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mutatismutandisx · 3 years

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Shadow and Bone (Netflix Series Review)

No Spoilers!!!

"Be careful of powerful men" - Genya Safin

Welcome to the Grishaverse!

Shadow and Bone is Netflix's big gamble for young adult fiction mega-success, the kind we haven't seen since Jennifer Lawrence volunteered as tribute almost a decade ago, adapting Leigh Bardugo's popular Grishaverse novels (her debut trilogy Shadow and Bone and serving as a prequel for the Six of Crows duology), anchored by an incredibly diverse cast (mostly newcomers) and a huge production budget, showrunner Eric Heisserer, alongside Bardugo who serves as an executive producer, aim for Hunger Games and Harry Potter level phenomenon with their own fantasy epic.

To Heisserer's credit, he manages a great adaptation of Bardugo's novels, even if he falls prey to the same story tropes that made Bardugo's debut novels seem so derivative, Heisserer brings the Grishaverse to life in a (mostly) successful run of 8 episodes, and even if his grand tour of Ravka isn't the most organized or well planned, most viewers will still fall in love with this world.

Heisserer's boldest creative choice, and biggest deviation from the novels, is the introduction of Kaz Brekker and his Crows, Jesper and Inej, in this opening chapter to the story, characters that did not appear in Bardugo's original Shadow and Bone trilogy. Creatively and business-wise, his decision is an obvious one, Bardugo's Shadow and Bone novels, while a solid debut, are the typical young adult fodder that is bombarded to consumers every year, a largely derivative yet charming "chosen one" story that teens and tweens eat up every year and then mostly forget about when the next one comes around (less Percy Jacson and more Divergent if you will), truth be told Bardugo's Grishaverse only became a phenomenon after the release of her superb Six of Crows duology, featuring Bardugo's very own Suicide Squad, a ragtag group of crimials performing incredible, mind-bending heists in the tough streets of a fictional Amsterdam (and beyond!), all anchored by what is (to this day) Bardugo's best creation: Kaz Brekker, a Batman-meets-The Riddler machiavelic genius with a flair for theatrics, Six of Crows and it's follow-up Crooked Kingdom are surely the main reason Netflix even greenlit this series to begin with. And just like in the books, Brekker and his Crows provide a much needed bolt of manic energy to an otherwise very by-the-numbers storyline. Not to discredit Bardugo's talent as a writer, but her skills had simply not been honed at the time of her 2012 debut, a shortcoming that Bardugo would fix later on, in her follow up novels, through ambition and sheer force of will.

And yet, Heisserer stays extremely faithful to the books, whether it's to Bardugo's best ideas or her least creative ones, he adapts it all, while attempting to add his own flair into the mix (with varying results), take our main protagonist for example, Alina Starkov, to those unfamiliar with the novels, Alina is the Katniss Everdeen of this story, a mostly ordinary young woman who, by a struck of destiny, finds herself thrust into the spotlight in the hero/savior-of-her-people role (a most unflattering one might I add), and thus becomes an unwilling symbol to a cause she hardly understands, saddled with all the responsabilities and power that comes with the job, and with the inevitable political players and adversaries that may take advantage of her power for their own gain ("Be careful of powerful men" one of Alina's confidants warns her in episode 5). And did I mention she happens to find herself in the middle of a love triangle? Indeed Bardugo's original novel isn't the most creative, and yet Heisserer doesn't have much to offer as a way to reinvent the character, the best he can come up with is changing Alina's ethnicity (originally caucasian) to that of the fictional Shu Han people (read: China), and yet, nothing is really done with the change, it just sits there, (similarly to Alina everytime a background character hurls xenophobic abuse at her), it's not explored and hardly touched upon, which begs the question why introduce the change in the first place? While I commend the showrunners for casting a female lead of asian descent on a blockbuster property such as this, I would remind them that true diversity is more than simply ethnic tokenism. Perhaps there will be a bigger payoff for the creative change in future seasons (if we get them, season 2 has not been greenlit), doubtfull but I'll remain optimistic.

Tokenism aside, the diversity of the cast truly is commendable, and as expected with a young adult property, it's a very young and very attractive cast, on the one hand it's understandable, they need to appeal to their core demographic, on the other hand they commit themselves to one of the most glaring faults in Bardugo's Grishaverse series, Ravka doesn't seem to have soldiers, politicians or grisha over the age of 25, it seems like a huge oversight on part of a country (and Leigh Bardugo) to have the entire power of the government and the military reside upon a group of teenagers, but be that as it may, most of the cast, while young, is very talented, even if their characters aren't fully developed, they do their best with what they are given, some of the standouts are Jessie Mei Li as Alina, Mei Li is saddled with a character and plot that's as derivative as they come, and yet she finds nuances in her perfomance that are lovely to watch, she brings a sense of joy and determination to Alina that lesser actors couldn't even imagine much less portray, all that helps her stand out from most, if not all, the crowd of chosen one characters that have come before her, and even tho Mei Li doesn't reach Jennifer Lawrence levels with her performance, she certainly surpasses the Kristen Stewarts and Shailene Woodleys that have come before.

Ben Barnes is a surprise as General Kirigan, at first glance you might think him miscast (too young, too pretty to be believed as a stone cold, battle hardened general) and yet he still manages to make the character his own, a possessive, demanding, controlling, master manipulator who always seems to have the upper hand, Barnes is blessed with a tight script and he never misses a beat giving a subtle and nuanced performance. And then there is Kit Young as Jesper Fahey, sharpshooter, playboy, criminal with a heart of gold, Young is a revelation, he is as good in his role as Robert Downey Jr. is as Tony Stark, and that's all you need to know, Young was simply born to play Jesper, anchored by a strong script, he steals every scene he is in and far overshadows his fellow Crows. And as for the other Crows, Freddy Carter acts his heart out as Kaz Brekker, committing to a very physical performance, from scowl to limp, he embodies Brekker visually, but after the first 2 episodes you get the feeling the writers simply don't know what to do with his character, losing the spotlight to other actors blessed with better material, never did I think Kaz Brekker would be overshadowed by one of his fellow Crows, yet here we are. Carter's talent still shines through and his perpetual, omnipresent scowl as Brekker is a beauty to behold, even if his limping is somewhat inconsistent, which makes me hopeful he will improve when given more to do, still it's a shame to have the master strategist/evil genius Bruce Wayne replaced by a lowly con artist and not a very successful one at that. As for Amita Suman, while perfectly cast as Inej Ghafa, her character is severely underwritten, from her past work in The Menagerie, to her faith, to her interactions with Brekker, it's all done in the broadest of strokes, Suman isn't given much to do and therefore doesn't have the opportunity to excel as The Wraith.

You can feel the writers straining for time between developing this world and the large cast of characters they have to work with, inevitably some characters fall of the wayside, through none of the actors' fault. Daisy Head as Genya Safin is all untapped potential, even more underwritten here than she is in the books, which make later revelations about her character (the color of her kefta and shifting allegiances) barely register, hopefully they correct that going forward. Sujaya Dasgupta is another victim of a weak script and little screen time, Dasgupta is simply miscast as the powerful, acerbic, steely-eyed Zoya Nazyalensky, long gone is the regal, no nonsense, silver-tongued Grisha general, in Dasgupta's hands Zoya is just a watered down Grisha version of a Mean Girl, faltering every scene with the exception of one moment, as she makes her way through party goers at the Little Palace and she corrects Inej's ethnicity to a bystander, (her one good line reading in the entire show) "She's Suli", she declares, with all the strenght and defiance that's sorely missing from the rest of her performance, moving forward let's hope a stronger script can lift her performace off the ground, because right now all the wind is gone from this Squaller's wings. And as for Malyen Oretsev played by Archie Renaux, he is the Gale Hawthorne of this story, the undignified love interest, and Renaux is as boring in his role as Liam Hemsworth was in his.

Lastly, Danielle Galligan as Nina Zenik and Calahan Skogman as Matthias Helvar, are equally terrible in their performances, from their accents to their interactions, none of it rings true, and it's particularly jarring when juxtaposed with the talent portrayed by the rest of the cast, we spent way too much time with Nina and Matthias, for absolutely no payoff to their story (yet! Fans will recognize them as 2 future members of Brekker's murder of Crows), but their little side adventure is so disconnected with the events of the main plot that I can't help but feel their story was better reserved for another time, hopefully with some better actors playing the roles. A lovely moment of playfulness between Nina and Matthias while they tread along in a barren, snowy hill, is the only glimpse of hope for Galligan's and Skogman's performances, maybe there is talent to be tapped but it certainly wasn't in display this time around.

The Grishaverse is simply too large and complex, so understandably Heisserer and his writers room have a lot on their plate, but while the character work is largely uneven, his world building is quite solid, based on the impressive foundation Bardugo set out for them, the showrunners are able to bring the world of Ravka to life, the costume design is stunning, from soldiers to Grishas, to royals and diplomats, the costume department does a fabulous job with every piece and every character, one of the high points in the series.

The VFX team also does a lot of the heavy lifting for Heisserer's world building efforts, realizing the different power sets of all the Grisha in a fantastical manner while still maintaining a realistic quality to them, ("you'll believe a man can fly"), but even with a huge production budget, Heisserer strains with this world-spanning adventure, so even though the set and production design is mostly impressive, some sets simply fall out of range for the show's budget, case in point, both Ravka's Royal Palace and the Little Palace are not fully realized, viewers are given a single outside shot of the Royal Palace (and from very far away at that) and the throne room is only visited once, and as for the Little Palace, it's stripped from many of the books most sprawling details, the training grounds, the Grisha school, the fabrikators workshop, the dining room, the palace's towers, all falling victim to obvious budget restrains. Not to mention both palaces are devoid of the classic Russian influences that permeate Ravka's world.

But Heisserer's skills for world building show the most limitations on the lore of the Grishaverse, the three Orders of the Grisha are never properly explained, with Fabrikators getting next to none screen time, Heisserer is never capable to establish a clear view of the world these characters inhabit, most viewers will be very confused about Ravka's shifting borders, the civil war tensions between East and West, and the adversary foreign nations (an inclusion of a map in the opening credits of every episode would have gone a long way), the sociopolitical elements that Bardugo has infused in her books are decidedly complex and the show doesn't do them justice, unfortunately. Perhaps most glaring is the very clear disagreements on what a Ravkan's diction and accent should be, since every actor has their own interpretation of it, an oversight that I hope is fixed in future seasons.

As the few completely negative points of the show, alongside Galligan and Skogman, the sound mixing is terrible (you will need subtitles to watch this show) and the cutaway flahbacks are quite sloppy.

To conclude, Shadow and Bone is a lovingly crafted, beautifully realized, world building adventure, it has a couple of missteps along the way (like all adventures do), but the final product is strong enough to overcome some of its creative faux pas, with a solid script and anchored by a (mostly) talented cast, Shadow and Bone doesn't reach Catching Fire levels of greatness but it far outpaces the rest of the young adult fantasy competition.

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vespertineflora · 4 years

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WangXian Fics

Ongoing:

as the sun will rise E, Fairy Tale AU, Slow Romance/Happy Ending, 50k+ For centuries, the villagers surrounding the Qianlian Forest have been beholden to a fearsome creature. A once loved Prince was long ago cursed into a monstrous form, and ever since has required the sacrifice of maidens to ensure the safety of the forest and the people living around it. This forlorn tradition might have continued for centuries longer... but when it comes time for Lotus Pier to send a maiden as tribute, Jiang Yanli is chosen, and Wei Wuxian won't stand for it. His plan is simple; he'll send Jiang Yanli off to live the long life she deserves with her fiancé, and offer himself as a sacrifice to the Prince instead.

Completed:

at night your body is a symphony E, Post-Canon, Established Relationship, 7k Two weeks ago, mere days after Wei Wuxian’s confession and their first shared kiss, Lan Wangji had been a semi-clueless virgin. Now, Lan Wangji had seemingly unlocked whatever secret code was required to reduce Wei Wuxian to a quivering mess in just a few sparse minutes, playing him as expertly as he played his guqin. Wei Wuxian was half-convinced he'd been seduced by a demon.

do you know who tells the truth? E, Post-Canon, Confessions, 21k Wei Wuxian has been wallowing in feelings for Lan Wangji that he's had a hard time accepting and sometimes, when you need a healthy heaping of the truth, the best place to get it is from drunks and children. (the one in which a short-tempered Jin Ling and a drunk Lan Xichen open Wei Wuxian's eyes to some very convenient truths)

a call to motion E, Post-Canon, Confessions, 14.6k Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji take the junior disciples out on what they expect to be a standard night-hunt, but when Wei Wuxian is targeted with an odd talisman, they end up with a much stranger problem than any of them could have anticipated.

i'd like to drown with you E, Post-Canon, Hot Springs Sex, 7k As soon as Wei Wuxian learns the Cloud Recesses has hot springs, he insists his husband take him, but knowing Wei Wuxian, his intentions go far beyond just taking a relaxing soak.

so full of love E, Post-Canon, Co/ckwarming, 5.1k Wei Wuxian’s head lolled back against Lan Wangji’s shoulder behind him as he let out a faint and content sigh. It was late, well past when Lan Wangji would normally have headed to bed. The only light in the room was the warm glow of the lantern on the desk in front of them, illuminating the hunt notes that Lan Wangji would have graded earlier if Wei Wuxian hadn’t seduced him into bed immediately after their return from dinner. It was a chilly autumn night, and Wei Wuxian was naked, but he had found the warmest seat possible in Lan Wangji’s lap.

oh but you're good to me E, Canon Divergent, Omegaverse, 10k Wei Wuxian had never been good at keeping track of his heats, even though he'd been dealing with them for years. It was one of the many ways Jiang Yanli spoiled him too much, always warning him a couple of days ahead of time so that he'd be prepared... But he and Jiang Cheng had been in Wen territory for weeks now, and after accidentally leading a coup against Wen Chao and being left behind in a cave with Lan Wangji and the terrifying demi-xuanwu, the last thing Wei Wuxian expected was for his heat to sneak up on him now. (basically, an aboverse au where poor omega Wei Wuxian goes into heat while he and an alpha Lan Wangji are waiting for rescue in the cave.)

The Beauty of Love As It Was Made To Be (series, complete) love; it will not betray you E, Canon Divergent, Omegaverse, 17.9k (pt 1) When Wei Wuxian realizes how strange it is that Lan Wangji is the only disciple from his sect at the Wen Sect's indoctrination, he puts together a haphazard plan to get punished with him and get some time alone to talk to him--only to get punished again when Wen Chao catches him mid-conversation attempt. At first, Wei Wuxian laughs off getting shoved into the empty dungeon, but he soon notices that some strange scent in the room is making him go into heat, which is a twist that Wei Wuxian doesn't understand. It's only when a rutting Lan Wangji gets shoved into the room with him that Wei Wuxian realizes Wen Chao's idea for punishing him is far more demented than he could have imagined. (canon divergent from The Untamed, episode 12)

love; it will set you free E, Canon Divergent, Omegaverse, 25.5k (pt 2) Lan Wangji hadn't been prepared for the punishment Wen Chao had had in mind--and he certainly hadn't been prepared for how it would play out, from Wei Wuxian's suggested solution, to the claiming bite and resulting bond that revealed deeper emotions than Lan Wangji could ever have anticipated from Wei Wuxian. Surviving the indoctrination camp is only the first step down a long road towards the life he's desperate to have with his new mate.

imagine being loved by me E, Post-Canon, Rope Bondage, 11.2k After a year together, Wei Wuxian has been tied up with his husband's forehead ribbon enough times to get an idea of what he likes, and decides to get him a present to make things a little more fun for both of them. But as usual, when Wei Wuxian asks for trouble, he always gets a little more of it back than he's expecting.

the best of you (belongs to me) E, Modern AU, Bondage & Sensory Deprivation, 7.4k Having received no reaction from Lan Zhan, Wei Ying couldn’t help himself; he rubbed his hips more pointedly against Lan Zhan, moaning faintly at the fiction he’d generated as he inhaled slowly, the scent Lan Zhan was wearing filling his nose and making his head buzz with memories of Lan Zhan pinning him to the bathroom wall, taking him forcefully as he covered his mouth with his hand to keep him quiet...

