#like just every single scene the author chooses such perfect characters and situations and creates so much depth

[01tsubomi]

lately i've been totally devouring the skip & loafer manga - it's such incredible character writing i have no choice but to devour it. each individual character is so fleshed out and interesting but the writer has this amazing knack for placing them together in situations that create a lot of intrigue. just like constant interactions where each character's motivations and reactions are really well-thought out. this is pretty late into the series so really deep in the weeds of spoilers/character drama but the whole gang is roadtripping to protag mitsumi's countryside hometown during summer vacation and as you can see in the first panel mika (girlfailure i love her) recently confessed to + was rejected by the main love interest shima and their other guy friend mukai consulted with her through it (though he has not let on to shima that he knows anything), so sitting in the backseat with the two of them sounds like a nightmare. so she suggests that mitsumi takes the seat instead, since she knows mitsumi has a crush on shima and that unlike her own crush mitsumi's is definitely returned in some way, but little does she know that mitsumi and shima actually very recently tried going out to test the waters with dating but shima as a teenager (former child actor also) coming from a dysfunctional family doesn't know anything about relationships, not even how to tell if his own feelings are romantic, so they realized pretty quickly that it wasn't working and agreed to return back to being friends while ignoring the awkwardness left in the room, none of which mitsumi has told anybody. such a tiny passing little interaction but so much driving the way the characters act in it

[sitp-recs]

(Perfect artwork for Modern Love, by @cambiodipolvere)

Today is the day of one of my favorite people! And I totally resent @tackytigerfic and Starry for almost sharing the same birthday, god the STRESS 😂 Tacky is my first and closest fandom friend. We clicked together so fast and easy that sometimes it feels like I’ve known her all my life, like we’re two dog moms living in the same neighborhood who happen to read fic in their free time. Despite our conflicting time zones and crazy schedules we manage to chat every other day, tagging and sending each other all kinds of stuff, coming together to cry scream about a brilliant fic we’ve just read or shaking our heads in embarrassment at every other unnecessary bullshit post. Tacky’s bright and wise energy uplifts my spirit even on my moody days, and makes me grateful for her friendship and for this fandom life. Okay so this got long and I had to put the rest under the cut:

It’s such a lovely and precious thing, to have someone with whom you can share every single thought that crosses your mind, your scariest, most embarrassing, petty or disturbing idea, without fear of being shamed or judged by it. I trust Tacky with all my heart to hear me out, share a joke or a piece of advice, even on the (rare) occasions when we don’t get the same perspective - that doesn’t happen often when it comes to Drarry, as we are taste twins!

Tacky my darling, you’re such a good person, and such an incredible friend. Thank you for introducing me to this lovely community, for being my safe haven and your unique self, with so many qualities I admire and feel inspired by: kind, witty, earnest, wise, and so very human. I love your humour and empathy, and your chill yet no-nonsense personality; I love your talent and how articulated you are; I love your passion for Drarry, and how you let this emotion inform the way you navigate the fandom and create for it. And god, but you’ve been creating some of the most beautiful content I’ve seen in these recent years! I’m permanently in awe of your ability to write Drarry in any shape, format or length, transforming even the most ordinary moment into an extraordinary and meaningful piece of character or relationship development. You know how you mentioned yesterday that some authors change the way you feel about a ship in a deep, definitive way? Well, you are that author for me. Your works made me fall in love with M-rated contemplative romance, and also allowed me to fall in love with Harry in a way I never thought it was possible before.

Some people - myself included - got to know you through the fun and intriguing A Lick and a Promise, others through the atmospheric and sensitive Modern Love, others through your contemplative and heartbreaking short form. Each story has its merits and purpose, and all of them share a Tacky trademark: the heartkick factor! Your talent has no limits and goes across different genres and tropes, that you explore with a bold twist full of personality and heart. And even more impressive is your consistency at always raising the bar - every new fic of yours becomes an instant fave and makes me think “wow I thought Tacky couldn’t get better yet here we are”. Seeing how your writing evolves as you find your narrative voice is a beautiful and humbling experience, I feel so lucky!

I’m really grateful for being active in the fandom at this moment in time, because that allows me to read and engage with your brilliant work, and to have you as a dear friend. I can’t wait to see what comes out of your beautiful brain next. It was an impossible job choosing a single fic to rec today, so I decided to do a belated Tacky reclist! Naturally these are my personal and biased must-reads, and I urge everyone to go check these beauties right now. Feel free to include your own favorites too, and don’t forget to leave them some appreciation.

Happy happy birthday my darling Tacky! This fandom life wouldn’t be the same without you. I hope you have the amazing day you deserve!

Between the Power Lines (2020, M, 3.2k)

The road trip fic you didn’t know you needed. I got utterly immersed in the heartbreaking quietness of this, feeling like a witness to an ordinary yet poignant love story. Such tender intimacy, such character development, such lovely American aesthetics with barely any dialogue. This is, IMO, the fic that reveals Tacky’s triumph in storytelling.

Even the Night (2020, M, 3.4k)

This fic has a surreal atmosphere, those Midsummer vibes unbelievably sexy and intoxicating linked to the sensorial experience of fumbling together in the night. Masterclass in tension building, a silky and languid dream-like affair.

Aim for my Heart (2021, M, 3.4k) - Harry/Draco/Ron

One of the most sensitive and stunning portraits I’ve ever seen of a poly/triad relationship, this fic packs so much character and longing! It’s a privilege to watch Ron and Draco’s tentative dynamics through the smitten eyes of the one person that loves them like no one else: Harry.

The Long Fall (2021, M, 3.6k)

I can’t even write about this tender domesticity without getting a lump in my throat. Best opening scene I’ve read in years, and a refreshing way to approach both mpreg and parenthood, painfully honest and lovely. This became an immediate comfort read for me, and it’s probably one of the fics I revisit the most.

Mortal Frame (2021, M, 6.6k)

This thrilling, fast-paced spy story left me breathless since the first paragraph, gods what an immersive ride! I’m so here for Drarry on the run, sharp and urgent with danger but mellowed by the silent trust and tender intimacy only Tacky can master. Major bonus points for the brilliant take on the Horcrux hunt plot line!

Last Offices (2020, M, 6.7k)

Oh, this fic 💔 I tend to avoid MCD but there’s something so deeply fascinating about body washing rituals that I caught myself mesmerized by this. I just couldn’t put it down, so emotionally compromised I felt. There’s a sort of strange comfort in the heartbreak of doing one last act of service out of devotion to someone. This fic inspired so many difficult but lovely feelings in me, and one of them was hope. Only Tacky could possibly achieve that!

Our Little Life (2020, M, 7.2k)

Inventive and singular, this story hit me straight on the solar plexus and left me speechless as I saw the (clever, magical and bittersweet) plot unravel. Such a fabulous take on alternate universes and all the angst potential behind it. Come and bask in the yearning melancholia of a short yet intricate and perfectly executed plot.

And One to Play (2019, E, 21k)

What a fun and delightful fic, I can’t have enough of pining Harry losing all sense of propriety when faced with a hot, competent and pragmatic Draco. This has fab dynamics, unhinged protectiveness, even more unhinged attraction between two idiots who can’t keep their hands off each other. A must-read for any Auror partners fan!

A Lick and a Promise (2019, E, 55k)

Hot, BAMF Professors carefully balancing a fuck buddies situation while solving a Hogwarts mystery, do we need anything else? I certainly do not. This fic is so fun and intriguing and immersive, with amazing supportive cast and a delicious get together feat secret shagging and oblivious pining. Love it!

Modern Love (2020, E, 61k)

My favorite read of 2020, this fic is a love letter to Drarry and will always hold a piece of my soul. Sensitive, wistful, tenderly aching and so very romantic, this is a Muggle Draco triumph with a superb Harry, exquisite slow burn and a side of suds comfort. I promise it will be impossible to listen to Bowie again without thinking of this love story.

Bonus: five stunning drabbles!

Something in the Way (2021, T, 119 words)

“Up,” he said, and Draco, sick with love, raised his arms above his head and allowed Potter to slide the jumper on him, big hands stroking it flat over Draco’s stomach until they both shivered.

Stir-Up Sunday (2020, M, 300 words)

“I want you always,” he said, tugging again on the fine curling length of it. “Is it okay to say that?”

Whalebone Arch (2021, M, 722 words)

“Are you still not talking to me?” Draco steered Harry towards the crisps. “Do I have to suck you off in the loo to cheer you up?”

Semiplume (2021, T, 923 words)

“Did you know,” Harry murmured, and he put his arms around Draco, fearless. “I’d be your mate. If you needed a mate, I mean.”

Relic Radiation (2021, M, 927 words)

“You’ll kill me,” Harry said, and Draco turned his face towards the darkened sky, lunar pale, his profile some stupid unearthly thing—a flaring blazar, a supernova—in the light from the kitchen window.

[ardenttheories]

Homestuck's always been antagonistic and insensitive, but I don't recall seeing any of you try to dox Hussie? But please, continue to rationalise how cyberbullying lgbt people for not being nice enough and having opinions about a fictional character you disagree with puts you in the right. A story doesn't go the way you'd like and this is how you respond? You COULD have just not bothered reading it instead of CHOOSING to make your online life about something you hate like a toxic weirdo.

Hi, Kate. I’m so glad you could find my blog. (Edit: that was a joke. Apparently, some anons find it impossible to tell that I don’t actually think you’re Kate). It’s clear to me that you didn’t take the time to read through any of the content that’s actually on here, since you’re throwing around rather wild accusations, so let me take this down step by step.

Homestuck has only rarely been antagonistic and insensitive. Things like the Alpha Trolls - which were clear criticisms of fandom culture - were relatively few and far between, and when we complained about them, they actually stopped. Remind me, for instance, how relevant the Alpha Trolls were to the plot? How long they stayed as mockeries towards the fandom? Yeah, not long. I actually have talked about this before on the blog - alongside other things I thought were negative towards the fandom from the original comic - but the difference here is that... in the entirety of Homestuck, these things were outliers and inconsistencies. They stuck out because they were in stark contrast to the otherwise wonderfully handled content Homestuck went over.

For instance, Homesuck is critical of abuse - especially in terms of relationships. We see through a critical lense the shit normalisation of parental abuse can do to a child - with actual talk of triggers and of the mental and emotional scarring left behind, and the complexities of the child’s feelings towards the parent’s death through Dave - and we see how self destructive relationships can be, how harmful they are, and how hard it can be to leave them - such as Terezi’s very toxic blackrom with Gamzee, which was always portrayed as something negative and harmful especially with how worried Karkat was for her and how withdrawn she became during its run, and Dirk’s relationship with Jake, which goes very much over how communication can cause a deterioration in romantic relationships especially when the two participants have conflicting mental illnesses. 

It also goes over how men, though they can be mired in toxic masculinity, can choose to be good. How sometimes we’re not born as good people, but we can become good people through the love we have for the people around us, through frequent attempts to check what we’re doing, through the sheer willpower to be good. Dirk’s entire arc, knowing that he could very easily become Bro but deciding he doesn’t want to be, that it’s something he wants to work on, is so important and incredibly powerful. Mental illness in men is often just given as an excuse to make them violent with no attempts at betterment - so Dirk actually existed as proof that you don’t have to be that stereotype. 

In contrast, Homestuck^2 completely uncritically gave Jade, who was cis, a dog dick, made her, a bisexual woman, a sex maniac and the yaoi “woman who gets in the way of the gays” trope, made her a cheater and someone who forced her partner into the relationship to begin with, and made her a neglectful mother after having cheated with her best lesbian friend in something that has incredible recall to just about every futanari video ever - and they tried to claim that this was good representation of trans women, actually, and that the only reason we didn’t like it is that Jade is “a woman” who “has sex”.

Likewise completely uncritically, they made Gamzee, an anti-black stereotype, enter a relationship with Jane, a fascist, and then made the entire thing into a cuck joke wherein Jake being frequently drunk and sexually assaulted was funny because he wasn’t “man enough”. They then forced him to go back to his abuser after he left her in a scene that read very much like, “ridiculous man thinks woman is abusing him, go back and do your manly job”. 

This, of course, doesn’t even go into the travesty that is any form of trans representation in the comic. Roxy, a trans man, is barely even focused on as trans; they make no attempt to enforce in the fandom that he’s a trans man the way they do that June is a trans woman, and even then, they seem to think that just saying someone is a trans woman is actually good representation. Not, like, bringing it into the comic - just saying that it’s a thing. And of course, that’s not even going into the completely uncritical lense they have of Vriska, wherein her being a trans woman completely frees her of any and all blame for the past abuses she has comitted, and once again she becomes an amazing character to save the day without a single flaw - which in turn inherently associates trans women with abuse apologism, abusers, and the ideology that just because we’re trans we can get away with anything scott free. 

I honestly cannot think of one instance of good and genuine representation in Homesuck^2, nor can I think of any scene where negative content was actually treated as the negative thing it actually is. There’s no critical lense at all, not like we have in Homestuck; there’s just no fucking comparison. And this isn’t a one-off situation, either. Whereas Homestuck does do fuck ups - isn’t perfect - in between the otherwise brilliant content, Homestuck^2 is just founded upon these horrific takes. There’s almost no good content in between, and what is left is a slog to get through when surrounded by the thick slurry of shit that compromises futa Jade, abuse apologism Vriska, and victim blaming Jake. 

