#the cinematics makes me WANt to capture it in art

[blu3berrydraws]

I'm glad to hear you're taking good care of yourself. It's not easy! And correct- that was not for the meme. Okay, here's for that: My opinion of you is that you seem to work very hard at honing your art in stylistic and skill-istic ways. I think you understand that your art is good, even when it "could be better," so I worry that you sometimes draw what will attract others because sadly, OC and older/more niche fandom art often fails to get spread around, even when it is drawn with dedication and skill. Of course, I could be wrong about your relationship to fanart- it's just an easy thing for artists to become reliant on the positive affirmation it brings. I've been in that boat and I could merely be projecting. All in all, I think you are a really special and sincere person- and you're pretty btw. Have a good day🐮

[hotvintagepoll]

Una O'Connor (The Adventures of Robin Hood, The Invisible Man, The Bride of Frankenstein)—One of my favorite character actresses! While many people know her as the shrieking innkeeper's wife in The Invisible Man, I've always loved when she played a character who was a little more grounded (though that scream of hers is pretty iconic.) Her character of Bess is warm and loving towards Marian, but also tough and takes no prisoners. When they are captured in the forest, she comes forward to protect Marian with so much ferocity that Sir Guy (the villain) moves out of the way so quickly because even he doesn't want to feel Bess' wrath. She could switch from hilariously over-the-top to gently and sweet in the blink of an eye and she deserves a little more recognition! Also her hats in Robin Hood are ridiculous and I love them.

Zero Mostel (A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, The Producers)—Archetypal. Comedian of all time. The worst combover in cinematic history, probably. Could make more laughter with one muscle in a singular eyebrow than 98% of all men across the face of the earth. Hardcore Committer to the Bit. Man of all time, and also told HUAC directly where they could shove it, which is a primally appealing and scrungly quality.

This is round 2 of the contest. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. If you’re confused on what a scrungle is, or any of the rules of the contest, click here.

[additional submitted propaganda + scrungly videos under the cut]

Una O'Connor:

she eats this:

The things this woman does with her face when she sees Frankenstein's creature. Your fave could never.

Zero Mostel:

"The chase scene in FORUM is just. it's fucking iconic. It's one of the funniest pieces of cinema I've ever seen in any context, everything about it is genius, and the heart and soul of it is Zero Mostel as Pseudolus. Casting him alongside a young Michael Crawford (of later Phantom of the Opera fame) really highlights the differences between the young romantic lead and the older, sensible, and yet entirely scrungly middle aged man (Mostel was 55 at the time) somehow manages to come off as even more desirable. He has no shit together, not very good plans, is panicked for most of the story, and the charisma of a champ. His flailing, helpless attempts at fighting the gladiator is so... he's so scrungly. "

"He's not fancy, he's not pretty, he's not good at much of anything, but he is Genius despite that."

"There is a magic to Zero Mostel that he manages to bring to roles where he is simultaneously the worst person ever, and also, compelling in every possible way. He had his biggest period of fame in middle age after he got taken off the Hollywood blacklist, and being a fat middle aged man with thinning hair is what gives every single bit of his characters power. As the original Max Bialystock he would eat the entirety of The Producers except that Gene Wilder as Leo Bloom is a genius casting decision, as Mostel's intensity against Wilder's deep discomfort ends up being the right chemistry. In many ways he reminds me of Buster Keaton, the pinnacle of hot scrungly little guy—a unique and expressive face, an instinctive understanding of comedy, active at the same time, and also they were both in FORUM together. Mostel came from an Orthodox Jewish family, was a trained painter with a degree in art, spoke four languages, and when he was blacklisted during the Red Scare and brought before the HUAC, he didn't just refuse to name names, he made fun of the senators. He was disabled after an accident, and still did dancing in movies and things like stunts in FORUM. He did a ton of work on Broadway too, including originating Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof, making the musical more Jewish as he did so. Frankly, I don't think any of those roles (or the eventual later film versions of Fiddler/musical version of the Producers) would work with anyone else. It had to be a fat balding middle aged leftist Jew from Brooklyn. The scrungly is essential.

"the scrungle factor of max in every version of the producers is through the roof but nathan lane does it as suave scrungle. zero mostel does not do suave scrungle. he does old jewish man getting into an argument with the rabbi at the full synagogue passover seder about how much wine has to be in the glass for it to count as "one cup" scrungle; he does old jewish man whose entire fridge is full of pickled herring scrungle. it's offputting in all the ways that make it genius."

[skaters-art-blog]

What do you remember, hero?

This my final artwork for @mcytblraufest's summer au fest, a Breath of the Wild AU where Tommy is Link and Tubbo is Zelda! Please click/tap on the image for the best quality!

This was a new stretch to my art abilities that was super fun to work on! You can find the AMAZING fic that accompanies this artwork here and it is written by the AMAZING @jrancherart!!! Thank you so much for dealing with my perfectionism 😭I couldn't've asked for a better writer! It was such a joy!

Accompanying sketches and additional artwork and rambalings on my process and my thoughts on the AU under the cut!

I tried my best to emulate the Breath of the Wild/Tears of the Kingdom promotional art style, having big visible brush strokes and thin lineart with a lot of harsh lighting. I hope i was able to capture that well! I wanted to give Tommy his white streak since well, he died and came back to life just like in canon! I thought it would be fun detail to carry over from DSMP into this AU!

Here are some scattered sketches of the boys! Me and JRancher (my writer) talked a lot about various character assignments for this au, and there's even a possibility of them continuing to write more oneshots for this au, so please give their story lots of love!!!

Since I made the whole background for this artwork, and the vast majority is covered up but the characters, here is the background by itsself. I think it's one of the best I've ever done!! :D As well, I also have created a gif of the progress it took me to make this! Sorry for the terrible quality on that... Each snapshot is about a day or 2's worth of work!

You can briefly see in the sketch there (the 1st image in the progress GIF), I originally wanted the silhouette of Dueling peaks perfectly centered in the background, with the gap in the mountains shining light down the center of the image. I thought it would perfectly complement the vertical nature of the piece! Unfortunately as I discovered, the spot where the memory is in BotW is no where near the center of the mountains. I wanted to remain accurate to the game so decided not to go with that and still tried to captire the light between the peaks coming down and splitting the image in half anyway!

Here are the images I took of the game that I used as reference for the background

Additionally, this composition is something i've been wanting to do for AGES! Initially just in reference to Link and Zelda, but I thought this AU would be the perfect excuse to use it! For each of the memories featured i wanted it to from Links perspective. Or what his perspective would've been, vs how the in-game camera moved to make the shots cinematic. I actually sketched out every memory that had a basically "highlighting Zelda" shot and sketched that shot from Link's POV, and after much consideration, ended up on the ones I have!

Anyway, this artwork had tons of research and time put into it, i ended up redoing plenty of sections and working it 'til I got it just right! I'm really happy with the result and I hope you like it too! Thanks for reading my thoughts and explanations on the process of this work, I hope it was interesting!

[aries-of-spades]

Ok so I did a li'l project with a fic of mine

Basically, I'd wanted to draw an art peice for every chapter of Zombie Fungus, making them almost like illustrations in a story. This was partially for practice with this sort of thing, and also so I could put them in when I print out my fic to bookbind.

I'd been working on this for a few months, and it was pretty fun choosing what scenes from each chapter were my favorite, or looked the most cinematic in my mind, and then transferring that to drawing.

Also good practice for actually doing thumbnail sketches and using references and values since they're all black and white.

Obviously, spoilers for Zombie Fungus, if you are wanting to read it it's here.

mild body horror for some of these

oki

Chapter 1, I liked the mental image of Scar floating the items w/ his magic.

Chapter 2, bird. To be fair, not a lot happened in that chapter XD

Chapter 3, it was funny trying to figure out how riding a strider would look and realizing it is not comfortable. But I had to draw this scene.

Chapter 4, Abigail ^^ also IDK why but Ren is always hard to draw for me

Chapter 5, I'm actually really proud of this one for some reason XD (dancing zombie-)

Chapter 6, thinking back, I could have done the falling bookshelf for this, and I'm not sure why I didn't. But I still like how this came out.

Chapter 7, I just really wanted to draw the hug.

Chapter 8, this one was oddly fun to do. It was also funny trying to figure out just how a bloody nose would bleed, only to find internet restrictions not liking that search.

Chapter 9, Love me some movement and effects. Looks like an album cover...

Chapter 10, this one was tedious just because of how many people there were. And then trying to get the lighting right.

Chapter 11, I do like this one, though it's hard to tell False is holding a shovel. Also all I can think of while looking at this is creepypastas 'cause that's what I was listening to while drawing it. So I think she's suitably scary, lol.

Chapter 12, I kinda like how the fire came out. Something about Bdubs' face is off, but I don't really know what and didn't want to go back and change it after finishing.

Chapter 13, of course, I had to draw this scene. I had a pintrest board of faling people for this. The movement was a bit hard to get, but I thinked it worked out. Also expression :)

Chapter 14, this one was... fun. I don't know what to say, other than it would be really hard to explain the context XD But I think the details came out nicely. Living pinecone. Also I keep forgetting Ren's sunglasses.

Chapter 15, this one might just be my favorite out of all of them. The values and the circular layout worked well, and the spooky vibes are there. I really wanted to capture the idea of the ghosts without directly stating it, just like when writing that scene.

Chapter 16, I do like this one, though I feel like the values don't have quite enough contrast. It was interesting trying to figure out what exactly the source block would look like, and just trying to get the general atmosphere. But overall, I like it.

I debated doing one for the epilogue, but couldn't decide on a layout I liked. If that changes I will update this lol.

But yeah, they were super fun to work on, and I totally recomend doing this sort of thing with really any story if you want to practice scenes/backgrounds/just making a drawing look like it would be in a book.

[tacoma-narrows]

Twenty (Three!) Years of Humanistic!

Abandoned Pools' first album, Humanistic was released 23 years ago today, on September 25th, 2001! For anyone who doesn't know, Abandoned Pools is my all time favorite band! I found them through Clone High in September of 2020 and immediately connected with a LOT of their songs, and in that time, Humanistic became my all time favorite album! A spot that it still retains to this day hehe.

So when I found out that the following year, almost a year to the day from when I started listening to Abandoned Pools, was Humanistic's 20th anniversary, I knew I wanted to make something big for that occasion! I ended up making a drawing based on each song in the album! This is similar to what I did for Owl City's album Cinematic later on, which I posted last year.

This is also sort of a look at proto Let's Get Back! in a way! I made this when LGB! was still just a duo act with PB and Shep, since Rye and Pumpernickel didn't join the lineup until I was about halfway through the project, and the band wasn't officially named Let's Get Back! until February of 2022 lol. The cover image here is based on the actual album cover for Humanistic, and I edited later to say "Covers by Let's Get Back!" to make it consistent with the rest of my LGB! art :3

Each piece in the series is below the cut along with the song they're connected to and some explanation about each one. Again, these pieces are three years old at this point, so some of the art is a bit wonky looking and some of these piece I'd do differently if I were to do them today, but most of them still hold up pretty well I think! :D

1: The Remedy

I based this one on the line “save your breath, your soul is hollow” and wanted to do something simplistic but still interesting! According to my friend who also likes the song, this is “exactly how that song feels” lol. It was fun working with silhouettes here, which is something I've done here and there in the time since.

2: Mercy Kiss

I decided to not actually draw them kissing bc the song says “I don’t need your mercy kiss” haha. Wanted to capture sort of a defiant attitude for this one. Posing is a little off here, and I've tweaked some minor things abt their design but overall one that I'm still pretty happy with :]

3: Start Over

I was SUPER happy with the posing on this one, I love the sense of motion it has. Basically, I wanted to express being stuck in a cycle and just wanting to go back to the way things were, which was something I was REALLY feeling at the time, but is still sort of applicable today.

