#also that’s a wrap on sea three and all the important movie characters i think? idk if i’ll do the younger kids yet

[lsleofthelost]

descendants tweets [27/?] Gil Edition

#descendants #descendants tweets #gil #his handle is gil.chickpea because chickpea is a type of legume lol #the link in his bio is to his youtube channel where he does travel vlogs and stuff. sometimes uma+harry join him sometimes they don’t #also that’s a wrap on sea three and all the important movie characters i think? idk if i’ll do the younger kids yet #first i wanna do the book characters and some just random exchanges on twitter and then we’ll see

[kcrabb88]

Queer Movies/Books/TV Shows for Pride Month!

Happy Pride everyone!! For your viewing/reading pleasure I have made a (non-exhaustive) list of queer media that I have enjoyed! 

Movies/Documentaries

Pride (2014): An old tried and true favorite, which meets at the intersection of queer and workers’ rights. A group of queer activists support the 1985 miners’ strike in Wales (complete with a sing-through of Bread and Roses + Power in a Union)

Portrait of a Lady on Fire: On an isolated island in Brittany at the end of the eighteenth century, a female painter is obliged to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman (or, two young lesbians fall in love by the sea, and you cry)

God’s Own Country: Young farmer Johnny Saxby numbs his daily frustrations with binge drinking and casual sex, until the arrival of a Romanian migrant worker for lambing season ignites an intense relationship that sets Johnny on a new path (Seriously this movie is GREAT and doesn’t get enough love, watch it! It’s rough but ends happily)

The Half of It:  When smart but cash-strapped teen Ellie Chu agrees to write a love letter for a jock, she doesn't expect to become his friend - or fall for his crush (as in she falls for his crush who is another girl. This movie was so good, and really friendship focused!) 

Saving Face:  A Chinese-American lesbian and her traditionalist mother are reluctant to go public with secret loves that clash against cultural expectations (this is an oldie and a goodie, with a happy ending!)

Moonlight:  A young African-American man grapples with his identity and sexuality while experiencing the everyday struggles of childhood, adolescence, and burgeoning adulthood (featuring gay men of color!)

Carol:  An aspiring photographer develops an intimate relationship with an older woman in 1950s New York (everyone’s seen this I think, but I couldn’t not have it here)

Milk: The story of Harvey Milk and his struggles as an American gay activist who fought for gay rights and became California's first openly gay elected official (the speech at the end of this made me cry. Warning, of course, for death, if you don’t know about Harvey Milk)

Pride (Hulu Documentary):  A six-part documentary series chronicling the fight for LGBTQ civil rights in America (they go by decade from the 50s-2000s, and there is a lot of great trans inclusion in this)

Paris is Burning (Documentary): A 1990s documentary about the African American and Latinx ballroom scene. Available on Youtube!

A New York Christmas Wedding:  As her Christmas Eve wedding draws near, Jennifer is visited by an angel and shown what could have been if she hadn't denied her true feelings for her childhood best friend (this movie is SO CUTE. It’s really only nominally a Christmas movie and easily watched anytime. Features an interracial sapphic couple!) 

TV Shows 

Love, Victor: Victor is a new student at Creekwood High School on his own journey of self-discovery, facing challenges at home, adjusting to a new city, and struggling with his sexual orientation (this is a spin-off of Love, Simon, and it’s very sweet and well done! Featuring a young gay man of color)

Sex Education:  A teenage boy with a sex therapist mother teams up with a high school classmate to set up an underground sex therapy clinic at school (this has multiple queer characters, including a featured young Black gay man and also in season 2 there is a side ace character!) 

Black Sails: I mean, do I even need to put a summary here? If you follow me you know that Black Sails is full of queer pirates, just queers everywhere.

Gentleman Jack:  A dramatization of the life of LGBTQ+ trailblazer, voracious learner and cryptic diarist Anne Lister, who returns to Halifax, West Yorkshire in 1832, determined to transform the fate of her faded ancestral home Shibden Hall (Period drama lesbians!!! A title sequence  that will make you gay just by watching!) 

Tales of the City (2019):  A middle-aged Mary Ann returns to San Francisco and reunites with the eccentric friends she left behind. "Tales of the City" focuses primarily on the people who live in a boardinghouse turned apartment complex owned by Anna Madrigal at 28 Barbary Lane, all of whom quickly become part of what Maupin coined a "logical family". It's no longer a secret that Mrs. Madrigal is transgender. Instead, she is haunted by something from her past that has long been too painful to share (this is based on a book series and it’s got lots of great inter-generational queer relationships!) 

The Haunting of Bly Manor:  After an au pair’s tragic death, Henry hires a young American nanny to care for his orphaned niece and nephew who reside at Bly Manor with the chef Owen, groundskeeper Jamie and housekeeper, Mrs. Grose (sweet, tender, wonderful lesbians. A bittersweet ending but this show is so so wonderful)

Sense8: A group of people around the world are suddenly linked mentally, and must find a way to survive being hunted by those who see them as a threat to the world's order (queers just EVERYWHERE in this show, of all kinds)

Books

Loveless by Alice Oseman:  Georgia has never been in love, never kissed anyone, never even had a crush – but as a fanfic-obsessed romantic she’s sure she’ll find her person one day. This wise, warm and witty story of identity and self-acceptance sees Alice Oseman on towering form as Georgia and her friends discover that true love isn’t limited to romance (don’t be turned off by this title, it’s tongue-in-cheek. This is a book about an aroace college girl discovering herself and centers the importance and power of platonic relationships! I have it on my TBR and have heard great things)

Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters: Reese almost had it all: a loving relationship with Amy, an apartment in New York City, a job she didn't hate. She had scraped together what previous generations of trans women could only dream of: a life of mundane, bourgeois comforts. The only thing missing was a child. But then her girlfriend, Amy, detransitioned and became Ames, and everything fell apart. Now Reese is caught in a self-destructive pattern: avoiding her loneliness by sleeping with married men.Ames isn't happy either. He thought detransitioning to live as a man would make life easier, but that decision cost him his relationship with Reese—and losing her meant losing his only family. Even though their romance is over, he longs to find a way back to her. When Ames's boss and lover, Katrina, reveals that she's pregnant with his baby—and that she's not sure whether she wants to keep it—Ames wonders if this is the chance he's been waiting for. Could the three of them form some kind of unconventional family—and raise the baby together?This provocative debut is about what happens at the emotional, messy, vulnerable corners of womanhood that platitudes and good intentions can't reach. Torrey Peters brilliantly and fearlessly navigates the most dangerous taboos around gender, sex, and relationships, gifting us a thrillingly original, witty, and deeply moving novel (again, don’t be thrown off by the title, it too, is tongue-in-cheek. This book was GREAT, and written by a trans women with a queer-and especially trans--audience in mind)

A Tip for the Hangman by Allison Epstein: A gay Christopher Marlowe, at Cambridge and trying to become England’s best new playwright, finds himself wrapped up in royal espionage schemes while also falling in love (this book is by a Twitter friend of mine, and it is a wonderful historical thriller with a gay man at the center).

Creatures of Will and Temper by Molly Tanzer: a very very queer remix of The Picture of Dorian Gray (which was already quite queer), featuring amazing female characters, a gay Basil, and a much happier ending than the original. 

Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston: The gay prince of England and the bisexual, biracial first son of the president fall in love (think an AU of 2016 where a woman becomes president). Featuring a fantastic discovery of bisexuality, ruminations on grief, and just a truly astonishing book. One of my favorites!

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston:  For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures. But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train (This is Casey McQuiston’s brand new novel featuring time-travel, queer women, and I absolutely cannot WAIT to read it)

The Heiress by Molly Greely: Set in the Pride and Prejudice universe, this takes on Anne de Bourg (Lady Catherine’s daughter), and makes her queer! 

Tipping the Velvet by Sarah Waters:  Nan King, an oyster girl, is captivated by the music hall phenomenon Kitty Butler, a male impersonator extraordinaire treading the boards in Canterbury. Through a friend at the box office, Nan manages to visit all her shows and finally meet her heroine. Soon after, she becomes Kitty's dresser and the two head for the bright lights of Leicester Square where they begin a glittering career as music-hall stars in an all-singing and dancing double act. At the same time, behind closed doors, they admit their attraction to each other and their affair begins (Sarah Waters is the queen of historical lesbians. All of her books are good, and they’re all gay! The Paying Guests is another great one)

(On a side note re: queer books, there are MANY, these are just ones I’ve read more recently. Also there are a lot of indie/self-published writers doing great work writing queer books, so definitely support your local indie authors!) 

#I am inevitably forgetting things!!! #These are just ones that came to mind #Long post #Pride

[sixeyesgojo]

Pictures of You

Summary: prequel to I’ll Be Your Enemy - fluffy!

Characters: IBYE!Reader, Gojo, Yuji, Megumi, Nobara

Word count: 2,3k

Content warning: none

A/N: requested by @thecaptainsbride

If anybody got the reference Gojo made when he was late; congratulations, you have been successfully hurt (but this time it was not me).

Since I left the relationship between Gojo and the reader up for interpretation in IBYE, I will do the same here! Consider this piece me trying to mend your hearts <3

Taglist applications open for anyone who is interested!

“A trip to an amusement park or something like that doesn’t sound so bad,” you mused in front of Satoru. “It serves as relaxation and maybe the first-years can get closer to each other, you know, bonding and so on. They will see each other many times from now on, so getting along with each other is important,” you reasoned, your eyes almost sparkling from the thought of a day off.

“But Jujutsu Sorcery is an individual–” he began.

“Satoru, I think you should see this as vacation. A vacation where you can eat sweets until your teeth rot and absolutely nobody will hold you back,” you interrupted him.

“Okay, I am sold. Am listening now.” You just knew how to convince him. Sweets.

So that was exactly how the first-year students and you ended up at a fairground somewhere in Tokyo; it was quite neat, not too small but not too spacious either. None of you could get lost in it. Still, it was buzzing with life and all kinds of people mingled. The colorfulness was a refreshing sight to take in, compared to the dark world of Jujutsu Sorcery where seeing people suffer was your daily routine. The pleasant smell of food wafted through the air, making your mouth water, as you walked past the different booths with them. Waffles sounded like absolute heaven on earth right now.

Jujutsu Sorcery certainly was a draining sport, mentally as well as physically. Therefore it was only right to take a break at times, right? Self-care days were just as important as working.

In order to wind down a bit, you had suggested a one-day trip – just you, Satoru and the three first-year students you had adopted in your mind right away after meeting them several times.

“Sensei, you look very pretty today!” Yuji complimented you. Even Megumi noticed: “Did you have a haircut? Your hair seems a little bit shorter.”

“Yeah, Nobara had a field day with me. Cutting my hair.. or more like trimming the ends, choosing my outfit, doing my make-up and so on just for today,” you gushed as if you were a high school girl again. “Leave it to master stylist Kugisaki Nobara and nobody will ever look bad,” the brunette girl commended herself. Yuji was affectionately patting her on the back.

Undoubtedly, Satoru was late – nobody was surprised about that. You already went ahead and generously treated the trio of students you loved dearly to some food.

“Thank you for the food, sensei!” As usual, Yuji and Nobara were in perfect harmony with each other, seemingly sharing a brain.

“Thank you very much,” Megumi also expressed his thanks sweetly. If you hadn’t known better, you would have thought the way his lips seemed to twitch was unintentional. “Absolutely no problem, kiddos. You guys enjoy it while I try to contact Gojo-sensei, yeah?” you shot them an apologetic smile, already fishing out your phone. The three of them nodded in perfect synchronization. They’re as cute as little ducklings, you thought.

You didn’t even need to bother calling.

You were about to dial Satoru’s number on your smartphone when Yuji’s voice boomed, “Oh! There he is! Gojo-sensei, we are here!!”

The boy waved at his teacher.

Satoru immediately spotted the pink-haired student and skipped over to where you all were standing. “Sorry for the wait! I’m afraid I got lost on the path of life!!”

“Nice of you to finally join us, but sadly, the fun is already over and we decided to go home. Just wanted to call you to let you know! We’ve been here since morning,” you deadpanned as the white-haired man arrived, looking Satoru dead in the eye – if they weren’t covered. “Wait, wha– Hold on, I am very sure I am not that late. MY MOCHI?” Satoru sounded frantic, facing his students who just shrugged their shoulders. “Serves you right,” Megumi stated calmly. Nobara, being the sassy girl she was, also joined in, “Losers don’t get to have fun and that’s a fact.”

It was such a wholesome and funny moment for you to see the students playing along with your prank without being told beforehand.

You broke out in laughter, not being able to contain it any longer, “You should have seen your face, dumbass! I was just joking!”

“Phew, I almost thought I had to kiss the idea of eating sweets today goodbye. What a horror that would be, my day would be OVER this instant,” the blindfolded man pouted, “so where should I buy my sweets? I’m gonna buy the entire place anyway, but where do I start? Any suggestions for Great Teacher Gojo?”

“Hold up, Satoru! We gotta take a picture together to commemorate this special day!” you suggested, bouncing up and down with enthusiasm. “I swear I just saw sensei’s eyes sparkle but I might be wrong,” Yuji remarked, looking at his dark-haired friend for confirmation.

“Sensei, if you want to take a picture, we have to take it at the right angle!” Nobara chimed in, the secret Instagram influencer in her on full display. She continued to explain, “It would come out great if Gojo-sensei took the pic, long arms privilege and so on.”

The female student almost seemed more into it than you were, it was adorable to you to see the usually bold student be this into taking pictures.

You hand the tall man your phone, but not without shooting him a “if you drop my phone, I’ll make you drop dead” look.

“Okay, ladies, now let’s get in formation,” the male teacher commanded loudly. Upon hearing that, Megumi immediately slapped his hand in his face and turned away in embarrassment. Why was this man like this?

“...Ladies?” Yuji asked, the expression on his face screaming ‘confusion’ “Gojo-sensei just referenced a Beyoncé song, Itadori,” the dark-haired boy explained in a hushed tone, turning back slightly as if he did not want to get caught.

“And it’s not just any song!” Satoru happily chimed in. “Yes, yes, the good old Formation,” you added, nodding in satisfaction. You remember how you showed him the album when it dropped.

“Can we all just ignore Gojo-sensei and take our pic?” Nobara inquired as she shoved everybody into their respective spots. “Alright, everybody, smiiiiile for the camera. Say cheese!”

Click, click, click, click.

Finally, Satoru had gotten his share of sweets. Complying with his sweet tooth was always an effective way to calm him for some time. Almost like feeding a baby, in a way.

Now it was time for fun rides!

...or at least that was what you thought… until Satoru dragged you along to ride a freaking pendulum ride with him. The three students had managed to talk themselves out of stepping foot on that monster of a ride but Satoru didn’t even give you a chance to refuse, he simply gripped your arm and walked towards it.

Stopping only when you were already standing in line, you nervously eyed the metallic behemoth with its iron arm. The monstrosity was seemingly ready to make you throw up from the way it would spin you through the air repeatedly, going back and forth and back and forth again. Why did you have to do this?

“Satoru,” you called his name timidly and tugged at his sleeve, the strange feeling not leaving your gut, “do I really, really have to do this?”

“Absolutely! I promise it will be very fun,” Satoru replied with a signature grin you wanted to wipe off of his face at that moment.

No, it was not fun. At all. You were dizzy and your fear of height was kicking. The blasts of air hitting your face left, right and center were not helping at all and you were sure, if anybody took a picture of you right now, you would look horribly green.

“I– can’t do this anymore!” you shouted mid-air, right before the ride swung to the other side. The force knocked the air out of you once again.

“SATORU, PLEASE GET US OUT OF HERE!” you begged and squeezed his arm with an iron grip. The height was too overwhelming. “Mid-ride?” Satoru asked and you nodded frantically. “Now that’s what I call reckless! Sounds like fun. I’m in!” he declared with a grin.

“Domain Expansion: Infinite Void.”

That was the last thing you heard the tall man say before he touched your head with his large palm.

Your eyes widened in horror as you realized this man used his domain this recklessly, for fun. Maybe it was a side effect of being able to use it multiple times a day.

The infinity gently wrapped itself around Satoru and you. Almost movie-like, you watched as the entire, vast universe beautifully unfolded in front of your eyes. Each star being created separately, then abruptly flashing by as a sea of stars – as if you were in a wormhole. You perceived the entire domain within a flash of a moment, yet tasted eternity in it. Everything but nothing at once.

Despite being touched by Satoru himself, the sensations weren’t without merit. If this was how it felt to be in the safe space of Satoru’s touch within his inner world of Limitless, you would rather not fathom how it felt to be the one hit by this powerful domain.

It took you some time to process things and recollect.

“When I said I wanted you to get the two of us out of that thing, I didn’t mean ‘send me to your domain’,” you scolded him.

“Well, it was convenient,” he defended himself and you could almost hear the grin on his face, “Bet you’ll hate me after this though.”

“Hating you was never really an option I’d ever consider but okay, we’ll run with it this time. Now undo your domain, please, while I am asking nicely.”

“Your wish is my command! This time at least.”

“Satoru.” A stern last warning fell from your lips.

“Yes, yes, boss. On it.”

“I thought you said it’ll be fun but I am absolutely not riding that thing ever again,” you took deep breaths to calm down as your feet securely touched the ground again. Your legs were still trembling a bit.

“And it was fun! At least for me! I like seeing you struggle – it’s so funny – and the way you clung to my arm? Adorable! You are so tiny compared to me, like a bug I could crush between my fingers!” The annoying sorcerer laughed merrily.

“Gojo fucking Satoru, the only thing that is about to be crushed here are your balls. With my leg. You are very lucky to have that damn Infinity of yours or else,” you threatened.

“Ouch, you really do know how to hurt an invincible man,” he snickered and flicked your forehead lightly.

Rejoining with the students was easy as they all saw the barrier Satoru’s domain created.

“You are lucky there was some kind of show going on down here. That barrier above would have freaked people out if they weren’t distracted,” Nobara said, looks shooting daggers at her weird teacher. Innocent and as nice as ever, Yuji pitched in as well: “Yeah, Fushiguro also tried to distract children with their wandering eyes! I think he did a good job.”

“Okay but what did he do though?” you asked curiously and looked at the boy in question.

“...Shadow puppets,” Megumi slowly admitted, looking anywhere but at the people in front of him.

“Oh? You love your foster-dad-turned-great-teacher this much to embarrass yourself out in public? That’s new!” Satoru teased the poor boy. “Someone has to be the voice of reason around here or you’d all be in jail. That includes preventing civilians who are able to see curses from seeing you use Jujutsu while floating mid-air,” he justified, ignoring the tall teacher’s mockery completely. 

“As much as I love slandering Gojo-sensei, I’d rather spend my day actually having fun,” Nobara pitched in, reminding everybody of why you were here in the first place.

“So, let’s go ride the ferris wheel!” she added excitedly.

More fun rides.

Before you knew it, the day passed by. You could already feel the heaviness in your legs from walking. The swirling feeling from all the rides boded in your chest – you probably would not be able to sleep well tonight. It was definitely worth it though, you thought.

You had already brought the students back to their dorm – Satoru had ran off to the school because he remembered he had to do something – and were on the way home yourself.

You were in some sort of trance, completely immersed in your phone, so you hadn’t registered when Satoru called your name until he gently tapped your shoulder, falling into step with you.

“Yeah?” you looked up to Satoru, snapping out of your train of thought.

“Just wanted to tell you; ‘Operation: Relaxation Day’ was a great success.”

“I’m glad to hear that, Satoru.” A genuine smile graced your lips and for a moment, he softened at the sight.

“You know what? It was amazing, I really should start listening to you more often,” he confessed with a smirk.

“Well, it’s thanks to your amazing power of persuasion that we got to spend it like this, so thanks for today,” you half-heartedly complimented him.

“You do know I only said we’d not be available today and then dashed, right?” he asked you, the usual playful tone lacing his voice. “Exactly what I meant by saying ‘your amazing power of persuasion’.”

“I think I’ll frame the picture we took,” you murmured softly, fondly looking at the screen of your phone. The picture from earlier was displayed on your homescreen.

Surely, you would hang it on the blank wall in your home as well. It was a personal treasure now.

Taglist (dm me if you wanna be added): @assbuttbaek​ @megumifushi​ @bleueluna​ @gojos-mochi​ @delammi

#gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #jujutsu kaisen x reader #jjk x reader #jujutsu kaisen x you #gojo x y/n #domain expansion #infinite void #ibye series

[hockeylvr59]

Secret Love Part 11 || Cale Makar

Requested: [ ] yes [x] no

Authors Note: So I really struggled writing Chapter 10...Chapter 11 however...took me like two days. So yeah...uh characters are still in Iceland, Days 3 and 4 sightseeing will be posted following this. As always all posts for this series can be found by searching the tag ‘038’ on my blog. Let me know what you think. 

