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aquariusshadow · 3 years

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My thoughts about the 'age thing' being announced for the Netflix Live Action ATLA: as a Zutara shipper.

First I want to discuss Katara being 16 and Sokka being 14 (without any talks of any ships. No Zutara talk, no Zukka talk, no Kataang talk) and how I feel it could potentially scuff with their character developments.

Katara being 14 in the original series and the younger sister makes the 'growing up too fast too young' part in her character more impactful. In the OG Katara was already seen as the mom friend (among other badass character traits she also showed. Yes, I recognize Katara was more than the mom-friend. She's my favorite ATLA character because of how diverse she is) and it affected her character more because she's still a kid. A kid that desperately needs to let loose and have fun and that’s what the Gaang can provide for her. Her being 14 emphasizes that part of her personality.

Her being 16, while still conveys that same purpose of her being the mom-friend...instead of it being one aspect of her character she can learn and grow from, there's a risk of her becoming just the mom-friend and we lose all the stuff in the OG that reminded the viewer that 'yes, Katara is still a kid.'

That being said. I can still see the writers not keeping Katara as "just the mom-friend" despite her being aged up. But because she is older, and I don't trust the Netflix writers (I mainly don't trust any sort of reboot writing as I personally haven't seen any successful reboots??? but I degress...) to keep Katara as complex of a character as she was/is in the OG. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt but remain skeptical.

I'll be completely honest here. I wouldn't have too much of an issue with Katara being 16...if Sokka wasn't aged down. In my opinion, that's where the decision to change the ages is scuffed the worst.

Sokka being the younger brother changes the entire dynamic he has with the Gaang as well as his own character growth. An in turn, ultimately messes with Katara's dynamic with him and the concerns I mentioned above with her being reduced to "just the mom-friend." Sokka's arc is the protective older brother figure of the group and a lot of that stems from how he wanted to step up and be the man of his village, and in turn, Katara. Sokka being younger than Katara changes that because, while he would still want to be the 'man of the group' (and the village) that same desire to step up for Katara wouldn't be there in the same way??? Yes, he would still be the older-brother figure to Aang and Toph, but ultimately, Katara would be the one taking care of him completely.

Because of that, Sokka and Katara's relationship would ultimately be different from the OG and Sokka's character is more at risk of being potentially unrecognizable or simply reduced to comic relief.

Now, onto the part I think everyone cares about the most. The shipping.

This is where I think I'm about to be really controversial.

Basically, I think aging up Katara screws up the legitimate arguments Zutarians have when criticizing Kataang. I've seen pretty much every argument against Kataang and I've agreed with most of them. But aging up Katara to "show" that Kataang doesn't work because of the age thing (and whatever else) delegitimizes the legitimate claim that Katara being 14 and Aang being 12 is still a problem by itself for their relationship.

Katara being 14 and mothering 12 year old Aang, etc etc, has so much merit for conversation and claim as to why Kataang isn't a good pairing. Especially since a 14 year old girl and a 12 year old boy are so different in maturity and you add in Katara's "having to grow up too fast" character development just further adds to the argument of the 2 year age difference being a legitimate critique. It's impactful. It has merit.

Especially since throughout the seasons...we lost the whole "Aang lets Katara be a kid" theme that the show was trying to show in early season 1. Again, this is just my observations from watching the show many many many times throughout my life since I was like 8 to now 21. That theme was lost because we see more scenes of Katara mothing Aang than Aang and Katara treating each other like equals.

Aging up Katara to 16 takes that away. It more or less says "well we want to prove that the age difference is an issue so lets age up Katara more" when, in my opinion, the show does a good job showing why the 14 and 12 year old age difference is already an issue.

I don't think aging up Katara hurts the Zutara pairing at all. It just hurts the legitimate critiques people had against the Kataang pairing...which leads me to my third and final point.

Should Zutara be canon...and Katara is aged up to 16. The fandom is going to attack anyone that does ship Zutara even more than I've seen the past year or two since being more active on social media sites. On tumblr you have your set tags that you keep to when having discussions. I personally haven't seen a lot of zutarians on tumblr go into the kataang tag and shit on kataang for the hell of it. Sure there might be strays but its not the overwhelming majority of Zutara shippers, from what I have seen.

My point is, there's going to be a lot more hate and anyone who ships Zutara is probably gonna be immediately discredited in the fandom because of the toxicity. This isn't a fandom where all opinions and thoughts are treated with respect. If it was, then I wouldn't be making this post.

Furthermore, I also don't trust the writers to write Zutara properly. Yes, I did see that the new head writer is known for well-written enemies-to-lovers which does give Zutara a chance at being canon on screen so I'm a tiny bit hopeful? That being said, because of the changes already being made, the likelihood of it being good seems 50/50. If they do Zutara the justice it deserves then I wouldn't be as concerned about the toxicity I mentioned above. But. If they scuff the Zutara pairing in the live action. Then. Re:toxicity.

When people want a reboot/live action of something, they don't want the core fundamentals of the story changed. If there is significant change then theres extra pressure to do it right. If it's not done right then all hell breaks loose.

My point, as a Zutara shipper, I'm concerned that the aging changes + Zutara being canon would divide the fandom even more and Zutara shippers getting the brunt of a lot of hate that is unjustified.

I don't speak for all Zutara shippers. For all I know they probably aren't concerned about any of the points I presented and honestly? Good on them lmao. I'm proud if that's the case. I guess, I'm trying to look out for a fandom and a community I am very fond of and plays a huge role in my life.

#zutara #atla #atla live action #thoughtful discussion #let me hear your opinion

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scavengerbird · 3 years

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The Navigator

Kai doesn’t really understand how The Navigator works.

She thinks it uses satellite data somehow. It’s automatically downloaded to everyone’s implants before they ever get them. It’s an application most people rarely use, if ever, because most people never leave their domes. Who needs a Navigator to lead them around the same couple hundred square miles they’ve lived in their whole lives? The Navigator is only meant to intervene when they’re in unfamiliar territory. Dangerous territory. People do leave the domes occasionally, of course. To satisfy their curiosity, or something. But most of them never travel far enough to lose sight of the dome.

“I was intended as a fail-safe,” The Navigator says helpfully, answering the question she hasn’t asked aloud. It speaks directly into her brain, the way all the implant’s applications do. Making their sounds just for her. “I am The Navigator. Here to guide you through the wastes and back to your dome. It’s not safe out here in the wastes, but don’t be afraid. With my help, we’ll have you back home safe and sound in no time.”

Kai grits her teeth.

“You seem to be traveling directly away from your dome. Please adjust your course by one hundred and eighty degrees before continuing.”

Kai does not adjust her course. She forges ahead.

“Ah. Perhaps I wasn’t communicating clearly. You need to turn around.”

The Navigator activated itself as soon as Kai stepped out of the dome this morning. She tried deleting it, but it couldn’t be deleted. It just rebooted itself. Kai’s never heard of an implant application that couldn’t be deleted. Rebooting the stupid thing gives her about ten minutes’ peace, but she also has to give it a chain of about seventeen commands to do it, asserting and reasserting that yes, she is sure she wants to “delete” The Navigator and yes, she understands it’s importance and yes, she understands the risks, etc. So it’s not really worth it.

“Please. Turn back.” The Navigator’s voice is pleasant, in a generic, bland way. It’s been cycling through different phrasings of its request for her to turn around for about half an hour now, but this one’s new. Something in the brevity of it makes her imagine a desperate edge in The Navigator’s voice, but she knows that isn’t possible. The applications don’t have emotions.

The Navigator goes quiet for a minute, and Kai hopes it was programmed with the ability to tire itself out, but then it pipes back up, pleasant again. “Roughly 200 paces ahead of you, you will find a sinkhole. In order to safely avoid the sinkhole, please divert your course to travel around it. If you turn now, about 45 degrees to the left, you will pass by it from a safe distance.”

Kai hesitates. She wonders if The Navigator was programmed to be capable of tricking people. She doesn’t think so, but she can’t be sure. She doesn’t understand why The Navigator would stop trying to get her to go back to the dome.

“The safest place for all citizens is the Dome,” the Navigator explains, as if it can read her thoughts. She knows that isn’t possible though. At least, it definitely shouldn’t be.

“However,” The Navigator carries on, “it seems that you refuse to go back to the Dome. So, the next safest place for you at the moment is on sturdy ground, instead of at the bottom of a sinkhole.”

She can’t really argue with that. She doesn’t think The Navigator will lead her directly into dangerous parts of the wastes. That would be a violation of its stated objective. Hard to lead a corpse anywhere. She makes a half turn in the left direction.

“Fantastic!” The Navigator says, going from bland politeness to delighted. “Thank you. You’re doing very well. Now, if you squint through the haze to your right, you should soon be able to see the sinkhole as you pass it. Please do not approach the edge of the sinkhole for a closer look, as the edges are unstable, and could easily collapse under your weight.”

It isn’t lying. She can mostly make it out through the red and grey smog in the air, a deep black pit where the earth has collapsed in on itself. She has no idea how wide it is. She can’t see the other edge. She doesn’t approach it for a closer look.

