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pikablob · 2 years

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3 4 5 17 18 19 26 and 35

3. What is your writing ritual and why is it cursed?

I write on my phone, which I think is cursed in and of itself, but I do it while using my PC to have clips of the characters open XD

4. What’s a word that makes you go absolutely feral?

Recalcitrant - I haven't had the chance to use it yet, though.

5. Do you have any writing superstitions? What are they and why are they 100% true?

The more people I tell about a fic, the less likely I am to write it soon - I think it just eats away at my motivation to write, because I've already shared it, but it's funnier to think of as a curse XD

17. Talk to me about the minutiae of your current WIP. Tell me about the lore, the history, the detail, the things that won’t make it in the text.

Honestly my current at-the-moment WIP is just a little thing about the Collector from Owl House being taken in by Eda. I genuinely think that they're just a kid who doesn't understand consequences, not malicious at all, and once he realises what he's been doing, it's going to hurt; that's what this is all about.

At the moment, the fic doesn't really go into any context besides that the Collector has been redeemed and adopted; I like to think there's a new council overseeing the Isles, and that things are better now. I also intend to only mention it briefly, but Luz is still living with Eda in this post-canon AU (Endings Come In Increments might technically be the same canon) :))

18. Choose a passage from your writing. Tell me about the backstory of this moment. How you came up with it, how it changed from start to end.

So she felt a sting of disappointment as she peered down the streets, and found a tall yellow crane where the tower should have been. Getting closer, she could see that most of the building was gone; one big chunk of the facade still stood, the bit to the left of the tower, and some of the walls and rooms behind it were still up. But they were lined with the ragged edges of removed floors, and the rest of the lot was now just dirt, churned up by rumbling machines. A tall temporary fence halved the width of the pavement, and as Johanna’s gaze fell down, she caught sight of someone standing by it, watching the demolition. As she got closer, she could see they looked about her age, maybe a little older, with long blue hair falling down behind a red jumper. Something about the set of their shoulders made Johanna pause; there was just something forlorn about their stance, watching an excavator tear down part of the building. Talking to new people always made Johanna nervous; she was always scared they’d think she was weird. But she was sure the other kid was upset, and even if Mum and Dad never came to her badge ceremonies, she was the highest-achieving Sparrow Scout in the West Trolberg Flock for a reason. The oath said to do a good thing every day, and asking the other kid what was wrong was a good thing, wasn’t it? So Johanna stepped up to them, swallowing down her nervousness. The blue-haired kid didn’t seem to notice her, so she cleared her throat, and gingerly broke the silence. “Umm, hello?”

from The Twenty-Year Day. I want to bring this up, because this little moment is actually inspired by a dream I had. I was walking home slowly after missing my train (I was a little kid, coming home from school), and I met a girl about my age in the dream who was panicking because she'd also missed the train and her parents would be angry with her. I ended up comforting her, and we stopped to watch some construction together, just as kind-of a way to show her that sometimes it was okay to slow down. I actually dreamed of her again recently (her name was Olivia), but out first meeting was what inspired this bit of Twenty-Year Day :))

19. Tell me a story about your writing journey. When did you start? Why did you start? Were there bumps along the way? Where are you now and where are you going?

I started out writing fanfic before I knew what fanfiction was; it was just how I'd always experience media, coming up with my own ideas as I went. The first fic I ever wrote was called Yet Another Cupcakes Derivative (anyone who can tell me what fandom that was for can have a medal), and I've just kinda been going on since then XD

26. How do you get into your character’s head? How do you get out? Do you ever regret going in there in the first place?

I just try and hear their voice? Like, if I can put the lines I'm giving them into their voice, then I know I'm on the right track - everything else between me and the page is projection

35. What’s your favorite writing rule to smash into smithereens?

Hmmm - I actually like epithets even though I don't use them too much :))

#ask pika #friends #sara <3

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crackinwise · 3 years

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Stepping back into my house-building universe [X] to tell you

Taka has this thing where, every once in a while, he will be going about his day at home--maybe pouring tea or cleaning his desk or opening the front door or crawling into bed--and has to suddenly pause in complete awe, then call or turn to face Mondo to yell, "YOU BUILT ME A HOUSE!"

And after his mind catches up to that non-sequitur, Mondo always smiles really wide, proud and smug, and says back, "I SURE DID! Why, want another one? I'll build anythin ya need, doll!"

#forgive him the realization of being so loved and cared for comes in waves #technically part 3 of my house building journey posts #ishimondo #kiyotaka ishimaru #mondo oowada #danganronpa

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swanlake1998 · 3 years

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Article: Ashton Edwards Is Breaking Down Gender Barriers in Ballet

Date: July 1, 2021

By: Marcie Sillman

When Ashton Edwards was 3 years old, the Edwards family went to see a holiday production of The Nutcracker in their hometown, Flint, MI.

For the young child, it was love at first sight.

"I saw a beautiful, black Clara," Ashton says, "and I wanted to be just like her."

Ashton has dedicated 14 years of ballet training in pursuit of that childhood dream. But all the technical prowess in the world can't help Ashton surmount the biggest hurdle—this aspiring dancer was born male, and for the vast majority of boys and men, performing in pointe shoes hasn't been a career option. But Ashton Edwards, who uses the pronouns "he" and "they," says it's high time to break down ballet's gender barrier, and their teachers and mentors believe this passionate dancer is just the person to lead the charge.

A Childhood in Motion

Ashton's mother, Latisha Edwards, says for as long as she can remember, Ashton, the sixth of seven Edwards siblings, has been in constant motion, dancing on any flat surface in the house. "He'd crash into plates in the kitchen," she laughs. She knew she had to find something to focus all that energy.

The year after the family trip to Nutcracker, when Ashton was just 4 years old, Latisha signed them up for a dance class offered through Flint's Head Start program. Karen Jennings, now chair of the dance division at the Flint School of Performing Arts, ran the Saturday program at the time.

"There was this little guy out in the hallway," Jennings remembers. It was Ashton, and Jennings saw the child was copying the students in her intermediate class.

"I was afraid he was going to fall and crack his head open," she says. "So, I invited him into the studio."

Jennings recognized Ashton's natural flexibility, rotation and body proportions, the physical assets that often propel a hopeful ballet dancer to success. Beyond these gifts, Ashton had what Jennings calls a "spark": the enthusiasm and self-discipline to devote to regular ballet classes. Once the Edwards family decided Ashton would continue ballet training, Jennings was happy to place them in her classes with the more advanced students. She kept a close eye on the aspiring dancer throughout their 12 years in the Flint School of Performing Arts program—though Ashton's journey there wasn't always easy.

Ashton was one of only a handful of boys in the school, and one of very few Black students. And though Ashton never felt treated differently, their keen awareness of being Black in a room full of white dancers created a pressure to excel.

"I've had to be 12 times better than everyone else my whole life," Ashton says. "We have no choice but to be the best if we want to be treated equally."

Finding a Dance Home in Seattle

By the time Ashton was 11 or 12, it became clear they had the raw skills to pursue ballet seriously, and Jennings met with the Edwards family to spell out what that would mean: leaving Flint for more rigorous pre-professional training. Latisha Edwards worried about sending her child out of town, but she supported their decision to enroll in summer classes at both Chicago's Joffrey Ballet and then at Houston Ballet.

Although Jennings believed the Joffrey would be a good long-term fit, at age 16 Ashton decided to audition for Pacific Northwest Ballet's summer intensive. They traveled to Chicago where the Seattle-based dance company was holding a large, regional audition. PNB artistic director Peter Boal says managing director Denise Bolstad spotted Ashton before he did.

"Her eyes got bigger, then she pointed to the name and audition number on the card." Boal immediately saw what Bolstad had noticed in Ashton. "His lines, his energy, his placement."

But something even more special struck Boal: This teenager had the kind of stage presence that's difficult to teach. "There are dancers that you just look at them, and they have their own special spotlight."

Boal offered Ashton a summer spot; despite their mother's qualms about the distance from Flint to Seattle, she let her son travel west, where they fell in love with both PNB and Seattle. After the summer, Boal accepted Ashton into the company's Professional Division training program.

Chasing the Dream of Dancing On Pointe

While the move to PNB made sense in terms of preparation for a professional ballet career, it didn't ensure that Ashton could immediately pursue gender-blind ballet training. In fact, the teenager didn't even consider it at first.

"Growing up I always knew all the choreography for the female roles," Ashton says. "I learned everything, but those were unreachable dreams, just insane fantasies." So, when Ashton first arrived at PNB, they focused on traditional men's classes, and on building strength, to develop into what they call a "man's man."

But the pandemic hit midway through Ashton's first year at PNB. When the ballet school shut down, Ashton had time to reflect on their efforts to fit the male ballet dancer stereotype. At 5' 6" with long, slender limbs and androgynous facial features, they didn't necessarily resemble a Romeo or an Albrecht. And deep down, they still harbored the dream of dancing Juliet or Giselle.

So, during quarantine in the spring and summer of 2020, Ashton embarked on a rigorous self-directed training program. They sought out online pointe technique videos, studying them carefully. A friend gave Ashton her old pointe shoes, and every day they'd go outside to the patio to practice what they'd seen in the videos.

"I was out there for six hours a day, as soon as the sun came out," says Ashton. "And I realized, maybe this dream is possible."

So, last fall Ashton approached Boal and Bolstad with a proposition: The dancer would continue with the official men's curriculum if the school would allow them to pursue pointe classes, as well. And they showed the teachers what they'd learned over the summer.

"I had no hesitation," Boal remembers. "If anyone had said to me 'This student has danced on pointe for just nine months and this is what they're able to do,' I wouldn't believe it!"

The Lewis and Clark of the Ballet World

Since classes resumed last September, Ashton has juggled a rigorous schedule: two days a week they take pointe class with their Professional Division female colleagues; the other three days they're working with the male students, although sometimes they take that class in pointe shoes as well.

Former PNB principal dancer Jonathan Porretta, one of Ashton's instructors, says he never knew his student wanted to dance on pointe until last fall, when Ashton started posting photos to their Instagram account.

Porretta says he has always approached teaching his classes outside male and female roles. For him, ballet is about working toward technique and developing the artist.

For his part, Porretta calls Ashton a "star," someone he believes can help pave a new future for men, and women, in ballet. Porretta says it's time for the art form to loosen its hide-bound gender roles.

"There will be some companies very ready to be thrust into the future of dance, while others are more set in their ways," Porretta says. "But art is here to push boundaries and possibilities."

PNB soloist Joshua Grant agrees. Years ago, when he was a young student, Grant's ballet teacher suggested he take pointe classes to help strengthen his ankles. He loved dancing on pointe, but professionally it didn't seem like an option for him. In 2006, after stints with both PNB and National Ballet of Canada, Grant auditioned for, and was hired by, Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo, the all-male troupe known for its campy send-ups of classic ballets.

"I was told it would be career suicide," Grant recalls, because "men on pointe? That's either drag or comedy."

After five years as a principal dancer with the Trocks, Grant returned to PNB, where he's back to performing traditional male roles and developing his own choreographic career. He's currently creating a dance for Ashton and some of their fellow students, for Next Step, PNB's choreographers' showcase. Ashton will be on pointe. Like Porretta, Grant is excited that a young dancer like Ashton is eager to push to transform a centuries-old art form.

"I told Ashton, 'You're like Lewis and Clark, making your own path,'" Grant says. "'There's no precedent, so do what you want to do.'"

Looking Ahead

Ashton is hoping to embark on a career dancing with companies that will cast them not only in gender-blind contemporary work, but in the traditional roles from ballet's classical canon, everything from Odette/Odile in Swan Lake to the long-coveted Clara in The Nutcracker.

"I want to be part of changing, evolving those traditions to modern day life," says Ashton. "We can preserve those ballets, those classic works, but also make them reflect our modern world."

Boal believes in Ashton's ability to be a ballet change-maker; more than that, he's convinced that ballet has to welcome gender-blind casting and men performing on pointe as more than a novelty act.

"We're not going to laugh at this or point at it," Boal says. "We're going to admire it, and eventually we're not even going to talk about it as something out of the ordinary, as it continues to evolve."

Despite the support Ashton has received in their quest to be a nonbinary professional dancer, landing a job is tough for any ballet student, let alone for a Black dancer. But Ashton professes faith that they can make their dreams come true.

"I just decided, my entire life, this is what I'm going to do. This makes me happy, so I have to do it," Ashton says. "There is no other way I can exist."

#ashton edwards #ballet #article #dance spirit magazine

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hanamuranobuyuki · 3 years

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About the Amanda, Jyushi, Jiro, Love, Life series

Today I thought I would try to give a little bit of insight to the ongoing series right now. It’s surprisingly been a couple of months since I began this journey, and with how much I have planned to write for this, it will probably take a few more until I’ve written all that I have planned out. With the sheer length of these works it does take a long time, so I might have forgotten about a loooot of stuff, but I’ll try to list off the things I remember quq. If you’re interested in reading some of these backstories, you can after the line break^^

For those interested in reading the series as it gets updated, you can read it here! I hope you enjoy this!

To be completely honest, I should have been done with this little excursion after writing Amanda’s Journey to Bringing Jyushi Happiness. I thought that this much was enough, and I was having low confidence issues as to whether or not things were likable, if they were in character (or somewhat at the very least...) and the list could go on forever.

But ideas kept popping into my head and what was supposed to be disjointed scenes out of everyday life for Jiro and Jyushi as they manage a long distance relationship after only being together for a day turned into Closing the Distance Between Us..... quite comical if you ask me considering the word count just got longer from there *cries into the distance*

But to tell you the truth, I’m happy I continued this journey despite the challenges. I feel like the way I’m progressing through this is giving it a more complete story that embodies the “circle of life and love” I imagine thanks to Amanda’s existence. This is also the reason why I named the series the Amanda, Jyushi, Jiro, Love, Life series. It’s a circle of connections, founded by Amanda, and it branches off into love for Jyushi and Jiro, which betters their life and/or changes it drastically from what it could have been. So with that kinda pushed out of the way, lemme tell you about some good old background info.

1. Amanda’s Journey to Bringing Jyushi Happiness is not my first Jiroshi fic

... it’s just the first one I’ve completed. After being immersed in the Hypmi fanfic archives and devouring the sweetness that is Jiroshi I started thinking about things I could write. The first one came in the form of Jyushi wearing red lipstick, which to this day I don’t know if I’m making it fluff or more explicit but I was hooked on the idea and... stopped writing 500 words into the work. The second one came in the form of An Outrageous Circumstance. I wasn’t surprised about Buster Bros making an appearance in my strange dreams, but after reflecting on it I realized I could use this and switch Jyushi with me in the dream plot. I fortunately did manage to finish writing that, so if you’d like to read that, you can here.

Amanda’s Journey to Bringing Jyushi Happiness was born from the concept that Amanda has more of an importance to Jyushi’s life than ever imagined. I wondered, what would happen if Amanda had a soul and supported Jyushi? And from there this was born. Initially I was content with leaving it as it was since I didn’t know just how much power I could give Amanda, but they grew on me so much okay? I practically love Amanda as much as I do Jyushi and Saburo. I can’t produce them tho aha... having Amanda as a support person is one of the best things I could write for Jyushi. And I hope people can enjoy this as much as I have.

