy, our current Zane is a completely different character than the one we had back in the early days of Ninjago. Both versions of Zane are smart, but while the old Zane was kind and understanding, the Zane we have now is very egotistical and occasionally quite mean-spirited. The easiest way to show the difference is by taking a look at the scene where new Zane asks for wishes from Nadakhan - new Zane tries to outsmart Nadakhan and gets punished for it. Old Zane probably would’ve wished for his friends to be freed. :/

Nya: I’m too tired to try to come up with reasons for this because honestly Nya’s character has always been treated like shit. One thing I’d definitely change doesn’t have anything to do with her - it’s that I’d have her independence be treated as an asset instead of a liability.

Kai: I don’t have much to say with him - of all the Ninja, his character has stayed the most consistent throughout the show. He’s impulsive and a bit rash at times, but he’s not stupid; and he’ll do anything he can to protect the people he cares about. In recent seasons, the writers have frequently ignored the “but he’s not stupid” part, but other than that he’s pretty much the same as he was at the beginning.

k so that’s 5, good job woods it only took you an hour to write all this shit

#woodswolf's posts #ninjago #i couldnt even go on at this point if i wanted to im fuckin exhausted #thebetteradversary

58 notes · View notes

ecotone99 · 4 years

Text

[RF] - HOT LOUD BLACK NIGHT

HOT LOUD BLACK NIGHT

It was around 2:30 AM when a black limo pulled up to the curb and deposited Jerry Mallard in front of his eponymous nightclub. The first thing that he thought as he flew (rather unceremoniously) out of the moving vehicle must have been something along the lines of “no, no please no. Oh god, etc.” Of course, one can never really know with these things. As a sort of general fact: being tossed face first onto a hard concrete slab is not very pleasant.

In Jerry’s context however, it must have been one hell of a cherry on top of one hell of a terrible night. The impact did not knock him out, as he must have expected/prayed for. Instead he landed on the ground with a fumbling thud, a small crack of his forehead hitting the pavement, and a little man-whimper that might have garnered some sympathy if someone was around to hear it. As the limo sped down out of the parking lot, down the street and up on to the highway, Jerry flipped himself over on to his back and faced a clear and starless sky. One can imagine that he tried to pray.

As you might have guessed, 2:30 AM was also last call. And as Jerry lay there, people began filing out of the club. It was the Sunday crowd: Jittery, spark-lit grunge scum, all bumming off each other and waiting for someone (anyone) to come up with what to do next. They were crowded in little flannel circles, angling their smoke and spit towards Jerry’s aluminum-fronted nightclub. They visibly laughed and spread their arms wide. Their conversations, however, would have been hard to hear over the cicadas that had just hatched and begun to breed.

Still on his back, Jerry would have watched this entire scene upside down. These kids would be anchored to the sky. His club, with its unbelievable frontface reflecting dirty neon signage off of every lateral surface, must have appeared like an alien spaceship descending (at last) to summon Jerry towards some higher and not-so-human destiny. Perhaps he would be the Hero of some story, one that might have been entertaining, but that would, of course, not have been true. It certainly would not be this story. This story has no heroes. That’s probably what makes it true.

By the time Jerry pulled himself off of the concrete and dusted off his bloodied suit jacket, these folks had mostly hobbled to their cars and swerved off towards the highway. Jerry experienced, for the first time that night, a moment of true quiet. He stood there for a moment, leaning more on his left leg than on his right, and closed his eyes. He probably did not feel any sense of relief. He was certainly in no position to feel it. But he might have felt something like peace. As per the theme of the night, however, this proved to be short-lasting. He opened his eyes to a small, round man in a white sweat-through button down, wagging one of his many ringed fingers at Jerry. Jerry spoke first.

“Hi Lloyd.”

“Hey, hi, howdy. We having a good night?” Lloyd slapped his huge hands together.

“Listen Lloyd-”

“Jesus Christ, why not just up and fuck off for a night, right? Right? It’s not like I need your, uh, I don’t know, your help around here or anything. You know how many kids I had to pull out of the stall-”

“You gotta stop letting ‘em do that stuff in there Lloyd.”

“Christ what am I telling you? What am I telling you Jerry? That’s what I’m trying to do, but they like our bathrooms Jerry. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you these past couple-a weeks. They’re not coming for the fucking music Jerry. You haven’t been listening to me. They’re going out of their minds in there. They’re going out of their goddamn minds in there. You shoulda seen this one kid. He was all blue, coldest guy I ever touched since the Gulf, you know? Friends carried him out of the place, said they were gonna take him to the hospital but god really knows with these things. And…what the hell happened to you?”

Jerry walked past him and up the path to the building. Lloyd stared at him for a few shocked seconds and rushed up to follow.

“Was it-” Lloyd whispered in his ear.

Jerry opened the door and walked into the bar, while Lloyd stood at the entrance, his hands over his mouth in an absolute, totalizing kind of terror. The rumors were true. A carnival wheel of expressions passed over Lloyd’s face then, coming to stop somewhere between anger and panic. His skin turned red and he somehow began to sweat even more than he had been (and he was a notorious sprinkler.) He brought a hand to his bulging forehead with a groan. He probably had a headache, what for the heat and the insectoid racket. Like almost all of the pain he had ever experienced, he would treat it with drink. In this regard, it must have been nice to manage a bar. He followed Jerry inside.

