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livvywrites · 3 years

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wip re-intro: sapphire dreaming

Aura has known she doesn’t belong in Middell for as long as she can remember. Now, thanks to a mysterious visitor, she finally has a chance to leave. But first, she has to get her hands on a birthright that has eluded her since she was old enough to go searching for it.

genre → young adult/new adult fantasy

themes → found family; friendship; magic; belonging; self-discovery status → second draft || first in a trilogy est. length → 75k

[ id: two images side by side. the left is a person’s hand holding a blue crystal / gem, over a wooden table. a bowl of green leaves has been mostly cropped out. the second is a blond woman with her hair over her face, standing in front of a campsite in the forest. she is wearing an orange shawl, with one hand tucked closer to her stomach and the other extended. both are overlaid with a blue & pink-y filter, and edited to look like an oil painting. at the top of both is text reading: Enchanted Gems Book One. then, the title of the book in a script font reading Sapphire Dreaming. and beneath that, Livvy Moore. ]

(Sorry the image description is so low! I’d like to have put it in alt-text, but I don’t know how to do that on desktop D:)

So, I’m having some issues with The Martyr Queen, and I’m not quite up to writing my sci-fi wip, so I thought it was time to turn back to an old-ish wip. This is the first wip I ever finished a first draft of... though the plot of the original needed a major tweak. (Especially since I decided to add some plot points to the second two!)

I’ve talked about this on here a bit before, when I was still pretty new to using this blog as a writeblr... but it’s been long enough that I’m starting fresh!

Summary and character intro’s below the cut :D

photos: unsplash || fonts: calibri & young vigor || ps actions: belladonna & earl grey

summary

Aura Laevis is an infamous thief, known as the Sapphire Dream, renowned for stealing gems (mainly sapphires) that are rumored to have even the slightest bit of magic in them. But this is not normal thievery. She’s looking for the three enchanted sapphires, which belong to the light gem keeper---or, rather, which belong to her. They went missing, long ago, and she needs them to claim her birthright, and to return to a home that she’s never seen. Her mission, however, seems doomed to fail: especially with dark gem keeper, Corintha Voclain, there to thwart her at every step.

That changes one stormy night when Aura’s home, an adventurer’s inn in the middle of the Wynria forests, is visited by a woman claiming to be from Fayvale. She knows where the gems are... and she can help Aura find them, and learn to use the magic she harbors inside. Aura doesn’t trust her... but this is the best lead she’s gotten in her entire life. So she follows her into the heart of Fortwall: the best defended city in all of Middell.

The two of them make a plan to steal the sapphires from where they’re sitting, hidden, inside of Fortwall’s bank. However, on the night of, everything goes wrong. The sapphires are gone, already in the hands of Corintha, and Aura is spotted. She escapes the guards with the help of Chase Elderwood... another magic user, whom Aura cannot help but feel drawn to, and vice versa.

If the three of them want to get to Fayvale, and keep Corintha from using the sapphires for her own ends, they must take them back. But it’s going to take everything they have, and then some.

characters

Aura Laevis → protagonist. 21. keeper of the light gems. thief known as the Sapphire Dream. graceful, deadly, and determined, Aura is a formidable foe. however, she is also impulsive, impatient, and prefers to work alone. she’s spent most of her life in the safety of the Golden Coin--an inn deep within the forests of Wynria--leaving only to delve into old ruins or steal artifacts rumored to be enchanted gems. her one goal in life is to go to Fayvale... though part of her dreads the day she will finally get to leave, and leave behind the man who raised her.

Chase Elderwood → deuteragonist. 20. a soft-spoken young man from Fortwall, the best defended city in all of Middell. he, too, is possessed of some kind of magic: but unlike Aura, he’s never had any reason to doubt that he was born in Middell. that said, he feels an irresistible call to Fayvale... and to the Sapphire Dream, infamous thief. when he saves her from imprisonment (and possible execution), he knows that he was meant to aid her... to go with her. even if it means leaving everything he loves behind.

Melantha → deuteragonist. 23. a woman who claims to be from Fayvale itself... and to have knowledge on the whereabouts of the enchanted gems. she is quiet and introspective, and more than a bit socially awkward. she doesn’t talk much about her past, or even about Fayvale itself... but she seems determined to help Aura find the gems, and bring the three of them back to Fayvale where they belong.

Corintha Voclain → antagonist. 52. the dark gem keeper. her ancestor was exiled to Middell years and years ago when Fayvale first separated from the rest of the world. Corintha wants to gain ultimate power, and command all six of the gems. however, to do this, she must first get her hands on and corrupt the light gems. and when she finally does... she’s not going to let anyone stop her from finally fulfilling her dream.

#writeblr #writelr #writers of tumblr #fantasy fiction #fantasy #amwriting #amwritingfantasy #wip intro #wip reintro #sapphire dreaming #enchanted gem trilogy #egt #my posts

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bladekindeyewear · 4 years

Text

HS^2 bloggin’ mainline 2020-05-19

Figured an upd8 was coming, it’s felt like enough time has passed for one.

Huh, looking at my last post I’d completely forgotten I was supposed to play through Pesterquest sometime... work is busy and stressing me out a bit, I’m not sure when I’ll have the energy on the side to do that. (Maybe I’ll livetweet it like I did Undertale a while ago, but this time not looking at my twitter replies so I don’t get spoiled by One Guy™?)

Also, including bonus commentary on A Threat Sensed.

Okay, going in completely blind. I’d guessed from context that we’re hopping over to Meat side to get a chapter there before we can come back to actually see Yiffy?

Yep. Okay, what is this about exactly?

(Agh, dammit, I’ve been copying and pasting so much at work remoting into Windows lately that now I’m automatically trying to hit control-C instead of command-C to copy.)

> CHAPTER 9. How Goes The Eulogizing, Dear?

CONTENT NOTE: This chapter contains Child Abuse.

Which one???

Wait

JANE: (Where is he?) JANE: (It's a question I've found myself asking many times in recent days.)

Holy SHIT we get two Candy chapters in a row??? So we might see her right away?? No, it’s gotta just be another tiny glimpse.

(Has two Candy chapters in a row happened before? Future Boots, scroll back up and put this here. FUTURE BOOTS: “I forgot to scroll back up and put that here.” EDIT: Also, not the first time with two in a row, but it IS the first time with THREE in a row, huh.)

So Jane has to be talking about either Tavros or Dave. --Oh, if this was a Candy Side chapter title, I guess Rose or Jade is eulogizing Dave for John?

> (==>)

JANE: (Where now is our merry savior?) JANE: (Where is the horn that was honking?) JANE: (Where is the cape and the codpiece, and the...) JANE: (The...) JANE: (Oh, fiddlesticks.)

What? Is she reading a childrens’ book? --Oh. She’s eulogizing Gamzee. So that gives us a third option, where the rebellion crashes the funeral somehow, probably audiovisually rather than in person. (Which would make sense, given Candy practically began with Gamzee crashing Dirk’s funeral.)

> (==>)

Ah never mind, she’s still writing it.

That sure is a single button drama-remote that’s going to be pressed at some point. Oh, and who the fuck keeps a spork in a pen cup??? --No no, don’t say it’s one of those pens with a spork at the eraser end, either ready-made or rubber-banded to the side. That would make sense. You totally know it isn’t that and is just a spork.

JANE: (Okay, poetry is out.) JANE: (What else?) JANE: (Hrm...) JANE: (I've always been pretty good at crying on cue.) JANE: (Could I try staging an emotional breakdown?) JANE: (That could work; playing to people's humanity.)

Why were you crying in Jake’s arms about his death if you didn’t care that much? Did you just want him to hold you and kinda make him feel in on things again? Or did you just cry yourself out about him?

JANE: (Or whatever is the more inclusive term.)

I bet the rest of Earth C figured out a more inclusive term millenia ago FUCK I accidentally added millennia to my dictionary misspelled instead of correcting it hold on--

...There, killed the entry for it. ...Huh. Take a look at my Chrome dictionary’s custom-added words over the years, apparently:

Caliborn Eridan Kanaya Matriorb Meenah Tavros alchemiter dichotomic nephilim reblogged uncaptchalogues uncaptchaloguing

That’s fun.

Okay back to reading. Millennia. Phew! Where was I.

JANE: (One really good and calculated weep could do it, I think.) JANE: (But then there's the danger that I might get carried away and do it for real.) JANE: (And I can't risk that.)

So still feeling something, just too used to calculating over the past years.

JANE: (What can I say about him that will stir up their emotions?) JANE: (Do I mention the stuff about the milk?) JANE: (Think Crocker, think.)

WHY would you-- how much did Gamzee normalize adult breastfeeding?!

JAKE: Ahoy over there!

Not the best time.

(The thing with the divorce papers from the Epilogue and John implying he was planning with Jake to execute something that sounds like a divorce... is that going to be sprung here? Did her lawyers send the divorce papers way back when she was in a fit of pique, and he just had them available to sign now at the tactical moment? Or... let me pull the exact text...)

JOHN: now, harry anderson, i know that you and tavros haven't always gotten along. JOHN: but i am going to have to ask you to try and look out for him for the time being. JOHN: your uncle jake and i... well, i'll explain later. JOHN: let's just say that gamzee isn't the only family member jane is losing today.

(So is John going to submit the papers? Or did they already go through a while ago and default custody to John or something who’s going to adopt him too or some nonsense? And did he plan this out with Jake NOW, or a while ago, and if only a while ago, is Jake going to KNOW whatever John’s about to pull in that respect is about to happen??)

> (==>)

Butte

Janepalme

> (==>)

JAKE: Er... how goes the eulogizing, dear?

Gah. I completely forgot again that capitalized-first-letter chapter names don’t mean KANAYA is saying them. That probably makes a lot more sense out of my wondering about the chapter title earlier to those of you who didn’t realize I was making that mistake.

JANE: It turns out that it's mighty difficult to find touching things to say about a person, the relationship with whom was predicated on deep-seated mutual loathing.

Hah!

--A loathing you regarded as largely more important to you than Jake ever was, by the way. You asshole.

JANE: I imagine this is one of the reasons no funerary tradition was ever established on Alternia, besides the barbarism of their culture. DIRK: Jesus christ. JANE: Not only did a significant proportion of their interpersonality depend on romance in the form of hatred, but it was a society based on cruelty and violence. JANE: What reason could they have had to provide for the dead? JANE: What kind of last rites could they have even imagined?

I wondered for a moment why (bg!)Dirk of all people would react to a single line of her starting to bring up prejudices, but then I realized that (1) Brain Ghost Dirk is a little more Jakey, and (2) Dirk knew that more ranting would follow the first line.

JANE: I can't think of anything good to write about him because deep down, I hated his guts. JANE: But he was and is beloved of the multitude, so I have to think of something regardless. JAKE: Im not sure i understand. JANE: Don't worry your pretty little head about it. JANE: This is politics, Jakey. JANE: Lying through your two front teeth about people you hate is about as good a definition as it's possible to get. JANE: But, by gum, is it tiring work.

Mm. It’s a position Jane put herself in, but it’s still a legitimate position once you’re there.

JANE: The funeral is tomorrow, after all.

Got it.

DIRK: Dude, the bowl. JAKE: Hm? JAKE: Oh, right. JANE: What is it now, Jake. JAKE: I brought something for our guest as well. JANE: You mean the prisoner. JAKE: Y...es.

Wait, bowl?

Oh god damnit which of you had the idea to feed her with a DOG BOWL. Either of you could have thought of it, and either of you would be horrible for it.

> (==>)

Huh, that outfit on Yiffy looks familiar, like a reference to something. And a black tail? This definitely isn’t quite the look I was expecting from Jade Plus Rose, but I suppose the snazzy tie is a Roseish vibe. Also reminiscent of Jade’s old Dead Shuffle dress. Formal wear and soccer cleats??

JANE: She's over in the corner. JANE: Don't worry, she won't bite. JANE: I've seen to that already.

WHAT THE FUCK DOES THAT MEAN. I don’t see anything over her mouth! Did she stick something in it, or drug her? File her fucking teeth???

I mean I did forget the Child Abuse trigger warning to be fair. Hoping whatever would be on her mouth is just not shown in-panel yet for stylistic reasons.

> (==>)

JAKE: Its only mac and cheese, sorry. JAKE: Its all I know how to make, haha. JAKE: ... JAKE: I um... hope you can safely partake of cheese? JAKE: ... JAKE: Well, JAKE: Bon appetit.

How the fuck did Jake eat on his island then? --Oh right, preserved food cans that Grandma Jade stored up, I think I remember. Why would cheese not be a thing for them, if it’s fine for Jade? I know he’s probably not just worried about lactose intolerance.

Either way, if she’s drugged here, that’ll mean we won’t get a good idea of her for a while, so which is it...

> (==>)

DIRK: Bon appetit. DIRK: Seriously dude? JAKE: (What? Did i pronounce it wrong?) DIRK: Jake. DIRK: You put the food in a fucking dog bowl. JAKE: (It was all there was, ok???) JAKE: (I feel awful enough as it is without you getting on my case about it.)

Ah, missed the bone pun. AND, yeah, Jake, you’re a fucking idiot, you could have put it in a cup or something.

JAKE: (So far ive yet to see anything come of that brilliant plan of yours.) JAKE: (Are you sure sending that message to the others was enough?)

Okay, so he IS coordinating this slightly.

> (==>)

Horrifying image to contemplate, eh Jane?

Or anger-inducing?

> (==>)

Seems about right!

> (==>)

Oh that’s a GREAT exasperated Jane face.

JANE: I hope you're not expecting dessert, young lady.

I like how Jane didn’t notice, comment on, or care about the bowl. How can you hate a kid so much??

> (==>)

Oh I know why I felt like I recognized the outfit style, it’s because it’s ANIME AS FUCK. Feels like some Persona 4 Arena nonsense, and I say that not having played any of those games or even remembering what they looked like. Also, white hair, black fur’d dog parts? Nice change of pace.

YIFFY: GRRRRRRRRR... JANE: Oh no you don't.

Red text? What color exactly... “#D00009”? Huh. That’s nowhere near Alt-Callie’s #FF0000, and darker than Dave’s #E00707. In fact, let me go back and check those spilled color pins the commentary pointed out from an update or two ago... no, the red pin is #E63225, closer to Dave’s color. (Also, is Yiffy blocking the doorway out? That’s a pretty slack chain then.)

Did Jane see to it that she wouldn’t bite with like, a water spray bottle?

(EDIT: Oh my FUCKING GOD, THAT's why it's #D00009...)

> (==>)

FUCK I didn’t notice the shock collar in the Yiffy image! FUCK YOU, Jane.

> (==>)

Keeping someone in line with collars, especially ones that punish whenever one strays out of line, has always been a decent way for her to mix in some Doomy control of others to show how she’s “grown” to balance her main role and her Tiara-controlled-like inverse for more power. Doom in part represents boundaries that you can’t cross without getting hurt or punished.