Gif Credit: @j-compher​

Warnings: cursing, oral sex, smut, unprotected (on birth control but no condom) smut

Word Count: 3,819

~~~~~~

If you’d thought day two of your trip had involved a lot of driving, you were in for a rude awakening moving forward.

The morning of your third day in Iceland, you and Cale had slept in until around 8 am before getting up, heading down to breakfast, packing up and then checking out of the hotel. Before leaving Reykjavik, you stopped at a market to stock up on some drinks and snacks, then a gas station for a refill before finally hitting the road heading south.

After about an hour and 40 minute drive, you reached your first stop: Seljalandsfoss Waterfall. This waterfall was the perfect photo op because you could actually walk behind the falls. Taking some sillier but also sweet pictures, you continued on to another waterfall about a half hour away. From there, you stopped for lunch before Cale drove on to Dyrhólaey Nature Reserve.

The nature reserve was home to sea stacks and arches and the view from the upper trail was breathtaking. It had only been three days but already you were certain that Iceland was one of the most beautiful countries in the world.  After taking in the views from above, you headed to the lower trail and onto Reynisfjara beach.

There, black sand stretched in front of you as far as you could see. It was so different than any other beach you’d ever been on but it was honestly really, really cool. As cool as the sand was, the rock formations lining the beach were even cooler. After walking tucked into Cale’s side for a little bit you looked up at the cliffs to your left and immediately started freaking out. Jumping up and down, trying not to squeal, you tugged on Cale’s sleeve as if your previous actions hadn’t already gained his attention.

“What are you freaking out about?” Cale asked, mystified expression on his face.

“Puffins!” You squealed quietly, pure glee on your face. “They’re so cute!” The last thing you wanted to do was disturb the birds, but you were so excited to see them it was impossible to keep completely silent. Of course, you kept your distance, simply admiring them from afar.

Cale didn’t seem to know what to do with your reaction but he let you have your moment watching the birds, his lips pressed against the top of your head. As you headed back down the beach Cale rubbed his thumb against your side.

“I take you to see beautiful geological formations but it’s the birds you’re excited about.” He mused, shaking his head.

“Leave me alone.” You pouted. “You don’t just see puffins anywhere you know.” Lifting your chin, Cale kissed you softly.

“As long as you’re having fun and are excited about something I’m happy.” He insisted, his arm pulling you closer into his side.

It wasn’t a far drive to the village of Vik which Cale informed you was where you were staying for the night. Unlike yesterday where you had been going non-stop, not returning to your hotel until after 11pm, today you were already here and it was only late afternoon.

After checking into your hotel, you dropped off your bags and used the bathroom before heading into the village itself to park and walk around. Stopping into the tourist shop, you browsed around looking specifically at all of the locally made products. Eventually, you spotted a set of glass coasters made from the black sand of the beaches you’d just been on. Across the tops, various local scenes were painted. They were simple but beautiful and your fingers lingered across the tops of them.

“Those are nice.” Cale said, appearing over your shoulder suddenly.

“Yeah they are.” You agreed. Picking up two sets, Cale handed you one.

“We should get them. One for the house, one for my apartment.” Cale declared. “That way we both have something to remind us of this trip.”

“That’s really soft Cale.” You murmured.

“Don’t care.” He replied. Though you continued to look around, there wasn’t anything else that spoke to you as much as the set of coasters did and eventually you headed to the register to purchase them.

Walking around the village you took in how cute and quaint it was. Soon after your stomachs started complaining, you stumbled into a small restaurant. There you and Cale split a pizza with pesto for sauce, mozzarella cheese, tomatoes, parma ham, topped with a balsamic glaze and parmesan cheese. It was delicious and you left feeling completely stuffed.

You’d called it an early night back at the hotel, settling for a movie on Netflix as you curled up together in bed. A relaxing evening was exactly what you needed to recharge and be ready to continue on your journey.

++

Day four of your trip started by filling up the gas tank and then embarking on an hour long drive to Fjaðrárgljúfur canyon.

Just before you reached the canyon, you encountered a small turn off which led you to a viewpoint. Climbing out of the car you walked up the pathway until you reached a platform. As far as the eye could see were moss covered rocks and it truly felt like you had stepped onto another planet.

“Are you sure we’re still on planet earth?” You whispered to Cale. Your boyfriend chuckled quietly in response, his hand resting on your hip. It seemed like the more time you spent alone together, not worried about who you saw or who saw you, the more reliant on physical touches each of you became. You’d never felt so comfortable just being with someone and thinking back on the times you’d seen Cale with Sara, you had a feeling the same could be said for him.

With more pictures clogging up your phones, you continued on to the Canyon itself. It was only a two-minute walk to the start of the canyon from the car and the moment you reached it your jaw dropped.

“Cale…” You whispered. You didn’t even have words to describe how beautiful this place was.

“Woah...sweetheart.” Cale’s thumbs brushed against your cheeks as he spoke and it wasn’t until he pulled you into his chest that you realized you were crying. “Shhh..give your brain a minute to process.” Cale assured you. His patience with you seemed neverending as his hands stroked your back until you finally calmed down.

“Sorry…” You mumbled, wiping frantically at your eyes when you finally pulled away.

“Nothing to be sorry about.” Cale insisted. “You’re allowed to be emotionally effected by things. It’s normal. Especially when it’s something as amazing as this.” Cale’s lips pressed gently to your forehead and he dropped his hand from your back to lace your fingers together. “You good to go walk?” He questioned.

It took about 45 minutes to walk all the way up to the top of the canyon and back and you stopped for pictures at various points along the way. You still couldn’t put into words the way this place made you feel; it was all so overwhelming in the best way. As you stood off to the side of the first viewpoint, away from the majority of other tourists, you tugged Cale’s hand until he was close enough you could wrap your arms around his neck.

“Thank you.” You murmured, kissing him lightly. “You always know exactly what I need, you’re always putting me first and taking care of me. It doesn’t go unnoticed, and you don’t know how much I appreciate it. You mean the world to me Cale...I don’t know if I’m quite as good at showing it as you are, but I hope you know that.”

“I do...know that…” Cale responded, kissing you again gently before pulling away, a fondness in his eyes that nearly sent you reeling. Dragging your fingers along his lower back you made up your mind to show him just how important he was to you once you were actually alone.

Back in the car, you munched on some of the snacks you’d brought in lieu of trying to find somewhere to stop for lunch. It took almost two hours to get to your next stop, the Jökulsárlón Iceberg Lagoon.

There, the two of you hopped on a boat tour where you got to taste a piece of 1,000 year old ice as you toured the lagoon. It was incredible to see first hand just how much ice was breaking off of the glacier and it made you more cognizant of the consequences of global climate change.

Right across the highway from the lagoon was Breiðamerkursandur or the diamond beach where fragments of ice wash up after floating from the lagoon out into the ocean. You made Cale climb onto an iceberg so you could take a picture of him and you got some great shots of all of the ice scattered along the shore. Despite the fact that it wasn’t all that cold outside, having been surrounded by ice for the past hour or two left you feeling chilly even if you had dressed in layers.

As you climbed in the car, Cale turned the heat on and you squeezed his knee in thanks. It was just a short drive to your hotel for the night and once you’d checked in, you shed a few layers before heading to the bar for a drink before dinner.

You’d retreated to your room around 6:30pm and Cale hopped in the shower first to clean up. While you waited for him to finish, you dug in your bag trying to decide what to grab for after your own shower. Thinking back to how you had promised yourself you were going to show Cale just how important he was, you unzipped a small compartment where you’d hidden the lingerie you’d bought.

Buying lingerie had been a spur of the moment decision possibly fueled by a few glasses of wine, and the thought of actually wearing it made you nervous. Your sex life with Cale had been fairly tame so far, nothing too out of the box. It had also been completely spontaneous on every occasion. You honestly had no idea how he would react to lingerie and though both sets were fairly tame in comparison to some sets you’d seen online, this was still something new and therefore nerve wracking.

Hearing the shower turn off, you jumped, your heart racing as you grabbed the more modest of the two sets. If you were going to do this, you were going to ease into it. Collecting your cosmetic bag, you hid the lingerie close to your chest.

Slipping into the bathroom as soon as Cale exited, you stripped out of your clothes and stepped into the shower trying not to overthink this. Focusing on shaving your legs and cleaning up served as a bit of a distraction but as you toweled off, your eyes landed back on the lingerie you’d placed on the counter.

You were certain you’d talk yourself out of this if you had to stare at yourself wearing the lingerie in the mirror for too long, so you started with your makeup, doing just a little bit more than you had been lately in order to make yourself feel confident and sexy. Blow drying your hair, you brushed it out before finally reaching for the lace and silk fabric.

Burgundy colored silk sat low on your hips, edged by black lace along both of your thighs. The same black lace covered your chest, ending at the bottom of your ribcage leaving your stomach exposed. It was...sensual but not over the top and when you slid the burgundy silk robe over it, you felt like you might actually be able to pull this off.

Reminding yourself that Cale had nearly lost his shit at the sight of you in a bikini the other night, you took a deep breath before opening the bathroom door and stepping out into the bedroom. Cale was sprawled out on the bed with just a pair of shorts slung low on his hips.

“What do you want to watch tonight?” Cale’s question was asked before he ever looked up at you, but when he did he blinked slowly. “That’s uh...that’s not your usual pajama set…” He murmured.

Blood pounding through your veins, you moved across the room to climb onto the bed beside him. Grabbing the remote from his hand, you turned the tv off before setting the remote aside.

“I was thinking about a different form of entertainment tonight…” You stated, your own voice sounding foreign in your ears. Sliding over Cale’s lap until you were straddling him, your hands ran down along his arms as his eyes did a slow once over of your body. “I think it’s time I take care of you for once.” You husked, raising an eyebrow. Cale hadn’t even seen what was under the robe yet and already he was slack jawed. The power you held over him in that moment sent a rush of adrenaline through you and you slid down the bed, tugging his shorts and boxers down with you.

“You good handsome?” You teased, lightly stroking your fingers over the length of his rapidly hardening dick. Cale couldn’t seem to speak, but he nodded his head and for now that was enough consent. Flicking your tongue along the slit of his cock, you stroked the length of him in your hand until a soft grunt fell from his lips. Only then did you hollow your cheeks, sinking down around him, taking as much of his length as you could down your throat. Bobbing slowly, you felt him twitch and when you pulled back to breathe you ran your tongue along the veins on the underside of his cock.

Following your instincts, plus Cale’s body language and verbal clues, you settled into a rhythm blowing your boyfriend for the first time. You’d seen and felt Cale orgasm enough to know when he was getting close as his body strained beneath you.

“Fuck. Babe. Stop.” Cale gasped, but peeking up at him you knew he didn’t actually want you to stop.

“We’ve got all night handsome...plenty of time for you to recover after coming down my throat.” You murmured before flicking your tongue through his slit again collecting all of his precum. Returning to your efforts, you cupped his balls as you sunk down his length. After just a minute, Cale came with a moan as he spilled down your throat and after swallowing you pulled off of him, sliding your tongue along his skin to clean him up. Cale’s cheeks were flushed as he tried to catch his breath and you slid up his body, settling yourself back over his lap.

“Who are you and what have you done with my girlfriend?” Cale gasped, his head falling forward to land against your shoulder. Kissing his head, you ran your fingers through his hair waiting for him to become more coherent.

“Just trying to take care of my man.” You hummed. “But if you’re complaining...you don’t have to see what’s under the robe.” As you spoke, you drew his hands up to the tie at your waist, leaving it for him to undo.

The speed at which Cale undid the bow told you that he wasn’t complaining at all and you let him push the robe from your shoulders, his eyes landing on you once more. His cheeks flushed further to match the color of your shorts and his eyes were wider than you’d ever seen them. You let him stare, watching as his tongue ran over his lips leaving them wet and shiny in the dim lighting of the hotel room.

“Fuck…” Cale breathed harshly, drawing out the word. “I must be dreaming right now.” He added. “You’re a fucking dream sweetheart.” Cale’s eyes ran slowly up and down your body like he wanted to memorize every inch. “You bought this for me?”

“I take it you like it?” You assumed, letting out a soft sigh in relief at his reaction.

“What do you think?” Cale grunted, pulling your hips to roll down against his cock which was already hard again.

Laughter bubbled from your chest in reaction and you cupped his cheek as you leaned in to kiss him deeply.

“Good to know lingerie is a hit with you.” You admitted. Cale’s eyes flashed with concern for just a moment before his hand fell to your hips, his thumbs brushing against your bare stomach.

“I don’t know whether I want you to keep this on or take it off.” He declared. Clearly he knew better than he thought he did, because as he spoke his hands slid up your sides, gently gripping the fabric and drawing it up and over your head. Half nude on top of him, Cale’s hands cupped your breasts as he pulled you into a desperate kiss.

“Can’t believe you’re mine…” He mumbled, pulling back. There was something about seeing him like this, flushed red, swollen lips, blissed out from one orgasm already that lit every primal need inside of you. As much as you were his, he was yours and god did you need him inside you.

“Please Cale…” You whimpered, rolling your hips against his.

“Shh…” He soothed, hands gliding across your ass. Sensing that he was going to try and flip you, you kept your weight centered firmly above him.

“I wanna be on top.” You pleaded. “Just need out of these shorts…”

Cale wasn’t responding quickly enough, so you pushed the fabric of your shorts off of your own hips, shifting as little as possible while attempting to kick them off and onto the floor.

“Let me…” You cut off Cale’s statement by raising your hips and lowering yourself onto his dick, a gasp spilling from your throat as you felt him slipping deep inside you.

“Yes…” You hissed, the stretch of your body around him filling you with a warmth and ache that you had missed so much. As you started shallowly leveraging yourself up before dropping back down your eyes met Cale’s deep azure orbs, the look in them heightening your arousal.

“So wet.” Cale eventually groaned. “My girl doesn’t even need foreplay after blowing me to be this soaking wet. Fuck.”

Though one of Cale’s hands fell to your hips, you were the one putting in all of the effort to fuck yourself on his cock.

“You’re so needy...fucking yourself...just using my body for your pleasure. So much for wanting to take care of me tonight.” Sinking down on him again, you purposely tightened your vaginal walls against him, drawing another moan from his chest.

“Hmm...I think me doing all the work...letting you cum inside me while you just lay there is taking pretty good care of you…” You corrected. Your thighs were starting to burn from bouncing on top of him but your orgasm was within arm’s reach and there was no way you were stopping before ensuring you both got to climax.

“My girl is close.” Cale groaned. “Cum for me sweetheart...let me feel that tight heat clamp down on me.”

Cale’s words pushed you over the edge and you sunk down on him in exhaustion as your body shook with your orgasm. Spurts of Cale’s semen filled you from deep inside and you whimpered at the feeling, warm from head to toe. As you collapsed against him, still connected intimately, Cale’s fingers played with the ends of your hair.

“I can’t get enough of you.” Cale whispered a few minutes later, his cock starting to harden inside of you again.

“Again?” You inquired, a little bit in disbelief that his rebound time was this fast.

“Only if you want to.” He assured you. “But I’ll take over, you can relax and enjoy this time.” This time when Cale attempted to roll the two of you over, you went willingly, staring up at him. Before moving, Cale settled your legs up over his shoulders and when he thrust inside of you, you cried out softly at the feeling of him brushing against your g-spot.

“I got you sweetheart...just tell me what you need.” Cale sighed, pleasure lacing his tone.

The sound of your skin smacking together and the squelch of your mixed bodily fluids rang in your ears.

“Talk to me…” You pleaded. “Like before.” You weren’t afraid to admit that hearing Cale dirty talk had pushed you so much closer to orgasm than you would have been otherwise.

“Yeah?” Cale breathed, his cheeks turning bright red again as you nodded. “You feel so good like this sweetheart. You’re even wetter than before. So tight too.” Every movement he made brushed against your g-spot and you couldn’t help the litany of noises that fell from your lips at the feeling.

“You like it when I fuck you like this huh?” He continued. “Your pussy stretches around me so nicely, just welcoming me inside. Do you like being fucked nice and deep like this? Feeling each ridge of me against your walls...feeling me spill deep inside you?” Crying out again, your head tossed back and forth against the pillow, your orgasm creeping up on you quickly.

“You do like feeling me spill inside of you don’t you? That’s why you wanted to stop using condoms. You like being skin to skin with me, feeling me raw you bare. You like being filled with my warm sticky cum, the way it drips out of you if I let it…”

Your vision went black for a moment as your orgasm crashed down on you hard. The muscles in your thighs spasmed painfully, but you barely noticed through the waves of pleasure that rippled through you, leaving you panting. As your body clenched around him again, you felt Cale spill inside of you for the second time tonight.

Carefully he pulled out of you before kissing your lips lightly.

“Be right back.” He declared, disappearing into the bathroom. He returned with a washcloth and after wiping down your thighs, he offered you a hand so that you could go to the bathroom yourself. When you returned to the bedroom, Cale handed you a t-shirt to wear before guiding you under the covers.

“So dirty talk huh…?” He chirped, his nose brushing against the top of your head.

“Shut up and turn the tv on Cale.” You replied, feeling heat flood your cheeks. Chuckling, Cale complied, but as he handed you the remote to pick a show he couldn’t help but get in the last word.

“It’s hot. I enjoyed it.” Shaking your head, you snuggled against him just basking in what was left of the afterglow.

“And for the record...you can always surprise me with lingerie. I’m definitely into that as well.”

Lingerie:

#cale makar #cale makar imagine #colorado avalanche #colorado avalanche imagine #nhl imagine #nhl imagines #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #nhl smut #hockey smut #cale makar nws #nws #lemon #cavalanche #038

[rotzaprachim]

Oh man as an aspie who clung onto the idea of autistic Nicky as soon as I watched the film, I'm super interested in knowing what people think his special interests are- I personally hc that he acquires a new one every century or so and sometimes that dictates where he and Joe travel

ohhhh ok time for my quarantine comfort hobby which is projecting upon fictional side characters in action movies! i think some of the big things for me about special interests is that they can be literally everything, and can also last for years or fade quickly! so some things that come too me off the top of my head, and although i totally think they all have a massive array of skills they’ve picked up over the years, i totally think Nicky is the one who is constantly pulling upexpected hobbies + skills out of his back pocket like ah yes. here is a perfectly executed lariat technique from 1800′s Sonora and here’s how to fix the wiring in a radio and write in mid 20th century secretarial shorthand at some point he picked up an incredibly amount of information about rare tree frogs of nicaragua and suminagashi, neither of which even Joe knew about. 

but anyway. some key Interests vaguely in order of CHronology 

- sailing + ocean stuff (also thanks to @captainshakespear !!! for a lot of the ideas on this one) 

i am a big believer in sailor Nicky! not an expert on medieval Genova or anything, but with my preferred background of him as being from a more modest background (not everyone in history was a royal, y’all) i think it’s quite likely his family earned their trade this way (or by fishing?). (might actually write a fic as sometimes i think it’s uh easier to write out characters thought processes than describe them but anyway) i have a real soft spot for Nico the kiddo who spent hours silently watching the sea either from the shoreline or his father’s fishingboat and who even if he had to be called by his mother three times for dinner and had a hard time focusing on conversations, understood the language of sails and ropes and knots from an early age 

- related to that- tying seaman’s knots 

- not to phrase this strangely but. religion 

there’s actually a lot of complexity to talk about with autistic people and religion/religious observance that i haven’t seen talked about much but! many thoughts on the this i might also expand upon later. Nicky eventually became a priest, even! 

but i do think that in the clamor and chaos of a medieval port city the ritualism and structure of religion would have been deeply comforting. the extremely set structure or a catholic mass, which quickly becomes the only time of the week where he’ll already know almost all of the words, and the feeling of wrapping his fingers around the rosary beads and counting through the decades. his mother’s been doing her best to raise all her children in the Faith, but she sees how fervantly her youngest actually remembers his prayers and sticks to them at the same time ever day on his own and is a little surprised. 

also like, lives of the saints! which are often exceedingly odd and strange, but Nico was like eh they’re Saints right they’re good this is a Normal THing to be Interested in and then lists off all the ways a few of the interesting ones were martyred over dinner. 

(but also in all of this he was definitely. a seven year old constantly questioning if God was real or not or could ever be kind when there were so many bad things in the world.) (we love projection.) and also a seven year old deeply interested in death and what happened afterwards. all things die. 

