#the ending pose which is the most memorable is fine but the actual motion.. the perspective is all wrong the effects are rudimentary

[ducktracy]

30 second MS Paint self portrait but my director pointed out that i always start every meeting doing this and said that my energy is admirable and something to aspire towards. and i'm documenting this because i genuinely think a part of my brain is subconsciously being influenced by HIM

[cinanamon]

walking masterpiece — jjh

pairing | jaehyun x reader

genre | fluff, angst, college!au, artist!au, unrequited love!au

word count | 1.9K

synopsis | He was your muse; what inspired you to keep creating, in hopes of coming a little bit closer to reaching something even a fraction like him.

warnings | none

He was a walking masterpiece. With each stride a new stroke of the brush, with each laugh another layer on the canvas. His eyes a decorative detail by master artists, his passion the complementing color palette. He was a DaVinci painting, a Michaelangelo statue; a creation of the gods themselves, sculpted to perfection in looks and personality.

He was your muse; what inspired you to keep creating, in hopes of coming a little bit closer to reaching something even a fraction like him.

Not that you’d tell him that.

You glanced up at him from your place under the tree, trying to memorize his bone structure from the angle you saw, and then repeating the shadows and highlights on your paper. You could hear his laugh resound throughout the quad, and a smile etched itself on your face as your pencil moved. When you looked back up for another peek of your target’s face, his eyes met yours.

His eyes fluttered down to your sketchbook, and he said something to his friends without breaking eye-contact. Your mouth almost dropped when he started walking towards you. And guessing from his friends moving in the opposite direction, Jaehyun was coming alone. Your breathe got caught in your throat as he came closer, and you had to remind yourself not to stare.

As he stopped beside you, you blinked up at him with eyes that saw the stars. Thankfully, Jaehyun didn’t notice.

“Can I sit here?” You quickly dropped your gaze and nodded hastily, fidgeting with your pencil as he dropped his bag and leaned against the tree. Your mind was buzzing at the thought of your crush sitting just inches away from, his arm grazing yours and his sculpted face looking at you. You felt like you were on cloud nine.

“What’re you drawing?” And then you fell right back to Earth. At the mention of your art, you hurriedly slammed the cover shut because you were drawing him, oh my God.

“Oh, uh, nothing much.” You tried to shrug it off, your eyes trailing over the cover of your sketchbook.

“Really? Were you drawing the flowers?” He pointed at the rose bush that he had been standing in front of moments ago. “I saw you looking there a few times.”

“Y-yes! I was!” Good cover, you thought. Your mind squealed only a moment because he had just admitted that he looked at you a few times. It didn’t mean anything, you hissed to yourself.

“Can I see them?” He asked again, and you wanted to draw him right then and there, you wanted to capture the curious glint in his eyes with your watercolors.

“Um, no, no, they’re not that good,” you tried to deter him, shakily strengthening your grip on your notebook.

“Are you sure? I thought you were a really good art major.”

You tried to fight down a roaring blush. “Ah, I’m not that good,” you glanced up at his pout and, finding it adorable and wanting to make him happy, let an offer slip out, “I can draw them again, if you want to watch.”

His eyes lit up and in turn your creativity went up several notches. “If you can, yeah!” He scooted closer so your legs touched and leaned over your shoulder for a better view.

You cleared your throat in a pitiful attempt to relax yourself, which was hard because your crush was literally about to watch you draw, the only thing you thought you were good at.

You threw your notebook open to a page farther back, so that you didn’t accidentally open to a drawing of him and ruin all chances you might not even have with him—you took a deep breath and willed yourself to begin sketching.

It was bad at first; your lines were skewed and shaky from nerves, but as you drew, the more comfortable you became. This was your talent; your passion and skill. You were confident in your artistic ability, and as you finished, you had drawn an exact replica of the bush, down to the last stroke and shade. You almost forgot that Jaehyun was there until he spoke again.

“You’re so good! Can you draw me?” At your blank gaze turned to him, he hesitated and backtracked. “It’s fine if you don’t want to; I was a little pushy and you don’t know me that well—“

“No it’s fine,” your voice was surprisingly steady as you smiled at him. “I’d love to draw you.” And you would. To be able to draw your muse up close with permission, to stare and commit each detail to memory, to your heart’s content, without him thinking it was creepy, was all you could wish for. He even wanted you to.

Jaehyun smiled brightly and moved back, posing against the tree and silently asking if that was good enough to draw. You nodded and made room for yourself, opening to the next clean sheet of paper.

You took a deep breath. This was probably going to be the only time you could draw him like this; to have a chance to be up close and personal and known and wanted. Your throat constricted but your heart rate accelerated as your pencil touched the paper gently, carving a masterpiece out of graphite.

And it was silent. People talked as they walked along the path nearby, the birds chirped above you in the branches, and music blared from a distance, but it was peaceful. You were too focused to talk, and Jaehyun didn’t want to disturb you or ruin your work.

You wouldn’t have heard him if he talked anyways. You were in euphoria; this might’ve been your best drawing yet. Maybe this is the one drawing that will actually capture him; maybe this’ll be your masterpiece.

Your eyes freely roamed his physique, unhinged with no fear of being caught to hold them back. Your eyes greedily drank his appearance, capturing the god-like qualities the man before you held. This time, you could draw everything. The dimple on the side of a slightly-smirking mouth, the nicely-curved Cupid’s bow placed above his pouty-pink lips, the slant of his jaw and curve of his nose, the slight bags under his eyes due to lack of sleep, the tousled waves atop his head, the delicate dip of his eyelashes, and the glimmer of his gaze trained just to the side of you. You wanted to capture it all; take it for yourself and lock it away in your most precious memories.

You were so transfixed in him and wanting to make the moment last, even when you finished you waiting a few more minutes before uttering a quiet, “done.” You sighed the word, the verbal cue that ended your free reign; that signified that you didn’t have permission to view such an untouchable piece of art. Yet another sign that Jaehyun was out of your league and always would be; the artist and artwork would always walk two separate paths, and they were never meant to cross, no matter how much you tried or wished they would.

Jaehyun had jumped up instantly at your words, his eyes turning into crescent moons as an excited grin crossed his features. Your eyes softened subconsciously at the sight; one you could only behold so little, and so you cherished each second.

You slowly turned the canvas towards him, and held your breath, studying his eyes in a guarded yet almost desperate manner. You were so afraid that he wouldn’t like it, that disgust would take over his features and he’d belittle you before leaving. You were preparing for such a response.

But that never came to pass. Jaehyun simply stared, almost entranced by the art as much as you were by him. His eyes gleamed and his lips parted as he reached a hand up to graze over the drawing of himself. “This is...wow. How are you able to draw so well? You captured me perfectly!”

And your heart swelled. To anyone else, it might have come off as egotistical to love a drawing of themselves so much, but for you, it was praise for your ability to enchant someone in such a way. You shyly met his gaze. “You really think so?”

And he nodded enthusiastically, tearing his gaze away to give you his full attention and to show his sincerity. “Of course! Do you mind if I take it?”

You blinked. The one time you can draw him perfectly, capture him, and he wants to take it; you can’t keep his perfection. You internally sigh wistfully; at least he’d have a piece of you with him, wouldn’t he? He wouldn’t be able to look at it without thinking of you.

With that thought in mind, you nod happily and turn it back around to sign your signature at the bottom. You open your mouth to ask him another question, hopefully to keep a conversation—this was your chance to finally break the barrier of artist and muse, right?—but just as you look up, he’s calling out someone’s name.

You jerk your head in the direction he’s suddenly waving, his back to you, to a pretty girl walking to class. You feel yourself freeze as she turns her head, a bright smile crossing her own face as she raises a hand to wave back. You can only watch in growing tribulation as she motioned him over, and Jaehyun, seeming to remember you being there, turned to you.

He quickly began to pack up his bag and shoulder it, sending you a bright smile. “Thank you for the drawing, again! And you were...?”

“(Y/n),” you sent him a tight grin, holding your closed notebook tightly to your chest in your seated position. Of course he wouldn’t remember your name.

“(Y/n),” he repeated to himself, and you hated how it made your heart flutter. He waved the paper in the air as he began to back up, “You’re a great artist; don’t quit!”

Was that his cue that he’d never talk to you again? Was this your missed chance?

You couldn’t even manage to fit in a goodbye before he was gone, headed towards the pretty girl on the sidewalk who laughed oh-so-brightly when he wrapped an arm around her shoulder. He still held your picture in his hand and he showed it to her, but he presented it in a way to talk about his own beauty, not your skill. It made your heart constrict until you finally looked back down at your notebook.

You sighed and leaned back against the tree once more. You should’ve known; you were an artist, and artists’ and muses’ paths never cross. You let your eyes wander over the open page before landing on the ripped out seam, causing your brows to furrow. You quickly tried to change to another page, and yet you only came across more sketches of Jaehyun now. It made you sick.

Because now none of them were perfect since you drew him the best you could only moments before and gave away the beautiful finished product. You grew overwhelmed and slammed the journal shut, staring at the front over. You sat there for a moment longer before stuffing the book into your bag and standing up.

It was time for a new notebook.

