#we helped each other build these with lots of parallel play and then made up everything as we went laughing our asses off the whole time

[giddlygoat]

today, me and my sibling made death battle machines and pitted them against each other. the one with the ninjas piloting is called “wu’s team building exercise” and the one with the flaming tit on top is called “diarrhea johnson’s freedom-licious nutbuster 3000”.

diarrhea johnson’s machine can only go in one direction [circle] and wu’s teambuilding exercise can only go in every direction all at once. it has 11 wheels and 6 joints/swivels for maximum teamwork difficulty. kai is in charge of main steering from his post on top of the double-decker couch, and due to an error in lower-couch capacity calculations, the secondary steering mechanism had to be moved to the very front of the vehicle last-minute, but lloyd is braving it like a champ. cole is on back right steering and zane mirrors him with back left steering. wu’s job is to hold The Skull.

in the end, diarrhea johnson won with only a single illegal nuclear rocket booster knocked off from the impact, and wu’s team building exercise was broken into 4 pieces. among the detached was the expresso machine/main and only engine in the back that jay was put in charge of constant monitoring, as well as the emergency shut down explosion button [and only form of breaks] on the very back of the vehicle. lloyd was flung across the floor and hit the dishwasher head on. he is still in the ICU. however, when the illegal nuclear rocket booster was knocked off of mr johnson’s vehicle, it also set off a nuclear explosion and rendered everywhere within a 100 mile radius an instant-death zone. diarrhea johnson did not survive. however, we concluded that the ninja are probably fine, because they are only glowing green, and as everyone knows, lloyd’s power glows green, so nothing is out of the ordinary. 

perhaps most impressive of all is that The Skull was not once knocked from wu’s hand. truly a legendary battle was had today, but i think the true hero here does not lie in the winner - but in each of us. 

[anyoldfandom]

I am actually. I am so emotional over the Salazar parents and I need to share this to tumblr too.

A lot of stories where the MC is adopted I feel. Either dismiss the biological parents and the impact they have on the kid's life, or makes them evil and abusive, framing the loss of the bio parents as a good thing, or at least something we shouldn't think about just look at this new family.

But Genrex doesn't do that. From the start, Rex wanted to find out more about his parents - it's one of his primary character motivations, next to helping people. He loves them, even though he doesn't know them.

And the more he finds out about them, the more he realizes they loved him. Rylander is consumed by guilt but as Rex's first connection to his pre-Event life, the first thing he does is hug him. And when he tells Rex about his parents, the two things Rex knows is that 1) they were scientists, and 2) that when he was in danger, they were desperate enough to use their secret, experimental technology to save him. Technology built from their desire to help the world, to save countless lives and end countless suffering.

And then. When he finds out that they were dead, he doesn't stop caring. It'd be so easy, too, to tie it up there - his parents were good people, he got his answer about them, the end. But they don't. He doesn't. Because the show is saying once again that they are his parents. He still calls them mom and dad, even as the show makes it clear Holiday and Six adopted Rex as their son. Even as the show even parallels Six and One with Rex and Six (and I will talk about that more later if I don't forget, trust me), to really drive home how much they're family. Rex even says he considers the two of them family, and later that he considers Noah, Claire and Annie family.

He has new family, the show tells us, but his old family still matters to him. He's upset that he never has the chance to meet his parents, that everything he hears about them, about his time with them, is secondhand knowledge. It tells us clearly that not only does Rex still love them, but that he still wants to know them. And everything we find out about them reinforces the love that they had for each other.

We see Abuela and the family in Mexico, who connect him to his birth family and tell him that he was so loved back then, and still is now. We see their office in Abysus through Rex's eyes. The picture of him and his dad on his desk. The drawing Rex drew, proudly pinned to the wall.

We see it in the familiarity of the drawing. That that robot, that build, was what Rex created when he was lost and scared and alone - that it was made to keep him safe. That it first appeared in his mind in a place he felt safe.

The show says, tenderly and softly, that the love is still there. That the fact these people died was nothing but a tragedy, that their love is a big part of what made Rex who he is today - that every molecule in his body is filled with their final gift to him. That every time he cures someone, every time he uses a build, every time he makes a machine - we see the love that they had for him.

And the way he quietly absorbs his father's face. The way he freezes and whispers "Mamá?" when he finds out Zag-Rs has their mother's voice. The fact that she even has her voice as a testament to Caesar's love, too - that it was meant to bring comfort and safety. The way Rex yells at Caesar when he finds out they have a family property, a connection to their past, the way he fights to protect it.

And, none of this takes away still from Six and Holiday being Rex's family too. None of this removes the work either set of parents did for him, the love either set has - the show says that it was unfair that the Salazar parents were lost. That Six and Holiday are not replacements, that they still love him as parents but play different roles in his life. They can not, and have no desire to, replace the Salazars. But Rex needs parents, he needs protectors, and so they will do what they can for him - at first out of necessity, to keep this kid they barely know safe, but then out of love. They aren't replacing what was lost, but are doing their best to do what Rex's bio parents would do. And they do mess up in it - they mess up in ways Rex's bio parents might not have. Six is clearly bad with showing affection, affection we saw the Salazars give Rex so easily, and Holiday is overworked and stressed constantly, sometimes breaking under the pressure and snapping at Rex and Six, things we never saw the Salazars do.

It's just. It's about how sometimes things will not be the same. They will be different. That doesn't mean the people you lost aren't still with you.

[halliescomut]

Boss/Noeul for The Boy Next World

So we got official confirmation (that we were all expecting) that Boss and Noeul will be playing Cirrus and Phugun respectively in The Boy Next World series coming form Mame/MeMindY. I read the whole novel in about 2 days...finishing up 4 hours prior to the announcement. (Poor decision making on my part honestly.) But I wanted to talk about the novel and basic story, the characters and what I think makes Boss and Noeul a good fit for them, some concerns, and some moments in the novel I'm excited to see.

I am going to attempt to sort of graduate spoilers, so we'll start with no spoilers, move on to potential mild spoilers, and the on to pretty moderate-severe ones. I will clearly mark each transition, so you can stop reading when you like.

No Spoiler Section- Story and Character Summaries

We'll start by going over the basic summary of the story. Phugun and Cirrus are university students that live in the same apartment building. One night Cirrus shows up at Phugun's apartment and tells him that he is his boyfriend. Phugun is understandably confused, as despite having attended the same high school and university, they've NEVER interacted before, but invites him in. Cirrus asserts that he is from a parallel universe where they had started dating in high school. From there it's a bit of a shenanigans ensue situation, but Phugun, being soft-hearted, agrees to try and help Cir get back to his own world, and Cir simply can't help doting on whatever Phugun is available to him. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you might yell.

Now to the characters:

Phugun (often called Phu) is a 2nd year humanities student. He is described as small, cute, and a bit silly. He's also quite feisty and soft-hearted (though he doesn't present that side of himself) and importantly he's kind of superstitious. It is a main character point that he believes that wearing certain colors on certain days will bring him luck, and on days where he can't bad things happen to him. He's an only child and his father passed away when he was in middle school or junior high, so probably about 12-13. After that his mother began travelling abroad, leaving him under the supervision of an aunt. He has a close-knit group of university friends, though from what I can tell none of them pre-date uni.

Cirrus (most often referred to as Cir or P'Cir) is a 4th year business management student. He is described as tall and very handsome, often pursued by other students, but he entertains no one. His nickname on campus is Ice Prince, and many people seem to be afraid of his dark glowers. He does have a small group of friends as well, one from high school (or possibly previously) and one that appears to be just from university. He is the eldest of two children, with a 1 year younger brother (Zone), and his parents are divorced. With Phugun, Cirrus becomes warm and doting, in contrast to the cold persona he presents otherwise.