Of course, we didn’t “doxx” Hussie. Hussie actually listened to our complaints, for the most part, and worked with us to create something that worked well. The way Homestuck^2 was touted to work. You know, since it was meant to be written with the fandom in mind, influenced by the things we suggest and react to. We went into Homestuck^2 with the explicit idea that we were going to be listened to and taken into consideration when it was being written - the way we were with old Homestuck. I’m very sorry to say that, when you make these expectations, people are going to be a titchy bit upset when you then commandeer the entire thing and exclude the fandom from any of the process that you said they were going to be part of.

Additionally, it’s rather funny, isn’t it, that what you call doxxing is actually just people upset with how triggering content is being handled, and going to the people who actually wrote the content in order to voice their complaints? It’s almost as if social media exists to allow this communication between reader and author, which is a fundamental thing you’ll learn in any creative writing course, such as the one I’m on currently, wherein you’re actually taught how to respond to social media and to build up your image with your fans. 

Homestuck^2 is an ongoing piece of media. We’re well aware that we have a potential to change these uncritical takes and the horrific way they’re being handled if the writers will just listen to genuine criticism. This is, frankly, no different to the people who go to J. K. Rowling’s Twitter to tell her how harmful her transphobic comments are; because if she believes these things, they will work their way into her texts and will perpetuate harmful ideologies. 

The literal same thing is happening in Homestuck^2 - again, such as futa Jade, which normalises the point of view that bisexuals are cheaters and completely trivialises what it means to be trans, or Gamzee, which perpetuates just about every anti-black stereotype possible. Media does have a very powerful impact on what people see in the real world. This is why, for instance, positive black characters are so important in media; if they’re always portrayed as villains, then people will see real world black people as villains as the ideology is perpetuated to the point of fact. This is especially true if the people already believe in the ideology.

Fiction is one of the best ways that we can counteract this cycle. If you make a character that they like, and they happen to be positive representation, and then they watch more media that is likewise positive representation, it’s more likely to stick that these positive representations are the actual experiences of minority groups. Also? It’s important TO those minority groups. A black person, especially right now, doesn’t want to see an anti-black stereotype fuck a fascist, engage in sexual assult, and then enact pedophilia - only to die at the hands of a hero and be laughed at for the death. Surprisingly, shit like this is why we need to tell the writers that what they’re doing is harmful, that they’re perpetuating phobic ideologies, and that we need better representation - especially in a comic that is this widely read, and also has a very large minor fanbase. 

I shouldn’t need to explain why exposing minors to anti-black stereotypes, transphobic, homophobic, biphobic, abuse apologism, victim blaming, and the trivialisation of rape and sexual assault (especially towards men), might be a federal fucking issue. 

So, no, we’re not actually cyberbullying LGBT+ people. We’re trying to hold shitty writers accountable for the incredibly toxic and harmful ideologies they’re forcing into a text that has always been written with critical thought in mind. 

I should also point out how funny it is that you’re focusing on how some of the writers are LGBT+ - as if we’re not? I’m trans, I’m gay, and I’m ace. Yes, I can actually be these things and absolutely furious that a trans women is writing some of the most transphobic shit I’ve seen in a while into characters she then claims to be completely free of blame. We can be furious that people within our own community are enforcing negative stereotypes.

Being LGBT+ does not make them free from blame. We cannot give them a free pass to be racist, to be transphobic, to be homophobic, biphobic, to be abuse apologists, just because they’re LGBT+. Not only because that’s just a terrible fucking idea to begin with, but because it also reflects so, so badly on the community as a whole. As if being part of the community instantly means that you can do no wrong? As if there can be no toxicity within our own community, despite the fact that there very much is and it is still an issue to this day?

That is such an issue, one of the biggest issues even shown just in Vriska and the way Kate handles her as a whole - and, once again, is WHY we need to get them looking at this shit more critically. This view that LGBT+ people can do no wrong and cannot be criticised is shoved into Homestuck^2 and, once again, perpetuates the ideology. This isn’t something to be proud of. This isn’t something that’s actually okay.

Also, your point that the writers aren’t nice enough and that we disagree on fictional characters - well, I’ve already been over the second part. But for the first part, I would like to remind you that they aren’t just random LGBT+ people on the internet that we’re going to because we think their takes are a little shitty. They’re actual writers working on a piece of media. They are official content creators. 

Again, one of the first things you learn on any creative writing course is that when you become a writer, you gain a significant amount of responsibility for your interactions with the fandom. This is something that you genuinely have to expect, and if you don’t, then, unfortunately you just don’t know what it means to write something that thousands of people have a potential to read. As a writer, it is your responsibility to portray your image online; it is your responsibility to engage with the fans in a meaningful way; it is your responsibility to not cause drama and to listen when criticism is brought up, to have genuine discussion and not to perpetuate hatred - especially towards your own fanbase.

Consider, for instance, the way I’m talking to you right now. This is the sort of tone that someone should take when talking to a fan about genuine criticism. When things are brought up, you go over them step by step, you listen, you write back - you don’t go on a flurry of “fuck yous” to a minor who asked you why your team didn’t post anything about the BLM movement on the official Twitter, and you definitely don’t respond to every comment with genuine criticism with the word “pigshit”. You almost definitely don’t tell your trans masculine and masculine-aligned nonbinary fans that their opinions don’t matter.

As a writer, Kate and the rest of the team have a responsibility with their interactions with their fans. They aren’t just normal fandom voices anymore; they’re official fandom voices, voices that have more weight behind them than anyone else. They’re who people are going to turn to when it comes to anything regarding Homestuck^2. Their words now reflect literally everything about Homestuck^2, the future of Homestuck as an expanded universe, and the opinions of the group as a whole. They have to be careful with what they say. They have to be held to the same standards as industry voices because that’s essentially what they are - especially now that Homestuck is something you pay for. 

Also, this isn’t a point of the story not going the way I want. This is a point of many of people in the fandom being upset with how content is being handled, upset that their voices are being shut down, upset that triggering content is being laughed at or used flippantly and without care or respect. This is people being upset that trigger warnings were removed specifically to make the comic unsafe for them as a punishment for daring to say that something was wrong. This is people being upset that a piece of media that used to be so fucking good at portraying sensitive content in a critical light, that used to be so good at normalising LGBT+ identities and healthy representations of those identities, has suddenly turned to this. 

The story can go whatever way it wants - and frankly, that’s fine be my. What isn’t fine is that content is being used specifically to hurt and to incite.

And, of course, that final piece; nothing will improve if we don’t say that it’s wrong to begin with. Someone needs to voice the complaints of the fanbase, othrewise these toxic ideologies are going to go unchecked. One of the biggest things I’ve come to understand while making these posts is that a significant portion of the fandom feels isolated in their hurt; they don’t think other people feel the same way they do, and several people have mentioned feeling like they were going crazy because they were upset with things that the text and writers are normalising. It’s so important to make sure that these people know they’re not alone. It’s so important to make sure that our voices are heard. It’s so important to try and create critical discussion and debate over something that so many people still fucking love. 

The thing is, I don’t hate Homestuck^2. I actually really, desperately wish I could enjoy it. I wish I could read through it and theorise, could go in depth about how amazing the characters are, could write long and extensive posts on how creative and engaging it is - could even just go on about how interesting the Meat-Candy divide is, and all the points they’re trying to make about canonicity. But I genuinely fucking can’t. There is just so, so much wrong in the text that is completely unrelated to plot and to the overarching Point that makes it impossible for me to read, to want to read, to try to encourage other people to read. They’re things that literally don’t need to be in there, either; stereotypes and toxic ideologies and uncritical or badly handled sensitive topics that could be rectified so, so easily. 

Homestuck^2 could be amazing for a lot of the fandom. It could be something that we all rally around the same way we did for the original comic. For for a lot of people, it has ruined their fandom experience, has ruined their desire to want to read anything more to do with Homestuck, and has caused a significant portion of the fandom to just drop out entirely. That in and of itself should be a sign that this isn’t just a little fandom drama. That this is something much bigger and much more serious that, just maybe, needs to be looked into, talked about, understood - and, potentially, changed. 

[kuronekonerochan]

Cdramas I enjoyed and ranty rambles... (spoilers)

Apparently I have a new favorite cdrama ML type, and it's genius mastermind bastard on a scheming backstabbing world that is likely created by the same novel or scriptwriter. Ning Que (Ever Night), Fang Xian (Joy of Life) and Zhong Xin (Young Blood) are a joy to watch and I loved these dramas on the same "spirit" and their characters. 

All these dramas had stronger and weaker points, if I could pick and choose, I liked the world and ruthlessness of NQ from EN S1, the OTP that is NQ and SS and the Us against the World vibe, plus the incredible soundtrack and the breathtaking panoramic shots, but S2 was such a production mess...it’s a pity bc I loved the theological turn of the novel and it doesn’t seem likely that after that trainwreck of s2 we’ll get a s3 to end the story (although yes, I admit it would always be difficult to translate to screen from where s1 ends in the book onward bc it’s such a drastic change).  Having read the novel, it was funny to see people reacting to the events of s2. 

The shift in the focus of the drama from the traditional wuxia, young martial arts lead and his wifey traveling the world, encountering new allies and foes and getting powered up, to religious and spiritual journey about the meaning of life, god, the world and different ideologies clashing in both literal fights and discussions as well as physical manifestations of divinity, mixed in with human subversion of values for petty personal goals...well although people seem understandably confused and not very happy about this 180º thematic turn, it’s not what they hated about the new season. From the comments I saw, what most ppl couldn’t stand were the same things ppl who read and liked the novel also hated: the horrible pacing, some of the cast changes that failed to convey the feeling that they were the same characters, and even though the budget was evidently lower than s1, the choices made where 80% of the scenes were pointless carriage shots, meeting shots, and most pointless of all Long Qing riding horses. Endless set ups of people talking boringly and then when the event that all that talk was leading up to happened, it was off screen and the result was told by some character in a conversation. You couldn’t care less about Tang and the war because all the characters that lived there and could die, like SS’s friends from the brothel, the gang, and even the generic ppl on the streets, none of this was shown...only 2 or 3 ppl talking alone somewhere at a time, talking about events that the viewer would never see. And it was confusing. I read the novel and even so I could barely follow what was happening (they did change a bunch of stuff). Enemies from 2 episodes ago were now allies and they were asking favors without any explanation and key plot points of main story arcs like Ye Hong Yu’s were just thrown out so casually it didn’t even register for me that THAT was happening.  The whole Haitian part was also a mess. It was one of those concepts that is indeed hard to translate to screen, but as they did the whole SangSang being present but powerless thing well, the casting of Haitian was a fail. She was supposed to be an uncaring, poker faced goddess, but she also had to have a presence that made her feel powerful and frightening. This lifeless doll couldn't scare a fly, so the whole thing just felt pathetic and weird(er). (Also in the novel there’s this intense mental fight thing going on between her and NQ where she hardcore tortures him and slashes his d*ck off and he in turn keeps torturing her with erotic dreams and all this bc the natal bond means they can read each others minds and can’t keep each other out even if they wanted so it’s a constant exhausting mindgame between them. The drama tried to include some of that in like 2 eps near the end, but toning it down bc of rating and taking the mindreading concept out of it made it very disappointing to watch).

I love the witty sarcastic humor of Joy of Life, I’m not into tragic period cdramas but after so much cheesy lazy slapstick  wuxia/xanxia dramas, one with the intelligent, non-stop sarcastic humorous dialogue and an ensemble of god damn talented actors, especially the older cast, headed by an absolutely brilliant performance by the main lead and a script and plot that is compelling, fast paced and never misses a beat...well this is a true gem and one of the best executed cdramas, on every aspect from technical aspects to directing to acting, that I have ever seen. I usually don’t like palace dramas, and this is not one of those, it is adventure and family and transmigration and a lot more, but it retains the core elements of those palace dramas, which is the scheming politics, the intrigue and the constant tension of being surrounded by enemies by all sides and having to mind every word and action because a single faux pas will get him killed. It’s in line with the kind of cnovels I love and would like to see drama adaptations for like Husband Be a Gentleman or Golden Stage, which isn’t much of a surprise since this is also a novel adaptation.

 It is nearly perfect imo, but the harem aspect (even if tuned down from the novel) still drags it down and the (main) FL is a bore and honestly the least interesting of all the females in the drama (it doesn’t help that ZRY has better chemistry with one of the other actresses, which in the novel, since his character hits ALL of them, it would be fine, here, meh). This is also one of the rare situations where I like the drama better than the book (even with the issues regarding the lack of chemistry with the FL), bc Fang Xian in the novel is scarily ruthless...it’s the same author as Nightfall (aka Ever Night), but NQ is likable because of his bond to SangSang, the irrationality of the persecution they face from the zealots,  and also the world, despite being harsh, features loyalty and unconditional love in the members of the Academy, for example, that make all the anti-hero/antagonist traits more bearable. FX in Joy of Life it’s a much more cynical and cunning character, scary even, and the environment is a pit of backstabbing snakes. He is the hero bc he’s the main character, but from any other perspective he can easily be the villain. Add to that my distaste of harem and him getting it on with like 6 or so ladies (to give them credit some of them are pretty awesome characters), the novel just wasn’t for me. But ZRY as FX? He’s just so cheeky and likable, and this drama has an amazing supporting cast. I enjoy watching them all interact with each other.  I’m glad it’s getting a season 2 and so looking forward to it.

