#my live journal chronicles have taken a fun turn

[charmac]

"Dennis has a snoopy" sent me on a good insane laughing fit for a minute. What the fuck would that be about?

Well, good news, that seems to be the first ever published Sunny Fanfic, and it's still online for everyone's viewing pleasure:

But, if you don't want to read it, because it's weird, pretty out of character, and just a barebones script, just please look at this:

This isn't a Macdennis fic, I guess this guy was tryna stay truthful to the characters as best he could. Also, uh, jacuzzi. Ok.

So, if you're wondering what the hell a snoopy is, well:

Yup, the oldest published It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia fanfiction is about Mac finding out Dennis is uncircumcised while they skinny dip in a jacuzzi together. (That's the A plot, the B plot is that Charlie gets himself involved in a porno, bc, why not.)

[liunaticfringe]

(via Lucy Liu's Independent Woman - Interview Magazine)

There have been many great sidekick pairings in the history of modern literature. Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer, Phileas Fogg and Jean Passepartout, Winnie-the-Pooh and Piglet…the list goes on. Yet, it seems there has never been a delightfully tumultuous relationship that comes close to echoing the one embodied by rogue detective Sherlock Holmes and his faithful friend and assistant Dr. John Watson. Written in the form of short stories by Arthur Conan Doyle between the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the opium-den loving Holmes would terrorize London with his intellectual, astute, and stubborn prowess, with Dr. Watson providing medical expertise and chronicling their entertaining exploits along the way.

Doyle’s works have now long been entered into the public domain, with many film and television adaptions cropping up every few years. Still, when CBS announced in 2012 that it would be turning Doyle’s works into an hour-long crime-drama series titled Elementary, it elicited an unusually high response—this was mostly due to the news that a woman would, in fact, be portraying Watson. Her name would be Joan, not John. And she’s now a fallen from grace surgeon-turned-sober companion and private detective, forfeiting her “Dr.” title in the process. The woman chosen to take on this exciting, contemporary role of Joan Watson was none other than seasoned actress Lucy Liu.

Liu, who’s best known for her roles as a fierce and ill-mannered lawyer in Ally McBeal, an ass-kicking “angel” in the rebooted Charlie’s Angels, and an equally ass-kicking bad girl in the Kill Bill series, certainly provides the yin to the yang of Jonny Lee Miller’s gritty portrayal of Holmes. Elementary chronicles the duo’s relationship as they consult for the NYPD on various criminal cases while living in a shared brownstone in Brooklyn Heights. Initially starting off in Season One as a substance-free friend to the fresh-out-of-rehab Holmes with a keen interest in solving crimes, Watson quickly transformed into a sharp and observant right-hand woman who now clearly has the aptitude to work on her own. And it appears she’ll be doing just that—the end of Season Two left viewers witnessing Watson’s decision to move out of the brownstone and start a new career as a solo private detective, seemingly fed-up with Holmes’ erratic behavior.

The warm and delightful Liu recently called up Interview from her home in New York City to discuss Elementary’s upcoming third season.

DEVON IVIE: Were you on set today?

LUCY LIU: I was running around like a maniac, yeah. It’s beautiful today, it started getting a little bit cooler again. But of course I’ve been bitten by the two mosquitos that are still alive in New York City.

IVIE: I know you were recently at New York Comic Con. How was it?

LIU: It was amazing. It’s such a spectator place. Not only do you get super fans, but you also get people who are curious and inventive and imaginative. It’s fun.

IVIE: Did you run into any cosplayers dressed as Joan Watson?

LIU: Oh, no, I don’t know about that. That’s funny! We did a panel with a huge audience so I couldn’t really see if anyone was wearing anything specific, but it’s an excuse for kids and adults to get dressed up and just be crazy. You know you’ve made it when you have super-fans out there.

IVIE: When you first read the scripts for Elementary, what was it that attracted you to the role of Joan?

LIU: I liked the fact that it was going to be about [Joan and Sherlock’s] relationship and their friendship, and bringing that into modern times. And I thought it was wonderful to change up the gender.

IVIE: Did you immerse yourself in Arthur Conan Doyle’s work as preparation at all?

LIU: I did, I did! I started reading the short stories. I never read them before so it was a really great excuse to read them. I can’t believe it was written so long ago, because it’s so current. The characters are so colorful, which is why I think there are so many incarnations of Watson and Holmes.

IVIE: Do you have a favorite story? I love “A Scandal in Bohemia.”

LIU: There were some pretty amazing stories. The one that stood out to me, which was a Watson story that I got to know him a little more through, was “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” He really is on his own in that. Of course it turns out that Holmes has been there all along, but it’s interesting looking into his interior.

IVIE: Yeah, the entirety of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” is narrated just by Watson. And his diary and letters, too.

LIU: Yeah, I think it’s really cool. We started incorporating that into the show, too, the letters and journals.

IVIE: Has this detective genre always appealed to you? Did you grow up watching or reading detective whodunits?

LIU: I remember more of the old school Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys sort of thing. I also grew up with the Scooby-Doo mysteries. Remember when the villain would go, “I would’ve gotten away with it if it weren’t for you rascal-y kids!” Those were the kind of the things I immersed myself in. I have to say that my mother has always been a huge fan of Columbo and Murder, She Wrote, so this show was her dream come true. I don’t think she totally understood what was going on with Ally McBeal. [laughs]

IVIE: I’ve enjoyed witnessing Joan’s evolution throughout the course of the show, starting off as a sober companion and eventually ending up as a trusty sidekick and confidant to Sherlock. What can we expect from Joan in Season Three?

LIU: When you see them in the third season, you see some friction between the two characters. Joan is now on her own, she has her own detective agency, has a boyfriend, and has been without Sherlock for eight months. She’s got her own apartment, she’s settled, and he shows back up. I think she’s a little bit hurt by what happened and how their relationship and partnership ended, which was basically his decision and his choice, and he left it all in one little note for her. I think she felt that their relationship was much deeper than that, and that he was dismissive in the way that he handled that.

IVIE: How would you define the relationship between Joan and Sherlock?

LIU: I think that it’s a really positive and good relationship, overall. They really have a good chemistry together, work really hard together, and understand each other. They acknowledge each other and respect each other, which is a really important way to have a friendship. And they can learn from each other, you know? She’s very curious about him and I think he sees that she’s a very smart person—that’s vital for him in having respect for someone, having them be intelligent and thinking for themselves.

IVIE: Do you see any of Joan in yourself?

LIU: I do to a certain degree. She’s a lot more measured and patient, for sure. She’s a very curious person, which I think I am, and I think she isn’t afraid of change. She was a doctor, and then became a sober companion, and then jumped off and became a detective. I think sometimes it’s good to make big leaps.

IVIE: You’ve probably been asked this question many times, but do you think a romance between Joan and Sherlock could ever fittingly happen?

LIU: It’s a question that’s often asked and I think it’s really up to the executives. Rob Doherty, the creator [of Elementary] really feels incredibly strongly about keeping their relationship platonic. He has already taken great strides to keep the relationship as clean as possible according to the literature, but he has also changed so much of it by changing the gender of Watson. To have them have a romantic involvement would turn the whole thing upside-down in a way that might really jump the line. [Doherty] felt really strongly about it and I think that’s the one thing he really wants to stay true to.

IVIE: I totally agree. Even on the BBC’s Sherlock, there are campaigns to get Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock and Martin Freeman’s Watson to become romantically involved. It’s like, enough already, no!

LIU: No way, that’s so weird! People do have that level of friendship oftentimes, but it doesn’t mean it’s physical. I think that everyone just assumes because there’s chemistry the next thing should be happening. I would vote “no” for a romance. I think for sure the creator would vote no on that, too.

IVIE: I’ve talked to both women and men who watch Elementary, and they all consistently mention how well dressed and fashionable Joan is. Do you collaborate with the wardrobe department on styling decisions at all?

LIU: That’s awesome. Yes, I collaborate with Rebecca [Hofherr], who’s the costume designer, who’s wonderful. She’s very easy to work with. One thing we try to maintain about Joan and her style is that she’s a bit wrinkled, you know what I mean? Sometimes it looks like things are really put together, but we always want to make sure things aren’t too tight and are comfortable, kind of like she throws things together. We don’t want it to seem so business-y, so we go away from suits. Chic, but not corporate. Also just to make her seem like her outfits aren’t so put-together all the time. But I’m glad that people really seem to like it, it’s a relief! We don’t splurge a lot on the show, we try to do cheaper things, like things Joan would wear a lot. She wears the same white jacket and shoes frequently.

IVIE: Will we be seeing more of the infamous Clyde the Turtle in the upcoming season?

LIU: Clyde will indeed be in it again. We have to share custody of Clyde.

IVIE: Is it true that Clyde is actually two tortoises? Pulling a Mary Kate and Ashley in Full House on us?

LIU: Yes. It’s just like having twins on a show. Just in case one is crying and screaming and passed out or something.

IVIE: You made your directorial debut for an episode of Elementary last season [“Paint It Black”]. Do you have plans to direct an episode again soon?

LIU: That was so exciting. I’ll be directing another episode again very shortly in December, so you’ll be seeing it in a month and a half.

IVIE: Where did your interest in directing come from?

LIU: I guess I was curious about it. Having been in this business for a while, you kind of see and get a glimpse of everything doing film and television. I think it seemed like a natural progression to go into directing, and I hope to explore more of it, because it’s very exciting and a really good way to collide all the things that you’ve known and experienced in the business and put them all into one.

IVIE: Is there an ideal guest star that you’d like to see on the show in the upcoming season?

LIU: I would love to see Mycroft come back. I really think there was a wonderful tension for Mycroft and Sherlock as well as the triangle that occurred when Joan became involved with him. There’s something very deep about that relationship, and I also think that Rhys Ifans is a fantastic actor. He commands the screen, but off-screen he’s incredibly lovely. A real treat to have on the show.

IVIE: I remember the first few episodes that I saw Rhys in, I was like, where have I seen this guy before? So I looked at his Wikipedia page and it became obvious: he was the crazy guy from Notting Hill!

LIU: Yes, the roommate! So good! Everything he does, he just kills it, no matter the role.

IVIE: And it’s always good to have some MI6 action on the show, which Mycroft provided. Some international flair.

LIU: [laughs] International flair, exactly, some added spice. Just throw some spy stuff in there to throw people off their game. You just don’t expect it, you know? It came out of nowhere.

IVIE: That whole three-episode arc at the end of the second season…

LIU: That was awesome. I was lucky enough to direct one of those episodes, which is more narrative in tone. It’s more fun in some ways, too.

IVIE: You’ve done a range of acting work for both television and film. Do you now find yourself preferring one to the other?

LIU: I love both of them equally. The lack of predictability with television is something that’s constantly changing what your perception of who you think your character is. Suddenly I have a father that’s schizophrenic, or I discovered something else, or I have a relationship with Mycroft. The things that pop up and change the game for you and always keep you on your toes. The wonderful thing about film is that you have something that has a beginning, middle, and end, and you have a concrete amount of time to shoot it. And the process of that can be longer, like editing and advertising and testing the movie, so it’s very different. Television you just continue going, no matter what’s happening outside of your world. You get lost in that vortex a little bit.

IVIE: It’s interesting that America is now embracing the “mini-series” format that has already been so heavily utilized overseas, where there are a set amount of short episodes, and that’s it. In a way, it’s kind of like a cinematic experience.

LIU: I like that, too. It allows you to have a freedom of creativity and at the same time you don’t feel like you have to be contracted to something for that long; you’re really working on a piece of art. And then you’re done and you move on, or it comes back, like Downton Abbey. You don’t know. Those things become little masterpieces. The thing about television is that you see a range of actors now that you may not have seen five years ago even, 10 years ago absolutely not, and I think now there’s no wrong about doing television. There’s no definitive category for what kind of department you fall into anymore.

IVIE: What’s a fun, secret fact about your costar Jonny Lee Miller?

LIU: A fun fact about Jonny Lee Miller is that he oftentimes does handstands on a wall before he does a take, sometimes with pushups, to get blood to his brain and get him geared up for a long monologue that he may have. He stays there, hangs a little bit, and then turns around and does the scene. Most of the time in the brownstone more than anywhere else. He’s in full costume and everything. That’s trivia!

IVIE: I wish I could do wall-handstands by myself.

LIU: Oh my god, I need someone to push my legs up and then hold me there. I’m a cheat!

ELEMENTARY PREMIERES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30 ON CBS.

[tiesandtea]

Simon Gilbert

Simon Says

We interviewed Simon Gilbert, Suede’s drummer, whose book So Young: Suede 1991-1993 is a journal and photographic document of the band’s early years that will be published October 8th. So Young has foreword by journalist Stuart Maconie and a vibrant, lively text by Simon himself, documenting his move from Stratford-on-Avon, his hometown, to London, the audition with Suede, life in the van, the early success years and the many amusing things that come with it. It is one of those rare books that make an outsider feel like they were there, in the van. Or in absurd mansions in L.A. belonging to industry types. Or was it record producer(s)?…

The conversation extended to Coming Up, Suede’s third album that turned 25 this year and drumming. Simon’s witty, often, one-liners contrast with my more elaborate questions, proving an interesting insight into our way of writing/replying.

by Raquel Pinheiro

So Young: Suede 1991-1993

What made you want to realease So Young?

I was searching through my archives when researching for the insatiable ones movies and found lots of old negatives and my diaries. They had to be seen.

When and why did you start your Suede archives?

As you can see from the book, it stared from the very first audition day.

From the concept idea to publishing how long did it took you to put So Young together?

30 years … I’ve always wanted to make a book since I was first in a band.

What was your selection process for which items – diary entries, photos, etc.- would be part of the book?

I wanted to form a story visually with a few bits of info thrown in here and there, also most of the photos tie in with pages from the diaries.

Which methods, storage, preservation, maintenance, if at all, do you employ to keep the various materials in your archives in good shape?

Boxes in an attic … one thing about getting the book out is that I don’t have to worry about the photos getting lost forever. It’s out there in a book!

Other than medium what differences existed between selecting material for The Insatiable Ones documentary and for So Young?

Video and photos … photos don’t translate well on a TV screen.

Do you prefer still or motion pictures and why?

I prefer photos … they capture a particular moment in time … as video does, but there’s a unique atmosphere with a photo.

So Young’s cover photo has a very Caravaggio and ballet feeling to it. Its chiaroscuro also contrasts with the images inside.  Why did you choose it for the cover?

It was a striking shot and I wanted the book to be black and dark …it fitted perfectly.

How many of the photos on So Young were taken by you?

Probably about 3/4 my 3 school friends who were there with me at the beginning Iain, Kathy and Phillip took a load of us onstage, backstage, after  the gig, etc., photos I couldn’t take myself.

So Young can be placed alongside books like Henry Rollins’ Get in The Van and Michael Azerrad’s Our Band Could Be Your Life, that not only chronicle and show the less glamorous, more mundane side of being in a band, but also totally immerse the reader so deep in it that we are there, feeling and going through the same things. Was your selection of materials meant to convey that “band being your(our) life” sensation?

Yes, exactly that. I was fascinated by photos of bands, not on the front cover of a magazine or on TV. The other bits of being in a band are far more interesting.

In the foreword, Stuart Maconie mentions the brevity of your diary entries which, as someone who keeps diaries, I immediately noticed. Do you prefer to tell and record a story and events with images?

I haven’t kept a diary since the end of 1993 … looking back on them they can be a bit cringeful … So, yes, I prefer images.

Contrasting with the diary entries brevity your text  that accompanies So Young is lively, witty, detailed and a good description of the struggles of a coming of age, heading towards success, band. Do you think the text and images reveal too much into what it really is like being in a band, destroying the myth a bit?

I think the myth of being in a band is long gone … Reality is the new myth…

In So Young you write that when you first heard Never Mind The Bollocks by The Sex Pistols music was to be your “future dream”. How has the dream been so far?

Still dreaming … lose your dreams and you will lose your mind … like Jagger said.

Is there a reason why So Young only runs from 1991 to 1993?

Yes, I bought a video camera in 1993. It was so much easier filming everything rather than take a photo, wait 3 weeks to get it developed and find out it was blurred.

So Young has a limited deluxe numbered and signed edition already sold out. The non deluxe edition also seems to be heading the same way. How important is it for you to keep a close relationship with the fans?

So important. I love interacting with the fans and is so easy these days … I had to write replies by hand and post them out in 1993…

Playing Live Again & Coming Up

Before Suede’s concert at Qstock Festival in Oulu, Finland on 31.07.2021 you wrote on your social media “cant fucking wait dosnt come close!!!!!” and Mat [Osman, Suede’s bassist] on his “An honest-to-goodness rehearsal for an honest-to-goodness show. Finally”. How did it feel like going back to play live?

It was great. Heathrow was empty which was amazing. A bit strange to play for the first time after 2 years …., but great to get out again.

Coming Up was released 25 years ago. How does the record sound and seems to you now compared with by then?

I haven’t listened to it for a long time actually … love playing that album live … some great drumming.

Before the release of Coming Up fans and the press were wondering if Suede would be able to pull it off. What was your reaction when you first heard the new songs and realize the album was going in quite a different direction than Dog Man Star?

Far too long ago to remember.

