#the reflection...also the detail in the background despite this being a daily?

[mimisempai]

It's special because it's with you.

Summary

Aziraphale and Crowley are looking forward to celebrating Valentine's Day together, but they hadn't considered how exhausting being a florist can be on this day. Is their evening in jeopardy?

Notes

The first Valentine's Day for the florist and the bookseller

On Ao3

Rating G -  1315 words

Crowley sighed and looked at his watch as he closed the flower shop. He saw his reflection in the window and, seeing his drawn features, ran his hand over his face several times before walking toward the bookshop.

"Happy Valentine's Day!"

The florist's gaze was drawn to the customer coming out of the coffee shop who'd just shouted, then he shook his head and continued on his way, mumbling through his teeth, "Yeah, happy Valentine's Day."

Of course he was happy to share this special moment with Aziraphale, it was the first time he could do it with someone who really mattered and even more than that, but...

He sighed again.

It was his first Valentine's Day as the owner of his flower shop, and he hadn't anticipated the impact this day would have on his work. 

Partly because of the reputation he'd built up working for Justine's restaurant, the parade of customers had been non-stop. There were those who had ordered well in advance and others who had come at the last minute, the special requests, the dissatisfied. In short, even with Muriel's help, he hadn't been able to take a break at noon, sacrificing his daily lunch break with Aziraphale.

Crowley smiled slightly, for that hadn't stopped his thoughtful lover from dropping off a plate of sandwiches for them.

It was also why he didn't want to disappoint him by canceling their evening at the Ritz, despite his exhaustion.

Arriving near the bookshop, he was slightly surprised to see almost no lights on, then shrugged, thinking that maybe Aziraphale had already turned everything off so they could go straight to the restaurant.

He opened the door and couldn't hold back a small gasp of surprise.

The bookshop was lit only by the warm glow of a few candles scattered here and there, while in the center stood a table for two, nicely dressed and decorated, lit by a candelabra and the gramophone was playing soft music in the background.

He called softly, "Aziraphale?"

His lover came from the back of the bookshop with a bottle of wine and two glasses in his hand, which he placed on the table before joining him.

He called out with a broad smile, "Crowley, there you are!" 

Once in front of him, the bookseller planted a light kiss on his cheek before saying softly, "Happy Valentine's Day."

Crowley, still looking surprised, asked as he swept his arm around the area, "Aziraphale, what does this all mean?"

Aziraphale took his hand and said gently, "While I'm absolutely delighted to share this Valentine's Day with you, I'm certainly not going to do it at the expense of your well-being."

Crowley narrowed his eyes and asked, "Have you been planning this for a long time?"

Aziraphale shook his head and replied with a smile, "No, not at all, I improvised it when I saw the workload you had today."

Crowley looked embarrassed and said, "But you were looking forward to this special evening at the res--"

Aziraphale silenced him with a finger to his mouth and replied gently, "What is special is being with you, no matter where or how. I've been looking forward to this evening because it's with you. The rest is just details."

Crowley tried to protest, but Aziraphale would have none of it. He took the florist's hands and led him to the table, where he made him sit down.

He brought his hand to Crowley's cheek, stroked it with his thumb, and said softly, "You don't have to pretend with me. Don't force yourself because you think this is what I want. This. Us. The only way this is going to work is if we're completely honest with each other. The heart-shaped cards, the chocolates, the flowers, the fancy restaurant, it's all meaningless if we're not both into it. My greatest gift this Valentine's Day is just the two of us."

He grabbed the bottle and the two glasses and, after filling them, handed one to Crowley before raising his own and saying softly, "To us."

Crowley smiled and, clinking his glass against the bookseller's, replied in the same tone, "To us."

They took a sip and then, over a plate of hors d'oeuvres, they talked about their day, laughing more than once when Crowley talked about some eccentric customer or Aziraphale about customers who had left empty-handed because, Love Fest or not, he wouldn't part with his prized possessions.

The gramophone needle jerked a little before moving on to the next song, and as the notes began to play, Crowley pushed back his chair and stood up under Aziraphale's puzzled gaze.

Now standing beside him, the florist held out his hand and said softly, a small smile on his lips, "Mister Fell, may I have this dance?"

Aziraphale, now with a delighted expression on his face, placed his hand in the outstretched one and said quietly, "Of course, Mister Crowley."

Then he stood and placed his other hand on his lover's shoulder, who wrapped his arm around his waist and pressed him a little closer, leaving Aziraphale no choice but to rest his head on the florist's chest.

They began to sway gently to the sound of the singer's velvety voice.

From time to time, Crowley would plant a soft kiss on Aziraphale's hair, and Aziraphale would press himself a little closer in response.

Suddenly, Crowley put his hands on Aziraphale's shoulders and shoved him gently before rummaging through his pocket as the bookseller looked on in bewilderment.

He pulled out a small pink felt bag, tied with a small red ribbon, and handed it to Aziraphale, saying with a lopsided grin, "I know you said you didn't care for chocolates, heart-shaped cards, and flowers, but it would be a shame if this one melted. Happy Valentine's Day, Angel."

Aziraphale picked it up and, once the ribbon was undone, turned the little bag upside down over his open palm, revealing an adorable little white chocolate angel.

The bookseller, both amused and touched by the gesture, looked at it more closely, twirling it delicately in his hand as his cheeks took on a color that was no match for the pink of the bag.

Then he carefully placed the little angel in the center of the table and returned to Crowley, wrapping his arms around his neck. He brought his face close to the florist's and murmured against his lips, "Thank you. This Valentine's night is absolutely perfect," before closing the distance between them and pressing his lips to Crowley's in a tender kiss.

Crowley responded by wrapping his arms around the bookseller, deepening the kiss that lingered as the singer sang the last words of the song.

And as we kissed and said good night

A nightingale sang in Berkeley Square

I know 'cause I was there

That night in Berkeley Square

Lost in the sweet atmosphere of the moment, they continued to kiss and sway gently as the music faded.

**********

"Oh, did you hear that?"

Eric, raising an eyebrow, turned to Muriel and asked, "What?"

Muriel, looking excited, replied, "A nightingale, I'm sure I heard it."

Eric laughed lightly and replied, "That's unlikely this time of year."

Muriel nudged him on the shoulder and replied, "Don't always be so pragmatic, you know sometimes miracles do happen, after all tonight is propitious for it, isn't it?"

Eric's expression softened as he cupped Muriel's face in his hands and said softly, the worship visible in his gaze, "The only miracle I believe in right now is you." 

Then he leaned forward and kissed them softly before taking their hand in his and leading them away to resume their walk.

As the young couple walked away, they didn't see the little nightingale come to rest on a leafless branch, nor did they hear its song as it watched them disappear around the corner from Berkeley Square.

_________

Still not beta'd

Still not my native language

Still hoping you'll enjoy this story  🥰

Still thanking you for bearing with me 😝

The florist and the booksellers series : here

Ineffable Husbands masterlist : here

[workbypc]

Srushti Ambavale Age – Explore Her Age and Personal Details

Srushti Ambavale is a renowned social media influencer and content creator who has made a significant mark on platforms like Instagram and YouTube. Her engaging videos and charming personality have earned her a massive following.

Who is Srushti Ambavale? Srushti Ambavale is a popular digital star, recognized for her lip-sync videos, dance performances, and lifestyle content. She gained fame through TikTok and later expanded her presence on Instagram and YouTube.

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Srushti Ambavale Family Background: Srushti belongs to a supportive and high-class family based in Kolkata, India. She has kept the details about her parents and siblings private but mentions being close to her family. She often credits their support for her success in her digital career.

Srushti Ambavale Personal Life: Srushti Ambavale leads a vibrant yet private personal life. Born and raised in Kolkata, she completed her schooling at a private institution in her hometown. Despite her fame, she remains grounded and focused on her professional growth. She values her family’s support and stays connected to her cultural roots while pursuing a dynamic digital career.

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Srushti Ambavale Relationship: She has not publicly disclosed any information regarding her relationship status, keeping her private life away from public scrutiny.

Srushti Ambavale Favorite Things:

Food: Pasta

Destination: Paris

Actor: Kartik Aryan

Actress: Shraddha Kapoor

Color: Red

Sports Person: Rohit Sharma

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She actively engages with her followers, often sharing personal milestones and collaborations with brands on these platforms.

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Facts About Srushti Ambavale:

She is a trained dancer and model.

She started her career with TikTok in 2018.

She has collaborated with several well-known brands.

Srushti enjoys traveling and often shares travel vlogs with her fans.

She does not smoke or drink alcohol.

Conclusion: Srushti Ambavale is a rising star in the digital world, known for her talent and engaging content. Her journey from a TikTok creator to a top social media influencer showcases her hard work, creativity, and dedication to her craft.

[bloglutfi]

Revealing interesting details about Denny Ja’s elected work in 29: Little TuanTuhan

In the world of Indonesian literature, Denny Ja has long been known as one of the leading authors. His work always steals the public’s attention and becomes a hot topic of conversation among literary lovers. One of his works that attracts attention is “Little TuananTuhan”, which is the chosen work of Denny JA’s 29th. In this article, we will reveal interesting details about this work more deeply.    I. Background and Concept of Work    In “Little Tuan Tuan”, Denny JA invites the reader to question the concept of God that exists in society. He through his work wants to arouse the thoughts of his readers about the existence of God and Religion in daily life. Denny JA also described God’s figure as an imperfect figure, who also has weaknesses and weaknesses.    II. Synopsis    “Little Tuan Tuan” tells the story of a man named Adam who gained supernatural power to control everything in this world. With his strength, Adam tried to be God for everyone and change the world according to his wishes. However, the longer Adam used his strength, the more he realized that being God had severe consequences. He felt loneliness and frustration because no one could understand and follow his will in full.    III. Themes and meanings    The main theme raised in “Little TuanTuhan” is about power and its consequences. Denny Ja wants to invite the reader to reflect on the influence of power and the desire to control everything. Through this story, he wants to convey the message that power does not always bring happiness and perfection. Unwise power can produce loneliness and deep dissatisfaction.    The meaning contained in “small tuantihan” is that humans must remain humble and respect God’s true will. We must learn to accept our limitations and weaknesses as humans, and not try to be God for ourselves and others.    IV. Writing Style    In “Little Tuan Tuan”, Denny Ja uses a straightforward writing style but full of meaning. He uses language that is easy to understand, but still conveys a deep message. He also uses a living dialogue, thus helping readers get into the story line better.    V. Reader Reaction    “Little Tuanan” get a variety of reactions from the reader. Some readers like this work because they arouse their thoughts about God and religion. They consider this work as a deep reflection and force them to see God from a different perspective. However, not a few readers who feel disturbed by the concept of this story, because they assume that Denny Ja has violated sensitive limits in religion.    VI. Conclusion    “Little Tuan Tuan” is one of the chosen works of Denny Ja 29 that attracts public attention. Through this story, Denny Ja invites the reader to question the concept of God and power in everyday life. He wants to convey the message that power does not always bring happiness and perfection, and humans must remain humble and respect God’s true will. Despite getting a variety of reactions, “Little Tuan Tuan” remains an interesting work to be explored and contemplated.

Check more: reveal the interesting details about Denny JA’s selected work: Little TuanTuhan

[blogkarisman]

Commenting on the 38th elected work of Denny Ja: “Then they prayed Friday at the Church” clearly and in detail

In his elected work entitled “Then they pray Friday at the church,” Denny Ja again presents an interesting story and captivating the reader. In this article, we will comment on the selected work of Denny JA this time clearly and in detail.    In this story, Denny JA tells a unique event that occurred in a small village in Indonesia. This story is centered on two different religious groups, namely Muslims and Christians. Despite having different beliefs and places of worship, they respect each other and live side by side with peace.    In this story, Denny JA described the atmosphere of a village full of tolerance and understanding between different religious communities. He described how Muslims and Christians interact with mutual respect and helping each other in everyday life. This is very inspiring because we often hear about conflicts between religions, but in this story we see diversity as a united force.    In his writing, Denny Ja is very clear in describing the characteristics of the character in the story. He presents the characters with different backgrounds, but is still able to describe their uniqueness and complexity. This character comes with all the advantages and disadvantages that make them feel real in the reader’s mind.    In addition, Denny Ja also managed to describe the atmosphere and setting of the story in great detail. He succeeded in presenting an overview of daily life in the village, ranging from residents’ houses, traditional markets, to different places of worship. This allows the reader to feel the atmosphere of the story and be emotionally involved with what is happening in the story.    One interesting thing about Denny Ja’s selected work this time is the message to be conveyed. In this story, he wants to teach readers about the importance of respecting differences and coexisting peacefully. He wants to emphasize that despite having different beliefs and places of worship, we are all human beings and must respect each other.    In reading this story, we are invited to reflect on the importance of tolerance and unity. We are invited to see that differences are not something that must be a source of conflict, but instead becomes a force that enrich our lives. Denny Ja managed to invite the reader to see diversity as a gift that must be maintained and appreciated.    In conclusion, Denny Ja’s elected work entitled “Then they pray Friday at the Church” is a story that inspires the heart and teaches the importance of coexiting life in diversity. Denny Ja succeeded in presenting a clear and detailed picture of life in the village, as well as describing the characters that we can find in everyday life. Through his story, he succeeded in delivering a message about the importance of tolerance and unity in multicultural society. Hopefully the other Denny Ja work will continue to inspire and arouse the spirit of harmony in our lives.

Check more: comment on the 38th elected work of Denny JA: “Then they pray Friday at the Church” clearly and in detail

[shini--chan]

I love you're writing skills! How would be the reader react when she travel the time back so like the 1600 in England?. And England would she see her in modern clothes. She want go back to her time(2020). Im so sorry for my bad English

Thank you, that is very sweet of you. Also don’t worry – your English probably isn’t as bad as you think.

If you want to see anything else set in that period, go and check that Pirate AU! Post. Now on to this here.

