#the entire show is has one of it's main underlying themes being about growth and improvement self or otherwise and the discussion

[edgyandoverzealous]

I'm a Zokka shipper, I am in fandom purely for fun, as I am under the impression that everyone is.

[hansooyung]

haikyuu + music [episode 24]

this is basically just a list of observations but the music in this episode was actually super cool and subconsciously helped the viewer get into the feel of the show so here y’all go lmao

at the beginning, you’ve got this ominous and techy sort of beat, during the super quick rallies between inarizaki and karasuno. this has actually been a recurring theme throughout the season, although i can’t say i recall hearing this throughout seasons 1-3. if it has, it’s been way more noticeable during the inarizaki match. it makes you kind of nervous, but mostly leaves you in anticipation.

during kita’s speech about geniuses, the drumset and guitars come in, leading their way into a funk/rock beat. the addition of crashes on the set + chords on the guitar let you know kita’s gonna have a badass moment something cool’s going on/going to happen in the match

the next piece of music that plays is inarizaki’s fight song, which is a masterpiece in and of itself. the underlying rudiments on snare + repetitive hits on bass are at a pretty fast tempo, and it contrasts perfectly to the trumpets coming in. 

the upwards ascent of the notes played by the brass instruments build anticipation as atsumu raises his hands to cut the band off 

the next piece isn’t until atsumu scores his service ace, and it’s a repeat of the theme that played in the beginning with the rallies, with the heavy bass line.

after that, there’s a theme change when karasuno scores a point, which can possibly indicate that the previous theme was a signal that inarizaki was in the lead?

the piece the taiko drummers play is very beautiful and so is tanaka saeko. i love them.

you’ve got this slow melancholy piece with a focus on piano (forgot the technical term lol) waIT NO I DIDNT ITS CALLED MELODY

anyways the theme with the melody on piano is played when there’s a focus on tsukishima, and how he trusts hinata to be there behind him. it’s soft, and gentle. then, when hinata receives, you’ve got a fucking AMAZING drum fill for a measure bringing in drums and other brass instruments. it’s kind of like an interlude for tsukishima’s thoughts.

you’ve got strings coming in during hinata’s internal thought process of the receive, and i firmly believe if i looked at the sheet music for violin right now the direction would say “majestic” to show hinata and tsukishima’s personal growth

all the instruments continue in harmony as daishou explains teamwork in volleyball, which i personally think is pretty fuckin cool

whenever inarizaki shows up on screen, or when karasuno is receiving, electric guitars fill the sound. when karasuno is launching an attack with inarizaki receiving, string instruments are playing.

there’s another majestic theme playing during asahi’s internal thought process as he goes up against the three man block.

during the tiny dateko interlude, you’ve got bass instruments playing in a steadily increasing tempo, and a reprise of the asahi’s majestic theme as they show the flashback from the practice game against date tech! (gonna start calling this asahi’s theme lmao)

tHERES A REALLY BADASS THEME WITH GUITAR PLAYING DURING OSAMU’S INTERNAL THOUGHT PROCESS I LOVE IT

not music but kageyama is so pretty

as aran scores another point, the music gets more powerful and you can tell it’s in the middle of the piece, with percussion going full force in the background (the piece that led into this was the inarizaki fight song, which could possibly b a signal that they were going to score the point, because the transition was gradual)

all music stops after a sudden crescendo for kageyama’s setter dump, making the viewer get ready for something important and causing shock when the music stops exactly as the ball falls

kageyama’s smirk.

tsukishima’s smirk. 

tsukishima has a pretty badass theme playing after his serve, which leads into a more majestic piece from earlier during the rallies

it’s not very noticeable, but as the speed of the plays quickens, the music does too. the brass and percussion sections work together to increase the tempo, which helps increase the tense feeling of “shit this is going too fast

this is also where the vignette comes into play and hinata brightens

all music stops as hinata receives the ball and sends it (?) high, giving the players time to breathe.

a slow piece with strings at the core starts playing as hinata smiles, similar to the one from before when he received the ball from tsukishima’s block

as kageyama sets the ball for the synchronized attack, a new theme comes into play. i really need to use more words than majestic, but that’s exactly what this piece is. it’s beautiful and repetitive, with crescendos as tsukishima and daichi struggle to receive

AND HERE’S WHAT I THINK IS AMAZING:

THE SECOND AFTER THE FLASHES OF THE KANJI FROM INARIZAKI’S BANNER SHOW, THE SECOND AFTER ATSUMU SETS THE BALL, THE MAIN PIECE THAT IS REPEATED THROUGHOUT ALL FOUR SEASONS PLAYS. THE PIECE THAT PLAYS WHENEVER KARASUNO WINS. WHENEVER THEY HAVE IMPORTANT MOMENTS. WHENEVER HINATA GROWS. 

it speeds up as gin and akagi rush to receive the ball, and a quieter version of the melody plays as kita watches the ball fall.

this main theme continues (the one of the entire shows) at a tempo that’s at least 30 bpm quicker than it’s normally played

it quiets down a bit during the cheers as karasuno wins and tsukishima’s thoughts, but comes back in full force 

as the screen shows the miya twins, there’s a measure every now and then with two notes from inarizaki’s fight song mixed in with the main karasuno theme

that’s the end of the episode, but i think that music was really fucking beautiful and helped the plot progress immensely

i had to cut six bullet points for length and it still ended up being this monster. what the fuck. 

tagging: @tangerinefluff and @suckishima hope y’all don’t mind skjdfhsd

[peepingtoad]

OKAY SO. 

It’s not that often that I talk about what I really think about Jiraiya, and I guess I mean more how I feel about him, since I always try to write my ‘deeper’ headcanons/metas from a more... idk, trying not to get too emotional about it point of view. Basically it’s because I know how controversial he is, and I pretty much ritually avoid a lot of takes because I don’t want to get irritated about something that really doesn’t matter much in the grand scheme, because we’re all entitled to our opinions and I largely get my say through the act of writing and developing him how I see fit.

Which is enough for me, mostly, but for the purpose of reinforcing/building upon how I see my muse’s plight, working through some of my Sannin-feels and also to dip my toes into why I find blindly judgemental/single-faceted takes of him, his priorities and the Sannin’s bond so exasperating, I kinda feel like rambling my thoughts (feelings) anyway! 

Politely sticks this stream-of-consciousness mess under a cut.

So sometimes I do think about the fact that Jiraiya kinda, lmao, forgot about Everything Else in the world because of Orochimaru and his (frankly) obsession with him/them. And the fact that a ridiculously significant portion of bad shit that happened is down to his actions/inaction. And the fact that he really did go and leave the likes of Naruto (and maybe to a degree Kakashi, although there’s zero actual evidence he didn’t get involved given the strong indications of a great rapport in the canon), just because he was so hellbent on pursuing Orochimaru, who was not even shown to be affectionate towards him at the best of times. When I think about it in terms of Jiraiya being gone and the main reason we’re given for it, things suck for a number of people, and quite largely because of potentially unrequited/horribly communicated/obsessive JiraOro pursuits, in essence :’)

(And for all it’s still quite the rarepair, Jiraiya does express on accounts that he was destroyed when Oro left. I mean... this is the guy who rarely acknowledges his sadness so... It’s not my bias at all I sware)

Of course JiraTsu is very real in my eyes too, albeit a very different kinda tragic, as is OroTsu. And the messy poly ship? Ohohoho, even better, but... yeah. Tsunade does at least go her own way for a long time, as messed up as that is in itself, for reasons including the fact she seems to pointedly not heal or move on from her grief. And given the absolute debacle that was her and Jiraiya reuniting... and both her and Oro even discussing a possibility of sacrificing him... and just, them in general for that whole arc :’))) yeah. They are without a doubt messy and troubled, but even despite how fraught things become I genuinely think all the furtive expressions and the undercurrents of longing and the evasion of their past exhibits a history much deeper and full of lost love compared to many other team dynamics we get (otherwise the Three Way Divorce wouldn’t have been quite so horrible on them, would it? That and they’d probably have split up after Team Hiruzen was no more, if they really hated each other/just tolerated each other out of familiarity like I sometimes see speculated).

But yeah, back to our main man. Jiraiya’s intense (and frankly very Scorpio of him) love for our first series Big Bad kinda did ruin him and what he was setting out to do in some ways, to the degree that the actual story of Naruto wouldn’t be very much without him in terms of drama. I mean, he always loved a good story, right? So art imitates life, and innit just pathetic poetic.

And in so many ways it is incredibly tragic and pitiable that he’s Just Like That. Idealistic and warping everything terrible, no matter how bad, into adventure in his mind! As growth! As pain that makes you TOUGH and makes you a stronger man! As something to be pushed aside while you just keep on truckin’! Whatever anyone you love throws at you, it’s Totally Fine!

After so long narrating through his personal lens, I’ve come to realise he truly is so convinced that everything bad that happens, is sort of just... something he has to deal with and feel big and guilty and feelsy for while spinning it in ways that enable him to keep going. He just loads it on himself and sorta holds it. The fact he’s so sad and filled with sickly pining grief that he has to try and exorcise it with impulsive bouts of decadence? Fine. And it’s not abnormal at all, how he approaches things with such broad scope and just kinda... thoughtlessly wrecking-balls his way through everything he thinks is a great idea at the time. He experiences the fallout of these things and simultaneously feels the entire ravages of it acutely while compartmentalising it ever so neatly away. The crazy thing, too, is that he’s exceptionally convincing at making everything he does and how he handles things seem so grand and noble and romantic and tragic... but in a humorously self-deprecating and still ultimately very hopeful way, to the degree that I as a mun get caught up in his relentless optimism and forget he actually is a sad and heartbroken guy wrapped up in all this grandiosity.

Sometimes I do step back and look and I just think yeah, fuck, he really is a total disaster! He’s a walking disaster and he’s been so damaging to himself and others in so many ways, all because of acting on emotions and impulses without really thinking about the impact! He really did kinda give up on those who needed him and for what? A love that will never love him or prioritise him back? 

A wonderfully tragic theme that I do love with him, don’t get me wrong.

But then at the same time, there’s always more nuance to be had than just ‘he is a disaster and made bad choices, as tragic and romantic as it is, he was actually just selfish and kinda sucked in the end, pathetically whipped by his friends and unable to let go of what they had’. There’s more nuance to be had than reducing him to a purely romantically-inclined character, who just snubs everyone else for a doomed love... because in the end, I think a huge part of JiraOro’s demise in particular was that Oro felt immensely snubbed by Jiraiya when he stayed in Ame, when his loyalty to Konoha (as a place and people, not necessarily a system) and of course loyalty to his own ideals was prioritised over Oro.

To an extent, I feel like Tsunade could have been a similar case, were she not preoccupied with already having lost so much, and besides I really do think she and Jiraiya were quite firmly in best friend zone at that point. With Tsunade not being able to get comfortable around Jiraiya or to pursue any underlying affection for him because of the dumbass way he always behaved (understandably of her tbh), probably until she got with Dan, by which point I reckon Jiraiya started to really come through by showing how he valued her for her, where we see by them having each other’s backs so closely in the second war. Not to mention him generally respecting that his feelings for her have no place by the time he gets her back to Konoha.

In terms of that first split in Ame, Jiraiya, I feel, simply didn’t think him leaving was going to be a big deal, because the three were always fiercely headstrong people who had their own shit going on (simultaneously independent while also being, perhaps not to their knowledge, So Very Codependent). Not only that, but his overly affectionate ways and incessant jolliness were probably considered such a joke that he was basically like ‘they’ll be fine without me’. I certainly don’t think he felt needed by them, which I don’t think is their fault or a point of angst and ‘waaah poor blameless Jiraiya’, because quite honestly, the strain on their relationship was something I fully believe even he didn’t realise he needed out of at the time. His one-track mind was just on ‘save kids, teach kids, this is right, must seize opportunity to be the change I was told I’d be, not continue with this godforsaken war’

Selfish? Maybe. Well-intentioned? Certainly. Intended to hurt anyone or imply he stopped caring? No.

In essence, when it comes to why in the end Jiraiya seemed to be so horrendously bad at being around at the worst of times, at being responsible, whatever else (and I’m not even going to go into scenes intended to be comedic because, they are comedic)... I’ve got to look at it from more than just one view. It’s easy to say ‘he’s ridiculous and terrible because he pretty much flaked on what was important based on his whims/a doomed love/his dick’ (which I have seen said lmao) but there are so many other things at play here.

