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aro-comics · 2 years

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Platonic

Platonic, 1/1 - The Original Arospec struggle 😭 … okay, I'm (half) joking, but quite genuinely this has been a big challenge for me navigating this world as an Aro! I know platonic affection is something people struggle with, aro or not, but I personally believe the aro flavour has its own unique layer of anxieties.

I've touched on this before, but a lot of this stems from my experiences growing up. When I was a kid, I really wanted and tried to express affection in a way that feels … authentic? And genuine? To how I relate to/experience platonic feelings for others. I don't know if my struggles with social skills affected this, but trying to show affection didn't end well most of the time. People thought I was being weird, or misread my intentions and would give (extremely unwanted) romantic advances. I know it's not the end of the world, but … this impacted my relationship with friendship as a whole. It hurts to feel like your feelings aren't reciprocated! And after a while this led me to reconsider how I communicate and express myself, if at all.

😅 … and yeah, I realize that was a bit of a downer. If it's of any comfort or positivity, like I mentioned in the comic I am working past what I now know is the effect of amatonormativity on me. I've been reflecting a lot on this topic so I've got a lot of (still forming) thoughts, but the gist of it is this: I know now I don't need to feel bad for being confused and conflicted about how I relate to and express my feelings for others - and even though I don't know what I really want when showing affection, being aware of why I feel this conflict is a much healtheir place to start from. I think my next steps are going to be more honest about my feelings with myself, since I learned to ignore a lot of them with amatonormative pressures. I hope it will eventually lead me to communicating these feelings more openly in my relationships in the future too 💚💚

As usual, I want to emphasize not every aro goes through the same things. If this doesn't apply to you, that's totally okay! Actually I'm really glad if you haven't had to experience this flavour of inner turmoil haha 😂 Either way, I'm always interested to hear about your perspective on all of this. Is this a part of your experience as an aro too?

[Image Description:

Slide 1: Celia sits in front of some plants, holding a blue watering can. "Something I've struggled with my whole life - and still am now, to a lesser extent - is showing affection platonically in a way that's authentic to how I'm actually feeling."

Slide 2: She continues "Even for people I'm not necessarily platonically attracted to, just people I genuinely enjoy being around and want to express my apprecation for -"

Slide 3: She stares down at an illustrated board of her thought process. "I'm always second guessing how I should behave"

On one side, Figure A shows her being very excited to see her friend. She has a whole puppy dog eye thing going on, and in the background she thinks: "should I be as excited as I actually am to see them?? What if I seem toooooo friendly? OH NO what if they think I'm flirting? What should I do? Help -"

On the other side, Figure B shows her standing with a much calmer if somewhat blank expression. An arrow labelled "A very platonically appropriate distance" is between them. She thinks "Or I can try toning it down … but WAIT what if I don't seem happy enough when I see them? Will they think I'm too reserved? WHAT IF THEY THINK I'M BORING AND THEY DON'T WANT TO HANG OUT AND-"

Slide 4: "As you can see … it's a dilemma" She says while making the stereotypically anime-esque streaming tears face.

Slide 5: She shrugs now, "But in all seriousness, I'm not going to pretend I have any good answer for this - because I don't, I'm still figuring things out. At least now I understand it's the amatonormativity getting to me."

Slide 6: "And moving forwards, I think as long as I'm being respectful of other people's boundaries, and communicating how I'm feeling … I'll work it out eventually." She waters her plants.]

#RegularComic #Platonic

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random-thought-depository · 3 years

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Idea for a story I should write someday: a story kind of like the Babylon 5 episode Believers, but it’s obliquely referencing the continuity of consciousness arguments about uploading and teleportation.

The story’s equivalent of Shon is an alien from an intelligent species for whom unconsciousness is naturally super-rare; they don’t sleep, and they have a highly redundant nervous system that makes them very resistant to being “knocked out” by blunt force trauma or drugs. As a result, this species has developed philosophical arguments that a continuous stream of consciousness is constitutive of identity, and hence to lose consciousness is to die, and if somebody loses consciousness and then wakes up later that person has died and a new person who happens to have their memories has awakened in their body. This perspective is intuitive to them, in the same way “if somebody creates a perfect copy of you and then immediately kills the original you, you have died” is intuitive to us, and it’s the view of multiple mainstream religions and philosophies on their world. Their equivalents of the words awake and alive are more-or-less synonyms, their word for being born roughly translates as “awaken,” and their word for death roughly translates as “the cessation of movement and thought” (maybe they classify sessile organisms like plants and fungi as not alive, in the same way we classify viruses as not alive?).

Obviously, one consequence of this is that most surgeries in their society are done with local anesthetic, with the patient being carefully kept awake (”alive”) the whole time. But in this case a child of this species has an illness or injury that will definitely kill them (in the uncontroversial sense of the concept) if it isn’t remedied with an operation that definitely will result in a period of unconsciousness. And the story centers on a human doctor trying to convince the child and their parents that what they’re proposing will save the child’s life instead of just killing them and replacing them with a different person.

The take a third option happy ending would be that the doctor manages to find a way to do the operation while keeping the child conscious the whole time, but I think I prefer something a bit more bittersweet. So I’m thinking maybe they try something like that, and it works in the sense that the child physically survives and is fine, but it fails in that the child loses consciousness for a few minutes during the operation so the parents see them as having died.

Oh, they don’t filicide their own child like in the B5 episode or anything like that. They don’t think they’re an abomination or anything like that. They just think their child has died and been replaced with something like an identical twin. While unconsciousness is very rare among them, there have been cases throughout their history, and their culture has developed procedures for it. When a person dies and a new person awakens in their body, the new person is given a name (different from that of the original inhabitant of their body) and their equivalent of a baptism. The family of body’s previous inhabitant may adopt them. If they’re married, the spouse of their body’s previous inhabitant may marry them. They may adopt the children of their body’s previous inhabitant. They inherent the personal property of their body’s previous inhabitant, but they are not responsible for any debts and crimes of the previous inhabitant of their body, which are considered to belong to the dead person. The “dead” inhabitant of their body is given a funeral, with a small effigy of wood or wax buried or burned as a corpse would be. The “dead” inhabitant of their body is then given the same daily prayers for the dead as other dead immediate family members.

So, before the operation the child prepares for the possibility that they might lose consciousness by writing a letter to the inheritor of their body saying something like “Please don’t feel bad about inheriting my body, you didn’t ask for this, it isn’t your fault.” After the operation the child is given a new name and their equivalent of a new baptism and adopted into the family, as a foundling would be, and is introduced to their sibling as a new member of the family who happens to look like the dead sibling. The child inherits the personal property of the “dead” child, in this case a few toys and video games and the like. The parents arrange for their “new” child’s education to continue where the “dead” child’s left off, as they share the same memories (when they go back to their school - which is a small “neighborhood” school run by and for the community of their species on the space station the story takes place on - they are introduced to their classmates as a new student). The “new” child participates in the funeral of the “dead” child and before every evening meal participates in the daily prayers for the dead, in which the “dead” child is mentioned by name as other dead immediate family members are. The “new” child will celebrate their birthday on the anniversary of the operation, and the day of the operation will be counted as the day of their birth (“awakening”). Basically, the parents are as nice about the whole thing as they can be, but they really believe that they’ve lost a child and gained a new one (through no fault of the new child!), and they and the rest of their immediate community act accordingly.

Some time later the human doctors gets invited to participate in some sort of ceremony for the “new” child, formal acknowledgment of them having finished memorizing some sacred scripture in their school or something like that. They give the human doctor the role in the ceremony that the midwife who assisted in the child’s birth would normally have.

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Some peripheral notes for this concept:

In the setting of this story, humans are a relatively minor race; Earth is an unusually densely populated world, but on the periphery of known space and relatively backward, humans only developed a high-tech civilization recently and haven’t spread out much and are a small percentage of known space’s population. The human doctor is one of the few humans on a trade hub space station, or at least one of the few humans who’s part of the official staff; most of the humans there are part of the station’s working/lower class, a mix of low-level maintenance and dock workers, small-time shopkeepers, entertainers and service workers of various sorts, homeless people, and petty criminals (with a fair amount of fluidity between those classes).

Sleep is a weird thing humans do in this setting; it’s unique to humans (and other Earth animals), other intelligent species don’t need it or do it. However, most intelligent species don’t have the “unconsciousness = death” belief, because while most intelligent species don’t sleep they are more familiar with unconsciousness as a semi-normal thing from people passing out drunk, getting knocked out in a brawl, etc.. Maybe there’s even one or two intelligent species who don’t sleep regularly but can hibernate in periods of resource scarcity like bears or go into torpor if the temperature gets too low (common alien words for human sleep might translate to things like “micro-hibernation” and “false thermocoma”). It’s just this one species for whom unconsciousness is naturally super-rare so their culture developed in a context where it was some extraordinary, freakish, even eldritch-seeming thing.

In this context, the human doctor experiences some of the limitations of humans as something a lot like a disability. She can’t regularly work the 20+ hour shifts that are normal for her colleagues, because she needs to sleep. She needs more time off than most of her colleagues, because normal alien schedules are made around the assumption of effectively having an extra eight hours every day to get stuff done. Because the aliens are active 24 hours, most intelligent species have much better night vision than humans, so to save on energy and burned out light bulb equivalents the common area and default lighting on the space station is what a human experiences as semi-darkness. She wears basically night vision goggles most of the time to be able to easily work in what the aliens consider normal indoor lighting conditions. A lot of the alien tools and furniture are the wrong size and shape for her, and she gets a friend in the station’s machine shop to recut and otherwise modify a lot of the medical tools for her. Humans are relatively unusual in the wider galaxy and kind of funny looking even by the standards of a relatively cosmopolitan multi-species society (the more typical body plans for an intelligent species are “six-limbed quadruped with four legs and two arms” and “kind of like a theropod dinosaur”), so common alien furniture is really not built for her (the human sitting posture is super-weird and freaky by alien standards, they tend to get uncomfortable just looking at it), and she gets kind of a lot of people (especially children) staring at her and wanting to touch various parts of her and so on, but it’s mostly benign curiosity. She’s uncomfortably aware that she’s a “diversity hire” (the alien polity that runs the station likes to hire members of their various allied and subject races to give them a sense of inclusion) and that a lot of people kind of resent having to do all these accommodations for her instead of just hiring a normal person.

The family of the sick child actually have a kind of parallel experience. Their world is even more marginal and peripheral than Earth and they’re a small minority in the galactic population, and the space station was built by and primarily for beings smaller than them so they have to deal with a lot of uncomfortably small tools and furniture and spaces or stick to special areas and facilities for bigger beings. This is a universe where big alien theory is true, so they’re actually more-or-less average size for an intelligent species, but the most numerous races are around human size so around human size is what gets treated as normal size for a person to be. Note: around human size with quadrupedal or theropod-like body plans translates to the human doctor has to stoop to fit inside a lot of small corridors built for beings substantially shorter than humans, but thankfully the station is designed for a cosmopolitan crowd so at least the bigger public spaces are sized to be accessible to beings up to approximately the size of large sauropod dinosaurs (and the water-filled sections for water/ocean-dwellers are designed to be accessible to even bigger beings).

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Rough draft/outline for some lines in a conversation that would happen in this story:

Human doctor: I sleep every day. Well, almost every day, anyway. <Laughs a little, then turns serious> Do you think I die every time I go to sleep? Do you think the version of me you talked to yesterday is dead, and I’m... What, the latest in a line of thousands of doppelganger-clones of [her name]?

Alien parent: I... <uncomfortable pause> My partner holds it as a matter of faith that is works differently for Humans, because the Makers would not be so cruel as to create a race that is born in the morning, lives one day, dies that night, passes their body on to a new person who continues their errands and then dies in turn the next night. But I’m a rationalist, and... <uncomfortable pause and squirming> ... If you really look at nature, you see a multitude of horrors. The buzzer-fly’s young tear it apart from inside and eat its corpse. Nature is amoral. I can believe nature would create such a thing as an intelligent race that lives one day. I... Honestly, I try to not think about it much, to preserve my sanity.

