#western culture is different and I adapt depending on fandom

[bighandsforabigheart]

People don’t realize that when I say my top/bottom is fixed it’s not an “I prefer this one but I don’t mind the other~” thing, it’s an “I will die just from seeing the alphabets in the wrong order on a license plate” kinda thing

[bigbadredpanda]

Hi,, I hope I'm not bothering you with this and I'm sorry if my English isn't good, I hope you can understand my questions. I've been thinking about this for a while now and I tried to find information online but I found nothing.

MDZS is the first Chinese Novel I've read and I still haven't finished it yet,,but I've heard about rumors that said that MXTX is in jail, because she sold copies of her books. The rumor isn't true, however it made me wonder something,, I know China's censorship on lgbt related stuff is really heavy and that's why the donghua and drama adaptations of MDZS and other bl works are censored, but I didn't know that authors couldn't sell their novels.

So my question is,, how does MXTX earn money if she isn't allowed to sell her works? She has already finished 3 Danmei novels, and her works are really popular, they even have manhua, donghua or drama adaptations. The adaptations have earned quite a lot of money, but since she's an anonymous writer, does part of it even go to her?

To make the drama, the donghua and the manhua, producers had to ask her permission, I think. So, since the adaptations are doing well, she should get part of the profit, but how does it work? If the Chinese Government really is against lgbt themed works, shouldn't they have done something about her?

I really love her works and I hope that she earns something since she is the one that created all of them. Thanks for considering my question!!

Hi both of you and welcome to the cnovel fandom! Quick intro of the author, MXTX uses a pen name like many webnovel authors, it’s the abbreviation of Mo Xiang Tong Xiu which literally means “Ink Fragrance, Copper [Money] Stench” (墨香铜臭). Fun fact, it’s her mother who coined that name. MXTX wished to pursue a major in literature during university but her mother wanted her to graduate in economy instead while keeping writing on the side, that way she would have the fragrance of ink in one hand and the stench of money in the other.

We also know that she is fairly young, she wrote Scum Villain while she was a university student and she started working on the outline of MDZS in her final year. Tian Guan Ci Fu (Heaven Official’s Blessing) is the third book she completed and a fourth novel is/was in the works, its provisional title is “No rest for the death god” and is supposed to be a supernatural story taking place in a modern setting.

MXTX is one of the most popular webnovel authors on Jinjiang Literature City, the webnovel platform, but her popularity also comes with a great many detractors. You’ve heard some of the malicious rumours circulating in the English-speaking side of the fandom, it’s just a drop in the ocean compared to the outpouring of heated controversies in the Chinese side as the latter can have real-life consequences. There is a different nexus between the creator and the audience and the fandom culture is not the same either, it can be quite deleterious due to the tendency to report any content that one disagrees with.

Censorship in China is... ever-changing and nebulous. How severe it is depends on the medium. Nevertheless, gay literature (同志文学) does exist in China and it is distinct from danmei. I also want to nuance a bit the pervasive idea that anything lgbt is systematically and relentlessly censored in China. The reality is more complex than that and it would be dismissive of the hard-fought gains and visibility that Chinese lgbt activists have obtained these past two decades (some concrete examples: the work of the lgbt centre in Beijing or the pride festival in Shanghai). I don’t know if people are aware of this but lgbt dating apps are thriving in China, the most popular one, Blued, is also the largest lgbt social network worldwide. With that said, the official policy towards homosexuality is the three No’s: “no approval, no disapproval, no promotion”. A stance comparable to the “don’t ask, don’t tell”. It’s not explicit persecution but it manifests in the silencing of public discussion and the limiting media representation of homosexuality. In 2017, the top media regulator that oversaw radio, film and television  issued guidelines banning a number of things, this included obscene and violent content, homosexuality, superstitious pseudoscience (such as reincarnation or spirit possession). On top of that, there is also an ongoing crackdown on online pornography that gets increasingly intense. And that concerns everyone on the internet, it’s astonishing the lengths netizens will go to in order to circumvent the censorship, new slang is developed to refer obliquely to banned words, fanfics are published in image format to prevent text recognition, etc... The censorship might be increasingly prevalent but netizens push back with their resourcefulness. Pushing back is also not without significant risk. Perhaps you have heard of the case of the danmei author that received a severe jail sentence? A few Western media picked up on that and criticised the ruling that was deemed homophobic. Chinese reactions tell a slightly different story, the author's crime was not writing danmei, she was in fact accused of making a profit by illegally producing and disseminating pornographic material. I’m not too keen on the details but it seems she printed the books herself and sold them online. To some Chinese observers, the ruling was not discriminatory because she did break the law. To others, it was absurd because this law dates from an era when internet barely existed and it would have been much more laborious to mass-produce and share porn at that time. There’s a bit of truth in all these points of views. It’s also not disingenuous to say that lgbt content is more likely to be targeted than het content even if the charges are not directly lgbt-related.

Usually contracted authors of webnovel platforms have a more secure status. They get a fee from the purchase of VIP chapters as well as tips from the readers. Other sources of revenue arise when webnovels get popular enough to get the opportunity to be published through official channels or when adaptation rights are sold (I assume that the author receives a share of that deal but perhaps does not get any further financial gain from the adaptation or its merch).

To support the author, I would suggest purchasing TGCF on Jinjiang (guide) or buying the physical versions of her three novels in Chinese (shop, change to English with top-right world icon), the special boxsets of MDZS and TGCF come with tons of goodies!

Hope I could be of service and that my tirade was mildly informative ^^'

[kuromantic]

Hello, I see few people asking about western vs japanese fandom differences. As someone who is very attached to Bokuto-san, I would also like to point out the difference in the portrayal of his character. Whenever i see western/eng speaking fandom they usually make bokuto, whiny or clingy to Akaashi while in korean/jpn fandoms bokuto is shown as a leader w mood swings as how he is shown in manga. Western fandom usually shows that akaashi would have been a better captain(?) I have a lot of incorrecthaikyuu or bokuaka quotes regarding that and it's very disrespectful for the character as well as saddening. Bokuto, throughout the manga is a very wise and very unpredictable character, in the time skip kageyama praised his ability to instantly adapt to envt. And also being highly unpredictable plus pre time skip he was looked upto a lot. But western fandom especially in fanfics and such, shows bokuto being unpopular when in manga he attracts quite attention and shows Akaashi as popular person when in manga Akaashi is not at all famous. It's very saddening and it always makes me feel like even though the culture is different, these mangas are translated in eng still people fail to recognise things or mostly choose to ignore? Also "akaashi is bokuto's world" nowhere is written that in manga, people who say they are weebs or are anime/manga fans still doesn't know how to read the manga. The sentence was "world are you looking at our ace?" And the box was a thought box( or saying in the mind) it's very very sad how western fandom interpret things. What are your thoughts on these?

Hmm I think really this depends on the creator! I’ve seen both examples in every fandom, although I think English fandom tends to have Bokuto more in touch with his emotions and showing vulnerable moments. And in some cases I think JP fandom can portray him as someone who is a bit insensitive. My experience is that you’ll find portrayals you disagree with in every language fandom. In JP fandom both Bokuto and Akaashi can be portrayed as popular in works featuring Valentine’s day and whatnot. I do agree the “world” thing with bokuaka is a western fandom exclusive phenomenon, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing. I think a lot of people know it doesn’t literally mean “akaashi is bokuto’s world” but I don’t mind that interpretation personally.

[reyofsunlight666]

How will fandom change with the media of the 2010s?

Fandom comes from canon. And canon works themselves draw from a pool of tropes that are in fashion when they’re made. If the 90s thinks black trench coats are cool, The Matrix will put Neo in one, and subsequent Matrix OCs will have edgy black and rainbow and glitter trench coats galore.

Fandom so far has focused on works and adaptations drawing from largely the same pool of media tropes and norms. The original Star Trek came out in the 60s, The X-Files was a creation of the 90s. Yet they’ve a lot of similarities, and their fandoms have reacted to them, as far as I can tell, in really similar ways. Even now, the fandoms that blow up on Tumblr tend to be modern adaptations of properties created in this time period - Good Omens, The Witcher, Doctor Who, the Avengers and wider MCU, Star Wars.

What similarities am I talking about? To name some examples:

1) Monster of the Week, or, Just Enough Worldbuilding: On the surface, this one seems to be TV-exclusive. How can you have a Monster of the Week if installments don’t come out every week? The answer in movie formats is what I call Just Enough Worldbuilding. Taken together, these two concepts are what I define as: enough possibility in the setting for imaginative breathing room, with broad-strokes, fun speculative concepts that aren’t thought out much beyond their initial appearance. Think the alien that tries to eat the Millennium Falcon in The Empire Strikes Back. It makes a single, massive, punchy appearance - just enough to make a vivid impression - and then is never brought back, explained or justified further. When this is done effectively, it makes for a universe that’s vivid and allows plenty of room for thought. 

2) The Relationship/Plot Balancing Act: Of course, this is important for any type of commercial fiction. But works with large internet fandoms have this down to a science. The exact balance of relationships to plottiness can be different, depending on the work, but they all follow these rules: that affection between characters is drip-fed, and that when choosing between emotion and plot development, emotion must be suppressed in favour of plot. 

3) Lacklustre M/F Romance Arcs, Amazing M/M Friendship Arcs: This one is starting to be phased out, but it has enough of a footprint in Big Fandom Works that it still has an effect. The writers don’t have to be sexist to put this in their works (though it helps) - they just have to think of romance as secondary to their protagonist’s journey. Think of it this way: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman are, as highly popular creators go, extremely thoughtful about gender. But how many tender, compelling, memorable moments do Anathema and Newton share, compared to Crowley and Aziraphale? 

4) Relatedly: Weird Hangups about Sex, and Absolutely No Gays: This one speaks for itself.

When I lay it out like this, it’s clear that these tropes are the guiding forces for some of the biggest commonalities across fandoms.

In response to 1), we get loving, thoughtfully crafted meta that tries to make the universe make sense, or uses the existing lore to create something even wilder. In response to 2), we get an overwhelming focus on relationships between the characters. In response to 3), we get focus on M/M pairings above and beyond anyone else, even if they’ve never spoken in canon. In response to 4), we get explicit, open discussion of sex and kink, and a buffet of queer representation the like of which was never seen in Western art before modern fandom. 

So: what now?

Because creators who learned their craft in fandom are starting to dominate SFF and pop culture, bringing these norms with them. This effect is only going to get more pronounced as time goes on. Instead of the norms above, pop culture and SFF is starting to be dominated by:

1) Rationalistic worldbuilding that seeks to create a watertight universe and is moving away from the ‘potentially infinite creatures, spells and powers’ model. (Note: I didn’t say it always succeeds. Just that it tries to present itself that way.)