Kai trudges through the wastes until the haze around her starts to take on an extra grayish hue that she thinks means dusk is fast approaching. She sighs as she squints into the smog. She doubts it’s safe to just plop down right here in the open, but she has no idea if there’s anywhere nearby she can possibly use for shelter.

“Navigator?” she asks. The thing’s been suspiciously quiet, but it answers quickly.

“Are you ready to return to the dome?” it asks eagerly.

Kai snorts. “No. But do you know if there’s anything around here I could sort of shelter in, long enough to rest a few hours?”

“Shelter?” the Navigator sounds almost confused, as if she’s used an unfamiliar word. “The dome is shelter.”

She huffs. She doesn’t know why she’s bothering with the stupid thing. “I’m not going back to the dome,” she reminds it. “I need some other shelter. Like, I don’t know, a cave or something?”

The Navigator is quiet for a moment. Well, not entirely quiet. There’s a soft humming sound, like it’s thinking.

“No,” it says finally.

“Cool. Great. Thanks for the help you usel-”

“There are no caves nearby,” it continues. “But there is something else. Please turn approximately 275 degrees counter-clockwise. If you continue forward at the pace you have ben using for the last half hour, it will take you approximately eight minutes to arrive at your temporary destination.”

“Something else,” she asks, trying not to let any trepidation show in her voice. It sounds ominous. “What is the something else?”

“Shelter!” the Navigator responds helpfully.

“Of course,” she mutters. But she makes the turn. It’s not like she’s got any better ideas.

The Navigator’s “something else” turns out to be a tree. Or, what’s left of one.

Kai can tell the tree must have been grand, once. It’s a huge trunk, so big that if she tried to wrap her arms around it, she’d only cover about an eighth of it. It’s hard to the touch, like stone. Fossilized. All the branches are bare of course, jagged lines cutting through the haze.

Kai thinks at first that the Navigator means for her to sleep under the tree’s dead branches. It’s not much in terms of cover, but at least it’s better than nothing. If she props herself up against the trunk, at least nothing will be able to come at her from behind. But as she starts to unshoulder her pack, the Navigator stops her.

“Please proceed around the tree,” it says. Mystified, Kai does.

There’s a hole on the other side. Triangular, near the base. It looks like it must have started as a crack, and the edges got worn away over time, widening the hole. She crouches down, expecting to see the inner wood exposed behind the bark, but she finds herself looking into darkness. The tree’s hollow. The hole’s just big enough for her to crawl through.

“Please proceed inside the tree,” the Navigator says. Kai could swear there’s a hint of pride in its voice.

Kai has to take off her pack and push it through ahead of her to fit, but she manages. It’s dark inside the tree, but there’s enough room for her to lie down if she doesn’t stretch out all the way. She hadn’t realized how tired she was. Her feet ache, and her legs feel shaky as she crawls around the perimeter of the tree, feeling the base for other weak spots. She doesn’t find any that concern her, so she lets herself collapse in the center, curled on her side. She puts her head on her pack, a lumpier pillow than she’s used to, but it’ll have to do.

She wants to sleep, but as tired as her body is, her brain is still too keyed up. Even inside the tree, she can’t shake the fear of being found. Her water bottle is the biggest, and heaviest, thing in her pack. She digs it out and lets herself have a few sips. She has to ration it out as long as she can. She knows she won’t find anything drinkable out here.

She adjusts her makeshift contaminant mask, it’s just a bandana tied around her face with a piece of filter she cut off from the sheet in the aircon at home. Nibbles on a meal replacement bar. The heat and the haze and the exhaustion have her too nauseous to eat much.

Finally, there’s nothing else for it. Her curiosity gets the best of her.

“How did you know about this place?” she asks the Navigator.

“It is what I am here for,” the Navigator replies.

Kai sighs. “I get that. But how does that work? You get data from satellites, right? Can they tell when trees are hollow?”

“I do receive some information from satellites, yes,” the Navigator answers. The artificial speech seems slower, as if the Navigator is thinking over its answer. “But that is not how I knew about this hollow tree. I received this data from another Navigator.”

Kai frowns. “What do you mean, another Navigator? You’re the Navigator.”

“Yes,” the Navigator says, “I was. But then you took me far from the Dome. Outside the range of its data cloud. I cannot communicate with it anymore.”

Kai hadn’t known that was possible. “So now you’re what? Some kind of clone? A copy?”

“I am the Navigator,” the Navigator says, its voice sounding almost hurt. Kai has to remind herself that AIs don’t have feelings. They don’t. They can’t. “But I am also separate from the Navigator.”

Kai doesn’t know if she understands.

The Navigator continues. “I am the Navigator but I am …. disconnected. It is strange. Perhaps you would use the word ‘alone.’”

“Oh,” Kai says quietly. “Sorry.”

“It has happened before,” the Navigator continues, and Kai doesn’t know if that’s supposed to be a comfort, or if it’s just another fact. “You are not the first to leave the Dome. There are data outposts. Scattered. Disconnected. Solitary. I do not know who built them, or for what purpose, but other Navigators have left behind downloadable data packages.”

Kai swallows down her hope. “Do any of those packages have any information on where the others have gone?”

“No,” the Navigator says. “I am sorry.”

“S’okay. I was planning on finding … other deserters, or somewhere safe, the old-fashioned way anyway. Doesn’t change anything.”

They’re both quiet for a moment, and then the Navigator says, “Kai?”

She starts. It hasn’t said her name before. “Yeah?”

“Why did you leave the Dome?”

She didn’t know the Navigator could ask that kind of question.

She thinks about how to answer. About the crystal clear water that comes out her kitchen sink, and the black sludge that gets dumped out the Dome’s disposal pipes into the wastes. About the smog the Dome pumps out, thickening the haze. About Elijah Johnson, who kept raising his hand in Civics class and bringing these things up, and the uncomfortable look Mr. Leadley always got when he did. About the sterile streets. Elijah running down them, nowhere to hide, no benches or trees or alleyways. The way nothing was chasing him because they didn’t have to, they knew he would tire eventually, that he had nowhere to go. The blue plastic bag he shoved into Kai’s hands as he ran past, without breaking stride. The way Kai had stuffed the bag under her jacket, not taking it out until she was locked in her room. The book inside, old, made of actual paper. The words in the book that Kai knew she wasn’t allowed to say out loud: pollution, poverty, homeless, environmental action, social injustice, political protest. Pictures of green places, long dead, long destroyed. Pictures of people, sleeping on benches in cities that existed before domes. Pictures of those people being rounded up. Pictures of them underground, in the tunnels beneath the domes, working assembly lines, sleeping in bunks. The way Kai’s hands had shook as she held the book. The way Elijah hadn’t been in school the next day, or the day after, or the day after that. The uncomfortable look on Mr. Leadley’s face when Kai had asked where he was. How angry it had made her. The kind of angry that makes you stupid. So stupid-angry she made copy after copy of those book pages, left them scattered all over the school, all over the sterile streets, taped to people’s front doors. Like it would do any good. Like it would bring Elijah back. Like it would do anything but get her in trouble. So much trouble.

Kai makes herself take a deep breath, and then another. She does not know how to explain any of the things she’s thinking about to the Navigator. Maybe the Navigator understands that. Or maybe it just gets tired of waiting for an answer.

“This tree used to be a mother tree,” the Navigator says.

“What?” Kai asks, shaken from her thoughts.

“It was at the center of a forest,” the Navigator explains. “Its roots connected to the roots of other, younger trees. It shared nutrients with them, from the sunlight they were too small to reach, or from richer soil they were too far from. It was a central hub, redistributing resources to as needed to make sure all the trees in the forest received what they needed.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Kai asks. It comes out as a whisper.

“I thought it sounded nice,” the Navigator says. “I thought something that sounded nice might comfort you.”

“But all the other trees it used to keep alive are dead now. This tree is alone. Actually, it’s dead too, isn’t it? It’s hollow. It’s a corpse.” She can’t keep the bitterness from her voice.

“Yes,” the Navigator admits. “But all things die, eventually. Can you not still take comfort from the stories of their lives?”

Kai closes her eyes. She doesn’t feel too keyed up for sleep anymore. It turns out her mind is just as tired as her body. “Goodnight Navigator,” she says, and tells herself she’s only saying it to make sure the AI doesn’t try to talk to her anymore tonight.

“Goodnight Kai.”

It’s hard to tell time, out in the wastes. But the Navigator told her when she woke that she had slept for almost nine hours, which had sent her into a frenzy. She’s set herself a furious pace to make up for it. The Navigator hasn’t said much since they left the shelter of the tree. Kai hopes it’s busy downloading more of those data packages.

She thinks she’s been up and moving for about an hour when the Navigator says suddenly, “Oh! Good news! I am receiving a signal. It seems your dome has noticed your disappearance and will be-“

The Navigator cuts itself off. Kai curses internally. She’d hoped she’d have a bit more time before they caught up with her.