> (==>)

FUCK, those little buck teeth!? D’:

JANE: That's more like it.

She HAS to have more of a reason for hating her than hating her parents, right? Like, more than that and general racism applying to partdogfolk?

> (==>)

Hey fuck off with that!

> (==>)

This is a pretty cool ima-- are those piercings on her dog ear? I didn’t notice that in the first shot, neat.

JANE: You've been a thorn in my side ever since I agreed to enroll you at the academy, little madam. JANE: Back then, I was doing a favor for two old friends who made a disgusting mistake. JANE: I'm no longer going to play nice with you just because of your parents, however. JANE: That truce is over. JANE: Do I make myself understood?

What the fuck? WHY would you do that? Why does Jane run "Ms. Paint’s Home for Inconvenient Girls”? What did Yiffy do to piss her off so much there, how much trouble could she have caused?

I don’t know if she’s referring to the behind-Kanaya’s-back part as disgusting or she’s just being MORE racist.

> (==>)

JANE: We don't want you passing out during the ceremony, do we?

Oh, just showing the hostage off during the clown funeral, huh? Classy much?

> (==>)

JANE: Now, be a good hostage and get some rest, Yiffany dear. JANE: We've got a big day tomorrow.

For a politician, Jane’s not good at looking at herself in a mirror.

> (==>)

JANE: Night night. JANE: Hoo hoo.

> (Yiffy: Lights out.)

Huh, dream stuff is gonna be relevant out in Candy then? *click*

Okay, dark background all of a sudden. Properly dramatic? You even have to highlight the non-link “>” part of the Next link to see it.

> (==>)

-- thespiansGlamor [TG] began pestering adamantGriftress [AG] --

Well, I don’t know WHY it’s happening, but the white-backed pesterlog suddenly on the dark site framing is certainly evocative. Of like, a mood, or something.

TG: i thought he was pretty quiet down there. TG: we'll make a rebel of him yet! AG: Lol. AG: I think it's more that he can't sleep. AG: I know how he feels. TG: yeah. TG: today was a lot. AG: ... TG: do you wanna talk about it? AG: Ugh, not you as well.

It’s really jarring to transition between Homestuck’s “kids jarringly mentally resistant to freaking out about the end of the world” to HS^2′s more realistic “kids traumatized by their first firefight even though it was an overwhelming victory-escape”.

TG: but seriously, do you? AG: Not really. TG: not even about... you know? TG: her? AG: No. TG: ... are you sure? AG: A8solutely. AG: What are you, my moirail? AG: Just leave it, Harry. TG: ok.

Are they about to have an “I wonder what Yiffy’s like” talk?

> (==>)

Very similar Tav/Vrissy convo to the previous one.

GG: I havent ever shared a bedroom before,,, GG: Not even for a slumber party,,, AG: Tavvy, you are just a8out the saddest person I've ever met.

Well, we have an even better idea how horrible Jane can be with kids, now. From Nanna to THIS is quite jarring. I wonder how the double Nannasprites that must still be around here somewhere feel?

> (==>)

TG: nothing about my dad is cute. TG: what are you even saying. AG: Lmao. TG: seriously! TG: i think he has something against that word, even. he gets super weird about it. AG: He's a strange and funny m8n. TG: yeah. TG: ... TG: i think something bad must have happened.

...um. What? Why would John have some sort of trauma about the word cute or being called it?

Did John dress up as a hint of his buried June ambitions as a kid and Dad lavish him with “SO CUTE” praise in an epic supportiveness backfire that caused him to shelve the idea of wearing non-masc clothes and being happier on the flipside of gender ever again??? Because if that’s how June gets canonized as promised, it’s a little harsher than the back of my mind was hoping. I guess it kind of had to be though from the premise of how it was read into his childhood for the original idea, though. Fuck, I hope this Cute business is about something different from that (like a Terezi reference or such) just to get less John Sads. (But still June. Definitely still want to get June.)

> (==>)

Oh, and now Vrissy is doing nothing but talking about what she said she didn’t want to talk about, of course. (Also I like how JANE’s now being called the Batterwitch.)

AG: And the worst part was they didn't even fight a8out it! AG: That made me madder than 8nything else. AG: It felt like I was the only person who even W8S mad! GG: I dont think thats true,,, AG: What would you know a8out it?! GG: Maybe nothing,,, GG: Sorry,,, GG: Its just,,, GG: To me,,, all the way through the conversation,,, aunt kanaya looked even angrier than you,,, AG: ... AG: Adults are so fucking weird.

Guh, I don’t want to be reminded how hurt a good chunk of the fanbase is by Kanaya getting hurt this badly.

Original Tavros was always SLIGHTLY perceptive of others sometimes, but maybe perceptiveness is being hinted at as a Tavros specialty? We still don’t know his classpect/hero-title or have any firm guesses based on purely him evidence. (Also, frightened kids of abusive households tend to learn to get perceptive pretty fucking quickly I hear.)

> (==>)

TG: dad was sitting in the cafeteria with aunt jade and your moms. TG: it looked like they were discussing something important... they were whispering and stuff.

[etc etc] Alright, the what-happened-to-Dave bit. And I imagine they’re kind of helping John grieve there, since Rose and Jade have talked that out already.

TG: aunt kanaya's was the only face i could see. TG: she was standing next to them, but she wasn't looking at what was going on. TG: almost like she couldn't bear to. AG: I doubt it. Kanaya's got a8out as much Emotivity as a very reclusive stone. TG: ok, i think that is bullshit but whatever. TG: she saw me standing there, but didn't say anything. she just shook her head slightly, and pointed back out into the hallway i came down.

Yep, giving them some space to grieve. Also-- gosh, shouldn’t Vrissy have the same emotive senses that Aranea implied Vriska shared with her? Kanaya isn’t that EXPRESSIVE but she’s certainly full of emotion. Also, I hope part of her not bearing to watch wasn’t lingering anger toward Jade and Rose mixing with that, but there probably was a bit of that too, though Dave being gone is so much harsher than that. --I just realized they might not have broken the news to Karkat yet, either.

AG: I guesadxcxzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz TG: vrissy?

Put to sleep by someone slumping down on your phone keypad, or surprised by something about the other conversation?

Oh shit, “other conversation” reminded me I didn’t look at Tavros’s chumhandle:

glutinousGymnast [GG]

HHHHHhhhhuh. Hm... huh? hhhh. huh? what, but. Why would. ?????

I really don’t understand what that chumhandle or any of its entendres should signify in this context.

Also, this means for our new four kids we have TG, GG, AG, and ??.

> (==>)

GG: I think she might have succumbed to sleep quite suddenly,,, GG: It would explain the,,,,,, interesting messages I've been getting for a while,,, TG: hehe. TG: i guess that tracks. TG: she does that from time to time.

That’s... strange. Homestuck’s taught us to be suspicious of that.

TG: ... TG: tav? GG: Yes,,, harry anderson,,,? TG: what does it feel like to know someone who's died?

Who is Harry referring to? (EDIT: Yes I know Gamzee for Tavros, but I meant Harry talks like he's worried he'll have to feel that way soon?) Is he just kind of inferring that something bad might have happened to Uncle Dave? Got that perceptive “parents are about to tell me about a death in the family” vibe? Or did he overhear more than he let on to Vrissy?

...alright, that’s the last page of this update. Looks like this chapter is going to continue to have a good bunch of grieving, or talk around it.

---

Now for Bonus Commentary for A Threat, Sensed. For some reason I have a dim memory of like... reading this myself without commenting on it? Or skimming it? But I’m pretty sure I didn’t do that. Weird. Must have imagined doing it.

Ah, I think I saw the opening paragraph scrolling Patreon, and my mind kinda filled in the blanks, this is still looking new to me.

Okay, mostly banter and japes in the commentary here. About Dirk “throwing a huge tantrum in his philosophy cave”.

We’ve had quite a bit of speculation on whether this is “really” Andrew. To that, I think we’d say that it doesn’t “really” matter.

Really? That was speculated about? :/

Here we discover that Dirk has not, as some people have speculated, been directly intervening into the Candy timeline, or influencing it in any way. In fact, he has a very hard time seeing anything going on there at all.

Mhmm, and that was a pretty important thing to learn.

A couple of years ago I might have agreed with the take that everything happening in Candy is simply too outlandish to ever happen naturally, without direct, villainous interference, but that was before literally every fucking batshit insane thing that has happened on Real Life Earth started going down, and now I will believe literally anything.

This is a nice bit of distraction from the idea that at least the opening parts of the Candy story were written/narrated by Original, Alive Calliope over on meat side. To refresh your memory of what was pointed out to me:

ROXY: back when jade first got all effed up callie saw somethin and it made them freak out ROXY: it took me weeks to convince them that it was safe to come home ROXY: but now we got the opposite problem and they arent leavin the house at all ROXY: they stay home all day with the blinds drawn paintin some weird ass shit on the walls TEREZI: WH4T? ROXY: its not as bad as it sounds i promise ROXY: some of it is like ROXY: weird and violent?? ROXY: like lotsa nasty purple blood and um ROXY: nudity???? TEREZI: >:? ROXY: yeah yikes ROXY: but MOST of it is cute stuff like... various combos of all of us being happy and gettin married and shit ROXY: anyway thats kept callie kinda busy

Which tracks with the initial out-of-character-seemingness of almost everyone at the start of Candy, and how they kind of tried to railroad things back onto the “Happy??” track after Dirk derailed it with his weird self-accumulation suicide, along with some of the flowery-idyllic descriptions of characters seeing each other bathed in a halo of light and such.

Of course, they’re not going to out-and-out STATE that Calliope was at fault for that narration, helping the Candy story not necessarily fall out the way it did “naturally”, until we finally get a glimpse of her on the heroes’ ship in Meat probably still painting the continuing Candy events, inspiring them into the void of the singularity with her latent powers. Til then, it’s a bit of misdirection whenever the topic is to be brought up. Along with a mix of Roxy’s late-Candy point to John of more or less “why COULDN’T we have done this naturally? you don’t know”.

He might even think that he has more direct power over the narrative than Hussie does himself. Surprise, motherfucker, you are a fictional character.

I’ll quote this next part in full:

There’s been talk of whether or not this bonus was written in the two days between its release and the Yiffy reveal chapter. The answer is--no. It was written over a month ago. But I think the things it addresses were not difficult to suss out. Obviously, Dirk is highlighting the issues that the readership are having with Yiffy, in his typical Dirk fashion. If it seems a little defensive, well...I suppose it is. Yiffy is one of the two hard lines drawn in the sand, and all of us love her, and we’re hoping that everyone else will love her too. But more than that, it focuses on the fact that update culture has a rhythm to it--shock, revulsion, acceptance (or not), and then excitement (or not). Will it follow that pattern this time? Who knows. I guess we’ll find out.

Yeah, given what was going to be dropped on us I expected they would have had exactly this lined up, especially because Andrew specifically mandated Yiffy. --I wonder why they aren’t mentioning that somewhere in the commentary and only on one of their Twitters?

Also quoting this:

There’s something both incredibly “cringe” and self-indulgent, as well as philosophically intriguing, about the author arguing with his villain, especially since he’s writing both halves of the conversation himself. You are, for all intents and purposes, trying to solve a problem that you have created for yourself. You are looking an aspect of your personality in the eye and asking, hey, what the fuck, man?

But in the end, isn’t that what every story is? Trying to untie knots that you put in the rope yourself?

Since it’s part of the central struggle of this story, and kind of the question Andrew’s tried to imply with every Homestuck work about what right we have to keep these characters trapped in a story, and if they’d be better off escaping it.

I’m really trying to avoid quoting so much of this, since the commentary is paid... but I think we can make an exception here? I’ll have only quoted about half of it; just, the really plot-important half. Plus, I left out a LOOOT of japes.

Dirk has a certain idea of how stories are supposed to go. That’s pretty much what the Epilogues is about. The audience also has a certain expectation of how a story is supposed to go. In a way, the Epilogues were also about that. They were taking a story that had reached the traditionally “acceptable” happily ever after, and saying, wait, no. What happens next? Thinking past happily ever after in any story is a terrifying prospect. Once Cinderella marries the prince, what then? Sure, she got what she wanted, but who knows that it will be everything she dreamt it would? What if she changes her mind, if not today, what about ten years from now? What if the prince dies of malaria?

And I’m...

Yeah I don’t have anything else to add here, I’m kind of out of brain juice to think about this tonight. BUSY day I had. Y’all take care!

#Homestuck #hs2 #Homestuck Liveblog #upd8 #Homestuck^2 #bladekindeyewear #blastyoboots #spoiler #spoilers #Homestuck Commentary

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birdlord · 4 years

Text

Everything I Watched in 2019

Movies

The number in parentheses is year of release, asterisks denote a re-watch, and titles in bold are my favourite watches of the year.

01 The Death of Stalin (17) does a neat trick of building goodwill for Steve Buscemi’s Krushchev, then brutally pays that off in the last few minutes.

02 Sorry to Bother You (18)

03 Support the Girls (18)

04 Paddington (14)*

05 Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (16)

06 Eighth Grade (18) probably the most terrifying movie I watched all year, if you didn’t watch it through your fingers, who even are you?

07 Morvern Callar (02) much less bleak than the book, but then, nearly anything would be

08 The Favourite (18) revolting and beautiful.

09 Columbus (17) a really lovely movie about architecture and parent-child relationships.

10 Bring it On (00)*

11 The Land of Steady Habits (18) feels wackier than your average Holofcener, but still a good watch.

12 Spotlight (15) i was really bowled over by this, and wasn’t expecting to be. Workmanlike filmmaking, but an extraordinary story, well-told.

13 The Killing of a Sacred Deer (17) Barry Keoghan is a blank, but somehow compelling screen presence. This one has an ending that made me bark with laughter.

14 Legends of the Fall (94)

15 Moneyball (11)* if you don’t feel like watching anything in particular, you can always watch Moneyball

16 If Beale St Could Talk (18) very beautiful, but I failed to connect with it on any other level.

17 For Keeps (88)

18 Abducted in Plain Sight (17)

19 Oscar Shorts (Animated) (18) the offerings were very sappy this year, but the winner was decent! Lots of Toronto content (weird).

20 Oscar Shorts (Live Action) (18) *unquestionably* the worst one of these won ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

21 Velvet Buzzsaw (19)

22 Vice (18) ugh

23 Friends with Money (06)

24 Can You Ever Forgive Me (18)

25 Bohemian Rhapsody (18) haha what. was. that.

26 Mars Attacks (96)*

27 Paddington 2 (18)

28 Buffy the Vampire Slayer (92)*

29 Shoplifters (18)

30 Blindspotting (18) jacked Ethan Embry in a supporting role?! Whither? Howso? Wherefore?

31 Witness (85)

32 Harry & the Hendersons (87)*

33 The Matrix (99)*

34 T2 Trainspotting (17)

35 Blockers (18)

36 The Slums of Beverly Hills (98)

37 Can’t Hardly Wait (98)*

38 Avengers: Infinity War (18)

39 Iron Man II (10)

40 Isle of Dogs (18)

41 Chinatown (74)*

42 To Live & Die in LA (85)

43 Age of Innocence (93) Daniel Day-Lewis manages to make Newland Archer compelling, where in the novel he’s...the worst?!