Now reading through those descriptions you may think...those sound kind of a lot like Rain and Payu...and you are correct. Beginning the novel, I had the same concerns, that these characters were far to similar to their LITA ones and wouldn't offer much space for growth and progression as actors. I have also read the LITA novels (they're actually the only Mame novels I had read before embarking on the Boy Next World) and while I enjoyed Love Storm, I did feel that there wasn't A LOT of serious depth or emotional growth happening in the novel. This is not bad, it's simply my observation, and I enjoyed the novel and series regardless. Through the BNW novel we do have access to both leads points of view and a lot more detail about their backstories, so they are far more fleshed out, complex characters from the start. Because of this, I am potentially hopeful of some really affecting moments that will give Boss and Noeul a great opportunity to really stretch their acting wings. I've made a post before about Noeul's acting specifically, as Rain is incredibly different from him overall, and that remembering that definitely increased my appreciation of his performance there. Rain as a roles is more one that seems simple because he's kind of the most relatable, but for him to be so different from Noeul would offer a specific set of challenges.

There are also a couple of instances in the novel that I think Boss and Noeul in particular could convey very well....

Parallel World Set-up

I also want to give a small explanation of the parallel world basis for the novel, as there are many wildly different systems used in fictional stories, some more complex than others. Below is a pretty basic diagram of the type of parallel world set-up we're looking at.

It's pretty basic, the timeline moves forward and a certain point an occurrence or decision changes the course of the timeline creating to separate but parallel worlds (hence why they travel in the same direction together). In media this divergence point can be anything, in Sliding Doors it's Gwenyth Paltrow's character catching the train versus missing it, but it can also occasionally be a decision. A yes leads to one future, no leads to another, similar to a choose your own adventure story. The divergence point is revealed in the novel, but I won't spoil that, but that decision creates Timeline B where Cirrus and Phugun meet and begin dating in high school. That is the only difference between the two timelines. The orange dashed line is the inciting incident of the novel itself where Cirrus-B ends up in timeline A, and Cirrus-A ends up in timeline B.

I'm going to finish up with trigger warnings for the novel (and likely the series) if you choose to pick it up prior to the show coming out. There are some pretty serious instances of emotional and physical abuse of Cirrus at the hands of his mother, starting from when he was a child. There are also a couple of instances of homophobia. Most of this stems from two specific characters, but there are insensitive and degrading comments made by sort of background characters as well. Grief and grieving is also a potential trigger, as there is discussion related to the death of Phugun's father throughout the novel. As someone who has lost both parents, I did cry at these moments.

Mild to Moderate Spoilers- Scenes and aspects I would like to see in the series

So there are a handful of portions of the book that I really would like to see in the series, and a couple of 'silly' things that I think would just be fun/funny. I'll start with those.

Since we've now established the potential for recasting... I think it would be hilarious if Mame cast a bunch of the actors from the friend group in LITA as the friends in BNW. Specifically Pepper as P'Ren, one of Cirrus's friends who is obsessed with his tropical fish. It would just give the whole thing a bit of a community theater vibe, and I love that.

Since we have a a parallel or alternate universe situation, cast the previous Cir and Phu (Haii and Title) from TharnType 2 as the other versions of them. We don't actually see the other versions in the novel, but it feel like it would be funny like in the opening credits to see like side-by-sides of their lives/timelines.

Now on to actual story points and scenes from the novel I really want to see, and one I kind of hope we don't. We shall get the No out of the way first:

-I do think it is important to keep the child abuse storyline, but I very much hope that it is kept very circumspect or minimal in the show. I would especially not like to SEE it. I think maybe having Cir and Phu talk about it, maybe with audio-overlays or allusions to what happened. But it's pretty dark, and I don't want something like what we got in Don't Say No. Mostly because I have concerns about how filming those scenes can psychologically impact a child actor.

Now the YES's:

-I very much want to see the potential or alluded to second couple of P'Wim and Jin (who are friends of Cir and Phugun). Their vibe is one best described as Hermione Granger and Luna Lovegood, and their interactions in the novel were delightful. I'm sure how much we'll get depends on the episode count, but I'm hopeful for more than a Ryu/Sun situation in Wedding Plan.

-As discussed, Phugun has some superstitions related to the clothes he wears, and in the novel this goes all the way down to underwear. I would love to see like a calendar montage where you see him rotating through a rainbow of different colored outfits. (It would be delightfully gay.)

-I want Zone to be in the show. He's only present a couple of times in the novel, but I do feel that he's necessary to the story and that removing him would negatively impact Cirrus's character/backstory, as his relationship with his brother does play a role in a lot of his choices. But in the novel, they have a fun dynamic, and his interactions with Phugun are quite sweet, so I feel like it would be a great inclusion.

-There are a couple of instances in the story where Cir sings Phugun to sleep to comfort him. We know Boss has a lovely singing voice, I would like to see that.

-There is a scene related to a musical instrument that was left to Phugun by his late father, but Phugun can't play it. In the scene Cirrus plays it for him, and it's one of the scenes that made me absolutely lose it. Now the instrument isn't a guitar, but since we know Boss can play guitar, I don't think it's unreasonable to just change the type of instrument, as that doesn't really affect the story. Though I am aware that a lot of viewers hate the "guitar in BLs" trope, there is a real emotional gravitas to this scene that I think it would be unfortunate to lose.

-Lastly, there are not many NC scenes in the novel, I think 3 fully explicit ones and a couple that are alluded to. But the first one is a BJ in which Phu is receiving and Cir is performing. Now BJs in general are rarely even portrayed in BL, for many reasons, but the fact that it's not easy to film in a manner that would get by censors, or to portray in a romantic light are probably major factors. It's also something that could be far more uncomfortable for the actors to film. But when they are even hinted at it's often the 'Top' who is receiving, we honestly rarely see concentrated effort from a 'Top' to pleasure their 'bottom' without achieving their own 'completion.' I think a lot of this stems from the heteronormative relationship aspects traditionally applied to BL couples. Just as there's an idea in heteronormative/patriarchal society that a woman is there to provide pleasure to the man, and a man is not obligated to return it, that get's saddled on homosexual characters, leading to a situation where we rarely see Tops do much more than prep and penetrate (and the prep is often off screen). It's something that bugs me regularly, even in shows I really like. It's something you see with Kinn/Porsche, with Dean and Pharm in UWMA. These are characters where there is supposed to be this insane level of affection and adoration in the Top for their bottom, but they're not going out of their way to make sure they feel good??? Seems fake. In fairness to Mame, while she does fall into many a problematic trope, she also really likes bossy bottoms who advocate for their own pleasure, so there is that.

So....that's my thoughts on what to expect and what I hope to see. I hope you enjoyed.

[nausicaaandhermouth]

notes: parallels on silco & vander and romulus & remus

(prompted by this post, check it out)

from how their stories regard around the rise/makings of a nation, the relationship between two brothers, the characteristics of that nation, you can very easily draw parallels & connections between silco & vander (which i'll call in short the zaun pair) and romulus & remus (the roman pair). made me wonder if the writers were intentional about this, since there's just so much you can pull and make sense of. ofc not all the details align, but if you squint they're pretty much there. if intentional, that would be very cool.

for this analysis, we're going with the most popular interpretation that includes fratricide, rather than the other of remus simply dying out of stupidi- i mean jumping over a wall. if you need a quick brush-up on ur romulus and remus, here’s a concise summary for you.

anyway, this is very scattered but here are some notes. (maybe spoilery? in regards to warwick anyway, it's speculative)

brotherly relationship: ofc the most obvious parallel is the brotherly relationship. while the roman pair were twins and the zaun pair are more found/chosen family, point still stands, their relationship was one of that familial closeness and trust. the zaun pair fought to free zaun from piltover's governance, while the roman pair wanted to reclaim their grandfather's throne. this would've fostered that brother-in-arms type bond in both relationships.

founding of a city/nation: both pairs are linked to a founding of a city/nation. though it's ironic how the zaun pair wanted to be removed of another nation's rule, while the roman pair wanted to regain their right to rule. in a way, the zaun pair also wanted their own right to rule (not the way the roman pair did, ofc, though the roman pair didn’t accept the throne either), or at least have zaun be its own thing separate from piltover.