2. The soulmates concept is mostly forgotten about 90% of the time for me.

Whenever I write more installments I forget that this is kind of a soulmates au, based on the fact that Amanda can see the fated linkage between Jyushi and Jiro. I always imagine this is kinda like a semi rewrite of canon world but at the same time it’s like it’s own little world quq. But whenever I have to stop and think about how much fluff I need to add and just sequential things like that... the soulmates concept come out. I guess I do have to thank myself for actually remembering about it every once in awhile XD

But I will mention that this fate concept will come out more in some of the newer installments. I have prewritten something a little more into the future that heavily talks about the fated pair deal. I hope you’ll look forward to it!

2.1. Why is Jiro the only one that has a fated string?

I wrote this specifically in Amanda’s point of view. If anyone had a fated string, Amanda would believe this person to be Jyushi’s fated partner, because their duty is to look over Jyushi and make sure he receives the happiness he deserves. Amanda cannot see the fated strings of anyone else in the world, because Jyushi is all Amanda truly cares about. Think of it as a special gift Amanda was gifted by the gods for their journey to giving Jyushi his happiness.

From here, I don’t know what else might be important, but I’ll list off some other things that might’ve been written in notes and other things like that.

3. Jyushi has “graduated” high school.

Jyushi’s school circumstances are kinda strange now that I think about it. THINKING ABOUT IT LOGICALLY, Jyushi should be a third year in high school at his age of 18 (or at least... I thought so lmao). Instead, I’ve given him a job and a life outside of school lol. So I’ll just say Jyushi got into school a little earlier than he should have thanks to his parent’s frequent travels abroad. He was raised by his grandmother most of the time, whenever his parents couldn’t stay in Japan. Around middle school, Jyushi transferred to a middle school that was closer to his grandmother’s residence, rather than feed into the middle school his elementary school was joined with, so then the commute from his grandmother’s residence wouldn’t be as problematic.

Amanda was born around this time, and they got to witness the extremely difficult times Jyushi faced. When Jyushi’s grandmother passes, Jyushi moves in with his aunt and uncle who lived in the next town over. Feeling bad about being a nuisance when they were planning on having a family, Jyushi finds a high school with a boarding plan so he doesn’t have to inconvenience them any more than he did. Along with these plans Jyushi also found part time jobs that were allowed in accordance to the school rules. This is where he finds his passion with making music, which is more than just listening to it and singing in general.

Jyushi was fortunate enough that he had his own dorm. Most of that reason came in the form of his “eccentric personality” which came out a lot whenever he was nervous. He had classmates who talked to him, but he didn’t really have friends. With that said and done, Jyushi quietly progressed through school and quietly graduated around his 18th birthday. He was already set with a job though, with the label he is currently under giving him a contract whilst in his third year of high school. The company officially advertises Argo Kishii Gakudan, and Jyushi becomes the lead singer who produces everything on his own. They gain popularity almost instantly thanks to the copious amount of lives they have done.

Technically, Argo Kishii Gakudan was already a couple years old however. They were made up of Jyushi’s upperclassmen that recognized his talent for music, Takeru, Jun, and Keisuke. You will see more of them in Side N. But because they were so small, and had to pay for all their bookings and everything on their own, going out to share their music, even when they were a hit in their frequent live houses, was nearly impossible. Thanks to the backing of their label, Argo Kishii Gakudan was able to perform around the country and do tours. The fateful one that brings Jiro and Jyushi together is their first one to Ikebukuro.

Jyushi in the current day doesn’t have many opportunities to see his mother and father. They’re successful in their own respective companies, and it shows in the way they send copious amounts of money to Jyushi whenever they can’t meet. Jyushi never has used it though, instead saving it and using only his own earnings from his contract and his previous part time jobs.

Sooo that’s my sorry attempt to document the reason why Jyushi doesn’t attend school lmao. And maybe a little insight on Argo Kishii Gakudan lol.

4. Room settings are soooo difficult to envision, especially whenever they’re different from whatever it is you’re looking at

When I started writing Side: I, and even before when I was writing the ending of Closing the Distance Between Us, I didn’t have the image of Jiro’s room to refer to. How I imagined his room was somewhat drastically different, and thanks to that, I ended up not really giving much of a description to those fics. As of today though, I wrote some hefty descriptions of Jyushi’s room because it’s building up on the imagery I had, in combination to Jyushi’s room in ARB.

You’ll get to read it in the next fic I post from this series. Hope you look forward to it!!

5. Music kinda defines a lot of my inspirations to adding to this series

I listen to music all the time while I’m writing. As a result, there are times I get sidetracked based on songs that come to the shuffle. When I wrote Amanda’s Journey to Bringing Jyushi Happiness and Closing the Distance Between Us, I shuffled a lot of the Hypmi music into my playlist, with a focus on Moonlight Shadow XD. But then I started writing Side: I, and then I came across a really inspirational song when I watched a Men’s Rhythmic Gymnastics routine. While I don’t really associate with the story this song was for, I love this song enough I played it on repeat for like. 80% of that fic entirely.

There’s a couple lines where Jiro thinks about how some romantic music would be playing in the background if it was a drama of some sorts, and this song was a tribute to the fact I was listening to one song... almost entirely. Please listen to it here.

For Side: I-02, another song was put on replay for a little while as well. I made mention of it in the upload post I did for that fic, but I’ll list it here as well.

I hope you’ll give these tracks a listen one day!

7. Some references kinda inside the fics.

I guess I’ll wrap up this mini list of nonsense by mentioning some things I’ve added into these fics based on inspiration from other things or just in random I guess.

Amanda’s Journey to Bringing Jyushi Happiness: I didn’t know how a love at first sight type of story with soulmates au would work out when I wrote it. I was inspired to write the arcade portion of the date because 1. I wanted to write a kiss segment. And 2. I thought arcade dates would be enjoyable XD.

Closing the Distance Between Us: I never expected this would be in sequential order, like I think I mentioned earlier. I intended on this being more like texting and messaging moments between the two while coping with their long distance relationship. Because of this... I... I don’t really know. I didn’t have an excuse to write this XD I just loved the two and my inspiration was the fuel that was this series? Ahahaha XD

You, Me, and Summer: Side I: a lot of romantic feels fueled this fic, among other things. I was inspired to write a whole lot on Jyushi’s hair routine bc of the tsunami season voice lines on ARB. When I did write this, I was also watching a sports anime called Bakuten. It is a Men’s rhythmic gymnastics anime, and it was what I mentioned when Jyushi watches the anime with Ichiro. The game that they all play is the Game of Life, more or less. I played a few games from the game boy edition just to get a grasp on the game ahaha. But the reason why I added this game was because the ARB event that ran me over with Jiro and Jyushi SSRs. They were event scout SSRs... and the fact that I was drowning in Jiroshi feels only to have MORE thanks to official content even if they weren’t in the same team just made me internally scream and dance all night long.

These two... destroyed my account in more ways than one. I’m now technically a Jiro and Jyushi stan rather than a Saburo and Jyushi stan bc Saburo or Ichiro on that matter never come home. But thanks to this I had to play enough to rank on two accounts. Thus... the one month delay.

Side I-02: because of this event, I decided that they should okay their own human sized Life game. I had to give tribute to the event that wrecked me aha. When I was writing this, I drew something on the side as well. . . And while I’m not sure I like it anymore, I thought I’d share it as well.

One hour of watching the sun rise and not being able to sleep led me to drawing this prototype on a whim. And because I’m a fan of drawing Jyushi’s wardrobe... I thought it would be fun ahaha XD I am a newbie still when it comes to digitally drawing but I am happy at how this turned out!

Finally, I will make mention of the haunted house. While hopping through logs on pixiv, I came across some log that showed how Jiro and Jyushi are scared of scary things, but Jyushi is like a sobbing mess and Jiro is just flat out scared. And later, I heard Jiro react negatively to a horror movie in ARB. When I heard this, I couldn’t resist the temptation! And since technically, Jiro and Jyushi don’t know more about each other than you would think, I thought it was a good opportunity to get them to know something else about them.

Sooo... I think that’s all I can think of right now! I hope you enjoyed learning about some of these small tidbits I could remember when I started working on this series. There’s a lot more to this you can look forward to, and I hope you look forward to it!

I will also apologize in advance for the sheer amount of mistakes there may be. I am my own beta, and I’m usually finishing these up at 5am like clockwork XD whenever I hit a slump in my writing, or miraculously reach the end of this series, I will make sure to clean them up I swear TTuTT thank you for understanding QuQ

If you have any questions, you can ask me here! I’ll try to get to them as quickly as possible. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

#hypnosis mic #aimono jyushi #yamada jiro #jiroshi #amanda-jyushi-jiro-love-life talks #behind the fic #please let me know if you wold like to learn more about any of these fics as I’m uploading them!#I do hope this is enjoyable for you to read!#Thank you for your support QuQ

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underthedekutree · 4 years

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Young Link might have PTSD - Part 2: Termina is NOT a Parallel World, Technically

This is a continuation of my last post so if you’re seeing this and haven’t read it, go here.

This is the part where I somewhat smoothly segue into Majora’s Mask. Link, lonely and filled with unprocessed trauma, leaves Hyrule in search of Navi. According to most sources (which take from Hyrule Historia probably? don’t quote me on it), Link falls down a hole into Termina, a parallel world to Hyrule, that contains many familiar looking denizens of Hyrule, but playing different roles. And well, if you probably guessed by the title, I have a rather different interpretation.

Okay, so in a nutshell my theory is that Termina is in fact all a dream, kind of like Koholint Island. Except the one dreaming up this world isn’t some deity like the Giants or Skull Kid or the Moon. It’s Link.

(big explainey hoo hah below)

Evidence 1: Link begins the game sleeping. Yes, I know literally every Zelda game begins this way and it’s a whole tradition thing. I am beginning with the weakest points first and working my way up to the strong ones. We’ll get there.

Evidence 2: The reuse of character and environment models from Ocarina of Time. The literal IRL reason for this is of course the game famously being given only one year of production time, which meant that the most practical method was to reuse as much material from MM’s predecessor as possible (eg. Romani Ranch sign is the Kakariko Village sign, and still says Kakariko Village on it). It seems like a rather offhand afterthought for Nintendo to chalk it all up to “oh its just a parallel world like Link to the Past or something. But think of it like this; when we dream, we often see familiar people from throughout our lives put in strange and unexpected situations, like that irritable old farmhand you hated so much is now a depressed circus master for some reason. Dreams don’t make sense. Things you know will mix with other strange inexplicable things, fleeting thoughts in your mind, all roughly tied together by whatever emotions you had been feeling when you went to bed. Malon is split into two people, Romani and Cremia, her older and younger self. This might reflect how Link feels about Malon, that she changed so much in those 7 years that she’s like a different person entirely, that it’s hard for him to process that they are the same, because the change was so shockingly sudden for him.

Evidence 3: Gorons in the snow, Gerudo by the sea. Yes, I know that sounds a lot like good evidence for a parallel world (that’s why the idea is widely accepted in the first place, it has merit), but it also works in as dream world evidence too. As a child, my family was obsessed with skiing. We would go to the same mountain every winter, and we would stay at the same lodge. It almost became like a second home for me. So much so, that one night I dreamed that my house had been replaced by the lodge, so it wasn’t on a snow-capped mountain, but in a bushy Australian suburb. Okay that kinda got off subject but I’m bad at conclusions so in summary Dreams Just Be Like That (tm). You get what I’m saying right? No? Sorry, let’s just move on.

Evidence 4: The Milk Bar. AKA my favourite location in the game! It’s often overlooked as the “haha funny they couldn’t put alcohol in kids game so its kiddy milk hee hee”, but it is actually a strong thematic pillar of Majora’s Mask. As I mentioned in Part 1, if you put a 9 year old in a 16 year old’s body and call him an adult before ripping that all away is probably going to leave the kid with an identity crisis. What is a mature place open at late hours when children are sleeping? A bar. What is a drink associated with the young, being produced for the purpose of helping children grow? Milk. No please don’t go I swear there’s more to this, stay with me. In order to gain access to the bar, Link must prove he is mature enough by wearing a mask, a disguise, like Adult Link is to Young Link. Being adult isn’t earned through years of natural living experience and mental development, it’s a thing you are given by adults to just BE when they deem you worthy, at least from how Link sees it. So that is the amalgamation of dream thoughts that is the Milk Bar. Is it mature? Is it childish? What is the line between the two? Is there one? It’s the culmination of his anxieties and confusions that he doesn’t know how to express. Another, smaller expression of this anxiety is the Clock Town Guards. When Link is a Deku, the guards say they don’t allow children outside the gates. When Link turns back however, the guard goes to stop him because he looks too young, but sees that he has a sword, and lets him pass. Why the sword? Well, in one way this is a callback to Kokiri Forest, where Mido doesn’t let Link see the Deku Tree until he has a sword. But also, what is the item that lets Link travel through time and become an adult in OOT? The Master Sword. Link seems to believe that adulthood is measured by the things you have, physical markers of maturity, which is how lots of children see adulthood. You’re an adult if you can drink, if you’re tall, if you’re married, if you have a house, a car etc. But in reality this isn’t how it works. Heck, I’m technically an adult but I sure as hell don’t feel like one, because I know I still have things to learn about responsibility, patience and all the other things, that can only come with time, which is the moral conclusion of OOT, but clearly Link missed the memo. Don’t get me wrong, there are some indicators to show he’s grown a bit. He can ride Epona, use the bow, do flips like some kind of acrobat etc. But those strange and confused feelings linger, and manifest in the young boy’s dreams.

Evidence 5: The four transformation masks. The four masks represent different aspects of Link’s self, and the way he grew and changed in OOT. Deku Scrub the Innocent, Goron the Confident, Zora the Mature and Fierce Deity the Hero. Link began only knowing the Kokiri Forest, and nothing of the world outside. As he set out on his journey, he grew more confident in his skills and defeated greater foes. When evil took over, he learned from his fatal mistake and worked to right it. And when it was finally time to face the greatest threat, he was ready, with all the heart pieces, bottles full of fairies, Biggoron Sword in hand. At that moment he struck the final blow he probably felt like the strong and unstoppable hero everyone in Hyrule told him he needed to be. And that feeling of pure uncompromising strength, with the whole world behind him, manifested in the Fierce Deity. Fierce Deity is much taller than Adult Link, and packs so much of a punch that he can beat Majora without batting an eye, like some overpowered Super Saiyan. It reminds me a lot of Undertale, with young Asriel becoming what he imagines to be an all-powerful godlike being, like something you’d see as a children’s drawing. Fierce Deity gives off those vibes, like “he has a HUGE SWORD that SHOOTS BEAMS OF LIGHT and he’s 8 FOOT TALL and CAN KILL ENEMIES IN A SINGLE BLOW!!” Before the final battle on the moon, when Majora gives you the mask, he childishly asks if you want to play a game of good guys and bad guys. And the good guy always wins, no matter what. Fierce Deity makes the final boss a cakewalk, but its supposed to.