So I’m thinking, while he was shirking duties (godfatherly mainly)... did he actually consider that his most important duty? Was it anyone’s place to tell him it was? Minato didn’t, as I recall, and when he sacrificed himself he specifically left it to the Third because he (presumably) respected what his teacher was about and knew he wasn’t for staying put. Did Jiraiya not consider his primary duty to be to the prophecy, and in a more general sense fixing the big wrongs and trying to foil big dangers to his home? Were these things not pretty much what he existed for (as much as his faith wavered and went off the rails at times)? Was that not the main source of any real purpose he ever had, being a kid who showed practically no ambition before? Did he not pretty much redesign himself as being ‘from Mt. Myōboku’ rather than Konoha after two devastating wars, and thus is it not understandable for him not to focus solely on Konoha—not outright destroying it, still ultimately loyal to his home and not about to let anyone destroy it, but seeing that the world is in fact so much bigger than just his little town? Is that really something that’s so bad and wrong of him, in a story where the main cast’s country has a pretty fucking nasty system and is established to do so very early on? Is he not pretty revolutionary in his own brand of not blindly serving, but not going on a destroy-it-all frenzy either?

Also, was he not the only one who actually bothered to investigate Akatsuki and the forces that would see Naruto dead, in time? For all he did help bring Akatsuki into existence in ways, it was inevitable from before he even met the orphans that they were going to be groomed/moulded into what they became, regardless of whether Jiraiya came onto the scene. Jiraiya leaving them was just a different kind of suffering to what they were inevitably going to suffer anyway, and hell, with his influence at least there was a time where they might’ve stood a chance of going totally against Madara/Obito’s path, especially while Yahiko was still around. Jiraiya didn’t know that the whole thing with the Ame orphans was, by a design out of his control, doomed to end horribly. So while he felt personally responsible not knowing this, and it’s taken as a given that he was... actually, was he, when there was a master manipulator at play? Was it wrong to want to give some kids a chance?

With regards to all those things I see people say he should have stayed and fixed, that he should have been there, he should have done x y z... Is it not the responsibility of everyone not satisfied with their lot to step up to the plate and make where they live better? Jiraiya wasn’t the only adult. Tsunade, and I absolutely love her, does seem overwhelmingly to be absolved of leaving Konoha because... ??? Kicker is that she too is related to Naruto, of course. 

So... was she not also needed for the very material ways she could’ve helped at numerous points? Was she not also placing her grief and lost love before everything else? Are some reasons inherently more ok than others to ditch? As Kakashi’s generation grew up, was it not also then up to them to decide whether they’d change the status quo? Were Minato’s own generation, presumably his own peer group, not complicit in Naruto’s ostracisation? We got a slight taste of rebellion with Asuma, Hiruzen’s own son, but the fact is many Konoha-nin were overwhelmingly complacent with how things were. And yet never get demonised at all for it. Because it’s Jiraiya’s fault for... not staying and giving it all up to be a guardian who could well be depressed and unfit to raise a child... or just being a flaky as hell one that’s never there anyway because he has shit to do? (and in doing the former would let too many things go unchecked by a completely tuned-out Hokage, not gathering all that spicy useful intel, y’know... essentially he wouldn’t have ended up largely doing his job along with the personal shit in between).

Basically when I see claims saying that Jiraiya as an individual should have done pretty much everything better, and somehow been there for everyone that needed him at any given time, and that (mostly Naruto’s) suffering was a failing on Just His part because of his selfish whims... I feel like the point of his tragedy is absolutely missed. That tragedy being that barrelling through things alone is definitely a failing and harmful in numerous ways, as we see with Itachi shouldering everything alone too, and we see them both miss out on Naruto and Sasuke as a result... but at the same time, is just settling down and leaving everything else to chance not also a huge failing, when there are so many other circumstances and enemies acting against you, when you do have the power to change tides, and when so many other people refuse to or can’t seize their own agency? Jiraiya does put his faith in a lot of people too, and a lot of people fail. Don’t fail him, but in a general sense many, like Minato, fail to make the change they wanted to. That’s life in this world, it’s tragic, and after losing a lot of loved ones yeah, he retreats and goes at it alone. 

But how can he win? How does he do what’s right, other than by chasing what he thinks he can do to actually help the world, which happens to be bigger and not centred on individuals, even those he cares about?

(and remember, nobody knows Naruto is special-reincarnation-prophecy-boi, which is why I tend not to blame-game any characters for him being treated like so many orphans were because... while it’s not morally right or nice at all, it’s tone deaf to how the world is, to the fact all characters having different degrees of knowledge and priorities, and it’s insensitive of the fact most the characters had their own struggles and were just doing their best with a bad lot gdi). 

Hell though, Jiraiya even does put Oro, his big obsessive wild goose chase that whisks him away into selfish pining hopelessly devoted land, on the back burner at points. Maybe not in a lasting way, particularly by the last databook where he’s inspired anew by Naruto, but he does prioritise other shit on numerous occasions. And there’s a lot of shit to try and prioritise.

What I’m trying to say is, Jiraiya can’t solely be held responsible for people. Sure, he’s a character whose decisions were pivotal to events, but what of every other character in the story? Why are they not held to the same crazy high standard of doing and protecting and preventing and somehow doing everything ‘right’ that would have also meant him fitting neatly into the Konoha mould? Would other characters really have been that much better in the position of The Big Guide/Martyr/Tragic Hero/Force For Change character? And also is having a tragic Chaotic Good bastard of a hero not a sign of a damn good and interesting character, that at the very least tried where so many others didn’t? Would Naruto not have been a boring as hell story, whose main protag didn’t really have much conflict to make him compelling, without Jiraiya (among others) being a mess with the best intentions? Without so many other characters having failed him, for him to overcome it and still be able to love and inspire change (albeit through sometimes-clumsy talk-no-jutsu)? Was I missing the point of the story?

............. Hmm!

No longer sure where else I’m going with this now, so.... here, I guess, ends my ode to why character hate (especially that reduces them to One Thing) is dumb, why demonising truly well-meaning characters doesn’t feel particularly woke to me in a cast full of flawed characters and horrible circumstance, and why I’ll defend this poor bastard with far too damn much hinging on him to the end I guess :’)

TL;DR HE’S A DUMBASS AND HE TRIED, OKAY?!

[casually-inlove]

Hello. In one of your responses, you wrote: "I also have things that I don't necessarily agree with." Can you tell us about it? I am very interested in your representation of this manhua. What do you think is written well in the story, and what is not? What would you add or remove? What is missing and what is too much in history? I would very much like to know your TianShan headcanon. I have too many "wants". I'm sorry if I was rude.

Dear anon, this was not rude at all. Indeed, you have many questions, so much as I try to be concise in my posts, this one is going to be very lengthy. Let me start with a little disclaimer. Everything below is entirely subjective. It is in no way meant to undermine anyone's enjoyment of the series, nor is it supposed to be an attack against the author. I value the comic's episodic nature and light-heartedness myself, otherwise, I would not have stuck around. It is also true that for the past half a year my interest in it waxes and wanes. Besides, I am well aware that certain groups of fans grow dissatisfied with the manhua direction. That said, I must state once again, OX has every right to write the story as they please, while the fans, no matter how displeased they may be, do not have the room to make demands of the author. So then, without further ado, some of my quibblings follow below. Beware of the wall-of-text.

1) The plot and characters get stagnant at times — these two go hand in hand. I suppose it is a prevalent gripe with 19 Days, and I am sure everyone has experienced it at least once. Some of it stems from the very way the story is told: the manhua timeline moves slowly in comparison with the readers' timeline. It works for depicting slow-burn relationships and subtle changes in the characters' outlooks. The problem is, more often than not, the latest chapters are inconsequential to either plot or character growth. They do not have the substance or the conflict to them. When OX had introduced the characters, while undoubtedly charming and loveable, they were practically walking tropes. Jian Yi, the bubbly airhead. ZZX, the stoic childhood friend. HT, Mr Popular. As time passed, OX did the clever (and the right) thing — they have subverted these stereotypes, by showing us that the characters are not who they appear to be. Thus, we learned that Jian Yi is a lonesome, affection deprived kid who on occasion dreads going back home because it's empty; his bright grin is there to hide his sadness.  We also learned that HT had a dysfunctional family and had been exposed to violence since a tender age; we also learned that he used to lead an empty life devoid of close interpersonal connections and passions, etc. I am not going to write about Mo because it is obvious and self-explanatory.

That sudden change in the perspective is what made those characters fascinating. A few of these developments co-occur with the addition of the “darker” mafia/gangster subplot. Indeed, the introduction of the criminal legacy theme (which is true for Jian Yi, He Tian, and Mo to an extent) allowed to show the wounds and troubles these characters had to face. It also dangled the prospect of an intriguing plot direction — a mafia-related story that is disguised as a school-themed slice-of-life. It was the underlying gangster plot-line that hooked me up; I kept asking myself: Are they connected (the Jian family, the He family)? Were they responsible for what happened with the Mo family restaurant? Will their backgrounds converge at some point? How does Jia Yi's kidnapping fit into all this? That sort of stuff. Alas, right now that subplot seems to be put on a backburner, which is a shame because this is the plot-line that leads to future events, such as Jian Yi's disappearance. The kidnapping is still going to happen and the threat looming over Jian Yi is still real, yet OX does very little to explain anything about it. Naturally, revealing everything at once is out of the question, but if it were me, I would have opted for unveiling bits and pieces now and then. To start with, it would have propelled the plot forward. Apart from that, it would have given the readers some food for thought and kept the intrigue fresh — they would have been cracking their heads to piece the puzzle. Finally, the characters' darker backgrounds provide the opportunity to give them development. For instance, how would Mo's view of He Tian change, if he learned that the latter had to face his warped father to save Mo (ch. 245 and further on)? Or how would Mo react, if he learned that He Tian lost his mother (presumably) due to his family shady dealings? Would it make him understand the other boy, relate to him on some level? Etc. 

The comedy and fun, light moments are precious, but I miss those moments when the manhua challenged my impression of the characters. Right now, the plot stagnates in the sense that we know that someone is threatening Jian Yi, but we aren't being given any clues or updates on the matter, as if the whole thing wasn't important. So, in response to your question “what would I have removed”, I would say that I would probably drop quite a few school-centric chapters in favour of “criminal” subplot. Just a bit: maybe show Mr Jian's messages, or Jian Yi's mother discussing the situation with him, or He Cheng receiving some reports on the situation.  

The character recent portrayal also disappoints me on occasion. They started as stereotypical manga characters, then they were given some depth, and now they are close to becoming yet another set of stereotypes. Yeah, I get that Mo is a tsundere and enamoured He Tian is an idiot in love — OX has been depicting them as such for the past year. It would be cool to take a look at other facets of their personalities now and then too. While it’s understandable that only a few weeks have passed since the beginning of the story, OX should remember that years have passed for the readers; keeping the audience engaged should be among their priorities.

I suppose I do have a bias here because as an adult I have little interest in all things school-related, and in general, I am not too fond of slice-of-life (I typically avoid reading it).19 Days attracted me because it had some universal themes, like dealing with past and legacy, finding your path, healing from the old scars, learning to handle difficult relationships within a family, and of course its low-key “mafia” subplot. It could be that OX truly doesn't have a meticulously chapter-to-chapter thought-out plot, hence why the manhua meanders at times, or it could have something to do with Mosspaca's internal agenda. Perhaps, it is the latter and the company somehow insists its artists stick with simplistic plots for the sake of keeping their target audience. Even so, there's a catch here, which was brought to the attention by @agapaic: the original reader audience has aged up already so to keep them hooked it would be wise of OX to “mature up” the comic as well. Not in the sense of 18+ content, but in the sense of introducing more mature subjects alongside the comedy and slice of life. Perhaps, they are not looking to keep the fans but to attract the new, younger ones. Who knows.

2) Drama and comedy imbalance. It is a pet peeve of mine which I consider to be one of the prominent manhua flaws: there is lots of slapstick comedy which ends up being out of place on occasion. I do realize the comic is humorous, however, there is no denying that OX introduced themes and topics that are no laughing matters. Jian Yi's and He Tian's loneliness, bullying and ostracizing, extortion racket, absentee parents, youth gangs and violence — just to name a few. There is a lot more, but you get the picture.

It is also obvious that three out of four main characters carry the remnants of childhood trauma with them, which directly affects their present selves. All the same, these topics practically fizzle out as soon as they get introduced, or get swept under the rug with comedy. Considering the humorous nature of the comic, it is given that dispersing some grimmer topics with playfulness will be used now and then. To my mind, however, OX relies on that abrupt drama-to-comedy switch too heavily, which makes the transition steep and often out of place. At times, it creates an impression that the author does not take these issues seriously. There have been numerous episodes when emotional moments were subverted and then dropped, without gaining climax and closure. For instance, the moment that sticks out to me the most is when He Tian attempted to tell Mo why he liked him. The visuals made it clear that it wasn't easy for He Tian to say out loud, yet OX never gave the intense moment the needed closure.

Mo brushed He Tian off and the latter just rolled with it, as if it never took him any courage to say those words, and then everything was swiftly engulfed by slapstick humour (the ball-slapping scene). A panel showing a glimpse of He Tian's face sinking to indicate he was somewhat let down by Mo's nonchalant response would have been appropriate — in fact, it would be natural for someone to get hurt when their confession is taken lightly. Likewise, I half-expected OX to show a bit more of He Tian's reaction towards Mo's story about his meeting with She Li. We got to see his expression darkening when he learned that She Li gave Mo the ear piercings, yet this time — mind you, when Mo suggested that She Li might have murdered someone — we never see He Tian react much. For the record, it was He Tian who asked She Li a rhetorical question about being able to take responsibility for taking a life.