44 Shopgirl (05)*

45 The House (17) didn’t sustain all the way through, but then, that’s how mainstream comedies often go.

46 The Beguiled (17)

47 Badlands (73)*

48 Poetic Justice (93)

49 The Empire Strikes Back (80)*

50 Calibre (18)

51 The Kindergarten Teacher (18)

52 Hounds of Love (17) a nice little Aussie thriller, set in the 80s

53 Kicking & Screaming (95)*

54 Octopussy (83)*

55 Jaws (79)*

56 Lover Come Back (61)

57 Frenzy (72)

58 Always Be My Maybe (19)

59 Certain Women (16) took a while to get to this one, but it’s as great as they say it is.

60 Baby Driver (17) all flash, little substance.

61 Sneakers (92)

62 Roadhouse (87)*

63 Bull Durham (88)*

64 Ghostbusters (84)*

65 Booksmart (19) I think this will improve on multiple viewings, though I loved the soundtrack and the mix of characters.

66 Hereditary (18)

67 Rebecca (40) George Sanders as Rebecca’s cousin is BRILLIANT

68 Vertigo (58)*

69 The Dead Don’t Die (19)

70 Crawl (19)

71 Dazed & Confused (93)* If you don’t watch this once a summer, what is wrong with you?

72 Jackie Brown (97)

73 Talk Radio (88)

74 The Guilty (18)

75 Killing Heydrich (17)

76 Lady Bird (17)*

77 Billy Elliot (00)*

78 White House Down (13)* Channing Potatum saves the White House!

79 The Film Worker (17)

80 Whitney (18)

81 Mascot (16)

82 Apocalypse Now (79)* technically I’d only seen the Redux version from the early 2000s, so the regular cut is new to me.

83 Apollo 13 (95)*

84 Psycho 2 (83) the twist is very guessable, but there are a couple of nice-looking scenes.

85 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (04)*

86 The Bodyguard (92)*

87 Murder Mystery (19)

88 Wildlife (18)

89 The Stepford Wives (75)*

90 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (71)*

91 The Natural (84)

92 The Other Boleyn Girl (08)

93 Speed (94)*

94 Opera (87)

95 That’s my Boy (12) haha what?!

96 The Big Short (15)

97 Elizabeth the Golden Age (07)

98 The Glass Castle (17) when I read the book, I genuinely thought it was fiction, it’s so insane.

99 Dawn of the Dead (78)*

100 All About Eve (50) lady on lady violence is a special thing

101 La La Land (16)

102 Morning Glory (10) remember Rachel McAdams?

103 Casino (95)*

104 Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (06)

105 Pet Sematary (19)

106 Clue (85)*

107 Her Smell (18) amazing soundtrack and the songs were well-chosen. Heartbreaking musical moment in the final act.

108 Bobby Sands: 66 Days (16)

109 She’s Gotta Have it (86)

110 Good Morning (59)

111 Hustlers (19) I didn’t connect with this as much as the reviews led me to believe I might.

112 Nocturnal Animals (16)

113 Kill Bill Vol 1 (03) I’d only ever seen the second one before, being a non-Tarantino completionist.

114 Fried Green Tomatoes (91)* I watch this more than anticipated...

115 Steel Magnolias (89)

116 Notting Hill (99)*

117 A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (19) the tiny city models were inspired!

118 National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (89)*

119 Let It Snow (19)

120 Frozen (13)

121 The Irishman (19) most interesting as a sort of pastiche/reckoning on the part of Scorsese about his other gangster films. Really outmoded view of unions. Definitely could have been edited down if anyone were able to come to it without undue reverence, but I did love the bit about the fish.

122 Girls Trip (17) actual plot is beside the point.

123 About a Boy (02)* I always think of this as the “vomit and sweaters” movie, anyone else?

124 Animal House (78)*

DOCUMENTARY : FICTION - 4:120

THEATRE : HOME - 9:115

TV Series

01 Russian Doll - I think I would have enjoyed this more if it hadn’t been bingeable - would have made a nice week-by-week discussion sort of show. I loved to watch the changes between re-ups of our major characters, and I think the actual plotting would reward re-watches.

02 Catastrophe S4 - A satisfying ending to an excellent show, with very charismatic leads (and deeply weird supporting characters). Had to write around Carrie Fisher’s death, and I’m sure did a better job of it than Star Wars did.

03 Friends from College S2 - More of the same, which is what I was after. A show like cotton candy (but with more infidelity).

04 High Maintenance S3 - A lot more of this season took place outside of New York City, which was a great change of pace. And a great deal more information about The Guy and his own life; both difficulties and successes included.

05 Losers - This was a great little docuseries on Netflix that I didn’t hear a lot of people talking about - it’s about sports losses, but unusual sports ie curling, figure skating and the like. You’d think it would get repetitive, being as it’s always about recovering after loss, but it doesn’t! I wish they would make another season….

06 Shrill - a tight six episode dramedy about an alt-weekly journalist in the Pacific Northwest, based on Lindy West’s memoir of the same name. John Cameron Mitchell as her boss (based on Dan Savage) stands out of the ensemble cast, as does Annie’s roommate played by a British standup Lolly Adefope.

07 Broad City S5 - I haven’t always kept up with Broad City, but I came back to it for its final season, and thought it did a good job of setting its characters up for big changes in their lives.

08 I Think You Should Leave - It’s easy to assume that all sketch comedy is terrible and always will be, but then you see this, and throw your TV out the window (due to all the laffs)

09 Fleabag S2 - Everything you’ve heard is true, this season is goddamn hilarious and ridiculously sexy. A huge step up from the first season, which was already pretty fantastic and incisive.

10 Fosse/Verdon - Musicals are not particularly my bag, so I’m sure there was a lot that I missed in terms of references, but the lead performances ably carried me through all of the time jumps and various performances.

11 Stranger Things S3 - Say it after me: d-i-m-i-n-i-s-h-i-n-g r-e-t-u-r-n-s! Maya Hawke kills it, though.

12 Big Little Lies S2 - Unnecessary, and (if possible) even sillier than the first season.

13 Lorena - Part of the ongoing quest to rehabilitate the maligned women of the 1990s, this gave me tons of context that I had no idea about at the time, due to being a dumb kid.

14 Glow S3 - I felt like I was losing steam on this series this year, but episodes like the camping ep kept me coming back. A great ensemble, though some unusual character choices (like a certain kiss *cough*) took me out of it by times.

15 Lodge 49 S1-3 - I’d kept hearing about this show, so I finally sought it out. I can’t say it was amazingly compelling (I almost dropped it after the first season) but it’s definitely an oddball of a show, slipping from setpiece to setpiece with little regard for logic. For me, a background show.

16 Chernobyl - This show really gave me the Bad Feeling, humans were definitely A Mistake.

17 On Becoming a God in Central Florida - Kiki in a trashy mode, not as infinitely appealing as the version she pulled off in the second season of Fargo, but scrappy and industrious nonetheless.

18 Show Me a Hero - I’d put off watching this for years, it felt like it was going to be too dull (housing policy in Yonkers?) but it’s great, and larded up with Bruce Springsteen songs, obvs.

19 Great British Bake Off S9-S10 - I’d also held off on watching this for a long time, out of loyalty to Mel, Sue, and Mary Berry. But I needed some comfort viewing towards the end of the summer, and the new hosts and judge do an able job, although the show’s tropes are feeling a bit well-worn at this point.

20 Righteous Gemstones S1 - A rollicking ride for sure, with a great cast. Your mileage/patience with Danny McBride may vary, so keep that in mind, naturally.

21 This Way Up S1 - A small show starring the fabulous Aisling Bea, about mental health and families and some nice comic physical acting. Oh, and in case you were watching The Crown and crushing on Tobias Menzies’ version of Prince Phillip, he plays a hot dad love interest in this, which gives you all the Tobias you’re looking for, without the PP racisms.

22 The Crown S3 - This is the first season of the big cast switchover, and I thought it stuck reasonably well, once we were in it an episode or two. This season concentrated even less on Elizabeth herself, preferring her sister, husband, and (newly!) her children.

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scifrey · 4 years

Video

youtube

In February of 2017 I had the great pleasure of addressing the Grant MacEwan University English Department with a keynote speech titled “Your Voice is Valid.”

This speech was all about Mary Sues, fandom, and marginalized voices, and is a direct response to the negative reactions that media texts receive when they announce a protagonist that is deemed to be a "Mary Sue".

In the intervening years I think the message of my talk has become even more vital to creators, so I thought I’d record a new video of the speech to share with a wider audience.

If you liked this video, you can find more of my writing advice on my website.

Read the full speech on Wattpad, or below:

(Text may not match the video exactly as I did alter some of the phrasing.)

My friends, I have a declaration to make. A promise. A vow, if you will. And it is this:

If I hear one more basement-dwelling troll call the lead female protagonist of a genre film a ‘Mary Sue’ one more time, I’m going to scream.

I’m sure you’ve all seen this all before. A major science fiction, fantasy, video game, novel, or comic franchise or publisher announces a new title. Said new title features a lead protagonist who is female, or a person of color, or is not able-bodied, or is non-neurotypical, or is LGBTQA+.

It might be the new Iron Man or Spider-man, who are both young black teenagers in the comics now, or the Lt. Michael Burnham of Star Trek: Discovery, or the new Ms. Marvel, a Muslim girl. It could be Jyn Erso, the female lead of the latest Star Wars film or Chirrut, her blind companion. It could be the deaf FBI Director Gordon Cole from Twin Peaks or Clint Barton from Fraction and Aja’s Hawkeye graphic novel series. It could be Sara, of Dragon Age fame or Samantha Traynor from Mass Effect, both lesbians, or Dorian also from Dragon Age, who is both a person of color and flamboyantly queer. Maybe it’s Lt. Stamets and Dr. Hugh Culber, played by Anthony Rapp of (best known for his time as Mark in Rent) and Wilson Cruz, both open out gay men playing openly out gay men in a romantic relationship in Star Trek Discovery. It could be Captain Christopher Pike, from both the original Star Trek series and the reboot film, who uses a wheelchair and assistive devices to communicate. Or maybe it’s Bucky Barnes, aka the Winter Soldier, fights with a prosthetic arm in the comics, or Iron Man, whose suit serves as Tony Stark’s ego-tastic pacemaker.

And generally, the audience cheers at this announcement. Yay for diversity! Yay for representation! Yay for working to make the worlds we consume look more like the world we live in! Yay!

But there’s a certain segment of the fan population that does not celebrate.

I’m sure you all know what I’m talking about.

This certain brand of fan-person gets all up in arms on social media. They whine. They complain. They say that it’s not appropriate to change the gender, race, orientation, or physical abilities of a fictional creation, or just protest their inclusion to begin with. They decry the erosion of creativity in service of neo-liberalism, overreaching political-correctness, and femi-nazis. (Sorry, sorry – the femi-“alt-right”).

It’s not realistic. “Women can’t survive in space,” they say, “It’s just a fact.” (That is a direct quote, by the way.) “Superheroes can’t be black,” they say. “Video game characters shouldn’t have a sexual orientation,” unless – it seems - that sexual orientation is straight and the game serves to support a male gaze ogling at half-dressed pixilated prostitutes.

“And strong female characters have to wear boob armor. It’s just natural,” they say.

These fan persons predict the end of civilization because things are no longer being done the way they’ve always been done. “There’s nothing wrong with the system,” they say. “So don’t you dare change it.”

And to enforce this opinion, to ensure that it’s really, really clear just how much contempt this certain segment of the fan population holds for any lead protagonist that isn’t a white, heterosexual, able-bodied, neurotypical, cismale, they do everything they can to tear down them down.

They do this by calling that character a ‘Mary Sue.’

When fan fiction author Paula Smith first used the term ‘Mary Sue’ in her 1973 story A Trekkie’s Tale, she was making a commentary on the frequent appearance of original characters in Star Trek fan fiction. Now, I’m going to hazard that most of these characters existed as a masturbatory avatar – wanna bone Spock? (And, um, you know, let’s face it who didn’t?) They you write a story where a character representing you gets to bone Spock.

And if they weren’t a sexual fantasy, then they were an adventure fantasy. Wanna be an officer on the Enterprise? Well, it’s the flagship of the Starfleet, so you better be good enough to get there. Chekov was the youngest navigator in Starfleet history, Uhura is the most tonally sensitive officer in linguistics, and Jim Kirk’s genius burned like a magnesium flare – your self-representative character would have to keep up to earn thier place on that bridge. This led to a slew of hyper sexualized, physically idealized, and unrealistically competent author-based characters populating the fan fiction of the time.

But inserting a trumped-up version of yourself into a narrative wasn’t invented in the 1970s. Aeneas was totally Virgil’s Mary Sue in his Iliad knock off. Dante was such a fanboy of the The Bible that he wrote himself into an adventure exploring it. Robin Hood’s merry men and King Arthur’s Knights of the Round Table kept growing in number and characteristics with each retelling. Even painters have inserted themselves into commissioned pictures for centuries.

This isn’t new. This is not a recent human impulse.

But what Paula Smith and the Mary Sue-writing fan ficcers didn’t know at the time was that they were crystallizing what it means to be an engaged consumer of media texts, instead of just a passive one. They had isolated and labelled what it means to be so affected by a story, to love it so much that this same love bubbles up out of you and you have to do something about it, either in play, or in art. For example: in pretending to be a ninja turtle on the play ground, or in trying to recreate the perfect version of a star fleet uniform to wear, or in creating art and making comics depicting your favorite moments or further adventures of the characters you love, or writing stories that encompass missing moments from the narratives.

‘Mary Sues’ are, at their center, a celebration of putting oneself and one’s own heart, and one’s own enjoyment of a media text, first.

Before I talk about why this certain segment of the fan population deploys the term ‘Mary Sue’ the way it does, let’s take a closer look at this impulse for participatory play.

Here’s the sixty four thousand dollar question: where do ‘Mary Sues’ come from?

I’d like you take a moment to think back at the sorts of games you enjoyed when you were about seven years old. Think back. Picture yourself outside, playing with your siblings, or the neighbour’s kids or you cousins. What are you doing? Playing ball games, chase games, and probably something with a narrative? Are you Power Rangers? Are you flying to Neverland with Peter Pan? Are you fighting Dementors and Death Eaters at Hogwarts? Are you the newest members of One Direction, are you Jem and the Holograms or the Misfits? Are you running around collecting Pokémon back before running around and collecting Pokémon IRL was a thing?