Evidence 6: Anju and Kafei. Short one, because it falls a lot into everything else I’ve said regarding childhood vs adulthood. Kafei is effectively a switcheroo of what happened to Link in OOT. An adult shrunk back to childhood, uncomfortable in his new body and looking for a way to fix everything. He’s a reflection of how Link now kinda feels like an adult in a child’s body, because he had started to be used to being called an adult.

Evidence 7: The Moon. I haven’t super touched on the main meat of the game yet, so here it is. The moon and the 3 day mechanic is an allegory for constant mounting pressure, that builds and builds, never ceasing, because the world is in danger, and there’s only one person who has been chosen to save it. I’ve always been interested in the Chosen One narrative, and how different media explore the idea of the world’s very existence being pushed onto one person. How at the end of it all, they can never be the same again after all they’ve gone through. When you’re somehow expected to hold up the Moon itself single-handed, and your life and everything you care about suffers because you’re putting everyone else before yourself. That feeling of complete loneliness under a crushing weight, and although other characters may come to help you, in the end its still all down to you, and you never had a choice in any of it, as all the decisions were made by someone else. You must do what they tell you. Believe in yourself, believe...

Evidence 8: Skull Kid. The story goes that long ago in Termina, the Skull Kid and the Giants played together, until one day, the Giants left, leaving the Skull Kid alone and heartbroken, with nobody to turn to. As life moves on, things may change, and people always come and go from your life. Your friend might move overseas, or stop texting you, or you might fall out of friendship after an awkward event from which you could never recover (no, these have totally not all happened to me, shut up i’m fine), or your fairy companion might just disappear without so much as a goodbye after their task is complete. And it feels like you didn’t matter at all. That they never really cared about you, and you’re as easy to drop and move on from as a child’s toy. You might get angry, and want to shut them out, and give them a taste of their own medicine. Majora’s Mask teaches you that this isn’t the case. Life is ever changing, but you will always have the memories of times with your friends, and a chance to make more with new friends, like a sassy talkative fairy sprite and her shy brother or a child made of wood who wants to destroy the world. Friends come from unlikely places, so accept that change will happen and hope that wherever the people you knew are, they’re okay. You’re thinking about them, so they might be thinking about you too. And who knows? Life is unpredictable. They might just come back one day, and it’ll be like they were never gone.

Evidence 9 (the final one, I promise): The Song of Healing. At the end of all things, after losing ones you love, connections to family and friends, memories of things long past... you need time to heal. Link’s journey through Termina is a constant gauntlet of running into his own past traumas, forced to relive them again, and again, and again. But sometimes you should take a deep breath, gather your thoughts, and take time to heal. Although it can be important to confront your fears and learn to surpass them, it is exhausting, and you can end up more emotionally broken than when you started. The three masks all had regrets of powerlessness; unable to protect your community, your loved ones, or even yourself. Troubles you’ve gone through that keep plaguing your mind, and you’re wondering if you’ve done enough, seeking answers where none can be found. And the best thing you can do... is accept and move on. Be kind to yourself, and give yourself time to heal. Link’s way of processing his grief and trauma is to create an entire hellscape world in his own head, but not everyone processes it the same way. Sometimes you feel like you need to busy yourself, or listen to soothing music, or talk to people you trust, or spend copious amounts of money, or make some angst art, or cuddle your plush toys until their stuffing squeezes out. Sometimes life hits you in the face and you want to blame yourself for standing in the firing line, but it’s not your fault. It’s okay to feel however you feel, whether you’re drenched in a pool of tears or you just feel numb, it’s okay and natural. You’re okay. You’re here.

Okay so it got kinda personal at the end there but I hope it was informative, and made you think a little bit differently about Majora’s Mask and Ocarina of Time. You probably want to go back and play them now. Me too.

So was this all just an excuse for me to gush about how cool Majora’s Mask is? Hell fucking yes it was. Congratulations for making it through my monstrous ramblings, you get the secret prize of looking at my weird art on my DA. Here you go. Have a nice day, Zelda Nerds.

#long post #legend of zelda #majoras mask #young link #fierce deity #zelda theory #wow i cant believe i never realised i wrote fuckig outset island instead of koholint im dumby af

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theastrophilearchitect · 3 years

Text

A new project.

Because the first one wasn’t working. Writing journey #3.

Tue 30/03/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ Word Count: 42,150 07.27 Hello! So I established in my last writing update that I was taking a break from my WIP ‘Bay Tree’, to return May 10th, and even though I’m not writing today, I just wanted to say that taking a break feels amazing. I’m focusing on reading (granted, I’ve been reading House of Earth and Blood for like two weeks) and it’s really helping ideas for edits develop.

In my draft, I got to chapter 13 (I think) of twenty-something (because I didn’t fully outline the climax, so I’m unclear as to how many chapters there will ultimately be) but I just don’t think I can get all the way through a draft without first doing some developmental edits. So, for the next few weeks, I’m going to note the changes I think I could make, then figure out which ones I won’t implement, then how I will implement the others on May 10th.

In the meantime, this Thursday, I’m going to start working on a new WIP, which I have quite a clear idea for, but obviously need to develop the plot. So that’s it for today, and I’ll update again for my new project on Thursday April 1st.

Thu 01/04/2021 09.54 It is Thursday! I’m free for a couple weeks! Which means it’s time to start working on a new project. My goal for the day is just to compile some of the various ideas I have into something vaguely cohesive, then I’ll develop it tomorrow, and hopefully make a skeletal outline on Saturday, scene block on Sunday... I’m going to shut up before I set myself a thousand insane deadlines, but I’d like to have started a draft by the end of my free time. So, let’s go.

Wow. Blank documents really are intimidating, aren’t they?

13.04 I already had my core concept, but now I have almost a justification for it--why it happens, and I think I want to build up my world first, then characters, because knowing the world and its various peoples will allow me to figure out how exactly they fit in and develop their motivations, then finally do the plot. I’ll only work out the three characters I’m currently certain will be integral for the plot, because I don’t want to waste time on developing characters who are ultimately unnecessary, like I did in the earliest days of Bay Tree.

Basically, with a world, I can work out motivations; with motivations, I can work out characters, and with characters, I can create a character-driven plot. I want to focus on creating both lovable characters and a memorable plot--I know all my favourite books have memorable characters, but the ones I enjoy the absolute most are the ones where it doesn’t feel like the plot only exists to drive the characters into relationships (I’m looking at you, Cassandra Clare. Seriously, I love Shadowhunters books, but the technically ‘main’ plots always feel second to the subplots).

Fri 02/04/2021 08.16 Honestly, didn’t get too much done yesterday. Mostly because I ended up down a rabbit hole of researching (though I do think what I learned will help me to form my world), and I was busier than I expected to be. Regardless, I think I want to make this a series. I have a feeling Bay Tree is also going to become at least two books when I revisit it, but I’m going to go into this one with that intention.

Obviously I don’t know how long it will be right now, but I think I’m going to aim for three books, then let it shape itself.

12.25 I just spent an hour writing out a history of the world and how it got to where it is. This is really fun, but really intense.

16.36 So, I have a rough plot in mind. I have an ending, a catalyst, a backstory for the world, and a few characters. And a lot of things that need names. I waited a really long time to name my characters in Bay Tree, thinking they’d be easier to name when I had then conceptualised, which makes sense, but I’d given them numbers with which to refer to them until that point, so it was a long time before my protagonist became her actual name instead of just ‘3′, despite the fact she technically became 2 because I had to cut 1.

Anyway, going to pick names, then let nominative determinism do its thing.

Jesus, I have no good male names. I keep a list of names, first and last, I like for use, but I have so many more female ones than I do male.

In Bay Tree, I used MBTIs as a starting point for personalities, which I’m planning to do here, especially since I know the types so much better now, but I want names first.

Maybe I just ought to choose this specific character’s surname first. Maybe he goes by his surname, or some variation thereupon (like how Daniel Arlington from Ninth House goes by Darlington).

Maybe he doesn’t need a name. Maybe we literally just call him Hero Guy.

God, screw this. He’s Hero Guy until either it comes to me, or I have no choice but to name him.

Sat 03/04/2021 11.15 I feel like crap today. I’ve been doing nothing for three hours, and I, quite frankly, need to get something done. So I’m going to write.

12.41 Wow, initial development really is the hardest bit of the process, huh?

Sun 04/04/2021 08.04 I’d really like to do more worldbuilding first, and character development, but it’s difficult when I don’t know the different parts’ roles. So, today, I’m going to attempt to outline the primary plot points of the three books. Attempt being the operative word here.

13.41 Honestly, yeah, I’m struggling with the plot. I think I managed to get Bay Tree’s plot so fast when I sat down to actually write it because it had been on my brain for a couple weeks, whereas I literally started this project three days ago.

Maybe that’s how I’ll handle this--when I hit a wall with one project, I work on the other to give myself some distance. Working on Bay Tree requires less thought anyway, because that plot’s already mostly figured out. Yeah. I think I’m going to revisit Bay Tree, but for reference’s sake, I’m going to dub the new project... eh... the first thing that came to mind was ‘Feather President’ which is more related to the actual content than ‘Bay Tree’, but it sounds so much crazier. I want to dub it something that actually could be a title, even if it definitely won’t be the final title, because I don’t want people to look at my blog, see ‘Feather President’ in the pinned post and immediately assume I’m insane.

Could always just use an acronym. Let’s go with FSB; those are one of the character’s (also the only character who so far has a name) initials, which may ultimately change, but it works for now. Bay Tree and FSB.

I’m going to end this particular writing stint here and come back in a couple hours, at which point I’m going to switch back to Bay Tree.

I should really stop planning so far ahead when my plans will inevitably change.

15.40 So here’s the plan I currently have that I definitely won’t stick to: at the start of each week, I’ll determine which project I work on (operating Monday-Sunday; if you think the week starts any day but Monday, you’re wrong, and I’m not sorry), and only work on that project throughout the week. So I’ll work on Bay Tree this week, and FSB next week.

I’m going to let myself work on a project for more than one week at a time, but I think I’m going to say I can only work on one for three consecutive weeks before I have to switch to the other. This seems like a good way to stay excited. Yes.

This second? Not completely sure. Might just go read and deal with it tomorrow.

Mon 05/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ 11.37 Actually really glad I just sat down and read--I read about 200 pages yesterday in total, which meant I could easily finish the last 100 pages this morning. So I finished Starsight (the recent reads post will probably be up by the time this one is)--was anyone aware the A Court of Silver Flames paperback is £24 on Amazon? Anyone?

Anyway, we’re returning to Bay Tree today, after nearly two weeks (I know that’s not even long), and I’m going to attempt to implement my edits, by which I mean I’m going to put scene changes at the bottom in brackets, then technically implement them when I redraft.

Tue 06/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ 09.11 I didn’t exactly accomplish much yesterday. I spent a good few hours just watching YouTube, because I didn’t have any motivation to do work, which screwed up my schedule, and I did no writing aside from transferring my list of edits from my phone to my document. I started reading Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater, but didn’t get very far in--I’m obsessed with Stiefvater’s writing style; it’s the perfect mix between typical prose and fairytale-style storytelling. Anyway.

I’m going to switch to a new Scrivener project for the sake of cleaning it up--Bay Tree is a hot mess right now--and hopefully begin to implement my edits--maybe not today, but certainly this week.

Thu 08/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’ 16.53 So I haven’t yet had a day where I’ve done nothing (since my break finished), but the last couple days I’ve just been doing tiny amounts of what I’m calling ‘reference pruning’, where I’m just editing and clarifying character, worldbuilding and location documents. I’ve ‘pruned’ five character references, and I hate it. It needs to be done, but it doesn’t need to be done now. I’ve decided I’m just going to completely clear out the new Scrivener project I started for Bay Tree, and add stuff to it as it becomes necessary. I’m going to make notes of overarching edits (stuff I can’t just note at the bottom of a scene), and just get started with draft 1.7, adding and editing references as it becomes necessary. I’m also going to say I just need to spend an hour writing a day, rather than a word minimum.

Okay. Edits established. Things to bear in mind established. I need to go through the character profile for the POV character in chapter one, then we can get started. Or rather, I’ll get started tomorrow, because I need to go cook soon, and even if I do have time after dinner, I’m not going to, because I’m going to read then. Okay. Character.

I’m getting excited again!

Oh, and the setting. I need to do the setting document.

I’d like to draw attention tot he fact one of my character documents describes her as having ‘black upturned gold eyes.’

Clearly I couldn’t pick a colour, but now I’m inspired to give her heterochromia.

Character done, and setting undone, but I need to go cook now, so I’ll pick this back up tomorrow, when I may also do some actual work.

I just hope these posts give someone security in that writing is a messy process, and you don’t have to be perfect all the time to be a) competent, and b) a writer. I’m a competent writer, and I’ve only ever written about 60% of a draft. But I’m still going, still trying, and that’s the point.

Fri 09/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’: 484 words 09.15 Okay. So we’re redrafting, and this is like my fourth draft of the first chapter, so let’s just go.

Sun 11/04/2021 - ‘Bay Tree’: 576 words 09.01 Yeah, I missed yesterday. Ironically, having time off seems to be making productivity more difficult, despite the fact I actually have time for it.

09.19 I feel like this project is making me stagnate. I think what I have is almost subconsciously tying me down, preventing me from improving, but I don’t want to just restart, because I want my bases, and it’s so ingrained in my head, I can’t physically start from scratch. Crap.

I think it needs to sit for longer. Crap.

It’s alright. I mean, it sucks, but it’s alright. It’s not like there’s any ideal age to become an author anyway, and I’m a long way off the average. I have time, and if it takes shelving projects now to complete better ones later, so be it. Maybe I’ll return to Bay Tree in a few weeks, or a few months, or a few years, or never, but I’ve learnt a lot from it.

So we move on.

Mon 12/04/2021 - FSB 08.05 This post is such a mess. I’m a mess at the moment. Today, we’re just continuing to work on FSB’s plot, and I think I’m already going to change the name of the character whose initials are FSB, so its nickname will probably change, too.

I had a trilogy in mind, but looking at it now, I think a duology will be best to convey the arc I have in mind.

21.51 I’ve actually accomplished quite a lot today--I’ve mostly been doing character profiles, but that helps me form tidbits to add to the story, which I can eventually string together. We’re progressing.

Tue 13/04/2021 - FSB 08.37 Hello! I think I can safely come to the conclusion I prefer development to actual drafting. Anyway, today I’m going to focus on completing the character profile for my other protagonist and do a little more work on another important figure. Then, I hope to be able to figure out the drive of the main plot in book one.

On another note, I am debating whether to plan out two books or three. Mulling it over, I think three books would give a more fulfilling arc, but it depends if I can work out enough content for the main plot. We’ll see.

Yeah, it’s going to be three. Two just can’t carry the impact I want.