4: Monster

Another one I REALLY like, with this one, I wanted to show that I can be a force to be reckoned with when standing up for myself. Or at least that’s how the song makes me feel. It’s a good rampage song too. This is another case where I really like how the pose came out. As you can also see, this is the only piece without PB since I wasn't sure how to incorporate him into this idea, but I’m sure he’s still involved somehow lol. Also this is the best song called Monster, I do not take criticism at this time.

5: Blood

Blood always feels like a sort of gloomy, spiral-y type song, so that’s what I went for. The line “we watch it burn, and we never learn, this can’t be what you’re waiting for” was really the focus for this one. A neat vibe with this one overall I think that I'm pretty happy with.

6: Suburban Muse

Suburban Muse makes me think of like, a fake sitcom town where things look normal, but things aren’t as great as they seem if you look a little closer. It even says “cue the canned applause” at one point. Also, those sort of, weird reality dreamscape neighborhood liminal space images like this where you can see where it's coming from but they just feel, off y'know

7: Sunny Day

This one is kinda weird because Sunny Day is kinda weird (though in like the best possible way, I love it). I couldn’t quite come up with a solid idea for both my OCs here, so I based them on two separate lines: “my head is inside a cloud” for PB, and “get off the bathroom floor” for Shep. In hindsight, I don't think the two separate lines approach really worked here since it feels more disjointed and not really representative of the full song, but I still like it well enough.

8: L.V.B.D.

This one was hard to come up with something for. I’ve never been super crazy abt L.V.B.D. since it feels, Very Hetero™ and I’m not about that. But it’s still sounds great and I’m definitely super glad it’s part of the album. Went for drawing Shep and PB here as little stuffed dolls, which is related to the acronym in the song’s title (which stands for Little Virgin Baby Doll) and I couldn’t think of anything better aha. I should draw plushies more often though

9: Ruin Your Life

Important: Shep and PB are only upset with upset with each other for the sake of this drawing, as I refuse to let anything bad happen between them for real. Anyways, the expressions were really fun in this one, and oh boy does this song feel very relatable over the last year or so.

10: Never

This one is very similar to Ruin Your Life for me, where it’s a sort of comforting during a dark time kind of way. Just crossing the days off hoping that things will get better soon, that’s what I went for here. The calendar is listed as 10/12 since this is the 10th song out of the 12 on the album, and the image is a reference to a previous drawing I had done of PB and Shep together :3

11: Seed

Personally, Seed is my least favorite song from the album as a whole, for similar reasons to L.V.B.D. but in a, more gross kinda way that conflicts with my ace side. The song still sounds great musically for sure. Even tho I’m not super crazy abt the song, I actually really like how this drawing came out, in fact it might be my favorite out of the whole batch, ironically enough lol. The boys are looking down into a hole from the line “there’s no more grace to fall from, there’s nowhere left to go but down” and I'm really happy with how the perspective turned out!

12: Fluorescein

Finally, Fluorescein is my favorite song of the entire album, and my favorite song in general! It’s so aggressive and loud, I love it. I decided to draw PB confronting a giant Shep bc the song makes me feel like I can take on a huge adversary and win >:] Although I do like what I chose to do here, I kinda wish I had come up with something better to represent my all time favorite song lol

So in conclusion, like I said, Humanistic is my all time favorite album and it means so much to me. Really all of AP’s work really means a lot to me, but Humanistic in particular. I found the band through watching Clone High and I am all the better for it. So thank you to Abandoned Pools for making something that I’ve gotten so much out of and I absolutely cannot wait for the sixth album coming at the end of next year!! :D

So I hope you guys liked this little trip down memory lane with me, and if you're also an enjoyer of Abandoned Pools, please let me know what you think of these and what your favorite AP songs are! I'd love to know! And if you don't listen to Abandoned Pools, I highly recommend their music if you can't tell lol. If you enjoy early 2000s alt rock sort of stuff, there's a solid chance you'll enjoy Abandoned Pools :3

[thedragonagebigbang]

Bang Creator Interview: Tumblr: @exalted-dawn  |  AO3: Exalted_Dawn

The Collaboration period has begun! In these quiet months before works are due, we want to foster a sense of excitement, camaraderie, and celebration among our participants. To that end, all participants were given the option of a formal interview by our mod, Dema, or an informal “ask-game” survey. We hope you enjoy getting to know our phenomenal creators as much as we have!

Interview with Exalted Dawn

Ed and Dema talk collaboration, developing a personal style, and a bunch of stuff Dema had to redact but is leaving in to build suspense. 

Dema: I know in the beginning you were debating whether to participate as a writer or an artist, and you went with artist. What was the main driver of that decision?

Ed: It was definitely a combination of a few things. Workload and time allotment being the main influencing factors. My attention span when it comes to writing tends to be a bit all or nothing. I can have periods where I can churn out one thousand words in an hour and then go like two weeks without writing anything at all 😂 And then on top of it, with the new game coming out I was sorta trying to factor in how that would affect my ability to stick to a schedule. Drawing is a lot easier for me to sort of one and done over a weekend so I figured it might be better to start there for my first Bang.

Dema: Oh this is your first Big Bang! I don't think I knew that 😂

Ed: YUP LOL

Dema: When you do a collaboration like this, that isn't a commission but is based on another person's work, how do you navigate that process?

Ed: Well, from a starting standpoint, I really like to have a lot of communication with the person I am partnered with. I love collaboration work and really strive to capture the energy of whatever source material I'm working from. So getting the author’s opinions on their own story beats is a huge help. But aside from that, the element of choice in this sort of project definitely played a part. I got to choose a prompt that fascinated me, and then from there, I read through the material the author currently had and chose a few scenes that really struck me with a strong mental image. Something that when I read it, I immediately thought "Oh that would be neat to see in a picture!" From there, it’s back to touching base with the author and making sure that what ideas I have sorta line up with their vision. I want to make sure its respectful of the work its being based on, while still sorta playing to my own interests as an artist and a fan :3

Dema: You're a very prolific artist, how do you keep all these ideas organized? Do they behave themselves up there in your brain?

Ed: HAH! I would like to say that there's some sort of rhyme and reason to my creative process, but if I were being honest, they mostly tumble about in my brain. When I get stuck on an idea, I tend to fixate on it and continue to develop it in my head the more I think on it. With this prompt specifically, I was immediately hit with this idea of a vibe I wanted to get across in my art from the moment I read it. And then that continued to build and build, until I was left with these pretty complete ideas,  accompanied by atmosphere and layout, that I became stuck on. After that, I just laid them out on paper. (The bounty of inspiration certainly didn't help to make the decision easy XD)

Dema: Are you drawing inspiration from anywhere besides the source material for this piece?

Ed: I AM! There were several pieces my mind immediately went to when I was reading through the source material. Lord of the Rings (specifically the cinematic scenery of the Mines of Moria) and The Song Of The Sea were both big ones that I drew immediate parallels to. The huge scale and vast landscapes as well as the beautiful pattern work and 2D story book style typical of Cartoon Saloon’s work were both things I immediately latched onto for this. But more abstractly, having just read [REDACTED], I was already in the mindset of [REDACTED] when I got assigned to this prompt. Since this one is also leaning into the [REDACTED] genre, it sorta pushed me towards these concepts of strong lighting contrast— stark shadows played against bright light. Bold silhouettes.  I was even considering playing with a black and white inked style with colored accents and a heavy focus on crosshatching to get that sort of [REDACTED] look at one point.

Dema: Mmmmmmm how much of that am I gunna have to redact 😂[narrator voice: it was a lot]

Ed: You can totally just delete the second half if that helps XD

Dema: I don't want to DELETE it I'm just gunna redact it haha. IT'S FINE. Also I love that. Sin City vibes.

Ed: YEAH!

Dema: How did you develop your personal style?

Ed: Many years of frustrated grunting at my own artwork kjdhfhjsgvfd LOL no but actually, what I consider to be most typical of 'my style' (and for this question, I'm going with the main illustrative style I typically use for projects like this, since I definitely have multiple) came about pretty much by accident for the most part. I basically stumbled upon it. I had spent many MANY years developing my skills from, like, middle school up through college, first with pencil and paper and then with a very large desk mounted display tablet, and was sort of trying to get to a point where I was satisfied with the look of my own work. It was a slow process, and I hadn't really been satisfied with my progress and where I was. In an attempt to sort of switch back to the more familiar feeling of pencil and paper, I had gotten an ipad to draw on since it was of a more similar size. I had been playing around with it, and was struggling with the pressure settings on my pen for making line art specifically, so I sorta just threw my hands up in the air and said "Y'know what?! I'm gonna try lineless cause why not!" I made this small, lineless doodle of my Dungeons & Dragons character at the time, and suddenly it all just sorta clicked into place! I've been basically drawing like that ever since, but with the aforementioned handful of stylistic exceptions XD

Dema: What do you feel like you are striving for in your body of work? Or I guess, is there a theme or a feeling or a "spirit" in your work you're hoping to convey?

Ed: HMMMMMMMMMMM THAT IS A GOOD QUESTION! I wouldn't really say I'm striving for any single theme all throughout my work (part of the reason why I have multiple distinct styles is so that I can really draw out the desired vibes I'm aiming for in each individual piece). But from a general sense, I think I tend to focus a lot on capturing emotion and atmosphere, especially in the lighting and color I use. As for the spirit I often capture— I don't think it's super intentional on my part, but for my lineless artwork specifically, I definitely get that there is this sort of adventurous, almost whimsical spirit to a lot of what I draw. Rather than dark dramatic pieces, with lots of sharp lines and dynamic movement, there's this sort of softness and quietness to a lot of my work, like capturing a peaceful moment between all the big dramatic stuff. Even for the tonally and visually 'dark' pieces. Which— honestly— I think speaks a lot more to my own personality and preferences than I maybe intend 🤣

Dema: I love that a lot. Thank you for such thoughtful answers, and for taking the time to be interviewed today! I can't wait to see the final piece.

[sciderman]

How did you find your art style??

oh, buddy – it's something that happens so, so accidentally... i don't really think about it, it just shifts and changes and i do what i think looks cool, and i focus my energy on the bits i enjoy the most or the bits that i want to get really good at - for me, i'm obsessed with facial expressions and getting good performances out of the characters i draw, so that's where i focus all my effort - i do a lot of people-watching - which helps with capturing personalities, but also really helps in loosening your lines because it's a time-sensitive practice - you have to get your lines down as quickly as possible before your subject runs away...

doing a LOT of quick drawings is the quickest way to get a nice loose line, and i kind of love my lines these days. my lines used to be so rough and messy - which had a lot to do with my equipment - i was working on a tiny, screenless graphics tab

nowadays all my illustrations are done on an iPad - and so i get much more control over my line (sexy) (very good)

the raddest cooliest thing about running this blog for nigh on a decade is that i've kind of got a record of how my art style evolved over the years!

i think one of the most fun things i've noticed is how much it changed over the hiatus - i think my art was very influenced by contemporary marvel comics before the hiatus, it was the bulk of what i read, so my art was so very cinematic.

during the hiatus i took a massive step away from marvel - i was still reading comics, but fell head over heels with the scrooge mcduck comics. i don't think there's any art in the world that's more sweet and appealing to me than those ducks - the simple, bouncy lines and easily readable expressions - it's oh. it's so nice.

i think it fed a lot into my art post-hiatus - that, and having worked in animation a LOT since then, my art's kind of got a more cartoony approach - with Character Consistency! (something that used to be my mortal enemy, pre-animation career.)

working in animation, you start considering things like character silhouettes and appeal, and ways to make characters distinct and their designs sort of be reflective of their personalities - all really fun things that i've been playing with.

i do want to foray back into more cinematic art again - maybe find a way to marry the two - but for now, i think the cartoony art really suits the more slice-of-life stories i'm telling with wade and peter at the moment. and i love their silly, silly faces.