more to discuss later when i’m not about to fall asleep but! I think these interests lasted into his immortal life and long past the battlefield, especially as he starts to learn more and more about everyone the society and expression of faith in his first life taught him to hate. there definitely needs to be.. subtlety here, and he never intrudes on any closed traditions/is always respectful, but over the centuries he studies many, many holy texts and traditions from around the world, by himself and with Yusuf and also in various kinds of institutions and houses of learning. a LOT of religious text and discussion is surprisingly technical stuff about the practicalities of daily life or finer points of theologic debates as much as it is, like, the Big Picture, and also the finer point and big picture questions can be deeply related. anyway. 

- medicine

for all that there are a lot of autistic characters who are scientists, i rarely see one who’s a doctor/medical researcher and has that connected to their empathy and desire to heal others? but i very very much think Nicky has been a medic/involved in medicine and medical research since shortly after his first death and his centuries in the medieval Islamicate world with Yusuf, and has watched the way medicine has developed over the centuries, and is really fascinated by things like biochemistry and kept really studious logs of it all.  

- music esp guitar + folk music

also pretty fun to think about with so much of the history of stringed instruments linking to cross cultural trade around the mediterranean + Islamicate worlds, love the idea that Nicky has always kind of liked folk songs and music but has learned over time a number of varieties of stringed instruments starting with the oud, with his favorite being the guitarra batente and Hawaiian steel guitar with the slack-key playing style. sometimes he sings but a lot of his appreciation for music and stringed instruments especially is about the emotions that can be expressed without any words at all! 

- miscellanous other things 

the parts of a sniper rifle + shooting techniques, various kinds of sniper rifle scopes, buying + haggling for the best quality kinds of art supplies for yusuf, cooking, he reallllly doesn’t understand digital anything or the internet but he does like the elegance of electrical wiring and circuits, actually reads all the manuals that come with appliances for the interest value and is the one who wires safehouses to be off the grid and is just like. very good at odd household jobs + fixing things (which Joe finds unspeakably hot), he accidentally ended up as a star batter on a minor league baseball team at some point in the 1920′s and has an incredibly knowledge of baseball scores and runnings since even tho it’s literally one of like two sports who’s rules he understands and can focus on for more than five minutes (the other sport is the irish national treasure hurling), aforementioned nicaraguan tree frogs, in the last couple decades has gotten really concerned about biodiversity loss and the importance of protecting genetic diversity of species and crops, the large scale data of public health crises + antibiotic resistance, which he gives copley a long talk on basically the first time he speaks to him at all and which has copley pulling out a red sharpie and scribbling how massively he’s misjudged Nicolo di Genova, over the last few hundred years he’s become super concerned about medical + bioethics and the various technologies involved in that, stained glass window symbolism, angry birds and cooking 

#nicolo di genova #autistic nicky #which i need to make a tag #the old guard #actually autistic #i hope this was what you were looking for? sorry if this has gone on for a really long time #anyway! enjoy

[nitannichionne]

If He Was YOUR Fan Chapter 10: Thunder and Wind (A Henry Cavill Fan Fic)

You are watching the weather channel everyday now, and there is no denying it: there is a storm coming in three to five days, give or take. The wind velocity over the seas change, but landfall is inevitable. You feel a bit panicked; it’s one thing to face storms in your home town with family around you, but it’s another when you are in a place you don’t know facing a storm you’ve never experienced with no family around you.

The town is even getting ready, repairing shutters, and stockpiling foods. You’re no slouch when it comes to preparation and you have been slowly adding supplies to your backpack, even to your cabinets. You just aren’t sure where to go. The garage you are in is relatively new, so you are not sure of how much it has stood against, or if it was rebuilt after a storm. The house is a better bet, and you are afraid the garage apartment may be destroyed.

Luckily, the storm makes landfall at the end of the week, giving the movie crew a chance to film but also to secure what they can. Urgency fills everyone’s steps; it is important to do whatever can be done. Even Henry is being more precise with his performances, trying to do things in one or two takes. He is terribly busy and you understand when he can’t see you as much. Between trainings, new shooting schedules and just trying to get that eight to ten hours of sleep, he feels the need to lead and work harder than others, be an example and yet help everyone else.

You just try to be quietly supportive. You make sure he eats and drinks, which seems to be the first thing he throws out the window when he is in this mode. You introduce him to the twenty minute power nap and meditation in his trailer, things that saved your ass in the past when it was crunch time for you. He is a true Taurus-a true bull, trying to charge through everything, but you are more concerned for his well-being and what keeps him able to continue being that way. At first, he rejects the idea, but as he sees your concern, he relents and tries to take better care of himself.

                             “When we get off work tonight, I’d like you to wait for me,” Henry says in his Geralt voice as you both stride toward the set.

“Sure, but—” you hesitate, still instinctively feeling a bit intimidated by the tone but not as much as before. “you are really busy, so it’s okay if you don’t have a lot of time—”

“I have time for this,” Henry grounds out, but then touches your shoulder. “Just…wait for me?”

“Alright,” you nod, responding to the purr in his voice and seeing a look in his eyes that is new to you. He looks tired of course, but he also looks a little distracted and unsure. He leaves you behind the wall of cameras and in a few breaths and a clench of his jaw, Geralt has emerged and Henry simply cannot be reached. In the blink of an eye, Gracie blinks at you, and then blinks into character herself. You turn to finish your duties, heading back toward the trailers as you open the notes app on your tablet holding all your to-do’s as you stride over to have lunch with Stella.

“People are talking,” Stella whispers.

“About what?”

She looks around and then answers, “About you.”

“Me?!”

“Well you’ve been in Henry’s trailer a lot—”

You roll your eyes. “I stay and wait for him to finish eating, Stella.”

“What?”

“You know they are trying to get more done before the storm,” you remind. “He’s not eating or drinking, I can see it in his color. So, I stay and wait for him to eat.”

“And he does it?”

“Yes, it’s quiet persistence,” you shrug. “I told him what I’m doing and why I’m doing it once. I just stand there.”

“Is that why you’ve been taking a shorter lunch?” Stella began putting two and two together.

“Yes, my waiting is part of my lunch hour and then when he starts I start, or when he finishes I start,” you shrug. “It’s a guilt trip, my waiting for him to eat, but it pushes him to do what he should be doing in the first place, the bullheaded boy.”

“Stop it!” Stella laughs, rocking backward and losing balance of her lunch on her lap, almost spilling it on the ground but catching it just in time. “Did you like the minestrone?”

“That was really good—“

“I made it!” Stella beamed. “They let me do it! Have you heard anything else?”

“I don’t think there is any left, Stella.”

She gasps and gets up to check. She squeals in delight and you laugh at her giddiness.

“Happy day!” Stella sighs. “Oh, times like this I know I was meant to work with food—”

“Hey, guys!” Stuart greets. Archer is with him.

“Hey!” Stella smiles widely. “Did you have some of my minestrone?”

“That was you?” Stuart’s eyes widened. “You have to make that at the house!”

You smile and rise to your feet. “Well guys, I’ll catch you later, okay?”

“Leaving again, are you?” Archer asks, raising an eyebrow at you.

“Yes, I have to get back to work—”

“You haven’t been around much, helping Mr. Cavill and all,” Archer says accusingly, almost spitting Henry’s surname.

“I am doing what I can for all the cast members and their assistants, Archer,” you say evenly, hoping you come off as dismissive instead of defensive. “See you guys later.”

The day goes on in flurry of changed orders and last minute things to do. There’s only a day or two left before the storm hits and your mind swims with what needs to be done. You overhear Stuart ask Stella to stay at his place during the storm and she agrees happily. You hope that Archer doesn’t ask; that would be awful and awkward. You realize during the course of the day that some people partner up on occasions like these-be it as friends or more.

At the end of the day, you sit by the catering trailer with Stella as she wraps for the day. You keep checking your texts to see if anything last minute pops up for you to do before you leave. You feel like Cinderella this particular day, dealing with Gracie’s demands of tea for her throat, cleaning her trailer, and walking actors’ pets, the latter of which you don’t mind. You just want to be sure you are done and ready to go when Henry is.

“Ready to go?”

You look up to see Archer and Stuart approaching. Stuart is particularly happy and relaxed now that he knows Stella is staying over for the storm. Archer, however, looks like the prelude to the event of the storm itself.

“Yeah!” Stella nods quickly, gathering her things.

You don’t move. You look around to see so many people gone, but Henry’s truck is still there, not far from you. You didn’t want to look like a puppy on a doorstep but you certainly feel like one now.

Stella looks at you questioningly. “Hey, you’re not coming?”

“I have plans,” you say quickly.

“Do you?” Stuart asks, nudging his older brother.

“Speaking of plans,” Archer asks. “I was wondering where you would be staying during the storm.”

You swallow hard. “I haven’t given it much thought.” That was true. You have been so busy with preparation for the thing, you missed this detail.

“Well, if you have nowhere to go—”

“She does.”

Your eyes fly up to see Henry approaching. His look is calm, but his body is rigid as he strides toward the group. “Hi.”

“Hi,” Henry nods. “ready to go?”

Your eyes lower as three pairs of eyes fly toward you. “Yeah, pretty much.”

He offers his hand and you take it. He effortlessly pulls you to your feet, and sees your tablet open. “Colin’s gone already. I don’t think he’ll have anything else for you—” he smiles. “Well, not today.”

“Oh, okay, thanks.” You fold the tablet case shut and slip it into your cargo pocket.

“See you tomorrow,” Henry nods with a polite smile to everyone, his eyes lingering on Archer for more than a second. He shifts his hand so that he is holding yours and leads you off.

“Later, guys,” you call back softly as you follow him. He walks you to the passenger’s side of his truck.

“Well, I guess you know what I wanted to talk to you about,” Henry says softly, your bodies inches apart as you lean against the vehicle.

“Not sure,” you say slowly. You refuse to assume, after all, what does Mom say? To assume makes an ass out of you and me….?

“I was hoping,” he paused, his eyes dropping as if getting up the nerve, but rise with intensity as he says his next words. “I was hoping you’d ride out the storm with me. They say it will be fronts rolling in and out all weekend, but the first hit will be the worst.”

“Yeah,” you smile breathlessly. “sounds like fun.”

“We should shop for some things we might need, you know?” he said softly. “I mean, safety, snacks, stuff like that.”

“Agreed.” You nod. “I’ll be honest, I’ve been getting ready all week, you know, little by little.”

“Great.” He nods. “So, let’s see what we’ve got, alright?”

“Yeah,” you nod.

He opens the door for you, and you slide into the passenger’s seat. He closes the door and as he walks around the car to get into the drivers’ side, you realize it may be time. The makeout sessions and massages, the kisses and caresses…it was all building into the point where something was going to give. He slides in next to you and stretches over to give you a quick kiss. “I’ve been wanting to do that all day.”

“I’ve been wanting you to,” you say softly.

Thanks for reading! Let me know if you want to be tagged.

@mistress-of-ward @nuggsmum @messyinsomniacbookgirl @jencanbeyouryengeralt​ @sweetdreamsofgelato​ @maryann84 @omgkatinka​ @the-soot-sprite @viking-raider @keanureevesisbae​ @henryobsessed​ @summersong69​ @kinbhot4henners​ @sunshine96love​ @michelehansel​ @radofrivia @thelastsock​ @michelehansel @tumblnewby @henryobsessed @defffcc @tenaciousneckpartypainter @rn7rocksn @mrskikkirazz @daydreamin83 @ruthoakenshield​ @musicartmayheminmyheart​

#henry cavill #henry cavill fanfiction #henrycavillfanfic #henrycavillfluff #henry cavill x you #geralt #superman

[aion-rsa]

How Science Fiction’s Ensemble Stories Humanize Space

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

A close-knit crew of wildly different people ride around on a spaceship having adventures. If you’re a sci-fi fan, there are very good odds that this synopsis describes one of your hooks into the genre. That crew might be a dysfunctional band of space criminals and revolutionaries, or a clean cut team of scientists, diplomats and soldiers serving a galactic Space UN, but there is a core appeal to this set up across the genre.

“Ensemble crews are one of the quickest and most powerful ways to forge a found family.  A foundational example for me was Blake’s 7,” says Paul Cornell, who has written stories for the Star Trek: Year Five comic series among his many speculative fiction credits. “They haven’t been recruited, they have relative degrees of distance from the cause, they’ve been flung together.  The most important thing is that they’re all very different people.”

These Are the Voyages…

It’s a formula that has been repeated over and over for about as long as there has been science fiction on television—starting with the likes of Star Trek and Blake’s 7, through the boom in “planet of the week” style TV in the 90s and 00s with Farscape and Firefly, to more recent stories like Dark Matter, The Expanse, Killjoys, and the Guardians of the Galaxy films. Most recently Sky’s Intergalactic, and the Korean movie Space Sweepers have been carrying the standard, while last month saw people diving back into the world of Mass Effect with Mass Effect Legendary Edition. While Commander Sheppard is ostensibly the protagonist of the video game trilogy, few would argue that it’s anything other than the ensemble of the Normandy crew that keeps people coming back.

As science fiction author Charlie Jane Anders points out, it’s not hard to see the appeal of a family of likeable characters, kept in close quarters by the confines of their ship, and sent into stories of adventure.

“I love how fun this particular strand of space opera is, and how much warmth and humour the characters tend to have,” Anders says. “These stories have in common a kind of swashbuckling adventure spirit and a love of problem-solving and resourcefulness. And I think the ‘found family’ element is a big part of it, since these characters are always cooped up on a tiny ship together and having to rely on each other.”

Over the years the Star Wars franchise has delivered a number of mismatched spaceship crews, from various ensembles to have crewed the Millennium Falcon, to the band of rebels in Rogue One, to the crew of the Ghost in Star Wars: Rebels.

That energy was one of the inspirations for Laura Lam and Elizabeth May, the writers behind Seven Devils and its upcoming sequel, Seven Mercies. In Seven Devils, a team of very different women come together aboard a starship stolen from an oppressive, galaxy-spanning empire, clashing with each other as much as the regime they are fighting. 

“So many of these stories are what we grew up with, and they were definitely influences. The scrappy people trying to make a living or rebel against a higher power, or the slick luxury communism of Star Trek,” says Lam. “What’s great and terrible about space is how you are often stuck on a ship with people, for better or worse. That isolation can breed really interesting character conflict and deep bonds. You have to have your crew’s back, otherwise space or alien plants are too large or dangerous [to survive].”

While the “Seven” duology is very much inspired by this genre of space adventure, it also brings these stories’ underlying political themes to the surface.

“What I enjoy most about space operas is taking contemporary socio-cultural and political issues and exploring them through a different lens,” says May. “I love to think of them in terms of exploration, analogous to ships navigating the vastness of a sea. And on journeys that long, with only the ocean and saltwater (space) around you, things become fraught. Yes, these are tales of survival, but they’re also tales of what it means to question the world around you. Aside from the cultural questions that [premise] raises, it opens possibilities for conflict, character bonding, and worldbuilding.”

In Yudhanjaya Wijeratne’s novel, The Salvage Crew, his ensemble don’t spend long on their ship. In the opening scene, they are plummeting through the atmosphere of an alien planet in a drop-pod piloted by an AI who is also the book’s narrator. But the book shares that sense of characters who need to stick close together in the face of a large and dangerous universe.

“What did I like about [space team stories]? Well, always the sense of wonder that the scale brought me: the feeling that Earth, and all our bickering, was just a tiny speck of dust – what Sagan called ‘the pale blue dot’ – and out there was an entire universe waiting to be explored,” Wijeratne says. “I treasured the darkness, as well: the darkness of the void, the tragedy of people in confined spaces, and a terror of the deep that only the deep sea brings me. It wasn’t the family attitude: it was more the constraints and the clever plays within terrifyingly close constraints. There’s a kind of grim, lunatic nihilism you need for those situations, and I loved seeing that.”

When asked for their favourite examples of the genre, one name kept coming up. Wijeratne, Anders, Lam, and May all recommended the Wayfarers books by Becky Chambers. The first in the series, A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet, concerns the crew not of an elite space naval vessel, or a renegade crew of space criminals, but of a ship that lays hyperspace tunnels for other, more glamorous ships to travel through. This job of space road-laying is one that I can only recall seeing once before, much more catastrophically, in the Vogon Constructor Fleet of Hitchhiker’s Guide the Galaxy. A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is a very different tale, however.

May tells us, “It’s a quieter space tale, a novel that feels very much like a warm hug. I love it with all my heart.”

Chambers doesn’t hold back when describing the impact this genre had on her growing up.

“I can’t remember life without these stories,” she says. “TNG first aired when I was three years old, and I watched Trek every week with my family until Voyager wrapped when I was sixteen. I can recite most of the original Star Wars trilogy word for word while I’m watching the movies, and I binged Farscape like my life depended on it when I was in college. This storytelling tradition is so much a part of my fabric that I have a hard time articulating what it is I like about it so much. It’s just a part of me, at this point. These stories are fun, full stop. They’re exciting. They can break your heart and crack you up in equal measure. They’re about small little clusters of people doing extraordinary things within an impossibly vast and beautiful universe. Everything about my work is rooted here. I can’t imagine who I’d be without these stories.”

The Unchosen Ones

Perhaps a big part of the appeal of these stories is that they are about an ensemble of people, each with their own stories and goals and perspectives. It can be refreshing where science fiction and fantasy frequently centre stories of “the Chosen One”, be it a slayer, boy wizard, or Jedi who is the person the narrative happens to. While Chosen One stories will frequently have a wide supporting cast, the emphasis for those other characters is frequently on the “supporting”.

“I very intentionally wanted to do something other than a ‘chosen one’ story with Wayfarers. I’m not sure I can speak to any broader trend in this regard, but with my own work, I really wanted to make it clear that the universe belongs to everybody in equal measure,” Chambers says. “Space opera is so often the realm of heroes and royalty, and I love those stories, but there’s a parallel there to how we think about space in the real world. Astronauts are and have always been an exceptional few. I wanted to shift the narrative and make it clear that we all have a place out there, and that even the most everyday people have stories worth telling.”

It’s an increasingly popular perspective. Perhaps it’s telling that one of the most recent Star Trek spin-offs, Lower Decks, focuses not on the super-heroic bridge crew, but the underlings and red shirts that do their dirty work, and that in turn echoes the ultra-meta John Scalzi novel, Redshirts.

Charlie Jane Anders’ recently released young adult novel, Victories Greater Than Death is a story that starts off with an almost archetypical “Chosen One” premise. The story’s protagonist, Tina, is an ordinary teenage girl, but is also the hidden clone of the hero of a terrible alien war. But as the story progresses, it evolves into something much more like an ensemble space adventure.

“I was definitely thinking about that a lot in this book in particular,” Anders says. “Tina keeps thinking of the other earth kids as a distraction from her heroic destiny or as people she needs to protect. Her friend Rachael is the one who keeps pushing for them to become a family and finally gets through to Tina.”

Seven Devils (and its upcoming sequel, Seven Mercies) is also a story that tries to focus on the exact people who would never be considered “chosen” or who have wilfully turned away from their destiny.

“I do like that most of them [the characters] are those the Tholosians wrote off as unimportant–people to be used for their bodies, and not encouraged to use their minds,” Lam says. “And Eris’s journey turning away from the life chosen for her and choosing her own, but having to wrangle with what she still did for the Empire before she did, makes her a very interesting character to write. In many ways, she was complicit, and she’s not sure she’ll ever be able to atone.”

Wijeratne also argues that an ensemble story is in many ways more true to life.

“Rarely in life do you find this Randian John Galt type, this solo hero that changes the world by themselves; more often you find a group of people with similar interests, covering for each other, propping each other up,” he says. “It’s how we humans, as a species, have evolved. Our strength is not in our individual prowess, but in the fact that three people working together can take down a mammoth, and a thousand people working together can raise a monument to eternity.”

While there are certainly themes and kinds of story that are more suited to ensemble storytelling, May points out that there is plenty of room for both kinds of story.

“Having written books that explore both, I find that Chosen One narratives are often stories of duty, obligation, and self-discovery,” she says. “Ensemble narratives often involve themes of acceptance and friendship bonds. To me, these serve different narrative functions and ask separate questions.”

A Space of Their Own