20.00 I made pretty good progress today, but I just wanted to make the point I’m a lot more confident this project will hold my interest for longer than Bay Tree. This was something ruminating in the back of my mind for weeks, that I was desperate to write, where Bay Tree was very much a ‘sit down, make something up’ process at the beginning. Anyway, I think I’m done writing for the day, and I’ll get back to this tomorrow. (Because unlike most writers, I have a functional sleep schedule)

Wed 14/04/2021 09.19 Honestly, my head is empty right now, so I really need to open my project before determining what I want to do today.

Okay, so we’re basically just going to continue filling in holes.

14.50 Working out the plot, I’m pretty confident I’ve got the A plot covered, which the B plot will fit into, but I need more subplots.

Thu 15/04/2021 10.12 I want to work this one out mostly on the fly. I have nearly the whole of book one plotted out, but I want to work out the fine details as I write it; as I go, I’ll add more detail to my outlines of two and three. But for now, book one.

15.28 I’ve got basically the whole of book one covered; there’s just a gaping hole in act one, that I’m not sure I can fill. I mean, I can fill it, and I will, but I don’t feel like it’ll be that intentional of a thing. I think it’ll be more of an accidental idea that happens to flourish, but I’m going to keep working nonetheless.

Fri 16/04/2021 14.08 Good afternoon! I would’ve started writing earlier, but I wanted to catch up on the reading I didn’t do yesterday to make sure I finish A Court of Silver Flames within a week, so I can return the ebook and get a refund, because, despite being £6 cheaper than the paperback, it still cost me £8, and I want my money back. (Seriously, the paperback is fourteen pounds on amazon. Which is nearly twenty dollars. Which is pretty standard for a hardback, but it’s the paperback.) I’m about ten pages off meeting my minimum for the day (though I need to surpass that if I do want to finish it within a week), but it’s writing time.

14.37 I’m still establishing how, exactly, it applies, but I think I’ve solved it!

Definitely happy that as I’m planning, all I want is to make the characters happy, because I already love them so much. But they don’t get to be.

I have a section on a Pinterest board that’s just called ‘Simping’, and is just pictures of couples doing cute as shit things, and I literally just want my characters to dance together. Always. In Bay Tree, in FSB. Just dancing.

15.04 I have book one covered. It still needs development, scene development, but I can now move on to outlining book two, during which I’ll continue to develop one, integrate themes and such.

Honestly, the plot falling into place is absolutely the most exciting part of writing. I get an adrenaline rush (yes, while sitting in a chair, typing), I start to love the characters, the world, the story... ahhhh.

I’m actually really satisfied with how the plot seems to be going.

16.44 The word ambiguous has too many Us in it. Three vowels in a row??? And the vowel sequence is a palindrome?? Don’t want it.

I’m just sat here discovering new music. And it’s all so good and so dramatic and so perfect.

Okay, why do I have to come up with ideas so easily when I don’t need them? Then when I do I have nothing?

17.51 And just to clarify now, this post will actually end with Sunday the 18th, because after that I’m going to take three weeks completely off writing (aside from noting ideas), because I have a lot going on, then I’ll return on May 10th.

Note to self: develop a character who isn’t one of your two protagonists.

Sat 17/04/2021 10.23 I’m thinking I ought to do a more in-depth outline of book one before doing the basis of book two. Help me set up subplots and so on. Yanno, because other characters need some kind of agency, and I currently basically have two characters.

Sun 18/04/2021 08.52 I managed to plot out Bay Tree so fast because I’d already done so much development--plot was the only thing I was still missing. Anyway, I’m having a minor crisis. I think I’m a plotter, but I’m not entirely certain. It clearly didn’t work for Bay Tree. I think I may just start a draft of FSB now, and hope that lets me work out the other two books as I go.

In one of my excessive plans I will probably fail to stick to: I think I’d like to write a draft of the whole trilogy, all the way through, before even editing book one. I’ll obviously make notes of edits as I go, write as if I’ve already made them, eg. if, while writing book two, I have an idea for a book one edit, I’ll write book two as if I’ve already implemented it, which means I’ll have a little less editing to do of book two.

I have this all planned out in my head, but I’m probably being overambitious. We’re staying optimistic, though. I don’t believe in manifesting, but we’re manifesting.

14.23 I want to say I tried. I got a few details for the first couple chapters, but when I opened a doc to actually write it... nope. I need an outline to have a starting point. I just need detail.

Scene blocking sucks. But then I can’t write without it, so what can you do?

And I guess that wraps up this update. Writing this section, I’m about halfway through the writing break, and I have so many more ideas for this project. I was excited for Bay Tree because it was the first time I really made progress, but I’m excited for this one because I genuinely love this story. This post is going up May 14th, at which point I’ll be back to writing, and the next update should come mid to early June.

And that’s a wrap.

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journeytothesunau · 4 years

Text

(Edit: I have made the decision to make this AU about my original characters, rather than about youtubers. I elaborated on this further in my most recent post on my blog @mrfuzzymeme)

What is Journey To The Sun?

Journey To The Sun is currently an original fantasy story that I am planning on writing and publishing, though it was originally an au about the newscapecrew and a few other youtubers.

Where?

Journey To The Sun(JTTS) takes place in a fantasy setting. As such, there are many different species and creatures that exist in this world(including humans) that may seem familiar, but I have decided to take my own spin on some of them.

In JTTS, there are 7 main kingdoms, 6 of them each made for one particular species. Of course, other species can live in these kingdoms, even if the kingdom isn’t made to house them. However, they are usually forced to live in small restricted areas due to the fact that the kingdom isn’t designed to suit them.(this will make more sense when I start to explain each kingdom and all the different species). There is one kingdom that allows all species to live there, and it is absolutely hectic. Though, those who live in that kingdom have claimed that it is a paradise.

Since 6 of the kingdoms are made only to house 6 of the 15 species existing in this world, the rest of the 9 species either live in the 7th kingdom, or in small towns and villages. Some of the towns and villages are only made to house one particular species(similar to most of the kingdoms), though other species can live there if they want to. Most of the towns and villages allow all species to live there.

(If any of this doesn’t make sense, you can either ask on this post, ask using the blog function, or ask on my separate account, “MrFuzzyMeme”)

Species?

In JTTS, there are 15 different species.(There are three more ‘species’ that I have included in the list that technically don’t count as species? But they appear in the story and play a role in JTTS, so for now they are here.(Purple-Has a kingdom, Red- Technically not a species, Black- The others, ✅- My own creation)

Elemental Spirits(Kingdom)✅

Sirens

Sorcerers(Kingdom)

Wizards(Kingdom)

Hybrids(Kingdom)

Vampires

Werewolves

Piefars(Kingdom)✅

Ghiliks✅

Negssas(Technically not)✅

Shapeshifters

Angels(Technically not)

Demons(Technically not)

Biervas ✅

Kethlings✅

Sifoshas(Kingdom)✅

Divollis✅

Humans

The description of each species will be written in a separate post(possibly with some art?)(I’ll link them here once it’s done.

Kingdoms?

There are 7 kingdoms in JTTS, 6 of which are each made specifically for one species, while 1 is made for all.

The Kingdom of Tirital (Elemental Spirits)

The Kingdom of Cerulc (Sorcerers)

The Kingdom of Zicare (Wizards)

The Kingdom of Loyhil (Hybrids)

The Kingdom of Fardper (Piefars)

The Kingdom of Efshan (Sifoshas)

The Kingdom of Naalos (All species)

Same as with the species, more details about the kingdoms will be posted separately and linked back here.

Story?

And now, we have come to what JTTS is going to be about.

(New description, aka: What I’m going to put at the back of the book)

Here’s the thing; Misno doesn’t remember his past. He knows that he and 5 others had been kidnapped by a strange group at a young age, and that that group experimented on them for at least a year. He knows that they were eventually rescued by 3 strangers who told them that the group was evil(yeah no shit). He knows that his name is Misno. Other than that? His family, age, birthday, friends, birth place? No idea at all. Not a single clue. And after 10 years, he had come to accept the fact that he probably would never know any of those facts ever again, and he had been fine with it.

That was, until a strange man came up to his door and claimed he knew how to get his, and everyone else’s, memories back.

And, well, who would turn down the chance like that?

(Old description)JTTS centres around 7 main youtubers, aka, the Newscapecrew (Newscapepro, Ashlie9596, JonJon/ToiletJon, FrozenGargon, Shootzki, Unicomics, DawnOfRiku). 6 of them were kidnapped when they were 15 and don’t remember anything from their past. All they know is that, one day they woke up in a building, it started to explode, then some people offered to help them start new lives. They all agreed and were sent to wherever they chose to go(a kingdom, a town, some random place etc.), with the people helping them settle down and build their lives from the ground up.

Most of them are still pretty upset about the fact that they can’t remember anything from before that day, but there are at least 2 of them who have accepted that fact. So imagine their surprise when a random guy comes up to them and claims that he can help restore their memories, they just have to come with him and help him gather the rest of the group.

JTTS starts off with only 2 of the 7 characters showing up, but that number slowly increases as the story progresses. Many other youtubers(mostly minecraft youtubers and gamers) will show up throughout the story, either as side-characters or as ‘villains’ , though the story will mostly centre around the Newscapecrew.

Others?

(Edit: Ok, although all the characters are now original, some of the names might still have some resemblance to the original youtubers that had their role. I’m changing most of the names, but you might see some similarities if you look at my old drawings and how I named them. Despite this, these characters are not the youtubers. They are still their own characters. 👍🏻)

Technically, there are still a few parts of the story I haven’t fleshed out yet and this story has changed from what I originally had in mind when I drew the first few character sheets, but I’m gonna work it out as I go along. I have the main outline of where I want this story to go and a few specific details I want to include, so all I have to figure out is the rest of the specifics.

Also, this story is going to be mainly written down, but occasionally I will include some drawings to help people better picture the characters or the scenes.

Thank you for reading this long post, and if this story piques your interest, I hope you’ll stick along for the ride!

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arofili · 3 years

Text

Line of Elros Edit Series: Appendix B

Continued from Appendix A. This section will contain information on the House of Andúnië and the Royalty of Arnor.

~~~

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Appendix A: Royalty of Númenor Appendix B: House of Andúnië, Royalty of Arnor (you are here!) Appendix C: Royalty of Gondor Appendix D: Princes of Dol Amroth, Chieftains of the Dúnedain Appendix E: Stewards of Gondor

~~~

HOUSE OF ANDÚNIË

Silmariën ft. Silmariën, Elatan, Valandil of Andúnië It is canonical that Silmariën was passed over for inheritance, that she received the Ring of Barahir, and that she had a mithril fillet (a kind of medieval headband); the story of her making the fillet herself with the aid of her cousin is an embellishment. Technically it was not Silmariën or Elatan who first led the House of Andúnië, but their son Valandil, but I altered the story to give it more feminist themes. The details of Elatan’s life are all headcanon.

Valandil of Andúnië ft. Valandil of Andúnië, Vairanatsë (OC), Ulmondil (OC) Save for the names and professions of his wife and son, Valandil’s story is canonical.

Ulmondil ft. Ulmondil (OC), Hyamindë (OC), Elvëanna (OC), Tintilárë (OC), Lilómëo (OC), Malwacilin (OC), Irmondil (OC), Lelyárë (OC), Moruinë (OC), Ortólorë (OC) Here we get to the long stretch of “unnamed lords.” Since we know nothing about these people or their spouses, I’ve had some fun with gender and sexuality here. Literally everything here is headcanon (except that Tar-Minastir did canonically build a tower on Oromet).

Vóreäla ft. Vóreäla (OC), Tyulussë (OC), Vilwarindo (OC), Rómandur (OC), Roquendië (OC), Vasaryamarto (OC), Failaher (OC), Pirucendëa (OC), Canyahondë (OC), Elwenára (OC), Ilcarion (OC), Morilindië (OC) All details about my OCs are pure headcanon. Check Appendix A for information on whether the details about the kings they interact with are canon or not. ETA 3/31/21: Fixed some minor timeline discrepancies.

Vóromir ft. Vóromir (OC), Arphazêl (OC), Aulendur (OC), Istimiel (OC), Lindórië, Eärendur of Andúnië Gimilzagar (and thus his hypothetical child) is canonically possibly the ancestor of Inzilbêth; I decided to go with that, and wrote a narrative around how the daughter of one of the King’s Men married into the House of Andúnië. Lindórië and Eärendur are both canon characters who are indeed siblings. Everything else is headcanon.

Lindórië ft. Lindórië, Tulcatio (OC), Inzilbêth, Eärendur of Andúnië, Aranyo (OC), Minasdil (OC) The politics of Andúnië and Gimilzôr are all headcanon, though it is canon that Gimilzôr married Inzilbêth. That’s pretty much the only canon part of this story, though. Eärendur is canonically the fifteenth Lord of Andúnië; I changed it so Lindórië was the leader instead. The Adûnaic versions of Lindórië and Eärendur’s names are my own translations, as is Inzilbêth’s Quenya name. ETA 3/31/21: Made some fairly significant changes in order to reconcile some timeline errors, though the core story remains.

Minasdil ft. Minasdil (OC), Tiristiel (OC), Númendil, Vailimion (OC), Narwalótë (OC) Everything here is headcanon, except that the Faithful did indeed move to Rómenna around this time. The leader of Andúnië between Eärendur and Númendil is unnamed, so I made them nonbinary because I could. Númendil is not mentioned to have any siblings, but I gave him some because I felt like it. ETA 3/31/21: Completely rewrote the last paragraph to reconcile it with the canon timeline. Apparently I originally had Minasdil getting married around the time that their grandson Elendil was supposed to be born!! ...except that doesn’t make sense at all either, so I changed things so it’s Amandil being born at that time. Still - I had Minasdil marrying too late, and that’s fixed now.

Númendil ft. Númendil, Lómiel (OC), Amandil, Elenyë (OC), Elentír, Elendil Númendil was canonically a friend of Tar-Palantír, and Amandil was canonically a friend of Ar-Pharazôn. For the canonicity of Pharazôn’s life details, see Appendix A. We know nothing about the wives of Númendil or Amandil; I made that all up. Elentír is a discarded character from drafts of the Akallabêth; he and Míriel were to be wed before Míriel fell in love with Pharazôn. I kept the published Silm version where Míriel married Pharazôn against her will, but I liked the detail of her having a boyfriend before him, so I kept it. (I definitely queercoded her though, she wasn’t in love with Elentír either in my mind...) Amandil’s fate and final journey west are canon, though Elentír didn’t stick around in Tolkien’s writings long enough for him to get an ending. I had him tag along with his brother. The Adûnaic names of Númendil and Elentír are my own translation; the Adûnaic names of Amandil and Elendil are both canon.