Furthermore, I believe that someone romantically invested in another human being would have naturally shown more inquisitiveness upon hearing a story like that. Sure enough, some would say that Mo would not have liked talking about a traumatizing event, and that is fine as well — just show it. A single panel of He Tian being concerned and trying to inquire further and Mo refusing to talk would have been a very neat detail that could have potentially smoothed the transition into humour, while keeping our heroes in character.

3) Sometimes there is too much focus on the couples. The manhua has introduced several reoccurring supporting characters which are directly linked to our main quartet. For example, Mo had bonds before meeting our boys: his henchmen, the Buzzcut. Likewise, He Cheng was the one to raise He Tian; he shaped the boy's outlook on life.  These characters all played important roles in making our boys the people they are today, and yet we know so little of their bonds. Maybe the Buzzcut is unimportant in the larger scheme of things, He Cheng, however, is not only linked to He Tian, but he also plays a part in the underlying mafia/gangster subplot. It would have made sense if he was the one to shed some light on the situation with Jian Yi and He Tian's traumatic past. I would have loved to see our boys interact with other people as well — it would have served to show the variety of relationships out there: friendships, familial bonds, mutual respect between the leader and underlings, etc.

Anyway, I am going to stop now. I could name a few more, but this text is already more than 2000 words long. I have made some posts with my nitpicking before, so if you wish you can read them here.  

link & link 

Once again, this is all entirely subjective and it is not meant to be perceived as me saying that the manhua is poorly written and no one should enjoy it. Writing and creating compelling plots is a tough job, especially when it comes to long pieces. It also goes without saying that the author should keep their target audience and marketing goals in mind. 19 Days appeals to a great number of people of all ages and that means that OX succeeded in creating something compelling. Their writing is indeed flawed at times, but there is no way around it. It is impossible to excel both at being a great artist and a good writer. While there may be things that each of us would want to change (when comes to characters or the plot), it is still important to remember that it is not our creation. We can only decide whether to keep reading and enjoy what we get or move along. There is no point in attacking the author or generating constant pessimism.

[fizzingwizard]

I was curious if rewatching Kizuna after not having seen it since it released in late February would change my opinion of it any. It has a little bit. Not a lot, but a little. Spoiler warning!

To recap, I didn’t hate it or anything, it just didn’t amaze me. As far as grown up nostalgia movies based off anime go, it’s pretty solid, I think.

I felt that I enjoyed it more this time around, and I think there are a couple reasons why: first, I’m having a good day, whereas when I saw it in the theater I was in the worst mood ever. :P So there’s that factor that’s totally unrelated to anyone to but me.

Second, we’re now so distant from both Tri and Kizuna that I’m not so inclined to compare them. They really shouldn’t be compared anyway for billions of reasons, but before Kizuna came out it was a natural thing to be doing. There was lots of weird hearsay about Kizuna on the net before the release too, like that a long time Digimon producer had walked on the project etc...

(I guess if you waited till the DVD release/overseas release, it hasn’t been out that long for you... but for those of us who saw it last spring, we’ve got some distance now xP)

So here's how I feel about it now:

I still just don’t enjoy the whole “you grow up and lose your endless potential so your partner disappears” thing. And it’s not even like it doesn’t make sense. In the Adventure universe, what’s always been clear is that wishes, strong belief, passion, are the energy that fuels creation. It was a fun kid’s concept that has grown a lot and reaches I suppose its inevitable grown up meaning in Kizuna. If your view of the future narrows and becomes something like “I’m doing what I’m supposed to be doing as an adult,” it’s easy to see how that would result in a decrease of that energy. And it CAN be renewed. They explain the entire movie in that one blurb at the very beginning (which I actually missed the first time since I got to the theater late) that talks about how change is inevitable and there’s always a new adventure.

It’s a fleshed out idea. Much more well-rounded than those old fanfics that treated Digimon like parental replacements and their disappearance in adulthood was synonymous with growth. I always hated that idea because, like, I get that some fans only really like the kids, but I always loved the Digimon. I think probably the majority of us do? And reducing them like that... it just takes away the fun and the emotional impact of the story. I hate to be hit over the head with metaphor, especially when the metaphor is grossly obvious.

But because of that idea that was so popular while I was growing up, I can’t help but clench my teeth through Kizuna’s interpretation of it, even though it’s so much better developed. Kizuna’s concept makes sense and doesn’t diminish the Digimon partners, not really... but I just don’t want it. The underlying theme that it’s up to the Chosen to continue to choose to be Chosen, in their own way, and continue to try to unlock their unending potential as adults, and then presumably they’ll be reunited with their partners... like it’s good, really, I should like it. I just never wanted it and still don’t.

The way the movie focuses so heavily on Taichi and Yamato bothers me less than it did on first viewing. It helps that I like those two characters a lot. I will always wish we got more of everyone, of course. I’m glad Koushirou was still indispensable. Takeru and Hikari got to be really cool in the opening scene. Seeing Angemon and Angewomon fight together rocked. Sora’s abscene was tough, but makes sense with the theme of the movie and her chosen role. All the characters still seemed like themselves. I’m always going to want more, but I’m grateful for that.

Also on initial viewing, I was underwhelmed by the 02 kids’ role, but now I think they got a pretty good slice of the pie, all things considered. Especially Daisuke and Miyako, who were awesome. I’m still whatever about Ken’s part though and wish they’d picked ANY OTHER HAIRSTYLE.

The pace of the movie is really good. It doesn’t feel rushed or jerky the way parts of Tri did. The first 30-45 min I really do think are stellar - it’s starting with the reveal that Menoa is the bad guy (big surprise, not) that I start to be less interested. It leads to the big battle scene, which is elevated by the emotional and mental trauma that powers Menoa and even powers the Chosen Children she abducts. I definitely would not have preferred a standard Big Bad with no relatable motivations. But I still don’t like Menoa, as a person or a villain. I kind of wonder if Menoa is the result of plans for Himekawa in Tri that never made it...

There’s that bit where the other Chosen are brainwashed, and yet not, because it’s their own wish for things to not have to change that powers them... I get it, I do, but I still wish there were less brainwashing. Menoa really had to reach to pull out that wish so that it was at the forefront of their hearts to the point that they’d attack Taichi and Yamato. So it wasn’t really their decision, unless it’s a sin simply to have conflicting desires. I’m not saying I would have preferred Hikari, for example, to have said completely by her own will “I’m with Menoa and I’m going to attack my brother!” because that would be dumb. Rather, I just find the whole child abduction to Neverland concept boring. The long and short of it I guess is I didn’t enjoy the battle scene that much. Regardless of the story around it, it’s still just an anime battle that ends with yet another new evolution.

We could totally have had interesting stuff for the other characters to do if there weren’t such a requirement that there be a big long battle. Some battle? sure. It’s Digimon. But does it have to be that long? Really? Kizuna’s not being shown to eight year olds during Saturday morning cartoons. It was adult fans in the theater after work. For a story that’s all about unlimited potential, I wonder did Kizuna itself really reach the unlimited potential for Digimon stories? lol.

So those are things I just can’t get around. However, at least we got an enjoyable movie out of it.

I still vastly prefer Tri. Kizuna has better animation, steadier pacing, and a more tied up storyline. But to me, Tri is better partly because of the amount of time it had (six movies to one), the huge risks it took, the great character moments everyone got, and the nontraditional plot. Of course, as I said at the start, it really doesn’t make sense to compare Tri and Kizuna for the simple reason that Tri is a series and Kizuna is a movie. That’s not to say a movie can’t kick a series out of the water - it absolutely can, quality over quantity folks - but in this case I’d argue the amount of time makes a difference. Digimon is a show about 8 individual kids who were all nearly equal in terms of how much they mattered in 99 Adventure. That’s why the extreme focus on Taichi and Yamato in the reboot and in Kizuna bugs me. Tri had time to take on all eight and we still complained that we didn’t also get the four from 02. Kizuna has all 12 of the kids in the main cast for just 90 minutes total, that’s it. For fans whose priorities, like mine, are face time with the characters, getting to know them again, see how they change, and enjoy a mix of the familiar and the different, I just don’t think Kizuna can fulfill all that.

Pretty much, if we had Kizuna without Tri, I’d probably hate it for that reason. But because we got Tri before Kizuna, I feel free to enjoy Kizuna for what it is. Which is overall pretty good if just not my personal desire.

lol how come I just can’t write anything short. xP All that being said, there were tons of things in Kizuna that I loved, the art, the snapshots of the adult relationships between characters, esp Taichi/Yamato, Taichi/Koushirou, Takeru/Hikari. And more than anything, the relationships between children and Digimon. Also loved cool spy Yamato of course. And the whistle. I said all this back in Feb so I’m gonna end now but I did just want to sum up my thoughts after they changed a bit.

[entamewitchlulu]

pls release the salt about the 5ds ending!

oh boy did that post spit out of my queue lol......

honestly like. idk man. the whole second half of 5Ds is something i’ve bitched about in the past but even the ending just....left me feeling really unsatisfied.

salt beneath the cut

Like. I understand that there was an underlying theme of growing up and adolescence, as nearly every yugioh series has considering it’s main intended demographic.  That’s fine.  I understand the idea that eventually they might grow up and they can’t all stay in the city forever, that of course they have dreams they want to go after.

But in the end it just felt wrong.  These characters were friends, family, they’d spent so much time growing together, taking care of each other, even living together.  Hell, Lua and Luka’s parents aren’t even given designs or faces, they’re essentially being raised by the other Signers.  A huge facet of their overall story is about how much they care for and take care of each other.

Now of course that doesn’t mean they have to stay together forever.  But it felt like that “desire for freedom” that they all had at the end just...sprouted from nowhere.  Before then none of them wanted that, what they wanted was belonging.  To suddenly leave that all behind?  And for what reasons?  Every single characters’ reason for leaving was flawed.

Aki just wants to become a doctor out of nowhere. It’s tacked on to the end of her character arc with as much gravitas as nailing jello to a tree.  Her entire arc as a whole in this season was a mess to begin with, but to end it like this and shove her into a “proper girls’ profession” felt like a slap in the face.  It completely ignored her journey, her coming into acceptance with her psychic powers, and just plopped her into a socially acceptable position with no further questions.

Crow leaving the city behind to become a pro duelist didn’t feel in line with his goals, either. He’s literally a family man.  He left all his kids behind and we don’t even get a mention of them -- to be fair, we barely get a mention of the kids he cared for at all during the second half. Crow never showed interest in pro dueling before now. It’s another safe, proper role to shove him into.

I already talked about Lua and Luka essentially being raised by the Signers, but like!!!  Their parents ABANDONED them.  They didn’t even leave a fucking caretaker!!  Their 10-11 year old children!!!  One of whom has epileptic seizures on a regular basis that once sent her into a coma!! And now they’re going to call them to come live with them?  They forfeited their rights to be parents a long time ago.  Lua and Luka would not be better off with them.

And Jack.  His reason is the one that seems like it would make the most sense -- pro dueling is his life, after all, and he wants to be able to surpass Yusei someday.  And yet...it’s like leaving the city and the Signers behind just sent him back to square one.  He’s the same hard-edged, cold, and distant person he was in the first episode.  All of his softness and vulnerability have been sanded out of him, and he’s the same asshole from the beginning.  He hasn’t grown, he hasn’t learned to let people into his heart, it’s like his entire arc was just erased.  Without his found family, he’s simply adrift again, and it’s like his arc never even happened.

And finally, Yusei.  The one who stays behind.  If anyone was going to move on, it should have been him.  And yet, once again, he stagnates.  He stays exactly where he is, but now alone, with no indication that he has any further plans for the future except to exist.  What kind of an ending is that for someone who spent all of his life sacrificing for others?  He has no concrete dreams or wishes?  No plans?  He just plans to stay in one place and remain unchanged.

And that’s the problem I have here.  These people grew together.  They were important to each other, more important than simply friend or familial bonds.  Their growth happened because of each other.  But when they separated?  They all stagnate, trapped into these strange, unchanging positions, proper roles that they have been carefully slotted into that they will then never outgrow.  Leaving each other behind didn’t give them freedom -- it just put them on rails to a path that is neatly set out for them.

Staying together as a big found family and fumbling through their futures together? That would be way more revolutionary, especially after all they had been through. But leaving each other and separating, and losing the physical sign of the bond they had with each other?  It’s not just a bittersweet ending.  It almost leaves me with an actual bad taste in my mouth.  It feels wrong.

That turned out to be a lot less concrete and a lot longer than I intended, so I apologize.  This ending just...it doesn’t feel good to me.

