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chicoriii · 4 years

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🎶Made for @lovesquarefluffweek Day 1 - Concert 🎶

Please, click on the picture to see it in full resolution, it looks awful when small and Kwamis are hardly seen.

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It’s the first time I take part in event like this. When I noticed concert day, I knew I need to do this, since instrumental music is my the biggest passion. I love jazz and classical piano so much, even though piano is not my favourite instrument.

It's great to combine my love for Miraculous and instrumental/classical music. I'm not a musician, but I can do it by drawing a fanart which illustrates music scene with my favourite side of Love Square.

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It’s one of my first attempts at drawing humans from years, I’ve never been good at it, Miraculous gives me lots of motivations to improve my terrible skills. I prefer drawing things like animals or various creatures (so also Kwamis), but humans are getting more and more enjoyable. So there’s lots of anatomy mistakes and so on, but it’s not too bad for now, I guess. Despite I made many improvements during drawing it, there’s still something wrong with Marinette’s face and I couldn’t fix it enough.

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Some background for this fanart:

I imagine it’s a first private concert which Adrien is playing specially for Marinette, he even rents a concert hall (he’s rich and romantic enough to something as much extravagant) when it’s not used. It’s not just one piece or two, he’s playing about 1-hour long piano recital (look at playlist below) only for his girlfriend (and magical creatures). It’s post-reveal, so Kwamis also can enjoy it without being hidden. While Tikki is excited about it not less than Marinette, Plagg is more interested in his Sugarcube, since he’s used to listening to Adrien’s piano and sometimes he’s playing with him. But rather cheerful jazzy-like improvised pieces, because he doesn’t like classical as much, especially sad compositions (Feast gave me some thoughts like these). Adrien decides to give a concert in a melancholic theme (so slow, soft, beautiful etc. pieces are played) to make this date as much romantic as he can. Even though blond boy is usually closing his eyes while playing on piano (like many instrumentalists), he can’t stop staring at his sweet girlfriend with his signature soft look™.

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One of my the biggest wishes is to see a scene when Adrien is playing on piano specially for Marinette, any good composition (I don’t like that one from Heart Hunter), preferably classical one. And I’d love to see an episode with a classical instrumentalist based akuma, rock and pop are not the only musical genres out there.

Classical music (and instrumental music in general) is highly unappreciated, so I'm happy when it’s represented in media, especially kid shows. This is what I love the most about classic cartoons, there’s lots of classical music. The Cat Concerto, Tom and Jerry episode which won an Academy Award, is one of the best examples of very creative use of classical piece for a slapstick comedy. Liszt’s Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 was even played by two pianist, by classical and jazz ones.

Classical music can be enjoyed by anyone who has some passion to music at least. It’s a very eclectic type of music where you can find everything. Classical is not only over 1-hour symphonies, there’s also compositions shorter than typical radio-friendly song. It’s not only serious music, classical can be also playful with very catchy melodies. Everyone can find something for themselves.

🎹🎹🎹🎹 Playlist 🎹🎹🎹🎹

I'm also enjoying choosing played pieces so much and it's too hard, since there's tons of beautiful piano music, though I know only a very small part of classical world. It’s about one-hour long concert, so also recordings were chosen to last about 1 hour together.

As sonata is a musical form with several movements (usually three or four) and since not all of them fit melancholic theme of this concert, Adrien play only one or two selected movements. For example only the first movement of extremely popular Beethoven's Moonlight sonata - Adagio sostenuto - is that dark and sad piece which everyone knows. The shortest second movement Allegretto is still not fast but quite cheerful, while the last Presto agitato is... Check it yourself, it's one of my favourites music moments ever. 😊

I also decided to try selecting lesser-known compositions (but it doesn't mean they are all little-known) to promote them, so there's a chance than maybe someone gives this music a shot and discover something new to appreciate.

Fryderyk Chopin - Nocturne in B flat minor, Op. 9 No. 1 - I couldn't choose anything else for the beginning. Nocturnes are my favourites Chopin's compositions and this one I love the most. No word describe how much I adore it, it's the most beautiful piece ever composed.

Franz Schubert - Minuet in A Major, D. 334 - The first time I heard it, I thought about Adrien. I think this short sweet piece describes his childlike innocence quite well.

Fryderyk Chopin - Prelude Op.28 No.15 in D Flat Major, "Raindrop" - This thing is shown on the screen of Adrien's smartphone in few episodes (like Captain Hardrock), but for some reason it's not what's actually played. I have no idea if it was supposed to be played, but was changed after rendering was done or it's just an error. It's so nice composition, though not my favourite Chopin's prelude, even if it's the longest one. Unfortunately, the piece which is actually heard in the show is unknown for me, I'd love to discover it, but I can't. All I know it's definitely not any other Chopin's prelude.

Ludwig van Beethoven - Piano Sonata No. 31 in A-flat major, Op. 110 - I. Moderato cantabile molto espressivo and III. Adagio ma non troppo – Allegro ma non troppo - It’s almost the whole sonata, the only missing thing is the shortest second movement. It's probably my favourite piano sonata, so I couldn't not choosing it.

Franz Liszt - Consolation No. 3 in D-Flat Major, S. 172 - If once I wonder why I love this, this is because it's so Chopin-esque.

Franz Schubert - Piano Sonata No.16 in A minor D.845 - I. Moderato - I discovered this wonderful composition thanks to Nodame Cantabile, my favourite anime and manga ever, which is focused on classical music college students and professional classical musicians. Two main characters are also opposites who learn much from each other. I gave a link to the performance made specially for Nodame Cantabile, because I'm mostly attached to it. Usually this piece is played faster and it kills the atmosphere in my opinion. This rendition is the most emotional I've ever heard.

How would be this list without any French composers? I believe Ravel and Debussy are a mustm since they are the most known and important, I believe, and I also added something from Satie, because he wrote lots of soft compositions for piano solo. Chopin was also half-French (from his father), but: "Chopin's biographer Adam Zamoyski writes that he never considered himself to be French, despite his father's French origins, and always saw himself as a Pole." (source: Wikipedia) Besides Chopin's music is very Polish.

Maurice Ravel - Jeux d'eau

Claude Debussy - Rêverie

Erik Satie - Gnossiennes: No. 1 - Lent

Maurice Ravel - Ma mère l'Oye, M. 60: I. Pavane de la Belle au bois dormant - finish it with something very short but so beautiful.

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Many beautiful things are missing, probably the most fitting for this concert would be Liszt's Liebestraum No. 3, since it's love music essentially, but it's too well-known (one of the most popular if not the most popular compostion by Liszt) and I'm kind of tired of this. I'm also very sad because of Chopin's Prelude in E Minor, but two pieces of the same composers are enough and this is his the most known prelude, too. I couldn't not recommend this jazz trio cover, because it's too good, too atmospheric though a different take on this theme.

Jazz musicians are often turning compositions into something much different. Everyone knows Beethoven's Für Elise, one of the best- known and (in my opinion) boring classical pieces in existence, but this jazz trio cover (sorry, I can’t find it outside of Spotify and other streaming services, it’s a very niche band) is just outstanding, I can't stop listening to it! Jazz arrangements of classical music is something I love so much.

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous fanart #ml fanart #my art #lovesquarefluffweek2020 #adrienette #adrien agreste #marinete dupain cheng #plagg #tikki #kwami #kwamis #lovesquarefluffweek2020 day 1 concert #piano concert #classical music #chicoriii

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cyberramblings · 4 years

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Sonic & Tails: Ideas for a new Sonic Plot and Partner System

So, first off, there is a game called Sonic & Knuckles. It is basically just the second half of the overly ambitious Sonic 3. It is not Sonic 4, but it is a standalone game. Anyways, there isn’t a game called Sonic & Tails yet, so let’s make that happen.

Regardless of that, I wanted to talk about my vague conceptualizations of a Sonic game plot. I WANTED to continue my thoughts on other Sonic characters, but my stupid brain can’t stop thinking about “what if Sonic and Tails fought?” Again, this is getting into some borderline fanfiction territory, but I write the blog AND the rules.

Piggybacking off my previous post detailing my thoughts on Tails, I had said that I liked the idea of Tails taking over Robotnik’s lab after he is defeated once and for all (or temporarily, I don’t expect Sonic Team to kill off the main villain, as much as I’d pseudo-ironically love Sonic Adventure 3 to open with Eggman’s funeral while Sound of Silence plays like the overly edgy funeral scene from Watchmen 2009).

Now, this is also getting into some serious Marvel Civil War or Batman v. Superman territory, but stick with me. I feel like one of the most underutilized aspects of Sonic as a series is the cast of characters. Maybe it is just me, but I feel like Sonic fans want to see their favorite obscure character return or see as many characters as possible. Even the most trivial characters have a cult following in the weird Sonic fandom. It was really cool to see the obscure Sonic the Fighters characters return for a boss fight in Sonic Mania, even if they were just an illusion. I am proposing a Sonic game where nearly every characters returns to make up the boss fights.

Now, the first issue with this idea is that typically the “rival” battles in Sonic are a bit hit or miss. Fights against playable characters in the Adventure IMO felt pretty flat and uninteresting. Now, 2D Sonic has some better boss battles against the likes of Metal Sonic and Knuckles and the same goes for Generations, so maybe those could be emulated. Regardless of gameplay, I’d like to see all the weirdies like the playable cast of Sonic Heroes, The Fighters, Emerl, Blaze, Gamma E-102, etc. return at least as boss fights, if not as playable characters, even if they are just piloting the mechs that would typically be piloted by Eggman. I get zero excitement from fighting Eggman anymore, but just put Rouge’s model in the cockpit and suddenly its way cooler with more potential for unique boss dialogue.

So far I have proposed a Civil War-style plot where Tails goes a little bit off the deep end and a Sonic game where the boss fights are all the beloved recurring characters. It should be obvious how these two parts fit together. Perhaps the dual story structure of Adventure 2 is overplayed by this point, but obviously it would fit in with these ideas.

To get into the nitty gritty and provide an example of what I am imagining, consider Metal Sonic. I can easily see a plot that starts with Tails reconfiguring Metal Sonic to be “good”. This bring back a classic character in a new way and allows for a lot of angles for the plot to go, of course borrowing from various Iron Man plots and the Buffy-bot from Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

One idea from Sonic Adventure that I would really like to see return is the ever-evolving nemesis concept. Even if Sega never really brings back Chaos, I’d love to see a rival that increases in power as the game goes along. This could totally tie in with my previous idea, with Metal Sonic becoming more powerful over the course of the game, possibly with the acquisition of the Chaos Emeralds like Chaos does. Metal Sonic already has been shown to take on a few different forms, such as at the end of Sonic Heroes.

Another story beat that I’d like to see replicated is the end of Adventure 2 where Sonic and Shadow have to team up. Now, in this hypothetical Sonic & Tails game, that would obviously be Sonic and Tails teaming up, but I’d also love to see them bust out Mecha Sonic as a kind of retconned prototype of Metal Sonic from Sonic 2/3 as a last resort too.

I also love the story beat of all the playable characters at the end of Sonic Adventure bringing the depleted Chaos Emeralds to Sonic for the final fight. I would love to see something like this but a little more weighty. I have a clear mental image of something like the Breath of the Wild loading screen that shows your level of progress though the game, but instead with Sonic endlessly walking towards the camera as the game loads, surrounded by more and more characters walking towards the screen as you rescue/recruit them.

Personally, it seems like Sonic games struggle to balance multiple playable characters, so I’d settle for something like Advance 3 where you pick a partner that enables new moves. I would prefer to find a way to include every possible character as playable, but I would settle for a 3D Sonic game where Sonic (and maybe characters that control near identically like Metal Sonic, Shadow, Silver, Blaze, etc.) is the only playable character, with characters like Tails, Knuckle, Amy, Big, etc. are relegated to the partner role, but swappable.

Playable Characters:

Sonic: Everything normal

Metal Sonic: Just make him control like he does in Adventure 2: Battle, so faster than Sonic but with less moves. I don’t think Metal Sonic has ever been canonically playabe, only appearing as a boss fight or playable in racing games or bonus modes, so that would be my biggest request.

Shadow: Just Sonic but slipperier and please give him a teleport instead of a homing attack

Silver: Again, just Sonic but make his double jump more offensive to represent his telekinetic abilities

Blaze: Her name is BLAZE and she has FIRE POWERS in Rush and Rush Adventure, so please just make her control like Sonic but with a fiery homing attack or her fire hover from Rush

Espio: Just give him some kind of limited invisibility or maybe the tornado attack as a reference to Heroes

Mighty: He could probably be thrown in with his moves from Mania, but this is reaching

Jet: Probably asking too much, but he’s never been playable in non-racing game, so even seeing him with his board in a main game as a kind of joke would be cool

Assist Characters:

Tails, Cream, Charmy: Obviously, limited flight with slightly different characteristics. Cream could alternatively have the Chao attack from Advance

Knuckles, Rouge, Tikal: Either a limited glide or the digging

Amy: Piko Piko Hammer as an attack or as a big jump. She could also maybe be a Sonic-like characters, but I feel like she was shoehorned into the speed role in Heroes

Big: I just like seeing this dumb idiot return. It seems like asking a lot for the fishing rod to be used as a grappling hook, so maybe he could just have a big area attack

Fang/Knack, Bark, Bean: I mean, maybe just show up and fistfight some enemies?

Vector: Something music based, realistically

Chaos: Again, this is reaching, but maybe this ties into Tails taking over Eggman’s research

E-1XX Alpha, Gamma, Omega, etc: It is asking a lot to have all the robots return, but I’d love to see them all as slight variants of “shoot a bunch of missiles” or limited hovering

Omochao: Personally I’d love to see this little guy as an assist who just never shuts up, maybe with some hidden secret-unlocking potential

Vanilla: She doesn’t have a lot of game appearances, I’d take anything

G.U.N. Commander: Again, I just think this would be kinda funny. He could summon robots or just fire missiles

Eggman Nega: Not sure why he would help the main characters, but I’m always rooting for weird stuff like this

Wave, Storm: They could function like Tails/Knuckles or grant a temporary board for tricks or whatnot, maybe like the skateboard powerup from Sonic Generations

Tails Doll: This is dumb, but it would be fun to see as a little throwaway easter egg

So, that was a bunch of random nonsense directly from my brain, but you probably get the idea: find a way to include a lot of characters in the plot and the gameplay. Do I expect any of this to ever happen? No. And honestly, I’d prefer to see another game where I can actually play as characters like Rouge, the robots, Amy, and Cream.