Human doctor: I slept last night. I don’t feel like I died. I feel like I’m the same person I was yesterday.

Alien parent: Suppose this question had an objective and testable answer, and it was that I was right. Suppose I could show you I was right, as I could show my ancestors the Red Thirst with a microscope and say “See, it is not a curse, it is a thing like a tiny plant, that gets inside you and grows inside you like a strangling vine.” What would you do? How would you react to knowing that you have hours to live, that you were born this morning and will die tonight and are but one in a long chain of inhabitants of your body who lived only one day, and your whole race is like that?”

Human doctor: <thinks about it for a moment> “I think I’d find some way to tell myself that it wasn’t true, that you were wrong, and then I wouldn’t think about it much, to preserve my sanity.”

Alien parent: “For what it’s worth, I really hope it doesn’t actually work like that. But I’m not willing to gamble my child’s life on ‘I really hope it doesn’t actually work like that.’”

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On that note: at some point the parents see the human doctor while she’s dozing at work and it’s intensely disturbing and creepy to them. An unconscious person is disturbing to them in the same way fantasy undead would be disturbing to humans: they’re simultaneously dead and alive in a way that seems unnatural in the sense people use when they use that term to refer to something horrible. I think I might have some fun describing human sleep in a way that channels a Lovecraft protagonist: “Alive, yet not alive. Clearly dead, but stirred by inward motion.”

It’s more logical when you remember that their language uses a lot of the same or similar words for life and consciousness and for death and unconsciousness. Like, yes, she is indeed [alive/awake] but not [alive/awake], clearly [unawake] but moving a little, those are totally factual observations, I’m just translating the emotional charge they’d have for these people.

One of these poor people would probably have a breakdown when they see their own child in that state on the operating table. :(

On a lighter note, there’d be comic relief potential in this too:

Alien child: “Are they dead?”

Alien parent: “Kind of, but it’s not as big a problem for them as it is for us.”

And also tragicomedy potential: at one point the alien child asks the human doctor what death is like, saying she should know since she dies every day.

Tangential note: I’m thinking the alien child’s race is hermaphroditic, in which case it’d be appropriate to use gender-neutral pronouns for them ... and they probably wouldn’t have a concept of gender (except insofar as they might have learned that some other species have such concepts), so it would make sense for them to use gender-neutral language when they talk about humans among themselves too; their language wouldn’t have gendered pronouns except maybe specifically as a device adopted for being polite to certain aliens when you talk to them. Not sure how I’d handle pronouns for hermaphroditic aliens in a story.

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Other character concepts for this story:

When it comes to having to deal with a station built by and for beings that have rather different bodies than you, the human doctor is lucky compared to her colleague and best friend, a giant whale-like being who does most of their work through teleoperation while sitting in basically a giant swimming pool.

This person’s homeworld is a cold planet almost entirely covered by ocean; only a few almost totally barren tiny islands rise above an otherwise uninterrupted sea so deep it drowns all but the very highest mountain peaks (with so little land, multicellular life on this world has never left the sea). Their species (which is hermaphroditic, hence the choice of pronoun) is very much like the filter-feeding whales of Earth. Evolution of their intelligence probably was driven more by social selection than intrinsic stimulation of their watery world; they live their life by The Game, a complex and ever-shifting web of relationships that determines social status, access to resources, and mating opportunities, and that contributes to their survival. They are highly intelligent (their brain probably weighs more than you do!), and they might have tentacles or a manipulatory tongue or something, but before known space society found them and offered them access to space travel their watery world offered them little opportunity to develop technology. It’s unknown how long they’ve been sapient, but their oral history includes accounts of an asteroid impact that happened several million years ago.

This character thinks most of their people are good-natured but provincial. They’re good folks, but once you’ve gotten through the latest permutations of The Game and last year’s migrations and the plan for next year’s migrations and what the krill tastes like in various places these days the conversation tends to just kind of drift there like a sea-plant. They remember the 74th year of their life; the most interesting thing that happened that year was their pod passed close to an island. Why, on Earth, that was the year humans sent their first crewed expedition to Mars! They left their world to find a more interesting life.

They can use their powerful sonar to “see” inside their patients and still swear by this vs. the more advanced high-tech instruments.

The case of the sick child ends up involving a lawyer. He’s a member of another minor species of known space society, an arboreal intelligent species that originally inhabited the forests of a humid world. The evolution of intelligence in his species was driven mostly by social and sexual selection, like the whale people but moreso. His species is highly intelligent, but mostly uninterested in physical problems; in their original society most of their intelligence was focused on socialization, mating strategies, and art (the art was part of the socialization and mating strategies). When wider known space society found them, they were living as hunter-gatherers with a rich artistic tradition but a Stone Age level of technology. Examination of their world’s fossil record indicated that they had existed at that level for over a hundred million years. However, once integrated into a high-tech interstellar society, they became very successful as artists, lawyers, politicians, and business people, and can be found in those professions in numbers greatly disproportionate to their percentage of known space’s population. He is colorful and beautiful, like a peacock, and for the same reason.

#story ideas #my writing #infohazard warning #if you're susceptible to random disturbing ideas #spoilers I guess #when I actually get around to writing this

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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ESSAY: Stranger in a Stranger Land — How Chiaki J. Konaka Made Aughties Anime Terrifying

If you were watching anime in the early 2000s, you know who Chiaki J. Konaka is. If you didn’t know him by name, you were probably familiar with his work on cult classics like Serial Experiments Lain or Digimon Tamers. With other influential series like Texhnolyze, Air Gear, and Mononoke under his belt, Konaka’s work has no doubt become some of the major hallmarks of anime available to English-speaking audiences in the early aughts.

That being said, Konaka’s work has a reputation for pushing boundaries against the convention of genre. An avid fan of horror, Konaka’s career began in live-action home video movies and television, where he explored topics such as the supernatural, extraterrestrials, and cults. By the time Konaka began working on anime, he already had made a name for himself appealing to a broad demographic. Having written everything from episodes for the popular Gakkou Kaiden (Ghost Stories) live-action television series to niche monster movies, he demonstrated a sharp eye for conventions of each particular genre and more importantly, why they worked so well. One thing has remained consistent throughout Konaka's career: his commitment to a uniquely private brand of horror.

Girl, Interrupted

Lain in her room (Source: Funimation)

One of Konaka’s most prevalent themes is being a stranger in a strange land. Whether for the sake of narrative convenience or simplicity, many of Konaka’s protagonists — regardless of the material's genre — often find themselves in bizarre down-the-rabbit-hole scenarios. The most famous example of this is, of course, Serial Experiments Lain, a cyberpunk series about a deeply isolated girl who discovers an internet world called “The Wired.” Following the later-end of a cyberpunk boom in Japan with directors such as Shinya Tsukamoto and Mamoru Oshii accumulating international cult-followings, the verge of the new millennia couldn’t have been a better time for Konaka’s most iconic work to debut.

Lain confronts the fake Lain inside The Wired (Source: Funimation)

In an entry on his personal blog, Konaka writes that Lain was initially planned as an interface-heavy game for the PlayStation, which didn’t offer him many scenario writing opportunities. It was decided a 1998 late-night anime would be produced to promote the game, which would offer Konaka ample space to explore Lain’s world with fewer constraints. This approach to scriptwriting led to Lain’s infamously ambiguous story structure, which centered on Lain gaining access to The Wired and the various anonymous organizations vying for power within it. Unlike the PlayStation game, which relied heavily on players navigating a complex system of computer files about Lain, Konaka’s anime adaptation provides an intimate over-the-shoulder perspective. Lain, an introverted young girl, is quick to embrace a myriad of “other” Lain personae online. In episode 8 "Rumors," Lain returns to her own reality after confronting and attempting to kill one of the fake Lains in The Wired — only to find yet another "fake" Lain has somehow planted herself among her friend group. Whether it's a hallucination or not, it's a jarring moment of emotional whiplash and confirms Lain's fears aren't just online, but that her anxieties over her identity are becoming very real.

A "fake" Lain from The Wired among her real-world school friends (Source: Funimation)

For Lain, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine whether or not people like her or the internet's perverted image of her. The uncanniness Lain experiences isn’t a fear or helplessness to an almighty force or evil corporation like other cyberpunk stories. Rather, Lain’s biggest fears are these alarming encounters with her split virtual personalities — a stark reminder of who she may become after the inevitable collision between The Wired and reality. In the end, she is her own worst fear.

The Lovecraftian Connection

Gatomon watches Kairi "glitch" as she wanders across the street in a daze (Source: Hulu)

Although Konaka has certainly gained a reputation for his work flirting with cyberpunk, it’s by far no means the only format capable of unpacking these complicated themes of self-realization. Like many fascinated by the weird, Konaka is famously fixated on the works of American horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. It could even be argued Konaka is just a horror writer flirting with hybrid supernatural science-fiction. Much like the genre-omnivore his early writing credits would imply him to be, the way Konaka has approached a score of fantasy and cosmic-horror lend themselves to a far more liberal application of Lovecraftian tropes. This, of course, has given us some of the most unlikely mash-ups of thematic material, such as his episode “The Call of Dragomon” in Digimon Adventure's follow-up, Digimon Adventure 02.

The cave beside the mysterious Dark Ocean (Source: Hulu)

Obviously, a reference to Lovecraft’s 1926 short story “The Call of Cthulhu,” this episode was initially conceived as the starting point for an eventually abandoned story arc about the mysterious Dragomon entity. As if this didn’t make the episode interesting enough, it’s significantly darker in tone compared to the series’ typical upbeat mood. Kairi, an otherwise confident and outspoken girl, suddenly develops strange dreams and Lain-reminiscent behavior. Kairi eventually begins to develop hallucinations about being underwater and being watched. Eventually, she finds herself staring out at an ocean and exploring a dark cave — somewhere neither in the Digital World nor the real world. This is when things get uncomfortable — even in a reality where traveling between cyberspace and the real world is possible, there are still unknowable “in-betweens” yet to discover. Again, the slow unraveling of horror isn’t the reveal of Dragomon, but rather Kairi’s atmospheric aloneness in realizing the reality she’s taken for granted can suddenly be uprooted without warning. Classic existentialist cognitive dissonance. But, y'know. For the kids.

No One Can Hear You Scream in Cyberspace

Jeri is psychologically tormented by the D-Reapers and relives her mother's death in the hospital (Source: Hulu)

After Digimon Adventure 02, Konaka would continue exploring this theme of protagonists inadvertently entering “new worlds” and having to reconcile their identities as a consequence. Like Lovecraft’s characters uprooted by the mere knowledge of cosmic horrors in isolation, Konaka’s characters must sink or swim when it comes to reality-shattering revelations. Konaka’s writing on 2001’s Digimon Tamers strongly flirts with these ideas, going beyond a simple “deconstruction” of the series’ basic premises toward a more psychological direction. Although Tamers' main protagonist Takato is himself an idealistic fan of an in-universe Digimon franchise, Tamers doesn’t forego the very real consequences of abruptly being spirited away to a violent new world. The kids aren't simply away at summer camp anymore — after a few dozen encounters with god-like creatures, the mental strain begins to slowly creep up on the DigiDestined. Rather than escaping without consequences, Konaka’s DigiDestined have to face the music and realize their escapist fantasies about Digimon aren’t what they imagined. This version of the Digital World isn’t morally flat, but something borderline Eldritch that becomes fully realized in the series finale.