2) Close focus on character relationships, sometimes to the point of sacrificing plot

3) Romance arcs that are pivotal to the main plot, and less ‘accidental’ friendship arcs

4) Much more queer representation, and models of sexuality that conform less closely to the usual heterosexual script.

I’m not saying these are bad things. Especially not the last one! But I am curious about what such a radical shift is going to do to fandom. Why would the shippers who follow the popular M/M ships of the month across works need to do that anymore, after all, if they can get their fix in original works? Why would we lovingly dissect repressed emotions if they’re no longer repressed?

You can already see this shift coming when you look at the YA book market. Over and over again, I see the release of the month hailed as a Triumph of Diversity, and people urge each other to buy it and solidify its place in canon. Once the Diversity Book is out, guess what you hear about it from fandom spaces?

*cricket noises*

And I’m not trying to shame people into changing their fandoms by saying this. But I am curious. If we accept that tropes will change, that works will get more diverse, doesn’t that also mean fandom will change too? And once TV and movie studios run out of older works to adapt, will fandom as we know it ever exist again?

[dropintomanga]

10 Years of Manga Therapy

Today is a very special day as it’s the 10th year of this blog. Yeah, it’s been that long.

I think back to what the manga world was like 10 years ago. I remember how huge Naruto, BLEACH, and One Piece were to fans in 2010 and now we have a new generation of Jump series to follow (My Hero Academia, Demon Slayer, etc.) today. I remember how the manga industry decided to take steps to deal with scanlations in the start of the decade albeit they were very weak attempts. Now there’s better digital manga services with more to come. I remember how the closing of Borders bookstores hurt manga in the U.S. and in 2013, the 1st season the Attack on Titan anime’s success gave the U.S. manga industry new life. Today, I see so much manga series I heard about online in bookstores.

What hasn’t changed over the past 10 years is the perception of watching anime compared to reading manga. Reading still feels frowned upon as a leisure activity. Many fans prefer watching anime since visuals and voices are they’re often easier to follow. There are attempts to get anime fans to read manga as anime adaptations still drive manga sales overseas. What I would like to try and do is come up with some ideas on how to get interested fans started on reading manga and go on to become lifelong readers of it.

It’s easy to think about all the changes I’ve seen in manga, but I want to talk about my own changes over the past 10 years.

I still remember when I first started the blog, I made 2 serious posts along with a few quotes. Then I made a post stating my commitment to take the blog seriously. I wanted to have some kind of fame. I hoped that I would get a great job/career with help from my blog. And here we are today. I had social media pages and decent enough followings at the start, but over time, my attitude towards the blog began to change. 

I realized how I was beginning to obsess with metrics like SEO, analytics, retweets, likes, etc. I remember a friend pressuring me to do online ads. Thank god I didn’t since ad-blockers are now a thing. To be honest, I was really surprised that my blog did well. I still can’t believe my top article ever is the one I wrote about why incest is popular in Japanese otaku culture back in my first year.

At the same time, my life was starting to change around 2015. I wasn’t really watching as much anime as I used to. I also got back into gaming thanks to watching speedruns of Japanese RPGs. I felt that video games were always my first love. Thankfully, my second love was reading, especially of the comics and manga kind.

The first half of the decade was fun for me, but the 2nd half was where I managed to grow into my own as a person. I started to see life outside of the blog and social media in general as I was tired of seeing so much online discourse over topics that are so nuanced and devoid of proper context. I began to take more walks, check out sights and sounds offline, observed people in the streets and spend more time with my family.

When I started Manga Therapy, I had so much self-hatred. It was a big problem that held me back. As much as I had support at the time, I felt so dependent on other people helping me to feel better. I wanted to help others so bad because I wanted to ignore my own problems.

Some of you may have read my Anime NYC yearly recap posts and those were the years that I felt like I’ve made a huge stride in getting past my persistent depression. I finally stopped hating myself. I started to put my own care first. I stepped away from unnecessarily comparing myself to other people. I walked away from any rhetoric (especially online) that sounds super-ideological and/or full of “-isms.” I feel like I have a sense of self-worth and peace of mind that I wish I felt 10 years ago. Hell, even 20 years ago, I wish I had that feeling. I still suck at a few things and I’ll continue to work on them.

The more I’ve changed, the more I feel both compassion and sympathy for people who’ve been through so much and have been ignored by most of society. I realize that even people considered “good” aren’t exactly good. The people you need to worry about aren’t necessarily your enemies; it’s sometimes the people closest to you. That was perhaps the biggest lesson I’ve learned in my life so far. I also learned that chasing happiness is a trap that leads to less happiness.

I think about how different I am from most people. I don’t fit into systems labeled in black-or-white fashion. I despise both extremism and groupthink. I see that notable folks in the manga industry are outspoken about things I don’t necessarily agree with. I see notable folks outside of it are outspoken about things I don’t necessarily agree with. While I do enjoy talking to the people who work in or cover the manga industry, I feel that I occupy this in-between area that not many people want to reside in.

I’m starting to believe that not being too involved in fandom has helped me process life better. Fandom is fun to get involved in, but you have to be able to deal with and/or accept BOTH the good and bad sides of it. I don’t know where manga fandom is going because both the fans and industry are going to struggle finding a middle ground with regards to digital manga. Yet I do know that manga fandom has to continue fighting for acknowledgement because it’s not just anime fans who may not care about manga; it’s also the Western comics industry and fans who still ignore the continued success of manga for whatever reason.

Don’t worry, I’m not going to make a prediction list of what’s gonna happen in the next 10 years. I do hope to see a bunch of manga titles that discuss mental health and illness licensed here. Other than that, the one thing that’s certain is uncertainty. Life is always full of randomness. I didn’t think I was going to start a blog 10 years ago about my own experiences. I didn’t think I was going to last as long as I have. I didn’t think this blog would leave me feeling heartbreak and later renewed joy from a healthy distance. I don’t know where Manga Therapy is going to take me. All I know is that I’ll enjoy this ride for the time being. It’s what I’ll do for myself and my readers. 

So, thanks to all my readers for reading and huge props to anyone who’s read for the whole 10 years I’ve been around. Reading manga still provides value to my life. To everyone who has mental health problems or mental illness, I hope that manga with all its complexities can help you cope and build resilience in ways that last not just 5, 10, or 20 years, but a lifetime.

[lechevaliermalfet]

In the Name of the Moon – A Look at Lunar Legend Tsukihime

There’s a popular joke in the Type-Moon fandom that there is no Tsukihime anime, but boy it sure would be great if there was one.

I had only ever been dimly aware of this attitude toward the Tsukihime anime myself.  Watching it fansubbed for the first time in the early 00s, I wasn’t really plugged into the fandom, and the joke seemed like a minor thing to me.  I had all but forgotten it by the time I was with my wife at Otakon in 2012, and we went to a panel about Type-Moon for fandom newcomers.  

The panel was pretty salty about the Tsukihime anime, taking the joke about there being no such thing so far as to refuse to acknowledge it or discuss it.  If I recall, they insisted on this refusal even when directly asked about it by someone in the audience.  I also don’t recall them being all that complimentary about the Fate/Stay Night anime (the original 2006 series) for that matter.  We had a long drive home after the convention – fourteen hours, give or take – and our discussion about the convention kept circling back to that panel.

She’d gone mostly to accompany me, I think, and because she didn’t have anything she wanted to do that conflicted with it.  She had some minor interest herself, as she’d seen this supposedly nonexistent Tsukihime anime, and like me, she enjoyed it.  So it was pretty irritating for her to go to this panel ostensibly for newcomers and then have them trash the one thing she’d experienced in the fandom.  It was all the more irritating when you stopped to consider that at that point that it was, in all probability, one of the handful of things real newcomers might have experience with.

In its way, though, the panelists’ hostile and disdainful attitude toward the most accessible works in the general Type-Moon oeuvre did make for a suitable introduction.  If not to Type-Moon and their work, then to the fandom, and the high levels of toxicity most of its assholes could and would display given the opportunity.

But I’m not here to talk about the Type-Moon fandom, except as it amuses me, or is relevant to the subject at hand.

The subject being this supposedly non-existent anime: Lunar Legend Tsukihime.

My own relation to the Western Type-Moon fan community is tangential at best.  A couple of guys I know (one a good friend, the other an acquaintance), back in the early to mid-aughts, were moderators for the Beast’s Lair forum, basically the center of the English-language fandom community at the time.  Of course, at the time, the fandom was almost brand-new.  Tsukihime was all the rage then, because Tsukihime was almost all there was. Fate/Stay Night was new enough that there hadn’t really been time for the discourse around it to even form, let alone evolve much.  And in those days, Beast’s Lair was basically the forum owner and a few of his online friends, and I feel like half the reason it existed was because at that point, it was more convenient to just have a forum than it was to get a bunch of guys together on an AIM group chat with that level of frequency.  This was before Mirror Moon created a translation patch for any of these games.  These were guys who bought the game direct from Japan, paid the outrageous import fees, referred constantly to a GameFAQs walkthrough, and died like men.  It was that, or learn Japanese.  Most of them opted for the walkthrough. Thank Whoever you believe in that the game runs windowed, I guess.

Fate, which has been the bread and butter of Type-Moon’s success for well over a decade now, was a commercial game.  But it was one built with on the base of the huge support Tsukihime had garnered following its launch.  Tsukihime itself was a doujin game, made when the guys at Type-Moon were a bunch of nobodies and had no real money to speak of.

Because they were nobodies, and because they needed the game to sell big if they were going to make the kind of money they needed to make, they did what a lot of Japanese doujin developers have done and continue to do, and will probably do until the end of time, and put porn in the game.

This is not unknown in Western development circles either, just for the record. But Japanese culture is in some ways more permissive when it comes to depictions of sex or sex-adjacent topics and material in their mainstream entertainment.  Porn can net you a decent career, or at least a halfway-decent living, and it’s generally easier over there for porn artists in any field of endeavor to “go legit” and make the jump to the non-porn version of their field.

That doesn’t happen in the West, or at any rate not in America.  Or very rarely. We have (for better or worse; there’s a whole separate debate there) a much sharper division between the porn and non-porn sides of the entertainment industry, and that barrier’s much less porous. But porn fans will support you.  If the success ceiling is far lower than in the legitimate side of the industry, it’s also true that the floor is likewise lower.

So here we have Tsukihime.  Not “porn with plot”, or even “plot with porn”, but “plot (…with porn)”.  It’s there because they were worried the game wouldn’t sell without it, and so there’s not much of it in the first place.  What I’m saying is that if you’re wanting to get your rocks off, you’re going to be a while.

Which is not to say that Tsukihime as a game is inherently like… progressive, or woke, or anything like that.  Oh no. Nonononono.  It’s horror (-ish, depending on your route), for starters – a genre that thrives on objectification and exploitation.  And then it’s Japanese, which gives it an extra few layers of seeming weird to American sensibilities.  So this is less like going down the rabbit hole and potentially more like falling into a snake pit.