[cypress-punk]

Finished replaying Kingdom Hearts Final Mix. Kingdom Hearts is kind of a fascinating game to me because i'll be honest, the gameplay is bad. its crude, blunt, and grasping at something that it simply cannot achieve. But you can read the intention of that design so clearly. They wanted an action game with RPG style menuing mixed with melee combat. They wanted a game with fast, free flowing movement and platforming. They don't achieve these ends, but they do make a really strong attempt. The result is a game that can be pretty brutal when it wants to be, and deeply frustrating and ass backward a lot of the rest of the time.

I am really captured by the vision of the game though, and by its narrative. There is something so bizarre and open ended to the story of that first game, before the series kind of bloated and got really, really complicated with lore and background info. Its like a dream, half remembered. Its like the incoherent fanfiction i would dream up when i was ten about Gargoyles animated series crossing over with Sonic X and Dragon Ball Z. And it lands that bizarre sensation while also having a strong emotional core to its story. I was really pleased to find that the big narrative beats still hit for me. "My friends are my power" and "Kingdom Hearts...IS LIGHT!" have been rattling around in my head for most of my life at this point, ever since i first played this game at my cousin's house. Its nostalgic in a really nice way, i'm glad i decided to take some time to replay this. I am also curious to see how the other games in the 1.5+2.5 collection will hold up.

Also I want to gush for a moment about the visual design of this game. Tetsuya Nomura is a genius when it comes to character design, there's a reason he's been the THE guy they go to for Final Fantasy ever since he became involved with that franchise, and I think you can feel the passion he had for Kingdom Hearts. The designs are iconic, the cover art and promotional art are just incredible. The Heartless are some of my favorite monster designs ever and there's something endlessly iconic about the Organization XIII coats that start appearing past the first game.

The music is also incredible. Hikaru Utada's Simple and Clean is one of my favorite songs ever, its captivated me since childhood and it still hits so hard in the opening cinematic and in the final cutscenes.

[tanis-fics]

Monochrome beauty

Thomas Zane wasn't the only person who could shape the dark world around him and the people within it, he knew that, but being caught in the currents of someone else's art was… Interesting, to say the least. To be at the mercy of a muse, for a change.

Pairing: Alice Wake/Thomas Zane ♦ Words: 862

[on ao3] ♦ [on squidgeworld] ♦ [read on site]

 With a startle Alice grabbed her camera faster than she could see what was coming for her, or rather, who was coming for her, curious and delighted. Accustomed to the cozy darkness of the hotel Zane squinted at the bright flash of it, hissing a bit before the strangest of sensations flooded him. In an instant, the vibrant color of his world turned black and white, greys seemingly shying away as the contrast of object and shapes left no ambiguity, and the electricity in the air fizzled into nothing. It felt like holding his breath, as for the first time in who knew how long, he simply couldn't move.

 Frozen in place Zane stared at Alice staring at him. Like an old movie star she moved in this barren land devoid of color like she belonged to it. Or rather, as Zane quickly realized, like it belonged to her.

 Huh.

 She seemed to be in a hurry, her legs ready to bolt yet stuck in place just as much as his, before surprisingly inching closer. Alice looked for something on his face, her frown digging deep lines on her forehead that he so wanted to smooth over. Pretty girl like her shouldn't frown so much. And she was so pretty...

 Alice... Wake. A muse, lovely Alan's muse that couldn't compare to Barbara's (his Barbara's) own majesty, but still had an old fashioned charm to her. Typecasted as the damsel in distress, a spiraling friend, a faltering artist... yet she cunningly stood her ground as she faced him, stuck in time.

 Zane struggled against the invisible restrains without being able to move a muscle. Against her wide gaze, the feeling was exhilarating.

 "It appears you've caught me, dear..." He tried to say, jaw slack and tongue dead, yet the woman in front of him appeared to catch his meaning as she squinted. He wanted to smile, curious, oh so curious about this ability of her. "What will you do to me now?"

 Maybe she heard him. Maybe not. He couldn't tell with the way she refused to dignify him with an answer. Instead, Alice only hesitated a second before raising her hand to touch his face. If Zane could have the ability to do anything he would've gasped, if only for the cinematic feel of the scene. Her touch, cold, on his cheek, on his chin, her grasp cautious yet firm as she maneuvered his face to examine him.

 "Why... why do you look like him? Why do you look like Alan?" She asked, beginning of a cold anger that he guessed didn't see the light of day too often.

 Would it be so hard to believe that maybe Alan was the one who looked like him? A character played by him and brought to life? He wondered for a second before his thoughts crumbled again, against the feeling of touch, and the ache of restrain.

 Is this what it meant to be captured in a still picture? Devoid of color, devoid of context, the derivative memory of a derivative man. Put in a shoebox to be forgotten, to be kept forever in stasis. To be a picture was a cruel existence, and he wanted to shiver, oh, he wanted to shake in fear for the camera to capture his trembling lips and wide eyes as her touch lingered on his skin...

 It would certainly make a pretty scene. His thoughts wondered wild as his body couldn't, thinking of angles and aspect ratios and wistfully wishing for the contact to run deeper. For that snapshot to capture something illicit, for the muse to take full advantage of the medium.

 Alice wasn't strong enough to keep him trapped for a long time, though, he was sure of that, and the fact that she probably knew as well. Despite her control she nervously glanced at the world around her, and he almost wanted to fake his stillness to keep her around when it was over, just to see what she would do. Instead, when she cupped his face in her hands Zane tried to close his eyes, succeeding this time.

 It had been a while since he's been touched like that... A gesture with a character in mind, would it be so terrible for an actor to enjoy it instead?

 Taking a deep breath, Zane could almost smell and feel the blinding whiteness of a blizzard, drops of the blackest ink falling down through it. Was it ink? Was it blood? The monochromatic nature of the medium left it ambiguous. Was he resting? Was he dying? You couldn't know with a picture.

 When he opened his eyes, Alice was gone, and the drained color slowly arose again like an arctic spring. He sighed, a bit disappointed.

 Oh well.

 Zane could only hope to find her again in the twisting corridors of the hotel.

 In the ever so dark forest.

 At the bottom of the ocean itself.

 For now, all he could do was to fix himself a drink in preparation, awaiting excitedly for his opportunity to capture her living picture, to direct her movement with acute precision and to see her face in beautiful technicolor.

[independentartistbuzz]

Lady Charles Explores New Heights with "Oh Boy!" Soundtrack

Lady Charles latest release "Oh Boy!" is a disco driven soundtrack. As the first theatrical soundtrack that they have composed, the project is a bold venture into new territory, yet it feels entirely natural.

Set against the backdrop of a twisted, humorous adaptation of Hamlet, "Oh Boy!" immerses the listener in a vibrant world where 70's disco grooves meets modern indie rock and electronica.

From the exhilarating title track "Oh Boy!" to the funky pulse of "Goncharov" and the high-energy "Hands," Lady Charles manages to capture the play’s chaotic blend of rebellion, identity, and youthful angst.

Speaking about the significance of the project, Lady Charles shares:

“Oh Boy! is a very special record for me, because I have always wanted to make music for theatre and cinema. I love the synergy of different art forms, and the challenge of being creative while working in service of a narrative. It's the first soundtrack I composed, and it gave me the opportunity to explore disco both for pop song structure and instrumental score."

This passion is evident in every track, with the album acting as both a standalone work of art and an integral part of the play.

One of the standout aspects of Oh Boy! is how Lady Charles brings such an eclectic mix of sounds into a cohesive whole.

Tracks like "Cherry Chapstick" tell captivating stories through infectious pop melodies. "Child of the Night" introduces a powerful fusion of indie rock and disco that feels both cinematic and anthemic.

Disco, as a genre, became a surprising creative catalyst for Lady Charles:

“I wasn’t expecting a genre that someone else picked to bring out such extremes in my work,” they noted. “It felt like such a natural, personal statement - I think I managed to find myself in the disco heat and make a worthy sequel to Manic Pixie Dream World.”

In a time dominated by single releases, they have created "Oh Boy!" as a complete journey with the album shifting from manic disco beats to dreamy ambient stretches, constantly evolving while maintaining a unified aesthetic.

This approach makes it an engaging listen, where dramatic highs meet reflective lows in a way that mirrors the emotional complexity of adolescence.

Working with esteemed engineers Erin Tonkon and Mark Plati further brings the project to new heights.

Their collaboration brought out the best in Lady Charles’s voice and musical arrangements, which results in an adventurous sound.

Overall, "Oh Boy!" is a creative fusion of theater and music that allows Lady Charles to explore new sounds, share personal truths, and create an album that feels larger than life.

Stay current with Lady Charles here:

Website / Facebook / Instagram / Spotify / Soundcloud / YouTube Music

[therealdaydreamstark]

Binge Watching / Vi Stark Rant Time 📺

Riddle me this one please 🙏 why is it that the human brain has the capacity to continue a series without stopping? 🧐

First, we have a log line, which is that juicy one-liner that describes what a movie or series is about. We all know this, it’s the summary that captures the reader and peaks the viewer’s interest despite us might not wanting to see the series or film. I bet, we all had that feeling where we don’t know to watch something or not, but it’s that long-line that makes us interested 👀 (it also helps hearing it from the perspective of someone else who had already seen the product before!)

A good log-line answers the “What is it?” question, clearly and enticingly. Most log-lines will state the central conflict of the story and provide some sort of an emotional hook to stimulate interest.

Secondly, the open loops! We are all too familiar with those dang cliffhangers at the end of our favorite TV shows that leaves us wanting more, feeling annoyed or antsy cause we want to know what happens next! What are is rest of this story? What comes next? Is Meredith gonna end up with Derek or not?! Are Mark and Lexie gonna stay how they truly feel?

The human brain is so complex yet captivating as it wants to comprehend and close that loop.

This is why SO MANY people end up binge watching their favorite series til the end in a single weekend. We need the answers! Sometimes it’s not answers, sometimes it’s that simple evoking energy the series gives us that might be comfort, that leads up to keep watching.

Third, the storytelling duh! What do really great TV shows and movies have in common? They have all mastered the art of transporting you out of your living room and into an entirely different world that they’ve created. And they do this through extremely thorough sensory detail and descriptive storytelling. The lighting, the music, the dialogue, the carefully crafted costumes and landscaping, they all play a pivotal role in your cinematic experience.

But all of this can be carefully replicated just as well, if not better through great writing! That’s because great storytelling brings out all of your senses, sounds, taste, sight and even the smells.

——

————

Sooo now I wanna hear your thoughts on this! 🫶 What are some series or movies that have grabbed your attention and why? 📼

Tags: @missstrawbs2001 @cherrysft @gcthvile @rickb-chaos @purpleprincessonfyre @luna-d-marsh @sherloquestea @superspookyjanelle @huskerhale @gaminggirlsstuff @rooster-84 @ask-starrk and etc

[onhirel]

Hello there. I remember there being art for your wonderful " a knight and her lady" fanfic and I was wondering if you had a link to it as I can't find it for the life of me. Also your writing is wonderful, the characterization always feels on point but makes sense for the story the characters are in. There are subtle changes in each au but at the same time they never really change personality and and I can imagine that's quite difficult to manage. The writing is always easy to read and flows well, It's hard to explain but I guess I Can compare it to a melody that sounds nice and you want to keep listening to it. Also do you have update schedules? Or is there a fic your focusing on now before continuing the others. Lastly are there any other aus your interested in for lwa such as pirates for example?