founding figures: both pairs are the founding figures of their respective nations. albeit yes for zaun it was mostly silco since zaun's independence was pushed by him later on, still that wouldn't have come to be without vander's... help (betrayal, but ofc he contributed to the cause in the past before becoming passive)

legacy: even after "death" vander's influence still remains through his symbolic presence; silco respected him (ish), his memory lives on with the firelights, how he's even got his own statue. this is very much like how the she-wolf became a lasting symbol of rome, how things used to be, the image of the nation before it was ever a nation and was still building towards it. (links to point 8)

interchangeable roles: vander initially seemed to play romulus in this tale, attempting to drown silco. however, he fails (attempted murder 1) and eventually silco later plays romulus and attempts to kill vander. (attempted murder 2). i’m reading this as them interchangeably using romulus as the brother that has the upperhand, and remus as the role of the victim

nation's birth after death: i found it interesting how 'zaun' isn't really a thing (as in it is not acknowledged as its own nation) until finally one brother dies. they keep not-dying, trying to kill each other, they both want to see zaun become independent, but only one brother survives to see it. it somewhat still follows the roman pair's tale. they had their ideas of the future, but only after remus dies is rome founded. the zaun pair only make this far more tragic, since we see their relationship a lot more and are able to see more nuance in their relationship, that push and pull.

symbolic representation: the she-wolf could symbolise zaun (besides vander). the wolf represents many things that we see echo in what zaun is and the kinds of people it welcomes. there's nurturing protection, wild nature (untamed, primal strength), loyalty to the pack, found family, transformation (from humble beginnings to a great empire), resilience in harsh conditions, duality (embodying both ferocity and nurturing). this complex place is the very same that mothered silco and vander, adopting each other as their own, innocence and danger blending together uneasily seemless, reminiscent of the lupo capitolina.

canine associations: there's also been a ton of association with vander to canines (him being the 'hound' of the underground, and him potentially being warwick). not much on this point, we’ll see in s2 how this progresses.

water-related transformative experience: both brother pairs have a water-related ordeal that leads to a transformative experience. even more, that the river is linked to attempted murder. very fun. vander attempts to drown silco, fails. the roman pair were left in tiber river to drown, fails. (and somewhat, silco 'baptising' jinx, attempting to rid her of the remnants of powder, lowkey fails). another thing, the water in silco's story is polluted, but his survival can be seen as a dark form of purification in a way. this would tie to the roman myth, where the river serves a more traditional purifying role, washing the roman pair to safety and setting them on their destined path.

city of outcasts: after romulus had sole power, he offered refuge to fugitives and exiles, sort of as a way to increase rome's population. picture that, a city of criminals. sounds familiar, no? bit like zaun. of course, that's a stereotype, but it's certainly the image that comes up about zaun. its danger, crime, lawlessness - especially when contrasted against piltover.

this is all i could think of the moment. if you’ve any additional ideas or want to discuss anything, do add on, i’d love to hear

tag: @q8qwertyuiop8p

[henry-fox-biggest-stan]

Honestly the biggest byler proof shouldn’t be the eyewitness parallel, or the little women parallel, or whatever, but just like, the fact than Will canonically is in love with mike

There’s no reason for him to have a crush on Mike if they’re not endgame. Lots of queer people (myself, for example) figured out they were queer before feeling romantic attraction for anyone for the first time. My first crush came after I discovered my queerness. Will has always felt different, always been different, always has been called homophobic slurs by both bullies and his own father.

The duffers could have easily said “Will realized he was gay when all of his friends began dating girls while he found no appeal for it, when the idea of mike kissing el and the fact than it was expected for him to eventually kiss a girl felt gross to him, when all his friends were growing up and becoming teenagers with hormones who liked girls while he just didn’t, when he realized he always liked looking at men more than women, when he thought a man was a hundred times more attractive than a woman, when he found himself not looking away from the men in bathing suits at the pool or the hot actors in tv,” but they didn’t.

There’s no need for him to have a crush in his straight best friend, specially because Will is one of the main characters, if not the main character. Specially because they said than he would have a happy ending in s5.

“Oh he doesn’t need a boyfriend for a happy ending, crushes aren’t forever, he can get over mike during the s5 time jump.” True, absolutely true, genuinely, so true. But what’s the point in having him have a crush on mike just to get over him in s5?

“Oh but they made the same thing with Dustin and Max.” It’s nowhere near comparable. Dustin didn’t know Max, max was new, the only thing he knew is than she was from California and really good at videogames, she even beat his record. He found her attractive and most importantly, interesting (a new girl from California, who played videogames and was even better than him??). Mike and Will had known each other for most part of their lives, they were best friends, they probably knew each other better than Dustin and Lucas knew them. It has been shown since the start than their relationship is different, Will doesn’t lie to Mike, Mike is able to tell when Will is quieter than usual, he’s always the one closest to him when he’s having an episode, he slept at the hospital while Will stayed there (we didn’t see Dustin or Lucas do that). And, did Dustin have a whole confession? Was Dustin’s crush built up for 4 seasons?

Plus, I think it really served a purpose. Both Dustin and Lucas being attracted to Max meant than half of the party wanted her to join. Will didn’t care, and Mike was against her joining. Majority won, Max hung out with them. If it was just Lucas who was interested, while Dustin and Will genuinely didn’t care, Mike probably would have won and she wouldn’t have spent big part of the season with them. Sure, Lucas still would have hung out with her because he is his own person, but she wouldn’t have joined the group, at least, initially.

There is no reason to have Will have a crush on mike, a crush building up for four seasons, just for it to get nowhere and for him to get over him during the time jump.

“Oh well, the painting helped mike and el’s relationship.” Debatable (the way they ended s4 was, well, something), but my own opinions aside, sure, yeah. Will used the painting to confess his own feelings which he disguised as El’s to help Mike become more confident in his relationship, and it kinda worked.

However let me ask you this, in what world is using a gay character’s (a gay character than has suffered probably more than everyone else in the story [except El], a gay character who is in love with his best friend, who has suffered homophobic bullying, who feels like a mistake for being different, like he will never be happy or find anyone like him because it is the 80s) feelings as a plot device to further a straight relationship than has supposedly been building up since season 1 (so they shouldn’t need anything else to further it) just to have this gay character’s feeling disappear once they have served their purpose, which is to further and help a straight relationship, something normal or okay to do?? What kind of representation is that?? That’s actually homophobic, and I mean it. Will ending up single isn’t homophobic of course not, but the way than the duffers have used his feelings as a plot device for a straight couple, specially if they are going to disappear after, is. And we know they’ll either disappear or Will will get a boyfriend (whether it’s Mike or some new guy, and we know there are no new male characters Will’s age) since I don’t know what kind of happy ending unrequited love is (and they have promised us a happy ending for Will).

[vela-pulsars]

Cliffside Retreat

A hideaway for a few forlorn deserters

Fanseason of Passage/Cycles inspired by the celts that I decided to stop working on for now, it was going to be about war deserters in the Golden Wasteland, hiding near the waning peaks of the Valley of Triumph. It would be set near a mountain lake that’s at first muddy and polluted, but as quests are completed, arches would emerge from the gradually clearing waters as the landscapes slightly change to reflect each season of the year. More under the cut !

The questgiver would have been a warrior at the head of a troop who decided to desert the battlefield to save their and their people's life, they got bear themes since they were seen as rulers of the forest in some mythos, and the link to the Ursa minor/major constellations as guides was really cool. They feel like a failure and a coward though, and the fact they they all ended up getting got by darkness anyway doesn't help, so what's left of their troop will try to cheer them up during the season.

Each spirit is inspired by a realm we cross before the Wasteland (with the questgiver themselves being GW) to symbolize how much one has lived through before making it to the middle of their life. So, pretty much, this is a season about reminding yourself of how many cycles you passed through before that kind of hardship, reminding you that you got all the experience you gained so far to do so. I also like to think there could be parallels between deserters feeling guilt because they made a complicated choice, and being into adulthood realizing a lot of complex things also have higher stakes and feeling like you're betraying yourself and what you stand for.

