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untitledtallgeesepodcast · 3 years

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[TRANSCRIPT] EPISODE 12: SPACE IS (STILL) THE PLACE

Kat 0:03

Hello and welcome to Untitled Tallgeese Podcast, a podcast where Kap, which is me, Mallory, Caitlin, and Cathy all get together and watch Gundam Wing and talk about Gundam Wing. This is episode 15, where we'll be covering episodes 23 and 24.

Kat 0:20

So I'm going to start off with an episode summary of Episode 23: Duo God of Death Once Again. We open with Sally Po salvaging Wing Zero from the bottom of the ocean with a band of rebels. In space, a now recovered Duo is hanging out, shit-talking OZ without even wearing a disguise, and that gets him noticed by newly-minted OZ soldier Hilde Schbeiker, who tells him to enlist. Instead, he steals a mobile suit, prompting a space battle with Hilde. During their own psychic hot pink moment, Duo realizes they're both fighting for the peace of the colonies! So he saves her from becoming collateral damage, and his capture conveniently gets him a ride to the moon. Duo is so hot that Hilde defects and helps him break into his target, the Lunar Base. Duo again allows himself to get the shit beat out of him and captured -- this time strategically -- and is thrown into the brig with Heero and Wufei, who are immediately jerks. He tells them the doctors have begun building a new Deathscythe and Shenlong. Lady Une makes Trowa listen to her monologue about Treize-sama and we fade out.

Kat 0:21

Episode 24: The Gundam They Called Zero starts with a mysterious Gundam attacking an OZ resource satellite, piloted by a traumatized Quatre, who then sets his sights on an actual colony. Lady Une orders Trowa and Heero out with the Mercurius and Veyeate, ignoring Chief Engineer Tsuberov's argument to use the mobile dolls. But with Une distracted, Tsuberov overrides her and orders the air to be cut off to the cells holding the pilots and the doctors, leaving them to die... slowly. Trowa is amped as hell to hang out with Quatre and get the band back together, but Heero is more cautious. Trowa loses half a suit in the ensuing battle and learns that Quatre may not be the ally he thought; he's decided the only way to stop war in outer space is to destroy the colonies themselves and Quatre and Heero prepare to face off as the episode ends.

Mallory 2:03

Yeah, these episodes were really fun.

Kat 2:06

They were really fun and I think they were really straightforward. There's, I don't know, there's like just everything was happening not symbolically.

Caitlin 2:14

Yeah, I love these episodes because they, they contain the entire spectrum of like, Duo eroticism. So

Mallory 2:21

[laughter] All right!

Caitlin 2:24

you have Duo being like cool, for a second, to Hilde. He's got the glasses, he like tries to break into the volunteer group or whatever, the soldiers. He does, he does get some like blows in and then he gets beaten up a bunch? You have cool Duo who we love and then you have beaten up Duo, who we also love. His voice is just so sexy to me throughout this entire thing. Sorry to like, confess my desires here but Duo is really like, working it.

Cathy 2:56

To add on to this in Episode 24 you get moe, cheerful-even-while-dying-but-also-resenting-his-death Duo. And then there's the little bit of like, almost flirtatious but also kind of serious fighting with Heero over who gets to go out of the jail cell and him calling Heero 01, which is a lot of fun. And you know, you get all the little pairings like Trowa beats up Duo so you get your 2x3 and then Wufei is stuck with Duo after Heero leaves you get your 2x5. Heero and Duo are the two that interact once Duo gets caught so you get your 1x2, like you got, you, there's everything.

Kat 3:37

And you get a new female love interest with Hilde.

Caitlin 3:40

Yeah, Duo gets a girlfriend at last he gets his own like mini. He gets mini Noin, as as we call Hilde.

Cathy 3:46

I really had forgotten how much she is like Noin until I rewatched these episodes, like she seems like a younger Noin, including sort of her naivete, and obviously that she's part of OZ. She has the same kind of, you know, I know what's right, and I know what my morals are, and I know what my values are, and I know what my mission is, that Noin had when we were first introduced to her at the Victoria Training Base. And then of course, that gets turned on its head by a man the same way that she does with Zechs.

Caitlin 4:19

Mmhmm.

Cathy 4:20

And then she sort of abandons that original kind of mission statement to seek her own meaning, which is also adjacent to the man's meaning, [laughs] but in a in a fun way.

Caitlin 4:32

And I will say that, in terms of like convincing speeches about politics we see in the show, Duo's points to her do make a little bit more sense than the average one.

Cathy 4:44

Yeah. And I I was trying to pay attention to the narration we got at the beginning, and I think this is consistent with the last two, but it felt more poignant here, where they were saying, you know, we're at this point where the Gundam pilots are trying to find a reason to exist in this changing world. And I thought that was a really great way of explaining, you know what Duo is doing and why I feel like that's so inspiring to Hilde, such that she essentially does a pivot and becomes a free agent in terms of how she is thinking about who she's fighting for. Because, you know, if you think about Duo and the other pilots at this point, the scientists who they've been getting missions from are captured. So it's been radio silent for months and months and months. Their Gundams are gone, they really have never been particularly good about organization or trying to get to a central mission, or if they even know what that central mission is. So they're working so hard and being so bad at it in terms of like, like doing to the best of their ability, something. And I really do think that that speech he gives like, there are some truths that he finds self evident. And it's just really hard for him to understand, like how to get there. And he is like, you can always feel him struggling with that while he talks to Hilde. And so I did find that really moving and really human.

Kat 6:04

When he says, "You remind me of me when I was sent back to earth and decided to fight for the colonies alone," which was really poignant, but also kind of funny and brings up a common complaint, which is I have no idea how much time has passed between things. Sort of like, was that how many months ago was that? When you say months and months and months, they've had time to build all these mobile suits. So and it does appear that OZ now has a pretty good infrastructure on the ground. Hilde's part of like, the OZ Student Volunteer Corps, who I don't think they should be handing mobile suits off to, that seems not like the best way. [laugh]

Caitlin 6:42

But you know, in the logic of this universe that 15 year old are the best piloting mobile suits so [laughs]

Mallory 6:48

Right, you know, why not give a hot headed teenager awash with hormones and rage a mobile suit?

Kat 6:56

I do think Hilde fulfills a really good role that we've been talking about in past podcasts about how we really don't see the colonists' perspective. And it gets very direct with that when she goes, "this is outer space's decision." Like nobody bullied us into arming ourselves and militarizing, we had to make the decision ourselves.

Mallory 7:16

Yeah, we did it for our own protection. She says we weren't going to just sit back and let them take over. She feels. I think. like OZ is giving her some sort of agency in this like feeling of powerlessness that we've kind of talked about and how the colonies feel powerless and insecure, and so if they feel insecure, they want to be armed.

Kat 7:38

There's this phrase she uses, and she says the colonies have "a history of humiliation," that I thought was really interesting and a kind of a perspective that we haven't seen so directly before.

Cathy 7:49

Yes. And also the scientists at the very beginning, remember, I think it's Dr. J who says, basically, well, OZ is treating all the new space colonies just like, and I have in quotes, "old world colonies to be plundered." They were talking about the history of the colonies and how they've been treated and I think in Episode 23, you kind of get that whole spectrum of it, right? You get they're just being exploited. Well, they feel like they need to assert themselves by getting armaments. But no, actually, according to Duo, this is all just hogwash and propaganda. And, you know, this is like this whole spectrum of reasons and thoughts about why this sudden militarization is happening and who's really behind it and who it actually is serving.

Kat 8:29

I'm gonna pick up a thread there when you said propaganda, because something we haven't mentioned, was Zech - er Milliardo Peacecraft inexplicably just hanging out in another conference room with a bunch of old colony dudes in suits. And they mentioned that the engineers or the, the Gundam doctors have been killed, and he thinks, oh, that's the kind of falsehood that could really do a lot of damage. Like he's already noticing that the OZ machine is running.

Mallory 8:54

Right, it was a line that struck me because it's frankly, kind of a terrifying lie in the age of things like Qanon and sort of foreign misinformation campaigns that we are seeing on Twitter and Facebook.

Caitlin 9:07

Zechs pointing out the dangers of fake news?!

Mallory 9:11

Yeah, unmitigated rumor. And I don't know, I think as a journalist it just really strikes me that in a children's TV show there's this like, warning like, "Be careful of lies that you are being told by adults." We only really see, we see news but we only, really only see Une or OZ representatives speaking. We don't really see like, like an independent journalist standing with a microphone or whatever, which tells you where like news and what news is going out and the spin that is being put on that. Like when Une assassinated Septum early on, and she comes out and she's like, Oh, it was the work of those dirty Gundams, right?

Caitlin 9:53

Right. We do know, so one of the, one of the notable like news sequences that we have seen recently is the OZ theatre of destroying Deathscythe, right? We see that they do it. And then we see Duo reacting to it? So we know that like part of their like news cycle right now in the colonies at least is like expelling this, like the Gundams as terrorists,

Cathy 10:17

I almost feel like, because all the players have, or are connected to the military or Romefeller or OZ or Alliance, and the reactions we see about these news documents, be they press releases or broadcasts, are from those players, it feels less like some sort of point about propaganda, or fake news. It feels like to me that OZ released that information to the colonies for a reason, even though there might be backlash from the colony, the individual colonists, but it really was about trying to get colony leadership to agree to the OZ takeover.

Caitlin 11:01

Yeah, you think, you think it's about the people who are making decisions, not about trying to control public opinion?

Cathy 11:08

Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Caitlin 11:10

I think that might be true. Like, to a certain extent, that is what they're doing. But we also do see that public opinion has shifted, and that there is a real, a real effect to this. That's what, that's sort of what the point of Hilde is, to know that there are people in the colonies who have changed their perspective on how to fight, that they've joined up with the OZ Volunteer Corps.

Mallory 11:33

Exactly. And sort of it shows the hold that OZ already has, and the sort of foundation that OZ has already built within the colonies, in that they already have, you know, like Kat was saying earlier, they already have a Student Corps. You know, like that these structures kind of pop up really quickly.

Caitlin 11:51

The ease with which these structures arose, speaks to the, the things for which the colonies are usually used? Like they're already sort of like primed for manufacturer. They're primed for like the sort of intense sort of governmental control because you need somebody inside each of these colonies managing each moment. There's something about them that lends them very quickly towards this militarization process.

Mallory 12:18

Right, like it's easy to trade one dictator for another one.

Kat 12:21

Because the structure of the colonies is already so not necessarily militaristic, but -

Caitlin 12:27

- authoritarian, maybe?

Kat 12:28

Yeah.

Caitlin 12:29

Just, just because like in order to keep a colony running, you have to have sort of an unquestioning -

Mallory 12:34

- like a really strong hierarchy

Caitlin 12:36

Right, because if somebody starts questioning their orders, you could destroy the colony.

Kat 12:41

When Quatre is, puts his actual Gundam inside the colony and is like, "colonies don't need things like this!" about a ferris wheel -

Mallory 12:49

Right, or a playground.

Kat 12:50

I feel like that's sort of underscores that that idea of like, colonies for one thing versus another thing, like the way people view the utility of colonies.

Cathy 12:59

Yeah, and one thing to remember is that most of the population that are on the colonies are technicians and workers. So it's already built in, I think, to their history.

Caitlin 13:11

So one thing that came to mind for me was that we know the colonies are mostly laborers, and mostly people who are working very hard to stay alive in this very precarious space. But they need that entertainment, they need that fun in order to actually do their jobs. Whereas like Quatre's model, besides destroying the entire colonies, has been is now to reject anything to do with that, like, glorious joy of life. Like he's now like, switched entirely to being like, No, we only need war, we only need destruction, we only need work. I think it's also very poignant, because like he must have grown up in the colonies, he must have gone to places like that.

Mallory 13:53

But it felt out of character from the few, the previous episodes where he spends a lot of time saying like, but we were good to them. We we gave all these resources, we help people live and we wanted them to be happy and all of that, like we shared our resources and our wealth. And now he's like, Oh, they don't need these, like small pleasures! A Ferris wheel? Get out of here.

Caitlin 14:15

Right. I think that's, I think that's exactly why this is the form his psychosis has taken. It's because he has this idea that his family really helped the colonists and like made their lives better. And now now that he's entered his like, crazy mode, which I love, that he's like, No, we don't need to help them. We all, I don't care about them anymore.

Cathy 14:35

I love that scene where he rampages through the colonies and Caitlin knows that we had just finished watching Shin Godzilla. And

Kat 14:44

Oh!

Mallory 14:44

Mmm.

Cathy 14:45

- and this scene was extremely Godzilla-esque, right like, it really shows the sheer power and horror of how large the Gundams are and what they can do when you just want to be recklessly brutal and recklessly violent on anything and it is really, it's really interesting the kind of like care they take with this scene. Everything's quiet, there's no people, you just see this Gundam like, crushing things slowly, like destroying them, because Quatre wants to destroy them. And it's really good.

Caitlin 15:21

You get really good shots of the colony's slope because like, those the colonies are curved and this is one of the distinctive things that makes you know that they're in a colony is that you can see like the city like rising up behind you because it's, it's circular or it's a loop. And so you get this sort of like extremely enclosed space that like because the colonies are shaped the way they are, it, it feels like they're, they're both spacious and claustrophobic. And so that that giant Gundam being there really interrupts the space. It really like, disrupts the perspective.

Kat 15:42

The animation overall, was I think, better. It like, it seems like slowly the budget is increasing, or... Everybody looked great enough.

Caitlin 16:04

It's Episode 24ish. So they're, this is like the season finale. Sort of.

Kat 16:10

Oh, true.

Mallory 16:11

Right. So they're pulling out all the stops.

Caitlin 16:12

Yeah, so they've saved money for this.

Cathy 16:15

I think a really fun thing about Episode 24, especially the animation, is I think how carefully they construct it. Like you start off with this frame of what you slowly realize is a colony outpost, and it looks like this hideous floating horror thing with like tubes coming out of it and it's like vaguely alien and vaguely tentacled. And then this menacing shadow comes and you know, you can tell immediately that it's Wing Gundam. But because you don't see into the cockpit like you almost always do when a Gundam appears on screen, you don't know who's in it, and it feels very supernatural? like a vengeful ghost? And then it destroys this outpost. You spend that whole time as the audience thinking, Who is it? Who is it, it can't be Heero, you know, it's not Heero. And then that wonderful shot of Quatre, the utter silence as he breathes, and then they slowly reveal his eye. Like, that... Not only was the animation amazing, but just like this cinematic quality of that opening sequence. It just felt like a slasher film. It was so good,

Caitlin 17:22

So good.

Mallory 17:23

The pacing of that scene is so good. Like, I had really no idea what to expect. So when you see like the shuttle approaching, and then the music starts and it transforms into a Gundam and you're like, Oh my god, this is so cool! I'm 31 years old and this is still so cool to me! This would have blown my mind.

Caitlin 17:45

Did you know about like the Quatre-goes-crazy plot.

Mallory 17:48

I did know that Quatre has a turn but I didn't know that he goes crazy.

Kat 17:53

We managed to not spoil it this entire time.

Caitlin 17:56

That's really exciting.

Mallory 17:57

Look, I thought he was dying of space tuberculosis, so.

Cathy 17:59

He could, he could still be dying of space tuberculous

Caitlin 18:03

I have convinced several people that that is canon. [laughter]

Mallory 18:08

So basically, we're just making up our own canon.

Caitlin 18:12

Yes, as we do in fanfiction as well. I do remember like, there being like a genre of fanfic that sort of talked about Quatre's like, crazy phase. But then a lot of the like basic, 3x4 stuff would, would sort of gloss over it. [laughs] Just because it's a little bit too dark to deal with, for your happy flute playing romances.