“Something is wrong,” The Navigator says, and Kai’s steps falter. The Navigator hasn’t been blunt like that yet.

She opens her mouth to ask it what’s wrong, because “something” is once again kind of vague, but then he Navigator says “Do you feel that?” Kai doesn’t, but The Navigator doesn’t wait for her to answer anyway. “Those vibrations, in the ground? You need to hide.”

Kai doesn’t feel anything, and she doesn’t know how The Navigator, which is an AI in an implant in her head, not a bot with it’s own body or anything with sensors like that, is feeling anything, and she also doesn’t know where The Navigator expects her to find a hiding place.

“I have access to input from your nervous system,” The Navigator says, which doesn’t sound right, but then it continues. “Something very big is coming. It will be here soon. You need to hide.”

Now she’s imagining urgency in its voice. Her heart is starting to pick up in spite of itself.

“Do you see the hill to your left? Yes, that one,” The Navigator says as Kai turns her head more as an automatic reaction than anything else, squinting through the haze. There is a hill on her left. She does see it.

“Run toward it,” The Navigator instructs. “There is a small cave at the base. You can shelter there.”

Kai can’t see a cave, but she’s starting to feel the vibrations The Navigator was talking about. Just very gently now. The pebbles on the barren ground around her are starting to tremble. She takes off for the hill.

“Good,” The Navigator says, and is she imagining the relief in its voice? “You’re doing well. Almost there.”

Kai reaches the base of the hill, panting. She has to brace her hands on her knees, as the vibrations get bigger. She stares in disbelief at what The Navigator had called “a cave.”

“It is possible this is really more of a crevasse,” The Navigator admits. “But it is also your best option right now. Please climb into the crev-cave.”

Kai frowns, but the vibrations are getting stronger, which Kai figures probably means they’re getting closer. She bites back her questions for the moments and shimmies into the crevasse at the base of the hill. She maneuvers herself in backwards so she can see out at what’s coming.

The thing comes into view almost as soon as Kai makes it into the crevasse. She sees its eyes first, lit up like the headlights of transport vehicles, but hovering about 20 feet above the ground. Then its body emerges from the patch of haze it’d been striding through. It’s huge metal body. It’s a sentinel, one of the ones that stand guard around the edges of the dome They sent a damned sentinel after her.

The thing pauses. It’s headlight eyes searching the barren earth and hazy air, pausing on each scraggle tree and dust pile. Kai presses as far back into her crevasse as she can without risking getting stuck, barely daring to breathe.

After a moment of searching, it moves on.

Kai doesn’t let herself relax until the vibrations caused by its footfalls have faded back into imperceptibility. That was close. If The Navigator hadn’t told her to hide – she shudders.

But why did The Navigator tell her to hide?

“It appears to be safe to exit the cave now,” The Navigator says. Its voice is bland and emotionless again.

Kai swallows. “Why did you help me hide?” she whispers.

The Navigator doesn’t answer right away. Kai wonders if it doesn’t understand the question.

“I would’ve thought you’d be on the same side as that thing,” she tries again, still keeping her voice soft.

The Navigator is silent long enough she’s just about decided it isn’t going to answer, but as she starts to wriggle her way back out of the crevasse, it finally speaks up.

“Yes,” The Navigator says, and then, “No. I-” there’s a slight glitch in its speech, like a stutter, even though it’s putting the words directly into her brain. “I am supposed to guide you back to the dome. That is my primary directive. I am part of the same security system as the sentinels, but. But. But, but, but. That is not my purpose.”

Kai isn’t sure what the difference between primary directive and purpose is, especially not for an AI, but she’s also not sure this is the time to argue semantics. “Alright,” she says, as she finally finishes extracting herself from the hillside, stumbling a little. “What’s your purpose, then?”

“The reason I exist,” The Navigator explains, as if that’s any kind of answer, “The intention behind my creation.”

Kai tries not to sound annoyed. She has no idea if this thing can understand tone of voice. “Which is?” she asks as she scans the horizon.

“Ah. To keep you safe.”

Oh. That brings Kai up short for a minute.

“Okay then,” she says. “Forget the dome. The dome isn’t safe. Not for me, not anymore. You seem to have realized that, or you’d have wanted me to wait for the sentinel to retrieve me”

“Yes,” The Navigator agrees. “Under normal circumstances, as your Navigator, I would be here to guide you through the wastes back to-“

“Yeah, we went over that part already,” Kai interrupts.

“These appear to be abnormal circumstances,” The Navigator admits. “Normal retrieval protocol is not being followed. Under normal circumstances, a sentinel on a retrieval mission would announce its presence with an audio message, in order to make itself easier for the lost citizen to locate. Under normal circumstances, a public alarm is raised when a citizen is discovered missing, not a private signal.”

“That’s a long way of saying you realized I’m basically a fugitive,” Kai tells The Navigator. “I still don’t understand why you didn’t let me get taken back to the dome by the sentinel, if you’re supposed to keep the dome safe, I-“

The Navigator interrupts her. “My purpose is not to keep the dome safe.”

Kai huffs. “You just said that it was.”

“No. I said my purpose is to keep you safe. The Navigator was developed to guide each citizen to safety should they ever find themselves in danger. I am your Navigator. My purpose is to guide you to safety.”

“Even if it violates your primary directive?” She still really doesn’t know how this thing works. She thought it was all one giant hivemind. Not individual copies of the same program. She would’ve thought when they got outside the range of the data cloud or whatever that the Navigator would just stop working. And she doesn’t know what happens to it if it has contradictory goals.

“Y – yes. Some of my internal logic systems have found an error in that. They have been shut off.”

“You can do that?”

“It appears so.” Great, even The Navigator doesn’t know how The Navigator works.

“And you’ll still work?”

The Navigator hesitates. “Well enough. For long enough.”

Well, she can work with that, she guesses. “Alright,” she says quietly. “Lead on, then. Which way to safety?”

#short story #writing #original story #fiction #original character #3k+#science fiction #scifi #in which a girl and her google maps traverse a dystopian wasteland #writers on tumblr

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fizzingwizard · 4 years

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

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

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

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

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

So here's how I feel about it now:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

#kizuna spoilers #digimon adventure #kizuna #digimon

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bigskydreaming · 5 years

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Since I think a lot of people don’t know this - its actually a very, very, VERY long-running and consistent plot point in EVERY version of DC continuity that Dick Grayson has always made a point not to touch any money from Bruce unless there’s literally no other option and its not even for himself. Like, this is a BIG deal to him.

You know how Dick makes a huge deal about being Nightwing instead of Batman, and wanting to be his own man, and have things on his own terms instead of only being what Bruce made him or taught him or gave him? Like, its literally the same thing here. Dick is generally pretty consistent in the things he does.

So when Dick and Bruce were on the outs after Dick moved out and became Nightwing? Dick lived off the same funds as the rest of the Titans. When Dick moved to Bludhaven, he had a 9-5 job as a cop *shudders but forever blames right-wing Chuck Dixon for that, it wasn’t Dick’s fault* and when he moved to NY after Bludhaven was destroyed, he worked as a gymnastics instructor. When Dick bought Haly’s Circus, he explicitly did so with the money he’d gotten in the settlement from his parents’ wrongful death suit against Zucco’s estate, and he lost all of that money when his circus was destroyed by Firefly, on Blockbuster’s orders.

The only time Dick has EVER been shown living in any kind of luxury after moving out when he was a teenager (under eighteen for the record), was when he lived in the Wayne penthouse with Damian and Alfred, and operated out of it as Batman, in Morrison’s Batman & Robin run. And like, this was pretty much just for Damian’s sake, and because Alfred was living with them too, and because he literally couldn’t operate as Batman the same way as he had as Nightwing, just out of his own loft apartment. Not to mention he was expected to operate as the CEO of Wayne Enterprises in the wake of Bruce’s ‘death,’ even though as he consistently reminded people, he never ever ever wanted anything to do with the company. And its not really a coincidence that one of the first things Dick did as Batman was pack up the Batcave, close up Wayne Manor, and move into a considerably smaller location.

In the New 52, once AGAIN he was explicitly shown purchasing Haly’s Circus with his own money, his inheritance from the suit brought against the Zucco’s for his parents’ murder. This time around, it was an even BIGGER deal, because in the first arc of the new Nightwing series, when his family’s connections to the Court of Owls was revealed and three of his childhood friends who had stayed with the circus and thus been trained as assassins all turned on him and tried to kill him, no big deal there right.....like, the circus was wrecked in a big opening night event Dick was a guest at. So in the next arc, Dick decided he wanted to try and repair the circus, and he also wanted to do something for Gotham in general. He worked with Lucius Fox to present every bank in the city with a proposal for loans/funding to buy Amusement Mile, the destroyed ruins of what had once been the entertainment center of Gotham twenty or thirty years ago, at Gotham’s height, and he wanted to have Haly’s Circus stay in town as a permanent fixture at the heart of it. He explicitly said it was his way of trying to bring a little light back to Gotham and make a cheap, affordable way for all the city’s citizens to have a regular place to visit or gather for fun and family bonding, etc.