I say all this to lend some context.  When we think of Type-Moon today, we tend to think of this highly successful production house with a star franchise that’s rapidly hitting the market saturation point.  If it hasn’t already (and I have a friend who maintains that it has). And that is absolutely not Tsukihime.  Not the game, and certainly not the anime.  No ufotable animating, no Yuki Kajiura composing, no Gen Urobuchi directing the critically acclaimed and popularly loved (and irritatingly overpriced) prequel.

This is Tsukihime.  This isn’t the property that launched Type-Moon to stardom.  That would, again, be Fate.  This is the property that let them make Fate the way they did.  Tsukihime is the visual novel world’s equivalent of some garage band you never heard of releasing their demo tape as their debut album, and the demo tape is actually pretty good, even as it suffers from having basically rock-bottom production values.  It’s one of those things where the whole is more than the sum of its parts.  You have to look at what it tries to be and tries to do, and like it for that. In that much at least, even as they differ in many other ways, that much is true of both the anime and the visual novel.

It’s worth it, though.

Phantasmal Fantasy

If we’re being honest (and why wouldn’t we be honest?), Tsukihime, at least going through the main route, is a little bit less straight horror and a little more what I think of as horror-fantasy.  It isn’t horror because it’s rarely if ever actually frightening.  But it uses horror aesthetics in a fantasy setting (urban fantasy, in this case), which may lend things a generally eerie and unsettling sense of ambiance and a particular feeling of threat to the main characters without ever quite getting your pulse up.  It’s a hybrid genre I happen to have a huge soft spot for (I’ve been reliably informed that this is sort of My Thing).  The entire Legacy of Kain series falls under that banner for me, as do most of the Castlevania games.  The Dark Souls games all have it to some extent, and Bloodborne leans into it hard enough that it actually is kind of legitimately scary at various points.  And then there are movies like Vampire Hunter D.

Lunar Legend Tsukihime, the anime based on the visual novel Tsukihime, was released in the early to mid 2000s.  On a technical level, it’s very middle-of-the-road, with a bit of a generic visual style and workmanlike animation.  But we’re talking about an anime based on a doujin hentai game.  More mainstream visual novels’ adaptations tend to get better treatment.  Tsukihime is well-regarded, but probably not really “popular” in the same sense as something like, say, Da Capo or Little Busters or Air, or...  Look, Type-Moon’s getting the star treatment was pretty much going to be impossible at that stage.  It took Tsukihime and the first Fate adaptation before we got to that point.  That the Tsukihime anime happened at all is honestly kind of remarkable, and a testament to how much of an impact the game made.

Tsukihime takes place in the modern day (well, modern for the date of its release, which for the game was 2000, and for the anime would be 2003 or so).  It’s a vampire story, of sorts, though the only creatures we’d recognize as traditional vampires are a minor threat at best.

Our main character, or at any rate, our viewpoint character, is Shiki Tohno.  He’s part of a large, wealthy, and presumably powerful family, though he lives with an aunt and uncle whose ways and means are much more middle-class than his father, the head of the family.  He was banished from the main estate eight years ago, shipped off to live with his aunt and uncle after an accident when he was about eight.

He doesn’t remember much about the accident.  He (and therefore we) are initially told it was a car accident, and that it damaged his heart. He has fainting spells occasionally if he over-exerts himself, and otherwise generally anemic symptoms.  Something to do with damage to his heart after the accident; it’s not really clear.  The weakness makes him an unfit heir to be head of the family, hence his being put aside.

The real change in him is far stranger, and far harder to understand.

While recovering in the hospital, he begins to see odd lines running through everything, making the world look fractured.  He discovers that if he cuts along those lines with a blade or other edged implement, the object will simply fall apart along those lines.  It takes little to no force to do this.  He could cut down a tree simply by dragging the edge of a knife along a particular line on its trunk, a line invisible to anyone but him.  His attempts to convince others that these lines exist fall on deaf ears, and only cause concern for his mental state.

One day during his recovery, while wandering around outside, he runs across a woman named Aoko Aozaki who not only believes him, but understands what’s happening.  She explains to him that he has a rare ability – perhaps the only one in the world with it – known as the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.  What he is seeing is the inevitable destruction and dissolution, the “death”, of every person and object around him.  The lines are the only way his brain can make sense of it, as this is something the human mind doesn’t readily grasp.  She gives him a pair of glasses which make the lines go away while he wears them, and which therefore allow him to go on with his life as normal.  She tells him that he mustn’t use this power of his unless absolutely necessary.

Shiki lives his life normally from that point forward, until one day while he’s in high school, he receives notice that his father has passed away, and Shiki is to move back into the main estate.  Said estate is in the same town, so much of his day-to-day should remain the same – same friends, same school, same daily routine.

But a strange thing happens on his way to the manor after school.  While resting in the park, he sees a young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair and a white sweater.  From out of nowhere, he is overcome with a furious, murderous impulse.  His body seems to move on its own, with no input or control from him.  Off come the glasses, out comes the knife he carries with him, and he’s off chasing her.  Bad things happen.

He wakes up in the Tohno mansion, having blacked out and been retrieved by Hisui, one of the two maids of the home.  She dresses as a Western maid, while her twin sister, Kohaku, also a maid, prefers a kimono.  

But his arrival at the manor comes with significant culture shock.  In the wake of his father’s passing, possession of the manor and the position of head of family have both fallen to his younger sister, Akiha, whom he hasn’t seen since his accident some eight years ago.  His memory of her is a little hazy, but he seems taken aback by the polite but stern young lady she’s grown into.  Altogether, the four of them – Akiha, Shiki, Kohaku, and Hisui – are the only inhabitants of the house.  

Shiki finds its size and sense of isolation intimidating, all the more because his daily life in and around the house is in for a massive shake-up.  For starters, there’s a strict curfew, and also no television.  When Shiki objects, Akiha puts her foot down, and seems determined that he will live according to the family’s ways and rules, or…  Well, there is no “or else”.  He just will, end of story.

So he sneaks out to go buy some snacks and magazines.  On his way, he is accosted by one of his classmates, Ciel.  But here, she’s dressed in an odd outfit, carrying a set of deadly-sharp swords, and seems intent on killing him until she satisfies herself that he poses no threat.

The next day, further weirdness ensues.  He encounters the blonde lady, the one he thought he killed, very much alive and well.  His initial relief that he didn’t actually kill her is quickly undone by her assertion that actually, he did, and with rare skill and gusto.  She then goes on to describe the exact cuts he used to slice her into seventeen separate pieces.  

Then it gets stranger.

She is, she tells him, a vampire, albeit not all that much like what you’d think of when the word comes to mind.  And no, she doesn’t sparkle.  Her name is Arcueid Brunestud, and she’s hunting an enemy of hers who’s in the area, and is responsible for a string of murders and mysterious deaths that have been occurring lately.  She was doing well enough until Shiki came along murdered her.  While she was able to recover from this inconvenience, their encounter has left her in a weakened state.  Now she needs help, and who better than the one who put her in this position in the first place?

Twists, Turns, and Dead Ends

I’m a little conflicted about the problem with the Tsukihime anime.  I can’t decide whether its creators overestimated what they could do in twelve episodes, or underestimated the material and the time it needed.  I supposed it really doesn’t make much difference.  Six of one, half a dozen of the other.

Bad news first.

There are some technical issues with the show, which are probably the least of its problems.  The art style is kind of lackluster and workmanlike, and the animation is overall pretty by-the-numbers.  There are numerous moments where you can see drawing or animation shortcuts were taken, and there are lots of long shots where the camera lingers on one place or on one person well beyond what’s necessary for drama.  On the other hand, the more important action scenes do see a slight jump in quality, so maybe the producers were keeping something up their sleeve for when it counted.  

The English voice work is serviceable.  The actors’ voices are by and large a good fit for the roles, but the acting is occasionally a little wooden. The writing is somewhat off as well.  Shiki disappears from his normal life for a while in the third and fourth episodes, and his friends’ and family’s discussions of it once he resurfaces don’t seem to agree on the times he was gone – at one point, even within the same conversation.  This may be a translation or dub writing error, though.  There are other weird gaffes (this time in the original script), such as that Shiki doesn’t notice that Kohaku and Hisui are identical twins. This despite the fact that their only notable differences are eye color and wardrobe.

But these are mostly technical troubles, and they’re things I can overlook pretty easily.  The writing errors are never so serious that I get confused about what’s going on, and the artwork issues aren’t too out of line, either.  Certainly I’ve seen other shows from the time that did worse and more often.

The real issues \with Tsukihime, and the problem most of the original game’s fans have, stem from the way it’s adapted from the game.

Like a lot of visual novels, Tsukihime has multiple routes, and many if not all of them are mutually exclusive.  In fact, some don’t even involve Arcueid, who you’ll remember is one of the main characters. This presents some difficulties when making a TV series.  On the one hand, there is a canon route, and you could probably make a decent twelve-episode TV series out of just that.  On the other hand, there are lots of fans who prefer the alternate routes, who would be pissed if their favorite characters showcased in those routes weren’t given some screen time, and so you want to give them something.  And, too, one of the intriguing things about a game like Tsukihime is all the lore and world-building that makes these divergent plotlines possible and interesting.  Even when not pursued, elements of those routes may come up one way or another, and lend a certain richness and depth to the story.  It would be a shame to leave that on the cutting room floor.

Another possibility the show’s creators could take is to craft their own continuity, essentially creating a story hybridized from multiple routes from the game while not adhering strictly to any one of them, and create a single story that way.  This hypothetical hybrid story would then be better able to explore more of the background and lore, and incorporate that richness into its own new canon.  But that would take probably more than twelve episodes, and twelve was all Tsukihime got.  For anyone who’s curious about what this approach might look like, there’s a manga adaptation that incorporates elements of the other routes into the main story.  It’s out of print now, sadly.  Originally published by ComicsOne, it was taken over by DrMaster after ComicsOne went out of business.  Then DrMaster themselves went out...

Anyway, the compromise measure that the show’s creators eventually decided on was to largely tell one story (the Near Side routes, particularly the Arcueid route), while throwing in bits and pieces from other routes… and then never following up on them.  There wind up being a few non sequiturs and narrative dead ends or red herrings, almost as a kind of wink and nod to say that the show’s makers at least know those possibilities exist.  But this results in the show being unfocused.  For instance, a couple of episodes build up the Problem With the Tohno Bloodline, but this ultimately doesn’t figure into the story.  This material comes from what the game refers to as the Far Side routes, and those developments largely go unnoticed during the Near Side routes which the anime’s plot focuses on.  The problem is, again, that these are mutually exclusive as the presented in the original game.  Weaving them together in the “new continuity” approach would be fine – maybe ideal for the anime, even – but it would take an amount of alteration to the continuity that the anime never makes.  It winds up being less of a problem than it sounds like, but it does manage to be frustrating.

