#incredibly productive in turning-in-for-class fiction

[xx-vergil-xx]

first lines/last fics x 10

the most wonderful @pellaaearien tagged me <3 

Share the first lines of ten of your most recent fanfics and tag ten people. If you have written less than ten, don’t be shy and share anyway. 

im gonna cheat a little –– at the moment I only have four published fics/ WIPs (at least, four that survived the Great Purge when my hs deleted my school-affiliated google drive acct >:( ), so I'm gonna quietly count hounds’ latest chapter as a new thing (it may as well be with how goddamn long it’s taking me) and throw in a few starter lines from non-fandom poems/prose I’ve worked up lately :)

hounds ch. I –– There are parts of his life Hob Gadling sometimes wishes to forget.

hounds ch. XLII –– It feels too lonely, he decides, to be itinerant for the holidays –– and there is a new bounty of flora blooming between his ribs, a richness of petal-soft, fine-veined feeling, that makes him less jittery, less inclined to running.

sanctus dentes/canem dei –– “You don’t love me.”

l’enfer, le ciel –– April in Paris, 1934.

tidings of comfort and joy –– “Perfect weather for a ride,” says Squire Teleute de Morte Endelēas.

and here’s the non-fandom stuff <3

our lady of august –– August of ‘92 is like living in the mouth of a dog.

the saint of the mouth and the 32 teeth –– And on the 1st day, my Lord-God furnished his mouth-saint / with the fruit-cutters, the castanets and rabbit-chatterers, / and he speaketh thus ––

hagiography of st. mawr –– Arise, you cant’ring colt –– you foam-mouthed maw, / bedecked in jockey’s blood.

james dean –– You Speedster slugger, ye of turned-up collar, eyes / retaining stares all soft and swoony –– pass the crown / –– or sanguine jacket –– like a sainted relic down / for us, not quite so suave (misangled grins) our guise / a touch disjoint.

shame and country hunting –– Oh my chosen pillar, I loved and love you like a dog, / all fine incisors. 

tagging the homies, the loves, the lights of souls!!  as ever, not a jot of obligation –– we are neighbors in an indie coming-of-age film where our bedroom windows face each other and this is a wave from my window to yours @fishfingersandscarves, @dancinbutterfly, @wordsinhaled, @menthol-drops, @wizardofgoodfortune, @ghostboyjules, @moorishflower, @aberfaeth, @teejaystumbles, @mandolinearts <3 <3 <3

[therealvinelle]

What are your thoughts on the titanic movie?

Oh I wanted to watch it, tried once as a child, didn't make it through, then again with @theoriginalcarnivorousmuffin, at which point I also didn't make it through.

I'm here for the ship, literally only the ship. Rose and Jack would not get off the screen and let me look at ship, and so even though I made it to the part where they impact the iceberg, I realized I couldn't sit through Jack and Rose running around the decks, no matter how true to life the models were. Watch party ended, and some time later we tried Raise the Titanic with Alec Guinness instead (a deeply silly movie where a dangerous weapon was on board the Titanic when it sank, and the Americans must find it before the Soviets do).

James Cameron's movies have a very consistent problem where he is in love with a concept, or an idea or a new bit of technology, so he makes a movie to show it off and has to put a story in there somewhere so we're watching something happened. This worked incredibly well in the two first Terminator movies, it gave us a deeply funny Aliens movie, but it did not work out for Titanic as his worst tendencies all came out to play.

I like him, as a director, I just don't like the majority of his movies, if that makes sense.

His characters are plainly good or bad with one note motivations and no nuance, and they are all consistently and painfully American, to the point where they feel like caricatures. Jake Sullivan, who is such a staple army vet that he has no personality whatsoever other than being a protagonist with the assigned traits that would make him sympathetic to as wide an audience as possible, is a terrific example of this, as are the gun-toting military crew heading to the colony in Aliens, but so too are the characters of the Titanic, only in a different way. Rose's mother and peers are what I can only describe as Victoria's parents in Corpse Bride without the satire - they are not real people, but old world aristocrats seen through the eyes of filmmakers who fundamentally don't understand class. Rose becoming infatuated with a working class boy is a very simple and straightforward matter where there is no actual reason for them not to be together, it's just that Jack gets made fun of for not knowing the right forks to use. It's just shallow.

I have more complaints, but much of the movie is luckily forgotten so I'll stick to the big one: I wish Cameron had either made this a purely fictional story that was inspired by the Titanic but without actual victims, or else gone out of his way to be respectful of the fact. Going of the wikipedia page for how historical characters were treated, Bruce Ismay being depicted as boorish and attributed decisions he never made in life so he can be at least partly blamed for the sinking. The man's life and mental health was ruined after the real sinking as the act of surviving made him a media target, Cameron could have chosen to leave his memory be and I side-eye his decision not to. The movie has First Officer Murdoch shooting passengers and then himself, I struggle to see what this added to the movie besides upsetting his surviving family.

Perhaps I'm overly strict, but even fictionalized retellings have historical import because they play a much larger role in how people remember the past than history books or documentaries do because more people see them. The film industry has immense power over how we view the past, and in turn over how history is remembered. This comes with a responsibility, and a plea for consciousness of the fact. Set your stories to whichever periods and cultures you may like: but do so knowing that no matter how much media and recorded history already exists on your chosen subject, there will be people walking away from your product whose view is now affected by your depiction.

In other words, Raise the Titanic is somehow more respectul in my eyes because while it was a very silly movie, it insulted no one's memory. And I'll be sticking to documentaries and animations when it comes to RMS Titanic-related media.

[historia-vitae-magistras]

This is a little different from your usual content. But you have so much niche information that just I love to hear about. Do you have any podcast recommendations?

WHOO okay so I'm doing my nonfiction podcast recs and leaving out my horror or audio dramas but without further ado:

It's been out of production for years, but Caustic Soda is probably my favourite of all time. It's a small Canadian production of tons and tons of episodes on everything from shark attacks to murder to warfare to bugs and anthropology. It's so fucking funny and pretty well-researched as time goes on. Honestly, I was so young listening to this that it formed part of the lens through which I view the world.

Stuff You Missed in History Class: Often corny, wee bit lame, occasionally hilarious, always solid; this one is probably the one that has taught me the most. It's been on the air forever now, and it's really fucking great. They have also used sources that I actually dug out and made public for the first time and I'm quite proud of that. Its the favourite sweater of podcasts.

Time to Eat the Dogs is about the history of science and exploration. I highly recommend it if you like any of those things. I really like the host's interview style; all the guests are academics and authors. It's very conversational and feels like having a lovely sit-down with good friends, but those friends have Ph. Ds.

Casting Lots: Two really, really funny Brits discuss survival cannibalism across time and space. This podcast informed me that a story i heard as a fireside tale was based on true events. It somehow manages to mention Canada in every other episode and then some. I love the first three seasons in particular. They have truly done some incredible work in the course of their series and pulled from some primary sources that surprised even me, an actual archivist. They're shockingly respectful for how funny they are and how disturbing the content is and really take into consideration things like culture, empire, sex and racism as they discuss cannibalism, and it's just. I love it so much, truly.

Big Old Boats: It's not technically a podcast, but I've never once in my life actually watched the video as he discusses various maritime disasters, and I don't think I've ever missed anything by doing so. This is an absolute must-listen if you enjoy maritime history, missing ships, ghost ships, or just anything weird related to a boat. Archival work I did is actually mentioned in a couple of episodes!

Not What You Thought You Knew: Another podcast I really love that was, unfortunately, a very short run but academics and actual historians debunking popular historical myths. I am very, very fond of the episodes on The Night Witches in particular.

The Midnight Library: Last but not least my favourite fucking podcast currently running. It's a nonfiction podcast framed as a fictional witch/librarian in her cursed library telling (mostly) true stories around a particular theme, human vice, or any number of stories. And the way it's framed is so fucking great. Like they're talking about real history, witchcraft and folklore in so many of these, but you get little glimpses of world-building that have honestly started to bleed into the way I write. Even the ads are for fake magical businesses like 'the League of Lady Grave Diggers, the Broom and Fang pub. The library assistant/bouncer is a werewolf. The Witch's on-again and off-again boyfriend is a spring-heel jack. It's just so fucking clever a way to frame a nonfiction podcast in a spooky atmosphere while being historical, terrifying and funny in turns.

Anywho, if you listen to any of them let me know! And sorry if that went overboard!

[brutallyboned]

On one hand, as a proship anarchist, I feel like it should be obvious that being proship as a stance should be the obvious stance for any earnest anarchist. On the other hand, discounting the fact that there are a lot of people who call themselves anarchists for lifestyle/aesthetic reasons without actually reading theory or having even a basic understanding of the ideology, I kind of get the impulse that would lead a genuine leftist to get indoctrinated by antis. It's the impulse to wish that media and stories could replace the hard work of education. If only fiction could have the persuasive powers that antis think it has, we could just write and draw about the anarcho-communist utopia we believe in, and THIS would convince reactionaries in the better future we know is possible. We can sit privately in our rooms and craft stories about it without having to face the constant frustration of talking about our beliefs about the real world to people who've been told their whole life that anarchy=chaos and the state is necessary for civilization to continue. That unions are 'mob rule' and communism is authoritarian state rule. Translating dense theory into succinct coherent arguments that will still be dismissed by a lot of people. That's incredibly difficult, unrewarding work, and that doesn't even get into the hard work that is direct action, propaganda of the deed, and organizing with other working class people who are also tired and burnt out by shitty exploitative jobs. Wouldn't be nice then if art could change peoples' minds and help us show people the world we're fighting for... only, the power of art to do that is so incredibly limited. A person could love a piece of work you make depicting a free world where the means of production is collectively owned by the workers. But they'll turn around and say, 'that's a great story, but it would never work in real life. People are too selfish, too tribalistic'. That sucks a lot, but there's a good side to it too. For all of the propaganda where a villain has an ideology pretty close to ours, but then does something terrible that has literally nothing to do with said ideology, and the narrative of the media says "See? This is why this ideology is bad and wrong!" people are totally capable of seeing the gaping hole in that logic AND also enjoy the piece of media. Magneto is the obvious example, but there are so many. This is just a fact we need to be at peace with, and I think it's something that plenty of my comrades need to confront in themselves. Art, as wonderful as it is, as much as we need it as humans, will never replace education, agitation, or organization. I'm an artist and a leftist, and I don't feel uncomfortable believing or saying that at all.

[weatherman667]

Humans Are Semi-Monogamous

Something that is almost completely lost in modern speculative fiction.  While we say that Humans are naturally monogamous, we have never actually been monogamous.  We are instead semi-monogamous.

Monogamy is an incredibly powerful concept that is the entire reason Human civilization is so successful.  This is one of the main reasons behind the Wage Gap.  The Wage Gap is not between Women and Men, but between Married Women With Children and everyone else.  Never married women without children actually make more than their male peers.  Two things happen when a couple gets married and has kids:

The mother needs / wants to take time off to take care of her children.

The father starts working more.

Single men tend to only work as much as they need to to survive.  Men with a wife and children make much more prudent life decisions, work harder, specialize more, etc.  So, by having every man marry, you basically double or quadruple their productivity.  They are much more willing to take up arms to defend their culture.  Basically turning them from grass eaters to meat eaters.

So, what does the Semi mean?