Jerry’s custodial staff essentially consisted of a mother and a daughter, aged 51 and 29 respectively, neither of whom really liked Jerry and who thought he was a drunk schlockmeister who benefited from the failings of others. They were, of course, not wrong. When Jerry entered the “ballroom”, the mother had just finished calling Shelly (the bartender/assistant manager) every Polish synonym for “asshole” that there is. It should not come as a surprise that the mother, upon opening the bathroom stall to three bloody syringes on the TP dispenser, a pool of vomit sprinkled with dutch guts, and an unconscious scumkid embracing (Madonna-like) the toilet he had broken his bloody nose on, that she would begin to reevaluate the future of her employment at Mallard’s. Her daughter stood at her side, meekly looking down at her shoes, lifting them on and off the sticky beer-soaked floor. When Jerry clattered through the front door, kicking a few light wooden chairs out of his way, the mother finally let off of Shelly and turned her attention to her employer, who embraced the woman in a warm hug.

This was met (for what must have been the seventh or eighth time that night) with a swift and impassioned strike to Jerry’s groin. He fell to his knees with a groan as the mother grabbed her daughter’s hand and marched her out of the club. Shelly hopped over the bar to help him up.

“Looking good. Jer.” she said.

He emitted another pathetic groan, while she helped him over to a stool and leaned him up against the bar. After locking the front door behind him, and casting a manic paranoid look out the front window, Lloyd crossed over to them, waving his hands in the air.

“These goddamn bugs…Shelly-” He began.

She waved a towel at him.

“Absolutely not. You’re falling over for goddsakes.”

Lloyd put one hand on Jerry’s back, covering up a bloodstain.

“Shelly might I remind you that I’m your, uh, your boss.”

“Lloyd might I remind you of what I believe to be your lack of fucking foresight on the matter, seeing as I’m gonna have to be the one who picks you up off the fucking floor and drives you home once you’re done. You miserable bastard.”

“Jeez Shelly tell him how you really feel.” Jerry said before laughing extremely.

He doubled over in laughter, sweat dripping off his scalp and wetting the dry blood on his forehead. By the looks of it, he was still bleeding. Shelly and Lloyd watched their boss’s spasms, his neck snapping back and forth, laughter spewing like a missed vein. Jerry did not laugh often, and given the circumstances this was probably rather shocking to Shelly and Lloyd. Jerry let his head fall on to the table with a clunk, before lifting it up and aiming it towards no one in particular.

“They’re gonna kill me. Oh God. They’re going to kill me.” His head fell on to the bar again and stayed there. Over the dim sound of exit music, one would have heard him sob. Between these sobs he would manage to mutter some variation on what he had already said, sometimes a prayer to a God who clearly did not care very much, and he went on like this for several minutes while Shelly poured Lloyd a drink.

“Jesus.”

“Yeah, I know.”

After waking up an hour later, and calling his distant mother several times before giving up, Jerry arrived at the conclusion that if he was ever going to get enough money to pay these people off, he was not going to get it through honest means. When most people reach this conclusion, they usually reach towards what they have already done, in order to internally justify what it is that they plan to go ahead and do. Jerry had no criminal record, certainly nothing to indicate he was capable of what he ended up doing. It is entirely possible that Jerry had no experience in the matter, which is quite remarkable. Then again, crazier things have happened and it helps to not be too impressed when men do horrible things to each other.

He waited for Lloyd to conk out, and once Shelly was busy carrying the large man off of the cup-littered dance floor, Jerry snuck to his office behind the bar. Cheap metal walls all rusted through, a leaky ceiling (if it ever rained), crummy radio on a leaning filing cabinet side-plastered with smutty stickers advertising scumbands long broken up, every wall covered in women, crumpled pharmacy receipts spilling out of a kicked-over rusted mesh trash can, this office was Jerry’s little happy place, which really says a lot more about Jerry than any police report can. It must have been hot. He had a small electric fan on his desk, but it had broken several days before. One can imagine him sweating as he tried to recall the combination for the floor safe.

He must have felt the weight of Lloyd’s gun as he brought it up to his eyes, to look at it and confirm (yes) that he was really holding this. He might then have taken a few moments to aim it at one of his many lewd indecorous posters, maybe imagining himself (again) as some sort of Hero. It is usually around this time that criminals begin to preemptively justify their crimes, usually blaming others for getting what’s coming to them, or raising their categorical lack of foresight to something akin to, say, Fate or Destiny. It is all very sad and pathetic, but this is not an editorial. These are the facts, the best that they can be presented. Of course, there will be gaps.

It was around 4:15, 4:30 that Jerry snuck out the backdoor and into the hot loud black night. As some people know, this is actually the opportune time to commit a robbery. There are usually very few people around, the dark makes it easy to make a break for it and stand a chance of getting away. There is also something to be said about that atmosphere. Coming out of the dark, his face all fucked, pointing a loaded Ruger straight at your chest, Jerry would have been quite a terrifying sight. He was betting on it. Of course, the biggest problem of committing robberies at this time is, of course, finding anyone to actually rob. Most businesses are closed and most people are home, and half the people shambling around at that hour are so spun off the planet they wouldn’t understand the protocol. So this kind of difficulty probably accounts for the gap in time between 4:30 and 5 AM, when Jerry finally found his target. In that time, he couldn’t find any people, just insects.