ONE LAST THING: There should really be a Sonic rhythm game. They have so much music, both the classic songs as well as the Crush 40 songs, with tons of remixes of both already existing and even more possible. It would fit perfectly with the gameplay of Sonic, you could just have the notes appear as obstacles or powerup boxes. There are a million different ways to slice it, but it just makes too much sense to ignore. I don’t have enough ideas to make a separate post, though. Maybe I’ll make a playlist sometimes of songs I’d like to see included, but the issue is that it would be way too many songs. As with the main point of this post, I would love to see many different playable characters with very slight changes to their properties.

ONE LAST LAST THING: Since Sega hates localizing Puyo Puyo games, they should just make a new Mean Bean Machine with HD graphics and all the various Sonic characters represented somehow and then release it internationally either as Mean Bean Machine or just Sonic Puyo Puyo. Again, I didn’t have enough ideas for a whole post.

FINAL FINAL FINAL RAMBLES: I kinda wanna play Sonic 06 since I actually just recently found out that Rouge, Omega, and Blaze are playable, but the disc is 20 bucks at gamestop for 360. I also kinda wanna play Unleashed, but not enough to buy it. I really get more excited when more characters are playable, which makes me wish I enjoyed playing Sonic Battle more. I also have my eye on Chronicles if I can ever get the patience to actually sit down and play it. At this point, I should just make my own dang original game or story inspired by the things I like about Sonic.

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dotzines · 4 years

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Artist Spotlights!

🎤 _creativert_ 🥁 AbelDraws 🎷 Amaari

🎺 andiavang 🎸 Antonia

Interview below the cut!

Introduce yourself

🎤 HI! I'm a geeky, introverted artist who likes to explore many artistic mediums, but really only posts digital art. I kinda like to draw anything and everything, but recently I've been trying to focus more on my OC's! Besides art, I love reading, playing video games (despite the fact that I haven't played many recently) and I like writing stories too. In the future, I plan to create a webcomic story with my OC's. I hope you enjoy my work! Here's where you can find my Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_creativert_/

🥁 Hi! I'm Abel. I'm a Design and Mech engineering student, but my passion is art. I love drawing and currently I'm working on my dream project, a comic named FIVE. This takes most of my free time, but besides that I'll be either rping, watching a movie with my friends, reading (usually webcomics) or listening to some tunes while charging my energy up. I preffer digital art over traditional, you can fix mistakes so very easily... I also get more freedom with a program than with the limited tools I own (and it looks way cleaner and nicer when I upload a digital pic than a traditional, but my photography skills are to blame there lmao)If you want to read my comic, it's up on tapas! https://tapas.io/series/FlVE But if you'd rather see some illustrations and doodles you should check my tumblr: https://abel-draws.tumblr.com/ 🎷 Hi! I'm an avid 3-d and 2-d idol fan as well as a bee fanatic!! Drawing/painting is mostly a hobby for me, but in the future, if time ever allows it, I'd like to sell every so often. My default medium is digital using program SAI but sometimes I'll pick up a pencil/watercolors for traditional pieces. If you'd like to take a look at some of my other works/doodles, my art twitter is here @ https://twitter.com/hiwamaari . 🎺 I’m predominantly a digital artist! But I also crochet, sew, and embroider! I’m Andiavang across all platforms! 🎸 Hi, my name is Antonia, I'm an artist who does traditional hand drawn art. I love to draw and listen to music, often in tandem with each other. You can find me on tumblr @chibiranmaruchan

Do you do commissions post? Where can we find the info?

🎤

🥁 https://abel-draws.tumblr.com/post/184015135166/commissions-are-open-i-renewed-my-commissions 🎺 https://andiavang.tumblr.com/post/186764888718/commissions-are-open-all-payment-through-paypal

Do you listen to music (or tv shows/films/anything else) when drawing?

🎤 Yes! I actually create a new playlist every month filled with songs that have recently come out, or new songs I found that I really like! Generally, I'll listen to music when sketching but once I get to the lineart and colors, I'll listen to podcasts. For podcasts, I really like story podcasts and true crime podcasts. A couple of my favorites are Crime Junkies, Myths and Legends, The Bright Sessions and The Edge of Sleep.

🥁 *Yes*. All the time. I don't usually watch shows while drawing because my atention is all focused on the piece at hand, so... I miss most of it x'D so I preffer listening to music by a mile. It also helps me get myself in a nice mood for drawing <3 🎷 I mostly listen to music, generally one song or album of whatever artist I'm vibing to at the time. Constant repeat lately has been Blackbear's Anonymous album and Mesemoas. 6th single, Crossing Threads. Solid 12/10 🎺 I mostly listen to music! Sometimes I listen to a Podcast instead 🎸 I do listen to music while I draw, if I'm on a tight deadline where I need to focus, I listen to the Pokémon mystery dungeon red and blue recuse team OST. If I have plenty of time to draw, then what I listen to depends on what I'm drawing. it may be where I am getting inspiration from or connected to the aesthetic of the drawing or directly connected to it.

What’s your favorite music artist/band? If you could ask your favorite band/music artist one question, what would it be?

🎤 Oohhh, this is pretty hard honestly. I don't really think I can choose a favorite, but no matter who I'd choose, I'd probably ask them who or what encouraged them to keep going along the path they chose.

🥁 Currently it's panic! At the disco, I'm listening to all their songs on loop constantly lmao. They have such great songs, they inspire me a *lot*. I even created a character based on one of their songs, he's the one I'll be drawing for this zine!:DI'd ask them about the meaning behing lots of their songs <3 The interviews at hand do not satisfy my curiosity enough lmao.I also love Halsey (her first album is my fave), Set it off, Maldita Nerea (a Spanish group) and plenty of musicals (Hamilton, Be more chill...) 🎷 I've so many favorite music artists its so hard to choose, but if I had to pick one, the male J-idol group ARASHI. And if I had to ask them a question, I'd ask them if they're happy and enjoying life well. 🎺 My fave band is Placebo! If hav to ask them what their inspiration would be for their early songs 🎸 My favourite artist is Hikaru Utada and I would ask her if she likes her pre-existing songs, some being based on her life, being used for kingdom hearts or if she would prefer to make songs specifically for the game, about the game itself?

Do you play an instrument? If not would you like to play one? Which one?

🎤 I have a guitar, but I'm still learning how to play that, and definitely want to dedicate more time to that in the future. I'm also kind of interested in learning the piano or violin!

🥁 Nope, but I *wish*, I have such admiration for people who do, seriously. Live music is the best. I'd love to learn how to play the piano, the guitar or maybe the ukelele... But I doubt I will, at least for now, my hands are pretty full with college and comic making. 🎷 I wish I could play the piano and any string instrument. Maybe violin or the harp. 🎺 I used to play the drums 🎸 I can play basic piano. I used to play a recorder when I was much younger.

Which song(s) are you going to draw?

🎤 Magic Island by TXT and Audio by Sia, Diplo and Labrinth

🥁 King of the clouds, by panic! At the disco. 🎷 To the Me of Those Days - KOKIA 🎺 Special K by Placebo 🎸 Sanctuary by Hikaru Utada & Slow dancing in the dark by Joji

What do you expect from this zine?

🎤 To see everyone create a work they're proud of based off of a song they like!

🥁 I just really liked the theme, I have all kinds of imagery and videos in my head about several songs I'm obsessed with. It's a nice excuse to draw a pretty, fleshed out illustration and to learn some new songs in the way from the others' pieces<3 🎷 To be introduced to many different genre's of music and to hopefully find a song/genre I didn't expect to like! 🎺 Mostly just to interact with different people and artists! Make same new friends! 🎸 I expect to see a wide range of music presented, of different genres and both lyrical and instrumental. I hope the music resonates with the individual, something they're proud to share with the other participants and the eventual readers. I would like to have a journey through the zine, experiencing different emotions from everyone's art pieces.

Anything else you want to add?

🎤 Everyone has been super nice so far, and I really look forward to seeing everyone's pieces!

🥁 Best of lucks to everyone participating! I can't wait to see everyone's pieces together :D 🎷 Thank you for taking interest in this zine! All the artists have put in so much love into each of their pieces. It's been a pleasure to see so many different styles, their works-in-progress and I'm equally excited to see everyone's final product. I hope everyone is able to enjoy all the wonderful artworks being created and produced for all the songs being represented here when the zine releases. ^^

#AbelDraws #Amaari #andiavang #Antonia #artist spotlight #loop #loop artists #creativert

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levucky · 4 years

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10 Questions Tag

thanks @musicofglassandwords for the tag!

1. Do you conciously take inspiration from authors or books you love, or from your genres? Or do you actively try to avoid it?

Honestly, yeah, I do. Considering my ventures into sports journalism, I’ve taken a lot of inspiration from Jon Bois and the SB Nation gang, most prominently the Tim Tebow CFL Chronicles. It has that exact level of surrealist realism that I aim for in my writing and that and 17776 kind of been the holy grail of inspiration for my recent writing. I kind of feel like I’m plagiarizing because Jon Bois is the only writer in the game doing surrealist sports writing, but hey, he’s a football guy and I’m a basketball guy, and he’s never written about a mascot that is out to kill the players it represents, and I don’t think he’s ever written Ersan Ilyasova as a monster hunter, either. But still. Holy grail of inspiration.

2. Do you write fanfiction, do roleplaying, or other kinds of fan activity? How do these things influence the way you create original work? Do you feel they’ve given you valuable “tools” in your “creative toolbox?”

Yes, I write fanfiction. And I’m proud of it. I’ve been writing fanfiction since I was eleven years old writing a Warrior Cats spin-off series. Nothing has helped me in the writing world more than writing fanfiction, because the world building and development is done, so you can just screw around and do basically whatever you want with it. Most of my fanfictions end up being somewhere in the realm of surrealism, realistic sci-fi/fantasy, or just straight up, old fashioned realistic fiction with some wacky variable pulled in, like, they’re all suddenly in art school *cough* itao. Fanfiction is so much fun to write, too, and it helps you learn things like plot structure, character arcs/development, and how to write an original story, especially while working in the world of something already established.

Even for nonfiction writing, fanfiction helps you figure out things like sentence structure and narrative while playing around in a completely inconsequential world. I think fanfiction might be the most valuable tool you can have as any kind of writer.

3. Do you use WorldAnvil (or something like it) for worldbuilding purposes, or do you prefer to use your own methods/systems for worldbuilding?

Nah. Most of my worldbuilding is adapted from the real world when I worldbuild anyway, because even when I delve into sci-fi/fantasy I like to keep it mostly realistic to the standards set on earth.

4. How do you choose your characters’ appearences? Do you use generators, choose face claims, make sketches, or something else?

I usually just look around on Pinterest for someone who vaguely matches the depiction I already have in my head. My characterizations can change on a whim, though, like if I see a tiktok of someone with a character’s very specific energy sometimes I can change their appearance just based on that.

5. What are your favorite tropes to read about or watch? Are they the same as the tropes you yourself most like to use in your writing?

I love whump and hurt/comfort. Even if I don’t mean to, my stories ALWAYS incorporate aspects of whump and hurt/comfort. There’s basically no escape. I love reading it, and I love writing it so I can read it later, and it’s such a habit to write it that it always just ends up being a plot point. I always have sort of a designated whumpee as well and they’re always the exact same archetype of character: that caring but silly romantic-comic relief character. Whether it’s Constantine in Forever and Ever, Amen or Andy in Sleep It Off, it’s always the exact same archetype. I’d like to switch it up but it’s always about liking what I’m writing, and I’m just not tired of this yet. Yes, most of my fics are this way as well and you can definitely pick out the archetype, but considering the vast majority of my fics are real person fanfiction, I’m not going to name names or anything.

6. Do you have a network of writer friends offline, such as a school club, writing workshop partners, etc.?

No, sadly. I have a couple writer friends and an English teacher I’m close with and I harass people for feedback but that’s really it. I’m hoping to find a community in college, though.

7. When looking for inspiration for a story, are you more likely to be drawn to visual or auditory elements? (Ex: would you browse through picture prompts, listen to music, seek out a written prompt, or something else?)

Music, always. Forever and Ever, Amen was inspired by a daydream I had while listening to Franz Ferdinand’s “Outsiders” one day on my way to school in my junior year of high school. You can listen to Caldwell and Constantine’s playlist here, if you want, because it was such an integral part of their story design.

8. Are the names of your characters and the places in your world important to you? How do you choose them?

My characters’ names usually just sort of pop up. When I was first making characters I always used sites like NameBerry to perfectly calculate a name: Polaris and Juneau and their whole little squad are total examples of this. When I introduced the Sideline Warriors, their names were all sort of randomly picked from wherever. Jacy just sort of came to me, Veridis and Voyager were Daft Punk songs, I’m an Aries, so screw it, there’s Aries. Most of the characters from Sleep It Off were either adapted in some way from real life, Kira being a slight misspelling of her inspiration’s name, Axel being named after the emo kid living in my head, Chuck being sort of a hint at my old crush, or they were adapted from songs, like Khalil (Khalil Gibran - STRFKR), Valencia (O, Valencia! - The Decemberists), and Andy (San Andreas - CVLTRALIGHT). Their names are always important, though, and I try not to reuse names as best as I can.

9. Do you utilize any personality types or tests to determine your characters’ personality, like Meyers-Briggs, enegrams, character archetypes, the four temperaments, alignment charts, the elements, Hogwarts houses, or even various types of astrology (Western Zodiac, Celtic tree, Chinese zodiac, etc.?)

I really don’t, but I definitely think about zodiac signs when choosing birthdays. Claudia is such a Taurus. Kira is a Virgo. Axel is an Aries. Andy’s a Capricorn because January 23rd came to me in a dream. Constantine is such a Leo, and Caldwell’s obviously a Pisces. You can kind of see this in each character’s personality so it’s always decided after their initial creation as a character. Make sense?

10. What is your favorite part of worldbuilding? (Ex: building cultures, mapmaking, history and timeline work, making conlangs, religion and mythology, plant and animal making, magic and technology systems…)

Most of my worldbuilding is meant to fit into the “real world,” so my favorite part of worldbuilding is probably odd quirks, like in Shitty Sixers Fanfiction, for example, Furkan Korkmaz freezing up whenever you make direct eye contact with him, or the fact that the team lives in Wells Fargo Center and lines up for Arby’s every morning, or the new NBA team called the Omaha Gophers featuring Jeremy Lin and Jimmer Fredette. It’s fun to give the story’s world its own little quirks and things specific to that universe, even if it’s fanfiction.