Yes, I do have the AKAHL art!

Thanks very much for the lovely compliments! As far as capturing characterization goes, it’s difficult to describe? The best way I can describe it is I have a feel for the core beliefs and values for the characters, the things that make them who they are. With that knowledge, I then apply the lenses of their environment for each story. I’m glad I’m doing a good job!

I also try to write cinematically, relying on visuals to carry the weight of the story. I love that it’s melodic to you.

Updates. Hhh. Okay, so, I’m very involved with writing a lot of stories ( and I mean a LOT of stories) with the incomparable @ameliamircalla. That said, I am going to finish all my stories. I think A Knight and Her Lady is first, followed by That Which Brings Us Together. After that? We’ll see. I really want to finish the Decade trilogy.

As for new AUs… it’s not likely. Maybe a drabble or a one shot? It depends on if I have the time, which is a dubious prospect. I’m a mother of two with a full time job and more. I hate that I don’t have more time for writing…

[knightyoomyoui]

Jihyo x F Reader- “Rewind”

Before I start, I want to reiterate the announcement I made regarding this one-shot in case any of you haven't saw yet. This one may also be read by male readers (but only if you want to), especially the climax itself because of a very important detail that I'm about to reveal there.  So, if you're a male reader reading this right now then good for you because you won't be missing this one but brace yourself for what's about to happen. You might be asking why I couldn't just make it into both Male and Female reader featured? Nope. This one is primarily about Jihyo and... just find out why I wanted male readers to read this as well. Lastly, this one is inspired by one of my favorite episodes from one of the Marvel Cinematic Universe shows, "What If...? EPISODE 4 - What If... Doctor Strange Lost His Heart Instead Of His Hands?", so yeah, this fanfic is going to be weird, tragic (?) and mindblowing; I'm just hoping that my writing does justice, so please understand as I'm doing my best to pull this one off... again. Have fun reading! 😉

"The power of the time... in the palm of my hands."

Jihyo gazes admiringly at the work of art in front of her. A wide grin, a face splashed with many flashing lights from the astonishing invention shown next to her, and sparkling eyes, not from the lights but from the achievement she gained after going so far to make this happen.

Two years was worth it.

Now, the history is about to welcome another remarkable change thanks to the very successful and renowned scientist Park Jihyo.

The creator of the Project Rewind, with its sole purpose is to have Jihyo attempt erasing something impossible out of the book.

And specifically speaking, it's none other than the concept of time travelling.

"This is incredible feat of evolution, Miss Park. You're going down in history because of this.", her lab partner and fellow scientist; apparently in the lower level than her named Lisa compliments her game-changing mentor.

"Indeed I am.", Jihyo said before her beaming smile flickered into shutting its brightness off.

"...but I'm not concerned of any of that.", she looked at Lisa who captured her eyes in response.

"In fact, I didn't care about the acknowledgement and appreciation I'll be getting once this gets released in the public.", Jihyo sighed.

"Then what inspired you to build this?", Lisa curiously inquired.

Jihyo released another huge puff of breath to the air before grabbing her IPhone laying down on the cold steel long table.

She opened it, and the very first thing her eyes catched was the image of a person she holds dearly in her heart no one could outlimit that.

She gulped, opening her home screen and poking the app that directed her to the message list. The first one that was left unread was not like that no more as she decided to peek the content of it.

"Jihyo-ssi! See you there at my wedding okay? xoxo" Sent

Jihyo stared at it for a few seconds, her heart clenching at what she had just done, not only because she hadn't given it a thought, but because she had acted on the decision formed in her mind just days after receiving the invitation from her friend with whom she had secretly developed a deep loving fondness. "I wasn't going to show up at the lab today, Lisa, not even you." "Wait, Miss Park?" Jihyo handed her phone to Lisa so she could look at it. She just wants to cut the explanation short since it would pain her so much if it would last longer.

Lisa glanced back at Jihyo with a mixed of confusion and disbelief.

"You're... invited on her wedding?"

Jihyo only nodded.

"And you didn't came?"

Jihyo lowered her head in guilt.

"I can't, even if I want to."

"Why?"

"She's my love and life, and I... couldn't simply stand seeing her exchange vows with someone that wasn't me."

Lisa frowned at that information. She immediately felt pity for her friend and mentor now that she knew that whenever she enters this place and meets her again everyday to assist her on completing this project, she wasn't okay at all which she was hiding it at all time for them to keep their attention still on the construction of the machine.

"I know she won't like what I did, but for once I wanted to be selfish. Mind more than heart."

Jihyo fixated her eyes back at her time machine, confidence and motivated oozing from her aura as the image of the reason behind the making of the plan she was constructing appeared inside her head.

"And now... all I can think of to escape this reality I'm facing into is through this."

Jihyo pulls out the remote in her pocket and presented it to Lisa.

"What are you implying at, Jihyo-ssi?"

"With this time machine, I could use this to go back to that day where I could've repeat again the mistake I've done.

It's been more than half a decade, and I still wonder what it would look like if I- if I confessed to her on that day," Jihyo said, recalling the precise circumstances that culminated in her unsuccessful effort to confess her love back to YN." "Maybe I could have heard what she'll going to answer, and if she reciprocated... perhaps I was there at the altar, placing the wedding ring on her finger and kissing her to be my wife." "I should've gone all in," Jihyo said as a tear spilled from her eye, her breathing going rough and her chest becoming heavy. Lisa approached her mentor and softly caressed her back to console the distraught woman.

"It's okay, Jihyo-ssi. You don't have to worry about that now, because the solution you're looking for is right here.", Lisa referred to the invention in her sight.

"Does this mean you're going back to that time and try to rewrite what happened?"

"Yeah."

"Oh...", Lisa understood; yet the uneasiness that crawls up in her skin prompted her to ask this again for clarification.

"Not that I'm taking this whole plan of yours differently, Jihyo-ssi but... do you think it'll work?"

Jihyo's head went back and forth, left and right as she switches her gaze to Lisa and the time machine, thinking about the possibility that might occur.

However, those initially ended up for her to not get affected by any of it.

"Only one way to find out."

Jihyo walked through the metal podium  and stood in the middle of it. Lisa hurriedly came closer to the unbothered scientist and a blend of nervousness and scared developed within her.

"Be safe, okay? Make sure to return back here.", Lisa reminded.

Jihyo bobbed her head in response. "See you in a minute.", she smirked. A tensed smile in return from Lisa. She watched Jihyo quite hesitatingly pressed the button in her hand as she stared at it.

"Let my love be known for you, YN."

Jihyo huffed in the air then dug the surface of her thumb at the button before the blue laser from the top struck her head first until she was covered up and vanished away from the light.

(BACK TO THE PAST - 6 YEARS AGO)

Few seconds after, the light returned and disappeared only to leave Jihyo out in a very familiar place that became a part of her memory she hugely regretted the most.

Her entire outfit changed from a scientist to a casual one also, the same attire she used to wore at that given night.

A gloomy environment, albeit visible thanks to the moonlight and stars illuminating the route down a Seoul street. Jihyo's eyes widened as she realized she had been transported back inside the identical car she had used at the time, with the windows pulled down, waiting for her presence to emerge. Side glancing outside, she saw the past variant of her love interest and bestfriend YN leave her house wearing a baby blue blouse, a pair of shoes, and a neat ponytail tie. Jihyo cannot believe what she is having right now. Repeating the moment she was eager for it to be rewritten and mended has finally provided her with an opportunity to make it real.

Down to the every exact detail and just like when this once happened, YN flashed her shy and soft smile seeing Jihyo looking very cool peeking in the window of her car.

"Evening, cool girl.", YN greeted her with that candy so sweet voice.

"Good evening. You look so great tonight, huh.", Jihyo traced her crush's outfit and as always, it didn't fail to have her attracted strongly into the young woman.

"You too. You're just as awesome as what your car is.", she patted the roof before opening the door and enters inside.

"So, where to at?"

"You'll see.", Jihyo looked at YN through the rearview mirror before kicking off the engine to start driving away ahead of their destination.

"Don't screw it up this time..." Jihyo kept on muttering to herself.

While driving, they paused for a while on a road where the streetlight blinked at green light.

Waiting patiently, Jihyo sneakily looked once again at the undoubtedly attractive woman behind her, sitting comfortably while scrolling down on her phone.

She was lost in a trance until YN woke her back up with a sudden question, raising her sight away from the phone thus making Jihyo return her gaze back at the road where the bypassers are still crossing down.

"You've never taken me to go outside with keeping a secret on what shall we going to do, Ji.", YN playfully told her. "Cmon, is this too special for me to know already?"

"We're almost there, YN. I can't give it to you yet, sorry. Just wait for a little more okay?", Jihyo apologetically said and grinned at YN who is visibly pouting now from the reflection of her in the mirror.

Jihyo felt like her heartbeat skipped when she caught that adorable action that she always loves to see from YN whenever they're together. She missed it a lot, she thought.

"You better make sure this is huge, Ji. The way you hype it gets me really engaged to learn what is it gonna be all about.", YN unsincerely cautioned the driver.

"This is just gonna be our night together, YN. Ofc-"

They are only 10km away from the mall when in an unexpected circumstances, their car got rammed over by a truck heading from another way. It didn't allow Jihyo to completely speak in response.

It collided first on the side where YN is located.

The shattered car rolled and flew through the road from the impact until it stopped, leaving it upside down with all the parts left unforgiven as it completely destroyed due to the crash.

Nevertheless, even in her condition of shock and distress, Jihyo slowly opened her eyes and quickly realized that YN was responding, eyes closed and head bleeding critically.

"W-what... no....", Jihyo murmured as she tried to touch YN again, hoping for a hint of recovery.

She didn't received any, which made her breath heavily to control her tears from bursting out.

"Oh my god, N-no... this can't be happening."

Jihyo pulls out the controller in her pocket again and clicked the button still set on the specific date, restarting everything what happened again.

(BACK TO THE PAST - 6 YEARS AGO) / TAKE 2

Light engulfed her and everything, it worked as she was once again sitting relaxingly on the drivers seat, peeking out on the window as she watches YN slowly walk towards her after exiting the house.

"Evening, cool girl."

"Good evening. You look so great tonight, huh.", Jihyo smiled after greeting her back and also by putting a slight blush over the cheeks of lovely YN.

Minutes later, they were in the middle of the ride when right at the moment that Jihyo took a turn to enter a bridge, she horrifyingly observed that the brakes doesn't cooperate with her.

"Damn it! WHY IS THIS NOT WORKING!", she angrily push and pulled the handle which gained attention from YN herself.

"Jihyo, what's going on?"

"Th-this brake... it won't allow me to-"

And her sentence again got cutted off when they reached the end the bridge that's suppose to provide a turn that will led onto another uphill only for them to unable driving on to it.

Sibce the brake doesn't work, YN and Jihyo both shouted helplessly as the car crashed and smashed onto the railing, diving down through through high cliff and come crashing down along the ground.

Jihyo opened her eyes slowly and once again, she saw YN unconscious and pulse not beating along with a rapidly bleeding head causing her to panic and get afraid.

"No... NO NOT AGAIN!"

Instead of pushing the button to restart the scenario again, she returned back to the present time; changing her clothes once again to her laboratory outfit and meeting Lisa again who was busily writing a report on her desk.

The poor girl got startled when Jihyo quickly arrived back and kneeled on the floor.

She stood up and rushed towards the weakened scientist.

"What happened? Did it work?"

"I-I don't know what did I encountered, Lisa.", Jihyo remained her face hidden from her lowered head. "I haven't got to confess to her yet."