The first few quests have you gathering items to build the hideaway back; The first one has you look for scraps with the Wayfinder, summoning the first arch (spring) and making grass and a few cold-colored flowers appear in the desert. For the second quest, you help the Laborer carry and assemble shelters, after which the second arch of summer emerges and the landscape becomes even more verdant with longer grass and warm-colored flowers blooming alongside the ones from the previous quest. As for the third quest, the Blacksmith asks you to deliver items they crafted to the other spirits, making the third arch of autumn come out of the water as harmless rain falls in the area and all the plant life that grew so far turns various shades of yellow, orange, red and brown.

The last two quests are special: Fourth quest starts off normally with you helping the Performer play a song to cheer everyone up, which works... until the fourth arch of winter emerges. A clap of thunder not unlike Eden's is heard, and it becomes split in two (mirroring the twin elders). Snow falls upon the Cliffside Retreat and covers the grass and flowers as the winds become more violent, making flight more difficult... Finally, the questgiver themselves ask you for help for the last quest: a storm is sending all the work done so far flying, and you have to catch it mid-air. At the end, the guide plays their carnyx (an instrument ultimate gift), summoning an elder bird and its flock to guide the winds into being less chaotic. The clouds part, and underneath starlit skies, you see an aurora borealis. The spirits fix what they can, and after looking over life blooming in the area even more colorful than it was before, they feel at peace and ascend to the stars.

[broodwolf221]

meta that's mostly about vivienne and her pro-circle views, but also touches on both sera and anders. I love them all and that shows, none of this is character hate, but I'm trying to explore the nuance at play here

adding character hate on this post will get you blocked

cws: mentions of the following: abuse; starvation; murder

obviously sera and vivienne are very, very different from each other... but I think one important commonality between them is a desire to avoid anarchy as a solution

sera doesn't want the red jennies to become a new political power - she wants to keep the current batch of nobles on edge, knowing that the "red jenny" may come for them if they fuck up too much. she also doesn't want to take out all the current nobles bc she knows that new ones will rise to take their place. she hates the nobles, but she also sees how an anarchist revolution would harm the very people she cares about, those she's trying to help as a red jenny

vivienne doesn't want to abolish the circles, but she also doesn't want to permit the abuses within them... but she, quite realistically, views the destruction of the chantry/subsequent vote for the dissolution of the circles as an inciting factor in the mage-templar war

anders' actions gave people new and immediate reason to fear mages. whether he was right to do it or not - and I tend to think he was - does not preclude it having consequences, even those that directly harm the very group he was trying to liberate

further, the function of the circles as a place for mages to train is necessary, and is also why I personally tend to feel a little uncomfortable with direct parallels being made to rl groups. no minority or oppressed group in rl can accidentally burn down the family barn because they get upset. I'm all for ppl making these connections if that works for them, but I always look at things first and foremost as existing within their canon context, not referencing reality outside of it

with that in mind... training mages is necessary. they need to be able to avoid possession, to learn to control their abilities, etc. does it need to be in a circle tower? no! ofc not! but there does need to be a form of training

vivienne sees the circles as fulfilling that role. the dissolution of them plunged mages into uncertainty - the anarchy she is so opposed to. who will train new mages now? how will they even be discovered?

in banter with dorian, sera once mentions a mage who got picked up by the templars, so he's "better now." dorian reacted with shock, asking if she knew what the southern circles are like, and she replied that he got three square meals a day, a cot. and he wouldn't starve or be killed in the street, both of which she'd seen

this isn't saying circles are the ideal, because they have abuses occurring within them too. the one in kirkwall seemed to be the worst, but we can't know the extent of it in every circle throughout time. it is, however, a place with a severe power imbalance and stark controls placed upon people as a matter of course

it is also the current and only solution within a large part of thedas. without it, what will happen to those kids who get mad and burn a building down? will the non-mages around them be kind, or will they be brutal? will they be able to turn them over to rogue apostates?

this is the problem with anarchy imo - some systems absolutely deserve to be destroyed, but there are a LOT of people who are going to fall through the cracks in an anarchist revolution

so, tl;dr: anders was right. and vivienne is right. circles are bad, but they are also the only system in place rn. and sera and vivienne have an anti-anarchy pov that they share, which is very interesting to me.

[jabberwockprince]

🛝 and/or 🎉 for the cast of Spina Venatores, if you're willing?

HELL YEAAA SPINA SWEEEEEEP! ty for the ask (and for making the OC questions post!! <3) I made some quick lil silly doodles so ppl can remember who is who

also putting the rest of the post under a cut to avoid clogging ppl's dashes!

🛝: What do they do in their free time, if they have any?

A general rule of thumb is that the elite members of Spina Venatores often choose to spend their free time with each other, due to their obsessive codependency and need for companionship. Venison is the most extreme example of this!

They have no problem inserting themself into the routines of others, following them along and just lingering, or engaging in some parallel play. Venison is also entitled and confident enough to drag whoever into any shenanigans or to slack off, just for the sake of being entertained.

Ironically, despite Venison's role as the leader of Spina Venatores, they're given a lot of free time - Forget Me Not considers their clingy personality a great way to monitor others and prevent people from deserting, as well as to help Spina's members grow closer together and become much more susceptible to manipulation. It's two birds in one stone.

And even if we were to talk about their hobbies, they're also heavily influenced by either their desire for companionship or their work, because Venison is a character whose existence is defined by their relationships with others, a parasite that cannot stand on their own or be left alone. So, when it comes to their hobbies or what they would do if there's no one around to indulge them, then...

People watching and stalking - they absolutely love observing and studying others, taking note of every single reaction no matter how subtle, which helps them read others like an open book to absolute FILTH when needed. They love to know what their favorite people do when no one is looking.

They enjoy writing letters, and some arts and crafts, but even THOSE end up focusing heavily on their role within Manus/Spina lmfao. This mf has a talent for making every aspect of their life revolve around a SINGLE thing

🎉: What thing(s) in the 21st century would they really like or enjoy?

Social media, especially how easy it becomes to keep tabs on others and how difficult it is for people to get rid of their digital footprint.

This mf would be OUT THERE with the perfect daily routine to check on absolutely everyone they cherish or are obsessed with, managing a couple dozen accounts just in case. They're not a tech genius or anything, but for the sake of seeing what everyone is up to, they would definitely learn whatever is necessary to continue stalking others.

On a less intense note, I think Venison would also enjoy fandom spaces and online culture overall, given how it can both be precious moments of community and a cesspool of toxicity. I can absolutely see them building a little community for dead dove fics and being That One Guy people go to for advice when writing gore because they just happen to know a lot about how the human body works in specific conditions

🛝: What do they do in their free time, if they have any?

Mutton is a tricky one, because she insists that she has no free time at all - working on logistics and keeping everything in check takes up all of her time. But she's a desperate workaholic, using work to keep herself busy and avoid thinking too much about things she'd rather forget.

Whenever there's nothing to do, Mutton fusses over everyone else within Spina, taking on their workload and putting even more stress on herself. THAT's what she does in her free time. WORK. HARDER. Part of her does it out of genuine care, but overtime that's become just a surface justification of her controlling mindset. She's too used to filling the role of matriarch, a strong and reliable figure for those who look up to her, and instantly assumes that everyone will do a poor job, that she's the only one capable.

Despite being the complete opposite to Venison, the two get along extremely well because they follow the same pattern of behaviour - both of them need to make their entire lives revolve around something or someone that isn't themselves for whatever reason.

So her hobbies are also related to her people: Mutton is into fashion, she's a master seamstress and tailor. All these extravagant uniforms that all members of Spina Venatores wear? She made them herself by hand, even the ones that Disciples wear. Every single one. She loves to cook, and always overindulges everyone in Spinas with their favorite meals in excessive amounts. Mf is really the world's most fucked up, cynical, divorced housewife and mother of a couple dozen cultists <3

🎉: What thing(s) in the 21st century would they really like or enjoy?

The revival or renaissance era of old trends. Like, people going "we should bring back bell bottom jeans/we should start dressing again like we're in the 20's/we should go back to this and that". I think Mutton would find that endearing, silly and nostalgic, especially if they're given a modern twist - that's something she can definitely appreciate.

