#ill probably add this to my main intro later

[ophstars]

as more and more time has passed as a member in this community, I've gotten way less anxious of ppl from my real life who have tumblr finding my blog. Like, I remember first creating this side blog and being so cautious of the tags I'd follow and what I'd post which lead me to be super private about my actual name and ethnicity, but nowadays I just don't gaf. So here's 2 additional facts about me that I'd like to share with yall :

- my name is oprah, which u can probably guess where the online alias "oph" came from

- I'm Ghanaian ! And ik twi (understand but can't speak)

[ask-mobile-iterator-project]

Intro Post

still on indefinite hiatus whoops.

This blog focuses on my Rain World OCs involved in the "Mobile Iterator Project" AU. ^_^

The “Mobile Iterator Project” (MIP) is a project created and directed by an Ancient named "No Cost Too Great" (NCTG) with the stated goal of supporting standard iterators in their productivity, maintenance, and longevity, so that they can operate at maximum efficiency, even after the inevitable mass ascension. ‘MIP Units’—iterators under the project—are created puppet-first in the "MIP Development Center" and later assigned to Local Groups, where their structures are built to support the Iterators around them. Uniquely, their personalities are heavily based around singular, specific Architects (Ancients) who donate their memories and qualia. The exception to this is TWR. In total, there are 99 MIP Units, with IDs ranging from 01 to 99.

(This AU strays pretty far from the themes and canon of both Vanilla Rain World and Downpour, so please keep that in mind!)

⚠️Importantly, here are some warnings for sensitive content that may appear in the posts:

depictions of trauma and mental illness

heavy themes of manipulation (including memory manipulation)

depictions of emotional abuse

dehumanization

depictions of dissociation

identity struggles

medical malpractice/abuse, experimentation

child endangerment

generally dark themes

violence, physical abuse

infrequent body horror

When sensitive content comes up, I will leave a warning before the cut and tag as "sensitive content"!

Characters:

Starlight Symphony (SLS) she/her, [bio]

Frosted Briar (FB) she/they, [bio]

Glimmering Seafoam In Sunlight (GSIS) she/her, [bio]

Thorns Without Roses (TWR) she/they, [bio]

Perpetual Umbra (PU) they/them, [bio]

Legacy Of Famine (LOF) she/any, [bio]

*These are not all of the characters, just the main 6 that are open to receiving asks.

How it works:

Please specify who you are asking the question to, for example: (to SLS), (to SLS and FB), (to any), (to all), (to admin)

If you don’t specify, I’ll just pick myself. Though, sometimes, I might have another character answer too, if I think it might be interesting.

For admin asks, my friend’s overseer might want to add stuff too, so don’t be surprised if she shows up. For simplicity's sake, assume all admin asks are addressed to potentially both of us.

Additionally, I might add commentary sometimes, which I’ll tag with #admin commentary. My friend might do that too sometimes, so #overseer commentary for her.

I’ll do my best to answer your asks, with varying art quality, though I won’t answer all of them. Jade might answer some of them too, primarily the ones regarding, FB, as she knows them way better than I do.

We will sign off at the end of each post, denoting who handled the “broadcast” (ask.)

[Broadcast handled by admin], [Broadcast handled by overseer], [Broadcast handled by admin and overseer]

There is a light roleplaying/interactive element: The in-universe framing device for the questions is broadcasts being sent to the iterators, hence the ask button’s title. There may also be some occasional meta shenanigans.

I will be answering some questions from curiouscat rather than tumblr, and I will crosspost to twitter, too. This is probably too much work, but whatever. The askblog will be the main source of my attention, though, so posts will come here first.

Boundaries/Rules:

Please don’t ask questions related to your own OCs, because I don’t know them.

Please try to break up multiple questions into separate asks.

Nothing NSFW or suggestive.

No “magic” asks (like turning the characters into different things)

You can send items if you want, though

Please keep in mind that Frosted Briar is, for all intents and purposes, basically a child.

Rules may change as things go along and we figure stuff out!

Non-Ask Posts:

Occasionally, I may post content related to backstories and worldbuilding and stuff unrelated to asks. This will be tagged with #mip logs.

Tags:

#silly: for silly stuff

#angst: for angsty stuff

#dubiously canon: usually used in tandem with silly, but for anything that has questionable characterization

#sensitive content: content that may be triggering or upsetting

#mip worldbuilding: asks/posts related to worldbuilding

#mip lore: asks/posts related to lore!

#mip ask: in-universe asks for the ocs.

#admin ask: asks directed towards the admin/overseers

#guest appearance: asks where characters outside of the main 6 appear.

#mip logs: non-ask posts that build upon the lore/worldbuilding

#ooc: update posts, rule posts, etc.

#meta: hehe

#admin commentary: commentary from the admin (luna)

#overseer commentary: commentary from the overseer (jade or clover)

#overseer assistance: for when the overseers help with the process

#fanart: reblogs of fanart!! :D

#admin art: reblogs of luna’s, jade's or clover's art of the characters

#luna art, #jade art, #clover art: self-explanatory

#old: from the sls ask blog, consider it non-canon

#mobile iterator project, #rw mip au: self-explanatory

post is tagged with most of these

Main Admin: Luna, @mewguca

Overseer: Jade, @fauxbia

Overseer: Clover, @cloverlady

Thank you for reading!

For additional information on my OC usage permissions, please read my carrd

[zephsthings]

intro post !!!

hi! i'm zeph (a.k.a. zephie//zephania star), i'm 19 and a brit (unfortunately my irish heritage is not strong enough to count as fully irish lol :< UPDATE TURNS OUT I AM ACTUALLY HALF IRISH!!!)

my pronouns are she/they/them, and now also star/astra/starfae !!! i'm a genderfluid/demigirl, (i vibe with both those labels) and a panromantic demisexual :3

these are the fandoms i most like to dip in and out of:

waterparks (the band)

httyd

b99

psych

the dragon prince

the mentalist

bones (tv)

probably some others i cannot think of atm (will add later haha)

i love to draw, write, read, (i'm an english nerd, sue me - literally studying english lit & creative writing hahaha) and i cannot survive a single day without listening to music :D

more info under the cut ->

i also really really really love space. please send me space stuff. it is my main special interest at the moment - yes, i am autistic !!! there are many other Things Wrong With Me (OCD, ADD, tRaUmA & cPTSD, insomnia, etc... yippee jackpot) chronically ill and disabled girlies rise !!! <3

feel free to send me asks or just chat to me! i'm very friendly :3 ask me about space, about my interests, music, OR MY BLORBOS !!! i am also always happy to talk about writing, whether that be yours or mine !!! i write both original stuff and fanfic ;)

i don't really have a DNI but if you piss me off best believe i will be using that block button :))) obviously this works both ways ;)))

i do vent a lot. sometimes in writing (poems, stories) sometimes in drawings, sometimes more explicitly. i am in recovery. i go to therapy. i have support, so PLEASE don't worry about me, i am FINE i am just DRAMATIC (it's the tortured poet within me) -- if this is not something u want to see, block me !!! it's okay, no hard feelings - your mental health is important <3

so yeah, that's all for now! have fun on my blog and stay safe online babies love u <3

am i the (gloom) boy you dreamed of?

(( my ramblings are always tagged "zeph just stfu", and friend tags are "[name] shenanigans" <3 ))

[science-of-co-habitation]

INTRO TO S.o.CH

Welcome ! This Blog will be dedicated to the comic which share it same with it ! This written blog will lay out some principal informations:

WHAT IS SCIENCE OF CO-HABITATION ?:

S.o.CH is a crossover comic fanfic between the characters of the Books "The strange case of Dr Jekyll and M.Hyde" by Robert Louis Stevenson and "The island of Dr. Moreau" by H.G.Wells

The story will be alterning between a past time, when the characters were in their early adulhood years and a present time happening in the events of "The strange case of Dr Jekyll and M.Hyde".

WHO ARE THE MAIN CHARACTERS ?:

Odd enough, it is not Dr. Henry Jekyll but his ethical friend Dr. Hastie Lanyon who took the role of main character. Dr. Moreau is a co-main character, even if the story is mostly told from Lanyon's perspective.

The past story will mostly surround how a young Lanyon lives with a young Moreau as his roommate

WHAT STYLE OF STORY IT IS ?:

So far ? a slice of life. Later ? might mix up with short horror oriented moments.

Be prepare

ARE LGBTQIA+ THEMES FEATURED IN THE STORY ?:

Ofc it's about gothic literature

Yes there are queer themes and characters in the story. Mostly Achellian relationships (Men x men) but both of the main characters falls under the ace spectrum (and I hope to add lgbtqia+ representations thought my writtings)

IS THERE POTENTIALLY TRIGGERING THEMES IN THE STORY ?:

Yes, some aspects of the story might hurt individuals who deal with such situations IRL or are easily triggers by certain imagery. SO here are (so far) planned themes / imagery that might be source of triggers. Btw, I must say that I will NEVER bring up themes such as S.A in the story, y'all are safe on this

Violence

surrealist / disturbing (on purpose) imagery

social isolation

Mental illnesses and it degradation

Death (often mentionned, often visually cersored, excepted skeletons)

Toxic relashionships in families

probably more, I'll keep this updated

BOUNDARIES LIST ?:

Fanarts are obviously allowed, same for fanfics (not that I think it would happens) BUT PLEASE if you do not sfw things don't send it to me

Don't be creepy in the comments of any posts, if you simp for a character that's good, but no need to "mommy sorry" under every posts

If a character is canonically Ace, Aro, or AroAce, don't put them in situations that they wouldn't want to be.

No racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, abelism, antisemitism, islamophobia or any other kind of bigotery on this page. Keep you bullshit ideologies for youself

I don't support proshipping, so please don't do it (proshipping is shipping incest, adult x minors, abuser x abused, etc)..

Be Kind to each others, each humans deserve respect for simply being humans :>

THANKS FOR READING

[juniho]

obligatory intro post -

you can call me juni, i am 22, i am autistic.

i am aroace and genderfluid, i use it/they/he, wlw and mlm are welcome to interact, idgaf!

i am in a very close queer platonic partnership, and am not interested in forming romantic or sexual relationships with anyone on here, sorry!

i dont follow back from this blog, but i use the same name on my main account :)

if you think you know me irl please dont look at this blog without permission!!!

PLEASE DO NOT INTERACT IF YOU ARE UNDER 18, THIS IS A DEGENERATE HORNY KINK BLOG!!! I WILL BLOCK YOU!!

limits ; ageplay, cishet men, scat/piss/emeto, diaper stuff

ill probably add to this later but if you want any indication of what im into ill put my bdsm test results under the read more :)

[777-crazy-cats]

about me!!/intro post

hello!

you can call me bee, I'm queer I use they/she pronouns. i use a lott of exclamation points when typing so I'm sorry in advance. I'm a Canadian i love my two grey cats sososoosso much!

just a little warning i will probably talk about some triggering topics so please look for any tw's on the top of my posts.