—

tagging @kindofwriter @klywrites @kiraawrites @fruzsiwrites @baconkat02 @h-faith-marr-writeblr @necros-writings @mercutioswriting ! use the same questions bc they’re lots of fun

#limassol answers #why did i answer this like an interview #im so desperate for attention

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childotkw · 5 years

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Can you give us tips to write better?

Okay, here goes. This will be a big one, just a warning.

Writing is, in my opinion, a craft that you can never fully, truly master. It’s an ever-evolving thing, and no matter where you are sitting as a writer–whether it’s your first time actually giving it a shot, whether you are young and feel like you haven’t experienced life enough to write, or you are a published author with multiple awards to your name–you can always, and will, get better.

Writing is a skill, which is a fact that I feel some people either misunderstand, or simply don’t realise. No one is born a writer. It’s something you pick up along the way because you like it. Sure, there might be some people who just seem ‘naturally’ gifted at writing, people that are just inherently creative and have a knack for putting words together in a certain way that resonates with people.

But no matter how amazing an author is, I guarantee you, that somewhere they’ve got a story stashed that they wrote when they were five, or seven, or eleven, or however many years old, that just makes them cringe. I’m taking a full-bodied, head-ducked, face-creased cringe. A story that they view as an embarrassment to the world and would honestly die if anyone read it. Everyone has one, and if they say they don’t, they’re smart enough to lie about it, so that no one tries to find it.

Mine was something that I wrote when I was in primary school, so around the 10-11 age. I had to do it for a test, and it was awful. God, just thinking about it now makes my soul shrivel a little bit. It was about some astronauts that went to Mars, and encountered hostile aliens. It had every cliche you can think of stuffed into it, filled with over-the-top drama, and weak characters, and dialogue that was so stilted and robotic it makes me cry.

I found it the other day when I was cleaning out my room and decided to read through it–and I was torn between face-palming at how bad I was, and smiling fondly, because no matter how terrible I thought it was–it was one of the first stories I had ever written, and it showed me just how far I have come since then.

What I’m trying to say is that everyone started somewhere, and no matter how ‘terrible’ you think you might be at writing, you can always, always, get better. Writing takes perseverance and passion, so as long as you have that drive to improve, you’re already on the right track.

Now, onto your actual question anon, I can’t give any specific pointers on how you personally can improve, because I don’t know how you write, and it would be arrogant and patronising of me to assume your skill level. I’m still a fledgling writer myself, and while I’m certainly honoured that you consider me good enough to ask advice from, I can’t promise that what I say will work for you. Everyone’s different, and writers more so than most.

But I’m more than happy to share some things that I use to keep myself motivated, or to improve my own techniques and style. Be prepared for an essay, my dear, and be warned that some points might overlap or be in a weird order. I just wrote them down as they came to me.

READ

I can’t stress this enough. If you want to get better as a writer, read. Read fanfictions, read novels, read poems and screenplays and whatever else you want. There’s no such thing as a writer who doesn’t read. Reading is a way for you to expand upon your understanding of writing in general, it teaches you different tricks and trades that makes everything flow better. Reading gives you a broader foundation from which to build your own skills on. I spend a significantly larger portion of my time reading other people’s stories than I do writing my own. It gives you perspective and guidance.

RESEARCH

If you are going to write a story that’s got any significant sort of plot points or grounding in actual reality, you need to have your facts straight. If you’re writing a period-based piece, make sure what you’re writing about is historically accurate for that time. If you’re writing a fanfiction based in someone else’s world (i.e. Harry Potter, Naruto, BNHA), then make sure that the rules you write within that world either adhere to the pre-existing ones, or are fleshed out enough to work. If you are writing a completely new story, with a new world and new rules, then make sure you don’t contradict yourself. Treat your new world as something that’s always existed. Research similar ideas and see how other authors handled certain aspects. Are you making a completely new religion for this world, are there gods? Are you dealing with magic, if so, what are the rules? Angels and demons, what are their powers? Research is key. Know what you’re talking about.

DON’T JUST WRITE

This might seem strange, but don’t just write. Have other creative outlets. Try drawing. Try digital design. Make a game. Do something other than writing to keep your brain from not exhausting itself on one medium. Be creative, don’t limit yourself, expand your skills. I help my mother with digital design and I’m a gaming student, so I make assets and levels. It’s a great way to keep yourself from burning out.

DON’T FORCE IT

Writing is not easy, and there will be some days where the words just don’t want to come. That’s fine. Don’t force yourself to write if it’s not coming to you. All you’ll end up doing is taking yourself down a road of frustration and anger. Just leave it for a bit and come back to it, or jump to another, easier section. Don’t push too hard.

TAKE BREAKS

Very similar to the above point. Take breaks. Take regular breaks. Take a few days off. Take a week off. Hell, take a whole month off if you need it. You need down-time, so give it to yourself. And don’t feel guilty about it either. Writing takes time, and if you are going at it 24/7, all you will do is turn something you love into something you hate because it’s all you ever do.

HAVE INSPIRATION

Some people make mood boards with themes and pictures that represent what they want. Some people just have aspirations or idols they want to live up to. A published author you admire, or you a novel you want to complete, or just that one fanfiction idea you really want to take a crack at. Have a goal of some sort, it will help keep you motivated and focussed if you’re actively working towards something. For me, I want to have a published book under my name within the next two years.

SUPPORT

Have people you can talk to. Even just that one person you can prattle to about your ideas. I have my sister and my mum that let me throw ideas at them and help me flesh out plot points. Have someone that encourages you and supports you.

STAY ORGANISED

Write your ideas down. Doesn’t matter if they are just little snippets or novel-length story ideas. Write something down so it’s not sitting in your head cluttering things up. Or if you are like me, then just keep your story ideas organised and know how to shut them out so you can focus on your current project.

FRUSTRATION

It’s perfectly fine to get frustrated when you’re writing. If you don’t get frustrated, either you are some form of deity that doesn’t experience human emotions or you are so far above me. The most important thing about getting frustrated though, is don’t be too hard on yourself. Don’t get angry at yourself, because that is a slippery slope to go down. Work through it in a constructive way.

PREPARATION

Be diligent with your work. Know what you want to write, have something planned. Know who your characters are, what their dreams are, their personalities and history. Know what your plot is; it doesn’t have to be all of it, but at least know the critical turning points of your story. The more you know about your story, the more well-rounded it will read, and the more intriguing it will be to your audience.

WORLDBUILDING

In terms of worldbuilding, remember that your story is only a small drop of a larger world. Even if it never makes it into the story itself, the more you understand the elements that are happening in the background of your story (i.e. the religions of the world you’ve created, the gods that exist, the politics, the hierarchy, the science or magic), the better it will be for readers, and the easier it will be for you to keep everything neat.

DO OTHER THINGS

Don’t let your writing consume you. Do other things that aren’t related to writing. Go out with friends, go for a walk, go to the beach for a day or to the park. Do things that make you happy, that isn’t writing.

MUSIC

This definitely doesn’t apply to everyone. But for me, music is great background noise. I don’t even listen to the songs I have anymore, I just need something blocking out the rest of the world so I can enter tunnel-vision for my writing sessions. I don’t have a set playlist, I just shuffle all of my songs and write. Listen to whatever works for you. Sometimes I listen to japanese koto music just to shake things up. Go nuts.

PERSISTENT

Be persistent, be fierce, be steadfast with your work. Your story is your idea, it’s yours. Nurture it however you want and don’t let other people try and take control from you. Of course, if you have an editor, listen, but remember it’s still your baby, and you should have the final say on how things proceed.

BE SURPRISED

Sometimes your story will throw you a curveball. Sometimes a random idea will blindside you, and will completely change the end of your story. You don’t always have to stick to your original plot idea. It can change and evolve over time, and it should. If it feels like a natural change, go for it. Don’t be afraid to let your idea grow into something more.

CHARACTERS

Treat your characters as real people. Ask yourself if a real person would talk the way your character talks. Ask what a real person (with the character’s background) would feel in certain circumstances. Give them dreams and aspirations and hopes and relationships. Make them three-dimensional, give them a favourite colour or food, even if you never mention it in the story. The more real they are to you, the more real they will feel to your readers.

PRIDE

Be proud of your work and what you accomplish. Never delete your stories, they let you look back and see how far you’ve come. One of my greatest regrets was when I deleted the first fanfiction I ever wrote because I got some rude comments. Being able to track your progress is one of your best tools, it lets you reflect on your skills in a meaningful way.

CRITICISM

Following on from the previous point, criticism. You need to be prepared for it. There is no way you can avoid criticism as a writer. There will always be people that won’t like what you’ve made, or will potentially try to tear you down. You need to have fortitude to battle through the emotional and mental challenge it can be. You should never let what other people really think get to you, or even better, know how to cut through their words to see what were the issues they had with the story. Sometimes, even the rudest, most harsh criticism can have some insight. Don’t focus so much on how they say it, focus on what they are saying. If they point out plot holes, or character flaws that make no sense, use it to improve upon yourself.

In my opinion, there’s nothing more satisfying than being able to look at the people who once insulted you and say “look at me now, bitch”. I often wonder what those few terrible people would think of me now, the people who left me such harsh reviews that it literally drove me from the fandom for a long time. I kind of wish I could walk up to them and show them what I have done with myself, and that their little tantrum at a little eleven-year old girl and her first story, didn’t break me. It’s an empowering feeling.

PERSPECTIVE

This is a more technical aspect of writing, and it has to do with perspective. This is just a general warning when it comes to picking either first, second or third perspective to write from. In my opinion, try to avoid first and second perspective. They can be incredibly difficult to write with, and sometimes the story will come across as stilted or uncomfortable to read if you don’t know how to do it well. By all means, if you prefer writing in those perspectives, then stick with them. Just make sure you can convey everything you need to. I just find third perspective easier because there is a type of detachment reading and writing from it that isn’t there with the other two.

PACING

Again, on a technical note. Pacing is key to an effective story. You need to know when and how to balance action and inaction. If you are writing a novel-length sort of story, be careful of falling into the pit of “I need to have something important happening every single second”. The kind of high-strung story needs a very specific kind of genre to work, such as crime, or horror. But even in those stories, there are moments of respite for the characters and the readers. Often these little drops in tension act as great moments to show the softer sides of your characters, or have a nice emotional bonding moment. Inaction can be just as, if not more, effective than action.

VOCABULARY

Synonyms are your friends. Use them. Get a new word, then synonym that word. You expand your vocabulary by doing this, and the more you do it, the less you will actually have to use the thesaurus, because you will have built this complex web in your head of words. As well as this, I can’t stress how important it is to know the definition of the word you are using. Look up words you don’t know or are unsure of. It takes a lot of pressure off of you if you know which words make sense for the context of your story.

FOREGROUNDING

Foregrouding is an interesting skill that most writers use, but not many might actually know the name of. It’s a funny little technique, and even I didn’t know the technical term for it, even though I had been incorporating it into my writing for years. Foregrounding is essentially making something stand out in your writing by suddenly changing the style. For explain, for most of the piece, you might have been using long, flowery sentences, with a lot of description and emotion behind the words. A way to foreground this, would be to make your key sentence, or the “most important” part of the piece just a simple, harsh sentence with no embellishment. Many writers use foregrounding to shock or jolt their readers when something happens. Another way to do this would be if there was a death scene, you could spend a lot of time describing the wounds of the victim, what the blood looks like, what it smells like, the clothes they are wearing, what the other character is feeling, and then cut right to the victim dying. Here’s an example of something I’ve written with it:

The blood welling out the cuts reminded her of paint, thick and so incredibly bright as it slid out of the corner of his mouth and down his pale throat. She reached out with a trembling hand, carefully curling her fingers in his jacket and tugging until he was on his back. The sight was somehow worse now that she could see everything, but she didn’t let herself falter at the smell that hit her or the fact that she could see the white of his ribs through the shredded remains of his chest.

He wasn’t breathing.

That was really basic, but it shows the essence of foregrounding. Cutting away from a really in-depth, descriptive piece to something simple and plain is jarring in all the best ways. Or vice versa. If you have written something that lacks any significant description or emotion, then have a sentence brimming with the stuff. It’s shaking up your usual style to create a very specific reaction.

WHITE SPACE

White space is also known as negative space. It’s the parts of the page that aren’t filled with text, like the gaps between paragraphs. You should never underestimate the power of having white space in your stories. If I click onto a story that is just massive blocks of text, I immediately hit the back button. It’s just an automatic response for me, because I can’t actually handle having to slog through that much text in one go. Breaking up your text is a really efficient way to keep a reader’s attention, because that white space is like a little reprieve for your eyes. Try to avoid having huge paragraphs, or if you do need to have them, try and make them sparse.

GRAMMAR

Grammar is super important for a lot of reasons. Grammar holds the story together, and poor grammar can put people off of a story immediately. Most people have their own standards for grammar, but punctuation is a big thing for me. You need to stick to your guns with punctuation. If you use ‘ ’ (single quotation marks) for a character speaking, then later on use “ ” (double quotation marks) for a character speaking, then flip between the two, it can be really distracting. It’s the same with commas and semicolons and hyphens–most of us probably don’t have a concrete grip on what punctuation is ‘correct’ to use in most instances, but somehow you can immediately tell when it’s wrong. Grammar is, unfortunately, a key aspect to writing. You need to get it right or everything can fall apart.

HAND WRITE

A good practice to get into is hand-writing some of your passages. I have a notebook that I will just randomly start writing in, even though I might have my laptop open in front of me. It doesn’t matter if your handwriting is terrible, using pen and paper is actually one of the best ways for you to process information. Plus there is less margin for error, since it takes significantly longer for you to write, whereas it is very easy to miss words or make mistakes when typing. I’m sure I’ve made a few myself in this post already.

READ ALOUD

Read what you write aloud to yourself, or other people if you feel comfortable doing so. This really helps you to smooth out any lingering awkward phrasing or pauses and a whole plethora of other tiny things we all miss. Reading your work aloud pushes all those issues to the front. It can be an annoying process, but it’s really effective. Also, make sure to regularly change your font whenever you are reading through your work, and potentially the font size as well. These changes make your eyes and brain pay more attention, because even if you have gone through the same piece several times, they don’t know that, and will automatically refocus because it all looks ‘new’.