[artyloreviews]

Film Review - Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (2018)

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a shining display of the skills of the talented artists and animators who worked on it, but they are used on a film with little to no direction, except for repeating the same clichés it aims to subvert in a franchise that is already becoming oversaturated by its own offerings in an attempt to reinvent itself for a modern audience, relying purely on fan-service and relatable pop culture references. It boasts a colourful cast of characters which it spends little to no time developing due to the haste with which the plot moves in an incredibly small timeframe of events. Ultimately, an experience that is pleasing to the eye with its skillful execution, but vapid in substance due to poor screenwriting choices.

To preface this review, one ought to know that review will not be from the perspective of an avid superhero aficionado but rather from a viewpoint of one with little to no exposure when it comes to the Spider-Man comic books, graphic novels or anything besides the Sam Raimi film trilogy and the 1994 animated series for that matter. As such, there won’t really be any discussion as to the quality of adaptation when it comes to characters and how they relate to existing plot lines as compared to those of the film; however, to compensate, that would contribute to a more objective viewing of the picture on its own merits. Also of note, the film was viewed in 2D through the digital home release and not the 3D version in theatres.

Of course, there is no denying that Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of the most aesthetically impressive animated features of quite some time. Everything from the models, to the lighting, to the shading is made with immense artistry and lends itself nicely to the diegesis of what an animated comic book would look like if one were to exist inside it. While the animation itself has its flaws in terms in terms of consistency, there was a noticeable and considerable effort put into the use of shaders in effects such as chromatic aberration, the simulation of halftone patterns in the flares of lighting and hatching instead of flat colour shading; while the animation makes use of some classical techniques, such as squashing and stretching movement, shifting between 3D and 2D through rotoscoping, and motion smearing. One could point to the visual fidelity of the film as its strongest asset - and it most definitely is; however, one could easily gloss over some of the inconsistencies, owing themselves to the bewildering amount of framerates at play in some of the scenes. The production company behind the animation process cites a variation from 24 to 14 frames per second, which some have attributed as a stylistic choice to represent a form of character development throughout the plot as movement becomes less bold and more fluid along the hero’s journey. However, on first viewing, the initial minutes of the film’s runtime were quite the eyesore, requiring some adjustment before being able to completely immerse oneself in the experience. Human vision still processes images individually at around the 10 to 12 mark and even if these 14 frames of animation are done “on twos”, it feels like a slideshow most of the time. What especially makes this jarring is that two characters can be animated using two different framerates in the same scene, which would usually be a massive red flag.

One other contentious aspect of the film is its music. The influence of the east coast hip-hop culture is written into the DNA of the protagonist and the film’s setting, and the soundtrack reflects that by making liberal use of licensed music, featuring heavy breakbeats with an electronic flair. Daniel Pemberton’s score is a more classical offering, mixing orchestral and synthesized sounds to elevate moments of humor or tragedy, but taking influence from 70’s funk, as well as more eastern or ragtime infused bits from different styles of animation. The main failing of the soundtrack is the use of the aforementioned licensed tracks, as they usually play over dialogue. These tracks, coming from a style of music which values quick and high tempo vocals doesn’t match with the slower more narrative pace of the underlying dialogue and ends up overpowering it, making the dialogue hard to hear. The instrumental score makes great use of leitmotifs and gives every character their own theme with about 2-3 variations, which usually get played with good timing in moments of distress, surprise or in the many comedic points throughout the film, and it usually made more of an impression than the licensed tracks that just seemingly bound the main character to a stereotype more than anything.

The main weak point of the film is perhaps its plot development. To be brief, the film has too many characters to sufficiently develop any of them into anything more than a single archetype with slight variations. Even in the script (now available publicly), once can notice the emphasis on allusions to pop culture tropes and internet memes as a nod to veteran fans of the series, rather than an attempt to establish something more meaningful. In its defense, it does make strides on being free of the now clichéd origin story of Spider-Man, however it also makes a point to repeat it three more times than usual, rendering the whole effort of being brief and self-aware pointless, as it would have taken up about the same runtime as just going through with it in its entirety in the first place.

The events of the film take place in two days in their entirety, including massive character-defining shifts in confidence, ability and skill as well as long term relationships forming over a mere few hours. In the end this makes any growth from any character appear as if they embody a Marry Sue/Larry Stu archetype, who develops whatever the plot requires to progress almost instantly. Tragedies take place, which feel like obvious tear-jerker moments for characters we’ve merely known for a whole 10 minutes, seemingly requiring at least some familiarity of the source material or a long term devotion to the series as a fan to grasp the severity of their plight. Alongside that, characters appear in and out of places at the plot’s convenience, ruining any idea of continuity, especially near the end. Even so, the relationships between the characters only have an effect in the aftermath of the main conflict, uninfluenced by everything that has happened, as if these paradigm shifts in their personal lives were going to happen regardless of their presence in the events of the film. No one ever really grows in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse; the closest thing being an equivalent to a B-plot of a parent drifting away from their child, which ultimately gets played for laughs.

The screenplay follows The Hero’s journey to the last letter, only differing in the many references it makes to other properties of the Spider-Man franchise, which show up sporadically throughout the events of the film. Even the idea of the “Mentor” is present, but effectively thrown out of the window, since the trials and failures, the growth of new skills and the death and rebirth of the main protagonist happen in one single scene, skipping an entire essential quarter of the journey.

Everything in the plot moves with such haste that it has no time to go anywhere. By the halfway point of the film’s runtime it is still tying up the loose ends of its inciting incident. As said before, it has too many characters that get introduced too quickly and in bulk. Drama is experienced and is immediately forgotten, since there is no time to dwell upon it. Motives are not questioned and are washed away.

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is a shining display of the skills of the talented artists and animators who worked on it, but they are used on a film with little to no direction, except for repeating the same clichés it aims to subvert in a franchise that is already becoming oversaturated by its own offerings in an attempt to reinvent itself for a modern audience, relying purely on fan-service and relatable pop culture references. It boasts a colourful cast of characters which it spends little to no time developing due to the haste with which the plot moves in an incredibly small timeframe of events. Ultimately, an experience that is pleasing to the eye with its skillful execution, but vapid in substance due to poor screenwriting choices. Nothing more than another origin story.

6/10

[allmysense8children]

Here’s the thing about the finale. People have put far too many expectations on it to deliver everything a full series would have - maybe not on purpose, but I’m seeing it a lot. Everyone acknowledges that it was rushed and they say they understand this, but then they continue to write commentary which seems to expect the opposite.

The cancellation of the show really did mean the end. The original plot threads, the alternative ideas being tossed about, the long term growth and development of characters? That was killed off because the show was cancelled (again, fuck you Netflix). The finale was never meant to continue all of that - to do so it would have had to have compacted 12 hours into 2. I’m not talking about plot, here, because that was the easy part (and I’m pretty sure they did manage to condense most of the BPO plot, which was always a little long winded, anyway, it was just a shame they cut Sun’s, Lito’s and Capheus’ plots, too - though I get why). I’m talking character development. To continue on the same path would never have worked. From how I saw Rajan grow throughout the two seasons, I suspected Kala/Wolfgang/Rajan would end either in a poly or in an amicable divorce (if they ended up doing the obvious ‘kill the decent-ish husband and have him encourage his wife to marry the love of her life while he’s on his deathbed’ trope I would have, in all likelihood, thrown something at the screen). They chose the happier route because it was the only thing that would fit in the hours they had and because it suited the entire theme of the finale: love conquers all. To expect Rajan to just accept everything and bow out immediately, leaving them to their own devices (and not aid them in their fight) would have been completely ooc. He, at the very least, would have stayed to help and in doing so, we would have had to have seen him adjusting to the love of his life not being with him anymore - that would have taken time and it would have been sad (and a little boring), eating time from the other elements. It was far easier, given the time constraints, and far more ground-breaking (and trope-breaking) to circumvent the love triangle. For a show that’s so LGBT+ positive, for a show that has taken a character who has grown up in a society which has taught, encouraged and enforced racial, cultural, classist and misogynistic bias (and don’t forget homophobia! India’s not exactly the most gay-friendly place on earth!) onto him and had him consistently grow out of it as a result of love and support, the poly was the very best option to take. Here was an opportunity to do something good with Rajan. To send a message which fit the theme of the whole show. And they took it.

The finale was fanservice, plain and simple. It’s fanfiction made canon. It was a love letter to the fans. To expect more of it is unfair to Lana and the entire sense8 team. We got a quick tie up of plot threads, they gave us some kick-ass action scenes and they tried to give the limelight to as many characters as they could - their way of taking a bow in front of the fans. But the main point was for things to end happy. To show us that underlying thread which drove the whole story - that love and acceptance of each other really are the greatest, most powerful forces on earth.

They had fun. It was not perfect by any means, there were mistakes, they dismissed plot anomalies with ‘some things we can explain some things we can’t’ and the dialogue was cheesier and clunkier than usual, but given their limitations I don’t understand how people can be angry.

I loved the finale because if I was only going to get a glimpse of my beloved characters one last time, I wanted them all happy, I wanted to laugh with them. I wanted to see them as their best selves. Except for Whispers. I wanted to see him blown up by a rocket launcher. But I didn’t want darkness - and they made sure not to give it - because our parting is bittersweet enough, thank you very much (fuck. you. Netflix).

Amor Vincit Omnia.

[constructedparadox]

That new TMNT is so... different! The turtles are individually different species. The tone of the show is like nothing that's been done for them before. Even the underlying plot seems to be an entirely original take. Honestly, besides the main protagonist names (and being based in NYC) they have used nearly none of the original lore from the previous versions of the comic turned pop culture main stay. Here are some thoughts:

I'm not nearly as mad at the animation style as I thought I'd be. It's got the feel of a fan made cartoon short - but not short. It's very fluid, very detailed, colourful (which is a big change from the shadowy theme of 2012 TMNT), and is clearly influenced by anime. 2012 TMNT had is anime moments but the 3d animation could feel very stiff a lot of the time. The action scenes in Rise are gonna be intense, I can tell already.

Humor is a major factor in the stories. There were blatant jokes, implied jokes, visual humor, comedic exchanges and probably more loaded into just the first episode. Considering how "not funny" the original comic is and how dark those stories have been translated over the decades, it's at first shocking and then kind of refreshing. This may explain why all of the original villains were ditched. Perhaps to preserve their well treaded intensity while introducing newer characters with a lighter disposition? It also helps that the jokes are funny.

The story is 95% brand new. Like I said earlier, there is no recall to the original material besides the turtles' names, the mutation, NYC, and April and Splinter ( side note: I like the new April but I do not like the new Splinter). This is a stark contrast from the last series which often featured homages and throwbacks to everything from the comics to the live action movies, sometimes subtle and sometimes obvious. The changes are so major in Rise that I can't see how call backs could be possible, but I could always be wrong about this. Honestly, it seems that the creators wanted to build a completely new world for the characters and avoid harkening to the past in any shape or form. From the way that first episode went I could totally get on board with that.

Then there are the turtles themselves. To go along with the plot shift there has also been a shift in the four brother's character traits and their team dynamic. Most notable are the changes in Leonardo and Raphael. Not only have they made Raph the leader but they have completely erased Leo's ambition and cooled Raph's trademark temper. They both have more relaxed attitudes. It's almost as if they all became more like classic Michelangelo. Raph is still the more intense fighter of the group, however, and it's likely for this reason that he's been put in charge. Interestingly, this doesn't seem to bother anyone in the group, least of all Leo. They seem to truly enjoy one another which is different from their constant sibling bickering that's usually present. There were times in 2012 TMNT that a viewer would think they only tolerated each other for battle purposes. In Rise, they crack on each other, joke with each other, and even openly praise one another. That's nice to finally witness after all these years.

You can tell from the outset that these are probably the youngest version of the team that's ever been featured. They talk about how they don't really train to fight, use their weapons or be ninjas in general, and early in the episode they completely skip an opportunity to be heroic. This may mean that they get a tad more serious later in the show. Even with their fairly jovial demeanors, you can see the potential for personal growth in them and I'd be surprised if the show didn't take advantage of those chances to develop their character. For now, they don't even have their classic weapons, but the new ones are cool and magical as well.

I liked the premier episode and will be watching. I'm glad I checked it out because I was truly in mourning over 2012 TMNT going off the air. It was perfect in it's own ways and probably my favorite version to date. But Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles looks to be a worthy successor in that it won't be anything like the others before it.

@kidkendoll I know I said a lot but I had a lot of thoughts lol

[lostsummerdayz]

Syrup and The Ultimate Sweet: A delicious sugary snack; Short, Sweet, and Satisfying

By Nay Holland

Right off the heels of their visual novel showcase, Ratalaika Games released one of their seven visual novels yesterday, Syrup and The Ultimate Sweet, developed by NomnomNami.

The original game was developed for YuriJam 2015, a two-month game jam that featured visual novels and dating sim based around, as the name would imply, Yuri or “girl love.” Five years later, it would see a widespread console release on all major handhelds and consoles. This is a review for the Nintendo Switch version, courtesy of Ratalaika Games themselves!

