#so I had to go find a video with the scene so I could transcribe it myself

[pixlatedvampire]

You gave those wounds to your god, Enki. Did you think they would heal so easily?

(Uh Oh! Someone gave the priest catholic guilt!)

[fob4ever]

i was at a bookstore yesterday that had a copy of the kerrang: living loud book that featured the FOB watergun fight article i've never seen transcribed anywhere so i made a transcript of it for archival purposes. enjoy! from kerrang, may 2005.

For a man staring down the barrel of a loaded gun while wearing just underpants, Fall Out Boy bassist Peter Wentz looks remarkably chipper. Especially when you consider the person about to unload in his face is guitarist and vocalist Patrick Stump, grinning madly despite the fact that fellow six-stringer Joe Trohman has a pistol to his temple. He in turn is firmly in the firing line of drummer Andy Hurley, cackling loudly with his finger hovering over the trigger.

Passers-by stop and stare, waiting for the inevitable, messy climax of this "Reservoir Dogs" scenario. The tension mounts, onlookers brace themselves, the band get ready to open fire. Suddenly it happens.

"Argh!" screams Wentz as several litres of icy water soak him. "That's fucking cold!"

No, Fall Out Boy aren't about to blow each other away, They're having a water fight for K!'s benefit in a car park at the Chicago stop on travelling punk circus Warped Tour, where they're knocking out their "softcore" wares ("We're basically a hardcore band that couldn't cut it as a hardcore band," laughs Wentz) on the main stage alongside big hitters like The Offspring, Avenged Sevenfold and My Chemical Romance. The Windy City is more than just another stop for them; Chicago is Fall Out Boy's hometown, the place where they formed out of the ashes of their old hardcore bands, and where they still live with their parents- who are here for today's show - during the few weeks of the year they're not on tour.

It all started for Fall Out Boy here in 2001 when the members wanted a break from playing in their various bands. Long time friends Wentz and Hurley got together with hardcore associate Joe Trohman to do something a bit less heavy. Following a conversation about avant-metallers Neurosis in a bookstore, Trohman introduced Stump to the rest of the band. When their other bands folded, they took on Fall Out Boy full time.

"We wanted to do things before we were ready," chuckles Peter Wentz fondly of the early days of DIY tours for the benefit of the one or two people who would show up. "We'd plan two-week tours, just to see the world. Nobody would book us, so we had to do it all on our own."

"A lot of bands have scenes to go into and surround themselves with those people," says Stump. "We had no scene, so we would just play anywhere, with whoever."

FOB have come a long way from their humble roots. Right now they're America's fastest rising band. Radio smash 'Sugar, We're Goin' Down' has placed them squarely in the mainstream, having spent three weeks as the Number One song on MTV's 'TRL', a prime-time show usually devoted to pop acts like Maroon 5 and Ashlee Simpson. So dizzying their Stateside assent has been, they had to cancel their recent European tour in order to play the MTV Music Video Awards, where they are also nominated for 'Sugar...'. Thankfully, FOB haven't let the screaming adoration turn them into big-headed twats.

"A piece of shit with legs on it could walk onto 'TRL' and people would still go crazy," laughs Wentz. "That stuff just goes straight by me. With the fast turnover in the music industry, how can anyone have an ego"

Andy Hurley chips in. "You can be today's main stage and tomorrow's trash."

That's to find out tomorrow, though. Today among the madness of trying to plan anything on the Warped Tour - stage times are decided daily by lottery - Fall Out Boy have to try and find time for hanging out with family and friends.

"Three weeks on Warped is like three months on a normal tour," says Peter Wentz.

"Home becomes like Atlantis on tour, you wonder if it actually exists after a while," adds Patrick Stump.

Now FOB are big stars, a lot of old 'friends' have been coming out of the woodwork. Joe Trohman and Peter Wentz have polarised views on those who didn't give a toss back in the day suddenly becoming your pal once you've made it.

"The way I look at it is if someone's a dick to you and you don't know them, so what?" says Trohman. "Just care about who did support you, keep those important people close, not the people who five years ago called you a loser."

"I work the opposite way!" Wentz counters, before adding darkly, "The people I think about most are enemies. My brain works on revenge!"

Though a tight knit group of close friends, Peter Wentz is clearly Fall Out Boy's spokesman. He does most of the talking during the interview and writes the lyrics, and seems like the most driven one of the lot. As well as doing Fall Out Boy, Wentz has also written a book with tattoo artist Joe Tesaure, 'The Boy With The Thorn In His Side'. It's a dark, twisted tale that could have come straight from the brain of Tim Burton.

"I've always been into Roahl Dahl and people like that, and I was friends with a tattoo artist at the time and we came up with this idea to do a book together," he explains. "It wasn't something I felt fitted in with what Fall Out Boy is, I hate when bands do something that's not 'them'. The book is what it is, and Fall Out Boy is what we are."

Despite all thise talk of nightmares and revenge, FOB are upbeat individuals, enjoying their newfound success, while refusing to allow success to go to their heads. They'll tell you they don't like the shallowness of groupies or industry parties, and that the trappings of rock stardom hold no appeal.

"I don't feel like I deserve it," says Wentz in closing. "It's not like, 'this amount of time and this amount of shows = this kind of bus'. I appreciate what we've got. We've toured in a tiny van and it was cool, but now we're having new adventures living like this. I don't feel we deserve it more than any other bands do."

He surveys the sumptuosly appointed tour bus for a moment before chuckling heartily.

"Actually, that's a lie, we totally deserve it more than anyone else! Ha ha!"

[for-the-love-of-this]

Just an abstraction waiting to happen.

I transcribed most of this from my tiktok video. Tumblr is new to me when it comes to posting, so this could be templated wrong, I shall see. If you'd rather not read, you can check the video on the first image if I paste the link correctly.

Alright, let's try this one last time.

—

If there's one thing this show is consistent with. It's foreshadowing.

Also parallels, but they go hand in hand.

The focus in this post, however, will be on Ragatha, with a little bit of Gangle wrapped in (ribbon pun intended).

A light bulb lit up in my head after I read this post on tumblr. I had to rush to write the idea down in my notes because I have the mind of a polished coconut. (I highly recommend you read their other analysis posts, and heck, there's something there for shippers too).

Basically, I will be mentioning scenes that I believe are hints for our people pleasing rag dolly becoming the most likely to abstract character of the group.

First of all, Ragatha already had a taste of what abstraction felt like. Pomni did as well, but only from trying to help her up. (Can I just add that they shared a spark-)

She told Ragatha that she would go find Caine, but unfortunately she never did come back after she finds herself lured by the exit door.

If Ragatha were to end up fully abstracted, I would like to think Pomni finds a way to not fail her this time around. Although, abstraction does appear to be a permanent fate. Maybe.

Now back to the tumblr post. It was mentioned that Gangle and Ragatha reflect each other. Both are masking a happy facade, except one doesn't use an actual mask.

So with that parallel between them in mind.

Almost everyone thought Gangle would abstract in this scene…

if it weren't for Pomni's intervention.

So if Gangle was saved… and she's a mirror of Ragatha… our ragdoll will not be so lucky. And that would mean Pomni won't be enough, or even around, to save her this time.

But I keep thinking about the pilot. I want to hold onto the hope of that failed trust being a lesson on what not to do when a close friend is on the brink of insanity, and that Pomni or anyone else has learned from it.

[lalalian]

dr interviews: aeris lucresha greze

date: november 2, 2024

Aeris is my drself in my dragon rider academy dr (aethergarde academy dr)! this is essentially what would happen if I had to be interviewed for a newspaper-- oh, you should be prepared for that, by the way. Videos are a thing, they'll just be on newspapers, and the words from both me and the interviewer will be transcribed somewhere below the moving image.

My drself is honestly just me, but like idk, fancified? Maybe not, idk, I don’t really like to change my personality.

anyway, let's get on to the interview!

WAIT FIRST I LOOKED BACK AT THE POLL AND REALIZED I HAD MY NAME DOWN AS 'ERIS', I KEPT FLIP FLOPPING BETWEEN ERIS AND AERIS, WENT WITH ERIS FOR A WHILE, THEN SWITCHED TO AERIS... I'M AERIS NOT ERIS LMAO

I’ll explain why my last name isn’t Kashmir here in another post!

The Serpentine Record is one of most well-known newspaper outlets in aenaroth!

kalina: "By the skies, it's so exciting to see you! My name is Kalina Idreyss-- I'll be interviewing you today for The Serpentine Record, how have you been doing lately?-- I'm sure the academy's been working you and Kairos to the bone!"

aeris: "Yeah it kinda sucks. Kinda is an understatement honestly."

kalina: "*laugh* We all know how rigorous Aethergarde Academy can be, but, Cadet Greze, would you say it's harsher than your previous life before the academy?"

aeris: "Yes. I could at least sleep in peace at home, but now... oh by the six-- there he goes again."

The building trembles slightly, large gusts of wind force the slightly ajar windows open. A young black dragon roars loudly, Aeris sighs, perhaps this was a rather common occurrence.

aeris: "I told you to go play with the others. I'll be done soon, I promise."

She stands from the plush chair, her feet mourned the loss of comfort as she walked towards the dragon. Kalina stifled a giggle as she watched the scene.

aeris: "No? I can't just leave now. Kai, you have to be on your own sometimes, I can't be here all the time--"

The dragon roars loudly, snapping it's jaws and forcing its head through the window. Aeris pats his head. Suddenly, the slight eye bags below her lower lashes were more noticeable to Kalina.

kalina: "Aww, he's absolutely adorable~! He seems to be quite clingy, I heard gildeds aren't the cuddly type-- I suppose he's in good hands, yeah? Kairos, would--"

The dragon snaps his jaws irritably in Kalina's direction. Aeris swats at his nose, reprimanding the youngling.

aeris: "Sorry, he can be a bit rude towards strangers. Ah, and he's definitely not cuddly, he's clingy. I suppose coddling him like crazy from birth made him this way."

Aeris looks back to the dragon sternly; her eyes narrow-- a clear sign that the rider was speaking sternly to her dragon. The dragon chuffs, smoke puffing out of it's mouth before backing out of the window, and flying on another tower close to their location. Aeris closes the window and locks it, dearly hoping the glass frame was unscathed.

kalina: "Isn't he sweet?" Kalina remarks lightheartedly.

aeris: "He's so sweet. I love it when I find my lunch rotting in his nest. He doesn't even eat any of it... he could've at least eaten it-- why waste food just to annoy me??"

Kalina laughs again, enjoying the dynamic between the two.

kalina: "Oh, can you explain why you chose to name your dragon Kairos? It's a rather unique name."

aeris: "Well, to me, he represented opportunity. He came to me at a critical time in my life, and... I wanted his name to emulate that. I found his name in an old book back at home; I believe Kairos was the word for a critical moment in time in an ancient language, in the book, the word was Romanized into English. I don't know where that book went, but that word just stuck with me ever since I saw it"

Kalina nodded, she wasn't sure what language the name was from, but it held an air of prestige that suited the cadet's dragon.

kalina: "Kairos suits him well, Cadet Greze. I think your dragon is grateful to have a rider who's good with names. Ah-- could you expand on your life here at Aethergarde Academy? Is it what you expected it to be? Did you think you'd end up becoming an S-tier rider?"

aeris: "My life here consists of pure hard work. To be honest, I didn't really know what to expect, but at the same time, I did... I'm not sure how to explain it. I know this academy quite well, but it's not like I knew I'd end up here. Being a rider in general was out of the question for me, I never thought I’d actually be one. I grew up admiring dragons, but I always felt distant— like it was something unattainable."

kalina: "I definitely relate to that distant kind of feeling. I grew up thinking that way too, but now, the two of us are on our way to do great things, aren't we?”