Mallory 18:36

I started reading one and just, I was like, Oh, no, this is too dark. I don't, this isn't the Quatre that I want, shoo. Not my Quatre. So I avoided those.

Caitlin 18:46

And it's too bad because there's a lot of good three times for evidence sort of in these episodes where you have like, yeah, Trowa's the one who really believes in Quatre. He's the one who says, "Oh, if it's Quatre, we're we're gonna to be okay. He's an ally. He's, you know, my boyfriend from the, from the desert." [laughter]

Mallory 19:04

Like, he just, he spends the whole first part of the episode just wanting to get to Quatre. Like, "I'm ready to go meet my space boyfriend."

Kat 19:12

"It has to be Quatre and he's going to be on our side, and he's going to help us defeat OZ and everything is going to be great!"

Mallory 19:18

And Heero has to be like "Oh, hold on. He just -- D-didn't you just see him destroy a colony? Like he might not be the dude you know. It's been a while since you play violins with him."

Caitlin 19:29

What's funny to me is that we know, the audience, we know that Quatre has gone crazy because of, probably because of what we saw with his dad and his sister and all of that. We sort of remember that. But nobody else has any has any awareness of that. Like did it not play on like, the news or on like the radio or anything, that this major like colony financer was killed in like a horrific terrorist incident where he self-destructed a colony or a satellite? Like nobody else knows.

Unknown Speaker 19:58

As it turns out his son is one of the five major terrorists that we consider the number one threat to the colony safety?

Caitlin 20:05

Yeah, it's like, it's like everything that happened in that situation is totally separate from the rest of the colonies. Right now.

Mallory 20:11

Right. But if OZ doesn't want people to know about it, then OZ just simply won't tell people about it. And so nobody would know.

Unknown Speaker 20:19

I think that Une would know and then maybe Trowa would know, right?

Mallory 20:24

Maybe Une is keeping it close

Kat 20:26

True.

Mallory 20:26

to the chest.

Caitlin 20:28

And so Zayeed Winner's sacrifice was all for nothing, which is what we thought when it happened.

Mallory 20:35

Completely unnoticed.

Caitlin 20:37

Yeah, nobody even knows.

Mallory 20:39

I had a question about a shot on screen where you see the.. each Gundam pilot matched with their engineer.

Cathy 20:48

Yes!

Mallory 20:48

And I couldn't tell, is that an OZ record? Is that just the show reminding me that Quatre is the only one of these four that is unaccounted for? Like I really couldn't tell.

Cathy 21:01

I think it's an OZ record, and what is really also funny about it is, I don't understand why they would know... I guess they matched each of the scientists to the Gundam they developed so that's how they're perfectly in number order? But it was, it was really interesting. It was another one of those moments that felt vaguely like horror-esque. You know, like when you're trying to find the killer and you go through and you like, find a yearbook or group picture and all the pictures have been slashed, and you leave just one.

Mallory 21:28

Oh my god yes!

Cathy 21:28

And that one is Quatre. [laughter] And like that's how I felt about that scene. [laughter]

Unknown Speaker 21:32

Oh my god, he's even like sent in the like specs for Sandrock, so he could put a little signature on it.

Caitlin 21:40

Yeah, it's clearly him. I don't think he's trying to cover that.

Cathy 21:44

No, no, no, he's not.

Caitlin 21:45

But they don't, they don't even know who he is. They don't know who the pilot of 04 is. Like that's the point, they don't have his picture.

Kat 21:52

They didn't realize that it was the Maguanac Corps.

Cathy 21:55

But I don't think they have a picture of Quatre... Which is kind of weird because I feel like shouldn't the son of the Winner family have a record somewhere?

Caitlin 22:04

I think they don't know that it's him. I think they don't know it's the son of the Winner family. Otherwise, they'd have the picture. He's the most prominent person out of the pilots. [laughter] He's the only one who had who would have existing photographs.

Kat 22:15

Well, you think somebody would have noticed Trowa Barton saying his name is Trowa Barton right since that family tree...

Mallory 22:21

Speaking of Trowa Barton though, I do want to talk about how he's the MVP of these episodes, because he's the only one doing anything of sort of strategic usefulness?

Kat 22:32

Okay, Duo tried

Mallory 22:33

Well Duo tries, yes.

Caitlin 22:35

Wufei tries!

Mallory 22:36

Okay,

Caitlin 22:37

I know that everybody is a Trowa fan. But let's, let's stop with the Trowa exceptionalism.

Mallory 22:44

Wow

Caitlin 22:44

Everybody is doing their best

Mallory 22:46

Trowa is in a spot where he like, he's in a high ranking spot in OZ, he is so trusted by Une that he gets Heero to be allowed to pilot the Mercurius because Trowa's going to be controlling him. And he's feeding the engineers information and like finding things out.

Caitlin 23:03

He's just lucked into that spot. And he's doing the best he can. Anyone would do the same in his position,

Mallory 23:09

But like, nobody else did that though.

Caitlin 23:12

Duo tried. [laughs]

Mallory 23:15

Well, very, unsuccessfully. Very stylishly, but unsuccessfully.

Unknown Speaker 23:19

Wufei's big plan was to get captured. [laughter]

Cathy 23:23

It worked!

Caitlin 23:25

Waitwaitwait, I think the capturing is an actual plan, like I feel like Wufei's received a mission from somebody. I was assuming that the scientists are still sending out missions to get them to all get captured, so they can give, give them their Gundams back,

Cathy 23:39

I think Wu Fei

Kat 23:41

No, Wufei got captured because he wanted to be taken to a place where he could destroy Treize.

Caitlin 23:46

I think that's just what he thinks, like he still had a mission, right? He was he was given some instructions.

Kat 23:52

I thought he was working on his own and sort of like, "Oh, well, this seems like a strategic place that I should be."

Cathy 23:57

I agree with Mallory, and that's why he's going around because remember, he attacks the Barge during Lady Une's weird thing.

Caitlin 24:03

Duo had a mission too, right? Duo it was given some instructions at some point.

Cathy 24:08

When?

Caitlin 24:08

I feel like Duo at least in these episodes, there was some line about how you're, Heero says to him something like, "Oh, you you tried to complete your mission."

Cathy 24:18

I think it was metaphorical. Like I think Heero means, "Oh, you came here with an objective. And you didn't meet it."

Kat 24:23

Agree.

Cathy 24:24

Yeah. And I always thought that was kind of funny, because I wasn't sure if he was being ironic, or if he was seriously asking this question. Like, I was wondering if it was like, "Well, clearly, you're here."

Caitlin 24:33

Wait, I definitely thought that somebody was manipulating them to get captured. Like I thought that that was, this was a plan.

Cathy 24:38

My understanding was that they're all there because they know that the lunar base is like a big manufacturing center and core for OZ.

Kat 24:45

For mobile dolls, yeah.

Caitlin 24:46

Right. No, I mean, like there's, so there's their choices. And they're there to blow up the lunar base in their minds, but they've received instructions about that from somebody and the real goal of those instructions was to get them in the same place so they could get back with their Gundam.

Kat 25:02

No.

Mallory 25:03

No.

Cathy 25:03

I disagree.

Caitlin 25:04

Okay, then they just really lucked into that.

Cathy 25:05

Yeah.

Cathy 25:06

I was assinging them much more strategic planning

Kat 25:08

'cause I don't even think there was like a full lunar base when Wufei got captured. He was literally just like, "Where might Treize be? This is a good try." But I think they're all independent actors who all... like Duo was there to destroy the base. I think Heero was there to kill the scientists.

Cathy 25:24

Yeah.

Kat 25:24

So they couldn't be forced into working for OZ.

Mallory 25:26

Exactly

Kat 25:26

He sort of assumed that's what Duo was trying to do. But Duo was just there to bomb the base.

Mallory 25:31

Right? And so his joke is, to him it's funny, like, "Oh, you came to do this too and you failed?"

Cathy 25:37

Yes exactly! [laughter]

Mallory 25:39

And Duo's like, "I don't know what the hell you're talking about."

Cathy 25:41

Well I thought it was really funny but I wasn't sure cuz he delivered the line so deadpan. Like, there was like no, there was like no joke emotions. Like it was just like, "you botched your mission. You tried to kill them. And you didn't." I was like, are you? Is this funny?

Kat 25:55

He's making a lot of like those jokes when Wufei's like, "Oh, do you think they're gonna let us test out the suits?" and he's like, "maybe as the target." [laughter]

Cathy 26:03

Oh god that's true, he's actually really funny.

Kat 26:05

The mysteries and vagaries of Heero Yuy.

Cathy 26:07

I really thought that I would have a better grasp on his character as like a 32 year old person but I'm watching this [laughs] and I'm still like, I feel like Duo in a fanfic like, "is he joking? Is he serious? Does he like me?"

Cathy 26:18

[laughter] Like that's how I feel about Heero in these two episodes.

Mallory 26:21

"What does that smirk mean?

Caitlin 26:24

Wait, I had one more Quatre point, which was that his voice actress who is Orikasa Ai was really crushing it these episodes.

Cathy 26:32

Yes!

Mallory 26:33

Yeah!

Caitlin 26:34

This sort of like dead cheerful baby voice? He sounds really innocent and pure. But also, like he's about to kill a bunch of people.

Cathy 26:42

Yes. And especially there is a line where he says, "Oh, you're afraid of dying, aren't you?" Which was so chilling.

Mallory 26:52

I do want to talk about this because last episode, I brought up that there's a lot of talk of the noble sacrifice. And I feel like in these episodes, there's just, it is hammered over and over and over, you have to be willing to die for your mission. You shouldn't be afraid of dying, or why the hell are you fighting? It just seems like there's just this constant sort of theme of being willing to lay down your life for "the mission," you know, at the back of my mind, like, what are we teaching kids that you should be willing to die for your work and your job? [laughter]

Kat 27:31

Like, bringing some feelings to this episode.

Mallory 27:34

Like maybe I'm projecting here, but

Caitlin 27:35

Do you mean like Japanese children watching the show or like the kids in Gundam?

Mallory 27:40

No I mean, like, in general, what is the message that this show is sending to kids? You know, because I talk a lot about how I think I would have related to Heero being like, "oh, I've messed up now I'm going to die." But like, that isn't really healthy. I guess I'm I'm just wrestling with this as the show goes on because I keep noticing it over and over the idea of the noble sacrifice and how that is like something that you should be willing to do if you are passionate enough, or you feel enough for your cause.

Kat 28:14

It's also very tied into the idea of being like a noble warrior, which keeps coming up, it's like, to me, those two things are very intertwined. And when we hear like Heero going, like, "space is crazy, I'll just keep fighting and believing in myself." It's not that he will believe in himself, he will keep fighting.

Caitlin 28:34

I think that it's trying to show that this is the attitude you develop in war. That fostering these beliefs in young child soldiers is bad, and ultimately leads to a society that just perpetuates war because it's the only thing that the people involved can understand. And that ultimately, the goal of the show is to find a way out of that thing. That's the common Gundam universe theme is this, like, how the war machine like perpetuates itself and creates like this situation where you can never escape like an eternal war. I think it draws a lot on currents of like Japanese pacifism, and the idea of like, going against the Japanese militaristic approach of like, you must sacrifice everything for the country, for Japan. In order to like be a true citizen, you have to give up everything. Because that's very much like the military propaganda that was fed to the citizens during World War II and that feeds into the creation of the original Gundam and gets sort of like complicated, watered down in some ways, but also sort of like typified? :ike turned into a such like a, like a rote recitation of a theme in later versions of Gundam that it's not always fully articulated. So I think Gundam Wing is sort of in between those where it's like, it's dealing with that like sacrificial concept. I think it wants to say, "No, there's a better way." But we haven't yet gotten to the point where it's like, "there is a better way."

Cathy 30:15

The term that I keep coming back to is like the Japanese concept of junjou, which is like sort of pure-hearted, like a pseudo naive kind of feeling. A lot of child characters in this show are just so pure-hearted, that they don't have any way out, to what Caitlin was saying, other than just throwing their bodies and their lives into it? Like they're given no mechanisms to have any other agency or express their feelings or be able to achieve the goals that they want. And they're so pure of heart that they get essentially taken advantage of, and warped into thinking that the only way into it is to sacrifice their bodies. And I think like Hilde is a great example of this here and I think that's also why Duo says to her, "that you remind me a lot of when I first came down to earth," because when he first came down to earth, the only thing he felt like he had was his ability to pilot this Gundam and sacrifice him and his Gundam to serve the cause of why he dropped as part of Operation Meteor, and Hilde is the same way, you know, she feels like the only way that she can solve solve the issue with the colonies is essentially to throw herself into this war machine and give her whole life to it because what else does she have

Kat 31:25

When Hilde at the end defects, but then says the same thing like, "I am ready to die for my cause," she still has this enthusiasm and has decided that there could be a different path but that different path is still just fighting? which I like. I mean, I like that it's it's complicated and thorny

Cathy 31:41

To me, I don't really know if the die or not dying is good or bad. Like I don't know if the show is actually trying to comment on that at all. It's almost just like a shorthand to what you're saying Caitlin earlier ,to demonstrate that they really care about pacifism. Like that's really what this whole "I'm willing to die for my cause" thing is trying to say.

Caitlin 31:58

No, I think this is a really good point. Like a lot of it is like the show performing these sort of like typical archetypes, these typical themes in a way that the fans will recognize.

Kat 32:11

So I did want to talk about 2x5, only because we've been talking about 2x5 this whole time

Caitlin 32:17

Yes

Kat 32:17

And this the first time they've really gotten to hang out.

Caitlin 32:19

There's very little interaction you guys. I feel like I live in like a desert where I am just fantasizing 2x5, like did I hallucinate the whole thing?

Mallory 32:29

Yeah, it, was it a mirage?

Cathy 32:30

I had that exact same feeling, and then I remembered that this bit actually continues on and we are actually thinking of stuff that happens in Episode 25, so

Caitlin 32:39

Yeah

Cathy 32:40

there's for next time.

Caitlin 32:42

Let's rehearse the 2x5 section that we got, which is Duo and Wufei are trapped in a cell together, while Heero and Trowa are going to do things, like, that's a fic!

Mallory 32:53

As they're running out of air!

Caitlin 32:55

Yes!

Mallory 32:55

And Duo is complaining and panicking and Wufei is just like, "I need to shut you up and the only way to shut you up is to kiss you." That's what happened after the cutscene.

Cathy 33:04

Yeah, that's actually what happened [crosstalk, laughter]

Cathy 33:05

That happened in the episode.

Caitlin 33:06

I remember that.

Kat 33:07

Yeah, you're actually psychic. Wow.

Caitlin 33:11

It's just good. They're, they're a good pairing because Wufei's kind of an ass

Kat 33:16

Well Duo looked amazing. And it was really nice to see them hang out. His braid: great. Getting beat to shit: great.

Caitlin 33:24

Duo's voice actor Seki Toshihiko: really great these episodes, very charming [crosstalk]

Caitlin 33:25

Wufei's voice actor's also very good I think and I think that he's underrated. Ishino Ryuzou, I think.

Cathy 33:33

I think he's amazing, because you can tell, he's radiating in every single second of his lines, "Shut up Duo," but never actually says it.

Caitlin 33:45

And then I also found out that Midorikawa Hikaru who plays Heero had originally auditioned for Wufei.

Cathy 33:52

Oh that's interesting.

Caitlin 33:53

Which I think would have been maybe a misfit. He auditioned for both Wufei and for Heero, but he didn't think that he'd get the lead role.