Humans, in the safe, modern world, are born 51% male.  The overall population is 51% female.  In the far less safe world, men die far more quickly than women do.  This creates a massive population imbalance.  If we had strict monogamy, they could never become mothers, and we would be idiotically throwing away their fertility, which is suicide to a population.  For people who think we’ve evolved beyond such quaint notions, pretty much every modern country has sub-replacement fertility.  We’re literally dying out.

If we accept a general principle of monogamy, then someone has to take up the surplus women.  This is usually the wealthiest men.  Rome put a stop to polygamy, not for any Feminist reasons, but to prevent squabbling between heirs.  They had more than enough squabbling between heirs, even with monogamy.  The women are then switched to something like kept mistresses.  Biblically, infertile women could also offer their hand maidens to take their place in baby making, and so a lot of this was taken up by the servile class.

i.e. lords would hire maids they could fuck, and then pay them off to take care of their bastards.

In Islam, it could be interpreted as taking the privilege of the upper classes cand giving it to the masses.  The problem with this is that in many Muslim countries ONLY the rich can have wives.  Because would often be the fourth wife to a rich man than the only husband to a poor man.  This creates a lot of surplus that don’t meaningfully contribute to society.

This isn’t me moralizing, or saying I support one thing or another.  This is instead focused on Speculative Fiction.  In Speculative Fiction, if you create a different society, you have to take this into consideration.  And this is something that is almost always ignored in Speculative Fiction, which is one of the main reasons taht Matriarchies always fail in fiction.

I can only think of two times when Matriarchies were done well:

Mass Effect:  Salarians:  They completely changed the biology of the species, and because of that the society changed to follow.  (Before anyone tries to say Asari, they only have one sex, so calling it a Matriarchy is technically accurate, but meaningless).

My Little Pony:  Friendship is Magic:  All they had to do was make the males (stallions) less ambitious.  They also made Friendship to be literally magic, which means that the conscientiousness of females (mares), plays a much more important roll in societal unity.  And this creates a justification for why the Alicorn Princesses are always female.

Outside of this, most matriarchies have absolutely no idea what they are doing.

Before anyone says we have traditionally had Matriarchies:

They have a female ruler, but the family unit is still patriarchal.

They are completely ineffective.

This is because in Humans, Matriarchies are not, and cannot be successful.  Without enforced monogamy to give men skin in the game, men do not act constructively for society.  Our attempts to artificially remove men’s place in the family has produced absolute bedlam.  The primary indicator for failure, (crime, drugs, etc.), is fatherlessness.

[briar-rolfes-research-oubliette]

Okay, I’m going to start keeping an eye out for anything describing fan spaces as:

created by women for women, a place solely focused on the desires and interests of women

OR

created by queers for queers, a place solely focused on the desires and interests of queers

That then suggests that:

criticising fandom is “really” criticising women, and is misogynistic, even if the critical voice is that of a woman; any critical voices are “really” men’s voices

OR

criticising fandom is “really” criticising queers, and is homophobic, even if the critical voice is that of a queer; any critical voices are “really” homophobic voices

And that

women can “only” find a safe and supportive place to create art (or content) within fan spaces, and therefore fan art/fan fic/fan content is the only art that truly reflects the interests and desires of women

OR

queers can “only” find a safe and supportive place to create art (or content) within fan spaces, and therefore fan art/fan fic/fan content is the only art that truly reflects the interests and desires of queers.

This is because I have just seen what I’ll call the “women’s interest stream” of these arguments made as a case for why authors shouldn’t critique Booktok—the argument being ultimately that women’s interests (aka ‘happy endings,’ ‘giving pleasure to readers,’ and ‘the fandom kingdom’) drive sales.

It’s very weird to see this argument because… obviously fandom drives sales. That’s why fandom is tolerated. It’s why we can’t look at juggernauts like Disney or the wizard terf without seeing that they are well aware of and continually engaging with their fanbase—and in both cases, feel empowered to continue marginalising queer people via the unerring support of their fandoms. Developing a fan base and engaging them and enraging them is incredibly profitable. Some franchises aren’t just selling a product anymore, but access to the fandom that comes with it; watch our show, so you can become part of the community conversation about our show.

The THING IS that the fandom runs off free labour. The vast majority of people in fandom—all women, or all queers (famously, no straight men have ever built their whole lives around a franchise), the people who create all the content—the discussions, the hot takes, the fanfic, fanart, booktoks, cosplays, social media AUs, etc, do it all for free. They HAVE to do it for free. Nobody is paying you for your Twitter thread. And often doing it for free is the only thing protecting you from copyright infringement.

The thing that freaks me out more than the corporate interests at play is how fan products are so often framed as the most authentic expression of that community’s interests and desires.

“I only read fanfic because it’s the only place queer people get happy endings.”

“I only read fanfic because only fanfic authors understand what women’s sexuality is like and what women find hot.”

“I only ever get to see diverse representation and people who look like me in fanart.”

—somehow, it never seems to matter that the franchise itself is unconcerned with queer people’s happy endings, women’s sexuality, or representing the diversity later injected into the world of the franchise by fanartists. We all know the poor ugly duckling turned class mobile swan that is Hermione was never intended to be a Black girl.

So I’m starting to wonder how huge swathes of fans started repeating to each other that their labour and voices and artistic expression matter THE MOST when offered FOR FREE in support of A PRODUCT. And how, once we heard it, we fell for it. How do we still think of fandom as subversive or progressive, especially when it serves the interests of some of the most evil people and companies on the planet? How come fandom is still making characters queer when the author is trying to stamp out queers in real life?

I am hoping finding more examples of these arguments in use will help me unravel the… knot. (Omegaverse fiction is certainly part of the mystery).

[canmom]

Animation Night 137: Jidaigeki the Second

Hi everyone. Hope you’re enjoying any winter holidays that take your fancy. (Hanukkah sameach!) According to Annex 3 of Animation Night Policy we do not observe “christmas” - instead, let me tell you a tale of the past...

Mukashi mukashi... back in the distant misty era of 2020, an era of bloodshed and plague and impending social change (we hope), I wrote the longest Animation Night ever.

Which mostly wasn’t actually about animation at all, but an excuse to infodump about samurai. Armed with a book with the exciting title of Japan to 1600: A Social and Economic History, I wrote at great length about everyone’s favourite feudal landlord-administrator-soldier class, and the genres of fiction that portray them...

^ me, relating information to passing tumblr users

Japanese revision time! 時代劇 jidaigeki basically just means ‘period drama’, and it needn’t have anything to do with samurai at all. Indeed, just a couple of weeks ago we watched Rintaro’s adaptation of Teito Monogatari, which qualifies as a jidaigeki despite taking place entirely in the 20th century. チャンバラ (chanbara) is a little narrower, referring to samurai films with an emphasis on the swordfighting.

Animation Night revision time! On AN 24, we watched oldschool films like Namakura Gatana [1917] and Benkei tai Ushiwaka [1939] along with Sword of the Stranger and Afro Samurai, and a small sampling of Seirei no Moribito, Samurai Champloo. Elsewhen, on AN 100 we watched The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Winter Days and Mononoke-hime, on AN 91 we marathoned Naoko Yamada’s incredible adaptation of Heike Monogatari, and on AN 122 we did the same for animation milestone The Hakkenden.

So are we out of animated films about samurai? Ha! No we ain’t.

The occasion this time? I’m itching to show you all Inu-Oh, but Science Saru are holding it tight to their chest at the moment. But there is something else!

Nahoko Uehashi is an ethnologist turned fantasy author, known for her works like Seirei no Moribito (Guardian of the Sacred Spirit) and Kemono no Sōja (The Beast Player), both of which have been adapted to anime by Production IG. In the first, Balsa, a bodyguard atoning for seven deaths, is entrusted with a young prince marked for death by his father - a prince who is, unknown to all, incubating a strange force of spiritual renewal. In the second, Erin, a girl from a culture being genocided, inherits the skill to control animals through her music and thus finds herself drawn into feudal politics.

Neither is exactly set in historical Japan, but that’s in the same way that most Western fantasy isn’t exactly set in medieval Europe. Both have a kind of thoughtful, slightly oldschool tone - highly attentive to nature, and avoiding simple heroes and villains. And Production I.G. - despite being a studio known primarily for scifi - turned out to be a perfect match.

Well, earlier this year, Production IG released their latest adaptation of Uehashi’s works in the form of 鹿の王 Shika no Ō (The Deer King). Co-director Masashi Andō has been a key animator for many many years, and in that time managed to work with just about anyone you’ve ever heard of. He drew for Ghibli under both Miyazaki and Takahata on nearly everything, for Satoshi Kon on Tokyo Godfathers, Paranoia Agent and Paprika, for 4C on Tekkonkinkreet, for Makoto Shinkai on Your Name, for Mitsuo Iso on Dennō Coil, for Mamoru Oshii on GitS 2: Innocence, for Anno on Eva 3.0... A glance over his sakugabooru page will show you why: he’s an expert in the realist tradition, not quite as flashy as some of his peers like Ohira or Inoue, but with a fantastic sense of naturalistic motion and an ease at drawing all sorts of weird angles.

^ this guy’s in a lot of gifs, he seems important

The Deer King was Andō’s first time directing, so he was joined by Masayuki Miyaji, who worked himself up from being a production assistant at Ghibli to storyboarding on a whole long list of TV anime, and acting as one of two ‘assistant directors’ (not entirely sure what that entails) on Spirited Away, before hopping into the director’s chair with Xam’d at Bones in 2008-09. Miyaji is of the school that situations animation within film at large, taking inspiration mostly from live action - or at least he was at the time of Xam’d.

So what’s it about? In a feudal setting cut up by war and plague, a slave and a young girl survive an attack by plague-carrying dogs and make their escape, hoping for a peaceful life - a classic Uehashi adoptive parent situation. But with the plague running rampant, prejudice everywhere, and the empire’s doctors searching for a cure, they won’t get it. It’s a lot of novel to pack into one film, and I’m warned that it struggles a little to contain it all, but Ando’s enormous experience shines through to give a film full of subtle and expressive animation.

Anyway, it’s one I’ve had my eye on for ages, so I’m really eager to watch it with you.

Now, let’s roll back the clock a bit. No, not quite to the sengoku jidai - 2012 will do. The Annecy International Film Festival is weighing up a massive slate, including a couple you may remember like Wrinkles (AN 87) and Children who Chase Lost Voices (AN 132). But there’s an odd little one tucked in there: a film by Toei, adapting the 70s manga Asura by George Akiyama. It’s a story set at the beginning of the sengoku period, where drought and famine wrack Kyoto, following a feral child who survives an attempted cannibalistic infanticide as he grows up amid all the war and devastation. Buddhas will be carved, symbolically. It’s that kinda thing.

George Akiyama was controversial in his day for his depictions of suicide, self-mutilation and cannibalism; ComiPress called him the ‘unstoppable king of trauma manga’. After making a serious impact with a bleak apocalyptic sci-fi story inspired by the infamous Maoist cult the Japanese Red Army, and even more so with an autobiography in which he revealed he had mixed Japanese-Korean parents (inspiring Big Racisms in those days), he surprised everyone by retiring. It didn’t stick. He moved from scandalising Shōnen Jump readers to adult manga, then back, uncannily anticipating the Aum terrorist attacks. He sounds like a fascinating guy and I’d like to read him some of that. Maybe it will be a Comics Comints one day. Hehe.