Elendil ft. Elendil, Lauriel (OC), Isildur, Anárion Everything about Elendil’s wife is headcanon. The story of Isildur stealing the fruit is canon, but has been embellished a bit for dramatic effect. The rest of this is canon, with a few minor details added here and there. Elendil’s Adûnaic name is canon; Isildur and Anárion’s Adûnaic names are my own translation.

~~~

ROYALTY OF ARNOR

Isildur ft. Isildur, Cemniel (OC), Elendur, Aratan, Círyon, Valandil of Arnor Almost everything here is canon, though Isildur overhearing his father about the White Tree is an embellishment, and we don’t know the exact reason there was such a long gap between the birth of Elendur and his next two sons. My guess is he knocked up his wife before they were married, and then didn’t want to have kids in the dangerous times of Númenor...though that didn’t stop them from having a son in the dangerous times of the Last Alliance.

Valandil of Arnor ft. Valandil of Arnor, Ahyarë (OC), Eldacar of Arnor, Culalmë (OC), Arantar, Vistariel (OC), Tarcil, Niëlinyë (OC), Tarondor of Arnor, Lossëa (OC), Valandur, Tasarwen (OC), Elendur of Arnor, Luinaivë (OC) Aside from the timing of Valandil’s inheritance, all of this is headcanon.

Eärendur of Arnor ft. Eärendur of Arnor, Quildaraumë (OC), Amlaith of Arthedain, Adanamarth of Cardolan (OC), Anorhír of Rhudaur (OC) The basic details of Arnor’s split into three kingdoms is canon, but everything else is headcanon, including the names of Amlaith’s brothers.

Amlaith ft. Amlaith, Linnoril (OC), Beleg of Arthedain, Ferieth (OC), Mallor, Cidinnor (OC), Celepharn, Glasdil (OC), Celebrindor, Sídhiel (OC), Malvegil, Hwinior (OC) Amlaith did indeed move the capital from Annúminas to Fornost, and his kingdom of Arthedain had border disputes with Cardolan and Rhudaur for as long as they all stood. Angmar canonically began to move against disunified Arnor during Malvegil’s reign. All other details are headcanon.

Argeleb I ft. Argeleb I, Edlenniel (OC), Arveleg I, Eithruin (OC), Araphor, Elweth (OC), Argeleb II, Lithuies (OC), Arvegil, Calaear (OC), Arveleg II, Tavoriel (OC), Araval, Halloth (OC) Save for his wife being a princess of Cardolan and that being the reason the people of Cardolan accepted his rule, Argeleb I’s story is canon. The story of Arveleg I’s brother being the last prince of Cardolan is entirely made up (even that he had a brother), though it is true that the last prince of Cardolan died in battle alongside Arveleg I. Araphor’s story is canon, save for the details about his OC wife. Argeleb II’s story is mostly canon, though I made up the bit about two of his children dying in the Great Plague. There is also an inconsistency around here: earlier the “last” prince of Cardolan died beside Arveleg I, but apparently the “last” prince of Cardolan died in the Plague? I picked the story I liked better and just emphasized Cardolan’s desolation in this time period. Arveleg II’s story is canon with a bit of embellishment. Araval’s story is canon, but everything with his spouse is made up (though the barrow-wights did scare the Dúnedain back to Arthedain in canon).

The Last Prince of Cardolan ft. Mallor (OC; the Last Prince of Cardolan), Gwileth (OC; the Lady of the Blue Brooch) I made this edit for OC week, and it wasn’t really intended to be a late addition to this series, but since I didn’t get to do much with Mallor in the edit featuring his brother I was happy to expand on him, and even more excited when I realized that I could tie in the Lady of the Blue Brooch to this story as well! The Last Prince of Cardolan is a real (unnamed) figure mentioned in the Legendarium; the Lady of the Blue Brooch was mentioned only by Tom Bombadil as someone “fair...long ago [who] wore this on her shoulder” when he took it for Goldberry to wear. We don’t know for sure how the prince knew the lady, but come on, that’s just a story begging to be told! The tie-in with Merry’s sword is a slight liberty from canon: we don’t know who the dagger originally belonged to, but given that Merry quiet possibly dreamed of the prince’s final moments, I think it would be poetic for his sword to be the one who helped to kill the Witch-king in the end. Overall, there’s a LOT of headcanon here that I had fun developing from the scraps Tolkien gave us in canon! Also, I didn’t mention it in the main post, but Mallor’s name means “golden,” and Gwileth’s is a contraction of “gwilwileth,” the Sindarin word for “butterfly.” Since Arveleg is a name taken from Ar+Beleg (meaning he was named for his ancestor King Beleg of Arthedain), I thought it would make sense for Arveleg’s brother to be named for King Beleg’s son, King Mallor. Gwileth’s brooch is described in canon as being “set with blue stones, many-shaded like flax-flowers or the wings of blue butterflies,” so I leaned on that for inspiration when it came to her name.

Araphant ft. Araphant, Laerdil (OC), Arvedui, Fíriel This is mostly canon with some embellishments, such as Laerdil orchestrating Arvedui and Fíriel’s marriage. ETA 3/20/21: Tweaked this caption because of an inaccuracy I noticed.

~~~

CONTINUED IN APPENDIX C

#line of elros #headcanons #andunie #numenor #arnor #my meta #tefain nin #loe appendices #house of andunie #royalty of arnor #peoples of arda

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shepaintsred · 3 years

Text

Words for Bill

December 17, 2020

As I write these words down on this page, a flock of geese has gone over the house, voicing a baleful good-bye to autumn and a welcome to the dark winter months. For William Harvey Webb, W.H. Webb, Bill, the winter road was a significant metaphor. Through the years, if we stopped and looked at the details etched into those crisp winter tracks, we were to discover more than just snow; the light reflecting off of the raised edges and the shadows pouring into the deepest hollows of the tread marks, but also, we were to discover rich histories; family, friends, conversations, laughter and tears.

Welcome to those of you who have come to share in this tribute, today. Let us, in our imaginations, include and leave some space for so many others who want to be here with us. Bill was so well-loved and there are so many that he loved in return

You can’t see him, but standing by my side, is one of Bill’s closest friends, Richard Dawson and over there, seated near his friends, Brock and Elaine, is his wife, Shirley. Richard brings to this gathering a lifetime of shared narratives and so, at times and with his permission, he will nudge me, and I will share the odd one.

My name is Kathleen Moors. Bill called me Katie. Bill and I have shared a magical friendship and this is an honour to be with the people who meant so much to him.

Bill was no stranger to loss in his life. When son, Michael, died, Bill was devastated and felt helpless. Perhaps now he can offer comfort to the son he loved so much.

To Bill’s family; Amanda and Wade, Gaylene, Andrew and family of Northern Ireland; brother, Bob and wife, Shirley as well as his five beautiful grandchildren; we offer our sadness, our support, and our love.

I will NOT soon forget how animated Bill became at the mention of time spent with his grandchildren, particularly when they were able to share dates out to live theater or musical performances. Bill was a real gentleman and always dressed up for such occasions. He saw events as spectacles.

Bill was a romantic and a gentleman. He grew houseplants. He loved any animal that came his way. He adored Ginger and Blackie…and Teva…and they loved him. There was never a dinner prepared that did not involve a remarkable place setting and candles. I remember Bill leading me to the outskirts of Edmonton after the celebratory festivities following the Alberta Centennial exhibit hosted by the West End Galleries. He did this so that there would be no chance that I would lose my way

Bill did not own a computer. He was the most ‘unplugged’ person I know, relying on the library for the occasion of checking electronic mail. He didn’t access television or cable, but did watch movies, his good friend, Brock, often sending them from Moose Jaw. The sound of opera would often fill his nest with beautiful voices, something that he shared with good friend, John Oberg when John would slip over to Bill’s place or Bill would show up at John’s, the brushes cleaned up and put away for another night.

Bill was an educator.

Richard nudges… “when jobs were scarce in Oldham, England, Bill and his new family moved to Canada and a teaching job in Fort McMurray. Then it was on to Castor where he was principal, then principal in Grand Cache, Alberta. Next it was Superintendent of Schools in St. Paul and later Wainwright.”

While giving this all up, to Sheep Farm in Heath, Alberta, Bill never stopped being an educator. He taught Sunday School for several years, creating dioramas and long rolls fed through makeshift television sets…he was an amazing orator, as well, feeling very comfortable speaking in front of any group. He volunteered, teaching art at various grade levels and I’m certain that the children were, every time, excited to see him.

Bill was an amazing listener. He was not one to busy his hands when you spoke to him. He looked straight at you and gave you complete attention, asking the most interesting questions that, indeed, gave you every reason to believe that you mattered, you were his entire world at that very moment. In the busyness of food preparation, I sometimes looked over my shoulder and saw Bill listening to one of my children and I wondered, “If only I could do that!”

Bill loved reading, especially history and non-fiction, but if you suggested a book, he would inevitably pick it up at the library or purchase the title so that he could give a ‘book report’ as he called them or he might even write out his book reports and post them in the mail.

Bill loved to dance. I never got to dance with Bill. This was a moment, lost.

Bill loved connection. He was a part of the Film Society whose members included Rick and Lyn, Mary-Lou, Carol and Noreen Getzlaf, Linda Wheaton and a long list of others. Richard says that in the group, when the beverages came out, Richard was the only one not drinking….to this day, he ponders, now chuckles about whether they welcomed him to meetings for the rich variety of film OR because inevitably, he served as designated driver!

Bill spilled over with excitement about the Wine Club events, the garden parties and the brunches hosted at John Oberg’s. I wasn’t ever a member of the Snake Trail Alpine Club, but that, too, grew a culture and history all its own. I went on numerous walks and hikes, with Bill and you probably did, as well. Bill had a marvelous connection with the landscape and conversations were had where all we did was analyze the sky, the shadows they cast on the land…observations that might seem unremarkable to most.

Bill loved all things related to trains and had huge dreams about drawing travelers into Forestburg by creating something very special around art, trains and community. He loved talking about the process of constructing all of the unique bits that went into building the landscape elements. He was such a master at everything he took on!

Bill explained in his letters just how much he treasured it when someone was sitting back in his big comfy chair while he painted…I think we’ve all taken a place in that chair, but most treasured for their visits would be Rose and Virginia, I think. Oh my. The stories Bill would share over the telephone about the encouragement that was given.

Bill enjoyed the company of so many. The RB3 Richard Dawson, Bruce Beck, Brock Chrysler and Bill Webb! He enjoyed seeing the guys whenever possible, but also really treasured their telephone conversations over so many years.

Bill was a health-conscious person. He didn’t hesitate to share his journey as it related to the body or the emotions.

Richard Nudges…

Richard writes WW2 stories and he did an in-depth one on the Dam-Busters Raid, focusing on the 3 men from Moose Jaw and District who were on the Raid.

He completed it and the RCAF scheduled a little show and flag ceremony on the anniversary of the Western Development Museum. All systems were go.

Then Richard got a call from Bill. He was having knee replacement surgery and would Richard come to Forestburg and help out. So, Richard assigned his Dam-Buster Project to a most capable young man at the WDM and off he went.

Bill saw his recovery from the surgery as another competition and did all his exercise and activities. Before going to Forestburg Richard made clear that he would not be helping Bill with bathroom chores. If he needed to take a dump – he was on his own. (Don’t forget…these are Richard’s words! Lol I can just imagine these two guys laughing about this.)

He was an excellent patient. Richard cooked and they both put on a few pounds.

After five days he was able to get around just fine and Richard headed home to Moose Jaw.

On the second knee surgery he was able to stay with Amanda and Wade and they nursed him back to health.

Regarding his health, Bill consulted with the professionals with great enthusiasm and followed all directives when it came to achieving a healthy balance in his life. He filled countless journals and developed the habit as a way of working through difficult times. He was exceptional at keeping archives of events and didn’t miss a detail because…

Bill was a detail guy.

Bill’s approach to painting was incredible. He set up his studio so that it was very spare. He was not one for clutter or distraction when he needed to focus. He and I used to joke about blending our studios and agreed that it might never work because our spaces are so different from one another. He lovingly left voice messages, “This is Bill of the Northern Studio, checking in with Katie of the Southern Studio.

First steps to a painting involved airbrushing his sky. From there, he delved into the world of darkest values and from the very onset, Bill used miniscule brushes. He built incredible worlds as he came forward in space, with lighter and lighter values. He was technical and deliberate. His works are dreamscapes of places a lot of us know, but rarely analyze the way that Bill did. Whether it was a huge vista of the Livingston Range or those ruts on a country road in winter, he paid the subject the same attention and care. He was prolific, painting right up until the last weeks before he died. He felt responsible to his dealers and spoke often about his professional relationships with them. Over time, these people came to be very personal friends and extremely important to him.

Richard Nudges…

“One of Richard’s last official acts for Bill was attending the Memorial for William (Bill) Shurniak at the Shurniak Gallery in Assiniboia. Bill died August 8, 2020 and the memorial was open – at the Gallery and individual.

Bill and Richard visited the Shurniack Gallery many times and if Bill Shurniack was there, they visited him. He was still active on the Board of Husky Energy in Calgary and was still travelling regularly to Hong Kong.

As Richard sat in the Gallery, listening to the music, he could see a Group of Severn painting over his right shoulder. It is a painting of Cowley, Alberta, although, I think – called Pincher Creek Station.

When his meditation was complete, he signed the registry for himself and also signed Bill’s name. Richard called him from the car and he was very appreciative I had done that.”

Painting was such a great joy to Bill. He and I spoke to one another endlessly about our work, supporting one another and challenging one another. In his letters, he always began with what he was working on and ended with what he was going to go and work on next. I am so proud of W.H.Webb, the painter. He worked so hard. The art community is going to miss such a gentleman as Bill, such a magnificent artist, driven with a passion for capturing the spectacular views that so many of us love.

Bill’s vision.

This eulogy has not written itself easily. I was writing and writing and deleting and writing again, simply because I felt that if I stopped and the words wrapped up and came to an end, it would mean that my friend is truly gone. I realize through much losing these last years, that if we truly love our family and our friends, they will remain. I have to trust that this is the case here as well.

I wrote the final words on the page…Bill’s Vision.

What would Bill want you to know…or to realize…by his life and it being entwined with yours and I am left as I began, with the sound of the geese….and an image. Consider these a gift today, that you loved this absolutely precious and beautiful soul. And keep him with you.

Wild Geese by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting -

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

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goldenavenger02 · 4 years

Text

What you should watch while staying at home part 2! AKA the Disney+ list based off the U.S selection.

Disney+

Lab Rats (TV show)

Rating: TV-Y7

Summary: A scrawny 14-year-old, having discovered his inventor stepdad has three bionic, super-powered teens living cloistered in a secret lab beneath their home, brings them out into the world.

Seasons: all four seasons and the spin-off are on Disney+, except for part 2 of Lab Rats vs. Mighty Med because that is a Mighty Med episode and Mighty Med is not on Disney+ at the time of this post.

Why you should watch it: Lab Rats was the reason I started writing fanfiction (if you're brave and like first person fics, my profile on fanfiction.net under the name Brentinator is full of cringe worthy fics) and it's probably the reason that I like action/adventure so much. It's super funny, it's very dramatic and it has good messages about family and teamwork.

Kickin' It (TV show)

Rating: TV-Y7

Summary: A once-in-a-generation young karate fighter named Jack joins the Wasabi warriors.

Seasons: 1-4 on Disney+

Why you should watch it: it's a comedy about teenagers in a karate dojo. Yeah, it's Disney so it is cringy, but it makes for some good laughs. Leo Howard is a little cutie, there's an episode with Billy Unger (Lab Rats) and Kelli Berglund (Lab Rats). There's some whump in a bit of it, and Jason Earles (Miley's brother in Hannah Montana) is the sensei. It's great.