Kat 34:01

I think we're now at the point where it's time to pivot.

Caitlin 34:04

Yes

Kat 34:05

to this podcast's fandom artifact. So Quatre flipping out and blowing stuff up. And then sort of dealing/not dealing with his trauma in the middle of space makes its way into Toonami promo, which was haunting me until Cathy came through and knew exactly which one I was talking about, so. You've heard us talk about the Toonami promos and commercials before on the podcast so I'm gonna kinda split this up into one, there's the pre-airing, like two and a half minute trailer:

Toonami Promo 34:40

[rocket engine noises, space noises] In the distant future, mankind has reached the stars, but the galaxy is troubled.

Kat 34:48

[the commercial is still playing quietly, you can hear yelling and more narration] Which was like so popular that Bandai took it to use to promote it in Japan. And they were like, so happy with how like the Toonami people created the promos for it that they were like, yeah, you can run some other Gundam too.

Toonami Promo 35:02

[The sound of a Gundam laser weapon] Narrator: Battles are waged with mobile suits, the key to military dominance. [the commercial fades but is still playing quietly, you can hear muffled narration and sound effects]

Kat 35:14

People have managed to remaster a lot of the Toonami bunkers and stuff because anime nostalgia cannot be beaten.

Caitlin 35:14

That's what runs this podcast.

Kat 35:24

[the beginning of another promo begins, quietly underneath] It's 100% true. But the promo that I was thinking about was not the long promo, but it was called "Spaces is the Place."

Toonami Promo 35:25

[lo-fi beats begin, with a guitar riff] Narrator: Human beings leave Earth.

Toonami Promo 35:27

Quatre: To outer space, every one of us! [fades but contious to play, the music audible]

Kat 35:29

And it's of part of a series of promos that Toonami did that sort of combined shots from different shows, to kind of create themes.

Toonami Promo 35:30

Women's voice: It'll be, it'll be dangerous

Toonami Promo 35:30

Lady Une: Commence operation!

Toonami Promo 35:31

Man's voice: We'll commence operation in six seconds [?]

Kat 35:32

But Cathy, you have some good thoughts on it so I want you to talk about Space is the Place.

Cathy 35:46

[promo continues to play -- battle noises and yelling over more low-fi music] Well, so this should really go in the canon of anime music videos. I don't think we talked about it enough. I really wish we knew who edited it, because it's just this perfect pairing of all these disparate stories to like form this one coherence, really cool narrative that manages to say something without ever saying anything. [laughs]

Cathy 36:08

And they have that moment with Quatre breathing.

Toonami Promo 36:19

[Quatre panting heavily, a low thrum the only other sound]

Cathy 36:20

And I have never forgotten it.

Caitlin 36:21

[low music continues with long chords played by brass instruments, then speaking] What ,what it's basically like, what this reads to me as is like they have like, it's, the characters are essentially Gundam characters, and they fleshed out the Gundam Wing world with all these other like space shots. So it's addressing our complaint that we don't get enough space colony [laughs] in Gundam Wing, like it's like an it's like an alternate universe vid where they've like created more of a, of a world around a particular set of characters.

Mallory 36:51

Yeah, I mean, I like them because, you know, as a kid watching Toonami, but not really ever catching those shows, because that's just not where I was, like, I saw those promos a lot. And they told me exactly what I needed to know, but actually didn't tell me anything about the show at all.

Caitlin 37:08

Yes!

Mallory 37:09

Like absolutely nothing. But it left me with a really good impression of what Gundam Wing was like.

Caitlin 37:15

One of the things that is like, kind of a kind of an issue in, like Media Studies, film studies, like trying to analyze film or anime or TV shows as texts is that when you analyze them in isolation from their viewing contexts, you lose a lot of what was going on in terms of their interpretation. So like, I mean, with film, obviously, you can talk about the audience and going into theater and the theatrical space. But with TV, you especially lose this sort of programming flow is like the like, the concept that's often brought up. It's like this idea that you have programs moving into each other. With Toonami, you have a block of programming, so there's all this marketing around the block. You lose the commercials. So it's very hard to sort of like, analyze a show in isolation, which is why I'm glad we talk about things like Toonami's Space is the Place because it's part of it's part of the context of how we were watching it, and how we watch TV, TV back then.

Cathy 38:16

And for those of you who didn't watch the Toonami block, you know, the host of Toonami was, [sigh] it was either an alien or

Caitlin 38:23

TOM

Cathy 38:23

TOM, I don't know what TOM

Cathy 38:25

He was a robot.

Cathy 38:25

was a robot or an alien or something like that. And

Kat 38:28

He was a robot, he lived in a space station.

Cathy 38:29

Yes. And so that's the other thing about Space is the Place is that it wasn't just about the shows that were on Toonami, in a way it was discussing

Caitlin 38:38

Yeah

Cathy 38:38

the whole meta universe of Toonami. And the story behind Toonami. I mean, rather famously in around 2000, they had an invader of the total immersion event come in and kill TOM.

Caitlin 38:52

Yes!

Cathy 38:52

And so we had a new host TOM II, so this whole idea of like Space is the Place, going into space, discovering these new things, you know, that that was speaking to the cohesiveness of that whole Toonami universe that we were living in as we watched it if you caught that block while it was broadcasting on TV. so when I watched this, you know, I'm not only seeing Gundam Wing, I am seeing all these other series and that host and his voice and the animation at that time.

Kat 39:23

Shout out to the voice of TOM who is Steven Blum who is a great American voice actor

Mallory 39:29

Yes,

Kat 39:29

Spike Spiegel.

Caitlin 39:30

Always been great. These extra programming touches like Tom, like the space station, like these music videos. They not only were they like, absorbing us in a world that we continue to want to see to keep us watching. But it also always signaled to me that there were like, fans behind the construction? Like at the very least sci fi fans, if not explicitly just anime fans.

Kat 39:56

There's a good interview on IGN that came out this year with Jason DeMarco, who is, he's currently the Senior Vice President and creative director for Adult Swim. But at the time, he was working for Toonami and he was the one who wrote and cut the trailer before Gundam Wing aired. And he wanted to create like a cinematic film trailer, like, kind of elevate it from what they were doing to something that was really like epic. And he's definitely a giant robot anime fan. I will also link this interview, but I think it's really interesting to see kind of the fans that were working in the background, he talks about how you have to get fansubs at conventions and stuff. So you know, he's, he's got that sort of similar anime background. He also talks a little bit about how they had to edit Gundam Wing for the daytime block and how the unedited version was sort of the prequel to the Adult Swim block. [quiet midi music of "Just Communication" beginning to play] So Toonami itself changed a lot about the whole environment of animation and how that's played on television, I think in America. [midi drum break as the volume increases.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai

#gundam wing #mobile suit gundam #gundam #anime nostalgia #anime podcast #90s anime #untitled tallgeese podcast #episode 12 #transcripts

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girlsbtrs · 7 years

Text

“It’s Such an Intense Boy’s Club”: Cole Becker (SWMRS) on the State of the Music Industry

DISCLAIMER: This article was written August 5, 2017. As we reflect on events concerning SWMRS and Joey Armstrong, we want to make it clear that we stand by Lydia, believe her allegations and want SWMRS to be held accountable for their actions. We apologize that we helped perpetuate a narrative in which people felt SWMRS was a safe space for women in the industry, and from here on out we will be taking further steps to ensure the safety of young women/non-men on our Roadie For A Day program, including requiring a GBTRS rep on each tour we partner with. To any and all victims, we apologize for the hurt this has caused and hope that in the future we can ensure safety in our programming.

The SWMRS front man gets real about the need for activism and looks to a better future.

Punk is more than a style of dress or a type of music. It’s an attitude, and as I sit across from Cole Becker, I get the sense that he is someone who truly embodies what it means to be punk.

My immediate impression of Cole was the strong juxtaposition in his “hard, fast, loud” stage presence with his calm, warm demeanor during our chat. Cole is the front man of the Oakland, California-based band SWMRS, who are known for being outspoken about creating safe, inclusive spaces at their shows. They use their platform to speak out against rampant misogyny and sexism in the male-dominant music industry, and that, my friends, is incredibly punk rock.

Check out all of the wonderful, progressive takes that Cole has about the state of the music industry, while also looking at steps towards a better future in our exclusive interview:

So as you know, I help run a female-centric organization that aims to level the playing field for women in the industry, so I wanted to start off by asking what it means to you to have diverse women represented in the music industry?

It means everything. I think it’s one of those things where a lot of people are ready to talk and say they’re ready for it, but I think it’s a big challenge to really integrate those jobs and start leveling the playing field because I think there’s a lot of subliminal factors that go into hiring.

I think that the fact that we’re having this conversation is really important, but it’s going to be a while. I want it to go faster, but there’s a bunch of different factors at play that are really challenging obstacles, just because of the way that our patriarchal society works.

So what do you feel like your role as a band (and also as an individual) is in keeping up this dialogue?

I think like as a band, especially as we get into a more professional realm as employers -- and as people who run, on one hand an artistic outlet, but on the other hand a business -- making sure that we’re giving the opportunity to young women who have the qualifications to offset the societal setbacks to getting there.

Are there any current women that you have been listening to or following in the music industry?

Angel Olsen is my favorite record out… and then my friend Ebonie is an engineer at Atlantic Studios… [and she] runs a media source and a camp for girls to learn how to be audio engineers because she says… as a singer and a producer, that’s opened up so much more freedom for her.

I definitely want to check that out, because sound engineering -- there’s definitely a huge gender gap.

One of my girlfriend’s friend’s moms is the editor for like some big TV show, and it’s a very similar world…. There’s this weird thing where like -- I mean I’ve never experienced it so I can’t talk about it as well as a like woman who has experienced it has -- where they tell you, “Oh well you need to speak up more and ask for what you want,” but then when you do, it’s like, “Oh, you’re asking too much.”

Yeah I know exactly what you’re talking about. That’s interesting. I don’t know that much about the TV world.

Yeah but it’s the same thing in music too… it’s just like all the people I know that do music are white dudes… I think a lot of bands have all white all male crews because that’s just what they’re comfortable around. And so that’s a huge thing to overcome: how you make sure that they have shared experience with women too -- and it’s such an intense boys club… I think it comes from being insecure about our masculinity.

I also wanted to talk about the term “fangirl” a little bit, just because it’s kind of used in a discriminatory way. So what are your thoughts about that?

I mean, I think that I just don’t know another word to describe the phenomenon … I do think we need to reevaluate the negative connotation we put on it, because to have young people, like boys or girls or non-binary kids, that are that excited about something -- that’s fucking beautiful. That’s something so amazing and pure, and like, at least they care about something, you know? They haven’t been marred by this fucking terrible, apathetic world we live in, and they have something real that they can hold on to and be and love, and I think that’s so admirable, and I wish I loved something that much … and I do, I’m a fangirl about music, you know?

Absolutely, and I think it’s interesting because I think it’s kind of come up in discussion again. I don’t know if you read the Harry Styles Rolling Stone…

Exactly… that dude’s a legend … somebody who has such an intimate and unique relationship with the teenage girls of the world -- for him to come out and say that just validates so many people and that’s a very special thing that he did. When you refer to it negatively, you’re assuming moral high ground.

You guys are known for really championing creating safe spaces at your shows, which I think is a really cool thing. So what kind of a reaction have you gotten from fans both on and offstage about that?

I mean it’s all positive. It’s cool. The strangest thing is, I’m an upper-middle class white kid, heterosexual, cis-gendered male from a suburb of Oakland, California. To be able to create a space where I see people that I have little to no ostensible common experience with, connect with the music and be able to feel as free as I do in the space where we’re making music and sharing it with them -- that’s really special.

Also -- “safe space” has become something that is losing its specificity, so I’ve been trying really hard to make sure that I’m engaging them in not just claiming it to be a safe space, but getting them involved in making it a safe space when we play. So instead of just outright saying “this is a safe space,” I always try to say like “hey, we can’t keep it safe unless you all are helping us… have your eyes out because we can’t see everything from stage.”

Have you noticed a difference in the dynamic at your shows before and after the election, or has it kind of been the same pretty much?

It’s become just more and more honest, in a way. I think now more than ever, people don’t have a place they can go to and just be totally in the moment and feel something good and deep and powerful, and I think live music can transport people to that.

But I think there’s so much feelings of anger and sadness and fear among kids who sincerely don’t know whether their parents are going to get deported or whether they’re going to have health care or this and that… To have just one half-hour moment where they don’t have to think about anything other than being there and feeling something good -- I’ve noticed that their connection to the music has gotten stronger…. It’s a bit of a selfish reaping of the terrible, terrible circumstances we’re in.

But I feel like it’s a collectively beneficial moment too.

Yeah I think it’s reminded me that music is something that is very powerful and pure and beautiful, and it put more faith in my belief in what I do… it makes me prouder and prouder every day because I have a space -- and to be able to make that place for somebody.

So just to kind of bring up some stats, only 5% of top executives in the industry are women, and of course women of color, trans women, all other marginalized groups face an even greater struggle. So what are your thoughts on the importance of representation, and what does that look like to you?

I mean representation -- that’s huge... For me, as somebody who just doesn’t identify with that much heteronormative culture, I don’t look at executives and see like, “Oh, that’s what I want to do,” you know?

Because it’s a very masculine, golf-centric type of feel, and so to have diversity, not just visually, but of style -- I think that’s huge. But beyond that, I think education is the biggest step, you know? Like putting more resources towards getting girls involved -- like young women and young trans women and young women of color -- involved in music on just a basic level where they feel encouraged and validated to be part of the industry.

To wrap things up, are there any other local bands that you want to shout out?

Yeah! Shoutout to Destroy Boys. They are my -- our little sisters, who write really badass punk songs… Mt. Eddy -- very proud of those little dudes. Ricky Lake is my friend. He’s like an art rapper. Same Girls, which is Taifa’s band. And, gotta shoutout to Plush too. The last two are mellow shoegaze bands but I like them. They’re great people.

- article by Jess George

#artist interview #jess george

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whiskey-and-nightmares · 5 years

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Hey I saw in a post you said your like Guan/Jack? Could you write a small drabble / one shot of them? They sound so interesting together !!!! Ty ily

◈ — @ anon || Request accepted !

Of course anon!! I love crack ships, that’s my gift, my curse… And I love you too

For this ship I have, the timeline is settled on the idea of Jack turning out to be the dragon of metal. Kinda.

It wasn’t like if he hated the idea, no, but it wasn’t nice to suddenly have your life turned 180 degrees.

Jack wasn’t a control freak at all, but he was a mechanic, engineer, artist, scientist… Things needed a certain structure in order to work properly. Even biology worked like that, universe worked like that, hell, you can’t harvest apples without planting an apple tree first!

Oh god, no, there were cowboy’s bad influence and his peasant references.

Raimundo warned him about them and how easy was to get them stuck in your head after a while… He also warned him about Guan. Well, everybody did.

Even Jack, being a Heylin enthusiastic, knew about Master Monk Guan. But the monk’s references about him weren’t the ones he was expecting for, well, a monk; Guan was strong, skillful, precise and tough. Tough enough to seem evil.

It was because of those rumors that Jack was confused about the Guan he meet months ago.

Master Fung sent him to train with Guan after a lot of meditation, probably deciding was better for Jack to learn away from the other dragons, without the pressure of having to see how advanced they all were in comparation to him.

Also, there was the fact that Jack was a complete failure in everything related to martial arts and was obvious he needed some, focused attention in order to catch up with the others… World was dying, again, and they needed his help… Jack coudln’t turn his back, not now, he needed a world to rule it after all.