The Rusty Donut is just off the highway, and one of the few places in that part of town to stay open 24 hours, mostly because it was a known scumspot. There were a lot of kids there usually. Donuts are across-the-board pretty popular among the drunken. However there was always a lull around 4, and it was a Sunday, so it should not be unbelievable that the place was empty. Jerry watched the only one there, a young skinny kid in a white uniform and paper cap, through a windowpane advertising BOGO free donuts. This boy, who was sixteen, usually spent his downtime polishing the glass front of the confectionary display. So his back was turned when Jerry came in, pointed a gun to his head and demanded “everything in the register and everything in the safe, please.”

The boy, who had heard about this kind of scenario but had yet to experience it, immediately began to cry in these infantile little sobs. He started to turn around, but Jerry pushed the cold barrel of the gun against his warm neck.

“Don’t fucking look at me.” He said. Listening to the tapes of the incident, one could roughly approximate Jerry’s adopted voice as something like Mickey Mouse with a dash of terminal emphysemam09. It was (in the opinion of this author) kind of silly, and certainly incongruous with the situation, and assumingly very odd and disturbing for Jerry’s victim, who must have imagined something quite grotesque while he kept his eyes down and counted the money he drew out of the register. He placed a wad of bills on the counter. Jerry did not take the money. He kept the gun aimed directly at the child’s head, and asked him (again we must imagine the voice) to “open the goddamn motherfucking safe or else your head’ll be all like a fucking…jelly donut man.” This was, assumingly, the best threat he could come up with. The boy complied.

Unbeknownst to Jerry, as the boy bent down beneath the counter to unlock the floor safe, he managed to surreptitiously draw his cell phone out of his back pocket, and toss it on the floor in a spot between himself and the counter that was out of Jerry’s line of sight. So while Jerry had an obscured view of the boy’s back, and could roughly confirm that he was following directions, he had no idea that the boy had managed to call the police, mute his phone and keep the responder on the line. The fact that it had never occurred to Jerry to confiscate the boy’s phone, can be chalked up to a simple generation gap. It was sort of out of his realm. This would, of course, prove to be his undoing.

At exactly 5:06, Officers Chuck McDale and Nancy Mallahoo, both decorated ten year veterans of the local police department (and the best of friends) received the call about an armed subject at the Rusty Donut. This was not, as Officer Mallahoo stressed later in her deposition, “their first rodeo.” Still they were nervous. And as they left their radar gun post on the highway, they drove towards the exit in silence, both of them considering the worst case scenario. Both officers were parents with young children. Both had a lot to lose. Both would much rather not be in this situation.

Officer McDale, who was driving, cut the lights as they entered the parking lot, banking on the element of surprise to work in their favor. It did. Jerry did not notice them pull up. Through the glass front, the officers had an unobstructed view of the scene. The boy had his hands up and his head down. With his back to the officers, Jerry held the gun, but his hands were shaking. Before leaving the car, McDale agreed to enter through the back door, if it were unlocked, and to buzz Mallahoo’s walkie once he was in position. Mallahoo would then enter the restaurant through the front, aim her service weapon, and demand that Jerry put down his gun. Whether Jerry complied, or turned around to aim at Mallahoo, McDale would jump out from behind the counter, putting himself between Jerry and the boy, and aim his service weapon. The plan depended on timing. If McDale hopped out too soon he would be in Jerry’s direct line of fire. If Mallahoo rushed the plan before McDale got in position, she could easily have taken a bullet. McDale said a brief prayer, before the officers exited the car and slowly moved to their positions, their steps muffled by the unbelievable swarm around them.

Mallahoo ducked beneath the front door, keeping her eyes on Jerry in case he turned around. Meanwhile, McDale proceeded to the back where he did in fact find the door unlocked. He drew his pistol and entered the restaurant, quietly closing the door behind him.

McDale found himself in a dark storage room, and could make out the light of the donut shop behind a metal door. As he pushed himself beside it, he was able to overhear what Randy said to the boy, which was as follows,

“Don’t fucking look at me. Don’t you fucking look at me. Jesus. Christ. God. God. God. Fuck. Don’t…hey I bet you think you’re all special, fucking scumkid. How’s your friend, huh? You get him to the hospital alright? Don’t act like you don’t know him, I know how all you scumfucks talk to each other. You should get a real job you know that. Lazy scumfuck. I worked hard for what I’ve got. You know that? You know what hard work is you lazy fucking scumfuck. You know what the word even means, man. Jesus. Jesus, God. God. I worked hard for what I’ve got. Okay? I’m not gonna let anyone take away what I worked so hard…how the hell old are you anyway?”

The boy did not say anything. In the silence, McDale gripped his pistol, and took a deep breath, before pressing the PTT on his walkie. He heard the bell above the front door tinkle as Mallahoo entered the restaurant.