The main story, meanwhile, hints at interesting elements from the broader cosmological background that the game establishes (and which later Type-Moon games borrow and build upon), but many of those elements never quite leave the background.  This leaves a frustrating sense of massive, powerful forces and entities moving in the background, that there is something far larger happening that we are not even quite glimpsing, but only being given hints of.  

But if it sometimes seems that Tsukihime only scratches the surface of the greater and deeper lore of its setting, that lore and setting are still compelling.  There’s an almost Lovecraftian sense of cosmic scale to the supernatural as it’s presented in Tsukihime.  Arcueid, Nvrnqsr Chaos (no, that’s not a typo; it’s the real name of an adversary in the game, though the anime presents it as Nero Chaos instead), and her ultimate enemy, Roa – all of them are connected to higher forces and entities.  The murders occurring in Shiki’s city are the most minor of problems in the grand scheme of things.  This is what makes the anime both fascinating and frustrating.  It shows us this conflict, but refuses to give the full context for it.  So much seems to be held back; the full natures of these characters goes unexplored.

I like a little mystery.  I like it when some things are unexplained, or when the answers are there to be found rather than to be given.  It’s one of the things I love about Dark Souls and Bloodborne.  But the story of Tsukihime fails to explore these mysteries in a way I find really satisfying.

I feel like this is the root of why a certain overly vocal segment of the fandom chooses not to acknowledge the anime.  Coming to it from the game, I can see where it might seem a little disappointing.  Many of these hooks can seem like teases to those who understand their significance enough to be upset that they ultimately don’t deliver.

But that’s not the experience that either I or my wife had watching the anime.  We both came to it before we ever knew anything of the game.  For us, those odd hooks were just moments where we went, “Huh.  Weird,” and carried on watching the show.  Sure, there was clear and unaddressed significance, but it wasn’t a problem.  If anything, it made me more curious about the game.

The show may seem meandering to some, but to me, I just tend to think of its pace as sedate.  It doesn’t really dig into the characters’ backstories, but it does help to develop them and give them room to breathe.  

In particular, the anime spends a lot of time developing Arcueid.  We see that despite her power, and her potential for wrath and violence, she’s surprisingly cute and innocent-seeming at times, and actually innocent when it comes to some things.  You can see her interest in Shiki grow, but she seems unable to express it.  Her attempts at being normal can come across as almost mocking, when they are instead sincere and well-meant, but hopelessly clueless.

What we learn of her story is somewhat sparse, but we know that she spends most of her time asleep, awakening only to deal with threats like Roa.  The reasons for this are complicated, at least enough so as to be beyond the scope of this writing.  Suffice it to say that there’s a wiki if you’re after more information.  Just be warned: The writing there is pretty iffy.  Anyway, Arcueid is capable of getting by just fine on her own (when some inconsiderate dick doesn’t just up and murder her, anyway), but it’s also clear that, thanks to spending most of her time asleep, she doesn’t really understand a lot of what’s going on around her.  There’s a kind of obliviousness to her that might be frustrating in another character in a different show, but is somehow just endearing here.  Like my wife said at one point: You just want to hug her.  Which is not, you know, the normal reaction you have with vampires.  “Aloof”, “compelling”, “seductive”…  These are the words we tend to think of when it comes to vampiric “affection” in fiction.  “Huggable” doesn’t really show up on the list.  And yet, here we are.

There’s a certain cat-like quality to her.  Elegant, graceful, mysterious, sometimes selfish, frequently endearing, and occasionally ridiculous.  There’s comedy in her situation.  Shiki, despite his powers, is otherwise kind of a dork who could not be more clearly in over his head, at least at the start.  He spends most of the series bewildered, confused, scared, and very occasionally snapping and completely losing his shit against some eldritch horror.  And yet he’s the one who has to keep Arcueid grounded (to the extent that this is really even possible) and basically explain to her how the world works.  In some ways, it’s really Arcueid’s story.

The pace of the series helps it build a sense of brooding mystery as it explores the twin dilemmas of finding a way to stop Roa and figuring out Shiki’s uncertain place in and relation to the rest of the Tohno family.  And as you might suspect, these two problems aren’t as separate as they first seem.

If nothing else, the opening theme is just about perfect.  Subdued, mysterious, haunting; it sets the mood of the show almost perfectly, in a way that comes close to over-promising on what the anime actually delivers.  It definitely sets a mood.

That mood is one I tend to get into around this time of year.  I’m normally a night person in the first place.  No amount of working mostly first-shift jobs over the last two decades has changed the fact that there’s some part of me that wakes up when the sun goes down, and wants to stay up until the sunrise.  I like to be out and about in the dark.  I can remember back when I was in college, I would be out with friends trying to find any reason at all to stay out as late as possible.  Later in life, I’d duck out long after everyone else was asleep and go for roaming walks at night (at least, back when I lived in a reasonable neighborhood).  With fall here, the urge just gets stronger.  

There’s something of that feeling I get from Tsukihime, large portions of which involve that same nocturnal roaming, and take place in the nighttime times of life.  And I enjoy stories about monsters and the supernatural – I went through something of a vampire fascination phase when I was younger, and still maintain a certain amount of interest – and so those things alone might have gotten my attention.

Fuck the haters; the Tsukihime anime exists, and it’s good.  Not great, and not as good as it might have been, but it’s fine.  If it’s not exactly gripping, edge-of-your-seat suspense, it’s still an entertaining way to spend the better part of five or six hours.  Certainly worth a watch if you can track it down.  

Tsukihime tells an odd, interesting story – moody, dark, weird, mysterious, fantastical – all things I like.  A story of supernatural threats, monsters, mystery, and marauders in the night.  It’s hard to think of anything more appropriate for fall – for October – for Halloween.

Availability

The DVD release for Lunar Legend Tsukihime was originally handled by Geneon in both Japan and the U.S., since they were part of the original production committee.  After they folded, it was picked up by Sentai Filmworks, one of the several splinter companies that rose from the ashes of ADV’s implosion in the late aughts.  

Geneon’s release was evidently a multi-volume affair.  Which seems ludicrous today, when you typically buy an entire season of twelve episodes or so all at once these days, in a single set.  But Geneon (which had previously been Pioneer) had been around since the VHS days, and a lot of those companies in some sense inherited the mindset that had governed the VHS release schedule, which was to release a volume every couple of months or so, with three or four episodes on each one, and that was that.

Sentai Filmworks’ version is a two-disc, single-volume set, so that would probably be the way to go.  Especially if shelf space is a concern.  

There is no Blu-ray release, and honestly, it’s hard to imagine what Blu-ray would really do for the show.  At any rate, it seems to be out of print currently.  Geneon, of course, folded about a decade or so ago. And although Sentai Filmworks lists it in their catalog, there’s no option to buy.  And it doesn’t appear to be available for legal streaming anywhere.  Like a lot of older (and I hate to think of this as “older” – I remember being an adult when it was new) – maybe I should say somewhat older anime – Amazon and eBay are your best bet if you’re interested.  

Postscript the First – The Anime versus the Game

Tsukihime, as a visual novel with multiple routes, contains far more material than the TV series.  HOWEVER, please consider this paragraph your giant, flashing, neon-lit trigger warning for content potentially involving sex, assault, sexual assault (of various kinds), incest, violation of consent, and more violence than the anime producers could show even with the series airing at otaku o’clock.

Just to be up-front for a moment, I haven’t played much of the game.  Much of my information comes secondhand, or else is the result of reading the Type-Moon wiki and talking with friends who’ve played through it. I’ve yet to finish a single route.  I’d like to, and I occasionally chip away at it here and there, but the problems are twofold.

The first problem – probably the main problem – is the low level of engagement.  I get curious about visual novels from time to time, but they’re always a little too easy to put down, and a little too hard to pick up.  And that may seem strange, since there’s so little to do in one.  The amount of effort involved is nil.  But that’s just the thing.  I often wrestle with whether or not I even consider them to be games at all.  And, look: It’s not like I think visual novels are unworthy of anyone’s time.  They’re fine.  Largely not my cup of tea, but fine.  But what you do in a visual novel could hardly be called playing, any more than you “play” a Choose Your Own Adventure book.  There are no mechanics, no maneuvering through the world, no use of skills.  Just decisions to make, and those not very often.  The thing about an actual game is that I’m mentally engaged, fully occupied and firing on all (or most) cylinders.  When I want to play a game, that’s what I’m after.  And visual novels just don’t offer that.

Of course, I do love to read, and so it would seem like they should be right up my alley for that reason at least.  But no.  The writing is actually my second problem.

So far as I’ve observed, which admittedly isn’t much, most Japanese visual novels translated into English are pretty awkward, and this is probably a combination of factors.  One is that what constitutes good writing (in terms of how the language is deployed) in Japanese differs considerably from what constitutes good writing in English.  It’s not just visual novels, mind you.  The couple Haruki Murakami books I’ve read have both also seemed off to some degree as well.  I think it’s just something in the translation, some difference between English and Japanese in the matters of word choice, rhythm, and flow, and the sense for how these things work in each.  I sincerely think that making a Japanese work really sing in English would involve a level of change that most translators (and visual novel fans in particular, given their greater likelihood of being total Japanophiles) are deeply uncomfortable with.

But beyond the general problem of Japanese-to-English writing, there’s the problem of Kinoko Nasu in particular, who is Type-Moon’s writer.

Nasu is, I think, something of a Lovecraft disciple, with his cosmic-scale sense for horror.  But he’s also like Lovecraft in another very important and distinct way, which is that despite having really interesting ideas that set my imagination on fire, he actually can not fucking write.

I’m sorry, Lovecraft fans, I really am, but it’s true.  Deep down, you all know it.  Lovecraft, for his part, was a man who at some point earlier in his life swallowed a thesaurus, and was then hell-bent on vomiting it out over every page he wrote ever afterward.  He never used one word if he could find a way to use five or six to say the same thing, never used a simple, elegant, and concise word when he knew a more complex one, and his style has so little flow you’d need an electron microscope to find it.  You could make a workout of running back and forth to the dictionary while reading his work.  Or you could make it a drinking game.  And then die, of alcohol poisoning.

He had some great ideas, once you got past the writing, and the multiple onion-like layers of intense racism.  And he was intensely racist; let’s not forget that.  Not just “racist because it’s the 1920s or ‘30s and basically everyone white is racist right now,” I mean racist even for those times.  People back then were a little weirded out by how much he hated the Jews, and black people, and anyone else who wasn’t the right shade of paper-white.  But even just focusing on his writing, the feeling remains that he was not the best vehicle for his stories, and that’s just how it is.  The most aching, taxing, fucking grueling reading I have ever done on stories I still actually liked is mostly found between the covers of the various Lovecraft compendia I have lying around the house.  I like his stories; I just don’t like reading them much.