Yandere England – 1600s/Timetravler

Whether you would like it or not, you would find yourself hurtling through time and landing in England during the 17th century. Right in Puritan England to be precise, literally the worst decade to land into right after ending up in the middle of a battle. You would be wandering the countryside, in total confusion as well as in complete panic. That would be how Arthur would find you. He would be heading back home, utterly disgruntled by the state of affairs that he would have to suffer under. Then he would notice you, an alien entity by all means, in your strange clothing and foreign manners. First, he would consider just leaving you to your fate (which could be very gruesome) as the loon you would appear to be to him. Then he would remember the supposed Christian values of hospitality and altruism and approach you to take you home with him.

You would be both relieved and frightened to see somebody approach you. Through his clothing it would dawn upon you that you were really in the past. Despite fearing being deemed a witch or being interrogated or suffering from any other fate that would cross your mind, you would know that you would need help. The moment Arthur would open his mouth to inquire about you, the final nail would be hammered in the coffin. The Old English that would meet your ears would be absolute proof that was once history would be your present. A notion that would be affirmed when Arthur’s face would wrinkle in confusion when you would use your English.

Your strange use of his language would confuse, but would nevertheless ring a bell in the back of his mind. It would remind him how English had developed over the centuries. Would your way of using it just be a natural result of further evolution, hence making you a … timetravler? That would be at least what you would be trying to convey over the language barrier. Arthur would be sceptical at first, wanting to rule out all other possibilities before believe you. If you’d think him to be a fool, then you’d have something else coming. Then you’d try to use evidence to convince him.

Quickly, he grabbed the strange thing you were holding out to him. After giving you a brief mistrusting look, he would take a few steps away from you. A paranoid bastard as ever, he turned to stand in such a way that you couldn’t see everything he was doing while keeping an eye on you.

The thing that you handed to him was unlike anything he had ever seen before. It was rectangular and slim, smooth with its dark glass and opaque surfaces. He glimpsed his own cruel visage in the reflection. Was it nothing more than a strange mirror?

Then he went on to inspect the sides, the tips of his fingers finding a few elevations in the material. Curious, he pressed one of them …

… and nearly dropped it when the dark glass promptly lit up and it emitted a strange sound. You yelled besides him, suddenly directly at his side since your device had been endangered. He was sure that hadn’t his reflexes been so quick, then he would have to defend himself against a very enraged stranger. Instead, you glare at him, as irritated as you were, and tried to snatch your thing back.

Agitated by your action in turned, Arthur roughly pushed you away, sending you sprawling to the ground. You cussed at him, the aggressor recognising a few of the swears you tossed at him but not finding himself bothered enough to respond and instead staring at the picture that had manifested.

There was a colourful background, the nuances and lines and shadows showing a painting that was far more realistic then any he had ever seen before. In front of it, a series of number shined at him. One set was probably the time, he deduced, while the other was most likely the date from how it was written.

2021 …

That was nearly 400 hundred years in the future. He looked at you, observed how you had picking stones out of your scraped and bleeding palms.

Despite your disagreeable demeanour, you would likely prove very useful to him.

He would promptly take you with him, trying his best to convey to you through gestures and miss-matched words that he would only want to help you. If you prove define, then he would coerce you into following him by taking your smartphone hostage. Once you would calm down, then you would rationalize that this would probably be the best option you could receive and concede his wishes.

Arthur would keep you in his house, ensure that all the servants would steer clear from the rooms he would house you in, and gradually butter up to you, with all intentions of drawing the details of his future out of you. Other than that, he would intently observe you, knowing that the behavioural patter say a lot about a person, and in extension, give clues about the environment they grew up in. And needly to say, he would be very surprised by some things.

“You know, it is the third time you demand to be allowed to wash yourself this week. Don’t you think you are going too far? There is miasma in the water, and if you continue like this, not only will you render yourself a fool, but you’ll also become sick”, he chided you as he watched you hauled a bucket up the stairs.

As weak as you were, you were struggling with your heavy load, evidence to the lack of physical labour you had done in your life. It made Arthur ask himself if everybody in the future would be as weak and spoiled as you are, or if you were just the exception.

Either way, while manners and etiquette called for him to ease your burden which you evidently couldn’t manage on your own, he found the sight of you straggling up the flight of cold stone steps far too amusing to intervene.

With trembling arms, your set down the bucket and stared at him, eyes shooting daggers up at him. “In case you didn’t know, it is dirt that actually makes people sick. It is cleanliness that prevents infection. Which is why you would do well to wash daily as well!”

With a frown, Arthur picked up his shirt to sniff it. In his opinion, he didn’t stink, so he didn’t see what you were making such a fuss about. He was also sure he had understood you correctly – the two of you had managed to sort out things to the extent that you could communicate fairly well.

“I think that changing underclothing daily and bathing once a month to be sufficient. And now, before you say anything, be sure to keep your attitude in check. I’ve had more than enough of it”, he told you.

He watched your face wrinkle and swore he heard you mutter: “Damn patriarchy and its superiority complex.”

He didn’t know whether to be alarmed about your very simplistic, black-and-white view of the world and your grievous oversimplifications of the current era or be amused about how you thought you knew everything. Either way, he would have to take your words about the future with a grain of salt – who knew just how skewed your recounts would be.

“I fail to see how this has to do with that. The matter at hand is about the guest treating the host with respect, expected courtesy allowing humans to live together. I could put you out on the streets if you keep being a brat”, he countered.

You grasped the handle once more, water spilling over the rim as you picked it up with both hands. “We both know that you wouldn’t do that. You value me too much.”

And oh, in what ways he was beginning to value you.

For one, he would detest how condescending you would be, due to having all the knowledge of the next centuries and all the benefits that would come with it. Yet, he would bare most of it. When he wouldn’t, he’d let his sharp-tongue and centuries worth of life experience come to light. He would mock you for your nativity and prod at you for being coddled and accustomed to yet-to-be luxuries.

Arthur would tell you that he would put effort in finding a way to send you back to your own time. That would be a shameless lie. He wouldn’t be interested in anything of the sort. Rather he would insist on you staying with him, to help him further his imperial ambitions. Besides, you would be the most interesting and riveting thing that would have happened to him in ages. He would quickly grow attached to you, and with you having nobody else than him (he would ensure that) in a harsh and foreign world of which you would truly know little, you would find yourself relying on him.

He might tell you that he is a personification. Secrets for secrets, after all. And with him providing proof of his semi-immortality and the absurdity of time travel having happened you would be inclined to believe him. England would also tell you that if you would return to your own time, he would be sure to seek you out, so that you can be back together again. Besides rising alarm bells in your head, you would find yourself asking just how much of the timeline you would end up altering with the scrapes of information that he would wheedle out of you.

[x0401x]

Jeweler Richard Fanbook Short Story #15

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Richard-sensei’s Cooking Classroom

On a bright morning in Kandy, a provincial town from Sri Lanka, a man was standing still in his kitchen. Leaning against the wall was a Japanese book titled “Breakfast for People Who Live Alone”. There were three items on the menu. Just an omelet with ketchup on top, boiled sausages and fruit salad yogurt.

Regardless, the kitchen where the man was standing was an explosion of colors, as if it were the atelier of some Dadaist painter. Perhaps he was wrong in trying to make an omelet, the blond man thought, tilting his head despondently. Loved by the god of beauty, his blond hair swayed smoothly, and on the wall behind him, the exploded omelet was scattered in all directions, giving off an artistic atmosphere. It was obvious that in order to cook an omelet on a frying pan, it was necessary to shake up said pan, but the specific method of how hard one should shake it had not even once made an appearance in his life, much like fairies and unicorns from fictional stories. As a result of him jerking the pan with moderate adjustment, the omelet had flown off, hitting the wall and dripping down under the influence of gravity.

The beautiful man cast his eyes at the opposite side of the kitchen with a melancholic look as well. His golden eyelashes reflected a rainbow-colored prism and shone like an emerald-green sea under the morning sun. In a corner, where a microwave and water heater sat on top of the kitchen table, something orange had burst all over the place from within the microwave. Just why did food blow up so often, the man wondered, silently ashamed of his ignorance for trying to reduce just two rules of thumb to common sense. When he put three vacuum-packed blood sausages in the microwave and warmed them up, the sausages lost their original shape with a faint explosive sound. Obeying the instructions that said, “Bain-marie or microwave”, the man had chosen the microwave, which seemed less difficult, but probably due to some process being neglected or the heating time being incorrect, the sausages had undergone a magical transformation, looking like some sort of eerie monster.

Moving his feet so as not to make a sound, the man headed to the dining room, lightly placing a hand on the large table and elegantly gazing at the tabletop. Fragments of yellow and green were floating on a sea of white.

“Fruits yogurt,” the man whispered, as if it were a magic spell, heaving a spring breeze-like sigh.

It was just chopped fruits floating on yogurt. Taking into account the possibility that he could not cut the fruits too meticulously, the man was out of luck to have a slicer with him, and by the moment he realized that this one was apparently not supposed to be used for fruits but rather for slicing things such as cabbages and carrots into thin pieces, the fruits that he had failed to chop had gone flying over the table, surrounding the bowl of yogurt and instantaneously creating a Genesis-like scene on the tabletop. It was chaos.

On 360 degrees, no matter where he looked, it was a foodstuff hell. After looking around one more time at the artistic misery he had created and sighing coarsely, he started anew and began doing a quick cleaning.

   “Morning, Richard. You slept well, I see.”

“Good morning, Seigi. So you wake up early even in Sri Lanka. Short sleepers have shorter lives. Didn’t you go to bed yesterday when it was already past midnight?”

“That’s fine for today. I have a guest here, after all. I’ll catch up with my sleep tomorrow.”

“I have not done so much to be called a ‘guest’.”

“There, there; let’s leave that for after we eat.”

His face looking like he was checking on something, the man whose appearance was impeccable even first-thing in the morning, as usual, glanced at the kitchen and dining room of my Sri Lankan house, and then let out a tiny sigh, stopping by a place close to the garden.

“Hey, could it be you woke up early this morning? Like, around 5AM...”

“Why?”

“I wonder if it was my imagination.”

In this three-story house, the first floor was a shared space for the dining room and bathroom, while the second and third floors had bedrooms. The room that I used as my main one was on the second floor, and the room on the third floor was used when Richard came over to be my overseer, but only the first floor had a bathroom. Whenever someone was going down to the first floor, one could tell by the sound of them stepping on the stairs. That was no big deal when I was alone, but this was the kind of house that would disturb other people’s sleep if I didn’t walk quietly whenever I needed to use the toilet in the middle of the night.

At around five o’clock, probably because I was drowsy, I had the feeling that someone had gone downstairs. I went back to sleep thinking that maybe Richard, who was looking after me despite having a jetlag, felt like having a late-night snack or something, but it was apparently a wrong guess.

Said man, dressed in a soft-looking shirt and the beige pants that he usually wore when he was relaxed, was standing still with eyes wide-open. It seemed he had noticed what was on the table. I was happy with the reaction.

“I’ve got breakfast for us. Hope it suits your taste.”

“Why? You said yesterday that your breakfast was just cereal and fruits.”

“I indeed said this yesterday, but I wanted to show it’s really not like that every single day. I also didn’t want you to worry for no reason.”

Plain omelets, sausages and fruit salad. For some reason, this house had many pottery dishes from European brands instead of Sri Lankan ones, but they were working out well for today. The paintings of green and pink pedicels over a white background were apparently from a German brand. It was actually my first time making a breakfast like this, which looked like it could show up in a commercial for some newly built apartment building and wasn’t as filling as its appearance suggested, but it had been surprisingly fun.

“I saw the recipe book in the kitchen. It’s a present for me, right? Thank you. I was happy to read a book in Japanese after so long, so I decided to make the part that showed up when I opened it into our menu. Now, now, please have a seat and eat up.”

For about solid ten seconds, Richard stared at the one-plate breakfast, his gaze looking like he was seeing a stone that he had never set his eyes on before, but then, after giving a start as if just remembering that I existed, he sat down with his same-old graceful demeanor.

“Well then, shall we?”

And so, Richard ate breakfast next to me. At times like these, this man would become extremely well-mannered, taking notice of and praising the details, such as the fineness of the omelet’s texture and the beauty of the fruit cuts in the yogurt, as if he were evaluating a five-million-yen jewelry or something. Even while being in Sri Lanka, I sometimes thought that if there were teachers like him in middle or high school around Japan, it would save many children.

“Thanks; that makes me happy. I’m benefiting from it too. Getting so many compliments for just boiling sausages.”

I didn’t know very well how to describe Richard’s face when I said that. His expression seemed like it could be the theme of a masterpiece painting, as if the exceptionally beautiful man had suddenly been reminded of an indescribable pain in the depths of his chest, but was struggling not to expose it in his facial expression. When I asked what was up, the reply was a gentle smile. His usual face was already back.

“I believe I have already said this several times, but you are extremely smart. You decipher the texts, assemble the methods in your head and put them to practice. There are more hardships in this process than you can imagine. Nevertheless, you specialize at it. This is clearly a talent of yours. Be sure to cherish it.”

“I will. But, well, I think doing my best because someone else’s gonna eat it also counts.”

For security reasons, I wasn’t allowed to invite guests to this house. I was sometimes called over to the house of a local friend I had made, and then I’d cook a simple dish there, but guests that make several meticulous dishes on the spot were probably not very welcome. So whenever there were days like these, when “guests” officially recognized by the house’s owner, Saul-san, occasionally came over, it was a great opportunity for me have a change of pace.

While thanking Richard for washing the dishes, I cleaned up the dining room and before moving on to stone study, which was my daily routine in the morning (at any rate, I had to examine stones thoroughly, guess their prices and drill the right and wrong ones into my head; pretty simple), I asked him about lunch. Richard-sensei was very busy. No time for leisure.

“You’ll be off again in the evening flight, right? What we gonna do about lunch? If you’re leaving at three o’clock, then you’ll still be in Kandy at noon, right? Can we go to a restaurant I like?”

“What a good thing it is that you found a ‘restaurant you like’ in this country. Allow me to accompany you.”

