#which then evolves to couples costume fantasies

[autailome]

looking at straight people's phantom of the opera couples costumes to feel something (rage, pain, jealousy, longing, loneliness, anger)

[magicalhideoutengineer]

 “I was excited about the prospect of exploring fashion in Paris in the late '20s," Colleen says. "I pushed it into the early '30s because Paris is always ahead of the fashion curve; it’s [a] city known for its elegance and style and that was a great period for design.” 

Can you take us through your creative process for designing the costumes?

"The first part of the process was meeting with the director and reading the script where you get the idea of what the story is. The next step is meeting with the production designer so you see the world that he's creating. This particular movie is set in Paris and a little bit of New York. I start and go do my own research, and look for inspiration from that time period in Paris, which was a very rich and amazing time for design where so much was going on.

“Newt still has his beasts, but his shell is a little slicker. We put Eddie in clothes that are close to the same silhouette, just a bit better fit.”

"I took all the layers from the art world, to the carnivals, to Moulin Rouge, all the things in Paris that make it such a spectacular city, back into with the different levels of humanity that I'm creating for the film, for the real world, and for the wizarding world. [The wizards] are living not seperately from the muggle world, they have a double life. So they live amongst the regular folks but they have a little flare so I had fun with them with different shaped hats, and different things that were subtle so you could kind of tell it was them when they were mixed with the muggle world. But then when you separate them, I pushed reality a little bit more. They're more strange looking, with different kinds of color and things like that. In this case, because I know the main four from the previous film, I take each character and think about how they evolve and how they've grown from moving through a couple of years into their lives and breaking that down with each of them."

"[For Grindelwald] The name begged for an Alpine twist, and I’ve always loved Bavarian clothing. We made the lederhosen a little bit longer, coupled it with a tall boot, and ended up with a kind of Bavarian meets the New Romantic."

How would you describe the evolution of the costumes from the first movie to the second one?

"Since they went from America to Paris, they have a more European flavor in general. The principal characters are more sophisticated, they've evolved. Katherine Waterston's character Tina has moved back to her old vision as a higher up. Queenie has evolved and become a more grown up, less flippant character. She's in darker colors and a more grown up look. Slightly pushed into the '30s. For Eddie Redmayne's character, it was sort of similar in silhouette and shape as his previous costume, but with a more urban flavor, a more sophisticated fabric, and [with colors that are] a little less bright."

"[For Queenie,] it’s a bit more grown up and has a slightly darker edge than her dress in the last film, but at the same time, it’s feminine and has the whimsy of that big bow in the front. "

How would you describe your designs for the movie?

"In general, I think my designs defnitely have a flavor of movement and color, and a sort of trajectory into the '30s that was different from the first film. I think they're quite sexy in a quiet way, not in an obvious way. I have some amazing beautiful characters like Claudia Kim who is Nagini. She has a very amazing dress that  transforms into other things so I had a really magical times with  the costumes."

[For Nagini] “Throughout the film, she is wearing her performance costume from the magical circus, so I wanted to amplify the fantasy aspect.  For the material, I took lace and screened over it with metallic foil to give the look of snakeskin, and then added ruffles around the bottom and the sleeves to suggest the coils of the snake.”

Did you face any difficulties in designing the costumes?

"I think for a movie like that, the most difficult part is just the time you have to create a lot of ornate cotumes. Getting them ready and getting them aged and looking interesting takes just about enough time to get it done. For instance, Queenie's dress is a beautiful piece of fabric I found in Germany from the '30s, but in order to make it work for her costume, I needed enough to make 12 costumes. In order to do that sometimes I take the inspiration of that fabric and print it myself so I create the fabric for the characters before I make the costume in order to have the feeling of the period and the kind of fabric I want for that particular character. In doing that, everybody's costumes shouldn't look like it just came from a store, it should have a lived in quality. So the same people that do the printing and stuff make things look dirty, if there's a fight they tear it, they do dyeing of fabrics for making different colors and all kinds of things. It's a huge creative department painting, taking the leather coats—when I first get them they look very stiff— and breaking down things so they look like they're comfortably lived in."

“David Yates and I wanted Dumbledore to be the professor the kids all love, their go-to guy.  He needed to look professorial but at the same time approachable, so I used softer fabrics and textures in tones like heathery grays, which add to the approachability of the character. I also love corduroy, so I made a wide-wale corduroy coat for him and Jude just loved it.”

Would you say each character's costume says something about their personality?

"I think that each character's costume is part of their character, so for instance, the idea of Tina's leather coat gives immediate authority with its silhouette. I would consider how each character looks not only close up, but how they look far away, standing in a doorway or something like that. They don't have a lot of changes, but they have a look, and I think that's part of the design of the character that's the most important thing to find."

“Tina has more self-assurance since her reinstatement as an Auror.  She looks like a true detective in a great blue leather coat.  We were fond of everything about it…except how much it weighs.”

Did you have a favorite character to design for?

"That's a hard question! Not really, it was fun working with Zoe Kravitz on the film because she's so sylish and it's great to��design things that are chic like that and more sophisticated. 

“Leta is from the manor born, so her clothes are all very elegant and rich in color.  Zoë looks fantastic in anything, so it was fun to dress her for the period.”

[comixconnection]

Looking for some good, stand-alone or off-the-beaten path gift ideas?

Maybe things for folks who already have so many comics, you need to play the odds to find stuff they won't have already read? Or something for somebody who wants to branch-out and try something new, but doesn't know where to start? Or maybe just a good one-volume story you can read on the road and not be left wondering what happens next the whole way back home?

Look no further, Comix Connection is here to help!

A gorgeously illustrated one-volume post-apocalyptic tale of trust, despair, hope, cynicism, found-family...and oh yeah, giants! This one will knock your socks so far off you'll have to buy a new pair!

This is the same creative team that brought us the incredible comic DIE (as in both what you roll and what you do), which if you have yet to read would also make a great gift idea for yourself or anyone else you know with even a passing interest in fantasy and rpgs.

In the far future, the only hope left for humanity's soul in the face of a destructive military-industrial complex run amok might be a sweet astral-projecting cat and his kind-hearted owner. But can even nine lives bargain to save the lives of billions? This stand-alone story is poignant, heart-wrenching sci-fi at its best.

Anthropomorphized animals are creepy enough (bears with CLOTHES on?! Yikes!), but in Patrick Horvath's brilliant, Eisner Award-nominated series, he injects a serial killer mystery into the colorful, nostalgia-shaded world of storybook woodland creatures. Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees is an utterly unique look at violence, small town life, and even how we see ourselves. It's a blood-soaked experience that is as beautiful as it is unforgettable.

Come aboard the Dodona, a generational space-arc on a multiple-centuries-long journey to colonize a new home for the descendants of the people who built it. But even in a closed-system, people change over time, and what worked for the builders might not work for folks five generations removed from lift-off. Follow this society in leaps across the generations as it evolves and changes under the pressure of life in space—a life whose whole goal is only to endure until landfall. But hearts are less easily managed than air-supplies, and this standalone tale is a love story. Or a few love stories, really. And a couple of rebellions, too.

This is the Green Lantern concept taken to its sci-fi edges, in a phenomenal stand-alone work by famed novelist N.K. Jemisin. Travel to the farthest side of the galaxy to find a society of overlapping alien species who have found "peace" by erasing their own emotions...and the emotional space-cop charged with keeping that peace, whether her hosts like it (or care to admit to "liking" anything) or not.

In the Marvel Universe of the future, freedom is a long-lost dream and Steve Rogers has all but given up on the ideals he once fought so hard for...but Captain America isn't the sort of dream that goes gently into that good night. Now the question is, will anyone come to answer the call of "Avengers, Assemble!" in this brave new world where all our heroes are dead? And can they possibly save the day, when they lost the battle so long ago?

This one-volume tale might be called Marvel's answer to DC's Dark Knight Returns, if you need to sum-it-up in a hurry. And if not, you can join the rest of us in lamenting that it isn't longer!

Take a highbrow Conan-style fantasy adventure and run it through the filter of the Girl of Steel and you have the beginning of what this book is. It's a standalone sci-fi story in fantasy garb...or maybe a fantasy story in sci-fi costume...or maybe something that's simultaneously neither and both, all centered on the heart of what makes a person, what makes a hero, and what makes a legend? And where do you draw the line of truth and lies in between?

It's the tenth anniversary edition of long-standing Comix Connection favorite I Was The Cat, a stand-alone graphic novel about a journalist interviewing a talking cat about his previous eight lives in which he tried to take over the world. Yes, a talking cat. Yes, trying to take over the world. No, this isn't a world where cats normally talk, and the journalist didn't know he was a cat when she agreed to the interview. What's hard to understand about that?

This energetic one-volume story takes the classic trope of the Chosen One, runs with it...and then runs it all backwards, subverting and poking-fun and asking the hard questions about who gets to decide what "better" and "saved" really means, all while having loads of fun in this rambunctious post-apocalypse world of dynamic and beautifully varied landscapes, societies, and expectations.

Also, there's a talking dog! How can you go wrong?

Caveat up-front: this one is not a stand-alone story, but is instead the first volume of an epic tale set in a magical school...that's actually a mad-science school...that's actually a magical school...that's actually a whole bunch of enigmas and conspiracies involving mysterious science cabals, mythical creatures, gods, and family secrets, all wrapped-up in one sprawling complex called Gunnerkrigg Court. Out-of-print for several years, it's finally back in a shiny new printing from Dark Horse, and we couldn't be happier to have it on our shelves again at last!

It's a story that starts small, and gets so big it feels like it might just swallow the whole universe in the end. Join Antimony, Kat, and their friends (including a living shadow, a demon-possessed stuffed animal, a devoted Robot, and a whole whole of other odd children) as they grow-up and grow into the true strangeness of the world they inhabit in the secretive environs of Gunnerkrigg Court.

*GC is perfect for readers who love Harry Potter, and for readers heartbroken and betrayed by Harry Potter, and for readers who always wished Harry Potter had just been a little bit...bigger.

All of these books and so many more are available at Comix Connection right now, so come in to grab your choice before it's gone—or to get other recommendations from our well-read and enthusiastic staff, who all would like nothing more than to talk your ear off about their personal favorite off-the-wall suggestions for great gift ideas for your friends and family...and maybe something good for yourself, too!

[thesinglesock]

Heya! Sorry for the random message but I was looking through the bunad tags on tumblr and saw your post on fantastistakk? (I hope I’m spelling that right!!) i was wondering if you had any good resources on learning more about them or could share any more information on them! I’ve always loved norwegian bunads and I’d like to depict them + reference them more in art/writing but with further fantasy themes (hence the even greater fascination with fantastistakk) and have worried about coming across as ignorant when the last thing I want to do is do these wonderful dresses and their history a disservice! (I additionally ask just because when I look up fantastistakk specifically I get a lot of results in norwegian which is fine I just don’t want to end up with inaccurate info putting it through a rough translator online so i thought I’d ask!)

Thank you so much!

Hi and thanks for the ask! Please don't apologize I love talking bunad and fantasistakk :D

I really wish I could paste in a link to the Definitive Guide to Fantasistakk (English Edition), but unfortunately no such thing exists.

Mainly because this is what I would call a Folk Fashion Movement, in the sense that there is no big fashion house or designer* behind it, it consists of regular people digging up their mothers' sewing machines and having fun with learning traditional techniques in a new way. The closest thing you can get to valuable literary resources would be people's personal blog posts and the occasional news article, but they're all written in Norwegian, like you discovered. And while I get that machine translation can be awful, it wouldn't be the end of the world if you used it to research this topic, since most of the time the explaination of a fantasistakk essentially boils down to "I made it like this because I think it looks cool". (*there are a couple of notable fashion houses that do fantasi-stakk, like Eva Lie and Embla Bunader, and while they contribute to the trend, they don't control or own the movement.)