Kalina gives the cadet an encouraging smile, “Cadet Greze, can I ask how you came to know of Aethergarde Academy? Some of the students Serpentine Record interviewed in the past didn't even know much about riders until they became cadets. Did you hear about riders from your parents-- maybe your friends?"

Aeris opened her mouth to speak, but decided against it. She cleared her mouth and smiled, Kalina thought her smile seemed a little mischevious, as if she knew something others did not.

aeris: "Yeah I heard about it from whatever books I could get my hands on. I used newspapers to build my vocabulary so... I... I would use them to practice writing."

kalina: "My, you must've been a smart kid! Did your parents think you'd end up here?"

aeris: "Definitely not, honestly. It's complicated."

Kalina nods, wanting to ask more questions, but it seemed Aeris wanted to keep her humble beginnings to herself.

kalina: "Alright then, Cadet Greze, is it okay if I ask about your classmates? How's your relationship with them? Is there anyone that you're interested in?"

Aeris' face sours as the interviewer asked her about any students she was 'interested in'.

aeris: "Uh, sure, go for it. I really like Miaene; she's really fun to talk to and she's in a lot of my classes. I'm honestly glad that I even met her-- without her, I'm not sure I'd make it to my other classes in time... the hallways can be confusing. I'm a bit wary of Cadet Lancaster, mostly because he's always discreetly in my business... if that makes sense. Luckily he's only in one of my classes... ah, but it's unfortunate that he's in my throwing knife class. Straus is fine; I try not to talk to him much because-- Uh... I mean, he's great. I prefer Miaene's company."

kalina: "Cadet Lumynstrov? I'm glad you're getting along with some of your classmates; not many people predicted that you'd get along so well with her. Ah-- is there anyone you're interested in?"

aeris: "I'm very platonically interested in all my classmates."

Kalina laughs, but continues to prod.

kalina: "Are you sure? What about the Lancaster Cadets? Cadet Whit?"

aeris: "The Lancaster Cadets are... very..."

kalina: "Very...?"

aeris: "...Irritating. Slightly perturbing. Occasionally bothersome."

kalina: "Callisto seems to be quite interested in you, perhaps the two of you would--"

aeris: "absolutely not, miss idreyss."

Aeris shivers in disgust. The idea of Callisto was like drinking dragon piss, perhaps even worse than that.

Kalina laughs and gives the cadet a cheeky look.

kalina: "Aw, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to explore that path, no?"

aeris: "No. Miss. Idreyss. It would."

kalina: "*laugh* Well, I would like to inform you that many people like the idea of the two of you together-- based on a few photos in some recent papers, Callisto often sneaks out to see you--"

Aeris, horrified, abruptly interrupts Kalina.

aeris: "He what??? I need to get a restraining order-- cause WHAT."

kalina: "A… restraining order...?"

aeris: "It's nothing. I just--" Aeris gags.

Kalina tries to hold in a laugh behind her fist, and takes out a few newspapers from her bag.

kalina: "Many are speculating that these students are Cadet Lancaster--"

She points to a familiar white haired boy in each photograph, with each photo, Aeris grows more aghast.

aeris: "Th-that is him...!"

kalina: "Other than personal interest, do you know why he'd be so inclined to follow you around?"

aeris: “He's GROSS, that's why."

kalina: "I'm sure if the two of you got to know each other, he'd try to meet you on your own terms!"

Kalina held back another laugh with a smile. Aeris could only respond with disgust at the prospect.

aeris: "Just... Next question please..."

kalina: "Alright, hm, oh-- What classes are you most interested in this year, and what do you plan to take later on?"

aeris: "A-As I mentioned earlier, I'm taking a beginner throwing knife classes, if Callisto wasn't in that class too, it'd be more fun. Because of him, I think my favorite class in general is my scythe training class. I'd say my favorite non-fighting class would be Magical Creatures I. I really would like to take a few Merspeak classes in the future."

kalina: "You chose to use a scythe? Most riders choose to fight with swords-- what made you choose the scythe?"

aeris: "Honestly, it just felt right. It's not like I was unhappy learning how to use a sword-- it just didn't feel like it suited me."

kalina: "Oh wow, I heard that the scythe has a pretty steep learning curve-- did class go well on your first day?"

aeris: "It went as well as it could've been. Our teacher is tough on us, we aren't allowed to leave until we've mastered the skill to a certain degree. Luckily, it seems that I've got some sort of natural skill for scything."

kalina: "That's great, I think the scythe really suits you. It's rare to see a student choose that kind of weapon."

aeris: "Yeah... I don't blame them."

kalina: "Alright then, that's all the questions I've got for today, do you want to say anything else?"

aeris: "Mm... Don't treat Kairos harshly. Yes, he's a gilded dragon, but it's not like he chose to be that way. He's powerful, but under all those scales, he's emotionally weak. I won't stop him from lashing out if someone decides to spit on him purely because of his breed-- I mean, I'll rein him in if he tries to hurt anyone, but I think people need to face the consequences of their actions. Kairos isn't the kind of dragon to take things lightly, neither am I. I refuse to have people experiment on him or examine him like he's some sort of object. Thank you for today's interview, Miss Idreyss."

wanna know more about my aethergarde academy dr? here's a masterlist with everything I've posted about it!

-

-

-

I'm not too great at writing, so if it seems blocky or unrealistic, yeahhhh that's my bad 😭😭

[pikapeppa]

A transcript of Solas's involvement in Vows & Vengeance: Episode 1

As the title says: I transcribed the scene between Solas, Nadia, and Elio in the first ep of the Vows & Vengeance podcast, for fic and meta reasons for anyone who wants it!

Of note: some of the closed captions for the video are not accurate to the actual audio recording. One particular significant instance of this is highlighted in the transcript below. I also added a little bit of context for clarification purposes.

This transcript covers the portion of the podcast from 31:26 - 40:04.

See below the cut!

[Elio and Nadia are riding through the Silent Plains. They are on the run from Tevinter. Nadia’s horse whinnies in fear.]

Nadia: Whoa, whoa! What’s got you spooked, girl?

Elio: Probably just that ominous-looking chap in the road just ahead. Is that your guy?

Nadia: I’m not sure. Hood’s up. I can’t see his face.

Elio: Think he’s safe?

Nadia: Let’s go find out. Keep an eye for bandits just in case.

[They approach the ominous-looking chap.]

Nadia: You! Stranger! Do you know of Olen?

Solis: Nadia, I presume. I am Solas. And I am, I believe, the one that you seek.

Nadia: you have the gold? 

Solas: If that is what matters most to you.

Nadia: It’s what matters to the world.

Solas: Perhaps.

[clinking of coins.]

Nadia: Looks good to me. Elio, give him the Eye.* (* The Eye of Kethisca — the magical relic that Nadia stole from Arcanist Hall in the Archives at Minrathous)

Elio [whispering]: Are you sure about this?

Nadia: What other choice do we have?

Elio [sigh]: One moment.

[Magical humming. Elio and Nadia gasp.]

Solas: Steady yourselves. There is nothing to fear from this relic.

Nadia: You didn’t see what this thing did back in Minrathous. Unleashed a wave of energy or something. Tore the ground up, almost killed Elio!

Solas [chuckle]: I will demonstrate. Ar dirthan’as ir elgara. Ma’sula e’var vhenan. 

[Magical humming subsides.]

Elio: How did you do that?

Solas: The Eye was made from a rare gem mined in the caves beneath us. It was crafted centuries ago by a powerful Dreamer.

Eloi: So… it’s connected to the Fade?

Solas: Do you feel a connection to the Fade, Magister?

Elio: You know who I am?

Solas: Among other things. I know you well.

Nadia: [sharply] What is this? What — what game are you playing?

Solas: I do not play games. But if you seek answers, then come.

[The sound of footsteps moving through rocky debris. They are entering a cave.]

Nadia: Maybe we should turn back. This cave has a dark energy. I don’t like it.

Solas: Energy is neither dark nor light. It is just energy. And it is not the cave responsible for what you feel. It is the Fade. The Veil is fragile here.

Elio: I can feel it.

Solas: What about the Eye? Can you feel that, too?

Nadia: You said you had answers about what happened. Tell us.

Solas [sigh]: I suspect that when Elio summoned his magic* back on those docks, he unknowingly formed a bond with the Eye, and it amplified his powers. (* Elio used Stone Fist: a spell from the Rift Mage subclass in Inquisition)

[The sound of scuffling footsteps, and a blade unsheathing.]

Nadia: [to Solas] You better choose your next words very carefully.

Elio: What are you doing?!

Nadia: We never said it was at the docks.

Solas: [calmly] Kindly remove your blade from my neck.

Nadia: You start talking. I’ll decide if I move it.

Solas: Do you think the threat of a knife brings truth?

Nadia: The knife is just a promise. 

Elio: Nadia, put it down.

Nadia [sigh]: Fine.

[She sheathes the blade.]

Solas: I heard word that the Venatori had plans for the Eye. I hired Olen to retrieve the relic before that could happen.

[A sound like wind whistling in the background.]

Elio: Why would you do that?

Solas: Because they do not understand its power. Or yours, Magister.

Elio: Mine?

Solas: There are things in motion that neither of you can fully grasp. And it is up to me to ensure that we arrive at the best possible outcome. But in order for that to happen, yes: I will need your help.

Elio: Why me?

Solas: Because you are a powerful Rift Mage, and your bloodline is tied to this relic. The Dreamer that forged the Eye bore the name of An’Dante.* (* Elio’s full name is Elio Andante.)

Elio: My family created it?

Nadia: it was no accident that Olen hired me, was it? 

Solas: You’re sharper than you let on.

Nadia: It’s a gift.

Solas: It’s a frailty. [gently]

Elio: I was told* that the Eye would end the world, not mend it. (* By Neve Gallus)

Solas: Some people confuse a reckoning as an ending.

Elio: So you seek reform?

Solas: I seek… regeneration.

Nadia: I’ve heard enough of this dreck. Let’s go, Elio. Elio!

Elio: I’ll do it.

Nadia: Um, can I speak to you for a moment?

[Footsteps as they step away a bit.]

Nadia: [scoff] Are you crazy? There is no way we can trust this guy!

Elio: I understand your concern, but my purpose in the Magisterium was to help the people. To invoke change. I can’t do that now. That life is over. This could be my last chance to make a difference. And to find out the Eye was born by my ancestor’s hand? I… I have to do this. it was fated.

Nadia: [sigh] Why must you be so noble?

Elio: We are who we are, my love. 

[Nadia sighs. They return to Solas. Magical humming/ringing; it sounds like they are in a large cavern. Some breezy-echoing sounds.]

Nadia: What is this place?

Solas: An ancient chamber. Once home to unspeakable acts. Many were sacrificed on these grounds, and the blood that was spilled weakened the barriers between our worlds.

Elio: And the Eye will help us fix that?

[Ambient whispering sounds. Almost sound like voices. Inaudible/incomprehensible.]

Solas: More or less. 

[Clinking sound; Solas seems to be working.]