The spaceship-crews-on-adventures subgenre is one of the major pillars of science fiction as a whole, with the trope codifier, Star Trek, being likely one of the first names that comes to mind when you think of the genre. This means that the writers working within the subgenre are not only heavily influenced by what came before, they are also in conversation, and sometimes argument with it.

Paul Cornell is a huge Star Trek fan, and has written for the characters before. His upcoming novella, Rosebud, features the quite Star Trek-ish scenario of a crew of AIs, some formerly humans, some not, investigating an anomaly. It’s a story that very much intersects with the ideals of Star Trek.

“Rosebud is about a crew who are meant to believe in something, but no longer really do,” Cornell says. “They’re a bunch of digital beings with varying origins, some of whom were once human, some of whom weren’t.  There’s a conflict under the surface that nobody’s talking about, and when they encounter, in a very Trek way, an anomalous object, it’s actually a catalyst for their lives changing enormously.  I’m a huge fan of the Trek ethos.  I like good law, good civilisation, civil structures that do actually allow everyone to live their best lives, and Rosebud is about how far we’ve got from that, and a passion for getting back to that path.”

Other stories more explicitly react against the more dated or normative conventions in the genre. Seven Devils, for instance, both calls out and subverts the very male demographics of a lot of these stories.

“For a lot of ensemble casts, you get the token woman (Guardians of the Galaxy, for example) and until recently, things were fairly heteronormative,” Lam says. “So we basically wanted to turn things around and have a gang of mostly queer women being the ones to save the universe. We also went hard on critiquing imperialism and monarchies with too much power.”

Indeed, the “space exploration” that is the cornerstone of much of the genre, is an idea deeply rooted in a colonialist, and often racist tradition.

I’ve written my own space ensemble story, an ongoing series of four “planet of the week” style novellas, Fermi’s Progress. One of my concerns with the genre is how often the hero spaceship will turn up at a “primitive” planet, then overthrow a dictator, or teach the women about this human concept called “love”, or otherwise solve the local’s century’s old, deeply rooted societal problems in half-an-hour and change in a way that felt extremely “white colonialists going out and fixing the universe”.

My solution was simple. In Fermi’s Progress, the crew’s prototype spaceship has an experimental FTL drive that unfortunately vaporises every planet they visit as they fly away. It’s a device that riffs off the “overturn a planet’s government then never mention them again” trope of planet-of-the-week stories, keeps the ship and crew moving, and leaves the reader in no doubt as to whether or not these “explorers” are beneficial to the places they visit.

Of course, not every effort to engage with these issues needs to be so dramatic.

“Since I tend to view space operas in terms of uncharted exploration, it’s crucial that the text addresses or confronts power issues in its various forms: who has it, who suffers from it, how is it wielded?” May says. “And sometimes those questions have extraordinarily messy and complicated answers in ways that do not fit neatly with ‘good team overthrows evil empire.’ One of the things I wanted to address was this idea of ‘rebels are the good guys.’ Who gets to be a good person? Who else pays the price for morality? In Seven Devils, the character of Eris ends up doing the dirty, violent work of the rebellion so the others can sleep at night–so that they can feel they’ve made moral and ethical choices. And for that same work, she’s also judged more harshly by those in the rebellion who get to have clear consciences because of her actions.”

“I had particular beef with the homogeneity,” says Wijeratne. “An entire planet where x race was of an identical sentiment? Pfft. At the same time, this naive optimism, that people can work together on a planetary scale to set up institutions and megastructures without enormous amounts of politics and clashes. I was most frustrated with this in Clarke’s work. [Rendezvous with] Rama in particular: it just didn’t compute with what I knew of people.”

As a consequence of the genre’s colonialist roots—not to mention the nature of most real spaceflight programmes—space in these stories can feel like an extremely militarised space. Even a gang of misfits, fugitives and renegades like the Farscape cast features at least a couple of trained soldiers at any one time.

“I didn’t want my characters to be just redshirts or ensigns, who get ordered around and seldom get to take much initiative,” Anders points out. “And I was interested in exploring the notion that a space force organized by non-humans might have very different ideas about hierarchy and might not have concepts like ‘chain of command’. I tried not to fall unthinkingly into the military tropes that Trek, in particular, is prone to.”

Chambers was also driven by a desire to show people who were working in space without wearing a uniform.

“I wanted to tell space stories that weren’t about war or military politics,” she explains. “These things exist in the Wayfarers universe, and I personally love watching a space battle as much as anybody, but I think it’s sad if the only stories we tell about the future are those that focus on new and inventive ways of killing each other.  Human experience is so much broader than that, and we are allowed to imagine more.”

Getting the Band Together

Writing a story built around an ensemble, rather than a single main character, brings its own challenges with it. In many ways, creating a central protagonist is easy. The story has to happen to somebody. Creating an ensemble can be tricker. Each character needs to feel like they’re the protagonist of their own story, but also the cast is in many ways a tool box for the writer to bring different perspectives and methods to bear on the issue at the centre of their story. Different writers take very different approaches to how they put that toolbox together.

“I had some types I wanted to play with, and I was consciously allowing myself to go a little wild, so they get to push against the walls of my own comfort zone,” Cornell says of the AI crew in Rosebud.  “I created a group of very different people, tried them against each other, and edited them toward the most interesting conflicts that suited my theme.”

Anders also went through various iterations in assembling her cast of characters for Victories Greater Than Death.

“I went through a huge process of trial and error, figuring out exactly how many Earth characters I wanted in the book and how to introduce them,” she says. “I wanted characters who had their own reason for being there and who would either challenge Tina or represent a different viewpoint somehow. I think that’s usually how you get an interesting ensemble, by trying to have different viewpoints in the mix.”

In writing Fermi’s Progress, I very much tried to cut the crew from whole cloth, thinking of them primarily as a flying argument. Thinking about the original Star Trek crew, most of the stories are driven by the ongoing debate between Spock’s pragmatism, McCoy’s emotions, and Kirk’s sense of duty, and so the Fermi’s crew was written to have a number of perspectives that would be able to argue interestingly about the different things they would encounter.

Others, however, focus strongly on the individual characters before looking at how they fit together.

“I gravitate much more toward writing multiple POVs than sticking with just one. Character dynamics are catnip to me, and I love to play with them from all angles. But building each character is a very individual sort of process,” Chambers says. “I want each of them to feel like a whole person, and I’m struggling to think of any I’ve created to complete another. I just spend some time with a character all on their own, then start making them talk to each other — first in pairs, then in larger groups. I shuffle those combinations around until everybody comes alive.”

In writing Seven Devils, May and Lam began with a core pair of characters, then built outwards.

“El [Lam] and I each started with a single character we wanted to explore,” May recalls. “For me, it was Eris, who also had the benefit of being an exploration of thorny issues of morality. Eris’ natural foil was Clo–conceived of by El–who believes in the goodness of the rebellion. From there, our cast expanded as different aspects of imperial oppression that we wanted to address: colonial expansion via the military, brainwashing, the use of artificial intelligence. Each character provides a unique perspective of how the Empire in Seven Devils functions and how it crushes autonomy and self-determination.”

“We started with Eris and Clo,” Lam agrees. “Eris is sort of like Princess Leia if she and Luke had been raised by Darth Vader but she realised the Empire was evil and faked her own death to join the rebellion. Clo has elements of Luke in that she grew up on a backwater planet where things go wrong, but it was overpopulated versus wide open desert with a few moons. She also just has a lot more fury and rage that doesn’t always go in the right direction. Then we created the other three women they meet later in the narrative, and did a combination of using archetypes as jumping off points (courtesan, mercenary, genius hacker) but taking great care crafting their backstories and motivations and how they all related to each other.”

Ensuring that every character has their own story to be the protagonist of is something you can trace right back through the genre- particularly with series like Farscape, Firefly, and the more recent Intergalactic, where the crews often feels thrown together by circumstance and the characters are very much pursuing their own goals.

Balancing all of these different perspectives and voices is the real trick, especially if you want to avoid slipping back into the set-up of a star protagonist and their backing singers.

“This was a bit of a struggle, especially in a book with a single pov,” Anders says. “In the end all I could do was give each character their own goals and ideals that aren’t just an extension of Tina’s. It really helps if people have agendas that aren’t just related to the main plot.”

“We have five point of view characters and seven in the sequel, and it was definitely a challenge,” Lam admits. “For the first book, we started with just Eris and Clo until the reader was situated, and then added in the other three. We gave each character their own arc and problem to solve, and essentially asked ourselves ‘if [X] was the protagonist, what would they journey be?’ Which is useful to ask of any character, especially the villains!”

Chambers has a surprisingly practical solution to the problem: colour-coded post-it notes.

“Some characters will naturally have more weight in the story than others, but I do try to balance it out,” Chambers says. “One of the practical tricks I find helpful is colour-coding post-it notes by POV character, then mapping out all the chapters in the book on the wall. That makes it very easy to see who the dominant voices are, and I can adjust from there as needed.”

A Ship with Character

One cast member these stories all have in common is the ship they travel in. Sometimes the ship is a literal character in itself, such as the organic ship Moya in Farscape, but even when not actually sentient, the ship will help set the tone for the entire story, whether it’s the sweeping lines and luxurious interiors of the Enterprise D, or the cosy, hand-painted communal kitchen of Serenity. When describing the Fermi in my own story, I made it a mix of real and hypothetical space technology, and pure nonsense, in a way that felt like the story’s mission statement.

Seven Devils’ stolen imperial ship, “Zelus”, likewise reflected the themes of the book.

“Our ship is called Zelus, and it begins as a symbol of Empire but gradually becomes a home,” Lam says. “They took it back for themselves, which I think mirrors a lot of what the characters are trying to do.” 

The same was true of the “Indomitable”, the ship Tina would inherit in Victories Greater Than Death.

“The main thing I needed from the Indomitable was to be a slightly run down ship on its own, far from any backup,” Anders says. “I did have a lot of fun coming up with all the ways the ship’s systems work. In the second book I introduce a starship that is a little more idiosyncratic, let’s say.”

For Cornell, the spaceship at the heart of Rosebud was an extension of the characters themselves, almost literally.

“It’s a kind of magical space, in that the interior is largely digital, and reflects the personalities of the crew,” he says. “There’s an interesting gap between the ship’s interior and the real world, and to go explore the artefact, our crew have to pick physical bodies to do it in.  Their choices of physical body again tell us something about who they are.”

“My background is in theater, so I am always thinking about what kind of ‘set’ I’m working with,” Chambers tells us. “Colour, lighting, props, and stage layout are very important to me. I want these to feel like real, lived-in environments, but they also communicate a lot to the reader about who the people within these spaces are. Kizzy’s workspace tells a completely different story than, say, Roveg’s shuttle, or Pepper’s house. I spend a lot of time mulling over what sorts of comforts each character likes to keep around them, what food they like to have on hand, and so on. These kinds of details are crucial for painting a full picture.”

Stellar Dynamics

When he was writing the cast of The Salvage Crew, Wijeratne fleshed out his characters by focusing on how they relate to one another.

“My cast tends to be more of ‘what’s the most interesting mix I can bring to this situation, where’s the tragedy, and where’s the comedy?’ I go through a bit of an iterative process –  I come up with one stand-out attribute for the character that makes sense given the world I’m about to throw them into,” he says. “Then the question is: what’s a secondary quirk, or part of their nature, that makes them work well with the others, or is somehow critical? What’s a tertiary facet to them that really rubs the others the wrong way?

“Then I take those quirks and go back to the other characters, and ask why do they respond to these things? What about their backstory makes them sympathize with one thing and want to pummel the other into dust? By the time this back-and-forth is complete, I’ve got enough that the characters feel like they really do have shit to get done in this world, and really do have some beef with each other.  They have backstory and things they react to really badly and situations they’re going to thrive in.”

In The Salvage Crew, this included Simon a geologist who crew up plugged into a PVP MMORPG and who hasn’t really adjusted to the real world, Anna, a wartime medic who has PTSD around blood, and Milo, who is a decent all-arounder, but has problems with authority, particular women in authority.

In the best-loved stories of this sub-genre, it’s not just the strong characters, but the relationships between those characters that people love. Spock and McCoy, Geordi and Data, Jayne and Book working out together in Firefly. Even in the protagonist-heavy Mass Effect, some of the best character moments don’t involve Shepard, but are the character interactions you eavesdrop or walk in on while wandering around the Normandy.

“I think we’ve all experienced being flung together with a group of workmates, and nobody asking us if we like everyone there,” Cornell says. “And how the smallest quirks of personality can come to mean everything over several centuries.”

Getting those relationships to feel organic and natural is the real trick, and it can take endless writing and rewriting to get there. 

“For me, it’s usually a lot of gold-farming,” Anders says. “I will write a dozen scenes of characters hanging out or dealing with stuff, and then pick two or three of them to include in the book. I can’t write relationships unless I’ve spent a lot of time with them.”

Often it’s a question of balancing conflict and camaraderie among the group.

“It’s easy to want to go straight to banter between characters, which is a massive benefit of ensemble casts. But I also think it’s essential that they have moments of conflict,” says May. “Not just drama for drama’s sake, but in any friendship group, boundaries often have to be established and re-established. Sometimes those boundaries come from past traumas, and taking moments to explore those not only adds dimensionality, but shows how the character unit itself functions.”

For May and Lam it helped that their ensemble cast was being written by an ensemble itself.

“Having both of us work on them really helped them come to life,” Lam says. “Their voices were easier to differentiate because we’d often take the lead on a certain character. So if I wrote a Clo chapter, I didn’t always know how exactly Eris might react in her next chapter, or Elizabeth might change Eris’s dialogue in that initial Clo scene to better fit what was coming up. As co-writers, we were in conversation with each other as much as the characters, and that’s quite fun. We tend to work at different times of the day, so I’d load up the manuscript in the morning and wonder what’s happened next to our crew during the night and read to find out. We also did a lot of work on everyone’s past, so we knew what they wanted, what they feared, what lies about themselves they believed, how they might change and grow through the story as a result of meeting each other, and therefore the characters tended to develop more organically on the page.”

For Wijeratne, the thing that really brings the characters’ relationships into focus is a crisis, and it’s true. Across these stories, more often than not you want your space team to be working together against a common challenge, not obsessed with in-fighting among themselves.

“The skeleton of what you saw was the output of an algorithm. A series of Markov chains generating events, playing on the fact that humans are extraordinarily good at seeing patterns in random noise,” Wijeratne says. “But the skeleton needs skin and muscle, and that’s more or less drawn from the kind of high-stress situations that I’ve been a part of: flood relief efforts, factchecking and investigating in the face of terrorism and bombings, even minor stuff like being in Interact projects with people I really didn’t want to be working with. I find that there are make-or-break moments in how people respond to adversity: either they draw together, and realize they can get over their minor differences, or they cry havoc and let loose the dogs of war.”

Found Family

Whether we’re talking about Starfleet officers, browncoats, rebel scum or galaxy guardians, these crews are rarely just colleagues or even teammates. They are family.

“I think it goes back to many space operas ultimately being survival tales: whether that’s surviving in the vastness of space or against an imperial oppressor,” May says. “These stories bring unrelated characters closer together in a way that goes beyond the bonds of blood. ‘Found family’ is a powerful bond predicated on acceptance and respect rather than duty.”

It’s a topic at the heart of Seven Devils, set in a galaxy where the regime in power has done all it can to eliminate the concept of “Family”, but Lam also believes the found family is something extremely important to marginalised groups.

“In ours, the Tholosians have done their best to erase the concept of family entirely–most people are grown in vats and assigned their jobs from birth. You might feel some sort of sibling bond with your soldier cohort, perhaps, but most people don’t have parents,” Lam says. “Rebellion is incredibly difficult, as your very mind has been coded to be obedient and obey. So those who have managed to overcome that did so with incredible difficulty, and found each other and bonded among what they had in common. You see it in our world as well of course–the marginalised tend to be drawn to each other for support they might not find elsewhere, and the bonds are just as deep or deeper than family you’re related to by blood (just look at drag families, where you have a drag mother or daughter, for example).”

“Found family is definitely a strong narrative thread,” Wijeratne agrees. “I think it stems from an incredibly persistent process in our lives – in human lives: we grow up, we outgrow the people we are born among, and we go out into the world to find our tribe, so to speak. And this is a critical part of maturity, of striking out on out own, of becoming comfortable with who we are and realizing who we’ll be happy to battle alongside and who we’d rather kick in the meat and potatoes.

“Space, of course, is such a perfect physical representation of this process. What greater ‘going out’ is there than in leaving aside the stale-but-certain comfort of the space station or planet and striking out for the depths? What better idea of finding a family than settling in with a crew? And what better embodiment of freedom than a void where only light can touch you, but even then after years?”

Of course, the “Found Family” isn’t exclusive to spaceship crews. It’s a theme that we see everywhere from superhero movies to sitcoms, reflecting some of the bigger social shifts happening in the real world. As Cornell points out, one of the very first spaceship ensembles shows, Lost in Space, was based around a far more traditional family.

“I think one of the big, central parameters of change in the modern world is the move from biological family being the most important thing to found family being the most important, the result of a series of generation gaps caused by technological, ecological and societal change happening so fast that generations now get left behind,” Cornell says. “So all our stories now have found family in them, and we can’t imagine taking old family into space.  The new Lost in Space, for example, had to consciously wrestle with that.  And even in the original, there’s a reason the found family of Billy and Dr. Smith is the most interesting relationship.  It’s the only one where we don’t immediately know what the rules are meant to be.” 

To make a huge generalisation, that sense of “not immediately knowing what the rules are meant to be” might be the key to the genre’s appeal. After all, if your space exploration is closer to the ideals of the Star Trek model than they are to Eddie Izzard’s “Flag” sketch, then it’s about entering an alien environment where you don’t know the rules. If there are aliens, your space heroes will be trying to reach out and understand them. But for the writer, whether those aliens are humanoids with funny foreheads or jellyfish that only talk in the third person, the aliens will still be, behind however many layers of disguise, human. We really struggle to imagine what it’s like to be anything else. Perhaps our spaceship crew’s efforts in communicating with and understanding those aliens is reflected in their efforts to understand each other.

Seven Devils, by Elizabeth May and Laura Lam, is out now, as is The Salvage Crew by Yudhanjaya Wijeratne, Victories Greater Than Death by Charlie Jane Anders, and A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. Rosebud, by Paul Cornell, will be out in April 2022.

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The first two parts of Chris Farnell’s serial, Fermi’s Progress, Dyson’s Fear and Descartesmageddon, are also out now, or the season pass for all four novellas is for sale at Scarlet Ferret.

The post How Science Fiction’s Ensemble Stories Humanize Space appeared first on Den of Geek.

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[geometricalien]

oh dear i'm super duper late but I have a lot of questions about your wips!! I wanna know more about sick Akashi, nekoma pirate crew, BoKuroo/BokuAka midsommer, Pining + Jacket, The truth burns and destroys, feeling good, Punk Noya, Strawberry Blonde, sunspot and the merman au!!! Thanks babe <333

Hi Vee!!! This is it, I spent wayyyyy too long on this, I think my finger is cramping from typing. But thank you for asking, I love sharing my ideas, sorry if it’s incorherent.

This is super long so it’s under the cut, saving people room

Sick Akashi 