Young Blood I didn't even like that much in the beginning, it started out interesting but confusing and some of the cast (both acting and characters) were kind of weak, but it got better and it had a power couple as leads who were both smart and a joy to watch, plus the bromance dynamic between the smartass bastard and the righteous straight-faced dudes that Handsome Siblings wishes it had (that’s a whole other story, why HS didn’t work for me, but trust me, no offense to the actors in that, I found them charming in other things, but perhaps bc this script was just better, the boys here just did it better, it just flowed...I watched both dramas at the same time and it was weird thinking that those two should be what Handsome Siblings was trying to do). What annoyed me until the end was that out of the ensemble cast, only 3 of the characters (the smart ones) were given enough material to shine. Eventually the other 2 guys got their piece as well, but the girl from the second couple is unfortunately a waste of a character. They eventually tried to give her an arc, but she’s still mainly “the cute doll” and a foil for the 2nd male lead to have a romantic interest. She is given less screen time and she has no presence. I didn’t need her to be a “strong” woman. They do state that her strong suit is that she is so charming that ppl easily trust her, but I wanted to see her evolve, become smarter (the other two dumb-asses eventually get better from the beginning and grow as characters, but she seems stuck in her shallow one trait personality of “cute/kind”). This has nothing to do with the actress, she was perfectly fine, my issues are with the character and how she was utilized.

Unrelated, there is a weird thing in the last episode where a character just disappears, but not like, on purpose, it seems like the drama just forgot about him, or they forgot to shoot the actor near the other ones where he was supposed to be, lol.

Honestly, story wise and even in terms of production Young Blood is inferior to Ever night S1 and especially Joy of life, which was a tight drama, but since it ended up so much better than it started I really wanted to see what they could do with a 2nd season.

P.S: You know what is also my cdrama type? Genius himbo chaotic mess cutie pies, with “rage issue” but deep down caring relatives... and their “straight” faced besotted partners, I mean...

[popwasabi]

How some stoners named “Harold & Kumar” made Asian Americans proud

Being Asian American can make you feel invisible at times or worst, the butt of every bad joke.

Sure, lots of Americans love Asian things like sushi, kung fu, anime, and tacky calligraphy tattoos that don’t mean what they say they mean but they don’t particularly care about having the people themselves present or even represented.

And typically when we are represented it tends to look like this.

Or this.

Or this.

(I said what I SAID!)

Now Asian Americans are not by any stretch the most marginalized or even the least represented people in the larger American cultural diaspora, but they’re fairly consistently forgotten or grossly stereotyped in our media regardless and this has larger consequences. Representation is important because it makes a people’s presence known to the larger majority.

Our pop culture has unfortunately played a role in erasing, appropriating, and misrepresenting Asian folk. An action movie may feature a white actor with extreme martial arts skills fighting in Hong Kong but might not have a single prominent Asian voice throughout the plot and those that do are typically gross caricatures. The Cyberpunk genre loves Asian aesthetics from its Tokyo inspired neon lighting, futurist cityscape, and ramen carts abound but boy, is the populace typically dominantly white.

(I love this movie but considering how many Asian things and aesthetic choices there are in it would it have killed Denis Villeneuve to have at least ONE background Asian person??)

It’s not shocking then that 2004’s stoner comedy classic “Harold & Kumar” starts with a pair of white dudes beginning their own adventure by leaving one of the titular heroes in the dust to do their dirty work because “Asians love math” or something. Despite not being a stoner, at the time at least, I related hard to this movie and its characters as the film touched on a number of triggers I had growing up.

2004 was a formative year for me as an Asian American. For the first time ever, my history classes were touching on Asian culture with discussions on Japanese feudalism which awakened a deep sense of pride I didn’t know I had at the time. I was watching NHK samurai dramas about Miyamoto Musashi and later the Shinsengumi which led to me begin training in kendo. Anime had suddenly become more mainstream with the premiere of Shonen Jump and pirated subtitled anime littering all of YouTube. But more importantly, and distressingly, I became more aware of my identity because it was increasingly getting called out as I was getting older.

I’ve been labeled a number of different pejoratives growing up through my teens.

“Nerd.”

“Weirdo.”

“Loser”

But none cut deeper than “Chinese boy.”

I’m not Chinese, of course, in fact I’m half white and half Japanese but try telling the various ignorant lunkheads I knew growing up to respect and differentiate between them all. Hell, better yet tell them I’m just as American as they are too.

Being labeled “Chinese” hit a very personal chord with me. To lots of Americans, unfortunately, we’re all “Chinese” and the various qualities that make each of our cultures unique are inconsequential to them. We AAPI’s all individually take a measure of pride in those unique qualities and to have it all sequestered under a blanket “Chinese” label was beyond insulting.

(And I don’t care what you tell me or how much you hate China’s government, this is a THOUSAND percent a dog whistle.)

For Asian Americans, there have been various ways one reacts to these insults. Some of course, who learned confidence at a younger age, would shrug it off or ignore it, some would outright resent it but for me at least it only made me dig my heels in deeper. Yeah, I’m Asian, so fuck you!

That energy is deep “Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle” as these two Asian American characters not only navigate a crazy night of searching for an open White Castle to satisfy their stoner cravings but also confront various microaggressions from outside and within the Asian community.

Harold, of course, struggles with his confidence. He can’t stand up for himself when the aforementioned two white bros from the start of the film saddle him with extra work. He laments doing the typical Asian thing of being too passive when confronted by authority. He can’t find the will to ask the girl next door out because again he sees himself as an impotent Asian guy unwilling to make the first move. The whole movie he struggles with his inner feelings because he’s been taught and programmed to a certain extent to be timid because that’s the Asian identity.

Meanwhile, Kumar’s character is about resisting conformity to those same stereotypes but in the worst ways. He co-opts black and hip-hop culture as seen in his messy apartment room. He fights his dad who is forcing him to take his doctor's exam, something he doesn’t want. Generational pressure is common in all cultures but it’s an entirely different animal when it comes to the Asian upbringing. Kumar embodies this resist from beginning to the end of the film and though he does decide to take the test, it’s important that he chooses to do it, not his dad, and certainly not because he’s Indian. He decides that choosing to be a great doctor doesn’t mean he is becoming a stereotype because his identity is not just about being Asian.

(Every Asian kid has heard their parent make an unintentional innuendo.)

Harold and Kumar’s differing approaches create a charming pair for the film to bounce off as Kumar’s brashness often lands them in trouble and Harold’s timid demure keeps them down in its own way and the two finally come together when Kumar learns to understand the difference between conformity and choice and Harold learns conformity doesn’t define him.

Both characters confront all kinds of microaggressions against their identity throughout the film. Cops making fun of their names. The extreme sports bros making every racist joke every Asian kid has every heard growing up at them. All Asian Americans have grown up wanting to deliver the perfect comeback or “fuck you” moment against these types of people and when our heroes triumph and put them all in their place there is undeniable catharsis as it happens for everyone who has seen this movie.

(Seriously, there isn’t a more satisfying good triumphing over evil moment in film for me than the conclusion of this particular plot.)

The movie confronts stereotypes in more ways than one though. Throughout the movie Harold and Kumar are confronted by a situation that makes them think it’ll go one direction but ends up (usually comedically) the opposite. Harold and Kumar try to hook up with two beautiful transfer students who turn out to have horrible bowel issues. Harold is reluctant to go to the Asian American club party because even he believes in his own ethnic stereotypes of them but it turns out it’s a banger of a party with plenty of weed to boot. Harold and Kumar are picked up by a lonesome, disfigured tow truck driver and are shocked to find he’s married to a beautiful woman. And the aforementioned extreme sports bros turn out to love cheesy pop music and romantic songs.

Basically, the whole movie is about giving a big middle finger to all our preconceived notions we have about identity and it's brilliant.

(Nothing wrong with cheesy pop music, of course.)

“Harold & Kumar” is great for other reasons too. John Cho and Kal Penn still play greatly off each other. There’s plenty of great one-liners sprinkled between each scene. The entire journey to find White Castle burgers in the middle of the night is a fairly genius premise for a stoner comedy still. And Neil Patrick Harris playing “himself” is still iconic.

Parts of the movie haven’t aged, well of course. There’s some bad gross-out humor, some lazy gay panic jokes and not to mention some sexist quips that don’t land well in 2020. Also, let’s just not talk about the sequels.

(I still find this scene amusing though.)

That said, “Harold & Kumar’s” first film in this munchie saga is not only a grade-A stoner flick but simply one of the best films ever when it comes to bringing that much needed representation of the time to Asian Americans. Watching Harold & Kumar stick it to their annoying white antagonists while delivering a “fuck you” to every racist joke I ever heard growing up is still cathartic as hell and made me feel proud to be Asian American during a turbulent time for myself growing up.

Though it’s not Masterpiece Theater by any stretch, Harold & Kumar will always hold a special place in my heart and remains forever “high” on my list of favorite movies of all-time.

Happy 4/20, y’all!

[venus-says]

Round of Randoms #1 - Shorties

The one with the skeleton, the cat boys, and the card game.

Look who's back!

After a much-needed break to cool off from the Aikatsu marathon, here I again to delight the world with my unnecessary opinions. XD

You may be asking yourself, what is this? Well, I was thinking of what to do to come back to the blog, but still on my break mindset and I didn't want to get back to my regular stuff. So I thought about it and decided to get back to my roots and one of the reasons why I created this blog in the first place and went down on my anime list and see what was there that I could watch and bring to here. I've made a huge list of things, divided them into categories, and I'm planning to watch them in between the regular shows I comment here. I was lazy and pretty much only picked stuff that came out this year, but is still a somewhat diverse range of the usual things I talk about here.

Since I wanted something quick and easy to do at first I went with my "shorties" category that is composed of shows with a run time of 15 minutes or less per episode, and "one-shot" OVAs, in other words, things that I could watch on a single day with not much trouble. These are "reviews" of the entire season so they won't be as detailed, but that was never the point of these to begin with, If there's a show on my list that I have a lot to talk about I'll probably do it on a separate post.

Anyway, let's begin.

MYSTERIA Friends

Starting off is MYSTERIA Friends (or Manaria Friends in the original). This wasn't a show that was on my list actually, but once I saw that it was only 10 episodes of 15 minutes each and that both Yoko and Nana were voicing characters on this show I was "okay, I need to watch this now". I had no previous knowledge of anything related to this show and I was kinda excited to see what it was about, I don't know what I was expecting from it, but in reality, I got really disappointed.

Like, the show technically is gorgeous, I think that because of the shorter airing time they could pay more attention to the drawing and animation and you get stunned by the visuals. The soundtrack is also pretty decent, there's nothing exceptional aside of maybe the insert song Nana's character sings in one the episodes, but the general background music is pretty effective on putting yourself on that world.

With that being said, this is probably where the positives end. The show has no plot, which in itself it's not a problem, most of this short shows are episodic anyway and that's one of the charms of this type of anime, but in this case it's a problem because it just seems empty, the show seems to be trying to talk about inter-species relationships, but it actually never touches on that what gives this "empty media" vibe. This ties in with another problem that is the fact that this fantastic, magical setting has no purpose of being there other than aesthetics, I feel that the excuse of going "magic medieval" was we gonna show how this human and this half-demon can get along and bring peace and harmony to this world, but they never touch on the topic and it becomes pretty obvious that they only went with that route because the author has a thing for girl dragons.

Which ties in with my biggest problem, the useless ecchi. Honestly, the amount of ecchi they got to put in such a short amount of time is unbelievable, like, right on the second episode Grea is pain because she's molting, but the scene is shot as like she's having sex and the moans are more like pleasure moans rather than moans of someone who's in pain, and is just so uncomfortable, and to add more into this weirdness Anne steals the shed skin of Grea's tail and in the final episode she's smelling that like those pervs smelling on panties and IT'S SO AWKWARD. This threw me off so much, I think I only got through because the show was very short and I know the suffering would be very low, otherwise I would definitely have dropped it right on episode 2.

Skull-face Bookseller Honda-san

Honda-san was that show that I had always seen people commenting on and was very interested in watching since the beginning, but I never did because I'm lazy, so when I decided to do this I knew I had to put the show on the list and finally watch it, and that's a decision I definitely don't regret making.

Honestly, this show is so good. It's not that comedy that will let you laughing your pants off, but it doesn't mean that it ain't funny. It's mentioned in the show that the manga that originated from this anime was written by Honda-san himself about his experiences working on a bookstore, I don't know how truthful the stories are, but is this sense of "damn this really happens irl" that makes everything way much funnier and it is a true joy to watch. The anime isn't ambitious, I don't think it's trying to convey a message or make a commentary or anything, but this doesn't come as a detriment for the show, this anime didn't need any of that and they don't try to make it be about something big. It's just a wholesome show about life that is really comforting, especially if you're an adult that already had some experience with retailing.

What else do I have to say? I love the style, I love the soundtrack, I love the weird situation that happens, and the characters are just amazing, aside of Honda-san I love manager Armor she's lots of fun, and Chief Pestmask (who's VA is, look at that, Hikasa Yoko once again) who doesn't appear a lot, but when she comes she sure leaves an impression on you. This show did crush my fantasies of working on a bookstore someday, but I loved every second of it anyway. XD

Hey, Your Cat Ears Are Showing! Season 2

So when I heard Hora Mimi was getting a second season, I was both excited and apprehensive. This one of the rare short shows that have an episodic narrative but that has an overall plot to the whole thing, and I was quite satisfied with the ending of season 1, it was sweet and heartwarming as the rest of the series was and I really didn't think a second season was needed, thus I really didn't watch it while it was airing. But this was the perfect opportunity for me to finally watch it.

And this season was a very good surprise, it expanded on what the first season had built and it became three times gayer by giving Dong Dong and Jin Zhu partners, Jin Zhu partner being an Ear People but from another species, which made this season even more fun and cute. The final arc of this season where they established that Da Shu and Miao had met each other before the events of season 1 is probably the only thing I don't like about this sequel because on my eyes it looks silly, but I wouldn't call it a negative that renders the show. Hora Mimi remains a very adorable, heartwarming show that everyone definitely should check it out.