The chopping of vegetables stopped. “Wei Ying, I started cooking because you said you were hungry,” Lan Zhan said, trying to sound patient, though his tone was faintly vexed. “Do you want dinner or do you want sex?”

Wei Ying huffed softly, pouting at his own inner turmoil, before replying, “...yes.”

the heart is hard to translate E, Post-Canon, Consensual Non-Consent, 10.8k For months, Wei Wuxian had been haunted by the most enticing fantasies of Lan Wangji kissing him on Phoenix Mountain turning into something quite a bit more explicit--which was nothing new for him, really. He'd been babbling about fantasies of Lan Wangji overpowering and ravishing his younger self ever since their very first time together, and it wasn't as if those fantasies had gone away over time. If anything, they'd just grown more diverse, more... creative. The moment comes almost out of the blue when, one relaxed spring afternoon, Lan Wangji decides that he's ready to offer Wei Wuxian an opportunity to play out that very delicious fantasy about their stolen first kiss.

and i'll get you lost E, Post-Canon, Fem!Wangxian, 8.4k After a year of marriage to her wonderful wife, Wei Ying's sex life is anything but stale--but she's nothing if not always eager to try something new. The minute Lan Zhan tells her she has a surprise for them, Wei Ying can hardly wait to find out what it is. (a canon-compliant, post-series AU where Wei Ying and Lan Zhan are both ladies)

these words are knives that often leave scars T, Post-Canon, Hurt/Comfort, 6.5k Wei Wuxian hadn’t been lying the night he’d told Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji that he didn’t remember the days after the massacre at Nightless City, but his memory had always been awful, so he hadn't given much thought to just how many pieces of his memory were missing. Since his reincarnation, memories from his past life have been coming back to him bit by bit, and he doesn't seem to have much control over it--but if he did, he would have chosen to never remember what happened those days in that cave in Yiling.

one last drink T, During Canon, Grief/Mourning, 1.1k Wei Wuxian had always said that the Emperor's Smile in Gusu was the best liquor he'd ever had. He'd never have a chance to drink it again now, so the least Lan Wangji could do was have a drink in his memory. (WangXian Week 2020 Prompt: Emperor's Smile)

how it was to feel alive T, During Canon, Grief & Hurt/Comfort, 4k On Lan Wangji's first day out of the Jingshi in the months since his severe punishment, he takes Lan Yuan to go visit his rabbits. The trip doesn't go according to plan, but it ends up being the push Lan Wangji needs to move forward. (An au where everything is the same, EXCEPT Lan Wangji's rabbits are Flemish Giants). Written for Untamed FallFest 2020: Remains.

r/relationships T, Modern AU, Pining & Confessions, 10.6k Lan Zhan has been in love with his best friend for nearly a decade and despite his attempts, has never managed to confess. Now that Wei Ying's lease is almost up, there's a chance he'll be moving in with him soon, and Lan Zhan isn't sure that's something he'll survive... The impending stress leads to a drink, which in turn leads to a desperate Reddit post that goes viral and attracts attention and advice from... well, none other than Wei Ying, resulting in a series of failed attempts at getting Wei Ying to realize just how Lan Zhan feels about him.

surely to the sea T, Modern AU, Hair Washing/Non-Sexual Intimacy, 2.1k Lan Zhan has had a rough week at work, so Wei Ying decides to do something very sweet for him.

#vesper posts #wangxian #mdzs #cql #wrote a thing

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adrianodiprato · 3 years

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+ “Design is really an act of communication, which means having a deep understanding of the person with whom the designer is communicating.” ― Donald A. Norman

Game Changers | Series Seven Reflection For Series Six, we turned our attention to Flourishing Future: Designing for a better normal as we attempted to unpack the provocation How do we in schools keep challenging binary thinking for designing a better normal? In Series Seven of the Game Changers Podcast, we once again have eleven remarkable educators – a financial literacy guru, an immersive learning designer, a Director of Student Opportunity & Careers Education, a global citizenship educational leader, an inclusive education champion, a foundational Principal, an Imagine If explorer, a Principal of marginalised youth in society, an entrepreneurial education superstar and two visionaries of the transition from high school to life. Each challenged our binary thinking and inspired us with their version of intentionally designing a better normal – all Game Changers who continue to light the torch for us and show us the way to build schools (and even society) differently.

Each Series Seven Game Changers guest reminded us that those school leaders and educational sectors that understand potential futures, and what each might mean for them, and have the courage to plan ahead, will be the best prepared to support young people to succeed and flourish in the obvious reality of our new tomorrow. That we need to re-examine the purpose of schooling for our times and ensure that it is based on the facts and best predictions about the impact of this relentless change. It means realising that our decision on our vision today will lead to consequences in the future that we may or may not live to see, but others will, especially our COVID Children and the generations that follow.

Our Series Seven Game Changers helped us explore the key ingredients for designing a better normal, so that each young person in a school might begin to flourish in their today and into their future. We started Series Seven with Founder of Money School, Lacey Filipich.

Episode One | Lacey Filipich Key learnings – I first met the effervescent Lacey at s p a c e in 2019. I was instantly drawn to her infectious smiles, smarts and optimistic concept of money and its real human value. Our conversation in Series Seven highlighted the value of flipping the ‘time poor’ narrative, this deficit thinking economics, to the concept of being time rich, a half glass full story line, when viewing financial management, an important literacy for all learners, that focuses on lifting up, from a conversation around limiting waste and liberating hope.

Episode Two | Mond Qu Key learnings – Encounters that evoke feelings of awe often lead to new relationships with self, place and the other. These moments of awe give us a profound sense of hope and the ability to see the bigger picture. Each teaches us that there might be something magical in beauty of everyday life, that we can be forever grateful for. Working in research, practice, and teaching internationally, Mond challenges all educators and learners to iterate in this space of encounter and embrace the challenges of the 21st century. In this episode, he discusses why we all should adopt a designer mindset in a world that needs us to be more curious, more creative, more diverse than ever before, through being open to exploring the power of habits and intentionality immersive encounters of wonder and awe.

Episode Three | Samantha Jean McFetridge Key learnings – Outstanding organisations like Foundations for Young Australians (FYA) have illustrated to us, through extensive reports that there is a new work order, that career pathways aren’t as linear as they used to be with young people expected to have 17 jobs across 5 careers in their lifetime. Our conversation with Samantha reminded us that entrepreneurial-minded learners achieve success by applying knowledge, creatively and resourcefully; be it in STEM, business, creative arts, trade, social enterprise, professional or any other type of knowledge. And that this ability is recognised globally as critical to 21st century learning and active citizenship. Understanding that this is not just about building a business but empowering all learners to build their own future through discovering possibilities available to them, via a comprehensive career’s education framework.

Episode Four | Hamish Curry Key learnings – Our chat with Hamish reminded me of the significance of place. This thinking is centred around the notion that learning can take place anywhere, anytime. Where young people can access knowledge at a touch of a button. Therefore, schools need to commit to creating authentic learning experiences that enable learners to connect deeper with self, place and especially the other. This more personal exchange with real-world contexts and in-country immersions allows all learners to consider the social change, dialogue and bridge building needed to better connect to local and global communities. It allows for all learners to construct global perspectives and their own meaning not only in the classroom, but outside the classroom and outside of school. And we cannot ignore that virtual reality ensures that the entire world is the new classroom.

Episode Five | Tanya Sheckley Key learnings – The rise and rise and rise of personalised learning. Alongside our changing notions of what constitutes a classroom, Tanya reminded us that our ideas about the way teaching is delivered must also be reshaped. That the old ‘one size fits all’ model is outdated and has no place in the agenda for today’s schooling, for today’s tomorrow. As a result, teachers will need to develop individualised learning plans for students, each home to a unique life, which will enable each student to access curriculum and learning designed at a pace that best suits their abilities and divergent needs, that allows them to engage with knowledge, skills, and wisdom, that are most beneficial to them.

Episode Six | Scott Donohoe Key learnings – True vulnerability is waking up each day and choosing courage over comfort. School leaders have a responsibility to shepherd all in their learning community to a post pandemic next, new, or better normal. Scott is one of those school leaders that has a capacity of tuning in and outward and being brave enough to anticipate evolution and opportunity born from moments of real struggle and challenge and flipped to opportunity and hope. He realises that courage is about overcoming all obstacles when most of the society are frozen in an old reality. He realises that courage is to not be afraid to become and reveal who you really are, for self and the places and people you serve and lead.

Episode Seven | Loni Bergqvist Key learnings – Imagine If students have more opportunities to learn at different times in different places. With anytime, anywhere learning becoming the better normal for our students. Where online tools facilitate opportunities for a more highly personalised learning experience of individually targeted stretch and challenge tasks. One that is self-paced, self-determined and incorporates relevant and real-world inquiry-based learning. Resulting in all classrooms being flipped, meaning the knowledge and skills part is learned outside the classroom, at home. Where on campus class time becomes one of character appreciation, deep collaboration, teamwork and the practical application or transfer of knowledge and understanding, of real-life issues. Where taking tests will be replaced by students’ growth and achievement through creative and collaboration projects to problem solve wicked and relevant real-world questions. Well, this exits via Loni and her team at Imagine If.

Episode Eight | Sally Lasslett Key learnings – Our encounter with Sally animated what truly matters in education, people. Sally and the brilliant staff at The Hestor Hornbrook Academy understand that their vocation is being an important champion to their students, many of which have had an adverse childhood or experienced significant trauma. And why do these educators do what they do - well, from my perspective they get that every person in our schools is home to a unique life. This learning community isn’t about a handout, but a hand forward and up, where each feels seen, respected, safe, valued and understood. Sally reminded me of my why, and the profoundness of why I will forever be a teacher. The greatest vocation in the world.

Special Series | Nicole Dyson and Will Stubley & Saxon Phipps Key learnings – Phil’s chats with Nicole, Will and Saxon reminded me of crowdsourced classes, entrepreneurship or self-directed learning is almost certainly at the core of the future of learning. To not allow learners to ‘play’ with information, platforms, and ideas is to ignore them access to the tools and patterns of 21st Century life. And that in a progressive learning environment, students should constantly be generating original ideas from multiple sources of information–and be doing so guided by teachers, mentors, and communities, all in pursuit of self-knowledge and self-created meaning and creativity. Highlighting the role of teaching becomes much more about coaching and guiding students to not only build their knowledge, skills, and attributes, but to also make better sense of what they are learning, to fully flourish in life.

From each of our Series Seven Game Changers we learnt the significance for learning communities to be deeply tuned into the sign of times, this new world we live in. That we have a responsibility to shepherd all in our learning communities as they emerge from the pandemic towards designing a better normal in doing school. That this is about anticipating the opportunity born from moments of real struggle and challenge. And about planning and executing an incremental and unstoppable evolution towards better outcomes for all learners. While overcoming all obstacles when many in society are still frozen in an old reality.

Thank you to Lacey, Mond, Samantha, Hamish, Tanya, Scott, Loni, Sally, Nicole, Will and Saxon for sharing your story and passion. And thank for reminding us all that each person in our learning communities is home to a life. It is as simple and complex as that. Born from the construct of love – of self, for place and the other.

Listen to our Series Seven: Epilogue via streaming platforms - SoundCloud, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Google Play.

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endlessdoom · 3 years

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Sacrament

14 maps by Clan [B0S] of the russian community.

2011

https://doomwiki.org/wiki/Sacrament

MAP01: Reposa In Pace by Slavius

Sacrament is a particularly special map that stands out for its unorthodox factors to the traditional, and boy does it show it! MAP01 is an interesting environmental proposal with a tight, labyrinthine design that enjoys losing the player in a new world more than throwing him into combat. 3/5

MAP02: Doxylamine Moon by Lainos

Iconic in the history of the game and I can easily see why. This is a huge map that represents an incredibly detailed city with a deep and vast opportunity for exploration in every area. That, coupled with an excellent setting make this a map that is hard to forget. 4/5

MAP03: Dirtyllery by Wraith

Confusing at times but with more combat than previous maps and a fairly interesting design that combines a variety of rooms, offering an interesting progress system that, although it gets lost at times, is manageable. 3/5

MAP04: Phobia by Dr. Max

More direct than the previous ones and with a comprehensive layout that offers exploration and combat under an atmospheric, yet distinctive, presentation compared to the rest of the maps. 4/5

MAP05: Lavatraz by Wraith

A fortress in the middle of a lava lake surrounded by a large crowd of enemies. This is an intense map with enough combat to satisfy those who want a bit of a fight, while maintaining a good flow and offering excellent presentation for combat. 4/5

MAP06: Pandora's Box by Archi

Large and expansive, with huge open areas and an iconic start through a shadowy tunnel. Fantastic map, with good combat and many areas to explore as well as many fights to participate in. 4/5

MAP07: Arena by Dragon Hunter

The most divergent map of all maps. This is a combat arena that ends with a totally unexpected slaughter surprise. It is probably the most traditional map of the whole set, one that differs from the philosophy of the episode but still perfectly satisfying, fun, entertaining and well challenging. 4/5

MAP08: Zone X by Archi

We return to a realistic map that combines the urban effect with a bit of industrial architecture while offering progress through a palpable and realistic layout. With constant combat and a few surprises, it manages to make its mark. 4/5

MAP09: Vancouver by Archi

It has nothing to do with Vancouver, but more to do with Doom. This is a map that manages to perfectly combine the atmosphere of the episode with a good puzzle system and exploration without sacrificing combat at any time; offering interesting challenges, varied and progress that flows without pause under a good atmosphere of fun. 5/5

MAP10: Wood Prison by Azamael

Gigantic wooden (or brick?) fortress with a huge multitude of rooms and scenarios. Combat is intense and almost constant, but the layout leaves something to be desired at times, as well as a few missing textures. 3/5

MAP11: Seaport by Azamael

A fascinating concept that combines natural scenery with human architecture, giving it a distinctive touch that together with the MIDI and the progress system, create a very palpable atmosphere. 4/5

MAP12: Industrial Processing by Dragon Hunter

Quite large, dark and ambient. At times it reminds me of the tight maps of Doom 3, combining intense combat in tight corners that encourage tactical combat and be careful with our steps. The visuals are often hidden in the darkness, but it manages to convey a decent idea of abandoned tech-base. 3/5

MAP13: Controlled System by BeeWen

This is a map to end on a high note... gold. Huge and quite distinctive thanks to the excellent work of detail and ambience, adding a Silent Hill song, this map bleeds atmosphere and releases horrors. With a huge layout, unfortunately, it shoots itself in the foot by creating an almost incomprehensible path system that becomes incredibly complicated near the map, however, the challenging combat and wonderful visuals manage to give it its name. 4/5

MAP14: LOGOEND by Lainos

And finally, an unwinnable map that works like a credits map, but without the credits. Still, the monument and the skybox is great. Maybe music would have improved this. 3/5

Overall:

» Sacrament (2011) By Clan [B0S]

Deep in the snowy lands, far to the east and hidden in the veil of mystery and poem, lies an abandoned world, without faith, without time; a world where man does not exist and sin reigns, desolate lands, lost lands, home of the devil and battlefield for all those who dare to desecrate the... sacrament. Whoops! I missed the rails. That little paragraph may encapsulate a bit of the idea and excitement behind this 14 map WAD designed to totally blow your mind in the most unorthodox and fantastical way you can find within the confines of Doom. Sacrament is an episode created by the B0S clan that shows how the world of Doom still has much, much more to offer.