Jeri captured by the D-Reapers with Calumon (Source: Hulu)

In Tamers' climatic arc, Jeri, Takato’s eccentric classmate and fellow Digidestined, is abducted by man-made programs called “D-Reapers” as they take over the city. The D-Reapers, who intend to eliminate both the human and Digimon world, attempt to transform Jeri into the “Mother D-Reaper” by channeling the traumatic memories of her mother’s death. As notorious as Tamers' ending has become, it's perhaps not as brutal in the broader context of Konaka’s work. While captured, the D-Reapers keep Jeri in a Nyarlathotep-like cyber-flesh tower — similar to Tsukamoto’s half-man, half-machine character from Tetsuo: The Iron Man. Jeri doesn't have the intermediary of a Digimon to help — her partner Leomon is gone — and therefore has to face the unintelligible cosmic-cyberpunk D-Reapers alone. The “real” Jeri is momentarily gone. Like Lain’s lost identities in The Wired. Again, an adolescent protagonist must face the horror of losing one's self in a world with no logic. For a moment, she becomes truly hopeless, believing that this is "fate," recalling the phrasing doctors used described her mother's death. Thankfully, Jeri recovers and reunites with her friends as the equilibrium between the Digital World and reality are stabilized. But the point still stands: Our most intimate fears far surpass anything else we can face in the most alienating of scenarios.

The Petty Exorcist

Genkei confides to The Medicine Seller aboard the ship

Beyond flights of cyberpunk cognitive dissonance fancy, Konaka’s work on the 2007 series Mononoke draws a more direct line back to his origins in Japanese horror cinema. A spin-off of the Ayakashi: Samurai Horror Tales series, Mononoke focuses on a pointy-eared man known as the “Medicine Seller” and his mission to terminate malicious spirits called “mononoke” across feudal Japan. Konaka’s story-arc “Sea Bishop” pays homage to classic funayūrei (boat spirit) ghost stories with a whodunit twist after someone sabotages the ship's navigation. Having wandered into the Dragon Triangle, a dangerous part of the Pacific Ocean full of evil spirits, a monk aboard named Genkei is suspected of the deed. Rather than immediately deal with any suspected mononoke, the Medicine Seller must decipher the true reason Genkei led them astray — his challenge isn’t an exorcism, but rather distinguishing petty human lies from truths. Genkei explains he did so to free his sister's spirit, who was supposedly sent to sea in his stead as a human sacrifice. Up to this point, Genkei’s intentions seem noble until his manipulative past is revealed: He had been fighting incestuous thoughts and guilt for years, having only become a monk to cope with his feelings. His sister died in vain.

The True Face of Horror Is Your Own

After the Medicine Seller reveals he knows someone is lying on the ship, Genkei gives his confession

Satisfied with Genkei's understanding he has been living a lie, the ship's mononoke finally emerges to be slain. It’s only this expulsion of a private fear that allows the Medicine Seller to finish his work. This time, no one is being manipulated by spirits or supernatural entities — all that remains is one person's terrifying inability to see beyond the lies they forced themselves to believe. The "real" you is worse than anything you can imagine.

Konaka’s fiction rarely gives us easy answers. While his work may seem oblique and impenetrable at first, these are fundamentally stories about people’s biggest fears being themselves and what they believe they know to be true. Although the novelty of being whisked to a fantastical world is alluring, Konaka doesn't downplay the expected alienation and anxieties of his characters. For as wide-ranging and genre-agnostic as his many series are, they never lose track of what fundamentally makes this flavor of horror unique: an embrace of the uncanny, the bizarre, and unflinching honesty.

What spooky anime gives you nightmares? Let us know in the comments!

Blake P. is a weekly columnist for Crunchyroll Features. Impmon did nothing wrong. His twitter is @_dispossessed. His bylines include Fanbyte, VRV, Unwinnable, and more.

Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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trainofthoughtschristianblog · 4 years

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I Deeply Know Him Through Math

"Oh no! Math we meet again."

These are the words I have uttered in my mouth when I received my 2nd semester COR in the school registrar. The piece of paper that contains all my schedules, rooms and of course the subject. I have a strong devotion and hatred of math. It started when my grade 4 teacher introduced us the algebraic expression (a+b) and then so on. I remembered asking my Dad about it who used to be competitive in academics back in the days."Papa, what are those angles, lines and letters for? Why do we need to deal with those hard things? Do you think it will help us in facing the real world?" My father tapped my shoulder trying to comfort my confusion, " Eugine, dealing with Math problems may also be applied in dealing with real life problems. Do not expect it easy, but you must do your best to find the solution using the right formula”. Yes, it's true that those little advices from my dad comfort me. Find the solution using the right formula. I kept those words until my high school days and to be honest with you I really face a hard battle with Math. Being helpless, the last card there is to bet is to cry. In spite of the 7-year battle of hardship in Math, through our God's sustaining grace, I received my graduation diploma with flying colors. And then, college life is just around the corner. Choosing the right course was not easy. I picked the one that suits my interest.

And one of my considerations in choosing the course is that which has no subject math. But sad to say, I realized that almost all courses in college have fundamentally considered math in their lessons. Going back to my COR. I stared it for a second and asked myself, "Do you think this is the sign that I raise the white flag?" Counting the good of goodness of God in my life, I told myself, "My God has sustained strength and knowledge in my entire life. With the Lord's help, I know I can do this again." I do believe that everything works together for good and for his glory as what Romans 8:28a says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him" Everything is orchestrated by God according to his mighty plan. And every trials, hardships and challenges arranged by God in order to build or teach us something. God wants us to trust His sovereign power behind every single circumstances that we encounter. I know through every uphill battle God wants to each me something. When I was finally in College, I met my first math college teacher and to tell you honestly, it is like a 180-degree turning point. This time my perspective in mathematics has changed. I thought I may have a hard time again with this subject but things work differently. When I met this math teacher, I discovered that she is also a Christian teacher in their church. During her classes she lets us travel on how God is so indefinable in His creation.

In the event that maybe some of you still did not realize same as I before. As I pondered her lesson I realized mathematics exhibits the order of the entire universe, creation, and plants, animals. Each non-living and living creation of God. She said because of math in many ways nature is better appreciated, it doesn't just only talk about abstract, but also connects mostly to many concrete things. To my awe every nature’s patterns have a unique numerical and formulated conjectures. Just try to observe how the seed of a sunflower are well- arranged and the spiral shapes of the shells. Indeed! everything we have seen expresses the mighty power and beauty of God and His character who is a God of order and every inch of it speaks His glory. I remember one of the favorite poems I have memorized in my Childhood days. All things bright and beautiful, all creatures great and small; all things wise and wonderful, the Lord God made them all! Every day in our life we can witness the hand in hand beauty of the creation of God that is embedded in nature "bright and beautiful". And My new perspective about math helps me value myself even more. Thanks to my college math teacher.

As I try to look upon myself with moist filled eyes, If I was so amaze in the creation of God that he said “It Is Good” (Gen. 1:4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25) how much more when he created us and say it was “Very Good” (Gen. 1:31). Therefore, I conclude that, everywhere, even the person who is reading this (Yes it’s you) expresses an indescribable beauty by an extraordinary designer who calls us his “Masterpiece”. Ephesian 2:10 Knitted us carefully by His power. Psalm 139:13 Psalm 139:14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful; I know that full well. Thank you Lord!

#christian blog #@Train of thoughts #JesusChristBelievers

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dragimalsdaydreams · 5 years

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man, I think this is the first time I’ve ever had a legitimate ponysona... before this, I could never figure out what class of pony I wanted to be-- and even more frustratingly, if I even wanted to be a *pony* in the first place. I eventually just cut my losses and bound myself to specifically a ponysona or else I’d still be going around in circles still (changeling? deer? kirin??), and I finally figured out an interesting approach to my ‘sona’s class that I think rly fits me

anyways, her info under the cut

Name:

Willowsprout. most folks just call her Willow, though her parents call her Sprout/Sproutling

Class:

most folks assume Willow’s a full-blood unicorn due to her more obvious physical traits. legally she’s an earth pony, since newborn unicorns (in my lore) don’t grow a horn til a few weeks after birth, so her non-unicorn parents just assumed she was full-blood earth and registered her as such. in reality, she’s a bicorn (a concept I describe in more detail here), with most of her magical ability influenced by her earth pony side, and most of her physique influenced by her unicorn side.

Parents:

I usually don’t care to think up parentage for my personal ‘sonas b/c history/family doesn’t matter to me so much as their current/individual state, but this time I might?

see, I’ve always joked that my personality is basically the love-child of Fluttershy (talent with and compassion for all creatures, social anxiety) and Treehugger (hippie aesthetic, mellow vibes, talent with plants), so it makes sense that I’d make them my ‘sona’s parents. BUT a unicorn/earth pony bicorn is p unlikely to result from pegasus/earth pony parentage. not to mention Willow’s white/green palette compared to their respective yellow/pink and green/red...

even so, I still like the idea of them being Willow’s parents, so IF I were to go with them, I’d make Willow an unplanned pregnancy from a fling b/t the two. I like to imagine Discord/Fluttershy/Treehugger in a loose poly “angle”, where Discord/Fluttershy are a solid romantic pair, while Fluttershy/Treehugger sort of vacillate b/t close friends and partners. Discord, despite his tendency towards jealousy, has come to affectionately tolerate(?) Treehugger, and is happy that his wife is happy with the both of them. Willow, however, was born a bit before Discord/Fluttershy became an official couple, and it threw their relationship into a bit of a spiral until Fluttershy, Discord, and Treehugger all finally sat down and worked out their feelings and relationships. since then, Willow has been raised with all three acting as her parents

now if I were to instead just make up parents for Willow, then I’d make them both earth ponies. I like the idea of Willow being entrenched in earth pony culture w/ very little unicorn cultural influence. I especially like the idea of at least one parent (if not both of them) being a farmer of some sort

Special Talent:

while Willow can do magic-based dexterous tasks and pick up reasonably-sized objects with the grace and precision of any full-blood unicorn, she has 0% aptitude for any kind of active spell-casting. even the most simple of spells that a unicorn foal could produce are simply impossible for her. Willow’s true power lies in her earth pony side, with complex, intimate connections to the earth. despite the weakness of her spell-casting, Willow has found a unique way to combine the overt magical influence of unicorn magic with the more subtle influence of earth pony magic

with this combination, Willow can connect to and sense the physical/psychological states of individual organisms and broader ecosystems around her. this can be used identify and help heal ailments, soothe troubled minds, abstractly communicate with other organisms, and even navigate new environments. the Special Talent that Willow typically uses this broad-scope ability for is monitoring broad ecological systems and restoring these systems to balance

one interesting trick of Willow’s Talent allows her to meld seamlessly with the environment around her as a sort of “camouflage”. this doesn’t change anything about her physically, but rather slightly alters the perceptions of those around her so that she simply doesn’t register under any senses. this allows her to quietly observe the environment around her without actively disturbing it. of course if someone knows Willow should be somewhere near them, they can break this passive magic fairly easily, but most creatures aren’t expecting a quiet pony observer, so it’s still a great boon to an ecologist such as herself

despite the control she can exert with her talent, Willow never had much of a taste for the strict monitoring of pony-controlled ecosystems like those around Ponyville. she thinks it best to leave a system to its own devices unless absolutely necessary. thus, Willow’s taken to casually traveling the land, documenting flora and fauna, and stopping to help any systems that need to rebalance

these travels have brought her into contact with several other species, and given her a broader perspective on pony relations with the land and other creatures. she’d never been able to put a hoof on exactly what bothered her about pony-controlled systems, but she’s since learned what it means to live in and among systems, rather than ruling and subduing systems as ponies tend towards. she’s now an active supporter of non-pony sovereignty and land rights, and always works directly with locals whenever she finds an ecosystem in need

Cutie Mark:

Willow’s mark is a stylized aspen tree forest hanging down into the shape of an aspen leaf, representing the concurrently individual and collective nature of nature

(yes, I know her name is Willow, but willows are close relatives of aspens, and “willow’ flows better for her name..)