The Girl From the Other Side

Totsukuni no Shoujo was never on my radar for mangas so I wasn't aware of its existence. A few months back I saw someone reblogging gifs from this OVA on my dash and I got really intrigued by it, the aesthetic was kinda similar to Ancient Magus Bridge but it was darker and it had this antique style to it that made me fall in love instantly.

Since I don't know the manga, I'm not familiar with the characters and their stories, but even though I was in the dark I could grasp the concept without major difficulties because the characters are very expressive, and the music is very well used on passing to was what is going on with those characters. I thought an anime with no dialogue would be boring, but this OVA was very captivating, not just by its visuals but also by the narrative and the music that got me hooked from beginning to end. I feel like this is a very shallow review of the thing, but I don't think I'm smart enough to elaborate more on what to say about this show.

I'm not familiar with the manga and I don't know how things work there, neither I know if such style could hold up for an entire season, but I definitely wanna see more, and I'll definitely look up the manga if I can make my tablet work again someday.

Zenonzard THE ANIMATION - Episode 0

And to wrap up we have Zenonzard, which was another show that I wasn't aware of until I decided to do this thing and it's only here because the poster looked cool, and it was officially available on youtube with subs and no region locks so I thought, "why not?"

This is probably the weirdest of the bunch since it's a show based on a card game, and I haven't watched one of these in ages, and it's weird, but I was kinda into it? Like, I don't like that most of the girls in this show have ginormous breasts and this thing of a female coming to an apparently normal boy saying "I choose you" seems that it's going to backfire and will create a huge mess in the future, but as the episode was progressing I was getting more and more into it?

The plot doesn't seem as good, if they even have a plot. It does a crap job at explaining what this game is and how it works, and also the CG used for the monsters is horrendous. But it got me interested, it had some great music playing and I think this is what caught me the most, even though there's one song, that I believe is sung by Nanase who did voices for Aikatsu, that I feel like it was very misplaced. I also like the futuristic aesthetic, I'm a sucker for these things and I was pleased for the most part of it.

I don't know if this will become a thing, but if they actually release an anime and if they publish it on youtube like what they've done with this ONA/Special/Prequel? I may keep watching it. Which comes to as a surprise to me.

And this was the first Round of Randoms (provisory name) of this blog. I quite enjoyed doing this thing, I think I'm gonna keep doing it to always have something different and new around here. What did you think of it? Have you watched any of these shows? What are your opinions about it? Is there any show you have to recommend? And what's a good name for this new thing I'm trying to do? Thank you so much for sticking with me until the end, and I'll see you guys at another time.

[faeriefully]

I want you to answer ALL THE QUESTIONS in the writer's ask. ALL OF THEM. lol

DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’RE ASKING FOR, MY DEAR??? DO YOU REALLY??? 🖤 Okay, let’s go! Thank you, lovely. 

1. Tell us about your WIP!

I am currently working on the first draft of the Fire Novel™️, a contemporary fantasy set in a small town filled with magic and secrets and unspoken politics. 

There are also a few fanfic WIP that I am tossing around, including a PJO Princess Protection Program AU, an angsty pjo fic. (I’m pretty sure a Star Wars fic is about to join them.) 

2. Where is your favorite place to write?

I’m not too picky, but I do prefer to be somewhere I can be left alone. My current home life has made me able to adapt to people moving around me and background noise (though most times I write with headphones in… like right now). I’ve written in bed, at a table, in my closet, on the floor, and I’m rather fond of writing outside. 

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing?

Favorite: Being able to explore worlds and characters that I’ve created. (Or, in fic, the situations and complexity of characters that I love).

Least Favorite: Constant doubt that I can do this, pressure I put myself under in order to call myself a writer. 

4. Do you have any writing habits/rituals?

Do making character charts, outlining other stories, and searching twenty minutes for the perfect “mood song” when I should be writing, count as habits or rituals? 

5. Top five formative books?

This one is hard. I’ve been reading as long as I can remember- and before that, my mother read to me. There are a few that stand out, I think, as what you could call formative for me as a person and writer. Most are children’s books. (I’m going to cheat and mention series.)  Also, I’m not listing the Bible because I’m sure this is meaning fictional books. 

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis was the first series I bought, then read all by myself. It’s been dear to my heart and taught me so much as I’ve grown. 

The Little House books by Laura Ingles Wilder taught me so much about family, and they were something my mother and I bonded over as she read them to me. (She also read me the first three Narnia books as a child.) 

Harry Potter… because… Harry Potter… 

The Willow Falls series by Wendy Mass taught me a lot about getting older, people, and threw me into what would be my book hoarding collection. 

The Gallagher Girls series by Ally Carter opened the door to YA for me, and gave me a fun, optimistic start to my teen years, and the basis for my first fanfic which is nearly 100k, and I’m still writing it almost five years later. 

6. Favorite character you’ve written?

That would be Mari, the sarcastic, blunt, mortal girl who shows up at random times when the magic is becoming too much in the Fire Novel™️. 

7. Favorite/most inspirational book?

You expect me to choose one? Um, no. I will give a few titles that are on the ever expanding list. 

The Naturals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (damaged teenagers working in the FBI…) 

Heartless by Marissa Meyer (the Queen of Heart’s story before Alice…) 

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell (college freshman and fanfic writer tries to survive in a world she doesn’t understand…) 

Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (because I love Jane Austen) 

8. Do you have any writing buddies or critique partners?

I used to. 

9. Favorite/least favorite tropes?

Favorite: Everyone knows/understands something except for one character. OR ‘secret sibling/family member’ or ‘we know each other but we can’t let anyone else know we know each other’. 

Least favorite: non-con (despise it with all my being), also not a fan of “nerdy girl takes off glasses and suddenly everyone wants her.” 

10. Pick an author (or writing friend) to co-write a book with

*cough*@colubrina​*cough* or Jennifer Lynn Barnes 

11. What are you planning to work on next?

*looks at my giant file labeled ‘ideas to write’* *nervous laughter* 

For novels… probably my book about a corrupt monarch system, a girl who doesn’t know when her birthday is, and a gardening boy who’s not all he seems… 

Fics? Umm… probably my Slytherin story about the Greengrass sisters staying with the Order, and most likely a star wars fic… 

12. Which story of yours do you like best? why?

There’s a 100k Gallagher Girls story I wrote over the course of two years (when I was 14-16), and to this day, it is the longest fic and the most complicated plot I’ve ever thought up. It’s my favorite because it was my first real story. It made me realize I could do this. The actual writing is absolutely horrible. 

13. Describe your writing process

Sit. Put in headphones. Scroll through spotify for an absurd amount of time. Open document and read what I last wrote. Cringe and scroll to the end and start writing. 

14. What does it take for you to be ready to write a book? (i.e. do you research? outline? make a playlist or pinterest board? wing it?)

I’m never ready. “Ready” is a concept that writers construct in order to force themselves to push aside the million questions and start writing. But, I do make playlists throughout the writing process, I do have multiple pinterest boards for my characters, and I do like to have at least an idea/sentence summary for the main scenes. I construct the base plot points, and wing it on how I get to them. 

15. How do you deal with self-doubt when writing?

I have a pintrest board with nothing but motivational writing quotes. I remember that I am not obligated to show anyone what I just wrote. I remind myself that published books have not only gone through numerous drafts, but also have been looked over by the author, author’s friends, an agent, and a professional editor. (This: IT’S MY BOOK AND IF I WANT IT TO NOT MAKE ANY SENSE AT ALL THEN THAT’S WHAT IT WILL DO BECAUSE IT’S MINE.)

16. Cover love/dream covers?

I like this picture? That’s about it for ideas on covers for Fire Novel. 

17. What things (scenes/topics/character types) are you most comfortable writing?

Twins. If it were up to me, every single character would have a twin. Ironic, because I have no twin, nor do I interact with twins regularly. I’m also intrigued by unspoken understandings. I love writing those. 

18. Tell us about that one book you’ll never let anyone read

The book with six siblings (four of which are pairs of twins), a zombie apocalypse, a bunch of inside jokes, weird romance, and basically no plot other than forever looking for someone? The one that hasn’t really ended, it’s just a forever story I write when I’m bored or procrastinating? I don’t know what you’re talking about. 

19. How do you cope with writer’s block?

Normally, I play on spotify, making playlists for characters or scenes, read, or make character outlines. Then I sit and set a timer and force myself to hit a word count goal before the timer ends. 

20. Any advice for young writers/advice you wish someone would have given you early on?

Don’t delete anything, just move it to a “deleted stuff” document, you never know when you’ll want to go back to it. It’s okay not to like it, but don’t let everyone saying “I hate my writing” cause you to second guess yourself. If you like your writing- good! Be proud of your writing. Your favorite writer has been exactly where you are. There are billions of people on this planet. Pick one to talk about your writing to. It helps. 

21. What aspect of your writing are you most proud of?

Oh, this won’t sound arrogant or snobbish at all… 

I’m proud of complex characterization, which is something I’ve tried to improve on over the years. The darker characters have always been my fancy. 

22. Tell us about the books on your “to write” list

Only the tropiest book ever about neighboring best friends with overlapping roofs and a girl who moves in across the street. 

And another tropey one about a corrupt monach/class system and the girl who meets the rebellion. 

There’s also one about underground Mages in a darker version of New York and a boy who finds them during a heist. 

23. Most anticipated upcoming books?

Not if I Save You First by Ally Carter

whatever book Jennifer Lynn Barnes is working on

Again, But Better by Christine Riccio

24. Do you remember the moment you decided to become a writer/author?

After two years of reading fanfiction, I decided I wanted to write one because none of them had this one scene I couldn’t get out of my head. Then two years after that, I had this idea for a book, and decided if I could write other people’s worlds, why couldn’t I write my own? 

25. What’s your worldbuilding process like?

It mainly consists of asking, how/why the heck does this happen? And somewhere in there lies the answer to about five world building questions. 

26. What’s the most research you’ve ever put into a book?

For the Fire Novel, I’ve spent hours delving into the severity of burns, multiple myths and folklore, and what life is like when you live at the base of a mountain. 

27. Every writer’s least favorite question - where does your inspiration come from? Do you do certain things to make yourself more inspired? Is it easy for you to come up with story ideas?

I… have no idea. When I’m washing dishes or in karate class or falling asleep is when I get most of my ideas. I have a giant folder of them… I don’t know how they interlock or what half of them mean, but they just pop into my head, begging me to let them distract me from the story I’m currently working on. 

28. How do you stay focused on your own work and how do you deal with comparison?

Focused isn’t really a problem, as I am a very obsessive person. I’ve actually been happy when people compared my writing to others’ in the past, because it was people I used to admire. I’ve had an experience which has made me very individualistic when it comes to my writing. It’s mine. It’s unlike anyone else’s. Good or bad, it’s mine, and I’m (most of the time) proud I’ve written anything at all. 

29. Is writing more of a hobby or do you write with the intention of getting published?

I want to be published eventually. But for now, it’s a hobby. 

30. Do you like to read books similar to your project while you’re drafting or do you stick to non-fiction/un-similar works?

Similar. 

Then again, I read things both like my book and unlike my book while drafting, because it helps to keep my brain from getting into a repetitive cycle. 

31. Top five favorite books in your genre?

My genre? Of my novel? Ummm…

The Darkest Part of the Forrest by Holly Black 

Percy Jackson by Rick Riordan 

Tithe by Holly Black 

Harry Potter 

Elenor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

Those are kinda different… but they fit??? I don’t know the genre of my book, okay? 

32. On average how much do you write in a day? do you have trouble staying focused/getting the word count in?

I’m trying to stick to 1,200 a day. It’s hard some days, and others I fly by it. Really, it’s a matter of not letting myself get distracted by what’s going on in the house when I’m home. If I can do that, I’m okay. 

33. What’s your revision/rewriting process like?

Open document. Look at document. 

Scream. 

After the first draft is done, I pull it up side by side with a blank document, and rewrite the whole thing, adding/taking out/changing the obvious things. Then I step back from the second draft and read it through and dissect it first by plot points, then by characters. Then I work on actual writing quality. 

34. Unpopular writing thoughts/opinions?

Not all my writing sucks? It seems to be the norm that no writer likes their writing, and while I don’t like my first drafts at all, I actually like my writing… it’s why I do it. 

35. Post the last sentence you wrote

Eyeing the twins nuzzling their sister’s side, Seri wondered where Deirdre fell in the line.

They’re Weres… Seri’s meeting Deirdre’s family… It makes sense in context, I swear. 

36. Post a snippet

From a Harry Potter one shot I’m working on… 

Her eyes widened slightly, and her hands lowered from whatever she was about to do with the bundles in her hands. “Oh, hello.”

Theodore blinked. His gaze hadn’t left her hands. “Is that… raw meat?”

The girl glanced down at the pink lumps in her hands, then to the small pile by the tree. “Yes.” The clumps made an horrible squishing sound when they landed in the pile.

37. Do you ever write long handed or do you prefer to type everything?

I journal long handed. I outline and take notes and develop characters long handed, but all story writing is typed unless I am struck with clarity for a scene and I write it down to remember it. 

38. How do you nail voice in your books?

I don’t think I do???

39. Do you spend a lot of time analyzing and studying the work of authors you admire?

Yes. I’ve read and reread so many different books and even fanfics that I love just to study the writing style and techniques. 

40. Do you look up to any of your writer buddies?

@colubrina​, and there were a few others but I can no longer call them buddies. 

41. Are there any books you feel have shaped you as a writer?

The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis fed my love of magic and fantasy that means something a bit deeper than the surface appearance. It was the first series I read on my own as a child.