Sacrament's story is something that would make a writer's cheeks swell with the desire to make it a novel: The plot follows a "Clan [B0S] fighter" as he wakes up from a nightmare into an apocalypse already in-progress. It is then gradually revealed that "the worthy" have already ascended to heaven, while everyone else have turned into bloodthirsty demons who are left to infight. He journeys into a now-desolate world, searching for answers as to what had happen, and why only he retained his humanity. Extract from the Doomwiki. That alone sounds like something absolutely awesome that inmediatly gathers my attention, and as expected, the rest of the WAD also did. With 14 maps, you'd better be ready to embark on an adventure of your own that is worthwhile in every way and demonstrates with considerable quality how to create a world entirely within the confines of Doom in a creative, inventive and different way to what we are used to. As a result, a kind of environmental son that evokes distant sensations of desolation, added to an explicit combat that sometimes is silent and then surprises you with brutal violence.

Sacrament knows very well what it is trying to achieve and succeeds with flying colors, even if it is not to everyone's taste. The main aspect of this WAD and its distinctive point is nothing more and nothing less than the amazing presentation it has. When I talk about presentation, I mean the shared set of visuals, progressive narration and extra details like music or even the titlescreen. WAD makes extensive use of all these details to create an ironically perfect conglomeration. While presentation is often overlooked or of regular importance in the mainstream Doom landscape, it is an aspect that can still pleasantly elevate the value of a WAD. That's just what happens with Sacrament. @Lainos is the mastermind behind the conception of this work, and he manages to successfully convey the idea of desolation and abandonment that each map possesses. The cohesion is generally understandable, and even though the maps are not dependent on each other, each manages to create a shared atmosphere among the entire WAD, either through the use of realistic architecture combined with muted colors, or even sharing design similarities that evoke a shared history in different areas. Sacrament successfully manages to give that fantastic feeling; that of playing in an environmental adventure like no other.

It is worth mentioning the incredible use of music and colors. Music used to be a factor that ranked as a rear position among the overall quality of WADs in the old days. A positive factor, but not essential. On the other hand, modern times have begun to highlight the essentials of music and how they can pleasantly increase the quality of a WAD. Proof of this is the recent Cacoward for OST. Well, Sacrament makes extensive use of music from different sources and all in an .OGG format, which means that we will hear high quality music in glorious sound true to the way the author intended. While the music is not of original production for the project, the selection of each tune was done with enough attention to create a comprehensive odyssey of ambient symphonies. MIDI breaks the mood at a certain point, yes, but the great job they have taken in choosing songs that match the color palette of the map and the ambiance is a good example of how this format is perfect for drowning us in a world. Add to that an excellent use of skybox, dark blue colors and lots of creepy textures reminiscent of rust and confinement, and surprise, Sacrament is a work of pure ambience.

But not everything that shines blue is sapphire, and here we must see the strange, unorthodox and polemic side of this WAD, the gameplay. Sacrament tells you directly in its structure that it is interested in the environment, leaving the gameplay to take a back seat (not entirely true, but you get the point), something that many would consider sacrilege, but thanks to good management decisions and excellent production, it works under the same aesthetics of this project. Most of the maps make a great focus on exploration and environment, especially the @Lainos maps, which bleed pure desolation and loneliness. The influence of Lainos is felt in most of the maps, especially with the intense use of music and skybox, on the other hand, not everything is generally pure exploration, it would be somewhat detrimental to steal the gameplay completely to this map, and if what we want is action, well there is, in one way or another there is. Intense maps that offer explosive combat like MAP07: Arena by @Dragon Hunter or the huge and challenging MAP13: Controlled System by @BeeWen, both maps that show incredible use of design and devastating gameplay at times. However, if Sacrament is a black sheep, then these maps are Sacrament's black sheep, so to speak.

Sacrament is not meant to be a run-and-gun, nor a kind of traditional WAD. It comes with all the right to break schemes and demonstrate something different and well produced, something that however strange and fascinating it may be, it manages to establish its place within the annals of the history of WADs. While its complex layouts and divergent gameplay may be somewhat detrimental to some players, that doesn't detract from the simple fact that Sacrament is a quality work that deserves to be tried just for the one virtue it possesses, that of allowing us to plunge into a world of Doom.

#doom #doom mod #wad #doom wad #gaming #classic

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cxhnow · 4 years

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R&B duo (and real-life sisters) Chloe and Halle Bailey have unparalleled talent and an unbreakable bond. With a “sexy, darker” new sound and exciting solo projects on the way, the multihyphenates are all grown up and ready for their second act — both together and on their own. "You. Look. Stunning!" Halle Bailey watches as her older sister Chloe poses in a faux-leather Nanushka trench coat against a vibrant background of red and pink, Kelis's album Tasty blaring through the studio. Halle's eyes dart between the shots popping up on the monitor and the real-life vision that is 21-year-old Chloe, who smirks at her sister's instructions to "slay" and "work" as they echo in the cavernous studio. Chloe returns the favor when it's 19-year-old Halle's moment in front of the lens; being photographed separately is a rare occurrence for the pair. Chloe cheers Halle on as the latter poses in a houndstooth Area dress, nipped at the waist with a patent leather belt, and matching knee-high boots: "That's gorgeous! You're beautiful." When Chloe and Halle arrive at Milk Studios in Hollywood for our cover shoot on Oct. 29, the energy is celebratory; they are fresh from the set of the Freeform series Grown-ish. Chloe and Halle graduated from recurring roles on the Black-ish spinoff to series regulars for season two, playing college students and track star twins Jazz and Sky Forster. They — along with cast members Yara Shahidi, Trevor Jackson, Francia Raisa, and Luka Sabbat — just wrapped filming on the third season, which premieres Jan. 16. The next installment of the show promises an unplanned pregnancy, an acting debut from Kylie Jenner's former BFF Jordyn Woods, and a much-appreciated homage to Beyoncé's 2018 Homecoming performance. It's also a busy time for Chloe x Halle's music: in 2019 they dropped two singles, "Who Knew" and "Thinkin Bout Me," and are putting the finishing touches on their highly anticipated second studio album, Ungodly Hour, which drops this year. They are buzzing while talking about their new, more mature sound. "It's more grown; it's sexy, it's darker," Halle tells me. She and her sister showed up in laid-back looks before undergoing superhero-style transformations in a curtained-off section of the studio, where they snacked on chips and guacamole and drank green juice while trying on dozens of potential designer outfits. They are sweet and petite, and during a break from the photo shoot, they sit side by side on a velvet ottoman across from me. Both are wearing curve-hugging dresses by Dion Lee and have traded their matching Alevì Milano heels for slippers and slides. Chloe and Halle are defining themselves individually even more than before, and their style is part of that. Throughout the day, Halle will rock playfully sexy ensembles (my personal favorite is a Carrie Bradshaw-esque Maison Margiela button-down shirt cinched with a Zana Bayne belt). Chloe's outfits are equally grown-up and sexy, but with an edgy sophistication — she will channel Olivia Pope, smizing in a camel-colored Fendi trench coat and graphic Sophia Webster heels. Their looks will always complement each other but still reflect the woman wearing them. Their eyes are wide, their mocha skin glistening, braids cascading down their backs. The mood feels highly melanated and highly favored. Chloe and Halle's connection goes beyond the typical sibling bond — they are collaborators, costars, and best friends. It's what makes the stakes of this next stage of their career, as they explore a more adult sound and divergent career opportunities of their own, so high. To see them posing together is like watching a delicately choreographed dance. It's as if they each instinctively know which way the other is about to lean her arm or turn her head and will shift congruously. Between shots, Chloe and Halle smooth each other's braids, bump shoulders to the bass of "Milkshake," or talk in hushed tones. Chloe is the textbook older sister and ultimate hype girl ("The angel that's always in my ear," Halle tells me). "We'll always squeeze each other's hands or look in each other's eyes and crack a joke," Chloe says, admitting that they both sometimes feel anxious while posing on the red carpet or for photo shoots like this one. I recognize their subtle movements, exchanged glances, and seemingly secret language; it reminds me of the way that my sister and I — and sisters everywhere, really — exist in our own universe. Chloe and Halle spent their childhood in Atlanta before moving to LA, where they reside today with their parents Courtney and Doug and their 14-year-old brother, Branson ("We're the Three Musketeers," Chloe says). In 2011, they launched their YouTube channel with an impressive cover of Beyoncé's "Best Thing I Never Had." Wearing matching red tank tops and bouncy braided bobs, they showed off melodies reminiscent of vocalists well beyond their years (Chloe was 13, Halle just 11). They would go on to cover hits from John Legend, Alicia Keys, Lorde, and Rihanna. In 2015, their rendition of Beyoncé's "Pretty Hurts" got the attention of Bey herself, and she signed the duo to her Parkwood Entertainment management company. And, as they tell me, being the protégés of a megastar like Beyoncé is a masterclass in ambition. "She's a boss and she takes care of her own," Chloe says. "She's independent and knows what she wants, and she's not afraid to articulate that." They employ their mentor's take-charge attitude by trusting their instincts when making tough career choices. "That's what we truly admire about Beyoncé . . . she's allowed us to grow in our own right, and as much as she is vocal, she lets us fly on our own." Up until now, Chloe x Halle's sound has been bright, ethereal R&B soul; they released their debut EP Sugar Symphony in 2016, followed by a critically praised mixtape, The Two of Us. Their 2018 album The Kids Are Alright — with jazz-inflected trap-pop songs like "Happy Without Me," "Everywhere," and the Grown-ish theme song "Grown" — showcased their angelic harmonies, earning them Grammy nominations for best new artist and best urban contemporary album. They solidified their place in history with a chill-inducing performance of "America the Beautiful" at the 2019 Super Bowl. But with age comes experience and, yes, growth. The new Chloe x Halle era will reflect their sisterhood and the kind of women they aspire to be: powerful, strong, and effortlessly sexy. "We're not little kids anymore," Chloe tells me. Their sound has evolved from light and airy soul-pop into "edgier, grittier" R&B, like something you'd want to hear during an episode of Euphoria. They teased new music during an "electric, intense, and fun" performance at The Forum in LA late last year. "We played two new songs; 'Do It' — that's one of our favorites — and 'Rest of Your Life,'" Halle tells me during a phone conversation after the shoot. She describes both tracks as being high energy with party vibes. While Ungodly Hour will be a clear departure, the sisters seem to be more musically aligned than ever. Chloe and Halle say there's no formula to their music-making process. "We feel like that takes away any creativity," Chloe explains. They went delightfully old school for brainstorming sessions, filling two or three poster boards with magazine cutouts representing what the new project should feel like. Before creating music, they keep things breezy by having "tea time and girl chat" and narrowing down the themes they want to write about. "I'll make a beat and Halle will hear some really sick melodies and go on the mic and record them," Chloe says. "I'll lay some melodies down and splice [them] together, and then we do lyrics, but we never force it." Halle nods. "It's much like throwing paint on a wall and seeing what happens, and that's the beauty of it." When I ask how they landed on the album title Ungodly Hour, Halle tells me that it came from a single studio session with English electro artists Disclosure. "They are two brothers, and they're literally like mirrors of us," Halle says of duo Howard and Guy Lawrence, who they worked with on the up-tempo title track. "[Ungodly hour] was a phrase for that riff. We kind of spoke it into existence, you could say," Chloe continues. She reveals that one of their early mood boards included the phrase "The Trouble With Angels" (possibly a nod to the 1966 religious comedy starring Hayley Mills?), and notes how exciting it's been to tie those themes together. I spent hours holed up in my childhood bedroom plastering editorial images on any available surface, so it's nice to hear that some methods will never go out of style. But let's not get it twisted: Chloe and Halle aren't two girls making cute collages — they're artists with a precise vision and the talent to execute it. Their technique is free-flowing, but there's a keen attention to detail that influences those working with them. Singer-songwriter Victoria Monét, who helped pen chart-toppers for Fifth Harmony and Ariana Grande, collaborated with Chloe and Halle on Ungodly Hour. She confirmed my theory that they are Black girl magic personified. "I really admire their spirit," Monét said over email. "They feel amazing to be around, and their voices represent that." "They're so hands-on with everything, from melodies to lyrics and production," Nija Charles said over email. The 22-year-old songwriting phenom produced hits for Cardi B and Summer Walker and worked on the sisters' sensual kiss-off "Forgive Me." "Watching them work always makes me go back home and want to perfect my craft." Hands-on is certainly one way to describe the sisters, who play a role in writing, arranging, producing, and playing instruments on nearly all of their own music. What does it mean to two young, gifted, and Black businesswomen to have so much creative control of their work? "Since we were young, our parents instilled in us the power to do things on our own, and not rely on people if [we're] just as capable," Halle says. This encouragement is what motivated them to learn instruments and produce their own music as preteens. Although extraordinary on their own, Chloe and Halle are quick to praise those who have inspired them along the way. I can tell they harbor a deep sense of sisterhood within their own circle, a tight-knit group of family and close friends with the occasional superstar thrown in. It's galvanizing for them to see other young stars doing equally amazing things. "I stan over Zendaya. I love her, and Normani," Chloe says, beaming. "There are so many amazing women right now, and I'm just happy to be a part of this generation with them." Halle agrees, shouting out Grown-ish castmates Yara Shahidi, Francia Raisa, and Emily Arlook as women who uplift them when they're low. The feeling is mutual for 19-year-old Shahidi, who told me being part of Chloe and Halle's atmosphere is "truly a gift." "We share successes, challenges, frustrations, everything!" Shahidi said in an email. "I define sisterhood as an eternal bond with your best friend," Halle tells me. "I'm so fortunate that I get to do this with my sister every day." She looks up to Chloe more than anyone else; after all, as an older sibling, there's a responsibility (and sometimes pressure) to protect, guide, and set a good example. But Chloe is just as heart-eyed about Halle and lights up when talking about her. "Forget all the business stuff and the music and acting; this is my best friend," she says. "Whenever we're apart for 15 minutes, we're like, 'I miss you!' We're texting each other, FaceTiming. I love this one." I make a mental note to respond to unread texts from my sister. "You'll need each other one day" is something I heard a lot growing up, especially when being reprimanded for terrorizing my younger sister. And it occurs to me that Halle and Chloe might need each other even more this year. In 2020, they are each embarking on big solo projects: Chloe in the supernatural thriller The Georgetown Project, her first major movie role as an adult, and Halle as Ariel in the upcoming live-action adaptation of The Little Mermaid. For Chloe, a self-professed scaredy cat, working on the "sophisticated horror film" with the likes of Russell Crowe, Ryan Simpkins, Samantha Mathis, and David Hyde Pierce has been a real game changer. "When I got the script, I fell in love with it. I was like, 'I have to do this,'" Chloe tells me. The movie follows a troubled actor (Crowe) who unravels while filming a thriller, and Chloe plays an actress cast alongside him in the project. She learned a lot about herself during the production process, but more importantly, she conquered her fear of scary movies. "I know how it works behind the scenes, so now when a scary movie trailer comes on, I don't close my eyes." When the topic turns to The Little Mermaid, Halle's enthusiasm is palpable. "It's so overwhelming, and beautiful, and breathtaking. I'm like, 'Wow, am I really doing this?'" she tells me. When I ask what she hopes to bring to such an iconic character, Halle takes a beat. "Freshness," she says. "Just being authentically me. It's amazing that the directors have been so forward in asking me to show my true self . . . that's been a really fun growing experience." Halle also tells me that she's most looking forward to the music ("Of course!"), and reveals that the movie will feature classics like "Part of Your World" and new songs written by composer Alan Menken, who scored the 1989 animated film. "I've been a fan of The Little Mermaid since I was 5, so those new songs are very exciting to me, as well as the old," Halle says. "That's probably like, ding, ding, ding! My number one." Halle's history-making casting news was announced in July 2019 and marked a major win for diversified representation, but drew criticism from those who don't think a Black woman should play a fictional sea creature. The defense came swiftly: Little Mermaid director Rob Marshall and Jodi Benson, the original voice of Ariel, showed support, as did Beyhive members worldwide. After spending a day in her presence, I can corroborate that Halle — with her doe eyes, dulcet-tone voice, and winsome charm — was born to play the role. I ask how she approaches the downsides that can come with celebrity. "It's beautiful that people are tuning in to our lives and that they love what we're doing, and I just think of them as friends," she says, unfazed. Chloe's older-sister senses are tingling. She sits up a little straighter. "You know when certain apps crash?" I do; a Twitter blackout is secretly one of my favorite things. "Who are you without these things, without your followers? You realize that you can't rely on outside validation for who you are as a human being. If I think I'm amazing, then I'm amazing." The sisters have flourished in the industry as Chloe x Halle the duo, two halves of a preternaturally talented whole. They appear at events together, maintain joint social media accounts, and don’t have separate Wikipedia pages (though that’s certainly going to change). They’re a dream team, navigating fame by leaning on each other. Working separately allows them to stretch as individuals, but as their careers evolve, it’s inevitable that their relationship will, too. Chloe seems genuinely joyful watching Halle grow into her own. “I see it happening right before my eyes and it makes me really happy,” she says. But those feelings of pride haven't come without a bit of loneliness, too — especially as Chloe films her first solo project. "In the beginning I was really, really sad," she tells me. There have been plenty of tears and, according to Chloe, plenty of text messages, too. "[Halle] texts all the time; daytime, all the time," Chloe laughs. "To have someone who's always in your corner encouraging you, and making you feel better when you're down . . . it's just such a good feeling. I'm just happy to have her as my partner in crime in life." Naturally, it’s also been “a little scary” for Halle, who admits that she’s been clinging to her sister over the years. Just as Chloe is the consummate firstborn, Halle fits snugly into her role as little sis, always looking to her “safety blanket.” She tells me that visiting Chloe on the set of The Georgetown Project gave her a new perspective. "I was just so proud of her, because you always want to see your beautiful sister succeed," Halle says. "We always do those monumental things together, so when I was able to be on the outside and look in, it was really cool." Ultimately Halle realized that — like gluing magazine cutouts to poster boards — some things don’t have to change: “Regardless of if I'm branching out, she's always going to be there. That bond and our sisterhood will never go away.” Though some things may be mapped out — production schedules, release dates, fishtail fittings — so much more lies ahead for Chloe and Halle. I ask where they see each other in five years. Halle springs up; she sees Chloe with every award in the book. “She’s going to flourish. What do you call it? EGOTs?” Chloe’s five-year vision includes even more plastered photos, but this time they’re of Halle, and they’re on giant billboards across the world. “I’ll be hearing her voice [singing] while walking down the street like, ‘Who is that? Oh yeah, that's my sister. I know her. You don't,’” she says. The three of us laugh, but their predictions aren’t out of the realm of possibility. Their Grown-ish costars agree: actor Trevor Jackson tells me he hopes to see them collecting armfuls of trophies and “truly dominating the world.” Shahidi insists Chloe and Halle’s hard work knows no bounds and remembers them simultaneously filming season one of Grown-ish and mixing their debut album, The Kids Are Alright. “The sky is not even the limit,” she cosigned. Chloe and Halle have more to shoot before the sun sets in smoky LA. It's been a long day, but their energy is still straight-up sparkly. We wrap up our conversation, exchanging thank yous before they disappear to the wardrobe area. They'll model more effortlessly sexy pieces from Nina Ricci and Fendi, cheerleading each other during lighting changes and eye shadow touch-ups, before the day gives way to night. As the sky changes, so does the vibe. Chloe is jetting off to North Carolina to film tomorrow morning without her sister, and they seem to be soaking up this moment in time. Things are coming to a close both on set and in their lives, chapters ending and new ones beginning. But no matter what comes next — together or separately, making music or making moves — Chloe and Halle will keep throwing paint at the wall and seeing what beautiful things come out of it. There's no magic formula. It's just what we sisters do. ★