Nasu may well be his reincarnation (and oh, would it ever have horrified Lovecraft to be reincarnated as a Japanese person).  A common complaint I’ve heard about Nasu’s writing (from people who’ve read it in Japanese) is that he has good ideas, but just isn’t a skilled writer.  Now, I’m not qualified to really dissect how he comes across in his own culture, but when translated into English, he’s a painful read.  Maybe it’s the fault of the group responsible for the translation (Mirror Moon), but at the very least, I can confidently state that he should stay out of porn.  His sex scenes have some of the least sexy and most unintentionally hilarious writing I’ve seen in my life.  It’s why I think that even Fate didn’t really take off to become the absolute phenomenon it is until after we started to get anime adaptations of it.  Those adaptations would all have been written by other people, or at least had some amount of editing or collaboration to dilute the worst of his influence, letting the good ideas shine through without Nasu’s own writing griming everything up.

I don’t have a lot of basis for comparison, but I feel like on a technical level, Tsukihime is pretty basic.  The character artwork is nice enough, with a distinct style.  The backgrounds, though, are in most cases very clearly photographs that have been filtered or otherwise manipulated so as not to clash too badly with the character art.  This was probably a shortcut to save time or money, or both.  

On the balance, I’d say it’s worth looking into, with the major caveat that there’s a lot of stuff in it that didn’t (and couldn’t) make it into the anime, that makes the story overall much darker and more sinister than the anime could manage.  Unfortunately, it’s going to be hard to find.  There’s only the original version released in 2000.  There’s talk of a sequel and a remake, but the amount of time that’s passed for no more attention or work than the project has received, to the extent that these things have become running gags in the fandom.  They probably are things that the higher-ups at Type-Moon really do mean to create at some point, but which aren’t a huge priority for them, and so are very, very back-burner projects.

As I mentioned above, the anime and the game are both similar in that their quality persists despite somewhat lacking production values.  But the anime’s middle-of-the-road budget and somewhat generic style was never the problem.  The game, meanwhile, was pretty clearly made on a close-to-shoestring budget, but this actually doesn’t matter nearly as much.  Visuals novels live and die on their writing, ideas, and artwork, I think.  Rarely if ever do they rely on really cutting-edge graphics for their impact.  And in truth, Tsukihime the game was always going to be marred far more by Nasu’s writing than anything technical.  

A nice upside is that, since we’re privy to Shiki’s internal monologue, he comes across as a more interesting character.  He seems to sometimes just float through the story in the anime, with bouts of intensity here and there when things go wrong or he’s totally lost it.  But the game gives us his thoughts, and we get a better handle on why he does the things he does.

For English-speaking fans, there are walkthroughs, of course.  But if that understandably sounds like too much of a pain in the ass, there’s also a fan translation (unauthorized) by Mirror Moon.  In addition to rendering the game into English, I believe it also introduces an option for removing the sex scenes.  So for those who are uncomfortable with those, this will answer that concern, at least.  

Postscript the Second – Alternate Takes: Kara no Kyoukai

Frequently referred to in English-speaking circles by its subtitle, The Garden of Sinners, Kara no Kyoukai (which Wikipedia tells us means something like “Boundary of Emptiness”) is an interesting story from Kinoko Nasu’s early days.  It began publication (independently) in August of 1998, and is set in that timeframe.  Originally a series of novels, it’s primarily known in the U.S. as a boxed set of seven movies (plus a stand-alone eighth) priced exorbitantly by Aniplex USA (the Blu-ray boxed set for the first seven will set you back a cool $400).  These movies tell the story of a different Shiki, this time a young woman who wears a kimono, boots, and red leather jacket, named Shiki Ryogi.  

There are pretty clear linkages between it and Tsukihime, though these are thematic rather than narrative, and the result of ideas being reused.  Nasu began writing Kara no Kyoukai first, and seems to have cannibalized some of its concepts for Tsukihime. The two stories take place in alternate universes.  As with Tsukihime, this version of Shiki also has the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, although Kara no Kyoukai’s Shiki does actually come by them after an automobile accident.  There’s also a redheaded sorceress with the last name Aozaki (Touko instead of Aoko), and I want to say that I’ve read somewhere that they’re sisters, and that Touko traveled to this alternate reality from the “main” one where Tsukihime and Fate take place. She was initially envisioned with sort of pixie-cut blue hair, but was converted for the movies into a redhead like her sister Aoko, and Nasu decided he liked the change so much that it became canon.

But although it features a Shiki with the Mystic Eyes, she shares the spotlight with Mikiya Kokuto, who’s a dead ringer for the Shiki of Tsukihime. His personality’s different – he lacks Shiki Tohno’s deeply buried killer instinct, for a start.  Mikiya has no special abilities beyond a knack for information-gathering and a better-than-average capacity for deductive reasoning.  Moreover, even without any special powers of his own, he seems to move with relative comfort in a world full of sorcerers and mystical murderers, in part by keeping an open mind, taking nothing for granted, keeping his assumptions in check, and taking everything as it comes.  He works as an investigator for Touko’s paranormal detective agency, Garan-no-Dou. Shiki is mostly the muscle.

Mikiya has a younger sister, Azaka, who in her turn looks an awful lot like Shiki Tohno’s sister Akiha.  Except for in flashbacks, where she looks like a young Rin Tohsaka from Fate instead.  As with Tsukihime, she is attracted to her brother.  Unlike Tsukihime, the two of them are actually blood siblings, so... At least with Kara no Kyoukai, this profound failure of the Westermarck Effect is entirely one-sided; Mikiya has eyes only for Shiki.  TV Tropes would undoubtedly describe it as Single-Target Sexuality.  

There are any number of other parallels between the two, but these are the most obvious.  Much of the background lore seems to be similar between the two series, although Kara no Kyoukai doesn’t use the same parts of it, and doesn’t dig into the parts it does use quite as much.  It’s much less concerned with cosmic entities like Arcueid or Roa or Nvrnqsr Chaos, and more concerned with its characters as individuals, and how they relate to each other.  That isn’t to say that it doesn’t dive into the sort of metaphysical strangeness on display in Tsukihime and Fate – Kara no Kyoukai is aggressively weird – but its metaphysical struggles are more self-contained, connected more directly to the characters and less tied to the cosmological backdrop.

The movies were released in Japan beginning in 2007, almost a decade after the novels began publication, and well after the successes of Tsukihime and the first Fate series. They’re animated by ufotable, and feature Yuki Kajiura as the composer.  I’d encourage anyone interested to track them down, though I know the price tag can be offputting.  Aside from high-quality video and sound, the set is pretty bare-bones.  There’s no English audio track; in fact, the impression I get is that this is basically just the Japanese Blu-ray release, re-encoded for Region 1. This includes the movies’ proper titles not being displayed in English anywhere on the discs or cases, so you have to do a little sleuthing to figure out which movies are which.  This is doubly aggravating considering that the intended viewing order isn’t chronological, so it’s not immediately apparent if you’ve started with the wrong movie.  If you feel totally lost and like you’ve just come into the middle of things, then it’s highly likely you’re exactly where you’re supposed to be.  Thankfully, the menus are in English, and the subtitles are serviceable.

There’s a DVD version of the boxed set that costs less – I want to say the whole boxed set went for something like $200 – which is still a decent chunk of change, but more reasonable for a set of seven movies. Unfortunately, a quick browse of Amazon makes it seem even harder to find than the Blu-ray set.  And, sadly, there are no legal streaming options for this series.

[cyrelia-j]

My Nanowrimo Challenge

So I’m giving myself a bit of a different challenge for nano because I don’t need to be writing another novel length fic while I have a gazillion wips so, my challenge is

Writing 50k words (or more) to existing WIPs

So here is the master list along with current story status. Shoot me a reply dm whatever to let me know 2 or 3 that you’d like to see an update on and the top I dunno 2-5 (depending on how much story advancement comes from 50k words as much as I go on) will get updated and/or finished come 12/1!

A, Men: a/b/o-ish garashir porn, sequel to “O, Julian” and “I, Garak” (which had Dukat/Bashir also). Currently working on Chapter 3. Up on AO3

A Ceiling of Stars: sci fi au garashir based off a misunderstanding. Working on the main fic. (This one got weird because it started out one way, got mostly written, I had another idea in this world which got 50k written, then I went back to the original haha). Prologue is on AO3

A Gift for my Darling: Garak/Bashir/Parmak super dark twisted mirror universe AU where mirror Julian is a body horror cat slave. Lots of guro shit and porn. Working on chapter 7. All chapters are archived HERE

Cross: Desert Fantasy AU Garak/Bashir/Parmak where Julian was recruited to assassinate Garak- full of intrigue, some sex, and angst. Currently working on Chapter 6. Up on AO3

Deuces: Dominionless garashir AU (with Ziyal/Mardah) where Garak is Ziyal’s adopted father and the two of them stop on ds9 for a month going to Bajor. Some daddy kink stuff and slow build up to the sex. Working on Chapter 8. Only on Tumblr so far and can be found HERE

Eidolon:  1970s AU featuring Jack/Parmak where Jack comes through a wormhold to find Parmak on the other side. Part 1 of 2 is up HERE.

Extraverse stuff: Modern Garak/Parmak/Bashir AU featuring lots of silliness, sex, and pop culture references. The drabble stories appear at random at different periods between 1990 and 2018. Currently working on “Bomb Pop” which will be the latest story in the “modern” era. Series is on AO3

Follow You: You won’t find this anywhere yet but it was the dark version I was going with from “A Ceiling of Stars”. Currently working on this as a separate story.