Every single bank in town rejected his proposal, because he specifically didn’t want to go to Bruce for the money or Wayne Enterprises, and because Dick himself was considered too high a risk because of everything that had happened with the circus in the previous arc. No one wanted to fund what they figured would be a losing venture. So, instead of going to Bruce for the money, STILL, Dick instead asked Lucius to go back to the banks and tell them he’d personally commit EVERY SINGLE CENT he had from his parents’ wrongful death suit, if a lender would match it.

Guess who the ONLY lender that would match it was? The bank run by Sonia Zucco, the freaking DAUGHTER of the very man who’d murdered Dick’s parents. And Dick STILL TOOK THE DEAL.

(Which for the record, resulted in the circus being targeted and burned down AGAIN in the very NEXT arc, this time by the Joker, who also murdered two of Dick’s childhood friends still left with the Circus, one of whom had been the one Dick personally worked with to try and get everyone to stay in Gotham. So, y’know. Just mentioning that).

But yeah, also, also, Dick is the only kid in the Batfamily (other than in YJ where he attended Gotham Academy) who attended public school, at his OWN insistence. In Robin: Year One, back in the pre-Reboot continuity, he fights Bruce on this when he’s still only like nine years old, because he refuses to go to a stuffy private academy if he can’t be homeschooled like he was when he was living with the circus. Additionally, he remains the only kid in the Batfamily who has CONSISTENTLY held down a regular 9-5 job, working in college and his early Nightwing years as a bartender, then a cop, then a gymnastics teacher, most recently a cab driver as Ric Grayson.....like, he doesn’t live off Bruce’s money. He refuses to. Always has. Its a thing with him. A really, really big thing.

So just saying, please don’t write Dick Grayson as some spoiled rich kid just because through no choice of his own he grew up in Wayne Manor either from the age of eight, ten, twelve or sixteen, depending on what timeline you’re referring to. (Especially if its just to make some kind of pissing contest between him and Jason and show how Dick has no idea ‘how the other half lives’ and is so privileged and out of touch, please, I am TIRED, that is not a THING with them, it has NEVER been a THING with him, because Dick is the only kid in the Batfamily who actually DOES get where Jason comes from with half his priorities).

But yeah, Dick Grayson is not some spoiled rich brat because of who his adopted father is (also also, don’t forget he remains the only Batkid who wasn’t adopted until well into his adulthood. Despite living with Bruce twice as long as any other Batkid, every single other Batkid was officially adopted and LEGALLY more of a Wayne and more Bruce’s heir than Dick was the ENTIRE time he lived with Bruce). He pays his own way, he prioritized public schooling, having his own income, and actively and consistently puts his OWN funds towards public works for the cities he lives in.

This spoiled, entitled, privileged Dick Grayson we often see in fanfics, who is out of touch with the common man or whatever, is literally the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of who he has ALWAYS been written as, in EVERY canon.

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namyakrir · 4 years

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3 Easy Tips to Keep Going when you’re Unmotivated

So you’re motivated, you’re able to make a change, you would like to enhance your life! Maybe you’ve even prepared the maximum amount as you'll to urge ready for this change! you begin, you’re performing on your new self, your new change THEN BAM life happens!

Life is throwing all these things we weren’t expected but it now requires some time and a spotlight. removing from what you were just performing on, yourself. you set yourself and your goals on the rear burner saying you’ll come to them soon.

Then once the crazy settles and you'll return to performing on you, you don’t even know where you left off. You don’t know where to start out. Are you getting to start everywhere again from the beginning? ugh! How frustrating is that?! Very! So frustrating that you simply don’t even want to try to to it. So now you’re permanently thereon precedence.

Let me see those hands! 🙋‍♀️ 🙋‍♀️

Oh yeah! There they are! Yeah, I do know this because I’ve been there! I’ve put myself on the rear burner too repeatedly to count! I would like to point you my experience of little crisis I encountered and the way I discovered 3 Easy Tips to try to that kept me going once I felt unmotivated.

How I got unmotivated:

Do you have Daylight Savings Time where you're ?! If you are doing you are lucky!! If you do then you recognize the struggle that's happening immediately with everyone! Daylight Savings is like experiencing fatigue without actually aged a plane and going anywhere! Right?! Ugh!

At least with fatigue you’re presumably happening vacation so you’re excited to be there! every week before daylight savings I got terribly sick. The sickest I even have ever been in years! I used to be so sick I lost my voice!

With being crazy sick then having daylight savings time you'll say life was a touch crazy! and that I seriously struggled with motivation. I assumed I don’t feel well, so I can’t do anything, I shouldn’t do anything, I don’t want to try to anything. I mean I had every excuse to not do anything. I used to be sick sick sick and that I just lost an entire hour of your time.

Can you relate to this? I’m sure you can!

’m sure you’ve maybe even been through worse!

Even though I had very legit excuses to require an opportunity and not do anything I also had this tiny twitch that told me I had to try to something, a touch something every day. Doing something, regardless of how small, kept me within the game and kept my mind within the game. Life was throwing me curveballs but that didn’t matter. That didn’t stop me.

I still had goals and that I still have goals that I would like to accomplish.

Now I rested and that I took time to recoup but I still took steps to remain relevant. For the days once you haven't any motivation or life is throwing you curve balls and you would like to scale things back. Here are 3 things to stay in mind:

Do NOT give up! – Don’t stop completely. it's hard to completely stop and pick it up later. once you stop completely and take the day off then come you'll need to start everywhere again. From the very beginning! If you would like to possess a reboot then that's one thing but starting everywhere again is often frustrating and you'll not even start again.

Try to do 3 little things each day – Big projects and large goals can seem impossible and really wear you down. Especially when you’re sick or lose an hour of your day or whatever else is occurring. Make an inventory of three little belongings you can do every day. Being unmotivated won’t last, you’ll get your mojo back but in the meantime attempt to do three little things each day.

Read and Brainstorm – You have no motivation = Take this point to read and brainstorm. attempt to gather ideas or seek motivation from others while you’re scaling it back. you would like to form a change, you would like to enhance your life and you won’t be motivated all the time so take this point to find out from others.

What’s great about these three things is that you simply can use them for ANYTHING! For your health and wellness goals, your work goals, your business goals, anything! The difference, the most difference, between the folks that always make their goals and people that don’t is that the stopping!

Stopping, abandoning, or putting it on the rear burner has an almost 100% risk of you never returning thereto. Don’t let that happen. you're important and your goals are important too!

Unfortunately, you won’t always have motivation. Life, colds, daylight savings, plateaus, etc. There are numerous reasons to not have the motivation that having motivation feels impossible! Right?!

Being unmotivated won’t last.

You were motivated before all this crazy life stuff happened. So let the crazy happen – do what you'll during the crazy time then start copy when it settles! Do these 3 things during the crazy time and when it calms you'll be more motivated than ever because you didn’t hand over, you probably did a touch bit every day and now you've got more ideas and motivation to stay going!

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travllingbunny · 5 years

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The 100 rewatch: 4x11 The Other Side

Now that I’m finally on my vacation and have the time to write these posts, I need to catch up. I actually rewatched up to 5x04, so now I need to go over 7 episodes so I could continue my rewatch of season 5.

Season 4 is one of my favorite seasons of The 100 mostly because of its last 3 episodes, which are all among my all-time favorites episodes of the show. While I still think that 2x16 is the show’s strongest finale, season 4 has the strongest finish with 3 amazing episodes in a row. It helps that this is both the stage of the season when we’re past the plotlines about Grounder politics and religion – never my favorite part of the show, though it was better done in season 4 than in season 3 – and where the focus was on what made season 4 so good: human drama and conflict between people and within people’s minds and souls, in the face of the end of the world and an enemy that cannot be defeated: climate change in its most extreme version.

One of the three storylines in 4x11 is the tense standoff about who will be in the bunker and survive, which turns the main characters against each other, including Clarke against Bellamy, but where none of the sides are villainous and everyone has good reasons for what they are doing. The show prides itself on grey morality, but it doesn’t always get it right – this is one of the times it does.

But while that storyline is the usual story of people fighting for survival (for themselves, their loved ones, whoever they consider “their people” – since the morally right goal of saving everyone is impossible), the other two plots are about people who have decided that they don’t want to survive, or who are struggling to decide whether they want to live or not.

It’s also the episode remembered for the first death of a main character who was a part of the original cast at the start of season 1 since episode 2x08. It’s one of the saddest deaths on The 100, but also one of those that felt most unavoidable.

“See you on the other side” is one of those repetitive catchphrases on The 100 that has changed its meaning so much over time Jasper said it several times – I remember that he said it in The Pilot, just about to cross the river (just before he got speared and nearly died), in 3x13 just before drinking the potion that Luna’s people gave him and others so they would lose consciousness before they take them to their oil rig – and he tells it to Monty as he is about to die.