The most curious thing about Toei’s adaptation is the animation method. It’s very common now to place 2D animation in 3D scenes, but here we see the opposite: traditionally painted backgrounds populated by stylised 3D characters. Viewed with modern eyes, it has an interesting, uncanny look - certainly videogamey, but I’m curious to see how it works in a larger film. This CG approach may seem less odd when we consider director Keiichi Sato had the year before directed Tiger & Bunny at Sunrise, whose story of corporate-funded superheroes needed CG to plaster logos across the suits. Sato would actually later go on to mostly work in live-action film, notably the adaptation of Gantz we watched on Toku Tuesday 40.

I can’t guess what we’ll all make of Asura. It could be really great, a neglected classic like Birdboy - or it could end up being so exaggeratedly grimdark as to end up kind of goofy. We’ll find out! Animation Night would be no fun if we stuck to the well-known roads. At a brief 75 minutes, Asura is a pretty digestible size like an OVA episode.

After all that war and death, we probably want a breather. 百日紅 Sarusuberi (Miss Hokusai) looks at a different aspect of history - the renowned ukiyo-e painter Hokusai, best known for that one wave you might have seen here and there. Hokusai, it turned out, had a daughter called Katsushika Ōi, who followed her dad’s footsteps into ukiyo-e. Her story caught the eye of mangaka Hinako Sugiura.

Sugiura is another one I’ve got to have a look into. A manga artist with a deep interest in history, particularly the Edo period, she learned manga from Murasaki Yamada - not just a regular in the pages of Garo magazine, the fascinating alternative manga magazine, but a feminist essayist and a poet. Sugiura also debuted in Garo, drawing on ukiyo-e to great effect for her historical manga. She retired from manga in 1993 to focus on her research, and became something of a TV personality, supplying NHK with information on the Edo period for a comedy program.

The film intercuts Ōi’s life with her dad’s, a series of episodic stories in which we meet other painters from the period and watch Ōi growing up in the Edo period, working uncredited and trying to figure out sexuality. The animation comes from a studio called... Production I.G.... hmm I think I’ve heard of those guys?

So this time, the director was Keiichi Hara. While Masashi Andō was enjoying that wide-ranging career with all the big name directors, Hara was doing one thing, and that was directing Doraemon and Crayon Shin-Chan for Shin-ei. Two of the absolutely largest anime franchises in Japan, they don’t get a lot of play abroad - but then one is a kids’ series and the other leans heavily on Japanese wordplay so it’s not entirely surprising. From 1984 to 2005, Hara directed a movie for one of these two franchises nearly every year...

...I’m not kidding!

Anyway, it seems that in 2005 he decided he’d had enough (I can only assume) and from that point on he started directing non-franchise films. Quite a few of them actually - something for a future Animation Night, perhaps.

With Miss Hokusai, Hara could call on Production I.G. legends like Toshiyuki Inoue and Norio Matsumoto to realise a detailed, grounded Edo Period in exquisite detail. The clips I’ve seen look beautiful - I’ll try and have more than that to say later, but I am absolutely categorically out of time at this point.

So! Two Production I.G.s doing what Production I.G. do best, and a little oddity of Toei’s. If you’re willing to indulge me, please head over to -> twitch.tv/canmom <- for some mobies!

We may be up a bit late by UK standards, but I hope you can hop in for a bit, as suits! Movies will start in about 20 minutes (~21:20 UK time), modulo audience. See you theeerrreeeeeee!

[whatsinyourstory]

Why Buying Books Online is Every Reader’s Dream

In the time of computerized comfort, the adoration for perusing has tracked down another home on the web. With endless choices readily available, you can now buy books online with only a couple of snaps, making it more straightforward than any time in recent memory to enjoy your understanding. Whether you're chasing after the most recent hit or an uncommon jewel, online book shops give an all inclusive resource to each book darling. How about we jump into why an ever increasing number of perusers are picking book sellers online and how to track down the best books to read online.

The Rise of Online Book Shopping

Gone are the days when you needed to go through hours in an actual book shop to view as your next extraordinary read. While customary bookshops actually hold an exceptional spot in our souls, the comfort and assortment presented by online stages are difficult to beat. Here are a few key justifications for why perusers like to buy books online:

Vast Decisions: Online bookshops give you admittance to a large number of titles in every class under the sun. Whether you're into fiction, true to life, or something more specialty, you'll find precisely very thing you're searching for while perusing book sellers online.

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Where to Buy Books Online: Top Platforms

With such countless stages accessible, how would you choose where to buy books online? Here is a glance at probably the best sites for devoted perusers:

Amazon: As the ruler of web based shopping, Amazon is one of the most well known spots to buy books. With a tremendous determination of titles, from the furthest down the line hits to darken finds, Amazon makes it simple to peruse and purchase. Furthermore, they as often as possible proposition bargains, making it an incredible choice for thrifty perusers.

Book Safe: This worldwide stage is darling for its wide assortment of books and free overall transportation. Whether you're searching for new deliveries or no longer in production versions, Book Safe is a fantastic decision to buy books online and have them conveyed anyplace.

ThriftBooks: Assuming you're searching for reasonable used books, ThriftBooks is the spot to be. With a huge assortment of involved titles in extraordinary condition, this site permits you to extend your library without burning through every last cent.

Books-A-Million: A notable retailer in the U.S., Books 1,000,000 offers a different list of books, magazines, and even gifts. Their site frequently includes deals, making it a phenomenal choice for tracking down the best books to read online at extraordinary costs.

Discovering the Best Books to Read Online

Perhaps of the most interesting part about looking for books online is finding a new thing. With such countless proposals, smash hit records, and customized ideas, tracking down the best books to read online is a breeze. On the off chance that you're pondering where to begin, the following are a couple of suggestions across famous classifications:

Fiction: In the event that you love grasping accounts, you can't turn out badly with books like The Quiet Tolerant by Alex Michaelides or The Seven Spouses of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. These exceptionally appraised books will make them transform pages until quite a bit later.

Verifiable: For perusers who favor genuine stories and experiences, books like Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari or The Body by Bill Bryson offer captivating viewpoints on history and science. Many book shops online component these as top suggestions.

Youthful Grown-up: Youthful grown-up writing has detonated in notoriety, and assuming that you're searching for the best books to read online in this classification, attempt The Craving Games series by Suzanne Collins or The Issue in Our Stars by John Green.

Personal growth: In the event that you're keen on self-awareness, well known self improvement guides like Nuclear Propensities by James Clear and The Unobtrusive Craft of Not Giving a Fck* by Imprint Manson are accessible on numerous stages where you can Book Sellers Online.

The Future of Online Book Buying

As additional perusers go to  book sellers online, the choices for buying and getting a charge out of writing are extending. Book recordings, membership administrations, and even book-themed versatile applications are making new ways for perusers to draw in with their #1 stories. Most would agree that the eventual fate of perusing is more available and energizing than any other time in recent memory.

Whether you're a carefully prepared peruser or somebody hoping to revive their adoration for books, deciding to buy books online opens up a universe of conceivable outcomes. With the sheer assortment and straightforward entry, finding your next most loved book has never been simpler. Investigate the huge choice of book sellers online today and uncover the best books to read online that will move, engage, and teach you.

[g36themakingof]

Valuable Takeaways

Documentary Edition

Anh (Production): After completing this project, I gain not only additional technical skills of recording another type of film but also a a profound understanding of storytelling and the power of visual narratives. Moreover, I acknowledge the significant role of researching as well as capturing relevant moments. Most importantly, the classes leaves me a lasting impact of never giving up on producing novel things, either on a mundane topic or not, reminding filmmakers of the responsibility to shed light on meaningful angles of a story and engage audiences in thought-provoking conversations.

Antoni (Camera operator/Sound Recorder): This time with the documentary, we had a strict schedule, it gave each other time to do everything right or reshoot, which was great. I think also we learned and did other things quicker too, and I am proud of both: the journey of filmmaking and final documentary.

Elle (Director): Making the documentary showed me a whole new side of filmmaking and the beauty of turning the world around you into a story. Interviewing different people, scouting locations, and being able to interact with the wider world around us through our camera was an incredible experience.

Lotte (Making-of/Research): In the making of the documentary, there was a collective desire for its success, creating a better sense of teamwork. With the added experience in filmmaking, it seemed that any challenges encountered previously were effectively addressed this time around. As a result, we were able to create a project that fills us with pride.

Sophie (Interviewer/Research): What i took away from making this documentary was the importance of taking your time with filming to create better results. As well as how as a group we learnt from our mistakes during the making of the fiction film which lead to a much smoother structure and process in making the documentary.

Victoria (Sound editor/Editor): Creating this documentary completely opened my mind. I got to listen to a variety of different perspectives of death coming from a variety of different cultures. I found this not only educational but also very engaging. Constructing an immersive story of the real world through our camera lens taught me so much about filmmaking, as well as editing.

[uomo-accattivante]

Excellent article about bringing a re-make of Ingmar Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage to fruition, and the twenty-year friendship that Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain share:

There were days on the shoot for “Scenes From a Marriage,” a five-episode limited series that premieres Sept. 12 on HBO, when Oscar Isaac resented the crew.

The problem wasn’t the crew members themselves, he told me on a video call in March. But the work required of him and his co-star, Jessica Chastain, was so unsparingly intimate — “And difficult!” Chastain added from a neighboring Zoom window — that every time a camera operator or a makeup artist appeared, it felt like an intrusion.

On his other projects, Isaac had felt comfortably distant from the characters and their circumstances — interplanetary intrigue, rogue A.I. But “Scenes” surveys monogamy and parenthood, familiar territory. Sometimes Isaac would film a bedtime scene with his onscreen child (Lily Jane) and then go home and tuck his own child into the same model of bed as the one used onset, accessorized with the same bunny lamp, and not know exactly where art ended and life began.

“It was just a lot,” he said.

Chastain agreed, though she put it more strongly. “I mean, I cried every day for four months,” she said.

Isaac, 42, and Chastain, 44, have known each other since their days at the Juilliard School. And they have channeled two decades of friendship, admiration and a shared and obsessional devotion to craft into what Michael Ellenberg, one of the series’s executive producers, called “five hours of naked, raw performance.” (That nudity is metaphorical, mostly.)

“For me it definitely felt incredibly personal,” Chastain said on the call in the spring, about a month after filming had ended. “That’s why I don’t know if I have another one like this in me. Yeah, I can’t decide that. I can’t even talk about it without. …” She turned away from the screen. (It was one of several times during the call that I felt as if I were intruding, too.)

The original “Scenes From a Marriage,” created by Ingmar Bergman, debuted on Swedish television in 1973. Bergman’s first television series, its six episodes trace the dissolution of a middle-class marriage. Starring Liv Ullmann, Bergman’s ex, it drew on his own past relationships, though not always directly.

“When it comes to Bergman, the relationship between autobiography and fiction is extremely complicated,” said Jan Holmberg, the chief executive of the Ingmar Bergman Foundation.

A sensation in Sweden, it was seen by most of the adult population. And yes, sure, correlation does not imply causation, but after its debut, Swedish divorce were rumored to have doubled. Holmberg remembers watching a rerun as a 10-year-old.

“It was a rude awakening to adult life,” he said.