While smiling, Richard was about to let out a yawn, yet he hastily bit it down. He was like a prideful cat. As I thought, he seemed a little sleepy. When I suggested him to go to bed again, he said that he didn’t mind it, since he was going to sleep in the night flight either way. And yet he was calling me a short sleeper.

I glanced at the dining room and the kitchen. They were neatly organized. From their tidy and orderly state, I could tell with just a look that I obviously hadn’t cleaned them to this point last night. There wasn’t a single speck of dust on the floor. Despite the difference between the inside and outside of the house being so vague. There was no evidence left, but it was clear that something had happened here. Not a murder, but a more peaceful and heartwarming incident. The suspect showed no signs of confessing. So I wouldn’t say anything either. No particular comments on the multiple rags and some food remains at the bottom of the organic waste bag. I only had one thing that I wanted to say no matter what, so I hoped he’d just let me say it.

After finishing the meal, I waited for the beautiful man to stand up, and then I went behind Richard, clutching his shoulders. I was going to say it before he turned around, asking what I was doing. It was best if I didn’t see his face. There was no telling what I could say when I was staring at him in fascination.

“I myself don’t know very well what I’m talking about, so I want you to forget it in two seconds, but I was reeeally happy for this morning. Really happy. To a shocking extent.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I said I didn’t know either, right? I don’t get it, but anyway, I was happy. That’s all! Aight, study time.”

Without looking at Richard’s face until the very end, I started knocking a thousand gemstones in my workspace on the first floor. I had to look over them while it was morning. This was my current job. Richard didn’t say anything else, but his back looked calm under his shirt, so I was a bit relieved as well. Thinking back on it now, I had taken the wrong path at that time. I should have told him “not to overdo it” more clearly.

Two weeks later, Richard came back, but this time, I heard a small explosion at 6AM. Three times in a row. What did it take for things to turn out this way? The current time was already 7AM. Between getting up right now or not, which one would be less of a hassle later on? I didn’t even want to think about what had been made of the dining room. There was no one other than the two of us in this house and this wasn’t a matter that I had to go as far as asking the landlord, Saul-san, for advice on, so I knew I was the one who had to deal with it anyway. I wanted someone to decide in my stead. What should I do?

[mysteriouslytransparentwitch]

5 unexpected exercises to regain self-esteem (it's a translation)

Self-esteem ... a bit of a fuzzy psychological concept for most of us. Yet we are all aware that low self-esteem can have devastating consequences in our lives.

Something not to be taken lightly then ...

Especially since it can directly impact your eating habits.

Are there solutions to increase your self-esteem?

Fortunately, the answer is "Yes"!

In this article, discover 5 easy (and rather unexpected) exercises to regain self-esteem.

If you tend to devalue yourself, then trust me, these exercises are a must!

A word of advice ... stick with it until the end because I will offer you a recognized test to assess your level of self-esteem at the end of this article.

This will allow you to know where you are and also to re-evaluate yourself shortly after performing the exercises regularly.

Pin it What is self-esteem? According to Wikipedia, self-esteem is "a term for the judgment or assessment made of an individual in relation to their own worth. ”

In other words, self-esteem refers to "how we see ourselves, how we assess our worth".

When we talk about self-esteem, we are therefore talking about the look and value judgment that we have on ourselves (and which does not necessarily have to do with the skills that we may have. ).

When self-esteem is positive, it allows you to:

➖ Feel good about yourself,

➖ Face the difficulties and trials of life,

➖ Take control over your actions.

You feel capable of accomplishing your goals and getting through to your projects.

You are determined!

A bit like putting on a super heroine costume ...

You are ready to challenge all obstacles!

Whereas negative self-esteem makes it really very difficult to take action and accept your mistakes.

You feel helpless in the face of events in your life. Demotivation sets in ... You feel incapable, weak, basically completely zero ...

As you can see, self-esteem is inextricably linked with the assessment of one's own skills.

If she is weak and fragile, it will be difficult for you to feel competent. Failures in your life will reinforce the lack of self-esteem and increase your feeling of worthlessness ...

And if that weren't enough, if you have low self-esteem, unfortunately you will tend to attract so-called "toxic" people ���.

You know those “vampires” thirsty for the affection and energy of others?

These people know very well how to spot and take advantage of your weakness, if you are psychologically fragile.

Do you lack self-esteem?

Don't be surprised when you find yourself in toxic and demeaning relationships.

It makes sense when you think about it, since deep down inside you think you don't deserve better ...

So self-esteem is related to others? Indeed, positioning yourself in relation to others is one of the fundamental factors that allows you to adjust your self-esteem.

We all naturally tend to self-assess by comparing ourselves to others.

Whether in the professional or academic field (skills), but also on our physical aspect, in the material field (wealth and social rank), in our emotional and family successes or failures ...

If comparing yourself to others really weighs in with your self-esteem, so does the way others look at you.

Feeling loved and appreciated weighs heavily.

Finally, studies show that skills and performance are not necessarily good indicators of high self-esteem.

For example, students who are popular with their peers often have much higher self-esteem than students who are good in class (even if their academic performance is poor).

Self-esteem is therefore more linked to relationship aspects.

Moreover, parental attitude and style of education play a crucial role in the development of a child's self-esteem.

Supportive and caring parents will help their children to have high self-esteem even compared to overbearing or neglectful parents.

So you know what to do if you want to help your children not suffer from low self-esteem!

Speak encouraging, respectful words, show them affection, care and gratitude when they succeed in certain tasks that they deem important.

The impact of low self-esteem on diet: If you suffer from low self-esteem, you must also be feeling bad about yourself… Logical!

This is unfortunately part of the packaging as we have seen previously.

The risk of falling into depression is also much greater.

If your self-esteem is low, you also risk developing anxiety disorders and addictive behaviors (excessive consumption of sugar, chocolate, screens, etc.)

Feeling bad about yourself, devaluing yourself, thinking that you do not deserve the love and appreciation of others is THE main factor that leads to developing eating disorders such as bulimia, anorexia, or overeating.

The negative impact on all daily life is therefore very significant.

Really, don't take this aspect of your life lightly.

If you think you lack self-esteem, I suggest you perform these 5 very simple little exercises inspired by Positive Psychology, daily.

Do not underestimate them, it could really improve many facets of your life!

How do you improve your self-esteem?

1 / Self-awareness exercise A great sage said:

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift that's why it's called the present" (the mothers here will probably recognize this very ... literary reference! and no one laughs at my references 😂)

Becoming aware of yourself is the first link that allows you to develop your self-esteem. This is why I suggest you start with this exercise.

➡️ Every morning, take time to relax.

Preferably, before checking your emails, Instagram notifications, Facebook etc ... which only pollute your brain unnecessarily.

➡️ Take a notebook or journal.

Take 3 minutes to close your eyes for a moment and reflect on what you are feeling like emotions, sensations and feelings at that moment.

Do you feel sad, happy, tired, energetic, motivated, anxious…?

➡️ Write this in your journal without going into judgment or analysis.

Just try to write down as much detail as possible about how you are feeling physically and psychologically at this moment.

2 / Exercise on self-acceptance: Another aspect that goes hand in hand with self-esteem: self-acceptance.

It is necessary that you learn to support yourself rather than blame yourself. Encourage yourself, value yourself.

To help you accept yourself, there's nothing like asking your loved ones about your qualities and what they like about you.

➡️ Write all of this in your notebook and reread it whenever you feel you are devaluing yourself.)

Also take the time to remember your successes, the highlights of your life.

What are you particularly proud of? What can you rejoice in?

The exercise that I am offering you here to better accept yourself but also and above all your destiny (the Decree of Allah) is therefore to write down every evening 10 things that have made you happy during the day.

10 things for which you are grateful to Allah عز و جال.

By asking these questions to your consciousness, even if you are in a "bad mood", your brain will be forced to search for the answers.

This will force you to focus on the positive rather than your worries and trials, which can often seem more important to you than they really are, if you have low self-esteem.

Remember, glorifying Allah عز و جال and praising Him in all circumstances are part of the believer's duty, which will bring her the satisfaction of her Lord but also inner peace.

3 / stop comparing yourself to others Do you want to please me?

Focus on your own goals and stop comparing yourself to others!

You did not start at the same time as the others, nor do you have the same background, the same tests, and even less the same qualities and skills ...

So I am going to offer you a rather funny exercise here, you will see ...

This must have already happened ...

You are busy but silent and then you find yourself talking to yourself (internally or out loud, it depends on the seriousness of your case 😂):

"Bint Fulana is more beautiful, more intelligent, and in addition she kept a flat stomach despite her pregnancies ... She raises her children better than me, and then you have to face reality, she is also more pious because she knows the Koran by heart and not I, she often goes to meetings, while I rarely manage to do so with all my obligations at home… " Does that remind you of someone?

This little voice does not wish you any good! Be aware of this.

She just wants to make you feel guilty.

And if you listen to it, you are going to put pressure on yourself.

You'll never feel up to it and it might end badly.

Because what's the point of comparing yourself to people who have paths and personalities totally different from yours? It doesn't make sense, don't you think?

So ... once you realize this, I suggest you name that part of yourself that is trying to make you feel guilty!

As if she was a whole person… and above all, find him a very ridiculous little name.

The next time you find yourself having this kind of "inner talk," don't hesitate to call him out:

“Here is Medusa (or Cruella) coming!” (no you won't have dissociative personality disorder!)

You will see. This exercise will gradually lessen the weight of that bad voice on your self-esteem by ridiculing it and minimizing its impact on you.

You will also be more able to become aware of these internal discourses which have no benefit for your "sanity".

Don't laugh it really works, trust me!

4 / Exercise to increase self-love: By increasing your love for yourself, it will boost your self-esteem. And for that, you really have to learn to take care of yourself.

Think about ... what actions can you take each day to experience happiness, pleasure or take care of yourself?

So take your nice little notebook or journal every morning.

And, after performing the 1st exercise, think about the moments, actions or situations that have given you well-being and satisfaction during the last 7 days?

How did you feel ?

➡️ Write down what these situations or activities are and try to reproduce them as often as possible.

It can be very simple things like having breakfast in peace when everyone is still asleep, relaxing with a good bath, visiting your sister, spending time with your husband, doing a painting activity with your child. .

You should see a marked improvement in your mental state over time.

5 / Exercise to enhance the self-image: "Self-image is an individual's representation of themselves, including the physical aspect as well as the psychological one."

As this aspect is purely cognitive, it is easy to "reprogram" your brain to further enhance your self-esteem.

In cognitive behavioral therapy, we talk about cognitive restructuring.

Your mental images and thoughts depend on the cognitive process of processing information, although you may not always be aware of it.

By focusing on your cognitive patterns and dysfunctional beliefs, you can try to change the processes that cause you to think badly about yourself.

So my exercise is to try to modify these bad automatic thoughts by finding alternative thoughts that will improve your emotions and your self-image.

I'm talking about the famous positive affirmations!

➡️ Every morning, take your little notebook and after doing exercises 1 and 4,

Write down one or two positive affirmations, which you will repeat aloud at least 10 times, then as often as possible throughout the day.

Remember, we are talking about positive statements, so there shouldn't be any negative words in your sentence.

For example, you can start your sentences with:

"I am …"

"I want …"

"I can …"

"I like …"

Here are some ideas:

"I accept myself as I am",

"I love me as Allah created me",

“I am able بإذن الله to carry out my projects”,

“I am different and unique and this difference is my strength”…

And so you don't forget to repeat your positive affirmations, some apps can allow you to schedule notifications of your favorite positive affirmations at different times of the day.

Warning. This exercise will only be effective if it is repeated regularly, until your brain has fully integrated and accepted these statements as “truth”.

Here are the girls, for the 5 exercises that will help you regain your self-esteem.

Do you want to know if these exercises are really effective?

Ok. I suggest you take this little test which will allow you to assess your level of self-esteem.

This is a recognized test. It was developed by Morris Rosenberg, a sociologist. This scale is the most used by psychologists nowadays to assess the level of self-esteem, so it can be considered reliable.

To perform the TEST, click on this link: [FREE ROSENBERG TEST]

[thetypedwriter]

Firekeeper’s Daughter Book Review

Disclaimer: Please keep in mind that all of my in-depth reviews contain spoilers. 

Firekeeper’s Daughter Book Review by Angeline Boulley 

Well, this book review came quicker than I thought it would (which after weeks since my last published review for an actual novel that may sound absurd, but I promise it isn’t). 

There’s a lot of great things about this book and a lot of really important representation, but I also found it to be an incredible slog to trudge through. 

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley is the story of a girl by the name of Daunis Fontaine who finds herself stuck between two worlds: her Fontaine side, also known as her zhaaganaash or white side, and her Native side, or known as her Anishinaabe side, or even more specifically, Ojibwe side. 

The debut novel from Boulley mainly describes Daunis’ struggle between these two worlds, the important people in them, and the war within herself to follow her heart, her gut, and her mind. 

In the background of this identity struggle, or perhaps largely influenced by it, Daunis finds herself inexplicably tangled up in a secret federal investigation into a specific type of meth being produced in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula that affects people not only in her community, but other Native communities as well. 

Suddenly finding herself becoming a spy, Daunis starts to learn and keep secrets, those in regards to the investigation as well as those regarding her feelings for fellow investigator-Jamie Johnson-an undercover narcotics cop posing as the cute new highschooler in town. 

As Daunis deals with her own internal struggles, her community, her relationships, and her burgeoning romance, her past, future, and present all collide and come to a head in this new novel. 

Now. Reading this summary, you might be thinking: this book sounds awesome! Love? Undercover cops? Drugs? Mystery? It has everything. 

And you’d be right. 

When I first read the jacket cover for this novel I knew it was a book I was inevitably going to read. Everything from the gorgeous cover art, to the intriguing summary, to the representation of Native Americans, I was completely drawn in. 

Too bad I didn’t like it very much. 

I will start off by saying that I think this book is incredible in its realistic depiction of the Ojibwe experience and I know how important it is to increase representation of all kinds of people and backgrounds in literature, especially YA literature. 