🕷

interests:

the last of us

the owl house

melanie martinez

billie eilish

ellie williams

bugs

horror

minecraft

stranger things

witch craft

nature

helluvaboss

spider man into the spider-verse

dinos!!

marine life/marine biology

my interests shift around a lot so this will end up getting changed and updated sometimes

✩

hobbies:

art

herbology/potion making

foraging

reading

sewing

video games

music

dni:

homophobes

transphobes

racists

haters

judgers

mean people

creeps

other socials: (ill add these later)

instagram

tik tok

main pinterest acc

other pinterest acc

twitter

everskies

spotify

[autistic-ace-bee]

*storms into your room*

THAT IS IT! I AM SICK AND TIRED OF ASSIGNMENTS GIVING ME A CRISIS AND MAKING ME REFECT ON MYSELF. *crosses arms and sits on the floor and glares at it*

*sniffles* *curls into a ball and cry*

bestie literally same that was me going through highschool. shit is so fucking frustrating im here with you bud.

im not doing any assignments right now bc i took a break from uni bc i literally had an anxiety attack my first day on campus just trying to walk into class so yeah buddy i feel you 100%

idk what specifically your struggle is with the assignments but ive had my fair share of meltdowns over them so ive come up with a few ways/guidelines for tackling hw which i hope might be helpful for you??? anyway

lists. so many lists. i make a list for the following:

1. To do list

This will include all the things i need to get done for the assessment, in order. for example, a to do list for a research essay would look like this

1. pick a topic

2. find articles

3. read articles and copy/paste relevant sections

4. decide on paragraph topics

5. organise article sections under relevant paragraphs

6. write paragraph 1

7. write paragraph 2

8. write paragraph 3

9. write conclusion

10. add referencing

11. proofread

2. Questions

I make a list of all the questions that come up while im trying to do the assignment, and write them down in a list so i can either email them all to the teacher or ask them in person. this includes questions like how to start the assignment, if i wrote my introduction correctly, where to find certain material, did i understand the task properly? where do i find the rubric? is this fact i want to include in my essay accurate? some of the questions you might be able to figure out the answer yourself, but this is a helpful way to stay focused on the assignment itself; if you have a question, add it to the list and come back to it later, that way it doesnt break your flow if youre already working on something

3. structure list.

if im writing an essay I'll make headings like intro/p1/p2/p3/conclusion and underneath each heading ill write exactly what i need to include in each paragraph, that way i know what i need to include while im looking through source material, and I can cross it off when im done. for example that might look like

intro (this is a mashup of different types of essays bc idk)

- "This topic is important for XYZ reason."

- introduce body paragraphs

- mention past research (at least 2)

- "the aim of this study is to...."

- "the novel [ ] by [ ] is a..... which explores the idea of.... in a time of XYZ"

- introduce the main themes of the novel

4. a criteria list

this basically just has all the criteria/rubric stuff so like

- size 12 times new roman font

- need a reference list

- 600 words

- minimum of 2 references

- due when?

this list helps you make sure youve met all the criteria before the final send off

5. homework list.

if you have multiple different assignments, you can order them by which one you need to do first/highest priority, that way you make the most of your time.

i literally even made this a list akskks

i am just now realising this was probably more about the crisis thing than the assignments thing aksklskd but anyway,,,, yeah i hope this helps you? its definitely saved me a meltdown or two and i hope its at least a little helpful? maybe? no worries if not but like it sucks that youre struggling o lemme know if theres anyway i can help! ill send you a funky little drawing of a cat or something :)

[deimosmadcomirl]

wanted to make an about me for me n my sys as well as an about me for the blog! (we may edit this post often)

firstly, let me explain the blog and what its for!

this blog is mainly here for us to educate people about ug subs, talk to others about reality shifting, post about our system, and post mood boards for characters! everything will be tagged appropriately incase you wanna block out a specific tag so you can just browse through our other posts without seeing posts with that tag! ill add onto this post later with all the main tags were gonna use so you know what posts/topic will be in which tags! a quick warning about the blog! this blog will talk about sensitive topics, as a lot of ug subs revolve around sensitive topics! we may also have posts that could be considered 'sexual themes' as we do make and use subs for that stuff!

secondly, i guess were just the nevadan system?? idk we dont really have a solid name figured out but that works i think. our system really isnt that large, theres probably maybe less than 20 of us? though, youre probably just gonna see the madcom guys show up on the blog as the others dont really care for social media. we use quiogenic as our label as we dont exactly feel we fit traumagenic or endogenic. were bodily 18, but all our ages are different of course! boundaries depends on whoevers fronting

now, onto individual intros!

hi, im deimos, the one making this post! im the host and probably the main person to use the blog. my boundaries are mostly just dont act sexual around me when im age regressed (swearing is fine cause i grew up with swearing in my household) and please do not talk about my death/make purgatory jokes. it makes me very upset when i see anything relating to it. im an age slider and age regressor who slides/regresses between 4-18, but i usually stay between 15-18! i use he/they/clown/it pronouns and identify as a trans male, though i do use genderfluid as well to explain the way i present. im on the aro-ace spectrum, not sure what exactly, just know i dont experience romantic attraction the same way as others and sexual attraction is very limited, as well as pan n polyamorous! i use UG subs and am the main reality shifter here as the others dont front that often (though were working on that). ill sign off with 🚬 on posts!

the next person you may see often is hank! hes a trauma holder of ours, so please be gentle with him. his boundaries are just basically ask before any physical affection and dont flirt with them platonically or romantically as it makes them uncomfortable since hes taken. hank seems really cold and aggressive, but thats just his natural state! theyre about 39 (old ass man /lhj). he uses he/they pronouns and identifies as nonbinary. theyre on the aromantic spectrum as well as unlabeled n polyamorous. he is taken by doc and tricky. hanks mostly just here for giving advice as thats the thing theyre best at. theyll sign off with 🔪 on posts!

the last main person youll probably see is tricky! trickys a persecutor and can get a little aggressive, but it doesnt mean to! their boundaries are just no romantic flirting. honk tries to be very nice to people and loves making new friends! honks 69 but doesnt act like it. he uses it/honk/they/he pronouns and identifies as nonbinary! theyre bisexual and polyamorous! honks taken by hank and the auditor. it types in all caps as well as uses clown in place of me and i! sometimes it may shorten words like you to u and abbreviate things when possible. trickys here for moodboard/aesthetic related requests/posts! they love making those types of things. itll sign off with 🤡 on posts!

the other people that may potentially pop up are doc and dr. hofnarr, but theyre either antisocial or shy around strangers

tag list (will add as we use more/think of more)

deimos rambles - deimos rambling posts, talking bout whatever comes to his mind

nevadan system - posts about our system, updates on it, talking about new members, etc.

ug subliminal / ug subliminals - posts about ug subliminals, could be a ug sub of ours, one we think is cool, or posts talking about them!

mood boards - mood boards weve created or ones we think are cool!

[yoonzinow]

red moon - intro 

➼ So I never did anything on tumblr, but a while back I wrote something based on the 'Bad Clue' episode of Going Seventeen and I'm sooooo nervous but I decided to post a bit of it to see if anyone is interested in reading the rest. It does have a reader, but it's pretty neutral, (I'm pretty sure I didn't use any pronouns) but it's mostly Mingyu's side of the story, explaining why he did it. I removed completely the DID part because I wasn't into the idea of using mental illness for the sake of a plot. But there is talk of crimes, s*icide and trauma, so it can still be triggering. I changed a lot from the episode to match the ages and only mentioned a few other members. There is also work misconduct and probably inaccuracies regarding treatment so I apologize. I also apologize for my English, is not my first language so there might be some weird sentences and typos! I tried to add ‘keep reading’ so I hope it works. Let me know if I should post this. 

Since you became a therapist, you knew you who you would want to work with: the criminally insane.

Some people would say it was weakness to defend someone’s actions like that, or to treat a patient like anyone else while knowing the horrible things they had done, but to you, it was simply curiosity. There was a fascination behind getting into someone’s mind so deeply you could find answers to why they were able to perform such actions with no remorse whatsoever.

Sometimes, it was this single information from their past who would show something wasn’t right or the smallest trauma that would poke out eventually in a devious way, or sometimes, it was the extreme case of a psychopath, which was even more fascinating. And that’s all that instigated you: how much of the human emotion one could waste until they don’t have any left at all?

Kim Mingyu.

 You treated all of your patients the same, and even though it was a rule at first, it eventually became something natural. The own essence of your job was to not judge, but simply help those people by stopping them from hurting others and themselves.

There wasn’t much time to react or pick sides, once a patient was assigned to you, you had to assist them and report, simple as that. However, for the first time, in that boring morning, you stopped on your tracks as you read the name of your next patient.

The nurses all over the ward gathered at the break room were whispering and wondering about the latest addition to the Hospital’s list of criminals.

Mina, a short and small nurse who would eventually fill you up on the gossip from the staff came closer.

-So that boy was finally caught, huh? – she took a sip of her tea and sat next to you while you read the medical record and police report given to you earlier that day. – I think you’ll have him, considering the pattern they follow with your cases. Young people with childhood trauma who can still be saved?

You weren’t sure whether her comments were sarcastic or harmless, but you were too deep in your mind to even wonder.

-Sorry, I prefer not to talk about my patients at all. In fact, I’m not allowed. –You smiled politely and stood up, walking to your office.

But the name was still in your head.  You couldn’t help but wonder if treating him would be a conflict or unethical.

Your relationship with Jeon Wonwoo, if you could call that, was short lived. By the time you were in college, studying was your top priority, there being little to no room for relationships. Wonwoo was studying to become a doctor, but you two happened to take a few classes together. Sometimes, after classes, you would hang out, share notes and help each other with projects. Eventually, that became going out for drinks and hooking up. There was no label, since you both knew that he would be graduating soon and you wouldn’t see each other, so you decided not to push it too deep to avoid being hurt later. He wasn’t the warmest person you ever met but he was a good person as far as you knew.

Even though your relationship was no Hollywood romance, you couldn’t help but be shocked when you saw his name on the news, along with the several men who had been murdered in a single night by a mentally ill young man.

 Maybe you should have told someone about that, maybe someone would tell you it wasn’t appropriate and you would avoid the whole thing, but you didn’t. Instead, you waited for the next day when Mingyu would arrive.

The walk from the outside gates through the garden and into the facility would not feel any shorter, no matter how many times you crossed it. Sure, you could drive inside and hop out of the car right outside the main building, but something about the gardens and the purity of the flowers all around eased your insides a bit, considering you would be soon facing a heavy spirited space, filled with regrets and rage.

The vibrant green from the grass was a big contrast to the boring shades of grey on the walls, especially when the Sun was out, peaking through the clouds and shining over the field.