MIGRATE

If you get stuck on a project–jump to another. There’s nothing wrong with hoping between stories, or even side projects. Sometimes one story is just being stubborn, and going to work on something new helps get your creative juices flowing. I tend to find it most helpful when the projects I jump between are vastly different, either in terms of tone, or the fandom they are based in.

WRITE v EDIT

Try not to write and edit at the same time. Your brain needs a chance to switch between the roles, and if you try and force yourself to do them both at the same time, you will just end up going around and around and feel like you’re getting nowhere. Make your writing and editing times completely different, so that you’re avoiding that horrible spiral.

REWRITE

Don’t be afraid to rewrite things. I sometimes get to the end of a 7,000 word chapter, read over it, then rewrite the whole damn thing because I either didn’t like it, or forgot something, or there was one section that wasn’t clicking with everything well enough. Rewriting is great, and it can be fun too. It helps you to smooth out the crinkles in your story flow, and makes everything seem neater and ordered. Plus, I find the process extremely satisfying for some reason.

DAILY

Try and write daily. Set aside even just ten minutes a day to just writing something. Even one new word is another step you have taken towards the completion of your story. And if you find you can’t, that’s fine too. Maybe just use those ten minutes to read over what you already have. That’s how I get my writing spark back, I read what I have written, get sucked in, then get annoyed when I get to the end and become determined to finish. I fall for it every time and it’d be embarrassing if it wasn’t the entire reason I update my stories.

TREAT YO SELF

The title says it all. Treat yourself. If you finish that chapter that you’ve been stuck on for weeks–celebrate! If you plot out a character’s backstory and have figured out where you will be going with them in the future–celebrate! The little milestones are just as important as the finished project, and they deserve to be acknowledged. Have a reward system for yourself. Mine isn’t really big, it’s just the dopamine hit I get every morning when I wake up after posting a chapter, knowing I get to spend my morning laying in bed reading everyone’s comments.

FOCUS MODE

I find it very useful to write with the focus mode activated in Word, or on Full Screen mode in Google Docs. The lack of distractions on the screen makes it easier for me to concentrate and get my work done. I also tend to write with a black background and white/grey text–it’s a bad habit that I need to get out of, but it really helps me power out my chapters.

CRY

Sometimes writing can get really difficult, and that’s okay. I have been driven to tears sometimes when trying to write a chapter. Not because the part of the story is particularly emotional, but just because I need to get rid of some of my pent up frustration and exhaustion. Crying is an absolutely fine response to being overwhelmed, and no one should ever be ashamed of crying because of their story. Once you release all that build up, you will feel so much better.

EXERCISE

This is something I have to get into the habit of doing, but exercise is so important to writing. You need to make sure you stay on top of your health as a writer. Too often we just sit in front of our computers for hours at a time, not moving, poor posture, neck cramping and eyes dry. Get up and move every half-hour, even if it’s a lap of your house. Go to the gym if you can, just like with editing, you should set aside some time of your week to just exercising. It will improve your mood, and make the writing process so much easier.

BREAK PATTERNS

You’re a writer. You’re a creative thinker. We are not made to be confined in boxes and labelled and categorised. Go out there and write whatever the hell you want to write. Break conventional writing patterns, flip the rules on their heads. Every great author out there did something fresh and unique with their art, and you should too. Don’t be afraid to branch out of your comfort zone and give something a go. Be different.

——–

There is so much more to being a writer than just being good at writing sentences, or coming up with an idea. You’ll notice that a lot of my tips aren’t even directly linked to the act of writing, and there’s a reason for that. You are your most important asset. You are the one doing the writing. Take care of yourself, take your time, stay strong, keep your goal in mind, and just write. Write and write and write, and then write some more. The more effort you put into it, the harder you push yourself, the better you’ll get.

This is all I’ve got for the moment, and while it might not have been what you were looking for, I still hope this helps you in some capacity. And if nothing on this list does–great! You’re different from me and so many other authors out there, which means you’ve got something I don’t, and you will make something new and special.

You do you, my dear. Find what works for you, rip apart my advice and twist it into whatever suits you. There is no one way to become a better writer.

#anonymous #writing #personal #writing tips

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tracle0 · 5 years

Text

11/11 (make a wish)

I was tagged by @the-unwritten-writer (HI HELLO) for these cool kid questions which can I just say :D I’ve seen this one before and it looks cool so thank you for tagging me! Rules: Answer the 11 questions of the person who tagged you, make up 11 questions, then tag 11 people to answer them.

Read more under the cut because Long Post

When did you start calling yourself a writer? I think it was around 2016? I’d been writing since 2013 but always casually, always because I wanted to, it was never serious. But I wrote Sonder for the first time in 2016 so I went ‘huh well I wrote this entire novel - guess I’m a writer.

What type of music do you listen to on the daily? Would you say it reflects your writing? I’ve been listening to this playlist I made for walking a lot recently (because I’m walking a lot lol) and you’d be hard-pressed to find a song in there that I don’t associate with a story.

Do you write more in the day or the night? Which do you prefer? I think I prefer writing in the day because I don’t get hecking tired, but I write mostly during the night.

Do you prefer writing things out on paper, or typing them? Typing 100% - my handwriting SUCKS so not being able to read what I’ve written is a major issue. Although I did once write in a notebook and when it came to editing, I had a Good Time with that.

What’s something you’ve had to Google for your WIP (or anything you’ve written) that would make someone pretty suspicious out of context? Beyond the usual ‘how much blood does a person have to lose before they die’ and ‘bullet wound fatality’ - Collateral had me searching up so many illegal things. Hacking based especially.

Who was your first OC? Tell me about them! Oh no uhhhh my first first OC? That’d be like an imaginary animal or something. We could just go with... let’s just go with the first OC I can fully remember. Oh, wait it’s Andy that’s no better. Okay, he’s this punk who really isn’t in the wrong - he’s a hungry kid who wants to Not Be Hungry and is willing to do borderline anything to make sure he’s not. Most of the time he can be found snarking at people or, if it’s winter, ice skating around. Like everyone who lives in Glalis, he has white hair because Edgy Trade Is Edgy, and he wears a red hoodie 84% of the time. While I was writing Sonder, I also wore a red hoodie 84% of the time. Coincidence?

What’s the best piece of writing advice you’ve ever received? Write. Or the advice to cut down on the word ‘just’ because holy heck did I overuse that.

Who’s your favorite author? What do you admire most about them and/or their writing? I don’t have one so have a list: I admire Alice Oseman for tackling topics that are IMPORTANT but no-one talks about (RADIO SILENCE I’M LOOKING AT YOU) and for her dedication to her craft (Heartstopper, anyone?). I admire Sarah Barnard for talking about girls being friends in the same way people talk about romance (Beautiful Broken Things broke my fucking heart). I admire Michael Grant for approaching issues he’s faced himself and putting them into fiction (Messenger Of Fear primarily, I don’t think he’s been stuck in the FAYZ before). I admire Scott Westerfeld for having such a freaking diverse range of books (I’ve read most of them. I love most of them). I admire Adam Silvera for writing a book I needed desperately and also for unashamedly writing about his own issues (History Is All You Left Me is so tender man). I admire Rebecca Stead for writing for an under-represented market and making it So Damn Good (Liar and Spy is such a good book go read it). I’ll stop for now c;

How much research do you put into your writing? Are they quick Google searches, or lengthy research sessions? It depends - Sonder was mostly a ‘shit wait how does this thing work’ and a quick Google search. Collateral I am still in the process of revising for, and it’s been two years. So - depends how much experience I have in the topics I’m writing about. WIP 3 I plan to literally learn the basics of the violin which will not be a small thing, so it’s looking like a big project again

Do you have a pet? Can I see them, please!? Yes, we have a tortoise named Georgie, she’s under this question thing because the formatting is angry at me.

If you weren’t a writer, what else do you think you’d be doing? Probably trying to be an artist of some sort. Maybe an animator? Something in the media, definitely. Making stories. Reading books.

She ((screm))

Tagging: @kaatiba @timetravelingpigeon @minnowf @thatfizzyyyy @joyful-soul-collector @albatris @aroaceauthor @writing-and-nutmeg @alexis-writes-sometimes @hyba and @dove-actually to answer these questions

(but like only if you want to yo)

1) What’s the first book you remember reading? 2) What’s the first book/story you remember writing? 3) What’s a piece of media (book, series, film, whatever) that you go back to when you’re sad? 4) Can you draw parallels between your OCs and characters in published fiction? If so, list a few (or all of them I’m not your boss) 5) Think of an OC. Any OC. Now express their general mood in their story in one (1) emoji. 6) What’s a plot point that makes you cackle when you think about it because omg it’s such good writing? 7) Have you ever done an Accidental Smart in your writing? If so, what? 8) What songs do you associate with your stories? 9) Are you better at dialogue or description? 10) Have you ever gotten better at doing something because you put it in a story and had to research? If so, what? 11) Have you had a drink of water recently? Go on, drink some water. It’s good for you.

#writing #am writing #my writing #writerblr #writeblr #tagged in #questions #I ran out of questions to ask so go have some water yo #also this is queued #also also tagged people #please do tell me if you don't like tags #and also sorry if you don't like them and I tagged you #I was Reaching For People To Tag near the end #if you were in my notifications #you've probably been tagged #hope that's ok

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en-temerant-voistra · 5 years

Link

Auri has a special place in my heart.

I made a playlist for her with songs, that remind me of her.

If you want to know more about the reasons why I chose those specific songs and pieces of music, you can read the explanations under the cut.

Enjoy.

In the following parts I will talk about the pieces I chose and the reasons why I think they fit. Sources are most often provided. Obviously this part contains spoilers about the character Auri from the king killer chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss and I will quote from the 2014 edition of the slow regard of silent things (tsrost) as well as from the tenth anniversary edition of 2017 of the name of the wind (tnotw).

Precious joy:

The piece of music “precious joy” was heavily inspired by a piece of bach called “Jesus bleibet meine Freude” (translation from the german: Jesus remain my joy). It was played by the band “the modern jazz quartet” and can be put into the genre of jazz.

In this piece elements of jazz and bachs style of playing mix in an unique way.

This fits Auris character in many ways.

Bachs style, built on a rigorous system of rules (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach#Four-part_harmony, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johann_Sebastian_Bach#Structure,_lyrics) clashes and mixes with the style of modern jazz, which in many ways represent a detachment from the current rules of music.

This is similar to Auri, who is detached from society at large and still acts according to rigorous rules.

The melody also fits to Auri. It is written in G-major and while pieces of music written in major often only sound happy, this piece does not. The melody sounds not just happy, but also has parts where it sounds melancholic and sad/somber. The mix results in a often bittersweet sounding melody.

The feelings that are conveyed fit quite well to Auri, who seems happy at many points, but has also her sad and melancholic moments (page 77 of tsrost, “On the third day, Auri wept.”).

Concerto RV 156 in G minor: I Allegro:

I picked this piece mainly because of the sweetness of the melody.

It is written in G minor and while “precious joy” had notes of sadness even though it was mainly happy, this piece has notes of happiness even though it is mainly melancholic.

It symbolizes the aspects of Auris character that are often hidden from Kvothe, who sees her mainly as happy (page 370 of tnotw, Auri was scrupulously clean and full of joy.).

Prophecies:

The piece of music “prophecies” was written by Phillip Glass. It is an example for minimalistic music. The music was written for the Movie “koyaanisqatsi”.

The movie Koyaanisqatsi, whose title means life out of balance in the Uto-aztecan language Hopi, is an experimental film, that shows footage of nature next to footage of human made technology and structures. The directeur of the movie stated, that the interpretation of the movie should and can only be done by the viewer itself (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koyaanisqatsi#Meaning).

Leo Hickman from the guardian stated how many people interpret the movie. His statement is that the movie is “a transformative meditation on the current imbalance between humans and the wider world that supports them”.

This fits nearly perfectly to Auri, who is obsessed with finding balance and who sees other humans as a big factor, which destroys balance (page 47 of tsrost “they would be coming, all hard boots and arrogance and not one bit of proper knowledge of this place”, page 51 of tsrost “it led to the same thing. Upset. Folk finding keys. Folk opening doors. Strangers in her underthing, shining their unseemly lights about. Their smoke. The braying of their voices. Tromping everywhere with hard, uncaring boots. Looking at everything without a single thought of what a look entails. Poking things and messing them about without the slightest sense of what was proper.”)

This interpretation holds true even if we ignore the background of the movie and only listen to the one piece of music, because Koyaanisqatsi which again means life out of balance is sang in the second part of the song.

The minimalistic style that is used also has elements, that fit Auri, who lives a simple life full of repetition, which fits to the style of minimalistic music.

I chose this piece and not another from this movie, because the first part of the piece has a bright melody, which fits Auri more than just the darker parts of the music.

Particles, Island songs VI:

This song represents the melancholy of Auri. While “precious joy” and “concerto in G minor” had elements of sadness, this song represents that aspect fully.

The melody is very melancholic in a soft way, which fits to Auri.

In this song the lyrics have also an important role, that makes the song fit very well to Auri s character.

As example the lines “And i try to keep the balance right. And I try but it feels like wasted time” represent both Auris struggle with the chaotic world around her and with her own chaotic emotions.

All the rowboats:

I chose “all the rowboats” mainly because the lyrics fit very well to Auri.

In this song the artifacts in a museum are depicted as having a will on their own.

The whole song sings from the injustice of the imprisonment of the “masterpieces” in this museum, which the singer once calls a public mausoleum, which is filled with the living dead.

In the refrain the singer sings how she feels pity for the violins, who forgot how to sing.

This general sentiment fits very well to Auri, who also thinks of artifacts as having a will on their own. It is not absurd to think, that Auri would also think, that the display of things only for the sake of being seen by humans, was deeply wrong.

The melody of this song is not only sad, but also angry. Anger and Auri is not often connected, but there are some instances, when the text depicts her as angry (page 51 of tsrost “Auri realized her fists were knots of knuckle white.”, page 84 of tsrost “then her mouth grew furious. Her eyes went hard. […] Hot from bakery, and all asweat with rage and the unrightness of it all, Auri turned and stormed away…”, page 92 of tsrost “…and stuffed the blanket angrily into the wine rack.”). It is only fair to have a piece of music, that symbolizes that side of Auri in this playlist.

Variationen zur Gesundung von Arinuschka (translated from german: variations for the healing of Arinuschka):

This piece of music was made by the estonian composer Arvo Pärt, who invented the Tintinabuli style, which is a minimalistic approach of and to music.

His music, even though it sounds simple and is often not difficult to play, is the result of rigorous rules through which the piece of music gets constructed.