Boulley did an absolutely stunning job of relaying the nitty-gritty of the Ojibwe community-the elders, the geography, the food, the stigma, the finances, the politics, the reputation, the racism, the prejudice, the community, the love, the healing, and so much more. 

I always am in awe when authors utilize the golden rule of write what you know. Per the back jacket of the novel, Boulley herself states that she is an enrolled member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians and an active storyteller of the Ojibwe community. 

This is beyond incredible. Having an accurate and active portrayal of people writing and drawing from their own experiences are powerful and significant. I could taste, feel, and see how clear and how real Boulley made the novel. 

I questioned a lot of things during this read, but the Ojibwe community in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula was not one of them. From vocabulary to the extreme details depicting Sugar Island to the care and craft when talking about specific ceremonies like funerals, Boulley did an outstanding job of bringing in what she knows from her own experience and that of her community in order to breathe life into these pages. 

This was by far the best part of the novel for me. 

On the back jacket, Boulley also states that she was a former Director of the Office of Indian Education at the U.S. Department of Education. While I did not know this until a few minutes ago when I sat down to write this review, I am in no way surprised. 

The book was extremely intelligent. I could viscerally tell that Boulley knows her stuff and does her research. Everything from biology and chemistry processes and vocabulary, to mushroom identification, to legal matters like having an underage informant, politics regarding becoming a member of the Ojibwe Tribe, and due process of the law regarding FBI cases was very clear cut, very detailed, and obviously very accurate. 

I appreciated how much time and effort was put into this, even if I did find a lot of it bone dry and dull, I still could appreciate the time, effort, and knowledge to make sure that everything in the novel was precise and correct. 

That being said, it also made the book come across almost like an informational pamphlet at times, or like I was reading non-fiction. I understand being accurate, and I applaud her for that, but I don’t need or want five pages of in-book description of how one of these processes work. Just give me the bare-bones outline and I will go from there and look it up more if I so desire. 

This brings me to my first critique of this book and a large reason it was so tedious to get through: it was mind-numbingly long. 

Now. I just read a 2,000 page fanfiction not that long ago. That is long, you could argue, and you would be right. But, none of All of the Young Dudes was a bore to get through (sad, sure, but not boring), whereas whole sections of Firekeeper’s Daughter were too dragged out and too explicitly explained that I inevitably got bored and nodded off. 

The pace was too slow and too bogged down with unimportant details, like Daunis’ daily visits to the elders or her overthinking every single thing, or her making lists of all the things she doesn’t know (these are long lists). 

She often spends whole pages grieving about her Uncle David as well as her best friend Lily, and while understandable and realistic in real life, it was not fun nor productive to read about over and over and over again. 

Take for example, the very beginning of the book. It takes over 100 pages for Daunis to realize the new-boy-next-door isn’t who he says he is and that he’s actually an undercover cop here to investigate a new strain of meth and asks for her help. 

Over 100 pages of set up. 

It was so goddamn boring. 

It got better once she became involved with the investigation, but then so did the whining, the overthinking, and the reflecting. The first 100 pages could have been condensed to 20. No joke, I would have gotten the same exposition out of that I did. 

In addition, despite things taking so long or not serving a purpose, I was often confused about what was happening, which is an overall unpleasant experience. Boulley simultaneously describes everything and yet nothing at the same time.

 The reason for this discrepancy is because she often used native language to describe feelings, events, people, etc and while some of the words I learned over time, often the words left me confused or bewildered. 

I appreciate the use of native language, but it also left me with big gaps while reading or made me struggle to put pieces together as they were happening. 

The pace of the novel overall was incredibly bad. Things either took 12 years or two minutes. The actual plot to show up? 12 Years. Daunis and Jamie to fall in love classic YA style? Two minutes. Daunis to find Uncle David’s notebook? 12 years. The final confrontation of the bad guys? Two minutes. 

With any event, it either felt sluggish or way too quick and mashing these two together in one novel was disorienting and frustrating, not to mention it made me not want to read. 

Additionally, while I generally thought the plot was very interesting, who doesn’t like undercover cop stories? I thought all of the characters were very forgettable or downright shells. 

Daunis was...a textbook female character in my eyes. The way she spouted off knowledge like the periodic table to fall asleep or reciting the scientific method wasn’t cool or new, it was irritating.

To me she wasn’t real. 

She was someone’s idea of a female character who seemed cool, but wasn’t. Nothing about Daunis made me think of her as a great character. If anything, she just seemed like an empty vessel I was reading the book through, like the book was happening to me instead (cough cough Mary Sue). 

Some of you may be upset with this statement, and that’s fine, but other than her love of science, her knowledge of geography, and her ties to the community, nothing about Daunis was a real person. 

She hardly had friends, I don’t recall learning anything she liked or disliked (other than Jamie, hockey, and running) , and she was entirely surmised of the people who had left her and the identity struggle she had been born with. I don’t mean to undermine people who struggle with their identity, I know that’s important, but there is more to people than just that. 

None of the other characters are frankly worth mentioning. 

You might ask, what about Jamie? The shadowy, scarred love interest?

*Shrugs*

He’s fine. Genuinely that’s all I can say about him. We don’t even learn his real name as Jamie Johnson is a fake. All I know is that he’s got curly hair, a scar, and doesn’t know who he is. It’s hard to like a character when the character themselves have no idea of who they are. 

The other characters either die or are in the background to progress the plot along. 

To be fair, it’s a good plot. It’s intriguing, it’s mysterious, and I learned more than I ever thought I would about meth and mushrooms, but it doesn’t make up for the dead-end characters or the pacing issues. 

I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t like it. I guess I can say that I feel indifferent about this book, although the representation of Native Americans bumps it up slightly for me from being dead average. 

The storytelling isn’t spectacular, even if the idea is promising, but if you have been searching for representation like this in YA I can see how this book would be much more impactful and important and I’m happy to have it as a part of the YA collective. 

Recommendation: At the end of the day, this novel is a true smorgasbord. I love the representation, the draws from Boulley’s real life, and the intelligence, but I didn’t see any of the characters as real people, the pacing issues made it hard to gain and keep interest going, and the dialogue often came across to me as someone's warped version of what teenager’s sound like. 

Score: 6/10

[inkweaver22-blr]

HOLY. MOLY.

This has to be the Lóng-est chapter I’ve written so far! It took me almost two whole days to complete!

Please enjoy the fruits of my labor as we all see what Tang gets up to next!

AO3 Link

<Previous | First | Next>

Scattered Cicadas - Chapter Seven: Scaled Siblings

Tang wakes up in Mei's mansion.

----------

Tang woke from the usual dream signaling the start of a new cycle when his alarm went off. With a sigh he sat up and reflexively clapped his hands. He blinked a bit in surprise when the lights turned on in response. He quickly put on his glasses and looked around.

The room he was in was not one he recognized. It was much larger than he was accustomed too, being the same size as either of the apartments he usually lived in. The opulent decorations also screamed wealth and old money to Tang, something he certainly never had.

As he climbed out of the king sized bed, Tang began to suspect where he was. The amount of green accents and jade adornments everywhere made it fairly obvious.

He was in the Lóng family’s mansion.

Shivering a bit as he rubbed his bare arms, (apparently this version of himself slept shirtless), he quickly made his way over the huge mirror that was standing upright in between a fancy dresser and antique armoire. He needed to know what was going on.

Tang’s mouth hung open when he saw his reflection.

He was young.

He was buff.

Tang gaped at his own body for a few moments. Sure, the scholar had never technically been out of shape in most timelines, but dang he had never been this fit before either.

Blushing in embarrassment once he realized he had just been staring at himself for over a minute, Tang did his best to refocus.

(But damn did he look good.)

He was much younger than usual as well. If the scholar had to guess, he’d say he was only a few years older than MK and Mei now.

He really needed to find out what was happening.

Tang took a breath and began his remembering ritual.

“I am Lóng Tang. I am the current heir to the branch of the Lóng family descended from Huánglóng, the Yellow Dragon.”

What the hell?!

Tang rubbed his temples as he felt a headache coming on. He thought being Tripitaka had been confusing enough, but this was on an entirely different level of unexpected. He needed to keep going or he’d get stuck on this single fact for much too long.

“Every family descended from a dragon traditionally takes on the name Lóng. Even though we aren’t tied by blood, all the Lóng branches consider each other family and treat each other as distant relatives.”

Fascinating, but that didn’t really help ease his confusion much. Next detail.

“I’ve been living with my aunt, uncle, and cousin, who are descended from Ao Run, the Dragon King of the West Sea, for the last four years.”

Well that explained why he was in Mei’s mansion.

“I’ve done so at the request of my aunt and uncle, who are hoping that by setting a good example, Mei will learn from me, grow out of her childish pursuits, and become a proper heir.”

What. The. Hell.

Tang searched his memories thoroughly. There was no way Mei’s parents would have said such a horrible thing to him directly.

He came up with no concrete evidence of his aunt and uncle having ever implied that they found Mei lacking in any way. It seemed this version of himself had simply made that assumption himself.

Tang rolled his eyes. He certainly knew how dangerous making assumptions could be. He needed more information to get a better conclusion.

“Luckily for Mei, I find her to be fun and do my best to act as a buffer between her and her parents. She introduced me to her friend MK back in my first year living here, and he quickly befriended me once I began sharing stories about the Monkey King with him. We all like to hang out at MK’s adoptive father’s noodle shop whenever we all have some free time.”

Tang smiled in relief. At least some things never changed.

“Right now, I should be making my way to the mansion’s training room for my daily workout before heading to my job at the city library.”

Tang blinked as he finally checked the time. 5:17 AM. Eurgh. He should not be feeling this energetic this early.

With a resigned sigh, Tang pulled out a set of exercise clothes from the ridiculously nice dresser and got dressed.

He had always heard exercising was a good way to help clear your head when you had a lot to think about. At least, that’s what a lot of martial arts fiction implied. He hoped that it worked the same in practice.

----------

Tang had never felt so in control of his own body before. The way it seemed to flow from one movement to the next as he began some warm up sets was extremely satisfying.

Just as satisfying was the fact that he was trained in martial arts in this timeline. He never had a real desire to fight, but just knowing how to defend himself was a bit reassuring with what he knew would be coming in the future.

He let his mind wander a bit as he let his muscle memory lead him through his pre-workout routine.

This cycle had broken Tang’s previously held conventions on what he had come to expect within these timelines. He had originally categorized them into five types.

The ones where there were no changes to the original timeline.

The ones where there were only small, relatively insignificant changes.

The ones where new events outside of the ones in the original timeline occurred.

The ones where he was the immortal Tripitaka instead of just his reincarnation.

Finally, there were the ones that combined any number of changes from the previous three types.

Tang moved on to a second, more difficult set as he pondered on this shift in perspective. It was obvious this was a new, sixth type of cycle he simply hadn’t encountered before. This one had completely rewritten his and Mei’s background, making huge alterations to their past that would surely affect the coming future events.

Tang felt a shiver of fear creep down his spine but kept his form steady.

Now that his personal history was almost completely unrecognizable, what did that mean for the “No Interference” rule? It didn’t seem to apply whenever Tang himself didn’t know what the outcome of events could be. So with him having an altered life, did that mean the outcomes of the events he knew of would have been altered as well? Could he get more involved than before now as he never knew what those outcomes would have been? Perhaps he couldn’t directly affect the outcomes, but surely he wouldn’t be punished for offering a bit of backup and support now that he could provide it.

Right?

He smoothly moved onto his final warm up set as another complication occurred to him.

This wouldn’t be the only cycle that would drastically change his and his family’s past. Like the other variants, now that he had experienced one, more would begin to show up with increasing frequency as time went on.

What worried Tang was that they would also share the unpredictability of the others. The vast amount of probable changes were too numerous to even begin guessing what might happen until a cycle began and he could remind himself of his history within it.

He supposed that there was nothing he could do about that until those cycles actually happened, so there was no real point in fretting over it now. He let his worries go as he finished his warm up and took a deep breath.

Tang felt good.

Better than good, actually, he felt energized. Charged up, so to speak. It was exhilarating.

With a grin, Tang focused on the part of himself that was dragon in origin. The energy that swirled within him was powerful; a strange mix of wild strength and immovable sturdiness.

He let warm power fill him as he held out his hand. In a flash of golden-yellow light, the young scholar summoned his family’s own sacred weapon to him. Tang examined it in awe.

Dàdì Zhī Yá.

Fang of the Earth.

It was a masterful work of art.

The magical guandao had been a gift to his ancestors from Huánglóng himself and, just like Mei’s Dragon Blade, seemed to be made entirely out of jade.

It wasn’t the same green jade however. It was made up of three other types of the precious mineral.

The intricately designed blade was a bright yellow jade, matching the color of the scales of its creator. The shaft of the weapon was a rich brown jade, symbolizing the element of Earth Huánglóng was associated with. Finally, the connector for the shaft and blade and the counter-weighted capstone at the butt of the shaft were a deep black jade. It was said to represent the color of ink as Huánglóng had supposedly gifted the knowledge of writing to mankind.

The only part of the weapon that wasn’t made of jade was the royal purple silk tassel that hung from the connecting piece near the blade. It complimented the earthy colors of the rest of the guandao rather nicely.

Tang took the weapon in both hands and got into the proper stance to begin his drills.

He had earned the right to wield the Fang of the Earth roughly six years ago according to his memories and had practiced diligently with it ever since.

Being chosen to be worthy of possessing it had forged a sort of connection between him and the guandao. Normally, the weight alone should have made it impossible for him to lift it, but the connection allowed him to hold it with little difficulty. He had still struggled a bit with how heavy it was despite that, but the years of training had helped him gain the strength and muscle to wield it with incredible precision and control.

Simply being able to pick it up wasn’t the only benefit to being connected to his family’s sacred weapon. It seemed to bond with the dragon energy within him, allowing the scholar to summon it to his side at will. The only drawback was that his hands had to be completely free to do so.

He wondered if the Dragon Blade worked similarly for Mei back in his original timeline.

