#i think fans are appreciating her more but its still very little compared to hunter

[pandoratheprocrasticreator]

i think what would make the huntlow ship a lot more palatable for me is if they arent portrayed with such an imbalance of physical power. i know fandom flanderizes any popular ship/characters to a single dynamic/trait but i will still grump about it.

the dynamic between hunter and willow is most often willow being the physically stronger and more powerful of the two and hunter being her simp, usually either being fearful of her power (in a funny way bc “hes a guy”) or otherwise portrayed as weak and kind of pathetic.

(and socially he is kind of pathetic i guess, although we as a fandom are sleeping on hunters pathological need to be seen as cool and intimidating in favor of framing him as a helpless lost puppy.)

(i’ve grumped about the implications of hunter, an abuse victim, joking about his romantic partner being able to beat him up, and how his support of willow, especially in fanworks, seems to be an extension of his blind trust in authority figures. but im sure there are good fanworks that address this and portrays their dynamic as more healthy.)

my beef is that the portrayal of hunter being weaker than willow in terms of strength/combat abilities is just. not true. willow has powerful magic and yeah she yoinked hunter with her vines that one time but hunter has been trained since childhood to fight. he’s visibly more built than every other kid his age and even some of the adults. he beat up kikimora TWICE.

(i count the offscreen minecart chase in eclipse lake as one of their fights) (also in that fight he was fighting kikimora AND that EC captain AND two scouts AND a few abomatons) (also i dislike the scaling down of power of the coven heads in fandom too these ppl have been fighting with magic for decades kikimora is not a weak toddler she is a powerful witch)

hunter has shown in every episode he appeared in that hes highly skilled in combat. they had to injure him, exhaust him, and give him a new staff and a mental breakdown in eclipse lake for his fight with amity to be fair.

willow, in comparison, just grows vines everywhere because she’s never had to fight. this is very evident in the hexside fight in labyrinth runners, where hunter’s the only student doing any physical fighting while the other kids haphazardly throw spells around. hunter saying willow wouldn’t be afraid of him isn’t him saying that she would beat him in a fair fight. hes pointing out her general proactive attitude.

yes, willow can tie people up with vines but only if she has a timing advantage. hunter and willow wouldn’t fight because they’re friends. but in a theoretical fair fight between them, she would have to catch hunter off guard and completely restrain and disarm him before he can make a move. (the hunter vs amity fight shows that even when she tied him up hunter could still teleport out if he had his staff. also i think he PUNCHED that abomination bubble open???)

the point is that hunter is a child soldier and willow is not. he is much more skilled in combat than she is, and his hand to hand and staff-based combat obviously can compensate for magic uses considering he’s survived this long in the EC. (the magic duels in scout training, anyone?)

also, even if willow is stronger than hunter in terms of muscle (which i sincerely doubt bc of all the child soldier training but idk some people just naturally have more muscle than others) like her friends, willow isn’t the type of resort to fighting unless absolutely necessary. shes ride or die for her friends but she usually tries to “ride” until they get cornered and HAVE to “die.” just because hunter’s first instinct for everything is “flight” doesn’t mean willow’s first instinct has to be “fight.”

the portrayal of willow as everyones cutesy therapist who solves all her friends problems with violence is an unfortunate mischaracterization. the portrayal of hunter as a helpless, depressed, and traumatized child in need for everyone to take care of him all the time is also an unfortunate mischaracterization. these portrayals are only vaguely based in canon and i suggest fans rewatch the show during the hiatus to remember their other character traits.

for every charming fanwork with willow lifting hunter like a dumbell for her workout i want another charming fanwork with hunter lifting willow like a dumbell for HIS workout. the huntlow ship is BOTH strong enough to lift each other like dumbells and if i saw that more i might even stop calling them “the huntlow ship” and maybe indulge the thought that they might end up canon.

anyway all of this is to say. if in season 3 they deal with a minor villain like that museum guy and he still doesn’t back off after willow and the rest of the hexsquad gives him an emotional shounen protag speech. and also after hunter tries to get everyone to run away but it doesnt work bc the museum guy traps them or he falls face first into a puddle. what if willow beats the shit out of him. and after shes done she hands the reins to hunter and he beats the shit out of him. and somewhere during all that gus gives one of them a metal chair like that one MoringMark comic would that be the shit or what

#toh #the owl house #shut up pandora #hunter toh #hunter wittebane #willow park #huntlow #still not down with the huntlow ship because of reasons ive grumped about before #but this is more of a fandom mischaracterization #even outside of the huntlow ship stuff hunter still gets really woobiefied #and i think it would be more interesting to show him depressed and traumatized but still retaining that snark and badassery #and uh #fandoms gonna have implicit racist and sexist bias #because outside of the huntlow ship stuff willow shows up a lot less #i think fans are appreciating her more but its still very little compared to hunter #to be fair they are very different archetypes and people always love an angsty white boy #but yeah outside of huntlow i dont really see as much focus on willow doing a violence #its mostly her getting into dumbassery with her friends which is pretty nice and i want to see more of it #but yeah rule of thumb violence is never willows first answer its her third or fourth #she will not start a fight but she is willing to finish one #violence is hunters third answer i think if he wasnt explicitly told to do a violence #his first two answers are grovelling and running away to fall facefirst into a puddle #in that order

[bill-beauxquais]

Blogging my Bravely Default II Playthrough - Chapter 2

Here we are for a new chapter!

As usual, spoilers for up to chapter 3′s title card below the cut (so all of chapter 2, none of chapter 3), you have been warned.

Overall opinion: The game is still fun to play and while I sometimes laments being so slow, I like that I can play a lot without feeling like I’m goind too fast. On a story standpoint, I’m a bit bummed that this chapter didn’t really make any real progress in its main thematics, but on a gameplay level, it was fun.

Gameplay: I talked about there being more strategy in battle already, but I realise I didn’t mention why. Compared to previous games, it seems like enemies use brave and default a lot more, and they actually go into negative. It happened in previous game, but if my memory serve, it was only certain enemies who had this quirk baked into them. Also, nearly all of them have counters and immunity, preventing you from just braving 4 times and calling it a day (albeit it still works reasonably often).

However, I did notice a flaw as well in the balancing. Some sidequests (most notably, the mushrooms sidequest) only opened to me after I finished the chapter’s story, but they took place in a dungeon where every enemy was WAY underpowered. I’m still getting underdog bonuses in the story, so I’m not overleveled. I don’t know what exactly unlocked the sidequest, but I checked everytime I set food in Wisward. On the other hand, the sidequest boss actually took me some planning, while I basically Yolo’d all the asterisks of the chapter. Weird. In the end, the whole dungeon was simply a long corridor (every enemy fleeing from me), with one tough boss at the end. Jarring.

Speaking of dungeon, this chapter really made them a lot longer than anything the serie had until now. On one hand, they can get a little boring and frustrating after a while, but on the other, I do like that they allow you to really train your new asterisks by putting more time between each of them, so overall I’d say it’s a positive.

Speaking of which, I finally looked into what you get from the boat, and I need to mention the inclusion of JP orbs, to give you JP experience on the go. It makes it easier to level up jobs without having to grind with ill matched teams, which is a good idea, since ill matched teams are sometimes really unforgiving because of the immunities and counters mentioned earlier. You still end up having to train jobs the old fashioned way, but any shortcut is good.

Speaking of grinding, I was surprised that I didn’t need to grind even once, for now. I wouldn’t qualify the asterisk battles of underwhelming, they took me half an hour on average and demanded strategy and quick thinking or risk taking, but I went into most of them with in-training teams full of ill matched underleveled and redundant jobs and still won. For me, that’s just the right difficulty to be interesting without getting frustrating.

My favorite asterisk of this chapter probably was the Shieldbearer for more Gloria Tankness (I also noticed it pairs well with White mage for a tanky healer)  , but Ranger is good as well (but I’m biaised from the previous games. Always liked hunter). I appreciate that they changed red mage to be less of a watered down mix of Black and White, but I’m not sure I’m using it very efficiently. It just doesn’t seems to deal a lot of damage, and I prefered the old one’s design. This one looks a lot more boring. As for Artist, I’m not really using it very well for now either. I feel like there’s already tons of debuffing skills in other classes.