“I have discovered that it is enough when a single note is beautifully played. This one note, or a silent beat, or a moment of silence, comforts me.”

This is a direct quote from Arvo Pärt and it shows, that his relationship with music is different than the one other artists have.

His music lives through silence and careful slow playing of perfect notes.

A lot of the pieces, that Arvo Pärt wrote, remind me of Auri. I chose this specific piece, because it not only has bright and not only dark parts, but parts, where the two mix.

Its bright parts also include parts, where the music sounds light and amused and childlike.

All of those parts are important to Auris Character.

Auri is seen as light and childlike by Kvothe, but gets heavily influenced by feelings of sadness and anxiety.

The style of the music is also very important. Like the Tintinabuli style Auri also acts according to rigorous rules.

Like the Tintinabuli style her life is simple and has a lot of routine and repeating parts.

Like the music of the Tintinabuli style, she also lives and acts on her environment through silence and careful slow perfect actions.

Year of the dragon:

Year of the dragon is from the album “enjoy your rabbit” by Sufjan Stevens and was released in 2001. It fits the genres glitch, electronica and IDM.

Year of the dragon is different from the other pieces of music on this playlist. It is fast, seems chaotic, loud and is shockingly electric.

I was unsure at first, if i should put it on this playlist, but i think it fits Auri.

For many the piece is a lot in the first hear through. It seems very chaotic and at some times it does not even sound like music.

At a second or third hear through, some of the chaos of the tones start to vanish. monuments of sound bloom out of the chaos.

For me this piece of music does not sound like chaos anymore.

Every moment is wanted. Every tone masterfully placed.

A thick tapestry of sound is made and the more you listen the more patterns can be seen.

I think Auris life is similar. To the outside observer her actions seem weird and chaotic. But they are not.

I also think, that Auri sees the world in that way. Everything seems chaotic at first, but there are ways the world should be. Patterns that should be followed.

I also chose this song because of the power of some of the melodic patterns.

The main example for this is the part in the middle, where the background base starts to descend in heavy pulses.

This is also symbolic for Auri.

Many see Auri only as the sweet childlike figure that Kvothe also oftentimes only sees.

This is not the big picture.

For people that have read the slow regard of silent things it is obvious, that she is more than just a childlike figure.

She probably endured terrible things and something changed her drastically, but she is still more than just a child.

She knows secrets that few know. Not just about the underthing, which she discovered. Not just about alchemy which she studied under master Mandrag. No. She knows about the world and how the world works in a way, that we only really know about Elodin and maybe Magwyn.

She is Auri and under her will all things bend to please her.

#the name of the wind #The Wise Man's Fear #the slow regard of silent things #Auri #Kvothe

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improbablecarny · 5 years

Text

The Best Good Parts of Ghostlights

As according to me

The second half of the story that began with The Mystery of Time, Ghostlights is a promise of similar bombast, excitement, and generally killer music that sure ghosts my lights. ... Is that anything? No? Whatever. Let’s get on to the part we all actually care about:

The spooky skeletons.

Or, you know, the music:

Storyline: The Antiquarian’s shop has burned down, the little clock is as enigmatic as ever, and Aaron Blackwell realizes that the scientists he’s found himself entangled with are really a cult set on controlling the passage of time... and the minds of all at its mercy.

Quick Notes:

Character name changes! The Nobleman is now the Magician, the Antiquarian is now the Mystic (I think he’s the same dude, anyway).

The story is a little harder to follow now, as we’ve done away with the journal entries. However, there’s still a good amount of character interaction, you can suss out a thing or two. What do you think?

There isn’t as much orchestration this time, but the trend of cool, time-themed sound design continues, so keep an ear open.

You know the drill. Official playlist. Stuff it in your earholes.

Mystery of a Blood Red Rose

The Meatloafification is complete. Literally: this song was written for Meat Loaf, who ended up passing on it despite initial positive reception. Ah, well.

This is also the song entered to Eurovision, putting Avantasia in the running to become the German representative. They did not win. Ah, well.

Those points aside, this song really rules. It’s upbeat, catchy, and has a lot going for it.

“Don’t have no TIIIIIME TO WAAASTE”

*choir* BRING ON THE NIGHT

...”while the HOUR DON’T WAIT FOR A BLINK TO CRAM THE PAST” (yes!... what?)

LET THE SCENT OF A POISONOUS ROSE TEMPT ME AWAY

“BOY REACH OUT FOR WHAT IS DUE!” legiterally thought was Bob Catley. Was Tobi. A+

....we’re OFF INTO THE MOOOOOONSHIIIIIINE

Let the Storm Descend Upon You

Big dramatic piece, soaring and mysterious with multiple vocalists... including the return of Jorn Lande as a spirit known as “Temptation”, or as I like to think of him, “Stupid Sexy Satan”.

“Light... breathe and sleep tight...” fakeout prechorus getting me hyped

“It may be your vault... NOW IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!”

“Oh that’s where I’ve been too... there’s nothing but a void over the sanity of foooools!”

Now the CHORUS FOR REAL: bright, almost gospel-esque 🤘😩🤘

“LIGHT... bring me the LIGHT!”

“I will bring uncertainty on a silver plate / like a mantlepiece / I will wipe out darkness!”

“Night! / BLESSED IS THE NIIIIIIiiIIIght!!!”

The “and I Will Make You Mine” lines first sung by Jorn and then Ronnie are both so wickedly ominous I love it

I said the chorus was fantastic in general but there’s something in particular about the last couple lines that musically always makes me go bonkers

THE BREAKDOWN

“For all the world will see it... tower to the stars...” Ronnie’s ACTING

“Let the storm descend upon me / let aurora fall upon me!” AARON...

Jorn does a Jorn thing, it’s badass, so it goes

The whole thing is badass, really.

The Haunting

Look out, Dee Snider is a spooky ghost on our next Sinister Theatrical Evil Guy song!

Again nailing the atmosphere. This is a “running through my mansion halls in a nightrobe holding a candlestick wailing as I’m chased by ghosts” song

S̺͚͙L̯̕E̞̞̼͙̤͝E̗P̟̖̣̟̣̝͉ TI͎G͖̥̭̦͈͉H̤̙̫̤͞ͅT̹͍̫͘ ̧̪͔̥͈S̫͕̱̼͖̮̞O̙̱̥͚̠͎͉M̤̥͔͠E̵̫̗͓̝O͙N̩̫̲E̞̯̱̩̞̣̟’͖S̵̺͖ ̺͍̼́A̖L̜̪WA͡Y͇̫͓̩̟̺͘S̝͇̬͇̟ ҉͓̘͍̯̣̗B͕͇̪͍̥͓͉̀Y͓̭̹͢ ̴Y̼O̰̥̯̭̻͍̖͠U͚̪̭̬̯R̘ ͈S͏̗̣̖̻͈̖̤I̸͎͎̟DͅE̮̺͍̠͙

“Don’t you waste your time to try / and understand this figment of the night” + crazy cool background instrumentals

This song is like if the Trans Siberian Orchestra’s thing was Halloween instead of Christmas

S̱͔̤̟̹̺͞W҉̭E̜̲̟̱̹͇ͅE͓̝̙͖ͅT̟̭ ̲͚̥̩͖͙͍D͔Ṛ̴͖̗̠E̬͝A̭͚M̖ͅS̴̪̲̙ͅ ̱̲͙̼̤S̲͎̖͈̝Ę̜̼̞̠̳̠͖E͙ ̺̗͎̞̞͍̫Y̛͖̭͔̠̭̜O̧̭̫͓̖͖̦U̘̯͘ ̳̦̼̯̘͉͝IN҉͔ ̡̥̯̥̳T̵͇͚͈̻̺H̶̫E̛̖ ̝̪̤̘T͚W̭I̛̼̦̣̘͉L̖̬̳̱̘̱IG̦͇̣̟͕̯H̤̱͎̦̳̝T ̜͕̻Z̠͍̣̩̥O͓̖̹̪̖͖ͅN̦͙̩̥͓͘E̷͓͓̬̮ͅ

😱: God I must contain my wayward fantasy!

👻👻👻: AHHH Ahhhh ahhh!

“I’m the spark they refuse to conceive...” DRAMATIC PIANO

Seduction of Decay

Hello, Geoff Tate. Welcome to Avantasia!

Cool instrumentation!

“You... m̠̻͉A̴̟Ý̳͖͍̱ ͍̦͠N͏̣̮O͇̘͕͖͈͘T̨̞̫ ̼̹̖̮͕̺F̞̩̼͇̯͓͎É͉̫͖È͖̞͎͇L͇̥͚̯̲ ҉̰I̘̰̪̪͓͖̱T͎̱͕̩ ”

This is a slower-paced one but it’s cool to chill out to when you’re in the right mood.

Ghostlights

Wait, we’re four songs in, it must be time for: the Michael Kiske power metal anthem!

“I don’t know if I’m right or wrong! I don’t know if I shall go on!”

“MINDS fly FREE when the gates fly open! Walk on through...”

⛈ “THUNDER AND RAIN AND THE WIND IN MY FACE” ⛈😭

“GHOSTlights DANCE will you HEED the TOKEN??? Blaaazing LIGHT...”

“BLINDING MY EYES GET ME OUT OF THIS MAZE!”

Time signature changes in the chorus... whew

“Fireworks surround me... wherever they GO THEY TELL ME always home!”

Sudden Jorn!

THEY. CALL. ME. HOOOOOOME

Draconian Love

You shed draconian love, you shed draconian love 🎶

Taking a hard turn into goth with Herbie Laghans, revealing to the world that he has a deep liquid chocolate voice apparently

“Tell me how should I embrace? / Like roses we’ll wither on the vine” 👀

HEY HEY HEY

The whole “infiltrate us with mercy” verse is Big Sexy

“Of an unbred cause / an unborn will / whatever THAT MAY MEEEEEEAAAAANN”

The last chorus and pre-chorus? Yes???

Seriously, does Herbie sing like this anywhere else ever?... Can he do it more?

Master of the Pendulum

There wasn’t a Sinister Theatrical Evil Guy song on TMoT so Ghostlights gets two

This one has Nightwish’s Marco Hietala, being crazy good at being a Sinister Theatrical Evil Guy (Ronnie also slays it in live performances)

SUPER cool atmosphere, the Watchmaker is wild.

“Tick-Tock Tick-Tock SOMEONE’S WATCHING OVER ME”

Catchiest chorus EVER

“That’s WHO I AM! I’m the MASTER of THESE haaaands...!”

“I feel your breath on my neck / I feel you behind my back / and as I’m turning around there’s just this frightening sound” 😱😱😱

“I feel it EVERYWHERE... oh I KNOW that you’re there....” 🕯👀

Alternating vocalists on the second run at the chorus!

The interlude with all the clocks ticking argh it’s SO COOL! SO COOL!! STOP BEING SO COOL!

MASTER OF THE HANDS THAT PUSH YOU!

Isle of Evermore

Sharon den Adel is here, it’s a sad ballad.

I like the weird quality to this one. The electronic quality to it reminds me of the intro to Savior in the Clockwork as well, it seems to be a way of representing dreamscapes in this duology, which is interesting.

Float away on Sharon’s voice... sail away through that opening door...

Babylon Vampyres

“A lot of good advice nobody’s keeping for themselves!” is a mood.

“The future ahead is not what it used to be” Tobi keeps using that line and it wrecks my shit every time

“BABYLON IS BURNING... SHINING FROM AFAR!

BABYLON IS BURNING... FROM SUNSET TO SUNRISE!

BABYLON IS BURNING AND YOU’RE GLOWING LIKE A FIERY STAR!

AND no one can tell... if we’ve been for real...”

Tobi and Rob’s tradeoff

The “Ever since I could remember...” passage

Lucifer

Beautiful mournful ballad, intense emotion, will melt some faces

Jorn as the embodiment of temptation is nothing new after The Wicked Trilogy but I think it’s interesting how his character takes a sympathetic turn in this one

“Morning star embrace me on these grounds” the plaintive desperation... INTO it

He WILL Take You Home Tonight

“I’ll make you fume with fury and rage / I’ll make you see what you’re made of tonight” 🤘😏

The last “TOUCHING THE FLAMES TONIGHT” dueting

Unchain the Light

That intro sounds like revving machinery. MUSICAL PICTURES. Have I said “this is SO COOL” enough yet?

The Kiske/Ronnie/Tobi tradeoff chorus is DIVINE

The second verse... I LOVE this character! Jesus CHRIST!

The “you look above to see inside yourself / and find time standing still” part... Aaron’s character turn...

“You turn this moment into what you think it ought to be / DEMYSTIFY THE DAAAAARK”

Great energetic climax. Just. 😭

A Restless Heart and Obsidian Skies

UGH THIS SONG. Again closing the album on a Bob Catley note, but this one is not 10 minutes long for once.

Beautiful beautiful denouement. 😭

The part after the first verse in the instrumental when you can hear time restart 😭😭😭

“Tender feet on stony ground” 🥺

“Sacred heart will you usher me now” 🥺🥺

The whole-ass chorus

“Wake to the SHADOWWW OF A DREAM / NOTHING’S what it seems!” 🥺🥺🥺🥺

“Ghostlights and matter / you know what is real / perception and facts all the same / truth’s what you feel” 🥺🥺😭😭

The whole “and the wind and the rain...” part

This song kills me based on what I think is happening in the story, the atmosphere, the melody, the everything

Cloudy’s “WE’RE UNDER OBSIDIAN SKIIIIEES” rip in the outro chorus 🤯

Bonus Track: Wake Up to the Moon

For a little bit of reference, I have “Wayward child / Wake up to the moon” tattooed to my leg.

This is a bonus track that seems to work as a thematically-related-but-out-of-character credits song, and yet is ALSO a sneaky Moonglow prologue! 💫

The driving melody in the verses... the continual Tobi/Jorn/Kiske/Ronnie/Bob tradeoff... 10/10

“Strange and magic, hear us CAAAAALL YOUR NAME” is a GOOD melody

And there we have it. The end... or the beginning? The past, or the future, or the present itself? Whatever it is, it’s fucking awesome. Thanks for hitching a ride with me, and see you next time!

Cast List:

Tobias Sammet as Aaron Blackwell Jorn Lande as Temptation Michael Kiske as The Mystic Ronnie Atkins as The Magician Robert Mason as Scientist I Geoff Tate as Scientist II Herbie Laghans as Eclipse Dee Snider as Nightmare Marco Hietala as The Watchmaker Sharon den Adel as Muse Bob Catley as Epiphany

#avantasia #ghostlights #metal #music #avantasia breakdown blog

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suteshiro · 5 years

Note

ALL for crown.