The writer and director Hagai Levi saw it as a teenager, on Israeli public television, during a stint on a kibbutz. “I was shocked,” he said. The series taught him that a television series could be radical, that it could be art. When he created “BeTipul,” the Israeli precursor to “In Treatment,” he used “Scenes” as proof of the concept “that two people can talk for an hour and it can work,” Levi said. (Strangely, “Scenes” also inspired the prime-time soap “Dallas.”)

So when Daniel Bergman, Ingmar Bergman’s youngest son, approached Levi about a remake, he was immediately interested.

But the project languished, in part because loving a show isn’t reason enough to adapt it. Divorce is common now — in Sweden, and elsewhere — and the relationship politics of the original series, in which the male character deserts his wife and young children for an academic post, haven’t aged particularly well.

Then about two years ago, Levi had a revelation. He would swap the gender roles. A woman who leaves her marriage and child in pursuit of freedom (with a very hot Israeli entrepreneur in place of a visiting professorship) might still provoke conversation and interest.

So the Marianne and Johan of the original became Mira and Jonathan, with a Boston suburb (re-created in a warehouse just north of New York City), stepping in for the Stockholm of the original. Jonathan remains an academic though Mira, a lawyer in the original, is now a businesswoman who out-earns him.

Casting began in early 2020. After Isaac met with Levi, he wrote to Chastain to tell her about the project. She wasn’t available. The producers cast Michelle Williams. But the pandemic reshuffled everyone’s schedules. When production was ready to resume, Williams was no longer free. Chastain was. “That was for me the most amazing miracle,” Levi said.

Isaac and Chastain met in the early 2000s at Juilliard. He was in his first year; she, in her third. He first saw her in a scene from a classical tragedy, slapping men in the face as Helen of Troy. He was friendly with her then-boyfriend, and they soon became friends themselves, bonding through the shared trauma of an acting curriculum designed to break its students down and then build them back up again. Isaac remembered her as “a real force of nature and solid, completely solid, with an incredible amount of integrity,” he said.

In the next window, Chastain blushed. “He was super talented,” she said. “But talented in a way that wasn’t expected, that’s challenging and pushing against constructs and ideas.” She introduced him to her manager, and they celebrated each other’s early successes and went to each other’s premieres. (A few of those photos are used in “Scenes From a Marriage” as set dressing.)

In 2013, Chastain was cast in J.C. Chandor’s “A Most Violent Year,”opposite Javier Bardem. When Bardem dropped out, Chastain campaigned for Isaac to have the role. Weeks before shooting, they began to meet, fleshing out the back story of their characters — a husband and wife trying to corner the heating oil market in 1981 New York — the details of the marriage, business, life.

It was their first time working together, and each felt a bond that went deeper than a parallel education and approach. “Something connects us that’s stronger than any ideas of character or story or any of that,” Isaac said. “There’s something else that’s more about like, a shared existence.”

Chandor noticed how they would support each other on set, and challenge each other, too, giving each other the freedom to take the characters’ relationship to dark and dangerous places. “They have this innate trust with each other,” Chandor said.

That trust eliminated the need for actorly tricks or shortcuts, in part because they know each other’s tricks too well. Their motto, Isaac said, was, “Let’s figure this [expletive] out together and see what’s the most honest thing we can do.”

Moni Yakim, Juilliard’s celebrated movement instructor, has followed their careers closely and he noted what he called the “magnetism and spiritual connection” that they suggested onscreen in the film.

“It’s a kind of chemistry,” Yakim said. “They can read each other’s mind and you as an audience, you can sense it.”

Telepathy takes work. When they knew that shooting “Scenes From a Marriage” could begin, Chastain bought a copy of “All About Us,” a guided journal for couples, and filled in her sections in character as Mira. Isaac brought it home and showed it to his wife, the filmmaker Elvira Lind.

“She was like, ‘You finally found your match,’” Isaac recalled. “’Someone that is as big of a nerd as you are.’”

The actors rehearsed, with Levi and on their own, talking their way through each long scene, helping each other through the anguished parts. When production had to halt for two weeks, they rehearsed then, too.

Watching these actors work reminded Amy Herzog, a writer and executive producer on the series, of race horses in full gallop. “These are two people who have so much training and skill,” she said. “Because it’s an athletic feat, what they were being asked to do.”

But training and skill and the “All About Us” book hadn’t really prepared them for the emotional impact of actually shooting “Scenes From a Marriage.” Both actors normally compartmentalize when they work, putting up psychic partitions between their roles and themselves. But this time, the partitions weren’t up to code.

“I knew I was in trouble the very first week,” Chastain said.

She couldn’t hide how the scripts affected her, especially from someone who knows her as well as Isaac does. “I just felt so exposed,” she said. “This to me, more than anything I’ve ever worked on, was definitely the most open I’ve ever been.”

“It felt so dangerous,” she said.

I visited the set in February (after multiple Covid-19 tests and health screenings) during a final day of filming. It was the quietest set I had ever seen: The atmosphere was subdued, reverent almost, a crew and a studio space stripped down to only what two actors would need to do the most passionate and demanding work of their careers.

Isaac didn’t know if he would watch the completed series. “It really is the first time ever, where I’ve done something where I’m totally fine never seeing this thing,” he said. “Because I’ve really lived through it. And in some ways I don’t want whatever they decide to put together to change my experience of it, which was just so intense.”

The cameras captured that intensity. Though Chastain isn’t Mira and Isaac isn’t Jonathan, each drew on personal experience — their parents’ marriages, past relationships — in ways they never had. Sometimes work on the show felt like acting, and sometimes the work wasn’t even conscious. There’s a scene in the harrowing fourth episode in which they both lie crumpled on the floor, an identical stress vein bulging in each forehead.

“It’s my go-to move, the throbbing forehead vein,” Isaac said on a follow-up video call last month. Chastain riffed on the joke: “That was our third year at Juilliard, the throb.”

By then, it had been five months since the shoot wrapped. Life had returned to something like normal. Jokes were possible again. Both of them seemed looser, more relaxed. (Isaac had already poured himself one tequila shot and was ready for another.) No one cried.

Chastain had watched the show with her husband. And Isaac, despite his initial reluctance, had watched it, too. It didn’t seem to have changed his experience.

“I’ve never done anything like it,” he said. “And I can’t imagine doing anything like it again.”

###

[useless-catalanfacts]

Hi! I was wondering if you could recommend any resources for learning Catalan? I'm a native English speaker who has extended family over in Barcelona. I learnt Spanish as a child and my parents always told me there was no point in learning Catalan, but for a vast amount of my family and friends it's their first language and I've always hated that they have to switch to Spanish so I can participate in the conversation. I'd hoped to take some classes whilst at University, but the universities I have ended up attending don't offer it as a course unfortunately. So, I've decided to learn it by myself!

Hello! First of all, thank you very much for your interest and your effort. It's true there's many people who think it's useless because we already have another language we can switch to (and so must switch to) when a foreigner is present, but I'm sure that (as you already see) it will be very rewarding.

I answered a similar question here. In that post, you can find different resources for learning and practising Catalan, and as always I recommend parla.cat.

But since you already speak another Romance language I'm sure you'll have it easier! I would recommend to get used to hearing the language, for example by watching videos with subtitles.

On TV3 a la carta (the website of Catalonia’s public TV channel) you can find many shows that you can watch for free. All of them have subtitles in Catalan available, and since recently they’ve added the option to use automatically-translated subtitles in Spanish and English. Here’s some shows I recommend:

Crims: a true crime show that has been very successful

El Foraster: this is a very wholesome show where a comedian travels to a different Catalan village in every show. He goes around meeting the villagers in order to make a stand-up comedy style performance about the village, where they’re all invited. It’s very funny and sweet and you get to know more about Catalonia’s small towns.

Polseres Vermelles: a fiction drama about a group of young people in a hospital. This is probably the most successful Catalan TV series of all times, it was even praised by Steven Spielberg.

Merlí: a fiction teenage drama about a high school philosophy class (also on Netflix)

La Riera: a soap opera that was VERY successful some years ago

Eufòria: a singing talent show

Batalla Monumental: a contest where they present different monuments and historical sites in Catalonia

No pot ser!: a journalist visits different places around the world to see what unbelievable turns technology is taking

Cuines: cooking show. (Note: the woman has a Tortosa accent, she’s the only exception. Almost all the others you’ll find in this list have a Central Catalan accent, more similar to what your relatives from Barcelona probably speak)

Trinxeres: three friends walk along the trenchlines of the Spanish Civil War in Catalonia, meeting witnesses and telling their stories

Sense Ficció: documentaries

30 minuts: documentaries about different topics that are 30-45 minutes long

60 minuts: documentaries that are just under an hour long

Telenotícies: this is just the news, but same as the documentaries, the good thing about them is that the presenters always speak in a very clear and standard accent and very correctly (other shows like Eufòria use more slang)

And, of course, I couldn’t not recommend Plats Bruts! The most famous Catalan sit-com that we all love so much. But you might enjoy this one more when you know the language better.

If for now you find those difficult to follow, you could start with dubbed children’s media, because those always have the clearest and most standard accents. You can find shows like Detective Conan, Miraculous Ladybug, Totally Spies, Kung-Fu Panda: incredible legends for foreign media, and for Catalan productions the classics Les tres bessones (three naughty sisters who in every episode are punished by a witch to be trapped in a different fairytale, book story or sent to help a historical character) and Rovelló (the adventuries of the dog Rovelló).

There are also YouTube channels made for people who are learning, so they have subtitles available both in Catalan and in English. For example:

EasyCatalan

Couch Polyglot (has videos in different languages, look for the ones with the Catalan flag)

Català al natural (this one only has subtitles in Catalan, but he has videos about interesting topics and he speaks very clearly and slow enough for learners)

And I also recommend the Instagram account DailyCatalan.

[viastro]

bookworm | jeon wonwoo

ミ★ synopsis: who knew that the cute guy you met at the library is one of the best players on the football team? literally everyone but you.

ミ★ genre: high school!au, jock!au, humor, fluff

ミ★ warnings: none !

ミ★ word count: 3,171

ミ★ pairings: wonwoo x female reader

ミ★ notes: i will be tagging @babiesanshine​ because she told me i have to tag her in anything i write that involves wonwoo. here’s a cute little oneshot i wrote, i hope you guys enjoy it <3

The weather isn’t too cold. It’s at the temperature you like, where it’s not too hot, not too cold, but a good medium. However, it’s a sign that summer is truly ending, and you’re somehow going to miss it. Even if you did spend a majority of it staying in your room, either playing video games or sleeping. What can you say? Summer is truly the time to unwind. 

But today your mom had other ideas, having woken you up at ten in the morning. She told you to do something ‘productive’ with your last week of summer, aka, go the fuck outside. It’s now one pm in the afternoon, and you’re driving to the library because why the hell not? You’ve never been to the library before, and it’s your senior year of high school. Might as well see what books they have in case you’ll need to do a quick run to the library because of your classes. 

You stick your hand out the window, doing small wave motions while the air hits it. While you spent most of summer inside, you love the vibe it brings. It’s just the idea of being able to be free for three months, without the stress of deadlines, group projects, or finals. Smiling at the feeling of being free, you turn into the parking lot, parking your car under the tree. Turning off the engine, you step out of the car, letting out a small sigh as you stare at the old library. You straighten out your skirt, before walking towards the entrance, phone and wallet in your bag. 