“Not like that. Your leg goes up –the other one Jack– yes, just like that. Again.”

And it was because of that that he was there, training with Guan. And it was also because of that that he was really confused about this Guan.

He expected to be woken up at three in the morning (like Kimiko said) with cold water and screams (like Pedrosa said) and train until he passed out of exhaustion and dehydration (like the cowboy said). But instead of that he found himself with a strict, yes, but surprising kind master monk.

For whatever reason Guan seemed to recognize his limits and didn’t push him beyond them until they knew he was ready.

He also gave him a bit more of freedom, let him wander around, offered to hear whatever Jack had to say without judging him, offering advice but mostly, just giving him the chance to vent to him. He also seemed interested in his skills with technology and wasn’t afraid of asking questions and praise his ability for all the things that Jack knew he was good at.

It was, refreshing. Exciting… Wonderful.

To know someone valued him for what he was, who he was, instead for how many kicks he could give in a single jump.

“How it was you decided to help the monks to save the world? ”

Jack’s eyes narrowed, remembering the events that happened after Chase took Omi and turned him into a warrior cat… To ditch Jack after that without a second thought.

“They needed me… They looked for the lost dragons, and that thing they used pointed at me… They need me to save the world and, you know, if I want to rule the world then I need it to be nice and ready to conquer.”

Guan smiled and serve them both tea. Night was clear and cool, stars were twinkling in the sky and the monk said that, even if he didn’t agree with Jack’s idea of world domination, was sure he was capable of that and more. Jack’s heart skipped a beat at the honesty behind those words.

“Why did you decide to train me anyway? I know Fung asked you if you wanted me but it wasn’t like he forced you to accept.”

“I saw your potential. You are a late bloomer, is obvious, but your potential is as big as the night sky.” Jack felt his cheeks flush and snorted.

“C'mon, I’m not that good.”

“Not yet, but you could be, with time.”

“But time is something we don’t have.”

Jack knew it, he heard it from Fung, Dojo and older monks, even Guan said it at some point, but Jack knew it too. He was a genius after all, a scientist. If there was something he was good at, was at reading numbers and analyzing data… And the information they had about Chase’s advances wasn’t encouraging at all.

“Chase was your idol, isn’t? ”

“Yeah… He was.”

“He was my friend once.” Jack tried to sip his tea but still was too hot for his tongue. Guan took it from his hands and blew on his cup to cool it. “… I’m sure you knew that.”

“I read about it in the Temple scrolls. In the books that tell the legend of Chase Young there isn’t a single mention of you, or Dashi.”

“Yes… It’s better like that.” Guan handed him back the cup and smiled at him, Jack smiled back, feeling a subtle something growing up between them at light speed. “Isn’t? ”

“The tea or the lack of references about you from his side of the history? ”

“You are too smart Jack Spicer.”

“Thanks. I’m pretty proud of that.” Guan laughed and looked up, to the sky; Was getting late and Jack was sure he was going to be sent to bed as soon as they ran out of tea.

“You remind me of him.” Jack almost spit his tea and Guan patted his back. “In a way… So much potential, a clear inclination to the dark side…”

“You knew Chase was going Heylin? ”

“No, no… Not like that. But you both have that in common, a clear tendency for troubles… We pushed him too much.”

“So you feel guilty about it and took me in to fix your guilt fixation? ” Guan laughed again.

“No, all that is in the past now. But when I saw you, I saw the potential, the mischief, and I knew I could help you better than anyone else. Because I dealt with someone like you before.” Jack decided he didn’t know how to feel about that revelation, at the same time, decided that Guan’s hand, still on his back, felt nice and warm enough to stay out there all night. “… Does that bother you? ”

“ —Not sure… I mean, is the first time someone compares me with a cool dude. That is also a jerk… A cool jerk.”

“If helps it, I believe you can surpass him without problem. There is something you have that many other people lacks…”

Jack looked up, at the strong jaw and the wide shoulders and wondered how would be to wrap his arms around them… Wild thought but, hey, they were in the middle of a war, he was allowed to have wild dreams.

“Unfounded overconfidence? ”

“Persistence and creativity. You don’t give up, and always find a way to succeed. With your intelligence at our side, we will solve this problem soon.“

Jack’s face lighted up like a lighthouse in the dark and they continued drinking the tea until, as he thought, Guan said was time to rest.

“… You asked me if Chase was my idol, right? ” Guan nodded, gathering the cups. “I used to— I used to have this huge crush on him… A bad one…”

“Chase is indeed an attractive person. He always were. Sometimes we wondered how it was that a monk like us could be so beautiful… There is no shame in that. Do you want to know how to grow out of it? ”

“No, I mean, I used to, not anymore. Not after— But I did.”

“Many others did, and many more will do, don’t torment yourself for it.” Jack looked at the temple, to the dark corridor that would take him to his room.

“Yeah, don’t worry, I won’t… But I think I got another crush…” Guan stood up and Jack followed, dusting off his pants.

“Is a sign that you are a healthy young man.” The monk congratulated him with a kind smile. “… May I know who’s the lucky one? ”

Jack shrugged and patted the monk’s strong arm, an excellent excuse to touch the muscles that he hoped wrapped him some day.

“Yeah, sure. You know him pretty well I think. I mean, there’s a ton of statues of him all over the temple.“ Guan’s expression changed so fast that Jack recognize every single one of them; surprise, shock, confusion, embarrassment… It was funny, in a way. On other hand, was terrifying to say something like that face to face. ”… So, see you tomorrow then.”

Guan didn’t say anything, nor followed him after that, but before turning to take the corridor that would take him to his room Jack turned and saw him there, still in the same place, following with his eyes. The monk nodded at him and Jack thought that maybe, maybe, something good could happen to him for once.

#xiaolin showdown #master monk guan #jack spicer #guan x jack #guack #this turned out longer than i expected #so prepare for it #◈ Rys writes a thing

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ayearofpike · 6 years

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The Starlight Crystal

Pocket Books, 1996 195 pages, 49 chapters + epilogue ISBN 0-671-55028-4 LOC: CPB Box no. 327 (Stored at Landover) OCLC: 34074707 Released February 1, 1996 (per B&N)

Paige Christian knew she was going on the anthropologist’s starship that would use near-lightspeed travel to jump ahead generations. But that didn’t stop her from falling in love before she left. It’s that love that keeps her going — through ship problems, interstellar war, the end of the universe itself — because of a promise she made. She can’t stop and won’t stop until she gets there, because Paige’s love exceeds the boundaries of space and time.

That one-paragraph summary sounds existential and metaphorical, but actually Pike is being painfully literal with these devices. It’s maybe the first hard sci-fi he’s given us since The Tachyon Web (which, by the way, would be re-released a year after this one). And now that I look back on what I’ve read, for someone who named himself after a Star Trek character, Pike hasn’t really done much in the hard-SF realm. The aforementioned two, Eternal Enemy (the second half, at least), maybe See You Later and The Visitor (both of which probably have too much spirituality and mysticism to qualify, even if there are spaceships) and The Star Group coming up (maybe, let’s see — I don’t remember it at all). Interesting how half of that output comes during the Spooksville years. Maybe he had enough supernatural horror going on in the kidlit division and needed to drop some science on teens to balance it.

We’ve seen this title crop up a couple of times before. It’s Mark’s video game in See You Later, and Shari Cooper wrote a short story with this title as the bulk of Remember Me 3. (I feel like it might be in another one, but I don’t want to dig through this whole blog for it.) This story has more in common with the latter than the former — vindictive aliens who only want to wipe out humanity, a universal presence that we are invited to join — but it does take Paige (as Mark indicates the size of his game) “to the ends of the known universe” (SYL, 10). In more ways than one. But let me not get too far ahead of the recap.

At any rate, I liked this one more than I remembered, and then I remembered liking it back when it was released. Yeah, it’s kinda sappy — one girl’s love pushes her farther than any human has ever dreamed of going! — but it hit me at the perfect time, having just started college and being a romantic in general and trying to figure out my own relationship status. Isn’t it worth it to pursue true love across the distance, when the reward upon reunion will be so sweet? The truth is that for me it wasn’t actually true love at the time, but the idea of it, the concept of sharing my life with one who could share my heart forever. But don’t try to tell eighteen-year-old me that; I wasn’t ready to grasp the difference between loving the idea of being in love and loving an actual person I wanted to spend time with. I’m not sure Paige does either, but maybe that’s why it resonated with me then.

Let’s jump into the recap and you can decide for yourself. It starts the way so many early Pike first-person novels started, with an acknowledgement that this tale is being written or told after the events we’re about to see. And again, the narrator conveniently forgets this frame as soon as she starts telling the story. In fact, the only place this has been fully effective was Remember Me, because Shari never forgot she was telling a story from the end. Ultimately I think what it’s there for is to impress upon us the enormous span of Paige’s life (nine billion years!) and the vastness of her experience, but it’s less foreshadowing and more straight up telling (and in some ways, misleading).

Oh, I should mention before we get too deep: the protagonist of this story is named Paige Christian. The book itself is dedicated to Paige Christian. I can’t find any evidence that Pike named his character for a real person, but it wouldn’t be that weird. Like, look back at The Midnight Club, and how he said it was inspired by a storytelling group at a hospital, and how specific he was about his main character’s origins and ethnicity when he’d never really done that before. That’s a clear case of trying to respect and honor a source. It’s not really that big of a step to just using their name.

So anyway, Paige kicks off her story by talking about the day she met her true love. She was coming out of a library and met some weird lady wearing sunglasses but who otherwise seemed familiar, who suggested Paige go check out the pond in the park across the street. When she gets there, a dude suddenly emerges from the water. This is Tem, and Paige feels an instant and inexplicable connection to him, as he does to her. Unfortunately, they’ve only got a week together, as Paige is set to blast off with her dad, the captain of the study vessel. So they promise to exchange letters once a month for the rest of their lives, which for Paige sucks because she’s gonna be writing to a dead dude before a year is passed for her.

So she gets on the ship and works in the gardens and writes her letters, but quickly starts to regret her choice. She asks her father to please stop and take her back to Earth, which ... have you ever tried to get a bureaucrat to listen? He can’t compromise the mission for one person’s feelings, even if that one person is his daughter. Plus, this has been a problem for him before: he was captaining another ship where the engine went haywire and they had to abort the mission then. So obviously he wants to have a successful one, never mind that it will throw a wrench into his daughter’s true love for a dude she knew all of one week. What I’m saying is I’m having a hard time sympathizing with Paige right now.

They get through their time dilation, spending two weeks at a speed sufficient to observe 200 years passing on Earth. Which: I don’t actually know how this would work. When the engines are on, they can’t receive transmissions. When they get to their target speed (99%+ the speed of light) and are coasting, wouldn’t they be going TOO FAST to receive transmissions? Let’s gloss over that and get to the important part: the attack! Yes, Earth is attacked and destroyed just as they are starting to decelerate. These alien warships have the technology to keep up with Paige’s ship at its high speed, and they catch it and send a boarding party. Paige’s dad plans to blow up the ship so that they can take out the alien commander (like in Shari’s story), but she (the commander) kills him before he can trigger the explosion and takes Paige hostage.

However, the guard who is supposed to take Paige to their ship instead takes her to the engine room, where he says he has a power source that will accelerate their ship away from the attackers. He climbs down and inserts a green crystal into the power core, upon which he is killed by his captain. She levels her weapon at Paige, but the ship’s first officer cuts her down before she can fire. Then they check their instruments, and sure enough: the alien warships are gone, and their ship is infinitely approaching the speed of light, and their engine can’t produce the power required to slow them down, to the point where they will simply outlive the universe. (I’m also not sure that this is factually possible, but I don’t care to do the math.)

It’s time for Paige to write another letter to Tem, but she doesn’t see the point. (We’ll learn in a little bit that he only wrote to her for five years.) She’s talking about it with her friend in the garden, when all of a sudden her friend is ... possessed? a channel? At any rate, she starts talking from a larger group consciousness that wants humanity to unify with it, to drop its illusions of desire so that it can truly find love and joy. Sound familiar? This is the primary tenet of the Eastern religion that Pike loves to scatter around his stories, or at least his version of it. But they also say that there is another ship of humans nearby, one that this crew will have to assist in decelerating so that they can then start a new human colony. The new captain is adamant that there’s no way there could be another ship of humans, which, like ... fucker, there’s been 200 years of progress on Earth since you left, you seriously disbelieve they could have made ANOTHER spaceship?

But anyway, they scan for it, and they find it, and then the presence comes back and tells them how to manipulate their technology to slow down and dock with this other ship. Specifically, they tell the scientists to clone the dead alien and have Paige interact with it, and then she will activate its genetic memories and remember herself. (More greatest hits!) So they go through the contortions to put a cloning womb in a shuttle fired at a slightly lower velocity and recapture it after enough time has passed for the clone to be an adult. (Time out: if there are shuttles on this ship, why couldn’t Paige just have taken one back to Earth instead of trying to get the captain to scrub the whole mission?) Under the guidance of the other, Paige takes the alien’s hands and concentrates on the connection between hate and love (yep, it’s back) and suddenly knows how to make the green crystals that will help control their engine. Along with a whole host of genetic manipulation techniques that will come in handy later.

Meanwhile, this universal presence is trying to teach the humans how to become one with it. It talks about understanding the difference between truth and illusion, and about the importance of love. But it won’t tell them the rest until after they recover the other ship. It turns out to be a colony in extended hibernation (with the propulsion end mysteriously missing) and check it out! Tem got on! Huzzah! Only he’s not waking up. In fact, out of more than 20,000 colonists, only two didn’t survive: Tem and one other woman. He death-cheated on Paige, that bastard!

But so the upshot is that Paige still isn’t satisfied, but her desire for this physical love with one human person that she can no longer have is getting in the way of her ability to achieve otherness. They’ve come back into real time now (this is the nine billion years she spoke of at the beginning), and they’re planning to colonize the dying Earth and live it out, but Paige wants to bury Tem first. Only he sits up and starts talking to her once they’re on the surface. Of course it’s the universal consciousness channeling through his body, and it tells her that everything is destined even though we’re not supposed to feel like it, and her destiny isn’t over yet. Paige is supposed to get back on the ship, empty it out, and take off with more green crystals, wait out a cycle of death and rebirth in the entire universe, and then come back to Earth the way she left it the first time.

So she does.

So if she went on and watched the universe start over, a span of who knows how long, why at the beginning did she say she’d been alive nine billion years? It’s never addressed! Let’s move on.

Her first thought, upon returning to Earth, is to break the cycle, to say fuck you to destiny and keep herself from having to suffer. So she gets a gun and some sunglasses and finds herself outside the library. But she can’t pull the trigger. Instead, she directs herself to the pond, just as before. Then, six months later, she goes to the pond, where Tem is diving again, and she befriends him and tries to start a relationship, all the while hoping that he won’t give up on Paige-on-the-ship for hiding-older-Paige-on-Earth. And he doesn’t. So she tells him something that only they could possibly know, a promise that she whispered to him on a deserted beach before she got on the ship. And now he knows that even though she’s got a different name and is older than she’s supposed to be, she’s back for him.

But Paige also knows that she’s got another responsibility. An awesome and terrible one. And it goes along with the genetic memory thing from earlier — how could she remember what the aliens knew unless somewhere along the line they had a gene in common? In fact: it’s hers. Part of her cycling around through a new universe was so that she would know that humanity needed a calamity to kick them forward toward the universal consciousness. And so she genetically creates the aliens. But that’s not all! She clones herself and Tem, in her own womb, and then when they all get on the colony ship and drop into hibernation she sets herself to wake up early so she can do what needs to be done. First, she disconnects the propulsion end of the colony ship and shoots it off into space to evolve its “aliens.” Then she wakes her children and joins hands with her daughter, who is actually her, and gives her shared consciousness. (No, she hasn’t accomplished unity, because it’s still just her and not the universe.) She can’t make her son into her partner, so he’ll always just be her brother ... another cockblock. But she does put them into a shuttle bound back for Earth, and then kills off this iteration of Tem and herself, because it is necessary for her growth.