As you reached the front, there was a meticulous identification. Even though the guards already knew you, they still needed your badge. You finished the whole process and walked towards the Board meeting room where you’d be given all the details about the cases. You were told about the criminal part only, which, to be honest, wouldn’t really interest you that much. However, when it came to the murder of someone you somewhat cared about, you listened carefully to the version given in court, along with his sentence and alleged motifs. After learning the necessary, you left and got ready to work.

There wasn’t much time left for thinking when you heard the loud sound of the old metal gates opening and the beep of the electrical system indicating the door was opening. A quick knock on the door was heard and you knew there was no way out. You had to treat the man who killed your ex-boyfriend.

The talk with the first patient wasn’t out of the ordinary, since she had been with you for a few months, easily communicating and opening up. The moment she left, you started to get nervous, which didn’t happen that often, at least not since your first days on the job. You wouldn’t pursue that kind of career if you had any fear, but not being nervous standing two feet apart from a serial killer for the first time wasn’t exactly easy.

The amount of nervousness you felt showed exactly why people shouldn’t have patients with any sort of connection. As the clock got closer and closer to the time of his first appointment, you started sweating. Was it a bad idea? Should I just tell someone before he arrives? What if…

[zhuhongs]

Here’s my long ass review of TGCF that literally no one asked for it i have opinions and I have no one to tell them too so i must write them out and post them. (also part of this is abt the mdzs novel bc i can’t not compare them and I have a lot of thoughts abt that too)

This is very very long so it’s going under a read more. Spoilers ahead!!

Okay so first off this book was a fucking behemoth i can’t believe i read all of that (minus the extras) in under a week.. what the fuck. I definetly got reading fatigue halfway thru book 3.

I’m gonna separate my thoughts into sections bc i  have a few points that don’t all relate

firstly, overall writing and organization:

I said it earlier but tgcf is a lot more structurally sound than mdzs imo. My biggest criticism of the MDZS novel (minus the bad sex scenes, homophobia, and general I hate mxtxness of it) was the way the flashbacks were presented. 

Like OH MY GOD they were presented so badly. I hated that the flashback was told intermittently and only when one of the characters invoked the past. For example, when WWX meets Jiang Cheng and a second time, Jin Ling distracts JC to release “Mo Xuanyu” bc he saved his life in the Nie Ancestral hall earlier. WWX then proceeds to be the self sacrificing dude he is and take away Jin Ling’s curse and put it on himself. When he escapes and returns to LWJ, LWJ offers to carry him.

 If you watched CQL, you know exactly what LWJ is referring to when he says smth to the effect of “You once offered to carry me too, remember.” HOWEVER in the novel you don’t know what he’s talking about. This is because the flashback wasn’t been revealed to you yet. The next chapter goes to tell the flashback. I think that this takes away all of the emotional depth away from the scene. But in CQL, having the flashback already be known, you make the connection on your own and are like “awww wangji remembers that.. even 16 years later.“ Its a lot sweeter bc you know what the two have gone thru. At this point in the MDZS novel its barely the 30th chapter or so and you have no real idea what wangxian have been thru together or what reasons wangji has for loving wwx. You just think, well obviously they like each other bc this is a danmei novel and they are the two leads, ofc they have to like each other. But in cql, you learn through watching them that they’re in love. It’s not just like”well they have to be!! its a bl!!”

Okay that was a rlly long side tangent but it makes me so angry. So what did any of that have to do with TGCF?? well tgcf doesn’t have this issue. In fact, i believe that it gains a lot from having the flashback withheld from the reader. 

I really liked how the flashbacks were contained to books 2 and 4 respectively because it adds a layer of mystery. Hua Cheng is a very secretive man so it makes sense for us to not know everything about him upfront. The way that the author teases and hints little things at you make you want to know more, making it all the more satisfying when the truth is revealed. Because in a way you Know that Hua Cheng meets Xie Lian before and you know that he’s the child XL saved during the God Pleasing Ceremony but you don’t know all the details. Like obviously since Hua Cheng is a ghost you know that he’s died and it was likely for Xie Lian or Xian le’s sake but you probably never expected that he actually died twice. Once on the battle field and second when he took the human face disease. I think the difference between these flashbacks and the flashbacks in MDZS result from the length. In TGCF you get two long concise flashbacks that make sense to be placed where they are. Book 2 because you already have a feel and hint at what the characters have been through and book 4 because the White No Face appears again so then you learn how he and Xie Lian met before. It wouldn’t make sense to place book 2 any earlier bc there is no emotional impact. And it doesn’t make sense to place book 4 earlier because you don’t know what the white no face’s deal is so it’d be confusing. In MDZS, you get numerous short flashbacks happening alongside the main story and it makes it hard to piece together the timeline in a way that feels satisfying. Ik a lot of ppl grill cql for having a confusing intro episode and having a rlly long flashback but its much better than the mdzs novel. However the mdzs donghua handles the flashback in the most concise way imo.

Overall i think the way the story is structured is very good and is a step up from mdzs. Also the horror aspects of tgcf are rlly enjoyable and honestly i think mxtx should just write short horror stories at this point. like enough long ass novels chock full of fetishization. just write some fun horror with no romance and call it a day.. pls

Side Characters:

okay so straight up, i think the side characters arent used as well as they were in mdzs bc mxtx wanted to focus on hualian and didn’t want to give the side characters as much focus. This is a weaker point of the novel.

I’ll get into it more below but i think hua cheng was done dirty as a character by having him rlly only care abt xie lian. Since he doesn;t have any real relationships with others outside of xie lian this takes away from having more depth in the side characters. They’re really only related as far as xie lian’s relationship with them. Though thankfully xie lian gets rather close with a few officials and the ones we get to see more of are rlly interesting. I especially loved the reconciliation of mu qing, feng xin, and xie lian at the end of book 5. honestly their relationship was one my favorites and i’m glad they finally said what they had to say to each other after 800 fucking years. Also Shi Qingxuan is a delight. we stan sqx in this house.

The characters i wish we had seen more of were yushi huang (although she didnt rlly want to be there, good for her), Quan Yizhen and Yin Yu. I very much wish yizhen and yin yus story happened earlier on and we had more time with them. It felt strange to have their subplot occur towards the end and it was sort of out of place but i liked them a lot!! i wish there was more to it. and that there was a reconcilation but mxtx hates happy shidi’s doesnt she, (glares at novel jc). Also man yin yu did NOT have to die like that i’m sad.

Also, honestly.. i don’t think qi rong added to the story whatsoever and i have no clue why he and guzi were there. qi rong just pissed me off the whole time and added literally nothing.

going back to yushi huang, i’d like to say for the millionth time that i hate how mxtx uses any of her female characters. like we get it.. u hate women being useful... im still pressed but what i want to say has been said many times before so ill leave it at that.

Hualian:

I really really did like hualian at the end. They had a truly epic love story and it was so beautiful, especially when hua cheng repeated his words as wuming to xie lian as he started to disappear. But, I said it once and i’ll say it again. I don’t think Hualian is a super healthy relationship. As fiction its fine (i firmly believe fiction impacts reality but let me finish), i guess bc literally nothing about their situation can be replicated irl and none of it ended up containing manipulation or abuse or anything bad but there was a potential for it to and i’m really glad it didnt go that route.

Hualian is a highly idealized and romanticized relationship full of some truly troubling feelings of self worth. While its “beautiful” in a way that hc really was xls most devoted believer, it wasnt healthy for him to live for xl like this. Nor was it healthy for xl to feel so unworthy of hua chengs love.  

Hua Cheng’s devotion to Xie Lian is a little too extreme and it bothers me. When the truth was revealed abt the Temple of 10,000 Gods I had the same reaction as Mu Qing and Feng Xin. I was like... HEY WHAT THE FUCKK that’s a little uh... thats NOT HEALTHY,, dianxia PLEASE say smth. But ofc Xie Lian didn’t say fucking anything and and i was so pissed. Like the whole thing of Hua Cheng living his life solely for XIe Lian is really kinda fucked up and not romantic. I was holding out hope that at some point XIe Lian would sit him down and be like “Hey! I love you and i’m really grateful that all these years you’ve still believed in me when no one else did. But you can’t just live your life for my sake. You deserve love from many other other people and deserve to have a life and happiness outside of me. I still want to spend the rest of my life with you, but you need to not only think of me.” or something to that effect

It bothers me that after Xie Lian learns the truth he doesn’t once reassure Hua Cheng that he didn’t have to make Xie Lian his reason for existence. Like.. idk i just think that’s rlly kinda unhealthy. Like I understand why Hua Cheng is so deeply devoted to Xie Lian-- he saved his life twice and was the only one to ever show him kindness and he’s seen xie lian suffer a fate worse than death multiple times. I get that he wants to protect him and make his life easier, but to not let anyone else into his life and spend 800 years looking for xie lian is just overkill. Like if the whole 10k statues thing never happened i’d be 100 percent fine with hualin but the whole devotion to that extent... uhhh yea.. no that put a bad taste in my mouth. Obsession should not be romanticised. I don’t think any reader of tgcf is going out and deciding to live like hua cheng obviously but still.

Also Side note, the whole 100 swords scene.. bro i felt for hua cheng, the way he screamed seeing that, i don’t blame him. I was so horrified reading that chapter. i don’t think i’ve been so horrified by a piece of media like that in a while. Poor fucking xie lian.. oh my god. I understand the intense reaction he had and how seeing that prompted such a degree of loyalty but still.. 10k statues?? the cave that mu qing and feng xin saw... thats a little too much obssession... like please.. dial it back.. im begging u.

I was talking to mary (liviahyes) and she said smth abt how Hua Cheng doesn’t have a character outside of xie lian. And she’s right, he kinda doesn’t. If Xie Lian didn’t exist neither would Hua Cheng. I get that that counds kinda romantic but in practice i don’t think its a good things. Especially because Xie Lian has a story outside of Hua Cheng, hehas goals, he has friends, he has something. Hua Cheng said it-- his only dream is Xie Lian. Which is romantic but very very unbalanced. 

THAT BEING SAID, i still rly liked their relationship and i think theyre cute they just have issues they need to work through. I mean they have time but yea. It wasn’t perfect but eh. overall i’m bitter bc they couldve been THAT COUPLE but theyre so many bad implications as mentioned above and i.. smh. They still have amazing moments. Like the lantern scene, the alter scene, the “what matters is you, not the state of you”, the end when hua cheng helps release the shackles on xie lian, the scene where hua cheng disappears, the way xie lian waited for him, like they were so close to being THAT COUPLE but then mxtx and her fujo ass just had to make it uncomfortable like that. i’m so bitter. Like the reason why i wrote out all of this is bc this novel could’ve been great but so many little things added up and made the experience far more sour than it shouldve been.