You step into the library, giving the librarian a small smile in greeting. She gives you a happy wave, before going back to her work. You glance at your surroundings, taking in the ambiance of the building. It’s a bit brighter than other libraries you’ve seen, the wooden shelves being painted white, and the walls having a floral detail to them. It has a more happy theme I guess you could say. You let out a breath, somehow feeling like you’re going to come here more often at the cozy feeling it gives you. 

“Nice.” You whisper, before walking further inside. Your hand reaches out towards the shelves, letting it drag softly across the numerous books lined up. You perk up at a sudden thought and you head towards the kids section, wondering if they have your favorite children's books. You’re so caught up in thinking about the frog and toad series that you quite literally slam into someone and fall backwards.

You let out a squeak, closing your eyes as your hands prepare to soften the impact, only for you to realize that you’re no longer falling. You register the arms wrapped around your waist, and you’re 100% convinced that you’re being abducted by aliens. You slowly open your eyes, and they immediately widen once they land on the person who caught you.

His black hair is fluffy and falls over his forehead. He’s wearing specs, slightly covering his strong nose. You take notice of his eyes, a pretty shape that would make him seem more intimidating if he wasn’t wearing his round glasses. His lips are really pink, and he’s absolutely the most handsome guy you’ve ever laid eyes on in your seventeen years of living. He gives you a smile, and you feel as if you’re going to faint because, 

what the fuck !!! he’s so pretty !!!! this is fucking illegal !!!!

“Are you okay?”

oh my god !?!?! his voice is so deep too !!!!! i’m literally going to go into cardiac arrest-

“Um, hello?” He releases an arm from your waist, waving his hand in front of your face to see if you’ve passed out with your eyes open, and you almost fall into an internal monologue again because holy shit he’s only holding me with one arm, but then your eyes widen. You immediately fix your stance, his other arm falling from your waist as you are now standing on your own. 

“I… am so sorry.” You mutter, and he chuckles at your wide eyes. You open your mouth to apologize again and he shakes his head, smiling softly at you. “It’s alright, it’s partially my fault too. I’m just glad I caught you before you fell.” 

i quite literally fell in another way i won’t lie to you luv x

“Thank you for doing that. Saved my ass from some bruising.” You joke, only to shut your eyes at how suggestive that sounds. He gives you an amused look, finding you more endearing the more you speak. You don’t dare look at him, deciding that staring into the darkness of your eyelids is much more preferable at this moment as you would very much rather choke. He lets out a laugh, “It’s okay, you can open your eyes. Sometimes things sound a lot more suggestive than they should. It is what it is.”

You slowly peek at him, and see that he’s smiling at you. You stand up straight, letting out a small cough into your elbow, before grinning back at him. He extends his hand towards you, “Hi, I’m Jeon Wonwoo, 17 years old.” 

You stare at his hand for a second, somehow surprised that his hands are also really pretty. You reach out and softly grasp his hand, “Hi, I’m yln yn, 17 as well.” 

The two of you stay like that for a moment, him wondering how your hand fits his so well, and you thinking of how you’d really like to continue holding his hand. You regretfully let go first, giving him a smile. 

“So, what brings you to the library on the last week of summer break?” Wonwoo grins, giving you a shrug.

“I had a mission to read every book in this library, and I think I’m almost done.” You tilt your head at him, leaning back on the shelves and sizing him up. You purse your lips, and he crosses his arms in an attempt to make himself look more serious.

“Oh really?” 

“No, the mission was just for this science-fiction section actually.” He answers, dropping his tough facade and  motioning towards the aisle the two of you are in. You giggle at his antics, and Wonwoo feels his heart warm at the sound, proud that he was able to be the cause of it. “Why’d you exaggerate it then?” 

He turns his head towards you, giving you a big smile. “Wanted to impress you.” 

You look away when you feel your face turn warm at his honesty, reaching up and rubbing the back of your neck. You smile, turning back towards him once an idea comes to your mind.

“Wanna read children's books with me instead?” He purses his lips, before grinning at you.

“Only if we start off with frog and toad books.” 

“What kind of person would I be if we didn’t start off with frog and toad, Wonwoo?”

“I like you already.”

“It’s been a month since I last saw you, and you wanna meet up at the big football game?” You ask into the phone, an amused smile on your face. You hear Wonwoo chuckle on the other end, “It’ll be fun. I can introduce you to some of my friends.” 

You raise an eyebrow, rolling over on your bed so that you’re now staring at your ceiling. You purse your lips, realizing that you can also introduce your best friend to Wonwoo, considering that she’s been incredibly curious of the guy at the library. Otherwise known as, 

your summer fling that isn’t really a summer fling because you guys haven’t done anything romantic other than smile at each other. 

Since school started, you and Wonwoo have been too busy to hangout. You thought he was a new student at your school since you surely would’ve remembered someone as handsome as him, but to your surprise, he wasn’t. Once you got home from your first day of school, you immediately called Wonwoo and asked what school he goes to. Turns out he goes to the high school on the other side of town, your school’s biggest rival when it comes to football. 

never expected him to be interested in football, let alone the biggest game of the year since our schools are competing against each other, but i miss wonwoo a lot.

“I’m intrigued.” 

“Is that a yes?” Wonwoo asks, a big smile on his face as he waits for your answer. He hears Seungcheol and Jeonghan make kissy noises from behind him, and he rolls his eyes. You grin, letting out a sigh to make it sound like you’re not as excited as you actually are. 

“I suppose it is. I’ll see you on Friday then bookworm?” You tease, and you hear him let out a chuckle, causing you to giggle yourself. 

“Yes you will gamer. I’ll text you later, my friends are being annoying.” Wonwoo tells you, laughing at the sound of Seungcheol and Jeonghan now whining at the fact that he insulted them. You smile, opening your mouth to say bye when Wonwoo adds, “I miss you. I’ll see you on Friday.”

Your cheeks heat up, and you hear Wonwoo’s friends in the background teasing him once again. Running a hand through your hair you mutter, “I miss you too. See you soon, Wonwoo.”

You end the call, placing your phone beside you. You bite your lip, big smile on your face, before grabbing your pillow and shoving it over your face. 

“aaaaaaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!”

“Okay, where’s your boyfriend?” Jihyo asks once the two of you enter the venue, and you nudge her shoulder. “He’s not my boyfriend! Don’t call him that in front of him and his friends alright? I’ll literally eat your ass if you do that.” 

Jihyo winks at you, and you roll your eyes, causing her to throw her head back in laughter. She holds your arm, giving you a squeeze to show you she’s just teasing. You pull out your phone, curious as to which area Wonwoo and his friends are sitting, only to see his new text, 

wonoot: i’m running a bit late, just go and sit on the bleachers and i’ll find you later <3

You pout, “He’s running a bit late, but he told us that he’ll find us when he gets here.” 

“Okay, I think the game’s about to start so let’s go find a spot before everything gets taken!” Jihyo tells you with a smile, pulling you towards the stands. The two of you find a spot in the third row of the middle bleachers, giving you a solid view of the football field. You place your water bottle in the spot Wonwoo will sit, and you pull out your phone to tell him where you and Jihyo are sitting.

you: we’re in the third row, middle bleachers !!

“Those football uniforms really highlight their asses. Even if they don’t really have one, in those uniforms they do.” Jihyo says, and you snort at how true her statement is. You look up, seeing the football players running onto the field. You’re about to open your mouth to respond, when you catch sight of one of the players from the opposing team taking off his helmet. “Oh? That looks a lot like Wonwoo’s friend, Jeonghan. I didn’t know he played.” 

“He’s cute.” Jihyo mutters appreciatively beside you, and you nod your head. Wonwoo has a lot of pictures of his friend group on Instagram, and it shocked you to see that all of them are handsome. 

how you wished the guys at your school looked like this.

You watch as they all go to stand on the line, getting their names called over the loudspeakers. You tilt your head to the side when almost half of the opposing football team is filled with Wonwoo’s friends. “That’s so weird, almost all of Wonwoo’s friends are on their school’s football team.” 

“And Wonwoo isn’t?” Jihyo asks, turning to glance at you as she prepares to take a sip of water. You shake your head, before letting out a small giggle, “Probably because he’s a bookworm-”

“Now we have #96, wide receiver Jeon Wonwoo.” Your mouth drops open, and Jihyo spits out her water back into the bottle. You stare with wide eyes as #96 takes off his helmet, revealing Wonwoo who’s sporting a big smile on his face. He runs a hand through his hair, revealing his forehead and strong eyebrows. 

“Y-your summer fling...”

“He’s a jock?!” 

Wonwoo squints at the middle bleachers, trying to find you from across the field. Jun turns his head to glance at his friend, letting out a chuckle when he sees the expression on his face. He nudges his shoulder, “Your face looks stupid.” 

Wonwoo laughs, hitting Jun’s arm. “I’m trying to find yn, but she’s too far to see from here.” 

“Bet you gave her the shock of her life.” Jeonghan jokes from beside him, and Wonwoo smiles. 

“That was the goal.”

“Let’s go Wonwoo!!” You scream, not even caring that some of your classmates are glaring at you for cheering on the opposing team. Jihyo cheers alongside you, doing a victory dance whenever Wonwoo’s team scores. 

It’s the fourth quarter, and Wonwoo’s team has the ball for the final seconds of the game. They need three more points to win, and there’s only thirty seconds left on the clock. In all honesty, they need a miracle to win this game. 

To say you were shocked when you found out Wonwoo was on the football team was partially an understatement. However, finding out that he’s really fucking good at being a wide receiver almost made you pass out. Wonwoo, the guy who spent the whole summer trying to read all of the books in the science-fiction section at the local library, is among the fastest and best players on his team. 

plot twist indeed luv.

You grasp Jihyo’s hand once they get out of their team huddle, watching Wonwoo go to his position. You feel anxious, and way too invested in a high school football game. The ball gets thrown to Seungcheol, and your eyes follow Wonwoo as he runs all the way down the field. You’re frozen once the ball leaves Seungcheol’s hands, shooting across the field towards Wonwoo. 

It’s as if time slows down, and your heartbeat is loud against your ears as Wonwoo lifts his hands up. You squeeze Jihyo’s hand tightly, and your mouth drops open when Wonwoo fucking catches it. You and Jihyo scream when he sprints the last few feet towards the end zone. 

“GO WONWOO!!” You screech, and you lift your arms up in victory when he runs into the end zone right as the buzzer goes off. Your eyes go to the board, 43-49. You and Jihyo jump together happily as Wonwoo takes off his helmet, a giant smile on his face as his friends run directly into him in a huge group hug. 

“Guys let go of him! He’s been dying to go see his girl.” Jeonghan laughs, and heat rushes to Wonwoo’s face once the guys start cooing at him. He slaps Joshua’s arm once he starts up the kissy noises. “Shut up, she’s not my girl yet.”

“YET?!”

“I heard a yet fellas!” 

“I hate it here, I’m gonna go see yn now.” Wonwoo says with a big smile on his face, effectively breaking away from his group and running towards the bleachers. 

“I think he’s going to see you! GO DOWN!” Jihyo shouts once she sees Wonwoo running in your direction. She grabs the water bottles before taking your arm and pulling you out of the bleachers. The two of you sprint down the stairs while you whine,

“Jihyo stop dragging me!” 

To which your loving best friend responds, “No bitch!”

You both run towards the opening in the fence, now on the track field. Wonwoo catches sight of you, running a bit faster until he meets you halfway. You let out a big smile, breaking out of Jihyo’s grip and immediately wrapping your arms around Wonwoo, even if he is sweaty. He freezes, before hugging you back, one hand cradling your head. You pull away after a moment so that you can look into his eyes,  your guys’ arms still wrapped around each other.