There are several ideals tied to the fantasi-stakk trend, so the reason someone might choose a fantasistakk instead of a bunad can vary. Some people make theirs from thrifted curtains because they're saving up for a "proper" bunad later, while others commision a carefully researched and deeply personal subversive tailor made piece of art based on their local dress tradition. In any case, the fantasistakk wouldn't exist without the traditional bunads, so you might want to look into those as well.

Luckily, you can find a lot of international resources on the traditional bunads, because they've been around for longer and one of the core ideas behind the bunad-movement was to document local dress traditions to prevent them from fading into obscurity. If you want to learn about the history of bunads I highly recommend this video by Kristine Vike, that takes a critical look at the idea of the Bunad. It really digs into the historical and political context that the bunad has and the history of how it evolved into what we know it as today.

I cannot overstate how well researched this video is, and also if you want to learn more about Norwegian dress history and textile arts in general, go check out her channel, it's a real gold mine.

But if you want resources for art inspiration, I'd encourage you to look up specific bunads to base your fantasistakk on. Each bunad has its roots in a geographical area and is made with the traditional techniques unique to that place. Some areas have more variety than others, but there's enough to write several books on each and every bunad.

Here's a handy list of pretty much every bunad (with a few Sami gakti as well), sorted by province:

Very few of the costumes in this list have English wikipedia articles attatched, but some of them have Norwegian articles, and I'm sure every single one of them has plenty of pictures to use for reference (pro tip: instagram hashtags. people love to tag their bunad pics with the name of their dress). And if you find one you're interested in, but you can't find any accessible information, I'd be happy to help you learn more about it :D

when it comes to being respectful and coming up with fantasistakk-designs, I'd say try not to worry too much about it, and just have fun! some people get mad when they see a teenager using a "non-traditional" shirt with their family heirloom vest, while others applaud them for showing both their heritage and their individuality. Doing your research is important if you want to depict historical dresses (and to give you more ideas of what a bunad can look like), but in contemporary norwegian culture a lot of us are mixing it up with modern garments and borrowing from other cultures and just making clothes we want to wear (just like our ancestors used to do before the standardized national costumes got popularized)

And on that note, I'll wrap this up with the banner picture from Embla Bunader's home page for inspiration:

(btw I'm officially rescinding the statement I made in the fantasistakk post, that Embla is "less extravagant", cause this past year they've Really been Cooking)

I wasn't really sure where to even begin answering this ask, since it's such a massive topic, but I hope I at least some of this information is useful :P

[smww4ever]

The Nephilim and Damsel in Distress Tropes

The Nephilim Trope and The Damsel in Distress Trope

This is the driving mechanism behind the Superman/Lois relationship and why it's been in the forefront and psyche of our comic pop culture for so long. You often hear of their 80-year romance and how that itself confirms it's virtue. Understand that yes his creation was based on Moses, a savior to the Hebrews and his creators were Jewish. The humble origins of this character gave hope to the creators, Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. It is my understanding that the Lois Lane character was inspired by a dominant female person in their lives. Think it was a spouse or a real-life feisty reporter. Either way, Superman has evolved over the decades in the Silver Age, Golden Age, Post-Crisis, Infinite Crisis, New 52, Rebirth comics even in the Snyder films, he mirrors a Christ-like figure in scene motifs of the church and space by sacrificing himself.

Yet his story plays out more as a Nephilim type. It is sold as that in the Rebirth and TV shows where he marries a human woman and has children with her.

As a god from heaven that fell for a human woman and saves her. For some this may sound romantic which is why these types of stories are repeated over and over again. People romanticize something greater than themselves. They are stories that rescue them out of futility. Unfortunately for the story of Nephilims was not a good one. It too originates from Old Testament times where angels who’s job was to be watchmen over humanity decide to leave their posts and have sexual relations with human women. This in turn produces giants or men of reknown like an alien-human hybrid. They weren’t good but evil.

Angelic Heroes and Wings

I explored this concept of angelic heroes in a previous series which is why I decided to put wings on Superman. And Wonder Woman as well. Her wings were different from the golden eagle armor costume. Even tho one rendering made them look like it. The intention was angelic wings. I extended the wings to bring in the Greek myth of Pegasus in a later series. (The AI struggles with it in some cases so I made edits as best as possible).

Let me be clear, I don’t see Superman or Wonder Woman as evil beings. The wings truly represented them as angels that save and help mankind. Which is why when I saw that concept being copied on IG by other AI peeps, they weren’t doing it because of this reason but because it looked cool and would garner them likes and clicks. I found it especially repulsive when they hashtagged their work with “SuperLucifer”. I hope you understand why I was pissed. But IG is rampant with intellectual theft. Heck Mark stole the idea for FB so this spirit carries on. Reddit has numerous horror stories. I've done makeup blogging and photography work, so I have horror stories of my own.

But back to why DC dropped SuperWonder. The Nephilim myth carries weight in popular culture. Kal and Diana almost mirror a “Zeus and Hera” dynamic. In one way, yes they are like gods but you don’t want them as that couple. Zeus was a philanderer.* Which is another aspect to this why you see people say they don't like it because they would be overpowered. Humanity at it's core is selfish and easily threatened. People who say stuff like this, whether consciously or subconsciously see these characters as "golem" meaning they are mythical beings that should serve humankind only. That they should be centered around a single human love interest or they will go off their leash, off the rails and destroy everybody. It's a strange fantasy. Almost like a psycotic desire to be saved and destroyed by the same superhero. We really have issues with ourselves. Frankly I can understand this, the world is so messed up. The Nephilim and Damsel-in-Distress is a bubble that people want to run to. They don't want mature stories. And DC isn't capable of that. They have a formula like a cookie or fried chicken recipe and they don't want to muck it up. In the case of Gunn, they want Marvel's recipe but I don't think the seasonings pair well with the offerings of DC. Time will tell but the whole thing stinks. Trust your nose guys. Some of you are hip to senses like smell. :D

* I also should say that being the SMWW pair are equals, they could be new Zeus and Hera creating their own new pantheon of gods. But there can be so much more to that. They really are made for each other.

Also wanted to add that again DC isn’t as creative as they think they are and are scared of this couple. Easily manipulated by rabid "Nephil-Damsel" fans on X. Every time I look at my feed, it's back and forth war between Snyder and Gunn fans. Knowing that they just do that to farm impressions to get paid makes it all the more vile when you look at it. It would take time to shift the general population over to seeing SuperWonder as a viable couple. It's so ingrained in the movie and comics world that when you see Superman, you automatically think of Lois Lane. Many consider it abhorrent to think of this character with anybody else. So much so that they've lifted Miss Lane up to a level of godhood. This Nephilim trope also applies to Wonderbat. Bruce is a mortal albeit heroic man. Diana is a demigod/goddess. That doesn't work either because I've explored explained that in another post.

Really the only way is Kingdom Come but with who we have at the helm of DC, I wouldn’t be holding my breathe.

I've worked at Cons. I've seen the people who create the comics and the general vibe. Our whole society is shifting into dark areas and comics reflects that. We've gotten The Boys, Brightburn and even the Snyderverse is considered "dark", so it's not surprising that the Gunnverse is promising to lift everyone out of that abymssal void to a form of inspirational, fun heroism. Snyder should have finished his verse, it's just going to. be another gaping hole like SuperWonder is. Marvel and many other cherished properties are experiencing an erosion in interest and fatigue from the general audience.

There would need to be a serious paradigm shift to get people to see SuperWonder. Part of the reason why I did an exploratory in the AI with Diana and Clark which we have never seen in any live-action. And I say see SuperWonder because I was a Superman-Lois fan, I consumed, watched repeatedly all the shows and movies. (Except for Smallville and new show Clois show, couldn’t get into that). I immersed myself into that but felt that something was amiss. I don't even remember when I saw Superman and Wonder Woman together but it clicked and made complete sense. Like scales coming off the eyes. Seriously. I respect differences. My daughter isn't a SuperWonder fan, but she supports me and will wear my art. It would be great to call a truce between the two ships but that might take a while. That takes maturity and right now there isn't much of that going around.

Until next time… ✌️

[floridathunderusa]

Adult Entertainment: Ideal for Recreation and Amusement

Adult shows and nightlife performances have evolved greatly, becoming a staple in many recreational and pleasure settings. With the diversification of options available, adult entertainment now encompasses various forms, from strip clubs and adult shows to online platforms and adult film stars. It caters to a broad audience, offering thrilling and exciting experiences that fulfill personal desires and social entertainment. Whether you're planning a bachelorette party, a fun night out with friends, or simply seeking entertainment in the privacy of your own home, adult entertainment has become an ideal source of recreation and amusement. Here's a closer look at the different facets of adult entertainment in Tampa and why it's so appealing.

Variety of Adult Entertainment Options

One of the primary reasons adult entertainment is so popular is the variety of options available. Whether you prefer live performances or private entertainment, there's something for everyone.

Strip Clubs and Male/Female Performers

Strip clubs have long been associated with adult entertainment. These venues offer live performances by male or female dancers, creating a vibrant and exciting atmosphere. 

Strip clubs are perfect for groups looking for a fun night out, such as bachelorette or bachelor parties. Many strip clubs offer themed nights, private dances, and bottle service, which adds to the overall experience.

Male performers, often called male strippers, have also gained popularity, particularly for events like bachelorette parties or ladies' night out. They bring an element of excitement and energy, ensuring that the audience has an unforgettable time.

2. Adult Shows and Performances

Adult shows are another fantastic option for those who enjoy live adult performances but may not be interested in strip clubs. These performances vary from burlesque shows to more risqué performances. 

They often include humor, storytelling, and elaborate costumes. Adult shows appeal to those who appreciate the artistry and theatricality of live performances while still indulging in the allure of adult entertainment.

Erotic conventions, or fetish shows, have also gained popularity, providing unique experiences for individuals and couples alike. These events often feature performances, workshops, and merchandise, fully engrossing attendees in adult amusement.

Why is Adult Entertainment Ideal for Recreation?

Adult entertainment offers an escape and enjoyment many people seek in their recreational activities. Here's why it has become a go-to for recreational amusement:

Social Enjoyment

Adult entertainment allows people to socialize and bond over shared experiences. Whether a night out at a strip club with friends or attending an adult show, these activities bring people together for fun and joy. Many adult entertainment options create a lively, celebratory atmosphere, ideal for group events.

2. Personal Fulfillment and Fantasy

For some, adult entertainment is a way to explore personal fantasies in a safe and controlled environment. Watching adult content or attending adult performances can offer an outlet for interest, helping individuals fulfill desires they might not otherwise experience daily. This element of fantasy and escapism makes adult entertainment an appealing recreational option.

3. Unique and Memorable Experiences

Many forms of adult entertainment provide a unique experience that isn't easily replicated in other settings. A well-executed performance, whether live or online, can leave a lasting impression. These events' anticipation, excitement, and high energy contribute to unforgettable memories, making them a popular choice for special occasions.

Finding the Right Type of Adult Entertainment

Choosing the right adult entertainment type depends on your preferences and the kind of experience you're seeking. If you're planning a group bachelorette party or birthday celebration, strip clubs or hiring male/female performers could be the best fit.

Adult shows or festivals are perfect choices for those who enjoy live performances. They are also ideal if you want something with more art and flair. The key is to explore the options available and find what resonates with your taste and comfort level.

Conclusion

In all its forms, adult entertainment in Tampa is an ideal recreation and amusement option. Whether you're enjoying the high energy of a live performance, indulging in personal fantasies through adult content platforms, or attending a unique adult-themed event, there's no shortage of ways to have fun and be entertained. The diversity of adult entertainment options offered by Florida Thunder Male Revue Show ensures something for everyone. Thus, making it a popular choice for social and personal recreation.

[dovebuffy92]

https://www.fanbolt.com/115324/lucifer-season-6-review/

The television series Lucifer developed by Tom Kapinos receives a bittersweet ending in Season 6.

First, there are beautiful moments like Mazikeen’s “Maze” (Lesley-Ann Brandt) and Eve’s (Inbar Lavi) wedding. Then there are bitter moments; for example, Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis) returning to Hell, leaving behind his family, including the love of his life, former Detective Chloe Decker (Lauren German), and stepchild Trixie Espinoza (Scarlett Estevez).