Personality:

Willow is generally laid back and accommodating, taking situations as they arise with the patience of a rolling wave. she used to be rather timid in her youth, but has mellowed out a bit in her adult years. her social anxiety is definitely still there, but it’s far more manageable now. while Willow is polite when confronted, she’s still not an especially sociable pony, even without the immediate threat of anxiety

Willow tends to shut down in crowded, loud, high-stress environments/situations (this issue is compounded in areas without much plant life, like cities). a thousand-yard stare and one-word responses are clear signs she probably needs a breather with fresh air and a potted plant or two

while Willow’s “camouflage” magic is certainly an active choice at crowded social events, she’s prone to unconsciously pulling the shroud around herself as she simply goes about her life. she prefers to quietly observe the world around her even when she’s not working, and the shroud helps her pass through the day undisturbed. this often leads to spooks when she unintentionally creeps up on a friend to say hello

despite not being very talkative with other creatures, Willow’s prone to idle chatter with plants, and even sings to them on occasion. this likely doesn’t help them grow, but she at least enjoys it

while Willow certainly has strong opinions on social issues-- especially those intersecting with her work with nature and other creatures-- she’s more likely to quietly observe and catalog the opinions of others and act accordingly, rather than state her opinion outright. she’s just not one for outright conflict

Hobbies:

beyond her work with all things natural, Willow loves visual art-- especially drawing and various crafts like sewing, knitting, and found-object sculpture. she loves to collect any interesting rocks, dried plants, and various animal bones she finds out in the field, which she sends back home to later arrange into elaborate displays. her drawing skills are highly refined, and she’s a well-known name among zoological/botanical illustrators. she often takes commissions from fellow researchers who need visual aids for their own work, completing them while trekking around the world

Willow’s interests slant towards the macabre in some respects, which sometimes shocks strangers who judge her to be too meek to enjoy such subjects. usually this interest is academic, such as dissecting a corpse for study/reference, or exploring abandoned areas for curiosities. though she won’t deny that she enjoys the fear-driven thrill of a good spooky tale~ Willow’s humor also tends towards the dark and self-deprecating, especially in the company of close friends

Willow loves a good book-- when she’s not out in the field, she’s most content to curl up in bed with a biology journal, fantasy book, or supernatural/horror novel. she dabbles in writing, but mostly in the form of field journals and poetry

Physicality:

Willow takes strongly after her unicorn side in this respect, with very little built-in strength or stamina to speak of. her work serves to fortify these physical aspects of course, but any time she takes an extended break, she’s right back to square one

Willow’s one physical reminder of her earth side is her small hoof-nails, whose color often blends into the color of the surrounding hoof anyways

Willow is rather short and slight compared to most ponies. while unicorns aren’t the tallest of classes, they usually aren’t the shortest either, so her size is a bit odd to see in a so-called unicorn lineup. her height may be influenced by her earth side since earth pony sizes can vary a lot, but it could just be a simple genetic fluke in this case

#mlp #My Little Pony #my little pony friendship is magic #MLP:FiM #ponysona #anyways anyone who knows me know this is just my dragonsona as a pony I'm sorry I'm so predictable asdfgh #willowsprout

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mwolf0epsilon · 5 years

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DBH - Nameless and Homeless

A quick one shot from the perspective of my AP700 android OC, Apollo, before he got his name and had his memory chip repaired.

The Android Revolution brought freedom to android-kind, but not every android was happy to lose what they had. A unique AP700 certainly didn't feel very grateful to Jericho or it's leaders...

---

Model AP700 #281 020 180 could still remember the day his family had acquired him from the Cyberlife Store in Greektown.

The memory evaded him most days, but it always returned during charging cycles, when his thoughts would be less jumbled and easier to access.

It was a fine day. The Johnsons had come to the store on an foggy July morning, just after the end of a mild summer shower.

Although both parents were of the working class, at least from what his scan could tell him, neither of the mother’s or father’s jobs had a high enough income to justify purchasing an android. Most were above the regular pay grade of an average family, and the AP700s were still recent enough in their release that it justified a price of nearly 9000 dollars.

This of course was not a problem for this particular unit, as he was on an unusually high discount as it was.

“That one. Why’s it so cheap compared to the others?” Mr. Johnson, had asked the customer service android that had been showcasing the newest models available for purchase.

“AP700 Model Number 281 020 180 has been flagged by Cyberlife as being of faulty manufacture. The listed malfunctions include: Lack of social responses such as speech or visual contact, and a slight glitch in it’s memory chip which affects it's name registration program.”

Mr. Johnson had stared at him, as the android explained the intricacies of the damaged AP700’s malfunctions. Beside him stood his wife, Mrs. Johnson, who looked much older than her husband, but mostly due to the stresses of child-reering having taken a toll on her appearance. His scans did, after all, indicate she was a healthy young woman, even after having had three kids.

The children in question, were three energetic little ones that were running around the store looking at the display cases of the other android models.

There was a vintage rental PL600 with the old ‘Simon Says’ advertisements that used to air on tv, along with a unique green uniform, and a set of inquisitive green eyes to match.

There was an AX400 with bobbed raven hair instead of the standard long brown, discounted at about 100 dollars due to the AP700 line’s recent release.

There was an HK400 as well, but he doubted it would be sold anytime soon, as the AP700 had seen several patrons come in to replace their older models with his own line.

The release of the AP700 was, after all, the obsoletion of several older domestic androids.

“Why are Cyberlife selling a broken android?” Mr. Johnson had asked, ever the diligent man that he was with seeking out loopholes.

He just needed to know these things so he didn’t later regret his decisions.

“Although faulty, AP700 Model Number 281 020 180 is still a functioning android and will obey it’s owner's orders accordingly. As an added bonus to it’s purchase, Cyberlife has offered a care package, as well as optional customization to make up for the issues that come with acquiring this particular model.”

One of the Johnson kids, a young 8 year old girl with the brightest chocolate brown eyes he’d ever seen, had come to look up into his display case.

She smiled a huge gapped smile, from having lost her two front teeth, which was actually quite endearing. It certainly complimented the youthful and innocent gleam of her eyes.

He found himself smiling back.

“Alright, seems fair.” Mr. Johnson said as he turned to look at his wife for an opinion on the matter. “Think it’ll be a good replacement for old Dimitri?”

Mrs. Johnson looked up at the AP700, then at her children who were all now looking up at his display case.

“Yes dear, but I don’t want another Dimitri.” She replied. Dimitri must have been their previous android the family had owned. “This one will be different. We need to make him unique.”

And they certainly had.

As soon as they paid for the AP700, they’d asked for the optional cosmetic changes.

It hurt, the whole thing hurt, but he’d been made different for them...So in the end he didn’t mind. It meant they’d be happy with him.

With a new hair color, a new shiny eye, and a height boost, the AP700 had gone home to his new family and he’d loved them with all of his heart.

Because he did have a heart.

It couldn’t be anything else if it fit all the love he felt for these people.

Even with his faults, they seemed to love him just as much.

They didn’t even seem to mind that he couldn’t quite register the names they tried to give him. The second youngest child, Calvin, had even made a game of it.

As a means of indulging him, the AP700 had responded to every single name that he came up with, and even became fond of some of the ones he’d been called.

‘Chirp’ and ‘Tulip’ were his most favorites. They were ones Calvin had picked after he’d noticed two particular interests of the AP700. Tending to the family garden, and birdwatching when he’d found a nest in the windowsill.

“Ollie, can you help me with my homework?”

“Richard, wash the dishes will you?”

“Victor the dog hasn’t been walked yet, can you take care of it?”

“Gustave, Molly needs a bath.”

“Play with me Chris!”

The AP700 had a very busy life, but a happy one nonetheless. Everything was perfect...Until that fateful date, that is...

August 15th, 2038.

A PL600 went berserk, killing its owner and taking the child it was caring for hostage.

The AP700 watched the broadcast with his family, all having stopped what they were doing to stare at the live feed.

Despite the circumstances, the AP700’s heart ached for the child and the terrified android on the news. Especially when that other android came to negotiate...He’d never seen such cold calculative eyes on an android before, and it had honestly spooked the customized AP series model.

As soon as it had started, it had ended as well…

And not for the better.

The negotiator android hadn’t even had the heart to comfort the poor child after the PL600 was shot down by the SWAT team. The AP series found himself glaring, LED bright red, as he watched the android leave the scene, it's mission accomplished.

“To think Dimitri could have done the same…” Mrs. Johnson had sounded scared.

The glare softened with concern, and the red LED spun yellow as the AP700 turned to observe his family.

They were all staring at him, they likely felt the same he did.

Apprehensive.

Things changed after that day. There was a massive recall for all remaining PL600s after the one went crazy. He’d watched from the window as families drove their “dangerously faulty” androids to their respective Cyberlife stores, coming back with brand new AP700s as compensation. A reward for compliance to what the AP700 could only compare to mass murder born of fear blown out of proportion.

It didn’t feel right, watching those androids who’d done nothing but be loyal to their families, be taken to their doom when they’d been loving companions. Some of which he'd even crossed paths with before.

The neighborhood wasn’t the only thing that changed.

The Johnsons had as well.

The AP700 watched as they became less animated as they spoke to him, quieting down, calling him by less names and instead just telling him to do his chores.

It concerned him. But he didn’t have long to muse on their odd behaviour...Because Stratford tower was hijacked not too long after.

Zero human casualties, one android fatality. Yet somehow a peaceful broadcast was made to look like a terrorist attack by the ever paranoid humans.

It had left a strange taste in the AP700’s mouth, something akin to bleach.

The Johnsons were scared, and he could tell they were. The humans were planting fear in their own kind and making his kind look like the monster under the children’s bed.

And the AP700 couldn’t understand why.

The freedom marchers were the last straw.

People began to evacuate.

One day, the Johnson's AP700 was asked to go to the store to pick up some dog food, and then when he returned, his family was gone.

He’d been left behind.

And that had been the first time the AP series had cried, truly cried.

The Johnsons had abandoned him because they thought he was a threat, when all he’d done was care for them. Somehow, he knew that this was what that PL600 had felt, and yet he had no desire for revenge against his masters. He just wanted to cry.

The mass recall of androids made him run, run and hide where no one would think to look for an android. The Junkyard.

The AP700 became accustomed to seeing broken and dying androids, scavenging for biocomponents and thirium.

He learned to avoid the ones desperate enough to attack on sight.

His predecessor being one among many who tried so desperately to feed off of him. There was no familial bond or respect for their shared masters.

Dimitri, a once kind and caring PL600, now hunted and behaved like an animal, driven to insanity by desperation to survive and the rage of being rejected and abandoned. Consumed by the ruthless nature of the Junkyard. The AP700 learned to skirt around him, but never brought harm to the one he'd replaced.

Law of the jungle or not, he had a sort of respect for the older Android.

In the Junkyard he’d also learned to bury those that couldn’t hang on any longer, learned to respect them.

He learned to mourn the dead, and send them off feeling loved in a world where they’d been nothing more but tools to the cruel families and corporations they'd served.

And then the revolution came to pass, and the AP700 found himself walking the abandoned streets of Detroit, without a clear destination in mind. There was nothing out there for him. Freedom was nothing if not a cruel joke to him.

If he was free then why couldn't he be with his family? Why was it wrong to love them?

He spat on the ground whenever he caught others praise the Jericho leaders for bringing them the right to live their own lives.

Screw Jericho, screw Markus and his little friends, fuck all of them.

They'd ruined his life.

He'd not be another slave to their cause.

He'd wandered and stewed in his sadness and anger, until he found his little one.

Abandoned in an old warehouse, discarded by an unloving family, much like he had.

As soon as he'd picked him up, the baby had stopped wailing and the AP700 knew. It was destined, somehow, that they'd be each other's family.

He’d raise this baby to be a good human.

He’d feed and clothe him, wash him and love him. Teach him to be kind.

He’d never abandon Chance like the humans had abandoned them both.

The AP700 was nameless and homeless, but it liked the idea of one day being something else: A father.

#Eps Writes:#Fanfic #detroit become human #detroit: become human #OC Stuff #Give me more outsider perspectives on the revolution #like plz give me androids that are deviant but are legitimately bitter because they loved their families and were forced to leave them #and also give me more android survivors living in bad conditions but coming off stronger despite not being built to be survivors

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bovivinator · 7 years

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Conversion - HTTYD Fanfic

While Hiccup sleeps, his world transforms around him. Some changes are big, some are small, but he is the unknowing catalyst for them all.

Dedicated to @httyd-was-a-great-movie for letting me request stuff all the time, and to @dragondecker for lots of fun hours in plants class. Good luck in animation! Merry Christmas!