That, guys, gals and non-binary pals, is where Mary Sues come from. That’s it. It’s as easy as that.

As a child you didn’t know that modern literary tradition pooh-poohs self-analogous characters, or that realism was required for depth of character. All you knew was that you wanted to be a part of that story, right.  If you wanted to be a train with Thomas and Friends, then you were a train. If you wanted to be a magic pony from Equestria, you were a pony. Or, you know, if you were trying to appease two friends at once, then you were a pony-train.

Self-insert in childhood games teach kids the concept of elastic play, and this essential ability to imagine oneself in skins that are not one’s own, and to stretch and reshape narratives is what breeds creativity and storytelling. It shapes compassion.

Now, think of your early stories. As a child we all told and wrote stories about doing what, to us, were mundane everyday things - like getting ice cream with the fictional characters we know and love.

My friend’s three year old tells his father bed time stories about going on walks through Home Hardware with his friends, the anthropomorphized versions of the local taco food truck and the commuter train his dad takes to work every morning. He doesn’t recognize the difference between real and fictional people (or for him, in this case, the stand-ins that are the figures that loom large in his life right now as a three year old obsessed with massive machines). When you ask him to tell you a story, he talks about these fictions as if they’re real. And he does not hesitate to insert himself into the tale. “I did this. I did that. We went there and then had this for lunch.” He is present in all his own stories because, at this age, he understands the world only from his limited personal POV.

As we grow up, we do learn to differentiate between fantasy and reality. But, I posit that we never truly loose that “me too!” mentality. We see something amazing happening on the screen, or on the page, or on a playing field, and we want to be there, a part of it.

So we sort ourselves into Hogwarts Houses. We choose hockey teams to love, and we wear their jerseys.  We buy ball caps from our favorite breweries. We line up for hours to be the first to watch a new release or to buy a certain smartphone. We collect stamps and baseball cards and first editions of Jane Austen and Dan Brown. We want to be a part of it. Our capitalist, consumer society tells us to prove our love with our dollars, and we do it.

And for fan creators, we want to be a part of it so badly that we’re willing to make more of it. Not for profit, but for sheer love. And for the early writers, the newbies, the blossoming beginners, Mary Sues are where they generally start. Because those are the sorts of stories they’ve been telling yourselves for years already.

But as we get older, as we consume more media texts and find more things to adore, we begin to notice a dearth of representation – you’re not pony trains in our minds any more. We have a better idea of what we look like. And we don’t see it. The glorious fantasy diversity of our childhoods is stripped away, narratives are codified by the mainstream media texts we consume, and people stop looking like us.

I’m reminded of a story I read on Tumblr, of a young black author living in Africa – whose name, I’m afraid, I wasn’t able to find when I went back to look for it, so my apologies to her. The story is about the first time she tried to write a fairytale in elementary school. She made her protagonist a little white girl, and when she was asked why she hadn’t chosen to make the protagonist back, this author realized that it hadn’t even occurred to her that she was allowed make her lead black. Even though she was surrounded by people of color, the adventures, and romance, and magic in everything she consumed only happened to the white folks. She did not know she was allowed to make people like her the heroes because she had never seen it.

This is not natural. This is nurture, not nature. This is learned behavior. And this is hegemony.

No child grows up believing they don’t have place in the story. This is something were are taught. And this is something that we are taught by the media texts we consume.

I do want to pause and make a point here. There isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with writing a narrative from the heterosexual, able bodied, neurotypical, white cismale POV in and of itself. I think we all have stories that we know and love that feature that particular flavor of protagonist. And people from that community deserve to tell their stories as much as folks from any other community.

The problem comes from a reality where when it’s the only narrative. The default narrative. The factory setting. When people who don’t see themselves reflected in the narrative nonetheless feel obligated to write such stories, instead of their own. When they are told and taught that it is the only story worth telling. ‎

There’s this really great essay by Ika Willis, and it’s called “. And I think it’s the one – one of the most important pieces of writing not only on Mary Sues, but on the dire need for representation in general.

In the essay, Willis talks about Mary Sues – beyond being masturbatory adventure avatars for young people just coming into their own sexuality, or avatars to go on adventures with – but as voice avatars. Mary Sues, when wielded with self-awareness, deliberateness, and precision, can force a wedge into the narrative, crack it open, and provide a space for marginalized identities and voices in a media-text that otherwise silences and ignores them.

This is done one of two ways. First: by jamming in a diverse Mary Sue, and making the characters and the world acknowledge and work with that diversity. Or, second: by co-opting a pre-existing character and overlaying a new identity on them while retaining their essential characterization. For example, by writing a story where Bilbo Baggins is non-binary, but still thinking that adventures are messy, dirty things. Or making Sherlock Holmes deaf, but still perfectly capable of solving all the crimes. Or making James Potter Indian, so that the Dursleys prejudiced against Harry not only for his magic, but also for his skin color. Or making Ariel the mermaid wrestle with severe body dysphoria, or Commander Sheppard suffer from severe PTSD.

I like to call this voice avatar Mary Sue a ‘Meta-Sue’, because when authors have evolved enough in their storytelling abilities to consciously deploy Mary Sues as a deliberate trope, they’re doing so on a self-aware, meta-textual level.

So that is where Mary Sues comes from.

But what is a Mary Sue? How can you point at a character and say, “Yes, that is – definitively – a Mary Sue”.

Mary Sues can generally be characterized as:

-Too perfect, or unrealistically skilled. They shouldn’t be able to do all the things they do, or know all the things they know, as easily as they do or know them. For reasons of the plot expedience, they learn too fast, and are able to perform feats that other characters in their world who have studied or trained longer and harder find difficult. For example, Neo in The Matrix.

-They are the black hole of every plot – every major quest or goal of the pre-existing characters warps to include or be about them; every character wants to befriend them, or romance them, or sleep with them, and every villain wants to possess them, or kill them, or sleep with them. This makes sense, as why write a character into the world if you’re not going to have something very important happen to them? So, for example, like Neo in The Matrix.

-A Mary Sue, because it’s usually written by a neophyte author who’s been taught that characters need flaws, has some sort of melodramatic, angsty tragic back-story that, while on the surface seems to motivate them into action, because of lack of experience in creating a follow-through of emotional motivation, doesn’t actually affect their mental health or ability to trust or be happy or in love. For example, like the emotional arc of Neo in The Matrix.

– A Mary Sue saves the day. This goes back to that impulse to be the center of the story. Like Neo in The Matrix.

-And lastly, Mary Sues come from outside the group. They’re from the ‘real world’, like you and I, or have somehow discovered the hero’s secret identity and must be folded into the team, or are a new recruit, or are a sort of previously undiscovered stand-alone Chosen One. Like, for example, Neo in The Matrix.

Now, as I’ve said, there’s actually nothing inherently wrong with writing a Mary Sue. Neo is a Mary Sue, but The Matrix is still a really engaging and well written film. And simply by virtue of the fact that an individual with ingrained cultural foundations is writing a story, that story is inherently rooted in that writer’s lived life and experiences. As much as a writer may try to either highlight or downplay it, each character and story they create has some of themselves in it. The first impulse of storytelling is to talk about oneself. We write about ourselves, only the more we write, the more skilled we become at disguising the sliver of us-ness in a character, folding it into something different and unique. We, as storytellers, as humans, empathize with protagonists and fictional characters constantly – we love putting our feet into other people’s shoes. It’s how we understand and engage with the world.

And we as writers tap into our own emotions in order to describe them on the page. We take slices of our lives – our experiences, our memories, our friend’s verbal tics or hand gestures, aunt Brenda’s way of making tea, Uncle Rudy’s way having a pipe after dinner, that time Grannie got lost at the zoo – and we weave them together into a golem that we call a character, which comes to life with a bit of literary magic. I mean, allow me to be sparklingly reductionist for a second, but in the most basic sense, every character is a Mary Sue.

It’s just a matter of whether the writer has evolved to the point  in their craft that they’ve learned to animate that golem with the sliver of self-ness hidden deep enough that it is unrecognizable as self-ness, but still recognizable as human-ness.

For years, mainstream western media has featured characters that were primarily heterosexual, able bodied, neurotypical, white cismales. And, regrettably, because of that, this flavor of human is now assumed to be the default for a character. When people from other communities speak up requesting other flavours, for characters for whom the imbedded sliver of humanity remains just as poignant and relatable, but the outer shell is of a different variety, this is when that certain segment of the fan population looses their cool.

That certain segment of the fan population has been telling us for years that if we don’t like what we see on TV or in video games, or in books, or comics, or on the stage, that we should just go make our own stuff. And now we are.

“Make your own stuff,” they say, and then follow it up with: “What’s with all this political correctness gone wild? Uhg. This stuff is all just Mary Sue garbage.”

Well, yes. Of course it is. That’s the point.

But why are they saying it like that?

Because they mean it in a derogatory sense.

They don’t mean it in the way that Paula Smith meant it – a little bit belittling but mostly fun; a bemused celebration of why we love putting ourselves into the stories and worlds we enjoy. They don’t mean it the way that Willis means it – a deliberate and knowing way to shove the previously marginalized into the center. They don’t even mean it the way that I mean it in my own work - as a tool for carefully deconstructing and discussing character and narrative with a character and from within a narrative.

When a certain segment of the fan population talks about ‘Mary Sue’, they mean to weaponize it. To make it a stand-in for the worse thing that a character can be: bland, predictable, and too-perfect. Which, granted, many Mary Sues are. But not all of them. And a character doesn’t have to be a Mary Sue to be done badly, either.

When this certain segment of the fan population says ‘Mary Sue’, they’re trying to shame the creators for deviating from the norm - the white, the heterosexual, the able bodied, the neurotypical, the straight cismale.

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “I don’t believe people like this are interesting enough to be the lead character in a story.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “I don’t think there’s any need to listen to that voice. They’re not interesting enough.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “This character is not what I am used to a.k.a. not like me, and I’m gonna whine about it.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “Even though kids from all over the world, from many different cultural, religious and ethnic backgrounds have had to grow up learning to identify with characters who don’t look or think like them, identifying with characters who don’t look or think like me is hard and I don’t wanna.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: ”Even though I’ve grown up in a position of privilege and power, and even though publishing and producing diverse stories with diverse casts doesn’t actually cut into the proportionate representation that I receive, and never will, I am nonetheless scared that I’ll never see people like me in media texts ever again.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “Considering my fellow human beings as fellow human beings worthy of having stories about them and their own experiences, in their own voices, is hard and I don’t wanna do it.”

When this certain segment of the population says ‘Mary Sue,’ what they’re really saying is: “I only want stories about me.”

They call leads ‘Mary Sues’ so people will stop writing them and instead write… well, their version of a ‘Mary Sue.’ The character that is representative of their lived experiences, their power and masturbatory fantasies, their physical appearance, their sexual awakenings, their cultural identity, their voice, their kind of narratives.

Missing, of course, that the point of revisionist and inclusive narratives aren’t to shove out previous incarnations, but to coexist alongside them. It’s not taking away one entrée and offering only another – it’s building a buffet.

Okay, so who actually cares if these trolls call these diverse characters Mary Sues?

Well, unfortunately, because this certain segment of the population have traditionally been the group most listened-to by the mainstream media creators and the big money, their opinions have power. (Never mind that they’re not actually the biggest group of consumers anymore, nor no longer the most vocal.)

So, this is where you come in.

You have the power to take the Mary Sue from the edge of the narrative and into the centre. And you do can do this by normalizing it. Think back to that author who didn’t think little black girls were allowed to be the heroes of fairy tales. Now imagine how much different her inner world, her imagination might have been at the stage when she was first learning to understand her own self-worth, if she had seen faces like hers on the television, in comics, in games, and on the written page every day of her life.

And not just one or two heroes, but a broad spectrum of characters that run the gamut from hero to villain, from fragile to powerful, from straight to gay, and every other kind of intersectional identity.

You have the power to give children the ability to see themselves.

Multi-faceted representation normalizes the marginalized.

And if you have the privilege to be part of the passing member of the mainstream, then weaponize your privilege. Refuse to work with publishers, or websites, or conventions that don’t also support diverse creators. Put diverse characters in your work, and do so thoughtfully and with the input of the people from the community you are portraying. And if you’re given the opportunity to submit or speak at an event, offer to share the microphone.

The first thing I did when actor Burn Gorman got a Twitter account was to Tweet him  my thanks for saving the world in Pacific Rim while on a cane. As someone who isn’t as mobile as the heroes I see in action films - who knows for a fact that when the zombie apocalypse comes I will not be a-able to outrun the monsters – it meant so much to me that his character was not only an integral and vital member of the team who cancelled the apocalypse, but also that not once in the film did someone call him a cripple, or tell him he couldn’t participate because of his disability, or leave him behind.

Diversity matters.

Not because it’s a trendy hashtag, or a way to sell media texts to a locked-down niche market, but because every single human being deserves to be told that they have a voice worth listening to; a life worth celebrating and showcasing in a narrative; a reality worth acknowledging and accepting and protecting; emotions that are worth exploring and validating; intelligence that is worth investing in and listening to; and a capacity to love that is worth adoring.

White, heterosexual, neurotypical, able-bodied cismales are not the only people on the planet who are human.

And you have a right to tell your story your way.

Calling something a ‘Mary Sue’ in order to dismiss it out of hand, as an excuse to hate something before even seeing it, is how the trolls bury your Narrative and your Identity.  We are storytellers, all of us. Every person in this room. Whether your wheel house is in fiction, or academia, or narrative non-fiction, we impart knowledge and offer experience through the written word, through the telling of tales, through leading a reader from one thought to another.

And we none of deserve to be shouted down, talked over, or dismissed. No one can tell you that your story isn’t worth telling. Of course it is. It’s yours.

And don’t let anyone call your characters, or your work, or you a ’Mary Sue’ in the derogatory sense ever again. Or I am going to scream.