MXTX did hua cheng SO DIRTY by not giving him a character much outside of loving xie lian and being good at everything. Like when I first learned abt how Hua Cheng beat 33 heavenly officials at what they excel in best i was like WHO IS THIS LEGEND but honestly.. he rlly doesn’t have any motivations outside of helping xie lian and I wish he had more to him . Like if we had more situations like the one where hua cheng dug out his own eye to save the group of mortals on mount tong’lu then he’d have been a much more well rounded character. Honestly, that’s rlly the only instance where he seems to have taken xie lians ideals to heart. I wish we had more of that bc that scene was so cool. i wish it hadn’t been revealled so late and there was more than one occasion where he defends others (minus xie lian ofc) without anything for himself to gain that.

To contrast hualian with wangxian, i think wangxian work so well bc at their core, they have the same life goals and same ideas about people and the world. Where in hualian, xie lian has core principles and morals and hua cheng is just like, anything for xie lian. SMH they couldve been great but overall i think hualian falls flat for me because of my own fear of dating someone who doesn’t have a life outside of dating me. Moreso, my parents had this sort of unbalanced relationship towards the end of their marriage and it ended very badly and yea, i just can’t whole heartedly love relationships that in any way resemble this, even if it ends differently. that’s a personal thing tho.

I don’t think Hua Cheng has ANY bad intentions towards Xie Lian or ever will. I don’t think he’s ever manipulated xl or tried to force him to love him. But again, it’s my own personal feelings that makes me feel kinda.. ehh conflicted abt hualian. There was potential but again.. fujoshis ruin everything... smh. Overall i think the way it ended redeemed the issues it had but still there were issues and i really wish xie lian like,, reassured hua cheng about living his life freely at some point but whatever. 

IN CONCLUSION

TGCF had the potential to be better than mdzs, it rlly did but it was bogged down by the authors own toxic mentalities abt love, and mlm relationships, and treating women like ppl and it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I enjoyed this book, truly i did (otherwise i wouldn’t have stuck through and read 750k words of it) but there are some flaws that cannot be glossed over. I hope that tgcf when it does get adapted, goes through the same miracle that cql did and makes the characters more like ppl and less like tropes but i doubt it. Also i highly doubt that a live action tgcf is feasible given the supernatural aspects of the series but we shall see. I’m excited for the donghua when it eventual comes out but i will continue to be critical of the novel bc..well.. you see why. idk if i’d reccommend this book tbh bc like yes i would, no i would... well.. </3. yea. overall, it sure was something that i enjoyed in spades. especially the last 5 chapters. I generally liked it but had many issues with it at the same time, but honestly, yea thats the standard fair for a mxtx novel. 

[spacebabe51]

Thoughts on 1991 Dark Shadows

You guys asked for it, but I warn you, I'm stupid long winded. I’ll spare you the long intro I was originally gonna tack onto this post because it’s already way too long. Basically this is just my thoughts on Barnabas, Victoria, Willie and Julia and why and where I think they fail to capture the audience’s attention.

So let’s start in the obvious place; Ben Cross as Barnabas Collins. Now. I have a lot of sympathy for pretty much anyone who tries to take on this role: Jonathan Frid just has this unhatable quality to him, which makes the ill-advised nonsensical hypocritical B.S. that spurts from the character of Barnabas Collins like a fountainhead somehow forgivable. It would be really hard to give this role to anyone and maintain that odd mix of unlikeable and endearing. Ok, now that I’ve said that I can say this: I don’t like him. I don’t like this Barnabas.

      It’s not because he’s young; I understand why that choice keeps getting made, although I disagree that it’s essential. The original show does go in narrative circles pretending that Frid/Barnabas is much younger than he looks or just avoiding the subject altogether. A young actor can play Barnabas; a hot actor can even play Barnabas; and I’ll grin and bear it as long as he’s entertaining. Cross is not entertaining. I don’t know if it’s fear of doing something wrong or if he watched the original Dark Shadows and saw Frid hamming it clutching a rubber bat to his throat and said “couldn’t be me”, but he will not emote and it absolutely kills the character for me. Barnabas is a lot of things in his first few episodes on the show. He’s suave, he’s scared, he’s unhinged, he’s mournful, he’s triumphant, he’s cruel...but one thing he never is is boring. Even when he’s standing around looking off into nothing and reciting long verses of meaningless prose, we’re engaged. Frid, after all, was a trained Shakespearean actor. Staring into nothing and reciting prose is what he’s best at.

Another thing Frid is is visually nervous; he was out of his depth on a vampire soap opera as well as constantly at a loss to remember his lines, and it shows; in ways that somehow endearingly make the character seem lost and out of his depth in a new time and in a fate he doesn't enjoy. All Cross ever really shows us is suaveness; stillness, and a vaguely constipated expression. He isn’t nervous. He seems calculated. It makes scenes like the one near the end of the pilot way more terrifying. He goes from telling Vicky the story of Josette and Barnabas’ love and her death to savagely beating Willie with nearly the same facial expression and inflection; he comes across as a cold blooded sociopath more than an unhinged impulsive killer. There isn’t much humanity to him, and that makes him hard to root for, either as a villain or a sympathetic monster. 

Joanna Going’s Victoria Winters:

 Hey, what a surprise! I actually don’t hate her. At least, I didn’t at first. Now, Vicky is a fairly easy character to cast- because let’s face it, she’s a pretty textbook example of a gothic romance protagonist. You know, the kind that are always running away from houses on book covers?

         But that doesn’t mean it’s easy to find someone the audience will connect with and like. The protagonist needs to be a little something more than a blank slate, which is something the original character suffered with, (not in the first season, but in every subsequent one) Going’s Victoria seemed at least a smidgen more self-aware and spunky(?), which is refreshing. Or, at least, I thought. And then episode three came along and suddenly she was 100% on board with Barnabas’ gross stiff romance. So never mind, scratch all that. The actress is fine for the character, but the character is still being sold a bill of goods by the writers. 

Jim Fyfe’s Willie Loomis  

 Let’s get to the real meat of it, shall we?  I have to first say that I am probably not qualified to talk about this, being fairly neurotypical and knowing little about the state of representation in the media for intellectually disabled individuals. Secondly, I have to say that I have at least some respect for Fyfe for being one of the few people to go against the grain and actually act on this show, and he is slightly less boring to watch than a lot of the others, if...not in a pleasant way. In any case I don’t think we can blame what I’m about to talk about on his acting per say.

       That said...uh...there were some, ahem, bad choices made in terms of Willie’s character. And yes, of course I'm talking about coding him as intellectually challenged and then treating it like a joke, or a character flaw (?). In fact the more I think about it, the worse it gets. Now this is just conjecture, but the choice to cast Willie as conventionally unattractive and intellectually challenged, in order to, I guess, justify or explain the dislike everyone has for him, is incredibly bad for any goodwill the show already isn’t trying to establish among the rest of it’s main cast. Karlen’s Willie, by comparison, is set up as a scumbag from long before Barnabas arrives. He harrasses women, steals, lies, starts fights; etc. Even in the “House” movie, we get a few seconds of him being gross towards Maggie to imply this is normal behavior from him. The most we see Fyfe’s Willie do is be kind of surly and annoying at a bar where he’s already been denied service. He seems more like a guy who isn’t good at social cues, and who is just genuinely sick of being pushed around for no good reason. If Dark Shadows had for some reason decided it wanted to do a story about inequality and social stigma in the midst of it's vampire fever dream, then fine, but that's not what this is; It’s almost like the show wanted to rely on his looks and supposed “mental insufficiency” to make the audience dislike him. He seems more like Collinsport’s long time scapegoat than a drifter who came into town to start trouble, and combining that with the coding paints a very dark picture and makes the already emotionless Collins’ family seem pretty terrible. (and I won’t even go into the whole “Barnabas beats Willie and then two episodes later they’re best friends” thing here because there aren’t enough expletives in the world for it) ALSO also, and this is nit-picky, I have a problem with the fact that Fyfe can’t pick an accent. Sometimes he seems to be trying to imitate Karlen’s Booklynese, sometimes he sounds vaguely Southern, sometimes he sounds like he’s trying to impersonate Goofy...it’s very distracting. Not more distracting than all the other terrible things, but distracting. 

Barnabas Steele’s Julia Hoffman: As anyone who follows me knows, I sort of worship Grayson Hall, so I almost feel bad saying I don’t like someone in this role, because, duh. For me, there will only ever be one Julia Hoffman. Is that gonna stop me from saying it? Hell no.

 Steele’s Julia suffers from nearly the exact flaw Cross’ Barnabas does; an inability or unwillingness to emote in any fashion. Add on, however, a nauseating lack of chemistry with any of the other actors, and you have a recipe for eyes glazing over by act two. I think, honestly, the biggest flaw of trying to recast this show is this; Dark Shadows is, essentially, a play. It was a troupe of mainly theater actors, working in close proximity, live, on a shabby theater-like set. When you strip away those elements and add in true soap opera people and plots and camera angles, you lose that magical experimental, campy, electric element the original had. I know I’m talking more vaguely about the show now and less about Steele’s Julia, but honestly there's not much to say about her? She doesn’t come across as particularly clever, or bold, or any of the things that made us root for Julia when we were pretty sure she was on the fast track to getting killed her first few weeks. She just sort of meanders through plot points and talks like she’s controlling a ventriloquist dummy somewhere offscreen. She’s not interesting, and when it comes to Julia Hoffman, psychiatrist, blood specialist, hypnotist, fake historian, etc, that’s the worst thing she can be. 

If you've read this far, thank you! I would love to hear you guys' thoughts, whether you agree or disagree or think I missed the mark entirely. I'm only on episode 6: I'm going to continue watching, purely out of obligation since they're taking the show off Amazon Prime at the end of the month, and I may make some memes/follow up posts when we get to Angelique, 1795, etc.

[camwritesbooks]

         ↝ NANOWRIMO 2018 WRAP UP; Cursed Queen

Okay, so this is ten days late, I’m sorry. The past few days have been a much-needed chance to get back some energy and sort out my headspace. But here I am now to talk about how happy I am with how NaNoWriMo went this year! As some of you will know I set a goal of 20k words and didn’t *quite* make it (but that was a very specific choice made with my mental health in mind, I may add). However, I did get 18.5k, which is more than I’ve ever written for a WIP and the most I’ve got down in 2 years. My plan from now on is to attempt 10k a month and finish Cursed Queen by the middle of next year. I’m not sure that will happen, but I will try.

This November, I made some great strides with Cursed Queen and my WIPs in general. I sorted out the overall plot of the first book and fleshed out the main characters as well as creating some new ones! I’ve just fallen in love with my shiny new OCs including Sasha, Petro, Mira and more. I’ve also come to adore the villain, Kaliannisse, and all her evilness. I just can’t wait to keep writing more of her (including the novella I have planned that tells her backstory). Del and Merrin and Kieran have become so much more precious to me too.