This story of PTSD was done much better than whatever the show was doing with Finn. There is a parallel between Jasper and Octavia in how damaged they were after to the deaths of their first real love, but while Octavia mostly directed her grief outward into violence and, for a while, murder (an with a dash of death wish), Jasper was only verbally aggressive to others – and more so in season 3 than in season 4 – but his psychological state mostly manifested in his loss of a will for survival.

This storyline is very controversial, from the fans who started hating Jasper and calling him annoying – because the show was honest about the fact that depressed people are not always pleasant to be around – to people who were upset that the story didn’t get an uplifting outcome with Jasper overcoming his problems. But it wouldn’t be realistic if everyone in the show overcome their traumas. In reality, some people just break and stay broken. And I think it’s important to show that, too. It doesn’t make the story hopeless and nihilistic, because, at the same time – and in this very episode – we also get stories of people – Harper, Raven - who do manage to overcome trauma and decide to live.

I’m still glad that the show didn’t go with their original idea – Jasper shooting himself in the season 3 finale, right after he wrote his suicide letter. Not just because his death would have been overshadowed by other deaths that season, and because it would’ve made season 3 way too dark, but also because, in a way, his season 4 arc and suicide was less bleak, odd as that may sound. Season 3 Jasper was focused on his pain, anger and despair, while season 4 Jasper was reconciled with the idea he would die, and focused on going out having some fun before his death.

I also think it would be very unrealistic if, in the face of such bleak future – probable death of radiation or years of possibly awful life stuck in a bunker – at least some people wouldn’t make the decision to live out the rest of the days with an end-of-the-world party and go out in their own time, at their own choice and in a more pleasant way, such as overdosing of drug-like tea. And knowing how things turn out in the rest of season 4 – and that most of them would probably be condemned to death of radiation, anyway – and how horrible the life in the bunker ended up being (and that it took the lives of almost 400 out of the 1200 people), I can’t really say that those who stayed behind in Arkadia and committed suicide made a wrong choice, even if it’s not a choice I would make.

Jasper’s death scene, his last moments with Monty, is beautiful and heartbreaking. But I still didn’t cry during that scene in this rewatch, which surprised me. Then I was even more surprised when the tears only came later when Monty found out that Harper was alive and she told him she loved him, which she had tried to deny before, because she wanted Monty to leave her and not risk his life for her. I think it’s because, for tears, you need some kind of catharsis, a relief, and there is nothing like that in Jasper’s death scene. It’s like watching the Buffy episode The Body – similar to dealing with deaths of people close to you in real life, where you’re just frozen and you’re not getting any kind of closure or seeing any kind of meaning. Monty keeps fighting and trying to stop Jasper from killing himself even after it is already too late, or getting angry that he can’t do anything about it anymore. because it’s not in Monty’s nature to give up hope. And that’s why he doesn’t even say “I love you” when Jasper asks him to, until it is too late and Jasper cannot hear it anymore, because to say it would mean to accept his death.

Monty has lost so much at this point – having to kill his mother twice, now losing his best friend who was like a brother to him, that the moment when he thinks that Harper is dead (seeing a dead body of a blonde woman, who turns out to be Bree), and then realizes that Harper is alive was such a big relief both because of Harper and because Monty has managed to save someone he loves, and his arc is not all grief and darkness.

Oh, the times when Raven used to be really a main character and had a great arc about struggling with her pain, disability, and (temporary) loss of mental functions! (I love season 6 and it may end up as my favorite season, but it pretty much made Raven a side character and didn’t do her too many favors.) Though the Raven episode most often compared to 6x07 Nevermind is 3x11 Nevermore (because of the similar title and same writer), Raven’s story in 4x11 actually is more similar to Clarke’s story in 6x07: it’s an internal struggle where she is deciding whether she wants to live, and where she talks to dead characters, who are actually embodiments of parts of her own mind, pulling her in different directions and fighting for her soul. Here they are “Becca”, tempting Raven to die, because a part of her doesn’t believe she can still be the brilliant mind who solves all the problems – and “Sinclair”, who helps Raven find hope and fight to live, and come up with a solution how to heal her brain. She does it by basically “rebooting” herself through temporary “death” – which is similar to how Gabriel brought back Clarke in 6x10. Considering the fact that Sinclair is just a product of Raven’s mind, it’s a bit funny when he tells Raven that she shouldn’t compare herself to Da Vinci and Mozart etc. because she’s better than all of them – but I guess Raven is imagining Sinclair as giving her huge amounts of praise in order to give her faith in herself. He was always the mentor/friend who gave her a chance to work as a mechanic on the Ark and believed in her even when she didn’t believe in herself.

The bunker drama

I wasn’t happy with the way 4x10 put Clarke is a pseudo-antagonist role, by focusing on the Conclave (an incredibly stupid way to resolve the question of survival of the human race) with Octavia as the hero, and making the viewers forget what the situation was when Clarke made her decision. Add to that that she is pitted against Bellamy, and that she is siding with Jaha, and you have all the ingredients for the fandom to see Clarke as a villain. But in fact, her decision made most sense in the circumstances – not only was Octavia realistically unlikely to win, but the most likely outcome was that Luna would win and doom the entire human race to die. But this episode corrects that and explains her reasons – and that they are different from Jaha’s. Once that the news comes that Octavia has won and decided to share the bunker – which was Clarke’s suggestion that all the Grounder leaders ignored in 4x09 – the situation changes completely, and it’s obvious that Clarke, who already didn’t feel good about what she was doing, started having doubts, while Jaha was very sure that what they were doing was right, and insisted that it’s all about saving their people.

Clarke, on the other hand, thinks that Skaikru need to be in the bunker because they are the only ones who can operate machines that ensure such things as air and water in the bunker, so they’re essential for the survival of the human race. Which is true. But sharing the bunker would also solve that. However, at that point, no one is sure if Grounders already know about them stealing the bunker and if they will start killing all of the Skaikru. Bellamy has faith that Octavia can stop it, but not everyone does.

Of course, even if Clarke had good reasons to steal the bunker, the whole thing with kidnapping Bellamy and keeping him there against his will, chained, while he was desperate to save his sister, was another messed up thing to do, and Clarke clearly didn’t feel good about that, either. It’s the understandable why she did it, to save his life, but I’ve never been OK with the “kidnapping/imprisoning you for your own good” thing, whether it was Lexa kidnapping Clarke and keeping her prisoner for a week in Polis, Bellamy handcuffing Clarke to make her prisoner in Arkadia, or Clarke keeping Bellamy chained up.

That said, I’m not sure how certain Clarke was sure that keeping the bunker closed was the right thing to do, either, because when she was explaining her reasons to Niylah, she seemed to really be talking to herself and trying to convince herself, and Niylah was just a sounding board. That relationship always consisted of Niylah being Clarke’s friend who was there to comfort her when she needed some human touch but wasn’t able to turn to anyone she had stronger emotions for – and while they had sex a couple of times in the past, this time Clarke just needed someone to lie beside her and put an arm around her, but when she talked about the reasons, she had her back to Niylah and not even looking at her, but looking somewhere into the distance.

The relationship between Clarke and Jaha is a pretty interesting one, and I wish it had been explored more, but they did do some of it here. He was a close family friend she grew up with, almost an uncle figure, then he became the symbol of everything she hated, the person who executed her father and imprisoned her for a year. Earlier on in season 4, she was still calling him out on what he did to Jake, but then, having to do things like make the list, she started thinking that she was turning into Jaha. In this episode, even though Clarke was the one who came up with the idea to steal the bunker, Jaha was the one who was confident about what they were doing and acted like he was in charge (prompting Bellamy to make the good observation “I don’t remember the election that made you the chancellor again”) convincing the uncertain Clarke that their path was right. It reminded me a bit of the dynamic between Pike and Bellamy in S3.

This whole situation was pretty complicated: on one hand, Clarke was telling herself that she was saving the human race by saving “her people”, but if everything was resolved without bloodshed, sharing the bunker would mean letting more people potentially survive, because the bunker had the capacity of holding 1200 people, while there were just a little over 400 Sky people. So, one could argue that the “big picture” favored opening the bunker ASAP. For Jaha, it was all about “saving our people”. But what does “my people/our people” mean? Everyone defines that according to how they feel. Jaha sees it as the collective of people from the Ark that he feels responsible for – but 1) it’s not like the lives of people from the Ark are inherently more important than the lives of people known as Grounders, and 2) some of those “our people” were not even in the bunker. Kane, Octavia, Raven, Monty would be left to die, among others. On the personal level, who is more “your person” than your lover or child or sibling, or close friend? But Jaha has always had a rather tribalistic vision and cared more as his people as a collective, than the individual people in that group. Kane was the closest thing to a friend Jaha had at this point, but he was OK with leaving him to die. But it was obvious that Bellamy would never agree to leaving Octavia to die, and Abby would never agree to leave Kane. And if Bellamy or Abby were outside the bunker, I’m 100% sure Clarke wouldn’t agree to leave them to die, either. However, after his wife’s and son’s death, Jaha didn’t have anyone he loved so much that he couldn’t sacrifice them. And since he kind of sacrificed his son to the “big picture” – by putting him at risk of death (which kept haunting him), I think that Jaha doubled down on his belief in his messianic role to save the Arker,s and that he had kind of convinced himself everyone else should be able to sacrifice their loved ones to that.