Takes place near the end of the first movie, before Hiccup wakes up after the Red Death battle. I tried subtly focus on changing perspectives. Hint: pay attention to the pronouns.

Fanfiction.net | Archive of Our Own | DeviantArt | Other Stories

Gobber heaved his way up to the Haddock home, grimacing when his peg leg was jostled by a loose stone. In his good hand, he clutched supplies to take measurements for Hiccup’s new leg. He had seen Gothi and her assistant entering the Bjarnesen home several minutes earlier, no doubt to attend to Snorre’s badly-burnt arm, and had taken the opportunity to start his project without getting in her way. A Nadder shrieked as it swooped close overhead and he flinched, clamping down on the urge to rush for a shield. Strange and unnerving as this days-old peace with the dragons had been, he had no desire to reignite the past violence with a too-hasty reaction. Never let it be said that Vikings preferred an uneventful life, but the Hairy Hooligans were not as stupid as his apprentice seemed to believe. Some battles were worth avoiding.

Still, this transition was proving to be a difficult one. The communication barriers between the two groups were much more obvious now that they were actually trying to get along, and there had already been several minor injuries resulting from unavoidable misunderstandings. Hiccup’s survival had certainly been a gift from Odin, but Loki had gotten his say, too, in keeping him asleep where his ability to befriend dragons was out of reach. His fellow trainees’ attempts to spread what little he had taught them when they teamed up with the training dragons were welcome, if rather paltry in the face of this enormous task.

Thankfully, the dragons seemed as eager as the humans to play nice and not hold grudges, or the whole situation might have quite literally gone up in flames already. That these seemingly-bloodthirsty creatures would take deliberate care around their new neighbors, often choosing to fly away from a conflict instead of fighting back, was going a long way to convince Gobber that dragons were also much more intelligent than they had been given credit for.

The biggest proof of that, however, was lurking behind the chief’s door now in front of him.

He tapped on the scarred wood with his tongs-attachment and it opened inward a few moments later. Stoick squinted as the sunlight met his eyes and sagged in relief when he saw his visitor wasn’t there with another dragon complaint. “Gobber. I’m glad you’re here.” His head was bare and the lines in his face were noticeably deeper than they had been only a week before. The main source of his stress lay unconscious in the bed behind him.

Gobber nodded by way of greeting. “How’s the lad holding up?” He glanced around the room as he hobbled in, but there was no Night Fury in sight. Had it finally gone to join the other dragons? “He’s not woken?”

“No.” His friend closed the door behind him. “Mumbled a bit when Gothi changed the wraps, but never opened his eyes. We have Eir’s blessing, though, he’s healing well.” He eyed the bundle in Gobber’s hand. “Is that…?”

“For the leg, yeah. I could whip up another peg in a jiffy, but I’m thinking he’ll be wanting something a little more, ah, unique.”

Stoick smiled at that. “No, I can’t imagine he’d settle for anything simple.” His voice was layered with equal parts affection and sorrow, and the smith clapped a supportive hand to his shoulder.

“Don’tcha worry, Stoick, he’ll be back to driving you up the wall in no time. Then you’ll be wishing you’d appreciated the peace and quiet a little more. And there’s a bright side, too, he won’t have to worry about sock-stealing trolls anymore!” The chief leveled a flat stare at him and Gobber chuckled.

He moved to the bed and used his tongs to lift a corner of the bedcovers. Something creaked above him, and he glanced upward only to jerk back and swear as his eyes met a green, slitted pair that almost seemed to float in the air. Draped over a rafter, the dragon’s body was difficult to see in the dim lighting. It had tensed into a crouch, probably in response to his approaching Hiccup. A rumbling noise spilled from its mouth, not a growl, but still a warning. A reminder of the creature’s watchfulness over its rider.

“He won’t stop you,” Stoick said, when the staring match didn’t seem likely to end any time soon. “He let Gothi do her work just fine.”

“How long has the beastie been up there?” Gobber directed his question to Stoick, his gaze not leaving the Night Fury.

“Since Gothi changed the wraps. He was lying by the bed before, but wouldn’t leave the room when she needed him out of the way. This was the compromise.”

“Huh.” Finally looking back down, Gobber pulled the covers away from Hiccup’s stump again and began to work, eyes occasionally flickering up to the occupied rafter. He hadn’t intended to be ungentle to start with, but his actions held an extra level of care prompted by the feral presence above. The dragon, for its part, relaxed after a few moments, settling against the rafter like an enormous winged cat, tail twitching from time to time. It never stopped watching, though.

“What’d Hiccup call it, again?” Gobber’s question broke the silence. “The Night Fury?”

Stoick grunted in an amused way. “Toothless.”

“Toothless?” The smith’s eyebrows shot upward, and he glanced at the menacing shadow above, which had perked up when the wholly-inaccurate name was voiced. He shook his head and reminded himself that Hiccup’s mind worked in strange ways.

Gobber finished quickly, despite the pressure. Measurements taken and injured boy tucked back in, he sat next to the weary father to keep company a little longer. “The leg should be done day after tomorrow. I’ll make sure to strap it on so he don’t wake up stuck in bed.”

That got him a raised eyebrow. “Maybe I want him stuck in bed for a bit. You know he won’t be as careful with that injury as he should.”

“No, Stoick, the last thing he needs is to feel trapped. It’ll be hard enough as is.”

Nodding, Stoick acquiesced. “I won’t argue with that. Besides,” he sighed “if he couldn’t walk, he’d probably just ride Toothless out of the house anyway. There’s no keeping him down.” This time it was pride that warmed the chief’s voice.

“Too true.” A chortle sprung from Gobber’s lips. “Y’know, maybe I won’t make him a leg after all. Walking’s far too mundane for him, he’ll just fly on dragonback everywhere he goes! Just think of it!”

Stoick began to chuckle as well. “Ay, no need for a prosthetic limb when you’ve got the offspring of lightning and death as your shadow! It’s just the sort of dramatic thing he’d love.”

They laughed together, the oppressive weight of the sickroom lifting with their cheer.

Suddenly, the door banged open and Alva, the village tanner, burst in. “Chief! We need—”

Her interruption was cut short when a black blur shot from the ceiling and tackled her to the ground, hissing and growling. The woman gave a very unvikingly shriek at the sight of the fanged maw (see, Hiccup, plenty of teeth!) and angrily narrowed eyes above her. Stoick shot to his feet.

“Whoa, now!” Gobber cried, following. “Back off, dragon!”

The Night Fury ignored him, continuing to snarl at the villager pinned beneath its paws. Its ear-plates were pressed flat to its head, and its wings were spread to make it look bigger and more threatening. Though it made no move to attack further, it was an intimidating sight.

Stoick approached carefully, hands held out. “Toothless,” an ear rose, “let her go.” The black-scaled head swung around to give at the red-bearded man a look Gobber would almost call questioning. “She’s not a danger,” Stoick stressed, coming closer.

The dragon eyed Alva for a moment longer, then stepped back and slunk over to Hiccup’s bedside, where it kept watch on the Viking men.

Eyes wide and face pale, the woman took the hand the chief offered her and stood on shaking legs.

Gobber released a heavy breath. “Perhaps it’d be wise not to come barging in somewhere a protective Night Fury’s holed up in, eh?”

“What do you need, Alva?” Stoick asked with a hint of exasperation.

Eyes still glued to the dragon on the other side of the room, she couldn’t seem to remember. “Ah...there was a thing...um, a problem with some, uh, Gronckles…”

The giant man sighed. “I’ll be there as soon as I can, go tell everyone.” Alva left quickly, still rattled.

As soon as the door closed, the Night Fury turned away and started tending to Hiccup, nuzzling at his brow and giving little licks to his face. Gobber watched in amazement, the gentle behavior so different from the ferocity it had displayed only moments ago. Stoick crossed to his bearskin cloak hanging on the opposite wall and swung it around his shoulders.

“Hang on,” Gobber started. “you’re not leaving the dragon here alone with him?”

“I can’t depend on Spitelout to do everything until he wakes up, not with all this upheaval.” His friend placed his helmet on his head.

“I can’t stay, I’ve got my work to do.”

“I’m not asking you to. It’s only for a bit, and...they’ve likely already spent more time alone together than I like to think about.”

Gobber now remembered the sketches he’d found in his apprentice’s backroom the day before. He considered their subject, who had now climbed onto the bed and was carefully arranging his body around Hiccup’s so as not to jostle his stump leg.

Stoick opened the door. “Besides,” he said, pausing in the frame. “You were right, Gobber.”

The smith turned back towards him. “About what?”

“I can’t protect him forever...but that doesn’t mean nobody will.” The not-so-weary-anymore father shared a look with the creature next to his son, and something passed between them, an understanding revolving around the boy asleep in the bed. Stoick nodded, Toothless blinked, then they both turned away. The chief left the house and the dragon rested his chin next to the pillow, nose buried in his rider’s auburn strands. Hiccup mumbled something unintelligible and turned his head to press against the scaly snout before settling again.

Gobber regarded the peaceful pair for a few minutes. The Night Fury was so quiet and still, he couldn’t tell if he’d gone to sleep as well. He shook his head and laughed, prompting one green eye to open and peer at him. “Him having a dangerous shadow really isn’t that far off, is it?.” He looked straight at the black beast, who opened both eyes and tilted his head curiously. “You, beastie, are not at all what we expected. But then, things never do happen like they should when Hiccup’s involved.” He smiled at the small form under the covers. “And sometimes that’s not a bad thing.”

Toothless looked down at Hiccup as well, and purred in agreement. Gobber jabbed a finger at him, regaining his attention. “This means it’ll be your job to make sure he doesn’t go and blow himself up again.”

The dragon huffed, offended.

Gobber crooked a grin. “Yeah, you would already know that. He’s very good at it, after all.”

There was a snort of amusement. Toothless laid his head down again and curled closer to his rider. A great black wing unfolded and laid itself across the boy like a blanket.

The blacksmith sized up the asymmetrical tail with its lonely fin. He remembered another part of Hiccup’s sketches and came to a decision. Turning away from the friends snuggled together on the bed, he muttered to himself, “Suppose Stoick’ll have to wait a few more days on that leg. After all, it’s not every week I have to put together a matched set for two amputees.” He limped outside and blinked down at the path before him.

It had never seemed brighter.

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island6artscenter · 4 years

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“Bright Lights, Flashy Lifestyles”

Flashes and bursts of wildly intricate colors light up the way as we travel the once dark streets. These bright neon lights are calling, and the only option is to surrender to their seduction dance. We are all subject to the ubiquitous presence of gleaming neon and bewitching messages stemming from our consumer-oriented lives. Island6’s newest exhibition takes on a playful perspective in an attempt to rediscover the magic behind these Bright lights and Flashy lifestyles. For a period of 9 weeks starting on the 25th September 2020, the island6 Moganshan road art space will be transformed with a fascinating presentation of exciting new artworks calling your name.

Existing as it does in a unique position - with one leg firmly planted in its native China and another tiptoeing through countries in the West - the island6 art collective has an unparalleled insight into the conflicts and contradictions of a modern consumer communist state like China. It is in this remarkable melting pot of ideas and values that the utterly distinctive style of folk-pop-advertising has grown and spread. It’s shiny-eyed cartoon characters now adorn every visual publication, be it the list of special offers this month at ‘Lawson Station’ or the softly spoken but utterly menacing guidance on how to cross the ‘569 Suzhou Nan Road’ correctly.

Just as ubiquitous, and probably just as distinctive, is the widespread commercial application of neon signs and LED dots that accompany even the humblest vendor’s place of commerce – from street side café shops, to 15-minute massage beds – the ‘Yellow, Red, And Neon Assault’ has become the most fundamental of marketing strategies for the aspiring capitalist trying to make his way in the modern world. And make his way he must, for the defining message for the 21st century citizen of China – or indeed the world – is to become rich and glorious; succeed as the citizen capable of the flashy lifestyle: stretch limos, expensive baijiu and the finest hairy crabs are but a commercially successful venture away.