There's just something about people constantly yearning for things that already passed by and trying desperately to bring them back, but it's impossible to truly relive the past so what they end up getting is something brand new instead. Like electro swing <3! Yes there's a metaphor somewhere in there about being unable to let go, anyway. moving on.

Other than that, Mutton would also enjoy telenovelas and soap operas in general, or movies and shows full of drama focused on relationships - especially the ones that get EXTREMELY convoluted like Why Women Kill or The Handmaiden (2016). She'd get SO heated up about them, projecting so hard onto every character that mildly resembles her LMFAO

🛝: What do they do in their free time, if they have any?

Chevon is a rare case within Spina Venatores, because unlike the others, he actually has fucking normal hobbies that he indulges in during his free time that don't necessarily carry copious amounts of emotional baggage.

He likes to garden and flower arrangement, specifically. Not that he's any good at it, everything he touches tends to die pretty quickly, but he still likes to do it anyway!

More than often, Chevon will be accompanied by Poultry, the only one with actual knowledge when it comes to plants and flowers, and who keeps him from destroying the whole garden where she grows her materials.

Chevon is very interested in the process of decay when it comes to flora and fauna, so while his natural lack of skill in caring for something as easy as a cactus can come in handy for that sweet, sweet plausible deniability, everyone knows better than to fall for that that. This mf is out there trying to find the perfect point between life and death, growth and decay to preserve a living body forever, similar to how Druvis III can preserve plants in a frozen state but applied to actual people

But he also likes to read, Chevon will read literally anything, just because he's so very curious about other perspectives, even if he does consider each and every one of them useless and waaaay beneath his own. Complaining and criticizing others is also one of his hobbies, so be careful when it comes to him reading your work lmfao.

Whereas Venison is the guy you go to for undying support and blind love bombing, Chevon is the guy you go to if you need to be humbled to fucking shreds because of how direct and brutally honest he is with his opinions. It SUCKS because despite him being such a little hater, he does give extremely good criticisms and observations in that soft spoken and entirely aloof demeanor of his.

🎉: What thing(s) in the 21st century would they really like or enjoy?

Chevon wouldn't be as terminally online as Venison nor Poultry, but I like to think he would be SUPER into those fucking weird ass nonsensical things that are impossible to describe to ppl who haven't experienced them online - such as Goncharov, long furby plushies that you can actually buy, whatever the fuck Garten of Banban is, Redditor Island, Alexandria's Genesis with the purple eyes

Like, he would ACTUALLY have one of those centipede furbies with spider legs. He would eat EVERY single deep dive video on the most fucked up outlandish events to ever happen online. THIS MF'S SMALL TALK WOULD CONSIST OF SHIT LIKE "hey did you hear that they can run Doom on a stomach bacteria now? yeah its 1 frame each 70 hours"

Chevon is just mesmerized by the fact that God gave everyone free will and the ability to live beyond the year 1999 and THIS is the type of shit people chose to do with their time

🛝: What do they do in their free time, if they have any?

Poultry's hobby and passion, the one thing that consumes her entire life (as well as the entire reason she's the only fully conscious human within Manus and Spina) is to study and research arcanum through human methods, and see if it can be utilized and manipulated in ways no one has yet figured out. So her free time is spend borrowing a page from Mutton's work and studying/working even more!

She's constantly asking questions to any arcanist who passes by, following others like a lost duck, using Disciples like guinea pigs and potentially doing experiments that would put the Foundation to shame

I like to think that she was ruthless in her research, that she would often go days without sleeping or eating and push her body beyond its limits - that's how she managed to get results worthy of Manus Vindictae's recognition prior to being recruited, after all - but that, after joining Spina Venatores, she considerably calmed down!

...which is both good and bad because sure! she's getting healthier habits just by being so easily influenced by her seniors (Venison, Mutton and Chevon) and their weird habits that rub off on her all at once, but also her entire fucking life hinges on being useful to Arcana and Manus so it's a bit of a tough spot for her

🎉: What thing(s) in the 21st century would they really like or enjoy?

She would really love every single advancement in every single branch of science. Every single discovery, no matter how small, even if it's something in a field that she has absolutely no fucking clue about. There's just something so exciting in knowing that there's still so much to find out about the world and the universe, though it does tend to lean towards the excitement of being the first one to make those discoveries.

But I think that's it for now? Poultry and Veal are characters that I'm still working on, so I don't have as much to say about them as the first three! I'm still trying to figure out what she even likes about her current time and situation, lmfao

🛝: What do they do in their free time, if they have any?

Veal is a mystery to everyone, including some members of Spina and ALSO INCLUDING ME. What does this little guy do in their free time? Who knows! I don't!

Given how they're a shapeshifter and their whole lack of identity, I assume Veal spends their free time stealing someone's identity and just trying to mimic them to the best of their ability. So it's not too rare to see Chevon somewhere in his room and then find a second Chevon somewhere in the gardens.

This would also work as training and as a show of affection, since Veal believes that imitation is the highest form of adoration.

Other than that, I would say that Veal would spend their free time trying to find out ... something to do with themself, to start forming an identity beyond the whole fucking mess that is their existence as a doppelganger, but that's something that they'd do after Spina Venatores dissolves and Vertin takes them in!

🎉: What thing(s) in the 21st century would they really like or enjoy?

Same as the previous answer, I can only theorize about what my OWN OC MIGHT LIKE OR THINK ... Hmm ...

With how little info I have about Veal right now, all I can think of is that they would unconsciously gravitate towards things that remind them of their friends and family, both within and outside of Spina Venatores. Something something, you are made up of small parts from all the people you love, etc etc.

[ocgram-central]

sorry if this question isn't answerable but im having a really hard time writing timeline conversations and just have no clue what I should even have the characters be doing and talking about and when I do it doesn't really actually add anything (if that makes sense) im wondering if there were any tips you or other people had?

Ocgram creators feel free to add your tips. I made an essay again sorr I talk a lot

I remembered I made an advice on TL convos before but I couldn't find it and was like did it happen in another timeline then it turns out I just gave it a wrong tag. Anyway here but I will elaborate on it. I will write about what comes to my mind generally and what I've been using to write timelines in my ocgram, it's the way I personally do things but I hope it can be a help.

If you feel lost in anything at all I recommend referencing the original project, so this is what I'll do. Generally speaking, I think in the original project, timeline conversations cover mostly three things: worldbuilding, characters' hobbies and habits, and characters' relationships.

Most of the timeline conversations in the very beginning, when they were yet published every day, served as an introduction to the worldbuilding (the prison rules, system, etc) and an introduction to the characters through their reactions to the prison. For example, we got to know that prisoners can request items, that they can smoke, that they get meals, that the writings in the prison are in an unknown language and the prison is located in an unknown place, etc. The characters also discussed what they think of the concept of the "mental images", interrogations with Es, written interrogations, and this whole situation with suddenly ending up in a prison, such as Mikoto saying he thinks it's a reality show. So, I think that for starters timeline conversations are a good way to introduce your audience to your ocgram's prison through the eyes of the characters. You can repeat it with future trials if any rules change with the trials or more lore is revealed.

We also get to know a lot about what characters naturally do when they have nothing to do basically. It can include hobbies, habits, coping mechanisms, etc. They naturally fall into what they've been doing every day before prison. Shidou and Kazui immediately smoke, Amane immediately searches for ways to continue studying, Kotoko requests protein to keep building her body and observes other prisoners to punish them later bc she needs to continue her "duty", Mahiru immediately starts conversations on traditionally girly topics and tries to befriend everyone, checking who is the most compatible with her/the most to her taste, etc., Fuuta is annoyed that he can't keep scrolling through the Internet/watching TV/playing games and that no one in the prison shares these hobbies. It's also revealed in Minigrams that Yuno/Mikoto/Mahiru often start group games to break the ice and pass the time. So it's also a good way to reveal what is the day-to-day behavior of your prisoners, and since this is a stressful environment what do they do to cope with stress.