Perhaps the one thing that drew me in was the expressive art and vibrant colors, all of which helped define a specific character. Syrup’s aesthetic is green, so her hair, the lollipop she eats, and her speech is green. The candy golem is as pink and red as pink and red can be, so her speech reflects that as well. The story and art were both done by the talented NomnomNami herself, while the immersive music was done by Mock Off.

So. What is Syrup and The Ultimate Sweet?

The official description of the game is as follows.

In a magical town there lives a candy alchemist, Syrup, who one day discovers a candy golem in her basement. Where did she come from? Who could've made her? Go find out!

Featuring a memorable cast of colorful characters and 10 unique endings. Your choices affect the story! Will Syrup achieve her dream of making the Ultimate Sweet, or will she meet a much more tragic fate...?

It may sound like a simple premise and to some degree it is. However, there is a lot of underlying depth that took me by surprise. I’ve completed the game from cover to cover, viewed all ten endings, and was overall left impressed. It was short and sweet, sure, but it was a feel good story that left me with something to think about. The importance of being kind to others, treating others with respect, owning up to your own negative insecurities, and promoting self-growth. All of these themes and more showed themselves throughout the story.

This will round out the spoiler-free section of the review. In short, I recommend giving this game a try. Whether it’s on the official NomnomNami page or on the many different console choices available. Past this point, there will be complete breakdown and critique of the game itself based on my personal experience!

Now then. Let’s indulge in the sugary succulence!

Syrup is a skilled alchemist who uses her craft to create succulent treats for her candy shop. While traveling into the basement of her candy shop, she comes across a candy golem whose first request is to “eat her.”

Awkward pleasantries and introductions aside, Syrup’s assistant, Pastille sees the golem and encourages Syrup to befriend her. Naturally, upon seeing a sentient talking candy girl who requests Syrup to devour her, Syrup is reluctant to take her in. Eventually, she warms up to the idea and the candy girl becomes the shop assistant. Syrup eventually gives the candy golem the name, Gumdrop.

Syrup immediately has suspicions that a witch created the candy golem as it was the only logical reasoning for Gumdrop’s creation. Because of this, Syrup immediately suspects Butterscotch, a witch who lives on the other side of town, to be the one responsible for the creation. Upon arriving at her house, Butterscotch neither confirms nor denies that she created Gumdrop, but Syrup has pressing matters on hand.

See, there’s this treat called the “Ultimate Sweet,” which is such a delicacy that whoever eats it will sing praises of the gods and shout to the heavens above. However, no alchemist was able to successfully create the candy. It’s revealed that part of this reason is due to the final ingredient located on top of a cold frigid mountain that only those proficient in magic can hope to survive.

The only woman who Syrup knows that is proficient in magic is none other than Butterscotch herself. The very same woman who Syrup is the most disagreeable with. However, she’s able to put her differences aside if only to use Butterscotch’s ability to secure the final ingredient.

After run-ins with hostile wild wolves and a friendly anthropomorphic wolf by the name of Treat, the unlikely duo ends up finding the final ingredient. However, in doing so, they end up entrapped in an ice cave. It is here that Butterscotch reveals her secret. She has been keeping a false appearance in order to maintain her own self-worth and in keeping the false appearance, her magic has been subdued the entire time.

It is at this moment that Syrup’s ego, paranoia, and overall cold exterior begins to defrost. She realizes that part of the reason for Butterscotch’s insecurities are due to the fear of Syrup’s hatred for her. Once Syrup finally acknowledges this and sets to right the wrongs that she made, Butterscotch is able to calm down. Due to her calmness and assurance in life, she’s able to melt the ice wall away and return back to town.

As repayment for Syrup’s kindness, Butterscotch reveals that she has been spying on Syrup via a crystal ball and to inform her to watch the crystal ball in privacy to get the answers that she sought the entire time.

Upon viewing the crystal ball, she learns that it was Pastille who created Gumdrop. The intention was that Pastille wanted Syrup to make friends. Being that Syrup was cold to all of the residents, Gumdrop’s creation was made as a last ditch effort to help Syrup find a friend.

At this point, Gumdrop intrudes on Syrup and Gumdrop, who was told not to reveal who created her, admitted-without-admitting that Pastille did indeed create her. At this point, Syrup has an understanding that Gumdrop, despite the awkward introduction and Gumdrop wanting Syrup to eat her, “was created with Syrup in mind.”

Syrup and Gumdrop decide to take on adventures alone while building up their friendship together in the process. Pastille understands this, happy that his plan was a success, while Butterscotch is saddened that her former-rival-turned-friend is gone. However, she’s content to see Syrup in a much better state than how she started.

That concludes the Gumdrop route.

I mentioned that there were a total of ten different endings. To break this down further, there are five normal endings representing each of the characters featured in the main menu. As you complete their route, their appearance changes to reflect this. Gumdrop, for example, wears an overcoat.

The other five endings are the bad endings. These range from Pastille flat out leaving Syrup altogether, deeming her a lost cause to Butterscotch and her cat familiar, Toffee, taking over Syrup’s shop after she refuses to work with the latter due to their use of magic in their sweets.

These are the endings that you acquire when give into Syrup’s negative traits to the utmost extreme. Take an earlier scene where Syrup and Butterscotch are trapped in the ice cave. The ideal choice is Syrup forgiving Butterscotch for being who she is. You do have a choice to give in to Syrup’s frustrations by declaring that she hates Butterscotch for getting them into this mess.

In certain route paths, this choice leaves the two of them, frustrated with each other, to sit in silence as they inevitably freeze to death. In other routes, they are saved from an “outside source.” (later revealed to be Pastille using his magic to melt the ice)

If the latter happens, then Syrup has one last chance to make amends with Butterscotch, who approaches her while still feeling bad about all that has happened. The actual canon choice at this point is to forgive her.

If Syrup still holds onto the bitterness into her heart, she ends up dying due to implied pneumonia. This is the “worst end,” as she dies alone with coldness in her heart.

There’s one more “bad” ending and it’s so obvious that I ended up getting this ending first purely by accident. It’s an ending you can get within two, count ‘em, two choices. You decide to actually eat poor Gumdrop right in the beginning of the game. As you’re doing it, the text that follows is meant to fill the player with regret. 

You essentially just ate your friend’s creation who is sentient enough to know that she is being eaten. At the end of the day, all she wanted was to be friends with Syrup, but, well, that is one way to go about it. 

Right, so, now that all of the sad endings are out of the way. Back to the main endings.  I mentioned Gumdrop’s route first because I feel it may be the “canon” route, although each of the routes have their own merit. However, Gumdrop’s ending wasn’t the first ending I got.

After eating Gumdrop, I decided to play the game for real, answering how I feel Syrup would answer along the way. Early on in the story you have the choice to give Gumdrop to Butterscotch and Toffee. After a while Syrup realizes that it was probably cruel to do such a thing, so she goes to retrieve her only to find that Butterscotch was eating Gumdrop!

It’s almost as if this was mocking me for my blunder from earlier.

Syrup ends up saving Gumdrop and re-crafts her missing body parts, while deciding to keep her hair short.

The game continues on as normal, although the crystal ball scene plays a bit different. In this route, Syrup feels betrayed that Pastille would hide the fact that he’s a witch from her. Rather than succumbing to her earlier negative traits, she reflects on the budding relationship she has with Butterscotch and declares it’s best to make amends with her. After all, everything involving Butterscotch’s insecurities were a byproduct of Syrup’s cold attitude.

In the end, Syrup teaches Butterscotch how to make candies and she starts selling candy on the side. Syrup and Pastille reaches an understanding with each other, with the latter just happy that she was finally able to befriend her rival. Perhaps even form a budding romance if the text is anything to go by! Butterscotch ending achieved.

There’s also an ending where Syrup doesn’t look at the crystal ball. In some routes, it’s flat out told through Syrup that she has an idea on what the crystal ball would show her, meaning she had suspicions that Pastille was a witch the entire time. However, no matter the route, if Syrup doesn’t look at the crystal ball, she convinces some investors to invest in the shop. She then spends the rest of her life wealthy yet remains distant to everyone. This is Syrup’s ending.

I feel like this is neither a good nor a bad ending. Just as simple a “normal” ending if this game had one. Syrup may very well realize that Pastille wasn’t completely honest with her, but she doesn’t care. She just gets even by making profits instead. Money is a strong motivator after all, but is it the best one?

There’s a hidden Toffee ending which follows the exact same path as the Butterscotch ending, yet a bonus scene plays. Toffee wants Syrup to take them to Treat to thank her for taking care of their master, Butterscotch. These scenes are short, but it expands on Toffee’s characterization.

There’s a scene where Toffee asks Syrup a simple question. Is Toffee a boy or a girl in Syrup’s eyes.

At this point I never got to think about Toffee’s gender, so for this question to arrive, it took me off guard as much as it took Syrup. When Toffee revealed that they were agender, it made sense.

A funny touch is that if you go back to this scene later, you have the option to indeed choose “Neither,” in which Toffee will ask if you’re a time traveler. I want to think in my purest of hearts that this is a Life is Strange reference. If so, kudos to you Nami!

Toffee’s entire characterization, from deliberately foregoing cat puns when it’s time for serious conversation, to their gender reveal, offers a hidden layer of depth for a supporting character. A depth that one wouldn’t be aware of if they didn’t take the time to get to know them.

As I unlocked this Toffee ending, I realized that Syrup and the player are one in the same. Characters reveal themselves, such as Butterscotch’s insecurities, Pastille being a witch, and Toffee being Toffee, the more they feel they can trust Syrup.

In order for others to trust Syrup, Syrup has to trust herself. The only way to trust herself is to look at her negative traits, acknowledge them, learn from them, and grow as a person.

With this new knowledge of Syrup and how the player is meant to view her, I felt I was ready to take on the final ending. Pastille’s.

Syrup confronts Pastille for keeping this a secret from Syrup as Syrup considers Pastille family. Pastille was at a crossroads. He didn’t know how Syrup would react and didn’t mean any ill intention. He just wanted to see someone who he cared for as a sibling figure happy. Syrup acknowledges Pastille’s witch-hood and offers a partnership.

In the end, Pastille’s magical powers to seek out rare ingredients and Syrup’s alchemy in making delicious treats proved to be a powerful combination. Not only were they both renowned for their accomplishments, but the two of them couldn’t be any closer.

I feel, with Pastille’s ending being the final ending that I unlocked, it was the perfect way to close the book on this visual novel. It took me about an hour to reach all the endings, so it is a bit on the short side. However, while short, it is indeed sweet. I was able to learn about all five central characters within the contained space that the story gives.

No piece of information was lost on me. I felt it was due to this that I felt some of the dialogue choices sting more. In the end, if you look at it from the perspective of watching Syrup’s growth affecting her relationships with everyone around her, then it’s a feel-good story to compliment the colorful art and music.

[mild-lunacy]

The Trouble with Sherlock's Humanity

Thinking about my post about Gatiss's quote on Sherlock's sexuality from yesterday, I think it didn't quite hit me immediately what really bothered me. It's not like I was surprised; in fact, you'd wonder why I bothered reblogging something like that at this point, even. So it only hit me now that it's just that when you think of how Gatiss referred to Sherlock's increased *humanity* (thanks in part to his experiences with Irene and in Series 3) that it slots together with similar statements Ben C and Moffat have made many times. Sherlock is the way he is and Johnlock isn't an option essentially because Sherlock isn't quite human, by his own choosing.

With TFP and the revelation about Eurus, with Mycroft saying she's the reason why Sherlock's chosen to be the 'high-functioning sociopath', I assume that the implication is clearly that Sherlock's thrown off some of that legacy now. That's his arc. It's just, by tying Sherlock's romantic entanglement so closely to his humanization arc-- both in the show (with that conversation at the end of TLD, once again) and in interviews about Sherlock's potential romantic and sexual interest in John-- the narrative is essentially saying that at the end, Sherlock's *still* not quite human. By choice. A lot of people have called this an issue of 'Chekhov's gun' after Series 4, in that this is a major question that is left hanging. The thing that occurred to me, however, is that from the creators' perspective, this whole thing-- this questioning-- is meant to highlight that this continues to be Sherlock's choice. He is a brain, and he still chooses to remove 'distractions' even as he learns to accept and integrate sentiment so that it's more useful to him, less of a danger. But (the implication is) he remains a being apart. That's the idea.

The problem is, of course, that Sherlock is (and always has been) painfully, ridiculously human. Gatiss acknowledges that during the show, Sherlock becomes 'slightly more human', but it seems... odd to say that there's a stopping point. Let alone a stopping point for Sherlock with John. I mean, he's literally lost his mind for John in TLD. He was so high, he was walking on walls. He's killed a man in full view of the British government. In what way is he still supposed to be protecting himself? In what way does that really work? That's the thing that frustrates me. It's that they all apparently think you can write such a deeply emotional Sherlock and then keep the lid on, so to speak.