So, it’s based off of a line prompt “I’d like it if you’d stay” and as the title suggests, 3rd year Akashi gets sick, sorry Vee it’s not fatal, Furihata comes to Rakuzan to check on his friend after he doesn’t answer his phone. The entire premise is Akashi works himself sick with his various responsibilities he takes on as “perfectionist who can’t show any cracks at all”. I don’t want Bokushi Akashi showing up so it’s minus the mental break elements. (also technically in canon terms it's after they have merged so yeah) I feel like they deserve a cute little “nurse” the other from a sickness ficlet. And… maybe… sick Akashi confesses…….. It’s almost a writing challenge for me because Akashi has a more polite sophisticated way of thinking and speaking, so cough yep

The rest are Haikyuu aus so buckle in

NEKOMA PIRATE CREW 

Admittedly this is more loose, less of a solid idea. It’s Yaku centric, and how he went from a merchant from his grandfather’s company searching for lost merchandise and became the first mate who keeps track of the ship's finances and keeps their captain Kuroo on track. Other things of note, he meets Kuroo first as a pirate on another ship who stole his merchandise, Kenma is a sea witch (is that science or magic? That's always the question), and about halfway through the adventure they get Lev on board as a new member. So yeah! Kinda a fetch quest but on of my favorite fanfics is legitimately a fetch quest so it's okay fjdkaljf

BoKuroo/BokuAka Midsommer

This is based off of a fanart by desdelasombra my friend Shayla showed it to me and we threw this idea around together, we really don’t want to write it but it's also spectacular. So it's the movie Midsommar, right? Bokuto is a “gatherer” bringing his friends to come join in his village’s rituals. But we didn’t want anyone to die (except for Kenma sorry he’s dead as the substitute for the main character’s sister), so a grieving Kuroo comes with his boyfriend Bokuto, joined by their friends the smart studious and jaded Oikawa and bright bubbly Hinata. Obviously the three react badly to the first ritual and Bokuto doesn’t understand because for him it’s always been a joyful experience and he wanted to share it with his friends. A Lot of things happen, but most important is Akaashi and Kuroo dancing under the may pole together. BokuAka was in the past when Bokuto was home so part of this is them coming together as poly and escaping the final scene of the movie. Again this is very painful but that art is beautiful and the world is better for it being created

Pining + Jacket (KuroLev)

Again this is a line prompt about lending a jacket because it’s cold and it had so much potential for pining and who is the most pining bastard that I know? LEV and Shayla told me about KuroLev and somehow this happened. It’s currently going to be a sequence of drabbles of Lev pining after Kuroo, what else could you ask for? Uh? Lev confessing to Kuroo and them going out??? Sorry I can’t hear you over the exquisite angst and pain of one sided love that I want to explore

The truth burns and destroys

GOOD CHOICE, I began this on saturday night and it has earned a very special place in my heart. Sometimes I fear that my writing is like a lazy pool, sure it's nice and easy and smooth but there isn’t an intensity or raw emotions, BUT THIS this accomplishes what I want. And I’m really glad, its metaphor and imagery heavy but it really captures their emotions and thoughts without it sounding like I’m a 7th grader writing my first fanfiction glances to my abandoned wips from that time. Okay, Vee, I am a glutton for punishment and angst and I choose to pursue cheating fics. But specifically where and how they build the relationship up again after finding out. So, I was reading a KageHina cheating fic and how the character’s reacted felt off somehow so at midnight I wrote this snippet to fullfill my craving, you know what they say the best fanfiction is self indulgence. Here is a short excerpt,

He wants to brush this aside and continue their lives. He wants to wake up next to Tobio and still be seen the same way. He doesn't want anything to change. 

Tobio is his favorite book. He has read it time and time again. Highlighting, underlining, cherishing. So Shouyou is able to read the silent begging in his eyes. The right clenched fist. 

"Shouyou," a deafening pause "What is this?"

Please lie to me.

…

It stretches on. The eternity of silence. They sit together holding on to the last hope they have. Shouyou memorizes those beautiful hands, each crease and bump. Hands that helped shape him become who he is and that reached out unwaveringly. 

Tobio sighs a world ending sigh. 

Shouyou was the one who created their world, it's only fitting that Tobio is the one who destroys it.

In summary I like angst, I want to feel something 

Feeling good

AAA, okay uh, This is a BokuAka pop star au. Akaashi sings “feeling good” at a big charity event hosted by Akashi (... yes I am AkaFuri trash and I can and will sneak them in anything and everything I write) while he is singing he walks down a big staircase remembering moments in his relationship with Bokuto, how much they have grown and how much he loves him. I love the concept! But I tried to write smut in the beginning of it and OOF THATS A NO. I actually have the majority of it written but I do want to add more emotions and thoughts (the lazy pool writing) and make it Ao3 friendly because I have all of the lyrics for feeling good in it as “post signs” for what he sings and that’s against their rules. 1 major aspect of this fic is it's all leading up to the point where Akaashi says “I love you” for the first time to Bokuto after finishing the song, on stage, in front of everyone and on every screen broadcasting it.

Punk Noya

I have a love for feral boys, especially feral alternative punk boys (and girls and humans) so this whole idea is that Noya goes to another school for high school, embraces more punk aethsetics, and on the first day of the preliminary tournaments he hears the rumors about a high schooler in a gang, getting up to nasty things, and he decides to confront them. He finds Asahi, rants him out and leaves. The plot then follows canon, at the winter tournament Karasuno faces Dateko, Karasuno loses even more badly because Noya isn’t there. Asahi quits volleyball, BUT Asahi and Noya run into each other at the store and talk leading to friendship which leads to romance. Idk man, I want more punk haikyuu characters, it gives me life. Alt Yamaguchi is my favorite but onwards we go

Strawberry Blonde

!!!! So this is Mitski’s song and to give a vague idea this is a pining Kageyama fic where he tries to pull away from Hinata and that back fires. (I  do have more to say but I’ve been typing this for over an hour and I’m getting really tired fjkdaljl) There is one paragraph that I love, so here it is! Kageyama and Hinata are practicing by themselves outside of school and they are playing pepper (its a volleyball warm up practice routine where you partner up with someone pass, set, and spike the ball to each other sesquentially) Hinata goes to spike the ball and for a moment Kageyama sees it, 

They are at nationals and they made it to finals. The crowds are screaming, but everything except the court is thrown into shadows. They are at match point of the final set. Everything is at peak intensity and at the center is him. Flying in the air. Orange hair waving with the momentum. His loud take off echoing in the gym. Arm poised for the kill. Eyes sparking with ferocity and passion as he aims. And finally, tipping the world over is the loud slap of his hand, sending the ball to the far side of the court-

This was actually going to be finished and posted in time for Haikyuu season 4 coming out and the manga wrapping up.... clearly I failed my goal fjdaklfj

Sunspot

You don’t know this about me but I love royalty aus, and this is BokuAka Prince Akaashi and Knight Bokuto. This was a short snippet of this grand idea I have for them where they run away from Akaashi’s inherited destiny together. It has potential to be really wide and expansive with the differnet teams as different kingdoms (AGAIN ILLUSION OF CHOICE, that fic really influences me doesn’t it fjdskalj) But this was a short glance at Akaashi taking a break from studying and watching Bokuto and the other knights practice duel. The title comes from the fact that Bokuto is a sunspot in Akaashi’s life, and his day is substantially better basking in his golden shining light.

Merman au

I’m so glad you asked about this and its technically the one I’ve written the most for since it's actually the one I posted on my haikyuu writing side blog. But brief recap, long term it’s a BokuAka little mermaid au but instead of a sea witch it’s an underwater deity who makes “wishes” (it's a deal) with every royal who is born. And Akaashi has a lot of siblings: Ushijima, Oikawa, Suga, Terushima, and Hinata, and its in that order. So I have information on every sibling’s deal, what they wish for, what they give for it, what happens to them in the future, romantically and otherwise. But, this is the one I haven’t updated in over a year, I am working on it!! I’m currently on Koushi’s (suga’s) wish/deal, its just taking forever. If you want to learn more about it I’ll link it in parts  1  2  3  4

BUT I will work on Suga’s part and then Terushima’s and then to the meat of the idea with Akaashi. 

If you have made it this far, thanks, you are cool as always. My brain and fingers is ded. 

[thenocturnalmushroom]

Time to Heal - AshEiji (Chapter One)

Chapters: 6/? Fandom: Banana Fish Rating: Mature Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Ash Lynx/Okumura Eiji Characters: Ash Lynx, Okumura Eiji Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Fluff, Lots of fluff, Angst/Comfort, Lots of comfort, Healing, Mentions of past child abuse, Happy Ending 

Read on AO3

“Is this city even on the map?”, Ash couldn’t help but ask after what seemed like long hours looking at the same empty landscape; dirt road and wild grass was all he could see passing by the window of the car, except for one lost cow or another.

Ash's entire life had happened among the skyscrapers of New York, and he had never imagined that it would ever change - not until a month ago. It wasn’t like he had anything left in the Big Apple; anything but bad memories and a past he'd like to erase from his mind. Even so, New York had been his whole world for seventeen years, and the prospect of being confined to a small town in the middle of nowhere made him feel a sort of reverse claustrophobia; the ridiculously high and imposing buildings of Manhattan added to the sea of people that flowed daily through the lively streets of his home island made him feel grounded to something solid and real. Without that to tie him to the world, the boy was afraid to float away and get lost forever in the immensity of the endless sky.

“Don’t be silly, kiddo! It’s obvious that Greenriver is on the map!”, Max laughed for a moment, but soon he seemed not to be so sure about that. “I mean… It must be there.”

Ash looked at the man next to him with a discreet side glance; he still didn’t know what to think about Max Glenreed. The boy had seen him only twice in his life, and now he was going to live with the man’s family, which he knew almost nothing about. Max seemed to be a little awkward and a bit distracted, as if he always have too much in his mind to think about, but he was kind enough to welcome the stepson of his deceased younger sister into his house - maybe being kindhearted and compassionate would be part of their DNA. Ash felt a pang in his chest at the thought, like a cold needle piercing his heart.

No, the boy refused to let those memories emerge to the surface of his mind, pushing them back to the bottom of the hole where he had tried to chain them and hide them from his feelings. Not here, not now, he begged to his own mind, stirring nervously on the hem of his black sports wristbands.

To Ash, having to deal with those feelings was like having a giant snake wrapped around his body, paralyzing him and choking him, while it piercing his skin with its fangs, letting its poison penetrate his veins, burning the life that there was within him until it turned everything into ashes.

**

Ash must have dozed off, because when he opened his eyes again, the empty landscape that had accompanied him for the last few hours had finally been replaced by some low builds and a few dozen human beings, strolling around, enjoying the sunny day. They had finally arrived at Greenriver city, and the setting was as disappointing as the New Yorker boy had imagined; Ash felt more as if he was in a movie set or a "boring small city" theme park than in a real city. He had the weird feeling that if he looked behind the buildings he would find out that they were no more than false facades made of wood and cardboard.

Deep in his heart, the boy knew he should be grateful for start a new life in a place as quiet as that one, away from all the hecticness and chaos of his hometown. After everything he had passed through in the last years, Ash felt he should crave some peace and security, but it seemed so far away from the reality he was used to that it made him feel uncomfortable, as if something essential was missing. It was as if he had left the chaos behind, but the chaos had not left him.

In a few minutes, after crossing a few streets through the residential neighborhood, Max's car finally parked in front of a house painted with a so faded blue that it could be mistaken by white for a less attentive person. The Glenreed family house wasn’t the biggest nor the smallest house on that street; it seemed to be the perfect size to comfortably accommodate a family of three on its two floors and little more than half a dozen modestly sized rooms. Ash couldn’t help but wonder if he would be able to fit in there, if his presence there wouldn’t just disturb the pacific life of that family’s members.

“Be welcomed to your new home, Ash!”, Max's words brought the boy back from his thoughts only to leave him lost in front of its kindness, for the strangeness of having such warm words being addressed to him - even more in a so sincerely and genuinely way – as well as for him didn’t know how to respond to them. Would one thank you be enough? Ash couldn’t tell, but since nothing better came to his mind, it was what he answered in an awkward murmur.

Since he didn’t have many belongs, getting Ash’s luggage out of the car didn’t take more than a half minute. Everything that was really important to the boy fitted into his old shabby backpack; the other suitcase he had brought with him had just a few clothes and things of no value from his old house inside it, things that Max had practically forced him to bring with him - the man had insisted that if he didn’t do it, he would regret it one day. Ash just gave up trying to argue, but he insisted on not touching that suitcase; he had plans to find a good hiding place for that thing and keep it out of his sight.

Max called for his wife as he passed through the door, pushing Ash's suitcase into the house, not bothering to look back. Ash felt grateful for that, for having no one to witness his moment of hesitation in taking the first step into the house that would be his home for only-God-knows how long. The boy allowed himself to take a deep breath before crossing the front door.

Ash had about half a second to let his eyes wander through the interior of the first floor before the figure of a tall woman with long blond hair tied in a messy ponytail came up from the back of the house, catching his attention.

“Hello, Ash!”, the woman smiled friendly, approaching to the newcomers. She wore a slightly dirty gardening apron with a pair of gloves hanging from the front pocket, as if she had begun to work with the land just before they appeared and hindered her in her task. “I’m Jessica, Max’s wife. It’s so nice to finally meet you.”, she made a small movement to stretch her hand out to greet Ash, but she stopped herself in the middle of the gesture, looking a little embarrassed. Max must have warned her about his discomfort at being touched. “Please, make yourself at home. This house is also yours from now on.”

“Thanks.”, his voice came out small and a bit unsteady, not knowing how to respond to gentle words once again. He blamed the lack of custom for that.

“Where’s Michael?”, Max asked to his wife, making Ash feel relieved for not being the focus of the conversation, even only for a brief moment.

“He went to John's house, but he must be back soon. I told him to come back early to welcome Ash.”, and, once again, the eyes of both were on the boy. Although their gazes were affable, Ash wished he wasn’t their target. “You must be exhausted from the trip, aren’t you?”, the boy nodded, but the truth was he didn’t feel so tired; he just wanted to have an excuse to have a few moments alone. “Why don’t you take a nap before dinner? Max will show you to your room.”

“I was about to do that.”, the man took Ash's suitcase one more time, heading for the back of the house. “This way.”

The former guest room, now Ash's room, was behind the last door in the narrow hallway at the side of the stairs, near to the first-floor bathroom and what appeared to be Max's office. The room was small and square like a box, containing only a single bed, a four-drawer chiffonier with a round mirror on top and a small desk in front of the window, with a view of the backyard. Ash could see through the butter-colored curtains the shiny of the sun reflecting on the surface of a small pool and a sort of shed in the end of the backyard.

“I know it's not that big, but... I hope you feel comfortable here.”, Ash could hear the silent apology in Max's voice. The man looked nervous, as if expecting a negative reaction from the boy.

Ash just shrugged, putting his backpack on the bed. “It's way better than a cupboard under the stairs.”

The boy didn't expect his silly attempt at making a joke would be effective, but it had Max letting out a good, loud laugh as result.

“Don’t worry, kiddo, the Glenreed family is more like the Weasley Family than the Dursleys.”, he assured him, forgetting for a moment about Ash’s issues of being touched and patting him on the back, making the boy shrink as an automatic response. “Oh, sorry!”, the man quickly pulled his hands away from him, a guilty expression on his face.

Ash shook his head, dismissing the apology. “So, can I have my own owl?”, the boy allowed a small, playful smile to reach his lips.

“If you’re talking about the plush ones, you can have as many as you want!”, Max laughed again, but more restrainedly this time, visibly watching himself out. Keeping a smile on his face, he pointed around the room and then to the boy in front of him, while he let out some more of his unending warm words: “This is your room, Ash. You can decorate it the way you want. If you want it, I can take you to the nearby town on the weekend to buy something to make this place look more like yours. They have a good furniture and decoration store there."

“This room is great.”, Ash affirmed and he was being honest. It had been a long time since the boy had stopped care about material things; a plain room like that was all what he could wanted.

Max's smile lingered on his face for a few seconds longer, before it start to fade away, making his lips taking the shape of a thin, stiff line. It was so weird to see him wearing such a serious expression that Ash couldn’t avoid the feeling of uneasiness that struck him as he faced it.

“If you want or need something, anything, please, don’t hesitate to tell us.”, both the face and tone of the man transmitted a mixture of concern and a hard determination - the same determination Ash had seen on his face the day he had declared that he was taking the boy's custody. “You’re part of this family now. Please, never forget it.”

Trying to swallow the hard lump that had formed into his throat, Ash just nodded, not trusting his own voice. Actually, he couldn’t trust any of the many feelings that were swirling inside his chest at that moment, seeming to be trying to force an exit out of the boy's body through his eyes. But he couldn’t let them out, not after he had promised not to shed any more tears for himself.

“Well…”, Max started to say as slowly as his expression started to softened again and the corner of his lips started to give life to a new smile. “I'll let you rest for a bit. The trip was long and, well, I’d like to rest a bit before dinner too.”

Making some effort, Ash managed to find some stability to his voice, at least enough to say a few words:

“See you later.”, and before Max closed the door, he added: “Thank you again. For everything.”

The man smiled the kindest smile to the boy. “No problem, kiddo.”, and then, he disappeared behind the closed door, but the feeling of welcomeness in his voice continued to hover in the air for a few more seconds.

Ash took a deep breath.

So, that was the beginning of his new life.

#Banana Fish #Asheiji #Ash Lynx #Eiji Okumura #Fanfiction #Fanfic #Fic #Coffee Shop AU

[blondrichclosetwitch]

It is 6:19 am as I start to write this. The Tower.

I have been up awhile.

I was

Led

To three texts before daylight. I also heard in my head the first song they

Want me to “translate” today.

It is Lana of

Course. You see, Lana was a big character. She was the first one I sang the songs of, and definitely the first they had me “play-act”

For the pictures.

It

Is

Unclear where the “they”

Of

My Helper Spirits begin, and the “they” of my tormenters end.

When I sang Lana, they had me wear a red dress, a pink silver crown off the street, a fake fur wrap, and sometimes a blond wig. I now understand that each of those things was “left”

For me.

A lot was.

Lana’s songs were also how

I was given

Some very important messages from my niece. Ones that almost drove me crazy with grief.

Also, I should say that she has a sense of humor, and I truly think the only reason I didn’t die was the way she and my tree intervened.

So to say I am grateful to them

Is putting it lightly.

I have tried to tell a lot of you what was happening to

Me.

Did you listen?

This list was

On this tumblr months ago, before I started actually writing on it. I knew brcw was watching everything I did,

So I’d use it as a way to talk to

Her and her friends/enemies who knew her nickname.....a nickname that she apparently made

Up, and

Put

Into my

Mind, according

To

The spirits.

No one said she isn’t clever.

I just read this list out loud

For the first time ever.

Thank you, Jack.

1. Scribbled secret notebooks, and wild typewritten pages, for yr own joy

2. Submissive to everything, open, listening

3. Try never get drunk outside yr own house

4. Be in love with yr life

5. Something that you feel will find its own form

6. Be crazy dumbsaint of the mind

7. Blow as deep as you want to blow

8. Write what you want bottomless from bottom of the mind

9. The unspeakable visions of the individual

10. No time for poetry but exactly what is

11. Visionary tics shivering in the chest

12. In tranced fixation dreaming upon object before you

13. Remove literary, grammatical and syntactical inhibition

14. Like Proust be an old teahead of time

15. Telling the true story of the world in interior monolog

16. The jewel center of interest is the eye within the eye

17. Write in recollection and amazement for yourself

18. Work from pithy middle eye out, swimming in language sea

19. Accept loss forever

20. Believe in the holy contour of life

21. Struggle to sketch the flow that already exists intact in mind

22. Dont think of words when you stop but to see picture better

23. Keep track of every day the date emblazoned in yr morning

24. No fear or shame in the dignity of yr experience, language & knowledge

25. Write for the world to read and see yr exact pictures of it

26. Bookmovie is the movie in words, the visual American form

27. In praise of Character in the Bleak inhuman Loneliness

28. Composing wild, undisciplined, pure, coming in from under, crazier the better

29. You’re a Genius all the time

30. Writer-Director of Earthly movies Sponsored & Angeled in Heaven

- Jack Kerouac

(Jack apparently tacked this list on Allen Ginsburg's wall in hotel room in North Beach a year before Ginsberg wrote his iconic poem “Howl”)

#a bunker in brooklyn #blondrichclosetwitch #the tarot reader #the salon master #jack kerouac #allen ginsberg #howl #the beat generation #writers helping writers #writers #divine intervention #divine inspiration #brooklyn #oh spirits #oracle #early morning #the light is coming to give back everything the darkness stole #shallow coven #lana every damn day #lana del rey #your girl chuck #stella marie you’re my star #time to do trees

[haddocktree]

Dean DeBlois Talks the Care and Feeding of Flying Reptiles

The writer-director of DreamWorks Animation’s Oscar-nominated ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World’ reflects on his long and loving journey creating the epic animated trilogy.