[diasporatheblog]

Hey there! I have really really bad eyesight (not quite blind with my glasses) and I was wondering about sangarinus. Is it common for people with what sounds like pretty bad myopia to end up a Lancea? It seems they use swords more than ranged weapons but it seems an obvious handicap. I still feel bad about getting him pincushioned in the first battle.

Hey anon!

My eyesight is actually like this too. Without my glasses, I only get fine details literally inches from my face. While Sangarinus’s eyesight isn’t quite that awful, it definitely does present him with certain challenges. He can see general shapes far enough out to make do for battle purposes with javelins, etc. if necessary, but you’re right that it does pose a significant challenge. It’s not common (either for people in general to have eyesight this bad or for Lanceae to), but as long as he can perform the functions of one (he can), certainly no one’s going to protest.

In this sense, the sheer amount of time he spent training has really helped. His eyesight decayed over his childhood and adolescence, and so he definitely had to work a lot harder than average to learn the skills that this affected, and come up with workarounds for the ones that were especially dependent on vision. He has a very very keen sense of proprioception, for instance, and an extremely fine control of his own motion, and has memorized e.g. throwing forms in a muscle-memory sort of way, all to partially compensate for what will inevitably be pretty “guesstimate” targeting at range. 

Another thing he does is trust his hearing. It’s not “better” than anyone else’s hearing or anything weird like that; he’s just good at paying attention to it, even in stressful situations. 

So the tl;dr version is: yeah, it’s definitely challenging, and not exactly a common problem, which is part of why the magic doesn’t exist to permanently adjust eyesight. But a lot of time training and some ingenuity have helped him develop ways of dealing with it, so for the most part he’s fine. :)

[rarestereocats]

While discussing how we plan to do successful recon on the plantation,  the traveling circus is brought up again.  It worked as a perfect cover to get into the city,  but we're not looking to make contact with the target just yet.  Amelia insults Owkbanok's fire magic,  stating it's little more than a gimmick because he can't do anything else.  He assures her that he's more than capable of doing other magic,  so she tells him to show her some lightning.  Forgetting that we're inside of the cafeteria,  Owk can't resist the challenge...and unleashes a bolt of lightning right into the ceiling.  It's left destroyed on impact,  which nearly sets Stabby into a blind rage.  He threatens Owk,  telling him not to pull something like that again,  and seals his message with a stab to Owk's arm.  The captain needs 600 gold to fix it,  stating that if the gold isn't in his office by sundown today,  he'll pick one of us randomly to bite the cost.

Of course,  none of us want to pay up for somebody else's whoopsie.  None of us,  including Owk himself,  pay up.  Once morning rolls around,  we leave for the city to follow TT's map to the plantation.  I'll scout the property with magic,  sending Cayde in with the others to take note of guard positions and paths.  Owkbanok hits up the servants quarters and finds nothing of interest except for a gnome who's mighty suspicious of him.  Amelia sprints out of the grass like a fucking madwoman to make it to the greenhouse,  alerting many people to her presence.  She's able to lie her way out of it at first,  but upon trying to leave,  several guards are ready to tear her apart.  After sending out her creepy clones that plead for their lives and flee,  she manages to escape and catch up with Cayde.  She regales him with the tale of her mishap and relationship problems while TT scouts out the main house.  She memorizes the layout of the interior for us,  also learning that the baron has a few daughters within the home.

Amelia,  fearing that she still might be in trouble;  tries to flash her mirror signal.  The problem is,  she's invisible,  thus making the mirror invisible.  She watches as the rest of us sneak off of the property and to the meeting place,  silently fuming as she follows Cayde there.  We have only a few minutes to talk before she angrily asks why none of us responded to her signal.  We claim we didn't see it,  but she doesn't believe that for a second,  and proceeds to show us how it works.  With her light now flashing because her invisibility had been dropped,  we all scramble to flee back into the city before the guards can catch us.  It seems any hope we had of making this assassination look accidental is out the window as all of the baron's guards are on high alert.  Once back at the ship,  we go over the sick ass map me and Cayde collaborated on.  It's wishful thinking if we think we can still pull this off,  but we go over the "accident" options anyways.

We could have Amelia poison him,  make it look like he choked to death on his fine wines and food.  A house fire would be a quick and easy way to make anything look accidental...provided nobody suspects or finds out it was arson.  There's ways we could drive him to suicide with magic,  but we worry such an option wouldn't count as us completing the job.  The house fire's our best bet.  Amelia will sneak into the basement to destroy the supporting structures of the house,  ensuring it's destroyed quickly once the first flames begin.  Me and TT will take our circus disguises once more,  pretending to be looking for investors.  We'll handle the actual assassination while Owk,  who's posing as our personal cook,  will start the fire within the kitchen.  It's a ridiculous plan,  but it's better than nothing.  We decide to carry this out as soon as possible,  heading out for the plantation the following afternoon.

Surprisingly,  we're let onto the premises.  TT and I work hard to butter up Elron,  complimenting him on his elven heritage and culture,  while also being awestruck by his collection of art.  He's more than happy to show us around and talks fondly of these pieces,  stating he has better paintings upstairs.  With Owk in position and Amelia getting a handle on the chaos downstairs,  we set the plan into motion.  As the fire's set off,  we manage to convince Elron that nothing's wrong,  urging him upstairs to his art before most of the slaves flee the home in terror.  Once the supporting structures are destroyed,  both Amelia and Owkbanok manage to get out of the manor in time as it begins to collapse in flames.  Unfortunately for me and TT,  our attempts to be rid of Elron alert him that his end is coming.  He puts up a fight...but it still isn't good enough.  We shove him down the flight of stairs,  straight into the inferno raging through the lower levels of the home.

Job well done?  Not quite.  The previously mentioned daughters raced out during the ruckus to see what had become of their father.  Witnesses mean this death isn't accidental and we can't risk losing out an extra gold because they won't keep their mouths shut.  I throw the first daughter to the flames with her father while TT manages to pin the other down with a table.  She pours alcohol atop the girl,  making sure she'll light up when the fire reaches us.  The third daughter tries to flee,  but it isn't long before I catch up with her and keep her pinned to the nearly collapsing floor with some furniture.  With everything settled,  I slip into my bird form and fly out the window,  TT swinging out soon after.  We all reconvene at the meeting spot to go over everything that happened and being mostly satisfied with our results,  we head back to Vita for our payment.

Along the way,  we're stopped by one of Elron's former slaves;  a dwarf by the name of Brahmin.  The dude has skills and muscles for days,  so we offer him a place aboard our ship.  With money and a new companion obtained,  we head back to the ship.

[engekihaikyuu]

Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu – The Strongest Team

Entertainment Station Interview Translation with the Karasuno second and third-years

Full interview translation and more photos under the Read More! Please do not repost my translations.

To start, may I ask you to give a brief comment about what you’d like to achieve with Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu – The Strongest Team?

Kouhei: Engeki Haikyuu has given me so much, so I would very much like to repay the favor.  I can’t just make myself stand out, we want to make the leading actors in each scene shine as the flow of the story dictates, and aim to make the production itself great.  I want to do my absolute best so that I can pay back the kindness of this production and this cast!

Kazuma: Right now we’re in the midst of rehearsals, so there are a lot of parts where we’re still fumbling around, but we’re doing our best as we explore solutions.  We’re working hard so that it’ll be fun!

Fucchi: This time around, we have a lot of performances too. The play has all sorts of individual dramas in it, and just like Kouhei-kun said, we want the focus individuals in each of those scenes to look better.  And of course we want to do our own parts well and do our best to contribute to Engeki Haikyuu.

Naoki: I joined partway through, so this will be my second tour with Engeki Haikyuu.  Sugawara Koushi is a character that’s always carefully watching his surroundings and raising the morale of his teammates, so I really want to support everyone on the team and make them shine from the bench.  Not that I’m going to let them do all the shining... but my own efforts to shine will contribute to making the production itself brighter, I think.  So in order to make that happen, I’m cheering as loud as I can even during rehearsals.  

Justin: We started the very first show with mostly fumbling around, and every time, we put out all kinds of shows that surprised our audience. I think there are people looking forward to this show too, so I’m working hard so that we can show them something that is the culmination of everything the Haikyuu cast can do!

Keita: No matter what, the Karasuno graduation will be a feature of this particular show, but instead of focusing on things like “graduation” or “the end” or “feeling sad,” I want to etch this one into the hearts of our audience as a production that continues on with hope for the future.

Now I’d like to turn things over to our program director, Shiota-san, and ask him to share a memorable moment of Engeki Haikyuu.  

Kouhei: I thought about it but... There are so many memorable moments that I couldn’t choose, so I thought it might work if I were to share the first thing that flashes into my head if you say the words “Engeki Haikyuu.”

Oh, that’s a good idea!

Kouhei: Ok so I’ll start.  It’s about the most recent tour we did for “Start of the Giant,” but when the story brought in Kazuma’s Ennoshita Chikara, those moments are intensely burned into my mind.  And maybe that’s because acting in those scenes was the most fun for me as an actor.  