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#chloe x halle #chloexhalle #chloeandhalle #chloe and halle #ungodly hour #ungodly hour news #2020 #oct 2019 #jan 2020 #popsugar #news #articles #ungodly hour articles #interviews #ungodly hour interviews #chloe bailey #halle bailey #the georgetown project #tkaa

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theimaginatrix27 · 4 years

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My bunnies did it again

I have had this fanfic idea stuck firmly in my brain for the last week and I think it’s time I made a Tumblr post about it. It’s a crazy fun idea and I only have one Voyager friend. I would like to have more than one Voyager friend.

But also I need to make a Tumblr post about this because I feel like it’d make a good one.

The idea hit me while I was listening to Spotify. It started with me thinking about this vague idea of Voyager, but fantasy with magic ‘n’ stuff, and then I was suddenly struck with ... well. Time to break out the list. My one Voyager friend helped me hash this out, so I’d like to give credit where it’s due. Thanks for the help thus far, @gwen-skyes!

So this is post-series. Everyone’s legal stuff has been cleared up because I am a happy optimist and think it would be sorted out fairly quickly given they survived for seven years in the Hellta Quadrant.

Harry got his promotion! So did Janeway, but that was expected.

Anyways, Tom is bored.

I think anyone who’s watched more than a handful of episodes of Voyager knows this does not bode well.

So one night he’s scouring archives of human knowledge for something to do, and discovers DND.

Let’s pretend there probably weren’t any current editions of the game and he picked the 5E rules just because.

He knows he can’t play this on his own and he’s been missing having his friends around constantly, so after he’s convinced B’Elanna the game has potential, he invites the others over.

He does not tell them he is inviting them over to play a 21st-Century tabletop role-playing game.

Until the day their schedules have dictated will suit for them all to assemble.

Then he’s like “Check out this cool game I found! We can tell a story together—won’t that be fun? Anyways, here’s the rules, please take this time to design your characters.”

Any somewhat formal language is totally over-dramatic, but he does ask that they take this seriously.

Everyone’s actually pretty interested, though they express it differently.

Janeway and Chakotay help each other with backstories and stuff. Janeway settles on a Human Fighter, while Chakotay’s a Half-Elf Ranger with a falcon companion (Hey, that is a fucking hot image and you can’t tell me otherwise).

B’Elanna put together her character earlier and she’s a Half-Orc Barbarian (she basically called dibs).

Seven spends so much time trying to optimise her stats and her backstory is basically her history with a few tweaks. I won’t get into the back and forth here but Tom does entreat her to get more creative if she can.

The Doctor and Harry both pick Paladin and then just diverge from there. The Doctor’s character is human, Harry’s is Dragonborn. Both are Lawful Good but Harry is particularly intent on being as awesome as possible.

Tuvok surprises everyone except possibly Janeway by announcing late into the character-building session that he has observed they do not have a dedicated magic-user in their party yet and this is “an oversight that cannot go unaddressed, or disaster is inevitable.” He then declares his character an Elven Wizard.

Tom asks if he picked an Elf for the ears. Tuvok gives him a look and points out it’s the most logical choice to pair with a magical Class. It actually was the ears but he only admits it to Janeway at the end of the fic.

While everyone is taking things seriously as Tom asked, Tom himself does the 24th-century equivalent of using a random-number-generator to slap together a character, mostly for fun. He is, after all, planning to be the DM.

I know what you’re thinking. “When’s this gonna get really interesting, Trix? It sounds rather boring so far.”

Hahahahahahahaha.

They’re just getting ready to start playing. Miral is asleep upstairs. All seems well.

And then Q shows up.

He is bored.

This also is never something that bodes well.

And he sees this game as an irresistible opportunity for some good chaotic fun.

So he creates an alternate reality bubble and sends everyone into it, to play the Campaign from the inside. As their characters.

That half-joking character Tom made on the fly? It’s a Halfling Bard And he’s had his DM position usurped by Q, so now he’s stuck in a Fantasy-laced reality and is half the size of any one of his friends. And has lovely fluffy hair!

Also Harry got genderbent ‘cause Q was being a troll both before and after it was cool.

And that’s the jist of it. There’s more stuff a little further in but this is the basic premise. And my brain won’t let it go, so ... Yay? I guess? I’m not much for writing Sci-fi but this leans right into Fantasy territory, which is my strong point. I hope I am able to do it justice. Provided I can get it off the ground, that is.

#STVOY #STVoyager #I know I can't use colons in tags if I want the post to be found in searches #So I hope these are the right ones #Fanfiction #Fanfic Idea #Yes I know I need to stop coming up with long stories #But my bunnies are incorrigible

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themostrandomfandom · 5 years

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hello! I don't know if you're still on the blog or will be in some time, but I still have to at least try. I just had my rewatch of glee for the first time in 4 years, and it woke some buried feelings up again lmao. One of the things i most strongly feel for is Britt's class president run. I know she would've done more things during it, yknow? Like she prepared for the position and had a solid plan for it. I really feel like they wasted her potential in s3. Do you think you would rewrite it?

Hey, @randomizepersonality!

Sorry it’s taken me so long to reply to you. Limited internet these days.

I, too, am one who is completely disappointed by Brittany’s S3 storyline and how the writers absolutely dropped the ball when it came to her class presidency.

Negativity about Glee writing under the cut.

______

In episode 3x02, the writers clearly establish that Brittany’s interest in the class presidency isn’t a lark or something she is doing just for the hell of it. The platform she pushes for Kurt is anti-bullying, pro-inclusion—and she has a dog in the fight, because she wants herself, Santana, Kurt, and all the other LGBTQ kids at the school(plus anyone else who qualifies as “different”) to feel safe being themselves.

Baby Girl has a clear, focused goal, and she feels it is important for her to achieve that goal. As she tells Kurt, “What’s wrong with [being gay]? Look: Ninety-nine percent of the kids at this school are either freaks or closet freaks. The captain of the football squad? He gets the job, but he doesn’t represent the people. That’s why we need a unicorn.” She isn’t just talking out of her ass or viewing the presidency as a way to boost Kurt’s (or her own) popularity. She actually wants to accomplish something.

That’s why when Kurt declines to run on her “Project Unicorn” platform, she picks up the banner herself, proudly declaring, “I’m also a unicorn.” The values she’s supporting are ones that are near and dear to her heart, as she knows from personal experience (particularly in regards to her relationship with Santana and Santana’s fears about coming out) how vital it is for kids to feel comfortable in their own skin and how damaging it is when they don’t.

Honestly, what she’s talking about is an extension of the things she both learned for herself and taught to Santana during the Back Six of S2. She’s talking about “embracing all the awesomeness” that one is, promoting acceptance, and spreading love because love makes everything possible. It’s all big time stuff, and even though she’s couching it in unicorn metaphors and glitter, she is serious about what she wants to do.

—which is why it’s so fucking unbelievable that she would completely slack off from that position the second she won the election.

I mean, seriously, the Glee writers, you’re telling me that at the exact time when she and her girlfriend are facing the reprecussions of a vicious public outing, being bullied in the hallways for showing any sort of affection to each other, having to deal with pressure not only coming from their fellow students but even from members of the faculty and administration—I’m looking at you, Will and Figgins—facing up to the Finn Hudsons and Josh Colemans of the world, Brittany would just fuck right off and fail to enact any of the policies or programs she had clearly thought about before? You’re saying that she wouldn’t try to use her power and popularity to try to improve the situation?

Bullshit.

—and especially “bullshit” to then try to make a joke out of her failure, as they do later in the season, when she tells Figgins, “Okay. I now realize I wasted an entire year belaboring the nuances of my fluid teen sexuality, and getting caught up in Lord Tubbington’s Ponzi schemes, and then for a while, I stopped talking, but I don’t want my presidency to be the last one at McKinley! I don’t want that to be my legacy.”

There’s no excuse for them wasting this storyline.

Ideally, they should have allowed her to succeed in what she was trying to do. She could have hosted an anti-bullying rally and brought in Holly Holliday to sing to the student body about how it’s okay to be gay. She could have used her own coolness to shift paradigms, because, after all, she is both the senior class president and most popular girl in school AND a fabulous, bisexual unicorn. She could have organized a “kiss-in” in protest against Figgins’s homophobic PDA policies.

I mean, really, with her creativity and zany genius, the writers could have absolutely gone wild and had her do any number of things to make her world a better place.

Even if they were dead set on having her fail, then they at least could have actually showed her failing—giving her a storyline where balancing academics, extracurriculars, and dealing with the fallout of being outed becomes too much for her to handle, and her ambitions for the class presidency fall by the wayside; letting Kurt confront her about wasting the opportunity she won over him; having her break down and admit that maybe the problem she took on was too big for her to tackle herself and that the world is a worse place than she initially thought; allowing her to display the same kind of depth and humanity that she was afforded in S2.

But instead they muted her for half a season and pushed her into the background at a time when she should have been getting foreground attention, and then they tried to pass off their act of forgetting about Brittany as Brittany forgetting to do anything herself.

That Brittany wasn’t allowed to speak throughout Santana’s outing arc was an indefensible narrative choice. That the writers waited until the very end of the season to come out of nowhere and say, “Guess what? Brittany failed at everything, and y’all should just laugh about it!” was meanspirited and unfunny. Her whole S3 storyline was an exercise in bad writing. TPTB laid narrative threads for her at the beginning of the season but then didn’t weave them into anything. They wasted all of her potential.

So, yeah, all of this going-on is to say that I would absolutely rewrite Brittany’s S3 storyline if given the chance.

I mean, in the Mouseverse, S3 is where I diverge from canon, and there’s a reason for that.

Anyway, thanks for the question! I’m right there with you.

#Crazy Brittanalyst Answers #randomizepersonality #Season Three #I just want queue

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teenybeanielinguine · 5 years

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Outlander Season 5 - A Girl Can Dream

It’s been a little over two weeks since the Season 4 finale... and DAMN, the withdrawal is hitting me hard. I’ve rewatched all my favorite scenes, re-read all my favorite passages, and scoured Tumblr for every piece of fanfiction available. But nothing seems capable of filling the Outlander-shaped void in my heart.