By Jon Hofferman and Dan Sarto | Tuesday, January 28, 2020 at 11:29am

In 3D, Awards, CG, Films, People, Virtual Reality, Visual Effects | ANIMATIONWorld | Geographic Region: All

Oscar and Annie Award-nominated ‘How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,’ the final chapter in DreamWorks Animation’s epic animated feature trilogy, written and directed by Dean DeBlois. Images © 2019 DreamWorks Animation LLC. All Rights Reserved.

At this point, neither the How to Train Your Dragon animated feature film franchise, nor its longtime writer-director Dean DeBlois, needs much of an introduction. The epic adventure series, which debuted in 2010, has been both commercially successful and critically acclaimed, with the first two installments garnering an immense number of Annie Award nominations and wins, as well as being Oscar, BAFTA and Golden Globe nominees for Best Animated Feature. (How to Train Your Dragon 2 won the Golden Globe in that category in 2015.)

This time is no different: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World has been nominated for an Academy Award and eight Annie Awards, including Best Animated Feature, and has won accolades from the National Board of Review, the Society of Voice Arts & Sciences, and the Hollywood Music in Media Awards, among others. Produced by Brad Lewis and Bonnie Arnold, The Hidden World delivers a heartwarming message about overcoming intolerance wrapped inside a tale about growing up, facing the unknown, and learning to let go. It also answers the burning question of what happened to the dragons that once populated the earth and lived in cooperation with humans.

So, as awards season rounds into the home stretch, and DeBlois faces his third round of Dragon-mania, it seemed like a good time to talk with him about this reptilian saga that’s become such a central part of his life.

AWN: In a presentation that you gave at the VIEW conference in October, you said that in general, you’re not very enthusiastic about sequels because, if you've done a good job, your story is told, and a follow-up can feel like an unnecessary add-on. What about How to Train Your Dragon made you feel that it provided an opportunity to do sequels the way they should be done?

Dean DeBlois: Well, I think it was a combination of three things. One is that I was a Star Wars kid and I loved the expansiveness of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. I felt they took characters that I loved, expanded their worlds and increased the adventure, the peril. The characters were kind of maturing and growing up, and it had a big impact on me. And I saw in the Dragon world and its cast of characters the potential to do something similar. The world could be expansive, and we could grow up with the characters. In the time that it takes to make an animated movie, our fan base could be aging with the characters, which wasn't really something that I'd seen done before – where you take a cast of friends and then grow up with them. We would leap five years into the future and find a new organic problem that felt important and universal. So, that was part of it.

Then, I think it's also the conversation that I had with [Dragon books author] Cressida Cowell. Even though the narratives are quite different in the films and the books, I loved the idea that she was taking on this challenge of explaining what happened to dragons and why they aren't here anymore. I thought that was really intriguing, but also kind of gripping and emotional. The opening line of her very first book is, "There were dragons when I was a boy." That suggests they're gone. What happened to them? So, I loved taking on that challenge.

Finally, just being able to explain certain mysteries that were inherent in the first film. What happened to Hiccup’s mother? Is Toothless the last of his kind? If so, why? Just the idea that we might be able to take organic questions that we didn't have time to explain in the first movie, or didn't feel the need to, and make them into important questions in the context of the trilogy. As if we'd gone back in time and planted them there.

AWN: The emotional center of the storytelling in the films is the growth of the characters, their becoming adults and taking on adult responsibilities, even though they're still young. That’s really the best part of the films.

DeBlois: Yeah, it felt organic to me because I was thinking about what problem I could graft onto 15-year-old Hiccup that felt important. He now has his father’s love and admiration, he has the respect of the town, he has the attention of the girl he was secretly pining for, he has an amazing dragon that he could fly around on, and he ended an age-old war. It doesn't feel like a character who could have a problem until something really eventful enters his life. We needed to go to another rite of passage, which just naturally led to a 19-year-old in search of himself, when you've got two domineering parents of contrasting philosophies. A character who's on the run from his destiny at home, only to return to it with a renewed sense of self, was an appealing tale to me.

AWN: There's a large number of characters in the films, and they play pretty central roles. How do you ensure that you give them enough screen time and develop them enough so it feels that they really belong and have a reason for being there?

DeBlois: It's really tough and I don't know that we did, to be honest. I think that a lot of our characters are underserved. If we had a longer movie, if we could make a 120-minute movie instead of a 90-minute movie, we might be able to explore them more. But oftentimes the characters do become support characters. We do our best to give them moments, give them a laugh here and there, or give them a starring turn. But when you have an unwieldy group of characters, it’s really tough because you're always fighting the ticking clock of budget and time.

AWN: Speaking of characters, what makes a good villain and how do you determine how villainous to make your villain?

DeBlois: That is a very good question and I don't know that I have a very good answer. I struggle with villains. I find them boring if they just want power or money. Unless there's a bit of empathy in their desire, it just falls flat for me. Drago was meant to be a really interesting villain in How to Train Your Dragon 2. There was going to be a sea story that followed his survival and how he became marooned on an island that was home to a very aggressive dragon. He had to befriend this thing in order to fly off the island and get back to his armada. It was a very touch-and-go relationship because they were both very headstrong, but in the end, they established a mutual trust, and it changed him. Even with all of his heinous crimes, when he arrived in the third-act battle, he took the side of the dragon riders, fighting his own former cohorts. I liked that idea because it took what was admittedly a one-dimensional character and gave him complexity. But we didn't get to do that because, again, taking the time to do that story properly would have compromised Hiccup’s story. I regret it since I really wanted to do something interesting with that character.

We channeled some of that frustration into the development of Grimmel [in The Hidden World] and making him a villain for the times – an intolerant elitist who’s trying to crush blossoming ideas of peaceful coexistence. But he’s also a character who’s fun to watch onscreen – he has a kind of playful sensibility and likes the sound of his own voice. Enjoys the hunt, enjoys cornering his prey and forcing it to make desperate decisions. He’s a character without empathy, but he has a sense of humor.

Dean DeBlois.

AWN: To turn to the production side, did you use any virtual camera work or any tools that helped you visualize how you wanted to shoot this?

DeBlois: Yes, [cinematographer] Gil Zimmerman and his team – the layout team who provided us all the previs and the final layout of the movie – would go down to our mocap stage and pull up rough versions of our sets and don the outfits with the little ping-pong balls and actually work out a lot of their own choreography. So, if it wasn't a flight scene, if it was something that had a physical space where they could really block for action, they would come up with ideas that way. It's always dispensed with when it gets to animation, but the ideas are there and then the animators start from scratch.

AWN: How extensive was the previs? Were you using it more for storytelling or was it used more for camera and layout?

DeBlois: On this film, we started to invite the layout department into the storytelling. In other words, if there was a sequence that depended on visceral, kinetic movement – something that's hard to suggest on drawn storyboards – we would talk out the beats of the script pages with Gil Zimmerman and the assigned previs artists, and they would go off and develop it. If we knew there was going to be flight involved or some kind of complex set, we would either hand the sequence entirely to the previs artists or involve them really early.

I found I really liked this step and how far it has come in recent years, where so much of the finished idea can be represented quite clearly and closely in the previs. It used to be awkward to look at – characters that would slide across floors, and blank expressions, and robotic movements. It’s come such a long way that it’s something you can include in test previews with audiences, because it's full of color and it has lighting… it’s a very exciting new tool to use.

AWN: Like many top animation directors, you're going to be moving over into the live-action world. Have you always wanted to go this route? You've been directing animated films for a long time.

DeBlois: Yeah, after Lilo and Stitch, I took a look at my personal hopper of ideas that I was working on and I would say three-quarters of them were live-action. They felt like live-action films. I decided to go out there and just see if anyone was interested. I sold three of them. It got close with a start date on one of them, but they all kind of went on ice when there were administrative changes both at Disney and Universal. It was an exciting and frustrating period and it just feels like an itch that I didn't scratch. So now I have that opportunity to return to the world of live-action and hopefully get a movie going. I do so with caution because I know that so many things can fall apart very quickly in live-action, whereas in animation we tend to commit to the idea of making the movie, even if you have to change out people in the process.

AWN: Do you feel that your experience in animation gives you specific skills that you can apply in live-action production?

DeBlois: I think my storyboarding background definitely gives me the ability to communicate ideas clearly and visually represent them. Having spent so much time on the story side of things, writing as well, I feel as though I can clearly communicate the story we're telling and engage other people in contributing ideas and making it better. I think in any sort of filmmaking enterprise you need somebody who's going to be the guardian of the story, but still be open to great ideas, and I feel like I've been honing that skill over the years.

AWN: Last question. How does it feel to say goodbye to dragon world – after three really well-done, well-received, expansive, beautifully animated features? You completed the trilogy, you told the story as well as it could be told. What are your thoughts looking back on this huge body of work?

DeBlois: I'm very proud that we were able to reach the goal that we had set for ourselves, that we didn't have to creatively compromise much, and that we did it with largely the same team over the course of a decade. It's bittersweet because not only have we come to love the characters and the world, but we really like working together. We don't know if we're ever going to be arranged as that crew again. People have gone on to different shows, some have left the studio. It was a bit of a gamble to dedicate so much time to a trilogy, especially in the ever-changing landscape of studios. There were five changes in leadership on Dragon 3 alone. With every person that comes in, they have their own sensibility and their own tastes. And so, learning to work with each person and also giving them ownership can be tricky. Luckily, we were able to keep our North Star in sight and deliver the ending that we wanted.

#dean deblois #AWN #q&a time #q&a #httyd #httyd 3

[lizselwyn]

the beast in me is caged by frail and fragile bars, restless by day and by night rants and rages at the stars

𝕰𝖑𝖎𝖟𝖆𝖇𝖊𝖙𝖍 𝕾𝖊𝖑𝖜𝖞𝖓: 𝕬𝖓 𝕴𝖓𝖙𝖗𝖔𝖉𝖚𝖈𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓

𝖖 𝖚 𝖔 𝖙 𝖊 𝖘

If I told you what I was, Would you turn your back on me? And if I seem dangerous, Would you be scared? - Monster, Imagine Dragons.

Great, big footsteps pounding near; Their deadly echo resonating with fear. His heavy breathing reeked of blood and thirst. I knew right then, I was in for the worst.

“There are no heroes…in life, the monsters win.”  - George R R Martin

I can't escape this hell So many times I've tried But I'm still caged inside Somebody get me through this nightmare I can't control myself So what if you can see the darkest side of me? No one would ever change this animal I have become - Three Days Grace, Animal I’ve Become. 

𝖇 𝖆 𝖘 𝖎 𝖈

NAME: Elizabeth Victoria Selwyn NICKNAMES: Liz by most people, Lizzie by close friends, and Eliza by her mother. AGE: 25 BIRTHDAY: May 25th GENDER: Female PRONOUNS: She/Her

𝖋 𝖆 𝖒 𝖎 𝖑 𝖞

MOTHER: ___ Selwyn (55) Pureblood. Cuban. FATHER: ___ Selwyn (57) Pureblood. Spanish. SIBLINGS: Charles Selwyn (25)

𝖕 𝖍 𝖞 𝖘 𝖎 𝖈 𝖆 𝖑 𝖆𝖙𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖇𝖚𝖙𝖊𝖘

FACE CLAIM: Ana de Armas BUILD: Slender and delicate, unassuming. HAIR: Shoulder length, wavy HAIR COLOR: Hazel. EYE COLOR: A warm brown, like the colour of melted chocolate. SKIN COLOR: Fair, warm and tanned. DOMINANT HAND: Right ANOMALIES: A scar in the shape of werewolf teeth on her right shoulder. Claw marks on her left hip from where Fenrir grabbed her. SCENT: Floral, with tinges of coffee. ACCENT: Well-spoken, a true British accent from her mother’s diction lessons. Elizabeth has learned to tone this down when serving the regulars at the Hog’s head. ALLERGIES: N/a DISORDERS: N/a FASHION: Elizabeth commonly wears plush jumpers and bootcut jeans for comfort. She has plenty of blouses and formal trousers from her time at the ministry, but Abe is far more relaxed in terms of dress code. She has recently cleared out her wardrobe of all things that were off the shoulder or a little too see-through that might reveal her secret. Elizabeth also wears a small locket, recently purchased with some of the family money that when opened shows precisely which phase the moon is in. It is beautiful and delicate, but is practical in knowing precisely where in the cycle they are. Elizabeth also wears a delicate emerald green ring, passed down through her maternal line for generations as a Selwyn family heirloom. She purchased a sapphire ring for her other hand to match her house colours, as she is deeply proud of being from Ravenclaw.  NERVOUS TICS: Playing with the hem of her shirt. QUIRKS: Nervously looking over her shoulder the closer it gets to the full moon. Misdirecting questions however she might. Blending in easily amongst a crowd of criminals despite her colourful clothing and unassuming nature.

𝖑 𝖎 𝖋 𝖊 𝖘 𝖙 𝖞 𝖑 𝖊

RESIDES: The Selwyn family home. Elizabeth had plans to move out shortly before her transformation, but has shelved these. She knows that as soon as her identity is revealed, she will be forced out. For now, she is saving as much money as she can for when the inevitable happens so that she doesn’t end up homeless like the wolves that Fenrir leads. Her bedroom is large and plush, with the walls covered in Elizabeth’s painting. She has painted stars on the ceilings and all sorts of patterns across the walls. BORN: Selwyn family home. RAISED: Selwyn family home. PETS: None.

CAREER: Bartender, The Hog’s Head. EXPERIENCE:  Formerly a ministry worker for the Beast Division. EMPLOYER: Aberforth Dumbledore.

POLITICAL AFFILIATION: Neutral, but Death Eater leaning. Liz is actively exploring what Fenrir Greyback has to offer, and what Voldemort has promised the werewolves in the event that he wins. BELIEFS: A better life for werewolves, a reduction of the stigma. MISDEMEANORS: N/a FELONIES:  Grievous bodily harm. Only in werewolf form, human Liz would only hurt if provoked. DRUGS: Minor marijuana use. SMOKES: Occasionally. ALCOHOL: Liz enjoys a crisp white wine, or a nice glass of gin. She doesn’t drink often, but if she does, she really goes to town. DIET: Liz has had a shift in diet since transforming into a werewolf. Now she can easily go days without eating at all, or days where all she eats is steak as raw as she can get. She’s still fond of sugary treats like Florean’s ice cream or a huge chunk of chocolate cake, but her diet has become significantly more meaty since her transformation.

LANGUAGES: English, Spanish. Her father speaks Spanish as his first language and taught both his children Spanish from a young age.

PHOBIAS: Being found out for what she truly is. Losing her family, and it being her own fault. HOBBIES: Reading, eating ice cream, flying, painting. TRAITS: { + }: Curious, compassionate, passionate, inquisitive, forgiving, loving. { - }: Stubborn, insecure, naive, secretive, private.

𝖋 𝖆 𝖛 𝖔 𝖗 𝖎 𝖙 𝖊 𝖘

LOCATION: Lake Windemere, Cumbria. Cambridge. Portmerion, Wales. Some of Liz’s favourite places are places of natural beauty, or those where muggle invention is both fascinating and beautiful. Before the travel restrictions came into force, Liz used to disappear into different towns and spend the day exploring with her eyes wide open. SPORTS TEAM: Holyhead Harpies. GAME: Gobstones. MUSIC: Classical, pop. MOVIES: N/a. FOOD: Whatever her dad is cooking. She’s never met anyone who can cook as well as her dad. Her favourites are his enchiladas, she’s tried to replicate his recipe on multiple occasions and they are nowhere near as tasty as his. BEVERAGE: Hot chocolate. COLOR: Midnight blue.

𝖒 𝖆 𝖌 𝖎 𝖈

ALUMNI HOUSE: Ravenclaw. WAND (LENGTH, FLEXIBILITY, WOOD, & CORE): Rowan wood with a unicorn hair core 10 and slightly yielding flexibility. AMORTENTIA: Cooking steak, fresh roses, cinnamon, bonfire smoke. PATRONUS: Liz is no longer able to cast a patronus, corporeal or otherwise. BOGGART: Herself in werewolf form.

𝖈 𝖍 𝖆 𝖗 𝖆 𝖈 𝖙 𝖊 𝖗

MORAL ALIGNMENT: True Neutral -  “She doesn’t feel strongly one way or the other when it comes to good vs. evil or law vs. chaos. Most neutral characters exhibit a lack of conviction or bias rather than a commitment to neutrality. Such a character thinks of good as better than evil-after all, she would rather have good neighbors and rulers than evil ones. Still, she’s not personally committed to upholding good in any abstract or universal way.” However, as Liz grows further into her new role as a werewolf and her morals and values slowly shift, I believe that Liz will shift towards Lawful Evil. MBTI: INFP MBTI ROLE: The Idealist - “ INFPs, like most introverts, are quiet and reserved. They prefer not to talk about themselves, especially in the first encounter with a new person. They like spending time alone in quiet places where they can make sense of what is happening around them. They love analyzing signs and symbols, and consider them to be metaphors that have deeper meanings related to life. They are lost in their imagination and daydreams, always drowned in the depth of their thoughts, fantasies, and ideas. ” ENNEAGRAM: 4 ENNEAGRAM ROLE: The Individualist - “Fours are defined by their belief that they are different from other people, and by their feelings of envy for what others have. Fours have the sense that something is missing from their lives, and they worry they will never have the happiness that others experience. Fours feel they are fundamentally flawed and broken, and will never truly be understood by other people. At the same time, they passionately long for the type of deep connection that will make them feel whole and accepted.“ Prior to Liz’s change, Liz would have been a Nine - The Peacemaker, who like to keep a low profile and let others set the agenda. TEMPERAMENT:  Melancholic - individuals tend to be analytical and detail-oriented, and they are deep thinkers and feelers. They are introverted and try to avoid being singled out in a crowd WESTERN ZODIAC: Gemini CHINESE ZODIAC: Sheep / Goat PRIMAL SIGN: Centipede - “Centipedes are sweet, caring, and always know the right thing to say. They are always pointing others toward the positives in life, though they themselves are prone to anxiety and depression. While they don’t care if they look tough or not, Centipedes hate to look weak, afflicted, or in any other way not living the perfect life. They try very hard to be there for others, but hate to ask for help when they need it. While Centipedes are very caring and involved with friends and family they can also become resentful if this caring becomes expected of them. They like to give of themselves as a gift to others but don’t feel comfortable having others rely on them.” TAROT CARD: Temperance, The Hierophant. TV TROPES: The Quiet One, Wound That Will Not Heal, Token Minority, Properly Paranoid, Dirty Coward, Heart of Gold, Everyone has Standards.

IDEOLOGIES:

Despite having a Spanish father and a Cuban mother, Liz used to hate the summer and found it almost unbearably hot. Now she relishes in the sun, and is beginning to fear the dark of night instead. Liz believes that flavoured coffee is a crime against humanity. Self-preservation is increasingly becoming the most important thing in Liz’s life, as she attempts to keep her new status under wraps and protect herself from harm. Swimming in the sea when it is cool is one of the most refreshing ways to relax. Naively believed she might be able to avoid taking a side within this war. Now, she will only take the side of those who have a role for werewolves in society after this war is won. The best British food is a proper roast dinner, followed by a huge chunk of homemade chocolate cake. Spanish cuisine is the best cuisine. 

#dulcetask #about #development #introduction

[stevenuniversallyreviews]

Episode 105: Know Your Fusion

“Cuz everybody loves a callback.”

While praising Kindergarten Kid, I talked about the subjectivity of humor, and here we have the downside. This isn’t a bad episode of Steven Universe, but it doesn’t matches my sensibilities, which matters quite a bit when comedy is its major selling point. Meta humor is tricky, and for me, Know Your Fusion pushes just a smidge too hard at that fourth wall.

I’m not against meta humor in principle: going off the discussion of Looney Tunes from Kindergarten Kid, no appraisal of Daffy Duck is complete without Duck Amuck, an uproarious deconstruction of animation. Steven Universe is no stranger to self-commentary, from Crying Breakfast Friends to Peridot’s teen drama fandom to Ronaldo’s whole shtick. Hell, we even have Say Uncle, a non-canon episode with similar energy to Know Your Fusion that I mostly enjoy!

But I’m not into this canon iteration of the joke. I don’t think Sardonyx switching from a theatrical egotist bound to her native dimension to someone who knows she’s in a cartoon feels natural, and I’m not compelled by talk show or game show parodies. I’m thrilled for anyone who does enjoy this type of thing, because it’s not as if the joke is executed poorly, it’s just not the kind of joke that I’m looking for in Steven Universe.

Part of the problem is pacing, which I’m happy to criticize independently from my personal mismatch with the humor: considering Sardonyx’s goal is to find out what makes Smoky Quartz unique, it’s absurd to have them try to recreate the abilities of other fusions. It gives us decent setpieces (and Aivi and Surasshu give us glorious recreations of the music that accompanies Opal, Sugilite, and Alexandrite) but the whole thing feels forced. There isn’t a moment where it isn’t obvious that these scenes aren’t going anywhere, so instead of progressing the plot it’s as if we’re just stalling for the eventual reveal that Smoky’s specialty is humor.