In all, Lucifer Season 6 is a mixed bag but the perfect ending for the main character.

Maze and Trixie

Maze and Trixie’s friendship is only slightly referenced in the final season, erasing the relationship that helped the demon evolve. In Lucifer Season Two Episode “Trick or Treat?”, Maze created a President of Mars costume for the then eight-year-old. Trixie’s dream career is to be President of Mars, which she told Maze about in the first season.

Trixie also accepted Maze, even with her full demon face on during Halloween. For a long time, the only person the demon truly liked on Earth was Trixie. Maze taught her how to fight when she was babysitting. She took Trixie’s advice about important issues. The two are best friends. But after the third season, Maze and now thirteen-year-old Trixie are barely on screen together.

This season, the only reference to their close bond is Trixie telling her secret angel sister Rory (Brianna Hildebrand) that she is Maze’s best friend. Maze and Trixie also gesture to each other when the demon bride walks down the aisle.

I understand that as a recurring character, Trixie can’t interact with everybody, and there have been fewer episodes to play with since the show moved to Netflix. Still, I wish Kapinos and the writers could have ended the show with Trixie advising Maze on her wedding jitters or a sparring session.

Lucifer Season 6 Explores Different Visual Aesthetics

Lucifer Season 6 explores different visual aesthetics, easing tension-filled moments in the plot. The best example is in “Yabba Dabba Do Me,” where animation brings humor to a serious quest. Lucifer believes that he will feel ready to become God when he can help somebody he hates. He and Chloe fly down to Hell to help the murderer Jimmy Barnes (John Pankow) from Lucifer’s pilot episode.

Before opening a portal door, Lucifer warns his girlfriend that Jimmy’s hellscape will be horrific because he drove the music producer insane. Instead, the couple enters a Hanna-Barbera-style cartoon universe. Both Lucifer and Chloe turn into cartoons with no genitals and eyes that can bounce out of their sockets.

Now, the old-fashioned animation is not just a fun gag but a clue about what Jimmy truly desires. When Jimmy was a troubled young boy, he used to watch Hanna-Barbera cartoons to comfort himself. The dead music producer was watching them the day his musician mother abandoned him.

Lucifer can’t take Jimmy out of Hell, but he comforts the tortured man by trapping him in a time loop. For the rest of the time, Jimmy watches cartoons with his mother right before she leaves. The viewer, like Jimmy, can’t help but giggle watching a Hanna-Barbera cartoon though the storytelling technique moves the plot forward.

Happiness Only In Death

Many human characters don’t find self-actualization or happiness until after they die, which I find troubling. Now I know that Lucifer is an urban fantasy television show, not a serious drama, but it conforms to problematic Judeo-Christian beliefs. Beliefs like humans need to live a hard life, so they go to paradise when they die.

Nobody should or needs to feel joyful twenty-four-seven, but there is no need to feel tortured most of the time. Therapist Dr. Linda Martin (Rachael Harris) and forensic scientist Ella Lopez (Aimee Garcia) live happily. But Linda’s son Charlie Martin is half-archangel, and the father of her child, archangel Amenadiel (D.B Woodside), becomes God.

Ella Lopez is the only main human character with no romantic (former or current) affiliations with an immortal that lives fully. Dan Espinoza (Kevin Alejandro) doesn’t get his forever after with Charlotte Richards (Tricia Helfer) until they’re both in Heaven. Chloe and Lucifer don’t get their happy ending until she dies, then is flown down to Hell to be his partner.

The Love Story in Lucifer Season 6

Chloe and Lucifer are the television show’s sweetest love story, but it still seems unfair that they spend decades apart. Lucifer could have been the Devil and still visited his family, but he promised Rory he wouldn’t. Rory’s logic on why Lucifer needs to isolate himself from his family is never explained, making the ending feel unfair to both the audience and the characters.

Lucifer Morningstar’s mental health journey ends on a high note, with the Devil finding his true purpose. The whole series starts with Lucifer vacationing in Los Angles because he felt bored constantly torturing souls in Hell. However, he stayed in Los Angeles because of his feelings for the detective. Helping Chloe solve murders was fun for Lucifer but not his true purpose. Chloe loves catching criminals, proven by the fact that retirement doesn’t stop her from inserting herself in investigations during a date with Lucifer.

On the other hand, the Devil has no trouble quitting his LAPD advisory position to be God. Lucifer’s last unconventional therapy session with Linda reveals that he doesn’t want to be the lord. The mantle of God doesn’t fit his personality or talents. But throughout the series, Lucifer has been obsessed with bettering himself through therapy.

In the final season, he actively helps numerous lost souls. The Devil stops Rory from letting rage consume her. “Goodbye Lucifer” ends with Lucifer’s advice freeing Dan of his guilt, therefore, allowing him to ascend to Heaven.

Throughout the ten episodes, the Devil counsels people makes it natural that he chooses to return to Hell. Lucifer’s true purpose is to treat the deceased humans whose guilt traps them in Hell. Lucifer Season 6 reveals the importance of maintaining good mental health.

Watch all seasons of Lucifer on Netflix!

[watchingspnagain]

Meet Mace

Hi, I'm Mace, and this is my Intro Post. Ab Spectando Condito and all that. (I sometimes channel Livy when I'm nervous, don't be alarmed.) And I'm nervous because my memory is absolute crap so I can't actually remember all the details here, even though this all started only, like, two years ago. It's also hard to wrap my head around the idea of trying to describe this thing that Lor and I have started (created?) and how and why it has become so important. So, well, bear with me.

Okay, here goes: For years friends had been telling me that I *needed* to watch Supernatural; it was right up my street, they'd say. But I kept putting their recommendations aside, thinking that, sure, Dean from Gilmore Girls is in it and he's adorable, but that other guy looks like a frat boy cliché, and overall the show seemed like it was probably Buffy but with Dudes (and I LOVE Buffy and will brook no substitutions or messings-with The Buffy). Eventually I decided to give it a try anyway, a decision wholly based on how hilarious the memes were. Maybe the non-Dean guy (His name is Dean? *His* name is Dean? Wait, no, that's not...but why tho?) isn't so bad? The first attempt didn't go well: my husband, who is so very not interested in SPN, was away on a business trip and I waited until my then-10yo son was in bed, crawled into bed myself, and started the first episode. At night. Alone. I made it 10 minutes before actually saying out loud, "NOPE" and turning it off. Cripes, that first episode (and most of the first season, really) is actual, full-on scary! I mean, what. Why have Handsome Boys making Hilarious Quips on a show that I can't watch because I'm too scared?! Sort of rude, to be honest.

And that was it for, I think?, a couple of months or so. Then - and this is one of the places where my memory gets foggy (I tried three times to type that correctly and the first two came out as "goofy" and honestly yes that too) - the watching of SPN was mentioned on another site I spend much amounts of time on. I suspect Lor remembers the details much better than I do, but somehow we starting talking about how we both had been thinking about watching SPN for a long time, but hadn't actually done so because past attempts on both sides had resulted in fright and flight.

Now, Lor and I have been friends on that other site for several years, but never before really corresponded much outside of that site's chat-like forum section. I pretty much admired her from afar, as it were, and held her as a Fantasy BFF in my daydreams - she was (and still is to this very day) cool and *so* clever and smart and had (and still does to this very day) such a brilliant knack for turning a phrase and I admired (and still do to this very day) her wit and snark and general amazingness, but, again, mostly from afar. So when we somehow decided to try again with Supernatural, but this time together, I was ridiculously excited. I had no idea, though, just how life-changing that decision would be. We bonded, it seemed, almost instantly over our love (second time is the charming one, I guess?) of the show and over discovering how much we have in common with each other. It's comical, almost, just how alike we are in all kinds of areas: similar childhood experiences, nearly identical (like, eerily so sometimes) tastes and opinions on all manner of things, and we're essentially twins in our list of Things That Make Our Anxieties Spike.

We started off watching the episodes separately (I think I was a little ahead of her for a bit? Gah - stupid faulty memory) and then typing up our comments and emailing them to each other, then responding with comments on our comments. And it quickly became one of the highlights of my days, getting those emails, reading through her clever and hilarious remarks, feeling pure glee when we had almost exactly the same thoughts - sometimes even typing the exact same phrases, word for word. This, then, at some point, evolved into watching the episodes at the same time and live-texting each other, which means that now we very often are typing exactly the same reactions, word for word, and then geeking out at how SAME we are in real time. Of course we have differences, too, but even those seem to complement each other: she's the Hufflepuff to my Slytherin; she's a Dean girl and I'm a Sam girl (well, and also a Crowley girl - Sam girl in the streets and Crowley girl in the sheets?); she likes Wuthering Heights, which slightly baffles me but, okay, because we both agree that MacFadyen is the best Darcy.

We had big plans to have a meet-up to watch the series finale together. See, we've never actually met in person. We became friends online, then became closer friends through this mutual SPN watch, but that's also online. And so I've never been face-to-face with my best friend. Because the meet-up for the finale didn't happen, of course. Because Covid, of course. For both of us, anxiety added a special sauce of NOPE to leaving the house this last year and we've both, I think, been pretty much isolated, staying home and not having much interaction with others outside the other members of our households. Which means that our SPN watching and our growing friendship took on an even greater meaning and importance for me. I'm honestly not sure that I could have handled the massive stress and anxiety of this last year without Lor's friendship. It just feels...natural, at this point, that I spend my days texting her back and forth about all sorts of things, the small and mundane to the big and important. Lor has become a huge part of my life and if a full day were to pass by without talking to her, I'd feel that loss fairly keenly. On some level it seems pretty bizarre that I owe such a debt of gratitude for this amazing friendship to a TV show, but here we are. This show, its characters, and the actors and writers who have made them so outstanding and special? Well, I owe them all incalculable amounts of thanks.

Anyway. So.

We're now on our second go-round with our SPN watching (because I think neither of us can now even begin to fathom a life in which we're *not* watching this show together), and Lor, (hello - did I mention she's brilliant and amazing?) low-key drops the idea that we should be blogging our live-text conversations. We've talked before about really wanting to have a record of *waves hands around* all this, and a blog seems like a great way to do that, regardless of whether anyone else ever reads it. I'm content for it to be an open and ongoing love letter to Supernatural and to our friendship, even if it remains a largely unread one.

And finally, here are a few Thing You Should Maybe Know About Me:

I'm a farmer's daughter with a PhD in Classics, a one-time professor, turned stay-at-home mom, turned part-time librarian, turned Classics prof. again, living in the Midwest with my husband, 12-going-on-80yo son, and a goofball of a golden retriever.

I love reading as much as I hate housecleaning, and I'll read pretty much anything unless the dog dies or the child gets hurt.

I also really like knitting and sewing and one of my very favorite things is to make ridiculously-tailored Halloween costumes for my son (thank the gods he's totally into it, too). I missed my calling to be a cosplay designer. Maybe in retirement...

I fall in love easily and fast and hard for fictional characters, especially the ones that are 1) evil and/or generally villainous, 2) tormented, 3) super smart and/or skilled, 4) filthy rich, 5) completely unattainable, and if they're all of the above, Holy. Damn.

[buzzdixonwriter]

Spock Grok Shock Squawk

Lemme get my main thesis out in the open first thing:

The search for intelligent life in space is a quasi-religious endeavor.

The unstated hidden hope is that we will find up in the sky people who are better and wiser than us, and who will prove they’re better by sharing that wisdom, ushering in, if not exactly a golden age, then one of shiny brass.

The unstated assumption is that they will be like the Vulcans in Star Trek, more advanced than we are, but impressed by our courage and our curiosity and our just plain ol’ fashioned humanness so that even though they are technologically and culturally far superior to us, they’ll toss the keys of the galactic federation in our lap, letting us run things for everybody’s betterment.