Austin and Ally (TV show)

Rating: TV-Y7

Summary: Following the lives of Austin, an aspiring confident musician, Ally, a quiet talented songwriter and their two friends.

Seasons: 1-4 on Disney+, part two of the New Year's special is season 2, episode six of Jessie.

Why should you watch it: this was the first Disney Channel show I watched. Ross Lynch was my first celebrity crush, the first soundtrack was my first CD, and Trish gave me some representation as a plus sized woman/teen. It's pretty cringe, but the songs are all amazing and some of jokes are knee slappers.

Good Luck Charlie (TV show)

Rating: TV-Y7

Summary: The Duncan family are adjusting to the surprise birth of their fourth child, Charlie. When parents Amy and Bob return to work they put their latest addition in the care of her three older siblings.

Seasons: all seasons and the movie in between seasons 2 and 3 on Disney+, the second part of the Christmas episode in season 4 is in season 3 of Jessie.

Why should watch it: it's just a good comedy about a family with a lot of kids.

Brave (movie)

Rating: PG

Summary: Determined to make her own path in life, Princess Merida (Kelly Macdonald) defies a custom that brings chaos to her kingdom. Granted one wish, Merida must rely on her bravery and her archery skills to undo a beastly curse.

Why should you watch it: this movie holds a very special place in my heart. I watched this movie with my grandpa the Christmas before he died, and it's a memory I hold very close. It's also the best Disney princess with red hair, fight me. And my Merdia Halloween costume where I carried around my dad's bow and arrows can't be beat.

Chicken Little (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: After ruining his reputation with the town, a courageous chicken must come to the rescue of his fellow citizens when aliens start an invasion.

Why should you watch it: a lot of people say this is Disney's worst animated movie. But this is a very nostalgic movie for me, and some of the jokes can't be beat. Also, aliens.

Bad Hair Day (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: A buddy comedy about a high school tech-whiz whose prom day abruptly shifts into a wild ride across town, thanks to a down-on-her-luck cop and a jewel thief.

Why should you watch it: it's Ally from Austin and Ally and the mom from Good Luck Charlie trying to protect a missing necklace, and the two of them grow a motner-daughter type relationship during it.

Descendants 2 (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: Mal, Evie, Carlos and Jay try to adjust to life in Auradon, but Mal becomes overwhelmed with pressure and returns to her roots.

Why should you watch it: I love the Descendants franchise, but the second movie has the best songs, the best acting and the best villains. I'm obsessed with China Anne McClain and she's a great villain. But watch the first movie. After all, it has Dove Cameron, Booboo Stewart, Sofia Carson and the late Cameron Boyce with some of their best acting being displayed.

High School Musical 2 (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: School's out for summer and the East High Wildcats are ready to make it the time of their lives after landing jobs in a wealthy country club owned by Sharpay and Ryan's family.

Why you should watch it: I'm not a huge HSM fan, but I love Sharpay and Ryan, and I love the movie that's on their turf. It also has my favorite HSM song in it, which is Bet On It. Probably watch the first movie first though.

Geek Charming (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: To win a school popularity contest, a high school diva permits a film club classmate to record her popular life, but the film starts documenting her decline instead.

Why you should watch it: this is possibly my favorite DCOM, and Sarah Hyland is so good at her job, it's insane. It's overshadowed by what happened between the leads afterwards, however.

How to Build a Better Boy (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: Teenage tech whizzes unwittingly use military software to program a robotic boyfriend.

Why you should watch it: probably why I like it so much is because it has China Anne McClain and Kelli Berglund, and it's a cool concept. Also has Noah Centerpiece if you like him as well.

Teen Beach Movie (movie)

Rating: not rated

Summary: Two surfing lovers, whose doomed relationship is nearing to a close, find themselves swept into a a dimension traversing wave that sends them into a beach movie musical in the 60's.

Why you should watch it: it's not a great plot, but the acting is pretty good and the songs are so amazing. Also, Ross Lynch. Not a huge fan of the sequel, but you should still check it out if you like the first one.

The Emperor's New Groove (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: Emperor Kuzco is turned into a llama by his ex-administrator Yzma, and must now regain his throne with the help of Pacha, the gentle llama herder.

Why should you watch it: this is the movie I grew up on. I knew all the quotes, I knew all the jokes, and one time I barged into my sister's youth group shouting "boom bam, baby!" It's so good and so funny.

Finding Nemo (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: After his son is captured in the Great Barrier Reef and taken to Sydney, a timid clownfish sets out on a journey to bring him home.

Why should you watch it: my other childhood movie. Also knew the quotes, and the jokes, and I spoke whale in church when I was very young. There may also be a Finding Nemo Irondad AU from me in the future.

Holes (movie)

Rating: PG

Summary: A wrongfully convicted boy is sent to a brutal desert detention camp where he joins the job of digging holes for some mysterious reason.

Why should you watch it: to this day this is the most accurate book to movie adaptation I've ever seen. Also, Madame Zeroni.

Mickey, Donald, Goofy: The Three Musketeers (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: Mickey, Donald and Goofy are the French three Musketeers.

Why you should watch it: well, it's what the summary says. The Mickey Mouse gang as the musketeers. And it has la pit in it. "No, not la pit!"

Pocahontas (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: An English soldier and the daughter of an Algonquin chief share a romance when English colonists invade seventeenth century Virginia.

Why should you watch it: is it historically accurate, no. But does it have one of the sweetest romances in the history of Disney, I would like to think so. And Pocahontas is just one of my favorite Disney princesses, even if she's not technically a princess.

Tangled

Rating: PG

Summary: The magically long-haired Rapunzel has spent her entire life in a tower, but now that a runaway thief has stumbled upon her, she is about to discover the world for the first time, and who she really is.

Why should you watch it: a carefree princess, a attractive and hilarious thief and the cutest little chameleon ever! The animation is gorgeous, the songs are amazing and Mother Gothel is such a good villain.

Pooh's Heffalump Movie (movie)

Rating: G

Summary: A Heffalump is heard trumpeting in the hundred acre woods. Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, and Piglet are scared and rush to Rabbit's house for advice. Roo joins them and they all agree that Heffalumps are nearby after finding a huge footprint. They decide to set out on an expedition to catch the Heffalump. Roo is not allowed to come along because he is too little.

Why should you watch it: I watched a lot of Winnie the Pooh movies when I was little, because Winnie the Pooh is my mom's favorite Disney franchise, but this one is my favorite. It's so soft, and it has a good lesson that even if you're different, that doesn't mean you're evil or scary.

Read it and Weep (movie)

Rating: TV-G

Summary: A shy and retiring high school student develops a peculiar alter ego that changes her life forever.

Why should you watch it: it's about a writer in high school! This is one of my favorite Disney movies ever, and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Sky High (movie)

Rating: PG

Summary: Set in an era where superheroes are commonly known and accepted, young William Stronghold, the son of the Commander and Jetstream, tries to find a balance between being a normal teenager and an extraordinary being.

Why should you watch it: clearly, I like movies and shows about superheroes (I mean, I write for Marvel). This movie is about William, who hasn't gotten his powers yet, and has been lying to his parents that he has before he goes to superhero high school. The ending is weird, but I love this movie.

Tagging some people so it gets spread around: @marvelous-writer @clover-roseee @canary-warrior @blondsak @breanadaveport-mendel @seek-rest @willelbyers

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turkeymist40-blog · 3 years

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What creates Cellulite as Well As how To get Rid Of It.

What Is Fat Freezing?

Content

for How Long Will My Facelift Last For?

Fat Freezing At court House centers.

Going home After Your facelift surgical Treatment.

What Is The recovery refine After getting Rid Of Benign Skin sore?

Blast With Cold Water.

Why pick Cryopen?

areas Of The Body treated With Fat Freezing.

We can question what contemporary workplace/organizational roles will certainly see comparable shift with time, as today's specialisms end up being tomorrow's extremely regular capabilities possessed by everybody. The vernacular 'large cheese' is a great example of language from a far-away or entirely international society discovering its method into contemporary life and also communications, in which the individuals have very recognition or admiration of its different social beginnings.

how Long Will My Facelift Last For?

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This feeling is completely normal, and it shows that the collagen-building process is beginning.

While pregnant scans, low-frequency sound waves (in between 3 - 7.5 MHz) are released by an ultrasound gadget over the mother's bump.

Fat Freezing At courthouse centers.

Similar to slowcoach, slowpoke's rhyming quality reinforced fostering into usual speech as well as continuing usage. Individuals like to claim points that journey off the tongue conveniently and, in a way, musically or poetically. slapdash - careless, untidy - haphazard initially implied putting on slippers or loose footwear, from the earlier expression 'slip-shoe'. The careless/untidy definition of sloppy is derived from 'down-at-heel' or used footwear, which was the first use the expression in the sense or poor quality. The early negligent meaning of slapdash described worn-out appearance. A lot more recently the expression's meaning has extended additionally to negligent actions or initiatives.

The posting do with the idea that an old Italian expression 'a tredici' significance 'at thirteen' could be gotten in touch with the beginnings. provide the pip/get the pip - make unhealthy or unpleasant or upset - Pip is a disease affecting birds qualified by mucus in the mouth and throat. The expression seems first to have shown up in the 1800s, yet offered its much older origins might conveniently have been in use before then. Remarkably while the pip expression refers to the bird illness, the roots of the significance actually take us full-circle back to human wellness.

Going home After Your facelift surgical Treatment.

bated breath/baited breath - distressed, expectant - the former punctuation was the original variation of the expression, however the term is now often incorrectly corrupted to the last 'baited' in modern-day use, which incorrectly recommends a different origin. Many individuals seem now to infer a definition of the breath being metaphorically 'baited' as opposed to the original non-metaphorical initial definition, which simply explained the breath being cut short, or stopped. The expression shows up in Shakespeare's The Vendor Of Venice, which dates its origin as 16th century or earlier. The word bate is a reduced kind of abate, both lugging the exact same meaning, and also initially appeared in the 1300s, prior to which the past strained kinds were baten as well as abaten. turn it up - quit it, shut up, no chance, stop doing that, I don't believe you, etc - Cassells Vernacular Thesaurus suggests the 'turn it up' expression equates to 'stop doing that' and that the initial usage was as very early as the 1600s.

Where do you lose fat first?

Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.

According to Bartlett's, the expression 'Too seek as needle in a bottle of hay' shows up in part III, phase 10. ' Bottle' is an old word for a package of hay, extracted from the French word botte, suggesting package. Maker (thesaurus and also modifications) provides the full expression - 'trying to find a needle in a bottle of hay' which informs us that the term was first utilized in this type, as well as was later on adapted during the 1900s right into the modern type. Mum has absolutely nothing to do with mother - it's simply a phonetic punctuation and metaphorical word to signify shutting one's mouth, so as not to utter a noise. The very same rational onomatopoeic derivation almost certainly created the words mumble, murmur as well as mumps. Equally as in modern-day times, war-time governments then squandered no possibility to exaggerate dangers and risks, so as to instill regard among, as well as to maintain authority over, the masses. So there you have it - mum's the word - probably an item of government spin.

Can you freeze your fat off at home?

CoolSculpting is known for “freezing” fat cells, but there's much more to the process. During your treatment, your provider uses a small applicator that also sucks out some of the frozen fat cells. However, applying ice at home only freezes your skin and doesn't get rid of any fat cells.

The 'stone pip' would certainly appear to be a distortion/confusion of merely providing or obtaining the pip, probably due to misconstruing the definition of pip in this context. The word pip in this expression has nothing to do with stones or fruit. The pituitary gland is located in the mind and is responsible for specific physical features, however in the late middle ages, around 1500s, it was believed to control the flow of mucus or phlegm to the nose. Phlegm had actually long been thought to be one of the essential 4 'humours' establishing life equilibrium and character. So while the current expression was based at first on a bird condition, the origins actually connect to critical suggestions of human wellness. Variants still found in NZ and Australia from the very early 1900s consist of 'half-pie', as well as 'pie' suggesting excellent or expert at something.

What Is The recovery process After getting Rid Of Benign Skin sore?

Unfortunately this extremely attractive alternative/additional derivation of 'take the mick/micky' seems not to be sustained by any type of main resources or references. If any person can refer me to a reliable referral please let me understand, until such time the Micky Happiness cockney rhyming theory continues to be one of the most commonly sustained origin. The loon bird's name entered into English from a various root, Scandinavia, in the 1800s, and perhaps had a bigger influence in the United States on the expressions insane as a loon, and likewise drunk as a loon. The extremely defamatory jargon loony bin, referring to a psychological house, initially appeared around 1910.

Nowadays, in spite of still being technically proper according to English thesaurus, addressing a mixed group of people as 'promiscuous' would certainly not be a really proper use words. pernickety/persnickety/pernickerty/ persnickerty - fussy, fussy, meticulous - pernickety appears currently to be one of the most common contemporary form of this strange word. The variants occur possibly because no clear derivation exists, giving no evident reference points to secure a spelling or pronunciation.

Are CoolSculpting results permanent?

CoolSculpting is clinically proven to produce permanent results. Once the treated fat cells have been frozen through cryolipolysis, they die. The body's natural reaction is to remove these dead fat cells through its natural elimination process.

Dollar stems from thaler, which is an old German word for a coin, from earlier Low German 'dahler', whose important origin word 'dahl' implies valley. Dahler, later ending up being thaler, is a 500-year-old abbreviation of Joachimsthaler, an early Bohemian/German silver coin. Words Joachimsthaler essentially referred to something from 'Joachim's Thal'. This was Joachim's Valley, which currently relates to Jáchymov, a day spa town in NW Bohemia in the Czech Republic, near to the border to Germany.

Does fat freezing work on stomach?

Share on Pinterest Researchers have found CoolSculpting to be relatively effective. Research generally points towards CoolSculpting being a relatively safe and effective treatment for removing some areas of fat. A 2015 review published in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery analyzed 19 previous studies of cryolipolysis.

The word appears first to have been tape-recorded between in Jamieson's Dictionary of the Scottish Language, in the kind of pernickitie, as an extension of a Scottish word pernicky, which is probably a better hint to its beginnings. This is all supposition in the absence of trusted taped origins.

On which point a mix of the words certain and particular might have been an aspect, especially when you think about the earlier pernicky kind. Chances indicating the different possibilities of challengers, as used in betting, was initial videotaped in English in 1574 according to Chambers, so the use of the 'can't odds it' expression can understandably be older certainly. Cassells as well as other trustworthy jargon sources say that 'take the mick' is cockney poetry jargon, c. 1950s, from 'Micky Bliss', rhyming with 'take the piss'. No-one seems to recognize that Micky Bliss was, which perhaps shows a little weakness in the derivation. Alternatively, as well as perhaps additionally in the direction of the adoption of the expression, a much less widely known opportunity is that 'mick' in this sense is a reducing of the word 'micturation', which is a clinical term for peeing.