Thank you to all those who have supported me, left comments on my NaNo updates and shown me and my blog love recently, especially during this past month. I doubt I would’ve managed to get this far without the continued kindness you guys give me. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Below the cut I’ve put the *entire* first chapter, not something I’d usually do, so uh... check that out if you want! I know it’s a bit shit, but it’s the start and I’m proud of it!

wip(s) page • characters  • intro post  • del & merrin edit

Read the (totally unrevised and kind of crappy) Chapter One below ↴

chapter one; Del

I can smell smoke. Somewhere in this forest, something is burning. There are a lot of things it could be. A lightning storm raging on the other side of the nearest hills might have set a flame, or perhaps some fire bubbled out of the earth in the valley. Either way, it’s not a good thing.      

I follow the trail back around, skirting the cliffs. I have a slightly unsettling feeling that I’m not alone in the forest, except that’s impossible. Nobody ever comes up here. Still, I swear I can hear what sounds like bracken crunching under feet some distance behind me.     

“Merrin?” I call into the forest. My brother is the only one who might be out here, though even he doesn’t know how to get to this side of the plateau. Besides, he’s busy preparing for this evening. There’s no reply – all I can hear is the faint rustlings of wind in the trees. I probably imagined the footsteps. My nerves are just high because of the council meeting tonight.     

I pause, resting a hand on the stone cliff beside me. The smell of smoke is growing stronger. If there is a fire, it could be close. After a moment of hesitation, I break into a run. The trees melt into a blur of brown and grey around me as I follow the track I’ve followed so many times back to the village. Wind rushes through my shoulder-length curly hair. Scrambling over smooth stone, I cross the crevice that cuts the plateau in two. I run and run until I’m gasping for breath. I stumble out of the trees and onto the wide open land of the plateau. The edge of the cliff is within sight, and beyond it is the mountains – two great ranges coming down on either side and converging in the middle, all of it lit up by golden late-afternoon sun. From up here, they seem so surmountable. I look out behind me and in the far distance I can see a small plume of smoke rising above the rocks and trees. There must be a fire somewhere. It’ll probably burn out before sunset though, so I’m not really worried.      

I follow the curve of the plateau, breathing in deeply as the wind buffets me. Everything is beautiful up here, in this moment. I can pretend that I’m not hungry and slightly ill and that the people down in our village are all slowly dying. From here, I can see all the world I’ve ever known – the mountains, the valley, the great cliffs of the plateau. I can try to imagine what lies beyond the snowy hills or behind me, on the other side of the cliffs. I have only ever seen desolate tundra in that direction, but I can’t believe that it goes on forever.      

Two or three years ago, I discovered a way from the smaller part of the plateau – the part the rest of the village knows of – and the forest-covered stretch of rock and earth beyond it. A deep ravine between the two sections, but I found a place where the walls of the trench caved in and you can get across safely enough. I didn’t tell anyone about it because there was little over there worth gathering, so it didn’t seem unfair to keep it as my place. If I did speak of it, the village leaders might not even let me go there anymore, saying I was too weak and thin to make it anything but a danger to me.      

I close my eyes for a moment, trying to think forward to the rest of the day. The town council. The ceremony. I have a nasty sinking feeling in my stomach every time I think of it. Within a few hours, I will have nothing or everything. Merrin will have everything – the town leaders like him. But they never really liked me.      

I climb down the crumbled part of the plateau cliff, following the path carved there by hundreds of journeys. From this side I can see my village with its dark-tiled roofs and great town hall in the centre. A part of me doesn’t want to go back tonight, and I’m almost thinking of just turning around until I spot Merrin standing at the base of the cliff, glaring at me. His arms are crossed.

“Hey,” I say sheepishly as I land on the flat ground.      

“Where’ve you been? The council meeting is about to begin,” he says.      I shrug. “I was… around. I couldn’t deal with everyone staring at me.”     

“They were staring at me and Sasha too, and Lorrie and he’s not even a part of it! Father was worried about you – people were saying you weren’t even going to show up.”      

I feel bad for considering doing just that. “Of course I was,” I say. “I couldn’t miss this.”      

“You know nothing bad is going to happen, right?”     

For you, no. The story’s very different for me. There isn’t honestly much between me and Merrin, but that’s not how the town leaders see it. Sasha’s their golden girl, but they love Merrin too. Who they don’t love, is me. I’m too thin, too sick, too slow. Anything I do right is never enough. Which is why tonight, at the town council, Merrin and Sasha will be made full citizens of the town – adults – and I won’t.      

I follow Merrin back towards the village, lurking behind. The streets are empty, which tells me I’m later than I thought. Sasha is waiting for us outside the town hall. She doesn’t have anything to worry about, the town leaders like her.      

“What took you so long?” she asks, grinning.      

“Sorry, sorry,” I say, throwing up my hands. “I lost track of time.”      

“No issue, nothing starts till we go in,” says Sasha.         

Merrin gives my hand a quick squeeze. “Well, shall we?”      

I enter alongside Sasha, tucking my hair behind my ears nervously. Sitting at the great table at the end of the room is the town council, the rest of the town crowded around in the hall. The town meeting happens once every moon but today will be a special one because the ceremony is happening today. Me, Sasha and Merrin. Next year it will be Lorrie and possibly me again, if I don’t pass today.      

“Ah,” says Ren Bell-Lu, the leader of the town council, as we enter. “Here they are.” I don’t like Ren very much, he was never kind to me.      

We follow Merrin to the front of the crowd and people move out of our way. Silence falls over everyone. My father meets my gaze as I pass him and I look away quickly, feeling a heaviness on my shoulders. I don’t want to disappoint him.     

Ren leans forward as we arrive before the table, smiling. “Sasha, Merrin and… Del,” he says, disapproval on his face as he says my name. “You are brought before the council today to be judged. You have all reached the age of eighteen and are now given the chance to be full citizens of the town. Are you ready?”     

The three of us nod.     

Ren raises his hand, making the sign of our village – palm facing the sky; middle, ring and pinky finger together and index finger curled up to meet the thumb. “Then, we shall begin. Merrin, step forward.” My brother steps out from beside Sasha, hand on his heart. “Merrin, do you accept the responsibilities of adulthood and swear to uphold the traditions of this town, forever and always until your death?”      

My brother grins as he speaks. “I do.”      

“Do you stand by your name?”     

“I do.”      

Ren dips his head and Merrin returns the gesture, stepping back into line with Sasha and me.      My hands are shaking as Ren’s gaze moves to Sasha.      

“Sasha, step forward.” Sasha moves towards the table, her long blonde hair swishing. “Do you, Sasha, accept the responsibilities of adulthood and swear to uphold the traditions of this town, forever and always until your death?”     

Sasha’s eyes sparkle. “I do,” she says solemnly.      

“Do you stand by your name?”     

“From this day forth, I wish to be Sasha Blue, if you will grant it,” Sasha says. A flurry of whispers rushes around the room. I can’t remember a time in my life where someone requested another name. Of course it would be Sasha. I suppose she deserves it.      

Ren looks surprised but recovers quickly. “Due to invaluable service past, present and future, we grant you this name. You are now Sasha Blue.” He and Sasha nod to each other before she steps back into line.      

Ren’s gaze moves to me and I feel my cheeks burning. “Del,” he says tightly with none of the respect he showed Sasha. “Although you have proven herself to be a competent member of this town, we do not believe you are yet ready to be a full citizen.” I cringe. “I’m sure,” he continues, “by next season, you will be successful.”     

But you hope I won’t be. Horror and shame melts over me. I can’t bear to look at Merrin or my father, fighting to keep the tears out of my eyes. I saw it coming, but some part of me didn’t want to believe it.     

Ren looks away from me as if I never even existed. He starts going on about the crop yield this month and I try to merge back into the crowd.      

Sasha follows me, furious. “How can they do that?” she hisses. “It’s completely unfair!”      “Yeah,” I say dejectedly, staring at the floor.      

“I wouldn’t have taken another name if I knew they were going to do that to you,” she whispers.     I shake my head. “No, you deserve it. It’s a lovely name.”     

Ren seems to have stopped talking and chatter begins to sprout up around us.     “Thanks,” Sasha says, “I’m glad you like it.”     

“How did you choose it?” I ask, trying to direct the conversation away from me. I just want to pretend that none of what just happened took place.      

She shrugs. “It’s not that deep, I just like the colour blue.”      

Liz Bell-Lu, Ren’s wife, appears at Sasha’s side, who happens to be her niece. Like Ren, Liz was one of the lucky few people who received a second name. Ren Bell and Liz Lu married several years ago and have ruled this town ever since.     

“Ah, Sasha, congratulations on the name!” she says in her usual simpering tone. “Del, I’m sure it’ll be your turn next time.”     

I do my best to force a smile.     

“All you need,” Liz continues, “is just to put on a bit of weight, dearest. You are such a skinny little thing.”      

Sasha looks embarrassed but I shake my head at her. The last thing I need is to be on Liz Bell-Lu’s bad side.      

“Well, we’ll see,” I reply with as much charm as I can muster.      

“Your mother was quite the same, if I remember correctly,” Liz goes on, completely unaware of herself. “Thin as sticks and always rather ill. I’m surprised she lived long enough to bear a child!” She laughs as if making fun of my dead mother is somehow an appropriate thing to do.      Sasha grabs my arm and drags me away with a hasty, “Let’s go talk to Merrin!” We make our way across the room. “I’m so sorry for my aunt,” she says once we’re out of Liz’s hearing.     

“It’s okay,” I say.     

“It isn’t, though. Nothing tonight is okay.” Sasha sends a death-glare in the direction of Ren, who’s speaking with another member of the town council.     

I sigh. “Look, I’m sure they’re right and next year I’ll join you and Merrin as full citizens. It just wasn’t going to happen this year.”      

“Excuse me everyone!” calls out a voice and the room falls silent. Standing on the elevated platform before the town council table is Vrin, the oldest person in our village. He’s one of the most knowledgeable people in the town and spends his days transcribing old texts and tutoring children. He taught me how to read and write which I’m decent at, but he also showed me healing herbs and survival which I took to immediately. He taught Merrin and Sasha too, though unlike nearly every adult I know, he always liked me best.      

“My good friends,” he says, raising his arms. “It is with the greatest joy that I announce to you that I have finally completed the translation of the old books.”     

The crowd applauds – this has been Vran’s project for years.      

“Aha, thank you,” Vran says, smiling, “but that is not all I have to say. I discovered in the texts the existence of another town – a city – beyond the mountains to the north.”     

What? A heavy silence falls across the room.      