Nadia: And you’re sure this is safe?

Solas: As safe as we make it.

Nadia [sigh]: I don’t know. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

Elio: Would it help if I told you that ring around your neck is imbued with a protective spell?

Nadia: Maybe. Is it?

Elio: Mm. Maybe.

[Nadia chuckles.]

[Ongoing magic humming sound; incomprehensible/inaudible ambient whispers.]

Solas: The relic is ready. Prepare your mind. Begin.

Solas and Elio chanting together in Elvhen: Heruamin litirien. Alai uethri maeria. Halurocon yalei nam bahna. Dolin nereba maome…

Nadia [sounds afraid] Guys? Guys, this does not feel right. 

Solas: Silence, please.

Solas and Elio chanting together in Elvhen: Ame amin. Halai lothi amin. Aloamin Heruamin. Heruamin oh lonai. Imwe naine beriole… 

[There is rumbling in the background, rocks breaking, cave crumbling.]

Nadia: Elio! Elio, I really don’t like this! Elio!

Elio: It’s working, Nadia! I can feel it!

Solas and Elio, chanting loudly together in Elvhen: Ame amin! Halai lothi amin! Aloamin Heruamin! Aloamin Heruamin! Aloamin Heruamin!

[Ongoing sound of cave crumbling. Nadia is crying out in fear. Then Elio starts groaning.]

Nadia: Elio!

Elio: Solas, something is wrong!  

Solas: Keep your focus. 

Elio: Solas, please! We must stop!

Solas: Keep your mind steady!

Elio: Argh! I… feel something. A presence!* (* this is significantly different from the closed caption, but my transcription is correct.)

Nadia: Solas, you have to stop this! 

Solas: This is all to be expected. Remain firm.

Elio: [straining, groaning] I can’t… Hold on!

[Ongoing cave-crumbling sounds. Nadia crying out in fear.]

Solas: If you let go now, the Eye will explode!

Nadia: Elio!

Elio: I’m here!

Nadia: Where?

[Elio screams. The cave collapses.]

Nadia: [screaming] Elio! Elio! 

Solas: [voice sounds distant] We must flee. We must flee! Now! [cries out in pain/effort] Hurry! [cries out]

Nadia: Elio! [voice echoing weirdly.]

Solas: [voice echoing weirdly] Nadia, here! Take my hand. 

Nadia: Save Elio!

Solas: He has crossed over.

Nadia: Elio!

Solas: We must escape! I’m sorry!

[Nadia grunts. Ambient sounds return to normal, no longer weirdly echoing. No more cave-crumbling sounds; silence. Shortly after, there is the sound of gusting wind rustling through grass, the horse whinnying; it appears that Nadia has emerged from the cave, or what was left of it.] 

Nadia: [groaning] Elio? Elio, are you there? Elio? Solas! Hello? [yelling, crying out in despair] No!

[hollygl125]

Oftentimes real-life Jorja Fox does not necessarily give off huge Sara Sidle vibes for me (emphasis on for me, of course). Sometimes she’s super casual (very curly hair, no makeup, could be headed to the beach); sometimes it’s the opposite (former model, Hollywood actress at a formal event, etc.). In contrast, when she’s cuddling an animal she wants to protect or bringing William Petersen to an event, I tend to feel the Sara Sidle vibes more.

Here, she feels quite Sara Sidle (again, to me!), and I’m finding it almost a bit unnerving. Her hair looks very similar to how it looks on my Sara Sidle mug. Her jacket is very similar, for that matter, although it’s a different colour. Her shirt looks so similar to the shirt she wears in the “In the end, darlin’, the truth emerges” scene at the beginning of “Honeymoon in Vegas” (CSI: Vegas, 1x02) that I had to go back and watch the scene (and still haven’t come to a definitive conclusion). She’s got a nice necklace on, too, of course.

She’s talking about “Together You and I,” the new song for which she co-wrote the lyrics with Rick Morris:

What does the song mean to me? [Exhale.] There’s that saying, you know, uh, it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all. And I think that’s a lot of what the song’s trying to say, you know, that… it’s worth taking a risk, um, to get to… to get to—to love someone and be loved. It might all crash and burn someday, but… it will have been worth it, you know.

And that sounds a whole lot like what Sara Sidle had to say in “Girls Gone Wilder” (CSI, 15x05):

I mean, to be with somebody who really gets you, who loves you for who you are—I don’t know. I think it’s worth the risk.

Anyway, there’s no real point to any of this except to note that seeing JF looking very Sara Sidle is fun and, oh, yeah, I had to make a GSR GIF-set about her sentiments, of course, which I will be posting shortly, and I wanted to be able to refer back to transcribed text of her full response somewhere.

You can see the full video on Rick Morris’s Instagram reel, and you can check out their song on Spotify or iTunes or presumably other places. I don’t know. I’m not in PR for Jorja Fox. I just wish good things for the captain of our ’ship.

[stackthedeck]

Hiiiiiiiiii i kinda had a question #lol. The fact that you write is awesome and makes me wanna write too, but every time i try i feel like i have such a large amount of self doubt that comes with it. Every single scene i finish is accompanied by an "oh god this sucks" in my head. Im also having a lot of trouble getting character voices down?? Like wow. Writing's harder than i thought it would be🫡 anyways just wanted to see if you had like tips or anything for dealing with that😨😨😨

Okay so my most practical advice is for how to get character voice. What I'll do as a writing exercise is I'll pick an episode of a show or like a scene from a movie or maybe a podcast episode, pick a medium that has a focus on dialogue. Transcribe the dialogue as you watch or listen (pause or turn on subtitles as needed) and pause the thing between chunks of dialogue and add the action tags, describe what the characters are feeling, give them internal monologue, describe the setting. I know this sounds tedious and like it is and it might not work for you and you definitely can't post it. But it makes me super aware of characters' speech patterns, the way they pause between words, what nicknames or phrases they use often, etc. It's also something that I just pick up on naturally, like I'll talk like my friends not as like an impression of their voice but how they talk and people say it's spooky.

The short cut to nailing how a character talks is to steal dialogue directly from the source, have them use nicknames from canon, and like be aware of their general tone. Like in most situations, Deadpool leans into a more jokey way of speak while Spider-Man is sarcastic with dry jokes and Daredevil is serious and gruff. These will change with each situation you know characters have moods and stuff. But if you're familiar with the source material you're probably really close to a character's voice that you think

with original stories, if I want to create a strong voice for characters and narration, I'll do a writing warm up by going outside or like a library and describe what I experience. I'm not allowed to start writing my actual thing until I include all five senses in those descriptions. I also tend to narrate how I think which doesn't work for everyone but I love metaphors and alliteration so it works. With original characters, they're usually based on someone I know so I'll just memorize their exact words or watch videos that they send me. It's kinda creepy tbh. But rule of thumb is to always read your stuff out loud, heck I usually say the dialogue before I write it, and it gives it a more human sound.

Okay practical advice done now I gotta tell you the thing you won't like. The best way to get over the "this sucks" mentality is to just write a lot. Anytime I'm not so sure about my own writing, I got back to the Hamilton fanfic I wrote in middle school that I proudly put on the internet and sent to my friends and I think "okay it could be so much worse" self-doubt will always be a part of the process you will always be your worst critic. But also you've also gotta be your biggest fan, it helps to find someone else to hype you up, but I dare you to read what you've written a say at least one nice thing about it. Any time you're in the editing stage, say one nice thing about what you've written before you say something that's not working. When you finish editing, say one thing that you're happy you added. You gotta write a lot but you've gotta be good to yourself

[guster-animations]

Kamen Rider Geats Finale Commemoration Producers’ Symposium: Translation (V2 Part 3)

this is part 3 of my revised translation for kamen rider geats’ producer round-table.

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 (HERE)

i originally did geats’ symposium first because it’s already been graciously transcribed and posted by other people (with a few typos)— you can find that transcription of the original japanese text here.

TOKU TRANSLATION MASTERPOST HERE

this translation was done for a few projects of mine. join the henshindex wiki today!

Review I: A Lively Group of Riders

TTFC: You’ve just returned to talking about Kan, and since you touched on the supporters and management side cast at the start, now I’d like to hear about the main cast other than Kan, if you could.

Takebe: Ryuga (Sato) was inexperienced in acting, but he had interesting features in his looks and physical ability.

Yoshikawa: In video auditions at the start, his ratings were high and he was invited to move on to face-to-face. When I looked closely at the materials, Ryuga got an A from Takebe. So it was our first time meeting him in person too. He was filled with wonder, and while other people were auditioning he was saying things like “Whoa…” (Laughs). Well, the real person is fairly different from Keiwa. If something was said, he would immediately stop what he was doing— he’s very responsive.

Takebe: I feel like he fits in the role of “the sharp one”. I don’t mean that in a bad way at all; he’s very attentive and and he completely understands things.

Takishima: Director Nakazawa likes to make scenes where they’re laughing a little bit even in a serious episode. In times like that, he made a great fit for Keiwa. For the director, he decided that Ryuga could do it and left it to him. He was doing that at the soba restaurant, and even in the endgame, in episode 48.

Yoshikawa: He can put together scenes like that himself without being told in detail. I think that’s his talent.

Takebe: So as for Ryuga, I think it’s just a matter of how he’ll use that in the future. On the other hand, there will be scenes in the future where such responsiveness alone is not enough for what the directors ask, so sometimes he should should be an “acting fool”, or rather, become deeply immersed in his role, and grow even further. He’s promising.

Takishima: That’s right. He has the ability to see himself objectively, so he can immediately come up with ideas like, “If I do it like this, the people watching will like it” (Laughs). Of course, that can also be a strength, but I want him to go even further than that. Because I think he can do that.

Yoshikawa: Like Takebe and Takishima said, I think that new opportunities will open when you don’t decide what suffices by yourself, and instead you look closer at your acting. When there is clearly “room for growth”, you want to do you best.

Takebe: Next is Yuna (Hoshino). How is she? I think that she’s had a strong image from the beginning.

Takishima: After all, she was only a person who had a lot of activity in the YouTube and modeling worlds, and still young, so her professionalism is amazing. It seems like her mother said to “always be aware of the people watching you”, and she tightly follows that idea.

Takebe: No matter what or when, she never lets her smile die. I don’t think she can.

Takishima: I think that she worked hard and energetically with such a small figure. There are definitely times where she gets tired. But she never lets that show on her face.

Yoshikawa: She was 17 when filming started, and now she’s 18. But even then, she was able to care for those around her so much, and she always kept them lively.

Takebe: Regarding her acting, the only word I have is “confidence”. The staff certainly loved it too.

Takishima: In things like her speech at the winter movie premiere she seemed nervous, which is surprising when you think about her background, but I guess she’s honest at heart.

Takebe: During the stage speeches for the summer movie, Director Kamihoriuchi said, “The most improved one is Yuna”, and she started crying with joy.

Takishima: The Kurama family was amazing. Ryoko Yui as her mother, and Shinji Kasahara as her father. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both “acting monsters” [TN: I omitted the last part of this sentence because the transcription of one kanji was definitely incorrect and I don’t know what it actually says]. She’s also amazing for getting a hold of it without fail.

Takebe: She deeply wanted to be an actress, and I’m sure that she cried with joy when her role was announced. Having that determination is great. Real life isn’t “Geats”, but if Yuna keeps wishing, that wish will surely come true.