Since I clearly have nothing better to do (not true; there are A LOT of other things I should be doing), I’ve decided to grace you all with my unsolicited thoughts (no need to thank me). Season 5 has no announced release date, but I’m not known for my patience, so I’m hopping on the crazy train a little early. Destination: The Fiery Cross. (Spoilers ahead.)

About The Fiery Cross

I’ve read quite a few posts that label Drums of Autumn as the pivotal point in the series. I respectfully disagree.

DoA felt like the next step in a gradual evolution. It’s true that Bree and Roger gained their independence from the J/C plotline in DoA, but DG had been prepping us for this divergence for quite a while. Claire was our only narrator in Outlander, and while she remains the only 1st person POV, other characters have been quietly adding their voices to hers. Roger joined her in Dragonfly in Amber, followed by Jamie and John Grey in Voyager, and we finally get Brianna in Drums of Autumn (that’s RIGHT: in the main books, we hear Roger’s POV before we ever hear Jamie’s). Because of these constantly expanding POVs, DoA just felt like a natural progression, rather than a huge departure from the status quo.

The Fiery Cross, on the other hand, feels like a turning point. Not only is it the first book to not get a newly added POV, but the story starts to get a little... unpredictable.

All of the books have a fair amount of twistiness and unpredictability, but our characters have pretty clear goals in each installation so far: get back to the stones, save Jamie from Black Jack, prevent the Rising, prevent Culloden, make Brianna believe the truth, find Jamie after 20 years, rescue Young Ian, establish the Ridge, warn Jamie and Claire about the fire, rescue Roger... I know I’m generalizing here, but you get the point. Our heroes all have clearly defined end goals, and they’re putting all their energy into achieving them, despite the twists and turns that DG throws their way. The characters may not always succeed, but you, the reader, always know where the story is headed.

By the start of The Fiery Cross, the goals are a little broader, more nebulous. There may be unrest in North Carolina, the American Revolution may be looming in the distance, but basically the Fraser family just wants to live in peace on the Ridge. That’s it. No daring rescues, no dramatic reunions; they just want some peace and quiet. Of course, they aren’t going to get it, because this is Outlander-verse, where Murphy’s Law is on steroids.

So the Frasers play it by ear, taking on every new challenge as it comes. There is no clear path forward, they just have to react as best they can to the events around them. In consequence, the reader gets a series of smaller meandering stories, with the distinct feeling that something bigger is happening in the background. I personally love this, because I have no clue what’s going to happen next, so when something big happens, it takes me completely by surprise. And you get to see the characters just exist in day-to-day life, which is the best. Some of the characters still have personal goals (spoiler alert: Stephen Bonnet definitely did NOT die in that explosion), but the pursuit of those goals isn’t driving the story nearly as much as in past installments.

This is all to say that, while Season 5 is going to have to hit some major plot points, there is (in my opinion) a fair amount of breathing room for interpretation, and lots of fun to be had. I’m fascinated to see the show tackle this new challenge.

My Wish List for Season 5

When I say “wish list”, I don’t mean to imply a series of demands. I have no creative control over the adaptation, and I’m not listing these wishes in the vain hope that someone on the production team will notice. This is just for fun, and I will be perfectly content if none of these make it into the show. Also, not all of these are pulled from the book; some of them are just things I would love to see.

So here are my top ten wishes, in no particular order:

Roger the Fangirl. In the midst of all the Roger-hate this past season, the OL fandom has forgotten one crucial fact: Roger is the ultimate J/C shipper. This romantic idiot is the whole reason that Claire went back in time to find Jamie! You’d think Jamie’s fists would have beaten the ship right out of Roger, but if last season proves anything, it’s that Roger doesn’t give up easily. He’s gonna keep shipping like his life depends on it, and there are some really cute moments in TFC where he fangirls over how adorable Jamie and Claire are together (also, Jamie is going to become his new idol). I suppose it would be unrealistic to hope that he and Murtagh form a fan club next season...?

Brothers and Sisters. Am I the only one who wanted to scream when Brianna and Fergus were right next to each other in the Wilmington jail and they didn’t acknowledge each other? By the end of S4, we don’t even know whether Fergus and Marsali know about Bree’s existence (I mean, Fergus helped capture Bonnet, but he and Marsali didn’t say a word about Bree), and that frustrates me to no end. The books skipped over the getting-to-know-you stuff too, which is crazy considering that they are siblings (adopted or not)! I would kill for a scene where Jamie and Claire are struggling to explain why they have a fully-grown daughter, as well as some bonding time between siblings. Bree and Marsali are definitely going to get along, cause badass women stick together.

The Snake Bite. The snake bite incident (aftermath included) is one of my favorite sequences in TFC. It brings Roger and Jamie closer together, it shows the courage of the Fraser women in a crisis, and it rallies the entire Ridge community in their worry for Jamie. I suppose it’s sadistic of me, but I loved watching everyone freak out when they thought Jamie was going to die or lose a leg. And then the 20th century women come to the rescue! An entire episode dedicated to that whole plotline would be amazing.

Grannie and Grand-da. Claire and Jamie are not only adorable as grandparents, they’re relatable AF. They might love their new grandson to pieces, but that’s not going to stop them from being honest about the realities of childcare. Jamie in particular is hilarious; he builds an entire house at top speed to get away from the screeching baby (and his newly reunited parents), and then he compares Bree unflatteringly to the white sow (not to her face, of course; see Chapter 30 for a good laugh). I’d love to see that side of Jamie and Claire next season.

Wolf’s Brother. We might have said a tearful goodbye to Young Ian in the S4 finale, but we haven’t seen the last of him. My guess is that he’s going to make a dramatic reappearance in the S5 finale, but I really hope we see him before then. Showing Young Ian’s time among the Mohawk would give Outlander a chance to showcase the amazing First Nations actors that appeared in S4 (Braeden Clarke, anyone?) as well as explore how Ian slowly blends his Highland upbringing with Mohawk customs.

Claire the Science Nerd. So far all of Claire’s medical expertise has been utilized in life-or-death situations, but establishing a medical practice on the Ridge gives her the opportunity to geek out over plants and experiment in reproducing 20th century medicine in the 18th century. Over the course of TFC, she gives genetics lessons, performs two tonsillectomies, and produces penicillin (among other things). This passion for her craft is one of the reasons I love Claire so much. And her nerd moments aren’t always serious: one of my favorite scenes in the book features Claire and her microscope giving Jamie a hilarious lesson in reproductive biology.

Fraser’s Ridge. We didn’t get to see much of the Ridge community in S4, although Jamie did allude to the farmers who contributed the grain to make whisky. The community is comprised of a growing array of Scottish immigrants, and the drama they bring to Claire and Jamie’s lives wavers between amusing and disastrous. I don’t think the show will have time to explore the entire cast of characters, but I’m hoping to see Thomas Christie and his children introduced, at least. I’ve always found Tom Christie a strangely compelling character; his children, on the other hand, are nothing more than a necessary evil. I also really hope we meet the twins, Josiah and Keziah Beardsley (Lizzie’s story is about to get really interesting).

The MacKenzie Bloodline. Despite all the time-traveling she’s been doing, Claire has yet to meet any of her ancestors (that we know of... DG might be holding out on us). Roger, on the other hand, is not going to be so lucky (if you’ve read all eight books, you’ll know that Roger runs into his ancestors A LOT). By the end of S4, I’m not sure Jamie is aware that his daughter is married to Geillis Duncan and Dougal MacKenzie’s descendant, but I wanna be there when he and Murtagh find out (a perfect opportunity for some good dialogue and tension). And while Roger may be able to explain his ancestry to Jamie and Murtagh (both of whom are fully aware of the existence of time travel), he’s not going to be able to give the same explanation to Jocasta. In the beginning of TFC, there’s a really great conversation between Jocasta and Roger where Jocasta is kinda fishing around for clues about Roger’s family. Roger, of course, can’t tell her that he’s actually her great-great-grandnephew (give or take a few ‘great’s). My hope is that the show includes some version of this conversation and continues to play around with Roger’s MacKenzie heritage (and all its implications).

Future Talk. With three time-travelers in the family, there’s bound to be some discussion of the future. Especially with the tension mounting in North Carolina and Murtagh aligning himself with the Regulators. I am yearning for some deep discussion between Jamie, Murtagh, and the travelers about the events to come. I have a hunch that either Claire or Bree has already informed Murtagh about the American Revolution, based on a comment he made to Jocasta about a “different ending”, but I want to see it actually played out on screen. The interplay between the characters who know the future and those who don’t is fascinating to me, and I want more of it.

Jamie the Protector. Jamie’s protective instincts have had some disastrous consequences this past season, but he is going to redeem himself next season. Early on in TFC, Jamie claims Roger as the “son of his house”, and he proceeds to stand by that claim throughout the book, especially in the aftermath of Roger’s wrongful hanging at the hands of Governor Tryon. This time, Jamie’s protective feelings aren’t going to result in a beating, though it’s a close call. I love this shift, from Jamie beating Roger to Jamie protecting/avenging Roger; it’s a very satisfying development.

Bonus: Geese. Brianna and Roger may have a child together, but they have never lived together as a married couple. They also don’t have very much experience being in a serious relationship (S4 showed us that they really don’t know how to argue properly). However, they have both grown up quite a bit since their hand fasting, and you get to see them learning how to coexist in Chapter 33 of TFC. It’s a great scene, where Roger’s just come back with the militia, and he and Bree have a meaningless fight because she hasn’t had it easy since the militia left. But they resolve their argument peacefully as Bree vents her frustrations to Roger and gives him a drawing of some geese as a Christmas present. A really wonderful everyday moment.

There are, of course, more things I’d like to see, but these are my favorites. I thought I’d list them out now, since this is going to be a LONG Droughtlander, and I am sure to get obsessed with something else eventually (the new A Discovery of Witches show looks promising). Also, I’m going to temporarily forget about Season 5 if Bees comes out first.

What are your wishes for Season 5? If you choose to respond, please be kind and respectful.

#a few wishes #so bored #outlander #outlander season 5 #the fiery cross

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orderuponthe99prettygrimmdiaries · 6 years

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Once Farewell 💖💔

@jenmorrisonlive: What an amazing life changing journey of magic and hope! Thank you to Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis for trusting me with Emma Swan. Thank you to the incredible cast and mostly, thank you to the creative team and crew of ONCE UPON A TIME. The endless hours of hard work and devotion that every crew member contributed to the show is what made magic possible every week for 7 years. I am eternally grateful to everyone. And a massive shout out, big hug, and giant thank you to all of the fans. You made ONCE what it is. You all inspired us every day. Thank you for all of the love and support for the show over the years. The #oncers made dreams come true. You are all heroes in my book!

@lparrilla: I’ll never forget the day I walked in to audition as Evil Queen Regina for Eddy and Adam. I was wearing all black (of course) and had this crazy, dreadlock looking wrap draped over my shoulders. I had no idea where this pilot was going to go but I knew it was something special. I walked out of the audition room and down the hall was an old photograph of the OG Evil Queen herself. I knew then, something magical was about to begin. It’s been 7 years now and I couldn’t be prouder of what we all have created. Adam and Eddy had this crazy idea in their minds years ago and it turned into a fantastical phenomenon. This show has touched so many people’s lives, changed them for the better, has inspired us to grow in ways we never could’ve imagined. It’s brought hope, joy, friendships and love to so many. I am lucky and blessed to have been a part of it for 7 years. I want to thank the cast, our incredibly, hard working crew and the writers for your dedication and hard work over the years. Thank you to the studio and network for believing in us, supporting us and giving us a home to tell our stories. But most importantly, I want to thank our fans. We honestly wouldn’t be here without your love, support and loyalty to ONCE. Thank you for standing by us all of these years. We hope we’ve made you proud and that the magic this show has brought in to your lives never dies. Thank you for all you’ve given back to us in return and always remember to keep that magic alive. Signed with love, respect, gratitude and honor, Lana #OUAT

@lparrilla: Dear #onceuponatime fans, I would like to thank you all for your love and support over the last 7 years! I never could’ve imagined I would get to play an iconic Disney character in my career and who better than the Evil Queen herself! ONCE’s EQ Regina Mills was so much more than a villain. She became a hero, an inspiration and one of the most influential characters on the show. She became MY hero. I learned so much from her and I will miss walking in her shoes. I am eternally grateful for the opportunity I’ve had to play Regina. Thank you, thank you, thank you @adamhorowitzla @edwardkitsis @disney & @abcnetwork This experience has changed my life! Everyone please enjoy tonight’s series finale of Once Upon A Time! It’s a tearjerker so prepare yourselves! All my love - Lana #evilregals #oncers#villians #hereos #hope #family #love#happyending #dreamsdocometrue ... : @itstroyjensen

@therealjaredgilmore: After hearing about the end of OUAT, I was sad but also nostalgic … and as always hopeful. I was hit with a flood of wonderful memories. I want to thank Eddy and Adam for giving me the chance to bring Henry to life. I want to thank the cast and crew for watching me grow up and teaching me everything I know. I will never forget my time on OUAT it has shaped me into the person I am today. I have so many fond memories with everyone from the show. I’ll never forget the day I met Lana in casting or the first time I knocked on that door (you know which one). I feel like Henry and me are one in the same now, he has taught me so much. The show has touched so many people and I am honored to have been a part of that. I want to thank all of the fans for being so loyal and just fantastic! You’re all amazing, the series build a community I am proud to say I’m apart of. Thanks to the fans for always being there, for always watching, and believing. I hope the fire this series has lit will stay burning for years to come. What is dead may never truly die. Keep believing, always have hope, and let magic fill your hearts and OUAT will always live on. You are all fantastic, thank you for everything. It was a true honor to bring Henry to life, to bring magic to the world. I will never forget my time on OUAT. Though our paths may diverge, never forget your fairy tale friends. #OUAT

@joshtherealdallas: What a privilege it was for us to be your Snow and Charming. Thanks #ONCERS for seven years of magic. We thank you from the bottoms of our hearts. We will always find you. Love us. @onceabcofficial @abcnetwork#ginnifergoodwin #season7 #grateful#seriesfinale

@colinodonoghue1: To everyone, I have had and will continue to have the most amazing experience playing Hook on @onceabcofficial until we wrap Season 7! Thank you so much for the support and laughs over the years! You are the best. Much love, Col #oncers #hookers #onceuponatime

@colinodonoghue1: What can I say! Thank you Oncers, Thank you Eddy and Adam, Thank you @onceabcofficial!! I love Hook! I will miss him! Much love, Col

@emiliede_ravin: From my first day on this magical set 7yrs ago (pics) I fell in love with this incredible cast & crew, & shortly after with our incredibly devoted & loving fans #oncers. Thank you to everyone for having me along for the ride of a lifetime, & to @adamhorowitzla & @jollychan4 for creating this special version of Belle for me. So much love, Em xoxo #Belles #rumbelle #onceuponatime @onceabcofficial #robertcarlyle #firstbelleselfie #firstrumbellepic @robcarlyle_

@emiliede_ravin: 1. Tonight... #onceuponatimefinale

@robertcarlyle_: 2. Yes, tonight..

@emiliede_ravin: 3. Happily Ever... #onceuponatimefinale #rumbelle#robertcarlyle @onceabcofficial

@robertcarlyle_: 4.. After

@robertcarlyle_: 5. For Ever..