“You should’ve told me you were on the team! I would’ve made you a poster!!” You scold, and Wonwoo lets out a laugh. 

“I just won the biggest game of the school year and you’re yelling at me for not telling you I was on the football team?” He jokes, and you stick your tongue out at him. “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m doing. Makes me feel like a bad gir-friend. A bad friend.”

Wonwoo raises an eyebrow at your correction, and you look away as soon as you feel your cheeks turn warm at your mishap. Jihyo squeals quietly behind you two, taking as many pictures as she can. Wonwoo lifts his hand, resting it on your chin and making you turn your head so that you’re staring at him again. 

“Will you be my girlfriend?” 

“I beg your pardon?”

“Will you be my girlfriend?” Wonwoo repeats, an amused smile forming on his face when you turn your head to see if he was asking someone else behind you. He squeezes your waist with his other hand, eliciting a squeal from you. “We’re literally hugging each other and you think I’m asking another girl to be my girlfriend?”

“I mean… maybe?” You respond, and Wonwoo chuckles, shaking his head at your silliness.

“But on a real note, will you be my girlfriend?” He asks more seriously, and you grin at him. 

“Of course Wonwoo, I’ll be your girlfriend.” 

“HELL YEAH!!!”

“LET’S GO BABY!!!” 

“MY SHIP HAS SAILED!!!!” You and Wonwoo turn your heads to see his friends and Jihyo jumping up and down happily at the two of you becoming official. You raise a hand up to your mouth as you laugh at their antics, and Wonwoo rolls his eyes. 

“I’m sorry about them.” He whispers to you, specifically eyeing Soonyoung and Seokmin making kissy faces towards you and Wonwoo. You turn your head towards your boyfriend, pressing a soft kiss to his cheek, causing the guys and Jihyo to screech even louder. Wonwoo lifts a hand to the area, smile forming on his face as he turns to you. 

“Consider it a winner’s kiss.” You tell him shyly, giving him finger guns. Wonwoo laughs at your cuteness, before leaning down and pressing a kiss to your forehead. Your eyes widen, and out of the corner of your eye you see Seungkwan and Chan fall to the track, unable to express how cute they find you two in words and screeches. 

“Consider it a winner’s kiss as well, for getting me as your boyfriend.” Wonwoo jokes, and you roll your eyes. 

“So cocky.” 

“You love it though.” 

“Just a smidge, bookworm.”

[reversalsun]

Explaining Rainbow Drinkers

I’m a decade wiser and return to the Homestuck fandom with a degree in biology and a desire to use it for evil. Lets talk about Vampire Troll Girls.

We get very little from the actual canon of Homestuck about Rainbow Drinkers, just Kanaya, Porrim, and a few hints of lore scattered about. Still, they’re one of the most interesting parts of troll culture - rare and strange, feared but also obsessed over in fiction and mythology. They may be analogous with vampires in the pop culture fascination surrounding them, but I don’t believe that they’re all that similar in function. So let's speculate on how Rainbow Drinkers could function on a biological level and how they fit into greater troll society. 

Rainbow drinkers don’t seem to be literal undead, but rather a functional state that some Jadebloods have the potential to enter into. Yes, Kanaya only becomes a rainbow drinker after “dying”, but death isn’t strictly what made her a rainbow drinker. In fact, I’d argue that Kanaya never actually died - rather she reached a near death state. This state, I believe, did kickstart her transformation. 

The most important thing to zero in on here is rainbow drinker being an inborn trait. Contrast this with how vampirism in human mythos is treated like a pathogen - no one is born a vampire, you become one via infection. RD is hardwired into Jadeblood biology, but it isn’t expressed in their default state. This raises a question: what causes a Jadeblood to undergo transformation into a rainbow drinker? Answering this is a little difficult, as we have a pitiful data pool of one to draw from. Nevertheless, we can examine Kanaya (as well as some dubiously canon content) to extrapolate a bit more about sparkly troll vampirism. Kanaya undergoes transformation into a RD when she is blasted through the stomach and seemingly killed by Eridan’s science powers. Off screen she regains consciousness, begins glowing, gulps down some friend blood, then returns with a vengeance. How do we explain this without leaning on the supernatural? Let's start by drawing on real world bloodsuckers. 

Little may be known about Alternia, but planet Earth is abound with creatures that subsist on blood. Mainly the trait is seen in bugs and parasites - this lends itself to our cause, as trolls seem to be more insectoid than mammalian in nature. Hematophagy (blood drinking) is a trait that has convergently evolved in creatures across the planet - that is to say, hematophagic creatures aren’t genetically related. The trait crops up on its own because it's widely useful, not because of a shared ancestral nematode. Vital fluids, after all, are incredibly prevalent and are in sure supply wherever animals live. It’s not farfetched to say that hematophagy would appear on other planets - especially planets like Alternia that are host to carbon based lifeforms similar to Earth’s. 

We can safely assume that blood drinking would work in the same way on Alternia as it does on Earth. That means rainbow drinkers face the same difficulties that Earth’s vampires do. Blood is not only difficult to obtain, but it’s also difficult to digest. So how do rainbow drinkers solve these conundrums? 

First, the method. Most terrestrial bloodsuckers are nocturnal - and not just for the spooky aesthetic. Fluttering, crawling, and slithering in on a sleeping host lessens your chance of being swatted on impact. Almost all hematophagic creatures are stealth feeders, and Rainbow Drinkers are no different. Trolls are a nocturnal species, but Kanaya is stated to be diurnal upon introduction. It would make sense for her and other potential Rainbow Drinkers to have a natural proclivity for daywalking, as it's much easier to feed from a sleeping troll than a waking one. Kanaya is also able to withstand the fierce, burning Alternian sun - a force which is enough to blind Terezi, and leave any troll who walks out in it for too long with a scathing sunburn. Even Jadebloods that are not currently or will never be rainbow drinkers are likely to exhibit non standard troll sleeping patterns, as they live primarily in the brooding caverns - dark, underground caves where the sun cycle wouldn’t really matter to them. When they do leave their caves to hunt, the glowing, white skin of a Rainbow Drinker would likely be a large boon against the Alternian sun’s devastating rays. In Friendsim we’re told that Lusii’s bright white coats help to protect them from the sun. It’s likely the same for rainbow drinkers; the color white reflects all wavelengths of light far better than any other, thus their radiance and pale complexion provides them an extra level of defense when they’re out hunting. Friendsim also vaguely mentions Rainbow Drinker extract in Tagora’s route, where it’s used as a luxury skincare/beauty product that makes a troll’s skin look literally radiant. Very little is said about the product itself, so it may be a hormone or a secretion derived from Rainbow Drinkers. In the case of the latter… Kanaya and other Rainbow Drinkers might just be really greasy? 

Now, in canon Kanaya theorizes that Rainbow Drinkers glow because of their home in the near pitch black caverns. It’s true that even with trolls' natural night vision, more light sources would be a boon. Animals that thrive in the dark like cats and wolves can’t magically see without a light source, rather their eyes are specially adapted to reflect even scant amounts of light. Animals that live in true darkness, like those found in the depths of caves, are more commonly blind. If no light is present, even night vision fails. With the mother grub’s natural habitat being subterranean, her special attendants possessing an internal light source would make sense. 

We have to change gears now and reckon with the How of troll blood drinking and Kanaya surviving. First: how can a troll survive on blood? We know that all trolls - even Kanaya, subsist on diets of foods akin to what you and I eat. Is it even possible to suddenly switch to a blood diet? The answer is yes. Blood drinking comes in two forms: obligatory and facultative. Obligatory, as the name implies, refers to creatures like fleas and ticks who only consume blood, whereas facultative refers to creatures that have a mixed diet of blood and other foods. Mosquitos for example only drink blood when they need to produce eggs. Rainbow Drinkers are likely similar - mainly eating standard troll goodies, but being able to rely on blood if the going gets tough. Natural resources may be scant in the brooding caverns, and the ability to survive on blood would be incredibly advantageous for those living there. Blood would of course be in no short supply given the population and purpose of the caverns. The implication I’m getting at is well… not every grub survives the caverns trials, or even the caverns in general. Between imperial drones, hoards of lusii, and difficult terrain, the brooding caverns can be dangerous. It would make sense for the troll denizens living there to be exceptionally tough and capable of “recycling” the grubs that don’t make it. Horrible. I’m sorry. But that’s nature. 

The transformation into Rainbow Drinker could very well be triggered by shock or extreme physical duress. After undergoing the transformation and taking a nice sloppy drink from her friends, Kanaya begins to exhibit increased physical abilities. Natural durability and rainbow drinker abilities serve Jades well in their special role as mother grub attendants, and I think that’s in part how Kanaya was able to survive Eridan’s attack. That, and the noticeable difference in how she and Feferi were hit. Fef was hit in the chest while Kan was hit in the stomach. Assuming troll biology is comparable to our own, cleaving out the lungs and heart is a lot worse than cleaving out the stomach. Now don’t get me wrong, both are awful, But if one of the two was going to survive, it would be Kanaya - not only is she a durable Jade (see above), but as a facultative blood drinker, it could be possible for her to have a separate stomachs for blood and food. The digestion process of the two is completely different, so throwing all of it into one pouch might not be a good idea. Outside of durability and luck with the placement of the blast, this could be why Kanaya was able to get back on her feet. And she’s a Sylph, a natural healer class. But this isn’t a classpect analysis, so I’ll leave that discussion for people wiser than I. 

Jadebloods are stated to be the second rarest blood type out there, and those that are able to turn Rainbow Drinker exemplify how badass the whole caste is. It’s likely that they don’t possess these skills because they’re the chosen attendants of the mother grubs, but rather these traits are why the mother grubs chose Jades as their keepers in the first place. As much as I wish we’d gotten more info about Rainbow Drinkers from canon, it was fun to explore how they could potentially work, and it really cemented Jades as my favorite caste. Anyway, please excuse me while I go draw myself a Rainbow Drinker trollsona. 

[benmcm18]

Film Genres – Critical Reflection

Opening Notes…

Compared to last year, these last three months have been incredibly transformative for me as a filmmaker. Not only have I developed a short film which is the main focus of this post but I’ve also, been taught about the importance of production management and also, been offered roles on third-year film shoots. In order for me to properly reflect on Catacombs of the Lost, I need to discuss what has happened over these three months. I want to use the structure of Sam’s blog to talk about this film project as I believe it summarises the pros and cons of the whole production well and it also allows some self-reflection and honest constructive criticism on the work. (So props to you Sam xx)

My Thoughts…

I’ve been stuck in a rut when it comes to creating films since the summer. I constantly want to push myself in terms of creativity and scope. I do not really feel playing safe has many benefits but I do understand it helps with putting what I have been taught into practice and building a solid foundation when it comes to filmmaking. Regardless of me knowing that I can sometimes get caught up in trying to great the most ambitious project possible.

That entire conundrum I’ve talked about above is what I feel was the biggest issue for Catacombs of the Lost (COTL) but also for me, what makes it one of my most proud projects so far.