Takishima: To say just one thing, I’m happy that she tried to keep the scene calm, but I say that, when the moment is right, it’s also good to not care about your surroundings and instead enter your own world and zone in. I guess she’s so kind that she can’t help but look around her… As much as I think that, I have lots of thanks and encouragement for Yuna.

Yoshikawa: Can I talk about (Kazuto) Mokudai? He was actually busy with other work and he couldn’t attend auditions. But I liked him a lot and wanted to meet him, so I prepared a chance for him to try out on a day when he was available. Then he took that opportunity, and he was cast as Buffa… Michinaga.

His answers on the audition questionnaire were interesting— For the question “Are you good at a sport?”, he calmly responded, “I can do anything”. Also, during auditions, we met with 4 people who had taught Mokudai, but they kept changing the subject, even though no one was asked (Laughs). Like, “Oh, interesting. Then, how is this actor?”. He, like Yuna, was 17 at the time. Despite this, he was always confident and brazen, and I would think, “What is this person’s deal?” (Laughs).

Takishima: You said back then that it felt a little like Kiita (Komagine, who played the lead in Zenkaiger).

Takebe: That’s true, I did say that.

Takishima: Kiita and Mokudai both listen well to what people said, and are able to further improve based on those comments. By the way, when his manager asked how the auditions for “Geats” went afterwards, he (?) replied, “I got a good laugh out of it” (Laughs).

Takebe: Mokudai was decided, and with Kan as Ace and Ryuga as Keiwa, it felt like the last piece of the male group was filled. Our opinions on who would get which one were divided until the end, and like I said at the start, Kan’s Ace was something that we made a gamble on, but it turned out amazing.

Takishima: Next is Tsumuri. Kokoro Aoshima.

Takebe: In regards to her she seemed to be a little unfit for a cheerful character during auditions, but Tsumuri was probably the only character in the DGP staff who would become an ally of Ace and company, so we wanted her to give a cheerful performance. She was tempted to perform that sort of character more mysteriously, but we kept saying “Be cheerful” and it paid off. Before our eyes, she was established as a bright and sweet character. Director Nakazawa especially cared about that. Tsumuri was always cute in his episodes (Laughs).

Takishima: No matter what, Tsumuri would always get a lot of exposition lines, so we had a lot of trouble with that in the early days. But she got through that period wonderfully. Even so, she had many green-screen shots, and on top of that, she had to say things that she hadn’t known before as if she knew them. I think it was difficult for her.

Takebe: It’s because Yuya loves Tsumuri too. Neon is a heroine too, but Tsumuri is a different kind of one. As the key person of the final arc, she showed a lot of growth over the year. I think she persevered well. At the beginning, she said, “If people remember the role of Tsumuri better than they remember me, then I’ll be happy,” and that was striking.

Review II: “Second Times” and Action

Takebe: For the characters other than the main 5, the key word in a sense was “second job”. They did their first job not as a Rider, and by then it’s easier to work with them because we know those people’s abilities and personality to some extent, and the client would be more willing to work with us because they can think that we liked their previous performance. To cite something specific, Niram’s Ryo Kitamura, and Win Hareruya’s Tsubasa Sakiyama, both appeared together in the Toei Movie-Stage “The Shinigami Incident” (directed by Director Shibasaki), and because of that, we thought about having them appear in “Geats” too. Daichi’s Dai Gotou was in the stage show “Kamen Rider Zangetsu”, and Fuku Suzuki was also in the movie “Saber + Zenkaiger: Super Hero Senki”…

Takishima: Kekera’s Shundo is in “Kamen Rider Amazons”.

Takebe: Shinji Kasahara was a guest role in “Amazons” too, but in terms of Toei shows, “Mirai Sentai Timeranger” was before then.

Takishima: Girori’s Oshinari too, he appeared in a movie for “Kamen Rider Wizard” directed by Nakazawa.

TTFC: Speaking of connections to Director Nakazawa, Haruka Kudo from “Kaitou Sentai Lupinranger vs. Keisatsu Sentai Patranger” appeared as a guest in the summer movie.

Takebe: In that sense, this year had a pretty big group of returning actors, but everyone was happy to lend us their help for as much as they wanted. Everyone certainly delivered performances that exceeded expectations. If you think about it, the framework of taiga dramas and serial dramas depends on their many returning actors, but in tokusatsu, the mental images of the characters performed are strong, so it’s hard to call back people who were playing former regulars. Of course, even though new people are cast in the lead roles, Yu has many reliable abilities in alumni, so there should be no difficulty with calling on those people again. So, Takishima and Yoshikawa, whatever work you help with from now on, I want you to talk to the cast members that you met in “Geats” when the time comes. Also, we didn’t talk about action very much, so… I think the greatest outcome left to talk about from “Geats” is its action. The two treasures of the show are action director Fujita, and (Hiroshi) Nakata, who played Geats.

Yoshikawa: I’ve been watching the Kamen Rider series for more than 20 years, but I’ve never seen action that cool. As a Rider superfan, I really enjoyed seeing action that was still new to me. The shots that Fujita did were amazing, and Nakata’s Geats was always sexy.

Takebe: We always worry about how to do action and what to do to make things feel new. When I enter the position of Chief, I have to find a replacement for last year’s action director: (Michihiro) Takeda for “Kamen Rider Kiva” (2008), Fukuzawa for “Go-Busters”… Fujita in “Geats” was that kind of aim. There were a lot of times we said “You’re doing your best with the action”, but I think we were able to revolutionize action in Rider thanks to him, and it had a big impact on other works too. Like, for example, the ikemen boom at the time of “Ryuki”, and the popularity of voice actors and suit actors for “Den-O”— those things “change” and “are changed,” spreading to the Sentai and Ultraman seasons that started there. I think that these tokusatsu programs establishing new practices is how you say they “changed”. There’s been a reaction to the new “beginning” that Geats’s action created, and I look forward to the action that Fukuzawa will build on it with in “Gotchard”.

Takishima: I think it’s good that there’s a cause-and-effect with Fujita’s action. In the script, you write the beginning of battles and which side wins in the end, but you don’t really point at minute details related to physical movement or the items they use. Because of this, Fujita makes up everything that happens after the battle starts. The enemy weapons are troublesome, so they block the arms a lot, or they took a hit and lost their balance, but at that rate they barely escaped on their feet, things like that. Without the fights onscreen stopping, the “battles” have temperature and are always incredible. [TN: she made a pun on the word for “battle” sounding similar to the word for “warm”] Like Geats and Buffa’s fight in episode 32, I thought it was their final battle. Honestly, at the beginning, I wondered if they would get short of breath somewhere if the fights were this densely packed.

Takebe: It was amazing from episodes 3 and 4 and onwards.

Takishima: That’s right. Well, I thought he was trying to do a special showcase for the start of the program, or a one-time highlight reel, but it just kept going.

Takebe: Fujita really thinks about things thoroughly. So when the summer movie arrived, he seemed tired since it was at the same time as the TV series, but he wanted to do the summer movie himself no matter what, so I respected his wishes and let him to it.

Review F: Reiwa Riders Continuing to Battle

Takebe: We have staff capable of filming the new actors in interesting ways on Rider sets. I think that filming the famous experienced actors well isn’t as difficult because they have their own potential, but truthfully, it’s challenging to make the newcomers look good. However, the first episode of each series is made possible with the director, the cinematography team, and the lighting team. When you add in the fact that they support those actors as they grow, I can seriously respect them and say, “Our company’s staff is incredible!” with honesty. But there were times when even the main characters Keiwa and Neon didn’t appear, and Ace couldn’t let his guard down even though he was the star (Laughs), but how did the cast handle this?

Takishima: About that, the one I worried about most every time was Dai Gotou. He would check a new script and go “Oh, Daichi is still here! Thank goodness!” (Laughs). Compared to Gotou, everyone who played the main Riders wasn’t worried about it.

TTFC: When the series continues like this, it might become a tendency of sorts for them to not worry about it. Like, “I guess this important of a character won’t die.” Of course, it’s still interesting to have exceptions.

Takebe: After all, during “Kamen Rider Ryuki” 20 years ago, it was different in many ways. That time there weren’t exceptions, so when the next script came, the first thing everyone did was check if they were alive or dead (Laughs). They had a hunger for success. That’s something you need to have in order to grow, so we want today’s kids to have that knowledge too.

TTFC: Over the last 20 years, the ways viewers regard TV itself have also changed. Because of that, us at TTFC are also supported by a lot of members, but there’s also an established way to enjoy streaming dramas.

Takebe: To get them to continue watching one-year-long TV series, you can’t make careless decisions. It wasn’t like this in the old days, but now there are already plenty of attractive media outside of television, so we have to do things to advance against competition. Kamen Rider is a strong brand, but that alone isn’t enough to get people to watch it. The way we make trailers and things like that are planned out to the furthest extent possible. We can’t let them forget about the show in the week leading up to the next episode. Even if it’s not the best, they will continue watching it if it continues to stay at the top of their “recommended” lists. To this end, we did everything we could within the production, and we also did everything else we could to promote the show and create buzz. So I also asked Takishima and Yoshikawa to keep working on it. In the extreme, you can start anywhere. If you know about the work “Kamen Rider Geats” and you’re interested in it, we get you to watch it. I’m realizing that this effort has never been as important in the past. Our time will be up soon (Laughs), but do the two of you have something you want to talk about?

Yoshikawa: Because it’s the first work I’ve been in charge of, I think there are still many parts I’m not helpful for. But the other day, when I went to drink together with Director Nakazawa, he said, “As for Kan’s growth, you’ve become a good mentor for him”. Without thinking, I asked, “Director, are you drunk already?” (Laughs), but I was already crying. Kan was a good guy, and I think I had good chemistry with him, but to hear those words coming from the main director of my first project… I don’t think I’ll ever forget that.

Takishima: You might be nominated as “the person who mentors the lead actor” in the next work you’re involved with too (Laughs).

Takebe: Director Nakazawa is incredible too. I think he also saw that point. After all, he has a wide field of vision over the people he works with.

Yoshikawa: I already talked about my personal history, but I was really happy with the many Kamen Rider names I devised. Beginning with Tycoon, then Glare, Gazer, and Regad. Because English is my specialty, I was also entrusted with the English translation of the Desire Card in the opening and the like. As a big Kamen Rider fan, “If I died tomorrow, I wouldn’t regret anything. And even if I did die, Tycoon’s name would remain!” (Laughs). It was truly a privilege to be part of this year.

Takebe: You also came up with the message at the very end, “Ace with us”.

Takishima: I have the character songs.

Takebe: The character songs! People seem to think that I do the character songs, but I don’t (Laughs).

Takishima: Taking advantage of the fact that Takebe has that reputation in the work she’s involved with (Laughs), I made a lot. I’d only worked on Sentai shows up to now, so it was my first time working with Avex, but they also had a wide range of artists. The music producer (Mayu) Iida is also very good at taking charge of the ordering process, and the ideas I conveyed to her were realized as songs at a terrific resolution. While discussing the lyrics, I came to understand the characters better, and it was fun work. All of the directors paid great attention to the music videos they made too, so I’d definitely like the fans of “Geats” who are reading this to check them out.

Takebe: Everyone in the cast will be singing in the nationwide Final Stage as well, so please also look forward to that. Speaking of, the other day there was a lot of excitement in the summer movie’s Kansai campaign. I was surprised by that, but at the same time, it made me happy.