@emiliede_ravin: 6. ...And Ever. #onceuponatimefinale #robertcarlyle #rumbelle @onceabcofficial

@bexmader: Grateful. This is the first word that comes to my mind when I think of #onceuponatime This role of #Zelena came to me at a time in my life when I needed it most. The show came in and scooped me up in its arms and took me on a journey I couldn’t have imagined. I have learned so much as an artist but more importantly as a person. You, the fans have embraced me and made me feel loved and seen in a way that has changed me for the better. Zelena taught me how to be me. That no matter your past or your mistakes every day is a new opportunity to get back up, dust yourself off and keep going. Thank you Adam and Eddy for giving me the gift of playing the Wicked Witch. Thank you all for watching and being there all the way. So much love. Today and forever 💚#mypretties

@bexmader: Dearest You, thank you for watching our show. I will eternally be grateful for this blessing of portraying Zelena. For the rest of my life I get to say I used to be The Wicked Witch! How lucky am I? So many memories. So many lessons. My biggest take away from Once Upon A Time is the realization that every day is a chance to start over. It’s not an Ending. It’s a Happy Beginning. And it is ours. I love you #mypretties Forever, Bex @vfxsup#wickedalwayswins #staywicked#thistooshallpass

@iamseanmaguire: Sad to hear that Once upon a time is coming to an end. It was a great honor playing Robin Hood. I will cherish the incredible friendships I have made and always be indebted to the incomparable fans around the world who have given me so much. I wish love and the best of luck to everyone on their new ventures. @OnceABC @onceabcofficial

@iamseanmaguire: As the last episode of Once upon a time airs tonight. Just wanted again to thank all the cast crew writers and creators. And to the fans of the show the world over thank you for the love and support.

@andrewjwest: Thank you to the fans of Once Upon A Time. You graciously welcomed me into the OUAT family as a new version of a character that you have loved for many years, and for this I am forever grateful. I also love this character, and I’m so excited for you to see where this journey will take him and his family over the final twelve episodes. So happy to have been a part of such an epic and long-lived tale. See ya in a few weeks. #march2nd #onceuponatime

@andrewjwest: It’s been a great honor to take this ride through the final season of #onceuponatime with you. Much thanks for all the love and support. And now tonight we see where this story leads... #seriesfinale

@andrewjwest: A little BTS from the finale. Hanging at Granny’s, yet another version of Hook, Bobby creepin, and last shot by @raphaelsbarge capturing worlds colliding. #onceuponatime #hopeyouenjoyed

@gilesmatthey: What an honor to have worked on such a wonderful show that many had previously worked so hard to create. Thank you to those people, Crew , writers, actors and of course the fans for allowing me to hop aboard to play Gideon. I will look back with such fond memories on my time. Think this bts pic is brilliant. Always room for a laugh ! @onceabcofficial@abcnetwork @adamhorowitzla#cheersmuchlovegoodnight!

@robbiekay71: So honoured and grateful to have been a part of the wonderful creation that is #OnceUponATime. An unforgettable journey. Adam and Eddy, thank you for giving me the opportunity to put a fresh take on the legendary Peter Pan. To all of you that have watched the show, thank you. You are a special group of people and the show is so incredibly lucky to have fans as brilliant as ours. Lots of love 💚

@karendavidofficial: Well it was one amazing magic carpet ride that I will cherish for years to come!! Truly blessed to have been a part of @onceabcofficial and welcomed by such a lovely and supportive cast and crew. Congrats @adamhorowitzla and @jollychan4 for making such a special show for 7 years, crossing borders, and touching hearts around the world. Thank you gents and @abcnetwork a million times over for making a childhood dream come true playing Jasmine. To the amazing #OUAT fandom, thank you for welcoming me into the family and embracing my Jasmine/Shirin. Grateful for your love and kindness! #ouat Photo with wonderful @colinodonoghue1 S6 Thanks @vfxsup for capturing such a lovely moment in between takes! Xo

@karendavidofficial: It was only befitting to save this photo with dear Ginny for tonight’s series finale of @onceabcofficial As many of you know, my first day on set, back in season 6, started with this beautiful human being. I could not have hoped for a more warmer and loving welcome and the new beginning of my #OUAT journey in any other way. After filming a whole day with this lady, I felt at home. Love you, Lady G! Bless your heart for your heaps of kindness and giving soul. • Thinking of the whole gang, @adamhorowitzla and @jollychan4 on what I know will be a fantastic final episode. Congrats!!! What this amazing bunch have created will surpass time and will always connect us all. I feel so honoured to have been a part of it in S6. Thank you again to all the fans, who embraced #Jasmine and I. It means so much and is a chapter of my life that I will hold dear to my heart. This isn’t farewell. We will always have 7 seasons worth of memories to cherish. Love you all! #oncers #oncersforever

@officialmeghanory: Thank you #onceuponatime & #oncers for a wonderful adventure. Man will I miss that cape and Ruby’s wild hair! #littlereds i sadly won’t be in the finale because of scheduling conflicts but I wish I could have been there. Can’t wait to see what magic is spun #fairytales#littleredridinghood

@thereelbeverley: Bye bye Once Upon a Time. You will be missed. Especially by me. Love to all our amazing, loyal fans, and to our superb cast, crew and production team. We made magic!!! Onward down the yellow brick road

@thereelbeverley: Bye OUAT You gave me an amazing 6 years I cant thank you enough for this experience..our loyal fans that kept us going..the superb writers,production team cast and crew to all. Off to other magical adventures #OnceUponATime #OUAT #OUATCancelledParty

@raphaelsbarge: And then there was one... the LAST one. #endofanera @onceabcofficial #onceuponatime So grateful for this last 7 years on a truly magical show. #momentusoccasion

Raphael’s Farewell Photoset

@keegolicious: Well...can’t help but feel Blue to hear the news. What a magical ride, thanks for having me along @adamhorowitzla @jollychan4. Much love to all you wonderful #Oncers that I have met around the world. #onceuponatime

@keegolicious: Back to the beginning... My first fitting as the Blue Fairy, my little one was only 3 months old. So much has passed in those years, and I am grateful for all the good things that came from being part of #onceuponatime. Thanks to the most ardent fans whom I’ve had the chance to meet around the world. Thanks for 7 years of being your #bluefairy. May love, hope and magic always find you.

@roseareyn: It has been an absolute joy working on this season of @onceabcofficial. Cast/crew/everyone you are family; thank you. And thank you to everyone who took that leap with us and came for the ride. You are wonderful. See you March 2nd for the last twelve episodes. Love.

@roseareyn: I was new, didn’t know what was going on and I was taken in to the oncer world. I really appreciate it, thank you. Here’s my best bud, who taught me a lot along the way. @onceabcofficial #alice #nobin #knightrook

@realmerrindungey: What a glorious #Oncein a lifetime opportunity. Forever grateful and I will love these fans forever.

@realmerrindungey: It was an honor and a privilege to serve as one of the #QueensofDarkness on #OUAT. Much love to the incredible fans, the cast and crew, and for everyone who embraced me as Ursula. #seadevil #

@victoriasmurfit: Night night gorgeous @onceabcofficial What a magical place it was to be. #Cruella

@ChristieLaing: Congratulations to the entire cast and crew of @OnceABC on your amazing seven years. It was such a huge blessing to be part of your story and thank you to the fandom for your continued support @AdamHorowitzLA @jollychan4

@christielaing_official: Working with the cast and crew of Once Upon A Time was an absolute blessing. No doubt a highlight of my career. Thank you, to the fandom for the continued support. And to the cast and crew for your hard work and friendship. Farewell #OUAT it was an honor to be a part of it all.

Christie’s farewell photoset

@jasonburkart: Storybrooke was home for some of the best cast, crew and fans! My visit was brief but unforgettably magical! #OUAT #onceuponatime #ABC #Disney#LittleJohn #7seasons #happyending@iamseanmaguire @lparrilla@joshtherealdallas @colinodonoghue1@christielaing_official

Jason’s farewell photoset

@daniajramirez: Thank you @adamhorowitzLA and Eddy Kitsis for their incredible talent and imagination. You have the ability to make nonbelievers believers by simply allowing us to enter your mind through your scripts. Thank you for allowing me to come play in your magical kingdom! I will never forget my time on @onceuponatime and I will forever be grateful to you both and @abcnetwork@abccasting for having such an open mind in your diverse casting choices and allowing me the opportunity to be your #latina #cinderella. It is such a joy to bring her to life and I am honored to be a part of such an amazing cast. To all the cast and crew members of season 7, I have loved every moment we have shared on screen and most importantly off. You are all one of the most talented group I have had the pleasure of working with and one of the most fun and genuine group I’ve spend time with. Finally to the fans, please know that we have the 2nd half of the season to share with you and we look forward to being back on your screens March 2nd! Thank you for your continued support and loyalty to a show that has been yours for 7 seasons. Many thanks to you all for sharing this time with me respectfully. I feel so blessed to have my children, family and friends live this life knowing as a latina woman I got to play a #badass #cinderellafor @disney #womenrock @adamhorwitzand #EddyKitsis You have changed my life forever. #happyendingsarereal #theamericandream

@daniajramirez: This will Always be the most iconic surreal moment! Thank you all for taking this ride with us. Forever #Cinderella@onceabcofficial finale @adamhorowitzla@edwardkitsis

@tvalisononset: Tune in tonight as I get to hang out with the royal family in an epic adventure with an epic ending! Don’t miss it!#seasonfinal # #seriesfinal#onceuponatime #LucyMills #goodbye #epicstory

@tvalisononsetThey say you are who you walk with... I’m walking with epic, awesome, and Heavenly! I will miss this show so much but I’m so glad it was! Thanks to all the fans that made it happen. “Love you all” 💖💋🎉🤗✨🎬

Alison’s Farewell Photoset

@mekiacox: It’s not everyday you get to live out your childhood dreams, yet being a part of this show has allowed me to do just that. Princess Tiana has and always will have a special place in my heart. Thank you to @edwardkitsis and @adamhorowitzla for allowing me to bring this role to life. And thank you to the fans for accepting me into your family. OUAT FOR LIFE!! ❤️😍😘❤️#oncersforever #princesstiana#onceuponatime

@yael_yy‪: As the series finale of @onceabcofficial comes closer, I want to thank all of you for your constant support. I had a wonderful time being a part of this loving family! These memories will stay with me forever. Enjoy the last episode and don't be sad that it's over, be happy it happened‬ 💕

@emmalovesluna: Thankyou OUAT for opening me up to an incredible and absolutely divine bunch of actors who are now like family and make me laugh more than anyone I know..... this show is magic !!!!! And I can’t wait to come wrap up my time in Vancouver soon.... what a blessing.... I have learnt so much on this show!!!! Not only has it changed me as a person, I have developed an incredible and undeniable love for the shows fans..... you too have become like family to me.... . So take the magic with you always my evil witches ... or shall I say WARRIOR WITCHES ... you got this.... and may you never be the same..... .. @vfxsup. . . #ouat #love #evilwitches #humbled

@emmalovesluna: To new beginnings and endings.... Sending viral hugs to you oncers as I know the end of the show last night was a super- colossal event for many of you.... Oh, and THANKYOU so much for having me on the ride ✌🏼...✨🔮✨... . . . . #hollywood #earthporn #beautifulearth#ouat #thankyou #oncers #evilwitches#warriorwitches

Emma’s Farewell Photoset | Video

@therealdanielfrancis: All adventures come to an end, and this @onceabcofficial was truly a great one! Loved diving into the #ouat world, bringing #drfacilier to life and more importantly sharing the story with all the fandom, you are truly AMAZING! Thanks to @adamhorowitzla, Eddy Kitsis and the whole cast & crew for your hard work and creativity! And thank you #robertcarlyle and @lparrilla for the in-person masterclasses #legends

Daniel’s farewell video

@freyatingley: Wow! End of an era! Thanks so much to the fans of @onceabcofficialfor being such fierce devotees!! It was an honor to be your Wendy Darling!!! And thanks to @abcnetwork for creating such a hit!!! #oncers @emmalovesluna@roseareyn @meeganeloise

Faustino Di Bauda/Sleepy

@jakobdavies: It's been a great seven years thanks @onceabcofficial @adamhorowitzla

Jakob Davies/young Pinocchio

@captaingauthier: Some great memories, great times and most of all great fans! Thanks @onceabcofficial@colinodonoghue1 @1michaelcoleman@leearenberg @thereelbeverley@karendavidofficial @therealjaredgilmore@raphaelsbarge @gilmckinney

@captaingauthier: And thus we reach the end of another journey. I’m so grateful to the cast and crew of this show. All of which treated me so well and allowed me to stretch and “play” as an actor. Being a peripheral character it’s easy to get lost in the shuffle but not with this cast; it was a treat to come to set! I will miss antics on the Jolly Roger (on sea and on hydraulics), hanging out at the GVRD (Despite the lack of cell service) and all the other place we went! I’d like say a huge thanks for having me for 6 years (it was only supposed to be one episode). But mostly I want to say thanks to the fans that I have had the pleasure to meet at cons around he world. You truly are the best fans. Thank you so very much! Enjoy the final show.

@captaingauthier: The wardrobe.... #Smeeyoulater

Chris farewell photoset

@joanametrass: Guinevere and being a part of OUAT was one of the most awesome experiences not only of my career but of my life! Thank you @adamhorowitzla and @jollychan4 for the opportunity, for creating such an amazing show and bringing such a group of incredible people together! I never worked on a production like @onceabcofficial where every single person that was part of the project was amazing, and kind and welcoming! Thank you also to @veronicacronney for the opportunity to go to the casting that got me this part. Thank you to all the #oncersfor all the continuous love and welcoming me in the family. Congratulations to all of you that made this show so incredible ❤️ I miss all of you and i miss my Guinevere 💕💕💕#guinevere #ouat #ouatseason5 #oncers #storybrooke #camelot #ouatabc #ouatcast

@joanametrass: To some of the best times of my life. To one of the things I am most grateful for. To the show of my heart. To one of the greatest opportunities I have been given! Thank you @onceabcofficial and everyone involved! Thank you #oncers for making it possible! #ouat #abc #guinevere #california#actress #losangeles #hollywood#lastepisode #seasonfinale

Gil McKinney/Prince Eric

Charles Mesure/Black Beard

Sara Tomko/Tiger Lily

OUAT Finale Party

Woke up to this news from my friend.. Really upset about the end of this series as I’ve been watching since 2012.

I was pleasantly surprised by this new reboot/spin off/sequel season 7, wasn’t expecting much since most of the main cast was leaving, but this season was better than I thought.

Sad to see it coming to an end, since OUAT always gave me so much hope and positive vibes. Another magical world to escape to when I was in a dark place. This show brought me light.

But I guess, all good things must come to an end, right?

So thank you for all the lessons and quotes, and I can’t wait for the final episodes in March. This will definitely be a series I’d rewatch again in the future.

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logh-icebergs · 7 years

Text

Episode 1: In the Eternal Night

Early 796/487; the Battle of Astate. The Free Planets Alliance idiotically splits their 40,000 ships into three fleets far apart from each other, leaving Reinhard and his 20,000 Empire ships free to take advantage of them despite being outnumbered. Yang sees this coming, but his proposal gets steamrolled by his shortsighted commanding officer, Paeta. Reinhard wipes out the Alliance’s fourth fleet, and when Paeta again refuses to take Yang’s advice, the sixth fleet as well—which included Yang’s former classmate, Lapp. Meanwhile, Reinhard and Kircheis make moon-eyes at each other, Annerose gazes sadly into a bouquet of flowers, and Reuental and Mittermeyer go on a date. Yang and Dusty talk a lot of well-justified shit about their superiors.