Naoki: I’m also gonna have to go with “Start of the Giant.” Well, the main reason being that since that’s the show I started from, I actually haven’t been in any show other than “Start of the Giant.”  (strained laugh)

Justin: It feels like you’ve been around for longer. (laughs)

Keita: Yeah, since we’ve become so used to each other. (laughs)

Naoki: As the play tours, everyday is different, but the scene that gives me goosebumps and makes me think, “Oh wow!” is the last scene of the first act of “Start of the Giant.”

Kazuma: The end of the match against Johzenji?

Naoki: Yeah.  After the match with Johzenji is over, and after the line for Ennoshita, “Well isn’t that why?”* the second-years all smile together and the mood in that moment is really great.  While I was in the stage wings, I felt like their relationship could be summed up in just those few seconds, and I just thought, “Oh, they’re such good teammates.”  

*The dialogue in the scene Naoki mentions involves the second-years discussing the captain for next year.  Ennoshita says, “I can’t possibly be captain, I ran away once.”  Tanaka’s response is, “Well, isn’t that why you’d be good for it?” 

Justin: For me, the “Winners and Losers” show itself left a strong impression.  The Haikyuu manga itself is one that brilliantly depicts the message of “those who understand defeat,” and in that moment, my character Azumane Asahi has experienced this huge loss.  From that defeat, he gets himself up again, and in that moment I felt like I had really become one with him.  It was hard to tell if I was acting, or if I was actually playing this sport and lost... It was the first time I’d felt this sensation of, “This is me, but it’s also not me.”  It was a really incredible experience, so I can’t really forget it.  

Kouhei: Not to mention, the more times we do it, the more intense the matches become.  Even now it can sometimes be hard to tell if we’re acting or if we’re really in a sports club.  (strained laugh)

Naoki: The director, Worry-san did say once, “I want to make a new sport.”

Justin: From our perspective, it sort of feels like, “It’s a really tough one so try it at least once!”

Justin: But once you get started, it’s somehow fun, even though you have to work really hard because it’s frustrating when you can’t do something.  “Well it’s hard on everyone, so I have to just work hard too!”  Everyone in our cast has this mindset, and I think it’s one of their best points.  Keita do you have any scenes that just flash into your head?

Keita: When I hear the words “Engeki Haikyuu,” the first thing that pops into my head is Kenta spiking after being lifted in the air.  It’s a moment that appears without fail in every match in every tour, so I feel like it’s the most symbolic pose of Engeki Haikyuu. To be completely honest, during the very first rehearsals, I was actually a little worried, going, “Does this even look cool?” But honestly yeah, it’s really cool.  (laughs)

Kouhei: Yeah, when we do it for real, it’s always cool!

Keita: Whether it’s impressive or not, it’s the first thing that pops into my head.  

Kazuma: For me, it’s the part in the opening that goes da-da-da-da-da-da-daaa.  As soon as I hear that rhythm I get excited, and I’m reminded that Engeki Haikyuu is a production based on “sound.”  When I listen to the soundtrack, I always think, “This song is for that scene,” and I can call to mind all of the drama too. 

Fucchi: For me, it’s the chorus line that goes, “Volleyball, or Haikyuu.”  I also joined the production later, and I watched “Winners and Losers” as a spectator, and when I first saw that scene with the chorus line, I got goosebumps... Even now that I’m a part of it, that line feels so good!  

Keita: Yeah, I also think that moment is cool every time I see it!  

Kouhei: Now we start the segment titled, “Karasuno case file: What the cast saw!” where we discuss any fun anecdotes we’ve witnessed.... do you have anything?

Kazuma: This is from a simulation match before rehearsals, but we got really fired up when we made the losing team do sit-ups or push-ups as a penalty, right?  The pressure Justin laid on the referee was amazing...

Keita: Yeah, yeah, Jas’s objections are intense!

Justin: It’s because I hate to lose. (laughs)

Keita: And then Worry-san had to say, “Jas, out.”  

Kouhei: During rehearsals we record ourselves so that we can use it to check ourselves later, but if there’s anyone who ever messes up, we have times where we shame each other by replaying it in slow-motion so that everyone can see it and laugh.  

Justin: That... it happens to me so many times... (strained laugh)  I mean that is embarrassing, but it makes you go, “I won’t mess up next time!”

Kouhei: A Jas incident I remember involves acrobatics.

Naoki: B Twists (Butterfly Twist) are a hard technique actually, but Jas saw me do one and mistakenly thought he could do one too, and then when he tried...

Kouhei: He went all out with a head-slide. (laughs)

Justin: I’d practiced it on the mat a few times and really thought I could do it!

Kouhei: When we were presenting our full dress rehearsal, it looked like he could just barely do it, and he turned to Worry-san like, “Check me out!” with this triumphant look, but when we checked the recording, he still couldn’t actually do it properly.  Then he fell on his knees and was like, “My big toe kind of hurrrrts.”   (laughs)

Justin: Ahahaha!  But if we’re gonna talk about acrobatics, Yuuto’s the one with an actual incident.

Fucchi: Nishinoya has this move called the “Rolling Thunder” which is this sort of tumbling receive, so I got our acrobatics expert Naoki-kun to teach me a really cool way to do a Rolling Thunder.  The first time we pulled it off during rehearsal, even though it wasn’t his or my cue to be on-stage, he was as happy for me as if we’d just won the set. (laughs)  After that, I did a lot of independent practice to try and improve the precision of my moves.... but at a dress rehearsal one week before opening, I was practicing it during intermission and I completely failed at it.  

Justin: It was like a solo DDT.*  (strained laugh)  “Yuuto’s One-man Air Pro-wrestling.”

*DDT is a pro-wrestling term, meaning any move in which the wrestler has the opponent in a front facelock and falls down or backwards to drive the opponent’s head into the mat.  

(explosive laughter)

Fucchi: I didn’t put enough power into the spins so I just fell right on my back.  But I was doing it on the mat just in case, so it was fine.  (strained laugh)

Kouhei: Maaan, the way you fell scared me!  You just barely avoided a major accident, basically.  Ok, and lastly, let’s have everyone give a short message about what we’re looking forward to for this tour of Engeki Haikyuu. Let’s start with Keita.

Keita: Of course there will be some sadness because of the graduation, but I’m going to tackle this with everything I have so that we can all graduate with our hearts full.  We know what we need to do, and we just have to go all out like we always do. Engeki Haikyuu is a production made with all the passion and memories of us in the cast, the staff, and our audience. Let’s enjoy it together to the end!

Justin: I’ve always loved sports, and I’ve tried a few in my life, but after encountering Engeki Haikyuu, I’ve really come to love volleyball.  It was my great fortune to be able to meet these wonderful teammates, and I’m full of gratitude for Engeki Haikyuu.  To the audience I want to say... I’m a fan of the manga too, so I feel the same as all of you. When I stand on-stage, I’m going to enjoy myself as if I were simply watching, and I’m going to work as hard as I can to bring you a show that’ll move you!  Please give us your support!

Naoki: I’m so grateful that I had the chance to become a member of this Engeki Haikyuu cast, and at the same time, it is my pride to be able to play Sugawara Koushi.  But, even if we graduate, it’s not like the Karasuno members will be scattered to the winds for the rest of our lives.  We’ve co-starred in other productions before this one, and in meeting each other we’ve carefully fostered a great rivalry.  We’re charging headfirst into the best Engeki Haikyuu ever, and to all of the Engeki Haikyuu fans, I’m so happy that we’ve reached this end with your passion and your enthusiastic viewership.  

Fucchi: Volleyball is a sport about “connecting.”  Yes we’ve had cast changes and new people entering the production, but in the same way that everyone works together to connect a single ball, I think as people we’ve also carefully connected with each other. At the end of this tour, we’ll be graduating, but everyone who’s ever been involved in this production connected that single ball to us, and we’ll be sure to keep connecting that ball to the end, and I want to finish our time with a clean, strong spike.  We have so many characters that I know some might feel like, “I don’t know where to look,” but we can’t go without a single one of those people, so I want everyone to really look at every single person in turn and observe their individual stories.  Which is why I want people to come see us many times and enjoy themselves just as many times.  

Kazuma: As an actor, I have nothing but gratitude that I was able to become involved in Engeki Haikyuu at a time when I was dwelling on thoughts of ending my career.  To create something brand new is so difficult, and there were more things that didn’t go right.  But for this, “The Strongest Team,” we’re throwing out all sorts of ideas so that the people who come to see us don’t lose interest, and we’re working hard so that we meet your expectations.  Please look forward to that, and be sure to come see us at the theater!

Kouhei: Engeki Haikyuu introduced me to the most amazing actors who all work hard and encourage each other to improve, amazing staff, and also amazing fans.  I have nothing but gratitude.  At last, the curtain will rise on Hyper Projection Engeki Haikyuu – The Strongest Team on October 20th.  We will shoulder the feelings of every cast member that’s ever appeared, and along with our own overflowing drive, I’d like to shock everyone who sees us!  Please give us your support to the very end!  