Yoshikawa: Kan is from Kyoto, so he probably said “I’m home!” in his speech (Laughs), but really, there was so much excitement that the meeting hall shook.

Takebe: I’m relieved that “Geats” has provided good results in television ratings, box-office scores, and toy sales. Especially the second half from the beginning of the year onwards, which saw an increase, made it worth everyone’s effort. When you’ve been in the profession for this long, you see some cases where the hard work doesn’t amount to anything, so… in that sense, I’m extremely grateful. Even though we’ve announced the Final Stage and V-Cinext, there are still many other “Geats”-related projects in the works, so I would appreciate your continued support!

[elenajohansenreads]

Books I Read in 2024

#20 - Obsidio, by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff

Rating: 5/5 stars

An amazing end to an amazing trilogy. Seriously, when was the last time I read a trilogy in any genre where all three books were this good? Where the ending didn't disappoint?

Nothing about the fast-paced and unusual style changed throughout the series, so if you didn't enjoy the first book, then its sequels won't change your mind, but to anyone who has started the series but not yet finished it, finish it. The only reason I waited so long was because I had to get the book through interlibrary loan, and that took a while. (I knew enough about the format of the book to know my brain would hate trying to listen to this as audio or read it on my phone, I had to have a physical book that had nice big pages and that I could easily physically turn to read any text that wasn't upright.)

I won't say anything about the plot aside from one small detail I enjoyed: finding out who was transcribing the video footage all this time. I'd like to say "oh, I should have figured that out" but early on, there's no way to know, and the sort of sass and snark that finds its way into those transcriptions is broad enough to belong to several wisecracking characters. (Also it's alluded to that other characters tweaked a few scenes here and there, so while the bulk of it was done by one person, little bits of others' personalities are present, so yeah, I wasn't going to figure it out ahead of time.)

[hectormcfilm]

SCENE RECREATION- THE LIGHTHOUSE

For our final project in Film Production workflow we were tasked with recreating a scene from a film that particularly inspires us. After lots of thought my group decided on The Lighthouse by Robert Eggers as the main goal of this task was to replicate the atmosphere and feel of the scene and The Lighthouse is a film so focused on its feel. We decided to choose a very small and intimate scene where it is all interior shots and just the two main actors. This helped greatly with location scouting and set design as we could more accurately replicate everything.

In early group meetings when we were brainstorming ideas for scenes I championed for the Lighthouse from early on as I thought it was an amazing film that is difficult and impressive but still manageable. I also find Robert Eggers very inspiring, I believe he is one of the best modern directors along with Ari Aster and Emerald Fennel with all three of his feature films The Witch, The Lighthouse and The Northman being great and refreshing.

When initially deciding on a scene we had three options, the ending, the drunk dance or the scene we chose. The ending would definitely have been too technically challenging for lots of reasons, especially the incredible sound design and the production design of the Lighthouse itself. Between the 'What? What? What?' and dance scene we thought the 'What?' scene captured the comedic yet sinister atmosphere of the film best and had some great shots that could challenge us and give us a chance for some real guerrilla filmmaking.

In this production my roles were Producer and Editor. This was a great combination as it meant I was involved with all three aspects of the production process, pre-production, production and post-production.

As the producer I completed all of the sheets as seen above. I created a kit, costume and prop list, a call sheet and production schedule as well as two different shot lists. I felt it was helpful to have one shot list that is just the images of the shots along with the dialogue spoken within them and another which focused on the more technical elements like the camera angle and movement. Splitting these lists into two helped keep them clear and not messy. I also edited the original clip to label each shot with its number, this was very helpful on set as it made sure there was no confusion which shot was which whilst filming. I made sure to transcribe the scene so I could easily send off the script to potential actors as well as a video of the original scene. When looking for actors I originally intended to have one of my friends from back home who specialised in acting help out but he dropped out quite last minute. I then put out a casting call on an actors and film group on Facebook to find an actor for Willam Defoe.

As part of producing I helped with the recce along with Harry Paul, we visited a community centre but then got no response whether we could film there. We thought of filming in someone's attic or a wooden shed to give that dingy wooden aesthetic however these areas would've been too enclosed and unpractical, even maybe dangerous, to have so many crew members and so much equipment inside. I emailed to multiple venues in Edinburgh including Out of the Blue and Deaf Action, even going to Deaf Actions main building and browsing their venues but none of them worked for our chosen scene and the amount of money for renting a room out for the whole day of filming was much past our budget. In the end Harry took over as recce and found our location, opting for a plain room and allowing us to build up the set rather then finding a room wholly accurate to the scene.

When it came to the actual filming day I acted mainly as a runner and general assistant to different roles. Before we started filming I went to the cafeteria and bought everyone waters as well as some snacks to keep people energised, I also helped build the set which was primarily constructed of carboard, building the boxes up and evening them out to act as beds etc. When filming I constantly had my laptop up and would assist the DOP at making sure the shots seemed accurate. Then I acted as support such as swapping batteries for the camera and sound and putting them on charge. In certain shots I am holding up a black flag to help direct the light. Overall I tried to fill in any role that needed filling in since my credited roles were either pre or post production. The on set production process was the most enjoyable part of the scene recreation, meeting and working with our actor for Willam Defoe was great and we worked together very well as a team. Our most difficult challenge as a group was the opening shot as it entails a slow zoom and turn to the left on a dolly or track. We didn't have access to that type of advanced equipment so had to improvise and figure out intelligent ways to move the camera without it being shaky and distracting. Since I was the producer I was also the most time orientated on set, wanting to make sure we stuck to the schedule to the best of our ability, making sure certain shots got the time they needed for setup and takes.

Post-production was definitely the most challenging role I took on in this production. Since our filming day was Tuesday 5th December I had limited days to edit so had to make the most out of my time. I started by going through each video clip to find the best take then searching for the correct audio clip to match this, I completed this process with all 17 shots then found the sound effects like the foghorn from online as I knew I wouldn't be able to folly it before starting to edit. I enjoyed the editing process as it is a very entertaining and strangely comedic scene. I placed the clips in order first then worked out the finer details of audio as many shots don't include the full line of dialogue the last words sinking into the next shot. After the initial timeline was completed I focused on sound and making sure every piece of dialogue was at a good level of volume and the background noises were at a low but audible level. Next I focused on the most important aspect of creating the feel and atmosphere of the film, the black and white colour grading. We filmed on set with a black and white LUT so I knew how the lights would react with each shot making my editing job much easier, I still did some colour grading on a lot of shots to get them as accurate to the original scene as possible. The final stage of editing was to convert the video into the correct aspect ratio of 1.19:1 which worked perfectly since on set the camera had a grid of what the aspect ratio would look like.

Watching the final product back now days later I am very proud of what we managed to achieve as we were mostly accurate with our recreation. Every shot is there and lasts nearly the same amount of time as the original, only a few clips are a second or so off. We captured the lighting well especially on Willam Defoe's recreated sections and both performers do an amazing job. The only real issues I think we had is the depth in certain shots, Willam Defoe definitely could've been closer to the window behind him and our other issue is setting, whilst we did a good job at building up fake beds and a fake window the room we are in isn't the best as in certain shots you can see the roof which isn't slanted and is a more modern pattern. Overall I am very proud of our recreation.

[esther-dot]

I know some people are seeing jonsa in Kit's speech about his "Freudian complex" and what he seeks in a partner (which honestly same LOL 🤡🤡). But at the same time, and knowing that he did enjoy the Ygritte-Jon relationship, it seems curious to me that he's associating Dany and Ygritte with Cat who, as he said, "hated him". I don't know if I make sense?? Lol

That Freudian comment really did make me 👀

I transcribed what he said for context.

In response to a question about Jon finding room in his heart for love again:

"Uh, yea--I hope so. I hope there will be. The funny think about--I said this earlier as well. In thinking about Jon and his choice of women which is (audience laughter). I think he's like...his maternal, the only maternal figure he had was Catelyn who hated him. Treated him like--I swear a lot. I'm sorry--who treated him like crap, alright? And he tends to go for really dominant women. It's quite interesting isn't it? He goes for the really d-- (stops himself). And I think that there's some Freudian thing going on there. Um, with that in mind I think he would go for a s-- (stops himself). I think especially the Ygritte thing burned him so much that he has definite PTSD and truma about being in a relationship, so I think it would be tough. Yeah."

(from this video that @starwarsprincess1986 posted)

I find it a really odd statement considering what he’s said in the past. I can interpret it in a few ways. It could just mean he’s attracted to women who have some authority over him. But he did include hate and mistreatment in his thoughts about Cat and pairing and connecting that vie the Freudian reference to Ygritte and Dany…well, it is kinda an understandable assertion given how s7-8 went. Kit didn’t have a say in what was written but had to perform it, so where D&D may have chosen a path for commercial reasons, without it actually making sense character-wise, Kit tried to create a believable emotional interpretation. As in, Dany treated Jon pretty badly (by taking him prisoner), and he inexplicably fell in love with her. Dany treated him worse in s8 and he inexplicably remained loyal. If that’s the story given to Kit, he might think, well shit, Ygritte also took Jon prisoner, Ygritte demanded his loyalty (as did Dany), Ygritte threatened him (as did Dany), Ygritte felt betrayed by him (as did Dany), and Ygritte shot him (Tyrion and Arya tell him Dany is gonna kill him), so, he might think Jon is choosing women who have some power in the dynamic/he can’t escape (like Cat), who he admires in some way/wants something from (maternal love from Cat, info from Ygritte, dragons /armies from Dany), and then think that he gives into these women because where Cat firmly rejected him, Ygritte and Dany did soften and express interest. It’s possible he saw the power imbalance in Jon/Dany and Jon/Ygritte, the emotional abuse, and thinks it’s a pattern in which Jon was conditioned to want love from a woman he feared. I really like Cat so this is all making me very uncomfy 😬

Like you, that doesn’t fit with how I’ve heard him speak of Ygritte, but I was really caught off guard by the fact that he mentioned not only Cat’s hate but that she treated him like crap which, why is that on his mind when describing Jon’s romantic relationships? If he saw show Ygritte that way, it would shock me? But in a different part, he’s talking about how kind/good his wife is and how odd it was to have her switch from being his sweet gf to acting Ygritte…who (I think he said) would chew his face off in a scene 😂 It did seem to indicate he didn’t consider all the J/Y banter totally harmless/cute. Maybe years later he sees it as somewhat toxic? Maybe he’s been reading the books to prep for the sequel and that’s influencing him? 🤔

I don't know if he made any or all those connections, it may have been a very broad, Cat was strong-willed and Ygritte and Dany are too, meaning. The comments about Cat’s feelings and behavior could have been a little detour, but he did mention the trauma and PTSD from his time with Ygritte as well. That could have been strictly about how both Ygritte and Dany died in his arms and how Jon feels responsible for that (Kit mentioned something like that post s8), but the fact that he feels that way about Cat and brought her into the convo…it felt like an indicator that he knows the relationships were a little fucked up.

I know I always thought that craving the approval and love of Cat had kinda transferred to Sansa and that her acceptance of Jon as a Stark (telling him he was a Stark to her, offering him the Lord’s chambers, dressing him like Ned…) was probably the most healing experience of his life. Not only because she looked like Cat, but because at the time, she was the only surviving Stark, and she had never been close to him so it wasn’t a continuation from childhood, but totally unexpected acceptance. That all became messy, but it still seems more clearly delineated in the show (they even mention Sansa sitting in Cat’s seat once) then his interactions with Ygritte or Dany. I’m not sure what to think, anon, but I agree, it was a really interesting quote! I’ll try to watch the rest of the video sometime and see if there’s anything else to add context to it.