#J.M. Frey #Words for Writers #Writing Advice #Writing Community #writer #am writing #voice #how to #writblr #writeblr

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chrisbangs · 5 years

Text

hi sweetheart;; first of all i’m really sorry for the delay in answering this question, i was sorta busy today, so thank you for waiting so long! and secondly, i really hope you were looking for a tutorial fnoawiefoawf bc that’s what i’m gonna give you!!

edit: this got fairly long because i included pictures and did my best to explain everything in detail !!! i hope it made sense and that you like it!!

edit edit: also, the ask wouldn’t let me use the read more option so i’m having to do it the hardway :[ sorry about that!

so the process is fairly simple, all you really need is:

photoshop

whatever pic you’re using

so, firstly, open the image in photoshop, and while the image layer is selected, go to ‘Select > Select and Mask’ (or ALT + CTRL + R)

a window like this will open up:

in the dropdown window titled ‘View,’ select whichever one will be easier for you. personally i tend to go with ‘Overlay’ because its the easiest option to distinguish what has been selected and what hasn’t (for me at least.) plus, you can change the colour of the overlay if it’s too hard to see so i find it the most useful!

so now, using the tools on the left, you can mask your object out of the background.

the Quick Selection Tool is great for large areas of the same colour, as it’s a going to find pixels that are largely similar and select those. the Refine Edge Brush Tool is good for areas that are very fine and thin, things like hair can be masked using this. the Brush Tool is much like a paint brush and you can control exactly what you’re masking. the Lasso Tools (both freehand and polygonal ones) are good for large areas that aren’t specific in shape, rather getting a whole area. the Hand Tool is to move around the canvas. and the Zoom Tool is to oiawnefoaneiw well... zoom...

anyway, so i usually use a combination of the quick selection tool + the brush tool. i use the quick selection to get the major areas that i want, and then i use the brush tool to be more precise and specific in my selection.

the above image is using just the quick selection tool, it gets the major areas that i want, but as you can see there are certain places (between his legs, his hair, etc) that aren’t very accurate. for the purposes of my icon, i don’t really need anything below his shoulders, so i wouldn’t worry anything there. rather, now i’d use the brush tool to be more accurate with my selection.

(this is fairly rough oaiwnefoainefoawn but you get the basic idea!!!)

ok so now, on the Properties panel on the right, if you scroll down, you can play with the adjustments. i rarely use these because i try to mask my image as carefully as i can so i have a fairly clean and cut image, but if you’d like to you can!

so, with the ‘Output Settings,’ in the dropdown menu ‘Output To:’ i’d either pick: ‘New Layer’, or ‘New Layer with Mask’. the ‘New Layer’ option will simply open up the masked image in a new layer and nothing else. the ‘New Layer with Mask’ option will open up a new version of your image but with a layer mask. a layer mask is simply a cover that goes over the layer and hides parts of the image from being seen. i usually use the second option because it’s easier to find mistakes and fix them, rather than going back and doing your masking all over again! so again its up to you! but if you’re happy with your selection then go ahead and use ‘New Layer’ as the output option. then hit ‘OK’

as you can see, in the layers panel, the first layer is what ‘Output to New Layer’ would look like, whereas the second layer would be ‘Output to New Layer with Mask.’ to keep fixing the mask, you’d just double click on the mask, and that will open up the select and mask panel again!

okay, so now, back to the image, you want to select the area that you’re going to be use for the icon, whether that be the whole image or in this case part of the image. (you can do this step right at the beginning tbh, it’ll save you time if you’re not trying to mask everything perfectly, but i tend to do more of the image than i think i’ll need in case i want to tilt the image or smth!)

using the rectangular marquee tool, i’d select what area i want, and then (making sure you’re on the correct layer) copy that part of the image.

once copied, go ‘File > New’ or ‘CTRL+N’

this panel will open up, and you can chose your specifications from here. i tend to go 500x500pixels but in this case my original image was about 754 pixels so i did that by itself, and made a square as my new canvas. depending on how good quality your image will result in higher or lower amt of pixels, which will in turn give you a different size to work with. so when you have the proportions hit ‘Create’

you’ll get a new blank canvas like this

go ahead and delete the white layer so you’re left with a transparent canvas (you can do this from the creating a new page panel but oaoifnwaoife i never do it i’m Big Stupid..... anyway...

so now, paste the image on this screen and resize as needed.

now, set that layer to invisible by clicking the little eye beside the layer. now, selecting the ‘Elipse Tool,’

click on the screen and you should get a window that looks like this:

click ‘OK’ and this is what your screen should look like

so, you can change the colour of the shape by using the square i’ve pointed to. i changed my colour to black, then centered it using the moving tool. now, while holding the ‘shift’ and ‘alt’ key on your keyboard, drag the transform corners out.

making it as big as you want, but not bigger than the canvas, click the checkmark on the upper right hand corner.

okay, so now, make the hidden layer visible, and make sure everything is centered how you like it.

select your image layer, and hit ‘ctrl + j’, this will duplicate the image in the exact same place. hide the duplicated layer, that’s for later. now, while staying on the visible image, hover over the shape, while holding ‘alt’ on your keyboard. a little downwards arrow and box should appear there while you’re hovering. click on the shape layer while holding alt and what should happen is this:

basically what this does is it makes it so that the only things that are visible from the image layer are whatever area of the layer below it is showing.

anyway, so now, looking back at the duplicated image, make it visible, and erase the bottom part of the image that you don’t want. in my case, its the part of his shirt.

so you can erase as far up as you want, as long as you don’t cut off the part that you want over hanging from the shape.

at this point, your icon is pretty much done! i usually add a colouring on top of the icon to make it more my style and more to my taste!! but that’s not really necessary!

and that’s that! you’ve got an icon! now, when you go to save it, make sure you save it as a PNG rather than a JPG. a png will preserve the transparent background that we made!

and save! and that’ll give you!! a transparent icon!!!

i really hope this helped/explained it well! sorry that it took me so long and that my tutorial was fairly lengthy, but i wanted to be thorough in my explanation! mwah i hope you have a good day!

#m.tut #long post #sorry abt that anon #idk why the ask wouldn't let me use the read more option?? its weird??

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hanalwayssolo · 5 years

Text

Beyond the Opulence

A/N: While I’m briefly taking a breather from Laws of Motion, I saw it fit to go back to some self-indulgent reader-inserts, so here we are. This new series of one-shots features FFXV men (older!bros in particular) in varying AUs. First up is Noctis.

Tagging some pals! @raspberryandechinacea @noboomoon @emmydots @gowithme @valkyrieofardyn @blindedstarlight @lazarustrashpit @bleucommelhiver @hanatsuki89 @animakupo (lmk if y’all want to get tagged on the succeeding ones!)

The draft of your resignation letter on your computer screen is staring right at you with serious judgment, and you immediately think how Noctis is going to take this.

You have thoroughly considered Weskham Armaugh’s promising job offer in Altissia Works. Higher pay, better benefits. The title of VP for Communications definitely has a nice ring to it. But you know that quitting your current job is the last thing you ever want to do. As executive assistant to the CEO, dealing with the hustle that came along with your responsibilities is what you enjoy best: procurement requests, internal communications, meeting arrangements, public affairs, game launches and conventions, and pretty much overseeing Noctis’s day-to-day schedule have all become a steady ritual that you can probably do even in your sleep. You are severely fond with your work, so much so that you do not mind how taxing it could get on most months; the benefits and compensation that comes with your job even helps you in more ways to sustain a decent living. Besides, it’s not like you are not getting any support; if Ignis had not come along and taken the wheel behind all financial and strategic side of things, you would have easily lost your mind to stress. His sharp wit equates to his even sharper mind, and with all the years of working together, both you and Noctis have acknowledged that neither of you will survive without Ignis’s thoughtful counsel. In fact, Noctis claims he couldn’t find a better tandem to work with; for someone who is occasionally quiet and reclusive, he is pretty outspoken to always let you know one certain truth: that he wouldn’t survive a day without you and Ignis at all if he wanted to keep a robust video game company running at its finest.

So you didn’t mind the overtime hours. You didn’t mind the workload.

But as much as you love working for Noctis, you really don’t love the idea that you are recklessly falling in love with him.

Years of being around him, and you cannot really recall how this feeling unraveled itself. Was it because he is always checking up on you whenever you are spending too many late nights in the office? Was it whenever he brings you your favourite takeout food when you scarcely move from your seat even on lunch breaks? Or was it that time when he showed up in the middle of a Tinder date gone wrong after you texted him a simple ‘fuck this guy is a nutjob send help’? He always has your back, as you always have his. But how long have you felt this aching weakness for him? You know Noctis is always kind, if not a little too generous for his own good. He always goes out of his way to help others, treats everyone as equals. No hierarchy or class ever prevented him from reaching out to people. Even with someone like you, who had to claw your way out of the slums into this better life you have designed for yourself.

This, you thought, is what makes Noctis such a perfect guy: he is caring and selfless, even if he has a strange affinity with cats, or if he gets way too enthusiastic about fishing and video games. Sure, some people may think that the only notable things that qualify Noctis in the hall of perfection is because of how he is a handsome and dashing bachelor in his thirties who owns one of the most successful startup companies in all of Eos—a bold and impressive feat, considering he is already heir to a billion gil Lucian conglomerate. But he is more than his family name, more than his net worth, more than his pretty face.

And yet, perfect guy Noctis may be, he certainly is not perfect for you. He may still be in the market, but he is most surely way out of your league.

You minimize the word document and squeeze your eyes shut for a moment. The looming tower of files on your desk is already giving you a head-splitting migraine. The shrill sound of the printer right beside your cubicle is only making it worse. Not to mention, the group of game devs and quality analysts loudly debating their ideas in the conference room right across from your workstation. Interns are milling busily through the halls—some on skateboard, some on rollerblades. The background noise is starting to become insufferable. Even your favourite pop album blasting on repeat from your earphones is not helping. You return to your draft, and begin editing a couple of sentences:

After careful consideration, it is with deepest regret that I should inform you of my decision to leave the company. This is because...

You are tempted to end the sentence with a more blatant truth that says I am in love with you and could no longer stand being around you than saying that you are to pursue a better career opportunity. Which is downright nuts. Absolutely batshit crazy. It is true that you are never one to mix work with pleasure, and you are not that shallow to leave something behind for a petty reason...

But this rotten one-sided feeling with Noctis is a torment you cannot stand any longer.

Why do I always fall for the ones I could never have?

You are so close to murdering anyone who dares to step within the close perimeter of your workstation when a knock against your desk startles your fiercely undivided attention away from your screen.

“You seem like you’re about to massacre the whole floor. You good?”

You look up to see Noctis standing in front of you—extremely dapper clad in a white dress shirt and jeans—studying you with extreme concern. With much speed and dexterity and without even looking at your monitor, you quickly replace the word document on your computer and pull up the presentation deck with a subtle alt tab on the keyboard. The slide on display is that of the organizational chart that shows a couple of the functional units paired with the names of its respective leads. Cor Leonis, Risk and Control. Prompto Argentum, Creatives. Cindy Aurum, Product Engineering. Nyx Ulric, Game Development. You smile at him and say, “Yup, all good. Just reviewing my slides for the town hall later.”

“Really?” He raises an eyebrow, rubs a hand over his stubble-crusted jaw. A playful smile tugs on the corners of his mouth. “But you already know our monthly demographics like the back of your hand.”

“That’s Iggy, not me.”

“You keep selling yourself short,” he says, a little bit sternly. Then, he glances at his watch and all of a sudden, he narrows his eyes at you. “You haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

“Why, thank you very much for asking, sir, but I already have,” you lie with an awfully pleasant smile.

As expected, Noctis is not buying it. The scowl on his face clearly says so. “Don’t make me ask Pelna to terminate your access.”

You laugh. “Wow, you’re going to ask our best programmer to go on this extreme measure just to get me out to lunch? I couldn’t even imagine how your Cybersecurity Director is going to take that breach of protocol.”

“I think Gladio’s gonna let that one pass.”

"HR, then?"

"Nah, Monica and Holly would probably support this."

“Oh really? How so?”

“Yes, ‘cause they know I’ll do everything for you to go out with me.” Noctis pauses, and you stare at him.

“I’m sorry, what—“

“I mean, for lunch—“ Noctis reaches for the back of his neck, and he swiftly backpedals in a flustered stutter— “like go out with me for lunch is what I mean—uh, you know. ‘Cause we know you rarely go out to lunch. Or even outside, for breaks. And ‘cause pulling the plug of your workstation clearly isn’t going to work with you.”

“Oh. Right.” You nod and you can feel the pinprick of needles on your chest. Either from the way he seemed to vehemently deny his way out of his misspoken invitation or the fact that you almost thought he felt the same way about you, you cannot tell at this point. Maybe it’s both.

The silence that follows is close to unbearable.

Noctis awkwardly starts, “So, you mind if—“

“Hey there, you two.” Nyx suddenly saunters in front of your desk, all swagger in his black leather jacket, and you almost thank the gods out loud for his casual intervention. He greets Noctis with a clap on the shoulder, and he looks at the both of you with a cheeky lopsided grin. “Am I interrupting—“

“No,” you and Noctis both say all at once, and way too defensively.

“Okay, cool.” Nyx flashes one of his devilish smirks, all the while still warily eyeing both you and Noctis. “Anyway—“ Nyx turns to you, sliding one hand through his hair and pushing the other on the pocket of his jeans— “you wanna grab some lunch at Yamachang’s, chief? I owe you big time for sending me the stats I needed on the mobile app I’m working with Crowe and Libertus. I’m a Lannister and I always pay my debts—“

“Yeah, sure,” you immediately tell Nyx as you briskly rise from your seat. You don’t know what made you agree with Nyx’s invitation so easily, that when you glance at Noctis, he is looking at you with an expression that you cannot seem to figure out.

“Glad someone’s finally successful in getting you out of your cubicle for a change,” Noctis says with an odd smile. “I’ll see you both in the town hall, alright?”

As Noctis walks away and starts to mingle with the game devs in the conference room, you see Nyx is watching you curiously.

“What?” You try not to sound annoyed, but the question spills snappily out of your mouth.

Nyx clicks his tongue and shakes his head. “You two are really something, huh.”

“What does that even mean?”

“It means…” Nyx sighs, leaning against your desk. “Never mind. C’mon, let’s get going.”

Nyx offers you his hand and you take it. He whisks you out of your desk, and you laugh at his weird display of chivalry. As the two of you make your way out of the office, you pass the conference room and your eyes land on Noctis. His eyes meet yours, and he gives you a small smile. Nyx’s hand on yours suddenly feel terribly out of place. The thought of your resignation begins to settle heavily at the pit of your stomach. The job offer in Altissia has never been so appealing.

The town hall concluded without a hitch. By end of the day, you are pretty much exhausted, but relieved all the same. Everyone left early for the long weekend, and you are glad to have the whole floor all by yourself.

Well, almost.

Noctis is still in his office, his door wide open. You double-check his calendar to see if he has anything lined up on his schedule. He’s free for the rest of the night, and you take a deep breath.

This is it. You have already made up your mind, following your better judgment. It’s now or never, you think to yourself as you march your way to his office, letter in hand.

You knock at the door. “Hey,” you say, and Noctis looks up at you. A wide smile brightens his face.

“Hi, come in,” he says, gesturing to the couch in front of him. He eyes you nervously. “Have I missed any urgent meeting? Or anything that needs my approval?”

“No. Actually, you’re already free from this time onwards. Checked your calendar before I came here.” You couldn’t help but laugh. Of course, most of the time you have ever entered Noctis’s office is to remind him whenever he’s running late for a meeting or to follow him up on matters that require his immediate attention.

But this time around, it pains you that you’re here in front him for an entirely different reason.

“Oh, by the way—great job earlier, as usual,” Noctis says rather proudly. “Not that I’m surprised.”