Partridge states initially tape-recorded concerning 1830, however suggests the expression might have been in usage from perhaps the 1600s. This is absolutely possible because board indicated table in older times, which is the association with card games used a table. It was previously bord, deducible to Old Saxon, also indicating shield, consistent with similar foreign words dating back to the earliest starts of European language.

This table sense of board additionally provided us the board as put on a board of directors and the boardroom. slowpoke - sluggish person or worker - slowpoke is USA jargon first tape-recorded in print according to Chambers. Possibly from cowpoke - words originally utilized to define the males who prodded livestock onto slaughterhouse trains. Poke stood for the picture of job, being based on an usual work task of the moments, as did punch.

Blast With Cold Water.

This to a certain degree describes why numerous English words with French beginnings take place in way of life as well as social language. Incidentally words French, to define individuals or points of France and the language itself, has existed in English in its contemporary kind since about 1200, before which it was 'Frensch', and earlier in Old English 'frencisc'. This originated from Old High German frenkisc and frenqisc, from and also straight pertaining to the Franks, the very early Germanic people who overcame the Romans in Gaul around the fifth century. https://spireaesthetics.co.uk/femiwand-prices/ of the Frank people is also the root of words France as well as the Franc money. The most appealing concept for the utmost origin of words Frank is that it originates from a similar word for a spear or lance, which was the favoured tool of the Frankish tribes. whatever floats your watercraft - if it makes you happy/it's your decision/it's your selection (although I do not always concur and also I uncommitted anyway) - a fairly contemporary expression from the late 20th century with strangely unknown beginnings.

Do you poop when you die?

The body may release stool from the rectum, urine from the bladder, or saliva from the mouth. This happens as the body's muscles relax. Rigor mortis , a stiffening of the body muscles, will develop in the hours after death.

Why pick Cryopen?

In the late 1400s, silver ounce coins were minted from silver mined at Joachim's Valley, Bohemia, by a regionally powerful family members, the Counts of Schlick. These very early localized European coins, called 'Joachimsthaler', shortened to 'thaler', were conventional silver because area, which would certainly nowadays extend into Germany. The top quality and also track record of the 'Joachimsthaler' coins ultimately created the 'thaler' term to spread and also be used for more main common versions of the coins in Germany, and also somewhere else as well. Later on, from SpireAesthetics.co.uk lets you , the term was also made use of in its adjusted 'dollar' form as a name for the Spanish peso (likewise called 'item of eight'). Clergy and clerics and also clerks were consequently amongst one of the most able as well as extremely valued and also valued of all 'employees'.

youtube

For such a well-used and also popular expression the details of beginnings are strangely sporadic, and also a typically not referenced in all by the normal expressions as well as etymology resources. Various other pointers describe feasible links with card video games, in which turning up a card would certainly expose something concealed, or mark the end of a passage of play. It's specifically tough to hypothesize about the beginnings since words 'transform' has numerous different meanings, especially when integrated with other very adaptable words. If you can add anything to assist identfy when and also where as well as exactly how the 'turn it up' expression created please get in touch. The original wording was 'trend nor time tarrieth no male' (' tarrieth' implying 'awaits'). taxi/taxicab - fare-charging vehicle, although taxi can be a fare-charging boat - taxi as well as taxicab are words which we tend to take for approved without thinking what the derivation may be.

locations Of The Body dealt With With Fat Freezing.

As a matter of fact the beginning of taxi is the French 'taximetre' as well as German equivalent 'taxameter', incorporating taxi/taxa as well as metre/meter. Taximeter showed up in English around 1898, at which time its usage was moving from horse-drawn carriages to car. Taxicab is an acronym of one more French word cabriolet, which entered English in the 1700s, as well as it appears in the full French taxicab equal 'taximetre cabriolet'. Taxi showed up in English meaning a horse drawn carriage in 1826, a heavy steam locomotive in 1859, and also a motor cars and truck in 1899. https://spireaesthetics.co.uk/prices-hifu/ recommends that the French taximetre is really stemmed from the German taxameter, which interestingly triggered an earlier the same yet brief English term taxameter taped in 1894, related to horsedrawn taxicabs. sweep the board - win every little thing - based on the metaphor of winning all the cards or cash stake in a video game of cards.

Mojo most likely originates from African-American language, describing a talisman or witchcraft charm, and also is close to the word 'moco', suggesting withccraft, made use of by the Gullah of the United States South Carolina coastline as well as islands. The word as well as the definition were popularised by the 1956 blues tune Got My Mojo Working, initially made renowned by Muddy Waters' 1957 recording, as well as ultimately covered by practically all blues artists since then. The term supplied the origin for the word mobster, suggesting mobster, which appeared in American English in the early 1900s. Hitch used in the sense is American from the 1880s although the general drawback definition of step by drawing or jerking is Old English from the 1400s hytchen, and also prior, icchen definition step from 1200.

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zaritarazi · 5 years

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okay i made a whole pokemon verse with HEAVY input from @icedvulpix for legends and i REALLY feel like it needs to be posted here so long post ahead bc the points were all separate tweets

1. amaya runs the daycare and charlie is the dark gym leader. bc this is the pokemon universe, they always get confused for one another despite ALL THE CONTEXT CLUES POSSIBLE. amaya thinks it's cute. charlie gets grumpy.

2. sara literally to me is just "i teach /karate/ and my pokemon is a /machoke/" like she's very proud and we are too. ava doing a sweatdrop she does have other aspects of her personality. she just really likes karate. please

3. ava would work at some kind of research facility that may or may not end up being evil, which isn't her fault she thought this was a conservation effort. will move on to a better, actual facility that does conservation at some point

4. palmer tech would just be an american silph co (ari's suggestion) and zari would work there (ari's suggestion). felicity and cisco would also work there!!! ray keeps trying to get felicity to be ceo so he can go on adventures but /she's/ too busy going on adventures

4.1 cisco invented his own department for ultrabeast research. ray just gives him money whenever he asks. it's fine

5. nate is really the pinnacle ash's mom here in that he gets kidnapped like twice a week minimum but he also researches unowns and other parts of pokemon history

5.1 nate keeps trying to do these really big romantic gestures for amaya so she'll be his girlfriend (it's pokemon all romance is theoretical) but like 4/5 times will just end up giving charlie a huge bouquet of flowers and reading her a poem and shes like can you GO

5.2. charlie: nate wrote you another poem!! amaya: that's so sweet! charlie: that's 15 minutes i'm never getting back

6. zari has a porygon that she leaves at the daycare when she goes to work and she and amaya always have cute flirty conversations. she and charlie flirt by telling each other what a shit trainer they are and promising to battle at some point

6.1. charlie: ha! you can pamper that porygon all you want! he'll never stand a chance against /my/ sneasel! zari: your sneasel couldn't hit the blind side of a barn, let alone ////my//// atari!!! (that's the porygon's name) amaya, in beautiful anime tears: WHY MUST WE FIGHT

6.2 except that it's pokemon so zari would have to say something like "your sneasel is barely anything to sneeze at" and we would all have to live with that

7. i guess mick and len are technically team rocket. they're retired. if you talk to mick and he sees you're treating your pokemon well he gives you a mega burn heal. len will give you moonstone or something if you kick amaya in the shins

7.1 the ONLY way to get an icy stone and evolve into a glaceon is to convince len you've stolen amaya's wallet. he's gonna tell you not to give it back. you absolutely must or you're going to hell

8. mona works for ava taking care of special pokemon at the facility! she is going to fuck an ultrabeast and god will not stop her. except it's pokemon so we can't say fuck

9. nora lives in a big spooky house by herself and it IS haunted with ghost pokemon. these are her friends. ray and mona won't leave her alone and they are UPSETTING her misdreavus

10. jax was a pokemon trainer who sustained a terrible injury and is fine now but he did have to cut his journey short. now he is the #1 science and works in dr stein's lab doing tests for silph/palmer tech. ray would also be fine with jax being ceo. please someone be ceo

10.1 ray: this is my office! it's on the top floor of the highest building in The City Area of This Region. pretty cool, right? jax: sure ray: you could have this office jax: im not going to be ceo ray ray: but im SO TIRED all the TIME

10.2 as this is the pokemon universe people can tend to be a little... spacey. Jax does not understand why this happens but his grasp of common sense makes him the most powerful of us

10.3 person: what did your SCIENCE EXPERIMENT prove, dr jackson??? jax, gesturing: it caught fire person: applauds

#legends of tomorrow #lot headcanon #lot au #legends pokemon au

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arecomicsevengood · 4 years

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Watching Movies In Self-Isolation, Part Two

L’Assassin Habite Au Rue 21 (1942), dir. Henri-Georges Clouzot. Clouzot is better known for directing The Wages Of Fear (the movie William Friedkin remade as Sorcerer) and Diabolique, but this is the first movie he directed. It’s a pretty effective comedy, as well as an Agatha Christie style murder-mystery thriller. It’s really cool to watch these things that feel like they are just “movies,” before a bunch of genre conventions got built up and put in place. This one’s also eighty minutes long, super-short. The premise of the movie is there’s a serial killer on the loose, leaving a business card on every dead body. A dude passes along to the police that he found a stash of the business cards in the attic of a boarding house, so the killer must live there. A police officer goes undercover as a priest moving into the boarding house to investigate the residents. His wife, an aspiring singer, has made a bet with him she can solve the crime first, and in doing so become a celebrity that will be hired to perform places, so she also moves into the boarding house, partly to annoy him. The stuff at the boarding house is basically the film’s second act, while the first and third act are more typical murder-mystery stuff, although the tone of comedy is maintained throughout, despite all the cold-blooded murders.

All These Women (1964), dir. Ingmar Bergman. Kind of dumb sex comedy directed by Ingmar Bergman, but with gorgeous Sven Nykvist cinematography, bright jewel-toned pastels, and sort of theatrical staging in spots seeming to foreshadow Parajanov’s The Color Of Pomegranates or eighties Greenaway stuff. About a critic who visits the palatial estate of a famous cellist to write a biography of him only to find a harem of women; the whole thing unfolding from the cellist’s funeral a few days later. The winking humor is both music-hall bawdy but in a way that feels self-aware or “meta” in the context of a sixties film.

The Touch (1971), dir. Ingmar Bergman. Bergman’s one of my favorites, many of his canonized classics resonate deeply with me, but he was also astonishingly prolific, with a bunch of movies of his blurring together in my mind, and even more that I didn’t know existed, like this English-language one, starring Elliott Gould. Gould’s another favorite of mine, being in a bunch of great movies in the sixties and seventies, but damn, he’s unlikable here. Unlikable characters “hit different” in older material because I’m not sure if you’re supposed to sympathize with them according to the sexist cultural attitudes of the day. Here he’s “the other man” Liv Ullman is cheating on Max Von Sydow (RIP) with, but he’s pretty emotionally abusive, just a shit to her, extremely demanding of her in a relationship he did nothing to earn, though it does feel like the movie is kind of treating him as a romantic lead.

The Anderson Tapes (1971), dir. Sidney Lumet. This is heist movie, starring Sean Connery as a dude fresh out of prison, planning to rob his girlfriend’s apartment building, costarring Christopher Walken in his first film role. It contains all the plot beats of a typical heist thing, all the satisfying “getting the gang together, planning things out in advance, chaotic elements interfere” stuff but also a totally superfluous bit of framing about like constant surveillance, video monitoring and audio tape. All this dystopian police-state stuff seems, implicitly, like it would make a crime impossible to execute, the criminals are monitored every step of the way, by assorted agencies. But then the punchline, after everyone’s arrested for reasons having nothing to do with that, is that all this recording is illegal and all the tapes should be erased as the high-profile nature of the case makes it likely the monitoring agencies will get caught. Sidney Lumet directs a good thriller, even though I don’t find Connery (or Dyan Cannon, who plays the girlfriend) particularly compelling.

The Testament Of Dr. Mabuse (1933), dir. Fritz Lang. I watched this years ago, after reading Matt Fraction praise it, particularly how skillful the transitions between scenes were, and I really enjoyed it, but didn’t remember much about it and was excited to rewatch it. It’s got a lot going for it: An exceedingly elaborate criminal plot whose only goal is to wreak chaos, low-level criminals caught up in something they’re morally unprepared to reckon with, a charismatic police detective interviewing a bunch of weirdos, Fritz Lang following up M by continuing to be a master of film and sound editing very early stitching it all together. The Mabuse character was previously the star of a silent film I haven’t watched, and here he’s mute, which is a clever choice I didn’t register until writing it out just now. He’s gone completely insane, but is nonetheless writing a journal filled with elaborate crime plots, and his psychologist is completely insane and following these directions, in a commentary on the rise of Nazism in Germany at the time.

House By The River (1950), dir. Fritz Lang. I watched this in the pre-Quarantine days, but it totally rules. Again, it feels sordid in part because of how old it is and my assumption you’re meant to identify on some level with the completely loathsome protagonist’s sexual desire and anger at getting turned down. It’s so creepy, he’s listening to the sound of his maid showering at one point. All the characters seem very fun to play, they’re all pretty cartoonish. This guy murder his maid, and then gets the idea that he should write a book about the murder when someone explains the idea of “writing what you know” to him, and he is then surprised when his wife reads the book and puts together that it’s a murder confession, saying something like “Really? I thought I disguised it pretty well.” The film functions as a dark comedy because every character is completely mortifying. Lang’s work becoming less ambitious and more reduced in budget during his time working in America is pretty sad but this movie feels legit deranged.

Midsommar (2019), Ari Aster. Heard good things about Hereditary, but haven’t watched it yet, having been put off by the plot summary of Aster’s preceding short film, about a kid who rapes his dad. This is like a longer version of The Wicker Man, basically, starring Florence Pugh, who I had heard was like the new actress everyone’s enamored with, but didn’t think was that compelling in this. A bunch of Americans go to a Swedish village, one of them (played by Chidi from The Good Place) has studied their anthropology extensively, but all are unprepared for the fact that their whole culture seems to revolve around human sacrifice and having sex with outsiders so they don’t become totally inbred. There’s a monstrously deformed, cognitively impaired child who’s been bred specifically so his abstract splashings of paint can be interpreted as culture-defining profound lore, which I took away as being comparable to the role Joe Biden plays within the death cult of the DNC.

Long Day’s Journey Into Night (2019), dir. Bi Gan. This got a lot of acclaim, but I am almost certain the main reason I watched it is because the director made a list of his favorite movies and included Masaaki Yuasa’s anime series Kemonozume on it. Does a sort of bisected narrative thing, where half of the movie is this sort of fragmented crime thing, a little hard to follow, and then you get the title card, and then the second half is this pretty dreamlike atmospheric piece done in a single shot, with a moving camera. I’m not the sort to jerk off over long shots, although I appreciate the large amount of technical pre-planning that goes into pulling them off. The second part is pretty compelling though, enveloping, I guess it was in 3-D at certain theatrical screenings? I’m a little unclear on how my fucked-up eyes can deal with 3-D these days and I was never that into it. The first half is easy to turn off and walk away from, the second half isn’t but I’m unsure on how much it amounts to beyond its atmosphere.