Snowflake, please…

(I mean let’s acknowledge this is a white and / or Anglo / European colonial fantasy from the gitgo, okay?  No sane species will let us anywhere near the torpedo room, capice?)

The Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) is a harmless enough exercise, and I’ll be honest, it would be cool if they actually found something, but at its core it’s no different from going into a place of worship and attempting to contact the divine.

(Mind you, I have absolutely no objection to that in principle, either, but I know how a lot of supposed spiritual searchers are actually searching for cudgels to batter their fellow humans into submission; and besides, as will be pointed out below, the search for the divine shares some similar issues with SETI, so read on, MacDuff…)

My next major thesis is this:

Nobody knows what they’re looking for, SETI or conventional religion.

They dress it up in fancy costumes but when you strip both groups’ sky beings naked, you find they’re looking for people just like us in every important way (i.e., we understand them, they understand us, and they don’t hold us accountable for our bullshit).

Here’s a few issues I have with the current state of SETI affairs:

We don’t know what alien life would look like.

We don’t know how alien life would think.

We don’t know what alien life can sense that we can’t sense.

We don’t know how alien life would process information.

We don’t know how alien life would adapt to its environment.

(There’s more -- much, much more -- but these will do for the moment.

Point 1: I’m not talking about green skinned Martians with six limbs, I mean we don’t even know if alien life would have a cell structure or pass along generational information via DNA.

Personally, I think there’s a remote possibility life on Earth did not evolve but is a product of panspermia, in which case any life we encounter on other planets in this solar system may indeed use cell structure, DNA, etc.

But that’s just “a chance greater than zero” not hard evidence.

We literally have no idea what other life would look like so we have no way of knowing where or what to look for.

Someone familiar only with North American forest insects might have a hard time identifying life found at the bottom of the Marianas Trench -- and that’s part of the planet we all share.

There’s a fringe science called shadow biology that wonders if there may be life on this planet that we can’t identify because it looks and behaves so differently from us.

That’s another one of those “greater than zero” speculations -- but the fact we can define right now what would constitute alien life means all we’re doing is looking for Vulcans.

Point 2: We don’t even know how we think; howda %#@& can we anticipate how alien intelligence would think.

I got into this discussion decades ago at a sci-fi con and the fan I was talking with blithely assumed we would recognize one another as intelligent based on whether we used mathematics and my question then and now is:  ”How would you know?!?!?”

Math is a symbolic language that (apparently) interprets basic underlying principles in a way that humans can grasp and apply.

The principles exist whether or not they are expressed, or how they are expressed.

We humans “see” 2 + 2 = 4 as “logical” because out symbolic language links the concept of two distinct objects added to another two distinct objects as being the equivalent of four distinct objects, but we have no way of knowing if an alien intelligence grasps the concept of distinct objects.

For them it may all be just part of a continuum.

There could be aliens desperately trying to contact us right now, using methods we can observe, and we just can’t grasp that there’s even a message to be grasped! 

Point 3: Holy cow (no, not a religious exclamation), this point is huge and we just keep glossing over it.

Humans possess better color vision than canines.

We see three primary colors, they see only two (blue and yellow).

There are other terrestrial species -- butterflies and mantis shrimp, to name two – who see colors far beyond human range, well into what Dr. Seuss would call the “on beyond zebra” range.

Even if we could talk to dogs, we couldn’t tell them what green looks like:  There is literally no place in their brain to process that color.

Or consider binocular vision, i.e., depth perception.

Most humans have depth perception but many -- for any number of reasons -- do not.

A lot of animals lack binocular vision (indeed, on Earth encountering a creature with binocular vision is fraught with danger because they’re almost always predators of some sort, using depth perception to attack prey).

Try explaining depth perception to someone who’s only had vision in one eye since birth.

“Well, it doesn’t have a color or a texture or anything like that, you really can’t ‘see’ it except…well…you actually can see it insofar as you can ‘see’ the actual space that exists between two objects instead of just guessing based on visual clues…”

Again, we may be bombarded with messages from space all the time that we simply lack the ability to sense.

Point 4: This is a lot like Point 2 but different enough to enjoy its own category. 

I mean a couple of things when I refer to processing information.

First off, there’s the actual processing time.

Remember the sloth DMV scene in Zootopia?

Imagine we contact a life form that takes a standard terrestrial year just to express “2 + 2 = 4”.

The entirety of human history would pass before it could get to basic trigonometry.

How do you communicate with that?

(And what would you talk about?) 

Conversely, we would be like ferrets on espresso, the worst form of cultural ADHD imaginable to them

And the script could be flipped!

We could be the ones taking forever to respond, their elaborate and erudite answers might flash by in less than a nanosecond.

We also don’t know what an alien species would value.  We have Maslow's familiar hierarchy of needs but there’s no guarantee these would motivate any other species.

Thigs that would be extremely vital to us might be wholly unimportant to aliens and vice versa.

The fact our sky is blue is just an interesting fact to us, to aliens it might be the single most important thing they’ve ever encountered.

We simply have no way of knowing!

Point 5: Europeans encountering North American native peoples dismissed them as “primitive savages” because they didn’t smelt ore, they didn’t use wheels, and most of their cultures lacked a written language.

Ignore the fact they had well traveled trade routes stretching from the Bering Sea to the Gulf of Mexico, ignore the fact many of them governed and protected well organized territories the size of France or Germany, ignore the fact they lived in an environment not only abundant with easily available natural resources but also possessed the time to work those resources at a leisurely pace.

The European interlopers sure ignored those facts.

SETI looks for machine based physical communication from alien life (physical here including any form of energy used to convey information such as a telegraph or a laser beam).

Presuming alien life exists it may never have occurred to them to attempt to communicate in the manner humans do!

It would be like putting a mime on the radio.

The great unuttered chauvinism of the Drake equation and Fermi paradox is this: That there exists a basic template to intelligent life that’s so common the law of averages says we must find examples of it just like us wherever we look.

That’s an awfully big assumption, folks.

And we’re nowhere close to proving any of it.

  © Buzz Dixon 

[cinema-tv-etc]

‘Bridgerton’ Isn’t Bad Austen — It’s An Entirely Different Genre

Critics and viewers have dinged the show for being a cliché-ridden period piece or a sloppy historical drama. But it’s neither: It’s Regency romance, and it’s spectacular.

By Claire Fallon

I was deep in a Regency romance binge a few years ago when I pitched a highly self-interested piece to my editor: an investigation into why this didn’t exist onscreen.

This was a creature apart from the Jane Austen adaptations and sedate period pieces I already enjoyed, or sexy but bloody cable costume dramas. A Regency romance is set in a fantasy version of British high society in the early 19th century, and the central action revolves around the courtship between a woman (often a well-bred beauty) and a man (often a rakish peer). They consummate their attraction in improbably acrobatic sexual encounters, and then they live happily ever after.

In the post-2016 election malaise, these novels became my anxiety palliative of choice. They piled up next to my bed and in my e-reader. But sometimes I wanted more, wanted to see the gossamer petticoats and lingering glances and gently unfastened bodices. The piece I pitched never materialized, but the object of my longing did. On Christmas Day 2020, Shondaland’s “Bridgerton” arrived on Netflix.

What ensued was both somewhat exhilarating — getting to see my Regency escapism come to life — and unnerving. My private indulgence, one generally viewed with dismissiveness if not contempt by non-romance readers, had become the target of a full-blown cultural discourse. “Bridgerton” was met with valid and vital critiques, especially over its treatment of consent, but also ones that made me wince: that it was formulaic, predictable, vapid, historically inaccurate, best suited for teens.

Many of the critiques, understandably, seemed rooted in unfamiliarity with the genre’s conventions, or in the expectation that “Bridgerton,” which is based on a series of books by Julia Quinn, would resemble a “Pride and Prejudice” remake. “You don’t get it!” I wanted to shout. “That’s not what this is!” The historical romance has finally gone mainstream — and that means a whole new audience is learning how to read a genre so long relegated to the margins. Sometimes that can be a bumpy ride.

With its bounty of sherbet-hued satin gowns, scandal rags full of malicious gossip, unblinkingly earnest romance, and on-screen lovemaking, “Bridgerton” seems to defy easy categorization for many critics, journalists and viewers — and even Regé-Jean Page, who stars as the smoldering Duke of Hastings.

“It’s a little bit of Jane Austen meets ‘Gossip Girl’ with maybe ‘49 Shades [of Grey’],” he told The Wrap in a December interview. Critics and viewers, at their wits’ ends trying to make sense of this sexy, gossipy, frothy Regency costume drama, also tried to characterize it in terms of beloved on-screen classics: “Pride and Prejudice,” “Downton Abbey,” and, yes, “Gossip Girl.” These comparisons convey some bafflement, an uncertainty about how to categorize a show that isn’t really a realist historical drama, nor an edgy satire, nor a campy soap.

Though it’s true that Austen was the inspiration behind the whole subgenre — the first Regency romance novelist, Georgette Heyer, was emulating Austen’s work — it has evolved into a well-established genre with its own tropes, conventions and standards.

“There’s a way that those kinds of incredibly popular adaptations of Austen will make you, I think, expect that you’re watching a certain kind of thing, and romance novels are not trying to do the same thing at all,” critic Aaron Bady said in a phone conversation. “If you go in watching ‘Bridgerton’ and say, ‘I think I’m watching Jane Austen,’ you’re going to be disappointed. It feels a little Jane Austen-y, but it doesn’t work like a Jane Austen novel.”

Nor is period romance merely a form of realist period fiction. In her review of the show, Patricia Matthew, an associate professor of English at Montclair State University, placed it in a long artistic tradition of Black women depicted in Regency settings. But ultimately, she said in a phone interview, “Nobody’s reading Julia Quinn because they’re looking for disquisitions on historical precedent.”

Bursting though a romance novel may be with carefully researched, period-accurate details about Vauxhall entertainments, Almack’s vouchers or ribboned chemises, these novels really aren’t about the Regency era, or at least not primarily.

“Historical romance does a different kind of work than historical fiction,” Sarah MacLean, a popular historical romance author, told me during a phone call. “The work of the romance novel is not to tell the story of the past. It is to hold a mirror to the present.”

By building a love story between the primary couple, one that is guaranteed to end “happily ever after” or “happy for now,” a romance novel not only provides escapism and the heart-pounding rush of vicarious passion, but a space in which to explore how romantic relationships can and should be, and how women can find fulfillment and happiness. And that means these stories have little to do with how the marriage market of Regency high society actually functioned; they’re about what readers — predominantly women — want to see in their lives today.

“The appeal of the time period for readers is very much about being able to distance readers from certain kinds of social issues and then reframe them as a reflection of society now,” MacLean explained. In the 1970s, novels typically featured brooding alpha males who took what they wanted sexually ― a narrative device, MacLean argued, for the fictional heroines of the time to have plenty of sex without being seen as loose and deserving of punishment. Historical romance novels today often feature heroes and heroines having what seem like rather anachronistically tender exchanges about consent.

Ella Dawson, a sex and culture critic, sees period romance as a way to provide a balm — an experience in which violence and trauma are, if not absent, superseded by a reassurance of ultimate well-being — while also walking readers through more thorny questions.

“Romance as a genre is really interested in consent, in diversity representation, in political issues,” she said. “Romances are so infused with these issues that I [am] really passionate about, and they explore it through this really fun, romantic, swoony, but still very intellectual, thoughtful, accessible lens.”

As odd as it felt to see a straightforward romance adaptation dissected as if it were a failed attempt at matching Jane Austen, it makes sense. Because the genre is generally regarded with such disdain in mainstream culture, it occupies a rather marginalized niche. A non-romance reader is unlikely to have a firm grasp of many things about the genre, outside of well-worn jokes about throbbing members and Fabio’s flowing hair, and though romance is among the bestselling genres in the book industry, it’s rarely adapted for TV or film.

Why has this omission persisted for so long? “I can’t imagine that it isn’t a huge amount [due to] patriarchy, in the sense that for the same reason it gets disdained on the page, it gets disdained on the screen,” said MacLean. To this day, the people deciding which films and shows to finance are almost entirely men. Shonda Rhimes is that rare exception — a woman with creative control over a TV empire, and a fan of the Quinn series.