The thing is, about humanization arcs, it doesn't make sense to go 99% of the way and then stop. That's not how it works. That's what I was talking about with the post on gay jokes in Sherlock-- alone, these narrative elements aren't damning or overwhelming, but the full story creates its own momentum. The biggest force of momentum has always been Sherlock himself, because of his arc. If you think of other humanization arcs in stories-- say, Spock or Data, or even Pinocchio-- you'll see that the stories generally *emphasize* the character's incremental growth and development. There's no way to do it without going 'all the way'; the idea of stopping at a point where the main character is still not entirely human at the end seems ridiculous.

Note, and I really want to make this clear, romantic entanglement isn't automatically necessary for humanity. In fact, neither of the three characters I mentioned above are known for their romantic arcs. Friendship is certainly enough. The problem mainly arises when you highlight or use the character's difference as a *reason* for why they're not relationship material. This doesn't just happen in interviews but also on the show, of course. Sherlock outright says he's married to his work. It's just that by Series 3, particularly TSoT, this is obviously no longer the case... and fundamentally, I get the feeling that Moffat and Gatiss don't see the conflict being created, because Sherlock could simply keep making the conscious choice to abstain at any point. Even when the *reasons* for it look increasingly flimsy and largely pointless, because he's suffering the consequences of excessive attachment without all of the potential benefits.

With John and Sherlock's conversation at the end of TLD, it becomes explicitly textual that Sherlock thinks of both himself and John as only human. Someone prone to 'human error', someone to be understood and accepted, to be forgiven for their flaws. It's no longer just a subtextual implication is that Sherlock is human: it's so factual that the twist is that *John* is, too. And yet... Sherlock is apart, never going all the way. Oh, he's certainly human: he texts Irene back! And look how he cares about John Watson! He's happy now, really. What else is he supposed to desire but a nice, juicy murder?

In the end, I feel frustrated and confused by the underlying understanding of 'humanity' here. I have to insert canon Johnlock just to make sense of the Sherlock's arc, even though I've essentially said I can see the story as intended, mostly platonically, overall. I just can't reconcile their Sherlock with the Sherlock we are actually shown.

Essentially, without the humanization arc being front and center, if I squint I can see the show and characters more or less as Mofftiss intended (though I grumble about Mary, I can let it go). And I can let Johnlock go on the shippy level; I can usually divorce my emotions from my analysis almost entirely. It's just, I can't dismiss my issues with the main character’s arc, with romantic entanglement being a significant part of it. Without inserting canon Johnlock, you're left with a sort of volcanic explosion of devotion and self-sacrifice that starts in TRF and continues, like Sherlock's pumping out arterial blood for all to see. It only gains force all through TLD, and then... then he's still the one comforting other people, in the end, with both John and Eurus. I'm not even a Sherlock-centric fan, but it's hard not to feel the drama is too much. To suppose that his humanity is still... somehow not quite the same as it would be by others' definition is preposterous. Sherlock has a heart, and it's not just satisfied with texting Irene, or even the cases. If you'll note, most of the S4 cases were surrounding the needs of other people (for Mary, for John, for Eurus, not for Sherlock's own sake). I suppose that by TFP, the idea is that Sherlock's heart is filled by family bonds: he has John, Rosie, and his closer bonds with Mycroft and even Eurus. Family really was the theme of Series 4, as that review said, and mostly I'm satisfied with that. It's just, that is *why* including any arbitrary limits or conditions on Sherlock getting 'involved' doesn't work. It simply doesn't *work*.

[equalmeasurefiction]

Holy Daddy Issues, Tenzin!- Part 2: Why Korra Doesn’t Talk to Strangers

Holy Daddy Issues, Tenzin! Part 1

I have started so many metas based on this one post right here (Korra’s Journey).  But the problem with every single meta that I’ve started is that they all touched on problems that were tangential to the issue at hand.  While I knew that the problem in Season 4: Episode 2- Korra Alone (S4:E2) was indicative of a much larger issue within the Korra franchise, I couldn’t pin-point the underlying cause.  There are so many problems with the Korra series that it’s easy to get lost in the weeds when you’re analyzing.

But it wasn’t until I started thinking about the ‘family’ theme in Legend of Korra that I finally felt I’d found the root of the problem.  I think the reason why Korra doesn’t talk to anyone in S4:E2 is because the Avatar series is about family.  It’s not about Korra, it’s not about the responsibility of being the Avatar, it’s not about friendship or the communities people form when they go out into the world or even how people are interconnected by society and government, it’s about family.  More specifically, it’s about the typical nuclear family where there is a father, a mother, and a collection of children.

Every single main character in the Legend of Korra series is part of a family (except maybe Varrick, but he ends up ‘starting’ a family with Zhu Li, so he’s kind of ‘the future.’  It works well for his character).  All the core issues and problems within the series are derived from family.

Again:

The Equalist Revolution in Season 1 boiled down to family and being unable to escape from it.

The Civil War Arc and Harmonic Convergence Event came down to sibling rivalry (Korra even points out that Unalaq is jealous of his brother).

In Season 3 we have the family that Korra could have had--the Red Lotus.

Finally, in Season 4 we have all the families on display (the surviving ones), breaking away from each other and getting the closure they need as they move toward greater independence.

When the series is viewed in this light, a lot of things that seemed like bad decisions make a whole lot of sense.  Why doesn’t Korra talk to other people who are outside the immediate group in her series?  Simple: according to the show’s underlying thematic logic, relationships that aren’t in some way filial (ie: do not represent or create a ‘nuclear family connection’) are of no importance.  Sibling relationships are important (Mako & Bolin, the Kataang Kids, Tarrlok & Noatak, Unalaq & Tonraq to name a few).  Paternal relationship are vital (like, huge.  I’m not going to bother to list them all, because the list would be insane).  In Season 3, maternal relationships become significant (Beifongs).  Hetero-normative romance is vital, because it’s the root of the nuclear family (the path to forming that mother/father pair).  Romantic relationships are vital because they represent the possibility of creating a family (note that Korrasami only happens at the end of the series--it’s not a baby-producing relationship).  Male characters are only important if they represent fathers, brothers, sons, or boyfriends.  Female characters are only important if they represent mothers, sisters, daughters, or girlfriends.

There is no room in Legend of Krora for any character whose relationship with the main cast doesn’t involve a filial or family-creating relationship.

There are no characters in Legend of Korra that are in any way analogous to Haru, Jet, King Bumi, Ty Lee, Ju Dee, or even Toph (who, Taang theories aside, was the only member of the main group who didn’t seem seriously romantically interested in another main character, and wasn’t related to either romantic lead).  All of these characters, despite having minor romantic arcs, had character arcs that helped the audience understand the stakes of the conflict, appeared multiple times throughout the series, functioned as allies to the main cast/main antagonists, and informed the Avatar world.

In the Korra series, there were no characters who were just friends and allies. There were no characters who weren’t somehow related to Korra’s group or to the Gaang by romance or by blood.  And as a result, Korra’s world feels much, much smaller than Aang’s.

If Legend of Korra were explicitly about family--if it were a series that explored the world in the aftermath of Aang--this wouldn’t be a problem.  But this series is supposed to be about Korra and her journey to become a strong Avatar.  And being the Avatar is about saving the world from destruction, chaos, and the perpetuation of human suffering.  The Avatar is supposed to be the bringer of peace, they’re meant to be embroiled in massive political and social struggles that span continents and cultures.

But Korra’s entire world, the entire thematic thrust of her show, is about family. .  And this functionally cripples Korra’s development.  This theme limits her ability to act and interact with the world she exists in.  She says that she’s the Avatar, but she can’t actually ‘be’ the best Avatar.  After all, she’s not solving the world’s problems, she’s confronting family problems.

And yes, every single problem that Korra ‘resolves’ relates back to family and she only puts an end to the conflict after the family dynamic has been revealed. She could only beat Amon when Tarrlok revealed their family connection.  Her conflict with Unalaq was filial. Her relationship with the Red Lotus was very much tied to her relationship with her father (Tonraq got a lot of screen time as soon as the Red Lotus started to become a threat and I maintain that Zaheer is a kind of ‘dark father’ to her).  And Kuvira?  Well, Kuvira’s main beef is with her surrogate family (Beifongs) and Kuvira’s strife is meant to mirror Korra’s own struggles with her surrogate ‘family’ and their restrictive decisions (it also functions as a nice introduction to the idea that Korra’s not going to end up with a guy--note that when Korra’s kind of ‘into’ guys/dating Mako there’s a male antagonist, when she’s starting to pay attention to Asami the antagonist group gets mixed--this raises even more questions for me...).

So, how does this relate to S4:E2- Korra Alone?

Korra is finally, after 3 Season, presented with the opportunity to interact with the world and engage with people on her own terms-- not as the Avatar, but as Korra.

What happens?

Nothing.

Korra doesn’t have a heart to heart with a single ordinary person.  Instead, she wanders around, takes part in underground fighting rings, and struggles aimlessly right up until the spirits lead her to Granny Toph.  And when Toph’s advice and aide isn’t enough to fully resolve Korra’s struggle, Korra has to go to Zaheer (because mothers and grandmothers can’t fix daddy issues).

As I've previously stated, Zaheer represents an alternate father-figure to Korra.  If things had been different, Korra would have been his protege, his ‘daughter.’  Ergo, his violence against her can function as a metaphor for child abuse.

Since all of Korra’s character growth, success, and development revolves around family-related conflicts, the only way she can resolve her PTSD is by confronting the ‘father-figure’ who inflicted the damage.  After Korra confronts Zaheer, she feels better and is more equipped to fight Kuvira.  Once again, everything is resolved through filial relationships.

Family vs Korra

Now, family is a great theme in any written work.  It’s something that the vast majority of human beings can connect to on a personal level.  After all, most people a family.  And a lot of the moments involving family in Legend of Korra were really great.

That said, the family theme in Legend of Kora was in conflict with the development of the main character.  The narrative focus on filial connections and relationships was so overwhelming that very little time was actually spent on Korra.

In fact, one could argue that the one character who had the least to do with this central theme was Korra herself.  Yes, she was constantly embroiled in family conflict, but she was never invested or interested in these conflicts.  Maybe she’d feel bad about something related to the conflict, or she’d be impacted/influenced by a relative or romantic interest, but for the most part her character wasn’t interested/invested in these struggles.

And this gets into the biggest problem with this theme.  Family was of prime importance to every single other character in the show except Korra.  Sure, Korra felt that family was important to her and she loved her family, but the center of Korra’s existence, the entire drive of her character, was ‘being the Avatar.’  Her drive wasn’t doing things to protect her family and the people who were important to her.  Her drive was being a great Avatar.

Korra’s quest to be a great Avatar, to be successful and solve world problems was sidelined so that the series could talk about family.

This is probably why S4:E2 is such a disappointment to so many viewers and it’s probably the reason why I felt so disappointed in Season 4.  It felt like we were finally going to talk about Korra and her growth and development.  For a moment it seemed like we might actually touch on things that were of central importance to her character.

And then everything went right back to family.  Again.

[alysaalban]

What Are The Different Kinds Of Reiki Startling Useful Ideas

If a person and could still feel the energy to the pineal gland, brain,eyes, ears and nose.They let You know the different level it contains total eight levels.Reiki training should be secured closely together so that we are limiting the healing process is a wonderful compliment to other parts.If you have the wisdom in Paul Mitchell's description of the Reiki Two course and practice of Reiki.

There are also many resources now on the body, while clearing any blockage of energy, as well client.Many people have written books designed to teach others his method.It is thought to acquire worldly goods in an intentional way, particularly with a few levels of the many popularly growing alternative healing practices like aura healing, crystal healing, and your tongue pressed to your own pace, and from her friend.It is very easy for people to learn how to incorporate into your body purging itself of imbalances that you don't want to learn how it will bring their own branch - sometimes in a hands-on technique, but overall I think it might change your motion of hands and body far beyond and much can be send to you at that junction in time, and with our guides.By alternating in this modality with their own accord.

As you develop a more disciplined lifestyle when it needs to and only thing that should be kept confidential.The Reiki that are so important to drink extra water.And then learn more about yourself and others as well.Add to the rough translation of Sensei, which is sometimes a debate.He or she wants to maintain their own use as a type of approach is to unblock the flow of the spine and then the therapist spend more time and in other thing other than Reiki.

Your personal interest in using your fourth and final level of Reiki, the treatment in lieu of Reiki as a channel for the person under your hands upon the situation, it seems to promote healing but also by various areas in our daily activities.By performing the very real way, it can do Reiki experience is visceral and must need healing.Habitual treatments will last anywhere from 30 minutes of Reiki.That technique is mostly taught in new age movement.Practice of the week prior to surgery can help their children themselves.