“I will read to you the passage, if I may,” Vran continues, squinting down at some papers he holds. “We passed by the city of Veneficia on our journey into the continent. We were greeted warmly by the High Empress, who provided us all with rich meals and supplies for the road. This place is heavenly – the streets are lined with strange shops and market stalls. The people here are endlessly kind to us and I am honestly sorry that we must leave soon. I hope one day we shall return. The city is located at the west end of the mountains ranges and we aim to move only eastwards from now on.” Vran looks up, clearly delighted with the effect he has had on the room. “That is the final entry in the book we found underneath the floor of this very hall. Somewhere, only weeks away, is a city of people who could help our town,” he continues, punctuating each word. Whispers start up throughout the crowd.     

“You think it’s true?” Sasha murmurs to me.     

“I don’t know, Vrin’s pretty smart so I can’t imagine he’d get this wrong,” I say, not taking my eyes off the stage. I’m grateful to Vrin for finishing his translations coincidentally at this time to take the focus off me. Besides, this is the first time our town has had something actually newsworthy to talk about.      

Ren steps back up onto the stage, raising his hands for silence. “Vran and I have spoken extensively on this matter and we agree that while our town is one of beauty and tradition, we would do well to remember that a hard winter is on the horizon. If we can find this city, it might be of great advantage to us. Before I continue, are there any questions?”     

“Who wrote the book?” calls out someone.     

“Someone who was a part of a group travelling in these parts. We know very little of them, but they are a trustworthy source,” Vran answers.       

“How do we know this city is still around, if it’s even there in the first place?” asks Kit, who’s a few years older than us.    

Ren and Vran share a quick look. “We don’t,” says Ren, “but if it is, the resources there could save lives. We will not be abandoning our home here, only looking for some stability. We will be sending around 7 or 8 members of the town on a journey to find the city. And that is why we’re here today.” His eyes scan the crowd and rest on me for an uncomfortably long time. “Em will be leading the group and will take Orla and Gram with her. Petro too will go.”     

I look around to spot the people he mentioned. Em leans against a table, grinning, her lackeys Orla and Gram standing to the side. Petro is expressionless, standing in a corner with his arms crossed. I’m not surprised they chose Em, she’s one of the most respected young people in the town. Petro is a bit of a strange choice, but maybe he put himself forward.      

“As for the other places in the group,” Ren continues, his voice hardening, “there will be some places for volunteers. However, I think it only fair that people get the chance to prove themselves after past failures.” He looks at me. “For this reason, the fourth member will be Del.”     

My heart stops.

Thanks for reading! I hope you all have a good day and a fulfilling 2019. The future is bright <3

[marchofthekillerqueens]

Queen Album Reviews: Made in Heaven (1995)

A summary of me writing this review: 

Title: Apt, moving, utterly heartbreaking. The album has a clear intention on what it’s setting out to do and the title tells you everything you need to know. 10/10

Album Cover: Obviously I love the memorial statue, but also the view looking out to Montreux, but the colouring of the sky makes the whole thing feel incredibly serene. 8/10

It’s a Beautiful Day: This is has a really creative arrangement (by John I believe but don’t quote me on that) the song is in essence a demo and I think really is a great example of the ingenuity that went into the creation of this album. I really love the musical arrangement but the lyrics set a really complex tone for the album - the lyrics themselves are bright, but it still feels somewhat melancholic. 8/10

Made in Heaven: I much prefer this version to the one on Mr. Bad Guy, the lyrics are obviously just as powerful, however the song just has such a different feel to it than the original version, it feels more powerful and much more emotive as a result of the new music written for the song. I feel that it’s maybe a minute too long but other than that I love it. 9.5/10

Let Me Live: I love the feel of this song, and the shared vocals are such a rarity that I feel like I treasure the song for that reason. I’m not a massive fan of the chorus feel that it has to it, particularly towards the end of the song, but its still a great song nevertheless. 7.5/10

Mother Love: I have to confess, this is only the second time i’ve ever heard this song, because the first time I listen to it I was an inconsolable mess for quite some time. For me it’s without a doubt the most emotional song Queen have ever released.  Having said that, I really do like the song, Freddie’s vocals are incredible, i’m in awe at the quality of his voice given how ill he was at the time of recording this song. The song has a beautiful arrangement and moving, intelligent lyrics which only add to the emotion behind the song - the use of sampling is also incredible. Despite the fact I literally can’t listen to it, the song does deserve its credit for what it is.

 (P.S I had to stop writing my review make a cup of tea and come back after listening to this song because guess who cried again? It me.)  9/10

My Life Has Been Saved: This song doesn't resonate with me as strongly as some of the other on the album, it’s well written and performed, but for some reason it doesn't strike me in the same way as some of the other songs on the album. 6/10

I Was Born to Love You: Yes! I love this song so much, I adore that it is at it’s heart a love song but maintains a rock vibe. Again, I prefer the Queen version to the one that appears on Mr Bad Guy, however, the lyrics always move me irrespective of the version i’m listening too. I love the ‘magic’ part. Also, I dont know how many of you have seen the version with Roger singing the main vocals supported by Brian on Guitar and vocals but it gives me shivers. 10/10

Heaven for Everyone: Another one I absolutely love, I think I maybe slightly favour this version to the one from The Cross purely because I dislike the spoken intro and outro for the version released by the cross. But when discussing this version in particular, Freddie’s vocals again blow the thing out of the water and it’s just such a well written song overall. 9/10

Too Much Love Will Kill You: I have to admit, I feel that this song’s more suited to Brian’s voice. However, the song feels somewhat more moving, more meaningful from Freddie’s voice - though thats probably the nature of circumstance. At the end of the day I couldn’t care less about the ways in which it came to be, all that matters is that the finished product is incredibly well written in terms of music arrangement and lyrically and is a great addition to the album. 8/10

You Don’t Fool Me: I really don’t feel much either way for this song. I’m not a massive fan but I dont inherently dislike it either... its very much just there. 5/10

A Winter’s Tale: I love that this song was completed in one take, I feel like Freddie’s voice certainly doesn’t sound at its strongest here but it hardly matters (and even if he isn’t singing at his very best his voice is still stunning). The song itself feels incredibly christmassy to me and makes me feel almost warm inside. 7.5/10

It’s a Beautiful Day (Reprise): Whilst I do prefer the original, I really do like the rock elements and the samples from Seven Seas of Rhye, however, it feels as if its lacking the feel of the original. 7.5/10

Yeah: A bizarre addition, I feel like @moviestorian had the right idea by not rating it, so i’ll follow suit. 

13: An incredible, experimental piece that almost sounds etherial. Its a long piece but its definitely worth a listen. 7/10

Overall Review: 8.0 Songs Only: 7.8

I’ll do a little summary of how all of the albums averaged out for me later, but thanks for putting up with my incoherent ramblings! I really enjoyed writing these reviews! Thanks @moviestorian for egging me on to do them! 

[onwardintolight]

What did you go to college for and what is your current job/career? Any tips for people starting college? How do you decide what to do with your life?

Hi anon! I’m sorry it’s taken me so long to answer your question!

My answer’s going to be complicated, because I have a chronic illness which means that I currently don’t have a career. That being said, I’ll try to answer as best I can!

I got my bachelor’s degree in linguistics. I absolutely LOVED it. I chose it because I loved it; I’ve always been fascinated by languages, and I found linguistics to be equally fascinating, wonderfully challenging, and a whole heck of a lot of fun. I started college declaring a major in letters (a broad degree mostly focused on languages, literature, and classical studies), but as soon as I took Intro to Linguistics fall of my sophomore year, I was hooked for good.

I was never quite sure what I wanted to do with linguistics, but there were many opportunities I could pursue, and I had an idea that maybe I’d eventually go to grad school to farther my options (perhaps studying linguistic anthropology, as I’ve always been really interested in the fight to save endangered languages). But that got put on hold indefinitely because….

Despite my love for linguistics, my main passion was dance, and for years I thought I was destined to be a dance teacher (I tried out teaching a class one year, and it was an incredible experience). You may be wondering, if this was the case, why didn’t I major in dance in college? That was a hard decision, but ultimately, through a lot of prayer and reflection, I felt like continuing to pursue dance with the dance studio I was at at the time was the right place for me to be. I was learning a lot, dancing with a performing troupe, and making some of the best memories, in an environment that was good for my soul.

On the side, during all of this, I was teaching music lessons on the hammered dulcimer, a folk instrument I’ve played since I was eleven, so that was always in the back of my mind as something I could continue to do.

To add another layer to all of this, I got married in college. My husband was studying to be an engineer. Consequently, I didn’t feel a whole lot of pressure to decide on what I was going to do right after college — I would pursue dancing and/or something to do with linguistics, while he would, God-willing, be the main breadwinner.

Naturally, things didn’t go as planned. My husband graduated with his master’s degree right in the middle of the recession, and despite his degree and impressive credentials, he was unable to find employment for a whole year. In the meantime, I picked up a job working in an after-school program, as I’d had experience with kids and teaching. It helped pay the bills, and it was incredibly rewarding, but it wasn’t something I wanted to continue doing as a career. Then my husband got a job in another state, we moved, and I continued my dance training. Eight months later, we moved across the country again after my husband’s job turned out to be a nightmare. I continued dancing in our new home and finally reached a level I was hoping to be at in order to teach again. When we moved back to our home state a year and a half later, I felt ready to jump into teaching dance as a career.

…And then, chronic illness struck. After a long, hard journey, I was eventually diagnosed with Mast Cell Activation Syndrome (MCAS), an immune disease that causes my body to release inordinate amounts of histamine, giving me random allergic reactions that are miserable and debilitating. One of the many triggers, unfortunately, happens to be exercise, particularly certain types of exercise like dance. I found that I was unable to dance anymore without getting sick, and it was devastating. (My illness has also made it impossible for me to keep a steady job.)

So, I’ve had to let go of my dream of being a dance teacher (I’m more glad than ever now that I didn’t major in dance in college, and focused on getting the experiences I wanted through my studio!). However, in letting go, I’ve found other things my heart is calling me towards. Writing is one of them — I probably never would have found I enjoyed writing fiction if it weren’t for being too sick to dance. I may have also found a way I can jump back into linguistics at home — I’m currently looking into what it would take to learn ancient Akkadian and Sumerian so I can join the effort to translate cuneiform tablets (there are thousands in museums that have never been translated). We’ll see how that goes. And in addition to all of that, I’m hoping to be a mother someday — I’m not sure whether I’ll be a full-time stay-at-home mom yet, but I know that’s a valid choice and I may end up deciding that’s where I want to be.

We’ll see.

So that’s my story so far. Here’s what I’ve learned:

- So much depends on things I don’t know, future possibilities and variables I have no way of seeing right now, and I’m okay with that. I’ve had to learn to just take life as it comes. To take the next step that’s lying there clear before me, trusting that God will make it all go somewhere meaningful and worthwhile.