“Drop your weapon.” She ordered.

McDale reached for the door and pulled, but it did not budge. He had, in his faulty human way, forgotten to check if the door was locked. He suddenly became acutely aware of his own heartbeat. He tried pulling on it a few times, as if the facts would suddenly change. They did not. He considered shooting through the lock, but stopped himself. There were three people on the other side. He took a step back and made a break for the back door.

Mallahoo, on the other hand, kept her gun trained on the back of Jerry’s head. Jerry kept his gun trained upon its original target, who had begun to cry again. Mallahoo repeated her directive, but Jerry did not budge. He instead looked down at the pile of money lying on the counter between himself and the boy. Yet again, he might have felt that sudden inrush of peace. Here was what he needed, and he had gone out and gotten it himself. He was a man. It did not matter if his prayers were answered or not, because he was the master of his world.

He looked up, and to his shock, the boy was looking right at him. The boy had blue eyes. For a moment, the only sound was the hum of electric light and the singing of the natural world outside, which was just beginning to brighten.

submitted by /u/Mcturkey [link] [comments] via Blogger https://ift.tt/3f0i87g

#Blogger #Story

0 notes

skalesjr · 4 years

Text

Ninjago Next gen | Chapter 2

Everything was Dark. So incredibly Dark. Everything was Muffled, He could not hear the worried Voices of His friends. “The Void is not a very welcoming place for Young ones like you.” A voice called, But Archer could Not see Its Speaker. “But, I ask, why is thou here? Your Barely Considered Either Oni or Dragon.” Archer Could Not movie to try and find the Voice. “But, Maybe you can because of your father.” He could hear Footsteps heading towards him, the Voice's? Maybe. “Your father has done Great things. He’s Saved the world More times than I can count,” A Face Came into view. Not really a Face – More like a Hood, Covering a Pale, Stone Coloured face. “We should Stop Talking about your Father, it seems like your Needed somewhere else at the moment, And I shall wait. I have all the time in the realms.” The Darkness started to fade, And Archer felt like he could finally speak up. “W-wait, who are You?” He Asked, Using his remaining strength. “The Void Walker. First Creation of the Overlord.” The Voice whispered, Barely Audible.

Archer Lurched Up, Head aching. “Did you have to hit him that hard, Miss!?” Spark Yelled at the Red-headed Woman Who had incredibly large bags under her eyes. “No, But I wanted to.” Archer Blinked. “Where am…I?” He asked, looking around. “Nurse’s Office. Dad is coming to pick ya up.” Sparks was Sitting on an uncomfortable-looking chair, Slightly Impatient. “The others had to go home. Aria is waiting outside, there can only be one visitor I guess.” The Nurse Glared at the two. “I suggest You go get your stuff and Wait in the Office.” She Said, Before Gently pushing the two out. “Uh thank you, miss!” Archer Said as he was basically tossed out the door. The door slamming behind them was a gentle Nudge to ‘Get going!’ so they decided to follow the Mystical Door’s Advice and Started To walk to their lockers. Aria Leaned on the Lockers, Her Scarf Looped around her neck. “C’mon if we hurry to the office Maybe They’ll be time to play Key’s Impact 3: Twin Winds!” She Bounced from foot to foot Excitedly. Archer Finished Getting his stuff and Nodded. “What was the ending of the last game, again? I forgot.” Spark Said, Closing his Locker. “I Can’t Believe You! Well, After Shiro Killed Magana, which was really sad, Dumbass, if you had saved at least one soul catching charm, you could catch Magana’s soul and Save them! That’s the canon ending, With Magana’s Soul Charm in hand, Shiro sets off to revive them!” Aria Explained, and when She finished, they were at the Office door, Ready to face the maybe wrath of the principal. Archer opened the door and sat down on a chair. Suddenly The door slammed open, with a Majorly Upset Lloyd. He immediately Noticed Archer and ran over to him, giving him a big hug. “Archer! Are you alright!?” He Yelled, In a kind and caring way. “I’m fine Dad,” Archer Mumbled, Slightly Surprised. “Okay, if you say so, Archer. How are you two Going home?” Lloyd asked Aria and Spark. “We’re walking!” Aria Cheerfully said, Smiling brightly. “All the way? Do you want me to drive you maybe?” Lloyd asked, Slightly worried. “Sure! I don’t think Mum would mind! Would she Aria?” Sparks Whispered the last part, Slightly worried. “She shouldn’t, Plus, Its Lloyd, Basically her little brother!” She replied. “Yeah, she probably doesn’t mind. I can just text her anyway.” Sparks Told Lloyd. And off they went! Turns Out Nya, didn’t Mind That they were driven, But she did Mind that they were home Late, Without telling her that they would be late, But Lloyd Drove off before Archer Could see the full argument, But he was Fine with That. He just couldn’t wait to get home.