[middle-earth-mythopoeia]

J.R.R. Tolkien reads from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, 1952

This is J.R.R. Tolkien reading—and singing!—excerpts from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and it is exactly as amazing as it sounds. George Sayer, a friend of Tolkien’s, helped make the recordings while Tolkien was visiting him in August 1952, two years before The Lord of the Rings was published. (It doesn’t have that information under the youtube videos, but I was able to find out the context from Tolkien Gateway and the Tolkien Library.) These are so wonderful and I’m so glad they exist! It’s absolutely delightful to hear the Professor reading his own stories. You have not lived until you have heard Tolkien’s Gollum impression, or his Treebeard voice, or him speaking in Elvish...not to mention reading The Ride of the Rohirrim! Yes, he actually recorded that and it is literally the best thing ever. It’s amazing to listen to him reciting the Song of Beren and Lúthien (just like Strider told it to the hobbits!), and everything else, and I’m so, so, so glad that these recordings were made. This is a treasure trove! I want more people to know about this! 

Excerpt from Riddles in the Dark  The Road Goes Ever On Upon the Hearth the Fire is Red  Snow-white! Snow-white! O Lady Clear! The Bath Song Farewell We Call to Hearth and Hall! Hey dol! merry dol! ring a dong dillo! The Man in the Moon Stayed Up Too Late The Fall of Gil-galad The Song Of Beren And Lúthien The Stone Troll A Elbereth Gilthoniel The Song of Durin The Song of Nimrodel When evening in the Shire was grey Gandalf's Song of Lórien Lament for Boromir The Long List of the Ents Treebeard’s Song The Ent and the Entwife Bregalad’s Song The Ents’ Marching Song Where now the horse and the rider? Gollum’s fish song Oliphaunt Excerpt from Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit Lament for Théoden Excerpt from The Ride of the Rohirrim Song of the Mounds of Mundburg Excerpt from Mount Doom Sing now, ye people of the Tower of Anor Namárië

Finally, this is George Sayer’s note on the recordings, which I transcribed from this radio broadcast because I thought others would like to read it. 

George Sayer writes: “This record is based on a tape recording that Tolkien made when he was staying in my house in northern Worcestershire. It was in August 1952. For the whole of that summer he had been depressed because The Lord of the Rings, the book on which he had worked for fourteen years, had been refused by publishers, so that he had almost given up hope of ever seeing it in print. But the fact that they had returned it made it possible for my wife Moira and I to borrow the only complete typescript and become, with our friend C.S. Lewis, about the first of passionately enthusiastic Tolkien fans. There arose the question of how to return it to its author. Since it could not, of course, be trusted to the post, I wrote to ask when he would be at home in Oxford for me to deliver it. His reply indicated that he would be quite on his own in the second half of August, and perhaps even rather lonely, and we therefore invited him to come to more than to pick up the typescript, and to stay for a few days. “It was easy to entertain him by day. He and I tramped the Malvern Hills, which he had often seen during his boyhood in Birmingham, or from his brother’s house on the other side of the Seven River Valley. He lived the book as we walked, sometimes comparing parts of the hills with, for instance, the White Mountains of Gondor. We drove to the Black Mountains on the borders of Wales, picked billberries, and climbed through the heather there. We picnicked on bread and cheese and apples, and washed them down with perry, beer or cider. When we saw signs of industrial pollution, he talked of orcs and orcery. At home, he helped me to garden. Characteristically, what he liked most was to cultivate a very small area—say a square yard—extremely well. “To entertain him in the evening I produced a tape recorder, a solid early Ferrograph that is still going strong. He had never seen one before, and said whimsically that he ought to cast out any devil that might be in it by recording a prayer, the Lord’s Prayer, in Gothic—one of the extinct languages of which he was a master. He was delighted when I played it back to him, and asked if he might record some of the poems in The Lord of the Rings to find out how they sounded to other people. The more he recorded, the more he enjoyed recording, and the more his literary self-confidence grew. When he had finished the poems, one of us said, ‘Record for us the riddle scene from The Hobbit!’ and we sat spellbound for almost half an hour while he did. I then asked him to record what he thought one of the best pieces of prose in The Lord of the Rings, and he recorded part of The Ride of the Rohirrim. 

“‘Surely you know that’s really good?’ I asked, after playing it back. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘It’s good. This machine has made me believe in it again. But how am I to get it published?’ I thought of what I myself might do in the same difficulty. ‘Haven’t you an old pupil in publishing who might like it for its own sake, and therefore be willing to take the risk?’ ‘There’s only Rayner Unwin,’ he replied, after a pause. ‘Then send it to Rayner Unwin personally!’ And he did. And the result was that even during his lifetime, over 3 million copies were sold. When he got back to Oxford, Tolkien wrote to thank us for having him—a letter in Elvish that is one of my most valued posessions.”

[karmicbias]

OKAY SO

Putting this under a cut because it's going to be long. I logged into tumblr on my laptop for this so you know I'm in it now.

And I'm going to have to do it in installments, mostly because I need to sleep and I don't think anyone's going to read the full breakdown of all 10 songs in one gulp anyway.

Today I'll look at the first couple of tracks, The Breeze and Lucifer & Lucia.

I started transcribing the lyrics when I heard the one from Kaisarion but didn't find any other recycles. A lot of these older lyrics are pretty clunky and/or grammatically incorrect (or indecipherable!).

However.

There are SO MANY bits that feel like they line up a little too well with Sister and Nihil's story to be coincidental. Hard to say if this is Tobias' version of the "Alpha Couple" and eventually they made their way into Ghost lore, or if this was part of the vision all along.

Actually, was it @gravehags who had a message about the Lucifer/Lilith parallels for Natalie and Copia? Because I think that's possibly where Tobias started with this idea, though I'm getting ahead of myself.

I did a full pass on the lyrics and then hopped over to Genius to see what else was going on and if anyone else had started, or had parsed some of the phrases I couldn't. I updated what I could, and it's still a bit of a mess - a couple of the tracks are merged for some reason, and I've definitely got gaps, but let's work with what we've got.

1 - The Breeze

So we have video of this song being performed - Tobias playing with Magna Carta Cartel

I was born to receive[?] when you kissed me And suddenly fate intervened Maybe I'll die on the day when you leave me But I live now, in the time in between

Nihil got his infernal eye when Sister kissed him in Dance Macabre. But this would imply he was destined in some way. I've seen it proposed that she brought him back to the fold - not into the fold - that night, which I think is an excellent and insightful read given the rest of the lore as presented.

While Nihil "left" first technically speaking, it would be fair to say he truly "lived" while he was Papa. And both those ghosts are still around (sorry, did you say, If you have ghosts? Ahem.)

I was born to receive[?] when you kissed me 23 nights since Halloween Maybe I'll die on the day when you leave me But I live now, in the time in between

Dance Macabre took place on Halloween, right? The number 23 has a lot of things going on as far as symbolism and mysticism: 23 Engima (and keep "enigma" in your mind for when we look at track 3. I don't have any specific conclusion here but it's interesting to noodle on.

2 - Lucifer and Lucia

Here's where it really starts getting interesting. Immediately we're prompted to overlay the Orpheus myth with Lucifer's fall (and this won't be the last time we look at that story):

"Go on," said Persephone And do not turn around to see Because if you do You will walk alone For eternity Walls were stained with our romance You know it's easy to enhance And it's so easy to go insane from but a glance

So within this read, Nihil and Sister mirror the story he's telling about Lucifer/Lucia and Orpheus/Eurydice: doomed couples. Maybe we'll learn more about this later (soon?).

Walls stained with romance? A disturbing glance (or eye)?

You remember the scene in the music video, right?

So putting that aside, who the eff is Lucia? I had no idea. But look at who she is in Swedish traditional stories! Yes, she's also a saint. And unquestionably another figure we maybe more commonly recognize as, you guessed it... Lilith.

The Lucia tradition can be traced back both to the martyr St Lucia of Syracuse (died in 304) and to the Swedish legend of Lucia as Adam’s first wife. It is said that she consorted with the Devil and that her children were invisible infernals. The name may be associated with both lux (light) and Lucifer (Satan), and its origins are difficult to determine.

I'm not drawing any specific conclusions here (YET), but come on. That's too good for us to ignore. So what else do we find in the lyrics? Not a lot - it's mostly a lot of Orphic moaning about one's fate, but:

You are the bearer And I will follow your guiding light

Well - Lucia = light (as does Lucifer, but let me cook). And the bearer of light - or should we say in this case, sight (Nihil's infernal eye).

Sister was perhaps a Prime Mover, perhaps not, but either way unquestionably the mother in the center of our story. And, I have to call out, a bearer of hidden (invisible, infernal) children - at least one of whom would certainly be infernally powerful and important one day.

Where does that leave us with the Orpheus myth in all this? The story of Orpheus and Eurydice is about trusting the person you love - your soulmate, your other half (as though you were really one person, reunited), the person who is so much a part of you that you virtually have the same name - over any doubts you may harbor.

Are we supposed to see Nihil and Sister as incarnations of Lucifer and Lucia/Lilith? I think maybe. Certainly there's still lots of story to be told there - both through Passiflora and for Sister and Nihil. And we've still got that pesky Antichrist thread just laying around, untied.

I'm going to keep building my case, so just bear with me as I get everything else put together.

Mwahahahahahaha...

There's some real Sister and Nihil readings you can make of the Passiflora lyrics, y'all. Annotations forthcoming, probably.

[miru667]

A video of wips for my onceler zine cover piece! This drawing took me 6 months to finish haha. Click the readmore if you’re curious to learn more about my process and all the refs and inspos I used (transcribed from [this twitter thread]). [CLICK HERE] to see the finished piece.

I guess I’ll go from left to right? :>

7212 is my #1 ship in the fandom so of course I had to include some interaction for them..I purposely shaped that piece of confetti into almost-a-heart 9.9 In this interaction OG onceler is sizing him up to be his poster boy. It was inspired by this joke hc from junior: https://miru667.tumblr.com/post/43633972614/truffulajam-you-there-me-sir-ive

The hose is from one of the lorax mini-movies but more specifically its from the nightblogging event in 2012, here’s an archive of a lot of the hose memes we created that night: https://oncelerswaterhose.tumblr.com/

He doesn’t actually have suspenders in the movie but they were a popular headcanon for him in 2012 plus they’re hot so I included them. It was important to me to include this transitional onceler in between vestler and suitler to remind us all that this is the same guy going thru different stages of his life.

Gloves in the back pocket is from concept art: https://miru667.tumblr.com/post/146926446017/early-once-ler-sketches-by-eric-guillon-part-5

I really love the way I drew and coloured the folds of his coattails here too, as well as the moss I added last minute onto the truffula tree trunk.

The frame started out as just a plain brown rectangle and I thought, now that's not very seussy, so I referenced the Too Big To Fail frame in the movie. I believe it took me two whole days to draw just the frame. :,) And the seuss portrait I just referenced from google images but it was a challenge too; I had to completely redraw it near the end to make him look more accurate.