As for the characters' relationships, generally I think that the written interrogation is for more personal, not crime-related information on the character, and the timeline conversations are for personal relationships between the characters. It's a way to reveal who is becoming closer to each other (for example we know that something is going on with Amane and Fuuta but we never have them looking directly into the camera and saying it), or just a way to hint at the parallels between the characters and elaborate on them both through it (for example the conversation where Yuno says that Mikoto is always pretending to smile). Among the forms of content that exist in the original project there are no other ways to reveal the relationships forming between the characters to the audience, everything else is either only about the particular character or only about their crime, so you could primarily use TL convos for establishing characters' relationships.

Mikoto kinda has a point with the reality show comment because really you can imagine a reality show where a bunch of strangers are forced to live together and are not allowed access to the outside world. How would they cope with the situation, pass the time, would they want to immediately find friends or isolate themselves until all of this ends, what conversation topics would they be interested in?

If you think that your TL convos "don't add anything" then I think focusing on these aspects (worldbuilding, hobbies and habits, relationships) could help you. Anything that seems like it lacks information can actually elaborate on your story. For example this conversation (source). Nothing really happens here but we get to know that Haruka is terribly scared of Kotoko, that Kotoko doesn't really get it (which is further supported by her interactions with Muu where she doesn't get it again), and that Es was calling Kotoko for something.

Also in the post I mentioned at the beginning, I said that Chekhov's guns are helpful in writing TL convos so I want to elaborate on it. Basically you can utilize foreshadowing a lot. Something I enjoy a lot about timeline conversations is that they look taken out of context. We don't know everything that is happening behind the scenes. So, any detail can be a foreshadowing, whether your audience notices it or not. Besides when I don't have more ideas for TL convos, or when I feel like they're too inconsistent/scattered, I look through the already written ones and pick up on what could be an idea for foreshadowing or an unfinished narrative, and make new TL convos to continue it. I put more emphasis on the TLs than the original project I think, but in my ocgram there are several batches of TLs that are connected by plot, like side-stories of sorts. I think it can also help you with the feeling that your TL convos aren't really informative. I'd say what matters most is whether there's a meaning for you as an author.

Also this is a way more general and vague advice but if you find writing timeline conversations genuinely too hard or boring then you can experiment with the forms of art that would be easier to you. It's hard to enjoy creation when you're struggling with it. I put a lot of emphasis on TL convos because I like writing dialogues/I find it easier to write and understand my characters through dialogues, but there are people who don't find it easy. If you prefer writing descriptions for example, or you want to write something more straightforward than out-of-context bits, the first idea that comes to my mind is making characters' have personal diaries and posting their diary entries where they tell us about the worldbuilding, their daily life in the prison, and their relationships with others the same it happens in TL convos. I hope that my advice can help you write your TL convos but most of all I hope you find a way to write your story the way it's enjoyable to you.

[tokiro07]

Cipher Academy ch.58 thoughts

[Thank You For Playing]

(Contents: Reflection)

I think it's pretty clear from this chapter that Nisio had a lot of other storylines planned, though I'm not sure how much attention each one would have gotten

Toshusai's mission to round up the Gun Eyes, Yosaimura's mission to dredge up the Unsinkable Aircraft Carrier, and of course Iroha's mission to save the Battlefield Dancer, all could well have been their own story arcs, but it's also possible that all but the latter would have been background events. Regardless, Nisio is telegraphing that there was more story to tell, and that we'll need to fill in the blanks on our own at this point

In a certain sense, I appreciate that Nisio is showing me what could have been. Being given breadcrumbs even after the story's conclusion allows me to continue creating the story in my heart, even if the canon is beyond my reach now. To borrow Nisio's wording, it feels less like the story has ended and more like it's stopped

Endings usually come in one of two flavors - wrap-ups or "our journey continues," but this one kind of feels like both in a way. It's demonstrating how the previous storylines wrapped up, but while also showing what new journeys started since then and which were never completed. It's a bit more realistic in that way, as people's lives aren't stories that can be bound neatly in the narrative of a book

That said, this is still a story, and some elements do need to be presented neatly. With the story concluding with every class working as a unit, I think it's fair to say that my take that this was, at its core, a Friendship story was correct. I wonder if perhaps every first-year class was made to treat the other classes as enemies or rivals specifically to build up to the point where they would be allies later? It would make sense for a military academy to lean into basic team-building structure like that, as the stages go as follows: Forming, Storming, Norming, and Performing. Every class is built from strangers, they're put at odds with each other to become acquainted, their dynamics normalize, and then they can operate efficiently with that familiarity. It makes sense for this to be repeated at every level, from intra- to inter-class relationships, and possibly even inter-school relations. In the end, I do wish that we could have spent more time exploring those relationships, as they were easily the most engaging part of this narrative

Oddly, the most reassuring thing about this ending was that it kind of gave me closure to a question I've had for over a decade now: was Medaka Box canceled? Based on this ending, I'm inclined to say no. There are so many parallels between these two endings - the timeskip, the where-are-they-now, the final shot of a group photo, the literal credits sequence. It was all so familiar that I recognized it pretty much immediately, but there was one key difference: while Medaka Box took us through the goings-on of the entire casts' lives, very little of it felt like story that could have drawn out the series' lifespan. I mean, sure, it could have, but none of it felt like it was meant to be story that we would have seen directly. It was everyone catching up and talking about what they've heard their friends have been up to, but with the exception of Munakata becoming an exorcist when ghosts or demons haven't been an established concept up to this point, all of it was just "oh, she's a baker now, he's a cop now, he's a politician now, she's a calligrapher now," etc. None of it was of any real consequence to the lives of the cast, it was just flavor text to reminisce on the events of the story and how far everyone has come

Here, I feel like we could have seen all of it and it would have been engaging. We're not just touching base with old friends here, we're waking up from a coma and learning that we missed all of the fun. It's such a vastly different feeling that I can't help but feel like this is how it would have felt if Medaka Box were canceled, therefore it most likely wasn't

I'm sure I could come up with more to wax poetic on with this series, but to be honest, I'm getting exhausted here. It's heartbreaking seeing one of my favorites get cut down like this, and as some of you may have heard, Martial Master Asumi has been canceled as well. I don't want to harp on this for much longer and make myself sadder, so I'll conclude on as positive a note as I can

I had a great time writing about this series. Being able to explore shonen tropes through Nisio's lens is always a delight and a bit of a trip, and getting the chance to share that experience with others was great fun. Iwasaki's art was fantastic, as evidenced by how many of these girls I absolutely fell in love with, and I'm glad I got to see so many parallels to Akira Akatsuki's style. I actually have to wonder if the styles of both series were directed by Nisio's vision or if perhaps Iwasaki is a fan of Akatsuki. Either way, this last year has given me the opportunity to relive my time with Medaka Box while also giving me something completely new at the same time. I'm so grateful that Nisio and Iwasaki at least got to make it this far, and I hope that we'll get to see both of them again in the near future

To everyone who read all 58 of my reviews for this series, thank you so much. To everyone who only read a few here and there, or even only read this one, thank you as well. I'm glad I got to spend time with you and I hope my little essays enriched your experience, even a little

Until next time

[project-wildcard]

My inspirations!

My biggest inspiration, by far, is Just Roll With It. It's a TTRPG podcast that is just so good at every aspect of story telling! Every single campaign they've done I've cried out of some kind of emotion that they make me feel. The characters are all incredible! Gillion Tidestrider is probably my favourite and everyone after that is just a close second and they're all tied with each other because they're all so amazing in their own ways.

Wildcard specifically was actually inspired most The Trickster from Prime Defenders. The story of exactly how that came to happen is a little silly and for another time. You'd think with the multiple forms and changing personality gimmick that I'd have been most inspired by Vyncent and yes there's a lot of similarities but I want to make the distinction here and now that every form Wildcard takes is still Charlie at heart. They do not become a completely different person, it just changes the way their emotions work. At their core it's still the same person.

Thank you Mutants and Masterminds for being the system I used to create Wildcard's character sheet back when I was in denial and thought I'd just play them as a character in a campaign despite having no friends available at the time to DM such a campaign. I also use those character sheets to get a good idea of building and balancing all the heroes and villains in the world (although there will be plenty of leniency based on what I think is cool and fits the story).