Coming Up become a classic album. It even has its own Classical Albums documentary. Could you see the album becoming a classic by then?

I think so yes .. there was always something to me very special about that album.

Is it different to play Coming Up songs after Suede’s return? Is there a special approach to concerts in which a single album is played?

No … didn’t even need to listen to the songs before we first rehearsed … They’re lodged in my brain.

Which is your Coming Up era favourite song as a listener and which one do you prefer as a drummer?

The Chemistry Between Us.

Will the Coming Up shows consist only of the album or will B-sides be played as well?

Definitely some B-sides and some other stuff too.

Simon & Drumming

If you weren’t a drummer how would your version of “being the bloke singing at the front” be like?

Damned awful … I auditioned as a singer once, before I started drumming … It was awful!

In his book Stephen Morris says that all it takes to be a drummer is a flat surface and know how to count. Do you agree?

No.

Then, what makes a good drummer?

Being in the right band.

Topper Headon of the Clash is one of your role models. Who are the others?

He is, yes … fantastic drummer.

Charlie Watts is the other great …and Rat Scabies … superb.

She opens with drums so does Introducing the band. Your drumming gives the band a distinctive sound. How integral to Suede’s sound are the drums?

Well, what can I say … VERY!

Do you prefer songs that are driven by the drums or songs in which the drums are more in the background?

Bit of both actually … I love in your face stuff like She, Filmstar …, but ikewise, playing softer stuff is very satisfying too.

You’re not a songwriter. How much freedom and input do you have regarding drum parts?

If the songs needs it, I’ll change it.

Do you prefer blankets, towels or a pillow inside the bass drum?

Pillows.

Do you use gaffer tape when recording? If so, just on the snare drum or also on the toms? What about live?

Lots of the stuff … gaffer tape has been my friend both live and in the studio for 30 years.

What is the depth of your standard snare drum and why?

Just got a lovely 7-inch Bog wood snare from Repercussion Drums … sounds amazing. It is a 5000 year old Bog wood snare.

Standard, mallets, rods or brushes?

Standard. I hate mallets and rods are always breaking after one song. Brushes are the worst …no control.

How many drum kits have you owned? Of those, which is your favourite?

5 … my fave is my DW purple.

How long to you manage without playing? Do you play air drums?

7 years 2003 – 2010 … and never.

Can you still assemble and tune your drum kit?

Assemble, yes …tune no …have never been any good at that.

You dislike digital/electronic drum kits, but used one during the pandemic. Did you become more found of them?

Still hate them … unfortunately,  they are a necessary evil.

When you first joined Suede you replaced a drum machine. Would it be fair to say you didn’t mind taking its job?

Fuck him!

Brett [Anderson, Suede’s singer] as described the new album as “nasty, brutish and short”. How does that translates drums wise?

Very nasty brutish and short.

When researching for the interview I come across the statement below on a forum: “If you’re in a band and you’re thinking about how to go about this, get every player to come up with their own track list & have a listening party. I’ve done this, not only is it great fun, it’s also massively insightful when it comes to finding out what actually is going on inside the drummer’s head!”. What actually is going on inside the drummer’s head?

Where’s my fucking lighter!

And what is going on inside the drummer as a documentarist head? How does Simon, the drummer, differs from Simon, the keen observer of his own band, bandmates, fans, himself, etc.?

There is no difference … I’m Simon here there and everywhere…

What would the 16 years old Simon who come to London think of current Simon? What advice would you give to your younger self?

Don’t smoke so much you fool!

[sage-nebula]

Game Review — Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition

About seventeen years ago, I played a Gamecube game called Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles, and for the most part I really loved it. I got lost in every single dungeon all the time, and I really hated the annoying moogle I had to drag around, but other than that I loved the game. So it makes sense, then, why I would be excited when I heard it was getting a remastered release on Switch.

Overall Score: 6/10

While I was happy to get a chance to play this game again, I feel like Square-Enix whacked both of its kneecaps in two different ways. One, they did a remaster instead of a remake, meaning they just gave it a little polish instead of fixing existing issues; and two, they decided for some reason to port it to mobile phones, which I feel created some issues, though I admit I don’t have any proof of that. While I still enjoyed my time with the game for the most part, it definitely receives a lower score than I think I would have given the original in my youth. More details under the cut, best viewed on my blog for formatting.

The Pros:

This isn’t specific to the remaster, but rather more about the game itself, but one thing I think is notable about the setting is that it’s essentially a post-apocalyptic story, but it’s one where the people haven’t completely fallen into despair and ruin. I mean, some places have; there’s a village called Tida whose caravan never returned and so they all died slow deaths of miasma as their crystal’s protection ran out. But in other villages, including the player’s hometown, people are living their lives as best they can. Some people are even trying to find a way to get rid of the miasma altogether. While of course there is much to stress about and also people’s memories being taken from them, overall the world looks a bit brighter than in most post-apocalyptic stories. It’s always nice when post-apocalyptic stories recognize that even after the end, life still goes on.

I’ve also always rather enjoyed the way the way the game constantly reminds you that you’re not the only caravan out on this journey. You encounter caravans from other towns and villages pretty often, and their stories intersect with yours, growing as the in-game years pass. It’s another thing that makes the world feel alive, because you see again and again that there are other heroes out there, heroes of their own stories, that you’re just one of many in this world trying your best to get by and keep your village alive.

The soundtrack is also something that deserves praise, because it has a very . . . Celtic, I think? flair to it that really suits the setting, especially since the narrator has (what I believe is) an Irish accent. I can’t think of a single bad song in the entire game, and many of them are catchy and bouncy and fun to listen to.

After each little cutscene or dungeon, you get an entry added to the in-game journal, and I enjoy those as well. It helps keep track of the little side stories going on (since they span over years), and I like how some of them change depending on the choices you’re given in any given cutscene. That said, I do have a slight issue with them as well, but I’ll discuss that in a different section.

If you play single-player, the game assigns a moogle named Mog to carry the crystal chalice through the dungeons with you so you don’t suffocate due to the miasma. (In multiplayer, another player has to carry it.) This results in Mog getting tired, saying, “I’m tired, kupo, it’s your turn!” and making you carry it sometimes anyway, even if you’re being chased by monsters. When I played this game as a kid, it seemed like he was saying this EVERY FIVE SECONDS and it was THE MOST annoying thing. But it didn’t feel as frequent this time, and when I looked it up, I saw that the devs actually did extend the amount of time Mog could carry the chalice before he got tired. I appreciated this very much, even if Mog was still annoying.

The Neutrals:

From what I can tell, there wasn’t really a graphics overhaul done, except to increase the jiggle physics on female Selkies, which . . . I’m not a prude, I don’t really care that much (even though it can be distracting), but of all the things you chose to fix, it was this? Square-Enix, please.

While on the one hand I like that there’s no set order that you can encounter the random travel cutscenes in, that they can happen whenever, because it makes it feel like a more realistic journey . . . it also creates the problem that the events will still trigger even if you’re already finished the associated quest line. For example, to get the Unknown Element that lets you reach the final boss area, you have to complete a series of actions in Lynari Desert. You find out what you have to do through a series of travel cutscenes with a swindler named Gurdy, who gives you poem verses that strongly hint at what you need to do. I had a few of these before I reached the desert, but not all of them, so I just looked up a guide to get the remainder of the instructions. Despite this, I still later triggered the final Gurdy cutscene, and so it was like my character was standing there with the desert treasure while Gurdy told her about the desert treasure . . . it’s not a huge deal, but it does show how the idea of having random travel cutscenes is kind of flawed. (Additionally, you can beat the game without even finishing certain stories as a result, so it’s entirely possible you could get to Mio and not know who she’s talking about in the end. It’s not game breaking, but it is a bit of an issue too.)

The Cons:

The LOADING TIMES, OH MY GOD. This game has the longest loading times of any game I have ever played on the Switch, and I confirmed with someone who has played the original a billion times that these loading time issues were not present in the original game, meaning they are a direct result of development on the “remaster.” Literally, the game goes to a blank loading screen that lasts a good minute or two for almost everything. For every cutscene you have, any time you leave or enter a place, hell, even QUITTING THE GAME has a “Closing Software” box for FAR LONGER than any other Switch title, to the point where it made me afraid for a moment that my Switch, brand new though it is, was broken. I don’t know why the loading times are so bad, but I personally blame it on Square-Enix wanting to make the game multiplatform (multiplatform including fucking cell phones), thus not optimizing it for any one console. And on a similar note . . .

Online multiplayer is region-locked. Yes, you read that right. Two friends who I’d originally intended to caravan with live in Europe, and since I live in North America, we were unable to play together since Square-Enix decided to region-lock online multiplayer. It is honestly the most batshit stupid thing I have ever heard of. The only reasoning I can think of for why they did this is because of mobile phone support; it’s entirely possible that there is something within a phone’s SIM card that would make it not possible to play multiplayer across different continents, but honestly I have trouble believing even that since I believe that’s not a problem in other mobile games. Either way, the entire point of online play is to be able to play with anyone, no matter where they are, and the fact that in the year 2020 Square-Enix decided it was a good idea to region-lock online play is fucking ridiculous.

A minor complaint, but you can’t use the left joystick to scroll between items in menus. You have to use the little arrow buttons instead. This was also the case in the Switch port of Final Fantasy XII, so I think it’s a Square-Enix preference thing, but it annoyed me and I wish they’d at least give the option to change button configuration around.

There’s backtracking as the years go on that I personally found kind of annoying, especially when it made me go to dungeons I didn’t particularly like. The thing is, the gameplay in FFCC doesn’t have a lot of variance; you go to three dungeons, you fight three bosses, then the year ends and you repeat it the next year. The only real variety is in the dungeons themselves as you get to explore new ones. But in Year 5, you HAVE to repeat dungeons because you’re blocked off from going to new areas. And at a certain point there stops being new dungeons altogether, so you have to repeat dungeons if you want to get myrrh for the village. And yeah, the dungeons are a bit harder each time, but the layout is still the same, and so it made what was already a repetitive style of gameplay even more repetitive, which honestly made me eager to finish it as quickly as possible despite wanting to grind as long as possible when I first got the game because I wanted to avenge my childhood self, who never managed to beat the final boss.

The four different races to choose from all have different styles of gameplay, and you can make multiple characters in one file to fill out your caravan / open specialty shops all around town. The problem is, the only character in the caravan who gets stat boosts and experience from the dungeons is the one who goes through them, and the dungeons get tougher each time they’re completed. So unless you constantly rotate your characters, creating more characters to fill out the caravan and be able to use different play styles per different boss (such as using a Yuke when facing a boss like Dragon Zombie who can really only be affected by magic) is a pointless waste of time because your extra characters won’t be strong enough to face the boss you need them to face. I don’t know if this was an issue in the original, but it’s definitely a disappointing issue here.

While some of the journal entries change depending on your answer choices, I found it disappointing that the journal entries don’t change (or at least don’t always) change depending on what type of character you chose to play as. The specific example I have in mind is that I chose to play as a Selkie, and through the course of the journey I of course traveled to Leuda, which is home of the Selkies. If you choose to play as a Selkie, you can participate in a minigame there and no one will steal from you. Additionally, since you see in various dungeons that Selkies have had a very rough time of it and for the longest time couldn’t put a home base anywhere, I had it in my head that my Selkie character would feel like she returned home, in a sense, even though she personally didn’t grow up in Leuda. I mean, this is the land of her people, this is where Selkie history is richest, this is the reward they got for all the suffering they experienced. (And sort of still do, since the other races tend to be prejudiced against them, and one Selkie in Leuda even says that he thinks everyone else wants Selkies to just disappear.) But despite all of this, the journal entry for Leuda states that the main character had their wallet stolen and never wants to go back. That sort of entry makes sense if you’re playing as one of the other three races, but it doesn’t fit Selkies at all and was pretty disappointing. That’s just one example, but I’m sure there were others, and it would have been nice if a bit more thought was put into play here.

All in all, I still think that Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles is a game worth playing. I really like the worldbuilding, as well as the characters, and I did have fun with it. With that said, though, I think that Square-Enix should have given this game a proper remake instead of a remaster, and should have made it a Switch exclusive (just as the original was a Gamecube exclusive) so that they could optimize it for the hardware, instead of being greedy and putting out one that didn’t play very well just so they could make cross-platform money. But despite those issues, if you want a unique action-RPG, I don’t think that FFCC’s remaster would be a bad choice to try out.

[theonyxpath]

The Deviant: The Renegades Kickstarter launched last Thursday and we would have loved it to fund in 24 hours, but it was actually closer to 25. Possibly every backer was pranking us, but in the end it’s cool- we did fund, we’re gonna get this newest Chronicles of Darkness game into retail stores, and we’re moving into building additional books with the Stretch Goals!

So basically, the Deviant KS is doing great! Come join us!

Links for the Deviant: The Renegades and the Creature Collection for Scarred Lands 5e Kickstarters are below in the Blurbs! section.

We have had some folks, who I’m guessing have not backed any of our last few KSs, write to tell us that they’re taken aback by the listed international shipping costs. Yep, we are as miffed at those costs as you, and as I posted here a month or so back, we have chosen to go ahead and still ship internationally and post the costs, rather than stop shipping internationally as quite a few of our fellow TTRPG publishing have chosen for their KSs.

I figure it’s better to let prospective international backers know the cost upfront so they can make the informed choice that makes the most sense to them.

Usually when I explain this, I also let folks know that behind the scenes we have tried and are continuing to explore alternative shipping options. With Deviant‘s KS, we are still using our previous methodology, but with the concurrently running Creature Collection for Scarred Lands 5e Kickstarter (also doing nicely, thank you!) you can see one of the options we’re exploring.

In CC’s case, we’re working with Handiworks Games not just on the art and writing and design and Kickstarter for the book, but also with printers and fulfillment based in the EU. We’ll have a bunch of books sent over to the US for those backers, and then we hope that costs to ship from the EU for our international backers will be more reasonable.

Like I say, it’s an experiment that we think will work in a good way, but that’s never a guarantee in the rapidly shifting cost-structures of international shipping. And we’ll have to see if it is repeatable for other projects, too.

VtR2 Spilled Blood art by Michele Giorgi

But enough about Kickstarter, let’s talk about me.

Well, pretty much about how I spent my weekend, but it will circle back around to general topics about our hobby.

Have you ever had one of those time-frames where it seems that everybody you haven’t been able to get together with all want to hang out at essentially the same time? Well, that’s what happened to me, and for a twenty-four hour period I had three get-togethers (one was virtual) with old gaming buddies.

The first was an invitation from two high-school friends for dinner on Friday night which of course turned into talking about how my one buddy Johnny, aka Shithead the Dwarf, and I first met during our first D&D games as sophomores in HS. That’s the gaming club where when we started, we had the first four little D&D booklets and were waiting for the fifth booklet, Blackmoor, to be released.

It just so happened that my English class (that’s what we called Language Arts then, kids) had assigned me a journal to write, and in it I chronicled those first D&D adventures, so even now through the mists of time I can read all about how we’d stir through piles of mud with 10′ poles, and get attacked by 11 Stirges, and lose our Cleric to being swallowed by a Giant Frog.

The first few months we played with our very first DM, Robert, but then he had to get ready to graduate, and both Johnny and I stepped up as DMs. Johnny continued to run and play games until he graduated, and I did same but returned to our HS to run games for a couple of years since my art college wasn’t that far away.

When Johnny came home for break, and later when he was on leave from the Navy, there was always a seat at our gaming table for him, and some of his “temp” characters lived on as famous NPCs. Which was easier because my setting, my D&D “world”, has been the same since I first stepped up to DM as a sophomore.

(I share all this about my friend both for context and because I’ve known this guy for over 40 freaking years and that amount of time boggles my mind.)

And we weren’t the only players who ran games too, most of our players did both – which makes me wonder what we could have done with Community Content sites for all of our many worlds? Getting into Dragon Magazine was some folk’s goals, but if we could have published our stuff? Wow!

Of course, we probably would have needed the internet to make it happen, and we were just getting desk-top computers at that time!

BTW I just listened to the recording of our “What’s Up With Onyx Path Community Content?” panel from Gen Con on the Onyx Pathcast from last Friday, so Community Content might be on my mind. It’s a good panel if you’re interested in exploring publishing your own material for our games, so check it out on Podbean or your favorite podcast venue.

Dark Eras 2 art by Alex Sheikman

Then, Saturday all day was board games with the old gaming crew from both HS and the college years: Elmer the Troll, Thock the four-armed well, Thock, D’Gr’Gr the Duergar, and Ish, the gender-neutral Deep Gnome jester.

Obviously, those are their character names (from one campaign I ran), but in real life they are old friends and we’ve tried to get together once a quarter to play games, or go to the movies, or whatever, and this was one of those occasions.

We played Terraforming Mars and Blackbeard, and had a fun time learning the former while grinding our teeth trying to figure out what the hell the rules were so desperately trying to say with Blackbeard. Granted, it was an old Avalon Hill game, but seriously, these things were contradictory in the same paragraph.

This is one of the reasons I take the errata phase of our Onyx Path games seriously – can the audience understand and implement your text in the way you intended when publishing it? It’s sometimes hard to tell until you get it in front of that audience, so that phase for us gives us that feedback.