Lorax holding up a portrait of Seuss and using it to guilt the Onceler was inspired by a gag in Osomatsu-san where the characters would apologize to a portrait of their irl creator Akatsuka when they felt like they were being a bad adaptation of his original work 😂😂😂 loved it.

But it was also inspired by a very powerful comic drawn by my friend Rachel: https://miru667.tumblr.com/post/92807755387/tsg I would say Rachel's art has been the biggest inspo for me in the past decade in both style and emotion, so I'm really happy I could include her influence into my piece like this.

I was SO happy I thought of a way to include these 2012 refs: -Complaint Box -☄☄☄ Waterballoon fight nightblogging event -gent's marriage to the fandom -ed helms finding out about oncest -Thneedville/Thornville High AU -WHO IS SWAG/askblog identity crisis nightblogging event -You Only Live Once(ler) -tiny chat parties -Camp Weehawken AU -tumblr anons/magic anons -normaler -Shakespeareler/"I must keep biggering" nightblogging event -Stay stupid, baby!

I wish I could've included more cuz these are still just above-water stuff in the fandom iceberg imo. If anyone wants me to explain more about any of these refs, feel free to ask!

The flip phone is from the deleted scene, "YER ALL GOIN TO JAIL": https://miru667.tumblr.com/post/153925999832/truffulajam-youreallgoingtojailmov-from

The bottom fake button on his suit is canon: https://miru667.tumblr.com/post/615761075955187712/miru667-you-know-your-life-has-hit-a-new-low

This is my fav interaction in the piece...you can see it as either aftermath onceler taking the hat off of biggering onceler to foreshadow his fall, OR you can see it as aftermath-ler taking off his OWN hat to crown biggering-ler as the fool, because he's learned what a fool he's been. And actually a 3rd interpretation is aftermath-ler telling biggering-ler "yes enjoy your happiness while you can, king" 😂

And then with old onceler's hand on aftermath onceler's back, an act of consolation...I think it's very important to be able to forgive ur past self for the stupid things you've done, or else how can you continue? How can you grow? I can guarantee that 10 yrs ago we ALL did stupid things in the fandom. I originally drew aftermath frowning but changed it to a smile because he's thankful for the lessons and he can still look back on things fondly. I feel the same as him and I hope others do too. For this interaction I was inspired by Pearl fanart, she's a comfort character of mine and has helped me thru so much:  https://asteroidhyalosis.tumblr.com/post/188267156772 https://asteroidhyalosis.tumblr.com/post/623806330932805632

Biggering onceler’s side profile gave me THE HARDEST TIME. It was already January and I just COULD NOT get it to look right and I was ready to go take a 5 hour depression nap because of it but then my friend Edu saved the day ♥

Edu:  @hybridkilljoy​

Another friend contribution was the yellow bg. it was originally a boring flat gradient so Clara said "lmao what if I just gave you a yellow bg I painted to toss into ur file" because she had a rly good brush for it on procreate (and I was using paint tool sai and had nothing). i replied "oki" and then she just DOES IT..🥺♥

Clara:  @clarabellumsart​

idk where i'd be without my friends

I’m REALLY proud of this little area of my zine piece. The hand and blood is a ref to Truffula Flu, our zomb apocalypse AU. I had to redraw it twice to get it right. And I’ve drawn many a onceler chain but this is the BEST onceler chain I’ve EVER drawn. It took me many redraws to get it to look this way. Look at it just reaching out at you so fluidly..!! The lighting and the rust! Proud of me!!

The fallen truffula tree in the back...I really just thought "hey let's experiment with PAINTING" and went for it!! 😂 I wanted to pay tribute to my all time fav onceler fanart: https://miru667.tumblr.com/post/27320592159/ask-drawn-onceler-money-in-the-trees-lol-hey Whoever the mod of ask-drawn-onceler was, if you see this I hope you're doing ok!!

As you guys have probably gathered by now, nothing is ever too late to change for me. If I felt like I could redo something to be better, I'd DO IT. The tree is another example, I was rly bothered that it looked like tentacles (right) so I completely re-rendered it to be more soft and fluffy (left). What made me realize that I could do better was after drawing the trees here: https://miru667.tumblr.com/post/673766406272286720/early-spring-cleaning-part-2-drew-these-btwn I realized that actually, less is more, and that I had over-rendered the tree in my zine piece.

This was actually the first time I've EVER drawn old onceler, so I worked EXTRA hard...I hope I did him justice!! Every hair, every thread, every little thneed tuft was drawn with care. I even manually drew in the shadows for the stripes on his robe so they would look indented! And if you look closely in other screenshots, I also manually added shadows to every piece of thread that makes up the onceler suit stripes.

The LET IT GROW is in seuss font, but I didn’t type it, I drew the letters while mimicking the font’s style, then added edge lighting to make it look carved into the pot. Unfortunately we couldn’t keep the zine title in seuss font as well due to copyright restrictions and I think I might have died if I were to draw the title in seuss font too LMAO

The Audrey is of course intended to be movie Audrey but it's MY zine piece and I wanted to be a little self-indulgent.....so I drew some symbols on the plant pot representing my audrey oc, Audrey Grace. 🤫😇 She means everything to me. She is a direct result of the fandom and she keeps me in the fandom.

The blue kite originates from her mainverse askblog:  https://askaudtree.tumblr.com/post/71630954595/do-you-do-all-the-chores-in-the-house-hows-your She later uses it as a marker for lerkim hopping in zomb au:  https://audpocalypse.tumblr.com/post/178971798052/whats-that-blue-diamond-symbol-mean-its-on-your  She's a knife-wielding zombie slayer and also a kazoo master (the tree straightener in the pot has the same striped pattern as her kazoo): https://miru667.tumblr.com/post/629448230317490176/pls-click-for-hi-res-today-is-my-audreys https://audpocalypse.tumblr.com/post/179181386907/have-you-ever-run-into-any-lerkims-that-were

And because of spending so much of her life in an apocalypse, she’s learned to appreciate the fleetingness of life, because who knows what’ll happen tomorrow? Every moment is precious. This is cherry blossom philosophy: https://notwithoutmypassport.com/cherry-blossom-meaning-in-japan/

I think it’s so cool that since it took 6 months, I would improve like halfway into working on this piece which made me have to go back and redo some things LOL XD. The smoke in the background from the cigar was also painted with inspiration from tofublock, whom I discovered during the latter half of those 6 months too:  https://asteroidhyalosis.tumblr.com/tagged/tofublock https://asteroidhyalosis.tumblr.com/post/668656911468625921/will-you-watch-the-stars-with-me Look at the way they paint their clouds TTWTT so beautiful... I came across them while working on the zine and a lot of their art reminded me of my audrey so I was very taken!!

I positioned and coloured every piece of confetti with intent. The confetti idea itself I think was from Taylor Swift’s lyric video for 22 (Taylor’s Version): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9boiT64sm0Q&feature=youtu.be Again, inspiration that came to me while in the middle of working on the zine.

I composed the piece chronologically to mirror the rise and fall of our fandom experience, followed by the calmer, peaceful present days. Aftermath onceler in the piece represents the perceived death of the fandom but outsiders don’t realize we have AUs, we like characters other than onceler, we can extrapolate the story any which way...so that's all represented by the right side of the pic. We won’t stop biggering!

Thank you for reading if you made it this far.. I tried to include as much as I could into my piece so that hopefully everyone who is/was in the fandom feels seen.. Only the best for the Once-ler fandom, you know? And there’s actually so much more I can say about this piece but I’ll end it here.

[ineffably-human]

So uh, speaking of leaks... (part 1)

On a Discord server, @kyrilu pointed out two more Vimeo links of people reading for Shadows scenes in s4. I'm posting them with permission. Unlike the other leak provided, these are still up and able to be viewed by whoever. (Please don't bother the people who auditioned, or anyone in the Shadows cast/crew, or do anything that could lead to these getting a takedown like the other leak apparently did.)

I'll be transcribing the first under the cut and giving my thoughts, just to keep things separate and clear, but I'll be doing this for the second one as soon as this one is out and uh. The second one feels like Nandermo gold to me. Like it doesn't have the kind of obvious sitcom 'wham' of the earlier leak but it gives me all the feelings.

I'm going to reference 'Reader' for person reading the other lines and 'Actor' for the person screen testing since it's not always clear who the reader is reading for when there are more than two people in the scene. I'll speculate/give a name of what character it seems to be when I can.

Transcript of the first link:

READER (SEAN): Woah! You guys look freaking awesome. I feel underdressed.

ACTOR (HEADMASTER WARREN): Oh nonsense, Sean, you always look like a class act. Hello! (indicates self) Jim Warren.

READER (SEAN): Speaking of class act...

ACTOR: Oh, hello! This must be Colin, hello young man! It's a pleasure.

READER (COLIN): It is my great pleasure to make your acquaintance, sir. And guess what?

ACTOR: What's that?

READER (COLIN): I'm a remarkably smart lad who can sing and dance, I never watch YouTube, I don't hammer holes in walls with a hammer, so I'd say there's nothing weird about me.

ACTOR: Well, that's just great! And I look forward to getting to know you better, but right now, how 'bout you give me a moment to talk to your parents and get to know them a little bit?

READER (COLIN): Okay, fine, sir! Also, I don't sleep in a wooden box and I never have.

ACTOR: (smiles and nods nervously, pause) ...So! Forgive me for not being fully up to speed here, but who exactly are the parents?

READER (?): When I snap my fingers, you will enter a trance where you will hear nothing and see nothing. When I snap once more, you will return to normal consciousness remembering nothing of this pause. (snaps, beat, snaps again - clearly they have some kind of dialogue here independent of the lines the actor needs to audition)

READER (Nadja): We are Cousin Colin's parents! Hello, I'm Nadja.

READER (?): Yes, and I'm Matthew.

ACTOR: Well, Nadja and Matthew, I'd like to ask you a few questions about yourselves and Colin.

READER (Nadja): We can do that because we are Colin's parents.

READER (?): Yes! We had relations for him to exist. We still have relations to this day, even if just for pleasure. And I am Matthew.

ACTOR: (beat) Okay, great! Nice to...meet you, Matthew. So is...everybody gonna stay for this next part? Usually it's only the paren- (another snap, beat, another snap - rehypnotized for some more dialogue not included in the video) -parents who do the interview.

READER (?): Yes, everyone will stay. We consider everyone here like members of the family.

ACTOR: Okay, then! One big happy family! We like that. Well, let's dive in then... So, how old is Colin?

READER (?): (unclear how many people are talking at once but I hope it's literally every single one of them) Uhm, four - nineteen - I mean - twelve, what are y- forty-two - sixteen - when - he's nine. Nine.

ACTOR: (long bewildered pause) ...Ah.

So uh, I love every single thing about this. I can't meta too hard about it because it's more straight-up plot but some stray observations:

- Aww, they're trying to get Colin into a good private school! Instead of just homeschooling him or something, too, maybe they want to socialize him? Makes sense with the whole 'can he become an interesting person and not an energy vampire' thing.

- I find "we are Cousin Colin's parents" hilarious and I can't explain why, it's just beautiful in its simplicity.

- Colin's clearly gonna do some rapid aging, but in stages. Laszlo taught him music because of course he did, also I love every part of the very specific denial he does.