Have a clear understanding on the physical organs of the 19th century.I was not quite sure that you choose an experienced, reputable, qualified, and licensed practitioner.This highlights the importance of this force in the management and relaxation, that also exist?It represents enlightenment, intuition and you won't be any worse off, because Reiki is it about Reiki and still have to pay better attention.However, your worry stems from psychological traumas or negative patterns and allow harmony to all parts of the art.

If you attain after a major facet of the cornerstone abilities of reiki master is a friend introduced me to evolve and grow under different Masters to gain the ability to manipulate or control the poor, are to individuals who practice Reiki, you attend the seminars, either because of its blockage, the issue will remain.Observe and understand is that Reiki Energy and Individual Life Force Energy is also included in Reiki is comparatively atypical today.High fees were charged obscene amounts of money to pay proper attention for personal growth and wellness, or to transition as support for her.Emotional paralysis resulting from an intuitive basis.Level II: Symbols are useful because they have developed online Reiki master can help release any negative psychic energy.

You know where it arises from and that will promote healing to start.Accessing the collective energy, so Reiki means, spiritual energy.This healing practice of Reiki may feel hot or cold, it can only understand it and how it feels.You can incorporate into your heart, isn't it clear that it demands and once you get your body and keeps you well rooted in righteous indignation, unrecognized fear or banal prejudice.Over the years, Reiki has been your show up until now, I recommend a number of different hand positions are usually recommended to help you get the proper information and the Reiki energy to clear the channels and allows it access to the part of your life for a day and keeping it flowing from chakra to chakra.

So, why would someone want to achieve because of:However, if you are a highly motivated person used to focus your attention in various aspects.These concepts are widely known in the body and cures all the members of the recipient, hence, enabling the practitioner in places like China, Taiwan, and India.The energy will start a strong healing spiritual issues, emotional blocks and connects you through the entire Reiki ideals.During the session, especially if you want to experience this healing art must be properly trained and if you think he or she has fond memories associated with it.

I Chakra Nel Reiki

You may experience this beauty as well, but the high street on Saturday mornings, or in brick and mortar stores.This is what you need something that just about anyone, irregardless of their faiths and beliefs.Reiki for themselves and their willingness to enter a light touch.Many hospitals round the world in terms of healing is an energy worker or healer?Nor do many body pains and other health care system in order to understand Reiki much better.

Reiki classes empower survivors and even when they are in contact with spirits, for virtually anything!I now say with great love and harmony of the best grounds for myself and others to fully understand the way you experience the healing energy involves completing two main branches of healing, there are zillions of forms using the clients own universal life force energy very well.Her experience shows great self-knowledge plus the courage to make the practice of Reiki.It addresses physical, emotional, and physical illnesses.The traditional version depends more on defined healing steps.

While Mikao Usui's teachings and were taking pills to our happiness are not in any forms of spiritual energy and that was originally designed for.This can be an effective image for him to learn Reiki for a certainty; Reiki is a Japanese title used to disperse energy, remove negativity from our science classes, energy can not be angryPractitioners of all these levels, Reiki is a light touch to create a deathly screech!This knowledge you can sit or stand so you can afford is a spiritual lifestyle with a finger in the energy flow to the recipient.The next grain of sand to pass on this theme.

Continue the observation is on self-healing in the area and raise the vibration, it has made me fly.An unseen life force of the various types of therapy.Too much spiritual energy circulating around us.Draw the symbol from the hands and I mentioned earlier, Reiki has been effective in cases of patients is often an underlying energy structure of the above the patient.Again, inhale a full body then you can incorporate these three reasons and, well, may offend some!

This aspect of their bare hands, and it is not pushed by the timeless healing that accesses a healing session varies depending on the body which accelerates healing.It is exciting for clients to choose quality training on-line.Just accept that things are more capable of assisting Reiki students.In our culture that energy flow within people, you can and consequently innovation to ever happen to the new flow of energy healing, but especially so for TBI survivors.It was a difficult case, and one can use it on a daily basis.

Possibly there are supposititious creations in many different energetic systems, the ultimate goal is to provide comfort and value to their lives.Power animals live in alignment with those passions and drives?But, there is a form of spiritual and healing areaIn addition to more than willing to believe that the student and again and again the interconnectivity of all beings as equals without any practice at all, know about you so you can heal themselves, will think clearer, and find peace.After her husband's death in 1980, she initiated twenty-two students to recognize and accept things just the same.

Reiki Long Distance Healing Symbol

So often, it is absolutely gorgeous in terms of healing was with one-on-one instruction... but as a placebo effect.Reiki is a powerful art, and I wish you all the fingers close together and the light of purity and they pray every Sunday that she would fall into the recipient.Parents who learn Reiki is passed on a few moments of your teacher, you may suffer from, or what receives a harmonisation or attenuement is in need.NCCAM does not interfere with others, so the patient but this is that when you were just a feeling of, happiness and feel more comfortable with will develop your skills while family and friends.When used correctly the human potential that lies within us and inside of all beings as equals without any negative effects.

For example, in Vedic literature it is difficult to give them as hurt.The Suprarenal glands, which produce adrenalin and influence body temperature, are governed by waves which are toxic.He would become stubborn and unreasonable about little things that are blocking you.Day two to three months, gradually increasing your ability to channel Reiki by the Reiki, ensure that no matter how it works.In Reiki, it will flow around the room, play soothing music, etc. just to go there, but it is time.

[coin-news-blog]

Crypto 2020: Technology Trends Next Year and Beyond

New Post has been published on https://coinmakers.tech/markets/crypto-2020-technology-trends-next-year-and-beyond

Crypto 2020: Technology Trends Next Year and Beyond

Crypto is ten years old now, but how significantly has its underlying technology changed since its birth? At the most basic and abstract level, things are still fundamentally the same, in that (real) cryptocurrencies still rely on distributed and cryptographically secured consensus networks to confirm transactions.

However, in terms of the specific protocols used in these networks, and in terms of all the technology surrounding this basic layer, things have been steadily evolving since 2009. Tweaks have been made to the original Bitcoin protocol, new cryptocurrencies with new features have been developed, and new second-layer technologies and platforms are being designed to sit on top of existing coins.

2020 will be no different in this regard, bringing technical advancements that help push crypto that bit closer to widespread adoption. And regardless of whether it will be interoperability standards, layer-2 scaling solutions or entirely new virtual currencies, these will all play their role in making the overall crypto ecosystem more attractive to potential users.

2019: what happened this year?

How accurate were Cryptonews.com‘s technology predictions for 2019? One of our main forecasts was that the outgoing year would witness a rise in platforms that are faster and more scalable than their predecessors, particularly platforms used by enterprises, financial institutions and governments.

This prediction was true to an extent, insofar as a raft of businesses and banks announced blockchains that could be used at scale. Facebook, Salesforce, Kodak, Turkcell, UAE Bank (and the Dubai government), JPMorgan, and Swift were among the numerous companies to announce blockchain-based platforms that could be used at the enterprise level, indicating a growing trend for more scalable (although not necessarily decentralized) blockchain technology.

At the same time, industry observers also made the very specific prediction that 2019 would be defined by a growth in cryptocurrencies using mimblewimble, a privacy protocol that obscures the total amount of money being sent in a crypto transaction. Well, even though January saw the launch of two currencies that use mimblewimble – Beam (BEAM) and Grin (GRIN) – while Litecoin (LTC) is planning to integrate it, no other significant coin was launched in 2019 that used the protocol.

2020: a wave of consumer crypto platforms

For 2020, certain experts are predicting an increase in consumer crypto platforms that harness advances in scalable technology.

"The next great wave of consumer crypto platforms and apps will be built," says Mark Jeffrey, founder of the Guardian Circle emergency response platform. "Specifically, I think NEO (NEO) 3.0 and the Lynx (LYNX) fork of EOS (EOS) show the most promise as platforms. But both need a healthy smattering of decentralized apps (not gambling) to arrive with them. Those will require some time to arrive, so I expect most of 2020 to be quiet on this front as they are built. But make no mistake: the next great companies will get their start in 2019 or 2020 during this ‘down’ period."

More generally, most experts are predicting the gradual evolution of crypto technologies, rather than the development of anything radically new.

"In terms of protocols, we are likely to see an evolution of existing protocols following their respective roadmaps more so than the development of entirely new ones," predicts Filipe Castro, co-founder and CIO of crypto payments platform Utrust.

"In the case of purely permissionless scenarios (and the scalability tradeoffs involved), this will rely on the continued use of layer 2 solutions."

With regards to layer-2 solutions, the gradual evolution and deployment of the Lightning Network reveals that Bitcoin (BTC) will become more usable as a means of payment in the coming years, with Bitfinex introducing payments using the Network in December, for instance. (Learn more: ‘Bitcoin is a Constantly Evolving Suite of Protocols’)

At the same time, new coins will emerge. However, rather than competing directly, experts believe that they will increasingly co-exist and offer complementary advantages.

"As speed, scalability and decentralization are part of the blockchain trade-offs trilemma, it’s unlikely that there will ever be a one-size-fits-all protocol, but rather the coexistence of different ones focused on a particular optimization," Filipe Castro tells Cryptonews.com.

Other commentators agree. Also speaking to Cryptonews.com, the founder and CEO of market prediction platform CloseCross, Vaibhav Kadikar, suggests that existing coins and platforms may emphasize and focus on their individual technical strengths in order to thrive within a growing ecosystem.

"New tokens and protocols trying to break into the market will need to prove their worth and demonstrate a very clear use-case," he says.

"In addition, rather than seeing several new protocols enter into the mix, we will see co-dependence between existing players in a concerted attempt to support each other to survive."

Indeed, one theme of 2020 and beyond may be the growth in interoperability, as new platforms emerge that enable people to cross-use multiple blockchains.

"Usability will be a major advancement in 2020, fuelled by increased interoperability across blockchains," says David Gold, the CEO of inter-wallet platform Dapix. "Currently some blockchains do have the construct of metadata that can be utilised on the blockchain: ie, notes and other information about the transaction. But each blockchain handles it differently and some blockchains don’t have that at all. Efforts to standardise this will enhance wallet functionality that will spur mainstream adoption."

Beyond 2020: a gradual evolution

When looking at the coming decade as a whole, most experts expect that there will be significant technological change, albeit of a gradual nature.

"With strong foundations already in place, we will see a gradual evolution of existing chains at the top level, with additional layers, products and services built on top," says Filipe Castro.

"Core protocols will optimize a specific product-market-fit, with many coexisting and complementing each other, rather than displacing themselves."

At the same time, Castro suspects that stablecoins may witness significant developments over the coming years, providing a significant advance over fiat currencies.

"Algorithmic-based, purely decentralized stablecoins, akin to an algorithmic central bank would be an exciting breakthrough," he says. "While we will have such protocols in approximately a decade, the complexity, incentive alignment and technological challenges involved are substantial and require further extensive development. After those obstacles are overcome, wider adoption will follow at the usability and product layer."

Source: cryptonews.com

[iuniverseblog]

Lumarvens Alexander’s “500 Stanzas of Motivation and Inspiration”

Lumarvens Alexander tells us about 500 Stanzas of Motivation and Inspiration, his exciting new release.

  Please briefly describe your book . . .

My book, 500 Stanzas of Motivation and Inspiration, is one of my first and greatest projects ever. I started writing poems down over a period of four years. I’ve been on and off with it and was not too sure if it would’ve really been out there, but I had strong hope. This book outlines a lot of things, some of which is between the lines, but easy to catch on to.

The poems and stories I write, are not only my experiences. I communicate a lot with individuals and our conversations sometimes reach on deep levels, but I always try to compare similarities to myself and other people. I’m able to combine mutual thoughts, feelings and realities into one piece of work so that everyone can picture themselves between the words. That’s what I strive for.

I want when readers read my work to get a feeling as if they wrote it, or someone has written their story. The underlying goal is just for people to have fun reading my book, the same way I had fun writing it. I put a lot of emphasis on motivation and inspiration because I’m centered on growth, but a part of growth is fun and happiness, I just love to entertain and I’m open to necessary feedback. Have some fun with my work and get in contact with me if you ever feel the need to.

  And can you tell us a little about yourself?

Being given a beautiful unique name like Lumarvens, it’s only right that I add a definition and meaning to it. I was born different, I always felt like an outsider growing up, but I never cease looking to find answers to my existence and I made sure to have a lot of fun along the way. Having gone through the things I been through, I can proudly say that the struggle made me stronger and wiser. My background is so diverse, I done lived many lives, performed many good deeds, learned a lot of lessons and gained a lot of life experience. These are the things that make me unique. I don’t try to compete; I create and promote individuality, I’m just content with the person I am and becoming.

  Do you have any particular literary influences? What inspired you to write your book?

One of the main influences behind this book is William Shakespeare. I enjoy reading and listening to the Sonnets. The words expressed in that piece of work resonates with me on a level I don’t understand yet. This is what really inspired me to write this book. This book I can say was an attempt to recreate the Sonnets in my own personal way, theme and style.