I LOVE YOU

If your character wasn’t an adventurer, what livelihood would they lead?

Wouldn’t you want to know

Who in the party would your character trust the most with their life?

For now I can’t say for sure? From the ones he currently knows it’s hard to tell bc he trusts Love in a Personal Way but is lowkey convinced he’d sell him to Satan for a corn chip. And Gank seems p trustworthy in that regard but they have only briefly met each other

What are your character’s core moral beliefs?

No one gets to control or take away someone else’s autonomy

What relationship does your character have with their parents and siblings?

Parents? Hate ‘em. Siblings? H

Does your character have any biases for or against certain races?

Eeh, I don’t think so

What is your character’s opinion on nobility? On authority?

Take a wild guess ksvjfnskjv

He doesn’t think someone having authority is inherently bad but he hates every person in authority he’s ever known of so his opinion has been formed based on that

Describe your character’s current appearance: clothes, armor, scars they’ve picked up along the journey, etc.

I’m lazy. You know what she looks like

What location encountered in the campaign has your character felt the most “at home” in, or just generally liked the most?

Campaign hasn’t started yet so I can’t say anything about which locations visited she’s liked! She feels very comfortable at the spot we’re starting at tho

What deity, if any, does your character worship? What’s their opinion on other people’s worship?

Caenrys babey. She’s a bit weirded out by people who dedicate themselves to organized religion but in general she doesn’t stick her nose in others’ religious business

If your character had time to pick up any artisan’s tools, game set, instrument, etc., what would it be?

Artisan’s tools: I think he’d like glassblowing! Woodworking is cool too

Game set: playing cards probably

I don’t think he’s rlly interested in music as something he himself might perform vkjfnfksjn

Learning how to use a poisoner’s kit could be fun

Describe your character’s current relationship with the player character sitting to your right.

I’m not sitting next to anyone so I rolled for it and got Gank (@prophe-seer‘s character)

Crown likes Gank a lot! They only met like, once but they rlly got along. She feels a bit bad for them bc they seemed to think she was rlly nice and instead of considering she Might genuinely be nice she jumped to “oh shit the bar is fucking underground for this guy” skvjfnksjfvn. So she’s surprisingly attached. She wants them to have an actual friend bc it seems like they need it

What is your character’s current goal, summed up in one sentence?

I’m headed straight for the castle

Does your character ever want to “settle down” with a spouse, children, house, etc.?

Currently, no. She has a lot of dangerous shit to do and is too caught up on being A Free Spirit That Actually Gets To See The World to like,, consider settling down. And she hasn’t given any thought to what life she’ll have after her goals have been fulfilled.

But I’ve actually given some thought to this and I think she wants to make a family one day. Idk if it’ll include children (probably adopting older “problem” children tbh) or a spouse but she definitely wants to settle down with at least one pet

Has your character ever been in love?

What battle in the campaign has been most memorable to your character?

Haven’t played yet!

If your character wasn’t whatever class they are, what would they be instead?

Probably a fighter skjvfnskjfvn or a paladin

What is your character’s favorite season?

Autumn! Lovs the cronch. Loves to get to cool down after summer

What would your character’s Zodiac sign be, following stereotypical astrology?

I actually already made this decision ksjfnkvsjn she’s an Aries. I remember liveblogging my decision making to a friend regarding this but i cant remember what it was and im lazy

Where in the world does your character most want to visit?

Oh you know

What is the biggest mistake your character has ever made?

Oh you know,

Does your character have any noticeable scars? If so, what are their stories?

Probably not!

What animal best represents your character?

Wolf,

If your character could go back in time and change one thing about their life, what would it be?

Oh you know,,,,

Which other player character does your character find themselves having the most in common with?

Not sure yet!

Does your character regret any particular choice the party has made?

idk yet ksvfsjfv

What would your character say their best trait would be?

uuuh i dont think he thinks of himself in positive terms a lot skvnksjfvn

he’d probably name his strength or smth like that

What is your character’s greatest fear? Deep, irrational?

Oh, you know!

What is currently motivating your character to stay with the party?

I don’t know cause we don’t have the plot hook yet

What are your character’s hobbies and interests outside of their class?

he likes collecting small trinkets and going to festivals and thats. about it

What would most people think when they first see your character?

“Oh shit sexy”

What stereotypical group role does your character play in the party? (The Mom, the Mess, the Comic Relief, etc. Optionally: What role would your character play in the “Five Man Band” structure?)

Surprisingly, I think it’s The Mom skjvfnksnvksjnvf he seems to be really going in the “What The Fuck. Are You Okay. I Must Protect You”

But also he’s absolutely the mess

In a five man band he’s the leader, lancer and big guy all at once. Probably the lancer tho

What is your character the most insecure about?

He’s completely unable to see himself as a kind person worthy of tenderness

What person does your character admire most?

Gaylia!!! He thinks she’s so strong and cool

What does your character admire and dislike the most about the player character sitting to your left?

Going for Love since I talked about Gank already. He bedrudgingly admires how cunning and People Smart Love can be. Absolutely hates how much of a Bastard he is and how hot he is

Why is your character’s lowest stat their lowest (the in-character reason, not “because there’s no reason for a wizard to have 16 strength, duh”)?

Both int and wis are at a -2!

Wisdom: he wasn’t uh. raised in a way where he rlly got to learn the ways of people’s minds, or do anything but repress his own feelings. and once he was out on his own he was so focused on being a reckless fool he never even tried to change that

Intelligence: He has big adhd and always had a hard time learning. Instead of being supported he was yelled at and punished for stupidity. He retaliated by refusing to keep trying. So now he’s dumb

What would be your character’s theme song/favorite band/favorite genre of music?

I have an entire playlist for him please look at it I worked so hard on it-

I think most relevant are Castle by Halsey and Emperor’s new clothes by p!atd. I think he would also associate those songs with himself and really like them. Royals by Lorde is also up there for sure. And Rise from League of Legends

What stereotypical role would your character play in a high school AU/if they attended a normal high school? (Nerd, jock, bully, goth, etc.)

Goth jock.

What treasure/item/artifact that your character has collected during the adventure is the most important to them?

Not particularly precious to him and not in the adventure since we haven’t played yet but he has Love’s broken antler skvjfnksjfv

Is there any particular weapon, item, etc. that your character longs to find?

Oh you know

Where does your character feel the most at home?

Gaylia’s place probably,

Does your character care about how they’re perceived by others? How do they change themselves to fit in with other people?

She’s built her entire identity around refusing to give a fuck, however in truth she probably actively tries to be seen as rebellious and maybe intimidating

What does your character think is the true meaning of life?

Bold of you to imply she thinks that much

What is your character’s scent? (Bonus points for a description that sounds like it could be from a bad [or awesome] fanfic.)

Roses, lilies and musk ( have no clue if those go well together)

Does your character think more with their heart or their brain?

Heart, absolutely

What is your character’s most recent or frequent nightmare?

haha,,,, ha,,,,,,, h

What opinion does your character have on [CERTAIN ESTABLISHED GROUPS/AUTHORITIES IN THE GAME WORLD]? (Dragonmarked Houses, royal crown, etc.)

Wouldn’t you like to know

How did your character spend their childhood? Where did they grow up/who were their childhood friends?

What aspect of your character’s future are they most curious about? (If they could know one thing about the future, what would it be?)

I will keep that to myself!

What colors are associated with your character?

Who in the party would your character prioritize rescuing, in dire circumstances?

Love,,

Is your character the most swayed by ethos, pathos, or logos?

Pathos

If your character was granted a single use of Wish, what would they use it for?

I will keep that to myself!

What is your character’s favorite spell? If they don’t use spells: what is their favorite personal weapon/combat maneuver/skill/etc.?

She has spells and enjoys using them (probably mostly eldritch blast) but nothing beats her good trusty zweihander

How does your character feel about keeping secrets from the rest of the party?

She has no qualms with it ksvjfnskfjv

What type of creature in the world is your character the most intrigued by?

Love I dunno, snakes? Snakes are weird

When they were a child, what did your character want to be, or think they were going to be, when they grew up?

I don’t think Crown thought she was gonna make it to her 20s

The player character to your left admits that they’re passionately in love with your character. How would your character respond?

I rolled and got Gank skfvnksjvfn

I think he’d be flustered and flattered and be like “oh! we can. certainly try dating! but I can’t say I return your feelings right now. uh. sorry,,,”

If somebody (an NPC, someone from their backstory, etc.) your character trusts/loves asked your character to do something against the party’s best interest, who would they side with?

Ah,,,

That’s a very complicated question that depends on many factors I’m afraid

Does your character value their own best interest more than the party’s?

He wants to think he does, at least skvjnskvjf

What decision would the party have to make in order for your character to consider splitting off from the group?

Who knows!

How does your character imagine the way they will die?

Doing something stupid, completely alone

What is your character’s greatest achievement?

Making it to 25 honestly svkjnksfjnv

Is your character willing to risk the well-being of others in order to achieve their goal?

Depends on who those others are

What is your character’s opinion on killing others?

Sure why not let’s do it man

What is your character’s favorite food? Beverage?

Pizza and orange juice?

How generous is your character? Especially to those they don’t know?

Surprisingly generous! Maybe not so much with money but she’s always willing to lend a helping hand

What is your character the most envious about, regarding anyone in the party?

I don’t understand this question svknskjfv

The player character to your left and the player character to your right are both telling your character two different versions of the truth. Who does your character believe?

Again I keep choosing between Gank and Love bc they’re the only ones she knows kjfvnskjfvn I mean. it depends. if it’s on something Important I think she’ll side with Love but in general she’s more likely to believe Gank

What is your character’s sexuality/relationship with sex?

Big bisexual, first of all!

She actually has a complicated relationship with sex! Being in any kind of Intimate Situation used to be very triggering for her. But she worked through it and now she’s. Horny

What is your character’s biggest pet peeve?

When people leave without paying their part.

Describe how your character feels about the party’s current situation/objective/etc.

Shit man I dunno we have no plan

Who in the party would your character trust the most to keep an important secret?

Love is the only one she’s known long enough to build any meaningful trust with svknskfv

If your character knew that they were going to die in a month, how would they spend the rest of their life?

Probably with his only genuine friend, trying to live life to the fullest kvjfnskfv,

What makes your character feel safe?

Being fully aware of his surroundings with easy access to his sword

If your character had the chance to rename the party/give the party a name, no questions asked, what would it be?

No party yet!

What memory does your character want to forget the most?

If your character had to multiclass into a class they currently aren’t the next time they level up, what would it be and what reason would they have for doing so?

Fukinuh. Paladin? He rlly likes Caenrys and is like “fuck it let’s do another combat charisma-based thing”

What television/book/video game/etc. character would your character be best friends with? (Or: what media character is your character the most influenced by/similar to?

He was heavily influenced by a webcomic character but i will keep Who a secret just in case it makes people figure stuff out skvnskvn

What unusual talents does your character possess?

Really good at doing things without looking, apparently skfjvnsfv

How does your character feel about receiving/giving orders? Are they more of a leader, or a follower?

Giving orders is. Kinda hot

Receiving orders? Die

What does your character’s name represent to them? (Or: why as a player did you choose your character’s name?)

Among other things, Crown’s name represents her proclaiming herself as someone with full authority, if anything, over herself. She’s claiming at every moment a position of power and I think that’s very sexy of her

Is your character more of an introvert, or an extrovert?

Ambivert, probably! Loves people but may get overwhelmed being around them too much

How far is your character willing to go to pursue the “greater good”? Do they believe in a greater good at all?

In theory she doesn’t believe in the greater good but she lies to herself so who knows what she’d do when push comes to shove skjvfnksjfv

What does your character want to be remembered by?

It’s complicated and I’m too lazy to explain it, especially without spoiling anything

What would be your character’s major in college?

He’d shrivel and die in an academic setting pal

Does your character consider themselves a hero, villain, or something else?

It’s complicated,,

Let’s say hero and keep it there

What major arcana tarot card best represents your character?

I’m between The Fool and The Magician. Strength is also fun

Where does your character see themselves in 20 years?

Oh, you know!

What is your character’s relationship with magic? Are they scared of it, wish to know more about it, indifferent to it?

Magic is,,, kinda hot!

Who is your character’s biggest rival?

Love ksjvfnksjfvkjsfv

What is your character’s guiltiest pleasure?

Bold of you to imply he feels guilt over anything pleasurable

What does your character hope for the afterlife?

He doesn’t think about that

Who in the party does your character trust the least?

Just as he trusts Love the most he also trusts him the least. Shady bastard

What is your character’s biggest flaw?

-2 wisdom

How did your character learn the languages that they speak?

Uh. Growing up and being raised?

What is your character’s favorite school of magic/type of weaponry?

GREATSWORD AND EVOCATION BABY

What is most important to your character: health, wealth, or happiness?

Happiness

What advice would your character give to a younger version of themselves?

“There’s power in your anger. Take action before it gets worse”

Are there any social or political issues your character feels strongly about?

It’s hard to explain bc I don’t know Politics Words

What, currently, is your character the most curious about?

;)

#crown tag #thanks for asking! My hands hurt!!!#the-carmevore

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vvlin91 · 6 years

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Stage Patalliro -Stardust Project- Super Long Ass Review Pt.3 (end)

I’m finally getting to the actual play!

Here, with as little spoiler as possible, I'd briefly cover the show in general, the use of props, how they dealt with multiple injuries and what to keep in mind when you watch the online stream/DVD.

Pt.1 What makes Patalliro so special compared to other 2.5D productions?

Pt.2 It’s because of love - oh jealousy♪ - the BanMara perspective

The live audience, if inside the theater early enough, will be able to hear Patalliro, Bancoran and Maraich read out the preshow announcements, telling you to switch off your phones and stuff. They all use their distinct IC voices so it was really fun, and Sanaich would end his part with a soft moan. Just a sexy, sweet "Ahh~❤".

This play is titled "Stardust Porject" but it covers more than just that. It's actually based on the Stardust Project arc, "Fly me to the moon", that chapter where Maraich fake betrayed MI6 but was actually helping Bancoran and a few more tiny things from other chapters. It's actually quite ingenious to put the Stardust arc and Robby's story together because they are both space-themed. And they intertwined the 2 arcs together very elegantly it really doesn't feel in any way uncanon.