It’s a shame, because the episode starts strong: Steven and Amethyst are adorable rehearsing their reveal, and the presentation itself is amplified by Pearl going full mom mode and Garnet correctly answering that it was Peridot that beat Jasper. The older Gems aren’t quite patronizing, but there’s a sense of bemusement that translates well to Sardonyx’s more extreme attitude, in the same way Steven and Amethyst’s nerves translate to Smoky’s awkwardness. All the pieces are in place, but then the episode takes another eight minutes or so to continue hammering in the point that Sardonyx is a steamroller and Smoky doesn’t feel like they measure up.

None of this is to criticize Natasha Lyonne or Alexia Khadime, two guest stars who carry the bulk of Know Your Fusion by themselves. Lyonne seamlessly shifts from quippy to embarrassed now that Smoky is in a social situation that can’t be solved with yoyo, and Khadime fleshes out Sardonyx’s loud first impression with quiet sass and condescension becoming of such a diva. This is the longest amount of time we’ve spent with "guest fusions” (so not Garnet, who’s a lead, or Stevonnie, who I’d consider recurring), and it’s cool to see all four main Crystal Gems condensed into a duo.

It’s less obvious than Cry for Help, but this is the second Sardonyx episode that acts as a sort of sequel to Coach Steven. We get an aside about whether Nicki Minaj gets paid for archived audio (which is the only fourth wall joke I really loved here) and a Strong in the Real Way reference, but we also get a similar message: that fusion might be great, but it amplifies the bad as well as the good. Sugilite is awesome because she’s Garnet’s power and Amethyst’s vim, but the recklessness of both Gems doubles up as well. Sardonyx also has Garnet’s power, now with Pearl’s precision, but Garnet is a leader, Pearl is a control freak, and both can be insensitive when their minds are set, so Sardonyx is a big scene. And Smoky Quartz, whose existence sprung from Steven and Amethyst commiserating over their status as “the worst Gems,” is now shown to have their own issues with self-esteem. Relationships are important, but they don’t fix all your problems, especially if those problems are shared among all members of the relationship. It’s telling that the resolution comes only after everybody’s back to normal.

I feel that the conclusion takes too long to arrive, but when it does, it’s almost worth the wait: I think it’s clever as hell to wrap up a meta humor episode with a metaphysical action sequence, considering the existence of Sardonyx’s room hinges on an ephemeral being’s existence and every thing falls apart when this person stops being one person and is instead two people (but is actually three people, because one of them is also two people). This is the perfect episode to put this trippy scene, as we go from contemplating the nature of this show to the nature of its characters. It has a similar feel to Steven reaching the roof of the gauntlet construct in The Test, but trades the emotions for hi-jinks befitting the tone of Know Your Fusion.

And while the fourth wall jokes aren’t for me, it’s not the only comedy to be found here. Estelle’s extended shout of delight at Smoky’s arrival is amazing, and my unhealthy appetite for puns was sated by the abundance of wordplay. I don’t hate this episode, I’m just not the right audience. But don’t worry, I’m sure Sardonyx could make a better audience if that bums her out.

(There’s really not much to write about for this one, huh? Sorry for the self-commentary in a review about how I’m not into this episode’s self-commentary. We’ll be back to normal review length when we return to episodes I find more interesting, which is very soon.)

I’ve never been to this…how do you say…school?

I wonder if this episode was ever gonna be called Self Study? The actual title is in there, just smaller, but it makes you wonder. I also love that Peridot is by herself while the less fusion-phobic characters are grouped; I’m sure she’s grown past this phase by now, but again, everybody loves a callback.

We’re the one, we’re the ONE! TWO! THREE! FOUR!

Episodes like this are why my “Enh” rating exists. But as a reminder, because this is the first episode that hasn’t at least made “Like ‘em” since Gem Drill, this is a personal list, not what I think the definitive ranking should be.

Top Twenty

Steven and the Stevens

Hit the Diamond

Mirror Gem

Lion 3: Straight to Video

Alone Together

The Return

Jailbreak

The Answer

Sworn to the Sword

Rose’s Scabbard

Earthlings

Mr. Greg

Coach Steven

Giant Woman

Beach City Drift

Winter Forecast

Bismuth

When It Rains

Catch and Release

Chille Tid

Love ‘em

Laser Light Cannon

Bubble Buddies

Tiger Millionaire

Lion 2: The Movie

Rose’s Room

An Indirect Kiss

Ocean Gem

Space Race

Garnet’s Universe

Warp Tour

The Test

Future Vision

On the Run

Maximum Capacity

Marble Madness

Political Power

Full Disclosure

Joy Ride

Keeping It Together

We Need to Talk

Cry for Help

Keystone Motel

Back to the Barn

Steven’s Birthday

It Could’ve Been Great

Message Received

Log Date 7 15 2

Same Old World

The New Lars

Monster Reunion

Alone at Sea

Crack the Whip

Beta

Back to the Moon

Kindergarten Kid

Like ‘em

Gem Glow

Frybo

Arcade Mania

So Many Birthdays

Lars and the Cool Kids

Onion Trade

Steven the Sword Fighter

Beach Party

Monster Buddies

Keep Beach City Weird

Watermelon Steven

The Message

Open Book

Story for Steven

Shirt Club

Love Letters

Reformed

Rising Tides, Crashing Tides

Onion Friend

Historical Friction

Friend Ship

Nightmare Hospital

Too Far

Barn Mates

Steven Floats

Drop Beat Dad

Too Short to Ride

Restaurant Wars

Kiki’s Pizza Delivery Service

Greg the Babysitter

Gem Hunt

Steven vs. Amethyst

Bubbled

Enh

Cheeseburger Backpack

Together Breakfast

Cat Fingers

Serious Steven

Steven’s Lion

Joking Victim

Secret Team

Say Uncle

Super Watermelon Island

Gem Drill

Know Your Fusion

No Thanks!

     5. Horror Club      4. Fusion Cuisine      3. House Guest      2. Sadie’s Song      1. Island Adventure

#know your fusion #steven universe #su #steven universally #review

[scyllua]

As chap.204 would be more of an interlude chapter (a breather after the events of Thursday the 13th and a very intense fanart-sharing moment between amateur artists), the Japanese fandom's reaction to it hasn't been noteworthy. (Bad joke: but it's been a boost nonetheless in comparison to last week! If only because the manga was in hiatus last week and therefore, there was no chapter to speak of! I thought of mentioning this because I noticed my blog at my personal domain had many more visitors last Thursday, I'm assuming, because fans were searching online for the weekly GK chapter and most likely, wondering why they couldn't find it.)

That doesn't mean there aren't highlights in this chapter, though. I'd say chap.204 feels oddly subdued in tone and pacing -in spite of a Wild Wolverine Attack! in the latter half-, but that'd be mostly because the previous three have been rather action-packed. I wrote chap.201-203 would serve as the introduction to the arc to unfold in this volume (which would encompass chap.201-210), and while we've been given more than enough hints about what to expect in the near future (the still ongoing plot with the Partisans and the reappearance of a certain one-eyed sniper), this chapter seems to introduce more subplots while still pointing in the same direction. My usual warnings about mistakes and mistranslations applying as usual, onto CHAP.204! EMPHATICALLY APPALLING!! JUST AS SUGIMOTO AND ASIRPA SHOW US IN THE PANEL AT THE TOP OF THIS POST!!!

In short, Tsukishima gets a telegraph message from Tsurumi informing him that the business he had in Noboribetsu has been taken care of and he'll be heading to Karafuto then. As Tsurumi will rendezvous with them in Oodomari (the same port town in southern Karafuto they arrived in back in vol.14) in two weeks time, he tells the group to stay in Toyohara until then. Koito comments they're to stay in Toyohara because it's a large town with better lodgings, and since there's nothing else for them to do until then, they should just take things easy. While in the town outskirts, Cikapasi and Tanigaki meet a couple of Ainu men who question the boy about where he comes from and who that big guy standing over there is. Cikapasi explains they come from beyond the southern sea, and introduces Tanigaki as his uncle. The Matagi then comments about the extra marginally important information Cikapasi gave the Ainu men about how much endowed he is, and tells the boy how useful and supportive he's been through their journey in Karafuto. As both ponder about Inkarmat in Hokkaido, Enonoko approaches them and asks Cikapasi if he's going back already. In the nearby forest and as Asirpa and Sugimoto get ready to hunt a kuzuri (a wolverine), Tsukishima tells Vasily (who's still following them) to go back to Russia. The wolverine hunt is interrupted by a couple of photographers who seem to have an interest in Asirpa, but just in cue, the little and irascible animal attacks one of the men. After they take care of the wolverines -in a moment vaguely reminiscing of vol.7 and the adventure in the cabin in the woods, there were two of them- and Asirpa cooks them (the very reason she wanted to catch one), the photographers explain the device they're carrying is a cinematograph, and that they're interested in documenting about the Ainu culture.

The chapter's title is 残したいもの (nokoshitaimono), a term I'm having some trouble with. Since the term 残す means "to leave behind", "to save" or "to reserve", and given the group's current activities, I'm understanding the title in the sense of "things we're doing to cherish later" (it literally translates to "things I want to save/leave behind"). Remember how in manga and anime the characters will sometimes state they want to try doing things as to have good memories of them? Asirpa says so in this chapter as she spots wolverine's tracks and decides to catch one... to eat it, of course (and cherish its taste for ages to come, that's it). They're in Karafuto, so they won't be going back to Hokkaido without having a bite of everything that is to munch on in that island! Some random fan comment here: While I understand the social and cultural importance of food in Japan (similar to the culinary traditions we have in my country), I can't but frown a little at just how this girl is in her way to try every possible edible animal that pops up in the story. At the very least, I think I can feel sorry even for the little demonic wolverines they eat in this chapter.

...but starting from the beginning! Plotwise, an important highlight of this chapter would be the piece of information regarding Tsurumi; specifically, that he's making his way to rendezvous with the group in Karafuto. Since he sends word to Tsukishima that the business in Noboritsu has been taken care of, I think that'd be our confirmation that all events in the manga occur in a chronological order; that's it, in the order and within the same timeline as we're shown in the story. I'm mentioning this because I was wondering whether Kikuta's showdown with Toni Anji's group in Noboribetsu (chap.190-195, to be compiled in vol.20) was taking place at the same time as Sugimoto's entourage lost sight of their sniper in northern Karafuto: this indeed seems to be the case. Back then, I also pondered how author Noda would then "speed up" things, for the manga had taken 7 volumes to depict Sugimoto and Kiroranke's groups' journey through Karafuto: either he used an ellipsis, or fast-paced the narration as not to spend other 70 chapters to show us how they went back to Hokkaido. In my previous chapter summary entry as well, I wrote I thought the current arc could wrap up while in Karafuto before all plotlines seemed to be aligning in that direction: Sugimoto's group is still in that island, Vasily is following them (providing us with a good excuse expedited reason for Ogata to make a comeback and have another duel with the Russian sniper), Sofia is making her way back to Hokkaido (via Karafuto? We don't know yet, but that could be a possibility - and a viable reason for her to cross paths with the protagonist cast)... and now Tsurumi is traveling to the northern island as well. I must say I hadn't thought of this scenario (as I'd assumed Noda would favor Hokkaido as the setting for most if not all future and pivotal events), but it'd certainly pace up the plot forward quite considerably.

Some fan pondering here: So, what do you think Tsurumi's arrival in Karafuto will be like? Because of the way the original text is phrased and of just how Japanese grammar is, it isn't that explicitly stated that Tsurumi will be personally going to rendezvous with the group, but that can be implied from the sentence. ...Now, let us remember he hasn't made an appearance in the flesh -and outside a flashback- since chap.171 (vol.18); there's no need for him to show up in a grand and remarkable way with an equally large entourage at the time (but it's Tsurumi: one can never know for sure with this man), though I'm looking forward to seeing him flanked by some of his trusted and skilled men a the very least. Random pondering #2: Since everything turned out just well in Noboritsu -for everyone involved... save Toni Anji's group, that's it-, I'm assuming Usami didn't get that scolding in the end. Good for him. Random hopeful thought: It'd be pretty nice if we could get some more of Kikuta and Ariko then.

A small caption for the chapter reads, "it's golden time!" The term is given in English (and it's an actual expression used in education in this language), but the connotation it has in Japanese, if I'm not wrong, would refer to time spent in leisure or pleasant activities that are meant to be enjoyed and cherished: the accompanying kanji precisely read, 自由時間 (jiyuu jikan, lit. "free time"). And, of course, the term would also serve as a pun for the manga's title for including the word "golden" on it. Well, that's just what our protagonist group will do for the time being.

...starting with Tanigaki and Cikapasi, who meet a couple of Ainu men. When the men question the boy about where he comes from and who the big guy over there is (my phrasing, by the way: they simply ask about "that man"), Cikapasi tells them they come from beyond the southern sea, and refers to Tanigaki as his ojisan. Note that this term in Japanese means "uncle", but it's also a colloquial way to refer to any older man, akin to saying "an old man" or "a mister". I'm going with Cikapasi as literally introducing Tanigaki as his uncle, though, because the word he uses in Ainu is achapo: my knowledge of Ainu being so obviously zero, I do remember acha meaning "father" in this language. Hence, I think the boy is genuinely referring to Tanigaki as an uncle: probably not in the strictest sense, but as a person close to him and with a family-like tie. Explanations over, Cikapasi then adds Tanigaki has... big balls, er, yes. I'm going to take his word for that, as the only adult male character who's gotten clear and full frontal shots in this manga so far has been Shiraishi: we wouldn't know for sure about the rest. He says 金玉, a colloquial term literally translating to "golden ball" and meaning "testicles". Speaking of another Jump-serialized manga and being the irreverent author he is, Sorachi Hideaki titled his best-known story 銀魂 (Gintama, lit. "Silver Soul") as a play-on-words with precisely this term, kintama; given the franchise became so popular as to encompass the manga, several anime series, live-action movies, and a ton of merchandise that was referenced to even in the story canon, it's probable nobody will raise an eyebrow at Gintama's title now, but at the beginning of its serialization some did have a thing or two to say in Japan. Guess Sorachi got away with it in the end... and his detractors had no idea as to what the manga would give them through its publication.

Tanigaki and Cikapasi then have a moment to reflect on their journey in Karafuto. As the boy's (and our loyal Shiba dog, ie. Ryuu) presence has been both useful and supportive through their adventure, Tanigaki is glad they didn't send them back as soon as they were found out as stowaways; Cikapasi thinks back of his family in Hokkaido and in quite the high spirits, wonders about Inkarmat (or more specifically, would think of her, as he refers to Tanigaki, Inkarmat and himself as a family). In equally a good mood, Tanigaki says he's sure Inkarmat recovered and is doing well, and that they should go back to see her. However, a sad moment arises when Enonoka, upon overhearing them, asks Cikapasi if he's really going back now.

Cut to Asirpa calling out to Sugimoto to take a look at something she's just found. But fear not, it's not some more excrement (because even Sugimoto assumed so), but wolverine's tracks. Asirpa hasn't seen one yet, so she asks Sugimoto about the tracks (as he told her he'd meet one of the little diabolical things before); upon the immortal's confirmation that they belong to a wolverine and the animal is worse than a wild bear in some aspects, she decides to hunt it. Well, they're in Karafuto already, so why not catching one and eat it? Another random comment here: we Peruvians have an expression stating that "someone got all the stickers in their album" in reference to completing a trade card album, still a popular activity in our country among adults and children alike. As an expression, it broadly means that someone has done everything in a list, or have completed a collection; in a very negative example, the last person I remember using it was a journalist talking about how a government official was found to have committed a long list of crimes related to corruption. That's to say, the corrupt official had all the stickers in his album, from perjury and malpractice to bribery and running away from the country when he was issued an arrest warrant. Okay, for my Golden Kamuy example, I won't obviously talk about politics here, only how Asirpa has a figurative edible flora-and-fauna album ("Everything You Can Hunt Down Or Find... And Have A Taste Of!") she must have 3/4 full at the very least by now, counting her gourmet experiences in both Hokkaido and Karafuto.

(As it's customary and part of the narration in Golden Kamuy, there's a passage detailing Ainu traditions in this chapter, but... Sorry, I'm skipping all the cultural references as not to incur in any translation inaccuracies.) As Tsukishima is presumably scouting and watching the surroundings (and I'm going to fan-assume here Koito is off somewhere trying to find more reindeers... or any equally cute small wild animals), he finds Vasily doing, well, pretty much the same, it seems. Tsukishima curtly tells him to go back to Russia... and I'm afraid I do have several fan comments to make.

First off, let's take another look at the panel of Vasily turning to face Tsukishima. The small sign by his head (at the left side of the panel) is meant to show he's surprised or just caught on something -in this case, it'd be Tsukishima looking at him-... but taken out of context, and as RavenTears pointed out, it makes him look as though he's shining. Dazzling Russian snipers, indeed. On a personal note, Vasily looks to me as though he somehow aged 10 years or so in the interlude from the previous chapter to this, as he has a slightly more mature appearance now (but not as old-looking as he was in vol.17). Until the next chapter is out and we can hopefully get more panel shots of (and some more interaction with) him, I'm just going to fan-assume the excited moment of fanarts-sharing with Sugimoto in chap.203 had some sort of age-regression effect on both him (physically speaking) and the immortal (mentally emotionally speaking in his case, something not that surprising at all given the hard life Sugimoto has led until now).

Also... is nobody really keeping track of the Russian that's following the group? Since people in this manga have never seen too keen on holding grudges for the most part (as I could argue that Tanigaki, for example, invoked retribution against Kiroranke instead of exacting revenge), I can understand the group isn't worried about a sniper who already targeted them twice and is currently tailing them. Said sniper also merits a mention for tailing them under the same circumstances, ie. apparently not concerning himself with the possibility of a member of the group deciding to be proactive and taking him down as not to risk being targeted by the same marksman for a third time. But Tsukishima's startlement at finding Vasily by his side makes me think they might not be that watchful as one could expect or wish. That said, if a silent Russian sniper can stand by their side without being too much conspicuous or alerting them, I won't be much surprised if the group ends up being ambushed by a Japanese one-eyed sniper making a comeback in the near future. I'll be actually looking forward to it. I mean the sniper's comeback, of course; not the characters being ambushed and targeted and shot down all over again.

And lastly... Tsukishima's line written horizontally in his speech bubble instead of vertically would indicate he's speaking in Russian, which would be relevant in a metalevel (because it makes perfect sense that he's speaking in this language to Vasily). Japanese is traditionally written top-to-bottom and right-to-left, but it can also be written in a horizontal orientation and left-to-right. Until World War II, if I'm not wrong, Japanese was written horizontally for small portions of text (such as in signs or newspapers headers), but from right-to-left. One example in GK would be the Yamamoto Barbershop in the Barato arc (vol.6) which, by the way, it's based on an actual building with the same name preserved for historical reasons:

The sign reads 山本理髪店 (Yamamoto Rihatsuten), but you'll notice the kanji are oriented right-to-left instead: 店髪理本山. Nowadays, horizontally-written Japanese follows the left-to-right orientation, and it's mainly used for aesthetically or design-related reasons (such as in printed matter or ads), but also for practicality (eg. movie subtitles placed at the bottom of the screen or, as a standard, in traffic signs and similar). In manga, however, horizontally written Japanese is usually used to indicate the lines are spoken in another language, such as with Tsukishima's in the above panel. In the Golden Kamuy manga, dialog spoken in Russian is usually given a Japanese translation in the same speech bubble, but written in a horizontal orientation because of space issues. (Ainu is written using the katakana syllabary with a top-to-bottom orientation, just as in Japanese). In several instances, though, no Russian text is written, and only the Japanese "translation" is given, such as Tsukishima and Svetlana's exchange in chap.185: we know they're speaking in Russian, though, because the lines are still oriented horizontally, and that's the importance of this detail.

I can only speculate, but I'm assuming those dialogs aren't always translated into Russian probably because of problems related to time issues or the availability of the consultant/translator at the time of the publication of the chapter. In some other instances, I suppose the text is so short (...such as Tsukishima "go back to Russia" line), it's not deemed necessary to translate them for the sake of the manga's sense of realism: after all, we can watch an English-spoken movie based on feudal Japan and won't be bothered by the fact that they aren't speaking in the intended language. Also, one might argue that they could always use an automated translation for such small lines... but I personally prefer those lines to be left as is, in Japanese and using visual or narrative devices (as the orientation of the text) to indicate readers the text is meant to be in another language: details such as those don't detract from the plot or the feeling of the manga and, most importantly, they might also prevent the manga from making very glaring translation mistakes. Trust me, I've seen enough terribly rendered lines in Spanish in American comics to insist authors and editors better get an actual translator, or not dare use Google Translate at all. Speaking of comics and Russian! A comic I remember where a similar visual device was used is one of Marvel's Winter Soldier series (the original run by author Brubaker, if I remember correctly). The one difference was that many lines in this comic had an asterisk at the end which led to a footnote stating that... they were being spoken in Russian. At the opposite end of the example, I also remember a Vampirella comic that featured some lines written in such a mangled Spanish, it took a couple of rereadings (even for a native speaker such as myself) to make sense of them. And in not-so-awful but still rather bad example, there was the Witchblade comic in which I vaguely remember at least a character having a name in Japanese... written in incorrect Japanese, most likely because the author seemed to have just looked up the terms in a dictionary to put them together without checking even for grammar.