Thirteen Gifts by Wendy Mass was the first book I read with more subtle hints of magic woven in a contemporary setting. It taught me not all fantasy has to be in other worlds or past years. I read this book (the third one) before the others in the series. This book is what made me fall in love with the tropes of “inside jokes the protagonist doesn’t understand, but the reader does” and “I know something you don’t”.

The Candymakers by Wendy Mass is the book that showed me point of view is everything. Your main character can do and know a lot, but they will never know what the other characters are thinking (unless they have a mind bond or something, but you know, let’s ignore that.) Wendy Mass was wonderful to read as a child.

To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee showed me the impact writing can have, the deeper meaning a simple story can have. There are some books that leave me blown away, and this was one.

1984 by George Orwell is by no means a favorite. Reading it was a blood-chilling, horror; but it did teach me the depth and psychology writing can expose, predict, and explore. The worldbuilding in this novel is solid, and leaves you feeling as if you’ve fallen into a terrifying world- especially considering the intentional parallels.

42. How many drafts do you usually write before you feel satisfied?

Define satisfied. I’m ready to show someone after draft two, I’m convinced it’s decent after draft four. I haven’t ever gotten past that stage. 

43. How do you deal with rejection?

Thankfully, I haven’t had to face rejection yet. (Partially because I haven’t let anyone read my writing in a long, long time.) 

44. Why (and when) did you decide to become a writer?

I’ve been writing since I was six. But it wasn’t something I thought about it. There were just little prompts in my little journal thing, and I would write small poems or stories and show them to my parents. 

When I was fourteen, I read a lot of Fred Weasley/OC fanfiction, and couldn’t find the one I wanted to read so I decided to write it. (I tried, and instead got caught up in the Gallagher Girls fic.)  When I was sixteen, a thought for a book concept popped in my head, and a few days later, I told my mother the (first) idea for Fire Novel on our way home from a grocery store. I won my first Nanowrimo that year, and I have yet to finish the first draft for Fire Novel because the story keeps changing, life keeps me from writing, small bout of depression, and some people made me not want to write anymore for a while. 

In the past few months, I’ve decided to be a writer again. 

45. First or third person?

Third. 

Because I jump from character to character too much for First. But, I have written a few things in first person. 

46. Past or present tense?

Past Third Person.

Present First person. 

47. Single or dual/multi POV?

Depends on the story. Most of the time in fafics, I have multi POV. In my novel, I’ve been trying to keep it single POV, but we’ll see where revisions take us. 

48. Do you prefer to write skimpy drafts and flesh them out later, or write too much and cut it back?

Skimpy first drafts. I want to get the first drafts down as fast as possible. Get the plot out, then I can flesh it out when I know where it’s going. When there’s small first drafts, it’s easier to change things. 

49. Favorite fictional world?

Harry Potter. 

STILL MAD I DIDN’T GO TO ILVERMORNY OR HOGWARTS. 

50. Do you share your rough drafts or do you wait until everything is all polished?

Rough drafts are not even recognizable as stories. Most times the story is completely different in the beginning than as the ending. I wait at least until the second draft to show anyone. 

51. Are you a secretive writer or do you talk with your friends about your books?

I used to talk to people. 

I’ve become a very secretive person about my writing. If I talk to you about my stories, if I tell you anything more than two sentences about the most basic summary (see above), then I honestly trust you more than I trust a LOT of other people. 

52. Who do you write for?

Me, myself, and I. 

53. What is the first line of your WIP?

Fire Novel:

Trains, Seri thought, should invest in some windex.

Theodore/Luna HP one shot:

There was a spot at the edge of the lake, partially hidden by a small cluster of trees, that had become Theodore’s favorite spot to read when he wanted to be alone.

PJO Princess Protection Program AU:

The bell hanging over the door chimed as a customer walked inside.

54. Favorite first line/opening you’ve written?

Trains, Seri thought, should invest in some windex.

55. How do you manage your time/make time for writing? (do you set aside time to write every day or do you only write when you have a lot of free time?)

I really need to work on this. I have the time, I simply suck at managing it properly. I write at night mostly, before I go to bed. 

THERE YOU GO, MY DEAR COLLIE! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW!? THANK YOU FOR LETTING ME PROCRASTINATE AND TALK ABOUT MYSELF OFF AND ON FOR A FEW HOURS!!!! 🖤✨🖤

[pixiekptt863-blog]

What's new in Grand Theft Auto 5

I have only committed a half-hour planning the perfect heist. I'm going in smart, blowing not on the protections with the team after the fragile jewellery counters from the mass with a carefully placed smoke bomb, and smashing into both cabinet with the handle of a semi-automatic rifle before reaching the flight on a regional getaway bike. I'm cut the cut so I could use the best hacker to disable the protection order, with a flair gunman to handle crowd control. And yet, despite our very best efforts, with a single poorly-taken corner upon the bicycle, everything goes wrong. I should be getting behind a moist sewer tunnel, sneaking our sense under the capital to independence. Instead, I'm here, mowing down say next wave of authorities on the town lanes, with with the new while performing a Grand Theft Auto game, I feel immensely guilty about it.

This isn't due to some grand moral awakening by the part, but an interesting side effect of what is the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One form of Grand Theft Auto 5's most make new piece: first-person mode. Even when GTA activity were Grand Theft Auto V free Download top-down shooters, there was always a bit of an disconnect between the sometimes shockingly violent scenes on-screen, also the mentality of the person. You could imagine that, despite directly organizing a quality, it was that exclusive caricature of a legal spending the crimes--you just played witness to them. First-person mode fundamentally changes how you view Grand Theft Auto 5's world. It has the power to make people cease and sense on your own motions, then to truly issue a character's drives. Then in the cycle that experience always been criticized for glorifying a years of crime, rather than questioning that, it is no bad idea.

Yes, there are plenty of violent first-person shooters around in which flows associated with morality can be created, but little are paired with the stunning Hollywood production quantities of GTA Versus. The city of Los Santos is one of the many beautiful and influence open-world environments to retain increasingly thanks a video game, and now their original higher-resolution guise, it's even more spectacular. Compared to the last-gen versions, the new Grand Theft Auto 5 is visibly sharper, largely due to improved antialiasing. Textures resolutions have been bumped, floors are, very, bumpier (thanks enhanced tessellation), and there are all approach of extra particle, elegant, with lens effects. You can cruise down Vespucci Shore and go for small aspect throughout the trinket gather and skateboard looks that lived there or. You can get about inside shower, marvelling at the beautifully rendered raindrops and puddles on the ground. And once you quit admiring the landscapes to producing some anarchy, explosions from a hastily thrown grenade pop in a stunning show of fireplace with light.

To enjoy this every into first-person is a pleasure. The vast, cinematic topic of see is very different to that regarding the average shooter, as is the slower time with you walk; think REHABILITATION. and you're on the proper path. Where the camera once easily roll up beyond and throughout the town, on ground level everything seems better and more imposing. I found myself going together the municipality streets, view because many weird and wonderful inhabitants of Los Santos moved regarding the interest. I strolled in shops, also those everywhere I can believe everything, to admire the amazing level of depth in eye plane, with great extent of area effects helping to offer the interest. This all really natural, the delicate head bobs and movements as you start over dams with drop out of cars drawing you into the game in a way that third-person mode never can.

This is especially true when the war legs up, with where the grizzly certainty of Grand Theft Auto 5 falls into sharp focus. With many missions turning around about shape of gunplay, the bloody splatter of a drug dealer put to squander on the pavement, or the groans involving a great injured cop mark on the cover involving his vehicle have far more of the influence than previously. Of course, not anyone will be as affected by this because I happened, yet there are several practical hearts toward contemplate too. Develop and throwing explosives is easier in first-person, flush with GTA's assisted aim disabled--provided you turn down the obscene levels of controller sensitivity before you start--but the wrapping system isn't really here, and also near were times when I live able to peek in a corner well and followed shot as a result.

Then there's the power, that, no matter how fast I attempted, I found far too trying to master in first-person. The fully performing with wonderfully detailed vehicle interiors might happen impressive, but the twitchy regulations that control so highly in third-person for moving down outrageous driving stunts are just far too vulnerable to quickly be cars on the road during a frantic police chase. There are too vehicle vision which simply weren't ended with first-person in mind either. Trying to take Michael's son because he swings away from a yacht on the highway, or playing a flying get through on the interstate is very hard. It's probably more realistic, but I found myself move to third-person in order to get them done. Thankfully, it's not an any or situation when it comes to the view. You can initiative with third-person and have the game automatically change to first-person when on-foot if you like, or even pan exposed to third-person if you get cover.

But even if you choose to ignore first-person mode completely, GTA V has escaped small regarding their lustre since release. Even now, after the days of improvement from the business and all the great up for in which I've played, I'm amazed how little have managed to replicate the Artist air and easy, natural dialogue of a GTA. This is a line which owns consistently been the most convincing and the most cinematic with sports, and GTA 5 remains that tradition with ease. Still impressive when central as credible creatures stay a curiosity, and yet GTA 5 manages to create an entire city full of them, along with three authentic head with which to journey through it. That's not to mention these leads are likeable characters, but perhaps that's the point. There may be several moment you sympathise with retired gangster Michael while his kind time crumbles in him, or if you think that wannabe gangster Franklin can become a wonderful man because he speaks he's always trying to solve the right thing.

But they are narcissistic, psychopathic killers who do not blink an eyelid on killing hundreds of perfectly innocent people after it functions their own ways. This is particularly right of Trevor, that remains far and away the most fascinating and well-written figure in the set, a terrifyingly insane yet remarkably intelligent criminal who regularly appears around the limit of some kind of mind breakdown. Scary doesn't even begin to describe it. These creatures are not without question, though--there are times when a figure will contradict his own motivations, seemingly just to mount the form of a mission--but the fact that these creatures can be so convincingly terrifying, so severe and sharp in their conversations with one another is a tribute to truly the way fantastic the creating in GTA is.

That develops for the planet at large too: the sprawling, gorgeously detailed capital of Los Santos deftly satirizes its real-world inspiration of La, with involving America as total. Highlights include the self-proclaimed god of gathering media, Lifeinvader CEO Jay Norris, And the company's beanbag-filled offices; the faithful bank of advertisements for celebrity magazines, prescription drugs, with plastic surgeries of which remain savaged on the radio; and also the corrupt federal groups such as Tale which a lot work worse than the criminals they're trying to put away. Sure, Grand Theft Auto V is a bit heavy-handed with its satire, although there are number of activities to dare go as far as GTA does with its nihilistic comments, with fewer even to do it with like conviction.

Move in everything are bombastic missions to performance away like Hollywood blockbusters, with the finest of gangster films. Heists remain the identify, and the whole process of planning them off, hiring participants with the party, gathering equipment, and then going the fuzz doesn't interfere about the great period is entirely engrossing. Bombs are increased, helicopters are hit into the side of skyscrapers, and total squads of laws do chase as you make a futile attempt break lower the road; the utter joy of the four or five star chase like what seems like the entire state's quota of authorities descends about you could be understated. And yet, Grand Theft Auto V remains stuck in the past in certain ways. There are chase missions where losing spectacle regarding your goal because of a badly understood start the highway means making a frustrating restart, and shooting missions where, if you fly the rifle and destroy your goal before the game expects you to, you have to start over again.

But the sheer spectacle from it all drags you back in for more. GTA has not really been faint, and the game steamrolls the path because of it is less exciting moments, stop them with crafty pop culture-filled exchanges with breathtaking landscapes for you to ogle. There are extra quest to join in too, including the random creeps of Los Santos who question you to make points because mundane as tow vehicles for them, as well as to smoking prepare and mow down aliens in an hallucinogenic rampage with the town. There are the multiple leisure activities you can indulge with, or the real estate you can acquire, plus the accumulation you purchase along with the markets you can manipulate. Before you can just slack it all off fully then value Los Santos as your own wonderful digital playground, setting up sticky bomb-filled booby traps in the middle of traffic, or taking jumbo jets from the international airport also attempting to escape them under bridges. Indeed, that the journey you create yourself to typically show to be the most fun.

And then there's GTA Online. This safe to say GTA Online didn't get off to a good father, with server problems along with the whole manner of balance difficulties. With Grand Theft Auto 5, online gets a few boosts, containing the increase character creator, as well as backing for up to 30 simultaneous players (with a couple additional spectators), along with the supplement of 11 of GTA Online's existing updates. And agreed, you can fun with first-person too. These are good additions, but Online still suffers from a lack of direction. Although you can easily import the other character, I opted to create a new one, after which I was thrown against a pavement with Los Santos armed only with a plan full of confusing icons with very little idea about what I would do then.

Once you're over the hump and you've identified the means of getting work to do like taking packages from individuals, or working section with road races--and people to makes them with via your trusty mobile phone--things get more interesting. Once you've shape in place a fitting mountain of coins (which make take a while if you're shrink from the start), you can get a nice apartment to stay in, and hope cars to place into their garage. To what end, I'm still uncertain. Much has been said about how GTA online becomes extremely open, then just how sessions often turn into mass deathmatches, which is more of an issue with 30 chaotic players around--but for me that's always been portion of its draw. Trolling someone who's considered themselves far too seriously in the street competition in establishing an epic bar, or just wandering the avenues robbing convenience stores and staging a clean getaway still manages to raise a smile.

That these activities bring up a smile now (yet after played in first-person), and yet place in place a moral dilemma in single-player is as much to do with the lack of a narrative structure online as it is to do with my personal beliefs towards most new internet users. This produces an interesting conundrum too: is it better to performance with first-person and be pulled in Grand Theft Auto 5's function in the new profound style, before must anyone act in the third-person, distancing yourself on the game's more controversial moments?