Then Saturday night, after our guests left, I raced upstairs to join our ongoing D&D 5e game on Roll20. It had been quite a while since we could get our schedules to line up (and of course it had to be this self-same day), and we were shifting from Justin running it to Oscar. So big change, although they had decided to keep our current characters and storyline with Oscar stepping in to add to our ongoing saga, and Justin could join in as a player.

So I had to play if I could swing it timing-wise. Turns out I could, and did, and a good time was had by all. What’s really interesting is the contrast as I look at the playing experience Johnny and I were reminiscing about, and the one I had on Saturday night.

Still playing D&D (from 1e to 5e!), but there’s our group doing collaborative world building as DMs. Not done by me and my HS friends in those early days; everybody was more about presenting THEIR world, that melange of influences and tropes that they wanted everyone to play in. The chance to tell the stories they wanted to tell. In a way, it was very personal, and it was how we all expected was just how it was done.

I do think part of opening up how and why we create and run our settings is the ensuing decades of game design that have experimented with more innovative ways to play. Not all the avenues that have been explored have worked long-term, but the accumulation of trying different things has enriched our hobby overall.

And, of course, there’s the huge difference that we played on Roll20. We had players on the West Coast US and on the East Coast, and we’ve had players coming in from London, places in Canada, the EU, and Micronesia previously. Being able to pull your group together from all over the world is such a boon when I remember worrying if all of our group would make it just from all over Philadelphia for our weekly session.

What I’m saying with these comparisons, is it’s a great time to be a table-top RPGamer!

DR:E Jumpstart art by Sam Denmark

Final thing about me – I’m going to do Inktober again this year. That’s the challenge to do one drawing in ink every day for the entire month. Any kind of ink. Last year I depicted characters that were all from the MithraukoQuest storyline of my old game world. This time around I’ll be doing characters and creatures that are part of the world, and from different gaming groups’ adventures, that weren’t part of the years the players fought against Count Mithrauko – so look out for my drawrings on social media.

All this, all these years of playing, and the years of reading genre fiction and comic books, the years of TV and movies, of studying fine art and graphics, all go together so I can decide what games we’re publishing, and what seems like it’ll play well at the table, be characterful and immersive, will look really cool, and have visual hooks like page layout and symbols – all of it comes to together and powers up my ability to make sure you have:

Many Worlds, One Path!

BLURBS!

Kickstarter!

Our Creature Collection Kickstarter for Scarred Lands 5e is skittering on creepy-crawly legs towards the next Stretch Goal to add more monsters – that the backers vote on – to the book! The first group of creatures to be added by backer voting are:

Flay Beast

Fleshcrawler

Gray Lancer

Hellfire Bloodshark

Iron Tusker

Love-Scorned Soul

Mist Murderer

Night Tyrant

This book was designed with amazing art by our friends at Handiwork Games, and they’re running the Kickstarter for us on our brand-new Onyx Path Kickstarter page! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/339646881/scarred-lands-creature-collection-for-5th-edition-rpg

And, we’re running this Kickstarter, too!

The Deviant: The Renegades Kickstarter launched last Thursday and we funded in just a tad over 24 hours and are vengefully slamming through Stretch Goals now! https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/200664283/deviant-the-renegades-a-tabletop-roleplaying-game

Onyx Path Media!

This Friday’s Onyx Pathcast features an interview with Red Moon Rising, one of our favorite actual play groups! Go to https://onyxpathcast.podbean.com/ or to your favorite podcast venue!

This week should be the last one where the Onyx Path News goes directly onto YouTube, as soon, Matthew will be streaming directly to Twitch! In this week’s news, Matthew discusses Deviant: The Renegades, Scarred Lands, Vengeance of the Shunned, freelance writer tips, and more! Check out this week’s news here: https://youtu.be/Zf-YB2drW54

Speaking of Twitch, please follow our channel if you haven’t already done so! Our schedule is filled with games including Vampire, Scarred Lands, TC: Aberrant, Pugmire, Scion, Mage: The Awakening, and Hunter: The Vigil, as well as videos on Storytelling advice! Visit www.twitch.tv/theonyxpath and give us a follow, and if you have an Amazon Prime membership and haven’t already subscribed to a Twitch channel for free using it, just type Amazon Prime Twitch into Google and please use it on our channel! The first season of our Scion story is coming to a close this weekend, so thank you to David for running it, and please check out any parts you missed on our YouTube channel

Look forward to October, because we’re going for a special Character Creation Month, where every Saturday we create characters for different games, including Scarred Lands, Deviant, Scion, and more! Remember to find us on Twitch!

Remember, if you miss any content on our Twitch channel, some of it finds its way to our YouTube channel here: www.youtube.com/user/theonyxpath Don’t forget though, that some of that content is Twitch exclusive or belongs to the Storytellers running their games, so don’t miss out and remember to follow us!

The ENnie award winning Red Moon Roleplaying continue their actual play of The Sacrifice, from V5 Chicago by Night, with Klara Herbol as the Storyteller and Matthew Dawkins as a player! Please check them out on www.redmoonroleplaying.com

This week, the Story Told Podcast have created a Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition primer: http://thestorytold.libsyn.com/episode-36-geist-the-sin-eaters-2nd-edition-primer

And here’s the newest Occultists Anonymous content right here, for you Mage: The Awakening fans: Episode 45: Get Out Within the lair of the Seers, the cabal strikes while they still have an advantage. Mage-on-Mage combat! The most harrowing experience the cabal has had yet, threatening mind and body. https://youtu.be/kvTU3Wp8KEs

Episode 46: A Deal Is Struck The cabal recovers from battle and deals with the decision Wyrd made without consulting Songbird or Atratus. Emotions are ragged but there is still Mysteries residing in Lynnewood Hall.https://youtu.be/o5HR_Oj3cjk

If you’ve not been keeping up with our TC: Aberrant actual play, please do give it a look here on our YouTube channel! Collateral Damage is a superb way to introduce yourself to the Trinity Universe through an Aberrant lens: https://youtu.be/WFBBZrUZVkE

And here’s Paws & Claws, our Pugmire actual play! Lots of content for you to watch and interact with: https://youtu.be/ga7wb3ESdEA

It’s been a while since we last promoted them, but Devil’s Luck Gaming are embarking on Season 3 of their Scarred Lands pirates campaign. As one of the best actual play shows around, do yourself a favour and start watching from Season 3. You will not regret it: https://www.twitch.tv/DevilsLuckGaming

Drop Matthew a message via the contact button on matthewdawkins.com if you have actual plays, reviews, or game overviews you want us to profile on the blog!

Please check any of these out and let us know if you find or produce any actual plays of our games!

Electronic Gaming!

As we find ways to enable our community to more easily play our games, the Onyx Dice Rolling App is live! Our dev team has been doing updates since we launched based on the excellent use-case comments by our community, and this thing is awesome! (Seriously, you need to roll 100 dice for Exalted? This app has you covered.)

On Amazon and Barnes & Noble!

You can now read our fiction from the comfort and convenience of your Kindle (from Amazon) and Nook (from Barnes & Noble).

If you enjoy these or any other of our books, please help us by writing reviews on the site of the sales venue from which you bought it. Reviews really, really help us get folks interested in our amazing fiction!

Our selection includes these fiction books:

Our Sales Partners!

We’re working with Studio2 to get Pugmire and Monarchies of Mau out into stores, as well as to individuals through their online store. You can pick up the traditionally printed main book, the screen, and the official Pugmire dice through our friends there! https://studio2publishing.com/search?q=pugmire

We’ve added Prince’s Gambit to our Studio2 catalog: https://studio2publishing.com/products/prince-s-gambit-card-game

Now, we’ve added Changeling: The Lost 2nd Edition products to Studio2‘s store! See them here: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/all-products/changeling-the-lost

Scarred Lands (Pathfinder) books are also on sale at Studio2, and they have the 5e version, supplements, and dice as well!: https://studio2publishing.com/collections/scarred-lands

Scion 2e books and other products are available now at Studio2: https://studio2publishing.com/blogs/new-releases/scion-second-edition-book-one-origin-now-available-at-your-local-retailer-or-online

Looking for our Deluxe or Prestige Edition books? Try this link! http://www.indiepressrevolution.com/xcart/Onyx-Path-Publishing/

And you can order Pugmire, Monarchies of Mau, Cavaliers of Mars, and Changeling: The Lost 2e at the same link! And NOW Scion Origin and Scion Hero are available to order!

As always, you can find most of Onyx Path’s titles at DriveThruRPG.com!

On Sale This Week!

This Wednesday, we’re releasing the EX3 Dragon-Blooded Screen PDF and two more of our monthly Adversaries of the Righteous!

Conventions!

Save Against Fear: October 12th – 14th GameHoleCon: October 31st – November 3rd PAX Unplugged: December 6th – 8th 2020: Midwinter: January 9th – 12th

And now, the new project status updates!

DEVELOPMENT STATUS FROM EDDY WEBB (projects in bold have changed status since last week):

First Draft (The first phase of a project that is about the work being done by writers, not dev prep)

Exalted Essay Collection (Exalted)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #2 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Exigents (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Many-Faced Strangers – Lunars Companion (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Player’s Guide to the Contagion Chronicle (Chronicles of Darkness)

Contagion Chronicle Jumpstart (Chronicles of Darkness)

N!ternational Wrestling Entertainment (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Creating in the Realms of Pugmire (Realms of Pugmire)

Redlines

Tales of Aquatic Terror (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Kith and Kin (Changeling: The Lost 2e)

Crucible of Legends (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Contagion Chronicle: Global Outbreaks (Chronicles of Darkness)

M20 Victorian Mage (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Second Draft

Tales of Good Dogs – Pugmire Fiction Anthology (Pugmire)

Across the Eight Directions (Exalted 3rd Edition)

One Foot in the Grave Jumpstart (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2e)

Scion: Demigod (Scion 2nd Edition)

Terra Firma (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Wraith20 Fiction Anthology (Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition)

Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad (Scarred Lands)

Vigil Watch (Scarred Lands)

Pirates of Pugmire KS-Added Adventure (Realms of Pugmire)

Lunars Novella (Rosenberg) (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Development

M20 The Technocracy Reloaded (Mage: the Ascension 20th Anniversary Edition)

Creatures of the World Bestiary (Scion 2nd Edition)

Heirs to the Shogunate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

TC: Aeon Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition core rulebook (Mummy: The Curse 2nd Edition)

Masks of the Mythos (Scion 2nd Edition)

TC: Aberrant Reference Screen (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Titanomachy (Scion 2nd Edition)

Trinity Continuum Jumpstart (Trinity Continuum Core)

Monsters of the Deep (They Came From Beneath the Sea!)

Manuscript Approval

Mythical Denizens (Creatures of the World Bestiary) (Scion 2nd Edition)

Scion: Dragon (Scion 2nd Edition)

Legendlore core book (Legendlore)

Post-Approval Development

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant (Trinity Continuum: Aberrant)

Deviant: The Renegades (Deviant: The Renegades)

WoD Ghost Hunters (World of Darkness)

Scion LARP Rules (Scion)

Cults of the Blood Gods (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

Editing

Lunars: Fangs at the Gate (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Hunter: The Vigil 2e core (Hunter: The Vigil 2nd Edition)

City of the Towered Tombs (Cavaliers of Mars)

Let the Streets Run Red (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

W20 Shattered Dreams Gift Cards (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Geist 2e Fiction Anthology (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Oak, Ash, and Thorn: Changeling: The Lost 2nd Companion (Changeling: The Lost 2nd)

Dragon-Blooded Novella #1 (Exalted 3rd Edition)

Scion Companion: Mysteries of the World (Scion 2nd Edition)

Post-Editing Development

Chicago Folio/Dossier (Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition)

TC: Aeon Ready-Made Characters (Trinity Continuum: Aeon)

W20 Art Book (Werewolf: The Apocalypse 20th)

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed (Mage: the Awakening Second Edition)

Indexing

Geist 2e (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition)

Dystopia Rising: Evolution core (Dystopia Rising: Evolution)

ART DIRECTION FROM MIKE CHANEY!

In Art Direction

Contagion Chronicle

Trinity Continuum: Aberrant

Hunter: The Vigil 2e – Sam on the fulls.

Ex3 Lunars – Contracted. More sketches coming in.

TCfBtS!: Heroic Land Dwellers – LeBlanc on this.

Night Horrors: Nameless and Accursed

Ex3 Monthly Stuff

Trinity RMCs – Contracted.

Cults of the Blood God (KS) – Contracted.

Chicago Folio – Sending contracts and art notes out.

Mummy 2 (KS) – Characters being worked on, fulls next.

Memento Mori – Contracted.

City of the Towered Tombs – Contracted.

In Layout

They Came from Beneath the Sea!

Dark Eras 2 – Files with Aileen

Trinity Continuum Aeon: Distant Worlds

VtR Spilled Blood – In progress.

DR:E Threat Guide – Helnau’s Guide to Wasteland Beasties

W20 Art Book

DRE Screen

Geist 2e Screen

Proofing

C20 Cup of Dreams

M20 Book of the Fallen – PDF back to Phil for review.

DR:E Jumpstart – Sent to Eschaton for approval.

At Press

Trinity Core Screen – At Studio2.

TC Aeon Screen – At Studio2.

Trinity: In Media Res – PoD proofs coming.

Trinity Core – Printing. PoD proofs ordered.

Trinity Aeon – Printing. PoD proofs ordered.

V5: Chicago – Files sent to printer.

Aeon Aexpansion – Backer PDFs out, errata.

CoM – Witch Queen of the Shadowed Citadel – Backer PDF out to backers, errata gathering.

Signs of Sorcery – PoD proofs ordered.

Today’s Reason to Celebrate!

And so we now are in Autumn! Falling into fall! Let’s celebrate the season that starts today where things get really colorful and then die! (OK, nature is just sleeping…really.) And Saturday was, I hear, Batman Day, which works well, especially if you recall the first drive in the Batmobile to the Batcave in Tim Burton’s Batman with the low angle shot up the road with swirling dead autumn leaves in the car’s wake. Lovely, just like the season.

[hopefulhoep-blog]

The beginning

It was on August 16th, 2019 that I made the decision to get sober. Today I’m 5 (well 4ish) days in and you tell you truth not much as changed since day one. I’m scared. I’m afraid I won’t even make it a week and if I do make the week, then there’s no way I can make two. I wanted to start a blog of some sort to chronicle my journey and a lot of sites I’ve looked at claim it helps, but we’ll see how this goes. I guess it’s important to start at what got me here. I imagine this will be my longest post.

I come from a family of social drinkers. My parents are huge into doing things. I guess what I mean by that is my whole life they’ve been a part of some group or organization that gave them something to do on the weekends. Said organizations also were big into partying, my parents are big into partying. Since I can remember weekends, in particular, involve some sort of activity where drinking is involved. I’m sure the obvious point of sharing this is to demonstrate I have an obvious association with adult+drinking=fun. I’m not sharing this because I blame my parents, I don’t. I’m 29 years old and make my own decisions. I do, however, understand the role genetics and environment play into the choices you make. Did I mention my grandfather was an alcoholic?

Even when I did start to partake in drinking, I always wondered how it would turn out for me. I remember hating when my parents were drunk and how I didn’t want to be like that, but also thinking I could not be like that and also drink. It was “innocent” enough to begin with. Just your average 18 year olds experimenting with the stuff not even their parents wanted to drink (who the hell does a shot of vermouth? Gross). It slowly grew into the college party scene, nothing abnormal there, but for me, that was the first time it starting interfering with my life. I blame it mostly on taking Spanish 102 at 8 am on Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays, I mean an 8 AM class right after thirsty Thursday? Who does that? Anyway, that’s when I first started missing class because of drinking, it’s also when I first brought up my concerns to my therapist. 

Yes, I have a therapist. If you don’t, I highly recommend them. I started seeing a therapist around 15 because of depression and anxiety (which I was officially diagnosed with at 16 and began medication). Of course my anxiety and depression play a huge role in the “why” of my drinking. Even at 21 I was aware of this and actively talked to my psychologist about it. While it was agreed I was at “high risk” for abusing alcohol, she also help me recognize college, in itself, was where many young adults experiment and therefore abuse alcohol and my awareness and open communication on the topic would likely keep me from spiraling down the pit of alcoholic misery.  

It was pretty much from then on this volley continued. I didn’t consider myself to have a drinking problem because other than the occasional (then into frequent) hangover at work, it wasn’t negatively interring with my responsibilities. I was stilling adulting as successfully as everyone else. Plus the people I hung out with weren’t drinking any less than me and they seemed normal. Heck, even when I got into my current job I was quickly introduced to the beer cart and encouraged to drink at lunch and attend happy hours. I was only drinking a couple times a week, so I convinced myself I only had a drinking problem if it became daily or I felt like I couldn’t go a day or two without a drink. 