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Translated by @nimbus-cloud Please do not repost my translations

If you appreciate the work I do for this blog and want to support my translation efforts, please consider donating a ko-fi!  (x)

The original interview can be read online here: (x)

[yogaadvise]

6 Common Sequencing Errors

Planning a course can be among the most tough obstacles for a yoga exercise educator, specifically when they are simply getting going. There is a lot even more to maintain in mind than simply themes and objectives. You require to think about exactly how to properly function in the direction of a top position, exactly how to permit the correct amount of time for whatever you have actually prepared, how to provide your trainees a well-rounded method that develops equilibrium in the body, therefore a lot a lot more. A whole lot of idea as well as prep work goes right into preparing a course, however making note of these typical sequencing mistakes can ideally make the procedure a little simpler, and also enable you to attentively plan your next class.

Starting with Static Poses

When a student comes to their mat, they most likely are anticipating obtaining some activity in. They generally will have the assumption that they will certainly get relocating rather swiftly, and after that slow down towards completion of the course. While you might desire to begin opening particular muscle mass for the peak pose with fixed postures, it's finest to find ways to do so with poses that allow for more motion. By beginning with static postures, you're neglecting that desire for activity, and will potentially bring the power of the class down-- making it ultimately much more difficult to get to that peak pose.

Begin the course with postures that will bring gentle motion to your students' bodies, to make sure that they can heat up and be totally prepared to advance in the direction of more extreme movements, if that is what your course requires. Poses like Cat/Cow (Marjaryasana) and also Attendant Crunches enable your trainees to heat up their bodies with mild activity. Conserve the serenity for completion of the method, as you start to reduce the class and also job towards moving right into Savasana.

Starting with Difficult Alignment

Beginning the course with a detailed present can be simply as harmful to the flow and energy of the session as beginning with slower motion. By initial choosing postures that need a great deal of instruction and also particular positioning signs-- especially in reduced level classes where students need a great deal of assistance-- students will certainly be more focused on taking note of you and attempting to identify just how to get involved in the posture. This stops them from allowing go and resolving right into the class. Choose easier poses that don't need a great deal of break down. Emphasis extra on breathing and also concentrating on the existing moment, as opposed to complicated, multi-layered alignment cues.

Deviating from the Rules Without Reason

In a common 200 hour educator training program, you are provided a standard guideline to develop your courses off of. It is usually alluring to damage away from that course outline as swiftly as possible in order to develop your design as a teacher. As you are getting experience and also locating your voice, you desire your pupils to pick up from your personal perspective, not a standard overview that every other instructor in the studio is following. While it is vital to develop your very own one-of-a-kind approach, it's far a lot more relevant that you guarantee you are giving a believed out, well-shaped technique. Occasionally it is essential to opt for the tried-and-true choice in order to give the most effective experience for your students.

If you determine to deviate from the outline that you were shown, very carefully analyze exactly how it will impact your class. What does the element that you are eliminating deal? Are your pupils still going to gain those benefits in other components of your sequencing? Is your personal addition assisting your pupils in their yogic trip in the very best means feasible? If you don't feel that it will absolutely improve both the physical as well as spiritual journey for your pupils, go back to the drawing board and rework what is necessary.

Creating individual touches in your series is a vital part of creating yourself as a teacher, and it's fine to distance on your own from the guidelines you were educated and explore various other possibilities. Nevertheless, make these modifications with careful thought. Experiment by blending things up in little increments, instead of tossing every little thing gone all at once.

Over-Stacking on One Side

It is very easy to get brought away and build on a posture way too much on one side. You might start with a straightforward set of positions, however finish up spiraling right into a challenging string of positions that take you away from the beginning position. While it can be enjoyable to check your limits as well as test the standard, it is possible to go too far. By over-stacking on one side, you might wind up diminishing the physical energy as well as focus of your trainees. Their interest will certainly get on trying to obtain to completion of the series, as opposed to actually adjusting in and listening to their body. As well as, having to duplicate the series on the various other side might seem like an impossible task, and also you may have much more students choosing to remainder than cancel the series.

Rather than going deep right into a series of poses on one side, select a choose couple of that compliment each other as well as assist the pupils circulation seamlessly from one posture to the following. Concentrate on poses that have a similarities, such as Warrior II (Virabhadrasana II), Triangular Pose (Trikonasana), as well as Extended Side Angle Posture (Utthita Parsvakonasana), which all have the very same fundamental standing base. As you are developing the series, remember the degrees of yogis in your course, and also what postures will certainly allow them to preserve their power as well as focus.

In enhancement to doing what is best for your pupils, choosing just a few presents will certainly assist you with memorization. You'll have the ability to concentrate on aiding trainees with alignment and also with dignity moving with the positions, rather than being distracted by attempting to remember what comes next.

Moving Into Seated Forward Layer Too Soon

Outside of the yoga exercise workshop, people commonly associate Seated Forward Fold (g) as a precursor to more intense exercise, like running or playing sports. It is utilized as a tool to open up the hamstrings and bring some motion to the back. In truth, in order to carry out the posture to the most effective of your capacity, Seated Forward Fold requires you to be open in your hamstrings, in addition to lengthened as well as properly lined up via the back. At the start of class, pupils merely won't be warmed-up sufficient in order to truly take advantage of the posture. It is best to perform presents that will heat up the body, and afterwards eventually work in the direction of Paschimottanasana. Save the present for the end of class as you are decreasing. The hamstrings as well as hips will certainly be a lot more open as well as the spine will be warmed-up, permitting students higher gain access to in the direction of their feet.

Neglecting the Build to Savasana

One of the most difficult parts of sequencing a class is getting the timing right. Most of the time, a class will not go precisely as intended-- pupils might need more help than expected with placement for sure postures, sequences might go longer than planned, or you just may undergo the course slower than when you rehearsed. Whatever the reason, the relax right into Corpse Pose (savasana) is the section more than likely to experience a class that is running as well long. It is simple to find on your own cueing into savasana without fully slowing down the course and also infiltrating it, just for time.

Savasana is just one of the most crucial presents of a yoga exercise technique-- it kicks back both the mind and physical body, while allowing the trainee to fully soak up the work they did in course. WIthout appropriately slowing down the course as well as easing right into the position, your students won't be able to totally release into the pose and gain the many benefits. It will certainly feel forced, as opposed to deliberately cued.

In order to guarantee you don't wind up overlooking the build to savasana (and the pose itself), don't jam pack your class with postures. Leave shake space in the timetable so that you can guarantee you do not cut into the decrease section. If you finish up having extra time that you require to fill, have a collection or 2 in your back pocket that you can turn to in order to make up the time. Preparation less for your class will certainly guarantee there is no possibility you end up sacrificing the construct up into savasana.

Creating a sequence for a yoga course is tough, as well as you'll certainly run right into some blunders along the road. These standards can aid you avoid a few of one of the most common risks yoga exercise teachers face. If you are still having problem with yoga exercise sequencing in your classes or in the house, think about acquiring a book that uses some assistance. Two fantastic embarking on points are either 'Yoga Makeup' by Leslie Kaminoff and Amy Matthews, or 'The Mark Stephens Yoga Sequencing Deck' by Mark Stephens. As long as you mindfully produce series that make good sense physically, spiritually, and also vigorously, you'll leave your students with a balanced, well-rounded practice.

[spacs]

It wouldn't shock me if somebody's already sent you Ignoct for the ship questions thing... If so, do Promptio?? (If not... I mean, feel COMPLETELY free to go ahead and do both pairings if you want...)

I mean if I must do both…. I suppose I could.

Ignoct

Gives nose/forehead kissesIgnis stands a head taller than Noct so he’s very fond of stooping to give him a sweet kiss on the forehead. Neither one of them really do nose kisses unless there’s a joke or teasing involved. Sometimes when they are curled up in bed, Ignis lays lower than Noctis to put his head on his shoulder. Noct likes to kiss him on the forehead then - just to get him back for all the times Ignis does it to him.

Gets jealous the mostNoctis. Ignis is much better at stifling that emotion because he knows that his place is not necessarily in Noctis’ bed. So if the day comes where Noct finds someone else, he’ll step aside. Noctis, however, isn’t like that. Noct gets jealous if someone flirts or Gladio or Prompto get too close. If their relationship is public, Gladio likes to tease him and try to get him all worked up with jealousy in public. Noct doesn’t appreciate it but it works every time.

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to driveEasy. Ignis. Ignis doesn’t get drunk but if Noct does, he’s always there. (Not going to lie though, a drunk Ignis is something I’m dying to explore.)

Takes care of on sick daysIgnis. He’s a caretaker after all. He even tried to take care of Noctis when HE’S sick. Noct isn’t as good at it as Ignis so he often has to ask Ignis what to do if Ignis is sick. More often than not, it’s Ignis taking care of Noct though. He doesn’t complain.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach dayNoctis. Now when it comes to a pool, Ignis is totally fine with that. He likes swimming. It’s good exercise. But Ignis does not like sand and likes salt water even less. Noct teases him that it’s because he doesn’t want to mess up his hair and Ignis is indignantly opposed to that suggestion. Sand is out of control and gets everywhere. He doesn’t feel as in control in the sand. And he hates salt water because he says it makes him feel sticky and it tastes awful. But Ignis is a huge sucker and will always follow Noct out into the water and is eventually coaxed into having a good time. 