Practical obstacles to adapting romance also pop up. A novel stuffed with sex scenes and building toward a tidy happy ending may be tricky to adapt for network TV, which needs to keep things a bit cleaner — and keep the narrative drama going indefinitely.

And it’s not just the network TV standards and the tidy endings. The heightened reality and bodice-unclasping of the genre, Matthew said, rely on an intimacy between the reader and the page that’s difficult to translate to the screen.

“I think the plot lines are bananas. I think they’re so extreme that they strain credulity,” she said, laughing. “You have to believe that a sane man, an adult, would say, ‘Oh, I’m just not going to have children so I can spite my father.’ It only works if it’s you with a glass of wine, kind of throwing yourself over to the world of romance.” It’s awkward to sit with someone else, knowing they’re watching the same melodramatic story unfold, partaking in a pleasure that feels somewhat private, if not embarrassing. “We all have these fan worlds that when they’re exposed to other people that aren’t a part of that world we might feel protective of, or feel bashful,” she said.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/bridgerton-netflix-romance-genre_n_60086fd5c5b6ffcab969dafa?utm_source=pocket-newtab

[handlewithkara]

@peggystormborn I think Iris Barry is the exception for a variety of reasons (imo partially race, partially the committment of the writers to the couple). But Oliver and Felicity did A LOT OF triangles before they committed and some of the writing for them was terrible on the romance front. People like to just remember the endgame, but they forget how terrible the road there was (Laurel, Sarah, Oliver marrying another woman, Oliver having a child with another woman, an entire crossover dedicated to a fantasy wedding between Laurel and Oliver, evil!Oliver being married to Kara). Granted in a lot of ways it was because Felicity wasn’t the original OTP and I think it took Marc Guggenheim a long time to finally accept it (I think he’s one of those writers who deep at heart doesn’t really like romance at all, and just eventually only grudingly accepted it, but I think the earlier seasons feel like there was a lot of latent animosity from the writers towards the storyline). 

(and one can debate how Barry/Mirror Iris is something like a triangle, even if it is a triangle made up by writers who desperately want to maintain the “pure” status of an OTP, I mean, as long as you don’t think too hard about the implications of Mirror!Iris [I also think that the fact that Iris and Felicity predominantly don’t have superpowers makes it slightly easier for them to work as a functioning couple])

People thinking that the writers have handled Kara’s Kryptonian relations poorly doesn’t change that if the topic does not interest the writers they are not going to write it (and if they write something really tonedeaf about it, that is usually a sign that they don’t really care about a topic). It’s a very common trait of fanbases to take certain topics more seriously. Criticisms of co-dependency and calls for therapy are very, very common examples of this in a multitude of fandoms. 

You have this all over the Supernatural ending, with people saying “Dean was acting suicidal for years, it sends a horrible message that the show ends up with him dying” and “John Winchester was a horrible father, it’s a horrible message that the show ends up with him being in heaven as part of Dean’s personal heaven and the show never doing a story where Dean recognizes that John screwed him up and fully breaks ties with him” and “the brothers were co-dependant, the show getting rid of all the characters who are not them and making the ending exclusively about them is a horrible message”. 

I think it’s pretty clear that these things weren’t written because the writers intended to send that message, they just clearly see the characters very differently and many things the fans obsess over they see as just not that great a deal. Fans often latch onto characters and stories because they see part of themselves in them and project their own experiences and their emotions about those experiences into those characters (look no further than Lena’s fans and what they think is most important about her character). Fans also love their characters and want their angst to be explored, while most shows just want to keep the plot going. That’s why you will have amost every fandom clamoring how the show should do a therapy plot for their favorite character. To them that makes sense, they love their favorite character, so them sitting on a couch and talking about their feelings of course is going to sound fascinating. Doesn’t mean that the writers tick that way at all. 

Supernatural can show pretty clearly how there can be a fundamental miscommunication between the fans and the creators. Where maybe writers might think that Dean’s dogged loyalty is his most fascinating trait, while fans might think his angsty woobie appeal is his most fascinating trait and his loyalty is boring or just a jumping off point or even actively harmful. Social media and fandom, I think it just has a habit of attracting people who have problems in their real lives and they are likely to project their own problems into these characters, but that does not mean that the writers are anywhere the same headspace (particularly in regards to how abusive or co-dependant a relationship is, I think just like with John Winchester, writers are way more likely to have a more positive view towards relationship and stories like that, because to them, those relationships are something good in their world because they are drivers of drama, providers of dramatic scenes). 

And I think history has shown, no matter how annoying it is to the fans, new showrunners just will not be beholden to the themes and messages of previous showrunners. They will pay tribute to whatever part of previous seasons they like, but they are likely going to come in with their own spin, their biases and their own takes of the characters. 

(for what it’s worth, I theorize season 4 started out with the plan for a sister season, to explore (via Red Kara and Elseworld and Amnesia) what is Alex without Kara, what is Kara without Alex and they just sort of lost the main plot somewhere in the middle between introducing Nia, introducing Lex and poorly thought out political metaphor) 

Right now, what little we know of season 6 makes one hopeful that it could have a significant Alex and thusly sister focused plot, with Alex playing around with being a vigilante and there being rumors of another young sisters episode. 

What is interesting about this is that either of Alex most likely developments, Alex becoming a hero in her own right OR Alex finally getting her baby and family provide interesting jumping off points for Kara to reflect on her own life. This does not mean that the writers will actually take this opportunity seriously, but it is at least possible. 

Alex has been a physical fighter working with Kara since forever, but her getting her own costume could be a signal that she is getting her own hero identity. Alex being her own heroic person rather than just the no-name who supports Kara ideally should be an interesting change up in their dynamics. Either with Kara cheerleading and supporting Alex they way Alex has always supported her or with Kara realizing that maybe she has to step back a little and let Alex be her own hero and trust her that she can handle things on her own (potentially culminating with Kara leaving the protection of the city and Earth in the hands of Alex). 

I could picture Kara having a relationship with William and eventually rejecting him symbolically but I just really wouldn’t expect it to be about Argo. But I could picture a plot where seeing Alex thrive as a hero makes Kara think she has the freedom to kick back and focus on her romantic relationship or focus on being just Kara Danvers for a while (and in the end realizing that that is not enough for her, I just would expect this NOT to be about Kara Zor-El but about Supergirl, Kara realizing that she needs to be Supergirl to be happy even if being Supergirl has made her life more complicated in many ways). 

On the other hand, if Alex were to finally get her child wish fulfilled it could a be a good story to explore what the equivalent is for Kara (while with Alex, she has always been protective of Kara, so her having somebody else to raise and be protective over would also provide good emotional dramatic potential). 

But it could just as equally be that they parallel Alex being happy with a baby and a girlfriend as their little family with Kara just getting William as the nice unproblematic understanding boyfriend, forming their own family unit albeit without a child. Or it could be Kara just getting gratification of being a supportive and loving aunt. You never know. Supernatural shows that just because the fans are convinced that the show will go one way (Family is about more than blood ties! The show will end with showing how Sam and Dean have evolved beyond “the two of us against the world!” and their family unit now includes Eileen, Castiel and Jack) doesn’t mean that the writers see it the same way. 

It’s very interesting in how this reaction mirrors the reaction to the How I Met Your Mother Finale where the writers thought it made sense to circle back to the start and most of the general audience disliked it because they felt the characters had developed beyond the original premise. But it still shows how this particular pattern of thinking is one that writers are very likely to fall into. 

Finales often have a way of exposing whether one’s (or even the audience in general) perception of the characters and their relationships and perceived moral takeaways align with the one’s of the writers. I don’t even think that that is something that can just be “fixed” by telling writers “don’t be the Game of Thrones finale, don’t be the HIMYM finale”. If powerful writers just have a certain perception of characters, that’s just how they see them and they can’t just break out of. 

I guess one can argue that maybe it’s a sign of poor writing (even if it might be good business sense) if a show supports such a variety of readings till the very end (are we watching a story about co-dependant siblings which should end with them lovingly and supportively letting each other go? or are we watching a show about siblings through thick and thin, more powerful than anything?), but I think in some cases it just arises naturally because of the way fans can project themselves into characters in ways that was not intended by the writers and that can’t fully be controlled by them (and since those projections are heavily influenced by people’s very varied personal experiences you also can’t just please everyone).  

[cosplayinamerica]

SUNLIT RIDDLE

I first learned about cosplay back in 2001 when I saw a beautiful Cloud crossplay.  My brain lit up, I pointed excitedly, and shouted, “That! I want that!” Back then both the internet and cosplay as we know it today were in their infancy. The common construction methods we take for granted now were prohibitively expensive. Molding and casting were within the realm of trade professionals only. I learned how to sew the old fashioned way: my grandmother taught me quilting and my mother taught me clothing.   But I had to teach myself a lot more once I had exhausted my mother and grandmother’s realm of practical sewing knowledge. I’d developed roots in the practical and grew into the fantastic. None of my costumes are built like something found in a theater. They’re all clothing. 

I feel like the early 2000’s were a huge changing point in cosplay.  What started as papier-mâché turned to fiberglass resin and to EVA foam as materials became more available.  I was on the cutting edge of cosplay construction before life forced me into a half-decade hiatus. When I returned, things that were once outside of our financial reach were now commonplace.  I can’t tell you how much I wanted a 3D printer back in 2008. Within just a decade, there are now affordable desktop models. Laser Cutters? Sublimation? All right here. It’s made that unattainable level of craftmastery available.  For those who can’t afford the machines, there are commissioners who can do that for you. The way cosplay has developed as a hobby and business is astounding.

The skills I learned in cosplay, garment construction through building skit props, helped me get my current job.  I am now a custom lettering artist – I put mascots on cheerleading uniforms and athletic wear. I learned how to vector while working on a background for a Soul Eater skit.  Cosplay in general helped me refine my ability to read patterns and understand how sewing works. And, in turn, my job has further reinforced the skills I already have. I have a better understanding of pattern construction and fabric types.  I’ve always had to modify patterns – something my mom taught me to do – but I’ve progressed to drafting up my own patterns from measurements based on historic garments.

My long time friends asked me to join their Adventure Zone group as Taako.  It was a challenge, considering there are no official character designs.  I had to go off the descriptions within the podcast, which were basically just the existence of items.  Fact: Taako has a hat, a wand, a couple of spell books, etc. Beyond that, there was little detail. 

The challenge was to create a silhouette that’s readable with or without key items. Taako’s signature item is an umbrella known as the Umbra Staff. The only description we receive within the entirety of the podcast is that it’s utterly normal looking.  Considering that it is found next to a skeleton in a red robe, I felt the color needed to be red. However, since this item was found on a corpse in a cave, it was not bound to Taako’s personal style. In fact, I wanted it to be as separate from him as possible.

I put on my researching hat.  I looked up fanart of Taako, elves, wizards, fantasy garb, Final Fantasy garb, historic garb; I listened to the source material; I listened to other McElroy podcasts; I discussed options with my team and other friends.  I came across the “official” Cut and Sew Taako pattern, but I wanted a Final Fantasy vibe to this since it’s heavily referenced in the podcast.

In the final design, I kept the blouse and pauldron concept from Cut and Sew, but I changed the pauldron base to a slightly modified Evil Ted’s Vampire Hunter (because Yoshitaka Amano did the art for both Vampire Hunter D and Final Fantasy).  I used Reconstructing History’s 1770’s-1790s Fall-Front Breeches pattern because I wanted something that would come to my knee and show off the Black Mage striped stockings. Keeping with the Amano Final Fantasy look, I made a sash to match the stockings, then layered with what we affectionately call my “fantasy fanny pack”.