“Um, thanks.” You wince another smile. His genuine kindness is a rock in your mouth that is slowly grating you with guilt.

“So…” Noctis trails off, his fingers drumming against his desk, and he is still looking at you with searching eyes. “I hope you’re not planning on staying here in the office for a few more hours.”

“Nope.” You shake your head. Your insides are twisted into knots when you say, “Actually, I’m already planning on leaving.”

You slide the letter on his desk. He unfolds it, and you watch how his smiling face shifts into something else. At first, he is surprised, then the second, he is completely crushed.

Noctis lets out a shuddery sigh. “I don’t understand—“

“I don’t need you to,” you swiftly say. “I got an offer. In Altissia. I’m sorry if this had been so sudden. Not to worry, I have all of my tasks and responsibilities properly documented for transition—“

“No, I don’t care about any of that,” he says, his voice deeply strained. “I just want to know why.” He pushes himself off his desk, circling over to you. “You said you love working here.”

“Yes, I do.” You cannot bear looking at him. Tears are starting to well under your eyes. “But I…”

“But what?” Noctis is now standing so close to you, his eyes casting you a searching look. “Tell me, please.” He moves in another inch. You could already smell his perfume, and you swear if he moves any closer you are going to shatter.

“Noct, it’s just...“ you say, and his name almost breaks along with the sound of your voice. “I don’t think I can work here if I—“

A solid knock on the door traps the remaining words in your mouth. You wipe your eyes before you turn to see Ignis standing by the doorway. He looks at you, then at Noctis. If he had caught on any of the conversation, Ignis is doing an excellent job not showing it on his face.

“My apologies,” Ignis says. His tone is urgent. “Aranea from the Niflheim Studios’ Business Division just called. Says it’s about Ardyn’s offer for a collaboration. Should I ask her to call back—“

“It should be okay, Iggy,” you tell him, waving a hand. “I was just about to go.” To Noctis, you say, “I think you should probably take that. You know how your uncle can get so utterly relentless.”

Before Ignis or Noctis could breathe another word, you hastily take your leave. Ignis gingerly closes the door behind you, and his discussion with Noctis is reduced into hushed whispers. You walk back to your workstation, and as quietly and quickly as you could, you take the opportunity to pack all your personal effects while no one is around. You have so many memories here in Lucis Labs that as you stuff each frame and trinket into the cardboard box, there‘s no use holding back your tears. The annual trips with the whole team, the late night dinners with the game devs, the caffeinated days of tireless convention weeks…

It’s slowly dawning on you that not only you are leaving Noctis behind, you are also leaving a ragtag bunch of geniuses you have come to consider as family.

Unsteadily, you carry your belongings, weaving your way past the dimly lit hallways, past the glass boards and collaboration spaces, past the array of black-and-white cubicles, and onto the lifts. Downstairs at the Citadel’s lobby, your footsteps echo against the mosaic floors that one of the guards turn to look at your direction. It happens to be Dave, whom you already consider a pal after all the help he has extended to you on occasions you have missed bringing your ID to work. He takes a glimpse on the box you have wrapped around your arms. He cast you a stunned look.

“How? Why?” Dave asks in disbelief. His graying hair and beard looks just as lonely as this evening.

“Found a new job,” you say with a small smile. You hope he doesn’t notice how your eyes are still wet with tears. Kindly enough, he says nothing. He only offers you a polite nod and a sad smile as he ushers you out of the turnstile.

Just when you’re only a few steps away from leaving the premises, you hear your name echo all over the vastness of the almost empty foyer from a very familiar voice.

You turn and you see Noctis running after you.

“Wait,” he says, and he’s panting like he’s taken all twelve flight of stairs in a hurry just to get to you. Or has he?

“Noct, please. If you’re here—“

“I’m not here to stop you from taking the offer,” Noctis cuts you off. He exhales loudly, catches another lungful of air, before he goes on, “If you think it’s best for your career, then I’ll support you. No matter what. I’ve always believed that you’re off to do great things, and I’m sorry if how I acted earlier made you think otherwise. I just… it’s hard for me to accept that I’m about to lose the best assistant one could ever ask for.”

“Please don’t say that. You still have Ignis.”

“But Ignis is not you. And he knows that, too.” Noctis steps closer to you, smiling. He takes the box off your hands and sets it on the floor. “So, now that you’re effectively no longer working for me, I guess I have to do one more thing.”

“What thing—”

Noctis does not let you finish the sentence when he crushes his lips with yours. He kisses you fiercely, in a way that loudly proclaims I’ve been feeling the same way about you, and I just don’t know how to show it.

Despite wanting to believe that this is all happening, your disbelief pulls you away from Noctis. Breathlessly, you say, “Wait, I just want to be clear—you… you like me?”

Noctis laughs. “Goodness. I don’t just like you—I’ve been in love with you for as long as I can remember. It’s just—” he bites his lip, reaches for the back of his head the same way he always does whenever he is at a loss for words, but he shakes his head and pushes through— ”it’s, uh, well… I know how you don’t like being involved with romantic affairs at work. I know how you keep your private life completely separate from your job, and I respect that. I didn’t want to complicate things for you, so I kept my distance, in a way. So… by the time I realized how strongly I feel about you, and after learning from the people in the office that it’s obvious that our feelings are mutual, let’s just say it felt like I am fucked.” He pauses, and the blush on his handsome face is in full bloom. Then, as if by some realization, the pleasant expression on his face wilts into a mild panic. “Shit, am I wrong? You don’t feel the same way, too, do you—“

“No, no!” You say quickly, catching him by his arms. “I… That’s not it. I do feel the same way, Noct. I’m just surprised, that’s all. I didn’t realize that it was so obvious for people to know. I never heard about it from anyone.”

“That’s because everyone is terrified of you.” Noctis smiles, and he playfully pinches your chin.

You frown. “You make me sound like I’m Cor.”

“Hey, don’t worry—he’s of a different calibre.”

You quirk an eyebrow. “So you’re not terrified of me? Is that it?”

“Well, I will always be terrified of you,” Noctis says teasingly. “Because it's one of the many reasons why I love you.”

This time, you yank him by the collar of shirt and pull him for another kiss. There exists a fraction of a moment in that kiss where time is in a standstill; your mind freezes, your heart stops beating, and there is only that rush of electricity racing down your spine. And then, all at once, the knots in your stomach have untangled. Your hands finally move on its own accord, and so does your lips.

He presses his forehead against yours. In a breathy whisper, he says, “I’m yours. I want to be yours. Will you be mine?”

“Yes,” you say, and you cannot help the smile tugging on the corners of your mouth. “I’m all yours.”

#final fantasy xv #ffxv #ffxv fanfiction #fanfic #noctis lucis caelum #older!noctis lucis caelum #noctis x reader #older!noctis x reader #my writing

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cardcaptorcoconut · 6 years

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Cardcaptor Sakura: Clear Card Arc Chapter 24 Translation

Lots of things happening in this month’s chapter, but “everything will definitely be okay” guys, so just Keep Calm & Clear Card On! :)

Also, I heard that more than a few fans were accidentally spoiled when most of the chapter leaked early this week, so I just wanted to re-link to my previous post about CLAMP’s stance regarding this. Please think twice when posting spoilers, and if you do decide to post or read them, at the very least please tag appropriately.

Thank you to the ever wonderful @meimi-haneoka for being the world’s best proofreader. <3

[EDIT] I added a footnote on pages 3, 12, & 13 about one line and corrected the name of a card I had mistaken on page 18 (Thank you to @aurora010100 for the heads up!! ^^)

☆★Translations Notes Reminder★☆

Disclaimer: These are just fan translations. Please support the official release.

Chapter 24

Cover Page: “The title ‘D’ is proof (that one ranks among) the most powerful of magicians.”

[Alt: “The title ‘D’ is proof of (being) the strongest magician.”]

P1 Kaito: Is everything alright? [Lit: Did something happen?] Akiho: I had… a nightmare. Akiho: Until about halfway through, it was like the world in (my) book and was nice. [Lit: …was enjoyable.] Kaito: Alice’s world?

P2 Akiho: In “Clockland”, Alice met all kinds of strange beings and inhabitants and had curious experiences… Akiho: Yes, and a mirror appeared. A mirror that could copy magic. Akiho: But after that… these clock sounds grew very loud, and (you could hear) the sound of something breaking somewhere…

P3 Akiho: I heard… a voice. Akiho: (It said) “You can’t go back anymore.”

[Alt: Could also be “You can’t turn back anymore.”]

[Note: The original text was 「おまえはもう戻れない」with おまえ (”Omae”) as the subject. The gruff nature indicates it’s unlikely to be Nadeshiko saying this...]

P4 Akiho: And I’d always thought that the Alice in my dream (looked like me), but today… <Akiho recalls that the Alice in her dream looks like Sakura> Kaito: Have you ever heard of dreams that contradict reality? Kaito: It's when the opposite of what you dreamt occurs (in real life).

[Alt: It's the kind of dream where the opposite of what happens in it occurs in real life.]

Akiho: The opposite… Kaito: So if you had a nightmare, what’s the opposite of that?

P5 Akiho: Something fun will happen? <Kaito smiles at her and she smiles back> Kaito: <looks at his pocket watch> It looks like it’s almost dinner time. Akiho: I’ll help out! Ah! I’ll go get my apron, okay?

P6 Momo: …There are also such things as dreams that come true. Kaito: I will never allow that to happen. <Scene changes to Sakura going to school with Kero> Kero: Wouldn’t it have been better to stay home from school today? You had a nightmare right? Sakura: It’s okay. I can’t just tell my teachers I’m staying home because I had a weird dream.

P7 Sakura: Besides, until halfway through, it was like Alice in Wonderland and was fun. Kero: Sakura's situation right now is not one (where you could say) that it’s just a dream. Kero: It’s likely a dream she had because of her magic... <Kero thinks back to his discussion with Yue> Kero: I think it’s better we don’t tell Sakura about this yet… Kero: Eriol has to have a reason for wanting to tell Sakura she’s producing cards of her own. But we can’t confirm why that is right now. Kero: (To help) Sakura, Eriol wouldn’t do something that… Yue: …wasn’t necessary.

[Lit: He wouldn’t do something he shouldn’t do.]

P8 Yue: …What about the magician? Kero: He hasn’t done anything to challenge Sakura directly yet… Kero: Besides, Sakura and Akiho are really close. Would warning her (of that) be a good thing? Yue: You don’t want to cause her any unnecessary worry or sadness if you can help it. Kero: Right. Yue: Let’s keep the (news) about the magician (quiet) for now.

[Lit: Let’s keep the thing about the magician hidden for now.]

P9 Yue: In exchange for that, don’t leave our mistress’ side. Kero: I won’t leave (her side), but… Kero: There’s nothing I can do about (her having a) nightmare… But the likelihood that it’s a premonitory dream for sure too… <Scene changes to Akiho watching the cheerleading practice> Cheerleaders: One, two, three, four!

P10 Tomoyo: The cheerleading club is really hard at work practicing too. Akiho: I think this may be a little impolite for me to say, but Sakura-san and I… Tomoyo: You’re very much alike. Tomoyo: And it’s not impolite at all. Sakura-chan would be so happy. Akiho: Do you really think so? [Lit: Is that really so?]

P11 Tomoyo: How about you, Akiho-chan? <Akiho blushes> Akiho: (It makes me) really, really, really happy! <At the practice below> Coach: Okay, now spin around-- <Sakura spins>

P12 & 13 <Suddenly everything disappears> Sakura: !? Voice: “You can’t go back anymore.”

[Alt: “You can’t turn back anymore.” - Same as above, with “omae” as the subject.]

P14 <Scene changes to later that night at the Kinomoto residence> Sakura: I’m out of the bath! <Fujitaka and Touya are cooking> Sakura: (Are we having) hamburgers tomorrow? Fujitaka: I thought I’d put some in (our) lunches and freeze (the rest). Sakura: I can’t wait! [Lit: I’m looking forward to it!]

P15 <Sakura notices Touya staring at her> Sakura: What is it? <Touya pats her head> Sakura: Waah! Touya: Get to bed quickly tonight. Don’t (get up to anything).

[Lit: Without doing anything.]

Fujitaka: It looks like it’s going to be a little cooler at night, so keep warm, okay? Sakura: …Okay.

P16 <Scene changes to Syaoran’s residence> Syaoran: I can’t get through to Hiiragizawa after all. Syaoran: …(His) magic can go even that far, huh. Syaoran: That shows just how powerful (of a magician he) is. Syaoran: Even if that’s the case… <Syaoran’s bear and rashinban start glowing>

P17 <Syaoran struggles to summon nine of the Sakura Cards>

P18 <Syaoran catches his breath as Windy, Shadow, Watery, Mirror, Fiery, Glow, Fly, Jump, and Flowery gather around him> Syaoran: <to the cards> I’m sorry to make you worry.

P19 Syaoran: The bear I gave to Sakura was imbued with my magic. Through that bear, (I was able to draw) the “magic” of the Sakura Cards to me. Syaoran: And now I can use (that power), but… Syaoran: Not only is it taking more time that I thought, it (completely) drains out my energy. Hiiragizawa was also worried that this is excessive…

[Lit: It’s an extreme drain on my power/energy.]

Syaoran: But even so.

P20 Syaoran: The cards and I will not fail to protect Sakura.

[Lit: I will definitely protect Sakura together with the cards.]

[Note: It’s interesting to note here that Syaoran says 「...絶対にさくらを守る、カード達と」.The と particle is usually used to mean “and” or “together with” as opposed to で which would be more like “by means of”. Since it said カード達と and not カード達で I took this to indicate that Syaoran views the cards as his allies to save Sakura rather than tools to do so.]

<Scene changes to Akiho’s house> Akiho: That robe in the dreams… It’s definitely mine.

P21 <Akiho puts on the robe and she seems to go into a trance of some kind; the scene then changes to Sakura’s room>

P22 <Outside her window, Sakura sees the cloaked figure> Sakura: Ah…!! Sakura: “Flight!” <Sakura flies towards the figure who gestures at her>

P23 <The staff back into a key and the figure pulls it towards them> Sakura: No!! Flight: <begins to shatter> -----!! Sakura: “Flight”…!!

P24 <The figure pulls Sakura in as Flight shatters completely; Sakura grabs for the robe>

P25 <Sakura pulls the hood off the figure> Sakura: !!

P26 & P27 Sakura: …Syaoran… kun?

P28 <Sakura wakes up back in her room> Kero: Are you okay!? Kero(?): Was it another dream? Sakura: A dream… Sakura: It’s a dream, right? Narration: Is the dream Sakura and Akiho saw one that contradicts reality? Or is it…!?

#cardcaptor sakura #card captor sakura #cardcaptor sakura clear card arc #card captor sakura clear card arc #clear card arc #ccs #ccs clear card arc #translations: clear card arc

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kengarden · 5 years

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FLIPS / TRICKS / MOTIVATION

Bryan Scagline is a player, motivator, designer, and all around do it all dude. Pretty much everything you have seen recently form Kendama USA is the work of Bryan. Instagram, team edits, promo graphics, tours, and more.