A lot of tragedy going on here! Don’t worry — even though this is the end of the numbered chapters, it’s not the end of Paige’s story. As soon as she’s an adult, she and Tem enlist in the space army to try to track down and kill the menace of the aliens (which didn’t exist yet, but remember she already knows it’s coming). She uses her billions of years of smarts to work her way into command of a fighter, and then puts it into position to be captured by the aliens. But she’s got a radio in her pocket that basically EMP-bombs the aliens’ genetic code and kills them all. Then they fly the alien ship back to where Paige knows their home planet is (the one she sent them to in the first place) (and yes, she needed an alien ship to make it through their defenses undetected) and plants a bomb made of green crystals on the surface, one strong enough to destroy the planet itself. She intends to set it off herself, but surprise! Tem stowed away in her shuttle, and here he cuts off his foot so that she can’t make him leave, so that he’ll save her life and be the one to perish when the alien planet explodes.

Obviously this is the end of Paige’s career in the military, as well as the end of her hanging on to a love that wasn’t ever supposed to be. She finds a home with a primitive people on a distant planet, where she learns to weave rugs with such clarity and scope that the local shaman asks for a meeting. To get there, Paige has to hike for six days, each day overcoming another step on the journey to universal oneness. When she gets to the elder’s house, no one is there but a ten-year-old kid, who slowly reveals himself to be the elder, one with the universe, and tells Paige that she’s almost there if she will just accept it. And she starts to feel it, more strongly than ever before, strongly enough that she does finally believe him. When she leaves, the wind kicks up the surrounding dust, which forms into the shape of Tem, and they leave the physical realm hand in hand, together in love at last.

I know, it’s pretty sappy. But The Starlight Crystal is a solid synthesis of everything I liked about Pike’s early years, brought back with the skill (and, yes, some of the tropes) he’d develop over a decade of writing. It’s the love story I liked about the earlier lonely sci-fi novels, enough mysticality from the later stuff to make it feel more heavy and more real, and it ties together better than a lot of his other recent work. Maybe the math doesn’t hold up, but the feeling of want, of love, of a need to belong, does.

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arcticdementor · 3 years

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The Christian Century is a magazine for the senescent liberal Protestant Mainline. When I heard earlier this month that it had published an article exposing the presence of white supremacists at farmer’s markets [UPDATE: Sorry, I forgot to post the link to the piece.— RD], I laughed it off as another example of the dingbat left policing the boundaries. It should not surprise anyone that unsavory people enjoy a delicious tomato as well as the next person. If a Communist or a neo-Nazi enjoys locally grown fruits and vegetables, I can congratulate him on his good taste in food while rejecting his politics. This is called being a grown-up. When this controversy arose in 2019 in Bloomington, Indiana, the adult mayor of that city resisted calls by progressives to kick allegedly white supremacist farmers out of the farmer’s market, saying that as long as the accused vendors were following the law, he was not going to play the role of thought police.

It turns out, though, that the article’s author, a vigilant progressive named Rebecca Bratten Weiss, identifies poor old Self as a gateway drug to the Ku Klux Kale:

…

“Polite Christian ethno-nationalism”? Golly. I wonder how the neurotic Bratten Weiss figures that. Then again, there doesn’t have to be logic for these people to make a vicious accusation like that. If they feel it — and they are always sniffing out wrongthinkers — it must be true. Do I even need to point out here that she clearly hasn’t read The Benedict Option?

Judging by her self-description on her website, Bratten Weiss has a rich inner life:

She has spoken at various academic and cultural events on topics ranging from Nietzsche’s aesthetics and Bronte’s feminism, to ecology in literature and vulgarity in religion.

Rebecca recently completed work on The Dirt, an eco-feminist novel exploring the impact of the fracking industry on a dysfunctional Ohio family.

She is also in the process of revising The Peacemakers, a speculative literary sci-fi in which women in a near-future matriarchy control men via advanced AI technology.

She is a member of the George Sandinistas, and one of the founders of the Muse Writers Collective.

…

I had never heard of this unhappy woman until a friend sent me her Christian Century essay last night. Apparently she is a Catholic who has a Patheos blog in which she writes things like this:

How surprising to learn that she used to be an adjunct teacher of English at Franciscan University of Steubenville. And she is some kind of ecumenist, as we learn from this 2019 essay. Excerpts:

Driving home with a load of hay, listening to Johnny Cash, wondering what I could burn as a sacrifice to Hecate, I start thinking that probably not many women on this road, driving truckloads of hay, and listening to Cash, are also contemplating witchcraft. Does this make me necessarily more interesting? Or is it automatically less interesting, because “being interesting” is a motive force for me? Not the only motive force, but maybe it taints everything it touches, so there’s a certain embarrassingly meta quality about all my love, or curiosity, or revenge.

Meta or not, the desire to burn something as a sacrificial offering is real. Thinking about burning is real. I have a truck full of a combustible material, and my truck is driven by combustion. I’m rumbling along on the cusp of a flame.

Bless her heart, I do not doubt it! More:

The internal combustion engine is insufficient for the goddess, however, and I have no intention of burning the hay. The questions about burnt offerings become pragmatic. Like, where to do it? If I start a fire in the back yard the kids will all come gathering around, asking if they can roast marshmallows. But I can’t just go wandering off into the neighbor’s field and start burning things (or can I?).

Then there’s the question of what to burn. Something I value, or something I hate? Which would Hecate prefer?

If I get the answers wrong, who knows, some solid citizen might call and have them send the firetrucks after me, and then it’s pretty awkward if I’d opted to burn, say, the testicles of some Nazi dudes who just happened to be scampering across my backyard at the right time. When I just happened to have my scythe handy. Oops. Now I have this whole conflagration of testicles to explain.

Even if it’s what Hecate wants, the fact is, when you’re castrating Nazis and burning their balls as an offering to ancient Greek goddesses, people tend not to be very understanding. They’re all “oh, the incivility!” Or “this is why Trump keeps winning.”

Now I’m worried that I went too far there, talking about castrating Nazis. Now I’m worried that I’m not interesting or edgy, but instead the kind of person from whom you instinctively back away.

…

Anyway, as is often the case with censorious progressives, the witchy Bratten Weiss misses the irony of her condemning right-wing farmer’s market types for their exclusivity, in an essay in which she appears to claim that farmer’s markets should be zealously defended as a safe space for progressives and fellow travelers. Down with fascist eggplant! In fact, she hates localism itself, if localists are anything other than progressives:

…

Uh oh! People like Bratten Weiss ruin everything. When I wrote Crunchy Cons back in the mid-2000s, I was delighted to draw attention to people like the fundamentalist Christian family in north Texas who raised meat organically because they believed that was the best way to honor God’s Creation. There’s a quote in the book from the patriarch who says how surprised he was to discover that he had more in common with some hippie organic growers than he did with fellow Christian Republicans who lived a more conventional suburban life. Funny, but these folks weren’t threatened by the progressives who shared their love of organic, small-scale agriculture, and neither were the progressive small farmers threatened by them. They found common ground, and even solidarity. I guess Bratten Weiss, who is two tics away from a gran mal seizure, would want to cut the balls off the fundamentalist family’s sons and sacrifice them to a pagan goddess or something.

Bratten Weiss may be a Catholic, but she is definitely a Puritan. I was recently talking with a wealthy conservative white Catholic friend from the South who was explaining to me his discovery of the value of localism. He and his wife bought some land in the historically black part of their town, and are using it to help their black neighbors build community. They let black folks and others use the land for a farmer’s market, and for meetings between black community leaders and the local police, to build closer relationships (he showed me a photo on his smartphone of a recent gathering). He told me that even as relations between the black community and police in other parts of the country have grown worse, they have strengthened in his town, because it turns out that a lot of black people there don’t hate the police; they just want better policing. He talked about a woman black pastor in his town who makes this work of community-building possible. And he talked about long-term plans to restore what was once a thriving commercial sector of black-owned businesses.

My friend said that he has grown disillusioned with national politics, and now focuses on building up localism. This guy is very conservative. I’m guessing that his black woman pastor friend is … not. But they work together because they both want to make the town they share into a better place for them all to live. If Bratten Weiss showed up in their town, she would no doubt do her best to drive these two apart to purify the movement. People like that — and we have them on the Right too — are so exhausting. They are the kind of people from whom you instinctively back away. Unfortunately, they hold a lot of cultural and institutional power right now in America. Which is a big reason that we are in such a mess.

#rod dreher #the american conservative #farmer's markets #bratten weiss

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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Star Trek: Lower Decks – 02 – Sam of All Trades

I recently watched the TNG episode “Time Squared”, which featured a lot of sweet shuttlebay porn. The Enterprise-D’s shuttlebay is gleaming and spotless, but that’s just where the shuttles land. We never saw the dirtier storage and maintenance facility, but that’s the part of the Cerritos we get to see in just the second episode, where Ensign Boimler gloats about being assigned to co-pilot a shuttle escorting a decorated Klingon general to his diplomatic appointment.

Meanwhile, it’s become clear Ensign Rutherford has developed a bit of a crush on Ensign Tendi—can you blame him?—but his grueling engineering duty schedule conflicts with a date to watch an astronomical phenomenon. In order to make that date (he considers it beneath a Starfleet officer to go back on his word), he quits the Engineering division. Seems kinda rash!

Boimler could never have predicted a slacker like Ensign Mariner would not only be his shuttle co-pilot, but also old friends with the general they’re escorting, a closeness made clear when in the middle of introducing himself to the general, Mariner pounces on him and the two have a brief knife fight.

By-the-book diplomatic protocol and theory are fine, but Starfleet is just as much about who you know than what. The resulting shuttle ride is predictably chaotic as Mariner exploits the fact the general is a lightweight when it comes to bloodwine.

He’s passed out by the time they land in the Klingon district to grab him some local Gagh, but before they know it he’s “behind the wheel” and taking the shuttle for a joyride without them. With transport and ship-to-shore comms not an option due to the properties of the planet’s atmosphere, they’ll have to track him down on foot.

In a hilarious demonstration of how nice and understanding the vast majority of Starfleet officers are, Rutherford’s commanding officer is perfectly fine with him exploring other divisions. Things don’t go well with command, however, as Rutherford manages to muck up a basic holodeck command simulation that theoretically shouldn’t be muck-up-able.

Feeling that perhaps there’s some continuity to be found in the great engineering project that is the human body, Rutherford tries his hand at being a nurse, only to find his bedside manner is non-existent. We also observe how Tendi’s bubbly personality serves her well in calming and reassuring the patient Rutherford wound up.

Boimler once again exposes his greenness when it comes to missions on worlds other than Earth and Vulcan (which shouldn’t even count!) when they reach the Risian district. He’s suddenly seduced by an human-looking woman who turns out to be an alien interested in depositing eggs in his throat. Thankfully Mariner has his back…and a hose!

She has it again when Boimler recklessly jumps into the middle of a dispute in an Andorian bar he knows nothing about. Things escalate quickly into a big Alien Bar Fight (a Trek standard, to be sure) but cool (and thirsty) heads prevail when Mariner offers to pay for the next five rounds if everyone agrees to stop fighting.

Now that’s Starfleet—inadvertently starting fights, then amicably ending them. But Boimler starts to lose hope that he ever had a chance to be a Starfleet captain, and tosses his combadge in a puddle.

The last division Rutherford tries is security, and to the surprise of both himself and the buff Bajoran chief, his cybernetic implants give make him the perfect fit for security, as he dispatches a squad of holographic Borg without breaking a sweat, letting the implants do their thing.

Still, after a day(?) of trying out new career paths, all it takes is one glance at an open Jefferies Tube—spotless and gleaming—for him to politely turn down the offer to job the “bear pack”. Like the chief engineer, the security chief is supportive and happy for Rutherford.

Back on the planet, Mariner and Boimler encounter a shifty, Gollum-like Ferengi offering transport. Boimler is suspicious, but Mariner tells him she’s “pretty sure he’s a Bolian” and that he should listen to her since they haven’t let them astray yet. But when the Ferengi betrays them by pulling a knife, Boimler phasers it out of his hand, saving Mariner.

Once they learn the Klingon general safely reached the embassy, Boimler and Mariner return to the Cerritos. Despite asking to keep events between them, Boimler ends up telling everyone at the bar how Mariner confused a Ferengi for a Bolian. We later learn that the Ferengi was another friend of Mariner’s, who put on a performance in order to restore Boimler’s confidence.

As for Rutherford, he learns that Tendi wasn’t going to hold it against him for not watching the pulsar from a window—and certainly wasn’t something to quit the job he loves about! Instead, she joins him in the tubes and watches it on a PADD, in a very cute cozy scene of budding friendship.

Star Trek episodes don’t always have A and B-plots running side by side, but they’re definitely a common occurrence among the hundreds of episodes of television in the franchise. I felt both A and B worked well here, with the on-ship/off-ship plots complementing the characters and served as backdrops for their development. Tendi definitely got the short end of the stick this week, but she’ll no doubt be the focus of an episode (or an A or B plot of one) soon.

Stray Obervations:

The cold open features another TNG classic: the alien intruder depicted as a bright point of light. In this case, it’s one that is weak enough to be placed in a hold by Mariner, who threatens to stuff it in a canister unless it creates the cool new tricorder model that has a purple stripe…and a power crystal!

Mariner’s little singing but about the shuttle’s blast shield was as awful here as it was in the previews that made me initially weary of this show. Thankfully it and scenes like it are the exception and not the rule.

That said, why did she have so many bowls of broth, and why was it spilled all over the consoles? I know, I know…“it’s a cartoon!”

Boimler really was presenting himself to that Klingon general all wrong. Standing too far away and speaking too softly are both considering insulting.

The senior officers looking ready to get angry only to be totally understanding and supportive was a an example of why I love this show: even though it borrows so much from a franchise I know back to front, it can still surprise me!

Another practice that, while true to Trek, I found a bit problematic, was the alien stereotyping by Boimler and Mariner. Mariner’s barb about Klingons smelling bad was pretty cringey. As for Boimler ragging on Ferengi…Dude, the Alpha quadrant would have been lost to the Dominion without Quark and Rom!

At least the Ferengi dude was acting all “TNG first season” on purpose…IRL he wears a monacle!

As someone who does not mind tight enclosed spaces (as long as I can get out of them of course!) I always loved the Jefferies tubes growing up…even if they made no sense. You’re in space! Just make the ship big enough so the tubes are regular height!

I am so here for all the alien representation these past two episodes. Due to budgets, previous Trek crews were overwhelmingly human, which made the Federation feel small.

By: sesameacrylic

#Anime #News #RABUJOI – An Anime Blog

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ruffoverthinksthings · 7 years

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Jane and carlos ship meme can't remember if I already asked for this

You haven’t.

1.Whois the most affectionate?:

Carlos.

Afterlearning that showing affection and vulnerability isn’t somethingto be avoided at all costs, and more so, not being victimized andtaken advantage of by others that just reinforce his Isle-sourcedbeliefs, he just goes all out on showing his friends, hispseudo-family, and especially Jane as much love and affection as hecan.