There are faults with the film, problems with the pacing, dialogue, story, etc. These issues are something I really care about (especially the story) because to me, it does not matter how good the film looks or how great the sound is. If it is not a story the viewer can engage with. I’ve failed. I get caught up in creating a large-scale fictional story because I really am not interested in creating a project (at this moment in time) that is grounded in reality. I don’t enjoy that. I want to be creative and push myself in all areas. I really want everyone I work with to be as creative as possible and experiment, without the worry of messing up. In this project, I feel the members of my group did this. For example, Orla discussed the idea of creating her own composition for the film. I love that! Why not? This is the perfect time to experiment and learn and it is one of the stand-out parts of the film. Seeing people’s reactions and noises when the music comes in at the beginning of the chase is something I’ve never experienced and something I will truly cherish as a director.

So reflecting on this film I have taken away several things:

I did not spend enough time on the script.

I need to be more organised and coordinated when directing on set. This constructive criticism mainly came into my mind after being on set with the third years. Whilst, I enjoyed being on set creating COTL I should have done a better job focusing on tasks at hand. Going forward I would actually like to focus more on pre-production, Production management taught me everything I need to prepare for a film shoot.

I would want someone else to edit the film. I love editing, however, even though I do feel I am open to cutting anything from my film I think a fresh perspective really helps in finding solutions to issues that appear through the edit.

I do not believe the film was ambitious enough. I feel a constant part of this post is going to be talking about scale and ambition. For me, the next project I want to create will have VFX, a larger world, a compelling narrative story. However, maybe for my next project, I should create something more “experimental” as I’ve never really delved into that.

I want to be more creative. The thought of not making something that truly pushes you creatively I just do not get. I touched on this idea above but after this project, my goal is to create projects like this until it works. Until I get it perfect. I do not like the idea of being told that this is a bad thing to want to strive, for even if the project turns out “bad.”

Class - Overall Feedback

The score and voice of The Devil were well received.

The Dialogue of the Devil was hard to hear.

The use of violin works well in the horror genre.

The dialogue is not very well written.

Too much is happening in the beginning.

Maybe don’t need the start.

When Henry looked blankly at his Mother it was off-putting.

The chase is cool.

Narratively confusing when/why he starts running.

Like rising up of the Devil

Lighting is impressive and believable for space.

Nice transition into red space.

Great visuals.

Production design really added to it. Immersed in film.

Liked the idea, ambition and location.

The time frame is unclear.

Green Knight vibes!

“Fantastic”

Super ambitious

Would like to “see the demise of all parties” - John 2021

Critical Feedback… *If I don’t write anything after I agree with everything they say and do not have anything to add*

DAVID B - Discussing Cinematography and General feedback

“The cinematography was nice. It included some very exciting movements.” - Ben A was fantastic to work with when it came to cinematography. He also understood that the VFX shots we wanted required me to use Premiere Pro on my home PC. This meant he chose to film the project in 4K instead of 6K which overall saved us so much time when it came to editing. Time I think we really needed.

“Motivated light sources”- Ben A, Eilis and Sam all had a hand in creating the lighting. There were some issues on the first shoot which caused us to have to change the entire plan for the lighting. This however was fixed quickly as they were open to communication and was how we ended up with these “Motivated light sources.”

“Focus comes and goes but hopefully will improve with time and practice. Better to be adventurous now.” - I appreciate that we are being given some leniency when it comes to the focus pulling. Without a focus puller on set we focus more on the movement and blocking in the hopes there would not be an issue. Sam, I believe in his blog does mention however there is a feature in the GH5 that can help with making sure it doesn’t go out of focus, so I hope to possibly implement this in the future.

“Nice backlight especially in the second shot” - Ben A’s fantastic improvised shot.

“Like the falling/sped up bit with lamp moving on the floor.” - A played around with this for a while as originally we had planned on making it blend more and be more complicated. In all honesty, the speed was there as a placeholder but it ended up working really well with the lamp smashing that we kept it.

“Nice cutting between mother and running” - I worried about this a lot as without the sound and music it didn’t really work. Props to Orla for creating some truly wonderful sound effects.

David L - Sound, Story and some General comments

“The music is good.”

“Fix audio in the catacombs as the voice is too quiet.” - I agree with this. I don’t feel the dialogue in the chase scene is that necessary to hear, but I do still believe this whisper in your ear does add to the sinisterness of the scene.

“Cramming in too much at the start.” - I understand we were meant to keep to a time limit. There is other criticism down the line where it says that it is too large an idea for the time allocated. I could not agree more. I felt that with a bit more time (20 seconds) I could have made the opening much more palatable.

“The line jump is a bit jarring.”

“I like the concept and visuals.”

“CU shots at end of mother could have been effective.” - The reason for sticking with a wide as the final shot was because I wanted to get across the feeling of loneliness and isolation within the mother. Being closer to the mother would have been more emotional, I do agree though.

Zoe - Sound, Pacing and General comments

“Love the sound design of spirit.”

“I hate the dialogue. It is too distant to properly connect with.” - I agree with Zoe. Dialogue is something I very much struggle with. I do feel that the time limit affected the delivery of the lines in the final film as I had planned for it to be delivered over a longer period of time but I should have been aware of that when I wrote them. Zoe also mentions that we could have “added de-reverb to reduce this audio “distance” I hope we learn how to do this next trimester as we used a variety of in-camera audio and V.O for the opening scene. I also believe that because of this blend of different audio sources I can see why Zoe also said this: “I was not sold on the performance. V.O at starts sounds like reading a letter.” Whilst, I do believe David and Chloe’s performances were good I felt that when having to cut so much from the opening scene handicapped their performance.

“Loved the score. Higher tones are a bit distracting though and a bit static.” - I would highly recommend looking at Orla’s blog as she goes into detail about her process and her time spent on the score.

“Don’t feel the gear change from wanting to sacrifice then running away.”

“Wonderfully ambitious!”

The Dynamic Duo - (Leo & Juliet)

“Bring more physicality of demon for fear factor through sound.” - I’ve got to be honest I’m not really sure how I would do that but I would love to. Whilst they both seemed “Pleased with the devil voice. It hit the sweet spot.” when they say that they want more physicality I’m not sure what they mean by “physical” but I would really like to be explained.

“Work on audio is good.”

“Chase could have used more sound. Footsteps should have been louder.”

“Brilliant Location” - That is all thanks to Sam. He did a fantastic job finding the group a location.

Ben - Directing

*I really want to reflect on my role as a director as that was the one I chose for this project. I’ve talked about my role as an editor above in parts. Overall, whilst I enjoy editing and am happy I managed to get the film down to the time limit. I do believe that with someone else as editor the film could have possibly improved in the final cut.*

Anyway, with that out the way, I will now talk about directing. Firstly, I’m not really 100% sure directing is. I have my own idea and from what I gather online is that they are the creative leads on a film project but I’m confused as to what that entails. Or more specifically, how I get good at doing that.

Only a few weeks ago I was surprised to see on a third-year set that I was doing the role of the Producer and First Assistant Director when I was on the COTL set (This is much more true on the first shoot than the second.) I had no clue that I was and that is why I consider being on those third-year sets such a learning experience. I’ve seen a lot of different directors and their techniques this year. This has only made me want to improve and I do not know how besides “make more films” I would really appreciate if the lecturer is reading this to leave a comment quickly pointing out ways I can learn and improve. What makes a good director that people like to work with?

I felt I supported everyone on the project. Co-ordinated them well by keeping them focused on their individual roles. I sat down with different departments all the way through production and discussed how I envisioned the film. I worked with two very different actors on this project and was able to communicate to them how I wanted them to perform. I believe when it comes to enthusiasm, communication and leadership I do quite well. I just want to get better, I just do not know-how. What books can I read? What practise can I do? What can I watch? Because I’m not sure if what I’m doing is right or wrong I’m constantly second-guessing myself and wondering what I can do to improve. I think the main thing I can reflect on in my role as director is that; whilst, I got good feedback from my peers when I was on set. I really need to know if what I’m doing is the correct practice.

Ben - Writing

I will keep this shorter as I’m pretty sure I know what I did right and wrong on this project.

I enjoy writing grand stories, in fictional worlds where I can really flush on the world-building. I liked that I stuck to that with this project as it is my first medieval film and in regards to the setting and tone I think I succeeded with the script.

I have an issue with my own writing, however. I focus a lot on narrative structure and characters arcs. In this film, I think I failed both of them. I should be working to a higher level and understanding what is possible in 3 minutes. My dialogue is sluggish and I need to practise the lines out loud before I submit them.

However, this won’t stop me from creating an idea similar to this again. I love that we attempted my story and felt it was a well-made film. With a longer edit, I do truly believe it will improve.

Special thanks…

I just want to say thank you to everyone in my group who put in so much work to create my script. Who gave so much of their time to make it a reality. I am really grateful to be surrounded by people who share the same passion as I do for filming. Eilis, I am glad I was able to help show you the GH5, I hope you learnt a lot from this project and thank you for keeping everyone so positive throughout the shoots. Sam, you are fantastic at producing and you should be proud of the location you found and the relationships you established from the vaults, thank you for all the effort you put in. Orla, you are very talented at sound, thank you for even entertaining my ideas that I wanted for sound and I really appreciate how much effort you put into the film. Ben, You got a good eye for cinematic stuff (people in the crit also very much agreed) and you are very understanding, thank you for sitting down with me for hours during the edit and storyboarding, I would have not had as nearly as much fun without you.

[twh-news]

To land ‘Loki,’ Kate Herron had to pull out all the stops. How she won over Marvel

As a teenager, Kate Herron was obsessed with the “Lord of the Rings” films.

In particular, she recalls heading to theaters repeatedly with friends who shared her passion to see “The Two Towers” (2002), the second installment in director Peter Jackson’s trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic fantasy novel. She even wrote “Lord of the Rings” fan fiction.

“It was very silly,” the British filmmaker insists, revealing that one of her stories saw the heroic Fellowship traveling through a magical fountain and getting trapped in New York. “Honestly, I was just writing the stories to make my friends laugh. I guess it was kind of that first foray for me: ‘How do I tell a story?’”

Years later, Herron is again involved in telling a story about a protagonist displaced from the world he knows. But this time, her audience is much bigger.

Herron, 33, is the director of “Loki,” the Marvel Studios series that follows the adventures of the titular god of mischief after he has been plucked out of time by an agency charged with maintaining the sanctity of the timeline. Thus, the six-episode series, which premiered earlier this month on Disney+, features a slightly different version of Loki than the fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe have grown to love since his first appearance in “Thor” (2011) through “Avengers: Endgame” (2019).

“I love villains,” says Herron during a recent video call from Atlanta, where she is putting the final touches on “Loki.” “I think that if a villain’s done right, you don’t necessarily have to like their actions, but you have to understand them. And I think that Tom [Hiddleston], in the last decade, has brought such empathy and wit and pain to a very real character for so many people. I just wanted to be part of whatever [Loki’s] next chapter was going to be.”

The series, on which the self-described Loki fan also serves as an executive producer, is Herron’s highest-profile project to date. Her previous credits include directing on Netflix’s “Sex Education,” as well as “Five by Five,” a series of short films executive produced by Idris Elba.

While growing up in South East London, Herron never considered filmmaking as a career. Her love of movies manifested as the aspiration to become an actor, and she often goaded her peers into putting on plays or making movies using a friend’s father’s camcorder. It wasn’t until some astute and encouraging teachers at Herron’s secondary school pointed out that she seemed more interested in storytelling that she changed course.