Black Sun (1964), dir. Koreyoshi Kurahara. This one’s about a Japanese Jazz fan and dirtbag squatter who meets a black American soldier who’s gone crazy and AWOL. He loves him because he loves Jazz and all Black people, but the soldier is pretty crazy and can’t understand him anyway. Jazz is, or was, huge in Japan and this is a cooler depiction of that fandom than you get in Murakami novels but it’s a fairly uncomfortable watch, I guess because the black dude seems so crazy it feels a little racist to an American audience? Maybe he wasn’t being directed that well because there would be a language barrier but it’s weird.

Honestly the thing to watch from sixties Japan on The Criterion Channel is Black Lizard (1962), dir. Umetsugu Inoue, which I watched shortly after Trump’s election in 2016, when all the Criterion stuff was still on Hulu, and it cheered me up considerably in those dark days. It feels a little like The Abominable Dr. Phibes, but with a couple musical numbers, and is about a master detective who thinks crime is super-cool and wishes there was a criminal who would challenge his intellect. Then the Black Lizard kidnaps someone. It’s a lot of fun, with a tone that feels close to camp but is so knowing and smart it feels more genuinely strange and precise. One of those things you get fairly often where the Japanese outsider’s take on American genre stuff gets what it’s about more deeply and so feels like it’s operating on a higher level. I really love this movie.

I had this larger point I wanted to make about just feeling repulsed by genre stuff that self-consciously attempts to mimic its canonical influences and that might not be all the way present in this post. Still, something that really should be implicit when talking about movies from the past is that they are not superhero movies, and how repulsed I am by that particular genre’s domination of cinema right now, and how much of cinema has a history of something far looser and more freewheeling in its ideas of how to make work that appealed to a broad audience, and how much weird formal playfulness can be understood intuitively by an audience without being offputting, and the sort of spirit of formal interrogation connects the films I like to the comics I like (as well as the books I like, and the visual art I like), this sense of doing something that can only be done within that medium even as certain other aspects translate.

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therovingrunner · 5 years

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Surviving Life and Conquering the Grail Of Trail

The Story

Firstly, it’s taken me nearly 3 weeks to pen my thoughts down on what happened at the 10th edition of probably SA’s most iconic trail race, the Otter African Trail Run that took place on October 20th. Partly because life continued, and partly because I didn’t want the euphoria to end.

Ever since I read an article in Runner’s World, back in 2009, written by my good friend & trail mentor, Patrick Cruywagen, on his experience at the Otter, the Otter has been a bucket list event and in the back of my mind.

In fact, it was this article that got me into trail running in the first place.

Dubbed the Grail of Trail, The Forbidden Run, this iconic trail in the Tsitsikamma Section of the Garden Route National Park is only allowed to be run during the event week, as running it during any other time of the year is not only illegal, but could also see you banned from the trail.

Ironically, it was due to the illegal running of brothers John & Mark Collins that the idea of the trail race was born. Back in the day they use to run the route after first dropping off their bicycles in Nature’s Valley, driving back to the start of the trail, running it, and then cycling back to Storms River Mouth camp site to pick up their cars again.

With over 7000 steps varying in height and distance apart & almost 2400m vertical ascent to negotiate, various river mouths & streams to cross, and the continual undulating technical terrain, makes for possibly the most difficult/challenging trail run in SA. No easy feat, as this 42km stretch of trail requires 100% at all times.

The Otter is divided in a Run (8 hour cut-off) and the Challenge (11 hour cut-off), and alternates each year with the Retto (Otter in reverse) running from Nature’s Valley side back to Storms River Mouth compared to the traditional East to West running on this iconic 5 day hiking trail!

My Otter History

In 2013 I got offered the opportunity (4 days notice) to run the Challenge, and with very little training or idea what I was getting myself into accepted the offer immidediately.

That day I was handed a good old trail spanking, devoured by the trail and spat out on the other side just under 6h30 later. I recall moments where I wanted to crawl into the foetal position, and call my mom to come and get me! But once the Otter bug has bitten, that trail flows through your veins and you will be back time & time again.

My first Otter back in 2013! Image by Jacques Marais

In 2015 I entered the Otter for a second go, taking my good friend & training partner Will Saaiman along! That day I got spanked even harder as a combination of tricky underfoot conditions & soaring heat took its toll on me. Will narrowly missed out on the 8 hour cut-off. That night was probably the lowest point in my trail running career and something that broke me. Seeing Will’s face at prize giving as I got up to receive my green Sub-7 medal while he remain seated.

Although a Retto was never on the cards as I prefer the traditional or “Classic” way, I vowed to be back the next year and help him get his medal. But as life would have it, a lower back injury forced me to withdraw months before the race, but thanks to race organisers Magnetic South, I got the opportunity to do some social media work on the route and somehow still be apart of the vibe, so I tagged along to support Will, who managed to run an incredible 7h25 that year.

In 2017 we were back again, a Sub-6 my goal, and for Will, just to get that elusive Otter Classic medal. Although I managed to run a PB of 6h17, and generally had a better day out than the previous 2 occasions, I was disappointed in my result. Will ran another great race, and could now brag with back 2 back medals. I on the other hand started planning for 2019, and give it one more bash on the Classic.

This was also the year that the organisers began an initiative where runners who have done 5 or more Otters received a special medal, and adding 1+ 1, I got to the conclusion that if I did the Retto in 2018, then Otter 2019 will be my 5th (and maybe final) attempt at that elusive Sub-6.

The Goal! Image by Sue Ullyett

As luck would have it, soon after I entered for Retto 2018, Salomon, the title sponsor of the Otter Trail Run, announced the Golden Trail Series, consisting of 5 of the most technical & iconic marathon distance trail races over the world, with the Otter being the grand finale. The top 10 Men & Women after the initial 5 races would then be invited over to the Otter for what would be the most competitive international field ever assembled for a South African trail race.

To run or just see the likes of Kilian Jornet, Marc Lauenstein, Stian Angermund-Vik, Sage Canaday, Ruth Croft, Ida Nilsson and many more mixing it up with local trail stars Kane Reilly, Thabang Madiba, Christiaan Greyling, Johardt van Heerden, Megan Levinson & Robyn Owen in our back yard, would be one for the memory bank!

With Kilian Jornet. Not sure if he asked me to pose for a picture, or I asked him. Image by Alfred Thorpe/Vuurtoring

The Build-up

But life has other ideas, and 2018 has probably been one of the hardest years in my & my family’s lives. At the end of May my wife and I was involved in a terrible head-on collision, which today still has an impact on how we go around our day to day business. Nini took the brunt of the impact, and although I might not have the visible scars, it did have an impact on my lower back and my mental state at the time.

Juggling work, being a father to two incredible kids, trying to be a loving & helping husband and finding the time to train properly has its challenges, and I’m fortunate enough to have a wife that affords me the opportunity to live my passion for trail & supports my goals, especially when it comes to the Otter.

Personally, I don’t think any amount of training will ever result in an easy running of the Otter, although specific Otter training will go a long way in making it easier or more tolerable.

Since the accident, I have not been able to train as I wanted to, as at some point the lower back pain would flair up and cause discomfort, adding to an already weakened mental state! The furthest I ran in the past 5 months was 21km, the longest being just over 3h! What I did focus on was as much climbing as possible on any run, and the stair master in the gym became my new best friend.

I also decided to take the whole family along for the first time, including my in-laws, so they too could be a part of the Otter and Golden Trail Series vibe.

The goal, shared only with a few close friends in the trail fraternity, was a Sub-6, although I knew that that would be a push with the limited training distance wise that I have done in the build up.

The Vibe & Prologue

Although the skies might have been gloomy upon arrival for registration, the atmosphere inside the marque tent was warm and welcoming, as one has become accustomed to with any Magnetic South event. After greeting all the familiar faces who have become part of the Otter family over the years, it was time to get the compulsory kit check done, and head out to do the prologue.

With a slight drizzle, interrupted every now and then by a slightly heavier downpour, I decided to rather go out sooner rather than later, as the underfoot conditions would only deteriorate towards the latter stage of the day. (Apparently the elites didn’t get that message, as some ridiculous fast times were posted, lead by SA’s own Kane Reilly & Toni McCann!

On every of my previous 3 attempts I have managed to make the Abangeni (The Challengers), the top 24 runners based on their prologue times, contesting for the Grail. With the arrival of the Golden Trail Series superstars, that was basically out of the question, although I felt my speed leading into the event was better than previous years, so I would give it a bash anyway and see how close I could get.

We were warned at the prologue briefing that conditions were really slippery underfoot, especially when stepping on any exposed logs, the moss covered roots & the wooden bridges found on the trail. I sped off like a house on fire, but within the first 300m found myself on all fours having slipped in a muddy bend. On we went, and with the second, slightly more worrying slide that looked something like a drunk ice skater, I decided to pull the handbrake a bit and rather coast it in more cautiously! No one has ever won the Otter by just running the prologue, but some have ended their journey before even setting foot on the Grail Of Trail.

Prologue action. Image by Jacques Marais

Prologue done and dusted! Image Karien Ham

Race briefing that evening was a mixture of ooh’s & aah’s seeing all the international athletes being introduced. I had a great sit down and chat to Marc Lauenstein,(the current Otter & Retto* record holder and only man to run a Sub-4 in both directions) who even signed a shoe for me. My friends close trail friends know I’m a bit of a trail shoe geek and major fan of runners who can run technical trails at ridiculous speeds. That signed shoe (which also boasts Kilian’s signature on the other side) is now the centre piece in my trail memory display behind my bar!

*Polish athlete Bartlomiej Przedwojewski won this year’s Retto in an incredible time of 3:40;48

The usual cheers went up as resident Otter Meteorologist, Derek Van Dam, announced a Weather Alert Level 1 from the CNN International weather studio in Atlanta. After that, a few more hi’s & bye’s and it was time to head to bed.

It Has Arrived

It was an early night, although the usual tossing & turning started from about 3am. My father in-law was so kind as to take me to the start, partly because he wanted his daughter to look after her own kids (as he had all four his grandchildren in his car the previous day) and to make sure I actually start and not get a lift back via any of the Collins clan.

Nervous chatter, a light jog, a few snapshots of the beauty that is Nature’s Valley beach as the sun started to peak through the clouds, and the sound of cow bells started the day as the Abangeni trotted off on the initial 800m or so “neutral zone” before dibbing in at the first official timing check point, and speeding off into the distance never to be seen again by the mere mortals left on the beach.

I started in the sixth batch of 4 runners, at 07:12:30, a group that included my fellow Altra team mate Pieter Calitz, and GU’s Rohan Kennedy. The conversation with these 2 lasted all but 800m, and I said my goodbye’s as they too sped off towards the cliff face in the distance.

Our little group sets off! Image by Peter Kirk

A little later down the beach I caught up with Kyle Herring, and we chatted and coasted along hitting the time checks I wanted to achieve, including getting to Andrè Hut (+/-5km) and seeing Kilian Jornet cheering the runners on, having pulled out due to injury at this point. Kyle decided to up his pace just before the famous Bloukrans crossing (+/- 12km) as he had a faster goal time in mind, and that was the last I would see of him. My swim across Bloukrans was nothing that would make the likes of Michael Phelps or Chad Le Clos sit up and take notice, but it did suffice in getting me across while race photographers Jacques Marais & Jeff Ayliffe had a good laugh.

The swim at Bloukrans! Images by Jeff Ayliffe

Coming out the other side! Still smiling! Image by Alfred Thorpe/Vuurtoring

All went according to plan, working hard enough on the climbs without burning out, and smashing the downs as fast as possible. I was hitting my desired time goals at the various checkpoints with a few minutes to spare each time, including a quick stop at the GU munchie point at Oakhurst Hut (21km) to refill my soft flasks with water & Tailwind, and munch down a few baby potatoes.

From here it got a little tougher, with extended periods of running alone. By Scott Hut (28km), still within my time check, things started going array. The next stretch of 7km to Ngubu (35km) would be the toughest section both mentally and physically, as for the first time I was starting to fall behind the eight ball, and by the time I hit Ngubu I was 12min adrift of goal pace, knowing that the next 3/4km would be the most continuous technical section of the whole trail. With good friend Stu McConnachie catching up from behind (it also happened in 2017 with about 6km to go) my mental head space took a turn for the worst and self doubt started creeping in. This time though, Stu was struggling too, and as he would drop me on the climbs, I would make up ground again on the downs.

In 2017 Stu & I had time for a selfie. Not this time!

Just before reaching Ngubu I was about to take out my phone, call Nini, and tell her I’m not going to make it, while trying to hang onto Stu and death march it in. A familiar voice beckoned down below on the last decent into Ngubu where the familiar face of Robert le Brun greeted us with some words of inspiration. That, together with a fellow runner telling me it’s just 4km that needed to be smashed hard was just what I needed. I filled up my softflask with 1 last Tailwind sachet, basically swallowed a Racefood FARbar in 1 go, and decided to give it my all over the next 4km.

At this stage the slightest incline would still bring me to a halt, although I was able to keep a relative good pace, dropping Stu as we hit the rocky coastline. Passing the famous waterfall with about 2.5km to go I started getting the feeling that my Sub 6 was possible. A little further down the trail, trail friend, Ian Little, gave the last few encouraging words needed, and at this point I even started catching a few runners in front of me on the more technical sections! Not long after we were spat out back onto the last piece of forest single track towards the finish.

As I ran up the stairs at the start of the Storms River camp site, my daughter Janke was standing there and she ran the last 200m with me. I still don’t have the words to describe the feeling of running into that finishing chute, dibbing that timing check point one last time, looking at my watch and then seeing Nini’s face smiling at me with tears running down her cheeks!

This moment will stick with me forever! Image by Karien Ham

I managed to complete the route in 5:57, and only later would hear the tails of stress the family had looking at the big time board at the finish line, as minutes and seconds would tick off closer and closer to that 6 hour mark.

To be honest, a piece of my soul still lies on those rocks between Ngubu & Storms River, and the Otter would forever be apart of me. Better than achieving my goal though is the fact that I might have given a piece of me away that day, but I gained so much more! For the first time in over 2 years, since pulling out from a race due to my back, I found some mental toughness again.

Thank You

A few words of thanks need to go out to all that made just journey possible, and support my crazy passion of all things trail.

It would not be possible without the continuous support of friends (you know who you are) and family and some amazing sponsors.

The guys from Altra Running & Ultimate Direction South Africa, especially Roger Zeino &Alex Hawkins, thanks for giving me the opportunity to run in the best gear and with zero limits.

Grant & Mel Markey, from Tailwind Nutrition. You guys are like family, and when all else fails, I know that Tailwind won’t, nor your support & encouragement.

Kate Frost from Racefood. Your continuous support is greatly appreciated.

The gear!

To the Collins clan, Mark, John, Christine & Belen, this event would not be possible without your passion for the sport & the environment. We, as the trail community of SA, salute you, and congratulations on the 10th edition of the Otter African Trail Run.

So it’s time to up the ante, and I will be back in 2019, to once again try to survive, but more so, conquer the Grail Of Trail.

#The Otter African Trail run #Otter #Retto #Magnetic South #Altra Running #Tailwind Nutrition #Racefood #Kilian Jornet #Marc Lauenstein

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