#Skalesjrs next gen au #ninjago next gen

0 notes

cinenthusiast · 4 years

Text

Next to nothing has been written about Spontaneous Combustion. I could not find evidence of any academic articles, and the broader field of film criticism is almost as dire. There’s a fantastic essay on it as part of the AV Club’s “Overlooked” column, written by Ignatiy Vishnevetsky after Tobe Hooper’s passing. It also received an entry in the Birth Movies Death column “Say Something Nice”, which is about, you guessed it, finding something good to say about a “bad” film (“certainly bad, but enjoyably so”??? Don’t get me started on how disassociated all the pans are from what this movie is). It is always noted as “minor” Hooper, a sorry footnote that continued the downward trajectory of a career marked with firings and failures. And it received only three votes in the Top Ten By Year: 1990 poll results, the respondents of which cover an extremely wide-ranging spectrum of tastes. But I, along with maybe five other people, think Spontaneous Combustion is a major work. Its biggest proponent is the great Japanese filmmaker Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who regularly cites it as a major influence on his work, and names it as one of his three favorite films!

Despite being a horror icon, the majority of Tobe Hooper’s work is largely dismissed. It’s not hard to see why. As Vishnevetsky all too accurately puts it, “his movies just couldn’t get a grip on themselves”. It’s a considerable part of what made him an unmistakable, and erratically uneven, auteur, not just within the scope of his filmography but within the films themselves (even the three all-timers, which is three more than most filmmakers). They all tend to feel one degree away from being unwatchable, executed with feeling over cohesion by fusing some combination of anger and nastiness with transgression and blatant political ire. In Spontaneous Combustion, the destruction and purely unmanageable chaos that Brad Dourif can’t keep inside of him could easily double as a descriptor for Tobe Hooper as a director.

The confounding elaborate conspiracies and rapidly escalating body horror of Spontaneous Combustion (which Hooper has a story and screenwriting credit on) will scramble your brain — as they should. Our inability to keep up with its convolutions put us in the deep end with Sam (Dourif). If your life was revealed to be a manipulated falsehood while, simultaneously, you turned into a pyrokinetic byproduct of nuclear testing: would you be able to make sense of it? It’s like if The Truman Show took place in one day, and instead of Truman trying to get out of Seahaven, a fireball was trying to get out of him.

The love I have for Brad Dourif as a performer is impossible to adequately express, but suffice it to say he’d be in a list of my five favorite living actors (along with, today at least, Song Kang-ho, Denzel Washington, Kurt Russell, and Robert De Niro). Spontaneous Combustion is the perfect example of how crucial he is to any project lucky enough to have him. He has this hypnotic ability to ensure you hang onto his every word regardless of the material’s quality. The sound of his voice is a rolling pull that, to quote Lloyd Christmas of all people, is like a “tractor beam….sucks you right in”. There is something explosive in him even before casting him in a movie where there’s literally something explosive in him. He embodies the ache of the outside and the inside in equal measure, and can go Big while retaining a crucial emotional transference that ensures he doesn’t become pure spectacle. Watching him in this is agonizing, and essential to the film’s impact, because of course he feels like he’s actually being ripped apart at the seams. His face projects the helpless inability to process the lie of his life…because it’s already ending.

The pall of death hangs heavy over Spontaneous Combustion. That feeling kicks in with the, correctly described by Vishnevetsky, Lynchian opening (usually an overused and lazy descriptor, but I promise it actually applies here and is not just code for “weird”!) in which an Ozzie and Harriet-like couple become test subjects for an anti-radiation vaccine. The American Dream is depicted as pure governmental exploitation, a bargain and commitment to country that guarantees annihilation. The quickness with which Sam’s internal annihilation takes hold, and that the crumbling of his external life is (while related) not directly caused from the crisis of his body, is overwhelming. It is the total claustrophobia of fate dealing you a bad hand.

That overwhelming emotional weight that Spontaneous Combustion carries in tow recalls Bob Clark’s masterpiece Deathdream (a film that provoked a once-in-a-half-decade art-instigated emotional exorcism, so I don’t make the comparison lightly). A similar inescapable thrum of sadness runs under both. These are two horror films in which American atrocities are made manifest and metaphor in the human body. However, it is a manifestation of opposites. In Deathdream, Andy, a soldier coming back from Vietnam, is already dead. He is a zombie paper doll with the functionality of a ventriloquist’s dummy that’s been left in an attic corner; a participant and victim of an imperialist war, bringing and spreading that death back home. Sam though, is purely a victim of history; the offspring of a horrific atomic experiment, whose life is marked from day one. One man is lifeless while the other carries too much within him. Both are deadly and both are tragic. To quote Vishnevetsky once again, “the image of flames shooting out of rips and holes in the Dourif character’s skin is a powerful one. It has a sick and sad poetry to it, like Leatherface’s skin mask.”

*I didn’t have room to work it in, but this is a gorgeous film. There are such foreboding use of bright color and atmosphere, empty hallways and spaces

*I also didn’t have room to shout-out Cynthia Bain, the female lead, who is so good here. She reminds me a lot of Radha Mitchell, and I wish her career was more lively.

Top Ten By Year: 1990 #9 – Spontaneous Combustion (US/Hooper) Next to nothing has been written about Spontaneous Combustion. I could not find evidence of any academic articles, and the broader field of film criticism is almost as dire.