By introducing Herron to new texts, these teachers — as well as a film studies class that covered films directed by Stanley Kubrick and Akira Kurosawa — helped expand her perspective.

“I just didn’t know that you could have a voice and an authorship over a film, which probably sounds a bit silly. But I just hadn’t really thought about films in that way,” says Herron. Soon enough, she was on the path to film school at the University for the Creative Arts in Farnham, England, where she graduated with a degree in film production.

Herron laughs as she remembers how she believed she would just go off and find work in film straight out of school. “Obviously that did not happen,” she says.

With no post-graduate roadmap (or job offer) to help her break into the industry, Herron eventually started writing and directing short films with “no money” while juggling a day job as a temp. Both experiences provided Herron with material for “Loki,” which introduces a new bureaucratic agency called the Time Variance Authority to the MCU.

“I’ve worked at a lot of random places, which weirdly has influenced ‘Loki’ in some ways because we have this office culture kind of running through it,” says Herron. “I’ve worked in a lot of offices.”

In order to give the retro-futuristic offices of the TVA “a real lived-[in], breathed-in office” feel, Herron incorporated details that viewers could recognize from the real world — from paper files to the posters on the walls — and gave them a fantastical twist befitting the superhero series.

“One of the most exciting things to me about Kate is she has this amazing attention to detail,” says “Loki” co-executive producer Kevin Wright. “That was something that we saw on her very first pitch [and] it works its way into every frame of the show. Every monitor, every piece of paper in the TVA … she has looked over and approved everything you see.”

In an email, “Loki” star Hiddleston described Herron as “a dream collaborator” who possesses “a unique combination of extraordinary diligence, stamina, energy, respect and kindness.”

“Her affection for and understanding of Loki was so deep, profound and wide-ranging,” Hiddleston wrote. “She built a new world for these characters to play in with incredible precision, but she was also acutely sensitive to their emotional journey.”

Herron’s affinity for outsiders is apparent throughout the course of our conversation. There is of course her love for Loki — the heir to the king of Frost Giants raised as the prince of Asgard who has become one of the MCU’s most beloved villain-turned-antiheroes. Herron’s first introduction to the world of Marvel as a kid was through “X-Men: The Animated Series,” about the superhero team with mutant powers that set them apart from average humans. Herron cites Lisa Simpson — the overachieving, opinionated middle child from the animated sitcom “The Simpsons” — as the reason she is a vegetarian who can play the saxophone.

And although Herron describes herself as shy, it’s no match for the passion she brings to discussing film and television.

She calls Wes Anderson’s 2001 film “The Royal Tenenbaums,” co-written by “Loki” actor Owen Wilson, “a perfect movie.” In addition to being obsessed with “The Simpsons,” Herron gravitated toward genre shows such as “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” the updated “Battlestar Galactica” and “The X-Files” when growing up.

As Herron enthusiastically dives into “Loki’s” influences — which include “Alien” (1979), “Blade Runner” (1982), “Brazil” (1985), “Metropolis” (1927) and, yes, even “Teletubbies” — it’s easy to see why Wright knew she was the right person to bring “Loki” to life from their very first meeting.

Upon learning that Marvel was developing a show about Loki, Herron tasked her agents with calling Marvel every day until they would meet with her. And it worked.

“I was just so excited that somebody was chasing the project,” says Wright. “Which sounds crazy, that Marvel would be excited somebody’s chasing us. But it was the early days of us trying to get this Disney+ streaming stuff off the ground, so people were very hesitant … they didn’t know what it was yet.”

Herron’s enthusiasm for the show landed her a video meeting with Wright and executive producer Stephen Broussard. Believing it might be her only shot at the project, Herron came armed with so many stills and clips to illustrate her discussion of the scripts she’d been sent that a simple meet-and-greet turned into a four-hour conversation.

“Over the course of the next week or so,” Wright explains, “it was really figuring out how to set Kate up to succeed when we got her in front of Kevin Feige to pitch this.”

Herron put together a 60-page bible of ideas for the characters, the story, the visual references and more. The rest is Marvel history.

She learned not to wait for permission, she says, after graduating from film school and becoming involved with improv and stand-up to both develop her comedy chops and to meet funny collaborators to be in her short films.

“I think I’d always find excuses, almost, [to not do it],” says Herron. “It was that thing of being like, ‘Oh, well, I’m not ready. So I’ll wait. I’ll wait until I’m perfect at it and then I’ll go do it.’”

Taking inspiration from Robert Rodriguez’s “Rebel Without a Crew” and a SXSW keynote speech by Mark Duplass, Herron realized that she just needed to start making things. She told herself it was OK if the films were messy. If a short was bad, nobody had to see it. If a short was “halfway to good,” she would submit them to festivals.

It’s this tenacious creativity that connects the dots between her early fan fiction, her short films, her pitch presentations — and now “Loki” itself. It’s a trait that has helped her navigate the industry to her current success, even during the periods it’s been most frustrating. As a female director, “I got asked crazy stuff in interviews sometimes,” she says of life on the festival circuit. “I remember being asked, ‘Are you sure you’re ready? Are you sure you’re ready?’ And male colleagues of mine were never asked that in interviews. I think that’s probably why I was so driven to just go out and make stuff.”

[minghellafine]

Full interview below.

The first thing Max Minghella does when he joins our Zoom call is ask me about the weather. It wasn't just a conversational cliché though, he really wanted to know what it was like where I was. I tell him I'm in New York City, where spring can surprise you with a day that's colder or warmer than it looks. This particular day was chilly. "I'm always cold," he interjects, "I'm reptilian. My body finds a way to keep me cool." He shivered as he spoke, sitting in his sunny backyard in Los Angeles wearing a T-shirt. I checked the temperature right after our call. It was 80 degrees in L.A.

Despite any discomfort, Minghella is just really happy to be at home. Unlike the millions of people who spent 2020 in quarantine, he was working on season four of The Handmaid's Tale throughout the spring and summer."I'm sort of jealous of people who have this moment to pause and reflect," he says soberly. "Even with all of the trauma it's caused and all the things that obviously were detrimental, I know a lot of people who've had big life changes in the past year."

He acknowledged, however, that creating something in a time when everyone wished they could escape was ultimately a lucky thing. "There was a ubiquitous sense of gratitude," he adds.

Outside of the global pandemic, the dynamics on set had shifted — this season, his co-star Elisabeth Moss (or "Lizzie" as he affectionately calls her), was a director. "She was amazing on set," he explained. "Just very in control and it ran super smoothly. When I saw the episodes she directed, it just kind of blew me away. Her style — it's very cinematic and it really underlines the sci-fi elements of the show. It has a real kind of scope and confidence to it. I think she's a real filmmaker."

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Minghella's character Nick has an interesting arc this season too –  he's realizing his role as a senior member of the Gilead ruling class, but also still in love with June [Moss]. It's a complex character that challenges you as an audience member. He is the brooding love interest, and while you may root for him and June to be together, you also have to see him for what he is: an architect of a world that kidnaps women and uses them for childbearing.

What made the previous three seasons of the show even harder for viewers to digest was the fact that people so badly wanted to believe there could be a good guy defector — maybe even Nick — in a room full of bad guys. During those years, many people felt that the dystopian elements of the show were reflective of the nationalist agenda being put forth in the United States by the Trump Administration. So much so that a group of protesters famously wore Handmaid costumes to protest anti-abortion bills and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh's confirmation hearings. Without saying much about the parallels in the show — other than chalking them up to "pure coincidence," Minghella felt the Handmaid's Tale, whose protagonists are anti-Gilead, are "on the right side of history."  He added diplomatically, "Ultimately, I'm most proud because I think it's really great fiction."

I get the sense that the pursuit of "great fiction" is something that consumes Minghella. He's someone who appreciates art (he got his big break in 2006's Art School Confidential), and his parents are Anthony Minghella, the late award-winning director of The Talented Mr. Ripley, and actress Carolyn Choa. He loves details (see our earlier weather conversation). Even the way he talks about Los Angeles has a story-like quality. He tells me about how he knew when the city became his home after a feeling he got driving past the Silver Lake 7-Eleven. As he told it, I pictured it like a scene in an indie movie starring Zach Braff.

"I had this sort of pathological obsession with movies from birth. [My mother] worked for the British equivalent of the Motion Picture Association, so she would watch three films a day. By three or four years old, I was just kind of an obsessed movie person." It's his favorite movie, Beverly Hills Cop ("I think I saw 100 times by the time I was eight years old," he says) that inspired another big role he was working on during quarantine: Minghella stars as a detective opposite Chris Rock in the Saw franchise spin-off Spiral: From the Book of Saw.

"The movie was so serendipitous for me. I feel like I almost manifested it in my life," Minghella muses. "There's a line very early in the movie where we're investigating these crime scenes and we come to a grizzly one. My character looks nauseous. Chris's [character] says to me, 'Are you okay?' And my character says, 'Yeah. I mean I'd been dreaming about this since I was 12-years-old.' And that was a very kind of weird line because it's just true."

Now at 35 years old, Minghella is feeling settled. He is still a "film nerd" that gets giddy with each new opportunity, but he's less anxious about the results. Next thing on his list? Vacation.

"I'm hoping in May once the movie comes out I can run away somewhere."

Read on for his cheesy would-be campaign slogan, his fast-food weakness, and the time he escaped a tornado while working on a film with Blake Lively.

Who is your celebrity crush?

Mary Tyler Moore.

What's the last thing you do before you fall asleep?

I listen to 1950s radio shows. Usually Dragnet. I was researching a project in that period briefly and got sort of into the radio culture of that time. And now I find it incredibly soothing.

Favorite villain?

Hans Gruber.

Describe a memorable dream.

I had a recurring nightmare as a child in which my grandmother turned into a cat. So Tom Hooper's Cats was very traumatizing to me.

First album you ever owned?

My mother bought me the Top Gun soundtrack on audio cassette.

If you were required to spend $1,000 today, what would you buy and why?

I would do anything to help a distressed dog.

If you ran for office, what would your slogan be?

Some kind of tacky pun using my first name. "Take it to the Max," or maybe "Max on, Max off."

Name one place you've never been but have always wanted to go.

Easy. Japan. I went when I was one, but I don't think that counts.

What's the most uncomfortable outfit you've ever worn?

I did a film called Art School Confidential and I had to wear a beret and I found every moment of it truly humiliating. I remember being completely traumatized by it.

Describe your first kiss.

My first kiss was at a bus stop. I was 14 and I lied and told the girl that it wasn't my first kiss, but I think it was probably immediately evident that it was.

What's one dish you're always tempted to order if you see it on a menu?

There are so many things. That's the sad answer. French fries is the truth.

Favorite on-set memory?

I did a movie called Elvis and Anabelle with Blake Lively like 100 years ago and we shot in Texas. There was a tornado one night that forced us to evacuate the set and we had to sort of drive off in a hurry. I put on this song by The Knife called "Pass This On" in the car which is very dramatic and cinematic. The tornado was sort of in pursuit of the vehicle while we were speeding away. And it was just far enough that it wasn't life-threatening, but also a radical visual. That's one of my favorite life memories.

The Handmaid's Tale season 4 premieres on Hulu April 28, and Spiral: From the Book of Saw hits theaters on May 11.

Photographs by Emily Malan. Grooming by Sonia Lee for Exclusive Artists using La Mer. Polaroid Photos by Max Minghella. Special thanks to Polaroid. Production by Kelly Chiello.