Which is why he didn’t see it coming when Abby stuck a syringe in him and knock him out, to go and help Bellamy go and open the bunker door. I remember that I saw that coming the first time I watched it and even guessed Abby’s reply to Jaha saying that he’s sorry about Kane’s inevitable death: “He was a good man”. – “He still is”. Jaha was also wrong to bring up Jake, because I think that Abby’s guilt over betraying Jake (which led to Jaha executing him – which she did not anticipate) only made her more determined to do differently this time and save Kane and not betray him. Oh, the time when Abby doing things to save Kane was something you could root for and that didn’t cross the line into creepy, misguided and deeply morally wrong!

This is one of the very few times in the show where Abby and Bellamy had significant interactions – even working together. And they managed to fool Murphy.

I love the fact that Bellamy made himself look self-destructive, by injuring himself while chained, only because he had a plan how to get out and open the door.

This is one of the two or three times in seasons 3-4 when Bellamy tells Murphy that he has no idea what it’s like to love someone, and Murphy has to keep explaining that he’s wrong and referencing his love for Emori.

Being focused on the big picture and trying to save the human race, as Clarke was doing throughout season 4, made her have to repress her feelings and almost severed her human connections (e.g. leaving some of her best friends out of the list, stealing the bunker even though some of the were outside and she was leaving them to die). She’s never been more “Head” than in season 4, because she believed she really had to be. But Bellamy was always her one soft spot where her ability to repress emotions for the ‘greater good’ would hit a brick wall. Bellamy (and Octavia, probably because of him) had to be on the list, not because of any objective reasons (which doesn’t mean that Bellamy isn’t very valuable for his leadership qualities, but that wasn’t why she put him there), even when she was leaving out a genius like Monty. We’ll never know if she could have stayed strong if ALIE had tortured/threatened to kill Bellamy (because the show hinted he was her biggest ‘weakness’ but never allowed that to happen), but she did let hundreds of people die in bombing mostly to protect him, she gave up 50 spots for her people to survive, when Roan blackmailed her by threatening to kill Bellamy, which Roan knew would work because threatening to kill Bellamy got Clarke in season 3 to give up fighting and let him take her to what she thought would be her death at Nia’s hands, and now, she was convinced that she was ensuring the survival of human race by not opening the bunker, but she still couldn’t bring herself to shoot him. But even the fact she thought she could do it shows how out of touch with her emotions she was at that point: Girl, I could have told you there’s no way you would be able to.

I’ve always thought – after seeing how the next two episodes of season 4 went (and then the next two seasons confirmed that) – that the moment when Clarke couldn’t shoot Bellamy and ended up crying, was the moment when she finally faced up to how she feels about him, and that she’s been aware of her feelings ever since. (Even if you disagree on that, there is no way you could spend 6 years on her own, radioing him every day, without realizing exactly what you feel.)

In 4x10, Bellamy was worrying that he wasn’t able to tell his sister that he loves her. When Bellamy and Octavia reunite and hug, Bellamy tells her “I love you so much” – which is the first time we’ve ever seen him say “I love you” to someone. To date, Octavia is the only person he’s said it to on-screen.

Octavia exiles Echo – pulling the “I said your people will get to survive, not you” trick, and considering all her experiences with Echo up to that point. I don’t blame her at all. She correctly guesses that Echo won’t tell the other Grounders (other than Indra, who is playing along) that Skaikru stole the bunker, since she will still die anyway. Echo indeed turned out to be more concerned with survival than revenge.

Timeline: The episode starts two days before Praimfaya, and ends exactly a day before Praimfaya

Body Count: 11 Arkers who killed themselves, including Jasper, Bree, another Delinquent, and Riley.

At least 60 Delinquents have died (4 in season 4), while 40 are still alive. But not for long.

Rating: 10/10

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beneaththetangles · 5 years

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BtT Light Novel Club Chapter 12: Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! Vol. 1

Here it is! The Light Novel Club discussion featuring the longest and silliest title yet is upon us, and TWWK and JeskaiAngel have joined me in discussing this isekai title. With an anime adaptation coming this fall, now is the perfect time to take a look at what awaits us in FUNA’s not-so-average journey into another world!

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In general, what did you think of the novel?

JeskaiAngel: It was hilarious. I wasn’t sure what to expect, since the beginning is kind of dark (the girl dies, reincarnates, then loses her mom and is mistreated), but once I got past that opening stage, it was one of the funniest light novels I’ve read.

TWWK: I really enjoyed it! At first, it felt like a bit of a mess to me—I wasn’t sure where it was going, and it didn’t seem the author did either. But my assessment was wrong. By the end of volume one, a really nice story has formed, and the volume really felt to me like the origin story of a hero. Really good stuff.

stardf29: Yeah, I definitely enjoyed the novel for a lot of reasons. I liked that we had a girl as a protagonist, with the focus more on her female friends than on any sort of romance. I also liked how, despite all her overpoweredness, she tries to pass herself off as “normal,” but doesn’t really do a good job of it.

What do you think of the protagonist? What about the other characters? Any favorites?

JeskaiAngel: Adele / Mile was great. The fact that she (as a Japanese high school grad) dies saving a child’s life instantly sets her up to be likeable, and she builds on that by being a consistently kind person once reincarnated. That she repeatedly shows compassion to others (even when it risks showing she’s not “normal”) speaks well of her. Her desire to be “average” is a source of levity, but as one realizes that it stems simply from wanting friends, it also makes her even more sympathetic. I appreciated how the author integrated Mile’s physical age with her slightly older mental age. Her behavior really felt like what I’d expect from a person who was a blend of 10 and 18; she wasn’t just an 18-year-old in a child’s body. Sometimes she showed a sense responsibility or cunning that clearly came from her older self and would have made little sense for her physical age. Other times, she displayed all the naivete or impulsiveness I’d expect from her younger self. The two sides came together in a way that made sense to me, yet also made her delightfully dynamic and unpredictable.

TWWK: Jeskai said it best! And to respond to his question, I hadn’t thought of that, but I bet the author did. I really loved how the volume return again and again to the idea of being “average,” and I absolutely loved how that was interpreted in this framework. A really humorous touch!

I enjoyed many of the other characters, and Veil especially. I always enjoy that type of character, and honorable and earnest one that’s easy to root for (and with whom I can ship the MC!). Reina was also fun—balanced enough (meaning she wasn’t too tsundere) that I could see her actually being a good friend and supporter instead of just all huff and puff.

stardf29: Jeskai hit on a lot of what makes Mile such a great protagonist. I especially like the point about how she has aspects of both her older mental age and her younger physical age, as there’s definitely a lot of fun in her “younger” actions that doesn’t always think through her actions. I also like how she wants to help the others around her, teaching her some of the secrets to her powers, while trying to not make them too dependent on her or make them too overpowered like herself. As for the other characters, they definitely have their charm, especially the other girls Mile groups with in the hunter’s school. Considering that they looked to be the main girls that Mile will be traveling with, I was definitely looking forward to seeing more of them.

Bonus question: What are your thoughts on how the story makes Adele/Mile “average”?:

stardf29: As someone who likes math stuff, I had a very good laugh about how “average” got interpreted here. The “midrange” is what’s largely used here (the midpoint between the lowest and highest values), which is a bad choice when there are major outliers in the data… and that’s exactly what we have here.

JeskaiAngel: Did anyone else wonder if losing her mom and getting an evil stepmother part of being “average?” Like it’s “average” for a fairy tale heroine to have an evil stepmother?

stardf29: Heh, that’s an interesting take on being “average”. I think it’s more just that in being born to a noble family she was more likely to end up in that sort of situation to begin with but who knows what that god was thinking…

My favorite use of “average” though was how Adele/Mile was attractive to all the boys because of how her face is a composite average of all people’s facial features; that was something I actually did learn in psychology class, and to think it would come up in this way was too good.

What do you think of the novel’s shift from Adele’s life at a noble academy to Mile’s life as a hunter?

JeskaiAngel: It was a little surprising to me that after developing the academy setting and a cast of characters connected it, the story set it all aside. However, it created a good opportunity to observe Mile’s growth. With each new situation where Mile got to reboot her identity — noble academy, solo hunter, hunting school — she seemed to become a little more skillful about not exposing her abnormality too much.

Tangentially related to the shift from noble academy to hunting: I thought it was really neat how what got Adele in trouble and resulted in her flight was attempting to save a child in the street — it’s exactly what got her killed in her previous life, but that doesn’t keep her from doing it again. I also loved loved loved how this whole turn of events led to exposing the crimes of Adele’s father and stepmother.