The fact that I'm even thinking about that at all in a video game that's so standard and as, well, mainstream as Grand Theft Auto 5 is a evidence toward the excellent. On the day later, GTA V remains the most consistently entertaining video games I've always played. Even without the spectacular new images, first-person way, the epic new rail gun, the new murder mystery missions for Jordan, the new, even furrier animals, remote play foundation on PS4, a pile of another songs for the radio (including the personal favourite, I need This That Way by the Backstreet Child on the dash situation), also the revenue of automobiles like the classic Dodo seaplane, Grand Theft Auto 5 would be still be worth playing.

Aside from some mild frame rate issues that sometimes adopt the boundary away it is other dramatic moments, this is the definitive variation of GTA V, also the lock where all other open-world games, before certainly any game in which points regarding a cinematic think, should remain said. It is attractive, and thought-provoking, and kicking throughout. Even if you've played through Grand Theft Auto V once already, it's worth going back simply to be repeated regarding exactly what a outstanding achievement it is.

At its being, Grand Theft Auto V on PC is the same game that it is at additional program, although it is never appeared as good as it does with a solid PC, anyone who’s played Grand Theft Auto 5 elsewhere may not benefit from believing it for an additional or third stage unless they’re desperate for top graphics. If you get into to camp, you can simply move your progress onto the LAPTOP version by the Rockstar Social Club to stay anywhere a person gone off, diving headlong into the revamped Los Santos with minimal fuss.

It seemed great about PS4 and Xbox One, but Grand Theft Auto 5 shines in COMPUTER thanks to 4K-grade feels, the availability of additional post-processing make, also a great unlocked frame rate. Earlier form of the game played only great in 30 frames per minute, but you quickly appreciate the increase variability of enjoying at 60 FPS (if not added) by PC. If you can create that enough juice (read: afford top-end gaming hardware), then you can wonder with the added grows in 4K, even, yet yet a few Nvidia GTX 980's in SLI couldn't push the highest settings at 4K without dropping to present 30 frames per minute. Whether in 4K, before on 1080p, the new high-res textures pop with point, also new lighting effects lead to plenty of awe inspiring moments. GTA V could paint stunning pictures, with the appropriate mix of scenery, question, and daylight, to identify the usual magnificence of its geography along with the stain that pulses due to the physical veins. GTA 5 has always looked good, but a great gaming PC is the only way to see the full size of Rockstar’s admirable handiwork.

Keep in mind that GTA 5 retains evidence of their last-gen roots, level in MACHINE, with clean geometry abound. You sign low-poly standards in occasion as they contrast with the great texture composition and fun around, as simplicity and difficulty mix or the attention. GTA V is remarkable at times, but you never forget about to you’re showing a game that’s foundation was constructed with outdated constraints in mind.

You get a unique tool in the MACHINE version that allows you to show off all of the game's flare, as well as the imagination: the Rockstar Editor. This instrument enables you to record footage during vision or while free-roaming around Los Santos, both by manually recording gameplay or through sourcing the last few second of cached actions. More than just allowing you to stop together clips, you have complete power over the camera while going through your gameplay. You can put your angles manually, choose from a list of preset angles, then implement camera shakiness, redefining the style and perspective of a moment in time. Little touches such as blending make it easy to move from one video and camera angle to the next, without having to put much thought into it.

With Chief means, you have even more management of the functions at hand. You can pick actors, man or dog, to control, rather than being limited to the several main characters. You also state direct over time of generation, the area on the drawing, and whether cheats are permitted, allowing you to sample from a large palette of possibilities to shape the landscape regarding your dreams. There's a hearing curve to the editor, but Rockstar offers a range of tutorials which need to help felt and inexperienced editors alike.

Playing Grand Theft Auto 5 on PC means that you can now use a mouse and piano, which is a huge benefit during shootouts where perfection is important. Whether anyone show this here original- before third-person form, this definitely makes targeting easier. However, don't think of which an individual must put down the controller for good. Keyboard and mice lack analog buttons, which are important during driving sequences. Being able to run the throttle with a sensitive trigger becomes incredible you get used to and control naturally, often without offering that another imagined. The binary, at before off kind of a keyboard or mouse button gets in the way of your instincts also draws absent the nuanced control presented by analog triggers. For the best experience, remain a controller selected now and transition between that plus a mouse and piano for that second at hand.

[danjaley]

Questions Tags

I was tagged in a number of those recently. And because I got behind and they were piling up, I decided to have my pick and answer those I felt I had something to say on.

Questions from @declarations-of-drama , @simcatcher , @sillylittlesimblr , @jepensedoncjesims , @trembling-hands , @mada-didi

Declarations-of-Drama’s questions

1. The boss of EA is in front of you asking for one statement about The Sims before he goes away and makes TS5. What do you say to him?

Ask @simcatcher about her ideal Sims game and do exactly as she says. (She suggested a Sims game with passing eras, and really I think that should be doable. Sim City 2000 was a bit like that - you could choose to start 1900, 1950 or 2000, and development would take place accordingly.)

2. Do your Sims know of you as their Sim God or are you the invisible deity to them?

More like the invisible deity, but I wouldn’t call it that. I see my Sims like fictional characters in writing or in a play. Even if the author is of course in charge of their fate, this doesn’t affect religiosity within the work of fiction. And even more abstract, those Sims in heavily scripted and posed stories I see as fictional actors playing the actual characters (not unlike the production of MKASONP ;) To those I’m the director, which makes it a lot easier to keep the right emotional distance for storytelling.

3. How do you see yourself connected to your Sims? Do those of you who say you love them, really mean this? How deep is your game?

I’m definitely feeling responsible and sometimes even overprotective about my Sims. Partly because that’s just my personality, partly because I started playing Sims 1 as a kid and there it was not so easy to keep a Sim alive and happy. And the way I understood games at the time, Sims dying meant: You lost!

Nevertheless, I’ve finally gotten rid of the habit to start every new household with making all Sims learn cooking in order to avoid fires.

4. What’s your Sims Secret? Is there something going on in your game that none of your screenshots will ever tell us? WHO IS LOCKED IN YOUR BASEMENT???? What are those secret Sims doing behind closed doors?

Nothing major. The weird stuff that happens is usually so funny that I post about it anyway.

5. Can we learn anything from our Sims to take away into our real lives? And/Or can you give us an example of how The Sims has influenced you outside of gaming.

When I finished highschool, I was really nervous about going to university, and playing the Sims 2 University EP was strangely therapeutic in this situation.

Simcatcher’s questions

1) What’s your favorite story/tale/scenario playing over and over in your head ? Gimme a glimpse ?

It used to be the central scenes of Chevalry, but not so much any more since I got them out of my system. It still feels so weird to think of this as a finished story.

2) What’s the screenshot/edited pic of yours that you’re the most proud of ? Can I see ?

There are so many screenshots I love... Here’s one of which I’m particularly proud of the editing:

3) I would want to read an unedited bit of your writing. Something you did, something personal or neutral, something that feels important. Cos it probably is. You can use your joker on this question. Or share your talent ♥

Most of my unedited stuff is German, so this is really random: It’s a fragment of a shortstory I never got to work properly. It’s supposed to be about a girl who’s haunted by a story. It’s a fairytale-ish story of love and adventure and she’s just waking up to the realization she’ll have no chance of this in her own life. She tries to avoid hearing how it ends, but wherever she goes she stumbles upon snippets of it. I wrote this in English because I meant to hand it in for the University’s English magazine.

The only way to flee from the story was down the stairs. My bare feet were freezing cold when I entered the kitchen. I could still hear a mutter from upstairs, but there was no other room I could go to. For the first time I realized how small our house was. I sat down on a kitchen-chair and sang to myself under my breath to keep me from listening. That's how Mama found me. “Hey, what was the matter with you just now? It's such a nice story.”

“I didn't like it.,” I told her curtly and hurried back upstairs. The story had unsettled me. My hands were shaking when I opened our bedroom-door.

“[...]”, Caroline beamed at me, when I entered. “[...]”

“Shut up!”

Luckily Caroline is easy to impress. She threw her blanket over her head and didn't say another word.

I went to sleep, I got up the next morning, I went to school. I was sitting at my desk sleepily. I had been dreaming of running away all night, but the faster I ran, the more clearly I heard the words I so dreaded. I wasn't paying any attention, so I was rather surprised, when my neighbour handed me a worksheet. “Read the following extract:,” it said. [And it’s an extract of The Story, of course]

4) What do you get inspiration from ?

Everything. History, houses I see in town, places I’ve been to, songs and misunderstood lyrics, listening to music on the train. Stories that I like, or dislike, or like parts of, or when reading a lame story and imagining it was a good one.

5) Do you sometimes want to create a sim story out of a dream you had ?

Not exactly a Sim story, but I have a collections of dreams written down that I’d love to make into stories. Unfortunately, they’re all completely crazy and surreal.

7) If you’re a writer/storyteller, what’s your working pattern ? What’s your routine, if you have one ? How do you write ?

I think the most work I’m doing when I’m walking somewhere or doing boring work. Especially since I started writing in dialogues, I practically know the scenes by heart and can fine-tune them wherever I am. It’s just important to write them down when I get back to my computer.

8) Which sim of yours do you like the most ? Why ? Feel free to tell me more infos about them, what’s their sign, religion, beliefs, what do you think is relevant ?

I’m finding it increasingly difficult to distinguish between Sims and Characters...

9) What is your favorite sim couple ? Yours or other simblr’s ? Why ? What specifically makes you want to see them together ? Becaaaaaause will not be taken as an answer*

I’m all for including @jepensedoncjesims ‘ Mazen and Ara Frost in the Ultimate List of Most Romantic Couples Ever. Y’know because they literally waited an eternity for each other, and lost themselves in the process beyond recognition and still there are sparks between them. And also they’re both very good-looking! And I’m so curious about how things are with their daughter!

10) Do you have a story you wrote/write/want to write that you want to tell me about ? I sure would want a link :)

There used to be one on the internet, I wrote for the above mentioned magazine, but it’s down...

Jepensedoncejesims’ Questions

2.  What do you look forward to the most, as you wait for your game to load?

That depends on which save I’m loading, but the most exciting is when I’m testing some self-made item for the first time and can’t really tell if it’s going to work as I imagined.

It has actually happened that when loading a playing save without special purpose, I found the book I was reading in the meantime more interesting...

3.  When is the last time you went in game AND what did you get up to?

The last time I opened The Sims 3 was when I did the What’s-in-my-Sim’s-bag photoshoots, and the very last time was when I drafting the posts and suddenly realized that Edward and Arthur should change bags. ETA: And by now I also did a story-scene.

5.  If you decide to actually do this…why are you even answering my questions?

Because I love question 2!

Sillylittlesimblr's questions

1. Why did you create a simblr?

I discovered simblr through cc-hunting, and then I saw that one could also post gameplay pictures there. I was just at the beginning of learning to make cc myself and this community felt like something I wanted to join (and that’s a rare feeling with me!)

3. When did you start playing the sims & which game (1 - 4) was it?

A friend from school showed me the Sims 1 on her computer when I was eleven, and I instantly loved it. I was super shy about asking my parents if I could have the game for Christmas - it was so grown-up! I had only played interactive learning games before. I got it though, and that's the reason why the ts1 buymode tune still puts me in a Christmas mood when I hear it.

4. Who is your favourite sim you have ever created?

Valea. She's perfect.

6. Mermaids or fairies?

Mermaids! Fairies! Fairies!! Mermaids!!

7. What’s the weirdest thing that has happened naturally in-game?  

Admittedly, this was mod-generated in its cause: The fist time I played a male pregnancy in Sims 3 I didn't know I’d need to install special clothing. So the poor guy became invisible from the neck down. Well, he lived as a floating head until the baby was due and then he floated off to hospital. Ten seconds later his sister, who lived in the same household and worked as a nurse, was called to hospital. They said, an emergency had just arrived...

8. Big pets (cat, dog, horse) or small pets (turtle, bird, etc)

Big pets. I always lose small ones - either in Sims' inventories, or through death or during household rotation.

9. What’s your favourite build you have ever done OR EA made build?

My favourite self-made build is Broadbent Manor. For once this turned out to have realist proportions and be playable, and look decorative.

10. What’s your favourite EA made neighborhood (can include the vacation ones too!)?

Dragon Valley! It's beautiful and it has so many interesting Sims in it.

Teltaodstool's questions

1. How many screenshots do you have?

Ah well, I'm a historian. I like archives. Windows says it's 19.596 files in 179 folders. That's not counting technical screenshots for cc; those are stored with the respective project. I actually deleted a bunch of those recently.

4. I know this is asked a lot, but which expansion did you get first?

Pets. Actually I bought Sims 1, 2 and 3 only after the Pets EPs came out, so I could get those right after the basegame. (When I started playing the Sims, one of my biggest wishes was to have a pet in real life)

5. Do you remember who your first sims were?

I have a visual memory of my first (or at least a very early) Sims 1 family. It was a single mother with her daughter (I wasn't good enough at the game to manage more than two Sims). I don't remember what they were called, but I think the daughter's name might have been 'Kiera'.

6. Have you ever accidentally killed a sim?

Yes, that happened once in Sims 1. More recently, my Cave Island Legacy founder was accidentally killed by the game (meteor), but I decided to turn it into a close call for the story's sake.

The classic thing of walking away without pausing happened to me once in the Sims 2. All my Sims survived, but served a large number of stuffed turkeys :D

7. How many sims are in your household usually?

2-6. One sim alone makes me claustrophobic (and causes the game to glitch), and with more than 6 Sims it gets stressful. That's for gameplay though - for storytelling, 8 Sims is a small household.