Then it just hit me. I lost control (again) last Thursday. I went out to lunch and drank, got back to the office and drank, then went out after work and drank. Worst part of this story? I drove. I barely remember getting to my car, but I remember closing my eyes for a minute and then telling myself I couldn’t pass out in my car in the parking garage because that would just be too embarrassing. It was a much smart play to drive home. Best part of this story? I didn’t kill anyone, myself, or get arrested. I’m so fucking lucky. I’ve been so fucking lucky. Why? Why would I keep doing this? Was I waiting for the luck to run out? Was I waiting to hit that proverbial “rock bottom” where I did get a DUI, lose my job, jeopardize my marriage? No. I wasn’t won’t wait for that. That morning, I called in sick to work and immediately contacted my husband who I knew had been worried sick about the night before (he was in bed when I stumbled in) and I told him I was done drinking and needed his help. 

I’m blessed that he understood, accepting my apology, and agreed to support me. I also realize as hard as that moment was, it was actually the easy part in this. I’ve never been one who felt like I “craved” alcohol, but just like everything in life, we want what we can’t have. I’ve taken breaks from drinking before, but those breaks were just about a week or two and this time is harder for me because I know this break is indefinite I’m determined to make it indefinite. I know that when I go out on a boat this weekend and am around my parents (the partying social ones I spoke of earlier) and friends enjoying a cold one, I will sipping on probably some sort of bubbly fruity non-alcoholic beverage and I wonder if that’ll be fun. That’s what I’m most afraid of today. Can I have fun without alcohol? Can I reach that relaxed carefree feeling without the support of the most accepted addictive drug in our society? 

I know so much of this is going to be regaining confidence in me. Feeling good about myself and who am I. It’s funny how alcohol actually makes you feel like shit for 80% of the time it’s in your system, but we live for that 20% of artificial bliss. We’re in a society we’re a couple beers after work or a glass of wine isn’t just acceptable, in many households it’s expected. I’ve been reading blogs from others who’ve gone through this and they tell me it will get easier. The craving will go away and apparently I might actually feel better physically and mentally overall. I just know I’m going to need help getting there. I’m hoping blogging, journaling, or whatever this is about my journey will help. I also hope it can come to help someone else. 

So today, I’m going to keep taking this an hour at a time. I’m going to look forward to what I can and try to keep busy to keep my mind off of what I can have, look at what I do, and be hopeful for what I will have free of this drug.

Thanks for reading.

-MH 

[littlemisssquiggles]

Pinehead Headcanons: Oscar the Dreamer.

What if...Oscar's been dreaming about events in RWBY due to a premature connection with Ozpin established since the day he was born.

I have this little headcanon where Oscar is secretly a writer who loves to tell stories and keeps collections of short stories he’s written over the years in private journals he normally keeps to himself. I picture Oscar being the kind of closet storyteller who's not only very shy when it comes to sharing his work with others but because he moved to Mistral to live with his aunt, he's lacked the motivation to write given the drastic changes made to his life in recent times (such as the possible loss of his parents).

But here's the twist about Oscar being a writer. What if...prior to the story, Oscar was the kind of kid who would write about events and characters he saw in his dreams. Because that's another thing Oscar was known for back in his old neighbourhood. He was the kid who would always have these weird bizarre dreams about places and people he's never seen or met before. So much so that he developed a knack for talking about them a lot; mostly to his folks.

I peg Oscar to be the type to have come from a home with loving parents who meant the world to him. I really dig the concept of Oscar being a writer and keeping journals of dreams. Like as a kid because of his frequently-occurring ‘dreams’ his folks would encourage him to keep a journal to chronicle all his imaginings.

Imagine... Oscar owning a collection of large hard-cover journals as thick as text books. Perhaps Oscar’s mom was a book-binder of some kind in his previous home so paper and books were never a shortage for Oscar. Imagine Oscar having a large journal for every chapter of his life from toddler to teenager, each containing archives of his dreams as well as any other aspect of his life Oscar wanted to record. And to make it fun for him, what if… since his folks would often be entertained by his dreams as stories, Oscar wrote his dreams as self-insert short stories from his perspective.

I’m just having a good laugh, picturing a younger brighter-eyed Oscar seated around a small dinner table with his momma and papa; giving them a hearty rendition of his recent dream for their amusement and one of his parents---usually his father, would then encourage him to become a writer when he grows up or some similar profession; turning his dreams into a best seller due to Oscar’s love of books and his passion for telling stories about his dreams.

I really hope my hunch about Oscar having a passion for books and writing is true. Especially if it ties into another hunch I have about his aunt---Auntie Pine also being a retired authoress and/or at least an avid collector of books from all over Remnant.

But here’s the twist to the twist. What if...the dreams Oscar’s been having were actually memories; past and present that he was actually seeing through the eyes of Professor Ozpin?

What if...Oscar has been bonded to Ozpin since the day he was born?

I imagined that the reason why Oscar’s parents named him ‘Oscar’ was in reference to the colour gold since he was their golden boy---their miracle child.

Like suppose…the Pine Family almost lost Oscar when Mama Pine suffered complications during childbirth and because their village doctors lacked the resources, she ran the risk of losing her baby. However, similar to Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, Ozpin unknowingly reached out and connected to this dying small soul in his dreams and offered part of himself to bring him back, giving life to the Pine’s newborn son---Oscar.  

Y’know how with Cinder, she took half of the previous Fall Maiden’s power and once Amber was killed, the other half sought out its counterpart and went directly to Cinder. So imagine Ozpin giving half of himself to resurrect the soul of a young boy, now being born into the world. But it all happens in a dream-like state that Ozpin isn’t fully aware of himself. After all, we’re not sure how Ozpin’s reincarnation cycle works including the circumstances under which he chooses his next successors. A lot about that is still left up for debate. But my theory is that Ozpin ending up with Oscar is no mere coincidence. I think Oscar has been bonded to Ozpin since birth and the old wizard passing and winding up in his mind was not their first encounter.

So my guess is that Oscar was born into Remnant with his soul tie to Ozpin already intact so that when Ozpin officially died, the remaining part of him went immediately to Oscar.

The funny thing is, neither Oscar nor Ozpin knew each other. Oz knew he once dreamt about generously giving part of himself to save a young child but he never knew the child’s name. Same for Oscar, Oscar never knew that long ago, he owes his life to Ozpin since he practically saved him. But this is just a presumption. It’s probably too farfetched to be canon anyways but I digress.

So growing up Oscar would have these weird dreams from time to time and he would always keep a record of them in his journals; writing vivid depictions of said dreams. But they weren’t dreams. Imagine how cool it would be if Oscar used to dream about events that happened during the Beacon Trilogy. 

Like he dreamt about Ozpin's office back in Vale. He dreamt about Ironwood and Glynda, the faces of two people he never met. He probably even dreamt about past memories that Oz had involvng Salem, the Relics, perhaps even the Silver Eyes---he dreamt them all in such vivid detail that he was able to replicate them in words on paper.  

I really love the idea of Oscar dreaming of these events from since he was a kid but because he's a kid and because he believed his dreams to be dreams, he came up with fun creative names for them such as:

The Emerald Tower of Time (Ozpin's Office at Beacon Academy) The Great Battle of the Emerald Tower (The Battle of Beacon)

The Duel with the Dragon Lady (Ozpin vs. Cinder Fall) The White Hood (Summer Rose)

The Shadow Empress (Salem) The Death of the Scarlet Gladiator (Cinder vs. Pyrhha)

What if...Oscar developed some kind of of premonition abilities where thanks to Ozpin, he can see events of the past (Ozpin's past) but also glimpse the future of people connected directly to Ozpin (like the Maidens, Salem and essentially even Summer Rose).

What if...Oscar dreamt about Summer's death but to him, it's just another dream. Another entry for his dream journal. Another crazy story to tell his parents. Imagine Oscar viewing these events but he doesn't see faces just vague silhouttes and uses his imagination to fill in the blanks.

When Oscar would tell his parents about his bizarre dreams, the two would jubilantly laugh it off as their son having a vivid yet wild imagination. But unbeknownst to them and their son, the things in Oscar's dreams were real and existed in the real world oblivious to their knowledge.

I really like the idea of Oscar dreaming of Ozpin's past memories while getting visions of events through Ozpin's eyes, feeling like he was there as it was happening because in the dreams, he is Ozpin (ironically). 

We already got a glimpse of this being canon in V4 C1 when Oscar suddenly woke up from possibly dreaming about Salem's meeting with WTCH. 

Not to mention, in V4 C7, Oscar was able to describe Leonardo's office in Mistral in great detail. So who's to say, Oscar wasn't having dreams like that before but just perceived them as dreams.

Imagine the team are socializing with Oscar and during their interactions, the young former farm boy tells his teammates of his old journals filled with the dreams from his childhood. However in reading some of the stories, the group recognize something oddly familiar about some of the depictions in Oscar’s dreams.

Like perhaps in the journals, there are code words that match up with events that took place during the Beacon Days.

Like for example, in his dream journal Oscar wrote about a dream he had about an Emerald Tower of Time; which we know to be Ozpin’s former head office at Beacon. Imagine Oscar's journal revealing what the relics are: A Lantern of Wisdom, a Sword of Destruction, the Wand of Life and the Crowning Key to Light and Darkness or something like that.

I really dig the concept of Oscar enjoying writing as a hobby while possessing journals that held secrets to Ozpin's memories that Oscar has unknowingly been dreaming about from since he was a little boy which contain secrets to everything in Ozpin’s past.

If Oz is temporarily taken out of the story for V6 to give our precious farm boy more opportunities for development then that leaves Oscar as the primary source of the old soul’s memories and archive of wisdom. And what would make things even more compelling is if Oscar is having difficulty tapping into Ozpin’s memories without his presence to guide him through the ordeal. But, fortunately, there is another source of Ozpin’s memories provided by Oscar himself.

I don’t think V4 dropping that hint about Oscar being able to describe things from Ozpin’s memories was a coincidence. It was a small taste of something to come; possibly for the next arc. There will come a period where this ability of Oscar’s will come in quite handy for the group especially in the event of Ozpin’s absence. I still stand by my hunch that V5 foreshadowed Ozpin being scarce for V6.

Overall, as I’ll repeat again, I really love this idea now of Oscar being a writer and owning journals that contained dreams he had that were secretly Ozpin’s memories of the past, present and perhaps even future. Who knows? I'd love it to be canon now just to give the kid more personality, y’know what I mean? I really hope we get to see more of Oscar’s character fleshed out for V6 going into the Atlas Arc.

As a matter of fact, can I just get more of Oscar in general. As I’ve said before, he’s my favourite right now and it’s disappointing that his character is still pretty much a blank slate even after two whole volumes.

Hopefully V6 will be the Season of Oscar that us devoted Pineheads are secretly praying for. Fingers crossed ya’ll.

~LittleMissSquiggles (2018)

[thewritingcoconut]

A Framing Essay for two upcoming works

Here is a short framing essay for two pieces of prose I am going to post. The pieces and this essay were originally written for a midterm in college, hence the references to the assignment. By sharing these pieces, I hope to share a bit about myself. Hope you enjoy!

For my midterm assignment, I decided to do one thing I rarely do with my writing: Get personal.

When it comes to my writing, I find it easier to write about someone else than to write about myself. It’s part of the reason why I never could get into journaling despite it seeming to be such a vital part of many writers’....Origin? Process? Experience? Something like that.

Perhaps it’s because my journey as a reader began with dissociation and escapism. I didn’t think that my life was particularly interesting, so I lived vicariously through the characters I read about.

 I started reading to detach myself from my reality so why would tether myself back to it in my writing?

However, I have matured since then. A bit of character development if you will.

I’ve decided to let myself be vulnerable in the spirit of the authors we have read so far in the semester. Many of them spoke about issues that were quite personal to them, either drawing upon their life experiences or the experiences of others that share their culture. Many had a cause to stand for and a grand message to send. I, on the other hand, don’t have that. Or didn’t at the time I wrote the pieces at least. Perhaps my reader will find more meaning from my words than I found writing them. But that’s besides the point. All I had to give was myself, so myself I gave.

A recurring theme within the two essays I submitted is Reflection. This is because for both pieces I scrutinized myself and put my findings to paper.

The Mirror originated from an in-class prompt inspired by the poetry of Tommye Blount. While I was unable to create a piece according to the instructions of the prompt, I still maintained the presence of the mirror. 

The Mirror is an essay-narrative about race and romance. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized that at some point I’m going to want a romantic relationship and in the multicultural setting that I’m in, who I would want for a partner may not be of the same race and ethnicity as I am. Even if they are, my skin color, my blackness would be a factor in our relationship or my attempts at a relationship whether I like it or not. Growing up, I’ve learned that while my friends and family love and cherish me, society generally….doesn’t, because I’m a black female. That usually extends to romance, where I hold less romantic value because I’m black. Even within the black community, some consider being able to date a white woman as a status symbol while viewing black women with disdain. The Mirror is a space where I contemplate these issues and verbalize my insecurities about them.

Writing Myself as an OC addresses a different part of my life. A huge part of my life as a writer has been writing fanfiction and being a part of fan communities. A lot of my writing is inspired by the books, comics, and shows I consume and augmented by the discussions I read online. 

Writing Myself as an OC demonstrated my shifting outlook on myself and writing about myself over time. I tried to take on a conversational tone with the piece because I felt that the topic would be something I would tell a friend now that I’m more open with myself. When I was younger, writing fanfiction was something I was a bit ashamed and embarrassed about because it wasn’t a “legitimate” art form and wouldn’t be taken seriously. I wouldn’t talk about it with anyone I knew in real life because of it. However, I’m a lot older now and not really afraid of being made fun of for it anymore. I’ve accepted it as something I like to do and something to be proud of. The piece itself is a memoir chronicling my self-discovery process through fictionalizing myself.

I’m happy with how both of the pieces turned out. There were points where I was a bit uncomfortable because I was writing about myself but I managed to work through them. I had to simplify some things to avoid large info dumps, especially in Writing Myself as an OC, but I am happy with the cuts I made.  I hope my readers are able to enjoy my pieces as much as I enjoyed writing them.

[whothefuckiscassandracain]

Batman: No Man’s Land - a novel by Greg Rucka

Last but not least, before we head off into Cass’ first Batgirl run, let’s take a look at Batman: No Man’s Land. This one was fun to read, since I practically missed the first half of the event by reading only Cass’s comics issues. Warning: long post is very long. Lots of quotes instead of pictures, this time. More below the cut.

Our first mention of Cass in the novel comes from Oracle, in one of her apocalyptic journal logs, in which she describes Cass as follows:

Can’t be older than 16, if a day. Pretty young woman, Eurasian, very smart. And functionally mute, in that she seems incapable of using language. […] I don’t know if it’s a psychological or physiological trauma, but I’m beginning to suspect she was never taught how to speak or read or write. […] She’s been unable to give me her name—though whether that’s because she doesn’t have one, doesn’t know it, or doesn’t like it, I’ve no clue. I’ve taken to calling her Cassandra. Communications difficulties with her notwithstanding, Cassandra has become, in the last couple months, one of my most reliable people. She’s fast and strong and very sneaky, and to top it all off, she’s fairly imaginative, so that her reports end up being a somewhat entertaining game of charades, aided by scraps of paper and pencils. She’s a horrible artist, but I understand her concepts more often than not, so we’re getting by. (NML, page 26)

Clearly, Cass is very dear to Oracle. Once again, her aphasia is the main focus of her characterization, which makes sense, since, at this point, Cass, together with a few other kids (Alex, Charlie and Vanessa) is essentially Oracle’s eyes and ears in No Man’s Land. Aphasia: 20

Cassandra’s first proper appearance occurs between the pages 47 and 52, when she follows a terrified scream on the street, only to realize that she has been lured into a trap by a cannibalistic street gang. Although she manages to hold her own pretty well, Huntress (in Batgirl garb) arrives to help her. Once the fight is over, Cass tries to say “thank you”, but all that comes out is a croak and she explains to Huntress that she is mute, although:

It was more complicated than that, but Cassandra nodded, knowing that it would be nearly impossible to explain the how and the why. And even if she could explain those two things, she would have to explain the rest, the darkness of it all, and the evil, and she didn’t want to tell anyone that. Not ever. (NML, page 50)

Poor Cassandra is very clearly suffering from major PTSD. We also see her demonstrating another of her quirky gestures, namely how to say “thanks”:

She thought for a moment, then presented both hands, palms up. She looked at Huntress, smiling, then brought her hands together, lacing the fingers. (NML, page 51)

Huntress others Cass to stay at her place and have some food, but Cass declines, in spite of being hungry and cold, because Oracle warned her that Huntress was a criminal and Cass should stay away from her, and because she wants to finish her job (finding intel on Black Mask) first. By the time Cass manages to at least mutter “Guh byh-eeee”, Huntress is already gone. Aphasia: 21 Unusual Mannerisms: 6

A short while later, Gordon and his team start a gang war between two rivaling street gangs in order to allow them to reclaim more territory, including Oracle’s clock tower. Cass reports this fact to Oracle, who is deeply disturbed. The mission succeeds, although new complications arise, including Helena Bertinelli showing up as the new Batgirl, Black Mask leading a cult-like gang on a conquering spree, an attempt on Alfred’s life, which is foiled by Batman (Bruce’s first appearance in NML), and Gordon striking a secret deal with Two-Face, while Bruce strikes a deal with Penguin. Neither really gets what they want, as both villains turn on them and Two-Face ends up taking over Batman’s territory, which results in the loss of six innocent lives.