The hat was my crowning achievement. I knew that there were ways of making big, dramatic hats – Kentucky Derby, the Royal Family, Old Hollywood glamour – but I found little in the way of tutorials.  It reminded me a lot of the old days when cosplay research was accessible only for professionals in the industry. I deconstructed a witch’s hat from Party City to see how it was made, then reverse engineered it from there. The flowers in the hat were fun to collect. I wanted to keep with Taako’s culinary backstory, so all the flowers are edible – roses, chamomile, lavender, chives, and borage.  I started trying to stitch them into place, but I soon started to just pin them into the brim. I’m pretty sure that’s how flower arrangements are supposed to be done, anyway. I’m still trying to figure out how to attach my artichoke.

I designed the pauldron to be a fabric with stripes and trim that had little triangles in it to continue with the Amano Final Fantasy feel. I attempted a “corset” technique where yarn is used instead of steel for boning. That worked perfectly and left a subtle stripe on the pauldron.  There was no trim out there that fit what I wanted, so I built a loom and did some simple inkle weaving. I’m not skilled enough at weaving to make little triangles as originally planned, but I could do small stripes. I had enough materials to trim the top of the pauldron only, so I purchased black tassels for the bottom edge – inspired by Final Fantasy XIV’s newly announced Blue Mage’s pauldrons.

I feel that this costume is somewhat more like Ren Faire garb than it is an anime convention cosplay.  It’s the sort of costume that grows over time, that will change and evolve and level up every time I wear it. I’m already back at it, researching new skills and methods to add embellishments or structure or just that Certain Something that will enhance Taako, or at least how I see him.

(Top : 2018 / Bottom 2009)

[nataliedanovelist]

(I did not draw this, my friend, @missinspi, drew this for me) (https://www.deviantart.com/missinspi)

Wanna read fics with this OC in it?

For a fic close to canon Gravity Falls (season 3?), read this.

For an AU about Stan and Ford getting a new neighbor at seven-years-old, read this.

Miscellaneous Oc Asks

@cityandking created a (relatively short) list of random, weird, hopefully interesting OC asks. Feel free to specify a character or just send a couple of questions, and then share it around!

What six CD’s would your OC keep in their car? Is it just a taste/preference thing, or do any of them have particular significance? I can’t think of any particular CDs, but as far as artists go... Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Queen (or in the Gravity Falls world, the band called King), ACDC, a disk full of instrumental piano music, and a Dolly Parton CD her friend Madeline Ingrid probably gave her.

What does your OC smell like? What does your OC wish they smelled like? Coconut butter, japanese cherry-blossom perfume, and occasionally disinfectant (she works at a hospital). She tried every hard to smell nice, as most women do, and if she feels like work is ruining that, she might use her favorite “stress relief” lotion to help overpower the smells of rubber gloves and baby spit up.

How aesthetically-oriented is your OC in their clothing? Their living space? Their general presentation? If their look™ is mismatched, is that on purpose? Hephzie has a plain, easy-to-follow fashion sense: blue-jeans with t-shirts for casual events, jeans with blouses for nicer days, and occasionally a sweater for the winter. She also has a small love for boys’ clothes; she won’t shy away from mens’ t-shirts or button-ups if they feel nice and look OK. Her living space is relatively tidy (having grown up with grandparents who needed clean floors to avoid falling) but she’s not a clean freak. Her living space is very artsy and mitch-match, having friends all over the world and she loves learning about different cultures. She might have a rug from India by her bed, but a quilt from Ireland on her bed and a small statue from Hawaii on her dresser. With a bunch of hand-me-downs and mis-match tastes, her overall aesthetic is old and comfort.

What one word would you use to describe your OC’s vibe? Chill.

What’s one mundane thing that would throw them off-kilter? Why? Nuclear families. She grew up with her Grandma and Grandpa on her mother’s side. She never knew her father and her mother abandoned her at a hospital, not even waiting to see what would happen to Hephzie. So Hephzie values family very much, but she sees no reason why blood should be the most important factor in the definition in “family”. The idea of a “normal” family, one with two parents who are married and in love, siblings, and occasionally cousins and aunts and uncles, is like a dream to her. It’s nice, but not for her.

What kind of AU is your OC best suited to? What kind of AU would be the worst? Is there any AU that would be, objectively, just really funny? Hephzie is in 2 AUs: one pretty close to canon Gravity Falls, and one in which she grows up as neighbors to Stan and Ford. Both AUs are very interesting and I love seeing how she responds to each scenario, but I think the more “tragic” of the two is the canon-like one. I’ve toyed with an AU of her becoming a singer and I can see it going either two ways: either she crumbles under the pressure and gets into drugs and overdoses, or she flourishes and uses her money and power for good, like feeding the hungry and helping the homeless find homes.

If your OC could pick a different name, title, or pseudonym for themself, what would they pick? Why? Have they ever been given an alternate name/title, and how do they feel about it? Well, her birth name is Alicia-Sarah Hephzibah Fisher Cece, but she HATES the name Alicia-Sarah and only goes by Hephzibah/Hephzie. In one AU, she legally “fixes” her name.

If your OC were playing D&D, what would their race and class be? What backstory tragedy™ would they give their character? Does that reflect their own life in any way? Be honest. Okay, because a certain extra-special person in her life loves D,D, & More D, she plays, too. She’s an woodland elf, a healer, and has very little interest in her character, but she likes the storytelling and the praise she gets if she manages to heal a wizard with pointy-ears and fluffy brown hair named Rokuro the Righteous.

Star Wars or Star Trek? A certain boyfriend of hers likes Star Trek better, but she likes Star Wars better. It’s been a bitter rival since the beginning of time.

If your OC is from a fantasy world, where in the real world would they come from? If your OC is from our world, which fantasy world would they most want to live in? Bonus: Would you ever write/RP them in that world? Hephzie grew up on Irish folktales (her grandmother’s family is from there), so she would love to meet færies and see magic and meet a selkie. Screw being a mermaid, she wanted to be a selkie! And... no, don’t expect a fic about this.

What plant, animal, and color does your OC feel like today? A Venus Flytrap, a mongoose, and the color dark-green. It’s been a rough day but she’s keeping a level head.

If your OC were a superhero, how flashy would their costume be? Also, what would their superpower be? Does this go with their costume at all, or are they all about fashion? #Can’tFightCrimeIfYouAin’tCute Well... in the canon-like AU, she’s kinda a superhero already, so... think something like a knight’s armor on the arms and legs with a maroon cape. Power would be healing, but she can also fight hella well with a sword and bow-and-arrows. And she’s never cared about looking good, she just wants to survive the war...

Does your OC thrift? Buy designer? Where would they shop irl? GOODWILL FOR THE WIN!!! She and her friends called it “treasure hunting” in high-school and it stuck. She loves it, and when a certain somebody came out with a song about it, she was livid (even if she was fifty-something years old).

Is your OC superstitious? If so, what superstitions do they believe? If not, what do they think of superstitious people? She’s constantly around the supernatural and abnormal... and loves it. She thrives off of what is different. So, superstitious?... Hm, she isn’t paranoid or afraid; she welcomes it with open arms.

Is your OC religious? Do they want to be? Have they ever been at some time in the past? How complicated is their relationships with worship/the gods/the church/etc? Her grandparents took her to church growing up and she loved the music. Her grandmother was the choir director and her grandfather played the piano, and she had “the voice of an angel”, so she happily sang in church, but she kinda stopped going to church when she went to college, but if you ask her she’ll tell you she’s a Christian. She says it just makes sense to believe in a god; there’s too much that science can’t explain. She also likes studying Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism to learn more about other people and cultures.

Hardwood, tile, or carpet? Hardwood. But she will NEVER say no to a fluffy rug.

What’s their go-to parlor trick? Are they actually that good at it, or do they just enjoy it? Do people tell them they’re good, even if they aren’t? How do they handle criticism? I can’t really think of a good parlor trick. She has a lot of talents she keeps on the down, like singing and stand-up comedy (don’t ask). On another note, she takes criticism overall pretty well.

If your OC could request one boon from a god, what would it be? The extermination of a certain three-sided demon.

Favorite comfort food? Do they enjoy junk food or are they more of a foodie? Can they cook? What’s their favorite thing to cook? OREOS are HERS! DON’T TOUCH THEM UNLESS YOU WANNA LOSE A HAND! She also secretly loves watermelon (doesn’t like to tell people this) and her comfort food is either hot tea or hot chocolate. Something to warm her hands. And no, she can’t cook; she burns everything. EXCEPT, she can brew coffee and she’s a pretty good barista (was one during college).

Any major theme(s) or conflict(s) in your OC’s life? How have they dealt with that? Are they aware of it, or do they ignore it? Did you design them with such theme(s)/conflict(s) in mind, or did they evolve naturally? Loyalty is a huge one for her. I think so many people have forgotten what it means to be a true friend and what real loyalty looks like. You’re willing to go far and wide for the people you care about because you want to, because you get fulfillment out of doing the right thing. Hephzie will have your back, no matter what. She doesn’t care what race, background, gender, sexuality, religion, she doesn’t give a shit. If you’ve got her, you’ve got a loyal friend. IOne thing she struggled with - and is only semi-aware of it - is loneliness. She finds it suffocating. It’s slight PTSD from losing so much in her life, and she’s not terribly clingy, but she’ll wallow about it and sink into depression if she feels abandoned or alone. She NEEDS that reassurance that she is not a freak and not alone and that SOMEONE would care if one day she was gone. This evolved naturally when shaping her backstory and realising it needed to have realistic consequences.

If they could steal one major piece of art with no consequences, what would it be and why? Bonus: how would they pull off the heist? Anything Bob Ross. Loves that guy. And she’d probably just recrute Stan to help her with either blackmail or her “Please, for me?” line.

Now it’s YOUR turn!

[culturists-blog]

The Culture of Ilocos Norte

On the Outside

Ilocos Norte is a province of the Philippines located in the Ilocos Region. It comprises 21 municipalities and 2 component cities, further subdivided into 557 barangays. Ilocos Norte is also known as a northern tourist destination of the Philippines and of each municipalities they have their own tourist destination. Let see the tourist destination of Ilocos Norte.

The provincial capital is Laoag City.  When you start your Ilocos Norte adventure, you are most likely to start here. It’s the hub of everything Ilocano. Just go to Museo Ilocos Norte and you’ll see. The region’s main offices and universities are also located here. World-famous sights such as Pagudpud, Paoay and Vigan are less than an hour’s journey away.

Ilocos Norte is a province rich with natural resources and tourist attractions. The preservation of natural scenery and historical landmarks make up the aesthetic of the province. Some famous attractions include:

The Bangui Windmills

The Saint Augustine Church at Paoay

The Sinking Bell Tower of Laoag City

The Patapat Viaduct and the white sand beaches of Pagudpud

Read more about it here.

The Diverse Culture of Ilocandia

The province is a whole puzzle of uniquely created pieces that fit together in order to form a masterpiece. This means that each municipality/city comprises different groups of people having similar or dissimilar customs and traditions. Each of these divisions having different stories to tell and different origins of their beliefs and culture. Luckily, everything is encapsulated into one event which, though, makes it simple to understand but it is presented in the most grandiose way that people would never get enough of.

Hailed as one of the most highly-anticipated cultural events in Northern Luzon, the Tan-ok ni Ilocano festival was first organized in 2011 by Governor Imee Marcos as a grand showdown of different festivals found among Ilocos Norte’s 21 towns and two cities. 

“Tan-ok” is the Ilocano word for “greatness,” thus it is known as the festival that celebrates and honors the Ilocano cultural heritage. “Truly, culture and heritage mean so much to every Ilocano, to every town that would like to tell its story. Story-telling indeed is what we can do, telling and sharing with the world the extraordinary stories of Ilocos, the Province and the Ilocano, that great nation that spans the globe,” said Marcos. 

Each dance reflects the unique culture of every municipality and city by highlighting their own products, livelihood, history, religion, tradition, and natural heritage. The performers are young Ilocanos proudly representing their towns.

From the extravagant costumes to the professional-level choreography, It is fairly obvious that the participants pour hours and dedication into their performances.