8. Have you ever tried to make a custom world? Whether by the Create a World tool or in a save, it doesn’t matter.

Well, making Bakafox's Howell Island DIY into my Maplethorpe Save counts, I guess :) Sometimes I work on a custom edit of the France WA world to resemble ts2 Veronaville, but I haven't touched it recently.

9. What’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen the Grim Reaper do?

In my own game: Playing with the little chickens. But the weirdest Reaper scene I've ever seen was on someone else's blog shortly after ts4 came out and there was that glitch that made Grim appear all over town. He came to a party and felt a pregnant woman's belly. (Sorry, I don't remember who posted that!)

Mada-didi's questions

2. What type of simmer do you consider yourself to be? Storyteller, builder, casual player, simsphotograph, all of them, none of them or other?

Storyteller. Even when I'm just playing.

3. Can you choose a near-future objective for you to accomplish as a Simmer? (Example: for me, it would be to finish the first generation of Ostracizing Humanity.)

I'm super excited for the Cave Legacy finale. But I'm going to take a short break from it first.

5. Imagine you have no responsibilities. Would you rather play the Sims a little everyday or spend two days a week playing as much as you want?

I'd rather have some responsibilities during which I can find new inspiration for (sim-)stories :)

6. In your opinion, what Sim resembles you the most personality-wise? (It can be created by anybody, may it be EA, you or another player.)

Marie-Constance by @aroundthesims - always completely frightened, especially in public and most particularly at parties.

[blazerina]

Every Little Thing

Summary: This story takes place after the events on La Huerta. Our characters have returned home, and are back on their college campus together. Taylor (MC) runs into Sean and Michelle and has a flashback to events in the island.

Pairing: Sean x MC as well as Sean x Michelle

Author’s Note: This is my first submission for #ChoicesCreates. This is for week 13 of the Choices Creates Carnival, with the prompt “BETRAYAL.” This week is hosted by @firefly-hwufanficwriter and @hollyashton.

**

“Skinny vanilla latte for Taylor, at the bar!” The hurried and annoyed barista called out to the busy cafe.

Taylor walked to the counter, rolling her eyes and grabbed her coffee. As she turned to go out the door, her heart caught in her throat and immediately fell to her stomach.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed a couple hunched over the table, talking and holding hands. And just like that she felt sick.

There they were. Sean and Michelle. It had been about 6 months since they had all returned (or escaped rather) from the island of La Huerta. Settling back into normal life had taken its toll on all of them in different ways. Her heartbeat pulsed in her ears as she realized she’d have to walk by the table they were sitting at to get out of the cafe.

“I can do this.” She told herself as she approached the door, hoping neither one of them would notice her…but of course, Sean did. His eyes met hers instantly, and she immediately looked away. “Why am I acting like this? This isn’t me!” She cursed herself mentally.

She didn’t want to admit that she was still hurt. Still reeling from the fact that he had gone back to Michelle. Every night she asked herself why she was surprised by Sean’s decision. Getting “back to normal” was the top priority in everyone’s life once they made it back home.

She knew he’d take Michelle back when she and Sean talked, in the middle of the night one evening, down by the pool at The Celestial – she could always rely on her gut. And that night, her gut told her that if they made it out of La Huerta alive, she would not be the companion of his choice.

Their relationship was based on circumstance. Timing. The situation. They would have never been together in the “real world.” She didn’t even know who he was when she first met him; but there had been an undeniable chemistry and attraction from the instant they laid eyes on each other. There was no arguing that fact. She missed him every day and wished with everything in her that it had worked out once they returned. But it wasn’t meant to be.

She blinked back hot tears that had begun to sting her eyes as she pushed through the doors and walked quickly outside.

Holding onto her coffee with both hands, she weaved between a few fellow students when she felt Sean’s hand on her arm. She knew it was him, instinctively.

“Taylor…” He said, softly.

In that moment, it was as if the world stopped spinning and she was immediately taken back to one of many unforgettable nights on the island…

—

“I have a question for you…” Taylor asked, as she sat on the edge of the pool, dipping her feet into the water.

It was late. Taylor and Sean had started meeting up when they couldn’t sleep. It wasn’t always at the pool. Sometimes they would walk along the beach, go for a run, or sit in the empty restaurant and talk about the future.

Sean was in the water, swimming laps and her statement caught him off guard. He swam up out of the water and hopped out of the pool, sitting next to her. “Don’t get me wet!” She teased as he moved closer to her.

“I won’t. What’s your question?” He replied with a serious tone.

“What happened with you and Michelle?” Taylor asked, not wasting any time.

Sean signed heavily and closed his eyes.

“I know it may be hard to talk about…but I just want to be sure you’re…” Taylor paused, choosing her words carefully, “…okay.”

“Taylor, you’re not a rebound.” Sean began, looking in her eyes. “You know that, right? I need you to know that.” He took her hand, and lifted her chin so she could meet his gaze.

“I told you not to get me wet…” She smirked. His eyes pled with hers as he ignored her sarcasm.

“I know I’m not. I do. It’s just…with everything going on, and these circumstances we’re in…it’s such tight quarters…I just think I need to know. I deserve to know. What happened?”

“Long story short, she’s a cheater. It’s hard for me to say it that simply because of all she meant to me, but that’s what happened.” His mouth tightened as he looked away out over the pool. The wind picked up slightly, creating small ripples in the water. A lone beach ball floated by. He picked it up and started tossing it into the air and catching it, over and over.

“That’s all you’re gonna say?” Taylor asked, staring him down. “Have you even had time to process how you feel about all this? Craig said this just happened like, a week before we got here. How long were you together?”

He continued tossing the ball and answered “Long enough. I know everyone thinks we made the perfect couple. Michelle is driven. She’s an achiever, likes to be the best and do the best, every single time. But it wasn’t gonna work. We’re too much alike. Plus, she messed up. Failure’s not an option for me, so it’s better that we’re done now. I can’t imagine what life would be like if this had happened while I was waiting on the draft, or in the middle of going pro, ya know?”

“Sean.” Taylor grabbed the ball from him in mid-air and shot him a stern look. “I know feelings aren’t exactly what tough guys like you talk about a whole lot…but what’s really going on? I don’t know what’s going on with us, exactly, but I know that nothing we have will really move forward, until you deal with where you’re at right now.”

He sighed long and loud.

“She hurt me, Taylor. A lot. You’re right, I’m probably not over it. But how does someone ever really get over being betrayed like that? We had shared so much of our lives together. I was in it for the long haul. Both of us striving towards our goals, focused on what we wanted out of life and how to share it with one another. And then one day out of the blue, that was all gone. I was not only hurt because she didn’t want ME anymore, but I was too stupid to even know anything was happening. Can you even imagine how that feels?! My entire reputation was challenged by everyone I know because of HER actions. I didn’t know it was possible for anyone to be so selfish.”

Sean was now standing up along the edge of the pool, pacing back and forth.

“I miss every little thing about her, and what our relationship used to be, but it is what it is. I want to get over it. I want to move on…but you know as well as I do, that I really don’t have time to think about it right now. Saber-tooth tigers, glowing flowers, weird scientific crap and other out-of-this-world mysteries are taking up quite a bit of my time at the moment.”

He jumped back into the pool and started doing laps again, while Taylor bit her lip, swallowed hard, and regretted saying anything at all.

—

That whole scene. The whole conversation. All those words and all that emotion flooded back to Taylor’s memory as soon as she felt Sean’s hand come in contact with her skin.

“Taylor…” Sean said again, noticing the spaced-out look on her face. “We need to talk. You can’t avoid me forever…” He smirked, hoping she’d smile a little too.

“I can’t…we can’t…I…” Taylor, stuttered, praying that somehow this interaction would end. That he would leave, walk away, never see or speak to her again.

“I miss you.” Sean whispered, searching her eyes. Taylor refused to look at him. The wind picked up and she shivered a little bit as a strand of hair fell in her face. She tucked the hair behind her ear and looked at him, taking a deep breath.

“You can’t.” She said, forcefully, gaining strength. “Every time you miss me when you’re with her; every time you think of me instead of her; every time you wish WE were together like we were on the island…you can’t, Sean. Don’t you get it? You’re not any better than her.”

Sean looked confused and stunned at her words, but she continued. “The pain you felt when she cheated; everything you lost when you walked away from her…every little thing that you missed about her and your relationship…that’s what I feel now. You’ve done the same thing to me…and just like you told me, that night by the pool in La Huerta…how does someone ever really get over being betrayed like that?” She held in a gasp-like sob as tears were close to falling down her cheeks.

She walked away from Sean then and there. And she refused to look back.

[samulgerblg]

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[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Humanity's Worst, Front and Center on the Anime Stage

Humanity's Worst, Front and Center on the Anime Stage

By Ian Mertz

  There is a sadistic thrill that comes with watching people acting against our ingrained sense of morals, or better yet, against society's standards of good in favor of our secret rebellious desires. When Lupin the Third came on the anime scene in the early 70's, with its titular pragmatic thief, it was a huge shift from the model of protagonists who embodied the forces of absolute moral good. Even the punks who so often popped up as the stars in early sports classics brought a bit of that wild side out in the show, let alone more aggressively amoral characters like the swashbuckling interstellar Cobra or the hitman Golgo 13. Flash forward to 2017, and as if an old otaku made a poorly worded deal with the devil we got a season of protagonists who moonlight as terrible human beings, with both hilarious comic headliners and bone-chilling pragmatists coming to call. These are their stories.

  KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world! 2

    Back in the 80's and 90's, prominent writers such as Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi noticed that if they wanted to make their protagonist funny, one thing they could do is make their protagonist kind of a dick. Characters like Yu Yu Hakusho's Yusuke Urameshi, Ghost Sweeper Mikami's Tadao Yokoshima, and Urusei Yatsura's Ataru Moroboshi were all generally moral people, but had many of the failings one would expect of a teenage boy: perverted, insensitive, and just generally causing trouble. Again, they had a baseline morality usually shown through their devoted love interest, who indirectly acted as their anchor, someone who brought out the best in our hopeless hero.

  The first show on our list, KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world!, tosses that morality out the window, and instead of a love interest just lets the whole harem get in on the amoral fun. Adventurer Kazuma Satou is just as lecherous and abrasive as any rom-com hero, but instead of a soft spoken heroine to bring out the non-existent goodness in his heart, he gets three companions at least as bad as him. It turns out having characters who are generally good on the inside is better for character development and storytelling, but when you take that away from them the result is plain hilarious, especially with the sense of comedic timing the show has honed over its last season.

    Of the three the show mostly centers on Aqua, the goddess Kazuma forcibly brought on his adventures. She is the only one in the show with a tongue as sharp as Kazuma's, and neither of them will let the other's failures go unnoticed, nor their own successes go without a good long stretch of gloating. When Aqua purifies a great spirit rooted to the world against his will, she spends the rest of the episode reveling in her almighty powers as a goddess right in front of Kazuma's face; when it turns out the purification also set a horde of monsters upon the city in the process, Kazuma's insults bring her to the verge of tears.

    The other two provide endless fuel for Kazuma's morally abhorrent personality too. While the masochistic holy crusader Darkness left the center stage for a while at the start of this season's KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world! 2, she is back and in rare form, having gone so far into the realm of fetishizing her own pain and humiliation that Kazuma can no longer even insult her without feeding her complex further. The crowd favorite, the explosion junkie Megumin, has also been stepping up as perfect fodder for Kazuma this season. It's a mark of both great writing and the author's particular penchant for creating human trash when the show's greatest exposition thus far this season is that Megumin spent her younger years taking some kid's lunch money after class.

  Masamune-kun's Revenge

  And maybe it's a mark of a good anime season that she isn't the only character stealing people's lunch. One of the more popular romantic comedies this season, Masamune-kun's Revenge features a burgeoning couple who would be right at home with the KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world! cast. I say burgeoning because they aren't a couple at the start of the story, nor do either of them like each other, and not in a simple Ranma ½ -style tsundere mismatch. Masamune Makabe wants nothing more than to be asked out by the school idol Aki Adagaki, who is notorious for hating men and rejecting them in cruel and mortifying ways. His motivation? To mortify her right back, the girl who teased him when they were kids. He completely reworked his appearance to the point where he's a heartthrob among the girls, but he passes up his chances at love for that one shot of sweet karmic justice.

    And despite how comically petty he is for even trying, Aki sells herself as such a terrible person that we can't even blame him. Besides sticking all the boys who ask her out with insulting, albeit meticulously researched, monikers, she also eats both her share of lunch and most of her best friend's bread on top. Good for her that she eats healthy, but the self-absorbed way she orders her friend to buy her more food, away from the prying eyes of the other girls who respect her so highly, makes us want Masamune to take her down a peg too.

    Or such is the premise. In reality while KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world!'s cast is designed to be irredeemable, as we dive a bit deeper into Masamune and Aki we get to see a bit of their softer sides, on guard due to their past experiences (with each other), but prone to slipping up all the same. Masamune, focused on his revenge plot, learns through shoujo manga and botches his plans so often and so thoroughly that he ends up needing coaching from an insider in Aki's life. Meanwhile Aki is so clueless that she not only proudly wears cosplay to her first “date” with Masamune, but she derides him for thinking that that's wrong. As they both continue to hurdle towards ruining each other's lives again, the comedy and romance we're treated to is sometimes enough to hope they learn to be less petty and narcissistic, or it would be if it weren't so amusing to watch their misguided battle.