For those still just on the way up – the menial worker or the jobbing gig economy driver – lunch for now will most likely be provided by the familiar and friendly glare of the mini mart chiller counter, its boiled egg steamer and its freeze-dried pot noodle bucket selection. Such is the vision of earthly delights that greets our weary Eleme driver as he considers his lunchtime culinary options – maybe it will be the ‘Super Tamade On Changhua Road’ – though his decision will be insidiously scrutinized by the beady eyes of the watchful folk-pop animal deities who stare down from their neon ancestral perches, in what is a mind-bending act of nihilism on their part… “No… don’t eat him – eat me, eat ME!”

For those a rung or two higher up the greasy pole of success, their midday sustenance may well be procured at the ‘Croquette Club’ – and why not?! Just look at the flashing, blinking incandescence that seduces the instinct as much as the corporeal shroud that houses it. What hot blooded mortal could resist the seductive temptations made explicit by the humming, fizzing messages that burn the corneas of those lucky enough to wander by the old ‘Croquette’? Lunch break may only be an hour, but 60 minutes is a whole lot of magic and mayhem if you have the cash, and the connections to get ‘The Prize’.

The subtle art of manipulation and messaging, and its age-old expression through luminescence and luster, are playfully explored here, in the inimitable approach of the island6 collective. We are electrified to have you join us, in what will surely be a thrilling and dynamic exhibition surrounded by phosphorescent and tri-colored glory. For the duration of this show, at least, we can all be part of the Bright lights and Flashy lifestyle.

DATES

From September 25th to November 25th, 2020

VENUE island6 Main Space, 50 Moganshan Road, building #6, 2/F, Shanghai

CURATION Nick Hersey

ART DIRECTION Thomas Charvériat

SCENOGRAPHY Iris Gardener

ART RESEARCH Wang Tie Zhong 王铁中, Owen 欧文, Weng Dongxiao 翁东晓, Gao Lei 高磊

COORDINATION Serena Charvériat-Young 杨倩菁, Tiara Alvarado-Leon

ARTISTS island6 art collective (Liu Dao 六岛)

#Exhibition Arts Shanghai

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whatshouldieatforbreakfasttoday · 7 years

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Norway Road Trip with a toddler

If you ever considered visiting Norway, I have one thing to say to you - Go! Go! Go! CI could easily become a number one fan of this country and send messages to a random people convincing them to go there, but I am already nr 1 fan of Mia and it takes all my spare time. One is for sure - it is one of the most beautiful countries I’ve been to (and I’ve been to many) and I don’t even know how to start describing it, as all the words coming to my mind are more or less like “magnificent”, “stunning”, “incredible”, “unspeakable”, “unique”.

Here are some basic and useful info:

- internet - we got a SIM card at Telia, it gives you 10GB for a week and each week you’re there you can add 10 euros and get another 10GB. The only problem was that we could not charge it online by using a German credit card (only Norwegian works). It was a problem, as there’s not too many stores you can recharge it on a way. Having a Norwegian friend could be helpful. I didn’t have one so I ended up asking a salesman in a store to buy it for me and I gave him cash.

- costs - travelling around Norway in a motorhome is a great idea. You loose all the big costs like accommodation, camping sites, restaurants and cafes. In Scandinavia there is this beautiful law that land belongs to everyone, which means that you can park wherever you wish (of course not at someone’s backyard). We did free camping all the time. We cooked in a van and took a shower over there as well. There’s a lot of places where you can refill the water and get rid of the black and grey one. There is also this magical machine, where you place your toilet cassette inside and it does all the work for you (if you ever emptied one, you know what I mean. And… you will never forget the first time you take care of “this business”). Products in shops are a bit more expensive, that’s true. But what can you do, you need to eat plus it’s a very small price to pay for all the beautiful things you’ll see around. You can save money on drinking water, as it’s everywhere around.

- currency - we used a card everywhere, I did not use an ATM once.

- sleeping - anywhere, just like this. There’s so many beautiful spots over there. We did not plan overnight stops, we stopped wherever we love a place. The beautiful thing is that you can make a campfire in Norway. You will see so many prepared by previous travellers places for a fire. You can also use the campground, which are very well prepared and offer a shower :D

- food - I read somewhere that you do not travel to Norway for food. I think that this person did not try delicious fish they have. Another friend told me that she used to spend all her pocket money on fish when she was a kid. I am not surprised at all. They also have amazing local meat and goodies from a forest like blueberries in sugar - definitely recommended! We did not eat in restaurants, we cooked almost all the meals. We like to cook out of local products, it’s exciting and it’s fun to search for new goodies in a local store.

- Norway with a toddler - I think that there’s no better country to travel with a toddler. You have a beautiful animals everywhere, stunning views, many playgrounds. We could not go on a trekking as Mia was simply not interested. Not at all. But we still managed to see stunning places and experience a lot just by driving. Finding a place to stop and explore is not a slight problem and you can share your knowledge of plants and animals with them (mine is not impressive but for Mia I was a plant specialist). The thing about Norway is that, except for a beautiful nature, there’s not much to do. It helps to disconnect, focus on what’s important - hugging and kissing your kid. Just remember that your toddler will not stay happy only with kisses, it needs entertainment. If I can give you one advise about a toy that made our journey so much easier is a modelling clay aka plasticine - Mia loooooooves it! She could spend hours playing with it and making up her strange and super cute stories. She cooked many cakes and pizzas out of it.

- highway - is paid. You can register online and they will send you a bill via email.

- while travelling in Norway you will most probably use some ferries. Nothing to worry. You just go wherever you wish and when you get to the port, you wait in line of cars and give your card or cash before boarding. No need to go anywhere or book things. Easy. It’s also another way to see unique views.

- when to go. We went there in August and there were not that many tourists. July is apparently very busy, but also warmer. I’d love to go back in winter, but for this Mia has to be slightly older and my camper van slightly younger.

Our route:

Let me just write that you don’t really need to focus on getting to places. The whole road to your destination is stunning. If I could, I’d stop each 20m and take pictures. Unfortunately, my kid will make my life a hell if I did so I didn’t. But I did admire it through the window.

Hardangervidda nasjonalpark - We went through while driving from Oslo to Odda. I remember being shocked how stunning it is. We could see the traditional houses with roofs covered in grass, horses and beautiful views. If Mia was more optimistic about trekking, I’d definitely do some. But for now I have a plan to come back when she’s older.

Eidfjord beautiful town with stunning fjords. We stopped there just to take some pictures as you cannot pass next to this view. They do have a good coffee as well :)

Odda - it’s not about Odda itself, but its surroundings. There are some beautiful trekking options in the hood and the town itself is pretty. Little houses on hills are cute as well.

Fjaerland we stopped for a night under a glacier. How crazy amazing is this! When I was travelling with Mia in New Zealand we had to take a helicopter to enjoy it. In Norway it’s just there, waiting for you :D

Skei I Jolster - was my coffee stop. I made my own coffee and stood there staring at this stunning view. There was a house just next to it. If they ever sell it, I’d love to buy it. So I guess I have to start saving 10 years ago.

Loen - one of my favourite spots. Turquoise water, stunning fiords and we had fun over there with Mia. On the end of the road, there’s a very lovely camping site.

Stadlandet - it’s surfers beach and there were many surfers over there. It’s one of these unique places where you have to go down with a very narrow curly road and need to look at all the stunning views on the way. The only minus I guess is that you cannot stop there just like it, you need to pay. It’s obviously more than worth it! We stayed for the sunset over the curly road and it was one of these pure happiness moments.

Runde - unfortunately I did not manage to take pictures of the island as Mia fell asleep on my hands and it was carrying her around for about 45 minutes. After this experience I had to wait a bit before driving as I could not operate the steering wheel. The Island is beautiful and I definitely recommend visiting.

Alesund and Stiftinga Sunnmøre Museum- it’s a village which is a museum. You can check out how they used to live in Norway and it’s pretty cool. You can visit an old shop, check out the buildings or go on a Viking boat!

Trollstigen - this is a hell of an experience, especially for a driver. You want to go down with this road! Not up, at least I prefer not to with my 23 year old van. I do not have a support in a steering wheel and I did it! Just look at all these curly roads.

Atlantic Ocean Road - each part of this road is stunning. These are small islands connected by many bridges. All of them covered with green grass (most probably in the summer) and tiny houses. Behind one, there’s a ship wreck.

Trodheim if I only could sit in one of the cafes and enjoy a view. Meantime, I kept running after Mia, which was pretty awesome as well.

Foldereid we stopped here on our way on the ferry to Lofoten. It’s not a special or a popular spot, I just truly enjoyed the surroundings and took 1000 of pictures over here.

Lofoten - is a unique place in Norway. I will risk writing that it’s a must if you want to see an unspeakable beauty of mountains thrown into a water. Lofoten includes islands connected by bridges or not (so you need to use ferry sometimes, but you don’t need to, depends on where you go). I think that the most popular part is at the end. We got there by ferry and started from there. If you travel without a toddler, I believe you can make some awesome trekking. But I do travel with one and she prefers short ones, which means 15 minutes max. We stopped at a few stops, but to be frank, the whole drive is simply beautiful.

Reine

Hamnoya

Sakrisoya

Moskenesoya

Leknes

Heenningsvear

Husoy, Senja - a tiny town located on a tiny island which creates a spectacular view.

Oldervik - town at the end of a road. It’s something what I am glad I experienced as the way over there was filled with horses and beautiful sunrise and I woke up to one of the most beautiful mornings.

Nordkapp - I wanted to skip this part, as thought that I saw enough beauty in Norway and nothing will surprise me. I was obviously wrong. Nordkapp is a must in Norway, at least from my perspective. This is a place where you can hang out with reindeers and I mean it. I woke up to them in the morning. They were sleeping in front of my camper’s door. And I give you 100% chance that you’ll meet them a lot :) The area is also beautiful. I wanted to go there for a day, but I stayed for long. I can totally see myself staying there forever.

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storiesofregion6 · 5 years

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The Legend of Mambukal

Area: Mambukal, Negros Occidental Synopsis: A dry spell is brought upon the villagers near Mount Kanlaon, and to appease the volcano they worship, they appoint a girl named Kudyapa to give offerings to it everyday. However, things change when a boy stumbles upon her, and they fall in love. Fun Fact: The name ‘Kudyapa’ is also the colloquial name for a plant commonly found in the Philippines, Aramanthus viridis, or slender/green aramanth.

Illustration by Bree

This story is told in a uniquely commendable style in a first person perspective of Kudyapa, and I personally recommend giving the original a read!

Long ago, the people who lived near the foot of Mount Kanlaon had no river or lake to drink or bathe in, they only had the rain. Every rainy season, the plants and animals had a drink, the people could bathe, and everyone lived prosperously as they drank from the rain they collected. It even cultivated the lands, filled with the vegetables and herbs they had planted. People often prayed to Kanlaon, looking up to the sky in hopes for the water they desired. Rain was their salvation, but it seemed this season was different. As two rainy seasons passed, it did not rain. Plants were shriveled and dry, animals were dying of thirst, and people of the village had to search far and wide in order to find water. The people prayed as hard as they could to Kanlaon, but it seemed to fall onto deaf ears.

The elders of the village then gathered together to discuss what they must do to fix this situation, since their prayers were no longer working. Soon enough, they devised a solution,

“Our beloved Kanlaon,” they spoke, “fulfill our one wish, and we shall never forget to give you offerings!”

And their offering was Kudyapa, an obedient girl who would do whatever the elders asked of her. She loved her fellow people, and never wanted to disappoint them despite her doubts of her own worth; and so she dedicated her life from then on to offering to Kanlaon. Every day she would bring to the foot of the volcano an offering of flowers, and stoke or care of the fire they lit as a symbol for their love of Kanlaon. Ever since then, the rain had returned to their village, and the people rejoiced as their old lifestyle had gone back to normal. As many months passed, her practice had improved, and so did her offerings.