I didn’t really get the point of Wayward Wood, since you know where the correct exit is, there’s not much point in making a looping/”lost wood” kinda dungeon, because it’s not like you will get lost (unless you’re doing it willingly the first time just to see what happens). Maybe it’ll open other paths later, who knows.

Writing: Still good, albeit I think i prefered Savalon. I suppose I expected to see more of Elvis’s backstory and family, why did he come study magic, how did Lady Emma pass away... But nothing of the sort. I don’t think like it really helped see Elvis any more in depth, sure he is a good friend, but that’s something we already could infer. I would’ve liked to see his character broken down more.

I’m always happy to see dead kids stories (don’t get me wrong, I love kids, but I also roll my eyes quite a lot when writers chicken out on having anything bad happen to a kid in their stories) but I don’t know if this was strong enough to be the focus of the entire chapter. I don’t think it had any connection to Musa’s downfall or the crystals. But I could see Wiswald coming back later in the story to tie back into these themes, and maybe that was just the Wiswald introduction chapter.

With the dead kids, crazy people, greenery, hunter & red mage asterisks, and those darn Mushrooms and flower enemies, it’s also hard to shake the feeling of this being Florem.02, and Florem will always be extra special to me.

Writing - Theories: Definitely called it for Edna’s veiled ass, although introducing that silver haired lady just before almost threw me for a loop. I’m assuming she’s the traveler handing out asterisks like candies, and Adelle probably knows (or at least she knows her sister is related to asterisks in some way)

I don’t know if I mentioned it, but I had a theory back when playing Default for the first time, that asterisk made people crazy or at least, more extreme, and that’s why they all made the perfect little mascot for theirs each time. And also why Ringabel *and* Artemia in the anthology lost their memories when they lost their asterisk: it plays into their brain and personalities. So, nice to see theory confirmed by the sequel.

As expected of its unredeemable bosses, Folie kicked the bucket, which begs the question: I fully expect them to have another gauntlet like the previous games. So is a timeloop/universe hopping all but confirmed at this point, or will this be something else? Will the characters’ deaths be retconed or explained away? I feel like some of these characters could be redeemed in a timeloop, and stopped an saved before they do much damage. The asterisk are pretty much the ones to blame in nearly every case for the sudden change of heart of their holders.

I’ve got that flimsy theory that Shirley is Emma’s kid, based on a similar hairstyle, the fact the gambler asterisk pairs well with black mage, and that Shirley mentioned her mother leaving her father. Who knows. I liked Shirley.

Adelle is definitely crushing hard on Elvis, but I think he’s pretty much ace. Interesting to see how this develops.

Graphics: Gonna hand it to them, i was impressed that they actually made a unique model for Mona, all to use it for one cutscene. Long gone are the days in which they just reused Yew and Magnolia’s models for Altair and Vega, two majors characters. This is the kind of attention to detail we like to see here. No cutting corners. They even made a model for the paintings, too.

The fog effect was pretty rad as well, and definitely got me running a few laps like a giddy kid. You like to see it.

Elvis’ head looked pretty big compared to his friends, noticeably so. But I suppose Bravely Default 1 and second weren’t that much better, and even worse. The main 4 were DEFINITELY chibised compared to other characters (which made Alternis look like a baby in the Eternian team)

Performance: I noticed a bit less lag, but I also made the battle speed slower, this is probably related. Else, it’s the same things.

Music: Elvis’ theme is pretty good. I remember listening to the first drafts that were datamined from the first demo back in the day, and it was already my favorite.

However, I wasn’t a fan of Wiswald’s overworld theme, and the city’s was forgettable.

#Bravely Default II #Review #Video Game Blogging #Nintendo Switch #JRPG #bravely series

[blazehedgehog]

Now that it's all been posted, any thoughts on the Metroid fan movie concept that was uploaded to SomeCallMeJohnny's channel?

I haven’t watched part 3 yet.

There’s a reason I haven’t watched part 3 yet, and I don’t want to sound overly rude or harsh. I do think a lot of talent went in to writing and recording, and the artwork is pretty nice.

But I’ve also talked about before about things like... so, aliens, right. I personally like the idea that Ridley is this 20 foot tall space monster. He doesn’t wear clothes, we never see him sit in a chair, he can’t fit through our doors. He screeches and roars and growls like an animal. But underneath all of that is an very intelligent being, one who can operate interstellar craft. When he roars, he’s speaking a language. He’s giving commands to subordinates. But he’s nothing like a human. He’s an alien, and I like my aliens to feel truly otherworldly.

Ridley in this fan movie concept speaks human english.

So, already, I feel like it was at a big disadvantage with me personally. The actor playing Ridley does a good job, but the moment I heard Ridley saying earth words I was hit by a wash of disappointment. And it continues to swim up stream because the whole movie is effectively trying to adapt the official Metroid Manga and even parts of Other M. It does put its own spin on things to try and make it more palatable, mind you, and parts of it I do genuinely enjoy.

Like, I appreciate it spells out in no certain terms that Samus hasn’t just lost one family, she’s lost two, and is in danger of possibly losing a third surrogate family, and that’s kind of messing her up emotionally. It’s about her origin story, and why she's such a loner. I also like how they establish Mother Brain. 

But where the movie loses me is in how much it jumps around in time, especially in Act 2. I don’t necessarily know if it’s confusing per-say, but does feel really disjointed. Samus is a kid, then it’s seven years later, then it’s two years earlier, then it’s back to seven years later, then it’s one year earlier, etc. Back and forth, back and forth, all these little vignettes told semi-out of order. It’s messy and a lot of it doesn’t feel like Metroid, because it’s all about Samus as a kid, or in the military, or whatever, and not enough of her in the power suit doing Metroid stuff.

I feel like this is an easy trap to fall in to. You see this lore and you think, “I have to fit all of it in.” But lately I’ve been thinking a lot about, like... book adaptations, and things, right.

So let’s take Jurassic Park for example, because that’s one of the few things where I’ve both read the book and seen the movie. If you did a 1:1 adaptation of the novel, Jurassic Park would probably be a 5-10 hour movie. So you have to cut a lot of stuff out -- most stuff, I’d argue. And true enough, at two hours, the movie is a very different experience compared to the book. So how does that work?

If I was doing it, I would identify the core theme of the story, and then pick out two or three iconic scenes. Then, write a completely new story around that theme, sticking to a simplified version of the story’s general idea, while touching on those iconic scenes.

Let’s consider instead “Into the Spider-verse”. This is based on the comic book series of the same name, but those comics span over a dozen issues of multiple different Spider-man books. So they focused on the themes (dimensions are crossing and everyone is Spider-man) and wrote a new story around that.

So what are the themes of Metroid, then? Isolation, loneliness, and feeling powerless at first but gaining knowledge and strength over time.

So we open on Samus touching down on an unknown alien world. She’s already a bounty hunter, and she’s on this planet because she’s tracking a threat. This planet once housed a civilization, but now it’s nothing more than abandoned, destroyed ruins, and in the absence of that civilization, it’s being reclaimed by the bizarre alien life at home on this world.

The whole movie is about the mystery of why Samus is here. She has a connection to this place, and the threat she’s tracking.

We see her memories. I know I just railed against the fan concept for having lots of flashbacks, but to me, it was more about their frequency and length. The first third of that movie is effectively a long flashback, and even once it jumps to present day, it keeps jumping back to various other points in Samus’s life every few minutes. That’s what made it feel like a mess. It never gives you a chance to settle in to a “present day.”

Flashbacks can be an important storytelling tool, but I think establishing what’s current and then showing a few key memories is what works best. The movie is a mystery, and we’re peeling away layers over time. We’re with Samus, seeing what she sees as she looks over the planet. We see a man and a woman killed by something unseen as armored aliens approach her. Later, we see the Chozo and their warmth towards Samus. This is their planet, where they raised Samus, and taught her about their research in to the Metroids.

As she becomes enveloped in her memories of this place, we see what she’s tracking. It’s a giant space dragon. As far as the audience ever sees, it’s just a big scary monster. Samus is chasing an animal, like hunting a bear or a tiger. But every now and then, we get a hint of something more.