Tang swung the guandao around skillfully, thinking about his cousin in this cycle.

Lóng Xiǎojiāo. Mei.

The young woman was an endless fountain of optimism and positivity. She had a passion for life and its experiences. Riding her motorcycle was just one of the ways she connected to her innermost self and channeled her enthusiasm for existence.

She was fiercely loyal to her friends and family. She may not be formally trained in a fighting style, but if you hurt her precious people you’d face her wrath.

Mei was generally cheerful and outgoing in most aspects of her life. The single exception had been her relation with her family and their legacy.

Tang frowned as he continued his drills.

In the original timeline, Mei had constantly been under the pressure to behave properly. At least she had until the Dragon Blade had been stolen and she unlocked its power. By embracing being a part of her family despite their differences and by being herself, she had become a worthy successor to her clan’s lineage.

But that was still four months away according to the current date. This was certainly the earliest he’d even woken up before the original events.

His presence here wasn’t helping matters. While he and Mei had become good friends, he couldn’t help but feel that she thought she was constantly being compared to him by her parents.

Again, he had no strong proof about whether that was the case in this cycle. It was just a suspicion he had.

Tang hummed to himself, trying to think of some way to fix this problem while slashing downwards with the Fang of the Earth.

He couldn’t do anything overt that could change things so that she accepted her place in her family too early. He was sure that violated the “No Interference” rule despite the changed history.

Perhaps he could try subtly raising Mei’s self confidence? But how could he go about doing that?

Tang twirled the guandao around him before ending his first set.

As he looked down at his own family’s legacy and heritage, he couldn’t help but think that learning to use the weapon had made him more sure of himself over the years.

Tang blinked.

Huh.

Perhaps he could use that.

He started into his next set of drills, already brainstorming about what he would need to make his plan work.

----------

Tang was certain his earlier suspicions about Mei’s parents were, thankfully, completely wrong. The dinners they shared as a family proved to him that they loved their daughter completely. They just didn’t see eye-to-eye on some things.

He was also able to get their permission and help with the idea he had. That showed how much they actually cared considering the things he had asked for weren’t something people only obsessed with their image and wealth would agree to.

It took nearly three weeks to prepare but he was finally ready.

“Uncle, do you remember that issue we discussed a few weeks ago,” he asked at dinner that evening.

“Oh, is it ready?”

“Yes Uncle.”

“Wonderful! Mei darling,” his uncle addressed the young woman, who eyed him warily.

“Yeah dad?”

“Tang here has come up with a bit of a surprise for you. Would you be willing to join him in the training room after dinner so that he may share it with you?”

“Uhh… I guess so,” Mei agreed hesitantly, glancing over at her older cousin.

“Don’t worry. It’s a good surprise,” Tang reassured.

“It’s also one we support and gave our full permission for,” Mei’s mother added. “Listen to what your cousin has to say and try not to dismiss it right away, dear.”

Tang winced a little as Mei glared down at her plate.

He clamped down at the growl that wanted to roll from his throat at the slightly tactless comment. Dragon instincts had been interesting to deal with these past few weeks. Especially the protective ones.

Dinner finished soon after and Tang led Mei to the training room.

“So what’s this big surprise you’ve got for me,” Mei asked, slouching as she looked around the room.

“Don’t sound too excited now,” Tang drawled as he pulled out a wrapped package.

“I don’t know. Something that has my parents' full support sounds soooo cool,” Mei snarked, earning a snort from the scholar.

“Trust me on this. You’ll like it,” Tang said, slowly unwrapping the item. “How would you like to learn how to wield a sword?”

“Wait, what?” Mei straightened her posture in surprise. She gasped when Tang finally unveiled what he was holding.

A replica of the Dragon Blade.

“Wha- But- How?!” Mei gaped at the sword. It wasn’t an exact copy, but it had the same dimensions as the original.

“Your parents allowed me to commission a copy of the Dragon Blade so that I can begin teaching you how to use it.”

That had been a bit of a hard sell. He had to agree to only go through a smith of their choice and all schematics of the blade had to be destroyed afterwards. But they had gone through with it, at least once he explained it was for Mei’s benefit.

Mei’s expression flickered between several emotions before settling on anger.

Uh oh.

“Oh I get it! This is because I’m ‘undisciplined’ isn’t it,” she bit out, a growl rising in her voice. “I need to be reined in! Taught how to be a dignified heir to the clan like you, right?!”

“No! That’s not-” Tang took a breath. He wouldn’t get through to her if he started yelling too. “That’s not what’s going on here, Mei.”

“Oh? Well it sure looks like it is to me!”

“Will you please let me explain?”

“Ugh!” Mei threw her arms in the air before crossing them and looking away in a huff. “Fine! But once you’re done I’m out of here.”

“That’s okay. No one said you had to go through with this if you didn’t want to,” he reassured. That seemed to make some of the tension ease out of her.

“First, this was my idea, not your parents’. The only thing I needed permission from them was to make this replica.

“As for why... I just wanted to spend more time with you is all.”

“Huh?” Mei looked up at the nervous scholar. “But we hang out all the time!”

“Yes, but that’s usually with MK as well. Not that there’s anything wrong with that,” Tang hastily added at her sudden glare. “I love the kid, really I do!

“But we don’t really do anything that’s just for the two of us. Since I enjoy training with a weapon, I thought it could be something we could share?”

Mei had her brows furrowed in uncertainty.

“But… Why go through the trouble of making a copy of the Dragon Blade then? Couldn’t you just teach me how to wield a guandao as well? That is the weapon you actually know how to use.”

“I suppose that’s a fair point,” Tang conceded. “But what about when you claim the real Dragon Blade for yourself? Shouldn’t you know how to properly use it when that happens?”

“When I-” Mei’s breath caught. “You think I-! I’m not-! My parents would never-!”

“Mei, Mei!” Tang placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a comforting squeeze. “Take a breath. In and out.”

The young woman took a few deep breaths, calming herself. Then she stared into Tang’s eyes, looking for any deception.

“Do you really think mom and dad would ever let me use the blade?”

“I’m not sure what they might do.” That was a slight lie, but he couldn’t force her into a realization about her family too early. He was pushing it as it was just by telling her he thought she’d get the blade.

“But I do know you. You’re optimistic. You’re funny. You’re loyal. You’re incredibly brave. I’m sure that just by being yourself everything will turn out.” That was not a lie. His cousin was all those things and he admired her for it.

Mei, who had tears in her eyes, launched herself at him and pulled him into a hug. Her grip was powered by her dragon strength, but luckily for Tang this time, he had his own so he wasn’t crushed in the embrace.

“Thank you Tang.”

“No problem, Mei.” He held her for a moment before pulling away and asked, “So does this mean you want to learn swordplay?”

“Heck yeah it does!” Mei pumped her fists into the air. “This is going to be awesome!”

“Good.” Tang gave a mischievous smirk. “Then I expect you to be here bright and early tomorrow morning.”

Mei froze in her celebrations.

“Uh… How early, exactly” she asked nervously.

Tang’s grin was filled with too many fangs as his eyes sparkled with humor.

“5:30 sharp.”

“NOOOOOOOO!” Mei’s dramatic cry of horror and slump to the floor made Tang burst out in laughter.

Who knew teasing a younger relative could be so much fun?

----------

Tang grit his teeth as he slashed through another bull clone with Fang of the Earth.

It was finally the day of Demon Bull King’s invasion and the group had just returned from the volcanic ring where MK had seemed to perish. They were fighting their way through the army of bull clones in an attempt to get to the center of the city where Demon Bull King was.

What they were planning to do once they reached him, Tang still had no clue no matter how many timelines he lived through.

Tang dodged a strike from his left and countered with a quick sweep of his guandao.

There were definitely way more clones than there were originally. He supposed that this was whatever higher power that controlled the cycle's way of balancing out his ability to actually help out.

He dispatched the group of enemies surrounding him and looked around.

There was Pigsy who was beating away clones with a loose pipe. Sandy stood next to the chef, deflecting any attacks that came their way with two trash can lids. Where was-

Tang’s pulse quickened when he heard Mei scream.

He searched frantically, dodging or redirecting the strikes coming his way when-

There!

Mei was backed up against a building, surrounded by clones. She was holding a gash on her arm and the broken remains of her training sword lay at her feet.

She looked scared.

Tang could feel it as his eyes narrowed into slits and a menacing growl tore from his throat. With a roar of fury, he leapt into the air towards Mei.

He let his power loose, manifesting an avatar of his dragon form behind him as he filled the Fang of Earth with golden-yellow energy.

“STAY AWAY FROM MY SISTER!”

He landed in front of Mei and shouted in rage as he stabbed the ground with the guandao. A shock wave of power spread through the earth around them, causing it to spike up to stab any clone it passed.

The energy dissipated once all the bull clones in the area had been destroyed. Satisfied they were safe for the moment, Tang swiftly turned around and began checking over Mei.

“Are you alright Mei?! What am I saying, of course you aren't! You’re bleeding! Let me see that.” The dragon scholar fussed over the young woman, inspecting the wound before tearing off the hem of his robe to serve as a bandage.

“Did… Did you just call me your sister?” Mei’s eyes were wide as she stared at him.

Tang froze for a moment. Had he?

Oh. He supposed he had.

Well that explained where the fondness and protective feelings he had developed for her over the course of their daily training came from.

Tang finished tying off the bandage before looking at Mei.

“Is… Is that okay,” he asked nervously. “Because if you aren’t okay with it I won’t call you that again- oof!”

He was cut off by Mei launching herself at him and hugging him tightly.

“Of course it's okay you goof!” He could hear her sniffles as she fought back tears.

“Oh! Well… That’s, uh, good,” Tang relaxed into the hug as his nervousness melted away.

Mei snickered and pulled away, giving him a blinding smile.

“Come on, big bro. We’ve got a city to save!”

Tang felt his own face light up as he picked up Fang of the Earth and followed his sister to regroup with Pigsy and Sandy.

He knew they were no match for Demon Bull King and would have to wait for MK’s arrival to defeat him, but right now Tang felt like he could take on anything.

----------

Tang grew accustomed to being able to help in fights. They had all been scaled up in scope so that while his support was useful, it was never the tipping point that could change the outcome into something different.

The cycle moved on swiftly.

He celebrated with Mei and her parents when she obtained ownership of the real Dragon Blade.

He fought in their resistance when the Demon Bull King invaded a second time.

He did his best to be there for MK when the signs of his stress began to show.

All too soon, the day of training in the desert came.

Lady Bone Demon’s attack was just as brutal as ever.

However, when he and the rest of the group jumped to attack her once MK got caught, Tang instinctively dodged out of the way of her retaliation.

Before he could think of the potential consequences of attempting to change the outcome, he began to slash downwards with the Fang of the Earth.

Only to be stopped dead in the air when the Mayor grabbed the blade with no effort.

Tang felt dread crawl up his spine as the demon smiled nonchalantly at him. Flashbacks to that early cycle triggered in his mind, causing him to freeze up.

The Mayor casually ripped the guandao from Tang’s loose grasp, tossing it over his shoulder like a discarded piece of trash. Then he punched the dragon scholar with enough force to launch him back onto the ship.

Tang could only assume the events continued as normal from there.

He was too busy having a panic attack to notice.

Years of training and experience and still he was powerless against that man! He vaguely acknowledged he had started to cry at some point.

“Tang! Big brother! It’s okay. He’s gone. We got away.” Mei was holding him as he sobbed.

“M-mei?”

“I’m here, big brother. We’re safe.”

Tang began to breathe deeply in order to calm himself. He wanted to be composed when Wukong showed up with MK so as not to worry them too much.

He hugged Mei fiercely before pulling away.

“T-thanks, little sister,” he said with a shaky smile. She just smiled back and helped him to his feet.

As he leaned against the younger woman, Tang couldn’t help but feel extremely lucky to have gotten to know her like this.

She was fierce, loyal, brave, and kind.

She was the best sister someone could have ever asked for.

----------

Welcome to the Golden Dragon Tang AU!

This is my own personal creation, and most of the prominent details (minus Tang knowing the future from timeline jumping) are laid out in this chapter. If I got any of the details about the Yellow Dragon wrong I apologize! I'm not a mythology expert.

A guandao is basically the Chinese equivalent of a glaive; a short sword mounted on a 1-2 meter pole. I may get around to drawing Fang of the Earth at some point. Also please forgive me if the Chinese for the name is wrong for I am but a humble google translate user.

In case you haven’t noticed, a few of the chapters have been dedicated strictly to character studies of the other members of the Monkie Kid crew through Tang’s perspective. Mei’s just happened to occur at the same time as my really long debut of the cool AU I had made up! Also does anyone have some good fanon names for Mei’s parents? I was dying never referring to them by name.

And yes, Tang does still have some issues with the Mayor. I’m sure that won’t be too relevant in the future.

Thanks for reading! Let me know what you thought and see you next time!

[hopefulbagelboi]

Reflection

On the Tv series project and what I have so far with my animation for games project.

Oracle Cat: I started off determined, full of ideas and had a game plan, and I believe things would have gone much better if not for mental health issues. However, once I picked myself back up again I was able to continue where I had left off despite not having looked at the material for months.

My animation for this project is not my best and I know it can be better, however I am beyond shelling out passion for this project and I had no intention of improving the animation further. I do think that for this animation I had some of the best linework and backgrounds I had ever done due to the research, tutorials watched and books studied ('Figure Drawing For All It's Worth' has incredibly detailed sections on framing, vanishing points, perspective and much more. 'Setting Up Your Shots' was also a nice visual guide about perspective, framing and camera movements). This time I used much more reference images during my sketching stage, as usually I either forget or am too stubborn to. I think this aided with improving the believability of my backgrounds.

My revised character sheets show great improvement in my skill and understanding of basic artistic concepts such as lighting, shading and line weight. Previously I would never have attempted such 'complex' techniques as I had very low confidence in my drawings.

What could be improved?

Time management for sure, as always it has been my greatest weakness. I did have a work plan, calendar, and all the likes but I have a bad habit of never sticking to, well, habits.