Not too long after, Cass delivers new information to Barbara, this time bringing along a note form Alfred, who has taken up shelter at Dr. Thompkins clinic, helping her treat the wounded. At this point, master assassin David Cain sneaks into No Man’s Land, a minor detail that will become more important soon.

Meanwhile, Dr. Thompkins successfully talks Cassandra into spending a night at the clinic, rather than constantly being on the move, or better yet: Cassandra fails to talk her out of it. It is here that we learn just how deep Cassandra’s appreciation and respect for Leslie Thompkins is, mostly because the doctor looks like she could be blown away by the breeze and would never hurt a fly, yet has incredible strength in her. This leads us to a scene similar to what we saw in Batman Chronicles Vol. 1 #18, with Cassandra performing her warrior bow for Thompkins, which leads to this heartwarming exchange:

Cassandra shook her head, then presented both hands. With her right she made a fist, seating the face of it against the palm of her left hand, extending both in front of her at waist height. Then she bowed, looking the doctor in the eye. Dr. Thompkins’s wrinkled face wrinkled some more, and then she surprised Cassandra by returning the bow, saying, “You are quite a warrior, aren’t you, dear? Thank you for the compliment.” Cassandra went to sleep happy. (NML, page 184)

Aphasia: 22 Unusual Mannerisms: 7

The next morning, Cass meets Huntress gain, who is checking in on the clinic every now and then, and uses a number of gestures to communicate to her that Cass is a courier for Gordon’s daughter. Sadly, Huntress misinterprets this as Cass working for Gordon and starts badmouthing Gordon, which has Cassandra feeling horrible for telling a lie and uncomfortable because she does not like where the conversation as going. She ends the talk by giving Huntress the same warrior bow she gave Leslie. Helena returns the gesture. Aphasia: 23 Unusual Mannerisms: 8

We have now finally caught up with Cassandra’s first comic book appearance, story-wise, as Cass returns to Oracle for a reading lesson. They start with the letters of the alphabet, for which Barb praises her. Cass tries to thank her and it is here that we see just how hard speaking really is for her:

Cassandra pushed the tip of her tongue against the back of teeth. “T-aaans…” “Thanks.” “Ta-ah nks…” (NML, page 187)

As in the comics, Oracle has just about taught her how to say “Stop”, when Jim arrives and chides her for leaving the door unlocked, before giving her a hug. Cass’s reaction here is the first indicator in the novel of just how screwed up her own family life was:

Cassandra got up, moving out of the way as Gordon passed her to hug his daughter. She could see Oracle’s smile, how they both closed their eyes briefly. Her own father had only offered her a hug once, and that had been so many years ago, just before she had left. She felt both awkward and embarrassed watching them, as if she were intruding on something she had no right to see, and so she left, slipping silently out of the apartment and back into the hallway. She could hear their voices, the soft tones, and she reached the stairs knowing that jealousy was dogging her steps. She wrestled with it all the way to the lobby, trying to see the emotion for exactly what it was. She didn’t want to feel sorry for herself. (NML, page 187)

Just as in the comics, Cassandra catches sight of her father as she exits the building and it scares her out of her socks. However, all of that goes straight out of the window as she realizes that Cain is here to kill Gordon and Cass jumps in to rescue him. Not only is she fast as the Flash about it, she also proves that she can be fiercely stubborn when it comes to protecting people:

She scared them with her approach, two of the men stepping back and freeing their weapons from their holsters, and Gordon’s surprise was alight all over his face. She didn’t care, didn’t think about it, just grabbed him around the waist, passing the Blue Boys on either side of the Commissioner, and then driving him back into the lobby, shoving him down and covering him with her body. […] Cassandra pushed herself up, still holding the Commissioner, dragging him forcefully back into the lobby, […] Gordon started to get up and Cassandra caught him by the arms, shoving him back, toward the stairway. […] Cassandra moved directly in front of Gordon, then wrapped her arms around his middle, using her right leg as a brace, trying to keep him from continuing. He tried for a second longer, but Cassandra held her ground, and Gordon finally got the message. (NML, page 188-189)

Fast As Lighting: 10 Fiercely Assertive Protector: 7

The following interrogation, in which both Jim and Cassandra become increasingly frustrated with the obstacle that is her aphasia and in which Barbara recognizes the mark of Cain that Cassandra draws for them, culminates in this heartbreaking little gem, right after they finally work out that Cain is Cassandra’s father:

Cassandra nodded and couldn’t look at any of them, avoiding their eyes. It didn’t matter; she could feel their stares, the heat and accusation in them. It didn’t matter that she had never wanted to be like her father. It didn’t matter that there had never been any choice. She was a killer, too, and try as she might, she had never been able to escape that. (NML, page 195)

Aphasia: 24

Cassandra then gets the jump on both Barbara and Jim by jumping out of her seat and locking both of them in before anyone has a chance to react. Cain is waiting for her on the other side, opening fire, but not aiming at her, and Cassandra once again demonstrates that she is the speedster on the team:

It all seemed to slow down for her then as the adrenaline poured in, and she moved forward, slapping the gun from Cain’s grip. She was terrifying in her speed, and she knew that, because this was her strength, this was her language. These were the words her father had taught her, and she spoke fluently, her right leg snapping a kick that caught him in the middle, collapsing him double. Before he could straighten she had finished the sentence, a short burst uppercut that sent a spray of blood from her father’s mouth and one of his front teeth into the air. (NML, page 196)

Aphasia: 25 Fast As Lightning: 12 Fiercely Assertive Protector: 8

Throughout her fight with Cain, Cassandra keeps flashing back to her first kill (according to the novel at the age of 10, even though according to the comics she was 8), which she describes as her father simply having asked her to “just talk”. This memory upsets her so much, that she finally manages her first full, correct word: stop. For a moment, Cain even seems to be shocked and compassionate, but as soon as he hears Gordon trying to break through the door, he is back in assassin mode. Just as in the comics, Cassandra decides to push him through the nearest window, demonstrating both her protectiveness and a serious lack of regard for her own life:

Then they were in the air, falling with the shards, and Cassandra, for a moment, felt almost happy. (NML, page 198)

Better Off Dead: 5

Thankfully, Batman arrives in time to rescue both Cain and Cassandra, although Cain manages to get away. Confident that the assassin will need time to recover, Bruce takes Cassandra to a nearby park where he buried the men who had died during Two-Face’s takeover. He tries to talk to her in a number of languages, including sign language, but of course she can’t answer. She makes him mimic punches instead, and as he goes through a number of Tai Chi Quan routines that Cass always seems to be one step ahead in, he finally realizes what’s going on. And Bats is not happy.

Batman stopped and looked at her, again grateful for the lenses in the cowl that shielded his eyes. He didn’t want the girl to see the sudden pity he felt for her. […] “I knew David Cain once, long ago, […] He used to say that the only way to truly be a warrior was to make your actions as fluid and easy as your speech. He used to say that combat itself was a discourse, the finest form of conversation. At the time I thought it was hyperbole.” Batman reached out, touching the girl’s cheek. “I didn’t realize he was insane enough to actually force that philosophy on another human being.” (NML, page 204)

The two of them then “talk” about how Two-Face hired Cain and how Batman is planning to deal with him, using drawings in the soil. Despite the conversational difficulties, Bruce manages to make it clear to her that he is not going to kill Cain, nor will he let Gordon die. He then leaves, telling Cass to return to Oracle and stay out of this mess. Aphasia: 26

Cass, being a good future batkid, of course, promptly does not listen to him and instead goes to Two-Face’s base on her own. Within about five minutes, she proceeds to knock out all his guards (including the ones with guns), threaten Two-Face, grab the money he was going to use to pay her father, and leave again. She soon finds Batman and her father battling on a rooftop, drops the money bag right in between them, and lights it on fire. Rather than be angry at his payment literally going up in smoke right in front of his eyes, Cain once again shows that, even though he trained Cass to be a killer and he did do horrible things to her, he does have some compassion and affection for her:

The battle mask that David Cain had worn crumbled, and Batman saw tears in the man’s eyes. He wasn’t looking at the flames. Cain extended a hand to the girl. She turned her back on him and walked back to Batman’s side. Cain stared at her for a moment longer, then seemed to slump, almost shrinking from within. The girl looked at Batman, then took his hand in hers. She still wouldn’t look at Cain. Cain nodded, then turned away. Batman heard him say, “Take good care of her.” (NML, page 215-216)

From this point onward, Cass practically spends all her nights sleeping on Oracle’s floor (NML, page 223) and later her couch (NML, page 229). Bruce also starts training her, this time with Oracle’s approval. This eventually leads to him and Oracle introducing Cass to Nightwing and Robin. Interestingly, their reactions seem to be inversed, compared to the comics, with Robin instantly getting along with her and Nightwing being more reserved:

Robin arrived first, and I introduced him to Cassandra, gave him the short explanation of who she was and why she was in my inner sanctum. They took to one another pretty well and pretty quickly, and it made me remember how young Cassandra really is. […] Nightwing was suspicious of her, and even a little bit hostile at first, but it was clear that his real anger was for his mentor. (NML, page 249-250)

Batmom: 2

Bruce eventually explains to them why he wants Cassandra to be the next Batgirl (would never take a life, surrender, or let an innocent be hurt), but it takes Barbara’s blessing for Dick and Tim to fully accept it. Barb hands her the costume. When she comes back into the control room, dressed in her Batgirl finest, we get a rare glimmer of Bruce being a Good Batdad™:

“Ready?” Batman asked her. Our new Batgirl nodded. It was hard to catch, and I think the others missed it. I didn’t. Batman, for a second, smiled. (NML, page 252)

Batdad: 3

After this point, things start progressing rather quickly. Bruce tears Helena a new one, then proceeds to take back his territory, piece by piece. One of the GCPD SWAT officers breaks off and founds his own violently protective gang, one of the loyal officers has a baby, Bane eradicates all city records in a bid by Lex Luthor to gain the rights to rebuild Gotham and make it his own (a plan which Bruce foils by having Barb and Tim produce perfectly forged certified copies of every record they can find before Bane destroys them) and Joker finally joins the madness, which brings us to Cassandra’s next appearance.

Cass has taken up the habit of including Leslie’s makeshift clinic in her rounds and checking up on her from the shadows whenever she can. She gets a quick hug from Leslie and an offer of tea from Alfred before leaving the camp and promptly walks into Joker and Harley. She takes the fact that he’s walking into the MASH sector with an ax in his hand pretty well and swoops in just in time to exchange a few blows with Harley and keep the situation from escalating, but to her surprise, Joker does not attack her, because he was looking for Batman, not Batgirl. For the first time since watching Barbara and her dad, Cass is truly confused:

Dumbfounded, Cassandra watched as Joker and the others calmly walked away. She didn’t understand. It didn’t make sense. She didn’t know what to do. (NML, page 300)

We fast-forward again once more, and this time there is actually good news: in Washington D.C., Lucius and his campaign to get Gotham’s No Man’s Land status revoked have finally born fruits and the city is scheduled to have basic infrastructure and services again by New Year’s. This announcement has everyone hugging each other and cheering:

[...] even Cassandra was managing to make a little noise, squeaks and rasps. (NML, page 368)

However, Cass’ cuteness does not stop there! As the medical aid starts pouring into Gotham, Cass visits Leslie’s clinic in civilian clothes to say goodbye to her and Alfred. She hugs Alfred “quickly, the way she did every movement once she had decided upon it” (NML, page 374), and answers his question of whether she wants anything in particular by making what is possibly the cutest Joker impression ever:

Cassandra shook her head, then put the index finger from each hand at the corners of her mouth, pulling down on one end and pushing up on the other, making a crazy face. (NML, page 374)

Thankfully, Alfred understands her much more easily than everyone else seems to, although that’s not necessarily a good thing. He tries to shoo her away, but Cass indicates that she’d be happy to hear the rest. It’s not good:

“Joker, my dear. You don’t know him very well. He’s the worst of them. When he’s quiet, like he is now, it’s normally for a very wicked reason.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “You be careful. She nodded. Alfred forced a smile back into place. “Very well, then. Off with you. I have much work to attend.” Cassandra departed, wondering what, exactly, was so dangerous about Joker. (NML, page 375)

The answer, of course, is that Joker then goes on to successfully abduct every new-born baby in No Man’s Land, kills every one of the rogue police officers, nearly kills Huntress, and sets in motion a plot that ultimately leads to Joker shooting Jim Gordon’s new wife, Sarah Essen.

Cassandra, however, is not around for any of that (at least not in the novel). Instead, her last appearance here comes during Christmas dinner, as Dick and Alfred are fighting over who gets to carve up the bird. Everything in this scene is adorable, from Alfred’s dignified threat that there will be no dinner if Dick doesn’t sit down, to Dick’s reply that he won’t eat if he can’t carve, to Bruce’s assurance to Leslie that they do this every meal, and, finally, to Cass’ epic reaction to the madness:

She nodded, then said, “Stop.” Alfred and Dick froze. Leslie covered her mouth in surprise. Cassandra grinned, reached across the table, and took the carving knife. Then she set about cutting the bird. (NML, page395)

[diggerhome64-blog]

Pleasant Gehman Remembers the Wild, Wild Weekly of Yore

I started writing for L.A. Weekly in 1979. At 18, it wasn't my first job as a rock writer but it was my introductory foray into professional journalism — meaning I'd actually be getting paid. I'd already been publishing Lobotomy, the Xerox fanzine I'd created with Randy Kaye and photographer Theresa Kereakes, and writing for Slash magazine and New York Rocker since 1977.

Music editor Bill Bentley brought me on board, as we knew each other from clubs and parties and shared very similar tastes in bands. One night, getting drunk at the Frolic Room, we were talking music and he greenlit my first feature story, "Rockabilly Redux," on the resurgence of American roots music. He was unaware of my ridiculously poor typing skills and I certainly wasn't about to tell him. I wanted to seem professional. Because high school typing class had been so boring, I'd literally cut every session in favor of going to some friend's house where parents weren't around, getting high while listening to Bowie. It took me an hour to get my first article for the Weekly down in longhand, and then all night to type it on a barely functional, borrowed manual typewriter.

Back then, fax machines didn't exist, so you had to complete your story a few days before it was due if you were mailing it in. Yes, mailing it! I preferred hand delivery. On the due date, I took the bus down Sunset to the Weekly office to turn in my story. I was unsure what to expect from a real newspaper; my only frame of reference came from hard-boiled crime reporters in '50s noir flicks. Located in a rundown two-story house just east of Western Avenue, the Weekly's first office was a hybrid of a bustling hippie commune and a messy art studio, a touch of free clinic with a rebellious punk rock flair bubbling just under the surface.

Instead of sleek corporate furniture, mismatched wooden desks and chairs were flanked by filing cabinets that looked like they'd been scooped up off the street on trash day. Several people ran around with paste-up boards; anyone who sat at a desk was either furiously typing or yelling into a landline phone. Most surfaces were cluttered with stacks of papers, overflowing ashtrays, dirty coffee mugs and typewriters, some of which were as messed up as the one I had. Newsprint proofs were tacked to the walls between unframed rock & roll posters and hand-drawn flyers for local bands.

Gehman's press pass

Courtesy Pleasant Gehman

I began to write for the paper regularly, reviewing albums and live shows, doing more features, and interviewing everyone from horror mogul Forrest J. Ackerman to Malcolm McLaren's New Romantic sensations Bow Wow Wow; from photographer and installation artist Steven Arnold to Maila Nurmi, aka Vampira, to whom The Screamers' Tomata Du Plenty had introduced me.

I also got a handle on the vibe of the office. I had wonderful relationships with all my editors. They each did their job with care and taught me so much about writing. I loved working with Bill Bentley because he cracked me up, and with Mikal Gilmore for his attention to detail and because he brought out the best of me with constructive suggestions for rewrites. I revered Phil Tracy because of his no-nonsense newspaperman persona, which matched my crazy noir-inspired fantasies. He seemed tough as nails but was super nice. I also admired the fact that he kept an emergency bottle of booze in one of his desk drawers, all "oldskool" newspaper man, which was what he was.

Jay Levin was kind of like a wacky father figure to me, too. In 1982, when I was about to be married to rockabilly singer Levi Dexter, Jay asked, "What would you like for a wedding present: money or drugs?" Unsure if he was posing a trick question or being serious, I answered sarcastically, "Both!" And in true '80s fashion, I got both from him, each portion of the two-part present way more generous than I'd ever dreamed in my broke punk-girl existence.

Many staffers were older than I was but they were mostly still young, and it all felt fresh, creative and fun. Lots of musicians and artists worked at the Weekly over the years, among them Craig Lee of The Bags, Don Bolles of The Germs, Suzy Gardner of L7, Falling James of The Leaving Trains [Still with us! —Ed.], Ron Athey, Vaginal Davis, plus members of The Flyboys, The Radio Ranch Straight Shooters, Haunted Garage and my own band, The Screaming Sirens. Many hung out in clubs and bars till the wee hours on a nightly basis, showing up to hand in an article spectacularly hungover or even still high.

In an office full of debauchery, the art department was particularly notorious, glamorous in a fucked-up way and always louche. There'd be cocaine bindles casually tossed into the trash sitting on top of proof pages, and people having Irish coffee as they pasted up the paper at 9 a.m. Every time the door to the art department opened, it was like a cross between the party scene from Breakfast at Tiffany's, a Cheech & Chong film and the playa at Burning Man.