Samus also spends her time in the movie just dealing with alien life on this planet. Some of it is friendly, but others are very hostile. The space dragon is always the primary threat, but there are other creatures here that give Samus trouble. Maybe she befriends something, treats it like a pet, and through that we see maybe some aliens have intelligence and others do not. It also gives her someone to talk to. But again: the alien does not speak her language.

The last flashback, in the film’s final act, is the Chozo entrusting the power suit (the armor she saw as a child) to Samus as they are slain by the same space dragon she’s been hunting for the whole movie. It’s Ridley. It’s here we learn that Ridley is more than just a monster -- he’s intelligent. He commands space pirates to raze the planet and take the Chozo’s captive Metroid. This is a big reveal for the audience. Samus is sent away in the same ship we see land at the start of the movie, her ship. As the Chozo die, we see almost a flashback within a flashback, as we finally learn that the man and woman in the first flashback were her parents, and they were also slain by Ridley and his forces. It all ties together.

This anger fuels Samus in her final encounter with Ridley. He’s back on this planet because he missed something about the Chozo’s Metroid research. Despite only stealing one Metroid, Ridley somehow has multiple now, and he sics them on Samus. Wounded from their fight, a bleeding Samus corners Ridley as he tries to escape in his ship and uses a weapon she discovered earlier in the movie (a super missile pack) to damage his ship, destroy his Metroids, and seemingly kill him. She limps back to her ship and has automated medical systems attend to her wounds as she leaves.

The final stinger is Ridley still being alive, and his shadow falling upon the Chozo central computer, codenamed “Mother Brain.”

That’s what I’d do.

#questions #metroid #movie #fan movie concept #nintendo #ideas #writing #long posts #melcodriggs

[weekendwarriorblog]

The Weekend Warrior 4/23/21: MORTAL KOMBAT, DEMON SLAYER, TOGETHER TOGETHER, STREET GANG, SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS

Ugh. Trying to maintain this column as a weekly entity during the final few weeks of the longest Oscar season ever has been really hard, and I’m not sure that will change once the Oscars are over either, because I look at the number of movies being released both theatrically and streaming over the next few weeks, and it makes my head hurt. Sorry for the kvetching, it just is what it is.

There are two big theatrical releases this weekend, Warner Bros’ MORTAL KOMBAT and DEMON SLAYER THE MOVIE: MUGEN TRAIN from FUNImation Entertainment, both which have already been released internationally. I also probably won’t be able to watch or review either before this column gets posted.

Mortal Kombat seems like the easiest sell being that it’s based on the popular Midway Games video game franchise introduced in the early ‘90s that led to a series of films, books, comics and you name it. It was a very popular fighting game that had over a dozen iterations including one in which MK characters fought against DC superheroes.

The very first Mortal Kombat movies opened in 1995, right amidst MK-mania, and it was directed by one Paul W.S. Anderson, his very first movie in a long line of video game-related movies, including a number of Resident Evil and the recent Monster Hunter. There are a lot of people who love those games, and yes, even people who love that and other movies, but to others, who may have been too old to get into the games when they came out, the whole thing about different fighters fighting each other just looks kind of studio. Even though I’m interested to see what producer James Wan brings to this reboot, I just don’t have much interest otherwise.

Unfortunately, and this is pretty daunting, Warner Bros. wasn’t sending out screeners to critics until Wednesday with a review embargo for Thursday night at 7pm, which is never a good sign, and yet, it continues Warner Bros. continuing the trend of being one of the only studios that screeners EVERY movie to film critics rather than just making them pay to see it on Thursday night or Friday. I hope to watch it and maybe add something Thursday night, time-permitting. Not sure you heard but the Oscars are Sunday.

As far as box office, Mortal Kombat opens on Friday but also premieres on HBO Max, and I’m not sure there will be as much urge to see MK on the largest screen possible, as there was with Godzilla vs. Kong. Because of that, I think the cap for this one over the three-day weekend is about $10 million but not much more and probably more frontloaded to Friday than we’ve seen in some time.

Mini-Review: As you can imagine from my statement above, I don’t hold the Mortal Kombat games or other iterations in any particular high esteem, so I’m basically jumping into this movie, directed by Simon McQuoid, just as a movie and not necessarily as a video game movie.

It starts off promising enough like a samurai movie with a flashback where we watch Hiroyuki Sanada’s hero sees his wife and son be killed by Joe Taslim’s character that will later become Sub-Zero. The general principle seems to be that there’s a world where people from other worlds fight each other to gain complete control. The hero is Lewis Tan’s MMA fighter Cole Young, presumably a popular character from the game? He is also soon attacked by Sub-Zero presumably because he’s marked with a dragon tattoo that deems him a champion of these fights, but he needs to find someone named Sonya Blade (Jessica McNamee) to help him get to the “Mortal Kombat.” At the same time, he meets the movie’s most entertaining character, Kane,

played by Australian actor Josh Lawson, mainly because he swears constantly and cracks wise -- he’s a bit like Wolverine, actually, and he’s actually the best part of the movie.

Otherwise, everyone and everything is always so deadly serious that everyone else we meet just doesn’t have much impact, because frankly, none of these names or characters mean jack shit to me. Sure, some of them sound vaguely familiar but I was more interested in the great Asian actors who turn up including Tadanobu Asano’s Lord Raiden, who is gonna claim Earth if its champions lose at Mortal Kombat. And Sub-Zero basically just shows up and tries to kill everyone.

As with far too many action movies, the action itself is great, the writing and acting not so much.

As it goes along, things become more epic and fantasy-driven but that also makes the dialogue seem even worse. Similarly, the fight choreography is pretty great, but the movie still leans way too heavily on visual FX to keep it more interesting for anyone not too interested in MMA… like myself. When all else fails, they can show off Sub-Zero’s cool ice powers every chance possible as well as the other’s powers, but some of them (like Lord Raiden) just made me think of this as a rip-off of the great Big Trouble in Little China.

The thing is I’m not a fan of the video game nor of MMA, so Mortal Kombat really doesn’t have much to offer me. The whole thing just seems very silly, just like almost everything from the ‘90s. (How’s THAT for a bad take?)

That said, I thought the final battle was great, and I enjoyed some of the gorier aspects of the fights, too, and it all leads to my favorite part, which is the three-way fight between Cole, Sub-Zero, and… actually I’m not sure if it’s a spoiler or not, but it’s a pretty cool fight that almost makes up for some of the dumber characters introduced earlier on. (LIke that guy with four arms. I know he’s a character in the games, but I didn’t even care enough to look up his name.)

It’s perfectly fine that they decided to go Rated R with the movie since most of the nostalgia for this movie and franchise will be towards older guys, but at times, the CG blood is so hinky it feels like the decision to go R-rated was made well after it was filmed.

Even though I went in with the lowest of expectations, I still found most of Mortal Kombat kinda trite and boring, maybe something I’d appreciate more as a teenager but not so much as a grown adult. But what do you expect for a movie based on a video game that’s just a bunch of “cool fights”?

Rating: 5.5/10

And yet, Demon Slayer could be the surprise breakout of the weekend, considering the theatrical success FUNimation has had with theatrical releases of the My Hero Academia movies into theaters in 2018 and 2020, and the hugely successful Dragon Ball Super: Brolly, which grossed $31 million domestically after a surprise $20.2 million in its first five days in roughly 1,200 movies. In fact, it made $7 million its opening Wednesday in January 2019, and FUNimation is hoping that Demon Slayer will have a similar success by opening it for a single day (Thursday) in IMAX theaters before Mortal Kombat takes over on Friday.

Demon Slayer has already grossed $383.7 million internationally compared to Mortal Kombat’s $10.7 million, and you cannot ignore the huge popularity that anime has seen over the past few decades. In fact, a bunch of screenings for Demon Slayer in NYC have already sold out, although you have to bear in mind that these are 25% capacity theaters. Even so, I still think this can make $4 to 5 million on Thursday and another $7 to 8 million over the weekend, depending on the number of theaters. Yes, it will be quite frontloaded, and I’m not sure what the cap is on theaters and how that will affect how it does over the weekend, but expect a big Thursday and a more moderate weekend but one that might give both Mortal Kombat and Godzilla vs. Kong a run for the top of the box office.