I've also, definitely taken a lot of inspiration from the Spiderverse films, which might come across more once the first part of the story is released. Those movies are perfection the characters are incredible the story they're telling is innovative and fresh while still falling into the feeling of a Spiderman story. I love Gwen I love Miles I love Pav I love Mayday I love Peter I love the Spot I love Miguel and I LOVE LOVE LOVE Hobie! One of the characters in my story that I'm yet to speak about yet is very similar to Hobie and I'm so excited and I love the parallels and as I write them I'm definitely gonna be pulling so much from Spiderverse Hobie's personality. Spiderman in general (most versions of them) is my favourite superhero so there will probably be a lot in my head that I don't recognise I'm taking from Spider people stories but I'm just gonna make the sweeping statement now that there will likely be similarities. I will not, however, be going into multiverse or time travel stories, at least not in the main canon story, maybe I'll do a weird little "what if" after I finish telling my story where a "balanced" and fused Wildcard meets a "corrupted" and vibrant Wildcard.

Shout-out to Marvel in general, comics and movies, I've seen a lot of that stuff so again, it'll probably just leak in without me realising.

This helps me when I'm struggling to let myself write

Finally, a big thank you to all my friends who encourage/enable (in the bad way) me. I am on my shit and my shit is telling an intricate story that I am very passionate about with characters who I love and care for. Namely, all 3 of my friends on that one discord server where I first infodumped about Wildcard, Hazel, for helping me build the character sheet and helping me come up with names and also letting me info dump to you, and Mimi, for basically the same reasons as Hazel, as well as being the first person I made a superhero story for (we did an introductory session of DnD in a superhero setting. Her character will be making a cameo at some point most likely). Also everyone who's tried to help me learn how to draw because I'm not gonna lie, my only motivation there was drawing characters for this story.

[virtualmemoriespodcast]

Episode 582 - Keith Mayerson

How did an eBay search lead to the discovery of a lost classic of comics? How can art help us build a better America? Artist and teacher Keith Mayerson joins the show to talk about co-editing the amazing new book, Frank Johnson: Secret Pioneer of American Comics, Vol. 1 (Fantagraphics) and his multi-decade "wordless novel" in paintings, My American Dream (Karma). We get into how Frank Johnson made thousands of pages of comics in private, never published, and may have created the first American comic-book in history, whether he constitutes an Outsider Artist, how his creative legacy contrasts with Henry Darger's, and what it means to make a lifelong body of work with no sense or expectation of a readership. We also get into Keith's My American Dream project, its roots in 9/11 & the GWBush era, how his paintings play off of each other like panels in a comic (and how the curation of art exhibitions is a form of comics), the mash-up of key cultural figures of modern America, his art-subject trinity of James Dean, Elvis, and Keanu Reeves (and his story of meeting Keanu), how My American Dream works to synthesize aspects of Warhol & Rembrandt (& Haring), and the vitality of his painting of Kermit the Frog on a bicycle and the significance of the Muppets in his vision of America. Plus we discuss Keith's art & comics upbringing, the process of building comics programs at SVA and USC, his cult classic queer horror graphic novel with Dennis Cooper, the artistic act of suturing in to his subjects, why the job of art is keeping hope alive, how he felt when he found a parallel, secret history of comics taking place solely in one person's mind, and a lot more. Follow Keith on Instagram • More info at our site • Support The Virtual Memories Show via Patreon or Paypal and via our e-newsletter

Check out the new episode of The Virtual Memories Show

[stagefoureddiediaz]

@fire-fog Thank you for a great couple of questions in your tags on my meta.

I  have indeed been writing costume analysis for a while - I started doing one for each 911 episode in season 5, but I’d written more general and overarching ones before that. I’ve also written for previous fandoms before as well. All the 911 costume metas are linked in my pinned post at the top of my blog. its something I love to do and something I enjoy sharing - I hope others get pleasure from it to and that it maybe helps people derive deeper meaning from the show. The teams working behind the scenes - set, props, wardrobe, hair and make up etc all work incredibly hard - they are the unsung heroes of film and tv and I hope my metas bring a little bit of attention and love to the work they do because so much of it goes unseen and unrecognised!

Its incredibly hard to predict based on some bts pictures or the show stills, however I’ve been correct a few times - the biggest and most obvious one was actually the prediction I made on Bucks outfit from this episode - the green jumper and yellow ochre trousers - when we got the bts videos of Oliver in that costume, I said that it would be for some sort of AU, that it was preppy and teacher like and that it was important for Bucks journey. I’ve been proven correct on all fronts on that one! I also spoke about Eddie wearing black singlets when we got the bts of Eddie in a black singlet for Animal Instincts and how it represented moments when Eddie was vulnerable - again the original post is linked on my pinned one - and I was proven correct when we got to see the scene play out. 

I’m pretty good at spotting themes and patterns that the wardrobe team are using to help tell the bigger story and to connect arcs etc - its something that adds an additional layer to parallels that the show makes use of, or it helps build specific characteristics for a character - Buck wearing a lot of blue this season especially is a part of that, as is the use of military colour ways on Eddie (and Athena), it emphasises traits or meanings and changing the tones or the brightness/darkeness of a colour can indicate things for that character!

As for the blocky use of colour - yes you’re very right about its use in coma land - its very much about the world being a creation of Bucks mind - the details that make the real world so rich aren’t there - unless its important narratively. We saw the same thing with all the physical spaces - they lacked detail - Chimneys apartment being very basic and lacking personality etc is the most obvious example of it, but even Bucks loft had very little by way of art and things beyond things important to the story - things that are hints at the real world, or the basic things of what Buck imagines are the things a teacher would have in their house! Its not necessarily about being childish or child like - but I know why you used that term - it is about simplicity - because his brain has conjured this entire world so the finer details are missing - its an impression rather than a lived in universe.

I hope this answers your questions and feel free to pop into my inbox if you have any others!! 💜💜💜

[skitskatdacat63]

Read your prev lore post and thank you for just letting me throw ideas right at you. Honestly more fun than I ever imagined so lets keep on rolling :). Okay this time I want to know about Vettonso’s music preferences (or even potential instruments they know how to play)

— Penalanon

And thank you for throwing me so many good ideas!! I have a lot of random ideas for future ones in the back of my head, but these are so helpful and fun because it’s not just, extremely self serving all the time LOL! You force me to think about things I’d usually be like “this is too much to research,” but then cause you asked, I HAVE to, and it ends up being very enlightening. And also expands the world building a lot!

misc lore drop day 45/?

Okay this one might be a struggle bcs it means I'd actually have to implicate real historical figures in my, already rpf, yaoi 😭😭It’s one thing to make double layered rpf, but to reference them interacting with actual historical figures is…IT’S FINE! I mean obviously my first and only thought is: Vivaldi. I know I’ve talked about this on my blog already because I am a broken record with my favorite fun facts but, I don’t care, I’ll say it again. My favorite Charles VI(who Seb is paralleling) anecdote is him being such a big fanboy of Vivaldi that he reportedly talked to him more in their meetings in 2 weeks than he had to his own ministers in two years; he also gave him a medal, and made him a knight because he loved his music that much. Gaaaahhh I’m just so obsessed with that actual historical record that shows people back then were just as fanatic as we are about the things we love! Whoops, sorry, history lesson. That’s the most I’ll say about specific artists, because again, I don’t know how I feel about naming actual musicians. Though maybe somebody like Charles could be a young and upcoming composer(that’s also a prince hehe) that Seb is a huge fan of. I like to fit in more of the drivers, so that could actually be pretty good lmao. 