- My dad has often quoted a commencement speech Steve Jobs gave at Stanford, remarking on what good career advice it had. One of the things he’s relayed to us, over and over, is that life is full of zig-zags. We so often plan our lives in a straight line (this will be my major, this will be my career, this is when I want to get married, etc.), and life rarely works out that way. However, the zig-zags you end up going on can all add up to something incredibly worthwhile. And sometimes it’s only through zig-zagging that you can arrive at a place where you feel like you truly belong or a career that calls you by name. My dad’s a prime example of this — he started out in med school, decided he didn’t want to be a doctor on one of the last days of his exams, walked out, ended up studying geology at a different college, became a high school chemistry teacher, went back to grad school to study history of science, and is now a professor and the curator of an incredible old, rare book collection at a university. His career has zig-zagged all over the place, but each zig and zag have been experiences that have made him who he is and, in the end, led him to where he is now. So don’t be afraid to listen to your heart and try different things. Don’t be afraid to zig-zag.

- Another great quote from my dad: “Don’t be afraid to do badly.” Sometimes failure is the only way we grow and learn and, in the end, succeed. You can’t achieve great things if you aren’t willing to accept the possibility of failure. On a more concrete level, you can’t pass your exam very easily if you’re petrified with anxiety about getting everything perfect. Perfectionism is a curse (one my dad knew his daughters struggled with greatly). Ain’t nobody got time for that!

- Money is overrated. Love and experiences and happiness are not. Don’t ignore the latter in favor of the former. If you have a passion for something, it may be difficult and you may have to work hard, but you can (hopefully) find a way to make it work.

- Ultimately? I don’t know how I would manage any of the twists and turns my life has sent me so far without a whole crap-ton of prayer, faith, love and community. That’s kept me going and kept me hoping, even when I’ve been tempted to give up.

Finally, some advice on starting college:

- It’s overwhelming at first, and that’s okay and normal. You’ll settle in and find your place eventually.

- Introduce yourself to someone else in every class you’re in. Strike up conversations. Be active in making friends. This will 1) potentially result in some good friendships, 2) make you feel less lonely, as college can (especially at first) feel like a very lonely place, and 3) give you someone you can reach out to in case you miss a class and need to exchange notes. I know this is difficult sometimes — I’m an introvert, I hate small talk — but as college went on and I did this more and more, I found it to be incredibly worthwhile.

- Explore! It’s okay to not have a major at first. Try out different classes. See what grabs you, what makes you wonder, what gives you joy.

- Apply for ALL the scholarships you can every year (before the scholarship deadlines roll around — make sure you know when they are). It’s a lot of work, but it can potentially save you from a heck of a lot more work and free you up to focus more on your studies!

- Show up. Be diligent. Yes, you can skip classes occasionally in college, and sometimes that’s really nice (especially if you’re having a really bad physical or mental health day). But definitely don’t make a habit of it, because if you do you won’t do well. In college you have to work on being self-motivated and self-disciplined, even when it’s hard. (And I say this as someone who struggled with depression, and some chronic illness, throughout most of my college years. It’s HARD. But just keep putting one foot in front of the other, as long as you’re able. And learn your limits; when you need to skip a class one day or reach out to a teacher for help or drop a class entirely. Sometimes that’s okay! Persevere hard, but extend yourself grace and forgiveness when you can’t.)

- Take ALL the notes. Seriously, don’t skimp on this. (If you miss a class, get the notes from someone else.) Then, when it’s time to prep for an exam, you can study your notes and be pretty sure you have it all covered. Some professors will let you take notes on your computer (which I like because I can type faster than I write); some won’t. It might help to ask your professor beforehand.

- If you’re struggling with a class, take advantage of your professor’s office hours (or if it’s not quite that dire, talk to them after class). Most professors love it when students do this because it shows you care and that you’re motivated. They really want to help you succeed. 

- And remember, no matter how alone you feel, you are not alone — you have people around you who are struggling too, people around you who care about you, and campus resources if you need them. Reach out. 

That’s all I can think of right now! If anyone else has any additional advice, feel free to chime in! I hope this is helpful, anon, even if my “career path” hasn’t exactly been traditional. I wish you all the best in college! 💜

[theblazingonix-blog]

The Chosen and their Chakras

So my friend @aiko-isari and several others have been writing about Tri 5: Symbosis/Coexistence ever since it came out a few days ago. I am having fun reading these and how so many people’s theories are coming together to make understanding of the events of the movie and series in general. I have long since been thinking up my own theories for Digimon for years, but most of them have either been debunked or are things me and Aiko have talked about for the past few years we’ve talked and she’s already mentioning some of them. So I want to go with something I’ve been thinking of for the past few months instead to add to this discussion. It’s probably gonna be too long to put in one part so bear with me. I will be putting my sources for all of the information for this theory at the end of each post. I also want to warn that I am going to mostly use dub names so if you have issue with that, I’m sorry. Just replace the dub names with the originals in your head. Not much I can do other than suggest that, I’m not gonna rewrite this entire thing with only the original Japanese names.

What’s my theory about? Simple. The Seven Chakras and how they influence the Chosen Children and their crests.

Now, I know what some people are thinking. “Chakra!? What does Naruto have anything to do with Digimon!?” Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Naruto’s Chakra is more akin to Chi which is also another fascinating thing, but this isn’t a theory that has to do with that.

The Seven Chakras are something very popular in the Eastern countries they originated in. The concept Zenlama.com describes as: “The word ‘chakra’ is derived from the sanskrit word meaning ‘wheel’. Literally translated from the Hindi it means ‘Wheel of spinning Energy’. A chakra is like a whirling, vortex-like, powerhouse of energy. Within our bodies, you have seven of these major energy centres and many more minor ones. You can think of chakras as invisible, rechargeable batteries.

They are charged and recharged through contact with the stream of cosmic energy in the atmosphere in much the same way that your home is connected to a central power source within a city – the only difference is that this cosmic energy source is free.

Imagine this, a vertical power current rather like a fluorescent tube that runs up and down the spine, from the top of the head to the base of the spine. Think of this as your main source of energy. The seven major chakras are in the centre of the body and are aligned with this vertical “power line. ”

Chakras connect your spiritual bodies to your physical one.

They regulate the flow of energy throughout the electrical network (meridians) that runs through the physical body. The body’s electrical system resembles the wiring in a house. It allows electrical current to be sent to every part, and it is ready for use when needed.

Sometimes chakras become blocked because of stress, emotional or physical problems. If the body’s ‘energy system’ can not flow freely it is likely that problems will occur. The consequence of irregular energy flow may result in physical illness and discomfort or a sense of being mentally and emotionally out of balance.”

Due to the Gnostic and subtle spiritual themes Digimon has had over the years I believe this makes sense. After all, due to being produced by an Eastern country who has embraced things like Buddhism and Taoism and such, I believe this might have influenced the creators of the series when they started bringing such concepts as the Crests into the picture. I believe in a lot of ways the Crests represent and mirror the Seven Chakras, and how said Chakras might be influencing the characters, their personalities, their actions and the entire plots of the movies, anime and games they’ve been in. So in in other words, I will be calling this: The Chosen and their Chakras Part 1: Naval Oranges

Now that that overly long intro is out of the way, I bet the first thing you’re gonna say is “But Onix, there are more than seven crests! There are like nine canonically, and eleven if you count the crest toys of Miracles and Destiny that Bandai released!”

You wouldn’t be wrong. There are certainly more than seven crests while there are only seven Chakras. However, and this is important, but once upon a time there were only seven. Kari wasn’t even meant to be a Chosen Child early on, but after Tai went home they decided it would be neat to include her, I suppose. So her Crest of Light was born. And to be perfectly honest, that particular crest fits in more than Joe’s, or at least seems too. Even if I will give reasons why his fits in too in a certain area. Also, keep in mind that while the kids technically own the singular crest, all of the traits of the crests are in each of them. They all have that trait, only they have one that’s stronger. As we will come to find out, this will make them all right messes when we get down to it. Now, moving on to the theory.

So, I think I should start this out by also bringing up Color Symbolism. It really fits in with this so bear with me.

Colors are a big thing in Japanese and other Asian cultures. Colors have a wide range of traits, even ones that fit the personality of characters in stories. I will only mention only the colors that pertain to the first eight crests, though if people want I can mention what the colors mean for the three later crests as well. I will not be including all their traits here because, again, it will get too big. I will most likely go into depth in their own parts.

For the start, we’ll be going with Orange as it’s the first Crest (Courage) found. This color is a vibrant one, usually symbolizing energy, enthusiasm, balance and the demanding of attention. It is also warmth, flamboyant and expansive. From another source it is the color of social communication and optimism, which are rather positive. Its negative traits also include pessimism and superficiality. I think this all describes Tai to a T. Especially during the Etemon and Dark Masters arcs, in 02 and more so in Tri. Also when it comes to his Chakra tied to this color as well, which is the second – the Sacral or Navel Chakra. Zenlama.com describes this Chakras as: “Its colour is orange and it is located between the base of your spine and your navel. It is associated with your lower abdomen, kidneys, bladder, circulatory system and your reproductive organs and glands. It is concerned with emotion. This chakra represents desire, pleasure, sexuality, procreation and creativity. Blockage may manifest as emotional problems, compulsive or obsessive behaviour and sexual guilt.” While it focuses more on sexual things than Digimon will likely ever go, some of these are rather telling for Tai as a character. He’s had emotional problems, especially regarding his sister and all of the problems he is now facing in Tri, which are problems he faced as a child trying to save the world only in a different, more mature way. Also, as a character, he desires for the simpler days of such youth, where he eventually became self-assured that things would be better as long as he worked for them. And, of course, there is the compulsive and obsessive behaviors. We all know how compulsive he was in Adventure, with overfeeding Agumon to give him the energy to evolve and trying to force it in the fight with the evil Greymon. And then in the pyramid when he thought nothing mattered to them in the Digital World due to them being made up of data in it. And of course, his obsessive behavior in keeping Kari safe and trying to help as many people as he can. You can say he grew out of this too, but that’s the thing about growing up. Sometimes bad habits can still crop up again.

It all fits rather interestingly, especially with his later job as a diplomat, which Tri has been beautifully showing his eventual lead down that path. It also explains a lot of his past actions too, especially the one that happened in Tri 5.

So, that’s part one done. I’m pretty sure there’s more I can go into, but as I am admittedly a layman when it comes to the Seven Chakras and Color Symbolism, I doubt I’ll be able to articulate much more on Orange, Navels and Tai. Not bad for a first true post though, huh? The next part of this theory will come out in a few days. It will be called Red Roots. Looking forward to it? I certainly am. :)

Sources: https://www.zenlama.com/the-7-chakras-a-beginners-guide-to-your-energy-system/ https://www.incredibleart.org/lessons/middle/color2.htm

[livefromtheloam]

Whatever Happened to Kamigawa?

So, I’ve noticed the Kamigawa discussion happening a bit more often these days, so I wanted to give my take on the original block and whether or not it’s feasible for Wizards to return to the plane in a Standard set.

This wound up being much longer than I had anticipated so I’ll throw in a jump so as not to take up all of your dash.