Also hitting theaters before streaming on Netflix (on April 30) is THE MITCHELLS VS. THE MACHINES, the new animated movie produced by Chris Miller and Philip Lord, following their Oscar win for Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. It’s a little weird to open a new animated movies, presumably in select theaters, when such a hugely anticipated animated movie like Demon Slayer is opening, but Netflix won’t

The movie itself is directed by Michael Rianda and Jeff Rowe, and it involves a family named the Mitchells, whose eldest daughter Katie (voiced by Abbi Jacobson) is leaving home for college, so her father (voiced by Danny McBride) decides that he’s going to drive her there and use it as the chance for a cross-country family trip. Meanwhile, it’s set up how the world becomes overrun with robots when a tech giant creates a new personal assistant.

I wasn’t sure whether I’d like this even though I’m generally a fan of all of Lord/Miller’s animated movies including both Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs movies. It took me a little time to get into the family and the general premise. In some ways it reminded me of Edgar Wright’s The World’s End where it’s trying to merge these two disparate genres, but when they actually merge, it just doesn’t work as well as it may have seemed on paper. That worry is soon expunged, because Rianda finds ways to integrate the two ideas over time.

On the trip, the Mitchells run into their perfect family neighbors, the Poseys -- voiced by Krissy Teigen, John Legend and Charlyne Yi -- and you’d think they might be a bigger part of the movie then they actually are. I’m not sure I would have liked doing the family-vs.-family thing so soon after last year’s Croods movie, but I did love the dynamics of the Mitchells being a very relatable imperfect family with Danny McBride being particularly great voicing the family patriarch. It even has a really touching Pixar’s Up moment of Katie’s father watching old home movies of them together when she was younger.

In general, the filmmakers have assembled a pretty amazing voice cast that includes Conan O’Brien, Olivia Colman, Fred Armisen and Beck Bennett. Actually the weirdest voice choice is Katie’s younger brother Aaron, voiced by Rianda himself, and it sounds like a strange older man trying to be a kid, so it doesn’t work as well as others.

What I genuinely liked about Mitchells vs. the Machines is that it doesn’t go out of its way to talk down to overly sensitive kiddies or skimp on the action while also including elements that parents will enjoy as well, and to me, that’s the ideal of a family film.

While some might feel that The Mitchells vs. the Machines is fairly standard animated fare, it ends up being a fun cross between National Lampoon’s Vacation (cleaned up for the kiddies) with Will Smith’s I, Robot, actually, and yet, it somehow does work. It’s a shame that it’s really not getting a theatrical release except to be awards-eligible.

Next, we have two really great movies I saw at Sundance this year and really enjoyed immensely…

So as I mentioned, I first saw Nikole Beckwith’s TOGETHER TOGETHER (Bleecker Street), starring Ed Helms and Patti Harrison, at Sundance, and it was one of my favorite movies there with Helms playing a middle-aged single guy named Matt, who hires the much-younger Anna (Harrison) to be his surrogate, because he wants a baby. It’s a tough relationship thrown together due to each of their respective necessities.

Part of what drives the movie is how different Matt and Anna are, him being quite inappropriate with his suggestions and requests but not really having a working knowledge of female anatomy, pregnancy, delivery etc, but being really eager to raise a child and having the money that Anna clearly does not.

While I was familiar with Helms from The Office, The Hangover, etc. I really didn’t know Patti Harrison at all. Apparently, she’s a stand-up comic who hasn’t done a ton of acting, comedic or otherwise. That’s pretty amazing when you watch this movie and see her dry sardonic wit playing well against Helms’ generally lovable doofus. What I also didn’t realize and frankly, I don’t really see this as something even worth mentioning, is that she’s a trans woman playing a clearly CIS part, and she kills it. I certainly wouldn’t have known nor did it really affect my enjoyment of the movie, yet it still seems like such a brave statement on the part of the director and Harrison herself. The thing is that Harrison isn't just a terrific actress in her own right, but she brings out aspects of Helms that I never thought I would ever possibly see. (If it isn't obvious, I'm not the biggest fan of Helms.)

The movie has a great sense of humor, as it gets the most out of this awkward duo and then throws so many great supporting actors into the cast around them that it’s almost impossible not to enjoy the laughs. There’s the testy Sonogram tech, played by Sufe Bradshaw from Veep, who tries to maintain her composure and bite her tongue, but you can tell she’s having none of it. Others who show up, including Tig Notero, Norah Dunn and Fred Melamed. Just when you least expect it, Anna Conkle from Pen15, shows up as one of those delivery gurus that make the two of them feel even more awkward.

What’s nice is that this never turns into the typical meet cute rom-com that some might be expecting, as Beckwith’s film is more about friendship and companionship and being there for another, and the lack of that romantic spark even as chemistry develops between them is what makes this film so enjoyably unique. Beckwith’s sense of humor combined with her dynamic duo stars makes Together Together the best comedy about pregnancy probably since Knocked Up.

Another great Sundance movie and actually one of my two favorite recent documentaries AND one of the best movies I’ve seen this year is… you know what? I haven’t done this for a while so this is this week’s ���CHOSEN ONE”!! (Fanfare)

(Photo courtesy: Robert Fuhring/Courtesy Sesame Workshop)

Marilyn (Mad Hot Ballroom) Agrilo’s STREET GANG: HOW WE GOT TO SESAME STREET (Screen Media/HBO Documentaries) is a fantastic doc about the long-running and popular PBS kids show that’s every bit as good as Morgan Neville’s Mr. Rogers doc, Won’t You Be My Neighbor? Which was robbed of an Oscar nomination a few years back.

Let me make something clear on the day I’m writing this, April 21, 2021, that this is my favorite movie of the year, the only one I’ve already given a 10/10, and the end of the year might come around, and I have a feeling it will still be my #1.

You see, I was raised a Sesame Street kid. It’s not like I didn’t read or play outside or not get the attention of my parents or family, but there was so much of my happy, young life that I could attribute to my time watching Sesame Street, and when you watch Marily Agrilo’s amazing doc, it all comes rushing back. There is stuff in this movie that I haven’t seen in maybe 50 years but that I clearly remember laughing at, and there’s stuff that got into the mind of a young Ed that influenced my love of humor and music and just outright insanity. Sure, I loved The Muppet Show, too, but it was a different experience, so to watch a movie about the show with all sorts of stuff I had never seen or knew, that’s what makes Street Gang such a brilliant documentary, and easily one of the best we’ll see this year. Of that I have no doubt.

From the very origins of the show with Joan Cooney developing a show that will be entertaining and educational to the kids being plopped down in front of the TV in the ‘60s and ‘70s, so they can learn something, it’s just 1:46 of straight-up wonderment.

Besides getting to see a lot of the beloved actors/characters from the show and many of the surviving players like Carol Spinney aka Big Bird/Oscar, you can see how this show tried to create something that wasn’t just constantly advertising to young minds.

More than anything, the show is a love letter to the bromance between Jim Henson and Frank Oz, and you get to see so many of their bits and outtakes that make their Muppets like Burt and Ernie and Grover and, of course, Kermit, so beloved by kids that even cynical adults like myself would revert childhood just thinking about them. Then on top of that there’s the wonderful music and songs of Christopher Cerf and Joe Raposo and others, songs that would permeate the mainstream populace and be remembered for decades.

The movie is just a tribute to the joy of childhood and learning to love and sing and dance and just have fun and not worry about the world. I’m not sure if kids these days have anything like that.

It also gets quite sad, and I’m not embarrassed to say that in the sequence that covers the death of Mr. Hooper, I was outright bawling, and a few minutes later, when Jim Henson dies in 1990, I completely lost it. That’s how much this show meant to me and to so many people over the decades, and Brava to Ms. Agrilo for creating just the perfect document to everything that Sesame Street brought to so many people’s lives. This is easily the best documentary this year, and woe be to any Academy that doesn’t remember it at year’s end.

The other fantastic doc out this week, though I actually got to see it last year, is Lisa Rovner’s SISTERS WITH TRANSISTORS (Metrograph Pictures), which will play at the Metrograph, both on demand and part of its Digital Live Screenings (available to join for just $5 a month!). This is an endlessly fascinating doc that looks at the women of electronic music and the early days of synthesizers and synthesis and some of the female pioneers. It’s narrated by Laurie Anderson, which couldn’t be the more perfect combination.