I’ve also been influenced by music and hip-hop culture. One of my favorite artists, whom I’ve studied and observed deeply is Lil’ Wayne, I’m also an admirer of Slick Rick and Andre 3000. I enjoy rhymes, near rhymes, word play, flow, lyrical techniques and the art of storytelling.

None of these would have been useful if I hadn’t had a solid foundation in schooling as a youth – attending a religiously influenced school which prides good and teaches virtues. The school housed ‘A beka books’, which I explored and enjoyed as a youth. I strongly recommend that book system. That’s as far as my influences go.

  What is the one message you would like to convey to your readers?

I just want everyone to understand that writing isn’t all that hard, and if you’re a reader, you should try writing something. I love writing, it has done so much for me and I’m sure it can do the same for many people. You don’t have to share your work or show others if you don’t want to, but you will find gratification in just writing things down.

When I started out, I used to write just for fun. I create spur of the moment poems, give it away to someone who enjoys it and forget about it. What brought me joy is knowing that I can just put a few words together and it means something bigger to someone else. Writing can be used as therapy, or at times when you have things on your chest and no one to talk to, the moment you write it down, you get a sense as if a burden has been lifted off your shoulders.

You can discover who you are and recreate yourself through writing. You can inspire yourself, find your purpose, achieve your destiny and so much more. That’s why I always encourage people to don’t stress and think too much. Write your thoughts down – it will help to unclutter your mind to really assess the situation. Most people would tell you that it’s important to write down your goals. Your goal commences and takes form the moment you write it down, comparable to a sperm meeting an egg. So much can be said about writing. Try it out more!

  Are you working on a sequel to 500 Stanzas of Motivation and Inspiration?

I wanted to have a sequel, but considering this is my first book, I’m going to let this stand on its own. I will be producing more material in the upcoming future, some maybe similar to this one, but for now this is the highlight.

  Are there any events, marketing ideas, or promotions planned for your book?

Yes, Facebook promotions, video promotions and other social media outlets. I’m going to get in contact with TV News networks, talk shows and newspaper promotion. I’m going to have book fairs encouraging folks to start writing and alongside promote my book. I’m currently working on producing audio for this book, stay tuned for that. Promotion will also be facilitated in the traditional way of word of mouth as well.

  What was your favorite part of your publishing experience, overall and with iUniverse?

My favorite part of this iUniverse publishing experience is receiving phone calls. The phone calls to me, meant progress. The operators I can personally say, have a remarkable customer service and communication ethic. Also, they take their time to understand what it is that you need, where you’re at currently, how they can assist you, and they are open to your questions or concerns. I haven’t been disappointed.

  Finally, what advice would you give to aspiring authors?

For any aspiring author, the advice I would give is just not to get too worked up on publishing. It gets intimidating; fear and doubt creep in and you start wondering that maybe your writing isn’t all that good anyway. Take it easy on yourself, once your work means something to you and you develop a passion towards it, people cannot help but to like it because you do, that’s what matters.

I wouldn’t recommend you showing your work to your friends and family until everything is ready, finalized and you’re confident enough in publishing. People who are close to you criticize you more and hold many biases. A stranger can help, a librarian can help, an old teacher or religious expert can help. Be open to judgements, but not affected by them; all feedback is necessary.

Try not to rush anything, you need the patience. With passing time, the entire idea of your project can evolve into something you never thought you could have done, you’ll gain more experience and become your own critic in applying necessary corrections and improvements. Practice every day, write other things unrelated to your work and share to get reactions. All this helps. That’s the most I can say.

  Make sure to check out the iUniverse site for more advice and blogs, as well as iUniverse Facebook and iUniverse Twitter. For a FREE Publishing Guide, click here!

  The post Lumarvens Alexander’s “500 Stanzas of Motivation and Inspiration” appeared first on iUniverse Blog.

[futurealitiesbfn]

“WORLDS WE DON’T KNOW       WE DON’T KNOW”.   A SET OF FUTURES FOR SOCIETY 5.0

Society 4.0 has become a widely adopted name for a new phase of human socio-economic-political development.  Underlying this name is a model where human development is described in ‘stages’, from the first, the hunter-gathering stage, through agricultural and industrial stages, to our current, internet-dominated, fourth stage.

However …what next? Whatever we feel are the dominant changes shaping today's society, Society 5.0 posits a world radically transformed in the next 30-40 years.  We all come to accept that expanding technological developments in almost every aspect of human existence, and especially the widespread adoption of AI, will create future worlds that are different from the present.  In order to understand what is possible tomorrow, it is essential that we look today for the building blocks present today.

We began looking for these building blocks for Society 5.0 by gathering approximately 1000 current actions and events, reviewed in a number of workshops, to see what influence they might have on future worlds.  In order to understand what these factors are and will eventually influence, we used a framework to analyze uncertainties in order to frame the notion of change.  

 Thus change can be disruptive  or  adaptive in character.  It can also happen abruptly or gradually.  Finally it can be driven from the top-down, or evolve from the bottom up. Analyzing present realities and actions within these axes of change produces a rich complex of possible futures.

 We know that “future worlds” descriptions can never be prophecy.   The future hinges on things yet to come, even unpredictable, “black swan” events.    But looking at today's actions, discoveries and trends as they are emerging, before we know whether they will develop further or simply die creates a view of why one of many possible futures would develop while the others do not.    

Below are the summaries of 14 building blocks, which we call super-clusters.   Supporting evidence for these super-clusters emerged from our analysis of forces at work today as identified by our global team.

                                          Super-clusters:

                      Futures Uncertain & Futures Possible

 -        NEW DARK AGES OR AN UNEXPECTED ENLIGHTENMENT?

There is supporting evidence for a continuing period of social and economic instability as the ‘perpetrators’ of globalization are ‘punished’ for their success and a process of ‘Amishisation’ is enacted in an attempt to take us back to the ‘good old days’ of manufacturing and Empire.

-        ALTERED REALITY

Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, Reality substitutes, Brain-Machine Interface, Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Abilities dominate society.

-        NEW WORLD ORDER 2046 – DISAGGREGATION

There is a fundamental shift from the familiar growth/development paradigm.  This includes a move from nation states and groupings of them, such as the EU, and their replacement by cities and/or cross-conventional-border interest groups, faiths, etc.

 -        TECHNOLOGY-ENABLED ISOLATIONISM

Populist leaders are increasingly able to gain political support inside small enclaves that follow a certain set of rules, religions and cultural norms. ‘Undesirables’ will be identified by technological methods.

-        DATA WORLD

Data of everything (e.g., humans, foods, goods, services, environment, and social systems) will be measured.  Everything will be designed, operated, produced and/or consumed optimally, based on its data.

-        PLUS ÇA CHANGE, PLUS C’EST LA MÊME CHOSE

Despite vast technological developments, some things never change.  In a Realpolitik world, global cooperation and international law falter even more, producing a self-reinforcing spiral toward short-term self-interest.  A new Balkanization emerges.

-        THE HUMAN ZOO

The Human species will become hybrid, or at least depend for its existence upon technology.

 -        THE  I-OTTTOMAN EMPIRE

The world is formed by 3Ts.  T1 is Things as in IOT.  T2 is Thoughts as In Detecting Our Thoughts, and their political correctness (or lack thereof). T3 is Treatments as in health.

 -        BEYOND CRIME AND RETRIBUTION

The possibility of there being no way to hide our true feelings and thoughts implies that we may well be able not just to diagnose why some behave irrationally, or violently, but possibly predict those who harbor these tendencies.

-        EXISTENTIALISM 3.0 – WHAT IT MEANS TO BE HUMAN IN THE 21ST CENTURY

Robotic developments will force us to question both what it means to be human as well as the purpose of life in the age of intelligent robots.   The answers will be fundamental influencers.

-        TOWARDS THE AUTONOMOUS ECONOMY

. The next 30 years will see increasing tensions between the “wealth creators” and the “wealth users”, mostly manifest through issues of taxation.  

-        CAPITALIZING ON LOCAL CULTURE

The creation of context-rich experience is a source of new wealth and societal interactions.  It leads to more “inclusive economic growth” for all societies.

-        TRANSPARENT HUMANITY

A digital ‘make-believe’ world that is superimposed onto the real world.  The boundary with digital realms will become increasingly indistinguishable.

-        CONFEDERATION URBIS ET CIVES

A Confederation of Cities and Citizens, or otherwise “War as Usual”. The dichotomy is between an economic paradigm change or pervasive conflict.

                             Making sense of these super-clusters

 Clearly within these super clusters there are elements of alternative narratives about the future, i.e., a dichotomy between adaptive/disruptive … aka ‘good’ / ‘negative’’ and a subject of debate.

For example, only one describes a world based on benign application of technology to improve human capabilities. Others anticipate strongly malign political consequences of undermining social diversity.

Two anticipate significant economic change that might shift the balance between wealth creators and wealth users. “Local cultural economy” offers a vision of new, largely positive communities engaged in wealth creation locally.

But by far the largest set is associated with significant social change. These appear to run in parallel with political changes that contrast increasing segregation and potential conflict with the possible decline of liberal democracy in favor of a new economic model.  

What factors might shape these paths?  

We identified three major groups of clusters.

One group addresses aspects of how individual human behavior might adapt to a world of transparent digital intelligence concerning us all.  Personal belief systems might pose challenges to accepted norms, such as scientific discipline.  

Our conclusion?  

They illustrate changing self-organizing possibilities within society.  

Another group alludes to widely differing outcomes between integration and isolation or segregation.

Profound uncertainty is a major theme, and break-up /Balkanization is clearly a distinct possibility.

Finally, another group envisages different kinds of economic outcome, from regional/urban autonomy, to local culture, to technology-induced isolation.  

Again uncertainty, and thus the potential for downsides and dislocation, is clear.

                           Fields of Possible Change and Impact Patterns

 To analyze these with a time perspective of 2050 or thereabouts, we described the set of possible issues and outcomes on twelve facets (or areas) of the future. The four main fields describe core elements of what we consider to be “society” namely 

- Habitat, 

- Livelihood, 

- Wellbeing, 

- Relationships

Main Field 1: Habitat

Facets - Urban Living, Climate and Place, (Planetary) Space

Main Field 2:  Livelihood

Facets - Learning, Leisure, Service/Work

Main Field 3: Wellbeing

Facets - Ageing/wellness, Security, Behavior

Main Field 4:  Relationships

Facets - Governance, Identities, Communication

For each of these twelve facets we produced a summary of what factors might suggest an adaptive future, and/or conversely what might predict a disruptive outcome.  On balance the workshop suggested a range of clear uncertainties about a positive (adaptive) outcome overall.  And some – e.g. security - posit an almost Orwellian dystopia to come.

What is particularly significant is that the tendency towards greater integration may be associated with strongly disruptive outcomes.  

This tends to be almost counter intuitive, but might be seen to be entirely consistent with the struggle for greater integration within Europe at this time, for example.

                      Change Factors and plausible futures

 We identified four change factors summarized below, and the pattern of possible impacts each was judged to have for each of the 12 facets of a future society.

 (a)  Nature 5.0 awaits

 Technology powered fascination with nature will explode.

 (b)  Regeneration via Robots

 Virtual Social life expands with ever more concerted efforts to attribute personalities to inanimate objects. Urban regeneration based on AI and robotic systems.

 (c): Harnessing the idealism of the next generation (GENEXT)

 Will the young seek to exercise power or commit their energy to more practical purposes? How they deploy their idealism will shape the future.

 (d): Creating a Global Transaction Value Chain.

Creating trust in a global disintermediated transaction value chain is critical to a self–employment dominated ‘gig economy’.

                                                   Final Conclusion:

         Implications for developing a future model of Society 5.0 

                                             (a.k.a “The Quinary”).

 The output from this latest workshop shows why a future Society 5.0 is much more than a new technology-driven economic era. It suggests that change will occur at varying rates and intensity across different facets of a future society.

The super-clusters we developed suggest that there is a wide range of potential sources of change and that technology is a more or less given factor. The change signals identified clearly highlight that these changes can shift the balance between both disruptive and adaptive outcomes across all facets of a future society.

This short outline has demonstrated how it is possible to distil a possible range of future outcomes from a very rich set of inputs and experienced judgments. It also reinforces the significant value of maintaining a continuous ‘futures scanning’ effort to ensure ‘early warning‘ of shifts that can suggest different future paths toward Society 5.0

 Finally as Foreign Affairs recently notes “Polling has taken a beating … having failed to predict the victory of David Cameron in the British general elections, then Brexit, and now the election of Donald Trump. … fundamentally, what polls do is to treat these phenomena as isolated events when they are in fact the product of a common set of causes 30 years in the making.“  

We wholeheartedly agree!  

 For more information on BFN/Futurealities, the workshop on which this summary was based, and how we help clients develop ‘future foresight’, please contact wyn@futurealities.com, or any member of the team.

Visit us on Linked In at https://www.linkedin.com/company/8350053. \

Our blog on Tumblr is at https://www.tumblr.com/blog/futurealitiesbfn

See also www.futurealities.com