0 notes

hermanwatts · 5 years

Text

Sensor Sweep: Poul Anderson and D&D, Gollum, Castle of Llyr, Insanity’s Children

RPG (Goodman Games): Although most fans of fantasy fiction and RPGs assume that the classic “old school” alignments of Law, Neutrality, and Chaos are derived from Michael Moorcock’s Eternal Champion series of stories, some will be shocked to discover that Moorcock openly borrowed that concept from Anderson. In his novel, Three Hearts and Three Lions (a book that, as we’ll see, had a huge impact on D&D), Anderson tells of a battle between the forces of Law and Chaos. Law is represented by humanity and the medieval Church.

Comic Books (Paint Monk): Conan and the Kushite queen Tananda are at a stand-off. The queen is determined to torture Diana, who she suspects of being a political tool and a spy of the cunning Tuthmes. But Conan, her new captain-of-the-guard, isn’t having it. He barks at her, telling her to put down the whip. The political climate in Tananda’s city is tense, and punishing Diana will only rile up rival nobles.

Art (Dark Worlds Quarterly): If you are like just about every person on the planet you have this great sculpture in your office or den. We all got them when we bought the first set of DVDs for The Fellowship of the Ring. Anyway, this got me thinking of all the versions of the “nasty little stinker” before the film. Unfortunately, JRR never drew him first. Tolkien was a good self-taught artist but he preferred the landscapes of his world to the characters.

Black Friday Picks (DMR Books): The three sword and sorcery anthologies that DMR released in the last few months must take precedence. S&S started out at the short story/sub-novel length and that is—arguably—still the sweet spot when it comes to tales of bloody mayhem and dark magic. The two-fisted release of Death Dealers & Diabolists—with Warlords, Warlocks & Witches following close upon its blood-stained heels—is possibly the most devastating one-two punch in the history of S&S anthologies. If I had to pick one to buy, it would be DD&D, but don’t short yourself. Buy both.

Warhammer Fiction (Track of Words): Reading Nate Crowley’s fantastic 40k novella Severed I was reminded that Warhammer fiction isn’t generally known for its humour. The clue is in the title, really (WARhammer), and certainly Warhammer 40,000 is renowned for being properly dark. The commonly-used term grimdark comes from a core tenet of 40k, after all – “in the grim darkness of the far future there is only war”. In amongst the grim, the dark and the downright nasty, however, I think there’s room for a bit of humour now and then, and certain authors – Nate included – seem to have the knack for adding a little (or a lot, in some cases) of levity into some ot their Warhammer stories.

History (Karavansara): Yes, say it aloud… The Women’s Black Hussars of Death. Why they never taught me this sort of stuff when I was in school? The Women’s Battalions of Death were all-female units formed in 1917 by volunteers serving on the side of the Russian Provisional Government, after the February Revolution. The woman who had dreamed up this brilliant idea – with the purpose of upholding the revolution and shaming men into action – was Maria ‘Yashka’ Leontevna Botchkareva, by all means a formidable woman.

Fiction (Matthew Constantine): The third book in Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain, The Castle of Llyr finds Taran and Eilonwy about to set off on a journey. It seems that Eilonwy is to be taught how to be a proper princess and eventually be married off. Taran is conflicted, which by the previous book seems to be his wont. We meet some new characters and familiar characters make their return. One of the things I like about this book is how Alexander flips the script on Taran’s relationship with a potential romantic rival.

Fiction (Mewsings): George MacDonald is a key figure in the development of modern fantasy. A friend of Lewis Carroll (whose Alice in Wonderland he read to his children in manuscript, and encouraged the Reverend Dodgson to publish), and an influence on the Inklings (C S Lewis first read Phantastes in 1916 and went on to champion MacDonald’s writings; Tolkien’s Smith of Wootton Major was the result of his trying, and failing, to write an introduction to MacDonald’s The Golden Key).

Fiction (DMR Books): It has been noted over and over and over that Brackett was a lifelong fan of Edgar Rice Burroughs. That’s cool. I can say the same about my ownself. Proud of it. However, we know that Leigh was also a fan of one A. Merritt, an author who loomed just as large over the SFF scene of the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s of Brackett’s youth as ERB. In fact, it can definitely be argued that Merritt was the stronger horse in that scene during the ‘30s and ‘40s when Leigh was finding herself as a writer.

Awards (Kairos): we’ve now gained enough distance from the Sad/Rabid Puppies campaigns to do a proper postmortem on the Hugos. To recap, author Larry Correia started the Campaign to End Puppy-Related Sadness when he smelled something rotten among the oldpub clique that hands out the Hugo Awards. He set out to prove that winning a Hugo has less to do with literary merit and almost everything to do with scratching the right backs while having the right politics.

RPG (Pits Perilous): Sorcery. The Dark Arts. These words conjure up images of occult knowledge wrestled from forgotten old tomes and worked in guilty secrecy. Magic is sinister. Evil. It comes with a whiff of brimstone at great personal cost; but such is its price. Magic is a deal with the devil, a Faustian bargain that underscores the sometimes corrupting force of ambition. But D&D has turned magic into a neutral energy to be manipulated, an undiscovered science exploited by studious and charming magicians to fight evil. Quasi-Christian clerics work cheerily alongside wizened spell casters despite the adversarial nature of their occupations, and there’s nothing wrong with this except that magic loses some of its edge and, shall we say, much of its danger.