The movie covers the likes of Suzanne Cianni; Forbidden Planet composers Louis and Bebe Barron, who created the first all-electronic score for that movie; the amazing Wendy Carlos, who electronically scored one of my favorite movies of all time, Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange; Delia Derbyshire, who was also the subject of Caroline Catz’s short, Delia Derbyshire: The Myths and Legendary Tapes, which tragically, I missed when it premiered at the SXSW Film Festival in March. Derbyshire was also famous for creating the iconic theme to “Doctor Who” while working at the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in the '60s. Others who appear in the movie, either via archival footage or more recent interviews are Pauline Oliveros and Laurie Spiegel, who I was less familiar with.

The point is that as someone who was a fantastic for electronic music and synthesizers from a very early age and for someone who feels he’s very familiar with all angles of music, I learned a lot from watching Rovner’s film, and I enjoyed it just as much a second time, because the footage assembled proves what amazing work these women were doing and rarely if ever getting the credit for what they brought to electronic music, something that still resonates with the kids today who love things like EDM.

An endlessly fascinating film with so much great music and footage, Sisters with Transistors can be watched exclusively through the Metrograph’s Live Screening series, so don’t miss it!

Hitting Shudder this week is Chris Baugh’s BOYS FROM COUNTY HELL (Shudder), which I didn’t get a chance to watch before writing this week’s column, but Shudder in general has been knocking it out of the park with the amazing horror movies it’s been releasing on a weekly basis. This one involves a quarelling father and son on a road who must survive the night when they awaken an ancient Irish vampire.

Also hitting theaters and streamers and digital this week:

THE MARIJUANA CONSPIRACY (Samuel Goldwyn Films)

MY WONDERFUL WANDA (Zeitgeist Films)

WET SEASON (Strand Releasing)

CRESTONE (Utopia)

VANQUISH (Lionsgate)

BLOODTHIRSTY (Brainstorm)

SASQUATCH (Hulu)

SHADOW AND BONE (Netflix)

And that wraps up this week. Next week? No idea… I know there’s stuff coming out but I probably won’t think about it until after THE OSCARS!!!! On Sunday.

#movies #mortalkombat #demonslayer #weekendwarrior #reviews #sisters with transistors #togethertogether #mitchellsvsmachines #streaming

[chichorie]

Hey, your FE:3H fan art is super great! I was actually wondering if you had any bodytype headcanons for any of the characters?

ahhh wow im so glad you think so!!! i’d love to be able to draw everyone on the roster someday, so here’s some of the ways i’d spice everyone up and draw them. this isnt exactly all canon but its my interpretations of the characters.

some spoilers ahead

black eagles:

edelgard is definitely scarred up from the experimentation she went through, but i imagine despite her smaller height she’s pretty muscular. swinging around amyr doesnt seem easy.

normally i’d draw someone like hubert very lanky but i think in his case having a bit of bulk would make him look scarier and more intimidating, which is what he wants, so i’d give him broad shoulders and a wider chest. and i cant decide if he’d have good or pad posture? im leaning on good posture because he’s very dedicated to making edelgard look good. 

caspar is a short king, VERY bulky though.

linhardt is tall, i wouldnt say very lanky but he does have bad posture because he’s always on the verge of falling asleep.

ferdinand is a model noble, so his chest is always puffed out, and he stands very proudly all the time. he just looks very strong.

dorothea is supposed to look like a model, so shes very curvy, and shes very tall too.

bernie is thin and lanky, even though shes pretty tall, probably as a result of the way her father treated her. she looks like she’d fly away in a strong breeze.

petra has a pretty sleek but strong build, since she’s a hunter, the ideal warrior queen image in brigid.

blue lions:

dimitri is big and he pretty much towers over everyone who isnt dedue, i imagine he’s haunched over all the time and his big fluffy cape gives him added Big factor. 

i think dedue is the tallest in the game, and i’d keep his strong, bulky look too because i like the idea that he’s a shield and protector of all his allies. a true gentle giant.

sylvain is hunky and tallish, has a nice chest but skips leg day from time to time.

felix looks pretty small and thin compared to the other guys in the house (not ashe) but hes strong in his own right, it just doesnt really look that way. he’s got strong arms and a good core but his legs are also pretty weak i imagine.

ashe is a TWINK. hes small and thin and unless he goes down a non archer route hes going to stay that way. hes also still got remnants of his troubled, starving past, so he doesn’t bulk up very well. the smallest male blue lion.

mercie is plus sized! shes sweet and warm and i think its perfect for her, especially since she’s a bit older than the others so she doesnt have much growing left to do and her body wont change much more. shes perfect the way she is!

annette is petite, skinny all around but she has a nice silhouette. shes just super cute and easy to pick up.

ingrid is tall and very strong due to her strong work ethic and dedication to training, shes not super ripped because shes usually going to be on a horse or pegasus, but she could knock you down in combat easily. really strong arms.

golden deer:

i can definitely see claude having a bit of pudge in places or being a bit of a hunky bear... or a bearish hunk. no matter what hes very hot. 

hilda is STRONG and has beefy arms but she hides them beneath her sleeves because she wants to look delicate and fragile. even though shes short, do not underestimate this womans muscles. also i think she has the biggest boobs in the game? just an observation that i think is really neat. hilda’s hot.

lorenz is a tall skinny twinkish hunk. but i think most of his chest is attributed to armor he wears to make it seem like hes bigger than he is. 

raphael is the DEFINITION of a bear and a himbo, i dont really need to go over this one, raphael is perfect.

ignatz starts off really twinkish but after the timeskip hes really put in an effort to get stronger, and it shows. he’s got a pretty average body i feel, but its a lot stronger and meatier than he was pre timeskip. and he grew!

leonie is strong, but shes VERY beautiful and people dont really take the time to appreciate how pretty her face and body are. shes a little scarred up from mercenary work but shes got a great build, big boobs, nice thighs that shes showin off, and i love her and you should too. 

marianne is slender, she definitely hides a lot of her body behind her clothes so we don’t really get a look at it, but she’s definitely scared and has bad posture pre timeskip, and has more confidence so she lifts her chin up post timeskip. she’s also pretty average and i dont think much is remarkable about her body. you’d think she’d have a small chest but i think in game her boobs are pretty big? kind of ghastly in general.

lysithea, like edelgard, is scarred up from the experimentation done on her, but unlike edelgard, whose scars i think are more clean and precise from all the time their captors had time to practice and perfect their techniques, lysitheas are from before edelgard’s, so theyre a lot more.. imprecise? experimental? they’re not very pretty and they’re everywhere. but lysithea has always been pretty small, even though she grows a bit post timeskip, shes got a weak, delicate body because shes a glass canon mage and because of her failing health. small chest size, she just looks a little... unwell in general.

i dont really feel the need to go over the church of seiros, but let me know if i should anyway or if you have any of your own headcanons different from mine!!! i’d love to hear any suggestions. :3 thanks so much for asking!!

#anon

[justalittlelitnerd]

Books I’ve Read since November

I have read a decent amount of books since I last consistently posted on this blog so I figured instead of trying to remember everything about those books I would make a summary post. A few of the books I did love enough that I want to write separate, longer posts about them, but the others I just enjoyed and wanted to share this way. Let me know your thoughts on any or all of these titles!

The Wall of Winnipeg and Me by Mariana Zapata 

My roommates are big romance readers and are both big fans of Mariana and recommended her to me. They recommended I start with this one and I think that was a fair recommendation even if it ended up not being my favorite. Basically a good football (american) romance.

Wait for It by Mariana Zapata

I think this one is my favorite Mariana book because of the characters and the boys and just ugh it made my heart melt. If you like a little bit of trauma with your romance (nothing super dark) and putting back together a broken and bruised family this one is for you.

Under Locke by Mariana Zapata

This is a close second to Wait for It and honestly the only reason it’s not first is because I already read the Chaos series by Kristen Ashley and this doesn’t compare to that. If you like bikers and tattoos this is the romance for you.

Kulti by Mariana Zapata

I think I’d have to say this is my least favorite Mariana book (of the ones I read as listed here) and I still loved it, but I didn’t connect as strongly with the characters. If you like soccer and strong women and men who struggle to express their emotions this is the book for you.