As for music in general, it was actually a pretty important thing at this time for royals to be musically trained, or at least interested in music. They really honored the arts at this point, especially music, to the point where they’d hire composers(and a large variety of musicians) to both play for the court but also teach the monarch how to play/compose Also opera was sooooo big, definitely one of the most popular pastimes/events for them. So please imagine vettonso getting dressed up in their fanciest clothing, and sitting together in their special, honored seats in the theater. Seb definitely likes the more comedic ones, whereas Fernando prefers the dramas, and makes fun of Seb for crying during tragic scenes. But is also weirdly touched about seeing such an intimate side to his husband, and how easy it is for Seb to show his emotions so openly. He always ends up lending Seb his handkerchief. Then always denies it when Seb tries to hand it back, like “I SWEAR YOU’RE TEARING UP TOO RIGHT NOW!” Fernando, subtly wiping his eyes, replies, “no talking during the opera.”

Also hmmmm if I had to pick instruments. I think they both play, but Fernando is more talented and focused, whereas Seb is willing to try anything, even if he’s not always great. Fernando seems like a harpsichord kind of guy to me, he would go crazy with it. I think he’d like how much dexterity and focus you need to master it. Meanwhile Seb’s like, “which is the loudest/most fun?” So I think he’d be at least okay with most baroque instruments, but prefers to learn new things rather than spend all his time just mastering one. Now I’m imagining them playing a duet together…of music they composed together. Aghhhhh imagine sitting together at a desk, adding parts to the piece, and arguing with each other over it. I think it’d end up being better than any piece they could compose individually, because they balance each other’s extremes out. Getting ink all over their hands, and then each other. 

[earaercircular]

How Munich should get along without garbage

The city council wants to transform the city into a centre for circular economy. The departments are already working on strategies and measures. An overview of the current status.

Almost exactly a year ago, the city council decided that Munich would embark on the “path to becoming a circular city”. Since such a conversion to a circular economy is not a sure-fire success, a coordination office was created to advance this project. It is located at the Department for Climate and Environmental Protection (RKU)[1] and is affectionately called “Keks“ (Cookie) by the employees there. The acronym is correctly spelled “CEKS”, which stands for Circular Economy Koordinierungsstelle (Circular Economy Coordination Office)[2].

“We are currently six people, two more will be added next year,” says Corinna Hellinger, who heads CEKS. Her team will develop a comprehensive strategy for Munich, with a particular focus on the economy. In collaboration with the management consultancy Deloitte, a catalogue of the most effective measures for the city is currently being drawn up. “We network with as many social groups, citizens, companies, research, other cities, associations like Circular Republic as possible in order to learn from each other,” says Hellinger. “We can only create a circular economy together.”

In addition to working on strategy and networks, there are concrete projects. “We are currently designing a repair bonus that we will present to the city council this year,” says Hellinger. "The city will pay a subsidy for the repair of small electrical appliances such as toasters, televisions or smartphones because this protects the environment and resources." However, there is a lot of electronic waste that cannot be repaired and reused. In the best case scenario, it ends up in one of the large orange containers at the recycling centre, but often it simply ends up in a drawer or in the basement, where it is forgotten. “We are currently working on a concept for how we can access these devices in order to dismantle them and extract the recyclables,” says Hellinger.

A pilot project on the painful issue of empty coffee cups will soon be starting in the Glockenbachviertel[3]: collection points for reusable cups will be created there. Regardless of which provider the dishes come from, consumers get their deposit money back. This should make it easier to avoid disposables and help reduce waste. Circular construction should also be promoted. An exchange for used components is being prepared. “We don’t want to first design a big strategy and start implementing it in three years. It should run in parallel,” says Hellinger.

Municipal waste only makes up a small part

An important component of the circular economy in Munich is the zero waste department in the municipal department. “We pursue three overarching goals,” says director Helga Seitz. "Firstly, household waste should be reduced by 15 percent by 2035. Secondly, we want to reduce the amount of residual waste by 35 percent by 2035. And thirdly, all Munich residents, including businesses, commerce, construction and city administration, should be made aware of our zero waste concept. "

However, municipal waste is a small part of the total waste. According to Seitz, there is more to be gained from commercial waste and demolition materials from construction, which play a key role in a closed circular economy. However, there are currently no figures that could provide information about the exact distribution of this waste in Munich. The reason: commercial and construction waste - unlike household waste - is collected by private waste disposal companies and not by the municipality. That's why the city has no overview of what's in this waste or how many tons there are. That should change.

“As far as the quantities of building rubble and commercial waste are concerned, basic work still needs to be done,” says Seitz. This is part of the goals and measures of the zero waste concept. According to figures from the Federal Environment Agency[4], construction and demolition waste alone accounts for the majority (53.9 percent) of waste generated in Germany. Waste from production and trade comes to around twelve percent, and municipal waste to 12.6 percent. The recycling rate for municipal waste across Germany is 67.8 percent, while Munich only has 54.9 percent.

Source

Catherine Hoffmann, Wie München ohne Müll auskommen sol, in: Süddeutshe Zeitung,  https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/muenchen-kreislaufwirtschaft-ceks-zero-waste-1.6306460

[1] In the Referat für Klima- und Umweltschutz (RKU) (Department for Climate and Environmental Protection), around 290 people work under the leadership of Christine Kugler to ensure Munich's climate neutrality by 2035. https://stadt.muenchen.de/infos/portrait-referat-klima-umweltschutz.html

[2] The new EU project “LET’S. is led by Munich GO CIRCULAR!” started. Ten cities from all over Europe have come together to promote the change towards circular cities. The Network is supported by the European program URBACT for sustainable Urban development promoted. https://ru.muenchen.de/pdf/2023/ru-2023-10-30.pdf

[3] The Glockenbachviertel is a district of Munich and belongs to the Ludwigsvorstadt-Isarvorstadt district. It is considered a trendy district.

[4] Since its founding in 1974, the Umweltbundesamts (Federal Environment Agency) has been Germany's central environmental authority. Here we introduce our office to you. https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/das-uba/wer-wir-sind

[umichenginabroad]

Week 4 - Similarities on Campus and Motorcycle Factories

Week 4 has officially come to a close! This week was the first week of only lab classes, and I must say, I think it was a success! Our robot is very close to balancing, and I really felt like a lot of the progress was made this week. There was also a voting event on campus, and it was super interesting to see the parallels between TUB and UMich. There was a line of students waiting trying to get to the polling stations, and a couple candidates were giving out food to those who voted. It felt a lot like the CSG Elections, and it was pretty cool to see that similarity on campus! There are actually quite a few similarities between campus life here and at home. I would say I address my professors in much the same way, and my language class was structured the same as language classes I’ve taken at UMich. Class time was reserved for exercises, rather than just lectures, and homework was assigned to help learn the material. One big difference I’ve seen is the campus setup. There’s not really a central campus, and classroom buildings are spread out in several areas.

We had another excursion this week! This one led us to a tour of the BMW Motorcycle Factory, which was so interesting. We were able to walk through the assembly line while a tour guide explained what all the stations did. We were even able to watch one of the motorcycles go for a test drive. I would so love that job!

The motorcycle that definitely convinced me to buy a motorcycle.

Outside of class, this week my independent travels led me to Budapest, Hungary. We had a three day weekend for a European holiday (Pentecost), so we were able to spend a little extra time there. We spent almost all of Sunday at a hot spring, which was probably some of the best temperature water I have ever been in. There were five different areas, and each one had something slightly different to offer. Of the two pools outside, one was about the same temperature as the air, while the other was slightly cooler. It was a lot of fun to move back and forth between the two!

This was a beautiful Ferris Wheel that just kind of popped up in a park in Budapest. It gave really great views of the city at the top!

That’s all for now folks, have a great week! Tschüss!

Meal of the Week: It’s time for a breakfast shoutout. This is an Apfeltasche, which is like an apple turnover. You can get one from a lot of train stations for only €1.50!

My favorite Apfeltasche so far, purchased from the train station closest to my lab.

Place of the Week: Beach 61! It’s a great place to play sand volleyball with your friends. Conveniently located about a 7 minute walk from our apartments, there’s about 40 sand courts all within the beach. It’s a super cool vibe, lots of music and people hanging out with their friends!

This is Beach 61, and probably not even half of the courts available.

Word of the Week: Speisekarte, which translates to a “meal card” and refers to menus at restaurants!

Marisa May

Mechanical Engineering

Engineering Laboratory Experience at TUB in Berlin, Germany