2.Bigspoon/Little spoon?:

Theyalternate, depending on who’s having the worse day, the worse panicattack, or in the case that they’ve both suffered equally sucky andterrible days, who Dude or their current pet dog/s decides to snuggleup to.

3.Mostcommon argument?:

Carlos’scientific projects, and what he can or can not work on, at home orin the office.

Aftergetting access to proper education, professional mentorship,communication with his fellow inventor peers, scholarships, researchgrants, and most importantly, a lifetime membership at the HandyDandy Hardware store franchise, sometimes even the laws of physicsaren’t enough to limit Carlos’ trying to make his ideas areality.

As he borrows from Adam Savage, “I reject your reality, and substitute my own!”

4.Favoritenon-sexual activity?:

Discussionof their days, what happened, and what will be happening.

Janeenjoys the way Carlos lights up when discussing his latest project,results, and activities, even if sometimes her incredibly advancedthought process and infallible memory can’t keep up with him, andCarlos enjoys knowing that he’s serving as the sympathetic,attentive ear for whenever Jane needs to unload, and boy, does shehave some plenty interesting stories to tell, even if they are rants.

They’reboth all too used to being ignored, or outright being told to shutup, that their issues and concerns were less important than someoneelse’s—the most common culprits were Cruella, and of course,Audrey.

It’sREALLY nice to have someone who just up and listens, no questionsasked.

5.Whois most likely to carry the other?:

Jane.

Carlosheavily relies on mathematics, physics, and Judo whenever he has todo anything physical. And however frail Jane’s mortal body lookslike, she can easily override the “limiters” and becomesuperhumanly strong.

6.Whatis their favorite feature of their partner’s?:

Janereally enjoys Carlos’ energy and sheer enthusiasm when he gets intosomething he really, really, really enjoys, such as dogs,science projects, or some other sort of achievement like an amazingblock in a friendly, non-professional Tourney game with friends.

Carlosloves Jane’s eyes, the one thing that she doesn’t—can’t,really—de-age or attempt to hide just how old, how experienced, andhow many things she has seen over her immortal existence, good, bad,and everything in between.

7.What’sthe first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings forthe other?:

Youcan watch this whole series in Descendants 2. I really don’tagree with many of the writer’s decisions and how they executed it,but I’m too lazy and tired to think up of an entirely differentseries of them getting together.

8.Nicknames?& if so, how did they originate?:

“Dr.de Vil” after Carlos officially gets his doctorate in MechanicalEngineering, “My Little Mad Scientist” because of all of hiscrazy, zany experiments, and “Fae’s Best Friend” when he onceasked, “If dogs are man’s best friend, what does that make me toyou?”

“BabyJane” as an affectionate, playful nickname, “Doggy Godmother”because of how experienced and skilled she is with taking care ofdogs, and “Blue” when Jane explicitly asked him to make up aspecial nickname that only he could use.

9.Whoworries the most?:

Jane.

Carloshas learned that sometimes, there’s really nothing you can do butface whatever impending unpleasantness is coming your way, and thatall the fretting and hypothesizing in the world is better spentactually doing something, objectively and definitively finding outhow a decision/preparations/experiment will turn out.

Thataside, he’s mortal, worrying takes up a lot of his inherentlylimited energy, and Jane has no such constraints.

10.Whoremembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?:

Jane.Infallible Faerie Memory, baby.

11.Whotops?:

Theyswitch, but Jane takes this role the most.

12.Whoinitiates kisses?:

Carlos.See No. 1.

13.Whoreaches for the other’s hand first?:

Carlos.

14.Whokisses the hardest?:

Jane.Initiation might be difficult and awkward for him, but bridging theinitial gap is kind of like opening the floodgates of affection,love, and messy, slobbery tongue-action.

15.Whowakes up first?:

Jane,by virtue of rarely, if ever actually sleeping, and only for a fewhours if she does.

16.Whowants to stay in bed just a little longer?:

Carlos.All that flurry of activity and thinking in a short span of timeequates to a LOT of forced, necessary downtime, and unlike hissmartphone, you can’t expect him to be completely ready to doa-zillion different functions and programs as soon as you press the“On” button.

17.Whosays I love you first?:

Again,see the Descendants 2 movie.

18.Wholeaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does itusually say?):

Jane.

It’susually reminders of things that miss Carlos’ (admittedlyincredibly haphazard and disorganized) record keeping system, butsometimes she just goes on to say how much she loves him, or cutelittle things their pets have done that he might like to know about.

19.Whotells their family/friends about their relationship first?:

Jane,though it’s really easy to do so when your mother isn’tobjectively fucking crazy.

20.Whatdo their family/friends think of their relationship?:

FairyGodmother is super supportive and loving towards Carlos—sometimes alittle too much, as FG has a tendency to overcompensate with the“maternal support towards the boyfriend” because of lingering,unconscious guilt of never being around for Jane as much as sheshould have been.

Cruellathinks the whole thing is an absolute disgrace, especiallysince Jane can’t really get “anything of actual worth” fromCarlos. “Not that a homely face and run-of-the-mill body like herscan nab anyone worth marrying in the first place!”

21.Whois more likely to start dancing with the other?:

Carlos.Excessive amounts of energy that need to be released, yo.

22.Whocooks more/who is better at cooking?:

Jane.She’s had plenty of free time to fill, and even though Carlos doescook, he using his hands to work with machines and computers, notknives and fresh ingredients.

23.Whocomes up with cheesy pick up lines?:

Carlos.

“Youknow, Jane, when I think about us, I can’t help but feel like I’ma nut.”

“Anut? Why?”

“BecauseI fit so well with you, like you’re a bolt, and we were just madefor each other.”

24.Whowhispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear duringinappropriate times?:

Carlos.Look, Jane is not above and definitely into dirty talk, but Carlos isthe one who always feels the need to “shake things up” when Janewould rather they not be shook.

25.Whoneeds more assurance?:

Jane.

Carlosisn’t the picture of absolute, constant self-confidence, but atleast he can’t completely, objectively remember every single timehe has ever felt like he could not do it, and it turns out thatdespite his best efforts and the confidence of others, he couldn’tdo it after all.

26.Whatwould be their theme song?:

Imay have used this before, and my apologies if I did, and also for mylimited song knoweldge, but “Body Image” by TWRP fits them verywell.

Jane’sphysical appearance remains a sore point for the rest of her life—shewas “beautiful” in high school, but what about college? The realworld as a “twenty-something” in as much as an immortal, agelessfaerie can be a twenty-something? How should she look as she, herfriends, and her lover age and grow older?

Justhow much gray should she have on her hair? Should she start changingher appearance to have more wrinkles, extra, unnecessary padding, alittle more stoop to her posture? Is it even fair to be simulating aweakening, failing body, when everyone knows full well she willeternally be a spry spring chicken blessed with divine strength andagility like a Grecian Avian Demi-God?

Regardlessof what she looks like, though, Carlos will always love her.

27.Whowould sing to their child back to sleep?:

Jane.

Carlosdoesn’t really feel like he’s up to the task, seeing as all his“lullabies” were Cruella screaming at him at the top of hislungs, blaming him for all her problems, and loudly saying to hisface, message clear thanks to her facial expression, body language,and tone, that she regrets ever having him.

28.Whatdo they do when they’re away from each other?:

Carlosdoes science, Tourney, and “Guy Things” with Jay, the specificsof which change over time. In their teens and twenties, it’s goingout to town, getting into trouble, and possibly being arrested. Inhis thirties and forties, it’s meetings with the other dads and“with kids or serious, all-consuming careers” adults for thingslike weekend hunting trips, “bad-back friendly” Tourney teams andgames, and of course, embarrassing group bonding events with theirkids, their nephews and nieces, and/or godchildren, and so on and soforth for however long he lives.

Janegoes on with her numerous jobs and duties as a Fairy Godmother in anage mostly without magic, hanging out with her female friends withwhatever activities are “in” with them at the moment, and tryingto immerse herself in the present culture however well or awkwardlyshe can, if only so the inevitable generational paradigm shift of allof society around her gets less surprising and sudden.

29.oneheadcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart:

Carlosand Jane own a LOT of dogs over the course of their relationship. Asyou would expect, none of these puppers ever live as long as Carlosdoes, and it’s impossible for any of them to be an immortal Faelike Jane. Every decade or so, they lose a furry best friend orthree, bury and/or cremate them, and shelve a scrapbook filled withprinted photos and mementos in a special collection with all theirdogs.

Ithappens constantly. It’s inevitable. They know, and willinglyaccept that fact every time they are gifted a new puppy, or adopt onefrom the shelter.

Butstill, every single time, it hurts.

Andno time does it hurt the most, than the first time Jane has to fillin the very last pages of a scrapbook by herself, decide whereexactly it’s going to go in that giant wall of scrapbooks by herlonesome, figure out all by herself whether or not she’s going togo get a new dog, after she buried both her latest pet and herhusband.

30.oneheadcanon about this OTP that mends it:

Weknow from Mulan there’s definitely an afterlife—or enough of aperson that sticks around, that it’s basically them for all intentsand purposes. And thanks to connections with Lonnie, and the gradualweakening of the Magic Ban to the point where it’s really just aset of regulatory acts not unlike the laws governing ownership anddriving of a car, Jane manages to get an opportunity to see Carlosagain, along with all of their dogs.

Janehugs and kisses the ghostly, kind-of-cold Carlos in the middle of asea of dogs, before they both lie down and drown in all theslobbering, yipping, yapping, barking, licking, and tail-wagging,struggling to keep up with all the lapdogs who refuse to share withall the other lapdogs, the dogs that really did not like making newfriends, the ones that were just too eager to be friendly withabsolutely everyone they encountered--

--Alltheir dogs, of all temperaments, breeds, backgrounds, and what haveyou, Jane remembering all of them in infallible, exact detail,holding them in her arms once more, feeling their love and affectioneven if her hand goes right through them, and there’s no warmth, nofluffiness when she tries to pet them, just a muggy, slightlyunpleasant coldness.

Thereunion lasts for hours, the magicians, voodoo practitioners, andspirit callers officiating it having to clock overtime because theyhave just that many dogs, and Jane and Carlos want personal time witheach of their pets, however long each canine wants to be with boththeir owners once again.

Buteventually, even the most attention and affection hungry pup hastheir fill, even the dogs that want play time to stretch for on andon find themselves bowing out, and Jane feels that fatigue settingin, the kind that shouldn’t technically exist, but the power oftrying to imitate being normal and human can bring.

Janeand Carlos stand up, hug and kiss one last time, before Jane moves tothe side with the exhausted or just replaced summoners, Carlos andtheir dogs move to the other side. Hands waving, mouths open inpants, tails wagging, they say their goodbyes, before the latterdisappear, and all is quiet once more.

Janegoes home, and spends quite a long time alone immediately after, andtaking something of a semi-vacation from all her work and duties forthe time after that.

Butsome day, she plans on getting herself a new puppy, changing herphysical appearance once more to a woman definitely old enough to besomeone’s mom but not quite someone’s grandmother, putting out adating ad as she tries to get back in the “market.”

Shedoesn’t know exactly what she’s looking for, but she does knowthat they must love dogs.

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grimtwin · 4 years

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How do you think an Interaction between the Straw Hat Pirates and the FF7 Party Group would go if they met? I absolutely love these series.

I love both of these series as well. But this is a difficult question since both groups are pretty dynamic in their own rights and their series don’t have too much in common...but how bout this:

Sanji’s going to swoon over Tifa and Yuffie like there’s no tomorrow. Especially Tifa. She’s got the figure that man is in love with most so he’d drop to his knees and worship her. Probably much to her and Cloud’s chagrin. At least Sanji and Tifa have somewhat similar fighting style, so perhaps they’ll trade kicking-based techniques. As for Yuffie, she’d just schmooze up to Sanji, do a little flirting, which will work very well, then rob him of his goods lol.

Franky would probably have the most fun meeting the FF7 crew. I imagine he’d been very enthralled with Barret’s gun arm, and could either learn some tips or enhance Barret’s weaponry like crazy. Likewise with Cait Sith. There’s a lot of potential to upgrade Cait Sith’s moogle body to be able to do something other than just punch with fuzzy arms.

Chopper would probably be pretty excited to meet Red XIII, and perhaps vice-versa. Talking animal-like creatures are a dime a dozen in the One Piece world, but not so much for Red XIII that we know, so meeting Chopper could be fun. I imagine Chopper would love to try and ride on Red XIII’s back. Robin though, I feel like she’d absolutely adore Cait Sith and Red XIII’s weird appearances, like she did that ugly dragon drawing, so she’d probably hang around them.

More on Robin...she and Vincent have more distant, darker themes to them. Robin moreso in her humor and hypothetical thoughts, but maybe the two could get along? I don’t know what they’d talk about though. Vincent seems more learned from his past with his Turks, so maybe there’s some kind of information trade to be made. Aerith could probably do pretty well with Robin as well if she’s still around at that point. Both ladies look pretty well educated.

A dangerous combo, Nami and Yuffie, would definitely plot out something nefarious and sneaky. The thieves of the bunch, members of the other teams would probably have things go missing, like money and some rare or powerful items. Add Tifa, Robin, and Aerith, and I feel like the ladies of both groups would get along pretty well. Can’t be easy traveling with so many men and be fighting all the time.

Cloud and Zoro are the most difficult to place. They’re probably not going to be the most talkative to many of the other crews, but maybe they could bond over swordsmanship. I’m sure Zoro would be interested in Cloud’s massive Buster Sword, and maybe Cloud could take interest in Zoro’s fighting style and katana.

Usopp, Franky, and Cid would also get into some engineering for sure, especially if Cid saw any of the Thousand Sunny and Franky’s creations. Probably get some major tips on how to upgrade the Highwind or the Shera.

Vincent and Usopp are the sharpshooters of the bunch. They might be able to work in a shooting competition.

Tifa’s a pretty experienced bar tender, and with Sanji’s cooking, the two of them could put together one hell of a party. Maybe Tifa would even be able to make up some drinks that’d get even Zoro and Nami drunk.

Brook is going to immediately ask to see Tifa, Aerith, or Yuffie’s panties. He might either get decked, laughed at, or be given a peek for some of his money...or a shuriken in the face. And given his immense trauma from Zou, I think Brook might try to avoid Red XIII at first, fearing that he might be chewed on. But both are pretty old, Red is like 45 compared to humans, so they might have some wordly experiences to share.

Luffy...that dude’s just going to have a grand ol’ time, no matter what. He might want to try and fight, and I think he’d have a pretty good tussle with Cloud or Tifa. He’d be amazed with Cait Sith, seeing it as a weird robot which he adores so much, and be blown away with any type of materia, especially summons.

There’s probably a lot more than can be said. Once I started typing, it was pretty easy to imagine how they’d get along.

#Final Fantasy VII #FFVII #One Piece

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exotearsandglory · 7 years

Text

historic; famous or important in history

One

Characters: OC (Anastasia), Junmyeon, Yixing, Jongdae | Sehun, Minseok, Kyungsoo, Jongin, Baekhyun, Chanyeol

Genre: Historical, Supernatural, Romance

Word Count: 2101

TW: (In the Future) Sexual Harassment, Violence, Swearing

Description: Many people have different opinions on the afterlife; Heaven, Purgatory, Sheol, Reincarnation, but there is simply no way to prove which is correct. History is an interesting subject; it shows the development of religion and culture, just as it shows the dissolution of empires and beliefs. Anastasia never had an interest in religion, preferring to live life as an agnostic. She never before believed in the supernatural, or an afterlife; however, when she found doppelgängers of her and her friends in the past, she was forced to believe in some mystical forces.

| Prologue | One |

“Today’s topic: Witches in the Early Modern Era.” The university professor began.