We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia

Not gonna lie, I felt a little let down by this book, but I think that was because it was so hyped up I had unrealistic expectations. I think the premise of the book and the world building were spectacular, but the story lost me with the romance between the two main characters because it felt forced and a little out of the blue. I really wanted to support a f/f romance especially between latina characters cause that’s desperately missing from YA (at least in my experience), but this was sudden and felt forced. I think the intention was representation, but the execution runs the risk of appearing like pandering/queerbaiting. I’m going to consider reading the sequel that just came out because I liked the writing and I’m hopeful that once the romance hits its stride it might be better. If you’ve already read the sequel, what are your thoughts?? 

The Right Swipe by Alisha Rai

If you’re like me, you probably appreciate (if not prefer) your romance with strong characters and deeper connections and moments than just falling in love/lust has to offer. If that’s the case, try this out. The Right Swipe features a strong, independent black woman who is at the top of her field (designing apps/tech) and owns her sexuality. There is talk of sexual harassment, online harassment, and the dangers of a professional football career. The diversity of the characters and their backgrounds feels natural.

The Disasters by M.K. England

I’m going to write a separate post for this because I loved it so much, but basically an epic space opera with well-represented, unquestioned, nontraumatic diversity.

You’d Be Mine by Erin Hahn

Not gonna lie I picked this book up thinking it would be a lighthearted country music romance. And to some extent I was right, but there’s also talk of addiction, loss, trauma, mental health, and so much more that I didn’t expect, but were integral to the story.

Love from A to Z by S.K. Ali

I think this book had good representation and a cute romance and strong moments that are worth reading, but I just wasn’t overwhelmed in the way some of the serious moments should have called for.

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

Similar to Love from A to Z I had heard a lot about this book and it sounded good so I picked it up. While I enjoyed it (if I didn’t I wouldn’t have finished it) I didn’t feel the immediate pull to reread it which is my tell-tale sign for a really good book. That being said I would recommend it for those looking for some diversity in their YA and a refreshing story.

Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins

I honestly almost regret finishing this book. There was a moment where I almost stopped because it’s a very light romance and I just didn’t love the main character. I think that has more to say about me and the mood I was in when I picked the book up rather than the book itself though so I wouldn’t write it off if you’re looking for a cute, good-hearted romance.

Serpent & Dove by Shelby Mahurin 

I’m also going to write a separate post for this one because c’mon the book was 500 pages long and was super hyped up and needs it. Basically a great fantasy about witches and witch-hunters in something akin to historical France. Lou is the best kind of main character and will appeal to those who love flawed main characters such as one Kaz Brekker.   

#books #booklr #book blog #lots of ya #young adult #fantasy #romance books #reading

[rankakiu]

Thoughts of the Droid: Alita Battle Angel (2019)

Hello, people of Tumblr! How life treats you? As always, I hope very well. Finally, I had the opportunity to see the movie I most expected from this 2019: Alita Battle Angel

It is another Hollywood effort to adapt a Japanese franchise, being the turn of the series "Hyper Future Vision GUNNM" by the author Yukito Kishiro, which has become over time a reference and classic of the genre of science fiction and Cyberpunk, at the same time having gained the status of cult work. And this time, Hollywood, with the help of James Cameron and Robert Rodriguez have brought us their live-action version, which has given to talk in the middle of the cinema and among fans of anime/manga.

WARNING: NOT SPOILER-FREE. Read at your own risk

Entering already in the review, what did I think about the movie? Short answer: Entertaining, but could give a little more of itself. Now let's analyze the movie in more detail.

Characters: In my opinion, the strongest point of the movie. The interpretations of the actors could not be more accurate and you can see the effort they have put into playing their respective roles. I particularly emphasize the actress Rosa Salazar in her role as Alita and Christoph Waltz as Dr. Dyson Ido. Salazar has done an impeccable job and I, as a spectator, felt that I saw Alita in all her personality and glory. A kind and innocent girl who discovers and marvels at a world that is unknown to her. In this part, they knew how to perfectly balance her surprise and innocence, without Alita looking ignorant or silly. We also have her other side represented perfectly: a lethal soldier who possesses the soul of an entire warrior, with touches of arrogance, whose combat techniques make her a formidable adversary. And whose memories are unlocked little by little making use of their main weapon: the martial art of the Panzer Kunst.

Christoph Waltz, on the other hand, makes a very solid interpretation of Daisuke Ido ... sorry, Dyson Ido, a father figure for Alita. In fact, that aspect pleased me a lot about the movie, which at all times shows an authentic relationship between father and daughter that gets stronger as the story progresses. We see a Dyson Ido, who despite not agreeing with Alita in some circumstances, supports his adopted daughter unconditionally.

I also highlight the actors Keean Johnson and Ed Skrein in their roles of Hugo and Zapan, respectively. They also show that they studied their characters and represented them quite well. We have a Hugo here, who, like his previous incarnations, has the dream of going to Zalem in search of a better life. On behalf of Ed Skrein, he gives us an arrogant and vengeful Zapan, ready to defeat and humiliate Alita.

In general, the rest of the cast works pretty well inside the movie. (By the way, very good detail of those involved in keeping the surprise of Edward Norton as Desty Nova, since seeing him there in the film was a real surprise, and a nice to finish XD).

History: Ironically, this was the weakest point I found in this movie. At first, the story progresses well, but after a few minutes, the story feels rushed, presenting a huge number of characters in a very short period of time, apart from that they explain their characteristics, instead of showing them in the scene on the big screen.

However, I firmly believe that what it plays against was that they tried to make a perfect amalgamation between the first three volumes of the Japanese comic and the two existing OVA’s of the franchise. I recognize that there are scenes of this style that really work, but a good part of them feels that they pass too quickly and does not allow a real conflict between the characters to be generated. In addition, I also believe that Cameron and Rodriguez did such a good job of pleasing the fans, that they almost completely forgot to include more people, that their adaptation was more universal for the entire audience. I understand that in a movie the time is quite limited, but they could make an effort to deliver a more cohesive story. By the way, the violence in the film, although very reduced and soft compared to the original material, is appreciated to see it.

Something that seemed unjustifiable to me in the movie was that they removed all the history of Hugo's past, is essential to understanding his motivations. They kept his dream of wanting to go to Zalem, but you never understand why he wants to go to Zalem. Of course, long before the premiere, I read the volumes of the original Japanese comic, so, even when they missed that part, I understood the reason for Hugo's dream. But someone who approaches the franchise for the first time with this movie will never understand why. Also, you have the scene where Hugo climbs up one of the cables that hold the floating city of Zalem. In the Japanese comic and OVA, you understand that he climbs as a last and desperate alternative to fulfill his dream of belonging to that city. On the other hand, the movie goes up because the hunter-warriors know that he is still alive. Partly it is justified, but it feels forced and taken out of nothing.

As I said above, the story feels rushed and this is more noticeable in the inclusion of Motorball sports scenes, which I would have preferred to have been in the final part of the film and the other two rooms focusing on Alita in her role as hunter-warrior. We have another case, where the final confrontation between Alita and Zapan is hurried and one can barely enjoy the scenes. Almost has no impact on the viewer and to top it off, the change of heart of Chiren, now determined to help Alita feels too forced. It also happens in the case when Zapan loses his face at the hands of Alita, where the scene does not have enough impact to astonish the spectator.

But what intrigues me the most is: how in the end, Alita stays as a Motorball player if practically scenes ago she made rebellious acts against the Factory? Practically entering, dismantling machines, destroying facilities and killing a person (Vector) is enough to put a price on the head of our protagonist. And yet, there you see her at the end very removed from grief and the Factory does not put any reward for her.

But not everything is bad. In favor of the film, I will say that the inclusion of Hugo at the beginning of the story was a success since it allows the romance between Alita and Hugo to unfold naturally. You also feel that in truth chemistry between the actors, which makes their romance more tender and therefore more credible. I highlight two scenes in particular: the first where Hugo teaches Alita to play Motorball and the second where he gives her chocolate to taste for the first time. In the first, they spend more time together and therefore you can feel that their romance is born little by little. It is in the second scene where you see more the innocence of Alita that causes you to die (not literally XD) of tenderness, without forgetting that also this scene has its comic touches well achieved.