Bryan recently dropped a video titled “flips and tricks” where he flexes with the new KUSA flip series. 1 design, 2 colors , INVERTED to make 2 dope damas.

Peep the video and dive deeper into the mind of Scagline below.

youtube

So on top of all the work he is doing for kusa dude still goes out and bangs out an edit. THAT TAKES MOTIVATION. I had a chance to get some questions to Bryan about motivation. peep the knowledge below and watch the new edit.

Jake -Do you have any nick names?

Bryan - SCAGSSSS. Ironically enough SCAGS was my dads nickname growing up as well! My younger brother doesn't get called the family nickname for some reason lol, but with out asking, the nickname has stuck itself to me! Such a good feeling walking into a jam and just hearing people show love - “SCAAAGS!!” Love ya’ll <3_

-If you were to turn your latest video “flips and Tricks” into a pie graph what would take up most of the pie?

30% promotion, 70% swag. _

-Making a kendama edit takes a lot of skills. Cine, Editing, Kendama, Location, Graphics, promotion, and thinking of tricks. Which of these categories have you spent the most time practicing?

Thank god you, Colin, Jero all knew how to work cameras and capture the cine film / editing LOOK of kendama. That's what got me on the hook. Creating the tricks, landing them, finding the perfect locations, and the feeling of it all coming together is what keeps me going.

-“Kendama” is always changing. For players, business, communities, design, tricks, and events. Whats your main motivation right now with kendama?

My main motivation for kendama is just to get it in front of more people. I LOVE first reactions. Before the spike. The initial curiosity of somebody stopping, approaching you, and asking “what is that!” Having gotten to where I am with Kendama today is amazing. I will always have a voice and help guide kids, scenes, players in the right direction. I will always put the culture first and I will always share the history it has. Lastly, I aim to produce quality video and content that gets people pumped. I wanna give the feeling that YOU guys gave me when I first saw kendama. (And when I first saw Turner do the BB flip in the Japan 2012 video.) That shit changed my life. Seriously. I quit my job and I work for Kendama USA now lol. Kendama has literally changed the direction of my life. I blame Colin and Zack._

-To me your motivation shows in the new video “Flips and Tricks”. it takes time to put a video like this together. Even if it only took you an hour to film all the tricks it's about the motivation to grab your cam and go out and bang out some tricks with the intention of motivating others. How much does the feedback of others influence your motivation?

Droping a video is the best feeling. When you drop a video you’ve worked really hard on and everyone shows love / shares their favorite parts, omg. Thats the best. I legit get the chills just talking about it. I plan out the tricks, the kendamas used, the song that will be in the video, POV, follow cam, tripod, the angles, location, etc. I usually know what the video will look, sound, and feel like before I even string my kendama.

-Was there a time in your live where you had NO motivation? Also What pulled you out of the motivation dead zone?

Everybody gets in slumps. What I do to get out of it is - find one trick (or even a transition) that I'm feeling and just hone it, try it differently (penguin grip/ fast hand) ,and blow it up. If that isn’t working, I’ll dead ass do cup flow and go back to basics until I essentially find that 'AWE' moment and build from there. Plan out 3-6 tricks, b roll, boom. We back at it.

-Name one motivation tool that EVEYONE has access to and can use to get that BOOST of energy and motivation that makes you want to go out and get it?

THIS WORKS. I Promise. What I do to motivate myself when I feel like I suck - Go back and watch 1-3 Kendama videos that got you FIRED up back in the day. Find literally ONE trick you think is dope and alter it, make it harder, or add onto it! Find a clever way to tweak THAT trick and post it on insta. Don't apologize or type some bullshit “sorry this is all I could land” caption. Those are THE worst. Talk about how this trick inspired you and you wanna challenge somebody else! Before you know it, you’ll be lacing BETTER tricks and you’ll forget all about the slump… until it comes back. Then repeat. Lol

-Would you rather extreme armpit hair (Long and thick like you can’t wear short sleeve shirts because its busting out) or extremely lopsided nostrils (like pinky fit in the left and thumb fit in the right)?

WOW. Ummmmm I guess gimme the weird shnoz. If I can't move my arms, how will I lace fastest of hands?

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rachel-was-distracted-and · 7 years

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Doctor Who: The Return of Doctor Mysterio (2016 Christmas Special)

I was going to watch the new episode with the new companion and then I remembered that I never watched the 2016 Christmas special, the one new DW episode we got in that miserable year

My first reaction to Twelve swinging upside down outside the window was that this is very reminiscent of Matt Smith’s Eleven, but I also haven’t watched Who in what, over a year? :/

“Mom says you can come in, you’re expected” ?!

The kid then gives him cookies and milk. Because there’s an old guy out the window and it’s Christmas Eve.

I wonder if they had to pay Marvel and DC for rights on all this...licensed merch

Wait I just realized this kid is American.

This kid reminds me of my cousin

“How do you have a glass of water in your pocket?” “Skills.”

Is there a Doctor Mysterio? IRL? (edit: just learned the title of the episode and maybe this WAS done on Who previously?)

localized disruption here in New York...ah

(btw I still am unsure how previous season ended, I watched it way back when and I re-read my lousy “live”blog and still don’t know what happened)

Uh-oh, what did this kid do with the gemstone

He ATE the gemstone. Because the *doctor* gave him a thing that looks like medicine and a glass of water

TBH I’m slightly surprised this accidental superhero thing didn’t happen sooner, it’s adorable and works for me

Another baby? I know James Cordon’s time on Who was a while ago, but...

Is he babysitting? His chest still glows red and...wait is that future kiddo or not

The bald guy from Bridesmaids and last year’s Christmas special is back!

Looking for “the little boy’s room” hmmmmm

This politician rich science guy who isn’t perturbed by the brains is rubbing me the wrong way I guess

I thought the lady in blue was Clara and was torn between OMG and GODDAMMIT

Ultimately I’m glad it’s not

EW the brain has EYES WHAT

AH UM the guy was playing dumb before?Oh no they “exchanged containers”

“I had a change of mind” THE WORDPLAY KILL ME

I mean did this guy not see any of this coming? He knew something was up when he wasn’t surprised by the brains what did he think was going to come of it. (I admit I sort of half-assed watch nowadays while on my laptop but still, what?)

Ooo the companion in this episode is a journalist!

Twelve and the bald kid have no kind of reunion - unless i missed it

It’s a superhero! “Oh my god he’s real. The ghost. Masked vigilante but he’s--super”

Um tbh this guy looks like Agent Smith from Deadpool (I don’t remember his real name, Jason?)

He has his very own Lois Lane!

Ew what is her political bias? What is “not to his taste”? Now is not the time for this I don’t want either of them to be alt-right or whatever the kids are calling it these days

(Because yeah, you either believe in human rights or you don’t. You either believe kids should have clean water and affordable education or you don’t. You are either on the right side of history or you aren’t. It is that simple.)

So is this kid from a while ago or from *today*

Well did he keep this promise or not (guess not)

“Sorry, duty calls” probably going back to babysitting

The Doctor has the baby *relief*

Yeah he confronts him about that promise he broke

Yeah he’s a nanny; torn between wanting to give kudos for a male nanny and wanting to tell moffat to fuck off for trying to check off some kind of list of subverting stereotypes I don’t even

Lois Lane is the mother of the baby he’s nannying for! hahaha

Wait hold up how can she afford this beautiful apartment in NYC as a journalist? Baby’s daddy ran off so it’s not like he’s bringing home the bacon

Is this brown haired kid with the glasses the kid? Yeah he can’t stop the X-ray vision...OH

AWW

“It’s the gem-stone...responding to puberty”

“I have X-ray eyes. I like everyone” Ew wait he nannies for his middle school crush? I don’t like this. I would not want anyone from middle school watching my baby no matter how much they liked me or I liked them unless I straight up married them (which I haven’t)

She looks like Clara again. They have a type, don’t they?

This squeaky toy is so FUCKING ANNOYING and also unprofessional, fuck.

Throw the squeaky toy away, Doc! Holy shit!

She has good inference skills and yet she’s so annoying

That was so fast!

Why is Grant’s hair so lame, is it the Clark Kent thing? Clark’s hair wasn’t this lame.

His Ghost voice is much better than Christian Bale’s Batman grunt, I’ll give him that

Oh my god this girl has like no respect for Grant’s time? How can she be so smart and so dumb at the same time? Are real people like this??

And they’ve known each other for 24 years

And Doctor tells Grant to try not to be an idiot.....

Oh no the brains are going to try to take the Ghost

Some cool time magic from the Doctor

Hope they don’t try to take the Doctor

Doesn’t the Doctor have some kind of intergalactic police force behind him? Didn’t he at some point? This show makes no sense

“Good to keep an open mind!” heheh

He whistles and ah THERE’s the TARDIS

driven by the bald guy now in Constantinople garb

I’m sorry, where did bald guy come from again?

He’s a Christmas special companion is all? He mentioned getting cut out of Hydraflax which like rings a bell I guess

I DO NOT ship Lois Lane and The Ghost, this crush and whatever she has going on has lasted way too long (I don’t want to call it friendzone but--OH MY GOD is Stephen Moffat reimagining Superman as being friendzoned by Lois Lane?)

Y’all--if anyone even reads this--y’all know that the idea of the friend zone is problematic right? If you just see women as real people instead of just wanting to bone them, then there is no friend zone (that’s the thing--there should be no friend zone. It’s creepy that he does all this for her and it’s dumb that she has him nanny her kid and doesn’t even recognize that he’s the superhero. I’m not sure why he’s doing this. I get he’s like a good person or whatever, I don’t think he fails to see Lois Lane as a person, I just still don’t like this situation. They both deserve better.)

This started off SO WELL and now I have so many PROBLEMS with it

UGH is she realizing her feelings for Grant NOW

Oh no they’re gonna do the thing to the Ghost

Nannies are superheroes, did anyone ever argue this? (Whoops I might have trivialized it before)

Aw he tried to tell her! He’s still trying

She’s so dumb

OH NO

What does New York not being a capital city have to do with any of this again?

See, staging an alien attack while the aliens have already landed and integrated is an interesting premise, but when it’s just thrown out in passing...it’s not as good.

I like the New York being a sanctuary city talk, but like, I feel like I’m being pandered to?

“It’s a good plan! I like it! How come our side never has plans like that?” Same.

What the fuck, why couldn’t the Ghost get away

The aliens don’t recognize Grant is the Ghost, haha fuck

This villain guy is good casting

Oy vey now what’s happening

It’s up to Grant to save them !

The shrug he gives her is great though

“You know what? I prefer you in your superhero costume” WHAT that’s a SHITTY line

“You think this is over?” “Yah” *shoots the screwdriver* and AH, UNIT is on its way, I knew there was some kind of backup

EW the brain left the body...and moved into one of their own. This doesn’t need a sequel though

How was he gone 24 years is this something I’m supposed to know? He always comes back he’s a goddamn time traveler

Oh good she got rid of the squeaky toy

“Her name was River Song” yeah but BOTH of them are TIME TRAVELERS

River was another thing that started off so well

Oh so the today stuff was the return of Doctor Mysterio, and the stuff with child Grant was the original?

Next time: I’M SO EXCITED FOR BILL

#doctor who #dw #the return of doctor mysterio #doctor who christmas special #doctor who 2016 christmas special #doctor who spoilers #dw spoilers #doctor mysterio #rachel watches doctor who #rachel liveblogs doctor who #sorry guys

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newscitygroup · 4 years

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Cookbook highlights gallstone-friendly recipes | Vancouver Sun

The Gallstone-Friendly Diet: Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Gallstones (And How to Keep on Their Good Side)

By Juliet Sullivan

Hammersmith Books Limited | $9.99

Juliet Sullivan vividly recalls the moment when she had her first gallbladder attack.

“I was sitting on the beach one day, and about half-an-hour after eating lunch, a sudden and excruciating pain ripped through my chest and stomach,” she says. “Once I was sure I wasn’t having a heart attack, I put it down to indigestion, and didn’t think any more of it.”

That is, until a few days later when the agonizing experience occurred again. And, then again.

“The third time, I ended up at emergency, but the doctors were baffled,” she recalls. “The fourth time, I had a round of tests including a CT scan, which is where they discovered my collection of stones.”

Gallstones are hard, pebble-like particles typically made of cholesterol or bilirubin, that develop in the gallbladder, according to Sullivan. They can range in size from a grain of sand to a golf ball.

“Gallbladder disease is an incredibly common problem in western cultures. But there seems to be a lack of awareness and understanding generally about (it),” Sullivan says. “I myself had never heard of gallstones before I was diagnosed.

“Some people can have gallstones without ever knowing they have them.”

Triggers for gallstones attacks can differ from person to person, Sullivan explains. Hers were brought on after digesting fat — regardless of whether it was a ‘healthy’ fat or a ‘bad’ fat.

“Fat doesn’t necessarily cause gallstones to form, but it certainly is the enemy once you have them,” she says. “In my case it was olive oil and almonds.”

Following the diagnosis, Sullivan jokingly remembers feeling “very sorry” for herself.

“At the time it was very difficult,” the British-born author who now lives in the Lower Mainland, says. “The only way for me to avoid the agonizing pain of a gallstones attack was to eat very little fat, and so my diet changed overnight.”

The diagnosis and new reality of her diet forced Sullivan to learn a lot about gallstones and gallstone-friendly food — very quickly.

“After my doctor told me to cut fat from my diet, I started researching how to eat without using fat, and realized there were very few cookbooks available in this genre — mainly because it is not healthy to cut fat from your diet,” she says. “But there were also very few books about gallstones either.”

Juliet Sullivan.

Paul R Stevens /

Handout

So, she decided to create one of her own.

“I have been flirting with writing a memoir type book for years, as memoir is my writing style, and so I incorporated a few chapters of ‘my story’ into the book, to add a context, and also to show the funny side of gallstones. There isn’t one, of course, but I tried anyway,” she explains of the book, which she originally self-published before the title was picked up by a publisher for its second edition.

By a process of trial-and-error Sullivan came up with a collection of recipes that met the criteria for cooking and eating with gallstones in mind. The recipes are given a star rating to identify the approximate fat content of each dish — three stars for “ultralow fat” (about less than three grams of fat per serving); two stars for “low fat” (about less than five grams of fat per serving); and “lowish fat” (about five grams of fat per serving plus the protein).

“Being British, I grew up on my grandma’s shepherd’s pies and apple pies. Lots of pies, actually, which does go some way to explaining how I ended up with gallstones,” she says good-humouredly. “(But), I love food, and I was not prepared to live on dry toast and apple-cider vinegar for six months while I waited for my operation to remove my gallbladder.

“So I set about creating recipes that mirrored the kind of food I love, without some of the offending ingredients.”