"What happened? Is there something that's stopping you?"

"Yeah!", Jihyo looked back at Lisa with a stressed expression. "The memory is still fresh on me and I'm not mistaken that I only haven't got to confess to her because I decided not to.

B-but... I-I don't know what we just faced earlier became very different. We got into a car accident instead. One was us getting crashed to a truck and the other was us falling on the cliff."

"Then s-she... she both died on those.", Jihyo ran her fingers across the length of her bob cut black hair with watery eyes and a increased heat temperature of her breaths.

"Huh?"

"I don't know, Lisa. It seems like, it doesn't allow me to make it happen." Jihyo shrugged and shook her head.

"What are you going to do now, then? Shall we consider this project-"

"NO! I-....", Jihyo exhaled multiple times before proceeding to continue her words.

"I have to try again. I'll try not to come across into a mess again."

Lisa only nodded to support her mentor but the worries are starting to fill up inside of her, including a thought that this mission of Jihyo could be classified as dangerous.

Jihyo stood up and pressed again the button, returning her back to the past.

(BACK TO THE PAST - 6 YEARS AGO) / TAKE 3

Same car. Same night. Same location. Same love of her life capturing her heart.

"Evening, cool girl."

"G-good evening. You look great tonight."

"Thanks, you too."

She closed the door and sat behind Jihyo who is hoping so bad nothing would screw up her chance this time...

While Jihyo was driving, YN sensed something wrong as she watched the outside of Seoul they're passing through became unfamiliar to her.

"Ji, what road is this? I've never been here before."

"U-uhh... we're just taking another route, Y/NN. Hang on, we're going there okay?", Jihyo assured YN who looked troubled and confused at the same time.

They were about to exit that turn but once again, for the third time... they got involved in another car crash when a lightpost collpased just right in front of a truck that was rolling down on the way too.

It made the driver to zigzag his direction as he tried to recover the balanced control of his driving but it didn't worked as he and your car collided together.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!", Jihyo frantically raged as she saw YN's unresponsive state after the impact.

Pressing the button for the fourth time... fifth time... sixth time and so on until she stopped at the tenth attempt, all of these only resulted negatively for her.

As expected, she encountered other various alternate causes to her unsuccessful confession for YN.

For example, on the 5th try; Jihyo and YN got into an accident which she got placed in a coma and forgot her memories with YN who still died.

6th try, Jihyo received an unlucky emergency when YN's father got stroke.

7th try,  YN getting kidnapped by unidentified men right when they are about to left YN's house.

8th try, YN immediately shared that her future wife confessed her feelings to her and she accepted.

9th try, YN suffered from a heart attack.

And in 10th try... all of these scenarios made Jihyo to pull out one last attempt and that is when she never showed up instead on that night only for the consequences though that it will still allow the future wife of Jihyo to confess to her first than her.

Returning back to the present, she got all fours on the floor and sobbed hardly as she banged her fist on the floor weakily.

"Jihyo! What happened now?!", Lisa ran through her and matched the same level as hers to easily access a comforting hug to her.

"Lisa..."

"What is it, Jihyo-ssi?"

"Why... why are these happening to us? A-aren't we allowed to be happy?", Jihyo's messed up mind speaking up to her. Lisa doesn't know what to answer as she has clearly no idea also why is Jihyo all unsuccessful on those several repeats she executed.

That is... until an idea showed up in her head. She knows this won't be too pleasant for Jihyo to know but she has no other choice but to inform this to her, probably might help and raise awareness for the poor secret admirer.

"Jihyo-ssi... it's not that I'm going against with you here but, do you think that this is still worth to continue?"

"Where are you going with this, Lisa?", Jihyo furrowed her eyebrows, teeth gritting in anger.

"H-hear me out first okay?", Lisa tried to calm down the supposedly offended Jihyo. "W-what if... what if the reasons why even after you try to repeat and change the mistake you've done on that night, it won't allow you in different ways or so is because...

... Jihyo, I'm afraid that YN not ending up with you can be considered as an absolute point of time. Meaning, it is a constant one in this world and you can't do anything about it because it only states that... the scenario cannot be changed.", Lisa explained her speculations about everything that has been going on to Jihyo.

Jihyo only chuckled, much to Lisa getting weirded out of the latter. Spreading herself apart from the empathic friend, she looked at her in a ridiculuous manner.

"No...", Jihyo sighed, shaking her head. "You told me... you told me everything is possible, Lisa and what do you think I'm trying to do here? Huh? Am I not trying to prove it?"

"Jihyo..."

"No! You don't understand!", Jihyo objected, charging at Lisa as she grasped both her shoulders and wiggled her body aggressively.

Looking intently at Lisa who was left speechless, realizing how crazy she must've been looking because of this problem never wanting to leave her alone for years; she slid her hands to Lisa's arms and buried her face shedding tears on the younger's shoulder.

"I-I'm sorry..."

"It's fine. I may not know what could've felt like having that heartbreak being a burden for so long on you, but I just want help with everything I can. For my friend. For you, Jihyo.", Lisa caressed the back of Jihyo.

"This is a different thing, Ji. We don't even know if it can create a side effect and I just want you to be aware of the danger. Don't you even notice that not only you who's hurting here but also her? You're harming her also, Ji... might as well disturbing her past life that should've been put aside and moved on already in this present time."

"Jihyo, without that moment... you won't be stepping here in this laboratory, having me as your friend and lab partner while me having you as my mentor who is a well-knowned inventor and scientist to this field we took.

And most importantly...

... you won't be making her happy, even if it costs... without having you as her source of it."

Jihyo nodded her head and slowed down the sounds of her crying and heaving chest from pouring out all the emotions she's been keeping inside of her, in combination of everything she's been through for the past 6 years.

She lets go from Lisa, wiping out her tears. "I... I understand, Lisa....

but...

... this is what I want to do, and I've gone so far to obtain this remaining opportunity that I have with me.", Lisa tilted her head and frowned in dismay as Jihyo made her final decision opposite to what she's expecting.

"I appreciate you sticking for my side as always, Lisa... and please, despite of me choosing this; I just want to ask for your support on this one like we usually do for each other.", Jihyo requested, pursing her lower lip and presented her glimmering puppy eyes on her apprentice,

Lisa slumped her shoulders, tightlipped, shutting her eyes and escaped a warm sigh before nodding her head in response. "Don't say I didn't warned you about this."

"I do."

Jihyo and Lisa exchanged a trusting gestures at one another before Jihyo took another try, pressing the button to teleport herself again into a different time, location and setting for a repeat she can't even count from all the fingers in her hands on how many she took a time travelling.

She monitored YN approaching her who's inside the car, but... Jihyo's forehead crumpled and eyebrows knitted in complete disordered perspective when she began observing something... strange.

YN stopped her tracks, only inches away from her peeking out of the window.

She watched YN looking around the neighborhood, her eyes even contacted at the spot where Jihyo is but she just swiftly lured her sight away at the unknown.

"YN?", Jihyo called her name but left no reply from the latter.

YN looked at the time from her wristwatch and sighed. "That little brat. She pranked me again."

Jihyo's confusion grew larger, assuming that YN doesn't see her at all when in fact, their gap is very narrow for them to reach theirselves.

"YN? YN?! HEY, I'M HERE!", Jihyo kept shouting at YN, hoping that atleast her presence will be felt and seen but to no avail.

"W-what's going on...", Jihyo panickedly cupped both her head and rubbed her hair on the sides as she's trying to process what kind of phenomenon is blocking her once again from confessing her feelings to Jihyo.

As she tried to reach and touch YN by expanding her arm to her, YN instead began walking away from her; supposedly returning back inside her house with a dissatisfied and annoyed feeling on her for not seeing any traces of YN in front of her residence.

"YN! DON'T GO!", Jihyo opened the door to hop out and try chasing the oblivious YN when all of a sudden the land they're stepping in began crumbling and wind hitting them strongly, causing them both to become alarmed and terrified at the instant earthquake intensified right at the moment.

Jihyo leaned at the car to gain support from her stance as she felt dizzy from the vibration and impact of the shaking ground while YN crashed on her knees, unable to maintain her balance.

"YN!"

She tried to help her friend, attempting to run her feet straight through her until the skies began switching colors from a dull grey and black into a bright blue and yellow, with the manner having it perceived as if everything is glitching around them.

The land splits into two, tearing both of them away from each other. Jihyo watched the ground began to float as well the what it looked like underneath her, which is nothing but also a glitching appearance of their entire background.

"J-JIHYO?!", Jihyo heard someone called her name, who's none other than YN staring at her in a dreadful expression.

She got somehow relieved that YN can finally see but how could she forgot how bad of a timing it occured as now they're witnessing each other and the entire world around them shattering into pieces.

Speculating that the warnings Jihyo received from Lisa ended up becoming true, now that she's about to experience what must've felt like having the whole reality she's seeing got slowly destroyed all because of her.

"YN!", Jihyo returned the name calling.

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!

"I DON'T KNOW EITHER BUT STAY THERE, OKAY?!", Jihyo yelled at YN who followed her instructions.

Jihyo reaches for the time controller on the passenger's seat and hurriedly pressed the button to restart everything again.

It failed.

She pressed again.

No good.

She went into a rage spamming on the button in sync with the repeated cursing and pleading under her breath that it'll work.

It didn't.

Jihyo screamed in terror as she realized that the glitching and disturbed reality seems like it's shrinking carefully and it made her jump onto the conclusion that she believe they will end up being crushed by it.

"No... no, this can't be. I- I DIDN'T MEANT FOR ANY OF THIS TO HAPPEN!", JIhyo panic-stricken, grabbing YN's attention even more.

"I JUST WANTED TO BE WITH HER!!!", waterfall of tears pouring out from her cheeks as she screamed in anguish at the weird skies above her.

"JIHYO, WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?!", Jihyo turned her head towards YN who looks very pitiful in her condition being all alone and terrified of the disaster she's about to accept.

As much as she want to do something, she can't. Lisa won't be able to save her since she's in a different period of time so the only solution she has in her was the controller... but it became unresponsive, leaving Jihyo facing the unknown.

A couple of inches remaining in distance from each of them, the unwell and shifting reality enveloped them altogether. Jihyo and YN's discomfort and horrible demeanor reached it's breaking point as the only thing they can do is to keep screaming in utter horror and desperate for help.

"NO.... NO... YN!", the walls of the reality pushed them, causing the measurement of the space between each other to lessen.

"JIHYO!!!", the pieces of the land they're stepping in finally compressed, and without any hesitation they immediately hugged together for one last time.

"NO... DON'T TAKE HER AWAYYYY!"

And then, Jihyo's begging screams echoed before everything disappears.

Jihyo opened her eyes, feeling nothing but herself floating at... nothing. All she can see it null and void. Black being the only existent color she can see around her.

No signs of YN, it urged her to got hit by a massive realization that not only she failed...but it left a complete destruction and extinction of the world she's living in, including the very important and special person in her whole life: YN.

She did prevented her to end up with her wife, but it costs her not letting her able to live the life she preferred to rather share happiness and love with.

She went for the worst instead for the better.

She lost everything.

She lost YN.

To pay for the sins she caused, it truly is deserving for her to be left all along in such a blank space. Leave her to die, she thought.

"No...no.... no.... I'm so sorry, YN...", Jihyo began crying hard again as she covered her face with both of her palms.

An unknown length of time she spent floating in mid-air of nothing, she unconsciously stared at nowhere with a blank and colorless expression in her face.

Her unbotheredness was broken when suddenly, a familiar voice speaks out from her behind.

"I assumed you learnt your lesson then.", Jihyo used her remaining force within her to turn herself around and face the owner of that voice.