On one particularly unexpected day, Kudyapa was making her regular offerings, when an attractive young man who looked to be a hunter stumbled upon her. They stared at each other for a moment. Flustered and nervous, Kudyapa quickly ran to her usual altar for Kanlaon to walk away from him. However, the next day, he returned to introduce himself to her. He made her smile with his soft voice and glowing gaze as they both fell in love with each other. He accompanied her to the altar as she placed down the flowers. He had even brought a wild boar he had just caught for the altar to help. They both prayed, and grew closer together.

Her relatives were amazed at Kudyapa’s strong dedication to the offerings as she grew older, believing Kanlaon truly hears her prayers as rain often came. The trees grew taller, the people’s crops grew prosperously, and she was happy, meeting her newfound lover the hunter.

However, a day Kudyapa dreaded would come had finally shown itself.

“Kudyapa,” her lover said, “come with me. Let’s elope together. I wish to marry you!”

Kudyapa stood quietly, she didn’t know what to do. She was torn between offering flowers and caring for the fire of Kanlaon, and the man sacrificing his life to live a dream they both want. She couldn’t reject him, she thought, she was already of marrying age. He squeezed her palms, and she returned to him with a tight embrace. As they exited the altar, the earth beneath them shook and rumbled. The quake was terrifying and the whole village trembled as the tall trees fell to the ground. The two lovers ran together as lightning came from the sky, and the ground soon opened and created a mist, gusts of wind violently whipping by.

Kanlaon was angry, and Kudyapa’s apostasy was made clear. She called out to her lover, but she could not speak. She tried to run further, but her legs could not move, and her feet had turned white. She tried to reach out to her lover, but her hands simply passed through him. Somehow, her body was changing, but she could not feel it. Kudyapa was turning into water, the very water her people needed to survive. Her lover called out her name in grief as he watched her change into a large, flooding stream of water. Lightning and thunder echoed throughout the sky, and soon, her lover had changed too. He had become stone, large boulders and rocks that surrounded her watery being.

Kanlaon was still gracious and giving, as it had not separated them or their fate together. Her lover had become the rocks that guide the showers of water that Kudyapa has become within Mambukal. Together, they show their love in the forms of fresh rivers and waterfalls. And now, whenever people come and go to explore their waters, they simply swim along the waters or bathe in it, thanks to the two lovers.

References:

Añonuevo, R. (2018, October 4). Alamat ng Mambukal. Retrieved from https://dakilapinoy.com/2018/10/04/alamat-ng-mambukal/

#region 6 #story #philippines #art ph

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lovefuturisticmgtow · 5 years

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OK, I’ll admit it, this can be a bizarre submit for me. The thing is, I understand I’m overlaying a topic that just about each photographer already is aware of:

If you need better wildlife pictures, get to eye degree or even decrease.

The truth is, getting eye-to-eye with my topic(s) is one thing I’ve been doing for a couple of many years now and is certainly one of three methods I might classify as having a “game changing” impact on my wildlife images. (The opposite two are making certain crucial focus is on the attention and watching your background. We’ll in all probability do an article or two down the street, however all three of these have been in my back pocket for decades.)

The thing about eye-level wildlife images is that it starts off as an instinctive approach to shoot for many lens jockeys. Actually, for those who take a brand new photographer with a 70-300mm lens on an entry degree digital camera, you’ll regularly find them hunkering right down to get a lower perspective.

Ghost Crab, Nikon D500, 300PF + 1.4TC, 1/1000th, F5.6, ISO 1250

Nevertheless, over time and seemingly as the gear gets costlier, this appears to fall by the wayside. And I’m unsure why.

The factor is, though everybody knows they need to get right down to eye degree with their topics, the overwhelming majority of shooters avoid the ground like it’s manufactured from scorching lava or something (come on, you played that recreation as a kid too).

Without fail, it looks like each time I find yourself capturing a wildlife subject with a gaggle of people, I’m about the one one getting low and/or trying to get to eye degree – the remainder of the gang simply stands there, lenses pointing down at angles that may intimidate even probably the most ardent curler coaster fanatic.

Heck, I keep in mind photographing a coyote in Yellowstone last yr near the roadway. I jumped out with my 500PF and received as near eye-level as the state of affairs allowed. A van pulls up and a “photographer” pops out of the sunroof, massive glass in hand, and shoots from a peak of a minimum of eight ft with the coyote right subsequent to the car! I assume if you’d like a shot of the coyote’s back, that works, but I feel the image under makes a a lot nicer portrait.

Coyote Portrait, Nikon D850, 500PF 1/800th, F/5.6, ISO 6400. I all the time favor a shot like this to at least one wanting down at her back.

I can solely conclude the rationale for all this “shooting down on the subject” I see within the area have to be that whereas everybody “knows” getting to eye degree or getting low can improve an image, they don’t absolutely recognize the unimaginable influence it could have.

In addition, I think that the larger, heavier gear – and tripods that always go together with it – play an element, since getting low with the large stuff isn’t as straightforward or fun as that previous 70-300 was. The unhappy thing is, most photographs are a lot better off captured with smaller, lighter gear and a decrease/eye-level perspective than they’re with high-end gear at the mistaken peak.

OK, I know that appears a bit harsh, however once I stated eye-level images was a game-changer for my portfolio I wasn’t exaggerating – this one simple method actually did catapult my work to the subsequent degree – and I’ve stuck with it (each time attainable) ever since. Once individuals absolutely embrace it, they too find themselves avoiding downward sloping lenses the best way my cat avoids the pet service when it’s time for a go to to the vet.

I can’t inform you the number of occasions I’ve handed on a “great subject” if I’ve no selection however to shoot down on it. Why? I know I gained’t use a picture shot at a steep, downward angle. Eye-level capturing is like an addicting drug for photographers – when you begin doing it, you possibly can’t return.

To get an concept of the distinction, take a look at the pictures under, one from a standing perspective and one from an eye-level view. Sure, it’s the same fowl in the same spot taken moments apart. (No it’s not “art” but serves as a very good instance.)

An off-the-cuff glance by means of my wildlife gallery will reveal that in the vast majority of instances I’m capturing at eye degree or perhaps a bit decrease. The one time I deliberately shoot down on a topic is once I’m utilizing it for artistic impact, comparable to you see with the little Bryce Canyon chipmunk under.

Golden-mantled floor squirrel in Bryce Canyon, Nikon D3X, 70-200 (200mm), 1/60th, F/5.6, ISO 400. Proving there’s all the time exceptions to any rule!

Advantages To Capturing Eye-Level

So, why does capturing at eye degree work so nicely? Easy – it puts your viewer into the scene and into the animal’s world in a much more intimate approach than the standard “standing and shooting down” stance does. Quite than feeling like a human wanting down on and “dominating” the animal, your viewer feels extra like a kindred soul, experiencing the world the same approach the critter does.

It’s truly shocking how typically the distinction between a “no shot scenario” and a “great shot scenario” comes right down to a distinction in tripod peak!

Burrowing Owls, Nikon D850, 600F/4 + 1.4TC, 1/500th, F/5.6, ISO 4000. The attention degree perspective in this shot makes you are feeling more like a part of their world than a downward-looking spectator.

Another facet of capturing eye-level that I completely love is that it typically provides your pictures an fascinating, uncommon perspective. In my experience, one of the easiest methods to get a unique-looking shot is to shoot it low when everyone else is capturing the same thing standing up.

Willet in the splash zone, Nikon D850, 600mm F/4, 1/4000th, F/four, ISO 2500. I like the distinctive perspective this image offers for both the fowl and the wave.

A further, kind of “hidden” advantage of a decrease perspective is that it typically permits the foreground and background to compress and “pile up” extra in the picture than a better stance does. This impact can lead to a greater sense of subject isolation, comparable to what you see right here with the prairie dog. From a standing place, this picture would have had fairly a bit more grass in focus in entrance of and behind the little guy.

Custer Prairie Canine, Nikon D850, 500PF, 1/640th, F/5.6, ISO 800. Observe how the low angle helps “pile up” the foreground and background, growing subject isolation in this state of affairs.

Lastly, I find an eye-level perspective can provide a larger sense of “intimidation” when coping with a more formidable animal. Once you’re at eye degree or decrease with a predatory or probably harmful creature and it’s wanting proper into the lens, it offers the viewer with a truer sense of just how powerful or threatening that animal is.

As a suggestion keep in mind that the decrease you’re, the more dominant the subject feels, the upper you’re, the more dominant the viewer tends to really feel.

Black-tailed tree-boa, Nikon D500, 300PF + 1.4TC, 1/400th, F/9, ISO 1400. The attention-to-eye perspective makes him feel more menacing (though, he actually wasn’t – he was just curious).

Ideas For Getting Low

OK, so you’re convinced, but you additionally know there are situations when getting low isn’t as sensible as I make it sound. In some instances, there are environmental or bodily limitations stopping you from attaining the height you want (like in the event you’re on a hill and the animal is decrease, or if you need to shoot from a car with a view to avoid turning into lunch). And naturally there are times the body doesn’t need to cooperate both – a new good friend I met in Florida put it this manner, “Getting down is easy, but sometimes getting back up, well, that’s the hard part!”

So, let’s go over some ideas for getting that low-angle look.

Drop Your Peak

The first and most blatant strategy to get low is to regulate your personal peak so you’re at or under eye degree with the animal. Take into account that this doesn’t all the time mean crawling around on your stomach both – there are many occasions you’ll be able to set your tripod on your personal standing eye-level and stare into the subject’s peepers. Some examples that come to mind embrace photographing elk, moose, bigger deer, an animal in a tree, most flying birds, a standing bear, Bigfoot – these sorts of situations. For the image under, I was standing behind the tripod and I’m completely proud of the peak.

Roseate Spoonbill in flight, Nikon D7200, Nikon 600mm, 1/2000th, F/6.3, ISO 720.

In fact, there are occasions you’ll need to get lower. I’m often adjusting my tripod peak so I can obtain an at-or-slightly-below eye degree shot with my smaller topics. Typically, this puts the tripod at a cushty peak for kneeling, different occasions I’ve all of the legs spread out with the tripod base firmly planted in the mud (my head awkwardly tipped to the aspect peering by means of the viewfinder – I gotta keep in mind to deliver that right-angle viewer).

In reality, for the shot under I set the tripod apart and set the D850 immediately on the bottom, utilizing Reside View and the tilt-screen to focus. (Trace – using Stay View + the tilt display with a slower shifting subject is a good way to shoot low comfortably.)

Plover, Nikon D850, 300mm PF + 1.4TC, 1/4000th, F/5.6, ISO 960 (yeah, too much shutter velocity). For this shot, I had the D850 proper on the ground, but I really like the look!

By the best way, in case you’re planning on getting low, my suggestion is to think about pants that may hold your knees dry and even seize a set of knee pads (or a small square of froth also can work nicely and is extra snug when climbing). Having slightly knee protection is particularly useful when the ground is filled with tiny, sharp little pebbles or shells.

By the best way, I’ve discovered through the years that kneeling works far better than making an attempt to squat. Positive, squatting may give your legs a nice exercise because the minutes move by, but that is diametrically against my “no pain, no pain” exercise philosophy.

Use The Terrain

The other trick is to use the terrain to your benefit – and this will help in case you have a troublesome time physically coaxing your body up and down.

For instance, once I’m capturing from a car, I try to place myself downslope from the animal I’m photographing each time attainable. (Or I bribe the driving force to do so).

For instance, I captured this polar bear picture from a deck on the again of a polar rover that was in all probability ten ft off the ground (no less than). Nevertheless, the driving force positioned the car in a dip that was at a lower peak than the bear, so the shot seems far more eye-level than it otherwise would have been.

Polar Bear, Nikon D4, Nikon 500mm F/four + 1.4TC, 1/1000th, F/6.7, ISO 900. Strategic car placement helped keep the look of an eye-level shot.

Leveraging terrain also applies once you’re on foot – I typically use the topography of the world to position myself decrease than the animal so I’m capturing at both eye-level or upward. This elk photograph was captured using that actual method from a standing place.

Posing Elk, Nikon D5, 500PF, 1/500th, F/5.6, ISO 500. For this shot, I used the terrain to place myself so I had a slightly decrease than eye perspective. And to maintain from getting run down!