The book includes a variety of dishes including breakfast, lunch, dinner, side dishes and dessert options.

When asked to pick a personal favourite, Sullivan pointed toward recipes that show just how close she was able to keep her dietary restriction-abiding dishes to her food heritage roots — albeit with a few thoughtful (and in some cases, inventive) modifications.

“So that I didn’t feel too hard-done-by, I created homely recipes such as Veggie Shepherd’s Pie using lentils and sweet potato, and it is delicious. It is easily as delicious as the meat version. And it uses no fat. It is a healthy comfort food,” she says. “The apple pie is another story, because you can’t have an apple pie without the pie part. I just retrained myself how to think about desserts and treats.

“In this case, once you ditch the pastry, it is actually quite surprising how tasty a baked apple can be, especially if you throw a bit of zero-fat yogurt on top.”

Sullivan hopes that readers — whether those who are simply curious about discovering healthy alternatives to their favourite dishes or those who are suffering from gallstones themselves — better understand the impact that a proper diet can have on their health. As well as earn a greater understanding (and maybe a healthy dose of fear) of what exactly gallstones are, who can develop them and, most importantly, how to avoid them.

“There is a common belief that the only people susceptible to gallstones are female, fair, fat and over 40,” she says. “Whilst there is some evidence that all of these factors can play a part, the fact is that anyone can develop gallstones, even children. Cutting back on refined carbs and increasing fibre intake has been suggested to be the best way to avoid forming gallstones.

“Because, believe me, if you can avoid forming gallstones, you really should. They are evil.”

RECIPE: Fiery Fajita Bowls

1 cup (250 mL) brown rice

Coconut or olive-oil cooking spray or water for steam frying

1 onion, sliced

1 medium courgette (zucchini), cut into sticks

1 red pepper, sliced

1 yellow pepper, sliced

3 medium mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp. (5 mL) smoked paprika

1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) ground cumin

Salt and pepper

Simple homemade salsa

2 large tomatoes, diced

1 spring onion, finely chopped

2-3 sprigs fresh coriander (cilantro), finely chopped

Salt and black pepper

To assemble

Fresh coriander (cilantro)

Chopped spring onions

Hot sauce

Salad

Low-fat sour cream

Method

Boil the brown rice in plenty of water, until cooked to your liking (around 20 minutes), then drain.

Meanwhile, heat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat, then thinly coat the bottom with cooking spray, and add the chopped vegetables.

Add the spices, and a pinch of salt and pepper.

Cook over high heat, stirring regularly, for about five to 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

To make the simple homemade salsa, place the diced tomatoes in a bowl with one chopped spring onion and a sprinkling of fresh coriander; add a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix.

To assemble your veggie fajita bowls, serve the cooked brown rice into three bowls, top with the vegetable mixture and add the homemade salsa.

Finish with a dollop of low-fat sour cream (if using), some chopped coriander and spring onions, and a dash of hot sauce.

RECIPE: Nearly No-Fat Banana Bread

Coconut or olive-oil cooking spray

1 1/2 cups (375 mL) gluten-free, whole-wheat flour

3/4 cup (180 mL) caster sugar

1 1/4 tsp. (6 mL) baking powder

1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) bicarbonate of soda/baking soda

1/2 tsp. (2.5 mL) ground cinnamon

2 egg whites

3 ripe bananas, mashed

4 tbsp. (60 mL) apple sauce

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).

Lightly grease a 8×4-inch (20×10-centimetre) loaf tin with a few pumps of cooking spray.

In a large bowl stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon. Add the egg whites, bananas and apple purée and stir just until combined.

Pour the batter in the preheated oven for 50-55 minutes, until a skewer inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

Turn out onto a wire rack and allow to cool before slicing.

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likoma · 7 years

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https://soundcloud.com/user-898207076/tt30

Can you think back that far? It’s important. Give it a try.

I’ll wait.

For me, it’s easy to remember: it was November 1, 2012. On that day, I wrote:

“I suffer from the typical writer’s block. I see a blank screen and want to run. I think of editing some old work and cringe. I’ve been wanting to write on a regular basis for, oh, a decade. Not ten days, not ten months, but ten years. When oh when will that day come where I learn to write on a regular basis?” — Bradley Charbonneau, Nov. 1, 2012

I look back and I don’t even recognize that guy. I mean, uh, well, I guess that was me. I have transformed, changed, metamorphosized into a different person. It’s all thanks to Every Single Day.

I’m putting quite a bit of time into my upcoming book, called, not terribly surprisingly, “Every Single Day.” It might be horrendous. It might become a best seller. This might be hard to understand, but I don’t really care.

Carefree — or Fearfree

I used to care. I used to care a lot. I used to care so much that I was stuck. I was stuck because I was so concerned with getting it right or perfectionism, quite a dose of what other people thought of me or, the biggest block of all: fear.

Look at the first words in the quoted paragraph above:

suffer

want to run

cringe

been wanting

ten years

when oh when

Ouch. I feel for that guy. Man, he is suffering!

But where do I struggle today? I struggle to even understand that guy at that beginning phase. Part of me doesn’t have much patience or even sympathy for him. “Seriously? That’s what your fear is? I’m sorry, could you explain it again?”

It’s as if I’m in university and that former self is back in kindergarten. I just can’t relate that easily. “Oh, you don’t even know how to tie your shoes? Oh yeah, that’s right.”

I’m no longer scared of writing. I write Every Single Day. It’s just what I do. It’s not even a decision, it just happens. It takes little to no effort and it’s usually in flow mode — just cruising.

At this point, I hope my book can capture where the beginner is, what phase he’s in, how I can help her get out of the rut, where I can be of most strategic and effective assistance.

But I do have to think back to where I started. I have to roll along the path I’ve taken and see where I am today. I also have to show that to the beginners so they see that I have done it and that should give them hope that they can too.

Make the Habit the Goal

Remember how I said I didn’t care? I do care. I care about writing. I honestly don’t care about best sellers (although, sure, I’d love it) and I don’t care about writing the Great American Novel. I care about writing. I care about the habit. Want to know the secret? If I care about the habit, if I care about the writing, I will get to those other “goals” with little effort and minimal fanfare. Then the deepest secret? I won’t stop. I’ll keep going onto bigger and better goals because I made the habit the goal.

Where are you on Day One? What’s your goal? What’s your habit? What’s your fear? One day at a time, let’s banish the fear.

P.S. In book cover and subtitle news …

The latest:

Every Single Day: From shame to blame to aim to fame to game.

In the end, it’s a game. But you won’t understand that until you hit at least the fame level.

Until then, keep up the good work Every Single Day.

#gallery-0-5 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 50%; } #gallery-0-5 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-5 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

Every Single Day: From shame to blame to aim to fame to game.

Every Single Day: A prescription for true transformation.

Every Single Day: It’s not a calendar, it’s a mindset.

Every Single Day: Just a drop at a time.

TT30: Do you remember where you started? Can you think back that far? It's important. Give it a try. I'll wait. For me, it's easy to remember: it was…

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samiraahmeduk · 7 years

Text

You never forget your first time. I was 19 years old. I descended into a weird, cramped basement where student actors brought to life a weird, twisted sexual triangle. Going to student drama productions in odd spaces around the University was one of my greatest joys of those years in the late 1980s. But this one was like no other. I knew nothing about author or play. It was like being trapped in a nightmare version of a British tv culture familiar and strange from old sitcoms and Carry Ons and earnest black-and-white archive news programmes. Twenty year olds were dressed in nylon negligees and leather trousers and those weird sixties NHS specs playing a sexually frustrated older woman and man; an Adonis like something out of Richard Hamilton’s 1956 collage Just What is It That Makes Today’s Homes So Modern, So Appealing?

Richard Hamilton (1956)

That performance of Entertaining Mister Sloane and one shortly after of What The Butler Saw sucked me in to a lifelong fascination with Joe Orton, whose plays were hugely popular among students, 20 years after his death. After graduating I would spend evenings after work listening to the audio version of Kenneth Williams’ brilliantly articulate if misleading published autobiography about Joe Orton, and reading Joe Orton’s own graphic diaries alongside them. I endlessly rewatched Stephen Frears’ film of the John Lahr biography Prick Up Your Ears, which remains one of my favourite films of all time, thanks to Alan Bennett’s delicate screenplay.

Most of all I was intrigued by the Malcolm Gladwell-10-thousand hours-esque ten years from RADA to fame. Fifty years after his appalling murder I asked to make a special Front Row for Radio 4 on Friday Aug 11th about this remarkable talent. A working class man of incredible determination and graft, who spent a decade in London reading and writing and honing his skills before fame came. Special thanks to my wonderful producer Ekene Akalawu who did such an amazing job shaping this programme and editing it.

London made John into Joe Orton, but we wanted to go back to people who knew him and to Leicester, the city that bore him.

The house on the Saffron Lane estate is gone. Joe’s sister Leonie told me she’d pleaded with the council to keep just that one house. The replacement bungalow has a tiny shabby blue plaque easy to miss and almost too high to read. As I look at it I think with frustration of the lucrative tourist industry around Paul McCartney’s National Trust owned council house in Liverpool. I wonder why the councillors of Leicester didn’t see that too?

With Leonie Orton at the Pork Pie Library, Leicester 7th Aug 2017

The Pork Pie Library (it wasn’t called that then, officially) is just round the corner. Leonie Orton, Joe’s youngest sister, who’s become his proudest and most generous champion, drove 3 hours from Norfolk, where she now lives, to talk to me. It’s a stunning art deco building which hasn’t really changed at all since Joe first started bringing her – she was 4, he was 11. She leads me to where they’d go – the children’s section. He’d read her Enid Blytons and Alice in Wonderland. She remembers how much he loved reading Shakespeare and Greek classical drama. One time they walked out and he produced a copy of Black Beauty he’d nicked and gave it to her: “Here, you can keep that.” She was too young to be able to really think about what he’d done. It’s not that anyone thinks the theft is alright. What hits me again and again is the breaktaking sense of anger and defiance of authority alongside the self-instruction that comes from every aspect of Joe Orton’s life. It’s a privilege to talk to Leonie for an hour. Sorry we couldn’t fit it all in the programme.

With Sheila Hancock

Sheila Hancock, who starred in the Broadway production and a 1968 BBC film of Entertaining Mr Sloane shared amazing stories of their friendship. Both had been born the same year, both working class and both overlapped at RADA though they didn’t know eachother as students. She fondly remembers walking with Joe around Greenwich village, pushing her pram, having Sunday lunch with her mum. Given his murder by his partner Kenneth Halliwell, she still feels regret at whether her encouragement of Joe to leave Noel Road and move on might have contributed to their arguments. Her insights into why his work has such enduring power and the impact of it in the still very deferential early 60s is hugely valuable.

John Lahr, author of Orton biography Prick Up Your Ears

John Lahr, who wrote the definitive biography Prick Up Your Ears told me he’d come to the conclusion that revenge was what motivated the greatest comedy. He felt it had motivated Orton and also his own father, the actor Bert Lahr. He also reflected on the sheer power of Orton’s eloquence; how his love of precise language is a skill that is being lost in our instant sharing age.

I also asked John about the modern accusation that his biography, framing Orton by his murder, could be seen to have unfairly defined this writer by his sexuality and his tragic death; a gay martyr. John firmly challenged that idea.

With Dr Emma Parker at New Walk Museum and Art Gallery, Leicester

Nor did we shy away from difficult questions about Joe Orton’s sex holidays exploiting teenage boys in Morocco. Both Leicester University’s Dr Emma Parker and Nikolai Foster, artistic director of Curve theatre, acknowledged how he was a working class iconoclast, who nonetheless displayed a colonial mindset as a sex tourist. Dr Parker does point out that it’s clear from his diaries that he never slept with boys under the local age of consent. And it seems important to acknowledge the importance of British criminal law in persecuting and distorting gay men’s lives.

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In the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery Dr Parker and I took a closer look at copies of some of the remarkable book covers Orton and Halliwell made and reflected on their excessive 6 month jail sentence for criminal damage. If you thought it was just tearing up books and scribbling in the margins, look again. Dr Parker also had some intriguing theory about Orton defacing only the Arden editions of Shakespeare, used by grammar schools and universities, not the cheaper Everyman editions which he owned and loved.

Nikolai Foster, Curve Artistic Director

Nikolai who directed an acclaimed Curve production of What the Butler Saw, starring Rufus Hound earlier this year, is passionate about how much Orton still speaks to modern Britain about class and deference and sexual taboos. We had a wonderful conversation about how Orton and working class talent is still held at a distance by the theatrical establishment; how much of a battle there still is for fair access and respect. Watching many of the films in the BFI archive, some of them being screened at BFI Southbank this month, it struck me that his work really comes truly alive only as theatre including the potential of TV, rather than the cinematic films which tried to open the stories up into other locations. The Bacchae-inspired TV play The Erpingham Camp, about a revolt in a holiday camp, is still remarkable viewing, and connects like an arrow to the world of Chris Morris and Black Mirror.

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Like Curve, Soft Touch Arts, a community based arts project, has done fabulous work to engage young people in Leicester in Joe Orton’s work. Jenna Forbes, who grew up on the Saffron Lane estate, like Joe, was wonderfully passionate, thoughtful and articulate about how he changed her life. At the exhibition they’ve put together there’s a boardgame based on his life. Jenna told me today how it was the most popular object on the opening night of their exhibition on Wednesday. There’s also art work by young prisoners and a copy of Generation X – the 1960s book about young people’s attitudes that Joe Orton got quoted extensively in, after lying about his age. Do visit their show, right opposite the Joe Orton exhibition co-curated by Dr Parker at the New Walk Museum and Art Gallery.

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Leonie says what really makes her angry is the thought that now, she and Joe would, should have been sharing their stories, and reminiscing. She’s 71; he would have been 84. They should be golden years. Grief must be compounded by an anger we should all feel that he was robbed of all the years he would have gone on to achieve so much more. Her terrific memoir, I Had It In Me, raises important challenges to some of the artistic licence taken in the film of Prick Up Your Ears. It reveals unpleasant truths about how the family was been treated over the years by the literary establishment of agents and lawyers as Leonie tried to take responsible ownership of his papers. I’m most shocked by the fact that the original London diary has disappeared. Only partial typescript copies survive of the original that John Lahr was able to use in his research. The last few days of entries in the days before his murder have never been found. There are theories about whether that was to protect famous names. Perhaps some or all of these papers are sitting in a lawyer’s vault. It still feels as if there’s a middle class attempt to control and limit the raw power if what Joe Orton could do with words.

My Front Row Joe Orton special produced by Ekene Akalawu is on BBC Radio 4 on Friday August 11th at 715pm and iplayer after.

Filth, fury and the funny way Britain feels about Joe Orton You never forget your first time. I was 19 years old. I descended into a weird, cramped basement where student actors brought to life a weird, twisted sexual triangle.

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