It was Lisa, but her entire appearence looks very unnatural, ethereal and heavenly...

... because this ain't the same student and aspiring scientist Lisa Manoban she knew from before.

Instead, the Lisa floating in front of her now whilst wearing a white elegant and alluring dress exposing her well-built curvy figure is the god-like counterpart of the Lisa she's close with.

"L-Lisa?", Jihyo's face somewhat brightened as she recognized the unearthly woman talking to her.

"Jihyo-ssi.", Lisa smiled timidly.

"Y-you're alive... b-but why are y-"

"I may be the same as your bestfriend but also... I'm not.", Lisa clarified. "Your Lisa is now dead, and I'm honestly sad to know that my version is now gone too soon."

"V-version?"

"So... now you, more than everyone else finally understand that meddling with time and reality would only result in chaos and destruction.", Lisa avoided Jihyo's confusion, saving the reveal later.

Jihyo frowned in guilt, knowing that's exactly what she should remember from now on, yet the only question is... for what? She doesn't have anything to do here. She's trapped in this prison she made for herself.

"As much as I want to help you, I cannot interfere. It's your destiny not to involved in a romantic relationship with YN, because you and her are only limited from crossing that boundary."

"I knew everything what you did and I have to admit... you surely did messed up a lot.", Lisa sarcastically reacted.

"Breaking the sole universe of where you live in-"

"Wait, UNIVERSE?"

"Yeah, you think you only made Earth pop like a bubble?", Lisa raised her eyebrow. "No, silly. You eradicted the entire galaxy because of how stubborn and arrogant you are."

Jihyo winced at the another scolding she got. Harsh words stabbed her straight in the feels because Lisa spat all those truth like an acid to her.

"It wasn't m-my... intention, I swear.", Jihyo muttered. "I knew what I did was wrong... but I never wanted to affect others on my own deed."

"I know, and that's why I'm here."

Jihyo's curiously was piqued.

"For?"

Lisa started to floated around on Jihyo who remained motionless. "Like what I said, you destroying the entire universe by a mortal like you definitely placed a lot of heavy toll within Gods like me."

"A god of what?"

"Gods of Redemption.", Lisa declared. "We're in charge of granting every being in this planet to have second chances, only and if necessary... the scenario is too unreversable to the mortal's hands... that being, death and if that being is very sincere and willingly to make something right again.

... which led me to you, Jihyo-ssi."

"The higher ranking Gods, ofcourse they didn't took it really well. They even almost finalized that they want to have you set up through an instant punishment, banishing your existence with their combined power so that you'll suffer the same as what you did along with your universe.", Jihyo's eyes widened and gulped at how terrifying and intimidating these Gods are.

"However, through my method of convincing; lucky you were spared from the doomsday you're about to meet.", Lisa added.

"Look, I know that you didn't intended to destroy everything but I just can't help but to be a little frustrated at you.", she pointed at Jihyo who remained speechless.

"You were warned, but this crazy little thing called love couldn't set you free isn't it?"

"Yeah."

Lisa clicked her tongue irritably. "Well, we can't do anything about it. What's done is done. But... I figured a way to have you atleast serve a purpose not only for us... but for your own too."

"W-what is it?", Jihyo questioned.

"But first, are you willing to make things right everything first?"

Jihyo lowered her head and clasped her hands together to pose herself as if she's praying and begging for it. "Yes! Please. I'll do everything not to make mistakes this time."

Lisa shushed Jihyo, interrupting her pleadings. "No, scratch that part. Our life won't be complete if we don't make mistakes for us to improve further."

"Oh, yeah... s-sorry.", Jihyo apologized. "Okay, y-yes. I'll do my best to think of my actions first."

"That's better.", Lisa expressed her satisfaction. "Well, I won't be asking you anymore if you're willing to sacrifice your existence because... your universe came first before you so, are you ready to follow me?", she spreaded her arm and presented her free hand, directing it at Jihyo for her to accept.

"To where?", Jihyo innocently asked as she stared at the inviteful Lisa.

Lisa smiled before replying at the lonely scientist.

"To your new home."

Jihyo erased all the doubts she has within her, sensing that this Lisa has closely no differences with the one she used to know when it comes to their personality.

She also analyzed that she was right anyways, saving her from the combined wrath of the higher ranking Gods surely made Jihyo owe this Goddess Lisa a lot not only for her safety, but for another opportunity to have her life achieve a new and hopefully... an improved meaning and role in her life.

Jihyo gently reached for Goddess Lisa's hand and locked onto it, twirling her fingers and strengthened her hold as she watched Lisa gestured a trusting nod before they were covered in a blinding goldlish light, escaping the lifeless and ruptured universe of hers.

A few moments later, Jihyo and Lisa arrived in a place that surely does a great representation of what a paradise looks like.

Jihyo's mouth agaped, eyelids sprung upwards and face stretched in shock an surprise as she looked around at the new and most unique place she has ever seen in her entire life.

The structures, neither tall nor short are all white, a clean and refreshing air where the cotton-like fogs flowing through everywhere around on what it seems to be a town; contributing to the heavenly features of the place.

The people residing were wearing gold and white attires, only a thin cloth covering their bodies and every single one of them looks very appealing.

There's no vehicles to be seen around, since the people have the ability to fly through their angelic wings around and use it as their way of transportation around this place.

Jihyo learnt from Lisa that she was brought to this universe only occupied by the children of the Highness himself, the leader, the chief and the savior of all eternal and holy beings in this universe. "String theory... multi-dimensional reality... matter displacement, they're... they're all real?", she said to herself in awe.

They headed across the scared hall of the Holy Council, where the higher-ups has the pleasure to meet the mastermind and the sinner who is the main responsible for the destruction of one of the universe across the infinite numbers of the other universes scattered all over the galaxy.

Lisa repeated her request and pleads from the higher-up, which led from a short discussion and review of the judgment they're about to make.

Fortunately, they achieved all of their approval; and it resulted for Jihyo to be accepted and welcomed to stay in this unknown world full of gods and goddesses, only to pass a test that will be given to her first to prove if she's a worthy addition to their blessed land.

Because of that, it delivered a required new changes from Jihyo herself. She can't be a morttal anymore as she has to take her new responsibilities and duties to prove herself a worthy God Of Redemption just like Lisa.

She transformed from a devastated, lonely scientist to an almighty godly being.

She was tasked on her first ever service, and that is to guide all the 9 different multiverses assigned to her by Lisa.

Recently, her first mission was sent when she received a distress signal from one of the universes she's guarding.

She discovered that in this one, YN is a male assassin who both lost his wife and daughter in a brutal murder inside their house in the middle of the woods where they are hiding.

Jihyo watched how YN struggled in her guilt, longing and grief of losing all of his loved ones... until she decided to appear and offered him a chance of help after she made her research learning that in another universe, his wife... who was the same person her original YN married together with.

Her name is Sana and both of them lost theirselves in a tragic scenario, which on the other hand Sana lost YN in an unexpected car accident.

The first time she saw the assassin counterpart YN, she tried to keep her composure steady to not let out a different reaction of seeing another version of her beloved YN and stay still on being dedicated to her new embraced role as a God Of Redemption.

It pained Jihyo a lot, ofcourse. Secretly watching the huge grin and overload of sadness and longing he felt when he got to meet Sana again for the second time made her somehow wish she could experience the same and stand in Sana's position.

Seeing that she will never have a chance to make YN fall in love with her even at every different universes along with the mistake she had done was an effective hard slap for her to woke up in the reality this time.

Her feelings for YN still remains in her heart, sometimes she uses it to secretly admire her male counterpart whenever he's asleep every night on the new universe Jihyo teleported him.

But on one night, she came to visit YN with another agenda.

She squatted beside the male YN's sleeping figure on the bed and traced his facial features even this version couldn't fail to make Jihyo go head over heels too and showcase the bisexuality effects on her.

Combing his hair with gentle stroke from the gaps of her slender, shining fingers, Jihyo smiled bitterly at the look of YN sleeping peacefully.

"You're still attractingly handsome even if you're a man.", she whispered, not leaving her sight away at YN.

"I promise, this time... I'll make you happy. As much as I want to be the one with you to share with, I know I can't... because you'll never be mine.", Jihyo's teardrop fell from YN's cheek.

"I'll still give it to you. You deserve and earned every special things, whether it may be big or small. Always for a wonderful person like you. That's how you meant so much to me, YN", her lips shuddered as she forces herself not to sob heavily from the hurtful heartbreak she's trying to heal and forget these days.

She placed her last kiss of acceptance for her destined fate on YN's lips before she slowly vanished away and returned from her private universe.

Jihyo successfully completed her first mission by being true to her words, making YN happy by having him reconcile with the another version of Sana.

She bid goodbye to them and headed back to her universe where she teleported right away in front of a massive and enchanted chapel being one of the main highlights of the entire town, along with the council hall where the higher-ups are slated.

Jihyo saw Lisa who's talking nicely with her other fellow guests and gods and politely excused herself to grab the attention of her friend.

"Oh, Jihyo-ssi! You made it on time!", Lisa pleasantly greeted her. "How's your very first mission?"

Jihyo blushed and smiled widely, hinting the victorious accomplishment she achieved. "They're back together now."

"Great!", Lisa clapped her hands in glee. "Congrats on completing your first mission! I'm sure the elders would be really happy to hear this such good news from you. Even better, you are now really proving that you can belong with us!"

"I am honored and overwhelmed if they confirm it.", Jihyo sweetfully smiled.

"Tsk, humble. I'm sure they will.", Lisa bounced her eyebrows as she said it confidence.

"Oh! By the way... someone wants to see you.", Lisa's face brightened up when she remembered the reminder given to her by that someone.

"Who?"

"Find it out yourself, she wants you to meet her on the balcony near the garden."

"She?"

Jihyo furrowed her eyebrows, trying to think of a possible identity of this mysterious being wanting to involve a conversation with her alone.

"What are waiting for? Go! The wedding's about to start in 10 minutes!", Lisa pushed Jihyo to hurriedly make her move her feet and ran to find this someone.

After asking courteously to some strangers around the chapel, the directions led her finally to the balcony to the garden where she saw a figure of a woman standing in her elegant and stupendous white dress in the middle of the marble railing.

Her long, curly brown hair organized with the assist of the matching white hairband is dancing with the waves of the fresh, clean air.

Jihyo can only see her alluring exposed milky, smooth skin of her back facing her until the mysterious woman rotated her body.

Jihyo couldn't react any other than to be bewildered and let her emotions arise in an instant.

It was the goddess counterpart of YN, standing from a slight distance in front of her, smiling softly at the view of the taken aback woman in her eyes.

"You finally showed up.", YN said with her usual gentle and tender voice.

"Y-YN?"

She nodded and smiled. "It's nice to see you... well technically I should say "again", Jihyo."

Jihyo stood frozen in her spot, still in disbelief that she's seeing another version of YN, in this one it looks very alike the same woman she loved for the longest time.

Not to mention, this goddess YN looks so more unbelievably beautiful.

"I knew what happened from Lisa. She told me everything.", YN began to explain, as she slowly approached the shocked Jihyo.

"You never had a chance to properly talk with me and released everything that you're carrying in your chest so... I thought of setting a perfect schedule where I could make it finally happen for you."

"I... I had to convince Sana for a while to let me allow to talk with you and gladly she did."

"So... Jihyo, anything you wanna say for me?", YN said, locking her hand altogether behind her back as she waited patiently.

Jihyo cleared her throat and closed her eyes for a few second before opening it.

"This is indeed real, she's here", she muttered.

"I-I am.", Jihyo stuttered nervously. She didn't wasted any longer time as she began saying her apology speech.