Getting back to the chapter: a couple of men make an appearance and one of them asks for Asirpa to repeat what she was doing from the beginning. Just as they identify themselves as photographers, or more specifically, cinematographers, the wolverine attacks.

Sugimoto gets it off the man it attacks, but as another wolverine appears, Asirpa takes it down with an arrow as he shoots the first one, though he doesn't instantly kill it. It's again Asirpa the one who must finish it with another of her arrows, all of this as the man carrying a curious-looking device keeps revolving a crank on it (or you'd better say, an old-fashioned device... only that in the Meiji era it wasn't old, naturally, but rather pretty innovative).

Fast-forwarding a bit, we now have the leading-and-now-reunited protagonists eating the poor devils -I mean the wolverines, of course- while asking the men about their business in the vicinity.

They explain the device they're carrying is called a cinematograph (the model would suggest it's the one created and patented by the Lumière brothers in the last decade of the 19th century, as there were other similar devices patented before theirs); after detailing how it works, they add they're interested in documenting about the Ainu culture. End of the chapter!

My first fan-comment here about this passage would have to do with my taking back some of my fan-comments here, specifically those making fun of Sugimoto's poor aiming. I was obviously exaggerating when stating he never hits anything, as we've seen how he's shot several animals when hunting through the manga, and chap.204 would be another example. Still, my comments had to do with him primarily using his rifle to strike or stab instead of actually shooting it whenever it came to attack a human target, so to speak; given he's a melee hand-to-hand fighter, this comes as no surprise (and snipers all around the globe in the Meiji era dread nightmares with the looming figure of the Immortal Slayer Of Any Unfortunately Soul That Dares Attack Him In Vain And So Obviously Fails, Otherwise He Wouldn't Be Immortal, be it on a Thursday the 13th or any other day of the year, actually). But it just turns out Sugimoto does shoot his rifle, and does accurately hits his target one summary entry after I wrote I wouldn't stop making fun of him until he managed to do so, meaning... I've been proved wrong by the immortal in quite the expedited way. ...since I still believe his aiming is awful when it comes to human targets, I'll keep making fun of him, just... not that much. As a counterargument to Sugi's aiming and intended use of his rifle in this chapter, please let us remember that, in his first encounter with Ogata, he almost indirectly kills the wildcat when knocking him unconscious after hitting him in the head with the butt of the rifle; in their latest encounter, Sugimoto almost kills him (oh, again) when he nearly hits him when trying to shoot down the horse he was riding instead. Well, yes, come to think of it, it might also be that I'm very biased against Sugimoto's use of his rifle because of the levels of violence he's shown towards a certain wildcat.

My last general fan comments about the chapter have to do with the introduction of the cinematographers. Their appearance made me think of Hijikata looking for journalists all the way back to vol.13, if I remember correctly (really, it might be time to go back and properly reread the whole manga by now), because he was looking forward to using the media for propaganda purposes in his goal of declaring a second Republic of Ezo. Well, while the cinematographers don't seem to have any propagandist intentions, their interest in filming about the Ainu culture is making me think of them as the equivalent of early National Geographic writers (the first issue of the famous magazine dates back to 1888, after all): the manga's very National Hokkaido Graphic documentary filmmakers, in any case. At this point in the plot I couldn't say for sure if they're going to have a more relevant role to play, but since they've filmed Asirpa and Sugimoto killing the wolverines already, it does seem to me they could stick with the group a little longer to register some of their activities, sort of a Golden Kamuy documentary within the Golden Kamuy manga. Such material would have cultural and historical importance in the plot since, for starters, Sugimoto's group is a good example of multiethnic cooperation and coexistence, featuring Japanese, Ainu, Hayato, Matagi and even a Russian traveling and working together at the time just fine.

...plotwise and theoretically at the very least, the cinematographers have two weeks to follow the lead of a certain Russian sniper and stick to our multiethnic and multicultural group. We know already anything and everything is bound to happen in very short periods of time in this manga (Koito's rescue mission in chap.199-200 began with horses refusing to gallop down a steep path, continue with a drift race in the streets of Hakodate, featured a couple of gentlemen losing some clothing due to an unfortunate transit accident, and included a homage to Freddy Mercury near the conclusion, if you'd remember), so I'm sort of suspecting the days until Tsurumi's intended rendezvous with the group might be... full of eventualities. From more cultural moments to possible ambushes by snipers with hidden agendas -or probably, no agendas at all- and face-offs with Partisans, I wouldn't discard even the idea of the cinematographers filming the first Meiji-era Japanese cam movie, if anything of the aforementioned actually takes place and they happen to still be around to record it.

#golden kamuy #fan talk

[inknerd]

May Wrap-Up 2019

I’ve had so much to do this month; reading wasn’t really my first priority^^ Still, the last week I took the time to catch up to reading, and I read a lot of books I’ve wanted to read for awhile, and I feel like I’ve read a variety of books from ya to poetry to nonfiction, so that’s fun!

POETER TÄNDER BARA LAMPOR by EMILY DICKINSON (translation by ANN-MARIE VINDE) ★★★☆☆

| 130 pages | 3 weeks to read | Published 2017

So this is a collection of some of Dickinson’s poetry, who I haven’t read anything of so this was fairly exciting! It had both the English version and the Swedish translation together with notes from the translator, and so it took me awhile to read... + The more I read the more I liked it? I’m very happy the Swedish translation was available, because sometimes I just didn’t get what Dickinson was writing until I read it in Swedish and then reread the English one again. - With that said, I don’t think I will read any more of Dickinson soon. It was good but not really my kind of poetry.

DISORDER IN COURT: GREAT FRACTURED MOMENTS IN COURTROOM HISTORY by CHARLES M. SEVILLA ★★☆☆☆ | 256 pages | 1 day to read | Published 1992

You might have seen the funny tumblr post about this one. I did, was intruiged but waited to buy it until my friend told me she planned to study law. I saw the opportunity, bought it, read it, and then gifted it to my friend. + So some of these stories were hilarious, and it just shows how silly humans are even in serious situations like being in court for a crime. - Unfortunately, I didn’t find it as funny as I thought I would? Some things flew over my head because lawyer lingo/a bit more complicated English, sometimes it took some time before I got the joke and then it’s not as funny, y’know? Also, some of the jokes were quite dated. 

A VERY LARGE EXPANSE OF SEA by TAHEREH MAFI ★★★★★ | 310 pages | 1 day to read | Published 2018

So I was excited for this one, and then people seemed to have mixed opinions on it (not disliking it, just not loving it as much as they’d expected to) so I waited until it came to my local library and then finally started reading it. And I LOVED IT! + PEAK ROMANCE! The main relationship is so cute and heart-wrenching, I wasn’t annoyed at Shirin’s family which is usually the case for me with more contemporary/romance-styled novels. This book had an important story to tell and it succeded in my opinion. - Idk, can’t come up with something totally obvious but I’d hoped for a more closed ending rather than the more open one I got.

CHILDREN OF BLOOD AND BONE by TOMI ADEYEMI ★★★☆☆ | 544 pages | +2 weeks to read | Published 2018

So I finally read this book! I’ve been sort of struggling with if I should give this three or four stars but in the end... *sweat drop emoji* I feel like I might have hyped this up a bit too much in my head. But in the end it was an enjoyable read and the reason it took my a while to read it was because I was busy, not necessarily that I found it boring. + i loved the worldbuilding, the magic system was interesting and it was explained in a way that didn’t feel forced. - The romance was...not overly good and the ending was...meh. And while the worldbuilding and so on made the story more spectacular the general plot was nothing special.

AVENGERS: DESTINY ARRIVES by LIZA PALMER ★★★☆☆ | 304 pages | 1 day to read | Published 2019

So this is basically Avengers: Infinity War in bookform, and I ordered because I wanted to read it before Endgame came out. Sadly! It showed up on the day of the premiere and I just skimmed through it the first time. Now I read it more carefully and, yeah, it was basically what I expected. + So most of it was just like in the movie, but the artistic take Palmer did on the characters thoughts and emotions during the battle was very interesting to read! And the illustrations were very nice too! - I can’t confirm this without checking the movie (and I don’t have the time) but some small things I remember being slightly different. Just small things, but considering it’s a book of a movie I feel justified in being somewhat picky.

CAPTAIN MARVEL: HIGHER, FURTHER, FASTER by LIZA PALMER ★★★★☆ | 246 pages | 1 day to read | Published 2019

Bought this at the same time as Destiny Arrives, because the cover just looked so pretty and the premise looked cool! + This was a surprisingly refreshing read. Some of the things Palmer came up with herself in Infinity War really resonated with me, and here she has the chance to come up with things on her own without being restrained by a movie (this book happens way before the movie Captain Marvel). It felt like this book had some important things to say. - I wished this book stretched longer, if so only to touch more on the story of Carol becoming Captain Marvel - but at the same time I was fine with how the book ended.

THE PRINCESS SAVES HERSELF IN THIS ONE by AMANDA LOVELACE ★★★★☆ | 156 pages | 1 day to read | Published 2016

This was a reread for me! I’ve worked with poetry together with my students this past month and I was motivated to read this again after seeing that the third collection in this series came out not too long ago. I reread this mainly because I wanted to see if my feelings on it had changed, and was pleased to see that they hadn’t! It’s still an interesting read. 

I plan to reread the second one as well before I buy the third one!

THE TRAVELLING CAT CHRONICLES by HIRO ARIKAWA ★★★★☆ | 256 pages | 5 days to read | Published 2012

+ This is one of those books were you know what will happen, yet it still carries enough emotional impact that you cry when it ends. Reading from a cat’s perspective was very interesting and overall, this was such a nice read!

KVINNOR I KAMP: 150 ÅRS KAMP FÖR FRIHET, JÄMLIKHET OCH SYSTERSKAP by MARTA BREEN & JENNY JORDAHL ★★★★☆ | 119 pages | 1 day to read | Published 2018

This is a graphic novel depicting some of the history of the women’s rights movement. + The art was nice and they choose to include not only stories from Sweden and the west but also other parts of the world, which was great.

MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING by WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ★★★☆☆ | 175 pages | 1 day to read | Published 2011/1598

My reading of Shakespeare’s plays continue! I remember watching the movie from ‘93 with Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh in class and really liking it! So when it came to choose the next play this is one I really wanted to read. + Beatrice and Benedick is so funny and charming, this made me want to rewatch the movie! - Outside of Beatrice and Benedick it was a pretty classic, background Shakespearian story going on, that was interesting but not as much as forementioned.

CRAZY RICH ASIANS by KEVIN KWAN ★★★☆☆ | 467 pages | 1 day to read | Published 2013

Finally read this! I wanted to see the movie since I’d heard so many good things about it, but it turned out netflix didn’t have it... I might watch it some other time, though! + I really flew through this. The descriptions of the luxury all around the characters was so much fun to read and the story had so many colourful characters to cling to. I might continue on with this series! - Despite getting through this very quickly, there were definitely parts full of information that I wasn’t interested in reading. I also expected this to be way funnier than it was. For some reason I was under the impression this was a sort of romance-comedy but while some things were funny (or, absurd?) it didn’t really meet my expectations. Some things about the romance parts didn’t click with me, either.

THE POET X by ELIZABETH ACEVEDO ★★★★☆ | 361 pages | 1 day to read | Published 2018

+ I liked that it was written in verse and I liked the story in itself... I don’t know what more to say.

TIGER LILY by JODI LYNN ANDERSON ★★☆☆☆ | 292 pages | 2 days to read | Published 2012

I’d heard shifting opinions on this one, but decided the premise sounded too interesting to not give a chance. I liked this book well enough, by the end, but it was far from a new favourite. + and - The reasons I liked it was also the reasons I disliked it. I liked some characterisations or aspects of them, and disliked some of them. I found the mix between Neverland and the real world somewhat confusing and wished the author would’ve either sticked more the original story or less, if that makes any sense. As far as Peter Pan-retellings go, I think this was interesting, still.

VIPER by BEX HOGAN ★★☆☆☆ | 400 pages | 2 days to read | Published 2019

This was is a brand new ya fantasy trilogy that I probably won’t continue reading... + While the first half of the book was pretty boring and predictable the second half was way better. I liked the main character the best in the middle of the book, same with the romance. - As mentioned, the start of the book was pretty lackluster. The main character seemed pretty meek considering the circumstances, the romance was bleh and the plot unoriginal. This book had several things that I’ve seen before over and over again and it didn’t work too hard on making them seem different than normal. Overall this story lacked any real depth.

#books #julia reads #reading wrap-up #reading wrap-up: may 2019 #book recommendations #book recs #book reviews #ya #booklr #my post

[mst3kproject]

The Cyclops

 If you asked me why this movie was never on MST3K, I would guess that it was simply too obvious.  I mean, we’ve got Bert I. Gordon.  We’ve got Lon Chaney Jr from The Indestructible Man, we’ve got Gloria Talbott from The Leech Woman, we’ve got Dean Parkin from War of the Colossal Beast, we’ve got superimposed bugs trying to look big, we’ve even got a giant radioactive guy with only one eye!  There’s nothing here we haven’t seen before - except for Bert I.’s attempt at a really cheap sci-fit adaptation of The Odyssey.

Yes, you read that correctly.

In Guayjorm, Mexico (Guayjorm?), Susan Winter is looking for her fiancé Bruce Barton, a pilot who went missing three years ago.  Along with her are Lee, another pilot; Russ, an old friend of Bruce’s; and Marty, a shady prospector who’s funding the expedition.  The Mexican government thinks they’re up to no good and deny them permission to enter the area, but of course they go in anyway, and land in a valley which Marty declares to be full of uranium.  Maybe that’s why all the wildlife there is twenty times the normal size… and wait until you see what’s become of Bruce!

I’ve seen enough of these movies that I was honestly surprised the plane didn’t crash. It was certainly set up to crash: a voice on the radio warns of dangerous downdrafts, and there’s the laughable bit where Marty freaks out and punches the pilot.  The characters need the plane to escape again and Bert I. Gordon couldn’t afford to destroy even a model of one, and yet this sequence is shoved in to make it look like we’re going there, apparently just because movies are supposed to have plane crashes in them.

The effects here span Gordon’s usual range, from surprisingly convincing to absolutely risible.  The first giant animal in the movie is a big skink that crawls through a gap in the rocks, and the shot in which we see Russ staring at it is very nice.  The eyelines match up well, and things like the actions of the giant hawk we see a little later are timed perfectly with the actors reacting to them.  Then mere minutes later, we’re treated to a transparent iguana straight out of King Dinosaur.  The skink and the iguana then fight, in a scene that’s shot like it’s the T-Rex vs Spinosaurus fight from Jurassic Park III but is actually just two lizards rolling around.

The makeup that transforms Dean Parkin into a one-eyed monster is awful… I’m not even sure what’s supposed to have happened to the right side of his face.  Did the radiation actually melt it or what?  The prosthetic the same actor wore as Glenn Manning in War of the Colossal Beast was infinitely better.  The giant’s roaring is just somebody yelling “rawr!” and the bits where he’s supposed to be touching and picking up the smaller humans are absolutely dreadful.  On the other hand, the part where he fights a giant snake is clearly an actual boa constrictor wrapped around the actor’s body, and I’m glad the opening credits listed a ‘Snake Fight Supervisor’ who kept either party from getting hurt.

Performances run a similar gamut.  Most aren’t great.  Lon Chaney Jr. is full of enthusiasm, cradling his scintillator as if it’s the One Ring, but comes across as a man with no idea what he’s doing.  I don’t think this is the way Marty’s character was written – he was meant to be a criminal mastermind, rather than a buffoon – but it does work.  The characters of Lee and Russ are too bland for the actors to do much with them, but Gloria Talbott does her best with what she’s given and makes Susan’s obsession both touching and a little creepy.

Poor Susan gets belittled by just about everybody in this movie.  The Mexican official we meet in the opening scene straight-up tells her to her face that she’s crazy and that her companions will betray her.  The men talk about her in similar terms behind her back, and make snide comments about women’s intuition.  At best they feel pity for this poor soul, clinging to lost hope.  Even Russ, who knows her best and understands her need for closure, talks down to her about her quest, calls her hysterical, and treats her as something that really ought to belong to him if only she could understand that Bruce is dead!  The idea that she might not be interested in him is never suggested and I do wonder what this love triangle was like when Bruce was present.

At the same time, the movie treats Susan with a surprising amount of respect.  She’s very much the same sort of ‘helplessly watching woman’ narrator as Audrey Aimes or Joyce Manning and she does a lot of screaming and running, but she wears practical clothing and we’re clearly expected to sympathize with her desperate hope even as we, too, suspect it’s a lost cause.  After being told over and over that she’s borderline delusional, the end of the movie vindicates her faith in Bruce: he is alive, just not in the form she expected.  At the end she finally gets the closure she needs, able at last to grieve and move on.

If I’m talking about -isms I should mention that Lee keeps bragging that he’s good at tracking because he’s ‘one sixteenth Indian’, later upping this to a half when he manages to sneak by the giant unseen and finally to ‘full-blooded Indian’ when he finds the way back to the plane after they get lost.  ‘Primitive’ peoples don’t have skills or knowledge, they’re good at these things by instinct, because they’re basically animals, right? ‘Native American’ isn’t a set of diverse cultures, it’s just being good at finding your way in the woods!

You guys don’t care about any of that, though. You want me to get back to the Greek Mythology stuff.

Gordon’s script takes a number of things from The Odyssey.  First of all, we have the premise of venturing into an unknown wilderness in search of one’s way home to a lost love.  On the way our heroes encounter storms, madmen, and monsters, and end up as prisoners in the cave of a one-eyed, wilderness-dwelling giant who blocks the way out with a giant stone.  Before escaping, they must blind the giant with a fire-tipped spear.  This is certainly the best-known part of the Odyssey, and people who haven’t come near reading the poem are still familiar with it from sources as diverse as The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad to Ducktales.  The allusions to it are obvious and intentional.

But it doesn’t stop there.  Gordon also seems to have visited another ancient poem that discusses Polyphemus the Cyclops – Ovid’s Metamorphoses.  This contains a sequence (Book XIII, lines 738-897) in which the monster falls in love with a beautiful woman, the sea-nymph Galatea.  She rejects him because of his ugliness, choosing instead to run off with the handsome river god Acis.  This story presents the Cyclops in a much more human, even tender, light – his romantic advances towards Galatea are awkward, but they are sincere. What makes him a monster is how he responds to her rejection by killing her chosen lover.

Several parts of The Cyclops seem to reflect this legend.  The giant Bruce is certainly as gentle as he can be towards Susan, while hostile to his romantic rival, Russ.  There’s also the fact that when Susan sees the giant she immediately rejects him.  She must know that the giant disfigured man living among the wreckage of Bruce’s plane and hanging on to objects like his watch can only be Bruce himself, but she refuses to accept it, even when she sees how he responds to her.  She needs Russ to tell her what happened before she can finally bring herself to face it.

Which brings us to the fact that in another way, this is of course a remake of The Amazing Colossal Man.  We have the fiancée searching for her lover whom she knows has come to harm but not what form that harm has taken, only to find he’s been irradiated and grown huge because his cells won’t stop dividing. Unfortunately, it’s not nearly as thoughtful a movie as Colossal Man or War of the Colossal Beast. Both those films tried to make Glenn Manning’s plight a metaphor, the first for cancer and the second for social problems. Neither fully succeeded, but they did give you things to think about.  The Cyclops uses the same premise to put a twist on some well-known mythology, but unfortunately it doesn’t do anything with that.

The Metamorphoses was something of a comment on The Odyssey.  It suggests that the reason Polyphemus was in such a foul mood the day Odysseus showed up was because Galatea had just rejected him, thus giving the monster feelings, motivations, and a story of his own.  Bruce in The Cyclops is just a big, ugly, angry guy, and without seeing his descent into monsterhood he’s not the tragic figure Glenn Manning was trying so hard to be.  Susan’s denial and her need to have somebody else tell her what she’s encountered are touching, but don’t say much about the mythological motifs they’re tacked onto.  The idea of Penelope going out to search for Odysseus rather than quietly weaving a shroud and waiting for him could be interesting, but again, it’s not really used.  Gordon had some great ideas but all he really wants to show us is superimposed lizards.

The ending also leaves a couple of important questions unresolved.  I think we’re supposed to believe that everybody got back to Texas okay and Russ and Susan lived happily ever after… but part of me worries they all got thrown into prison in Mexico for flying over restricted airspace, and after all that radiation they may not grow huge but I bet their tumors did.  How sweet.

#mst3k #reviews #the cyclops #mister big #episodes that never were #50s