It is also fair to mention that the scene of Hugo's death is very emotional and finally we see how Alita is affected by that event. We see her mourn, her sadness, anguish, and despair to witness the death of the man she loved. As a spectator, it moved me a lot.

On the other hand, the justification of Dr. Ido to be a Hunter-Warrior is perfectly raised, since the loss of his biological daughter affected him so much that he decided to make his own justice. In general, it is a very valid reason and the proposal of the film goes further, by presenting an Ido, who after achieving his revenge, did not leave him satisfied, but even worsened his feeling of emptiness. It is quite similar to what the Japanese comic raises originally where Daisuke Ido, to prove the experience of killing, could not leave that profession, being a declared murderer. Something similar also happens with the end of this movie. I will also mention that here it makes more sense that Ido and Chiren have been a couple and their subsequent separation is equally well justified. Here Ido, with Alita, has again the opportunity to return to be a father, and the viewer sympathizes with Ido in that aspect. In general, the scenes that narrate the good doctor Ido's past are brilliantly realized.

If I had to highlight a scene that combines the Japanese comic and the OVA and if it works to perfection, without a doubt it would be the scene of the Bar Kansas and the subsequent fight between Alita and Grewishka. Interestingly, here if you feel a perfect amalgam between both formats and brought to life for the big screen. We have Alita who goes to the Bar Kansas for two reasons: one, seek to prove herself as a warrior hunter, and two get help to stop the evil Grewishka. It turns out to be an impeccable scene, where in spite of giving some events in a different way, it also preserves the essence of both previously mentioned formats (especially the japanese comic). It is here that the arrogant, but charismatic part of Alita is observed, humiliating the other hunter-warriors by telling them the painful truth, accompanied by a beating of epic proportions. On the other hand the sequence of the fight in the bar is very well achieved, reminding us of the fights that occur in the bars of our world XD.

The fight between Alita and Grewishka is the best achieved, having a great intensity in action. It is here where they also took many scenes from the Japanese comic and knew how to transfer them to the film. Here we see an Alita whose inner warrior reappears with more strength than ever, and despite the difference of powers and abilities, she knew how to stand up to her opponent, even when, in a peak scene, her Doll Body is destroyed, Alita never surrendered in the fight. Fortunately she was saved by the help of Hugo, Dr. Ido and the hunter-warrior McTeague. Particularly the scene where Dr. Ido carries the battered body of Alita is moving to see, as one as a spectator feels the affection and paternal care that Ido shows at that time with his adopted daughter, in addition to recalling a classic scene of the Japanese comic . Certainly a maximum point is reached when Dr. Ido rebuilds Alita with the Berserker Body, where he understands and accepts the warrior soul that is inside Alita.

To finish this point, I will say that the scene that I liked the most was precisely the one at the end, where Alita unsheathes her Damascus Blade and points to the sky. We also see Edward Norton in his role as Desty Nova, accepting the challenge of his enemy, a sublimely performed scene, where Alita accepts herself as a warrior, promising the destruction of Nova with a will of steel. Extra points for the design of Nova, where it really looks like its Japanese comic counterpart, without looking like a bad cosplay. In general, Nova's dialogues, along with his brief appearance, left me asking for more of this iconic character.

Visuals and special effects: Simply great. In truth here I recognize the effort they made to present the world of Alita. We see the floating city Zalem in all its corruptive glory, and the Iron City, with its people living as pleasantly as possible, but also presenting their constant problems to survive in an environment too hostile, full of poverty and murder.

The strongest point is the design of Alita and her cybernetic bodies. I still remember the controversy (which fortunately did not happen to major) that generated the fact that Rosa Salazar made her interpretation with the Capture Performance technique and above all, the decision to make the eyes of Alita enormous. To the relief of the majority, that was only a minor detail, since, in the final product, Alita looks pretty good. In all the scenes It looks totally beautiful, besides that, in spite of being a Cyborg, its movements are quite natural and fluid, like those of any other human. The designs of the cyborg bodies are really beautiful, in addition to offering some contrast to differentiate them. We have the Doll Body, whose design is simple, but close up it has ornaments that make it feel empty, in addition to its color palette is warm, ideal to represent the innocence and kindness of Alita. On the other side, we have the Berserker Body, whose design is more elaborate, but not saturated. And their colors are quite indicated to represent their warrior side.

Action: There is not much I can say, except that it is really very good and very well done. It's a frenetic action, but you can clearly see the fast movements of the characters. Once again I highlight Alita, whose movements are not only fluid, but also note that these movements, when attacking, dodging, pirouetting in the air, kicking and punching, you notice a huge physical force in her attacks and above all, her movements are more by instinct, as would be expected of her character, who instinctively recalls her training in the Panzer Kunst. The Motorball scenes are fast, you feel the intensity of the sport and in general, it feels like in its counterpart of the Japanese comic: a sport full of adrenaline and without mercy. The action does not disappoint.

In conclusion, Alita Battle Angel is a decent and acceptable film and adaptation. It is entertaining to watch and one can get to enjoy the experience. However, one also feels that the film had more potential, which unfortunately did not come to fruition at all. This film would recommend it more to Die-Hard fans of Alita or as a way to have a good time to get rid of boredom. For my part, I will say that this movie has become a guilty pleasure. No doubt I would see it again, but with certain reservations. For now, I give this movie 2.5 out of 5 Damascus Blades.

I'll finish my review by saying this: In part, I'm glad to see Hollywood keep trying to make adaptations of foreign franchises. As far as I can see, this industry is taking more seriously to rely on the source material and represent it in the best way they can, in addition to dealing with more some respect to the franchises. In fact, they still have a way to go, but I feel that they have already taken the right path. It is only a matter of time before they finally deliver an adaptation that is universally acclaimed. I count that it will be like this in the future.

Greetings

Rankakiu

Edit: I added my thoughts on two more scenes of the movie. So, I feel that my review is at last complete.

#hyper future vision gunnm #alitabattleangel #alita battle angel #live action #rosa salazar #keean johnson #christoph waltz #ed skrein #movie #adaptation #review #opinion #thoughts #thoughts of the droid #rankakiu

[goghlaxyphotos]

Visual Exercise 3 - Great Inspiration

The next assignment we got - ‘Great Inspiration’, was about recreating images by recognized photographers, and this is why it was called that way. 

By first look, copying an image of a chair or just a single subject on a plain background seems easy peasy. BUT.

 From the first trial I painfully discovered it is terribly hard to imitate a picture with all the details, lights and shadows, position...  😅 I feel it is almost impossible to copy the exact way the original photo was taken. So, during this project I felt overwhelmed, stuck, desparate, confused... but after all I kept on trying and will keep on exploring photographers’ techniques because thus I learn a lot about the perspectives of light, the importance of it and what results its specific use and the arrangement, positioning and representation of an object can bring. In fact, during the process of trying to imitate pictures I myself created a few quite fair captures that may not be as similar to the originals but look good on their own.

 All in all, in a few posts I will share with you all my inspirations for work on the project and for further work I will keep on developing. I will also pluck up my courage to post some unsuccessful trials of the copycat and some separate photographs I have been taking while I have not been posting.

Here is a list of the photographers I researched before I started the recreation process. They were quite a lot and I collected a huge folder of photographs I desired to try redoing or just loved much and wanted to keep for my ‘ideas’ book. Quite a few of those grand artists (expectedly) just could not suit my capabilities of recreating such complicated images, which require skill, specific conditions, time and materials I could not afford.

Alexey Titarenko - ghostly vibes, ideas for creative use of exposures

Alma Haser - similar to Sylwia Kowalczyk’s work with crushed/folded paper and cut outs.

André Kertész - diverse work, different styles - new topographics, portraiture..

Arnold Newman

Bill Brandt

Cindy Sherman

Dan Dubowitz

David Hockney - at first I thought ‘oh, I like making collages, why not try redoing one of these joiners’... then I realized that these specific collages demand so much time and arrangement I could not do it before the deadline😅

Edward Weston - I tried recreating his nude portraits. Poses and shadows were extremely difficult. Still I am thinking of sharing some of the results.

Eugenio Recuenco

Fay Godwin

Gerhard Richter - paintings and photographs

Gregory Crewdson

Hannah Starkey

Henri Cartier-Bresson

Idris Khan

Irving Penn - new in my favourites. 