This also shows that apart from the resiliency and thrift of the people in Ilocos Norte, the people here are remarkable for their sense of pride and love for their place they call home.

When asked what is with Tan-ok Festival that the people are delighted about, an Ilocano will say, "Come and see."

Tadek Festival of Nueva Era

As previously mentioned, the different uniqueness of each town make-up for the different themes that are portrayed by each town during the festival. We have the Dinaklisan Festival of Currimao, the La Virgen Milagrosa Festival of Badoc, the Empanada Festival of Batac City, the Garlic Festival of Pinili, etc.But the Tadek Festival of Nueva Era is filled with fantasy like a forest brought to life.

Nueva Era is a quiet paradise in the east, endowed with rich natural beauty and culture.

The early inhabitants of the town were the Tingguians. These early tribes were pagans, and lived a simple life depending on their environment – hunting,fishing and farming through the kaingin system were their means of living.

The Tingguians had a distinct culture, their own music, songs and dances, dialects, beliefs, traditions and celebrations. These genuine components of their culture bind and unite them together.

Click here to read more about the Tadek Festival of Nueva Era.

Click here to watch the performance.

Diving into the Culture of Nueva Era

One of the ways to appreciate the culture of a certain place is to immerse ourselves in it and after hearing about the majestic mountains, the pureness of air that surrounds the place, the fascinating community within the area, its oddity and peculiarity, we have decided to explore deeper into the perplexity of Nueva Era.

About Nueva Era

Nueva Era, officially the Municipality of Nueva Era, is a 3rd class municipality in the province of Ilocos Norte. It is one of the Indigenous Cultural Community of the province. Just like Adams, Ilocos Norte

The town is situated along the provincial borders of Kalinga, Apayao, Abra and Ilocos Sur on the east, southeast and south, bounded by Marcos Espiritu on the north and Pinili-Bado-Espiritu on the east. A flat, rolling and mountainous terrain, the municipality has a total land area of 644.70 square kilometers and is the biggest town in the northern part of the province. As of 1995, it has a population of 6,224 with most of its people speaking the Tinguian dialect.

They call this place "Lugar ti agkamkamat ti ugsa"(The place of deer hunters) because the people love exotic food and this place main dish is venison (the meat of a deer) which is very expensive if you buy it. Aside from venison they also love to eat pork - a wild boar meat. They mention that the meat of a wild boar is a bit sweeter with notes of nuttiness and a clean taste that's neither gamey nor greasy. Since Nueva Era is a place surrounded by rain forest and mountains, their main source of income and food is to hunt in the forest.

The mountains and breathe taking views. If you love to hike, if you love the sound of silence and you're a nature lover then this place is perfect for you. Its mountains is a great place for hiking and mountain climbing and its wild life is evidently rich.

Dubbed as the “Little Baguio” of Ilocos Norte but this unfamiliar spot has a charisma of its own. The VIEWDECK is a brief drive from your home, and a perfect spot for road trips.

It’s the madness of colors and sounds that makes us feel calm.

The town has more bewitching scenic attractions to offer. The Cacanan Falls, Papa Dam, Tree Park, Mine Site, and the Piaw Falls are among the ideal sites for natural love excursionists and travelers.

The People of Nueva Era

Most of the people in the municipality are engaged in farming, with rice, garlic, and tobacco as their primary products. Because of the scarce supply of irrigation in the area, tobacco has been the ideal product to produce for their own livelihood.

One-fourth of its land, which lies at the foot of the Cordillera Mountain ranges, is irrigated by several rivers such as Badoc, Padsan and Bongo.

Although, a prominently agricultural town, some of its inhabitants are also involved in small businesses.

Nueva Era Eco-Cultural Park

The town of Nueva Era in Ilocos Norte is one of the three municipalities of Ilocos Norte with tribal communities, along with Adams and Dumalneg.

With its rich culture, flourishing ambiance, and unspoiled ecological tourism, this third class municipality, has evolved into contributing in the booming tourism industry of the province.

Making its waves is the established eco-cultural park here which is now one of the most-visited sites of tourists and visitors in the eastern part of Ilocos Norte.One who visited the place must have experienced refreshing sight of ecological and tribal fusion.

The eco-park, which represents the indigenous culture of the Tingguian community here, highlights the people’s way of living which can be seen in the intricate interior of the tree huts and houses.

While visitors can relish the genuine customs and traditions of the Tingguians, they can also enjoy other recreational activities such as the hanging bridge and swimming pool. They can be further entertained by cultural dancers performing a ritual dance called “tadek.” These dancers are clad in traditional Tingguian costume to show further the identity of the ethnic group.

Tadek is a means of thanksgiving for a new couple who are believed to bring forth blessings and perseverance to the whole Tingguian community.

The Nueva Era Eco-Cultural Park and Tribal Village, features distinct traditions of the Tinguian community, from tribal huts and tree houses to tribal costumes, and to known practices such as the performance of ‘Tadek’, traditional dance of the Tingguians. 

They have a little museum showcasing the Tingguian culture and at the back is a lovely setting for weddings and events, hanging bridge, and, a swimming pool for picnic-goers. 

Aside from the tree houses, there are also huts and bungalows with basic but comfortable accommodation facilities including beds and an electric fan. They also have a campsite for those who want to take their adventure outdoors to a higher level. 

The park also has a bonfire area or ‘dap-ayan.’ There are trails and nearby treks for those who want to hike. Plus a restaurant is in the works to serve local delicacies and Ilocano cuisines such as Bagnet, Longganisa, Poque-poque, Dinengdeng and some exotic food cooked from a “Deer” meat or locally known as “Ugsa”, that is included in the menu. 

For reservations and more information, contact Nueva Era Tourism Officer Ria Rivera (0915) 2582512.

Takeaways from the trip

“What I've learned from the travel experience in Nueva Era is that whatever modernization may occur, culture will forever engraved in the heart of every group residing here. The simplicity and purity of their living made them distinct from others. The long way is worth the wait to witness and appreciate the beauty of Nueva Era.” - Nhia Jenica Miguel

“What I've learned is that wherever place you're destined to be, the culture you first experienced will forever be the culture you wanna cherish. The lives of the dwellers in Nueva Era reflect the importance of culture, they are slowly moving  towards modernization but they never get to abandon the culture once they had. Their culture is giving them satisfaction that modernization couldn’t give.” - Rose Marie Mario

Team Culture

1.       Adryne Sophia Abrera

2.       Rojelyn Marie Bagain

3.       Jomeilyn Cabana

4.       Rica Jane Inay

5.       Rose Marie Mario

6.       Nhia Jenica Miguel

7.       Celine Betina Pascua

8.       Genevie Viloria

[biscuitreviews]

Biscuit’s Favorite Games

When it comes to a great game, there are a few factors at play. “Is the gameplay good? Is the story great? What cool memories do you have associated with the game? Did the game leave an everlasting impression?” All of these I feel are what help create a favorite game for a person.

Now normally people would countdown to their number one game and although I do have a number one game. There are many other games I enjoy as well and have left impressions on me that I carry with me to this day. 

With that I’m not going to do a “traditional” countdown, but rather give my favorites before going to my all-time favorite (which for some of you shouldn’t be a surprise because I’ve gone on record with it a few times already). With that, let’s go over some of my personal favorite games.

Halo: Reach

I love the Halo series. I love the setting, I love the idea of you being a badass super soldier, and  I love the soundtrack. I have more memories with the Halo series playing online with my friends and Halo: Reach for me has the best memories.

We would often get large groups going into big team matches and when we couldn’t get a large group we would go into the small team games and have tons of fun with either matchmaking or custom matches. There are many times we would stay up until 5 or 6 a.m playing Reach. Reach also spawned off quite a few inside memes with my friends, memes that we still quote to this day. With Microsoft’s recent announcement of Halo: Reach being re-released on PC, we’re looking forward to remembering the good times as we exchange teabags with a new generation of Spartans.

But aside from multiplayer, Reach also had in my opinion the best campaign. It was emotional, it had some amazing epic set pieces, it was challenging, and most importantly Noble 6 was your Spartan model from multiplayer which gave a more personal attachment to the story.

Pokemon Silver/Gold/Crystal

I was on the ground floor of the Pokemon Hype in the 90s. When the follow-up to the amazing Blue/Red/Yellow came out, many of use were ready to embark on a new Pokemon adventure in a new region eager to catch the new Pokemon.

It made great improvements from the original game, adding additional Pokemon types, a story with Team Rocket trying to make a comeback, and the biggest surprise of them all, going back to Kanto and fighting the Kanto Pokemon Gym Leaders. This made the world of Pokemon feel much larger and connected. Ever since then, it’s been a highly requested feature to have a previous region in another version revisited or ot have a nice dense post game. Although, revisiting regions has yet to happen since Silver/Gold/Crystal, each Pokemon game has been released with a good sizeable post game adventure to embark on.

The remakes HeartGold and Soul Silver are just as fantastic.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening

There are games that we complete at 100%, then there are games we complete until there’s nothing left. Devil May Cry 3 was the first game that I ripped apart inside and out in terms of content. I completed every single difficulty as both Dante and Vergil, acquired every skill, every alternative costume, and every challenge.

I did it because I had a lot of fun with the game’s combat and it was also my first Devil May Cry game. How I got the game was interesting as well. A friend of mine had Devil May Cry 3 and a relative of theirs gifted them another copy of the game for their birthday unbeknownst to them that my friend had the game already. They asked if I wanted their extra copy and that’s how I got into the Devil May Cry series. One day Devil May Cry 5, one day.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater

The Metal Gear Solid series is one of my favorite game series of all-time. The first entry of the series for the PS1 taught me so many things. In fact, the original Metal Gear Solid also greatly influenced my playstyle, which is emphasis on stealth.

Metal Gear Solid 3 was a great game that challenges your stealth skills. Not only did you have no radar, but you had to be more aware of your surroundings. Not only could you encounter guards, but you could potentially encounter wildlife in the jungle that could and will also harm you. You would also have to eat to keep your stamina up, wear the proper camouflage for the environment for optimal stealth, and you would have to heal injuries through various methods. All of these considerations added a new challenge to the stealth game to where the systems served as an extra layer rather than an annoying chore to keep up with.

Mega Man X4

This game was actually my first exposure to the Mega Man X series. I was already familiar with the classic series and I was eager to play this particular game and learning what the deal with having the X in the title was. It was then I learned that you could play as two different characters, the ever familiar blue bomber, which my 8 year old thought, “Ok, that must be a new model of Mega Man.” However, Zero was what immediately caught my eye, a robot using a lightsaber (which I would later learn it was called Z Saber) as an attack, sign me up!

The gameplay was super fun and there are slight differences in the story depending on who you play as. Granted it’s clear that this entry was catered for Zero rather than X, it’s still a really fun game no matter which character you picked. Similar to its predecessors, the game has also aged really well graphically.

Skies of Arcadia

To me, this is the perfect summer adventure in gaming. You’re a Robin Hood-esque air pirate who comes across a woman from a thought to be lost civilization. This was a turn based RPG where you had use the correct element on your weapon to effectively fight in battles. Not only that but there was also ship battles where you can engage in fighting other Airships.

It’s also a game that I feel constantly gets forgotten by Sega whenever they do Dreamcast collection releases. Skies of Arcadia is great and is one of the few games that I will 100% buy whenever it finally gets the HD remaster that it deserves.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

As far as the Legend of Zelda series goes I love every entry. There are a couple that I don’t like as much, but they still have qualities about them that I find enjoyable. Although Link to the Past was the first Zelda game I played, Ocarina of Time was the first one I would ever own and complete to 100%. At the time of its release it was a open area for you to explore with tackling temples and finding secrets. It also had a neat time travel mechanic with the story having some areas that would have effects on the future.

Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season One

This is a title that revived the the point and click adventure as well as popularize the episodic format. I got into this game during my Walking Dead craze and this game touched me in an unexpectedly emotional way. So much so I got teary eyed on the season finale and if a game manages to invoke such an emotional response within you, you know it did something right. I got attached to Lee and Clementine and the writing for the season was superb. Choices were respected and although there were many events that still happened no matter the choice, it was more reflected in the dialogue and for what Telltale was trying to accomplish, I thought it worked well.