Gives unprompted massagesIgnis, though I feel this one is obvious. After a long day, he’ll cook their meal and he often sees Noct rubbing the back of his neck or twisting in his chair to stretch out his back. Normally he motions to Noctis and moves to sit behind him. He’ll strike up a conversation about the day or get Noct to talk about King’s Knight while he massages his neck and shoulders. He’s very careful with Noct’s back - he doesn’t like it when people touch his scar - and he manages to rub the sides (he’s memorized the scar by this point anyway). He keeps Noctis occupied long enough to finish the massage. He knows his prince better than some random masseuse and Noct doesn’t complain when it’s Ignis. Sometimes he even falls asleep.

Drives/rides shotgunIgnis drives, Noct rides shotgun (though this is pretty much canon). Sometimes Noctis will take the wheel, but Ignis normally is the one to drive. Noctis doesn’t like driving when Ignis is in the car anyway - the guy is a back seat driver like you wouldn’t believe.

Brings the other lunch at workObviously Ignis brings lunch, although I’m not sure it’s at work or not.

Has the better parental relationshipI literally don’t have an answer for this one because we know nothing about Ignis’ parental relationship, so by default it’s Noctis. Besides, @thekindmagic​ convinced me of the head canon that Ignis’ parents have been dead since he was very young thanks to the good ol’ Empire.

Tries to start role-playing in bedHonestly I don’t really see them getting too kinky in bed. Although if it were one of them, I’d have to say Noctis - just the thought of it makes me laugh because think of how embarrassed he would be. But I guess they could do some vanilla role-playing, aka not really role-playing at all. They could just bring the advisor/prince dynamic into the bedroom. I’m not sure Ignis would be too keen on doing anything else. I just can’t see that.

Embarrassingly drunk dancerAh we are back at the temptation of drunk Ignis. I’ll still have to go with Noctis here though. I mean…. you see how he poses like an idiot in Prompto’s pictures right? There’s no way he wouldn’t do stupid stuff like that when he’s drunk. They turn on the right song and he would just get very uncharacteristically excited.

Still cries watching TitanicCan’t really see either one of them tearing up. Ignis would be too busy pointing out how, “They both could have fit on that raft, this is entirely unrealistic,” and Noctis would’ve fallen asleep before they even got to the sad parts.

Firmly believes in couples costumesSurprisingly, if they dress up at all, I would say Ignis. It all comes back to the need for everything to have a certain place and an organization thing. Ignis would extend that to the fun areas of his life. They should match if they’re going to go out for Halloween together. Noctis would go along with it as long as he didn’t have to pick out the costumes.

Breaks the expensive gift rule during ChristmasNoctis. I don’t think he would really think about the cost of what he’s buying, which is where his privilege really shines. Money isn’t something he really has to concern himself with (am I the only one that was like ????? when they sent the prince out in this incredibly expensive car with absolutely zero gil??? i was like??? i am a prince???? where is my money???? but i digress).

Makes the other eat breakfastObviously this is canon Ignis. Noctis likes the mock him, “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Noct. Eat your vegetables, Noct. At least try to eat the lettuce on your burger, Noct.” Ignis is so used to it by now he isn’t even bothered. He just sets Noct’s meal down in front of him and says, “Eat,” gives him a kiss on the forehead, then sits down across from him and eats his own meal. Noctis always eats it because it is actually good.

Remembers anniversariesIgnis always remembers but he doesn’t bring them up unless Noctis does. On any anniversary Ignis always does something special, sometimes he manages to sneak it under the radar and sometimes Noct is like, “What’s the occasion?” Eventually it dawns on him and he apologizes sheepishly. But Ignis doesn’t mind. “It’s just a day, Noct.” “But you did something special.” “Because you deserve it.” One time Noctis remembers and he tries to make something special as a surprise, but of course he messes it up without having Ignis there to help him. Still, Ignis doesn’t mind, and together they cook something together. Ignis’ only request is that Noctis, for just this one time, eat his vegetables.

Brings up having kidsYikes okay I’m probably going to make myself sad but… With Noctis being the prince it’s impossible for them to ever raise a child together. Ignis knows that, he’s always known that, and it’s never bothered him (except it super bothers him but he’ll never admit it). The thought of having children terrifies Noct so he’s incredibly reluctant to think about it, much less bring it up. But of course they get into an argument one day because Ignis is bringing up Noct’s duty - specifically his betrothal - and it’s actually Ignis that brings up the kids. He snaps because he’s always known that he should only be Noct’s adviser and what they have together is inappropriate. So he probably says something like, “Well you can’t have children with me, so you’ll have to have them with her,” or “We can’t always be together Noct. We can’t have children,” or I don’t know I’m having issues getting the wording right. Of course that makes them both go quiet at the harsh reality of where their relationship will have to end, no matter what way they look at it, and it decidedly ends the argument and the discussion because it isn’t time for this to end. For now they’ll just not think about it. From then on out any talk of a betrothal or producing an heir makes both of the hair on their arms stand on end and it’s like walking on glass when they talk about it or when it’s brought up when they are both in the room. SO yeah basically any mention of having children together just ends in sadness. I made myself sad dammit.

Promptio (yes!!! this will be my first dip into writing anything about them so hopefully it’s not bad)

Gives nose/forehead kissesWell Gladio is about a million feet taller than Prompto, so he’s the one normally giving forehead kisses. Prompto, however, is very fond of giving Gladio a quick peck on the nose. I don’t really see Gladio as being the best at cutesy, romantic interactions, so forehead kisses are few and far between, and any nose kisses leave him with a scrunched up nose that is just “so damn cute” according to Prompto.

Gets jealous the mostI see Prompto getting more jealous than Gladio. I mean Prompto is blind - Gladio is hot and there’s no way around that. He finds himself inching closer to Gladio and shooting a brief glare over his shoulder at anyone who stares too long. If he’s feeling particularly bold or threatened by someone, he’ll loop his arm with Gladio - who is not at all fond of PDA. This isn’t to say Gladio doesn’t also get jealous. Prompto doesn’t think he’s as attractive as he is, so sometimes people will flirt with him and Gladio will push himself between Prompto - who is always friendly - and whoever is making a move. He doesn’t outwardly tell them to back off but he’s a giant so they always do. Prompto doesn’t always notice when Gladio is acting jealous but when he does, he gets a stupid grin on his face (and yeah you bet it’s time to give him a quick kiss on the nose).

Picks the other up from the bar when they’re too drunk to driveListen I think I just need to write a chocobros drunk fic just to explore what these boys would be like if they were drunk. I think Gladio would be more likely to pick Prompto up as opposed to the other way around.

Takes care of on sick daysThere’s something about Gladio getting sick and having to be taken care of by Prompto that just screams “YES” at me. Like think about it? Gladio - big, bulky, invincible Gladio - getting knocked down by a cold of all things. He’s coughing and sneezing, his nose is red and maybe he’s running a fever. He’s unbearably cold and hot at the same time and he can’t believe that after everything he’s done he’s going to die from a cold. Think about Prompto warming him up soup and walking it awkwardly back to bed because he filled the bowl up too much and it’s threatening to spill out. He’s constantly taking Gladio’s temperature so the big guy stops complaining because yes you do still have a fever, Gladio, and no you can’t get up yet, hold on let me call Ignis so I can figure out which medicines to give you, don’t be a baby they are just pills and Ignis says no I can’t mash them up and put them in water you’re going to have to swallow them.

Drags the other person out into the water on beach dayNeither one of them because it’s a race to see who can get there first. Gladio pretty much always wins and Prompto whines about it all the time. When Gladio doesn’t win it’s because he’s let Prompto win and Prompto knows that but rubs it in his face anyway. Gladio dunks his head under the water to get him to shut up.

Gives unprompted massagesG l a d i o. They are always in private but he’ll use his big hands to rub circles into Prompto’s back. It’s one of those times when Prompto is totally quiet, a little too lost in how good it feels. Prompto likes to give unprompted massages too but he knows they couldn’t be as good as Gladio’s (who insists that he loves them but Prompto knows there’s no way they are as good because he knows what Gladio’s massages feel like). Gladio will have flopped face first onto the bed and Prompto will sit on him and run hands down his back and over his shoulders. Any time one of them gives a massage it always gets… a little more heated than just the massage.

Drives/rides shotgunPrompto likes to drive and Gladio likes to sit shotgun and read, especially over long distances. Gladio doesn’t really like driving, but he’ll do it if Prompto is complaining about how tired he is.

Brings the other lunch at workPrompto likes to surprise Gladio with burgers and fries when he’s at the gym. Gladio always jokes that he’s supposed to be working out, is junk food really the best option. Prompto’s answer is the same every time, “Junk food is always the best option.”

Has the better parental relationshipAnother tough one because we don’t know anything about Prompto’s parents! I had a long discussion with @thekindmagic about that. So the default answer is Gladio. I’m not going to go into detail about Prompto’s parents because then this post will get way longer than it already is.

Tries to start role-playing in bedPrompto and it’s so awkward. He doesn’t know how to bring it up outside the bedroom so he just kind of… starts role-playing without and discussion or prompting. And Gladio is so confused and he just kind of stops and looks at Prompto like, “What are you doing?” And Prompto gets all red faced and stutters through about how maybe they should try something new and if Gladio isn’t into it they don’t have to that’s fine. They try it. Gladio likes it, Prompto is embarrassed the whole time. “You’re the one that wanted to do this!” “I didn’t know it would be this awkward!” They try it again. It gets better.