Book Review (Men of the West): One thing about which every single one of us agrees is that Rolf Nelson’s books are fantastic. His The Stars Came Back is one of the finest stories ever written. Yes, it is written in screenplay format, but that does not matter. It takes a couple of pages to get used to it, and then – BOOM. You are whisked away into one of the most intriguing sci-fi stories penned in the past 50 years He followed that up with a prequel of sorts, The Heretics of St. Possenti, which is less sci-fi, and more foundational to the overall world that these stories inhabit. Though not really a sci-fi book, it is fantastic,and should be read by everyone.

Greyhawk (Grodog’s AD&D blog): The first question* to ask about this topic may be, “How does Allan (or anyone else) know what constitutes a rare item in the world of Greyhawk publishing?” Well, Ant “Echohawk” Brooks maintains a Greyhawk Collector’s Guide on ENWorld, and it’s amazingly comprehensive. I link to it on my Greyhawk Links page, and while there are still bits and pieces of info that trickle in with new discoveries, new versions or editions of books, additional Living Greyhawk tourney scenarios catalogued, and new titles written by and for Greyhawk fans being published each year, Echohawk’s work is my go-to guide whenever

Cinema (Jon Mollison): Every once in a while Hollywood accidentally does something great on purpose. It’s basically cowboys versus cannibals with the sensibility of a Cormac McCarthy film. The basic plot of a townswoman kidnapped and dragged back to the cave of the wild west CHUDS doesn’t do this thing justice. The meat of the film is the story of four civilized men who step up to the plate to fight for civilization and push back against the ravenous hordes. To do so, they must set aside petty differences, lift up the weaker members of their little posse, and trust to good sense, gunpowder, and cold steel.

Sensor Sweep: Poul Anderson and D&D, Gollum, Castle of Llyr, Insanity’s Children published first on https://sixchexus.weebly.com/

0 notes

newyorktheater · 5 years

Text

“Fairview,” winner of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, began Off-Off Broadway.

“Small theaters” play a large role in making New York City the world’s cultural capital, according to “All New York’s a Stage,” a report issued this week by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment that looks at the cultural and economic impact of Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway, a “sector” (in policy-speak) that is made up of “748 small venue theater organizations” that generate “$1.3 billion in total economic output” annually. They also generate much of the theater world’s cultural heat these days. One example: Some dozen Pulitzer Prize winning plays originating in NYC’s small theaters, including this year’s winner “Fairview” above (Soho Rep), 2016’s “Hamilton” (New York Public Theater), 2015’s “Between Riverside and Crazy” (Atlantic) and 2014’s “The Flick” (Playwrights Horizons.) One arresting fact: The majority of staff of these theaters are volunteers. Here are some charts from the report:

Thanksgiving Week Broadway Schedule

including 15 shows adding performances today!

The Week in New York Theater Reviews

Ronete Levenson (Sue), Lindsay Rico (Paula), Helen Cespedes (Emma), Jennifer Lim (Cindy)

Fefu and Her Friends

Fefu picks up a double-barrel shotgun and shoots at her husband near the beginning of “Fefu and Her Friends,” billed as a modern classic and written by the beloved avant-garde playwright Maria Irene Fornés, who died in October 2018 at the age of 88. “It’s a game we play,” Fefu explains matter-of-factly to her friends, putting the gun back against the drawing room chair. “I shoot and he falls. Whenever he hears the blast he falls.”

For the first time in 40 years, Off-Broadway theatergoers can actually hear that gunshot blast too, thanks to a Theater for a New Audience production, directed by Liliana Blain-Cruz, that is itself a blast….for much of the time. For the rest of the time, it’s…..well, to quote the director herself on her reaction when discovering the work of Maria Irene Fornés: “Oh my god. I don’t understand anything that’s going on, but I love it.”

The Half-Life of Marie Curie

Marie Curie won the Nobel Prize twice, but she was also a woman; so the Nobel committee asked her not to show up at the ceremony. We learn the specific reason why early on in this well-intentioned, workmanlike play by Lauren Gunderson about the friendship between two world-class women scientists who lived a century ago.

Samuel H. Levine as Adam, Kyle Soller as Eric, Kyle Harris as Jasper, Arturo Luís-Soria as Jasper2, Jordan Barbour as Tristan, and Darryl Gene Daughtry Jr. as Jason1

The Inheritance

“The Inheritance,” a long, ambitious play about three generations of gay men in New York, pays homage to two masterpieces, without being one itself. Yet the play by Matthew Lopez, making his Broadway debut, is both sweeping and intimate, sophisticated and raw, a weepy that is often funny. Several performances are transporting, including two actors making their Broadway debuts, and an actress who made hers 67 years ago. There are swoops into intellectual brilliance, such as when one of the characters elaborately compares America to a body, its democracy to a body’s immune system, and the current president to the HIV virus. There are dips into nudity and raunch. There is insight and debate and uplift. Does “The Inheritance” need to be nearly seven hours long and in two parts to achieve all that? The short answer is no. But there’s so much here that’s so wonderful that it’s worth it to those with the stamina.