One pressing question many people had before the 2nd play was how it'd deal with the Maraich/Bjorn paradox. As we know from the 1st play, Maraich's encounter with Bancoran was completely different from the manga. Instead of having Maraich meet Bancoran in a masquerade, the writer put together stories from several pre-Maraich chapters, basically merging other pretty boy characters into one Maraich (I covered the reasoning behind this change in Pt.2). And that included giving Bjorn's story to Maraich by letting Maraich be the person to make love with Bancoran in the rose garden instead.

So where does Bjorn fall in the 2nd play? The writer simply compressed Bjorn's romance with Bancoran to a brief flashback with as little detail as possible. So Bjorn only showed up on stage when Bancoran was explaining their past to Maraich. There was little specifics to it and therefore does not contradict with what happened in the 1st play. Interestingly, they also paid tribute to Maraich's actual first appearance in the manga by letting Andresen show up to strangle Bancoran in a masquerade. The context is totally different of course but it's just a nice touch for manga fans who knew what they did with the story.

One thing Stage Patalliro is well-known for is its songs. I've seen many 2.5D musicals (at least I think I do lol) but to be absolutely honest, a lot of the songs are just mediocre. Even in a production as spectacular as Kuromyu, there are still songs I sometimes skip on the playlist. But Stage Patalliro's music is so insanely catchy it could easily beat 95% of the 2.5D musicals I have seen and it doesn't even call itself a musical! Also, all the original songs (not the cock robin song or other folk songs) are written by Director Kobayashi Kensaku himself! He has such an incredible grasp of the 70s-80s pop music style that I can well remember my dad asking me why Maraich's solo "That Man" from the 1st play sounded so familiar despite having never heard of it. The songs in the 2nd play are just as catchy if not more so. There are a couple songs that are taken directly from the 1st play, such as the Hana to Yume tribute song and the ending theme. The music is the same but they changed the lyrics to suit the new play. Overall, the music is just superbly awesome, I honestly cannot think of another play that's as karaoke-friendly as Stage Patalliro.

Besides reusing some of the music, they also made the 3 main characters enter the stage in pretty much the exact same fashion as the 1st play. Patalliro entered as he shattered his fake, beautified public image, Bancoran hopped on stage chasing away rascals with his killer eyebeam, and Maraich bursts onto stage with a hurried "Excuse me~!". Same formula, same taste but oh boy how sweet.

(In case anyone is confused this is from 2018)

Another beloved feature of Stage Patalliro is its use of intentionally "cheap" props, such as the famous "Cockroach Run" boards and Bancoran's actual laser pointer representing his eyebeams that were both used since 2016. One of the most outstanding examples in Stardust Project would be the tiny helicopter Andresen held on a long rope (as if he was flying down from it).

Also these plushies, used in a song that recaps what happened in the last play.

The use of such simple, almost idiotic props is both hilarious and such a nice tribute to the manga's retro style.

This year, Stage Patalliro suffered 2 injuries along the way. The first one was from dancer Sato Ginpei before the play even started touring. He surprisingly didn't leave the show, but instead just played "a guy in a wheelchair" throughout. Although they ended up missing one person in a lot of the dance numbers, they also added a few new jokes that were specific to the fact that he was in a wheelchair.

And then there's Yoshimoto Kouki, whose injury was probably too serious for him to even travel from Tokyo to Osaka. He ended up missing the entire Osaka tour. In 100% Patalliro style, they wrote on the official website saying there will be a "replacement" for his role without actually doing so. Kouki's character Tamanegi No.17 was not himself an indispensable character. There aren't any lines that MUST come out of his mouth. So his lines can easily be said by the other 4 Tamanegi boys. But even so, they refused to wipe away the existence of No.17. Even if Kouki cannot be here in person, they will make sure that the audience KNOW that he is supposed to be here with the rest of them.

At the start of every performance in Osaka, Director Kobayashi would come on stage in person to explain Kouki's situation and apologize. He said they made changes to the show that could give the impression that "No.17 is still here". And so what they did was that during the Tamanegi pheromone corner, where all of them have to perform their very own skits, the other 4 boys would just talk to air as if No.17 was present. "Hey, No.17, it's your turn." "No.17, good job!" even adding splashing sound effects to indicate No.17 entering the Jacuzzi. When they leave the stage all sitting inside the Jacuzzi, they will hold up a helmet to caress it while lovingly calling, "Oh, No.17..."

In the ending song, when all the Tamanegi boys would dance in a row arm in arm, Aoki Jin would extend an arm to his left to indicate that's where Kouki would be standing had he been there. During curtain call, they also encouraged the audience to buy Kouki's bromide set "so you know what he looks like". So even though the Osaka audience did not see Kouki there in person, it was impossible to not remember him.

(No.17′s invisible presence in their finale photo)

Lucky for us, they did the recording before Kouki got injured, which means fans can still enjoy his performance in this play by purchasing the DVD and/or online stream!

In a way Stage Patalliro has always felt like a strange family to me. A group of adventurers got together to attempt the implausible, and their crazy experiment ended up a huge success. That’s why they kept even the same ensemble team. Basically everyone who’s already here STAYS, only new people in, but nobody goes away. If you are in a wheelchair, we will let you play a guy in a wheelchair. If you can't even be here on stage, we will STILL make sure that you ARE ON STAGE. It's the kind of creativity and freedom that is uniquely enjoyed by a play like Patalliro.

Lastly, things you will not see in the online stream/DVD version. I write this list to remind you that plays evolve, accidents happen and what you can't see on the screen doesn't mean it never happened:

BanMara kiss: they did not kiss until they started their Osaka tour, the recording was done in Tokyo. Also missing would be Patalliro’s long disgusted scream after he saw them kiss with his own eyes lol

Bancoran's "Maraich" pink happi: he only started wearing it on March 23rd, the recording was done on March 21st.

Maraich's middle finger: at the start of their lovers' quarrel song, Sanaich would always give Tsunecoran the middle finger, but on recording day, he gave a thumbs-down instead.

Maraich's final reminder that he is pregnant: there are 2 definite places during the play where Maraich would exhibit morning sickness, and he would sometimes do it a 3rd time during the ending song. But he didn't do so on recording day.

Bancoran holding Maraich in both arms: in the couple's final showdown with Andresen, Bancoran would use his body to shield Maraich from Andresen's knife. Maraich would always hold on tightly to Bancoran with both arms, and Bancoran would have one arm on Maraich and another on the handrail. On both Tokyo and Osaka finale, Bancoran let go of the handrail and held Maraich against his chest with both arms. Recording day was neither of those days so he still had one hand on the handrail.

There are a couple other instances that might be better explained with gifs so I might as well save them for later posts. But then I also drew this for your reference:

That's pretty much all I have to say about the play for now. Please remember to pre-order the DVD! I will update on online streams if they become available (hopefully on DMM). If you have other questions, feel free to message me here or on https://curiouscat.me/vvlin91

#patalliro #review #cock robin killed me again #yoshimoto kouki

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roc-thoughtblog · 3 years

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SSBU SEPHIROTH DLC REVIEW PART 1 of 2

Just one of two long-ish posts about what I think of the Sephiroth DLC. This post is about everything about or surrounding the pack asides from Sephiroth himself. The second post will contain thoughts on Sephiroth the playable fighter.

youtube

tl;dr: I’ve never played FF7, but I respect it a lot. The trailer is rad, I recognised One-Winged Angel. Aerith’s Theme and Main Theme remixes are breathtaking, Northern Cave is amazing and I hope more series get narrative stages like it. And upon hearing it, I liked the original main theme enough to header this post.

CONTENTS:

Personal Context

Trailer

Music

Stage

Sephiroth Challenge!

Overall

PERSONAL CONTEXT: I've never played Final Fantasy VII; the only mainline game I've actually played is IV, though I got some way into VI at one point before I stopped. I can't really say I enjoyed them that much as I think it was around that period where I became incredibly sick of the specific combination of turn based combat, random encounters, and backtracking.

I do have pretty big respect for FF7 though. From my understanding, the story embraces an extremely broad range of themes and several disparate narrative concepts critically well. The primary cast seems quite timeless, and Cloud seems to be a far more interesting protagonist than he would appear when taken for his stereotype. Midgard is an amazingly evocative setting (though I don't know much outside of it apart from Nibelheim existing).

By itself even all of that wouldn't necessarily have to mean much, but what impresses me the most was that this was all at the beginning of 1997. For context, I'm a massive Baldur's Gate fan, and that was only released at the end of 1998; and I wouldn't personally consider Baldur's Gate to be that amazing until Shadows of Amn in 2000. And even then, iunno, I'd call it very fun and immersive, but I wouldn't necessarily call the story incredibly complex, thought provoking, or particularly emotionally evocative.

Final Fantasy VII being out there doing its thing showcasing emotionally gripping and powerful narrative in video games in 1997 to absolute swathes of people who remember it fondly to this day? Very humbling.

Plus I've seen some FF7R streams and the whole Hell House thing is absolutely hilarious.

THE TRAILER: Rad CG trailer, lots of fun. I wasn't going to watch the Game Awards so I would've been spoiled either way, but fortunately I thought it was actually a joke so it was somehow still a surprise. Even I can recognise One Winged Angel damn near immediately, though being primed on the "joke" probably helped.

They really did everything they could to make Sephiroth appear as powerful and menacing as possble, and it was amazing. One-Winged Angel kicking in on a tiny figure in the sky as Galeem falls apart is a great moment, as is that brief moment of Mario's apparent demise.

I look forward to seeing Sephiroth appear, fully animated, in the next CGI character reveal trailer, where he gets comically and indignantly punked in full high quality 3D by the next new character. :D

THE MUSIC: I know One-Winged Angel by cultural osmosis, but I don't really know any other FF7 music tracks, so this is pretty cool. No matter if I've heard of of or played the games before or not, the new music additions and remixes are consistently my favourite parts of Smash in general. Also because only having two music tracks is pretty sad for poor Cloud right? Good thing his nightmarish nemesis is has brought the party playlist I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Anyway, both versions of One-Winged Angel remain spectacular. I'm not too zazzed by the Advent Children battle tracks just listening to them, but I expect they'll make amazing stage music when I'm actually playing.

The tracks I really love though, are JENOVA, and the remixed Aerith and Main Themes. The latter two really prompted me to listen to the originals, and they are truly beautiful. Especially the original main theme, the journey that track seems to take you on is all of triumphant, haunting and melancholy; it is spectacular. Hey, I liked it enough to make it header this post instead of something else presumably more appropriate.

I do need to listen to the whole original soundtrack at some point.

THE STAGE: Simple layout, no gimmick, just pure story and game reverence. I was super excited just to see Mementos change colour, I can't imagine what this must be like for real FFVII fans. Maybe it'll bring some of them to tears. What an amazing stage. We'll probably end up playing it a lot when I can finally spend some time with friends.

As a Fire Emblem fan it really makes me slightly jealous for Castle Siege, though I imagine some Smash fans would skewer me for having anything to be jealous over. I always thought that stage could have been so much better if it represented an actual castle from one of the games. May I suggest Jehanna Sands, or Nox Castle?

Going forward, I hope more games will be able to have scenes and story moments highlighted like this in their stages. Northern Cave is a truly wonderful stage addition.

SEPHIROPH CHALLENGE: I like this! But make it harder! It's Sephiroth, it needs to be suffering! I beat Very Hard in less than 20 minutes literally playing on a single half-joycon that was missing the shoulders! It should have to take me several hours even on a proper controller!

Well, I suppose the nature of Smash is that as long as they can fall off the stage, you can always cheese the CPUs no matter how hard they get, so there's only so much you can do. Still, I was hoping for something more along the lines of 4* Spiritless... As a side note I played Robin because I figured I’d have a harder time playing Joker on a half joycon. Turns out Sephiroth CPU just suffers against Joker that much, because what took me 20 minutes with Robin I did with Joker on my first attempt anyway. CPU doesn’t know how to shield Joker’s multihit moves, shadow flare is Arsene fuel and eigaon eats stamina battles in general.

OVERALL: Probably my favourite new character pack since Joker or Terry. Northern Cave is one of the most impressive stages in Smash purely through the narrative in its background. Aerith's Theme and Main Theme of FFVII are already two of my favourite tracks in the game, so by that alone I'm already very pleased. The Sephiroth Challenge is a fun gimmick icing on the cake, even if it was pretty easy.

#ssbu #sephiroph #super smash bros ultimate #ssbu dlc #oh hey 1000 words #i'm proud of myself for having 1000 words to write and then writing them #final fantasy vii #ff7 #video games #fighting games

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spiritcc · 7 years

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Sherlock Holmes in Russia

For a country that the rest of the world completely overlooks when it comes to cinematography, Russia has contributed surprisingly quite a few adaptations to the Sherlock Holmes franchise, much to ACD’s dismay. Since you guise like lists with links and I’m very conveniently blogging about all kinds of Russian SH exclusively, I thought hey, why not make a comprehensive guide to Sherlock Holmes in Russia.

Russians grasped the concept of the hot British detective back when the stories were still fresh and funky, so the hysteria had a pretty early start already. The every-man, the smartest boy in town, the Sasuke to 2010′s tumblr: Sherlock Golmes

As per the fantabulous tradition, Holmes in the early translations fell under the H=G train just like Garry Potter and sir Genry, but well, they recovered soon, although the early history still remembers this weird phenomenon of Sherlock Golmes (or Golmts) in pre-revolution Russia.

Contains: pre-revolution grammar, Golmts, Vhatson

Theater soon caught up with the obsession, which resulted in Boris Glagolin securing his place as the first Russian Holmes on stage

Which in return, gave birth to the first still existing content:

Sherlock Holmes stage adaptations

Badly translated by yours truly.

You’d think they would just adapt the canon like normal people do, but jesus christ, in every story Holmes, that very same dude with no social life and couch as his best friend, keeps going all the way to freaking Russia to search for rich people’s missing jewelry. I am not joking in the slightest right now, the read will be wild. Interestingly enough, there is a strong sense of revolution already lingering in those plays, granted it’s 1906 onwards, if you follow me on this adaptational adventure you’ll see that Russians are really influenced by the mood of the country when creating new Holmes content. But it’s here already: some British detective suddenly involved in Russian drama of diamonds and freedom.

Contains: Holmes’ wife, MARIANI, explosions, first femlock, jewelry kinks, MOTHER RUSSIA

After this there was quite a long silence with lots of theater adaptations passing by without much notice. One of those highlights must be Vasily Lanovoy, THIS freaking man:

saying that yes he probably did play Holmes at some point, but he forgot when and how. Fuckin fantastic, Lanovoy, thnx for the input.