Embarrassingly drunk dancerPrompto. Gladio, if he’s also drunk, will join if Prompto pulls him up. If Gladio is not drunk he likes to sit there and laugh. Sometimes, if Prompto grabs him and tries to get him to dance, he’ll dance too. Gladio never starts the dancing. 

Still cries watching TitanicI feel like it’s obvious to say that Prompto still gets teary, but I feel like he would. He’s such a sweet kid. He wears his heart on his sleeve. I feel like he would try to silently cry so Gladio wouldn’t make fun of him, but he lets out a loud sniff and Gladio knows. Gladio doesn’t really mind this movie (Iris loves it and he watches it with her all the time) but he’s seen it so many times now that he doesn’t get emotional - not that he’s an overly emotional person to begin with. He doesn’t make fun of Prompto. He just puts his arm around his shoulders and lets him cry while they finish the movie.

Firmly believes in couples costumesI think they would both like couples costumes as long as they are fun. Gladio doesn’t necessarily want couple costumes because that might get too into PDA territory. Something like, he’s a pirate and Prompto is his parrot (holy shit that would be adorable). Prompto tries to get him to go as an actual couple couple costume and it was a hard pass.

Breaks the expensive gift rule during ChristmasI think that’s a rule that they would both abide. I’m not sure either one of them would find something to get the other that was obscenely expensive. Sometimes they might go over a few gil, but nothing crazy.

Makes the other eat breakfastThere’s no need for that with these boys. They both love food and breakfast is no exception. They steal each other’s food constantly. Like, “Are you going to eat your hashbrown?” “Yes.” “Not anymore.” “Well I already stole one of your pancakes so there.”

Remembers anniversariesPrompto, the big softie. He always reminds Gladio, who has to get Iris to help him pick something out for the occasion. I feel like Prompto is probably good at picking out gifts so he could always find something for Gladio. Gladio, with his competitive spirit, always tries to top Prompto’s gift. “It’s not a competition, big guy.” “You just say that because you always win.” “Yeah… you’re right I’m definitely better than you.”

Brings up having kidsI think Gladio would bring it up actually. He would say it really passively, like trying to see if he could mention it without Prompto noticing. Prompto definitely notices, and almost spits out his drink/food/whatever he’s consuming, and coughs so hard that Gladio has to knock him on the back. “What?” “Well Iris mentioned it the other day and I started to think about it and if would be something you would even want…” “You think we’ll be together long enough to have kids?” “Is that not the plan? Do you want to break up?” Cue the stupidly huge smile on Prompto’s face. “Not even a little bit.” Arms thrown over Gladio’s shoulders, lots of kisses, the discussion is put on a pause while they make out hardcore.

[jurassicparkpodcast]

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom | Review

Traumatized. Jaw-Dropping. Unsure. Emotional. Concerned. Words can barely describe the feelings I felt leaving the theater after seeing Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom for the first time. It was an odd experience. What is usually a joyous celebration once the credits roll, left me feeling void of a response to everything I witnessed. Sounds bad, right? My answer to that question is not so simple. 

There was a special feeling seeing the first footage revealed from Universal's marketing campaign, when Chris Pratt's character, Owen Grady, pet a baby raptor named "Blue". It was the first time we - as an audience - saw a dinosaur in this film's cycle. Things were simpler then. Months later we found ourselves in the midst of one of the biggest marketing campaigns ever created for a film, touting Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom as a film with potentially the most dinosaurs in a "Jurassic" film. I had my assumptions, but after seeing Fallen Kingdom - it was confirmed. We had seen most of the film via trailers, tv spots and other promo material. I was surely bummed at that notion. 

Sitting in the theater, waiting to see a film for the first time is always an interesting experience. It's been three years of conjecture, theories and debunking on the podcast, but none of that really matched up to the direction this film headed. I kept saying - "we'll be in a new place", but I didn't expect how new it would be. "Jurassic" films have a "feel". Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom felt the least "Jurassic" to me. THAT IS NOT A BAD THING. It's different. It's new. After seeing this film, no one can really say that it's The Lost World: Jurassic Park or that it's re-hashing the past. Writers Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly, along with Director J.A. Bayona seriously took this franchise in a BOLD new direction. This movie is more of an action film than ever before. It's more dramatic than any previous film. The horror is amped to new levels. None of that even includes the new plot element that is the catalyst for an entirely different discussion. This series is forever changed. 

J.A. Bayona and Cinematographer Oscar Faura are the reason why this film feels the most stark in comparison to the previous four films. Of course we all know that Director Steven Spielberg is a master of light, but what was a casual observance in previous films, really comes to the forefront in Fallen Kingdom. There is so much visual mastery happening in this film, that it's hard to single out my favorite aspects. Whether it's a silhouette against the moon or a brief glimpse of a skulking monster, Bayona and Faura deserve immense accolades for making this unabashedly the most breathtaking film in the franchise. 

Today, films are dictated by the incredibly wild set pieces on display, and Fallen Kingdom is no different. We can argue all day about today's films being all action and no substance, but within that genre, I think Fallen Kingdom blends action and substance really well. We have the visually impressive volcano escape, the moments of reflection from the characters in motion and of course the Gothic horror elements inside Lockwood's Estate. The set pieces certainly take front and center, but I wouldn't say they define the film. It really does feel like a great character piece, building off what we knew about these people and dinosaurs from Jurassic World and giving them more layers. When you look back on Jurassic World and even Jurassic Park, you will see things through a different lens. I think that is the mark of a good film - changing your perception to make you think differently about the past. It's not just an island on fire and jump scares, there is substance. 

I've had to remind myself many times after seeing the film - I laughed a lot... this film brought me to tears... my jaw hung open, completely enthralled - but I still felt unsure. I couldn't put a finger on it, because I had seemingly enjoyed everything on the screen. Yes, there are a few cringe-worthy moments, i.e. one of which involving Owen Grady and the impending lava - but what was it that truly haunted me? Maybe it was the destruction of all we've know and loved for the past 25 years or maybe it was my expectations being denied - I don't know. So much of this film was technically better than Jurassic World, back in 2015, but I left the theater after that film feeling much more fulfilled.  

Looking at the players involved, Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt held the reins, with Daniella Pineda, Justice Smith, Rafe Spall, Isabella Sermon and James Cromwell to a name a few, becoming stellar additions to the "Jurassic" franchise. Bryce Dallas Howard put on a clinic in this film, using facial expressions to convey so much emotion - she was incredibly believable. Daniella Pineda ignited a spark in this franchise with secondary players that hasn't been lit since The Lost World. Newcomer Isabella Sermon continued the through-line of child actors being a major part of "Jurassic" films, and potentially elevated that role beyond that of Jurassic Park. Rafe Spall's character Eli Mills is certainly modeled after many of the traits found in the previous film's characters, but he performs it effortlessly better than his predecessors. This cast as a whole, even the ones unmentioned, combine for an extremely memorable ensemble performance. Of course Mr. Jeff Goldblum, the one and only, shines in his time on screen. 

Tying us to the elements of the past is a MAJOR theme in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Jurassic World certainly had it's call-backs, but Fallen Kingdom takes it few steps farther and uses that nostalgic feeling wisely. I had my complaints about the use of the Visitors Center in Jurassic World, but this film widens the universe with nostalgia in some of the best ways possible. There are layers of connections to the past that will leave you contemplating how it all fits together. The film weaves in stories you never knew existed and builds the past in ways you didn't expect, but I'm trilled to have these details to sift through. I'm still emotional thinking about all the ways this film shook us. They used nostalgia as a blade and stabbed me through the heart in several different ways. This film also attempts to copy the ideals of The Last Jedi by killing the past. From here on out, the franchise will be different. We see death, we see destruction and we see the birth of new threads that could potentially take us into complex new territory. I'm both excited and scared to contemplate those paths on the podcast. 

Time and time again, the one aspect that has been somewhat steadfast is the scores of the Jurassic Park franchise. This film is no different, but I find myself wondering how this score will compare after hundreds of spins. "Jurassic" music has become iconic to even those less obsessed than myself. It's timeless, it's epic and it's filled with wonder - but what about now? All the talk about how things will change from here on out and how visually this is a different film, what does that mean for the music? It's dark - maybe even darker than the film displays, but that wind of change has captured the score as well. As usual, the score contains hints of old, but mostly new and composer Michael Giacchino finds ways to blend three films worth of scores together perfectly. The masterful track "Volcano to Death" breaks my heart each and every time. I audibly gasp when I realized Giacchino pulled the rug out from under me on that track. It still hurts. 

The score does have some pitfalls in my opinion. I absolutely love all the new motifs - they are epic, bombastic and brutally subtle at times, but I feel it is lacking in diversity. One new theme that I've been calling the "dinosaur theme" is pretty constant throughout the score. It shows up in the film from beginning to end and seems to be only directly tied to dinosaurs. That's fine, but it comes off as a bit repetitious while listening to the score. The only theme we've ever associated with dinosaurs before would just be the main Jurassic Park theme from John Williams. I also cannot find a hint of a theme for the main dinosaur villain of this film, the Indoraptor. The Indominus Rex theme from Jurassic World was peppered throughout that score and remains one of the most notable themes from that film. I was hoping for something similar with the Indoraptor, but unless I missed something, it doesn't seem to be here. As a musical work, the score as a whole is phenomenal - but as a thematic work in a film, I think it slightly misses the mark. Maybe I'll eat my words there, but that's how it comes off after the initial twenty listens or so. 