EXPAND

A piece about L.A. Dee Da

Courtesy Pleasant Gehman

I was certainly no exception to that riotous "All Tomorrow's Parties" lifestyle. Once, I’d lost track of the deadline for a piece that was due, and had taken a couple hits of acid to go see Ken Russell’s film Caligula with some friends. Only after I returned home blazing did I realize the story was due the next morning … so I attempted to write it. I was so high that every time I typed a sentence, it looked like it jumped off the page. I don’t remember finishing it, but somehow I did. The next day editor Phil Tracy called me to tell me he thought it was one of the best things I’d written. Thanks, Aldous Huxley!

My favorite memory of the Weekly is from 1989 and pretty much sums up the wild, laissez-faire attitude that everyone had. A paperback biography called Deviant was published, chronicling the infamous mass murderer and cannibal Ed Gein, whose crimes inspired Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs. Gein, who was an avid transvestite and cannibal as well as a crackerjack hunter, murdered women, cut them up and wore their skins over his body while dressing up in in his mother's clothes. He'd also eat parts of his victims and, as a way of disposing of the bodies, he gave the extra flesh to his neighbors, passing it off as "venison," so they all were eating his victims, too. Everyone at the Weekly was reading Deviant obsessively and simultaneously.

At that moment in time, an extremely expensive and super-trendy French restaurant opened in Los Feliz. The specialty dish was provincial wild game, and venison in particular. When the place got reviewed in the Weekly, some lunatic in the art department inserted the Deviant cover photo of Ed Gein into the review, with the caption reading something like, "This is NOT the chef of ______” — and it actually got published! Decades later, as far as I know, nobody’s ever confessed.

While the old L.A. Weekly had an unruly atmosphere at times, it was also a hub for serious reporters who took their beats very seriously. I had a lot of fun covering L.A.'s underground but I also worked on perfecting my irreverent reportage and taking advantage of the access I had as part of the punk scene. Which was exactly why Jay asked me to start the L.A. Dee Da nightlife column in 1980. Jay gave me free rein on content, and it often got pretty racy. But then, that's what the rock scene was all about. Obsessed as I was with Old Hollywood, in a punk-rock paean to 1940s gossip columnists Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons, I billed L.A. Dee Da as "the place to dig if you're looking for dirt." But honestly, if I'd actually spilled everything I knew, I'd have been run out of town. Unlike the loadies in the art department, I preferred to keep my debauchery outside of the office.

My process for producing L.A. Dee Da went like this: I'd go out every night, often to three or more places, scrawling a few notes in eyebrow pencil on a flyer. At the end of the week, I'd pop off a stream-of-consciousness column in my trademark one-fingered hunt 'n' peck. By 1983, I was consumed with booking bands at the Cathay De Grande and getting ready to tour, so Craig Lee joined in, and eventually many others. The column ran for years, into the 1990s. Years after I quit writing it, I consistently got blamed for items that other people wrote!

I miss those late 1970s to early 1990s days sometimes, somewhat out of nostalgia for my youth, of course, but also because it seems as if most of the "alternative" stuff going on was actually alternative. Mainstream media wasn't covering most of the people or events that L.A. Weekly was. On the slim chance a mainstream publication did feature something "alternative," it usually seemed to come on the heels of a recently published Weekly piece.

My time at the Weekly was way too much fun, and I look back on those days wistfully. It was like a journalistic Wild West under the palm trees of Old Hollywood.

Source: https://www.laweekly.com/arts/pleasant-gehman-remembers-the-wild-wild-weekly-of-yore-10098352

[2whatcom-blog]

How America’s Obsession with Early Success Is Hurting Late Bloomers

Wealthy Karlgaard was, as he put it, a late bloomer. He instructed Healthline he spent a lot of his 20s "incapable of holding a job greater than dishwasher or security guard." Nevertheless, issues started to alter for him after he took a job with an organization as a brief typist. It was there he started exercising after work with a number of of his colleagues, a bunch of engineers and venture managers who would go on early night runs collectively. Whereas on one in every of their group runs, an engineer requested Karlgaard if he aspired to do something greater than being in a temp typing pool. "I said I did, but I had no clue what. I felt like I'd never figured out the whole job thing," he stated. Although Karlgaard could not give his co-worker a lot of a solution on the time, the engineer noticed potential in Karlgaard and provided him some work doing technical typing. That is when one thing modified for Karlgaard. "It was like a lifeline from heaven, working with engineers and project managers, that opened my brain up to a world I'd never been exposed to," he stated. Right now, Karlgaard is the writer of Forbes journal, a famous writer, tv commentator, non-public investor, and board director. He believes he would not have completed any of this stuff if the chance he was given by that engineer had been provided to him when he was "21 or 22." "I wouldn't have made any use of it," he stated. "I was lucky in a sense." Karlgaard is aware of his story is not as distinctive as some might imagine. Many individuals bloom later in life after they're given the room they should develop. That is why he is made it his mission to assist folks perceive that late bloomers merely have totally different paths of discovery. In truth, a brand new guide titled "Late Bloomers," written by Karlgaard, is because of be launched by Penguin Random Home on April 16, 2019. It chronicles Karlgaard's personal late-blooming trajectory and compiles years of analysis to debate the psychology of late blooming.

How early blooming turned the gold commonplace

"The conveyor belt we've created that drives kids and teens to get great test scores rewards a different set of skills. There are so many more different kinds of human gifts that will flower in their own time. I want to start a national conversation around that," Karlgaard stated. As Karlgaard sees it, the issue is that our present society nonetheless views early achievement as a marker of success. "I have a theory about why that is," he defined. "If you look at the two most lucrative fields, they have been software and financing -- the Googles and Goldman Sachs of the world." Whereas he acknowledges there are clearly different paths to success, he sees these fields as essentially the most profitable and steady -- the fields which have minted essentially the most millionaires and billionaires. "These two industries are really quite ruthless about who they screen for and the kinds of employees they want. They want people coming out of elite colleges with STEM backgrounds. The kid who may have had latent brilliance doesn't get discovered," Karlgaard stated. As these industries have taken over, so has the stress youngsters face to realize as a lot as attainable, as early as attainable, to have one of the best choices for the longer term. Most of that stress comes from their dad and mom, deliberately or not, as they're additionally feeling the stress to see their youngsters succeed. This could typically be as a result of they both see that success as a illustration of how they carried out as dad and mom or just wish to know their kids are going to be able to taking good care of themselves later in life. Simply how far are some dad and mom prepared to go? The latest faculty admissions scandal, through which celebrities like Felicity Huffman and Lori Loughlin have been charged for paying massive quantities of cash to bribe their youngsters into elite colleges, proves some dad and mom will go to nice (and unlawful) lengths. Tales like these spotlight simply how immense the stress to be an early bloomer is right this moment.

The downsides of early achievement

John Mopper is an adolescent therapist with Blueprint Psychological Well being in Somerville, New Jersey. He additionally occurs to think about himself a late bloomer. After bouncing round between jobs in his 20s, he instructed Healthline it wasn't till he was 30 that he determined to pursue turning into a therapist. Mopper referred to as that call a recreation changer and stated, "Every day I'm having these conversations with my clients about what it means to be successful, and how society's version of success right now really boils down to a career path and money. But there are a lot of people who are 'successful' who aren't actually happy with their lives." He desires dad and mom to acknowledge that almost all youngsters aren't able to make long-term profession selections. "I think a very small percentage of 18-year-olds actually know what they want to do with their lives. Then there are some who think they know, but who will change their minds several times. And the majority don't have a clue," he stated. Mopper stated he was just lately having a dialog about this matter with a shopper who occurs to be a highschool pupil. His recommendation to that shopper, and to all excessive schoolers who could also be battling with uncertainty about their subsequent steps, is to go to neighborhood faculty and simply take 4 or 5 lessons they're actually eager about earlier than committing to a level. "I think a lot of people get stuck in the failure," he stated. "They go to college too soon, before they're really ready, and it doesn't work out. They've tried, and going to school now comes with a negative consequence. They feel like they've failed, and that really becomes a part of their identity. They don't want to experience those feelings again, so they can't bring themselves to try again." By permitting teenagers the time to actually uncover what it's they're eager about, what it's they wish to do, his hope is that extra can discover the sort of success that extends far past a paycheck.

Escaping the stress cooker

Dr. Margaret Stager is director of the Division of Adolescent Drugs at MetroHealth Medical Heart in Cleveland. She's additionally a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics. She instructed Healthline, "The pressure is great for teens to not only succeed but also super-succeed. That pressure has moved down from college to high school and now even a little into middle school." She stated that youngsters are being anticipated to realize at youthful and youthful ages. "I'm seeing kids taking AP classes their sophomore year. That used to be something that didn't happen until senior year. It's really taken the fun out of high school for these teenagers who are having to accept that it's just a lot of hard work." She stated she typically tries to speak to oldsters about pulling again from these AP lessons and rounding out the lecturers with one thing the scholar loves, whether or not that be sports activities or music or one thing to do with their church or favourite nonprofit. "That's just as important to their development as AP chemistry," she stated.

Redefining success and failure

For his half, Karlgaard merely desires dad and mom to know that it isn't the tip of the world if a baby does not know what they wish to be at 18 years outdated. In truth, he'd like to see our society begin to acknowledge the advantages of other paths for younger adults, to incorporate neighborhood schools, expert commerce colleges, hole years, and even perhaps the adoption of nationwide service packages and necessities. "I really feel fortunate that it was easier to be a late bloomer when I grew up," he stated. "Today we are typecasting kids earlier and earlier and putting extraordinary pressure on them to get great grades and make great test scores, and when you look at the price we're paying for that -- the rise in student debt, depression, and suicide rates -- we've created this early-bloomer pressure cooker that I think has gotten really out of hand." Although it could appear that society's definition of success is shrinking, there are numerous examples of profitable adults who, like Karlgaard and Mopper, discovered success later in life. By telling their tales, maybe we are able to start to shift perspective and understand that what many in society see right this moment as a failure to launch might merely be a late bloomer who wants extra time to develop into the success they're meant to be. Read the full article

[teachanarchy]

In the 1994 cult classic movie Mi Vida Loca, the chola character known as Sad Girl describes Teen Angels as a “magazine that shows how we are really like.” As her sister La Blue Eyes flips through its pages, she turns teary-eyed when she lands on a passionate poem written by a Chicano inmate, complemented by a fine-line pen drawing of praying hands. She immediately falls in love.

Hand-drawn portraits of cholos with their lowriders and homegirls, guides to perfecting pachuca hairstyles, and poems describing the whole-hearted dedication needed for “Loving A Convict” were staples of Teen Angels, a zine that chronicled the culture of Southern California’s Chicano neighborhoods. Started in 1981, Teen Angels magazine was known as the “voice of the Varrio”, the only publication at the time that featured the artwork, poems, dedications, photographs, and essays of Chicanos, particularly those who were gang-affiliated or in prison. Until the mid-2000s, when production of Teen Angels ceased, the magazine maintained a loyal, underground following among Chicanos who could finally see themselves reflected in print.

In the 1980s, the hallmarks of Chicano gang culture – tattoo sleeves, graffiti art, and the crisp khakis and colored bandanas of cholo wear – were often viewed as signifiers of crime and violence by police and society at large. Mainstream media marginalized Chicano voices, providing a one-dimensional portrait of barrios as violent and drug-ridden.

Teen Angels cover, Issue 166. Image courtesy of Teen Angels Magazine.

Teen Angel, the artist behind the self-titled magazine, provided a counterpoint to this narrative by celebrating the artistic brilliance and originality of Chicano gang culture. Thanks in part to the magazine, which worked as a platform for Chicano inmates to disseminate their artwork to the outside, prison-style art received recognition among young Chicanos who learned to draw by tracing the art in Teen Angels’ pages. Before the age of social media, Teen Angels served as a network to readers and contributors interested in the unique fashion and tattoo styles of barrios across the country. Now that cholo culture has gone mainstream with references everywhere from Givenchy catwalks to Kanye West’s TLOP merch, the roots of cholo culture and Teen Angels’ contribution in promoting and popularizing the culture is often forgotten or taken for granted.

The LA Art Book Fair exhibit hopes to reestablish Teen Angels’ status in Chicano art history.

But this year’s LA Art Book Fair hopes to reestablish Teen Angels’ status in Chicano art history. From February 23 to 26, Los Angeles will witness the largest exhibit yet of original Teen Angels magazines and art. Included are the complete collection of Teen Angels (starting with its first edition in 1981), as well as the original artwork that graced the unforgettably vivid covers – both part of long-time aficionado Bryan Ray Turcotte’s private collection. Teen Angel’s personal items, like his desk, childhood drawings, sculptures, and original artwork published inside Lowrider Magazine and Teen Angels will also be displayed, thanks to curator and Teen Angel’s close friend David de Baca. With over 200 pieces of artwork, the Teen Angels exhibit will be the largest showcase at the LA Art Book Fair to date.

Teen Angels prison art submission. Image courtesy of Teen Angels Magazine.

For those in attendance who wish to start their own collection, de Baca, in collaboration with Turcotte, is releasing a book featuring the cover art of the first 180 issues of Teen Angels, usually drawn by Teen Angel himself. In contrast to the black-and-grey, prison-style drawings that filled the inner pages, these covers revealed Teen Angel’s preference for whimsical, chromatic recreations of street life. “He always liked the covers to have these bright, vibrant colors,” de Baca explained in an interview with Remezcla. Even when Teen Angel used inmate submissions to illustrate the cover, he would color in their black-and-grey drawings, since they weren’t provided colors in prison.

Of course, Teen Angel is mostly known for his “bubble heads.” He frequently sketched gangsters with guns in hand standing against a graffiti-covered wall, inspired by his observations of street life in Southern California. But what stood out most were their cartoonish, wide-eyed heads, which resembled animations made popular in the 1940s and 50s. These bubble heads transformed what may be viewed as intimidating scenes to an outsider into something “fun,” de Baca remarked. Many of his characters were also given nicknames inspired by those given in the barrios by gangs, like La Chorty and La Krazy, who recurred throughout in Teen Angels‘ issues.

In retrospect, Teen Angels reads like a Chicano humanities journal.

The publication, banned by mainstream carriers for its supposed support of gang violence and crime, captured cholos and cholas in moments of romance and camaraderie, telling everyday stories of the barrio. For example, one issue illustrates an afternoon in the park between lovers, with a cholo dressed in a colorful sarape and bandana while his partner sits on a lowrider bike listening to a boombox. Teen Angel also published other magazines that told Chicano stories, like Green Angels, which chronicled Chicano soldiers deployed abroad, and La Bandera, which told the history of the Mexican Revolution.

Teen Angels art submission. This eventually became the cover for issue 31. Image courtesy of Teen Angels Magazine.

In retrospect, Teen Angels reads like a “Chicano humanities journal,” says Claudia Zapata, co-founder of Chingozine and PhD student in Art History. For Teen Angel, it was important to show the value of cholos, gangsters, and prisoners, who unbeknownst to outsiders had developed a lifestyle that encompassed fashion, hair styles, lettering, graffiti, cars, tattoos, drawings, hand signs, and more.

“Maybe there are some bad things about this person, but I’m going to show you the good things about this person like the way he dresses,” de Baca said, explaining Teen Angel’s thought process. “Maybe you don’t like all this writing on the walls, but look at the style this guy has when he writes on the walls. Teen Angel looked past these negative things, and embraced what he saw as good qualities of this lifestyle and the things that they did that were unique.”

For most of his life, Teen Angel lived in obscurity, never publishing his name or photographs of himself in his magazine.

Born in Illinois in 1939, David Holland, otherwise known as Teen Angel, started drawing at an early age. He loved cars and when he traveled with his dad, a military serviceman, to California in the early 1950s, he was struck by the lowriders and Chicano culture. After serving in the 1950s and 1960s, Holland settled in San Bernadino, California in 1977, where he contributed to Hot Rod magazine and Lowrider Magazine. But when Lowrider replaced his centerfold drawings with beer ads – which Holland thought would affect Chicano neighborhoods negatively – he started Teen Angels. For decades, Holland drew, curated, designed, and stapled together the magazine in his living room with his family and a few friends, until the mid-2000s when he handed over the operation of the magazine to his sons Smiley and Payaso.

For most of his life, Teen Angel lived in obscurity, never publishing his name or photographs of himself in his magazine. Before de Baca met Holland, he imagined Teen Angel as an old school pachuco. Apparently, Holland preferred his readers to imagine the man behind Teen Angel as they wished. “When people see my drawings, I want them to feel proud of their culture. I want them to be happy and be enlightened by the artwork. However they picture me in their mind, that’s what I want them to see,” de Baca said, quoting Holland.

Teen Angels issue 177. Image courtesy of Teen Angels Magazine.

In serendipitous fashion, de Baca met Holland about eight years ago, becoming best friends with the man whose magazines had shaped him as a young Chicano. Before Holland’s death in 2015, De Baca promised to keep Teen Angels’ legacy alive.