Reinhard and Kircheis

A lot has changed between Reinhard and Kircheis since the events of “My Conquest,” but we won’t learn about that until Episodes 9-12 of LoGH: Gaiden, so just keep it in the back of your mind for now and we’ll return to it later. Extensively.

A lot has also changed for Reinhard and Kircheis—which we won’t hear about directly for some time, either, but at the very least: No, you’re not losing your mind; Reinhard’s last name has changed from Musel to Lohengramm. It’s a whole aristocracy thing, and the anime team deemed it Not Important Enough To Get Super Into At The Moment, so I’m going to take my cue from them. (For now, again.)

More importantly, episode 1 gives us our first substantive glimpse into the Reinhard/Kircheis dynamic beyond just how they look at each other (though we get that too—based on this episode, I’m honestly not sure Kircheis is capable of looking anywhere but at Reinhard).

Anyway, above, where Kircheis reminds Reinhard that the soldiers under his command might benefit from taking a short rest, is our first example of something that we’re going to see a great deal: Kircheis gently nudging Reinhard to be a bit more empathetic than comes naturally to him. But don’t let that aspect of their relationship fool you into thinking they are on opposite ends of the archetypical warmth-coolness spectrum. There’s very little Reinhard can’t persuade (or, less charitably, order) Kircheis to do, as we’ll see later, and the fact that they are both susceptible to one another’s influence indicates that neither is too far to one side.

And speaking of topics that would be a lot easier to parse if only they were as black-and-white as they first appeared...

Annerose

When given the choice between shying away from something difficult and facing it head on, LoGH tends aggressively towards the latter. Its unwillingness to simplify situations for the sake of straightforward storytelling, or black-and-white solutions, is a big part of what makes LoGH better than, uh, everything else. And occupying a particularly difficult space in the LoGH landscape is Annerose, Reinhard’s older sister and the favored concubine of Kaiser Friedrich IV.

Annerose is a tragic figure, and on the surface she’s characterized as a pretty one-dimensional martyr-type, which can be frustrating and confusing in a show where even the most minor character contains multitudes. But Annerose does contain multitudes—they’re just hidden under a series of facades, erected by a woman who has been subjected to a decade of sexual slavery, and by a creative team that was trying, in 1988, to tell a story about two boys falling in love.

Our first glimpse of Annerose in the OVA (you might remember her as the hologram those rude soldiers were leering at in an Iserlohn bar during “My Conquest”) is not actually of her, but rather of her reflection, upside-down and backwards in a lake. She’s looking at herself when the camera pans up to where she’s sitting placidly on a balcony above the water.

I’ll wait till we get further on before I start throwing around Narcissus comparisons, but they’re coming.

That first warped image of Annerose is this season’s biggest hint that we shouldn’t be taking anything about Annerose—how other characters see her, how she sees herself, even her ostensible role in the story—at face value. But on the other hand, the creators were counting on some viewers to take her at face value, because Annerose’s presence is a huge part of the heteronormative surface reading that allows LoGH to “pass” as something other than a collection of politically-themed queer love stories. More about that when we get to episode 4; for now, let’s talk about Annerose herself.

You will see versions of this scene a goddamn LOT, so get used to it.

Annerose presents as a traditional, heteronormative romantic heroine, mostly insofar as she appears to be terminally bland. There is nothing immediately interesting or appealing about Annerose, but it is signalled to us that she is Good: She is beautiful, docile, and a victim, the quintessential damsel in perpetual distress. She feels like a symbol, in a world richly populated by humans; her identity is presented to us as revolving entirely around men. There’s no way around it: As our first named female character, Annerose is irritating as hell.

But literally everything I just said is on the surface. Or, several surfaces, all stacked up on top of each other between Annerose and the people around her, and between Annerose and us, the viewer. There’s a reason she seems so much more archetypical and, frankly, poorly written than any other character in this show, and it’s that what we see is not Annerose herself, but how the world reflects her. As we spend more time with Annerose, we’ll dig deeper into the specifics of her whole situation, and get to the bottom of what she’s doing in LoGH. Hopefully by the time we’re done, she’ll look more like a person and less like an upside-down-and-backwards version of the same person.

Oh, and one more thing: Adding to the many layers of obscurity between Annerose and us, is the fact that in the LoGH novels and short stories, Annerose is heavily implied to be Kircheis’s love interest, whereas in the anime, Kircheis’s love interest is Reinhard. There are a few ways we know for sure that this was an intentional divergence, which we’ll definitely bring up when we get to them (primarily not until the first Gaiden series though, so please be patient!), but for now it’s just important to keep this in mind for understanding yet another reason why Annerose’s very presence can at times feel unsettling or out of place: She’s a character who has been completely repurposed but only minimally changed from her source material.

Power

We’ll have a bit more to say about the actual battle that’s going on when it continues in episode two, but I want to point out one contrast that’s deftly drawn here between Reinhard and Yang.

The parallel here is not especially subtle, but it’s a key one: Reinhard and Yang are (rather comically) the only people who seem to realize that if the Alliance forces are split into three small groups, the Empire can pick them off one by one; but Reinhard is in a position to demand that the doubtful and resentful admirals under his command execute his strategy, while Yang is stuck making proposals to stubborn commanding officers. These two scenes coming back-to-back serve as a quick way to establish this dynamic, which becomes a theme that evolves throughout the show.

Stray Tidbits

Hey it’s some of that matter-of-fact worldbuilding I talked about in our first post!! And also an important opportunity to remark on how much I personally would love to have a tank bed of my very own:

The back-and-forth about philosophy of war is very first-episode-y, establishing a basic framework of Yang’s pragmatism against the more ideal-driven decisions of the commanders. (“We must never abandon our allies! We must never consider defeat a real option!”) It feels a bit trite for sure, but it’s setting up for the future.

Oh yeah, also Yang’s best friend from school is introduced and then immediately killed off. Pretty bold move really. More on this later.

An astonishingly high percentage of the time we see Reuental and Mittermeyer, they’re on a date, and their appearance in this episode is no exception. Get it, you two!

#Legend of Galactic Heroes #Legend of the Galactic Heroes #author: co-authored #author: Rebecca #author: Elizabeth #Reinhard #Kircheis #Annerose #power

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coppermarigolds · 7 years

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Obvious question coming from me, but here goes: Book 4, Legend of Korra, you have complete creative control to rewrite it, Bryke and budget be damned. What would you do?

I would cut out Meelo and Wu entirely, or at least pare their screentime waaaay down. It always blew my mind that in a show with a very limited number of 22-minute episodes, Bryke wasted so much time on those poor excuses for humor.

I would kill off Mako, because…I can. *twirls mustache*

I would axe the entire Varrick/Zhu Li “romance,” because (unpopular opinion alert) that entire relationship grosses me out in the extreme. Varrick spends three seasons treating Zhu Li like actual garbage to the point where it’s practically abusive, then makes the most half-assed confession of feelings ever, and she…….marries him? Ugh. For a show that, silly Book 1 love triangle notwithstanding, generally did an admirable job of giving its female characters depth and agency and letting them be actual people instead of plot devices for male characters, they dropped the ball with Zhu Li in a big way.

Actually I would just have Zhu Li kick Varrick to the curb, then team up with Asami to become a truly awesome badass duo of genius lady engineers.

I would give Lin more to do, because she’s easily one of the show’s best characters and was criminally underused in Book 4.

I would rework the ending of the show in a way that would lose Korra’s whole “I had to suffer in order to learn how to be a better person!” thing. I know gallons of ink have already been spilled on this subject, and I think I get what Bryke was trying to aim for–finding a way to work through pain, etc. Which is fine…but when your two white male showrunners put their bisexual mentally ill woman of color protagonist through immense physical and mental trauma so that she can “learn how to empathize” with other people, it’s a little uncomfortable to say the least.

It goes without saying that I would handle Kuvira significantly differently than Bryke did.

I would spend more time fleshing out and developing her backstory and motivations rather than shoving them into a few lines of dialogue right at the end of the series finale. I would portray her actions and decisions, including and especially the problematic ones, in a more nuanced manner rather than “oh crap, we have to make this chick evil, let’s throw in PRISON CAMPS!!”

I would actually follow through on her relationship with Su. I would explore both their past and present in a meaningful way, rather than setting up a compelling conflict and then totally dropping it. I would have them sit down and talk through their issues like mature responsible adults! Or barring that, they could get their aggression out with a bending battle like Su and Lin did, then sit down and talk like responsible adults. I would actually give their relationship desperately-needed CLOSURE.

I would obviously do away with the whole prison camps thing, because that never made any sense for Kuvira’s character to begin with and essentially only existed to give Bolin some semblance of a character arc.

I didn’t hate the colossus mech as much as everyone else apparently did, but I didn’t love it either. I would be fine with scrapping it, though I’m not sure what exactly I would do in its place. If I did keep it, I would obviously not keep the canon ending of “Kuvira’s Gambit.” I wrote a canon-divergent ficlet where instead of firing on the warehouse, Kuvira called Korra’s bluff, knowing she wasn’t really going to hurt Baatar, which would have put Korra on her heels and provided some interesting conflict, I think.

I would have fleshed out Kuvira and Baatar’s relationship, and also fleshed out Baatar’s character in general, to give their separation at the end of the season more emotional weight. Bryke had all the tools in place to make Baatar an interesting character–the only non-bending grandchild of the great Toph Beifong! more family issues than you can shake a stick at!–but they totally whiffed on it. Missed opportunity.

For that matter, I also would have expanded on Kuvira’s history with the rest of the Beifongs, including and especially Opal. I think there could have been some interesting stuff there if it hadn’t apparently been more important to dedicate large chunks of screentime to Wu’s singing and Meelo’s fart jokes.

I think I would have kept the scene with Korra and Kuvira in the Spirit World, or something like it, because that was actually fairly well done. Though I probably would have made it longer and given it more depth. I also would have given Kuvira and her storyline more closure rather than just…shuffling her off to prison, apparently never to be heard from again?

…Honestly, it’s a good thing I wasn’t in charge of the show, otherwise it would have to be renamed Legend of Kuvira and the Beifongs.

#wow two years later and i'm apparently still more bitter than i thought #nesterov81 #answers #lok answers #legend of korra tag #long post

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firstdraftpod · 4 years

Text

Maureen Johnson is On the Case

First Draft Episode #232: Maureen Johnson

Maureen Johnson is the New York Times bestselling author of several YA novels, including 13 Little Blue Envelopes, Suite Scarlett, The Name of the Star, and Truly Devious: A Mystery. She has also done collaborative works, such as Let It Snow (with John Green and Lauren Myracle), and The Bane Chronicles (with Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan).

Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

The Something Queer series, written by Elizabeth Levy and illustrated by Mordicai Gerstein, included Something Queer is Going On (A Mystery), Something Queer at the Library, Something Queer in Outer Space, and more

The Encyclopedia Brown series by Donald J. Sobol

One day Maureen plans to pursue writing non-fiction and humorous essays, like David Sedaris, author of Me Talk Pretty One Day, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim, and When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Maureen’s friend and agent is Kate Testerman with KT Literary

Janklow & Nesbit Associates is the literary agency where Kate worked her way up before moving and forming her own agency

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants by Ann Brashears and Sarah Dessen books, including Saint Anything, Once and For All, and her newest, The Rest of the Story (hear Sarah Dessen’s episode of First Draft here) were the only YA books around when Maureen started watching

After John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars was turned into a movie by the same name, his other books Paper Towns and Looking for Alaska were also optioned and turned into a movie and TV show. Then came Let It Snow with Lauren Myracle and Maureen Jonhson, now available on Netflix!

Some of the crew of YA writers who wrote with Maureen in New York when they were beginning their careers included: John Green; Emily Jenkins a.k.a. E. Lockhart, author of The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks; We Were Liars, and the forthcoming Again Again; Cassandra Clare, #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Mortal Instruments series, The Dark Artifices series, and the forthcoming Chain of Gold, which kicks off the Last Hours series; Robin Wasserman, author of Girls on Fire, and the forthcoming Mother Daughter Widow Wife (listen to her First Draft episode here); Holly Black, author of The Cruel Prince series, The Coldest Girl in Coldtown and more (listen to her First Draft episode here); Scott Westerfeld, author of Uglies and Leviathan; Justine Larbalestier, author of Liar.

I can’t miss an opportunity to dig at the ending of Lost

Knives Out is a great example of a mystery. Go watch Knives Out!

I want to hear from you!

Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998.

Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni

Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works.

Don’t miss an episode! Subscribe in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you get your podcasts. It’s free!

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Listen now!

#Join host Sarah Enni every Tuesday for a quality hang with your favorite authors.

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dombumboo · 6 years

Text

Welcome! This blog serves as a temporary hub for research that circles around an is about the life of Douglas Traherne Harding. Because of this temporaryness, and until the research finds a more permanent home, the material presented is constantly undergoing reconfiguration - which may be echoed in it’s fragmentary form.

Research was first utilised at The Well; an exhibition developed through a year-long program at Open School East, alongside many other interesting works. The material for this first iteration was collected and displayed by George Harding, with support from Lou Lou Sainsbury, Chloe Ashley and Sara Trillo - amongst many others.

Subsequent projects, works and events that arise through utilising Douglas’ research will also be documented here.

Documentation of the first iteration can be found here. A pdf copy of Douglas Harding Dream Estates can be found here.

“The speaker (player, performer) begins with a description of a landscape; then an aspect or change of aspect in this landscape evokes a varied but integral process (or jogging) of memory, thought, anticipation and feeling, which remains closely intervolved with the outer scene. In the course of this meditation the speaker (player, performer) achieves an insight, faces up to a tragic loss, comes to a moral decision, or resolves an emotional problem - which often rounds upon itself to end where it began, at the outer scene, but with an altered mood or deepened understanding - a result of the intervening meditation.”

M. H Abrams on Samuel Taylor Coleridge. ‘Structure and Style in the Greater Romantic Lyric’. Oxford University Press. pp. 527–8. 1965. [edited]

☼

Profile: Douglas “Traherne” Harding

(12 February 1909 – 11 January 2016)

A child of Shoemakers and Innkeepers, Douglas Harding was born and raised by elders of the Plymouth Brethren – a strict sect of the Christian church. His upbringing was harsh and presented very few opportunities for interaction with those outside of his immediate community. After impressing his tutors with the speed at which learned to read and write, and showing promise in many of his early literary endeavours, Douglas was granted access to various journals and illustrated books. This rare and lucrative material granted him a momentary glimpse of the outside world – and set many things in motion.

When the abrasive nature of his home grew to much, Douglas retreated to the journals he kept, slipping away to a secretive realm, a place of his own making - a shifting landscape, unfettered by the Brethren's grasp.

Upon his twenty first birthday, after finding courage in the mind of another conflicted member of the Brethren, Douglas confronted his community and announced his departure...

Douglas’ Walk & Early Collections

Upon leaving the Brethren Douglas was known to have undertaken an extensive journey by foot across the lower parts of England - leaving a note that illustrated a desire to find himself in thorned bush and ploughed field.Little was known about this journey until a few key fragments of information were recovered from a battered lockbox found trapped under a number of _________. The first section of the archive presented here is split across eight sites that Douglas is now known to have visited. Though each sites relevance is slippery, Douglas’ wandering his way through an on-going revival of folk music in the British Isles, whilst simultaneously being present at a number of the first table top roleplaying games. The archive was built on an exposure to two rigorously active communities - one very much at the forefront of political and social change, the other a underground, subversive network.