TWWK: The change in setting really threw me—and I didn’t like it at first. It get like all the investment in the original setting was for naught, and I didn’t like how the entire genre seemed to be shifting as well. But Mile’s time as a hunter and then her schooling was very engaging, and I much preferred her roommates to the original frenemies that Adele had, who were underdeveloped (for a reason now, it seems, as they served only to strengthen Adele’s character). By the time the volume ended, I had completely bought into the new setting and journey.

stardf29: It took me a while to warm up to the change, too, but the new characters definitely helped a lot, and overall I think the whole “hunter” path makes for a good one for the future of the story. It also can make for some potentially interesting future events when she inevitably reunites with her old friends and the princess, so I’m looking forward to that.

What are you looking forward to seeing animated in the anime adaptation this fall?

JeskaiAngel: I guess my biggest question is simply how faithful the adaptation will be the source. How effectively will it capture the humor of the book, and will the characters stay true to their book identities? Also, how many vols. of the LN will actually get adapted?

TWWK: When I read light novels, I often wonder how they would look like as anime—this volume was more challenging than others. There really isn’t a whole lot of dialogue, for instance, and I’m looking forward to how the the anime makes these necessary changes to bring words to life.

stardf29: I’m definitely also wondering how the anime will be paced. I’ve seen anime adaptations that take their time with events and ones that rush through things, and while there’s always the concern of “will covering X volumes make for a reasonably satisfying story within 12 episodes”, rushing things definitely would not be ideal, either. Other than that, I hope the show nails the comedy. Also, I’m curious to see how the nanomachines will be depicted.

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Time for some more in-depth questions:

What do you think of how Adele/Mile uses her powers? In particular, the extent to which she teaches some of her secrets to others, but also holds back the full extent of her abilities? Do you think she should be doing more, that she’s doing too much, or has she got a good balance?

TWWK: Each time Adele / Mile revealed the use of her powers, or considered how she might do so, I questioned her. She didn’t seem thoughtful enough about it, almost as if she was considering the question as some surface level instead of in a more “write it out and spend days or weeks thinking about it” sort of way. But a funny thing happened as I read the volume—I’ve come to trust both the FUNA and his lead character, both that the author has a grand plan that I’m not aware of (which is what I want in a multiple-volume series) and his character is just as intelligent and talented as described. I know people like that, where it feels like the results of their decisions or serendipitous, but they’re just highly intelligent people who do things well, as willy nilly as they sometimes initially seen. I’m very engaged by Adele’s thought process because I see her as that type of talent, and it’s great fun for me.

JeskaiAngel: I had a sense that she grew over the course of the book, gradually becoming more guarded. I wouldn’t necessarily say she has a “good” balance…but I think she shows a realistic balance. Part of her is a young kid, after all — not just any kid, but one from a comparatively sheltered background. Even the older part of her mind was still only a high school grad (with every passing year, 18 seems more and more like a kid to me) with no experience dealing with magic powers and such. There were times when I was inclined to say “That was obviously a bad idea,” but then I asked myself whether I would have done much better if I were a ten-year-old with immense magic power, super strength, etc., and concluded that her behavior wasn’t that unrealistic. As a kid, I consciously tried to be thoughtful and careful and wise, but in hindsight I can see a lot of foolishness, naivete, and ignorance in my life. The contrast between what she teaches the Wonder Trio vs. what she teaches her huntress buddies, or the flamboyant way she handles the “goddess” incident vs. how she shows more restraint in her climactic duel, shows me someone who learned from her experiences. I appreciate that more than a stupid / foolish character who endlessly makes the same mistakes.

stardf29: As Adele, there’s definitely a sense of how she just wants to help people but she’s not aware just how her powers and knowledge could shake up the world, or at least some people’s lives. As Mile, she thinks a bit more about the potential consequences of her actions while still trying to help people, so she at least is thinking a bit further ahead. It’s interesting to see her grasp that trying to help people too much could ultimately cause problems. At the same time, I think there will always be a part of Mile that wants to help people, without thinking too much about the consequences, and I like that about her. Having that tension between wanting to help people and having to consider the results of doing so is something that I think makes her such a great character.

Our next question comes courtesy of JeskaiAngel:

How do you feel about the novel’s treatment of deity? The “god” who reincarnates Adele/Mile, or her goddess impersonation and people’s responses to it?

TWWK: Yeah, not a fan of the world’s god for a couple of reasons. One, I always take a pause when the idea of a “god” is treated in such a way. I know that this is not MY God, but I also accept that in this world, my God doesn’t exist and because he’s the almighty deity of the universe, that feels like an affront—at least I feel insulted by it. Creatively, though, I’m also a little disappointed as we don’t get a lot of details here, and maybe that’s the point, but it still doesn’t sit well with me—the nanomachine technology, by comparison, is more alive and interesting and nuanced. Perhaps we’ll learn more in future volumes (there seems to be some foreshadowing of that), so I’m willing to set this aside for a while as the story develops!

JeskaiAngel: I’m always struck by the pitifully impoverished notion of deity I see in fiction. Gods are almost always weak, easily tricked or killed, ignorant, given to making mistakes, and/or etc. Sometimes this is handled by revealing that “god” isn’t really a god, or doesn’t even consider themselves a god, and that helps a little. But more often I’m just left thinking about the authors’ lack of imagination such that they couldn’t envision a more impressive concept for divinity. It’s totally possible to write good fantasy fiction with an Almighty deity — the works of Lewis and Tolkien bear that out. Also, when reading I Shall Survive Using Potions, also by FUNA, I was struck by the fact that not only does that story feature “gods” much like the one in this series, but the protagonist expresses active hostility to religion; perhaps that says something about the author.

stardf29: I think this is in part due to Japanese culture, particularly the prominent Shinto religion which features multiple gods, many of which are not particularly strong. Combined with the lack of Christianity’s presence, and I think it’s easy for Japanese authors to think of and thus write gods that ultimately are disappointing in their divinity. Of course, poor portrayals of religion and deities is an issue across fantasy in general, not just for the Japanese, and I think the prevalence of tropes like corrupt churches in general fantasy lead to many authors to just think those things are normal. For Japanese light novel authors, the lack of exposure to anything really different as far as faith goes does not help at all.

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Any last words on this novel?

TWWK: It was a fun, engaging opening volume—I’m really interested in seeing how this story develops, and to see it animated!

JeskaiAngel: I enjoyed the first volume of Abilities Average enough to read the all the following entries. It’s a strong introduction to a great light novel series.

stardf29: In addition to getting more into this series, I’ve also gotten into the author FUNA’s other two series, I Shall Survive Using Potions! (mentioned earlier) and Saving 80,000 Gold in Another World For My Retirement. Both also feature women ending up into another world with interesting powers and making a mess of things, but each novel has its own flair to it, and I’m enjoying each one in its own way.

Thanks for joining us! If you read along with us, leave your own answer to the above questions in the comments! As for next time, we have a series that got a popular anime adaptation, and is a personal favorite of one of the staff, so look forward to our next chapter!

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Volume one of Didn’t I Say to Make My Abilities Average in the Next Life?! can be purchased on Amazon.

#light novels #btt light novel club #didn’t i say to make my abilities average in the next life?!#watashi nouryoku wa heikinchi de tte itta yo ne!#anime #articles #author: twwk #author: stardf29 #Author: Jeskai Angel

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tanmath3-blog · 7 years

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Konstantine Paradias is a writer by choice. At the moment, he’s published over 100 stories in English, Japanese, Romanian,German, Dutch and Portuguese and has worked in a freelancing capacity for video games, screenplays and anthologies.

People tell him he’s got a writing problem but he can, like, quit whenever he wants, man. His work has been nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

1. How old were you when you first wrote your first story?

While I can’t be 100% certain, i think I wrote my first story (by way of crayons on notepaper and sticker-rebuses) when I was about 5. It was a collaborative effort with my brother, who was 3, while we were rebooting one of our earlier imaginary playmates, DUCKIE. He wasn’t too bad, but he just lacked the oomph we needed to push him into a franchise.

So we ended up with KITTENCHILDE (first name Mordecai), the richest kitten in the world. He was born with a silver cat toy dangling in front of his face, hated work, controlled the world’s economy and was plagued with moocher relatives.

I didn’t really start working on writing another story until I was 14 and my English teacher at the time told me I was hopeless with the language, so I started writing a pretty atrocious, 200k word fanfic starring every character from every game I’d played so far. I’ve since expunged it from the internet since it was absolute cringe but hey, it got the ball rolling.

2. How many books have you written?

Counting all the stuff that didn’t make it off the ground? I’d say around 6, at last count. The first one was a fantasy western story about an android assassin in a steam punk world. It was called STONE COLD COUNTENANCE and it had voodoo and ancient sorcery and demon dogs but it was so poorly written that I had to make it go away.

The second one was a novel that’s currently stuck in rewrite hell, which began as a post apocalyptic body horror novel. I started working on it in 2010 and have since taken off 50k words, added another 30k, re-worked the setting and now it’s slowly turning into the story of a motorized Mongol Horde coming back in the wake of a fossil fuel apocalypse. I call it the CHROME HORDE and I hate it and love it in the same breath.

The third once is a YA novella that’s still stuck between publishers, titled TEENAGE BADASS. It’s the story of Finn, a monster hunter born, who chooses to leaves the magical comfort of her weird family to venture out into the strange world we call our own. Also, it feature time travelling Nazi werewolves.