"YN... first and foremost, I just want to say sorry. For everything that I caused which led me to this.

Not that I'm sounding like I'm complaining about it, I'm just being conscious and minding still about the horrible truth behind all of these.

I... I admit that I became very desperate, selfish, arrogant, impulsive anything you want to call me that urged me to abuse my creation just to forcefully repeat that past that I regretted the most which I could never change.

From the bottom of my heart and soul, I sincerely apologize for the disturbance and misery I brought to your counterpart that I loved so deeply, YN.

But... since, all of you are just sharing the same identity of YN... I guess I could say the same thing I've been wanting to say for so long on you too."

Jihyo stepped forward, inching closer at YN who stared at her actions but freely lets the woman to proceed on doing so, understandably accepting why she has to do this.

"I love you. I love you in every universe, YN", Jihyo stared at YN's hypnotizing eyes as she swayed some strands of hairs behind the ear of YN before switching her hands to place it upon the plump cheeks of her lover.

YN sighed heavily and smiled softly at the heartwarming message of her bestfriend and admirer.

But then, Jihyo's lips shifted to a frown. "But you're not mine... and I will never be yours, because that's what our fate dictates us so."

"I learned my lesson now, and after quite some time of recovering... I have no other choice but to do the only right option.

I have to let you go and be with Sana forever and after but... rest assured that I'll do my best to live with my promise, and that is to make you happier than you'll ever be eternally.", Jihyo reached for YN's hand and carefully squeezed it.

She gave the top a peck of her kiss before patting the spot and clenched it on her hold as she released the engaged woman's hand.

"I already forgave you, Jihyo. I'm just waiting for this time to declare it to you.", YN confessed to her which broke Jihyo's watery eyes to shed a wet path of teardrops full of joy down her cheek.

"You already succeeded your redemption arc, and I have nothing more to say than to express how much I'm proud of you from correcting your mistakes and didn't brought harm from anyone this time."

"Don't worry, Jihyo. You made me happy. You made Sana happy too, including Lisa. I just hope you're feeling the same too."

"I-I am very happy too, especially for you, YN.", Jihyo confirmed, nodding her head rapidly as she smiled with her face still stained and messy due to the tears of joy she shed. "Congratulations on getting married today, by the way."

YN chuckled, wiping also her watery eyes off. "Yeah, thank you so much Jihyo. Appreciated it, really."

"I'm relieved that you can tell the same too for yourself, Jihyo.", YN nodded and beamed.

"Before we go back inside, since we knew both that things didn't ended quite well between us..."

YN presented her pinky finger at Jihyo which the latter looked at it adorably.

"Do you accept my invitation for you to join me rewind our friendship together, Jihyo-ssi?"

Without thinking twice, Jihyo hooked her own pinky finger at YN's.

"I'm in for a new beginning, YN.", she grinned.

Jihyo and YN immediately crashed their bodies for a tight, warm, caring and comfortable hug which made Jihyo unable to resist pulling back her tears to come out by how she missed having this kind of moment with YN so much.

After that, YN looked at the huge antique clocktower for the time. Realizing that they only have 3 minutes to prepare, she let's go from the embrace and both of them looked at each other.

"Let's go?"

Jihyo nodded readily.

While they're walking straight back inside the chapel, YN initiated one last short topic in assurance for them to talk about.

"How's my counterpart that you were tasked by Lisa sent from the elders?"

"All good now, YN. He's been saved."

Jihyo cheered good luck on YN, waved off at one another as they went on to their respective spots: in front of the altar and one of the chairs where all of the guests are seated.

While they're waiting for the bride to come out, a golden purse suddenly fell from Jihyo's feet.

She was about to lower down and reach it when she noticed that another hand also touched the extravagant belonging.

Jihyo looked at the person who also did the same as she caught her eyes, and she wasn't lying to herself when she mentally stated that this girl looks so beautiful.

In result, both of them just lifted off the purse together and Jihyo instantly pulled back her hand, allowing the woman to recover her property.

"S-sorry for the inconvenience...", the short black haired woman said shyly.

"It's n-nothing. I'll take it r-randomly.", Jihyo assured.

Jihyo was about to focus herself back on waiting but the out of nowhere desire to continue talking to this very interesting woman made her disregard it.

"S-sorry, I just wanna ask. How come you became one of the guests today? Are you close with the newlyweds?", Jihyo curiously asked.

"Yes. Sana's my bestfriend and I'm pretty close now with YN too."

"Oh...", Jihyo expressed her satisfication  to that information.

"And you?

"I'm friends with YN.", the stranger nodded, lips formed an "o" shape.

"I haven't introduced myself yet, didn't I?", Jihyo sheepishly chuckled. "I'm Jihyo. Park Jihyo."

"I'm Jeongyeon. Yoo Jeongyeon.", the bobbed cut haired woman accepted her offer of handshake welcomely.

Unbeknownst to both of them, they finally met the right person for each other to love along with across the other multiverses where every counterparts of Jihyo and Jeongyeon were either soon to encounter each other in the middle of their paths or already living happily together no matter what happens.

And that's that!

For those male readers of mine out here who decided to still read this one-shot until the end despite the story having female readers as the protagonist just to view the plot twist at the ending, I appreciate the consideration so much.

Now yall understand why I made the male readers also read this.

Yes, this entire one-shot is a prequel from my previous work from Set 3 which is the Sana x M (Male) Reader one-shot titled "The Multiversal Redemption Arc". It was the second most voted story in Set 3 after Mina x M (Male) Reader- "Unconditionally".

This one simply explored and explained Jihyo's origin on how and what led her become to be the Almighty God Of Redemption who helped the male reader reunite with Sana back in MRA.

For my female readers, if you haven't seen MRA on Set 3, I suggest to read it so that all of you could understand what just happened and the connection of Rewind to MRA. However, it's a male reader one... so I'll leave it up to you guys if you'll still take a peek there and pretend yourselves as an ooposite gender of yourself.

I hope you guys liked the twist I did and especially, if you guys enjoyed this latest work of mine so far.

See ya! - Knight

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week # 149 (Year 3/Week 45):

Between 'Mean Streets' and 'Alice doesn't live here anymore', Martin Scorsese made the documentary ItalianAmerican, which is basically a home movie. It features his parents bicker and talk at their apartment, remembering the old days of their families.

🍿

2 with teenager Scarlett Johansson:

🍿 Re-watch: Sofia Coppola's Lost in translation, while waiting for her latest 'Priscilla'. "Sleepless in Shinjuko". Sad and vulnerable 17-year-old Scarlett Johansson, a 'stranger in a strange land' is having a 'Brief Encounter' moment, with less-asshole-than-usual Bill Murray. (Photos Above).

Another melancholic exploration of a lonely young woman, who finds herself captured in a privileged gilded cage. An exceptional, subtle masterpiece. 10/10.

🍿 The horse whisperer starred 14-year-old Johansson as a horse-lover who becomes emotionally stunted after a riding accident that caused her to lose part of her leg (all in the first 10 minutes of the film). It's a sloooow, traditional 3-hour-long story about healing, told mostly in beautifully-cinematic Montana. But it worked for me, in spite of the well-shot sentimentality. 7/10.

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My first 2 by German auteur Christian Petzold, both with Paula Beer:

🍿 Afire - a tremendous, complex drama about a vain, immature writer on a working vacation. The little summer cottage close to the Baltic sea, is soon encroached by a forest fire, as does his self-centered world view of himself and his art. It starts at one emotional point, and skillfully moves to a completely different, tense level. 9/10.

🍿 Petzold wanted to make a series of films about the 4 elements. Undine refers to the myth of 'water nymphs', so rivers, industrial diving, large aquariums, and drowning in a pool are all part of the story. It's a lovely, simple romance, which eventually turns into a dark fantasy. My 5th film with Franz Rogowski. 4/10.

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3 More of Claude Chabrol’s Hitchcockian thrillers:

🍿 “… You like meat?…”

Le Boucher, a low-key, atmospheric thriller about a single woman who befriends a village butcher, who's also a serial killer. Fantastic snapshot of the people at 'the country' (Dordogne) at this time. 9/10.

🍿 The ceremony (La Cérémonie) is a similar dark story, set in a solid bourgeoisie family. Isabelle Huppert & Sandrine Bonnaire becomes friends and eventually decide kill them all. Like 'Stanley & Iris' from last week, the protagonist is illiterate. 6/10.

🍿 The Unfaithful Wife, another terrific, low-key, civilized study of a French bourgeois household. A loving husband discovers that his loving wife is having an affair, and ends up killing her lover. I liked it so much, and thought it would be a very good candidate for a modern remake. Then I remembered Adrian Lyne's 'Unfaithful' with the luminous Diane Lane in the Stéphane Audran role. Maybe I should watch it again! 8/10.

I discovered Chabrol late, and have only seen about 10% of his 74 movies. Now I have to see them all!

🍿

Milf, another film with Virginie Ledoyen, a soft-core sex comedy. Three older women looking to hook up with boys 20 years younger. A similar concept to the Naomi Watts film 'Adoration'. I only watched it because it is directed by a woman and had 13 on the Tomato score. Better than Zalman King.

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Wow! After 4 months of anticipation, the venerable bio-pic Oppenheimer finally hit my free streamers. I watched all 3 hours of it but left completely underwhelmed. This is the seventh of Christopher Nolen's praised big-budget epic films that I saw, and so far none of them had floated my boat. Okay, so I'm not a big blockbusters fan.

It's not very hip to rail against McCarthyism in 2023. Twenty-twenty revisionist vision, mambo-jumbo pseudoscience, overwrought endless, loud soundtrack, and basically the usual biography of a "Great man", which is always a boring subject for a movie. 4/10.

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3 by regular Fincher screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker:

🍿 On the other hand, David Fincher’s new thriller The killer was a thrill ride that was a joy to watch. A cold blooded professional assassin, laconic and super-human, flies around the world ruthlessly killing people. Mesmerizing (but predictable) suspense with an effective Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score. I could do without the inner monologue that replaced conversations in the story. Also, a great comic book knock-out fight after an hour and a half of deliberate, slow go. 7/10.

🍿 In 2001, BMW produced 8 short films by famous directors as "Branded Content", i.e. advertisements. Called 'The hire' they all featured Clive Owen driving Beamers around the world. AKW wrote two of them:

The Follow was directed by Wong Kar-wai, and was about an aborted diamond heist.

Ambush was directed by John Frankenheimer, and was about a woman being followed by her husband.

The other shorts were by John Woo, Tony Scott, Ang Lee, etc.

🍿

5 more Danish films, 3 with Henning Moritzen (The patriarch from ‘Celebration’) and 2 with Mads Mikkelsen:

🍿 Tænk på et tal (Think of a number), a 1969 old-fashion, enjoyable Danish 'Krimi' with an enduring theme song. A meek bank teller finds a discarded note from a bank robber, and gets involved in a lethal game.

This story was later remade into the Elliott Gould caper 'The silent partner'. I love such slow and delightful dramas, and I love Bibi Andersson.

it’s funny how movies that used to be throwaway entertainment products 60 years ago, gain completely different meaning today. I should start exploring the many Danish Noir from the 40's and 50's. 7/10.

🍿 50 years later, In the Oscar-nominated short The pig, Moritzen is old and fat, and is being hospitalised for some tests. There he lays and finds comfort in a simple picture of a pig jumping over a fence. Delightful!

🍿 On the other hand, Now is another Danish short (from 2003) starring Mads Mikkelsen. But it's an artsy-fartsy, humor-less, word-less "Art film", shot in black & white, with a constant baby crying. Like 'An Andalusian Dog' but without the charm and the magic… 1/10.