For the Glory of Morning: Jack/Julian, Jack pack AU where the Jack pack are space pirates with lots of episodic adventures. Working on Chapter 5 as well as a sister story featuring the Cardassian crew led by Garak which has the working title “For the Glory of Night”. Up on AO3

Inside a Dream: garashir (past Jack/Julian and Julian/Sarina), some kelim and also will have Jack/Parmak. Post Canon everything AU where Julian’s mind is broken after Sarina’s death and Garak is trying to bring him back. Working on Chapter 6. Currently up on tumblr HERE

Invictus: Kelim (possibly garashir and parmashir later) PCC AU where Parmak is raising 7 children struggling to survive after The Fire, and Garak comes back to a very unhappy reunion to recruit him for a special mission. a dark au with a twisted relationship between Parmak and Garak. Working on chapter 5. The backstory for this dark universe Kelas can be found on AO3 HERE. This is currently on tumblr HERE

Limitless: garashir epic where Julian was also a sociopath with a split personality from his enhancements and is going to wreak havoc on the station. Twisted mind control dark dubcon story. The first fanfic done for the fandom and is currently being rewritten from the beginning (the technical events will remain the same). Working on both Chapter 9 and the rewrite and this is up on AO3. (You may not want to read yet though since it is crazy long and early chapters are being overhauled)

Lizards Melt in your Mouth: Modern garashir porn AU where Garak is Parmak’s “pet” lizard and Julian has been recruited to pet sit. The main story is done but I am doing a massive edit and am still planning some sort of epilogue/sequel. Working on the edit and sequels.  Up on AO3

The New JJ Frontier: Jack/Julian (likely G/B/J) au retelling the series with Jack and Julian as a married augment couple who grew up together in The Institute. Most recent part is HERE with links to other parts

The Power of Three: Modern Garak/Bashir/Parmak porn AU where Julian is a virgin who accidentally summoned two aliens thinking they’re sex demons. Working on Chapter 5. Currently on tumblr HERE

Renegades: Insanely long Garak/Bashir/Dax where Garak finds himself on a tech-less Western world on an undisclosed mission. Working on chapter 52 but I have no idea when I’ll get back to this but I have started chapter 52. Up on AO3

Starboys: garashir and Jack/Julian (with future Jack/Parmak and Garak/Parmak) sci fi su with a cyber/neon/neo tokyo flair where Garak is an agent for the Obsidian Order and Jack and Julian are lovers involved in an Augment theft crew who unwisely cross him. Working on Part 2. Up on AO3

Undertow: Jack/Parmak story set in season 7 heavy into bdsm/praise kink where Parmak is working on adapting the Morphegnic virus and Jack is his assistant dark and kinky. Working on Chapter 7 latest chapter HERE with links to the others

Stories that are technically complete but may have sequels/other parts:

Badhyāmahe: Garak/Bashir/Parmak Gotham/soulmark au where Julian is a doctor at Arkham and meets Kelas Parmak, one of Doctor Strange’s experiments. Working on a sequel. Up on AO3

First Contact: Garak/Bashir/Parmak pre relationship AU where Garak and parmak are both exiled and try and court Julian. Considering a silly sequel. Up on AO3

The Hunted: modern horror garashir au where Julian finds himself in a post apocalyptic world after monsters known as The Hunters attack. Considering a companion piece which is more garashir focused. Up on AO3

Lizard Hooks: Modern Earth AU where Jack and Julan are best friends dating Cardassian coffee shop owners Garak and Parmak. Done parts 1 and 2 but always up for more on this for fun. Currently on AO3.

Rain Inside your Eyes (Brain, Heathen, Breathe): Super angsty Julian character study series focused on him suppressing his enhancements. Considering a last garashir follow up. Up on AO3

Strangers: AU garashir murder porn based off Stranger on a Train. Considering a 4th part featuring Dukat. Up on AO3

So there you have it; questions, update status, want to poke me on one of these just reply, ask, w/e *faints*

[davekat-sucks]

gatekeeping is fandoms is ok but it depends on what it is if it’s like ship based that’s stupid like no one cares if a ship is problematic or not but if it’s like someone who is racist but in a fandom that has like black or trans characters in it i guess it would be ok to gatekeep you have no idea how many terfs i have seen in the danganronpa fandom because there are canon trans characters and no im not talking about chihiro because chihiro is a femboy he’s not trans but im ok with the trans headcanon as long as you aren’t toxic and try to force it down people’s throat honestly as a trans person if people want to see chihiro as cis let them because he is a cis men he isn’t trans coded femboys and crossdressers exist im talking about actual trans characters like k1b0 he’s agender but still uses he/him im pretty sure tenko’s master is trans too like female to male and there are some poc characters in danganronpa too just not a lot since the game is based in japan

Yeah, it depends on the gatekeeping. Stuff like fanon overriding canon material shouldn't always be a thing to enforce. From certain characters being trans or not depending on the context, it depends on if it really involves in the story and franchise as a whole. People also forget Japan's culture is different from ours and we have to respect it. I would also say K1B0 is not really agender or anything, but that's also my own opinion on all this. I'm not saying to gatekeep things like black or trans characters. Not even sure what you mean if applied to that. Like blackwashing characters when certain black ones exist? I would say, yeah. Blackwashing is bad when there are existing POC in a series or franchise. Tell me someone who loves Sailor Pluto. Someone who loves Avdol Muhammad. Edward in Cowboy Bebop. Archer from the Fate series. What is their fave dark skin hero that isn't just Black Panther? Gatekeep I would say applies to when certain people that are not familiar with a hobby or interest that has been around for long time, that people only jump in because of mainstream media. Things like Marvel movies for example. Long comic book fans have been around to know differences from the adaptation. However, new people join in won't know about the source it comes from and just assumes the movie is better because it is out and open for everyone to see. Though true that certain stuff from original materials can be hard to acquire, sometimes being out of print or not many know where to find it. But it's part of finding and searching more deep into it that shows how much fans would go for it. Those have been around for a long time. Things like how Western otaku would search for underground stores to get the subtitle anime VHS tapes. That's why people dislike when certain localization changes the context in anime. It's why people who enjoy comics, gets annoyed when people only source movie as a start because they think whatever is in the movie is just the same as the comic.

[jetspikepub]

I wish I had so much spare time to run crazy ship blog and search for"heretics" who don't follow spike/julia thing and point finger at them saying that "spike/julia is the only canon, believe it or die motherfuckers".

I appreciate the hard work the person does, showing official materials and stuff, but being so toxic is annoying and meaningless. The person waves screens from anime guides right in your face like it's a holy Bible and there's only one right ship and canon in this fandom.

I have master's degree in translation, and I need to tell you that there are such things as shades of meaning and translator's pov. Basically, translator has to express author's original thoughts, no more, no less. He must stay neutral and simply transfer the whole idea the best and most correct way possible. However, there are many language and cultural differences which affect the final product. If you compare the "western" localization with the original Japanese texts you may notice a lot of changes, it's a kind of adaptation for more "native" perseption. It's ok. But putting an emphasis on things that change the original idea and make you stick to the only definition possible IS NOT OK.

Verbal diarrhoea below

Back in November a gallant spikejulia warrior brought the wrath down upon us, saying that Spike could only be fucked by Julia and nobody else.

The user provided screencaps from guides, supporting the thesis, but, unfortunately, this nerdy war was lost from the very beginning. Because I can enter the angry nerd mode when necessary.

A short analysis:

It says ジュリア: スパイクの恋人 (Juria: Supaiku no koibito), which means "Julia: Spike's lover".

Lover. Not "true love" or just "love". "Lover", "любовница" (или "возлюбленная", на худой конец), "amante". Sounds rather neutral, don't you think?

There's a difference between these kanji, ai and koi. A huge difference.

I showed the screens of kanji meanings in thread, saying that "true love" phrase was just a translator's or editor's choice for adaptation, and got this answer:

Unfortunately, I don't have any native speaker friends in Japan and I don't need them to prove my point because I've got a dictionary and mere logic.

Translation is a creative process, especially when it comes to fiction translation. Translator is also a writer and as any writer he tends to leave his mark. However, in this case he leaves us, readers, no choice by calling Julia "Spike's only one and fucking true love".

The word "lover" can be used in various situations and in this case it depends on reader's perception and willingness to see Spike and Julia as people who are deeply in love or simply as a pair who fucked once and got separated for some reason.

This passage says the following:

巨大な権力の前に鳴り響くその銃声は、破滅の始まりを告げていた。それを聞いたジュリアは永い沈黙を破り、スパイクも、自分の失われた��割れを求めて動き出す。

Kyodaina kenryoku no mae ni narihibiku sono jūsei wa, hametsu no hajimari o tsugete ita. Sore o kiita Juria wa nagai chinmoku o yaburi, Supaiku mo, jibun no ushinawareta kataware o motomete ugokidasu.

The gunshots ringing in front of the enormous power heralded the beginning of ruin. Upon hearing that, Julia breaks the long silence, and Spike moves out in search of the part that he'd lost.

There is no word about Julia trying to contact Spike (which is obvious from the first part anyway) or Spike dropping everything to find the only woman, yadda yadda. The English guide brings more confusion because in anime Spike hesitates before leaving the Bebop.

This is an example of not quite correct adapation that doesn't match the original neutral vision and the idea of giving fans a chance to decide Spike's fate and, ahem, sexual preferences. And it's a lesson: you should check the damn background before teaching someone right from wrong.

Public Service Announcement:

If you create content about Cowboy Bebop and have been harassed by crazed Julia fans policing what you create with stupid screenshotted devotional pamphlets and sermons, please know that most of it is the same guy. Here, Reddit, Facebook, all of it. One sad middle-aged man making multiple shrines to a two dimensional woman who is frankly way out of his league.

There are 26 essays on my blog and the moron is fixated on just the four which talk about Spike and Faye, already labelled as an ‘Alternate Take’ 🙄.

There is no “one right way” to enjoy art and everyone is free to create the content they want create. Most of his “material” is culturally misinterpreted and half-baked crap.

If you ever read this buddy. You’ve been trying to get my attention unsuccessfully for a while so here you go finally. If you don’t want me to do a full post with exact details of all your presence and activity calm the hell down and leave people alone. Freedom of expression is a thing.

[ktaebwi]

[TRANS] OSEN Interview w/ Bang Shi Hyuk PD (1/3)

Source KRN - ENG © ktaebwi

Debuted in June 2013, they’re already heading towards the 4th year mark. Working their way up from the rookie award to topping first place on a music show for the first time 2 years after debuting, 1 year later, they became the winner of the Daesang at year-end ceremonies. They have grown to become a K-pop group dominating not only local but also international stages, including America, and loved by the Billboard. They are writing a glorious legend, they are BTS.

BTS’ agency is Bighit Entertainment, leaded by composer Bang Shihyuk. The company’s scale are far different from the big ones. Despite of that, he led BTS to success and is leading the K-pop scene. We recently had a written interview with CEO Bang Shihyuk who wrote ‘the legend of the dirt spoon’s success*’. The interview covers his affection for BTS and the secret to their success, as well as plans for the future.

- We’ll ask straight to the point. What is the secret to BTS’ success?

“Actually I don’t know. What we can tell from the fans, reporters or critics is that they perform well and are fast to adapt the global trends and put their own stories into music. They inspired the youth all over the world. Communicating through several channels like SNS and showing their closeness can be considered a secret to success too.”

- Didn’t they lead the way with ‘N parts’ series like the school trilogy and the 2-part Hwa Yang Yeon Hwa series?

“That kind of series has been done by other groups back in the old days, but it can be seen that BTS challenged it after a long time. However, our company don’t like to plan it purposely. Others can think it’s done purposely, but we are not the type to depend on flashy ideas. The only firm philosophy is that BTS have to tell the stories of themselves. The result came out too loaded to be put in a single album. If we force it into just one album, it would become overloaded, so we decided to split into several parts. It wasn’t an unique planning point. We were just splitting the stories.”

- Compared to the debut days, it feels like BTS’ color has changed a little bit now.