Cholo culture is now more popular than ever with Old English lettering showing up all over high-end streetwear. But de Baca, who used to iron on the Old English-lettered name of his gang on his shirts, isn’t here for the celebrity appropriation of cholo culture. He prefers to see Teen Angels’ influence amongst young Chicano zine makers like Puro Chingón Collective and Maricón Collective as well as tattoo artists. Tamara Santibañez, a Brooklyn-based tattoo artist who references prison-style art in her tattoos, will present her Teen Angels-inspired tattoo designed in the Los Angeles exhibit.

For the young Chicanos establishing themselves in creative outlets like zines and tattoo work, de Baca hopes the Teen Angels exhibit will reveal a wealth of Chicano art that they can feel proud of.

[bmichael]

January stuff: activities, books, and such

I’ve never been, and never will be, a diarist. I realized today was Feb 1 and that I’d closed a few threads (or semi-closed) that I wanted to think about and process.

I attempted one of those “Dry January” things people do. On paper it actually seems to be quite good. I once had a roommate that fasted once a week. It wasn’t a big impact on his life, really, and it meant his body ended up processing 1/7 the food he’d ‘normally’ eat. Which, actually, is quite healthy. I have no idea if he’s still doing this, but it struck me as intelligent. Not drinking for a month (a 31 day one, at that) seems similarly healthy. That’s a whole 1/12th of the year you’re not drinking alcohol, which, if you drink a lot (...?!) then that’s good. I was mostly successful, drinking only about three of the 31 days. So not really successful at all, strictly speaking. It just goes to show how hard it is to get rid of vicious habits.

In a lot of ways. it was actually much easier to do an 80 day running challenge, which I completed on Jan 6.

The challenge for me was to run at least a mile every day for 80 consecutive days. I think I averaged about 3 miles per run, which ended up being less than my usual weekly/monthly mileage. The experience taught me a lot about sticking with a habit and pushing through mental resistance. I almost never run after work, but during the 80 day run streak, I ran after work about half the time. I bought a headlamp as this all occurred in the fall and winter. I ended up going for a very drunk run after the Ohio State - Michigan game, and I fell down on the sidewalk and really scraped myself up. I realized an easy one mile run can turn into a really fun, energizing three or five mile run. I think I’ll probably go for another run streak, although by the end I was constantly tired and sore.

January was a disappointing month from a health and fitness perspective. I ended my 80 day run challenge, and immediately picked up a new one: to run ten miles more than the previous month’s mileage, for at least six months. The problem was, I had run about 90 miles in December, so I had a goal of 100 in January and an eventual goal of 150 in May, which would be about my maximum monthly mileage. As I mentioned above, I was really worn out from the run streak (how do people stack up years-long streaks?) and turning my mileage up to a very high level was a bad idea. It didn’t end up mattering anyway, as I got to be very sick for the last two weeks of the month (just feeling better now) and I haven’t run since Jan 20.

I picked up another challenge, but one without a time component. Spurred by a friend’s push-up streak and an oblique reference to it from a Learned League question, I decided to train to do the “Sally Up” challenge:

If you don’t watch the video above, the gist is to do push-ups, planks, and whatever you call holding yourself off the ground, but with your elbows bent to 90 degrees - all to the tune of Moby’s “Flower”. The song samples a blues song with the lyrics, “Bring Sally up / and bring Sally down / lift and squat gotta tear the ground”. On “bring Sally up” you push up and hold until “bring Sally down”, at which point you bend your elbows to 90 degrees but don’t rest your body on the ground. It’s quite hard. I’d come across it maybe a year ago and only made it about a minute in. My only training for it was to do it after running, and I went from about 1:20 to 1:45. But I haven’t done it since the 20th. I also haven’t researched ‘strats’ for it, but I presume that by just doing the activity I’ll improve at it. Of course, I do pull-ups as a counter motion to this, but I end up feeling some tendonitis or something in my right elbow from doing a lot of push activities, so who knows if I’ll ever be able to do this.

Another reason why I know for a fact I’m no diarist is that I had attempted to chronicle each of the 80 or so runs I did during my run streak. I made it to run three, and then penciled in maybe number 80. Like, utter failure. I don’t know why I can take up physical challenges pretty easily, but forcing myself to do ‘work’ is infinitely harder. I have a form of discipline, but it’s not that one I guess.

I have a few other self-improvement projects, like learning Spencerian penmanship. As I also have a more than vague interest in pens and things, I thought it was stupid to have bad handwriting. Similar-wise to drawing. I’ve wasted so much of my life being fixated on things. I’ve always loved pens and art supplies -- notebooks, pencils, rulers, markers, paints -- but I’ve never taken any kind of instruction or tried to learn anything artistic. So I had and have been working on that. It’s relatively easy to be able to draw forms and figures if you practice, but being creative can’t be taught.

Over what I like to call the ‘Winter Break’, I received for Christmas and read Masha Gessen’s book about Putin. It’s quite good. I don’t know anything about Russian history, so I have to remind myself constantly to temper my reactions to her stories, but it seems... hella fucked up? It’s improbable and frightening how quickly Putin gained, consolidated, and abused his power. Obviously, there are many, many parallels to Trump. It almost seems by design, which I wouldn’t discount. I’ve constantly found many leftists chiding this new-found Russo-phobia to be consternating or outright puzzling. I know Glenn Greenwald is aware of Russia’s policies in re: freedom, press, minority and gay rights. But he seems pretty non-plussed about it all. Like liberals in the US are just continuing the cold war or something. Which, I think is probably sort of true. But also, the motivations here seem totally different? The political apparatus opposing Russian interference in American political life doesn’t seem like it will gain much materially from its actions. And the opposite faction actually has everything to gain. I don’t understand.

One book that’s helped me to understand somewhat is The Devil’s Chessboard, a long history of Allen Dulles and the CIA, written by David Talbot, who founded Slate. Again, I know very little about anything, so I’m constantly having to remind myself that there are countervailing interpretations and views about all of this. But if even half of what Talbot writes about is true, Allen Dulles and his brother John Foster Dulles are two of the most powerful and little-discussed (in the mainstream, popular press or history curriculum) men in American history. The Dulles brothers ran the CIA and State Department throughout from WW2 through the Kennedy administration. So: they ran the official and unofficial foreign policies of the most powerful country in the world during the period in which it gained the majority of its power. With little public accountability. And their only guiding principles being to topple Communism and make money for their former clients and friends in the insanely affluent world of international business. Take away about 80 points of IQ and trade Islam with Communism, and you have today’s state of affairs.

My thinking has been dominated by trying to contextualize all of what’s happening with whatever accounts of the past I can find. This book on Dulles has been an amazing resource for that, and if you’re unfamiliar with the political context of the cold war, then I’d recommend it. It’s very relevant. The whole of American foreign policy, official and secret, can be traced directly to Allen Dulles. From collaborating with Nazis to creating pan-national corporate states to destabilizing foreign regimes to promote or protect the interests of those states to utterly ignoring the rule and spirit of the law to accomplish all of the above. It’s headspinning, breathtaking, whatever. It’s literally incredible, and I’m looking forward to reading something more ‘basic’, like Halberstam’s book about the 50s, to get some more perspective. But it’s beyond a doubt in my mind that America right now is just where it deserves to be.

I haven’t been listening to as much new music and such this month. I came very late to the Kevin Gates album. He’s been consistently one of my favorite rappers, even though he has a plethora of corny songs (”Hard For” is a major cringer). But his flow is ferocious and his voice is just about singular. Whereas it seems like all the other young rappers have moved to welp-like squeaks and squawks for their vocal style, there’s something strangely transgressive about his deep throated gravelly sound.

I’ve rediscovered my love of Phish. It’s just happy, great, energetic music. I just found out Phish is playing a 13 day stand at MSG, and I hope to go to one of those shows. But, TBH, I could live in the summer 1993 tour and be happy forever.

Up until the election, I listened to so many political podcasts, and then after the election I stopped finding entertaining political ‘news’ and journalism. Especially Jon Favreau. What a smarmy fuck. I hope his new podcast “saves america” or whatever, but I highly doubt it will, unless he can find a way to weaponize the uniquely grating sound of condescension and overconfidence masking his one good attribute in life: having a great boss, once. 

I’ve recently discovered an older podcast (though still ongoing!) called Tincture. It’s a post-apocalyptic one, like listening to an alternate universe version of Fallout. Like, if Fallout 3 were actually amazing and somehow influenced by Stephen King’s The Dark Tower series (but only the good parts). It’s awesome, so far. Highly recommended, along with Doughboys, my favorite comedy podcast of the last year. It’s started off a little ‘ehhh’, but the last episode with Jon Gabrus (who also has a pretty good podcast, High and Mighty) was an achievement. Maybe a little too up its own ass for new listeners, but that’s sort of the whole MO of the Doughboys. Maybe you have to get frog-boiled accustomed to it, though. 

There are lots of other things going on in my life, and January has marked an inflection point in one of them. I’m hoping that things somehow the general situation improves. Going to the women’s march in New York was inspirational for the size of the crowd and the diversity of the voices, but it was just one day. I know people are protesting and resisting throughout the country (and world), but I fear that unless the resistance can become commoditized into some form of media or consumption (basically, subsumed into capitalism) a la Fox News and MAGA hats, then it’s doomed to fail. It’s not fun to stand outside in the cold all day yelling. It’s fun to have well groomed people on TV telling you things you agree with. That’s something you’ll do every day and spend money on, perpetuating the messaging and power it has. I just don’t see a way out until people on the left can start to coexist and consolidate their world views into something sustainable in some form that’s empowering and most of all easy to do. I know that’s not very revolutionary, and making a liberal Fox News sounds like simultaneously an unambitious and meager, sham-like goal. But just being practical, everyone tearing everyone else apart on twitter all day is the opposite of productive. There has to be something else.

(I know it’s ironic that I’m calling for some sort of agreeable mass media to give leftist views a mainstream platform for consolidating and propagating their views just a few lines after slamming the Favreau podcast. Maybe I’m just not the target audience for it, so I walk my condemnation back a little and say, more power to you and good luck.)

January is over. Tomorrow is James Joyce’s birthday. I might go for a run today, but I probably won’t. Twenty-eight days later, this post will almost certainly not see a sequel.

[thalsianiii]

Demons and you in RP, Part 2!

First off, I just want to thank you all for your support and kindness after my first post! It’s nice to see so many of you have taken an interest! Now, a few of you pointed out interest in other demons, i.e, ones that didn’t serve as player companions but might be used in role play plot lines. Or perhaps just curiosity because you’re an aspiring demon nerd like me. Either way, I’ve decided to finish off all I know of demon lore with a couple more posts for you all. This section will cover demon’s we’ve seen over the previous six versions of World of Warcraft prior to Legion. Finally, I’ll make a brief part 3 post with what little details we have on the brand new demons we’ve seen with Legion. Of course, as always, if I’ve left out any details you feel is important do send it my way so it can be mentioned. And if when all is said and done I’ve missed any demons you’re particularly interested in, send me a message and I can relay what I know, or direct you to a good source of canon information to do your own research! So get ready for Doctor Percival Thalsian the thirds second compendium on Demons!

Wrathguards

starting with this one because a few people pointed out that I didn’t include it in my first collection despite it having been a companion demon in previous years. The reason it was excluded is because it is no longer available in game as a companion. But they are pretty interesting and have an interesting backstory that should be shared.

The first point, is wrathguards are in fact Eredar.[1] That’s the same original race as Kil’jaden, Archimonde, and even you Draenei players. However they do have a few odd features, such as extra sets of horns and clawed feet. One theory is that these are mutations from the exposure to fel magic, similar to the broken draenei seen in warcraft III and Outland. It could also be an intentional augmentation, but this is all player speculation.

The summoning ritual for them is also explained in Jubeka’s Journal, claiming that the ritual circle to summon requires less magic runes than other demons, claiming that they respect raw power over intricate spell work.[1]

One interesting fact I discovered in my research on these ex-companions is that, based on their old in-game quotes, they actually enjoyed being Warlock minions! I make this claim based on quotes such as “I live to be commanded!”[2] and “Pleased to Slay upon command!”[2] This makes them sound like they’d be phenomenally loyal demonic bodyguards for any warlock who summoned them.

It’s worth noting that, the glyph of wrathguard appears to still be somewhere in the games system. So we may be seeing them again in a later patch!

Pitlords & Annihilan

In most cases, the Pit Lords act as commanders and generals for the legion forces. They’re some of the best representations of a cliche demon. Terrifying massive monsters that live for destruction. When you think of demons and the Burning Legion, these are the guys that should come to mind.

They also boast some of the greatest cruelty, living to brutalize and torture mortals. They would outright enslaving other demons and using them as fodder in their assaults on mortal worlds.[3]

You’ll note I purposely separate the title “Pit Lord” from the species “Annihilan” for a couple reasons. The first is because, although Annihilan are the only ones seen holding the title of Pit Lord, it is very much a military position in the legion and not the name of the demonic species. There are a few examples of demons that don’t match the titles with the species. Azzinoth, the demon from whom Illidan acquired his signature Warglaives, was of the species “Fiend” but was referred to as a Doomguard (as opposed to a Terrorguard)[4]. Another example being the Annihilan Illidan and his demon hunters fight in the short film “Harbingers - Illidan” who refers to himself as “The Doomlord Azgoth.”[5]

The second is to illustrate that the chances of you actually seeing a true ‘Pit Lord’ is pretty slim if you think about it logically. It would be the equivalence of seeing a military general out on the field with his soldiers, doesn’t happen very often if ever (In fact, only two were seen on all of Azeroth during the War of the Ancients, Mannoroth & Azgalor)[6]. However, an Annihilan of lesser power or standing would be a very reasonable option for an exceptionally powerful warlock antagonist, or perhaps a small cult. In the end, it really boils down to semantics, if you write an Annihilan in your plot as a ‘Pit Lord’ no one would really notice or judge you on it... except me...I’ll judge you.

Dreadlords & Nathrezim

The Dreadlords are equally as evil as the Annihilan, but in a very, very different way. Definitely one of the better known demons to most players. Masters of shadow magic, the Nathrezim are among the most cunning and deceptive of demons. Preferring to infiltrate mortal civilizations and cause unrest and strife from within. Once the nations were dissolved and chaos ran across their civilizations, the Dreadlords would corrupt the mortals into new breeds of demons[7]. You read that right, Dreadlords can turn people into demons. That’s right scary.

As we’ve seen multiple times in game, Dreadlords are capable of taking on the form of others to infiltrate society. Balnazaar and the Scarlet Crusade is a very good example of just how adept they are at infiltrating groups. As fanatical as the Crusaders were, how much of that was their own zeal, and how much was actually the dreadlords influence?

It’s also important to note that Dreadlords, although they’re original demons and some of the evilest, can be turned to the side of the Light. We have one example of this in Lothraxion, who is a Paladin champion in Legion.[8] Now since we only have ONE example, assuming this is common or even exists beyond this singular example is a stretch, but it’s not the only example of demonic repentance we’ve seen.

Mo’Arg & Gan’Arg

Engineers of the Burning Legion, first seen on Outland. Technically Mo’Arg Brutes, Felguards, and Fel Lords are in fact Mo’Arg as well, but for the sake of this guide we will focus specifically on the engineering demons. Mo’Arg are the larger of the two. Sporting highly modified bodies via cybernetic implants and augmentations. Gan’Arg are the stunted version of the two, sporting equally modified bodies. These engineers are incredibly intelligent and cunning, crafting siege weapons, arms, and armor for the legion’s conquest across the planet.[9]

Again, as with many demons, they aren’t strictly aligned with the legion. The Mo’Arg Engineer Sal’salabim is found in the Worlds End Tavern of Shattrath city as a quest giver, loosely working with Altrius the Sufferer, as he drinks his time away.[10]

Man’ari Eredar

Now to cover everything that is the Eredar would also involve citing the whole history of the Draenei, as they are of the same race. But the brief version is this: Man’Ari is the faction of Eredar that joined the Legion, Draenei is the faction that refused and followed Velen. So for you warlocks who like to speak in demonic (or Eredun as it is properly known), a Draenei would most certainly be able to understand you.[11] In fact during a plot line where The Conclave worked along side The Sha’Tor (a Draenei guild on WrA) I had some lovely banter between my warlock and an elder Draenei priest. Makes for super fun role play potential!

Personally, I’d say these Demons offer the best option for a really deep antagonist since they are a previous mortal race and therefore it’s much easier to make them a relatable character. They’re also a perfect example of how a mortal can become a demon. A lot of people may see roleplaying a mortal-turned-demon as somewhat of a taboo, but with multiple races acting as proof I say it’s more than fair to do so if that is your desire.

It’s also worth noting that, because they are -now- demons, they seem to possess the ability to change their shape & size through their new found fel powers. The vast mutations of Kil’Jaden are one example, or the varying size of Archimonde. It is reasonable then to speculate that all demons have the ability to change their shape and form to some degree, possibly even as far as similar transformations as the Dreadlords. But that last statement is unconfirmed and therefore is used at the writers discretion.

Void Hounds/Void Terrors

Really not much to talk about with these demons. They’re 2 headed, multi-eyed demon dogs. Similar in model to Core Hounds. Immol’thar was the only known Void Hound on azzeroth until the Sunwell patch was released. There are also a few examples in game of these creatures being summoned via shadow/void magic, making them aberrations as opposed to demons.[12]

However, Chronicle does specifically cite Void Hounds as demons that roam the twisting nether.[7] so it’s more likely that the ones considered aberrations were simply used for the model because... it’s creepy? Either way, they’re demons!