☼

Folkloric Episodes

As more of Douglas’ journals, notebooks and other ephemera are unearthed and documented, whilst other outside perspectives are illuminated, this section of the archive will expand.

Site I J. England’s Garden

Site II The Hill of Vision

Site III Rock Mill

Site IV Warlock & Moeran

Site V The Kyrle

Site VI Fairport House

“Think of Fairport Convention as an old county mansion, its entrance and exit doors permanently open to successive tenants who have passed through, stayed, abandoned it and returned. Some have lived there for most of their lives, some are new, some come knocking on the door again after a turn of travelling out in the world. Each new set of inhabitants may refurbish rooms; the exterior might become a little shabby sometimes; but it’s never quite allowed to tumble in ruins. And the house has now been standing for so long that a whole community has sprung up around it.”

Rob Young on Fairport Convention. ‘Fairport & Electric Folk: Faber Forty-Fives 67′ - 70′. Faber & Faber. pp. 2. 2012

A Space of that coming and going - of ritual renewal. Reforming and redecorating itself around those who interact with it.

Site VII Holst & Noel

Site VIII Vashti & The Road

Site IX A Song Has No Ending

“Only a palace with interior doors / Well painted well gargoyled with multiple floors / Two windows let free this projector machine / And the magical world here appears on the screen / My servants attend me with tricks of the senses / The past and the future and similar tenses.”

The Head. The Incredible String Band ( taken from ‘God’s Holiday’)

Be Glad for the Song Has No Ending. The Incredible String Band. 1970.

An important film (shot by the BBC) that was intended to be a ‘straight laced’ documentary of the band. It was quickly morphed into a theatrical excavation of the bands ethos and influences - tapping into the mystical landscape that they had dug themselves into around the broad fields of ____ - At 1:28+ a dizzying recital formed equally as a setlist and inventory - akin to a Georges Perec text - of the bands influences, that serves as the portal at which to dive, head first, into their fragmentary and wild world. To exhaust and understand their subject.

↓

The Pirate and the Crystal Ball pt.1 + pt.2.

☼

Folk Collectors: Variations on Memory

A Selection of English Folk Songs. A. L. Lloyd. 1960.

↓

A Selection From The Penguin Book Of English Folk Songs. Various Artists. 1985.

[Both of the above form an important compendium of folk song - in written and sonic form. All of the songs featured on the 85′ album were taken from the ‘The Penguin Book of English Folk Songs’ edited by Ralph Vaughn Williams and A. L. Lloyd - important archivists alongside Cecil Sharp]

↓

Cecil Sharp’s Collections

> A comprehensive source for information on other folk archivists can be found in the ‘full english’ section of the EFDSS site.

“We haven't all that many fairy ballads, and this (Tam Lin) is by far the finest. It's fairly venerable, it was already printed on a broadside in 1558, and it wasn't new then. It seems to be uniquely Scottish, though there are international folk tales that come near its story; a Greek tale considerably more than two thousand years old tells how Peleus, wanting to marry the sea-nymph Thetis, lay in wait for her in a cave and seized her as she came riding in naked on a harnessed dolphin. She turned herself successively into fire, water, a lion, a snake, even to an ink-squirting cuttlefish, but Peleus “held her tight and feared not”, and in the end she gave in and the Olympian gods all came to the wedding.” ~ A. L. Lloyd’s liner notes

Greek myth can be fucking crazy and should be referenced with care but it keeps popping up in many forms. Here we have an good introduction to protean thinking/being - a notion that will present itself further into the archive, and an introduction to one meeting central to the revival and adaptation of folk music during the 60s.

Tam Lin, Tamlyn and Young Tambling REF

> Fairport’s adaptation & lyrics

> Steeleye Span’s version

“The way in which folk tunes would appear, in slightly different versions (often as settings for completely different worlds) in various parts of the country was a source of fascination for Vaughan-Williams and the other composers and musicologists who were busily collecting tunes.”

Five Variants on “I Bid You Goodnight” REF

A Very Cellular Song. The Incredible String Band. 1968.

“Weaving between styles as divergent as Bahamian funerary music, East Indian incantation and ancient Celtic mysticism, 'A Very Cellular Song' represents a high point in the band's creativity. Handclaps, kazoo, harpsichord and pipes intermingle and morph into each other. If this sounds like dissonance and chaos, it is.” ~ Music Is Rapid Transportation. Bill Smith. p164. 2010.

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bwprowl · 7 years

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Life is Strange reviewed two years after it came out because I just played it and I wanted to review it

(Spoiler-Free)

Life is Strange, an episodic adventure game from the same guys that made that Remember Me game that no one played, originally came out in 2015. I was aware of it but wasn’t playing it at the time so I didn’t engage in any of the discussion around it, but I recall that it ended up being quite popular and spawned a pretty big fandom. While I think I do miss a lot of the initial appeal of being able to discuss it with a large group of people as it was coming out, getting around to playing it now is still something I’m glad I did. The game’s definitely an experience, even if it’s not a perfect or even always a particularly happy one.

You control Max, a disaffected hipster girl taking a photography class at an artsy Oregon high school who stumbles her way into a wide-reaching web of teenage angst that ends up evolving into a murder mystery. She’s urged into action by reuniting with her childhood friend Chloe after an intense encounter where Max discovers she has the ability to rewind time. This ability forms the crux of the adventure gameplay, and it’s impressive how much the game leans into it and lets you use it. You can rewind at virtually any point, moving characters and objects back into positions they were previously, talking with people to get information out of them then doing the conversations over with new knowledge, and generally solving puzzles in creative, fourth-dimensional ways. You also use your power with the game’s other big mechanic: choices. At several points in the game you’ll be tasked with making divergent decisions. You make your choice, and are able to see the immediate consequences of your actions play out, so you can rewind, try again to see what happens with a different decision, and use all that info to decide which choice you want to stick with.

The time-travel mechanic fares pretty well as a game gimmick. It’s interesting to have a game where the use of continues is an in-universe convention. Failing at major tasks just prompts you to rewind and try again, so even though you are effectively restarting a ‘failed level’ each time, it doesn’t feel quite so monotonous as in other games, and helps it keep the feeling of being a continuous, unbroken sequence. Being able to rewind time generally also lets you take all the time you want to figure out puzzles, even ones that would normally be time-sensitive, like figuring out how to rescue someone caught on railroad tracks with a train closing in on them. It also means you can repeatedly attempt many minor side-challenges, like warning someone to look out for a football, as many times as you like without having to restart a section over every time.

One of the big selling points of Life is Strange is ‘All your decisions will have permanent consequences’, and this is technically true, in as far as say, choosing to write some graffiti on a wall will have the consequence of that graffiti being on the wall the next time you see it. In practice, the way this works is things you do and say to characters will come up with them again when you interact with them later, which can change the way encounters play out and even how you have to go about some things gameplay-wise. A lot of it is just flavor, changing what angry text messages you get from characters and the like, though there are a few big decisions that will have major ramifications on how the rest of the story plays out, and you’ll experience these as early as Episode 2. There are times when the game feels like it’s showing off, characters talking to Max and bringing up multiple things she did in rapid succession, then telling you that those specifically are why other things are happening. Other than that though, the game’s story still follows the same path and basic beats regardless of which choices you make. This issue comes to a head in the final chapter and especially the ending, but more on that later.

In spite of being less divergent than you’d think for a game about making choices and rewriting time, the story it’s all in service of is a good one. It expectedly features numerous twists, and while some are easy to see coming if you’re experienced with this kind of fiction, others still managed to shock me pretty well. It has a well-paced build to it, with Episodes 1-3 introducing all the characters and conflicts and immersing you in the world, before the fourth episode (which is almost as long as the three before it combined) ushers in a ton of revelations and major events, all leading to grand, stunning finale in the fifth. It’s very hard to put each chapter down before you’ve finished it, and is the type of game you might be predisposed to just play straight through in one sitting, if you’ve got the time, it’s that compelling. Sadly, due to the superficial way the choices affect the story, there’s less replay value than you might initially think.

In regards to those choices and how they lead to the game’s end, as alluded to above, by Episode 5 Life is Strange has blown up its world and mostly disregarded any pretense of decisions affecting the story’s final outcome. There is one big choice at the very end that dictates which of two endings you receive, but without spoiling anything, neither ending is really in a situation to explore any differences in details that might result from the decisions you made. Episode 5 in general seems to take the player to task on the idea of choices in video games, repeatedly pointing out that what you did didn’t *really* affect the story much, and actively denying attempts at the idea of getting a ‘best’ ending. There’s a sequence where Max is called out for using her powers just to get everyone to like her, and while I don’t think it went far enough into the metatext of why we make choices in games, it still made its position apparent: you shouldn’t make decisions just because you’re trying to get a reward or a good ending or because you think that’s the way the game’s story ‘wants’ to go. You should make your decisions based on what you want to do, and accept the consequences. Sometimes helping a guy trapped in a burning building is its own reward, regardless of if you get an achievement for it.

Despite this nominally uplifting concept driving it, Life is Strange still comes off perhaps unnecessarily mean at times. I don’t think I’ve ever encountered a game so thoroughly effective at guilt-tripping the player. I mentioned how the time-rewinding lets you ‘try out’ each choice in a scenario, and while you might think that being able to see the immediate consequences of your actions would make it easier to decide which one you want, it actually just makes you second-guess everything you do even more. The game piles onto this! Every time you pick one decision, Max remarks to herself something along the lines of “Well that didn’t turn out perfectly. Should I rewind and try again?”, so you do that and go the other way, and she says the same sort of thing! What do you want from me, Life is Strange?

This guilt-tripping expands past the immediate choices. As mentioned above, characters may bring up in conversations how Max did or didn’t help them. There is an extended sequence at the end of Episode 2 that largely exists to get the player to kick themselves for any opportunities they didn’t take to help out and get to know better one particular character. Even the game’s two final endings, despite (I think) intending to be a meditation on accepting the consequences of your choices, still split themselves between impossible decisions that are going to leave you feeling guilty somehow regardless of what you did.

All this isn’t necessarily a bad thing; indeed it’s impressive that a video game can wring enough immersion out of me as a player that I actively feel bad about things I virtually did to pretend people. But it definitely demands a warning for anyone going into the game that it doesn’t have a chance of being a choose-your-own-adventure quest for the best ending. Life is Strange doesn’t want you hunting for the true path to getting everything right, it just wants you to make choices in the story and experience all the bad shit that happens as a result of any of those choices.

Life is Strange can be a depressing, heavy experience at times. It’s to the point that you’ll appreciate the chapter-based structure simply for giving you a moment to step away and breath after the climax of each portion of the story. But if you have no trepidation about going into an interactive story experience that actively sets out to screw with your feelings, it’s a rewarding one to go through, and I recommend it. It’s definitely one of the more inventive, unique uses of the Adventure game format in a long time, and the relatively short time you spend with it will at least give you a lot to think about afterwards.

#life is strange #lis

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firstdraftpod · 5 years

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Preferred Ways of Failing with Josh Gondelman

First Draft Episode #210: Josh Gondelman

Josh Gondelman, comedian, TV writer for shows like Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Desus and Mero, and debut author of memoir Nice Try: Stories of Best Intentions and Mixed Results, talks about coming up in comedy, fumbling his breakout moment with the viral Modern Seinfeld Twitter account, and learning that being a “nice” person isn’t the same as being a good person.

Links and Topics Mentioned In This Episode

In addition to Nice Try, you should also check out Josh’s standup specials: Dancing on a Weeknight (2019); Physical Whisper (from 2016); and Everything’s the Best! (2011).

Nancy Kerrigan was the subject of one of the most bizarre crimes in all of sports (really worth watching The Price of Gold, an excellent 30 for 30 documentary about the Kerrigan-Harding incident), which was documented in the film I, Tonya, which Josh’s parents did not see out of loyalty to Kerrigan

Early on Josh performed in the chorus of The Music Man

We decide that literary humor is to comedy as Garrison Keillor is to Chris Rock

Josh wrote a spec script for It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia

Josh was contributing to places like McSweeny’s and New York magazine when he first moved to the city

Josh co-founded the @SeinfeldToday Twitter account with his friend Jack P. Moore (playwright and sitcom writer for shows like Dear White People), which went viral and got him lots of professional opportunities

Josh made an impression on Jim Gaffigan with a joke about the wisdom of the justice system in D2: The Mighty Ducks when he was getting his feet wet as a standup in New York City

Josh talks about establishing authority as a standup onstage, which reminded me of Pete Holmes addressing how he looks (more like a youth pastor than a comedian) on his 2013 special, Nice Try, The Devil. You can see a great example of Josh doing something similar in his 2019 sets on Late Night with Seth Meyers and The Late Late Show with James Cordon. Josh also got advice and encouragement about this from fellow comedian Pete Lee.

Josh got a big win when he was able to write for Billy on the Street, featuring Billy Eichner

One of the notable segments from Last Week Tonight with John Oliver was an early one about net neutrality, with a bit at the end (which Josh credits to Geoffrey Haggerty, a comedy writer for shows like The Daily Show and Last Week Tonight with John Oliver) calling for viewers to write in to the FCC. So many viewers wrote to the FCC that its system crashed, and the government investigated whether the onslaught of feedback was from actual citizens or a coordinated DDoS attack.

Tim Carvell, head writer for The Daily Show who left with John Oliver to create Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

Josh is now the producer and writer for Desus and Mero on Showtime. Before he wrote for them, he was a fan of Desus and Mero’s podcast, Boedga Boys, and their TV show, Desus & Mero, on VICELAND.

Josh does pep talks on Twitter from time to time, and initially was approached to write a book based on that premise. But he resisted that idea because internet darling Jonny Sun (playwright, academic, and author and illustrator of Everyone’s a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too -- listen to Jonny Sun’s episode of First Draft here) had already illustrated the famous Twitter pep talks written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (actor, composer, and playwright of Hamilton and In the Heights) for the book, G’Morning, G’night!: Little Pep Talks For Me & You.

I was reading Brené Brown’s Daring Greatly: How the Courage to be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead, at the same time as Josh’s memoir, which actually was a beneficial co-reading experience (FTR I also recommend Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are on audiobook! It’s read by Lauren Fortgang and she does a great job!)

Josh was on a panel with journalist and author Liz Plank--whose most recent book, “For the Love of Men: A New Vision for Mindful Masculinity”, is on sale now!--about shifting concepts of masculinity

Nikki Glaser, a comedian and radio host who Josh admires, gave him pivotal advice early in his career

I want to hear from you!

Have a question about writing or creativity for Sarah Enni or her guests to answer? To leave a voicemail, call (818) 533-1998. You can also email the podcast at [email protected].

Subscribe To First Draft with Sarah Enni

Every Tuesday, I speak to storytellers like Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Divergent; Linda Holmes, New York Times bestselling author and host of NPR’s Pop Culture Happy Hour podcast; Jonny Sun, internet superstar, illustrator of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Gmorning, Gnight! and author and illustrator of Everyone’s an Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too; Michael Dante DiMartino, co-creator of Avatar: The Last Airbender; John August, screenwriter of Big Fish, Charlie’s Angels, and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory; or Rhett Miller, musician and frontman for The Old 97s. Together, we take deep dives on their careers and creative works.

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