Finally, I find that animals in timber often lend themselves to a cushty standing position. I captured the picture under whereas I stood leisurely behind the digital camera.

Peeking Squirrel Monkey, Nikon D5, 600mm, 1/1250, F/4, ISO 3600. For this shot, the monkey was high sufficient that I used to be capable of get an eye-level shot by merely standing behind the tripod.

Keep Back And Use Lengthy Glass

The other trick – and you should use it along side the primary two ideas – is to stay again and use longer glass. I know, seems odd, but stick to me right here.

The further you’re from your topic, the much less extreme the angle is between your peak and their peak. One of the simplest ways to elucidate it is with this diagram:

I leverage this little bit of geometry on a regular basis once I can’t quite get to eye degree. I used to be lately in Africa and, although we might simply get right subsequent to most of the animals, we instructed the driving force to remain again farther. So, regardless that we couldn’t get to floor degree within the car, the increased distance to our subject made it appear that we have been eye-to-eye with our targets. Had we been proper next to the subject, we’d have been pressured to shoot at a a lot steeper downward angle and the pictures would have suffered consequently.

Nevertheless, this isn’t an excuse to strap on an extended lens, keep back, and shoot out of your regular standing peak either. Though it’s a workaround and may also help, you continue to can’t beat physically altering the attitude by getting lower. I exploit this “distance” method together with first getting as near eye-level as I can on my finish.

Don’t Go Crazy Either

Lastly, I need to point out that something – together with this guideline – could be taken too far.

First, there could also be occasions that, for artistic causes, you need to shoot down in your topic. (Keep in mind the bottom squirrel from the start of the article?)

You’ll additionally encounter occasions when a low tripod locations an excessive amount of grass or vegetation between your digital camera position and the topic. In those instances, I’ll elect to go somewhat above eye-level and seize an image the place I can truly see the subject.

In addition, you’ll have to cope with the sky more steadily once you start capturing lower-angle photographs. In some instances, that is simply fantastic (like a reasonably blue or partly cloudy sky), but in others it’s a non-starter (i.e. plain white or gray sky). So, maintain an eye fixed out as you drop peak and ensure you like what you see within the background. In some instances, a distracting sky within the background hurts the picture greater than a lower perspective helps it.

Then there are photographs in timber – at occasions capturing up at too steep of an angle is simply as dangerous as capturing down. I really like a nice shot of a chook in a tree, however not if it’s a stomach shot! (Give it some thought – would you want somebody to take your portrait from that angle?)

In fact, different occasions capturing straight up can produce a enjoyable shot like the one under. So, keep in mind that all the things on this article is meant to serve as a suggestion, there are all the time occasions you’ll need to break the rule for artistic impact.

White-Faced Monkey Peering By means of Bamboo, Nikon D5, Nikon 600mm, 1/1600th, F/4, ISO 900. This was almost straight up from our boat!

In the long run, you must stability getting an eye-level or low perspective shot with both the surroundings and your artistic objectives. Like several photographic guideline, use it when it works but keep in mind the digital camera police aren’t going to tug you off in chains and whip you with digital camera straps for those who don’t all the time shoot low.

Give It A Attempt

So, I hope when you’re not already in the behavior of getting eye-to-eye together with your topics you’ll give this some actual consideration. Like I say, this was critically a game-changer for me, and I want to challenge you to attempt it in your next few outings. I feel you’ll enjoy the outcomes

~Steve

PS – In the event you enjoyed this publish, I feel you’ll REALLY like my e-books, Secrets and techniques To Publicity And Metering For Nikon, Secrets To Beautiful Wildlife Images, and Secrets and techniques To The Nikon Autofocus System – as well as my new Noise Discount video workshop. They’re full of tons of of ideas, methods and knowledge identical to this. Verify ’em out – click on right here (hey, it’s free to look).

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The post Game Changer – Shootin’ Eye Level appeared first on Android Blog.

#Blog #Opinions #Techniques #Using Your Gear #wildlife

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shawnmendesandtomholland-th-blog · 5 years

Text

OK, I’ll admit it, this can be a bizarre submit for me. The thing is, I understand I’m overlaying a topic that just about each photographer already is aware of:

If you need better wildlife pictures, get to eye degree or even decrease.

Ghost Crab, Nikon D500, 300PF + 1.4TC, 1/1000th, F5.6, ISO 1250

Nevertheless, over time and seemingly as the gear gets costlier, this appears to fall by the wayside. And I’m unsure why.

Coyote Portrait, Nikon D850, 500PF 1/800th, F/5.6, ISO 6400. I all the time favor a shot like this to at least one wanting down at her back.

Golden-mantled floor squirrel in Bryce Canyon, Nikon D3X, 70-200 (200mm), 1/60th, F/5.6, ISO 400. Proving there’s all the time exceptions to any rule!

Advantages To Capturing Eye-Level

It’s truly shocking how typically the distinction between a “no shot scenario” and a “great shot scenario” comes right down to a distinction in tripod peak!

Willet in the splash zone, Nikon D850, 600mm F/4, 1/4000th, F/four, ISO 2500. I like the distinctive perspective this image offers for both the fowl and the wave.

Custer Prairie Canine, Nikon D850, 500PF, 1/640th, F/5.6, ISO 800. Observe how the low angle helps “pile up” the foreground and background, growing subject isolation in this state of affairs.

As a suggestion keep in mind that the decrease you’re, the more dominant the subject feels, the upper you’re, the more dominant the viewer tends to really feel.

Black-tailed tree-boa, Nikon D500, 300PF + 1.4TC, 1/400th, F/9, ISO 1400. The attention-to-eye perspective makes him feel more menacing (though, he actually wasn’t – he was just curious).

Ideas For Getting Low

So, let’s go over some ideas for getting that low-angle look.

Drop Your Peak

Roseate Spoonbill in flight, Nikon D7200, Nikon 600mm, 1/2000th, F/6.3, ISO 720.

Plover, Nikon D850, 300mm PF + 1.4TC, 1/4000th, F/5.6, ISO 960 (yeah, too much shutter velocity). For this shot, I had the D850 proper on the ground, but I really like the look!

Use The Terrain

The other trick is to use the terrain to your benefit – and this will help in case you have a troublesome time physically coaxing your body up and down.

For instance, once I’m capturing from a car, I try to place myself downslope from the animal I’m photographing each time attainable. (Or I bribe the driving force to do so).

Polar Bear, Nikon D4, Nikon 500mm F/four + 1.4TC, 1/1000th, F/6.7, ISO 900. Strategic car placement helped keep the look of an eye-level shot.

Posing Elk, Nikon D5, 500PF, 1/500th, F/5.6, ISO 500. For this shot, I used the terrain to place myself so I had a slightly decrease than eye perspective. And to maintain from getting run down!

Finally, I find that animals in timber often lend themselves to a cushty standing position. I captured the picture under whereas I stood leisurely behind the digital camera.

Peeking Squirrel Monkey, Nikon D5, 600mm, 1/1250, F/4, ISO 3600. For this shot, the monkey was high sufficient that I used to be capable of get an eye-level shot by merely standing behind the tripod.

Keep Back And Use Lengthy Glass

The other trick – and you should use it along side the primary two ideas – is to stay again and use longer glass. I know, seems odd, but stick to me right here.

The further you’re from your topic, the much less extreme the angle is between your peak and their peak. One of the simplest ways to elucidate it is with this diagram:

Don’t Go Crazy Either

Lastly, I need to point out that something – together with this guideline – could be taken too far.

First, there could also be occasions that, for artistic causes, you need to shoot down in your topic. (Keep in mind the bottom squirrel from the start of the article?)

White-Faced Monkey Peering By means of Bamboo, Nikon D5, Nikon 600mm, 1/1600th, F/4, ISO 900. This was almost straight up from our boat!

Give It A Attempt

~Steve

Please tell others about this publish:

The post Game Changer – Shootin’ Eye Level appeared first on Android Blog.

#Blog #Opinions #Techniques #Using Your Gear #wildlife

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yoongisfoollove · 5 years

Text

OK, I’ll admit it, this can be a bizarre submit for me. The thing is, I understand I’m overlaying a topic that just about each photographer already is aware of:

If you need better wildlife pictures, get to eye degree or even decrease.

Ghost Crab, Nikon D500, 300PF + 1.4TC, 1/1000th, F5.6, ISO 1250

Nevertheless, over time and seemingly as the gear gets costlier, this appears to fall by the wayside. And I’m unsure why.

Coyote Portrait, Nikon D850, 500PF 1/800th, F/5.6, ISO 6400. I all the time favor a shot like this to at least one wanting down at her back.

Golden-mantled floor squirrel in Bryce Canyon, Nikon D3X, 70-200 (200mm), 1/60th, F/5.6, ISO 400. Proving there’s all the time exceptions to any rule!

Advantages To Capturing Eye-Level

It’s truly shocking how typically the distinction between a “no shot scenario” and a “great shot scenario” comes right down to a distinction in tripod peak!

Willet in the splash zone, Nikon D850, 600mm F/4, 1/4000th, F/four, ISO 2500. I like the distinctive perspective this image offers for both the fowl and the wave.

Custer Prairie Canine, Nikon D850, 500PF, 1/640th, F/5.6, ISO 800. Observe how the low angle helps “pile up” the foreground and background, growing subject isolation in this state of affairs.

As a suggestion keep in mind that the decrease you’re, the more dominant the subject feels, the upper you’re, the more dominant the viewer tends to really feel.

Black-tailed tree-boa, Nikon D500, 300PF + 1.4TC, 1/400th, F/9, ISO 1400. The attention-to-eye perspective makes him feel more menacing (though, he actually wasn’t – he was just curious).

Ideas For Getting Low

So, let’s go over some ideas for getting that low-angle look.

Drop Your Peak

Roseate Spoonbill in flight, Nikon D7200, Nikon 600mm, 1/2000th, F/6.3, ISO 720.

Plover, Nikon D850, 300mm PF + 1.4TC, 1/4000th, F/5.6, ISO 960 (yeah, too much shutter velocity). For this shot, I had the D850 proper on the ground, but I really like the look!

Use The Terrain

The other trick is to use the terrain to your benefit – and this will help in case you have a troublesome time physically coaxing your body up and down.

For instance, once I’m capturing from a car, I try to place myself downslope from the animal I’m photographing each time attainable. (Or I bribe the driving force to do so).

Polar Bear, Nikon D4, Nikon 500mm F/four + 1.4TC, 1/1000th, F/6.7, ISO 900. Strategic car placement helped keep the look of an eye-level shot.

Posing Elk, Nikon D5, 500PF, 1/500th, F/5.6, ISO 500. For this shot, I used the terrain to place myself so I had a slightly decrease than eye perspective. And to maintain from getting run down!

Finally, I find that animals in timber often lend themselves to a cushty standing position. I captured the picture under whereas I stood leisurely behind the digital camera.

Peeking Squirrel Monkey, Nikon D5, 600mm, 1/1250, F/4, ISO 3600. For this shot, the monkey was high sufficient that I used to be capable of get an eye-level shot by merely standing behind the tripod.

Keep Back And Use Lengthy Glass

The other trick – and you should use it along side the primary two ideas – is to stay again and use longer glass. I know, seems odd, but stick to me right here.

The further you’re from your topic, the much less extreme the angle is between your peak and their peak. One of the simplest ways to elucidate it is with this diagram:

Don’t Go Crazy Either

Lastly, I need to point out that something – together with this guideline – could be taken too far.

First, there could also be occasions that, for artistic causes, you need to shoot down in your topic. (Keep in mind the bottom squirrel from the start of the article?)

White-Faced Monkey Peering By means of Bamboo, Nikon D5, Nikon 600mm, 1/1600th, F/4, ISO 900. This was almost straight up from our boat!

Give It A Attempt

~Steve

Please tell others about this publish:

The post Game Changer – Shootin’ Eye Level appeared first on Android Blog.

#Blog #Opinions #Techniques #Using Your Gear #wildlife

0 notes