Satyr

For the most part, Satyr are once Night Elves that were ��blessed’ with the Satyr curse Sargeras first gave to Xavius and he passed on. Although they did later discover that they could pass on the Satyr curse to other races. But the curse has weakened over the millennia and new satyr aren’t often being found.[13]

With that having been said, since Xavius has made his reappearance, along with the massive legion invasion, we’ve seen more Satyr and one could argue that he’s been giving his gift about to any one power hungry enough to accept it, until he was defeated in the Nightmare of course.

Satyr are also another race of mortals turned demon. As with the Eredar, they retain many of their kaldorei features, but sport some interesting mutations such has cloven hooves and horns. They seem to particularly enjoy corrupting and drain the land of its natural life magic. Apparently, the Satyr that have drained a lot of magic have swollen and uncloven hooves.[13] it’s a minor, and rather silly detail, but if you want to write a very old, very powerful Satyr, mention it’s hooves!

Satyr are also another example of how demons/demonic entities can repent and wish to atone for their sins. Avrus Illwhisper is an example of this, and through a quest is actually redeemed and returned to his former night elf form.[14]

Conclusion

So there you have it. Most of the demons we’ve seen over the years outside of those that warlocks summon in-game. Some of them are rich with lore and back story. Others, not so much. But as we can see they all have different levels of depth and personality that can be written and used for a myriad of different stories and plots. Many of these demons of course make for good antagonists, but with multiple sources of demonic repentance over the years it is also possible to have them written in as individuals who want to return to the side of good.

References

1) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Wrathguard

2) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Wrathguard_(warlock_minion)

3) World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 1 (pg 22)

4) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Azzinoth

5) Harbingers- Illidan https://youtu.be/g4RXrI6ZGPk?t=2m24s

6) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Annihilan

7) World of Warcraft Chronicle: Volume 1 (pg 21)

8) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Lothraxion

9) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Mo%27arg

10) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Sal%27salabim

11) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Eredar

12) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Void_hound

13) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Satyr

14) http://wow.gamepedia.com/Avrus_Illwhisper

[gpaficmas]

Robin Chronicles - Part 4

Robin sat in the family room, watching a toddler William play with his toys with a smile. Her baby was growing up so fast and already she knew he was so smart. Every day that she got to spend with him made her life happier. Right now she was waiting on Hazel, who was supposed to visit today with some news. She was looking forward to seeing her sister, actually, since she hadn't had much company as of late. It was hard to feel too bad about it though when she remembered that she did have her little William and he was never unhappy to see her or spend time with her.

"Momma look my car!" he exclaimed, bringing over his favorite car and showing it off. It wasn't the first time she'd seen this car, for he tended to like to show it off quite often.

Still she gave him a big smile and examined it as if it were the first time that she'd ever seen the toy. "Wow, this is the best car I've ever seen!" she exclaimed, handing it back to William who giggled and nodded enthusiastically before running back to the play mat where he could zoom his car around the lined streets.

A doorbell sounded and Robin knew it meant that her sister had arrived. Nonetheless, it wasn't her place to go and open the door and so she stayed put. A few minutes later, Hazel was being lead into the family room and Robin was rising with a smile to meet her.She thanked the maid who had showed her sister here and then invited the other woman to sit down.

"Hello Will," Hazel greeted the toddler, waving at him as he held up his car.

"William, come greet your aunt properly," Robin said, her voice firm but kind.

"There's no need for that," Hazel interjected, sighing when William did rise and come to see her.

"Hello Aunt Hazel," he said dutifully, in the way that he'd been taught to greet people. Even as a toddler he held himself a little straighter when he greeted her, despite the way that her name was chipped by his toddler manner of speaking.

"Hello Will," she repeated, leaning forward and pressing him on the top of his head. "Please go play with your cars. You looked like you were having fun and I didn't mean to interrupt."

A smile spread across his face and he happily ran back to his toys, getting right back into zooming his cars around.

"I have something to tell you," Hazel said, diving right into her reason for the visit and taking a seat while doing so. "Kenny proposed."

Robin looked at her sister stunned. She knew that she'd been seeing someone while at college, but she'd sort of assumed that once she'd finished school she'd be leaving that life behind and find someone of their social circle. She'd heard a lot about Kenny. He was studying journalism in school, he was on a full scholarship and his family lived in a rented house. He had no savings to his name. He was not the type of person that a Dixie girl was supposed to be involved with. "Did you figure out how to turn him down?" Robin asked, thinking this was why she'd come here today.

"I'm not turning him down," Hazel answered. "I'm telling him yes."

She blinked several times, shaking her head. "But- Hazel, what will happen?" She'd never considered that her sister would take things further than toeing the line. That she'd do more than some college rebellion before settling into the life that she was meant for.

"Mother and father are cutting me off," she answered with a shrug. "They've already made it quite clear that if I say yes I won't be entitled to any money. They're freezing my cards, my accounts, and I'd imagine writing me out of the will. They also said I am no longer welcome to visit."

"Hazel," she looked sadly to her sister, wondering why she'd go through with this. If Kenny could be worth the loss that she'd be experiencing.

"I swung by to say goodbye to you and to Will," Hazel continued with a sigh. "Since I imagine that William is also going to forbid you from seeing me."

Robin shook her head as she looked at her sister, wondering where she'd gotten that idea. Just because her parents were cutting her off didn't mean that she had to too. Nor did it mean that William would want her to stop seeing her sister. "Hazel, I think you still hold the wrong impression of William. He'd never ask me to do anything that would hurt me like that. He's a busy man, yes and he has a lot of weight on his shoulders but he loves me and he takes care of me."

Hazel snorted lightly and shook her head. "Robin, I need you to hear this before I go. William is abusing you and I know you don't see it, but he is."

"What? Hazel, don't be ridiculous," she answered, pulling back from her sister. This hurt. She loved William and she knew that he loved her too. Even if he didn't act the way that Kenny did with Hazel, it didn't matter. He was a good husband. She was lucky to have him. "He's never hit me once. Never threatened to hit me. Never called me any nasty names even. I can't believe you'd even imply something like that."

"There are different types of abuse, Robin," Hazel replied sadly, reaching out to try and take the other woman's hand but Robin pulled back still. She was hurt and she didn't understand why Hazel was acting this way. "He's got it so that you can't even see it but from the outside, I see it and you deserve better. Even if you don't see it, I need you to know it."

Neither of them realized that William Jr. had come by at this point. He was working from home today, having had a late night the night before at work and now he stood in the doorway with an unreadable face. "Are you insulting my wife's intelligence?" he questioned, his voice low.

Robin immediately jumped up and looked to William Jr., a guilty expression on her face. She hadn't tried hard enough to shut her sister down. She was going to make William feel like she didn't care what was being said and that wasn't the case.

Hazel also stood and she sneered in the direction of William Jr. "How like you to be hiding around and manipulate a situation," she spat with distaste. "But Robin knows that I was not insulting her intelligence."

"Oh, cause it sounded to me that you think she wouldn't know if she was being abused," William replied, walking in and over to his wife. "That you are smarter than her and it's your job to explain her own life to her. Robin, do you know what's going on in your life?"

"Of course I do," Robin answered, quickly looking up at William Jr with a quick nod. "And I was telling her that she's wrong. I am really happy and well taken care of."

Hazel closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. "Robin... can we please talk in private? I'll explain everything and maybe you'll be able to understand where I'm-"

"Robin is fully capable of understanding anything you have to say," William spoke up, a fierce edge to his voice. His arm wrapped around her protectively.

"Well then you'd let her speak to me alone!" Hazel snapped, reaching forward again to try and take hold of Robin's hand.

"Stop!" Robin exclaimed, a few tears welling up in her eyes. How could Hazel do this? How could she speak as if she were simple? How could she not see how happy she was with William? That their relationship was a loving one? Why was she trying to hurt her like this? "Hazel, I don't need to speak to you in private. I know what you think already, but you're wrong. I'm very loved and very well taken care of." She couldn't help the tears that slipped past her eyes. "And I wish you could see that. My relationship isn't yours but... I'm happy."

William rubbed her back and pulled her into his arms. Their son seemed to figure out that she was crying too and ran over, hugging her leg. "Momma!" he cried, clinging to her. "Momma no cry!" Robin bent down to scoop up her toddler, who hugged her close and pressed kisses to her face. "No cry momma. I love you!" All that served to do was to make her cry a little more at how amazing her son was and she hugged him closer to her.

"I think it's time that you go," William Jr said, his tone hard. "You know where the door is."

"Robin-" Hazel's voice was a bit softer.

"Leave, Hazel," William repeated and the woman threw a nasty glare at him before she did turn to go and do just that. "I don't know if it's good for William to be around her."

Robin looked up at her husband. "I think she just needs some time to-"

He looked at her with some pity and reached forward. "Robin," he said, his tone gentle but holding an underlying steel to it. "You've told me time and time again that Hazel is not the type that changes her mind. She's stubborn and if this is what she thinks she won't change her mind."

"But, maybe I can show her that she's wrong and-"

"Robin, do you agree with what she's saying?" He looked at her with eyes harder than before, but his face portrayed a hurt expression.

"No, of course not!" She was quick to reassure him, not wanting him to think for a second that she believed herself to be in an abusive situation.

"But she does believe what she's saying and if you continue to have her around, people will think that you agree with her," he said, his tone perfectly reasonable. "Do you want people to think that you agree with her?"

"No, I don't-"

"And do you want William to start hearing those lies and believing them?"

"No!" She held her little boy closer, wanting to shield him from everything that was happening.

"Then doesn't it make sense that you'll have to stop seeing her?" William questioned, looking at her with an open expression. "I know you're not the idiot your sister was trying to paint you as. I know you're smart enough to make the right choice here."

She thought about what it would mean never to see her sister again. Then she thought about what it would mean to let everyone think that she was agreeing to the idea that William abused her. There was no choice here at all. She gave a nod. "You're right," she answered with a sigh.

"You won't see her again?"

"I won't see her again," Robin assured him with a slight smile even though her heart sunk at the idea of never talking to her sister again. One of the few people who checked up on her just because she seemed to care about her. However, clearly, there was something broken in that relationship. Something that couldn't be fixed.

William graced her with a smile and leaned forward to press a kiss against her lips. "That's my girl," he said. "I knew I could count on you." He frowned a little as he pushed some of her hair out of her face. "Have you noticed that your hair is getting a bit unruly?"

She hadn't but she knew that she could fix that. "I'll make an appointment at the salon this week," she told him.

He nodded approvingly and told her that he'd have to go back to work, leaving her alone with William again who was starting to wiggle around in her arms so she took a seat and set him back on the ground. "Go back to your cars," she said, then looked at the doorway where her sister had vanished knowing that she'd never really see her again. It was a sobering thought, but she wasn't alone. No, she had her son and her husband and what more did she really need? "I'm happy as long as I've got you... Will," she told her little boy, deciding that maybe adopting her sister's nickname for her son would let her keep a piece of her around still.

[professionalpracticeblog745]

Top 15 Genres of Photography That you Need to Know

https://www.shawacademy.com/blog/top-15-genres-of-photography-that-you-need-to-know/

Aerial Photography:

As soon as our flight takes off, we love to shoot the landscape or city scene below which gives us an advantage of taking a picture from above. So, images that are captured from above is known as aerial photography. French photographer and balloonist, Gaspar Felix Tournachon, took the first aerial photograph in 1858. He experimented for three years before he could produce the photograph. He had captured the French village, Petit-Becetre, from a hot-air balloon, 80 metres above the ground.

Architectural photography:

Capturing an interesting form, shape or colour of the structure can be visually appealing. Therefore visuals of buildings that are interesting fall under this genre. We can include interiors or exteriors of buildings and even an interesting element of the design. The two challenging aspects for photographers while shooting buildings are: Lighting and image distortion.You have only natural light while capturing the façade of the building and you have to make the best use of it to bring out the glamorous aspect. When there are horizontal and vertical lines in the building your images appear distorted. Only with the correct equipment coupled with right angles you can avoid the snag.

Candid photography:

This is a very popular genre of photography. Moments captured spontaneously as they happen is known as candid photography. The subjects are usually not aware of the photographer, so they appear very relaxed. Wedding photography is a perfect example of this style of photography.

A tip: Use a long zoom while capturing candid moments. This will help your subjects to be more relaxed and natural, as they will be unaware of you photographing them.

Documentary photography:

Manual pictures that form a photo story come under this style. It is about a particular subject or a story that a photographer wants to highlight. They are all objective pictures and can be about a war, social issues, science and so on. When you are chronicling significant events, for instance, the life of a celebrity or a sportsman, plan to spend some time with the person; chat; listen and capture what comes naturally. Try and capture details and let your pictures tell a story. Do not try to shoot something that is not a part of his or her life.

Fashion photography:

Typically used to sell something, this type of photography lures customers by glamorising the product. They are generally very creative and visually very interesting and can be taken in any location like a studio, an apartment, a rundown building or anywhere outdoors.

A fashion photographer should always prepare in advance. In this genre of photography, the location, lighting, makeup, stylists and the model play a significant role. However, you should also be open to ideas and suggestions, as it involves a lot of team work.

Food photography:

Whether we are sharing an image of food served at a restaurant or on our dinner table, almost everyone seems to be at it today. This type of photography is used by restaurants, websites or bloggers to entice customers to try and sell their products.A Tip: One of the most crucial factor in food photography is to use natural light. Always remember to turn off the flash. It’s a big ‘No’ in this style of photography.  When you use flash, many unwanted elements get captured. For instance, your food might look greasy and the actual colours get washed out. Landscape photography:

This is one of the most popular types of photography, as it can portray a scenery, or can even show an impact of environmental change. We all love to capture a beautiful landscape when we see one. However, we need to wait for the right light to capture that perfect moment.

Also, while shooting a landscape, if you want a sharp image, use a tripod which will help eliminate the camera shakes. Using a long shutter speed can give you the perfect shot. For example, if you are capturing the waves, it will turn to a smooth white and moving clouds will turn wispy.

Night-long exposure photography:

It’s a great way to capture how the world transforms after dark. This type of photography requires good knowledge of how we use light, shutter speed and aperture. These types of photos are interesting as the viewer gets to see some unusual aspects that cannot be seen by the naked eye. To takes such shots, it is imperative to be comfortable with our camera’s manual mode and implement the correct settings.

Photojournalism:

This photography is similar to the documentary genre. The only difference here is that a photographer captures live events as and when it happens and informs the world about it. Examples of this style of photography is what we see every day in newspapers, magazines etc.

Photojournalism is not about shooting unexpected events, but about capturing unexpected moments at events that are planned. It is serious journalism and a person needs to plan it right to be at the right place and at the right time.

Conceptual/ fine art photography:

Images that tell a story come under this genre. In terms of conceptual/ fine art photography, we can create our own fiction with characters in made-up environment. However, the photographer needs to have a vision of what their picture will look like, as this genre is all about an emotion, an idea or a message. The photographer tries to convey a message through his image.

Portraiture:

Capturing peoples’ moods and expressions is an intriguing subject for photographers. They can be close-up images, body portraits etc. Typically the face is the focus of this type of photography. While taking a portrait, the photographer should ensure that the subject’s face is sharp and focussed, especially his or her eyes. The subject’s pose should also be flattering. To capture a person’s natural expressions, the photographer should lighten the mood by cracking a joke or two.

Sport photography:

This category involves getting up-close to the action in a very fast-paced and action-packed setting. Sports events are captured with very long lenses as we usually see photographers during an event.

A Tip: Always use a high ISO. Increasing the ISO on your camera will enable you to shoot at a higher shutter speed; consequently giving you the perfect shot. Try to be original and get something different by getting different angle shots.

Street photography:

Capturing ordinary, everyday life in public spaces or life as it happens is known as street photography. It is very similar to candid photography, but the photographer documents the public space as he or she sees it.

A street photographer should not just look at the popular tourist spots, but he or she should try out some real-life scenes coupled with some behind the scene images. They must be observant about every little aspect around them. As soon as they see a story unfold, they should not hesitate to capture the moment.

War photography:

Capturing images of conflicts in war-torn areas fall under this genre. War photographers usually put their life in danger to cover the event. War photography can even document the aftermath of war.

A war photographer should always simplify the photography kit, as he/she should not be bothered about changing lenses etc. Carrying heavy equipment is also a big ‘no’ because there might be circumstances where he or she will be better off with less equipment.

Wildlife photography:

This is a very challenging type of photography, as it might be difficult to capture animals in their proper habitat. This style requires proper technical skills and it needs to be planned accordingly. In wildlife photography, you need to be absolutely comfortable with your camera’s settings. If you are not quick enough, you might miss the perfect shot.

The key to taking a good photograph is to go ahead and have fun while you shoot. Your pictures will speak for itself no matter which genre you choose.

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I thought I would start with a range of different types of photography that people thought were important today and found this article which I've placed the information above and the link at the top if you fancy taking a look. I going to look at a range of photography vocations on this blog as I take you on my journey to were I ended up with my professional practice.