Since I am still puzzling together which work and study methods work best for me I can't make promises about having no time management issues at all next time, though I do believe that by being given second chances (multiple) to complete this project I have inched closer to the answer as to how I can tame my wayward focus (I can now sit and work for 3 hours at a time rather than my previous 20 minutes! Yes it was a struggle!).

Communication with my tutors. Put simply I am terrible at it due to my own stubbornness and reluctance to ask for help. I would disappear for weeks at a time, only skulking back online to submit the current deadline before becoming a whisper on the wind once more. This past week I have gotten my rear back into gear and have been communicating with my tutors almost daily, attending classes and 1-1's and working on feedback. This has helped me overcome roadblocks with me work and has been a considerable benefit to me, all thanks to the patience and kindness of my tutors, I am back on track and will continue to communicate in the future.

Animal Boy:

Another project that I was raring to sink my teeth into but that turned into a dumpster fire due to mental health reasons.

The sharp learning curve for 3D animation didn't scare me off, in fact I was glad I now had no way to avoid learning it, and the first few days of it went well as I gained quite a knack for it.

My tutor, an expert on 3D animation, was very helpful when it came to teaching me shortcuts, skills, tips and tricks for navigating the 3D world and for making my 3D experience as painless as possible. He showed me how to apply textures and gave me a general rundown of what stages I should go through as I work on my animation.

All I can really say is that I believe I would've done much better on this project if it hadn't been for personal mental health issues standing in my way. At the very least I do think I am doing a little better on that front. If I can't take a degree away with me from university I can at the very least take improved mental health back home with me!

What could be improved?

Character sheets are one of my most hated parts of a project (action poses are fun, turnarounds are NOT) and I would draw several versions of a character over and over only to use none of them, all of them ending up in the bin. I was stuck on how to remedy this issue until I was able to use my traditionally drawn sketches as a base for my digitally drawn character sheets. This improved my enjoyment of the dreaded turnaround greatly as it was easier to remove mistakes and sort of 'posh' up a drawing by simply giving it steady looking lines thanks to the magic of many brush strokes and a very fine eraser.

I still take far too long to create any kind of drawing but that is only something that will improve over time the more I draw and the more the movements are committed to muscle memory.

[yeoyokepeng3205]

NM3205 blog 7 - WeChat (media consumption)

In Zhang’s WeChat: Social Network and Smart City. International Linguistics Research (2019),  his research revolved around WeChat and its digital activity for its advanced functionalities which build intelligent society in China. China’s ban of external influences of Western social network instigated the revolution of WeChat, from an instant messaging application to a hybrid including application, marketplace, payment method and operating system as an integrated means rather than just a social network. The new usage and the rapid expansion of its integrated functionality and impacts form the new communication consumption framework in China. This work shows how an intelligent society changes and develops through a social network, and detailed analysis of advanced technology and social networks of WeChat. Without a doubt, the boundaries between virtual social networks gradually dissolve, making WeChat a social and economic phenomenon. In this blog, i will also analyse how China had curated WeChat to suit their tastes and preferences in consumption of the internet.

Then, Zhang mentioned that “WeChat is the application of all applications.” and that in the Western world, there is almost no network that can be comparable to WeChat. Indeed, to a certain extent, I do believe this statement is accurate. In Singapore, we are generally influenced by Western factors, hence, our main mode of messaging is usually Telegram or WhatsApp. I realised i communicate mostly through Whatsapp but their functionalities are quite limited compared to WeChat. Evidently, I use GooglePay/PayNow for monetary transactions, WhatsApp for communication and Instagram for social media. There have been attempts by WhatsApp to include the Instastory function, for instance, taking pictures to update your status on WhatsApp but it is not a popular function, because in contrast to Instagram which has tons of amazing filters, WhatsApp status update seems boring and useless. In WeChat, it is a holistic platform whereby you can update people about your life, a recall platform to unsend unintended messages, passport visa application, make payments through Redpackets, “WeChat Purse” in Wechat Pay as an official access to the social insurance payment and other events like checking the balance of the public housing welfare fund. And last but the least, “WeChat Wallet” facilitates payment with the wallet for users to pay for goods and services  which is so convenient compared to using multiple applications for different purposes. The only downside about this app is that it is monitored heavily by the China Government, and the data is readily accessible to them which makes it extremely dangerous, and possible infringement of citizens’ privacy. I asked one of my friends who is currently studying in China about her opinions on WeChat, she mentioned that it is definitely one “super” app that assists in daily activities and making connections since she was a foreigner in China which helped her better assimilate into the country. However, she also gets the paranoia of constantly being watched. Even though her account is private, she was shocked that when she was applying for Visa, the interview questions were very similar to certain personal topics that she shared with her friends via WeChat only (eg. stereotypes of China people). Despite fearing for her privacy rights, she said she is unable to live without “WeChat” because of how integrated the apps are into China social network.

Besides that, from my analysis of WeChat, the curation of the network to suit China’s consumers tastes and preferences are ostensible reiterating the ecology between the app and its citizens. Thereby, increasing its appeal and media consumption. Firstly, WeChat is a personal and professional network. Wechat is used for connection with friends, family and colleagues. This is because the Chinese prefer to approach things holistically and systemically, so they do not mind blurring the demarcation between work and leisure. In contrast, the West prefers to distinguish personal from professional, as clearly seen that Facebook and Instagram fall into the personal category as compared to Linkedin. This is reflective of the way Westerners think and work. They do so in a partial way by analysing systems separately, with rationality and clear boundaries as the basis for working well together.

Secondly, WeChat has no online status or read receipts. When it does come to making new connections, the Chinese are relatively more aloof and self contained. This is because collectivism and group harmony are preferred. With foreign connections, the Chinese prefer not share their personal opinions and feelings, but rather confide in their own trust circle. WeChat supports this social norm of refrain by protecting users’ privacy—not indicating of users’ online status or receipt of having read the messages. Another important cultural trait is the norm of saving one’s face or not losing face. If the read receipt is shown and one does not reply, it is highly embarrassing and one risks ruining the relationship. In contrast, Western culture is largely individualistic and control-oriented. Westerners are much more social from the outset of meeting new people. Social networking and messaging platforms on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram and WhatsApp automatically provide the online status and read receipts function to facilitate and optimise conversations. The mentality of Westerners is much more focused on transparency and productivity. Any abrasions or offences in social interactions are seen as minor and quickly brushed away. As such, they do not mind being explicit and direct, with no need to hide, on social network platforms.

Lastly, WeChat is a closed network and does not suggest new connections. WeChat only shows interactions in one’s social network and among mutual connections. WeChat also does not have the function of suggesting new connections. This is because the Chinese often make a greater investment in deepening relationships within their social circles. They highly value intimacy and good relationships, no matter personal and/or professional. As such, the Chinese want to keep their connections private and would not naturally bring connections of different social circles together. They also prefer to expand their social network organically via personal introductions rather than reaching out to strangers. On the other hand, Western social network platforms operate with different logic because Western culture is more about openly interacting and sharing. Greater emphasis is placed on the extensiveness of one’s social network and receiving support and recognition from the relevant social circles. The Western approach to networking involves fewer moral obligations and emotional ties. As such, making new connections can be reduced to the click of a button. On my Linkedin, multiple connections pop up everyday, even international contacts. Hence, you could clearly see how Linkedin’s algorithm promotes interconnectivity regardless of backgrounds, location or race.

In a nutshell, the innovation of the social platform WeChat has helped to improve the information technology and services of the city thanks to the advantages of large data bases, artificial intelligence. It has propelled China towards a smart nation by streamlining all the various processes into a single network which improves the quality of life. Moreover, the curation of the app towards the consumers tastes and preference encourages them to indulge in media consumption. Thus, accentuating the fact that the internet is so deeply interwoven into our lives that we are unable to live without it.

References

Zhang, J., Muñoz, C. F., & Hänninen, L. I. (2019). WeChat: Social Network and Smart City. International Linguistics Research, 2(3), p11-p11.

Consulting, C. (n.d.). WeChat vs western social NETWORK Ecosystems. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.cebaconsulting.com/index.php/2019/11/19/wechat-vs-western-social-network-ecosystems/

[taotrooper]

Q&A with Kusanagi-sensei at the Manga Barcelona con

Kusanagi Mizuho was a guest on the Barcelona con 2019 and she had a panel with the fans this morning where they asked her some questions. None of them are plot-related, sadly (I suspect the questions sent by fans were heavily filtered to avoid spoilers). But if you’re curious about the personal and professional stuff she’s said, and her opinion about her characters, here’s a translation of the livetweeting by the manga’s publisher, Norma Editorial, which is here. I’m also complementing with Ramen Para Dos’ liveblogging.

Kusanagi requested not to have her picture taken. Except for those lucky few Spaniards and Catalanes who attended the panel, she’ll remain a meerkat to us. (Parenthesis notes are my commentary, not part of the interview!)

Q. When did you decide to start drawing?

A. She started to draw when she was around 9-10 years old. She’d make up complete stories she’d read her younger sister --who also came to the con.

Q. What was her favorite manga back then? And now?

A. She really liked Slam Dunk, Hana Yori Dango, and Ranma 1/2 when she was little. It seems she’s into redhead protagonists, Norma jokes. Right now she likes One Piece and Attack on Titan.

Q. Did she study in any sort of academy? Has she worked as an assistant? 

A. She went to art school (she specifies not manga, art) and was an assistant after graduating for 4-5 years.

Q. What does she currently delegated to her assistants?

A. She works with 4-5 people. They take care of drawing landscapes, armor, plates of food, extra things... They also help a lot with combat scenes: she’s the one who draws the basic battle panels but they finish them.

Q. Does she find it hard to make it to deadlines?

A. She laughed. Handing in chapters is so hard because she takes a long time to design the story, so she only dedicates 3 or 4 days to draw 30 pages because she has no time left.

(Yikes, poor Kusanagi D: )

Q. Does she like to listen to something or snack while she works? 

A. When she’s working on the story she needs total silence and being alone, but while she draws she likes to put on anime or movies or music as background noise.

Q. Where does Ao keep her acorns?

A. Squirrels usually carry 7 acorns in their mouths. Ao brings 10 at least!

(Oh no, she’s too OP!!!!)

Q.  Hak or Soo-Won? 

A. She laughs and assures us she has a lot of love for both of them.

Q. How did she come up with the manga’s setting?

A. At first she thought about basing it on Rome or Japan, but it didn’t fit. So in the end she combined different Asian scenarios to give birth to AkaYona.

(So... yeah, it’s not 100% Three Kingdoms Korea, it’s a hybrid. Also lol she really likes Rome, huh?)

Q. Does she have a favorite character? 

A. NE: She doesn’t have a favorite, she loves all of them and loves to draw them so they look as good-looking as possible when they look at themselves in the mirror.

RP2: When she creates a story centered in one character, she tries to focus all details on said character. But she feels appreciation for all characters in Akatsuki no Yona. Then there’s a character’s personality or some enemy that’s not liked by the audience and that motivates her to draw them more handsome.

(Well, that sure explains Keishuk becoming more luscious lately, but THEN THERE’S GOBI’S CRAZY FACES.....................)

Q. Does she feel identified with any of her characters?

A. All of her characters reflect part of her own idols so they don’t really represent her that much.

(Damn, there she goes debunking the Kusa-relates-to-SW jokes)

Q. Which dragon would she take on a journey if she had to go on adventures like Yona?

A. She’d like to take the four of them but if she had to choose she’d pick Jae-Ha. He’s kind to women and he can jump really high!

(Jae-ha bias confirmed. We been knew, sensei, we been knew.

“HE JUMP” - Mizuho Kusanagi, 2019)

Q. The reveal of Zeno’s powers is one of the most amazing scenes in the series. How was it for her? 

A. She was looking forward to drawing it. She doesn’t like its brutality but it was necessary to express its importance. Regardless, she enjoyed it a lot.

Q. How does she feel about thinking of Yona as a strong, inspirational female character?

A. NE says that to her Yona is an ordinary girl, what makes her special is that she’s a fighter (the wording here is implied to be in a hardworking, fighting daily way, not as a warrior necessarily). Life taught her to be strong and positive and she thinks that’s very important. RP2 says that the character herself is normal but to her, Yona’s strength and courage to move forward is what stand out and inspires.

She got an ovation from the audience at this point :’)

Q. How does she feel about having so many fans overseas? 

A. She’s very happy and grateful! She’s so surprised to see so many people (women and men) around the world and outside of Japan who understand and enjoy Yona’s vision. She thanks us all so much!

(Aww~)

Q. What does she do in her free time?

A. She loves to spend time with her cat. But she ends up annoying her cat sometimes, and she (the kitty) scratches her (Kusanagi) often.

Q. This one was for her editor, called Tokushige. Wat is it like to work with Kusanagi-sensei with a manga like Yona?

A. She says she knows the author’s job is very hard with a terrible pace and schedule. Despite that she has to be tough and mean to help Kusanagi with keeping the schedule and the quality. But while it’s touch she likes working with her/looks forward to it.

In the next part, they have Kusanagi ask the audience a question, and she throws the favorite character question back at them! There’s no recount of what people in the room said (besides the fact it took a long time for someone to say Hak and she remarked on that) but NE asked Twitter as well and you can see the answers on the thread.

(Since I slept through the interview, I missed the chance to tell her mine D: Shoutout to the MVPs in the thread who mentioned Yoon and Tae-jun in a sea of Haks and Yonas and Jae-has and Zenos. And the two cosplayers who went there as Argila and Vold!)

ETA: This livetweeting mentioning some characters the fans threw in. Yona, Hak, TAE-JUN several times, Soo-won, Geun-tae, Kija, squirrel Ao, and ship-wise besides HakYona there’s a Zeno/Kaya mention.

So anyway, that was all. Kusanagi brought presents for the selected people who won her signature (a case with Aos on it) plus a few more unknown presents (probably also those cases) to raffle on the Q&A with a jankenpon game. That was sweet of her!