Anastasia was sitting in the lecture hall, recording notes about the topic the professor was talking about. After about ten minutes, she heard a clatter beside her as someone rushed into the empty seat next to her. Jongdae: her acquaintance she had met because they were taking the same course.

“Well, you’re late” She whispered through a chuckle.

“No shit. I woke up late.” He groaned.

“I’ll give you my notes after the lecture.” She laughed, as she turned her attention back to the professor, who was still talking about the topic at hand.

The professor changed the slide on his presentation and Anastasia lowered her head to continue her note taking.

“Woah, dude, she looks like you.” She heard Jongdae whisper from beside her.

Anastasia raised her head in confusion and looked at Jongdae, who pointed his head at the screen. On the presentation was a painting of a few people who were presumed to be witches; in the middle stood a young girl with long brown hair tied in plaits, her head slightly lowered to look at her hands where small beams of light were protruding from her fingers.

“I didn’t know there were any paintings that actually showed the witches magic.” Jongdae whispered to Anastasia, awestruck.

“But, that can’t be real.” Anastasia exclaimed, slightly louder than she had hoped for as the people sitting in the rows in front of her turned around.

“It looks like Anastasia.” Someone from the front row told the professor, as Anastasia shrunk back into her chair, hoping the attention would be diverted from her.

“So we’ve found your doppelgänger in the past.” The professor smiled. “It was always said that people who have doppelgängers have often got unfinished business in the past and are now doomed to forever be reborn until they solve whatever they have been trapped on earth for.”

Anastasia sat bewildered; she couldn’t believe any of it.

“It’s just a coincidence.” She told herself and Jongdae.

“Don’t worry Anastasia; I’m only trying to scare you. Now back to the presentation.”

“Hey, Anastasia.” Junmyeon shouted to her after she left the lecture hall.

“Junmyeon, I have something to do. I’m going to my dorm.” Anastasia walked past him, which prompted him to follow her.

“I have to find out more about this girl.” Anastasia sighed while booting up her laptop.

“More about who?” Junmyeon asked, confused.

“During the lecture, we saw this supposed witch who looked exactly like me. It wasn’t just a slight resemblance, it was uncanny. Then our professor started talking about this whole rebirth thing and I don’t know what to believe anymore.” She rushed an explanation towards Junmyeon as she opened the search engine.

Junmyeon was silent as he watched Anastasia try to search for this person from the past. Eventually, Anastasia found something.

“Here! It’s the painting.” She moved closer to Junmyeon and showed him the laptop, with the picture.

Junmyeon stared at the laptop screen intently, flicking his eyes up to glance at Anastasia every so often.

“It’s just a coincidence.” He concluded eventually, turning the laptop screen back towards Anastasia. She sighed in disbelief and brought her attention back to the picture, clicking on it to learn more about it.

“Her name was Agnes Payne. She was born in 1592 and died in 1611, she was burned at the stake for being a ‘witch’.” Anastasia explained to Junmyeon. “She was 19.”

“Wow. Spoopy. You’re 19 now, let’s hope you don’t get executed.” Junmyeon joked, poking her side.

“Shut up!” Anastasia laughed and pushed his hand away.

“Seriously though, she’s probably just some relative of yours.” Junmyeon sat back on her bed.

Anastasia skim read through the page, looking for any other useful information.

“Nope. No children. She was never married, which was highly uncommon for women of her age at that time; She would have been classed as a spinster.” Anastasia said matter-of-factly.

The sound of knocking made them both raise their heads. Anastasia walked over to the door and turned the handle, opening it slightly so she could shut the door quickly if the guest was unwanted.

“Hey, Anastasia. I was wondering if you had the notes from today’s lecture.” It was Jongdae.

Sighing, she opened the door and gestured for him to come in. Junmyeon looked up at the unexpected guest and gave him a forced smile. Jongdae hesitated and turned to Anastasia.

“I didn’t know your boyfriend was here, I’m sorry. I’ll come back later.” Jongdae awkwardly began to walk towards the door.

“He’s just a friend.” Anastasia quickly explained and Junmyeon’s face fell.

Shaking hands with Junmyeon, Jongdae introduced himself. Anastasia went to grab her notes for Jongdae, when Jongdae suddenly laughed.

“You’ve been looking up this girl then?” He asked her.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I? It was interesting.” Anastasia shrugged.

“Do you actually believe that whole thing about rebirth?” Jongdae pried.

“No, not necessarily. It’s just too much of a coincidence to ignore.” Anastasia walked over to Jongdae and took the laptop from his hands.

Jongdae nodded and took the notes Anastasia had placed on the bed beside him.

“It’s good to see we’re on the same page. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jongdae waved and left the room.

“So, do you two have a thing?” Junmyeon asked once he was sure Jongdae was far down the hall and the door was closed.

“What is it with people and my love life?” Anastasia sighed. “But no, he doesn’t swing that way.”

“Come to the library at 5.” Yixing had told Anastasia. She sat at one of the desks, scrolling idly through web pages. Her investigation of Agnes had gone nowhere.

“Hi.” Yixing placed a hand on her shoulder to alert her that he was there. Anastasia flinched, turning quickly to smile at him.

“What are you looking at?” Yixing glanced at the screen, placing his hand over Anastasia’s and using the mouse to scroll up.

“‘Witches in the Early Modern Era’. Is this for History? I’m sorry if I was interrupting an assignment” Yixing apologised.

“No, It’s nothing. More of my own project.” Anastasia smiled as she bookmarked the web page and minimised the tab.

Yixing took the seat next to her and cleared his throat.

“I have another poetry assignment and I wondered if you wanted to help me again. Your insight last time was helpful; maybe we can get coffee afterwards? Or even just go out for food I don’t mind.” Yixing glanced towards the floor, nervously.

Anastasia froze as her mind processed that Yixing had just asked her out. The moment was short lived as another hand was placed on her shoulder.

“Ok but we need to talk.” Jongdae’s loud voice snapped her out of the trance. He looked like he needed her urgently and Anastasia sighed.

“Yixing, I’ll be back.” Anastasia looked at him regretfully. “But yes, I will go out with you.” Yixing smiled at her last sentence.

“Sorry but, I did some investigating of my own and found him.” Jongdae showed her a webpage on his phone. “Joel Brooker, burnt at the stake the same day as Agnes, in fact they were said to be accomplices.”

“Ok, that’s weird. He looks exactly like you.” She felt a shiver run down her spine.

“That’s not all. Your little lover boy over there, a prince; Prince Yixing. Killed himself by jumping off the castle walls a day after Agnes and Joel were killed. His brother, Sehun was also executed on the same day for treason.” Jongdae told her in whispered tones.

She glanced over to Yixing who was watching them both and smiled.

“Why does he have the same name?” She turned back to Jongdae.

“I don’t know, maybe his parents just liked it, or maybe they knew about the prince, it doesn’t really matter.” Jongdae dismissed her question.

“The only thing I found in common was that they all knew each other and died around the same time, but I don’t see why that should matter.” Jongdae explained, sighing.

Anastasia heard hushed tones from behind her and turned around. Junmyeon had arrived at the library and had sat next to Yixing, initiating small talk.

“Oh, yeah him.” Jongdae grabbed her arm and spun her back towards him. “Seems like he’s forever doomed to be in the friendzone – tragic – but he was Agnes’ ‘sidekick’ who was assumed to be her husband, however there were rumours Prince Yixing had a lover from the village, who people speculate was Agnes.”

Jongdae paused to let her absorb the knowledge. She was astounded at how much he had managed to learn, when she knew next to nothing about this girl. She concluded she just hadn’t been trying hard enough.

“So anyway, his name was Jude Wood. He also fits the trend. He was killed the day before Agnes and Joel were executed.” Jongdae paused again, this time as if preparing to say something shocking.

“He was killed by Agnes. She released all her powers in the village square and all of the bystanders were killed, including him.”

Anastasia gasped, disbelieving. She turned back to Junmyeon, who was now telling lame jokes to Yixing who was faking laughs to appease him. She began to walk over to them, making both of their heads turn to look at her. Jongdae followed behind. Anastasia sighed and began to fill them in on everything Jongdae had told her. Once she was finished, Jongdae began to speak.

“Now, this may be nothing, but it seems like such an eerie coincidence to not mean anything.” Jongdae hypothesised.

“What the Hell. You don’t actually believe any of this?” Junmyeon quizzed, as he sat upright in his chair.

“What are we going to do if it does mean something?” Yixing pondered, ignoring Junmyeon’s question.

“Well it means that in the past, we all had unfinished business, and it’s not going to be fixed unless we do something.” Jongdae answered.

“But why would we want to fix it? There’s not much in it for us” Anastasia mentioned, still unsure of what the reason would be for them to be bothered.

“Well, otherwise we’ll be wandering this world for all of eternity, and I don’t know about you but the way the world is going, that doesn’t seem like a good option for me.” Jongdae fretted.

“But we won’t remember any of our past lives… there just doesn’t seem like much point.” Yixing agreed with Anastasia.

“If the fact you’re going to be stuck here doesn’t scare you, what about just rectifying a mistake you’ve made in the past; and if the afterlife is real, that’s a bonus; getting to live in a paradise forever, doesn’t seem so bad.” Jongdae tried to persuade them.

“Is everyone forgetting that this cannot possibly be real?” Junmyeon broke in, disrupting Anastasia’s thoughts.

“Junmyeon, shush. Have a little imagination.” Anastasia hushed him. “I’m in.” She decided.

Jongdae and Yixing both nodded, signifying they were also ‘in’. Junmyeon stared at them, sceptical that they could all believe in this theory that he thought was nonsense.

“But what exactly did we all do to get stuck in this cycle?” Yixing asked, fully onboard with the idea.

“There’s not much we can find out on this side of things, I researched as much as I could.” Jongdae explained.

“That means we’ll have to go back in time.” Yixing murmured.

“Ok. That’s it. Are you even listening to yourselves?” Junmyeon exclaimed.

“He’s right, we can’t time travel as we are.” Anastasia looked at Junmyeon, who smiled at her, glad someone was with him.

“That’s why we have to find a spell or something to place our conscious minds in this time period into the ones in the Early Modern Era.” Anastasia continued. Junmyeon face palmed, regretting his earlier actions.

Anastasia logged into her laptop again and quickly began to search for something suitable. After a relatively short time she found something she thought would be useful.

She gathered the group into a circle on the floor; even the reluctant Junmyeon joined her, taking a seat beside her.

She gestured for them to all join hands. Slowly smiling, she closed her eyes and began to recite the spell:

“ego vocabo tempus vado, ut nobis concedas transitum”

She opened her eyes. They were still in the same position, gingerly glancing at each other. Junmyeon smirked.

“Guess it didn’t work after all—“ He was cut off as suddenly a blinding white light appeared in the middle of the circle. Then it was gone, and Anastasia was alone.

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cyanpeacock · 5 years

Text

Realtalk(tm): Some Shit About Meditation, Space Ships, Personal History, And Buddha(?).

Subtitle(R): Mostly This One Sounds Like I Did Too Much Acid In The 60s, Except I Wasn’t Alive Back Then, But They All Do Now Anyways, Except The Ones That Don’t

Subsubtitle: It’s long. It’s hard. It’s not my dick, because I don’t have one, but it might be Mark’s, except he can’t write very well. He just scrawls and it’s ugly and painful, which is why I do the writing. It’s not a dick, it’s a piece of writing, and the pen and the sword are both phallic symbols if you ask Freud, but we’re all just wanking off this mortal coil anyway. Things of (no) consequence under the jump.

you know, like, thinking about it, this is the natural way of things for this vessel, except it’s completely fucked

as a youngling, you know, like, early teens and onwards? in the periods it wasn’t too actively traumatic, and sometimes in the periods it was, i’d whack on some binaural beats or the schumann frequency or whatever and just, lie there, float off for an hour or two or three if i was lucky and uninterrupted, forget i had a body.

didn’t occur to me until now that that’s, like, meditation, man. that’s like, uh, dude, that’s getting into a trance, and all that. i was doing that already? that thing that takes a lot of people years of conscious effort to accomplish?

a lot of me is like, dude, whatever, it’s just listening to music and lying really still, everyone does it sometimes. visions? pah, it’s imagination, everybody makes up their own music videos sometimes, right?

but then another part of me is like, dude, actually, some people never bother. they don’t need or want to, or they can’t, or they would, but something else is more important, their entire life.

and another part of me is like, well, mate, some people spend their entire lives trying to reach that plane, and they never do, or miss the moments they do. they find a different plane they can notice along the way, one i don’t know shit about, because i’m not their body? but if i talked about the planes we’re each flying too hard with them, we’d get jealous of each other, and maybe fight. mostly because my plane wants to be another plane, and i’d like to fly an awesome fighter jet, but i’m in a cessna 195. and they wish they could just fly the cessna, but they’re in the shitty fighter jet. and dude, you hung out there for ages, they only got to see it once. it’s messy like that.

and another little homunculus motherfucker says, uh, g, we’re all flying a plane.

and the rest of us go, woah. because out here, we are all flying a plane, or a ship, or a rocket, and so on so forth. and while you gotta get to know your vessel, once it’s out there, they all gotta do most of the same things? i mean, if you can’t stop/start the engines, or refuel, you’re gonna have to get a new ship, or go down with it. i think i wanna go down with mine, that sounds neat, but who knows? maybe it won’t happen!

but yeah. I guess i’ve been trying to get back home! like-- i did it physically, i thought, can i get back on the train, can i go back to that house, the First One? i didn’t make it far. it wasn’t time yet? somebody else lives there, maybe? i don’t actually know, perhaps he does still live there. curiosity, that little rover, is sending me messages, and i don’t know if her sensors are off, but god damn it the potential for data is interesting. maybe we’ll send a man out there? how do we do that? dunno yet.

but UH. yeah. here, define “home”: home being, alone, in The Room, in a daze, with the screaming and plates breaking and all the noise and fear outside, after the Frenzy where i tore the material world apart. i went so far inside my head, i couldn’t sense fuck all! but then when i could again, it was like, WOAH, what the fuck, i have no idea what to do with this!

and it’s still like that. this is literally no different to being there. or there, or there, or there, or there. but it is different to being There, because There, i was trying to be a self, and not, you know, an indeterminate amount of egos and a laboratory accident(s???) trying to tell a ship with a mind of its own where to go.

on my whole, you know, Wikipedia Adventures, it has been made apparent to me that a lot of this shit i have arrived at is fundamental to various interpretations of buddhist scripture.

now, i’m like, hmm, calling it buddhism, isn’t it a bit funny to exalt one guy? both funny ha-ha and funny suspicious. but, well, it’s also all the guys who came before and after him who reached similar-same conclusions, they’re all buddhas. what’s the deal with these guys who had to, you know, learn the books? what’s the deal with the guys who wrote the books in the first place? can’t just anyone get there on their own, with a bit of thought?

turns out, yes and no, because thought is an entity separate(ish) to a body, and it’s communal and cooperative. it’s eusociality, but because human eusociality is messy from where we’re standing, not many people are willing to call it eusociality, because a beehive looks So structured compared to our cities. but if you’re the 50ft Woman looking down at New York, isn’t it obvious humans are no different to ants? squares within squares, tunnels within tunnels, honeycombs, stars, and tiny little shapes scurrying about frantically - it’s all the same, more or less or more.

so, back to the books - the books are thought, for bodies that interpret thought that way. there are some flavours of thought i interpret that way! hard science, for example. gotta go to the books for that one. it’s fascinating. other people’s stories, you know. work is life is story is work is fact is life etc etc etc...