This continued up to 1971 even, when a few plays turned out to be so good they were honoured to get filmed for national television. This is how the earliest tv-adaptation has reached us, avocado millennials:

The Hound of the Baskervilles (1971): 1 | 2

No subtitles and never will be while I remain a proud man with standards.

This play is interesting because it’s the forbidden content tumblr craves for: all three plays were put on a shelf after one actor who played Watson in the Hound escaped abroad, and were never shown since. Decades later the Hound was miraculously discovered intact, restored and made available once again. That’s the sole interesting thing about this adaptation.

It is what you expect it to be: a two and a half hours tedious exactest motherfucking adaptation ever, you don’t even need subtitles for this, you only need to whip out your book, because every single freaking line is 100% according to text, but in Russian. It is what it is, what can I say, although it still has its own weird things like Frankland missing completely.

Contains: Henry and Watson sharing a bed, Mortimer touching Holmes’ skull, 2h30min of peaceful sleep while it plays

Everything went quiet until 1979 when things just decided to explode all at once, but I’ll start with what I at least think came first. In the span of the same year, Hound ‘71 got shelved, a Christmas Holmes musical came out, and as the final kick into the grave - that very Soviet Holmes series.

So, The Blue Carbuncle (1979) YT | Drive

I think this is the best adaptation on this pitiful planet because no other Holmes movie can inhale weed into your eyes right through the screen just as hard as this vid can. It’s fantastic how little it cares about canon and everything holy about Sherlock Holmes in general. Moreover, it’s a freaking Christmas musical shot for a country that doesn’t celebrate Christmas. It’s truly a gift for the mankind and has the lowest rating among all Russian SH adaptations because after finishing it, your eyes are so cloudy with weed you’re very likely to miss that deserved 10/10 with your trembling hands. Also, sneaky Igor Dmitriev somehow managed to star both in this shite, and the unholy Soviet series simultaneously as a villain and Inspector Gregson respectively. I have two sides indeed.

Contains: the least Holmes-looking Holmes you’ll ever see, off-key singing, the canon story with a twist, Shakespeare banter.

And here comes the blissful times of what is considered the best adaptation produced in Russia:

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson (1979 - 1986)

Subtitled poorly and uploaded in ever poorer quality by our beloved Lenfilm. Lenfilm: we hate the content we produce.

The last video in the playlist is both Hound episodes in bluray tho

This series is distinct by how very warm, healthy and snuggly it is, as they wanted to tell a story about friendship and better people. It is pretty close to canon, but granted it’s five movies in two parts mostly (as the majority of Soviet television adaptations went), they do combine, twist and turn things a bit. If you’re looking for faithful canon with no toxic sociopathic bs, lots of fun, heart-clutching and incredible music - that’s the series you will go to. This series is the sole GIANT Holmes thing in Russia and its influence is as big as ever, which sure has its ups and downs.

If you want to continue your course along the *Russians influenced by their times* theme, do pay attention to how English people and their interactions are represented, and especially note the sudden shift in mood of the last two episodes that were made right when Perestroika hit. People having no idea what life beyond the curtain looked like making up a dignified fantasy vs confronting worrying change. It’s subtle, but it’s there, pretty interesting as well.

Contains: lots of hugs, dead dogs, killer jams, Mycroft under a table, sir Henry and Watson getting smashed

*it might be worth noting that the same director decided to re-release the series weirdly in 2000 as a show about ACD hating life, Holmes and everything around him. The show mixed heartwarming series with the new hate, was aired like twice in its lifetime and is more remembered for all the lawsuits more than anything. But I respect Alexey Petrenko way too much to keep quiet about it.

After that we suddenly dipped into animation, resulting in

Sherlock Holmes and I (1986) short with Livanov as Holmes, subs provided.

A quick nonsensical story about Holmes and his best friend dog Tom. Yes. Has pretty killer electronic music and surprisingly famous actors on voicing for something this tiny.

Contains: a universe where Watson was never born, crocodile eating a banana, a dog having a mansion and Holmes still searching for pennies under his couch to afford a shitflat on 221Bitch Broke street.

After this new times hit big time, resulting in one of the first femlocks in the world:

My Dearly Beloved Detective (1986): YT | Drive

Youtube blocked the youtube vid hard recently, so it’s resting on google docs, subs provided.

I personally very love this movie as again it’s very healthy and non-toxic, very warm, all around the place, and yes, Holmes and Watson are women. Consider this movie the Soviet series’ little sister as it’s fully acknowledging Livanov, imitates its camera tricks and uses the same score granted the same composer is involved once again. Actually, that composer worked on all three adaptations, aka this movie, the series and the carbuncle. Wild stuff.

The movie is obviously not that fantastic and is safely forgotten in Russia, but I love it dearly nonetheless, and love it even more for how healthy it shows relationships getting sorted.

Contains: best Lestrade ever, crossdressing, bubble games, reused locations.

That was the last Soviet contribution as the next adaptation wouldn’t come out until 2005. Rest in pieces USSR, you were the golden age of Russian movies.

The next two dip us back into animation once again and are technically Ukrainian, but anyways. It’s the

Murder of Lord Waterbrook (2005) time, subs provided.

The short bases its characters on the Soviet series and slays them ruthlessly in the most hilarious fashion. Everyone is a fun idiot, everyone is a murder suspect, occasionally gay stomps in. Also, the short, save for the female roles, was voiced by one single guy. Tumblr will love the fact that this guy is the voice of Shrek in the Russian dub, so the cartoon was always in safe hands.

Contains: the origin of the gloryhole gif, tasty steak, 360p

Flash forward to 2013 and the same guys made this cartoon into a mini-series that we have also translated:

Sherlock Holmes and the Little Black Men (2013).

Six episodes add up to about 40min of overall watch time and follow a story with lots of canon and Soviet series references, more cool artstyle, music and jokes. Such a pity it’s so grossly overlooked as the cartoon is great fun and was made with love. Also, Shrek is back.

Contains: stupid Watson, cliffhangers, Totoro cameo

And here comes the last contribution to date, the very awesome

Sherlock Holmes (2013) series, subtitled with love.

This series, in my opinion, is a peak adaptation on topic *what if everything written in canon stories is bs*: it rewrites all the characters and the narrative from scratch, toys brilliantly with canon, references and easter eggs most of the previous Russian adaptations and a few Western ones, it’s incredibly well thought out and rewatching it at least once is a must because the plot is so ace and required double checking to understand it fully. It contains incredible acting, very consistent character traits, the bestest Watson to date and very entertaining stories.

Also, concluding so far the *big Russian Mood(tm)* arc, this series is blatantly, as confirmed by the director, about modern Russian social and political issues: bribery, racism, law meaning nothing, you name it. It’s a very good series and it deserves all the attention in the world.

Contains: british trump, bimbom bramsel, loser holmes, basil rathbone

And the last but not least:

this hilarious parody on classic, RDJ and BBC Holmes made by the parody show that knew it all too much. Don’t consider yourself a true Holmes fan if you’ve never seen it.

Contains: Lady Gaga, special subtitled gaze, “deduction”.

So here it is, the more or less comprehensive guide on all Russian Sherlock Holmes stuff I know, or at least consider important enough to mention. If you want to do some good old piracy, I always have the page ready with all the subs and best torrents.

It is indeed quite a few adaptations for a country so far away and wild, isn’t it.

#russian sherlock holmes #well many of them

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bangtan · 7 years

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[170523] BTS on What It Means Winning Billboard's Top Social Artist Award...and What's Next

At the Billboard Music Awards Sunday night, South Korea's seven-piece boy band BTS (Bangtan Boys, or "Bulletproof Boy Scouts" in English) made history when they become the first k-pop band to win the Top Social Artist award—beating Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez, and Ariana Grande to do it.

On Monday, their name was everywhere on U.S. outlets, with Rolling Stone, E! Online, Mashable, People, and more all posting explainers on who BTS is. This is BTS's biggest U.S. mainstream breakout moment yet, but not their first. BTS's global A.R.M.Y fan base has steadily been building since the band got together in 2013. Their love of the band and social media power have helped propel the boys to a level of global recognition few other k-pop bands have achieved.

BTS's members—Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Rap Monster, Jimin, V, and Jungkook—have released nine albums and are wrapping up Episode III of their worldwide Live Trilogy Tour. They write their own songs that cover many genres (everything from hip-hop and rap to power ballads) and have received accolades for their perfectly-synced, elaborate choreography on stage and in their music videos. Twitter gave them a special emoji; the band's U.S. shows sold out in hours.

ELLE.com interviewed BTS ahead of the award show about what winning Billboard's Top Social Artist award would mean to them, how they came together at company Big Hit Entertainment (in South Korea, music companies recruit and put together bands of artists called idols) and what to expect next.

U.S. news outlets say you're on the cusp of "blowing up" in the U.S. How has it felt for you guys taking in all this?

Rap Monster: I think so many miracles have happened, from Twitter emoji to the Billboard Music Awards. But at the same time, we're just getting started and there are still more amazing things to accomplish for BTS and we cant wait for that to happen.

J-Hope: It's such an honor for BTS, and I'd have to say it's only a beginning. We want to and will go further and higher. It's all possible with the support of our fans around the world.

Jungkook: It's sometimes just unbelievable; partially maybe it was a bit of luck. But we do our best and keep working no matter what. The fans supported us so much, they love us. We'd like to go higher from here.

What would it mean to you guys to win the Top Social Artist award at the BBMAs?

Rap Monster: It's just an awesome thing to happen for BTS—first, being invited to the BBMAs where all these top-notch artists gather in the same place. If we win Top Social Artists Award, it is made possible by A.R.M.Ys (our fans) around the world, and our honor and gratitude goes directly to them.

What impact would you like to make on the U.S. music scene?

Suga: I want to be on the Billboard Hot 100 with a single that has Korean lyrics.

Jimin: I wish BTS could set up a model for k-pop with the best music and content so we have a positive impact on the U.S. music scene.

Can you tell me a bit about your backstory? You are all incredible lyricists, singers, and dancers. How did you build those skills and know music was your calling?

Rap Monster: I loved writing lyrics for rap when I was in junior high. I loved studying, but somehow I wanted to be a rapper who can write and rap.

Suga: I have [been] writing rhymes and lyrics, a habit since I was a kid. They are all the little minor feelings and thoughts that go through my mind. I shuffle them a year or so later, and they sometimes become great lyrics for songs.

J-Hope: When I was a little kid, I simply loved music and enjoyed expressing myself with my body. Everyone liked me when I went up on the stage at a talent search in elementary school, and that's when I decided to become a music artist.

How did all seven of you come together to join your company Big Hit Entertainment—and ultimately, the final line up of BTS?

Rap Monster: I was introduced to our executive producer, "hitman" Bang, and auditioned in front of him. He told me later that he felt his destiny was to create a "hip-hop idol band" when he first met me. SUGA joined the team after me and j-hope was the third member (he was quite popular for his dancing in his hometown). With the rest of the four members joining the band, BTS was born in 2013.

You guys are going to the Billboard Music Awards ceremony. What are you most looking forward to?

Jin: Everything!! It's my first time in Las Vegas and at the BBMAs. Looking forward to everything about it.

Jimin: Being invited to the awards itself is a thrill and a chill.

V: Performances of all the legends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You've also been playing across the U.S. What's been your favorite memory from the U.S. stretch of your tour?

Jin: On the tour, I noticed that quite a number of people spoke Korean to communicate with us. It was so great, and they were special moments.

V: Every one of the shows on the U.S.—the tour was unforgettable. Personally, it was my favorite moments when I went to MoMA [Museum of Modern Art] in NY and the Chicago Art Museum.

What sets you apart from other k-pop groups is the fact you are so personal in your lyrics and willing to speak out about mental health. How have the songs you've written—and expressing those feelings through music—helped you grow as young men?

Rap Monster: My songs have made me someone who constantly observes society and wants to be a person who can have [a] better, positive impact on other people.

J-Hope: The music helped me sympathize with our young generation and also empathize with them. I'd like to create and write more music that represents them.

What message do you hope people take from your music?

Suga: I want people to get positive energy from our music. Life is tough, and things don't always work out well, but we should be brave and go on with our lives.

J-Hope: We deliver many different messages to people of our generation. I want them to get good energy by listening to BTS music.

Jimin: It would be really great if our music continues to touch people. Once your heart is moved, it will develop to something better and positive.

"ONCE YOUR HEART IS MOVED, IT WILL DEVELOP TO SOMETHING BETTER AND POSITIVE." -JIMIN

If you together had to make a seven song playlist for a BTS new listener, what songs do you recommend they listen to?

J-Hope: "No More Dream", "Boy In Luv", "DOPE", "FIRE", "Save Me", "Blood Sweat & Tears", "Not Today".

Your dancing is incredible. For someone who isn't as familiar with your music, what music video do you believe shows off your best choreography as a group?

"DOPE" & "Save ME".

What was the hardest routine to pick up?

"Spring Day": Very modern dance-kind of choreography.

You guys are about to wrap Episode III of your BTS Live Trilogy tour. What can fans look forward to seeing explored next in your music?

Jin: We're still working on it, but as you have seen it on last tours, whatever comes next is going to be exciting and special.

Jimin: New storyline going to be new and something we can all enjoy. I look forward to your support!

How has your song-writing evolved as you've worked together? Has your success in the U.S. and internationally changed the way you write your music at all, knowing it's for a global audience?

Suga: It has not changed my style. I try not to be influenced by success or popularity.

Jungkook: It's made me want to create more fresh and better music and that's why we all try to listen and study more music.

What song has meant the most to you that you've written and why?

Rap Monster: Probably "Spring Day." I wrote the melody and lyrics for the song .

Suga: All the songs I've written. They made me a better person and helped me grow up.

J-Hope: "Mama". It was my first solo track, and it means much to me because it's about my mother.

Rap Monster, this one is for you: I heard you taught yourself English by watching 'Friends,' which is impressive! What character do you think you're most like? And what Friends character do you think each of your bandmates is most like?

Rap Monster: Chandler! I've always admired his sense of humor. But I can't choose a bandmate like him….

Joey: Jungkook

Ross: Jin

Phoebe: V

Monica: RM [Rap Monster]

Rachel: Cannot decide

#bangtan #ot7 #rm #jin #suga #jhope #jimin #v #jungkook #t:interview #c:usa #170523

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