Extra info I’ve seen: she had to take THREE planes to get to Spain from Kyushu. They also gave her her two consecutive awards to Best Shoujo by that same con, which they do yearly with the manganime that gets published here. They also gave her a soccer shirt of the famous local team (Barça) with her name on the back (10/Mizuho).

[dexild-blog]

Art Analysis of Laundry

          Romeo V. Tabuena was born and raised in Iloilo city in 1921. He graduated with a degree in Architecture from Mapua University and eventually pursued painting at the University of the Philippines. He gained traction in 1949 when he had exhibits at the Philippine Art Gallery that highlighted his watercolor paintings and drawings. Eventually, Tabuena settled in Mexico but still made efforts to maintain his connection to his home country by showcasing a ten-year retrospective at the Philippine Art Gallery. His paintings are famous for depicting the ordinary person’s daily life and often settled for themes that revolved around farmers, market vendors, and people doing household chores. He is also known for his prismatic or cubism-esque style in his works,in which he used various bright colors. As he garnered pride for his country by representing the Philippines and its culture, he was then awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit in 2007.

         Upon laying my eyes on the painting for the first time, I can see many bright colors that immediately stand out from a dark background; Making the piece appear as if it were taking place at night. I can also see and identify two main figures namely the huts on stilts and the pieces of clothing hanging from the clothesline connecting each hut.

          Although there is no particular thing that single handedly attracts my attention, the first object I see when looking at the painting is the second row of hanging laundry near the bottom of the painting. At the center of that clothesline was the biggest piece of clothing which drew my eyes to it. From there on, rhythm and movement could be seen in the close arrangement of the clothesline. It gives off a sense of connectedness as they swing from one house to the other, giving a guide for my eyes.

          Moving on to how the painting was constructed, it is mostly made up of diagonal lines. The strokes are very rough, and the colors do not seem to blend. On a still night, laundry would typically be under the influence of gravity alone, hanging straight down yet the laundry hangs in a slanted manner. Together with how the strokes are done loosely and quickly, it hints wind and movement among the clothes. The painting is not thoroughly detailed and the strokes are substantially large. It also makes use of implied lines and shapes that compose the subjects. Despite the painting being composed of polygonal shapes, when placed together, the shapes appear to be organic as seen in the hanging clothes.

          Additionally, the variety of tones and colors give the painting an illusion of movement and depth as the light rays hit the clothing at different parts to form shadows. A light source is placed behind the viewer which highlights the bright and vivid colors of the clothing. Another factor that creates a semblance of movement throughout the painting is the Juxtaposition that takes place due to the contrast between the vibrant colors of the clothes and the brown hues of the huts. This helps emphasize the cleanliness of the newly washed clothes in comparison to the dull and run-down huts.

          Moreover, the illusion of depth is apparent in the piece, as we see that the clotheslines and the two houses in front are much more detailed compared to their counterparts at the back. Despite the illusion of depth, the clothes are able to retain their ability to pop out because their bright colors still remain. The proportions of the figures appear to reflect that of reality, as indicated in the scale and angles at which they are composed of.  Depth can also be seen by the painter’s use of a vanishing point in order to create the impression that the clothes in the foreground of the painting are closer than the ones in the background.

          Regardless of the painting's asymmetry, it appears to be balanced as the weight of the painting’s elements is equally distributed. In terms of the perspective, the angle at which we see the piece appears to be elevated as if overseeing the houses. This is hinted by the direction the laundry lines are leading to and the height at which the houses stand on. I believe that viewers of the painting can imagine themselves to be inside one of the huts, perhaps through a window or a door, overlooking the small community.

          During the creation of Laundry in 1951, Romeo V. Tabuena made a series of other paintings namely “Children Playing” and “Mother and Child”. The similarities between the two paintings and Laundry are that all three depict the livelihood of the common Filipino. Children Playing, as the title suggests, shows children playing in an urban setting while Mother and Child shows a mother holding her child as she prepares food in front of her wooden house. Laundry takes place in a community filled with huts connected by laundry lines, typically seen in underdeveloped areas. Based on these observations, Tabuena appeared to have an increased interest in the common Filipino life and culture. Tabuena, based on context, had immediate access to education and the pursuit of arts. He appeared to be comfortable in his lifestyle. I believe that, because of the disparity between him and the common Filipino, he was drawn to their lifestyle as it was not something he was accustomed to. These paintings were created a year before he pursued an even higher education in New York and his eventual settlement in Mexico. It is possible that, through these paintings, he was making his final attempts to capture the heart of the Filipino culture with his depictions of everyday life during his remaining time in the country.

          Overall, the painting is able to depict the Filipino culture uniquely. The painting appears to be stylized as it still depicts a community even in a very altered appearance. It is very simplistic in its approach to displaying a specific element of the Filipino community as the piece is composed of only a handful of subjects made with lines and geometric shapes. The piece is able to capture a particular scene in Filipino Culture that is not typically thought of by the everyday person. When I look at the piece, it reminds me of the small parts of my daily routine that I usually take for granted.

          The piece captures a specific moment in time, a laundry scene. Although I am still unsure of what Tabuena's exact motivations were for creating the Laundry, it may have served as a reminder of his country as he was set to go abroad. Perhaps the laundry scene is of value to him, enough that he wanted to immortalize it. Therefore, preserving his visions of the past.

Reference

n.d. Laundry. Accessed July 12, 2020. https://ateneoartgallery.com/collections/laundry. n.d. ROMEO TABUENA (1921-2015). Accessed July 12, 2020.

https://www.philippineartgallery.com/romeo-tabuena.html

n.d. Romeo V. Tabuena. Accessed July 12, 2020. http://www.artnet.com/artists/romeo-v-tabuena/2?sort=11.

n.d. ROMEO V. TABUENA. Accessed July 12, 2020. https://www.geringerart.com/artists/romeo-v-tabuena/.

n.d. Romeo Villalva Tabuena Biography. Accessed July 12, 2020. https://www.annexgalleries.com/artists/biography/2319/Tabuena/Romeo.

Artwork’s Details

TITLE: Laundry

ARTIST: Romeo V. Tabuena

MEDIUM: Oil on plywood

YEAR: 1951

PROVENANCE: Gift of Fernando Zóbel

[yogaadvise]

5 Things I Wish I Had Known When I Began Meditating

Before I began meditating I really felt that I had two benefits: I came from India, and due to my medical background, I had actually checked out the health benefits of reflection. When I think of five things that I want I 'd known 30 years earlier, I would change the topic to 'things I desire everybody understood.'

Meditation is natural. It's not an exotic import from the East and also the cultural worths of the East.

Meditation is regarding mind, body, and spirit as one continuous whole, not three separate things.

The advantages of reflection probably go deeper than we envision. At least, genetic task reacts extremely swiftly and considerably to meditation.

Meditation uncovers real self that exists at the core of every person.

The state of pure awareness that is reached with meditation is the ground state of everything.

I had not been entirely unknowing regarding these points. Three years earlier, the mind-body connection was swiftly arising, with research to support experiences that had previously been rejected as subjective, religious, unusual to Western values, or pure dream. I did assume, mistakenly, that meditation was in some way in my genes as an Indian, and also this would certainly make me a "natural,' while my Western close friends who practiced meditation were driving with a learner's authorization, so to speak.

As you look over the 5 things I have actually provided, their relevance will vary, of program, depending on your background, exactly how long you have meditated, and also various other aspects personal to you alone. However one common thread runs with the listing: There is a covert fact in human awareness.

I utilize a fairly neutral term, the true self, so that this hidden fact doesn't obtain puzzled with various religious customs. In the world's wisdom customs, there is always the contrast between 2 states of consciousness. The very first is the state of duality or separation. The second is the state of integrity or unity consciousness.

From all looks, separation is all-natural, due to the fact that the fact we face daily consists of revers: good as well as negative, light as well as dark, pleasure and also discomfort etc. Our minds are conditioned to 'address' duality by choosing the better side of each opposite. As a result, we attempt to be good, ethical people who abide by humane worths. Somehow the state of splitting up continues suffering, no issue exactly how good, pure, and also well-intentioned you are. For thousands of years there have actually been wisdom practices that state, 'Splitting up is a given if you pick to stay in a particular state of awareness. It really feels all-natural because you accept that the mind is the very same as the materials of the mind, all the ideas, images, wishes, as well as experiences that fill your head. This activity takes area versus a history that is silent, entire, as well as complimentary of enduring. This is your real self, and also when you show up here, integrity is equally as all-natural as splitting up.'

In every tradition, this promise of a greater state of awareness is main. In modern-day language, awareness is like a motion picture display on which any type of movie can be projected. Whatever takes place in the movie, the display isn't impacted. Consequently, everyone has an option between an 'I' that is at the facility of continuous activity or an 'I' that is consciousness itself. The five points I detailed are entry-level awareness, one might say, that enable your mind, despite the fact that it is steeped in duality as well as the play of opposites, to see an additional facet of itself. That's the initial as well as most priceless thing, to see an available to wholeness.

When I began meditating, and also to some level today, it was clear to me that people hesitate to begin the technique unless you hold out motivations that interest the separate self, or ego. This is absolutely valid. The mind-body advantages of meditating have been confirmed via numerous research studies. At the other end of the range, other individuals are convinced to start generally to come to be mentally pure as well as boosted in their sense of self. This is additionally valid, however it discreetly positions spirit in a fortunate setting over mind and also body. The truth is that wholeness can not be achieved like a jigsaw puzzle by setting up a collection of pieces.

Wholeness is a state all its very own. If it had not been, somebody might go along as well as tear apart the jigsaw puzzle you so meticulously constructed. Being a state all its very own, wholeness or unity consciousness is the ground state of being. It is the womb of production, the only actual 'stuff' from which the globe 'in below' and also the globe 'out there' are produced. Thus, meditation is mysterious in its capacity to change a person because regardless of just how much harm the state of separation has actually created, both directly and for culture, each people is inseparably whole. Exactly how can we be entire as well as not understand it? That's the mystery that meditation provides. At the very same time, it offers the solution to the enigma: Integrity is the quiet ground of presence as well as a result can not be called a point, the means we understand other things like rocks, clouds, and trees.

When understanding is conscious of itself, it is whole. When recognition concentrates on an object, either 'in here' or 'available,' the state of wholeness is camouflaged. You end up being the observer of something that appears to be outdoors yourself. In truth, the entire cosmos exists in consciousness, therefore, all experience remains in you.

To know and also comprehend this would have been excessive for me to ask of myself when I initially began to meditate. Recalling over my shoulder-- with the recognition that reflection has created over the years-- I value the procedure that takes anybody out of splitting up right into wholeness. Life has come down to this one choice, and also by meditating, the choice to be entire occurs naturally.

Learn whatever you need to know to develop your desire reflection exercise with Basics of Meditation, a self-paced on-line training course led by Deepak Chopra. Learn More.

[in-flagrante]

The wait is over

THE TIARAS HAVE BEEN DUSTED OFF AND THE PEARLS POLISHED. FOUR LONG YEARS AFTER THE FINAL INSTALMENT OF DOWNTON ABBEY, IT’S BACK, THIS TIME ON THE BIG SCREEN. BEN LAWRENCE WENT ON SET TO UNCOVER SOME FAMILY SECRETS

The Daily Telegraph

31 Aug 2019

As Downton Abbey sweeps majestically on to the big screen, Ben Lawrence joins the cast reunion on set

It is a crisp, clear morning at Wentworth Woodhouse, the stately home in South Yorkshire. Built by the 1st Marquess of Rockingham, it has the widest façade in Europe, boasts at least 365 rooms (no one is certain of the exact number), and represents two and a half acres of building. This perfect specimen of English baroque is the setting for the new Downton Abbey film – in which George V and Queen Mary tour the north of England (which also includes a visit to Downton itself, filmed as usual at Highclere Castle in Berkshire) – and today they are shooting a grand ball at the home of the Countess of Harewood in the film, attended by the royal couple and Downton’s Crawley family.

Inside the house, a production unit zigzags in and out of huge vaulted rooms with cables and film cameras, while extras in 1920s ball attire chat nonchalantly on makeshift chairs. Meanwhile in the ballroom – a giant marble space, adorned with deep-red damask wallpaper and enormous flower arrangements – Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton (two of the stars of the original series) slip through the lines of dancing couples in diaphanous silks, as a small orchestra plays a waltz. In the background, an assistant producer is being told off by one of the volunteers of Wentworth Woodhouse for wandering into a disused room. This isn’t jobsworthiness. The carpet in some rooms is nearly 300 years old and will disintegrate

if anyone breathes on it. The wallpaper, meanwhile, is laced with arsenic (as was the fashion at the time) in order to make it a certain shade of green.

Away from the action, Michelle Dockery, who plays Lady Mary (the eldest Crawley daughter), is sitting in her trailer, her sharp features accentuated by period make-up, feeling slightly in awe of the whole process. ‘It was during my costume fitting when it hit me. I got really emotional.’

Downton Abbey made Dockery and many of her fellow cast members international names, and no wonder. The ITV series, which ran from 2010 to 2015 and followed the lives of the aristocratic Crawley family and their servants, was sold to 220 territories worldwide, achieved a global audience of 120 million and was nominated for 53 International Emmys. In America, it became the most successful British drama import of all time. It also set the bar for costume dramas, at least in terms of visual sheen. The Crown, Netflix’s lavish regal series (which returns this autumn), has clearly been influenced by Julian Fellowes’ series, which cost, on average, £1 million per episode to make.

Everyone expected that a film would be made, but it was quite a feat getting the cast together. ‘It was like herding cats,’ says Dockery. ‘But I just love it. It’s so familiar and doesn’t feel like work.’