back to buddha. if the story of buddha is your story, and he lived everybody’s life, except the people whose lives he didn’t, so he is everybody’s story, and nobody’s, because he was just a guy named Gautama - then what’s the point in getting a plane to Tibet and sitting in a room on bare boards in an orange robe thinking-not-thinking about nothingness until you go crazy, under the watchful eye of somebody who’s Been There Before? i did that on my own, in my bedroom, as a kid. nobody watched me. i wouldn’t be me if i’d been observed! you know, like schrodinger’s cat?

sadly, all the cats I’ve had have been Schrodinger’s cat. they all are, until-unless they’re a dog.

so, this guy Gautama went off on his own, no food, no friends, no roof, no light, no thought, no feelings, no nothing, no everything, and then he had all of it, and it all happened at the same time.

and because i haven’t learned the books, what i say is a complete bastardization! but then, even within (any faith, but including) buddhism, there’s “debate” (or, vicious infighting, or civil disagreement) over Exactly What Happened.

the thing is - Exactly What Happened is gone, forever, because even a witness does not witness it all. the only witness who sees it all is the universe itself, and does the universe talk to us? well, yeah, but it’s so much bigger than us, we can’t actually comprehend it all.

so! did Gautama actually manifest wings of flame, and rivers of water from his feet? I Don’t Know.

science says that’s impossible. faith says, anything can happen, if you believe! common sense says he faked it, somehow, it was a stunt. He bribed the audience, or drugged them, or he had water bottles up his trouser legs and matches hidden in his robes.

then science says, well, that’s possible. faith agrees, but doesn’t like it, because faith loves a miracle. common sense hates a miracle, says it’s all explainable by science. science loves that, says, well, of course, we just haven’t done enough work yet! and, well, faith loves getting used by science, not that either of them admit it often, and common sense goes very quiet about that. they’re all banging each other, it’s a three-way hatefuck and they can never satisfy all three of them at once, until they’re happy with it being that way! it’s a Fucking Mess!

unfortunately, Exactly What Happened is not gone forever, because the universe would seem to exist, and time would seem to be An Entity. i’ve talked about time already, in the past, and the future, and again right now, not that right now has meaning, because it’s always changing, and it’s always the beginning and the end, of another right now, until it’s not.

so, Exactly What Happened is happening right now. our g gautama did perform the miracle at sravasti, because some people need that story for them to Live, or, you know, momentarily survive with all their needs met, until they acquire a new need.

and, he didn’t. somebody made that up, because somebody else needs that story in order to Live, as arbitrarily defined above.

and in the end, isn’t everyone right, and wrong? or they were, at the beginning.

i was raised Christian, as in, i went to a Church of England school, I sang hymns every morning, I was exposed repeatedly to God and Jesus and his (fit?) mother Mary who (didn’t) bang(ed) a (fit?) carpenter named Joseph and an angel (Perfect?) named Gabriel, and popped out a bastard son in a trough of hay in a dingy room, or a holy cradle shining with glorious light, who always was and never was a man/god/sage/idiot/danger/stronghold.

It’s exactly the same. It isn’t the same at all.

I once had a long conversation on the bus about Islam, with a gentleman whose name I’ve forgotten and whose accent I struggled to understand. We both walked away from each other smiling like hell, knowing neither of us understood everything, but we understood enough of everything to understand there’s nothing and everything to fear, in that situation from faith, so we just have to keep on teaching/learning/teaching.

I had many conversations with a girl who caught fire, and didn’t, about Science, capital S, exalted. It turned out, science and god were the same thing, but not. It scared us just enough to be confused.

I walk past the temples where I live, and there are many, and when they sing I hear the same scales I hear in the trap music that blares from kitted-out Range Rovers, carrying young men who carry knives and an ounce of the good shit, who don’t sing because their throats are raw from screaming.

I never did like heavy metal, but it’s still good music.

So--

Some people’s egos die so easily they never notice it. In their sleep, as it were. Easy death, easy life, hard death, hard life? Call them “normal,” “average,” “singlet.” “Good-enough” parenting, that whole shtick.

Some people’s egos don’t exactly die, but they reproduce, because something demands it, and it changes the one that was(n’t) there in the first place, and the one(s) that come after. It’s DID, or a system, depending on who looks at it, when? Schrodinger’s back, oh yes/no.

Back to figuring out where I do and do not stand, which will and won’t ever stop.

“I” copied my own ego so many times.(/?/!) They look the same, ish, but some of them are robots, some holograms, they all serve a purpose, they all pass as one, but then, is it just one ego? Debatable. It’s called dissociation, clinically speaking. We all do it, to varying extremes and awarenesses and levels of “control” or “communication.” Like a very smart idiot, I took the hood off and started tinkering without properly reading the manual, to try and stop the engine screaming. Learned about the parts, clumsily, made some new ones consciously-unconsciously. Now I can ask to let a robot out, or he comes out on his own, equally with the holograms. They’re not me, just copies that look and act enough like me to fool you into thinking they’re all me.

I/something made another one, by accident, and on purpose, to cope. He got out, I kicked him in, I kicked him out, he got in, I asked him to leave, he did, he asked me if he could come back, I let him. Glass bottles still get hurled against the door, but only when it’s absolutely necessary, or a laugh. There are enough copies of me now to keep him in check, most of the time, because god damn it, the ship has to fly.

So by my argument and perspective, I’ve got dissociative identity. How else can I function, other than by making I nonexistent, except when it needs to be? It’s a body, the body, my body, but it’s not, because I’m not in control of it, it just gets flung about by the environment, and I’m part of the environment, unfortunately, or fortunately, or just.

So-- to my grandfather, you’re wrong and you’re right. To you, right then, there’s nothing “diagnosably” “wrong” with me. You might have had a different mind if I’d had words for the structures I’d already made when I was, what, 12, and told you about it then. Thirty different psychiatrists would have thirty different, or the same, opinions on what to call this. Thirty more would and wouldn’t help. It’s all about sample size and interpretation of data. Your data point is valuable. Statistics is fake science, but we need it, because it’s useful, so it’s great science. Exalt it or not. We need all of it and none of it.

ben goldacre said something about science as “intellectual S&M” in his book “I Think You’ll Find It’s a Bit More Complicated Than That.” I dig it. It’s also bullshit. and the book sits next to me right now, in two halves, because I tore it apart in a repeat of the Frenzy, between pages 230 and 231. when I have a mind to, i’ll tape it back together, or not, and read it cover to cover, or not.

it’s all an endless argument, or discussion. it’s all the same ! and now, frankly, one me says this post got far too long and confusing, so the rest of me agree to leave it at that.

#fliptext #trauma #sorry if i'm giving you headaches. i'm giving myself one. it's unstoppable

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amrutservices · 5 years

Text

Everything You Need to Create a YouTube Channel That’s Ready to Grow

Despite being over a decade old, YouTube still acts as a ripe garden bed for audience growth. Brands looking to interact with audiences in current, relevant ways will find that video marketing content is one of the most effective methods they have at their disposal. They’ll also find that YouTube still remains one of the best platforms to host this content.

While big social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter are shrinking, YouTube pulls in over 1.8 million unique users every month. That figure, by the way, ignores all of the views that come from people who aren’t logged into a Google or YouTube account. YouTube’s traffic volume is so large that it is the second biggest search engine after Google and likely the most common platform for embedded videos seen around the web.

Creating a YouTube channel is therefore one of the best methods for earning traffic and engagement from audiences. By making smart moves and structuring your YouTube channel properly, your video content marketing campaigns can be poised for excellent growth. You’ll also be positioned to easily share and embed video content in order to grow your viewer base. It’s the perfect recipe for branded exposure!

You can start your business’s YouTube channel off on the right foot by following these steps to create a channel and give it the most growth potential.

1. Decide on Your YouTube Channel’s Video Marketing Positioning and Strategy

Your channel’s “position” is a name for basically everything that makes it distinctive. The idea is to not only have a channel that matches your branding principles but that can also meet your goals for audience building, lead generation, engagement, awareness and more.

The first step is to determine exactly who your audience segments will be, along with a few actions you want them to take in response to your content.

For example, maybe you are in an exciting industry like online retail for motorcycle apparel and accessories and you want everyone to come to your channel weekly for reviews and news on the latest products. Or, maybe you are a law office that wants to pop up first when people search for answers to their legal questions.

As another alternative, maybe you want to create highly shareable videos that generate brand awareness and drive traffic towards your site.

Your goals and your audience will significantly affect how you decide to run your channel, including:

Your style and approach (e.g., formal or conversational)

The format of your videos, such as an ongoing “show” vs. how-to videos vs. quick Q&A sessions

How long your typical videos will be

How often you will post new content

Who your target audiences will be, and how you intend to reach them

Your amplification strategy for getting maximum views on your new content, such as sharing new videos on Facebook or through your email list.

All of these factors come together to make your YouTube channel unique compared to others. And being unique is important considering that over 400 hours of new content are uploaded on YouTube each minute. Being unique also means that your channel is as prepared as it can possibly be to appeal to your chosen audience and accomplish your chosen goals.

2. Decide on a Channel Name and Icon

Your next step is to start filling in the blanks for your new channel. Specifically: what’s your name going to be? And what image will you use for your channel icon?

These two seemingly minor things can have a gigantic impact on your ability to attract audiences. Your channel name serves as both your brand and your initial pitch to potential viewers.

You can choose a descriptive name, such as “DUI Law Q&A,” which already promises what type of content the channel will contain.

Or, you can go for a long-haul strategy and create a unique brand name for your channel that allows it to build a presence as it builds an audience. Channels like Smosh and Dude Perfect have titles that are as recognized as any pop culture movie or show.

Plenty of people choose to use their business name or even their personal name as their channel’s title. This strategy provides the benefit of immediate association. As your channel gains strength, you can rely on more people knowing who you are or what your company is, thanks to the shared name.

Once your name is chosen, decide on an icon that reads well on a small screen. Keep in mind that over half of all YouTube views come from mobile devices. You might not be able to use your logo or cram a bunch of text into your shrunken down profile picture.

Settle on something that’s easy to comprehend, such as a few letters or your host’s face. You can also use some sort of iconographic representation of your channel’s purpose. For instance, the fictional motorcycle gear review channel mentioned earlier could have a helmet or a gloves gripping handlebars.

3. Come Up With Channel Art, a Description, and a Trailer

Some channels stand just on the strength of their content. They earn views through shares and YouTube algorithm suggestions, and eventually someone might connect the dots to realize several of the things they’ve watched come from the same channel.

Smaller channels, especially business-focused ones, often come under much more scrutiny. Someone may wonder “what are these people all about?” and take a look at their channel to learn more.

This instinct to inspect actually benefits your business. When they read your channel description, they can learn how the channel connects to your brand, for instance. They might even follow a link back to your official website.

Above all else, they’ll get a first impression that helps them decide then and there whether they’ll bother to ever check out your channel again. Accordingly, your channel’s “home page” elements better make one heck of an impression!

Start with your description. It should be short, exciting, and explain exactly why they should tune in to your channel regularly. Avoid talking too much about yourself or your business unless you think those elements hold inherent interest.

For instance, a personal injury law office might not want to bore people with local peer awards they won in the precious channel description space. On the other hand, they might want to throw out a number like “we’ve earned our clients nearly a billion in injury settlements.” Wow! That’s something they can get interested in.

Consider your channel art a supplementary description of what your channel offers. Maybe you have an image of a handsome host dressed smartly next to some of the informative topics they’ll cover. Or, maybe it’s an image of an awesome project your business has completed, such as a sandwich shop showing a record-breaking hoagie.

Keep your channel art simple and readable. Think of it like a billboard you have to read while whizzing past at 60 mph; if you cram too much on there, it’s just going to be a distracting mess. Limit the amount of text you use to a dozen or so words. Balance any “busy” graphics with blank space to give them air.

Finally, you’re going to want to create your channel’s trailer. This is a video that ideally gets someone hooked on first view. Far too many channels instead approach the trailer as a show-and-tell. “Hi I’m Bob this is my channel we have many exciting things to share with you…”

Instead, think of your trailer as a highlight reel of sorts or an actual TV show trailer. Yes, you want to tell people what you’re about, but you can do that by showing rather than telling.

If you aren’t 100 percent in love with any of these elements, then let that motivate you to revisit them over time. Your channel trailer in particular will evolve as your skills, content, and familiarity with techniques improve.

Getting Ready to Launch Your YouTube Channel

After you have all the main elements of your channel in place, you will want to prepare for its launch as a sort of grand opening. Consider that this is your chance to debut with flash and gather an early audience. If they get a bad impression, you’ve sown the seeds for an uphill battle to convince them to come back.

Ideally, you will have several videos’ worth of content for them to peruse—including your channel intro. You should also have the next months’ worth of videos queued up on your backburner so that you can ensure your channel posts regularly. Channels that post sporadically tend to lose audiences. They also have a more difficult time getting visibility via suggestion algorithms compared to more-active channels.

These are just the ingredients to the recipe for YouTube success; it’s up to you to make them work! If you need help with any aspect—including content creation—do not hesitate to contact an experienced digital marketing company to ensure your YouTube marketing meets with success.

from Amrut Services https://amrutservices.com/everything-you-need-to-create-a-youtube-channel-thats-ready-to-grow/

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myaussie · 6 years

Text

New Post has been published on Online Crowd

New Post has been published on https://onlinecrowd.com.au/everything-you-need-to-create-a-youtube-channel-thats-ready-to-grow/

Everything You Need to Create a YouTube Channel That’s Ready to Grow

Are you ready for your business to be a YouTube star? Video marketing performs better than any other medium, and YouTube is a top channel for video content. Here’s how to start your own channel the right way and position it for maximum growth.

You can start your business’s YouTube channel off on the right foot by following these steps to create a channel and give it the most growth potential.

1. Decide on Your YouTube Channel’s Video Marketing Positioning and Strategy

The first step is to determine exactly who your audience segments will be, along with a few actions you want them to take in response to your content.

As another alternative, maybe you want to create highly shareable videos that generate brand awareness and drive traffic towards your site.

Your goals and your audience will significantly affect how you decide to run your channel, including:

Your style and approach (e.g., formal or conversational)

The format of your videos, such as an ongoing “show” vs. how-to videos vs. quick Q&A sessions

How long your typical videos will be

How often you will post new content

Who your target audiences will be, and how you intend to reach them

Your amplification strategy for getting maximum views on your new content, such as sharing new videos on Facebook or through your email list

2. Decide on a Channel Name and Icon

Your next step is to start filling in the blanks for your new channel. Specifically: what’s your name going to be? And what image will you use for your channel icon?

These two seemingly minor things can have a gigantic impact on your ability to attract audiences. Your channel name serves as both your brand and your initial pitch to potential viewers.

You can choose a descriptive name, such as “DUI Law Q&A,” which already promises what type of content the channel will contain.

3. Come Up With Channel Art, a Description, and a Trailer

Smaller channels, especially business-focused ones, often come under much more scrutiny. Someone may wonder “what are these people all about?” and take a look at their channel to learn more.

Instead, think of your trailer as a highlight reel of sorts or an actual TV show trailer. Yes, you want to tell people what you’re about, but you can do that by showing rather than telling.

Getting Ready to Launch Your YouTube Channel

If you need help generating leads, please call us. We have an excellent lead generation program where we pay for all your advertising expenses and take all the risk for you. You only pay when you get results. This is a massive undertaking and understandably we’re limited in how many companies we can help at any one time. If you’re interested and find the program paused or not available, just leave your details and we’ll let you know when it re-opens.

Thanks! Click here to download the free pdf file.

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