In some ways, the third act of this film mirrors what we see in Jurassic World. A few select moments felt like on-the-nose recreations or at least contained similar outcomes. I find myself asking much of the same questions that I had at the end of Jurassic World. Throughout the film, we are littered with the consequences of saving the dinosaurs, but I cannot help but wonder if these consequences are THAT dire. Certain threats lend themselves to greater consequences, but I feel like most of those were left on the back burner in the film's culmination. I look forward to debating the secondary consequences the most. The funny thing about this film is that at the end of the day, it's a magic trick. You think you "Set A" of consequences are the more concerning, but the whole time it was actually "Set B" that you didn't expect.  

Where do we go from here? - That is the main question this film poses. It makes us continue to question our relationship to dinosaurs, to humanity and our morals as a society. The film leaves us hanging on a cliff, wondering how things will be resolved on June 11th 2021, when the third installment of Jurassic World arrives. I am traumatized. This film is a big departure from what we are used to - but in the end, I think we will be better off for it.

Article written by: Brad Jost

[kayskasmoviereviews]

Movie Review Catch-up for Fall 2017

I’ve had a busy semester and haven’t had time to review everything I’ve seen in quite a while. It’s been too long now for me to post individual reviews for each and every movie I’ve seen the last few months, but I’m going to post here a list of quick mini-reviews for each one I saw on DVD or streaming. I will later make individual reviews for those films I’ve seen in the theater this past semester. Here are the 37 movies I’ve seen outside the theater since my last update:

Split - M. Night Shaymalan is well and truly back with this fun, weird, twisted movie. I genuinely enjoyed it quite a bit, and was pleasantly surprised both by its overall quality and by its ultimate direction.

Murder by Death - Okay, so, yeah, Peter Sellers doing a yellow-face Asian caricature as the Charlie Chan-parody character is pretty racist, and definitely would not fly today. Still, this is a fun, funny movie with affectionate parodies of Poirot, Sam Spade, Nick and Nora Charles, Miss Marple, and other classic detective fiction characters. If you like Young Frankenstein, you’d probably like this movie too.

Metropolitan - Whit Stillman’s first film is a weird little delight. His gift for impossibly mannered dialogue and witty satire is fully evident from the beginning of his career. I wish this guy got the chance to make his movies more often.

Suzanne’s Career - I did not find Eric Rohmer’s second of the Six Moral Tales series as memorable as the first, The Bakery Girl of Monceau. In fact, I barely remember anything about this movie a few months after watching it. Ah well.

Starman - John Carpenter’s late-70s to early-80s run of films is one to be envied. He mastered so many different tones while generally staying within the rules of genre cinema - suspenseful in Halloween, horrifying in The Thing, campy and goofy in Big Trouble in Little China, satirical in They Live. Here he does sweet and romantic, and it works. Jeff Bridges’s performance as an alien is awesome.

Colossal - A sneaky, brilliantly written movie that at first seems like a fun mash-up of romantic comedy and Godzilla movie, but turns out to be something darker and more serious than that. A great example of a film built on a single, smart metaphor.

War on Everyone - This is a genuinely awful movie,which is a huge disappointment considering that the writer-director John Michael McDonagh’s previous film Calvary is one of my all-time favorites. I don’t know what went wrong here, but I hope McDonagh course-corrects.

Your Sister’s Sister - This is a cute, emotionally keen little indie drama. If you know who Mark Duplass is, you know the types of movies he does. This is one of them. Not the best example of the style he’s associated with, but a solid one.

Bob Roberts - This early ’90s political satire, written and directed by and starring Tim Robbins, is only kind of funny, but it’s insanely perceptive of how the American right manipulates and deludes people. It foreshadows the rise of Trump in many ways. It’s good enough to make you wish Robbins had more of a directing career than he’s had.

A Single Man - This visually stunning first film by the fashion designer Tom Ford centers on a melancholy performance by Colin Firth at his best. It’s definitely a movie for people who appreciate thoughtful storytelling and imagery.

Filth - Fuck this movie. It sucks.

Gerald’s Game - This claustrophobic thriller/horror movie makes the most out of its single main location and an excellent performance by Carla Gugino. This is a very solid Stephen King adaptation, and is consistently engaging for the way it constantly teeters on the edge of absolute horror.

Stray Dog - This early Kurosawa film isn’t his most exciting or visually distinctive, but it’s still a solid crime drama and a fascinating glimpse into Tokyo right after World War II. 

Incendies - This was the breakout film for director Denis Villenueve, who went on to direct masterpieces like Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, and Prisoners. It doesn’t quite have the stunning visuals of his later films, of course, but this drama benefits from an insanely strong script and storytelling. It hits you quite hard.

The Duke of Burgundy - This is a genuinely one-of-a-kind film. It’s a meditative, visually lush character study about two women in an intense lesbian S&M relationship. They live in a beautiful European countryside somewhere, in a society that apparently consists only of female entomologists. It’s truly weird. I was engrossed by it.

In the Loop - This acidic satire from Veep creator Armando Iannucci isn’t hilariously funny, but its jabs do land well thanks to an uncompromising performance by Peter Capaldi.

Man from Reno - Here’s an interesting oddity - a half-Japanese-language, half-English-language contemporary film noir about a Japanese novelist taking a vacation in San Francisco and getting caught up in a criminal’s web. It’s odd, stylish, and unpredictable.

Headhunters - This Norwegian crime thriller starts out promising to be an Ocean’s Eleven-style heist thriller about a smooth art thief, but that promise turns out to be a deliberate lie. What it actually is is a totally bonkers chase movie that turns out to be way more violent and chaotic than you were led to believe it would be. Highly recommended.

Meek’s Cutoff - I really liked this extremely slow-paced feminist anti-Western, but most people probably wouldn’t. The movie deliberately downplays everything you expect from the Western genre to instead focus on an unforgiving, harshly realistic portrayal of settlers who have no real idea where they’re going or how to get there. It’s up there with Valhalla Rising in terms of “this is how history actually would have looked and felt, and it kind of sucks” movies.

We Are Still Here - What at first poses as a quiet, “oh the ghosts are metaphors for something” quasi-horror movie takes a sharp left turn into full-blown, ultraviolent horror insanity. Kudos to the effects people, and to the actors for putting up with it.

An American Werewolf in London - I have to admit I was actually kind of disappointed by this one, given its minor-classic reputation. Sure, the werewolf effects are amazing, and Griffin Dunne is a ton of fun in a supporting role, but the romance is incredibly forced, and the story abruptly just ends on a really nothing note. The script needed more work in this case.

A Monster Calls - Beautiful, well-acted, incredibly moving drama about a boy facing the possibility of life without his terminally-ill mother. It made my friend Laura sob.

Lake Mungo - A genuinely spooky Australian horror movie posing as a documentary about a girl who haunted her family after her drowning death. This movie understands way better than most how to make something incredibly creepy without trying too hard.

Thesis - A gripping, quasi-Hitchcockian Spanish thriller about a film-studies student who discovers the existence of a snuff film in which she knows the victim. The ending does feel a bit disappointing, but the build-up is superb.

Wes Craven’s New Nightmare - This is the only Nightmare on Elm Street movie I’ve seen besides the original, and it’s pretty fun. The metafictional concept for the movie - Freddie Kreuger breaks out of the movies and into “the real world,” targeting the actress who played the heroine of the first movie - is very clever and thoroughly integrated into the entire story. The scares and special effects are mostly fun. My only problem, oddly enough, was that Freddie himself wasn’t really characterized enough.

Stretch - I can kind of see what Joe Carnahan was going for here, but the end result just kind of sucks.

My Life as a Zucchini - This is a beautifully animated, sweet, moving film about orphans. Despite the cute stop-motion style, the film is honest about the pain and trauma its characters experience.

Trick ‘r Treat - This campy little anthology horror movie doesn’t add up to much more than some creative special effects, a fun monster character, some darkly humorous scenes, and an overall feeling of mischievous fun, but that’s fine. I think the film largely does what it sets out for, and it eventually led the director to the superior Krampus.

Dark Star: H.R. Giger’s World - This documentary captures the surrealist artist H. R. Giger in the final year of his life. Giger was best known for designing the Xenomorph creature in Ridley Scott’s Alien, but he produced decades’ worth of dark, unsettling art on either side of that film. The movie doesn’t follow a standard biographical format, but gives you a thorough look at his late life.

Dragon - This is a visually engaging, exciting, often funny martial-arts/detective film starring the great Donnie Yen and Takeshi Kaneshiro. It’s an oddball film, and the ending may not be satisfying for some, but I quite enjoyed it.

Gremlins - Somehow I had never seen this wonderful little horror-comedy classic before, but I finally did on Thanksgiving. The story is only serviceable (I can barely remember the protagonist now), but that’s fine, because this movie is all about them gremlins. And boy, do they gremlin it up. It’s just so much fun, of the kind you only really find in those pre-CGI ’80s movies.