  Saga of Tanya the Evil

  But not all this season's terrible people are funny. Sometimes being registered as a terrible person implies something more akin to that title. Sometimes we are given a character who is genuinely morally repugnant, the kind of person who would get their family killed for a dollar and a pat on the back. These are the people outside the realm of 80's comedy; these are the people who would more likely show up on a police blotter, or worse, a thousand documentaries asking what went wrong. Thankfully in Saga of Tanya the Evil, it's easy to see what went wrong: someone gave that person a gun, a uniform, and an incentive to kill.

  When even the title registers Tanya, a girl who was given too much power in the army as a result of her abnormally developed magical powers, as “evil,” there's a pretty clear message being sent to us the viewers. There is little to no room for sympathizing with her, which is made worse by the fact that we understand her completely. She is vindictive, setting up a group of soldiers who disobeyed her to be killed by the enemy in the next attack. She chooses every word to better her chances at staying safe and away from the front line, whether it be to her superior officers or to her friends celebrating a new birth in their household. We see her pushed to the brink of death in a fight, and we see the unbridled joy she feels at letting her powers loose on anyone who bleeds red and looks at her the wrong way.

    But we also see her slip up, either tricked by those who are wise to her manipulative words or tripped up in her own ambitions. As Tanya is rising to power, the show is shaping up to be something we don't see to often in anime: a classic Greek fall from hubris. As we dive into her thought processes and motivations, we start to see all the fatal flaws that will inevitably come back to her, all the ways in which she won't learn from her mistakes while they're small. Besides the well-choreographed action and the detail put into Tanya's crazed facial expressions, the true gem of the show is watching Tanya's character, as a textbook case in greed, ambition, psychopathy, and if all goes well, in a fall from grace.

    Scum's Wish

  On that note, I would be remiss to not at least mention the crown jewel of this season's lineup of amoral characters. I read the manga for Scum's Wish a few years ago, and was thoroughly caught up in how shockingly awful—yet shockingly believable—the entire cast was. Each character sets out to outdo the last, while at the center lies a single doomed couple: Hanabi Yasuraoka and Mugi Awaya, the power couple of the school. To their friends and classmates both of them are perfect, and perfect for  each other. But they share no love between them; both are only out to soothe their loneliness over loving someone else. For Hanabi it's her brother, a schoolteacher who has a crush on Mugi's tutor from afar. For Mugi of course, it's that very tutor, who seems aloof to the whole situation save for being very attuned to Hanabi's moods.

    A love polygon develops with these four and a whole slew of their friends, each of whom is willing to use, bully, and manipulate one another to feel just a little less lonely in the world. Just as surprising as the explicit sexual encounters between the characters are the ways in which the script captures their thoughts, their disgusting and distasteful ways of getting one another to give up their other loves, their other friendships, even their mental state of being. It's not haphazard, nor is it solely a statement on the evil in people's hearts. It is perfectly balanced and calculated to show their desperation, and how they try to navigate love and friendship in the wrong way.

    This season's adaptation adds an additional layer to the manga, namely framing it as tragic. In particular Hanabi's character flaws are downplayed in comparison to the other characters, and she serves as the main focus through which we see the story, which develops her character so well that despite having seen her original manga personality I even started to feel bad for her at some point. Soft watercolor notes in the artwork, reordering events and changing up the pacing, and good use of soundtrack make her romance with Mugi into a fully fledged romantic tragedy, one from which there's no straight answer, with no clear line between bad people and misguided friends, as both bring her pain all the same.

  The following series are available for viewing NOW on Crunchyroll!

KONOSUBA -God's blessing on this wonderful world! 2

Masamune-kun's Revenge

Saga of Tanya the Evil

  ----

  Ian Mertz is a graduate student in Toronto. He works in Computer Science though, so don't take his opinions on anime too seriously.

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[300videotapes]

FINCHER CLUB : The Movie Keeps Going

There is an indelible mark or aura found in a film and the consensus would be that the director is the one who left it. One can debate that creating a film is a team process and thus many finger prints, but all teams have captains at the helm and for this paper let us decide the director is the heart of the process. As the auteur theory would suggest these people take over the author role of the film, as a picture is not just words expressed, but several different elements orchestrated by a conductor. Just as a novelist will often have a tendency to have his habits and old familiar phrases the same can be found in a director of cinema. Like the concise brevity of Raymond Carver or the sexual deviances of John Irving’s characters we can read it name unknown and yet feel like we see their name above the work. The director does this as well, but with so many more elements such as coloring, editing, and acting performance. Wes Anderson has bad fathers in his stories or perfect choreography to the tiniest detail. There is an undeniable difference between a conversation of characters in a Robert Altman Film than there is in any other films that exist in the English language but he did not write the dialog. Quentin Tarantino is proof of Auteur because he steals all the fingerprints from the best and the cheesiest auteurs around. We are also to conclude that not every director is an auteur just as every film is not a piece of art, but sometimes entertainment or a cinema for cinema’s sake. We are however fortunate that auteurs do exist and they create rich, strong bodies of work that for the most part stand out from other filmmakers and have a flavor all their own. In almost every film in his vast career bouncing from science fiction to thriller to neo noir there is an imprint left in the work of Auteur Director David Fincher that creates a signature style and storytelling we can expect from him. One such technique that we see often is the use of Montage Theory by putting two opposing images and creating a third result.  David Fincher has had a strong body of work spanning from Alien 3 to Gone Girl. There are definitive Fincher Techniques that immediately tell you that this is his film. From the inventive graphic titles to the green tinge of the cinematography it is apparent when Fincher wants you to know his style. From early on in the dawn of Computer Graphics Fincher stretched its capabilities to the limits and yet you would never compare his cinema to that of Michael Bay or The Wachowski’s. David Fincher likes to use every corner of space, but he doesn’t like the shots to feel cheated as if the walls were torn down to achieve a shot. I believe he was very influential to Inarritu’s Birdman in the fluid nature of it’s cinematography helped by lo fi Computer graphic design between days and nights of the character. When in most films it is obvious who is the star, this can be more difficult task with David Fincher. In Zodiac we follow not just the victims, but different angles of investigation from multiple sources played by Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo and Jake Gylenhaal. Neither Jesse Eisenberg or Andrew Garfield were on screen stars until after their shared starring in The Social Network which is not the typical vehicle for such maneuvers, but thanks to Fincher’s equal display of both of their talents they became important to Hollywood. I cannot stress enough how important Fincher’s Music selection and score choices are to his craft. The use of score in a Fincher film is never to evoke an emotion, but instead suggest a familiar feeling. The right pop song creates a new definition forever, as was the case with “Herdy Gerdy Man” by Donovan in Zodiac. The most common thing I see about Fincher is his use of the theory of Montage. In Fight Club we see opposing images of what is assumed to be normal and what is actually going on. In fact that is sort of the point of the film that seeing both Tyler and Jack should equal out who you really see. Editing is a very strong attribute that defines Fincher. On a second or third watch of the film you might notice that a technique of splicing that is described in a scene is executed several times with what appears to be single frames of Tyler before Jack ever meets him. In The Social Network during the opening credits we see two opposing images back and forth of what college life can be: lavish parties or staying in your room with your computer trolling. Fincher uses all the tools available at his disposal to keep your mind tingling from the first frame to the last frame in his films.  If Seven was the picture that got people talking about David Fincher then Fight Club was the film that made him unforgettable. An incredibly daring adaptation that stayed miraculously true to the book more than most adaptations and yet had it’s own distinct flavor that makes it more memorable than the novel. One of the biggest pet peeves of Hollywood is too much narration and there is a lot of key narration created by Chuck Palahniuk. Fincher expertly uses the aforementioned computer graphics to give interesting visuals that make every word seem like gospel from a punk rock god. When Jack, played by Edward Norton, rants about corporate America we don’t just see his face we get a point of view of the garbage heap or consumerism within every wastebasket in America. Where at the time computer graphics were most known for action and science fiction films Fincher used and continues to use it to make the mundane come alive. The Dust Brothers Score is composed so methodically that almost entrances you to join up with the Space Monkeys of Project Mayhem. There is also the incorporation of synthesizer noises to give dramatic emphasis on a moment without being too flashy. Fincher never has the music say, “hey it is time to be scared for the main character,” instead it says, “you already are.” Both costars get so much time on screen that you cannot assume who is the star even despite the name recognition of Brad Pitt and so many scenes are stolen by the introduction of Helena Bonham Carter to American cinema.  Ten Years After Fight Club we still see similar styles in his collaboration with writer Aaron Sorkin: The Social Network. There are obvious scenes containing Sorkin dialogue that are not usual for a Fincher film and yet you could also say these scenes are directed like no one else would. We usually would see far less sound design on the opening bar sequence discussion and the song definitely tricks you into a false sense that the date is going well before the shit hits the fan. There is also a boat race later in the film that seems much more epic because of the song choice and because it is a great metaphor for being first to market with Facebook.  Computer graphics appear in this dramatic non-adventurous film. Instead of just split screen like a Disney twin film Fincher uses advanced technology to have an actor play both Winklevoss’ Twins and show the actor Armie Hammer’s range. The coloring is most certainly stamped by Fincher as there is again the green tinge of his cinema that you even see sneak into his television work. The editing is fiercely used to create an environment for each situation and rising tension in which should be a cookie cutter biopic about a kid who became a billionaire. Not only the cuts in the flashbacks from the interviews with the lawyers, but the escalation of the character Eduardo Saverin’s hate of Napster creator Sean Parker when he recounts meeting him. The absence of cuts when he lets a scene breathe is also very Fincher as he decides to just use a movement of a camera or the eery stillness of the camera. A decade later we know when we see a film from this auteur even when it is a biographical film, because it is also an original piece thanks to his taste and style.  The idea of the auteur has been obscured by difference of opinions as to whether it is the thematic storytelling or the panache of a director that sets him apart from others. It is my opinion that one is an extension of the other that shows itself depending on the inclination of the auteur. To concentrate on theme is a representational tool that the artist chooses to use because that is how they like to adjust their focus in contrast to others. Peter Wollen states in his essay “The Auteur Theory” that there be “two main schools of auteur: [either] those who insisted on revealing a core of meanings, of thematic motifs [or] those who stressed style and mise en scene (364).” I think if the critics of the past were to redefine their idea of style to more than just theatrics and visual settings they might realize that there is a greater juxtaposition at hand rather than division. I find this division to be a hasty prejudicial decision to separate art as either something that makes you think, or something that ensnares the senses. Both avenues work the brain and thus they are more akin than separate, as it would be assumed. Fincher can both take us on a wild ride and make us think about a bigger picture when looking at any of his film. All the elements at his disposal create a point of view unlike any other just as the next auteur can. From a scientific view what makes an auteur is the constant choice to be an auteur and not an exhibitor.    But an honest simplification of the auteur by Wollen is far less of a crime than that of Timothy Corrigan in his essay, “The Commerce of Auteurism.” Wollen is simply taking the ideas of the past and trying to show the historical divide of auteur theory. Whereas Corrigan wants to be jaded and believe, “modernist corrections, discussions, or deconstructions of the romantic roots of auteurism need to be taken another step towards recontextualizing them within industrial and commercial trajectories (419).” This argument is no different than believing the chicken came before the egg. If an auteur is just a marketing tool than so were the early beginnings of punk rock before it’s fragmentation and evolution. Without a body of work I don’t believe the director or the audience can truly know whether the director is an auteur. The first film is a trial and error often staying in comfort zones. The second film can either be experimental or play to the audience. If the creator continues to play to the audience then they are what I referred to as the exhibitor and not the auteur. The auteur just keeps making stories and can’t help but leaves his mark. After a fair amount of work is done you can distinguish the auteur from the exhibitor by the advertising of the film. One just sees whether they say “from the maker of alien 3” or, “another film from visionary David Fincher.”  But that is after the eggs have already hatched.  If we were to believe in the aforementioned two definitions of auteur one might hastily fit David Fincher into the category of an auteur that puts style over content. This would be understating the importance of Fincher’s editing choices. Fincher often uses cutting to give more meaning to his work. Earlier I mentioned that in “The Social Network” he showed two vast parallels of college life. Nameless partygoers ready for debauchery and bad decisions placed against our protagonist heading home to a night of feeding off his frustrations and lashing out passive aggressively. There isn’t an escape from a discussion and he has placed it smack dab at the beginning of his film like a thesis in an essay. There is a negative connotation towards both types of Friday night options at college based on the music, the lighting, and the speed of the film. Together these two images create a third image of what Fincher sees as the third option to the night, the option that pops in your head as you watch. So even though the textual author Aaron Sorkin could easily overshadow Fincher he isn’t, because Fincher is the prominent contextual auteur of the film. As Sergei Eisenstein said in a quote found in Lev Kuleshov’s “Principles of Montage”, “The interaction of separate montage segments, their position, and likewise their rhythmic duration, become the contents of the production and world view of the artist (142).”  Film can be argued to the tiniest celluloid as to whether there is more or less going on in the picture that was done with or without a purposeful thought. But what can’t be argued is a repetition of evidence that appears in several pictures. There is evidence within David Fincher’s body of work that unmistakably notes him as an auteur. There is a compositional style both in the editing and musical choices present in all his pictures. The large casts of stars in his films get equal time to shine and display their amazing performances. Where auteurism is usually a hidden aura we can actually see Fincher’s is a dark green shade over his images. It is seen more so in the computer techniques to that beautify the ugly in a commercial ore residential setting. To not identify him as auteur or to believe in the auteur is to disrespect the craft of film and assume that all pictures are the same. But if the novel shouldn’t be judged for it’s cover a film shouldn’t be judged either.