Borderlands 2

Everyone that loves Borderlands 2, loves Handsome Jack and he’s an amazing video game villain. However, I do have a personal connection that cemented this as a favorite. This is a game that my wife and I would completely co-op with no handicap of any kind. What do I mean by a handicap. When it comes to playing co-op games on PC I am hopeless with a mouse and keyboard, where as my wife is completely running the show. Similar to consoles, my wife is hopeless with a controller and I’m taking point.

I used to not be much of a PC gamer. When I got a Windows 10 laptop my wife and I decided to get Borderlands 2 as Windows 10 allowed you to plug in a Xbox One controller without having to download any additional programs or anything. My wife was mouse and keyboard on her PC, and I was plugged in with a controller on my laptop and it changed everything. We no longer had to babysit one another, we could go into a camp of enemies and come out with barely a scratch on either of us. We even got to better understand one another’s playstyle and it complimented each other very well for an amazing co-op experience. Now I have evolved more into a PC gamer and have started playing so more co-op games with my wife.

The Witcher III: Wild Hunt

This is a game that I’ve been replaying and going back through since I played it in 2016. The detail of how character dialogue reacts to your decisions is just amazing. Also the way you go about fighting monsters is amazing as well. You have to study them, research them in your bestiary, drink the appropriate potions, apply the proper blade oil, use the propers signs and bombs in the fight. It gives you the sense that you are preparing for a fight.

CD Projekt Red used a branching story writing program called Articy Draft. It’s a program I myself actually use in my day job. I’m constantly going back to this game and studying it to try to imagine how the writers wrote certain decision points and how it branched out within Articy. Making different decisions and doing quests in a different order are just some of the things I do to further study this game in how they approach it in dialogue with Articy.

All Time Favorite - Final Fantasy X

As I mentioned in a few of my posts Final Fantasy X is my favorite game. I love everything about this game: the story, the setting, the characters, the combat system, the sphere grid progression system and the soundtrack. The way that Square had the player go through the world and learn more about it was genius and allowed for a deeper connection between Tidus and the player. There have been other games that have done this method of relaying plot information to the player, but to me Final Fantasy X was the one that got it right.

One day I will review this game, but I have no plans to review it for a good long time.

Those are my favorite games! I’d love to hear some of your favorites as well!

[sole-cuore-amore-e-droga]

Tel Aviv 2019: Straight outta Croatia to Eurovision with a confused angel lad and his lowkey over-enthusiastic mentor

Yeah, well, I definitely have hoped for this nation to finally finally bring back Dora as their national selection, as I myself have never really felt their internal entries since they abandoned it (well maybe except Nina from 2012 but even then by now I grew out of it softly). Not even Nina from 2016 which was tipped as a huge fan fave (though I’m so sorry for it getting completely lambasted in Eurovision, especially because of the poor clothing choice and Nina’s warbly notes here and there).

And they did! After like what, 7 solid years??? After the last Dora ending out with a disastrous end result and spawned a person to (more) stardom who even qualified a couple years back and this year he’s there to be a songwriter for his home country because of the Eurovision 2019 slogan inspiring him???? Well... yeah that happened. With having fought 15 other participants made up of familiar faces, up and coming starlets, the already legendary divas or just some people, he won as a songwriter for this next target of my review - the target that is aptly titled “The Dream” and is performed by a 19 year old up-and-coming pop star, Roko Blažević. Yep, Jacques Houdek won a NF but not with himself singing. Man did his magic game get stronger over the years since Dora 2011.

And interestingly enough, Jacques’s wizardry comes in with him being capable of selling chanceless music as something worth buying into. How can that happen???

Well, to be frank with you all, this song is not that bad, unlike everyone thinks it is. It feels like a low-rent musical ballad, sure, but it's not terribly composed or anything... well, I know I usually hate on those songs that like using mostly not the "verse - chorus - verse - chorus - bridge - chorus", but there are plenty of songs that mess with that structure that usually just omit the last two components (radio pop music) or don’t even need one, and they sound great. Here we have the omission of the last two components that more reminds me of “Grande amore” (I am not saying they’re comparable but still), as in, slow ballad in the F minor (”The Dream” even slaps a keychange on) that tries to sound majestic/dramatic, not very much so to be intense, just something theatrical I s’pose. And has a little too little time for another full verse so they just go to a bridge (and "Grande amore" had two long pre-choruses too?!?). I don’t hate this one, if I had to make a 2019 ranking this instant I’d put this in Top 30 somehow.

So what is there to be found that puts people off? They cannot be hating on Roko’s voice, which is really great for a young man like him. (In fact, God forbid I say one bad word about him, because some specific one on Twitter will have a beatdown with me because I dissed her hubby... so I’ll keep my mouth shut about any qualities of his :X) I guess it consists of several factors: 1) the song sounds dated; 2) the lyrics, especially in that chorus (I DREAM OF LOOOOOOVE, YOU DREAM OF LOOOOOOVE~ lol I actually dream of hatred, hatred will prevail >:) ); 3) the vocal volume is loud at parts; 4) the song is English-Croatian and somehow it should be sung in Croatian just to hide away the hideous understandable lyrics. My personal caveats are: 1) the song is too plodding and it shows a lot in that chorus with Roko holding his long notes (can we get tothe point FASTER?!); 2) the chorus lacks productional depth and maybe with a slight revamp (given Jacques wouldn’t be so stubborn about it!) it could have sounded the right amount of dramatic. If anything, I am GRATEFUL that it sounds more palatable than "My Friend", as THAT one was a joyful of cringey clichés tbh. The cheese became rotten and smelly and the sudden violin lead-in into the bridge still creeps me out. Goddamn it Jaq.

Not to mention Mr. Houdek is soooooo optimistic about his song, he finds everything in it perfect enough to not change it! Not the melody, not the language decisions, not the wings (did I tell you Roko wore wings on his NF performance??) - no! Did someone not tell him that Eurovision is rapidly evolving and his fantasies of coming top 3 with this song just better stay fantasies? Oh wait, it's the same man who once sang "dare to dream and make it real", of course he's stuck to his guns like super glue. Can't blame him, there were worse songs in top 3 over the years. Still though, the wings is a stupid idea. There should be something else involved if Jacques wants a performance to be memorable. Roko can't just stand there and only do what he's told to do by his guardian songwriter - granted he has to behave but still...

In the end, how would I summarize this tl;dr? I am one of a handful of folks who find this alright. There's a bigger minority who outright adores the song but I'm just there that likes this and nothing much more, honestly. Everything's just alright. Guess I'm sometimes soft enough to accept cheese, huh. But seriously, the mentoring behind the scenes... it's creepy to say the least. I'm happy Roko's having a helluva good time at least.

Approval factor: Oh I don't know with this one, statistically we can just go ahead and... try approving this? I’m not a huge fan of Croatian entries this decade, at least Slovenia redeemed themselves in my eyes last minute with “Sebi”, while even in my Croatian faves (they mostly are “Nebo” and “Crazy”, and I maaaaaybe like “Lighthouse” a bit too actually?) I see some negative qualities that completely overwhelm my liking for them. But since I legally find “The Dream” okay, I give this one a bit of a pass.

Follow-up factor: Sadly this kind of choice feels to me as a steady divedown in overall quality of what Croatia usually offers us. Well the decline was always on since “My Friend” followed up “Lighthouse” I suppose, or it's just so happens that Croatia sent the duds on this decade only in odd years ("Celebrate" was fun but tragic trash, "Mižerja" was pleasant I guess but everything here was miserable from the beginning and everyone still doesn’t get why “My Friend” qualified and “Crazy” didn’t). I like it though.

Qualification factor: I’d like to believe that this one can borderline sneak the fuck in to the finals for no reason other than Jacques knowing how to work things in his favour. Yes, I’m not writing this off completely. Although I still see some parts where this wouldn’t work out, it’s actually not 100% doomed... if anything, I at least don’t see it coming last in semi easily! It’s not as LAME as Iceland last year was. And it too was a basic love-peace-dreams message inserted into an older-timey-sounding singalong ballad and was given for a young singer that has a helluva lot of potential later ASIDE Eurovision. That is if they don't pretend Eurovision "ruined [their] careers, njeh!", of course. At least Roko can SANG live and maybe it will happen again that a singer's voice will make this surprisngly qualify over the song? We'll see. For now Jacques should just stay focused on how to make Roko's angel wings (sigh...) more memorable on stage in case the voice is not qualifying but the gimmicks are.

NATIONAL FINAL BONUS

EMA 2019 at least had positive surprises all over for a NF this non-cared-about-by-me. Dora just... did not. Really. This NF did not interest me all that much song-quality-wise, and it even had SIX MORE SONGS than EMA!!! Crazy, huh?? But it’s okay, I can talk about the show to you if you want me to:

• From the Dora participants list announcement I was mostly excited to hear like two entries, and I'll mention both of them right away separately. And it's by two artists I've heard of before a lot! Though this first one kind of made me feel like I've been somewhat betrayed... enter Luka Nižetić who has got a nice vast catalogue of songs now - soft song(s), upbeat summer songs, and so on. And I kinda liked some of those songs of his I heard (if you're looking for recommendations, give "Vječno" a listen!), but “Brutalero”, his actual Dora 2019 entry was... on a whole different level. Dude, when was ripping off “Mi gente” ever useful?? It’s the year people were chasing after “Fuego” as the Latinesque bop to copy, not this! I hate it when people rehash annoying (but catchy) songs, and it’s certainly worse when they do it as their Eurovision NF entry. Brutal. And I actually remember hyping him before hearing the song, which is a bigger facepalm-worthy moment of mine. When will I ever learn?! ;( Thank God for the juries who served this song right. IDC if the revamp version of this made it any better, I’ll be fuming over this not being an inspired song. Oh and the comic book cartoon style made this brutally laughable to me, I said what I said. It might have entertained some kids though. So to summarise, Luka’s capable of having bops out, but “Brutalero” ain’t it, sis.

• Well guess what - Friendship ended with LUKA, Now MANNTRA is my best friend! Hell yeah lol. Did I tell you I like rock music so much? So I really foresaw kind of liking Manntra's song “In the Shadows” and rooting for them based on me knowing their name (just like Luka but oop), and in fact I really did root for them in the end! I wish I supported them more than Luka instead. They’re bangin’. They’re blazin’. They’re pure awesomeness. Their costumes. THAT BREAKDOWN. Magic. Should’ve won, and if them winning were any forbidden because Croatia is just refusing to accept stuff I’d stan for, at least come second. Screw Luka, screw Lorena. Bring the rock music back. ^^

• oh yeah and the others I guess. Well, if I had to recommend a few entries, here goes: if you’re nostalgic for old-timey early 2000′s bops (in the style of “Everyway That I Can”), you go and listen to the aforementioned Lorena Bućan‘s entry, “Tower of Babylon”. If you dreamed of one of the Femminem singers becoming a 60s retro artiste (actually you did not, that sounds very utter random), go check her project’s (Gelato Sisters) entry, “Back to That Swing”. If you’re here for THE QUEEN DOMENICA, go ahead, check out “Indigo”, the ultimate shopping mall background music anthem. My actual other favourite together with Manntra was Beta Sudar though, as “Don’t Give Up” as some really nice pop I guess. You see what I mean when I said that Dora this year did not interest me all that much song-quality-wise? Well ofc some songs were nice but that's all and too much 'just niceness' is slowly breaking me honestly. I would have gladly cancelled the NF and put Manntra through internally instead. Epic boys deserve an epic platform to showcase themselves, I don’t make the rules here.

Thankfully that's that out of the way, now I'm just going to wish this sweet little angel man all the best in Tel Aviv and not to be too upset if he flops. I know Jacques would be upset, but for that he shouldn't put Roko through a similar mind process also...