A Christmas Carol

Who knew that “A Christmas Carol” could be so dangerous!

The assaults begin even before the first line of dialogue in the new, charming if overlong, and extraordinarily well-designed Broadway production of Charles Dickens’ 1843 classic, starring Campbell Scott as Ebenezer Scrooge and Andrea Martin and LaChanze as Ghosts of Christmas Past and Present. Cast members on the stage dressed as 19th century English blokes and birds throw clementines and cookies to (at?) the audience…vigorously.

“I’m suing,” said somebody sitting behind me, in a straight-faced impersonation of Scrooge, after he was hit by one of the packages of chocolate chips. “Are you an attorney?”

Evita

It’s surely pointless, four decades and two billion dollars after its debut, to rant about Evita, and silly to blame Andrew Lloyd Webber’s theatrical canonization of the amoral historical figure Eva Perón as paving the way for the elevation of another media personality remade into a dictator-loving populist. Still, this core problem I have with the musical stops me from fully embracing its revival at New York City Center, even as I acknowledge that the singing in this production is gorgeous, the orchestra lush, the choreography fun, and the story reinterpreted in some bold and intriguing if not always effective ways.

Two adaptations of novels by Édouard Louis:

James Russell Morley and Oseloka Obi on the video

The End of Eddy

Parts resemble a book report for school, but won’t be mistaken for a story hour because of the inventive stagecraft and the rawness of the stories — relentless bullying, deadened people in a dying factory town, his sad and funny efforts to ‘be a man,’ his sexual experimenting.

History of Violence

An examination of trauma; that in any case is the most consistently insightful aspect of the adaptation…. committed performances by the four-member cast…but the production ultimately felt more like an exercise in stagecraft rather than a pointed exploration of history or violence.

The Week in New York Theater News

Grammy Award nominees for best musical theater albums: Ain’t Too Proud, Hadestown, Moulin Rouge, plus the incidental music from the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The 62nd annual Grammy Awards will be held on January 20, 2020.

Ephraim Sykes in Newsies

Motown’s Ephraim Sykes as member of The Temptations, Berry Gordy Jr.’s brother, member of the Jackson 5

Ephraim Skyes as Seaweed J. Stubbs —

Ephraim Sykes as David Ruffin

Ephraim Sykes will star as Michael Jackson in “MJ,” the musical slated to open on Broadway beginning the summer 2020. A thrilling performer, he’s had an increasingly high-profile career: Memphis,Newsies,Motown,Hamilton, Hairspray Live, and Tony-nominated for his role as avid Ruffin in Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations.

He is now both performing in Ain’t Too Proud and rehearsing for MJ. How can he do this? “I always say just a bunch of prayers, and drink as much coconut water as I can find,” he told Essence.

Lynn Nottage, the Pulitzer Prize winning playwright of “Ruined” and “Sweat,” is the book writer for MJ the Musical. In a mutual interview in Vogue magazine between Nottage and Slave Play playwright Jeremy O. Harris, he brings up MJ:

Can I ask you a question about Michael Jackson? How do you contend with the weight of that history?

We all, on some level, recognize the complexity of Michael Jackson. For many years, he has occupied a very specific space.

Going into this moment, when there’s such a spotlight on him, and such decided opinion on it now around what we should do with that history…

Cancel culture is the dominant culture in this moment. But my guiding principle is that you have to sustain the complexity. I really feel as an artist that writing this piece is me trying to process my complicated feelings about someone who I idolized from the time I was five years old. To reconcile that with that person who, in the media, was quite complicated. I can’t simply cancel that person. I have to, as an artist, lean into that complication—that is what I’m investigating by doing this. And I think that the easy thing would be to say no and run away. But for me the more interesting thing is to lean into it and try to figure out personally how I feel.

Separately, John Logan (Moulin Rouge the Musical, Red, The Aviator) has been hired to writea movie script about Michael Jackson.

Patrick Stewart’s one-man version of “A Christmas Carol” will be presented for two nights only, Dec 11 & 13 at Theater 511 to benefit City Harvest and Ars Nova

“Soft Power” will release a cast recording in Spring 2020.

They grew up at Boston Children’s Theater. Now They Look Back with Alarm

“a group of 17 former students who sent a letter to the theater’s board late last month, detailing a range of negative experiences with [Burgess Clark, the director of Boston’s Children’s Theater]; three alleged that Clark had kissed or touched them inappropriately. Beverly police are investigating; no charges have been filed. A group of older alums sent a second letter describing their own disturbing encounters. Burgess has resigned.”

Rest in Peace

Michael J. Pollard in Bye, Bye Birdie

Michael J. Pollard in “The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”

Michael J. Pollard in “Bonnie and Clyde”

Michael J. Pollard, 80, best known for TV roles (“The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis”) and his Oscar-nominated part in the movie “Bonnie and Clyde”, was also a 5-time veteran of Broadway, such as the original Hugo Peabody in “Bye, Bye Birdie.”

Small Theater is BIG in NYC. Ephraim Sykes is Michael Jackson, Lynn Nottage answers why she’s taking on MJ. #Stageworthy News of the Week "Small theaters" play a large role in making New York City the world's cultural capital, according to

0 notes