“It depends on which aspect we’re looking from. Concept is an important element in the idol market, and looking at their visual and musical concept, it’s evident that BTS has tried various colors. There are opinions saying ‘Isn’t it different?’, ‘BTS has changed’, but our company are making it so that others wouldn’t be able to say they ‘changed’ or ‘transformed’. The standpoint that we must tell the stories of the 10 and 20-year-olds has never changed. We’re just doing the music, the fashion, the trends that match the members’ ages. As we’re going against the original concept some fans may leave too, but if you look at the matter differently, they have a consistency. BTS has been telling the stories of themselves, of their generation and the ones that people want to conceal from the start and even now.”

-The members release their own mixtape and engage actively in collaborations.

“We let them do it freely, since we don’t want to disturb them making their music. The company can give a hand to complete a high quality piece of music work, but we think that we shouldn’t get in the way of their musical direction. Their own ideas are the most important. Since they run over it themselves along with other producers before coming to me, the company only makes the last move to see if its quality is enough to be delivered to fans. We received a lot of collaboration offers from inside and outside of Korea, but I don’t touch anything at all. The rule is the same. If they contact the artists personally and match each other well, and the collaboration happens, the company will only act as a backup. We have never showed them the way and send the offer first.”

- BTS members use their SNS account very actively.

“We are letting them do what they want freely. This is definitely not part of the marketing plan. Our company don’t forbid doing anything. We only asked them that since using SNS individually is not part of the team culture, we hope they wouldn’t do that and opened one account from pre-debut. They each understand that the account belongs to the whole team and are enjoying it. Everyone likes the ‘stan culture’, so they’re taking turns using it. They make so many contents that it’s hard to upload all on SNS.”

- It’s unusual that the group has a big international fandom but there isn’t any foreign member.

“Actually we didn’t think the international responses for BTS would be this big. When it was first launched, we decided to keep the minimum virtue of a K-pop group. Creating good performances and not just depending on the music but also paying attention to outfits or music videos for the overall production. The anxieties of youth are something that the whole world faces and not just a one-time trend, so it won the sympathy of international fans as well. Another advantage is that we can easily approach global fans through Youtube. BTS fans also have the culture translate and upload to introduce them to foreign fans. We’re really grateful for that. There’s something that made me astonished recently. They made a ‘BTS dance class’ at a dance school in Estonia, a country near the Baltic Sea. It’s amazing.”

- How was the recent America tour?

“Beyond expectation. We knew how good the responses in the Americas are, but they also showed roaring attention in South America too. I was surprised by the explosive reactions from when the ticketing was opened, and coming up to LA in North America through South America, looking at how big the fandom has gotten, it amazed me. Has BTS reached this level? Haha. Actually it’s thanks to the previous K-pop singers and companies that we can achieve this, so we also feel a sense of responsibility to open the way to the Western market for the future generation.”

- How do you feel about the expression ‘dirt spoon’ used for BTS?

“It’s not an expression first used by us. Some people think we use it as a way of marketing them being different from others, but we hate that kind of attention. We don’t want that kind of marketing. It’s not the matter of hating the expression or not. It’s true that BTS hit big from a company with no brand value. Since they started with nothing and succeed, the expression ‘dirt spoon’ is understandable, but I hope people won’t misunderstand that this is our marketing method.”

- Something that BTS don’t have, discord.

“It’s because they don’t have any dissension. Their relationship is so good. When you put 7 men together sometimes there would be small fights, but we taught them to settle it among themselves since before debuting. The 7 of them get along so well that it makes you wonder if it’s even possible to have no discord like this. Isn’t this the secret to last long like Shinhwa?”

- It’s true that as the popularity grows, so does the number of antifans.

“There’s a level to which is acceptable. Insulting us or making personal attacks towards the members is way above malicious comments and antifans. We have already filed the complaints with the police. There shouldn’t be a culture where they use anonymity to lie and insult. Below that point is each individual’s freedom of expression. The Internet is where everyone is equal and anonymity is guaranteed, but we can’t turn a blind eye on everything above that level. We will continue to use all of our time and financial resources as well as take strong measures. The members are the one who are hurt and distressed the most, they are still just young guys. Especially when our music or contents are considered unjust because of rumors, that’s when it hurts the most, because only pride is that we make the contents with sincerity ever since they debuted. Now it has gone too far, so we will take strong measures without any pardon or negotiation to protect them.”

*dirt spoon’s success: similar to “start from the bottom, now we are here”, “dirt spoon” is the opposite of “golden spoon” (금수저), which is the equivalent of “silver spoon” in English.

P1 | P2 | P3

[mikhailsbluecarnation-blog]

A vent, a true vent. Don't be rude. Respect.

If you are a sensitive person, don't read. This is a warning. Don't judge by my fandoms either, I may know what you think when you see my url. My fandoms does not have anything to do with this post.

Listen up, I am not a westerner or an old blog. But I don't feel like I have to be an old blog to understand how terrible it is to be in western side of fandom. Sorry if my wordings can be too harsh or rude for others.

(Beware : This post does not have any intention to discriminate or comparing fandom base on their nationalities. Please respect my intention, I have no ill will here. Read all of post content, don't judge by the early part only)

The main problem with common typical western fandom is they push their standard on show contents and I started thinking it is beyond tolerable limits. Remember this : As long you don't get involved with show making especially character design and plot (which common a huge deal concerning character design), you technically speaking does not have any right to shame the character because it does not meet your standard. You can always give your frustated opinion by reshaping it to softer way and send it to author's twitter or any social media account. That way no one have to read your vents about series and indirectly called you out right? Also it is a make sense solution with lesser damage.

Other problem that I want to point out is lack sense of respect of diverse opinion. How can you talk about diverse issue if you can't handle different opinions? How can you talk about love but still spread and show hate? It is acts contradict words.

Please learn to calm your head, it does not have to end up with public shaming through call out or reblogs, anon hate messages is not it? Learn to discuss things in private message, learn to disagree without fight, just learn to speak soft and direct. You definetly find friends that way, loneliness and hatred can be avoided as well. You reap what you sow.

World is bigger than internet arguments about who is win or who is losing. If talking about diverse is your favourite then just do it, talking to locals and try to understand how their works and encourage them to talk on their own. Cheerish their spirit and give harmless suggestions to show themselves. Winning is less important if it cost losing friends.

Learn to appreciate and love original contents as well, the team is all working hard for making , atleast that I personally believe like yeah different team different result.

I suggest for making fanarts based on original contents to avoid intensing frequency of far from canon type of headcanon (shortly : OOC and off genre*) that affect other's impression towards the series and characters. (I have a personal belief that frequencies of an image of something whether bad or good will affect the real fact we are dealing or facing.). Oh anyway off genre is just a word I make that means 'fanarts about that is not even the story is about' (except it is about uh...sensitive issues, depends on each countries for that) but hey remember where the show origins as well, learn to adapt, not to force your idea. Oh well different circumstance call for different responds, altho I personally think it is better if I can understand cultural reasons, humor style, plot reasons like yeah for lessening 'cultural shock(or something like it) (yeah that is me who want to, not you. Unless you want to).

Anyway if you interpert all of these as showin' dislikeness about how fandom works. You are wrong, this is not about that. I make suggestions for improving how fandom and typical tumblr works, i have belief that things can be improvised.

Down with ego, open ears for listen, learn to disagree without fight.

To close this, I am sorry if I give rude impression or showing lackness. Have a nice day!

[shenmeizhuang-blog]

10 + 11 questions tag

Great thanks and acknowledgments to @letsflytoasiarenata and @belladonna2017 for sending me questions! So, here goes: 

A. Always post the rules. Answer the questions then write (10 or 11?) new ones.

B. Tag 11 people and link them to the post. Tell the person who tagged you that you’ve answered their questions.

My questions: 

Favorite villain or antagonist.

Favorite character trope/archetype.

Least favorite character trope/archetype.

Least favorite drama trope.

Name a character that you initially disliked but came to love.

Favorite multi-season drama?

Favorite example of trope dissection/dispellation. 

Favorite time travel drama.

Choose a period drama, sageuk, or wuxia that you would like to time travel to.

Historical event/time period/historical figure(s) that you want to see a show explore.

Name a show with the best (most intensive yet reasonable/plausible) plot twists. 

Favourite historical period in sageuks/wuxia?

This question made me ponder for a bit, since because the center stage of most wuxias is jianghu, or the pugilistic world, largely defined as “a sub-society isolated from mainstream or governmental law”, henceforth most wuxias largely feel timeless, with no specific historical dynasty or time period adhered to the story. Granted, there are some fusions centered around court politics that acknowledge the pugilistic world and combine certain wuxia elements – Nirvana in Fire (fictionalized Northern and Southern Dynasties) rather heavily features wuxia elements, and The Glory of Tang Dynasty (Tang Dynasty) more minimally, but also somewhat. 

I suppose it’s a moot point, since upcoming xianxia wuxia Martial Universe is set in the “culturally vibrant Spring & Autumn Era”, but essentially – generally I actually don’t care about what time period a wuxia is set in. 

Now, if we’re talking about a historical period in general, I’ve noticed that dramas I’ve enjoyed have tended to take place in the Qing Dynasty (not to mention Manchurian blood runs throughout my veins) – it feels like an appropriate mix of various different ethnic influences, from Mongolian and Manchurian to Han to even some Western influence. (In theory, I would imagine myself enjoying non-spy Republican dramas, but I actually have not.)

As for sageuks, I have only seen one thus far – set in Goryeo. I didn’t enjoy that drama, but the costuming was pretty. 

Which story/book/show you would like to see adapted in South Korea/China/Japan?

I tend to stray away from remakes, and I tend to not read source novels until after a drama release, largely to avoid disappointment and comparisons (e.g., even reading The Rankings of Lang Ya Hall in preparation for Nirvana in Fire made the latter slightly disappointing). 

But personally, I want a faithful adaptation The Concubine’s Daughter is Poisonous, featuring full-on leg-decapitation, time travel/reincarnation, and bloody revenge. (So, no, The Princess Weiyoung did not do.)

Drama that you watched for your fave and he/she owes you after what you’ve endured for her/him? :D

Swordsman, the Yumama-fication of Jin Young’s The Smiling, Proud Wanderer. But even with Wallace Huo and Joe Chen’s sizzling chemistry, I simply was unable to complete the show. 

More strictly, I somehow completed (or, more like FF-ed in frustration) The Imperial Doctress and The Journey of Flower despite the character-butchering, torture, and sheer WTF-ery of said shows. Thanks, Wallace Huo. :D

I would also complain about Love Me If You Dare, since I think I hung on more for its popularity more than anything, and IMO it sort of went haywire, but it wasn’t *as bad* for me as the ones mentioned above. I have similar sentiments about Perfect Couple. 

Drama that still haunts you?

Do you not see me still suffering from Glory of Tang Dynasty withdrawal? (To be fair, ~ 2 weeks isn’t particularly long, so who knows?)