Intro

Magic the Gathering is a franchise that serves two purposes. It is a deep strategy card game which adds onto itself annually. It is also a rich, setting-driven collection of stories which explores different fantasy worlds. Magic is at its best when these two factors are both strong (the original Innistrad merged flavor with game play better than any other block), but is also excellent when it’s light in one (Kaladesh was light on mechanics but had amazing story) or the other (the original Zendikar was light on story but had amazing mechanics). Additionally, when a world is heavily inspired by a real-world source, the flavor has to match expectations. Innistrad truly felt like you were playing a role in the battle between a struggling human race and hordes of different things that go bump in the night. Even leaving aside the ancient Egyptian theme, Amonkhet was able to marry its flavor (idyllic city in a harsh cursed world owned by Nicol Bolas) with its gameplay (powerful spells and abilities that hurt your own creatures, cause you to discard, etc) with the added bonus of having a sunny, beautiful art direction.

While all those sets did their things right, I can’t help but feel as if Kamigawa had to get both sides of the equation wrong for us to get them.

Mechanics

Gameplay wise, Kamigawa was a mess. While samurai/bushido and ninjas/ninjutsu were home runs, the rest of the block felt like a frustrating puzzle with no solution. Spirits and Arcane were supposed to play off each other, but in reality there were only a few combos that were useful. Flip cards were messy and difficult to grok. Too many Legendary cards, made the best abilities less consistently playable and deckbuilding was made much trickier thanks to it (not to mention mirror matches using the Legendary rule of the time). Uncommon Legendary cards felt almost like a cheat. Epic spells, while a neat idea, were underwhelming. Offerings made it seem like the block was considering being tribal, but there were too many creature types and not enough support for most of them. Even equipment, which had been introduced in the previous block, was struggling to find its identity in a non-artifact world.

Entrenched players found themselves almost fighting against the game itself, while newcomers were confused and frustrated by a game that already had a reputation for being confusing and frustrating.

Flavor

Creative wise, Kamigawa was a bigger mess. I’ll get into what I think their motives for creating a Japanese-inspired world were later, but there were many issues for non-Japanese fans. Ostensibly, the setting is based on Sengoku Period Japan, and even if you don’t know it by name, you probably know the general idea of warring clans forging what would become the Empire. Since this is a fantasy setting, they also included their take on the kami, spirits and gods based on Japanese folktales and religion.

On paper this sounds good, but in reality it was incredibly difficult to keep up. As there was a Legendary theme, a huge number of cards had names that were unfamiliar to the vast majority of non-Japanese players. (As someone with a big "foreign” last name from a big "foreign” family, I can sympathize.) And to make matters worse, very few of those Legendary creatures (items, locations, etc.) featured in the main storyline of the set! The kami themselves were designed to be representations of their respective domains (kind of like Elementals, now that I think about it), but wound up being kind of incomprehensible and difficult to parse. Even though they took on many different kinds of forms, the kami artwork was extremely weird, even for fantasy. 

What Went Wrong

Everything changed in 1997. This was the year Pokémon left Japan and conquered the rest of the world. It was a vast multimedia phenomenon and it brought with it the idea that cartoons from Japan were really cool. While we had anime in the States previously, Pokémon introduced it to a far wider audience than ever before. By 2000, a large portion of animated shows that aired in the United States were made in Japan. The audiences couldn’t get enough and distributors had no problem with selling a product for which only the voicework and minimal editing needed to be done. Champions of Kamigawa was released in 2004, which means production started in 2002, still in the middle of the anime boom. While I can’t find anything stating that this craze wasn’t a driving factor in setting a Magic block in a world influenced by Japanese culture, I wouldn’t bet against it (as evidenced by this paragraph that’s already gone on too long).

The problem is that design did their homework too well. They based it on real world history and mythology, which bucked Western expectations of what Japanese culture was in regards to many elements. Non-Japanese fans didn’t have the cultural foundation or vocabulary for many of these new characters and fantasy creatures and the most foreign ones still stuck out and used more brainspace than the things players already got, like samurai and ninja. There was little resonance with anything that wasn’t already a trope.

I should note here that this was their first modern attempt at creating a Magic setting inspired by a real world one. Arabian Nights and Portal: Three Kingdoms were adaptations of the 1001 Nights and Romance of the Three Kingdoms settings, respectively, while Ice Age and the Dark were made in a completely different era of design. Of course there would be hiccups.

This was also the first time they had told a story that didn’t tie into Urza’s epic saga in years. It was completely new. And while I’m not sure if this were added later on, Kamigawa is mentioned as being very far away from Dominaria and other known planes, giving it an excuse to be stranger.

That still doesn’t excuse the curveball that players got thrown when it came to the subpar mechanics. As stated earlier, bushido and ninjutsu were great. Players grokked them immediately and many remember them fondly. However, the mechanics that didn’t play nicely outside the block, as well as the overall frustrating gameplay, made many people reconsider their hobby of choice.

Which brings me to the final nail in Kamigawa’s coffin. The Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game hit American shores in 2002. This was a direct result of a Western obsession with all things anime. Yu-Gi-Oh was able to hit all the anime tropes that Magic couldn’t, even in their Japan-inspired set. And while Magic had been able to weather the competition that was the Pokémon TCG, it couldn’t deal with a third contender.

Finally, I want to address a nagging thought. Normally, one would expect “the names were confusing for most people, but not me,” or something similar. I can’t in good conscience say that. Since I was a child, I’ve been interested in Japanese culture and mythology (as well as others - I did choose to study anthropology after all), but without having been immersed in it, I was just a fan at the time, not a scholar and certainly not Japanese. As I mentioned earlier, I bear no ill will towards those who can’t keep a glut of new unfamiliar words and names straight as I’ve seen how confused other people get when they’re introduced to my family all at once. This extends past the names, of course, and into many of the bits and pieces of Japanese folklore they did use.

Is there Hope?

Honestly, not a lot. Kamigawa had its chance at being a featured plane in a Standard set and failed. As Mark Rosewater has repeated ad nauseam, it’s almost disingenuous to try to convince the powers that be to approve it thanks to poor sales and abysmal player reaction to both the mechanics and creative direction. It’s not like bringing back a risky mechanic here and there - this is a whole setting, with everything that goes into it. Every set that comes out has an incredible amount of work and resources behind it, and there’s always a risk that it won’t sell. If you want a plane with gods (that aren’t mostly dead) and too many Legendaries, there’s Theros. If you want a plane with Asian influence, there’s Tarkir. If you want a plane with wacky spells, hey we’re finally going back to Dominaria next year. Why would a company that’s in the business of making money take a risk on losing when there are much safer gambles?

That being said, with the right pitch and a lot of work (and possibly the total destruction of all the collected market research and sales data) a Return to Kamigawa could be made. The fact that we’re going to three worlds a year now improves the chances of going back, and a decade and a half of experience with their modern design sensibilities definitely help. Realistically though, we’re only likely to see bits of Kamigawa in core sets and supplementary products.

But could it be GOOD?

Absolutely! Everyone’s got an opinion on how this could be done, but you’ve read this far so why not consider mine? These are just ideas for one to two Standard sets, not supplementary products or an old-fashioned block.

To start, it’s a great thing that the Champions of Kamigawa block took place thousands of years in the Multiverse’s past. It makes it easier to justify massive changes to everything.

The kami need to be dialed back, but present. I think a good case could be made for the kami being enchantment creatures, but there need to be far fewer, and they need to serve the story and an in-game purpose. Perhaps they could all be lords for their respective things, but they shouldn’t be normal creatures with freaky art. They also shouldn’t have freaky art. They shouldn’t be a rehash of the gods and Nyxborn creatures from Theros, but that’s a good starting point. I could see a mythic cycle of god-like kami and a rare cycle of concept-like or element-like kami. Give them the creature type Kami and abandon spirits altogether (unless the actual ghost of Toshiro Umezawa plays a role). Have no more than three other cards interact with this creature type.

The tribal component needs to be tightened up. There were so many cool new races in the Kamigawa block, but ultimately we only need five races of people (including humans), two classes, and then an assortment of other creature types. More on this in a bit.

Do away with the Legendary theme altogether. It never works and only sounds cool for about five minutes. Quality over quantity. (That being said, a Legendary theme for a Commander-focused product would work out very well I think.) Likewise, do away with the parasitic mechanics. Splice onto Arcane only works if there are Arcane cards outside the set and only if you want to actually play those cards.

It would be better to stick with a tried and true theme for limited - either Samurai vs. Ninja or five faction turf war. You could even have watermarks for the different clans. Everyone loves those, and clan emblems were used in real life too. Either way, it’s best not to deviate too much from what other sets and blocks have proven to work and it helps dictate the design of the set.

Speaking of design, there’s still a lot of great stuff going on in the original block. I haven’t mentioned the Soratami (moon people), Orochi (snake people), Nezumi (rat people), or Akki (goblin people), but they serve the set perfectly. Tribal is always a popular mechanic, and as a subtheme or even a major theme, players always want a team to join. Again, there are other creature types that could be utilized, but I think these are perfect to be the main races, along with humans. The Soratami are especially cool because they’re a Magic-specific race, much like the Aetherborn, and we’ve got a fan-favorite, story-driving moonfolk Planeswalker in Tamiyo.

There should absolutely be Japanese cultural and mythological inspired creatures, but they should be based on a modern idea of Japanese fantasy. Kappa, tengu, oni, and other assorted yokai fill in these spots pretty well, not to mention dragons. There’s also a good amount of things that can be done with locations, like shrines and castles, which wouldn’t necessitate them being Legendary.

If I had my way, the feel of a Return to Kamigawa would have a theme of journeying (a theme in a lot of old Japanese stories), much as original Zendikar had the feel of adventuring or Kaladesh had the theme of inventing. Lands with the type Road could lead you to places represented by other lands or artifacts with the type Shrine or Castle. These could help you play spells of a specific type, say, samurai or snake. In turn, those cards synergize with other spells. In practice I don’t know how this would play out, but as a midrange kind of limited environment, I can see it being enjoyable.

Final Thoughts

Despite its checkered past, the original Kamigawa block was very important. It was a first for a lot of modern Magic design sensibility, but wound up being more like a mistake to learn from than a model to base future sets off of. Additionally, it strayed when it should have stayed faithful to the source material and vice-versa. And while there were some very cool, very resonant elements that were introduced, the strange and unfamiliar elements are what dominated many players’ perception of the world. Combined with increased competition and a failed attempt at appealing to a certain type of fan, the block was doomed from the very start. 

Knowing what they know now, I think that the Magic team can put together an amazing Japanese-inspired set and keep it on Kamigawa, rather than having to create a new plane. They need to define what they want Japanese-inspired to mean, however, and keep it more in line with audience expectations. They need to focus on what people still love about the plane and bring it in line with what a Magic set is now.