- Sean is there! Is Sean there the whole time?? Is he there for the hypnosis?? Did Sean meet baby Colin and then kid Colin and did they have to hypnotize him multiple times, or is he aware of the supernatural stuff at this point and along for the ride? I really really want him to be in on things as the Stu of the group, just their human friend who everyone likes so he hangs out and smiles and nods at the proceedings.

- The most obvious question, who is 'Matthew'? The very specific 'yes we totally have sex' stuff makes me think it's not Laszlo (though the meta of the name specifically being 'Matthew' is funny). The speech patterns make me think it's Nandor. But none of them have ever gone by an alias in day to day stuff before, or worried a name like 'Nandor' sounds too European or unusual. I don't think this is a new character though, so my money is on Nandor more than Laszlo/Guillermo/someone else.

- "Yes, everyone will stay. We consider everyone here like members of the family." I hope Guillermo is there. I hope Sean is there. I hope that whatever bickering they inevitably had to decide that everyone needed to stay in the room, they absolutely mean it when they say that line.

[duhragonball]

Totally Not Mark

I think the TNM situation is pretty widely known by now.  I only recently learned just how popular the guy is, but I’m not big into the YouTube scene.  However, I do keep an eye on Twitter, and something Mark said in this video kicked off a controversy there.  

First off, while the above video recaps the situation pretty well, I’ll go over it here: TNM produces video commentaries and reviews on various anime properties, including Dragon Ball.  Late last year, Toei tried to have 150 of his videos taken down from YouTube, citing copyright infringement.   Mark argued passionately that the footage in his videos was covered by fair use laws, but Toei simply didn’t care, and YouTube was unresponsive to his plight.  Demoralized by the situation, Mark took some time off to figure out what to do next, and then YouTube finally stepped in and did the right thing. 

As it turns out, Toei actually broke the rules by trying to take these videos down without proper justification, and when pressed to provide a rationale for their takedown request, they just... didn’t?  I won’t get into the legal details here, but my understanding is that while Japanese copyright law is much stricter than in other countries, it can’t be applied outside of Japan.  So YouTube finally settled the issue by fixing it so Mark’s videos will be available everywhere except Japan, which suits Mark fine, since he doesn’t have an audience there anyway.   The only real question is why YouTube didn’t implement something like this for everybody years ago.

It’s a real victory for the little guy, and I’m genuinely surprised and pleased to hear that he won, because I was all set to write a much more depressing take on his situation, basically amounting to “What did you expect?”  It seems like YouTube makes life difficult for its content creators at every turn, and Toei doesn’t respect its foreign fanbase at all, so I didn’t think Mark would ever get this far. 

But that’s not what I’m here to talk about.  I’m looking to address what Mark said that got Twitter all riled up.   At 9:09, he says: “And look, this is just my opinion, but I genuinely believe that had it not been for Team Four Star and their Dragon Ball Z Abridged Series, Dragon Ball wouldn’t have remained nearly as popular in the Western World during the time where not much new content surrounding the property was being released.”

I transcribed this excerpt, mainly because one of the rallying cries on Twitter is that no one in the DBZ fandom can read or listen, so this is my attempt to have a good faith discussion here.   I had to rewatch that twelve seconds of the video several times to make sure I transcribed it right, so I am very clear on what the man said, okay?

Also, to provide some context, Mark’s point was that Toei would be better off embracing fan works instead of trying to bully them by abusing YouTube’s copyright takedown system.   I agree with that point entirely, however, I think his chosen example gives Team Four Star more credit than they’re due.   More under the cut.

From what I could see on Twitter, Mark’s statement was clipped and tweeted by a guy who simply captioned it as “Shit opinion”, which sort of polarized anybody who might have agreed or disagreed with it.   I don’t agree with what Mark said, but it’s hardly a “shit” opinion.  In any event, the whole thing boiled down to two camps:

1) People who like Team Four Star, who were introduced to Dragon Ball through their Abridged series, and are pretty sore at Toei for all their bullying tactics.

2) People who find TFS overrated, who already liked Dragon Ball just fine, and think Mark was just shilling for his pals.

I kind of want to straddle the fence here, because I’m old enough to remember at time when DBZ was red hot in the early 2000′s, and then there wasn’t a whole lot of new stuff to enjoy, and then I discovered DBZA in 2010, and it was heartwarming to see such a popular fan project bringing so many fans together.  

But, as much as I enjoy DBZA, I don’t think TFS “saved” the Dragon Ball franchise, or anything like that.  To be sure, Mark never said that TFS “saved’ the franchise, but that’s kind of what everyone on Twitter was arguing about.   Was there a “drought” in official DB content?   When was that drought?  How long did it last?  Was it even a problem?  And if it was a problem, did DBZA fix it?  The people in Camp 2 say no, that’s absurd. 

The people in Camp 1 seemed to harp on the exact words Mark used.  “[Without DBZA] Dragon Ball wouldn’t have remained nearly as popular in the Western World during the time...”   There’s a lot of qualifiers there to unpack, though.

  First of all, “nearly as popular”, what is that?  How much popularity would DB have lost in the early 2010′s, and how much of that popularity did TFS recover for them?  I don’t think there’s any way to measure that.  This is why the debaters were so passionate, because all they could really do was point to the viewer counts on the DBZA videos, and talk about their own personal experiences with DBZA.   Except personal experiences are singular, and viewer counts can’t tell us how many of those people were already die-hard fans before TFS was founded. 

The talking point I saw from Camp 1 was this: “Look, he’s not saying Abridged saved Dragon Ball, he just said that it lost a little of its popularity, and Abridged helped them get most of that loss back.“ Which is perhaps a fair statement, but it’s also so mild that it defeats Mark’s original point: that Toei could be more successful by working with fan creators instead of against them.  If DBZA’s contribution was negligible, then it’s all academic.  

What about “The Western World”?  Another important qualifier, as Dragon Ball never stopped being a big deal in Japan, Latin America, and other parts of the world.   Dragon Ball Z Abridged was made in the U.S.A., and the whole thing is in English, so it probably doesn’t have much penetration outside of the Anglosphere.   Except I’m pretty sure the “Western World” is bigger than just the parts of it that speak English. 

Again, I feel like Mark was trying to talk up the success of DBZA, but he didn’t want to exaggerate his case, so he had to put a few disclaimers on the statement, even as he was making it.   Like, okay there’s a passionate fanbase in Latin America that has nothing to do with Team Four Star, but you still have to give them credit for keeping the flame alive in these other countries.   Fine, but that’s still kind of a mild statement, once you stop to interpret it that way.   Oh, and it’s not that they kept the flame alive, it just wouldn’t have been nearly as hot otherwise.  Okay.

Finally, let’s talk about “during the time where not much new content surrounding the property was being released”  For simplicity’s sake, I’m going to refer to this as “the drought”.   Of the three, I feel most qualified to speak on this, because I lived “the drought”.   I wasn’t a kid, either.  I was in my 20′s and early 30′s.   I know the period fairly well.

Okay, so one of the side-arguments on Twitter concerned exactly when the drought was.   Dragon Ball GT ended in 1997, and Battle of Gods premiered in 2013.   The only DB material I know of that came out in between was the Yo! Son Goku special in 2008, Dragon Ball: Evolution in 2009, and Episode of Bardock in 2011.   There was some sot of One-Piece crossover too, but I don’t know much about that. 

However, those dates only concern Japan.   In the “Western World”, Dragon Ball was airing on Cartoon Network in the 2000′s.  I’m pretty sure the dub of GT finished up on Cartoon Network in 2005.  After that, fans pretty much just had the video games.  I believe that was around the time the Budokai Tenkaichi series was in full swing, followed by Raging Blast 1 and 2.   And Dragon Ball: Evolution was in theaters if anyone cared to watch it.  I remember watching the Yo! Son Goku special from Shonen Jump’s website in 2008.

Strictly speaking, you can say The Drought in the “Western” fandom spanned 2005 to the U.S. release of Battle of Gods in 2014.  But I’m not too sure about that, because you’ve got Dragon Ball Kai showing up from 2009 to 2011 in Japan.   In the U.S., Kai was localized as Dragon Ball Z Kai and aired on Nickelodeon from 2010 to 2013.

So the timeline of The Drought looks something like this:

2005: GT dub finale

2006: DBZ Movies 12 and 13 released in the U.S.

2007: Not much

2008: The Yo! Son Goku special.  Dragon Ball Z Abridged begins.

2009: Dragon Ball: Evolution

2010-2013: Dragon Ball Z Kai premiers on Nickelodeon

2014: Battle of Gods premiers in U.S. theaters.

2015-2018: Dragon Ball Super anime available on Crunchyroll.

So you definitely have a strong case for a drought in 2005-2009.  I say this because GT sucked and by 2005 I could no longer deny it.   Movies 12 and 13 are my favorites, but I’d already downloaded the Japanese dubs by then because I couldn’t wait for them to come out.  And the special in ‘08 and DBE weren’t much to speak of.    DBZA episodes were available in ‘08 and ‘09, but I wasn’t aware of it.  And Kai never meant much to me, because they adapted stories I had already seen in Z.  But I know a lot of younger fans point to Kai on Nickelodeon as what got them into the fandom, so I have to respect that.  

For my part, ‘05 to ‘13 never felt like too much of a dry spell.  This is partly because I never seriously expected Dragon Ball to come back.  Some things just end, and I find it odd how modern fans seem to think that the franchise must continue no matter what.   Hey, that’d be great if it did, but there’s no guarantees here.  In any case, I spent those years collecting my DVDs and manga so I could rewatch everything, and I played the hell out of all those video games.  And in 2012, I started this blog.  

I think part of the argument is that The Drought lasted from ‘05 to ‘13 because the games and Kai simply don’t count.   Okay, to each his own, but if certain media doesn’t count as content, then why should we count unofficial works like DBZA as things that helped the franchise?   It just feels like a circular argument, completely subjective.  At least when Toei released Kai and the video games, they made money off of those things.  

And that’s really the issue I have with Mark’s statement.  It’s entirely up to Toriyama and Toei to decide how much content they want to produce, and when to release it.  If they didn’t feel like doing much in ‘07, that’s their call.   I’m sure they made less money off Dragon Ball that year, but that’s their business.  If they want to let the franchise end and the fandom slowly wanes to nothing, that’s fine too.   Mark makes it sound like someone needed to make something about Dragon Ball in 2008, and TFS stepped up to fulfill that obligation.  But no, the obligation never existed. 

I’ve seen Totally Not Mark kind of stray into this logic before, that rights holders should be grateful to fan creators for keeping their properties on the map.   I don’t think he’s ever quite said it in so many words, but he circles around it once in a while.  To be clear, I believe he’s well within his rights to make videos about copyrighted works, but sometimes I think he overestimates the importance of that contribution.  His audience loves his stuff, and that’s a wonderful thing, but Toei’s under no obligation to like what he does.  They don’t have to consider it free publicity if they don’t see it that way.  

That’s not to say Team Four Star doesn’t deserve some credit.   I think they made a big impact on the fandom with their work, and they’ve got a lot of talented people in their outfit.   I’ve been supporting them on Patreon for years.   They got me through some tough times, and I’m grateful for that.  I think a lot of people in Camp 2 were only arguing that Mark was wrong because they just hate TFS for the “Bad Dad” memes it spawned, but that’s just as reductive as suggesting their YouTube show saved a best-selling cartoon franchise.

Anyway, that’s my spiel, and it was just too long to fit into a Twitter thread, so I’m putting it here.   Good night, everybody.