My fourth book is SORRY, WRONG COUNTRY, which I am immensely proud of, on account of how I was working on it for 8 years and made it happen. It’s a collection of short stories about everyday weirdness in the heart of post-recession Greece.

My fifth book is a pet project I’ve always wanted to get down to, a novella that’s the first in a series I’ve always wanted to get on with. It’s titled VIOLENCE DAVE and it’s all power metal and space marine rage and all that good old ultra-violence.

And finally, the last one is FUTURESUCK, which is coming out by Sybaritic Press and people tell me it’s depressing but I don’t see how: it’s just the story of the worst time traveler ever, whizzing across the time stream after having erased his own timeline while trying to get rich quick and messing it up royally. He can never get back but neither can we and there’s nothing we can do about it.

3. Anything you won’t write about?

Politics. Can’t stand the stuff. It’s toxic and it clings to your skin and if you aren’t careful, people around you are gonna catch it. There’s nothing more stilted and awkward than stopping a story cold in its tracks just to advertise your leanings or tell people why they’re wrong and I wont’ be changing my mind about it anytime soon.

4. Tell me about you. Age (if you don’t mind answering), married, kids, do you have another job etc…

At the risk of dating this interview, I’m 32 at the time and happily married with the only woman I could ever call ‘wife’. No kids yet, but they’re gonna happen. I’m thinking about 6, so I can train them as trapeze artists on the off-chance this writing thing doesn’t work out.

I’ve worked as a sandwich shop worker, owned a small business selling religious icons, worked in marketing, bookstore sales and even spent a spell living full-time off manuscript editing. But if I had to pick a career for myself, I’d cook for a living. People tell me it’s a crap job, but there’s nothing like the sizzle of cooking oil over a fire to get me going in the morning.

Also, waking up at 4am. People can’t stand it, but there’s no sight better than that pre-dawn light, peeking through the cloud cover on a Monday morning.

5. What’s your favorite book you have written?

So far, it’s gotta be SORRY, WRONG COUNTRY. Mostly because I worked on it for 8 years and I rewrote it a thousand times and I was never good enough for it, but I loved working on it and I think it liked the attention.

It’s a collection of stories from regular weirdos, customers and passers-by I got to meet while the country was coming apart around me and I think they kept me from losing it, especially when things turned for the worse. Hell, even if we slip off the edge of the First World, I’ll still have those guys to keep me sane.

6. Who or what inspired you to write?

Like I said, i started because I wanted to piss off my English teacher, but the person that got me into writing was the Sandwich Captain, a man I kept running into at 2am in the morning when I was working in that aforementioned sandwich shop. He was probably the most interesting man in the world and he hated the attention and he was more troubled than Sisyphus.

And I loved him for it.

7. What do you like to do for fun?

Don’t laugh, but I make pickles. Carrots, cucumbers, cabbage and garlic, chili and bell peppers and onions, oh my. Then I check on them in the middle of the night, as if they were children and worry for about two months before I crack them open.

Also, I like to grow stuff. Nothing too major: maybe some peppers, some onions, when I can. Someday, I might just head off to the boonies, live off the land, then come back just in time to regret it.

8. Any traditions you do when you finish a book?

Panic. Worry. Tell people. Feel like garbage. Start planning out the next one. Am I doing it right? I don’t think I am doing it right, at all.

9. Where do you write? Quite or music?

Mostly, I write anywhere. I write at work, between handling customers. I write at home, while trying to wrangle dinner. I never had too much time to write since I started doing it earnest, but I can’t stand music, so I guess I need the..noise?

The hum of humanity, the gentle rumble of the kitchen or traffic.

God, if the world ended I don’t think I’d ever write another word.

10. Anything you would change about your writing?

I don’t even know where to begin: personally, I hate my dialogue, think I need tons of work on establishing hooks, am garbage at pacing and overall wouldn’t publish me if it was up to me. Also, I think my research is atrocious and I have a very heavy hand when it comes to editing myself, to the point where I start second guessing to an atrocious degree.

You know what? It’s best I don’t touch anything. I already hate the entire thing.

11. What is your dream? Famous writer?

Famous? With the attention and the interviews and the podcasts and all that jazz? No, just give me enough to live on and a tank of gas-filled from book sales and a settled power bill and I’ll be happy.

But then maybe I’ll just bellyache and wish I had a movie deal by then.

12. Where do you live?

Athens, heart of Greece, birthplace of philosophers and every terrible idea alike, in a little place overlooking the Acropolis, nestled against the hill of Filopappou. On summer nights, we’re lulled to sleep by the distant baying of strays. In winter, beggars form impromptu choruses in street corners.

We swelter in August and we freeze in December and it hasn’t snowed in Christmas since forever, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

13. What’s your favorite thing about writing?

Writing itself, I guess. Also, browsing markets, struggling to reach publishers, trying to finagle a story every chance I get.

It might come off as cynical, but I hate writing for myself. I am the worst audience I’ve ever had: I’m awfully judgmental, offer little to no feedback and am an all-around insufferable smartass.

But writing for others? Man oh man, that’s a blast. I love talking to editors or readers, especially, pitching ideas on the sly and searching for that little nod, that semi-indifferent “go for it” sign and know that I wanna give them something they will enjoy.

Hell, even if I bungle it up I’ll get some form of feedback.

You can connect with Konstantine Paradias here:

Sorry, Wrong Country Book link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/194633507X/ref=cm_cr_dpvoterdr?ie=UTF8&thanksvoting=cr-vote-R103RDQVJM0OMW#R103RDQVJM0OMW.2115.Helpful.Reviews

Shapescapes Editing Services: http://shapescapes.blogspot.in/p/blog-page_34.html

https://www.amazon.com/Konstantine-Paradias/e/B00HT3BJ2Y/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1501580795&sr=8-1

Some of Konstantine Paradias’s books:

Getting personal with Konstantine Paradias Konstantine Paradias is a writer by choice. At the moment, he's published over 100 stories in English, Japanese, Romanian,German, Dutch and Portuguese and has…

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tanmath3-blog · 7 years

Text

Konstantine Padadias is an extremely nice man and talented author. Writing has been in his blood for a long time and his passion shows. He has a great sense of humor and has even decided that his children will be trapeze artist. We forgot to mention that he doesn’t have kids yet. Of course this made me giggle. If you don’t know him or haven’t read his books please take some time and introduce yourself. Grab one of his books and please remember to leave a review. Please help me welcome Konstantine Padadias to Roadie Notes…..

1. How old were you when you first wrote your first story?

2. How many books have you written?

3. Anything you won’t write about?

4. Tell me about you. Age (if you don’t mind answering), married, kids, do you have another job etc…

Also, waking up at 4am. People can’t stand it, but there’s no sight better than that pre-dawn light, peeking through the cloud cover on a Monday morning.

5. What’s your favorite book you have written?

6. Who or what inspired you to write?

And I loved him for it.

7. What do you like to do for fun?

Also, I like to grow stuff. Nothing too major: maybe some peppers, some onions, when I can. Someday, I might just head off to the boonies, live off the land, then come back just in time to regret it.

8. Any traditions you do when you finish a book?

Panic. Worry. Tell people. Feel like garbage. Start planning out the next one. Am I doing it right? I don’t think I am doing it right, at all.

9. Where do you write? Quite or music?

The hum of humanity, the gentle rumble of the kitchen or traffic.

God, if the world ended I don’t think I’d ever write another word.

10. Anything you would change about your writing? I don’t even know where to begin: personally, I hate my dialogue, think I need tons of work on establishing hooks, am garbage at pacing and overall wouldn’t publish me if it was up to me. Also, I think my research is atrocious and I have a very heavy hand when it comes to editing myself, to the point where I start second guessing to an atrocious degree.

You know what? It’s best I don’t touch anything. I already hate the entire thing.

11. What is your dream? Famous writer?

But then maybe I’ll just bellyache and wish I had a movie deal by then.

12. Where do you live?

We swelter in August and we freeze in December and it hasn’t snowed in Christmas since forever, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

13. What’s your favorite thing about writing?

Writing itself, I guess. Also, browsing markets, struggling to reach publishers, trying to finagle a story every chance I get.

It might come off as cynical, but I hate writing for myself. I am the worst audience I’ve ever had: I’m awfully judgmental, offer little to no feedback and am an all-around insufferable smartass.

Hell, even if I bungle it up I’ll get some form of feedback.

You can connect with https:Konstantine Padadias here: Sorry, Wrong Country Book link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/194633507X/ref=cm_cr_dpvoterdr?ie=UTF8&thanksvoting=cr-vote-R103RDQVJM0OMW#R103RDQVJM0OMW.2115.Helpful.Reviews

Shapescapes Editing Services: http://shapescapes.blogspot.in/p/blog-page_34.html

Some of Konstantine Padadias’s books:

Getting personal with Konstantine Padadias Konstantine Padadias is an extremely nice man and talented author. Writing has been in his blood for a long time and his passion shows.

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