Stations of the Cross - This intense, aesthetically rigorous German drama about a fanatical Catholic teen is a harrowing and moving experience. The movie is made with only 14 individual shots, each of them lasting for quite a long while, and each scene paralleling one of the stations of the cross from Jesus’ crucifixion. Not light, obviously, but a great film.

Henry Fool - This strange, novelistic comedy-drama from ’90s indie filmmaker Hal Hartley is a weird, mannered, sometimes-ironic, sometimes-not study of the relationship between a pretentious would-be artist and a garbage-man who might actually be a great poet. There are tons of jarring tonal shifts and out-of-the-blue incidents in this film’s long run-time, yet it all feels of a piece, somehow. 

Knights of Badassdom - I liked the premise of this film, and I’m convinced a good movie could have been made with the same premise (and even some of the same cast), but this one ain’t it. The end product is sloppy and tonally adrift, and the ending in particular is incredibly stupid and unsatisfying. I wish this movie were way better than it is.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry - This is an intimate documentary about the contemporary Chinese artist, activist, and social-media personality Ai Weiwei. The movie follows him in the creation of some of his art pieces, his encounters with Chinese authorities, and his attempts to communicate with the people of China. I came away from the movie very persuaded of the social value of Weiwei’s efforts to stand-up to the repressive communist regime in China, but less persuaded about the intrinsic interest of some of his art.

Phoenix - This stylishly-made German drama in some ways replays Hitchcock’s Vertigo in 1946 Berlin. The film follows a Holocaust survivor (Nina Hoss) who, apparently rendered unrecognizable by facial reconstructive surgery, is recruited by her unwitting husband (who may have betrayed her) to pretend to be...herself. It’s like Hitchcock without as much suspense or immediate danger. The ending is excellent.

To Have and Have Not - As others have pointed out, this 1944 Humphrey Bogart movie in many ways plays like a rip-off of a certain 1942 Humphrey Bogart movie called Casablanca. I mean, in both films, you have Bogart playing a cynical American ex-patriate living in a foreign location and getting roped into schemes to smuggle French resistance fighters under the nose of corrupt local authorities at great risk to himself, while falling in love with a woman. There’s even a piano player featured prominently in both. Ultimately, this movie isn’t as good or as memorable as Casablanca, but then most aren’t. On its own terms, it’s still quite a solid film. Bogart’s as appealing as ever, and Lauren Bacall oozes sexy confidence. Walter Brennan is pretty fun in a supporting part as well.

[murasaki-murasame]

Monogatari Series Rewatch Part 1: Bakemonogatari [Hitagi Crab]

I was planning to keep up with the rewatch going on over at the anime subreddit, in preparation for Owari S2 coming out, but I got sidetracked and now it’s been going on for like a month and a half. Hoo boy. Let’s try and get this done before the next season starts. This whole thing is just gonna me my vague unplanned ramblings as I rewatch each arc. I’m caught up on the anime, outside of the Kizu films, so I’m not really gonna avoid spoiling later stuff. Keep that in mind.

More under the cut. [This got a bit longer than expected. Huh]

So here we are. Owari S2 is finally approaching and so now I’m finally getting around to rewatching the entire series. Woo. Truth be told, I haven’t actually rewatched this series at all since I first saw it around 2013 or so, outside of stuff like the OPs/EDs and a few random good scenes I could find on youtube. So it’s been a while since I first watched this arc, to put it lightly.

Probably the most surreal part of this was just how much I actually remember quite vividly. But that’s largely due to having seen like a thousand screenshots and reaction images from the show over the last few years. I’m almost more used to seeing this show in static image form rather than in motion, so this took some getting used to. It made it feel pretty nostalgic, at least.

I’d definitely forgotten the extent of how bizarre and sort of creepy and tense the early parts of the show were. It definitely gets toned down a little in later seasons. It makes a lot of sense in hindsight that the director of this season worked on Kizu after this and someone else took up work on the rest of the series. I kinda wish that some of the artistic decisions from this point were used more/at all later in the series. Like that really Sayonaya Zetsubou Sensei-esque part of Araragi having his head ripped off and spaghetti flying everywhere. I completely forgot that happened, so that threw me off a bit. I kinda loved it, though.

On the topic of artistic elements, it’s interesting to me how ambitious and dense this still feels even though you can tell how Shaft was probably falling apart at the seams as a company behind the scenes. It still feels remarkably similar to later parts of the series, just less polished. It probably helps that the version I’m watching seems to be the BD version. Not sure how that’ll hold up for future seasons. Anyway, I love the attention to detail with how all the characters move and pose and talk. This show really knows how to sell you on it’s characters immediately. The whole first-person POV scene of Araragi talking to Hanekawaw and fidgeting with his pen, with it almost always covering her eyes, was a pretty fantastic scene in general, with setting up the dynamic they have, and his personality. I kinda wish there were more scenes like that, but even in Bake I don’t remember there being any others. It’s fitting that it’s one of the first proper scenes we get of Araragi, though, since it helps to immediately set up the idea of us seeing things through his eyes, both literally and metaphorically. The way that this show plays with concepts of unreliable narration in a visual way really is amazing, even if most people, including me, tend to not notice it before we start getting arcs from the POV of other characters. But I’ll get into that when the time comes. Which won’t be until the SS arcs, really.

I read this arc in LN form a few months ago when it came out, and seeing this arc again in anime form, it just makes me more and more surprised at how much Shaft added to the experience. Logically I knew that the LN wasn’t exactly gonna have art or music or voice acting, but it surprised me how relatively . . . barren it felt, and how much slower the pacing seemed. But I’ll talk about that more if/when I do a big review post of the three Bake LNs.

The relative plainness of the LN’s tone made it even more surreal and interesting to be reminded just how dark and creepy and sinister and fast-paced this arc in particular feels in the anime. I really love it. Especially the weird little Kizu recap at the start [which was kinda odd to watch when we now have the Kizu films to compare it with]. And the rapid text flashes and such. It’s a great example of how much artistic direction can affect the atmosphere of something like this.

It feels weird to talk about the actual story of this arc, at least since I don’t want to literally recap the entire thing or anything. And I don’t want to get ahead of myself and talk about how this plays into other arcs, especially Kizu. I guess I’ll work it out as I go along. Anyway, one thing I definitely want to talk about is that I’d somehow forgotten, at least before I read the LN version of this arc, that Senjougahara was a victim of sexual assault. Since it’s basically never mentioned again after this arc. I really appreciate how this series can touch upon some surprisingly serious, real-life stuff in realistic and nuanced ways, while still having such a bombastic, comedic atmosphere most of the time. It’s neat. It makes me appreciate that she’s depicted almost always as being completely in control of herself and her body, and that she’s the one who tends to be romantically forward with Araragi. Obviously this is part of the unreliable narration and everyone else sees her as being way more ‘normal’, so to say, but still. Sometimes the fanservice in this series is a bit . . . iffy, but as a whole the story avoids handling Senjougahara in too gross of a manner, in the context of what happened to her in the past.

Which reminds me, it still surprises me how much I like their relationship, considering how much I tend to be turned off by perverted male MCs and tsundere female love interests. I honestly can’t really fully explain WHY I like them so much, but I do. It’s actually one of the few m/f ships I genuinely really like, instead of feeling sorta ambivalent toward [or outright disliking]. Who would have thought?

I don’t have a lot to say about Araragi at this very moment, at least since the more interesting parts of his character play out in later arcs. But I do really, really like Senjougahara, and I wish she appeared more in later arcs. She’s just immediately compelling as a character. I love how weighty and overwhelming and sharp her presence in so many scenes feel, as Araragi tries to keep up with her. And I quite like her softer side, which we see at the end of the arc.

I also still really love basically every OP and ED in this entire series, even though I feel like I never quite liked this arc’s OP and Bake’s ED as much as most people do. I feel like a lot of the later OPs feel more interesting and memorable, and I tend to find all the EDs in this series to be a bit forgettable for some reason. Oh well. I still love the art in the ED though, and I appreciate that they kept that style intact for the later ones.

I feel like this post in particular might end up being longer than later ones since there’s a lot to get off my chest right at the start. Hah. My other ramble posts will probably be shorter. Dunno about the review posts I might do for each entire season, though.

P.S: If there’s anything I’d like to get across in this entire rewatch, it’s that, even if there’s some iffy elements that I sorta ignore, there’s still a whole list of elements to this series that I adore, which have nothing to do with fanservice. As a gay man, it sometimes bugs me when people act like this series is nothing but cute girls, as if there’d be no room to like the series at all if cute girls aren’t your thing. So I want to let myself ramble about all the other parts of the show and how much I love them. [Though, ironically enough, there’s actually some elements to the fanservice that I genuinely appreciate, which I’ll probably mention as they appear. Which I already sorta did a bit in this post. Sometimes people go a little overboard about acting like the fanservice in this show is pure art and that all of it has purpose and meaning outside of, ya know, fanservice. There’s definitely parts of it worth discussing and praising, but lol let’s not kid ourselves, this series is definitely aimed largely at people who like cute girls, and that’s fine.]