Despite rumours to the contrary, Maggie Smith is back as the Dowager Countess, famous for her

‘When we finished the series, we didn’t envisage a film. We had a party at The Ivy and everyone cried’

withering put-downs, as are Hugh Bonneville’s paterfamilias the Earl of Grantham, his American wife Cora (played by Elizabeth Mcgovern) and his two surviving daughters, Lady Mary, of course, and Laura Carmichael’s Lady Edith. Others involved include Penelope Wilton’s sensible cousin Isobel and many of the downstairs staff: Jim Carter’s stentorian Mr Carson and his wife, the no-nonsense housekeeper Mrs Hughes (Phyllis Logan); Mrs Patmore (Lesley Nicol), the plainspeaking cook with Escoffier abilities, and her protégée, the occasionally mutinous Daisy (Sophie Mcshera).

When I talk to Fellowes though, he is adamant that a film was never inevitable. Rumours circulated about a prequel, following Robert’s courting of Cora for her money and subsequently falling in love with her, but nothing came of it. ‘When we finished the series, we didn’t envisage a film. We had a lovely party at The Ivy and everyone cried, but that was it as far as I was concerned. Then, as the years rolled by, there was a sense that people hadn’t quite finished with it, and eventually I formed an idea for a feature film.’

The Downton Abbey film, directed by Michael Engler, is set in 1927, just over a year after the series ended, and focuses on the Crawleys and their servants as they prepare for a royal visit. It causes much excitement below stairs, but the staff soon find the monarch’s entourage taking over – including a temperamental French chef (played by Philippe Spall) and a pompous head butler, played by David Haig, who refers to himself as the ‘King’s page of the back stairs’. Other new cast members include Simon Jones and Geraldine James as the King and Queen, Imelda Staunton (real-life wife of Carter) as Lady Bagshaw, lady-in-waiting to the Queen and a relative of the Crawleys, and Tuppence Middleton as her mysterious lady’s maid, Lucy.

Fellowes was inspired, in part, by a book he had read called Black Diamonds by Catherine Bailey, which details a 1912 visit by King George V and Queen Mary to South Yorkshire. As well as tucking into lavish 13-course dinners, which included puddings served in sugar baskets that took four days to weave, they also met local miners and toured pit villages. Although the film is set 15 years later, the King and Queen did make similar, unlikely tours around the country, as Fellowes explains. ‘After the First World War, there was a period of unsettled feelings about things – not least the monarchy. It had to re-establish itself as many members of European royalty had disappeared – the German Emperor, the Austrian Emperor, the Tsar of Russia. The structure had to be restated as having an integral role in society and they [George and Mary] were very successful in doing so. By 1930, the Crown was back at the heart of English life.’

For Dockery, making the film was not only a chance to catch up with old friends, but also to further develop a character that the nation took to their hearts.

‘Mary is so complex. We met her at 18 and she was this rebellious teenager – she was bored, and

‘It is pompous, but if you are recreating the ’20s you may as well get it right’

because she was a girl, she wasn’t what her father wanted [an heir to Downton]. Ultimately he became very proud of her, though, and I think everyone really responded to that. Seeing her journey was what hooked people.’

Now we see Lady Mary very much in control, happily married (to Matthew Goode’s Henry Talbot) and more than capable of taking over the ancestral pile when the time comes.

‘Julian writes really well for women and I think that has something to do with his wife, Emma [a descendant of Lord Kitchener]. I see a lot of her in Mary, just her expressions and things,’ she says.

Dockery has had a particularly successful career post-downton. She brought rigour and a dash of fun to her part as an ambitious TV exec in Network (the National Theatre production based on the acclaimed ’70s film), and a sort of watchfulness to the role of a hard-edged widow in Netflix’s warped western Godless. Next year, she will be showing her versatility further in Guy Ritchie’s film The Gentlemen, in which she plays the wife of a drug lord (played by Matthew Mcconaughey).

One character who has a particularly meaty storyline in the film is gay footman Thomas, played by Robert James-collier. We meet at Shepperton Studios, where the kitchen scenes are being filmed. It’s a cavernous setting which production designer Donal Woods describes as ‘like a noirish, Scandi film, as opposed to the glorious technicolor of upstairs’. For the TV series, the servants’ quarters were created at Ealing Studios, but the set has been flat-packed and sent over, as have the copper jelly moulds, kettles and pans.

This time, we see Thomas befriend a footman from the Royal household (played by Max Brown), and he ends up in an illicit gay drinking den in York. This was an era when homosexuality could result in a prison sentence, but, says James-collier, for one brief moment his somewhat malevolent character is liberated.

‘He is introduced to this other world that he doesn’t know exists, and there is this sense of relief, this sudden realisation that there are kindred spirits and that he is not this “foul individual” as Mr Carson once described him.’

The irony that Downton Abbey has been sold to countries where homosexuality can be punished by death is not lost on James-collier, and he feels a grave sense of responsibility about his role. ‘I have received letters from young men who say that watching Thomas’s journey has helped them. All I can say is that it’s an utter privilege. It’s the reason why I do it.’

The film’s 1927 setting marks a period in Britain when country houses such as Downton were beginning to feel the austerity of the interwar years. Death duties had to be paid and households streamlined, which meant that many servants lost their jobs. Meanwhile, the General Strike of 1926 – in which the TUC fought against worsening conditions for the country’s miners – underlined a growing sense of solidarity among the working class. In the film, however, there are no such concerns, and that reflects the point that Downton is in many ways a fantasy. One criticism of the original scripts was that the Crawleys were too benign as employers, that the relationship between master and servant was much more remote, without any of the Earl of Grantham’s well-meaning paternalism. Fellowes disagrees.

‘This notion that people were horrible to their servants is wrong. Most of us, if you think about it logically, and putting aside the moral view that that life should exist at all, would want to get on with the valet or lady’s maid. When you see a character snarling at his butler, you think this isn’t a way of life. None of us would want to be in a position of speaking to people you disliked.’

If Fellowes is the arbiter of psychological accuracy, then Alastair Bruce is the gatekeeper of protocol. He was Downton’s historical adviser at the beginning and describes himself, among other things, as the posture monitor.

He explains. ‘The cast tend to put their bums here on the seat,’ he says indicating the back of his chair. ‘But in those days, you didn’t – you would sit at the front. Also, [people’s] shoulders have fallen forward because everyone is on their mobile phone all the time.’

Bruce also helps the actors with their diction and mentions the word ‘room’. Many tended to accentuate the ‘o’s when it fact it should be shortened, so they sound very nearly like a ‘u’.

‘It is pompous bollocks, but if you are recreating the ’20s you may as well get it right,’ Bruce adds. ‘Michelle would quite happily let me describe her evolution in life as a long way from Downton Abbey, but I have some pretty grandiose friends who can’t believe this is the case. I am very proud of the fact that she now has this incredible poise – you never see a curve in her back – and her accent is on point.’

Several months later, I ask Fellowes whether he has plans for a sequel (although in truth, certain scenes in the film suggest a full stop rather than a pause). ‘There is never any point in answering that,’ he says. ‘In this business as soon as someone says that’s the last time I’ll put on my ballet shoes, there they are, a year later, dancing Giselle.’ Downton Abbey is released on 13 September

[i-dobro]

Best works of Russian classical literature: TOP 15

The works of classical literature are undoubtedly the basis of the foundations: they contain the culture, history, philosophy of the people about whom the authors told in their works. In the niche of world classical literature quite a significant place is occupied by Russian literature: a huge number of works of domestic authors are happy to read abroad. We will try to consider the 15 most significant works of Russian classical literature, with which everyone should be familiar.

A.S. Pushkin "Eugene Onegin" The most famous novel in verse tells us an unusual love story between the main character, Eugene Onegin and Tatiana. Their feelings are born at different times and affect the characters in different ways: the first lover, Tatiana, after an explanation with her lover, closes herself in, but, in fact, remains herself. Onegina, who flashes much later, changes it beyond recognition. He appears before a reader full of passion and tenderness, who has lost his former coldness and pride and is capable of real, sincere, human feeling. Against the background of the main plot line unfolds other actions of the novel, during which the Russian poet puts a huge number of important problems, such as social, domestic and cultural way of life of all Russian society in the early 19th century.

A.N. Ostrovsky "Besprydannitsa" An immortal play telling about the sad fate of Russian women, the heartlessness of rich people and the bourgeois nature of small people. It was beautifully filmed by E. Ryazanov.

Tales by A.P. Chekhov Chekhov has written many stories, both funny and tragic. The protagonist of Chekhov is an ordinary man with his daily affairs and concerns. The stories "The Violin of Rothschild", "Ward No. 6", "Drinking cure", "Man in a Case", "Tears Invisible to the World", etc. tell us that no one else understood the soul of the Russian man, as Chekhov. Despite the genre, the stories of Chekhov are a precious stone of Russian literature.

A.S. Griboyedov's "Woe from Wit." The main idea of Griboyedov's comedy is expressed in the title of the work. The main character, Chatsky, who has returned from abroad, comes to the house of the nobleman Famusov to see his daughter Sophia, his former lover. Here he encounters a rather unpleasant meeting with the entire "Famousov society": Famousov himself, Sophia, Silent, and Skalozub, who live in a world of stereotypes and outdated views of the world. They instantly mistake Chatsky, a progressive, educated man who has taken a different view of the world, for being crazy and dangerous to society. The problem of a person who stands out from the stereotypical crowd and is so acutely misunderstood by society is still topical today.

L.N. Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" The main plot line of the novel - a tragic love story between a married Anna Karenina and an officer Vronsky. The meeting of her true love changes Anna's life, she is ready to sacrifice everything for her, but she does not see the return gesture in her direction from her beloved. The heroine, forced to fight her own feelings and public contempt, decides to throw herself under the train. The problems of the work are the questions about marriage, love and family, which concern modern society as much as at the time of writing this novel.

L.N. Tolstoy's War and Peace. Tolstoy's novel epic describes the life of Russian society during the Great Patriotic War with Napoleon, from where the name of the novel. Scenes of war are replaced by scenes of peaceful life, where hundreds of active heroes reveal to readers their character, their mental qualities and life values. Pierre Bezukhov and Andrei Bolkonsky, whose names are known even to those who are not familiar with the novel, stand out among the huge number of heroes. The first is a gentle, fearful of doing the wrong thing, non-conflictual in the future becomes a Decembrist. Bolkonsky, presented at the beginning of the novel as cold, tired of all the society around him, reveals himself as a subtle nature, capable of a feat for the sake of his homeland and a strong feeling for the woman he loved. The novel certainly deserves the attention of any lover of literature with its variety of problems raised and all the brightness and contrast of the described social life.

F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment". The plot of the social-psychological novel is based on the murder of an old woman by Rodion Raskolnikov and his further state of mind, looking for an answer to the question "a creature he trembles or has a right. The reader immediately sees the problem of poverty raised by the author, which, in part, pushes on Raskolnikov's terrible act. But here, too, borders the author's idea of belief in good and love, in the ability to forgive and those bright feelings that should suppress the cruelty in the struggle for power.

M.A. Sholokhov "Quiet Don" The novel by Sholokhov touches upon the pictures of Cossacks' life, their traditions, customs and life values. Their cruel, strict life mores make Cossacks special, and the forbidden love of Gregory and Aksinya unfolding against this background is extraordinary, contrary to all rules, rebellious, but sincere to the core.

N.V. Gogol "The Inspector"... Everyone knows Gogol's comedy "The Inspector" sets as its primary goal to ridicule the city authorities, who, learning about the arrival of the Auditor, was not jokingly concerned, and then, in his presence and began to reprimand him frankly, missing only one important detail - Khlestakov, which they took for the Auditor, was the most common trickster and cheater from the street. The problems of bribery, neglect of their duties, pettiness and cowardice are brought to the fore in Gogol's comedy.

N.V. Gogol's "Dead Souls"... The book tells about the adventures of Pavel Chichikov, the protagonist of the poem, a former collegiate councilor posing as a landowner. Chichikov comes to an unnamed town, a provincial "city N" and immediately tries to enter into the trust of all the important residents of the city that he successfully succeeds. The hero becomes an extremely welcome guest at balls and dinners. The citizens of the unnamed city have no idea about Chichikov's true goals. And his goal is to buy up or buy free of charge the dead peasants, who according to the census were still listed as alive at the local landlords, and then design them in his own name as alive.

M.Y. Lermontov, "Hero of our time." We're talking about the human spiritual world. This theme is well revealed thanks to Pechorin's rosy image. This man is not of the most pleasant character, not always noble deeds, but very difficult fate. Some may judge him for his treatment of Bella, Maxim Maximyche and the Princess, others sympathize with him, especially after his monologue about the uneasiness of his fate in "Princess Mary". Pechorin is a person in deep conflict with society, but at the same time a person who cannot but be admired by that same society by the power of his personality.

I.S. Turgenev, "Fathers and Children". The novel became landmark for its time, and the image of the protagonist Evgeny Bazarov was perceived by young people as an example to follow. Ideals such as uncompromising, lack of admiration for authority and old truths, the priority of useful over beautiful, were perceived by people of that time and were reflected in Bazarov's world view.

I.S. Turgenev "Notes of the Hunter" Classic hunted a lot in Orlov Province. There he met different people, he followed the life of the Russian people, which is described in his book. This is a collection of stories, published in 1847-1851 in the magazine "Sovremennik" and published as a separate edition in 1852. Three stories were written and attached by the author to the collection much later.

M.A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita". The main subject of the novel "The Master and Margarita" is the search for truth, the search for yourself, your personality, your direction, your life path. The truth is presented here a novel by the Master, but who has befallen and found the truth inevitably becomes mentally ill. One of the main ideas in the novel is also the struggle between good and evil, which affects all the characters of the novel, intertwining the genres of fiction, satire and philosophy. Although the novel was released in Soviet times, it has become an undoubted classic work.

M.A. Bulgakov's "Dog Heart." At the heart of the story "Heart of a Dog" is a story about how Professor Preobrazhensky decides to transplant a homeless dog pituitary gland and human ovaries. His fantastic experiment ends with the transformation of a nice homeless dog into a disgusting representative of the Sharikov proletariat. The problem of the proletariat, by the way, is one of the main problems of the story. The post-revolutionary structure of society, which causes undisguised irritation of the Transfiguration, makes the reader think deeply, too.