🍿 I was surprised to realize just now that my favorite Danish screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen directed only 5 features and 3 shorts. (but he wrote 59 scripts!). Wolfgang is an early short of his, and not his best. Now I've seen all the movies that he directed.

I can't wait for his upcoming 'Monster of Florence' with Antonio Banderas and 'Back to reality'. Yeah!

🍿 So I took in one more viewing of his sentimental After the wedding, maybe for the 10th time. So full of emotional twists, old-fashioned melodrama, Sigur Rós score and peak Sidse Babett Knudsen.

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Budapest Noir, a Hungarian murder mystery, set up in anti-semitic 1936. A hard boiled crime reporter investigates a murder of a beautiful prostitute, like a Jake Gittes named Zsigmond. Very strong 'Chinatown' vibes, including a smokey jazz score that tries to recreate its haunting atmosphere, and even the final line of dialogue "This is Budapest". 5/10.

[This is the 115th woman-directed film I've seen so far this year!].

🍿

Dumb money, the first enjoyable Reddit movie, about the 2021 GameStop short squeeze. Compelling Class War rhetoric with Seth Rogen as the billionaire 'heavy'. Up-to-the-minute updated drama of the 1% Vs. the unwashed masses. I think it will endure as another worthy addition to the sub-genre of 'highly entertaining explanation to boring real-life financial story', just like 'The big short' and 'Margin call'.

However, it used an Artificial Intelligent editing model that color-corrected the whole movie into a weird, fake, washed up look. 8/10.

🍿

First watch: Kurosawa's bleak Drunken Angel, an early post-war Yakuza film, and the first of the 16 collaborations between him and Toshiro Mifume. An alcoholic doctor befriends a young hoodlum suffering from tuberculosis. Located around an open sewer in a seedy neighborhood, still suffering under the American occupation.

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Ikarie XB 1 (Or 'Voyage to the End of the Universe' as it was called in American), an influential and ambitious 1963 Czechoslovakian science-fiction saga, based on a Stanisław Lem novel. "Futuristic" space decor and story, very much in the Star Trek style. Cultish 1960's popcorn philosophy, but nonsensical and not a serious world building. Not for me - 1/10.

🍿

Thank Dog that the third season of Tim Robinson’s 'I think you should leave' was so short. The first season was outrageously different. The second season was a 'repeat on a theme'. This one was just cringey irrelevant. Absurd, awkward, confusing situations, exploding rage at small mistakes. No!

🍿

My first (and last) stand-up by comedian Nate Bergatze, The greatest average American. Average stories of 'relatable' everyday nitty gritty were hardly worth a chuckle.

🍿  

(My complete movie list is here)

[void-botanist]

My Year of Writing

After reading @theskeletonprior's review, I thought I would write one of my own. Original prompt by @maguayans (whose blog theme on desktop is excellent for writeblr and might be something I borrow).

Part 1: Spotify Wrapped version

This year was all about The Fourth Android and bringing it from a half-baked rewrite of an older story to something edible. To that end, I wrote 158,587 words:

30,000 for Camp NaNo in April

30,209 for Camp NaNo in July

50,363 for NaNo 2022, plus

18,013 for a May goal and

30,002 for a June goal.

I archived a lot of those words as I iterated, though, and my current draft is sitting at 43,278 words right now.

Obviously Dez was on my mind the whole time but I also invented a ton of new characters as I fleshed out species concepts and the cultural geography of the world. I also frequently got distracted with other stories in this world and started writing extra scenes about characters who had captured my attention, several of whom are on Dez's future space crew.

My Spotify Wrapped was boring. It pretty much just said "hey you got real into pop this year. We probably classed all the 80s rock and 00s indie you listened to as 'nostalgia', which is silly. Also you still listen to a ton of Approaching Nirvana, like you're in the top 0.5% of listeners". If you want my recommendations, go listen to Wreck of the Day (the song or the album or both) by Anna Nalick, and literally anything by Approaching Nirvana (but I have probably listened to the albums Cinematic Soundscapes Vol. 1 and Illusions the most). Also go (re)appreciate that 38 Special and Fitz and the Tantrums are bands that exist.

Part 2: A More Detailed Review

General

This year I continued working toward improvement, in both my writing and art.

With writing, that looked like getting more invested in planning and analyzing my own work. I finally accepted that the typical plot charts I find don't make sense to me when I try to use them, and not because I'm trying to make my stories Special (TM). Something just doesn't connect for me, and that's okay. That's not the only way to get plot structure. Instead I spent a while figuring out how to use Scrivener to outline in a way that works for me. I also tried to apply my own media analyses and those of YouTubers like Princess Weekes, La'Ron Readus, Jessie Gender, NerdSync, and James Somerton to my own work, to consider what works and what might not.

With art, that looked like learning more tools and tricks in Clip Studio Paint and Procreate, changing my settings to help me not mess up my arm constantly (adjusting my pressure curve!), and drawing at a higher resolution. I cannot stress enough how much of a difference that has made in the way my work looks and how it feels to edit it. I tend to draw small, so I'd never thought about it much, but wow everything is so smooth now. I've also been working on accepting that the imperfections in my work don't make it bad, and that being a slow and indecisive artist is also fine. angrymikko, Nadiaxel, and Chroma Moma on YouTube have been super helpful to me as I try new styles and ways of working and just having fun with my art. ronillust also makes delightful art memes and some tutorials.

P.S. if you're on desktop and you despise the format of YouTube's Shorts page, you can play Shorts as regular videos by changing the "shorts" portion of the URL to "watch". You can also set up Redirector to do this automatically (I wrote a tutorial for this on my main blog).

Writeblr

I was so much more active on writeblr this year, especially during the last few months. I followed a ton of other writers (I won't list them all here but I've been trying to reblog from them to make sure people are also aware of them) and started posting some excerpts of my own work and participating in ask/tag games. I'm having a very good time so far. Please feel free to tag me liberally in future games and prompts!

WIPs

I started working on The Fourth Android after I lost NaNoWriMo 2021, where I was working on Triad and I ran out of steam after about 28k words. On the last day of NaNo I just sprinted some stuff about Zel and Anni and a fledgling form of TFA in which Zel is a journalist and Anni teams up with her to locate Dez, who has absconded over some misunderstanding. Then I thought, what if I just worked on this? So I did. Triad is still going to happen, but it needs a lot of restructuring to work properly.

As always, my writing went from high angst to low angst as I developed that first TFA concept further, which I think speaks to how I just like stories about people being friends. Which is, you know, a pretty broad qualifier, but I find that even in stories with high stakes and high drama the thing I find most delightful is friendship dynamics (can you tell I'm thinking about Hunter x Hunter as I write this? I got kinda into that too). A lot of my thinking about character arcs has been related to "how is this friendship interesting?" and the cultural worldbuilding I've been doing is going to help me explore some of those dynamics. (This also applies to romantic couples, not least because friends to lovers is the only thing that seems to work for me in my writing.)

Books and Other Things I Consumed

I read a fair bit this year, especially compared to the last couple years (I'm actually pretty proud of this because I read maybe 2 books in all of 2019 and 2020 and only got back into reading last year). Like Harrowben, I've starred my favorites.

*The Expanse series 4-7 by James S. A. Corey (4, Cibola Burn, was a particular favorite just because I love stories set on alien planets. Overall I think The Expanse could use more theys and gays, but I'm pretty happy with it)

I, Robot by Isaac Asimov (I enjoyed how clever this one was, and also it has robots. For some strange reason I have become incredibly interested in robot stories)

Artemis by Andy Weir (honestly I think about this one a lot. I think it had some of Weir's character writing flaws as seen in The Martian but the worldbuilding was pretty compelling and I'm a sucker for epistolary bits)

*Fearless by Shira Glassman (a wonderful quick read about snowstorms and lesbian moms. I also bought several of Shira's other books but haven't read them yet)

*Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao (I rarely buy books in physical form anymore but I did buy this one after I read it. Superb. Waiting for the sequel)

Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki (I enjoyed this one a lot. I can definitely understand the criticisms, and the formatting was kinda weird. But on some level I felt like I was reading something that was in my own genre)

Currently reading

The Perfect Crimes of Marian Hayes by Cat Sebastian (the sequel to The Queer Principles of Kit Webb. It's just a super fun read)

Finlay Donovan Knocks 'Em Dead by Elle Cosimano (the sequel to Finlay Donovan is Killing It. Honestly disappointed in this one, especially compared to the first book. There are some excellent moments but there are also a lot of things that don't really seem to make sense, and I'm very frustrated with the romance part of it)

Tiamat's Wrath (The Expanse book 8) by James S. A. Corey

Books I started and plan to finish (I often put down books because they're not what I want right at that moment)

Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Mrs. Martin's Incomparable Adventure by Courtney Milan

The Doctor's Discretion by E. E. Ottoman

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

Prelude to Foundation by Isaac Asimov

Murmuration by T. J. Klune

I won't list out all the shows I watched but I do think that Hunter x Hunter, Exception (the Netflix anime), Mob Psycho 100, and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners have all influenced the way I think about my writing and to some extent my art (seriously the color and visual storytelling choices of Edgerunners are so interesting and cool). In video games, the environment design of Hades, Risk of Rain 2's Survivors of the Void expansion, and Slime Rancher 2 really fascinated me, and I spent a ton of time using Sims 4 to build places that exist in TFA to better visualize them. (I really want a game that is just Sims 4 build mode, but with more detailed building capabilities and endless building space. I just installed Sweet Home 3D, which might do it for me.)

Here's to another year of writeblring and creating. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the stuff I mentioned above (especially Exception if you've seen it), and/or your recommendations for anything but especially cool stories about robots/androids/gays/theys.

[prakash047]

The Visionary Work of Gregory Crewdson

The Visionary Work of Gregory Crewdson

Gregory Crewdson is a very well-known American photographer born in 1962, whose works mix the feel of dreams and haunted nightmares. He is known for his cinematic photography style, full of mixed stories in a single frame. One of his best photography series is Beneath the Roses which was exhibited in 2003 and 2008. This series is the best example to explain his style and visions. Those pictures are not just pictures, they were captured in detail and make you feel like a movie set. The photo size is 48X60 inches, which is hugged, and displayed in the Guggenheim Museum and Museum of Modern Art, a very prestigious venue.

I loved one of his artworks Untitled (Ophelia) from 2001. In the picture, a lady is lying down on the living area floor, she is half-soaked in the water. It reminds me of the story of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The room is in dim light and water reflection is perfectly marked. This represents my mood of mystery, sad, and quiet. He creates this scene as a final output which is the mind-blowing product. He puts a lot of effort into setting an entire setting, using movie lighting and every detail during post-production. These images will create a lot of questions in your head. What will be the story behind this scene? Who is this woman? How did she end her life? This is the perfect visual story. He is putting so many emotions in a single frame. I was inspired by how lighting, detailing, and composition help to execute your ideas and create the story.

Crewdson turns his daily activity into something extraordinary which makes his specialty. He is inspired by the filmmaker David Lynch, and the artist, who were specialists in creating a scenic environment for theater, but his photos stand as a part of their theater. Producing a series Beneath the Roses is not his solo work. It’s a teamwork and effort, like actors. Lightman, set designer, costume designer, and so many crew members. He uses collaborative art form in his photography with many layers.

If you want to know more about him and his style, you can follow his official website (www.gregorycrewdson.com). Also, there are great articles about his process published in the New York Times and The Guardian, and his own book Gregory Crewdson: Beneath the Roses. They offer you to watch Crewdson work closely. I suggest everyone who might be or might not be from the art background, you will learn from his ability to create your own stories in a beautiful way.

image link: https://www.artic.edu/artworks/158461/untitled