The Journey of Flower left a rather brutal impression. The Legend of Zhen Huan, Nirvana in Fire, and Bu Bu Jing Xin are definitely shows that will stick with me for a very long time. 

Most stylish drama character in your opinion?

(I have a tendency to think of dramas that I’m currently perusing or obsessing over, so a lot of my answers will definitely feel very GOTD-centric. Just a warning.)

It turns out a lot of my files got cleared out these days, including a bunch of precious caps. But here’s a very nice video on Bilibili featuring Li Chu’s (42, apparently) outfits. 

Drama that you didn’t expect you will enjoy?

Medical Examiner Dr. Qin, since I rarely ever watch crime procedurals, but I honestly adore the show so much. 

Boss And Me, since it seemed to be your typical chaebol-ordinary girl set-up (and it is, but the way they explore and develop ShanTeng feels very heart-warming and much more realistic than expected. <3)

Favourite drama OST’s lyrics?

I’m a fickle, undecisive person, so I actually don’t know which drama OST is my favorite. Here are the lyrics for: Three Inches of Heaven (Bu Bu Jing Xin) and White-Haired Lament (Sound of the Desert). Recently, though, I’ve been drowning myself in 霍尊’s 素颜 (The Glory of Tang Dynasty). Here are my awkwardly translated lyrics: 

你是春的使节 让残雪融解

You are the ambassador of spring, thawing the last residues of snow 

染成青黛的天 等着细雨停歇

Bleeding into the indigo skies, waiting for the drizzle to cease

你素颜  裹着云烟

You, bare-faced, swath the misty clounds

诗意了远方 湿润了心间

[Made] afar poetic; softened the heart

闭上眼 姹紫��红都不觉甜

Closed eyes; even the most spectacular colors lack indulgence

只为你的容颜

Only for your appearance

豁然间 春光如恋

At sudden enlightenment, the spring scenery exudes amour

渲染了 你的出现

Romanticizing your emergence

最留恋 不是云巅

The [things] most reluctant to part are not the clouds atop the summit

是千万里朝颜和暮雪

But the flowers and twilight snow thousands of miles apart

梦回间 春光流泻

Revisiting in dreams, the spring scenery spills out 

归去在 落花时节

Returning to the season of falling petals

待离别 青空绵绵

Until parting; the clarity remains unbroken

你会成山水间那一点 如烟

You will become that point between the water and the mountains; as mist

The most memorable quote from a drama?

为何你还要贬我来抬他？

Why would you still belittle me to elevate him?

[One of the many things I love, love about The Glory of Tang Dynasty is the occasional bits of meta they incorporate into the show, sometimes even to dispel certain tropes – especially when comparing characters, most commonly male leads who always seem to be presented as foils of each other, this is always something to keep in mind.]

One thing that you appreciate the most in dramas?

Events occurring at totally coincidentally (un)-perfect timing. 

Slow burn or love at first sight OTP dynamic?

It actually depends. Both are acceptable if executed properly. The childhood trope disguised as “love at first sight” tends to annoy me. 

Favourite remake/adaptation?

Lotus Lantern (2005), adapted from traditional Chinese folklore. 

If you could change one thing about one drama, what would it be?

I just … somehow, fix Jingyao’s arc in Glory of Tang Dynasty. (I don’t know exactly how – since they actually did explore some interesting things and consequences with her character rarely ever shown in period C-dramas ever, I slightly feel inclined to forgive the show for … *coughs*. But for starters, she should really learn to say no to drugging people.)

Who is a popular actor that you can’t seem to get into?

Li Yifeng. (Not that I’ve ever made an active effort to like him or anything – Chusen simply did not particularly work for me.)

What’s a popular drama that you didn’t like/dropped?

Prince of Lan Ling, The Princess Weiyoung, General And I, Ice Fantasy, The Imperial Doctress, The Journey of Flower, Legend of MiYue, The Legend of Chusen, Empress of China, The Four

Underrated favourite drama?

The Glory Of Tang Dynasty! ‘Tis the sad life when no English subs exist. 

An actor/actress you wish would do dramas more often?

Zhou Xun and Chen Kun! 

A guilty pleasure drama?

Love O2O. Cute fluffiness + pretty people + strong OTP + RPG = very enjoyable escapism. 

What drama would you say has the best ending?

Nirvana in Fire. 

Wu Xin: The Monster Killer – a lot of people were unsatisfied with its melancholy conclusion (re: there’s a Season 2, guys!), but personally it actually worked for me, appropriately concluding the entirety as if it were simply a 20-episode show. Since Season 2 does take place in a rather different setting, with, Wu Xin aside, a different set of characters, I thought it nicely ended the Season 1 arc. 

If you could crossover two (or more) dramas, what would they be?

This! This is actually a very creative question – kudos to whoever came up with this. Earlier @yansanniang and I were discussing a GOTD x Legend of Zhen Huan cross-over – sort of, where An Qingxu, his medicinal abilities, and his emotional instability decided to go shake things up at Yongzheng’s court. The other day I was thinking about how things might go down if Empress Zhang decided to invite a certain 麒麟才子 with a penchant for ruining birthday parties to her own birthday party, hoping to gain his help to aid her with her own ambitions… 

Who is a female character that the fandom hated, but you loved?

Hua Qian Gu. I agree, there were times where she felt overly childish and overbearing (I believe it was equal parts frustration and even hatred at her AND BZH), and I find it difficult to watch someone who literally refused to change, but ultimately she still won me over. 

What’s your favourite fictional found family?

Dr. Qin Medical Examiner’s Qin Ming, Da Bao, and Lin Tao. In my mind they’re a family. :))

Tagging: @swordsandparasols @yansanniang @itsjustveryludicrous @alakoba @renewedmotionforjudgment @loquatly @cdramaddict @whimsyfulwanderings @seventh-fantasy @dangermousie @thedazzlingdarkness

[rufousnmacska]

Friendly reminders

I’ve seen some posts lately about the tog/acotar characters’ skin color.

While I agree the books are lacking in diversity, and I understand the need for more/better representation, I think there are others in the fandom who can better address those issues.

Humans have assigned meanings to skin color that are nothing more than baseless, dangerous stereotypes, which were then used as the foundations for slavery and systemic racism. But people have also built positive and empowering cultural identities associated with their skin color.

Those are all important topics, but I am limiting this post to providing information about skin color from a scientific point of view.

(Disclaimer - I am not a genetics expert. But if you are interested in learning more about this, I know people who are and I can point you to good sources. I am also not an expert on race/racism. Again though, I can suggest some good sources. Feel free to message me.)

Skin color is genetic. But it’s important to remember that there is no way to predict a child’s skin color based on his/her parent’s skin color. Parents who are light can have a child with darker skin or vice versa. Parents who are dark can have a child with lighter skin or vice versa. Parents who have very different skin colors can have a child with medium skin, or light, or dark, or any color in between. It all depends on which genes are passed to the child and which are expressed.

Skin color is not static. It varies over a person’s lifespan - babies are generally paler, puberty and other hormonal changes (pregnancy, menopause, etc.) can darken skin color, and skin tends to become paler in old age. (In this context, “pale” does not mean “white”, it simply means lighter.)

Sun exposure changes skin color. For people with light/medium skin color - some of them burn easily, some burn then tan, some tan. People with darker skin color can tan and burn too. It may not be as extensive or as visible when compared to people with lighter skin, but it still happens and can damage the skin. That’s why sunscreen is important regardless of your skin color. If a person of any skin color is out of the sun for an extended period of time, their skin color will lighten. It may not always be super visible to the naked eye, but it still happens.

Skin color was an evolutionary adaptation to UV radiation levels, which vary by latitude, season, and altitude. Diet also had a small impact - ancestral groups living in the Arctic would be expected to have very lightly colored skin. But their marine mammal diet, high in vitamin D, meant their skin color stayed relatively dark. (Currently, a more westernized diet in these groups has led to increased health issues related to vitamin D deficiency.)

From http://www.understandingrace.org/humvar/skin_02.html

see the image below

“Skin pigmentation developed as the body’s way of balancing its need for vitamin D and folate. Those closer to the equator had darker skin to prevent folate deficiency... ‘As some groups moved into regions farther from the equator where UVR levels are lower, natural selection favored lighter skin, which allowed enough vitamin D-forming UVR to penetrate their skin.’”

    What causes variation in skin color? Geography and UVR, not race. Jablonski and Chaplin predicted that skin color would correlate closely with UVR, based on geographic latitude, annual UVR exposure and other environmental factors. Their predictions closely match actual distribution of skin colors.                  

Credit: © George Chaplin http://www.understandingrace.org/humvar/skin_02.html

[penitentprodigy]

(( 🛌, 🎐, 💎, 🛣, 🖖 ))

Unusual questions for your muse

🛌- Does your muse prefer to sleep under many layers of blankets or only under a few?

Well, why don’t we consult canon evidence #1 and canon evidence #2? That looks like one thick blanket to me, but it’s possible he also has a sheet under it. It probably depends on the time of year as well. I imagine that he generally prefers to sleeps with two blankets, at the most. He likes having one thick, high quality blanket that keeps him warm instead of bundling up under multiple.

🎐- Does your muse like to collect/hoard anything?

No, he doesn’t tend to collect things. He’s fairly minimalistic, despite his wealth, and likes keeping his space clean. He doesn’t like having clutter. He’s collected items that used to belong to his parents, but he keeps those stored safely and isn’t adding to the collection since there’s nothing new.

The one that probably most counts as a collection is his mother’s jewelry. He’s kept it all these years and sometimes he’ll swap out his standard gold earring for something of hers.

💎- Is your muse drawn to things that sparkle?

Haruka’s got a bit of a weakness for sparkly things. It’s strongest when it comes to jewelry and gemstones. Like most people, he finds sparkly things aesthetically pleasing to look at. But, there are other things that he’s drawn to a bit more. Floral, for example.

🛣- Is your muse considered a wanderer?

Not really, no. He’s traveled to many different places, but it isn’t constant. The majority of the time he stays in one place. However, due to being stuck inside his mansion so often, he does have a bit of a desire to explore. It quickly gets boring being in his old mansion, so he likes to experience a lot of the things that he’s missed out on while growing up. Going to an arcade, visiting another prefecture, etc.

🖖- What “Fandoms” would your muse belong to?

OH MAN GOOD QUESTION Honestly, BBC Sherlock comes to mind. I’m not sure how popular the show is in Japan, but given that Haruka’s heavily influenced by other cultures and Western culture has always played a big role in his life, he would likely come across it. I also headcanon that he’s a fan of the Sherlock Holmes series.

He would enjoy the adaptation and find it entertaining. But, he would probably be curious and look a little into the actors behind the show. He would find out that Benedict and Martin are total dickheads He wouldn’t be very fond of the actors as people and simply try to like the show itself. But, if he finds himself starting to lose interest with each season, he might switch to Elementary and become invested in that.