Johannes Vermeer

Pablo Zuleta Zahr - super originial and atypical work,  ✔️ to try list

Richard Kalvar - loved the humour; found works that will be useful for another project

Rineke Dijkstra

Robert Mapplethorpe - his work looked approachable because I had a male model available, but is also quite specific in terms of lighting and posing, only a professional could do it

Sarah Ann Loreth - love at first sight. Just clicked with my taste of images and love to fire. Her style is visible, noticable and memorable.

Sohrab Hura - genuinely pure and intriguing narrative photographer. Since she was one of the last artists I researched, I kept in mind continuing reading and reviewing her exhibitions.

Sugimoto - liked the abstract approach

Sylwia Kowalczyk - honestly, one of the strongest inspirations I found during this research in terms of style and type of art. I love constructed images. I could not manage to recreate one of hers for the project but started exploring the way I can do it and will soon finish a work inspired by this amazing woman.

Tacita Dean - unique use of film, yet I am not familiar how to work with it and could not include it in the project

Tom Hunter - loved his ‘Swan Songs’ 

Viveca Koh

William Eggleston

So, even though I could not recreate every artist’s image I definitely appreciated and enjoyed researching their art and saved a lot of ideas in my ‘ideas’ book to try. :) In fact, quite a few of them I will look up to again when it’s time for the final project (portraiture, I will hint nothing more:)). So research is always useful, especially a thorough one and followed by practice.  📸

The first photograph I tried copying was Gerhard Richter’s küchenstuhl (kitchen chair). I had to start from somewhere so I thought ‘okay, I have a chair and a wall, I can try this’. Yes, but no as we say in Bulgaria. I had the original picture printed so that I could look up to it and adjust the light and the angles. Yet, as I did it on my own it was difficult holding the source of light (flash), a reflector (to darken the floor), and the camera all by myself. I took about a hundred pictures, realizing a new thing with every other photo taken: at first I hadn’t noticed the chair should be captured a little from the side. Then I saw the floor should be dark and there should be hardly any shadows on it, and thus I kept on noticing details I had to pay attention to. I tried capturing this photo with daylight (from the window) and with curtains shut (with flash). Anyways, when I saw the pictures on my laptop I realized I’ve made too many mistakes and knowing that I should not fix them on Photoshop, I decided to redo the photoshoot. The second time I had stronger daylight available and could adjust the position of the chair so that I got the right shadows; I took a series with the flash again in order to compare them on the laptop which has come out closer to the original and after all I do not remember which case was the most successful one.

An interesting story behind this first copycat was that initially I chose to do it because I wanted to recreate a painting. Then after recreating it I researched the picture and its artist (G. Richter) more deeply and found out there was a photograph by which the painting was made. And pleasantly surprising, in the photograph there was a similar column on the right of the chair just like in mine (and initially I worried about it being there). So one more time, research turns out quite useful.

(second row, last photograph) ⬇

 The choice of picture for the second recreation was induced by my inspiration from the photographer who made it and the way the content is presented. I became a huge fan of Robert Mapplethorpe throughout this project, I enjoy his style very much and had quite a lot of his pictures in the recreation list. What drew me in to this exact photograph of his were the highlights and the way this part of the body, which is my favourite, is captured. I love looking at necks, jawbones, cheekbones - they are such an expressive part of a person’s look. And I think in this Mapplethorpe’s photograph they are depicted and emphasized through the shadows and highlights. The contrast, which I had problem with, plays a big role in the overall look of this image. When I printed mine it appeared flat, so I needed to strengthen the contrast between the whites and the blacks. So, if I am to recreate this picture again, I will use more sources of light to highlight the specific parts of the face and the neck. Overall, I am happy with the composition of my copy - I think this is the feature I’ve nailed in this recreation mostly.

The next photograph also originates from Robert Mapplethorpe’s collection -  Pictures/Self Portrait, 1977. Simple, and yet I had to recreate it twice because the first time I thought I have got the shadow right but in fact I had not. ➖ What I think I did not nail in this recreation: the position of the arm (left), the smooth edges of shadow and the small details highlighted on the hand (which can actually depend on the different body/hand). ➕ What I probably nailed: shirt, position of hand according to paper, text on paper, shape of shadow, angle of shoot.

All in all, I loved the simplicity in this picture and the way it clearly delivers a message: ‘Pictures.’. It may wrap up a person’s life, one’s hobby, passion, vision, anything. It makes you think. And the other version of this photograph kind of presents another side of the narrative, where the clothing plays a significant role in the reading of the picture. (shirt and a wrist watch (business) -> rocker gloves and a metal bracelet (rebel)). Everyone can be an artist.

  Last but not least, I chose to recreate a picture of Sohrab Hura’s ‘Life is Everywhere’ project. It grabbed me the moment I saw it because it radiates some kind of magic, an honour, the way the photograph is hold. And I love the idea of a photo inside the photo - it somehow reveals the meaning of the images or people’s attitude towards them. 

As long as I understood from Hura’s website, the story hidden behind this image of a hand holding a probably old photograph is about the mother of the photographer, who struggled with paranoid schizophrenia. If I have got it wrong about the picture at least I know it is from her work ‘Life is Everywhere’ that is inspired exactly by this tragedy in her life. The disease is not the reason why I wanted to recreate this image with the picture of my mother, thankfully. One reason is because I had her pocket picture I keep in my wallet and wanted to include her in my project. Reading the story, I found even more motivation and connection between the original and my recreation, so I was sure I was going to do it. Hura’s mother’s disease was believed to be caused by the break up with the father of the photographer. My mother went through a similar experience I am not going to elaborate on but I could relate to the story, excluding the severe psychologic disorder caused. Including her picture in my projects, holding it gently, honourably, I want to express my awe and admiration at her endurance and strong personality. She is my idol and I want to show it, so this is my interpretation of this copycat.

In terms of technical execution, I used a plain white wall as a background and had to move the hand away from it so that no shadow would appear on it. The hand was lit from above and a little on the right to achieve those highlights. I did not manage to get all the shadows and dark areas, but I think it is partially due to the lack of hair. I used a camera filter to get the vignette edges but they appeared a little too flat so obviously I had to strengthen them to achieve a similar look to the original.

In a nutshell, this project was a whole new experience to me which I did not expect to be so difficult for realization but after all I am happy with everything I learnt as for techniques, filters, lighting, photographers. I enriched my creativity and filled my ‘ideas’ book, doing my research, and thus have helped my next projects as well. Also I am glad I will have material to work on after this project is over and will now look at light in a different way and think more - how is this shadow achieved? where is this object lit from?...

🔦💡🕯📸🤔

💫📍📒

#photography #project #photography project #photography course #undergraduate #unilife #assignments #visual art #visual exercise #photograph #Famous Photographers #Gerhard Richter #Robert Mapplethorpe #Sohrab Hura #sylwia kowalczyk #art #improve #motivation #inspiration

[theshadowslightproject]

First, if you are taking the time to read all of this, thank you so, so much. That honestly means a lot. If you don't know what this is about however, please take a moment to look at the post on my profile: “The Shadow's Light: Fan Project Reveal.”

Yesterday I revealed   my fan-project, “The Shadow's Light.” I was a bit too vague and confusing with info and, because of this, I think it didn't garner as much attention as I thought it would (at least compared to other posts I've put here on this platform). I felt that I should probably clarify a bit more, so I've gone into a bit more detail and even put in a summary of what exactly this story is going to be.

“

The Shadow's Light,” is a crossover visual drama/animatic project that tells the story of a new Purple Dragon; a girl who, since her birth,has struggled with the unnatural element of Aether. Being too powerful to control, its dark magics have consumed her over and over again, each time causing chaos to those around her. Because of this, she's been heavily feared throughout the Dragon Realms, with many believing her to be another Dark Master, not the bringer of peace the Purple Dragons before her have been. Time after time, she tried toprove her good nature and make up for the destruction she'd caused. But after another accident where she'd nearly ended the lives of those who'd raised her, the Elemental Guardians, she ran away, completely vanishing from the Realms.

After her disappearance, the Dark Armies – a legion of those tainted by Dark Aether who follow and seek to free the Dark Master – rose out of hiding and began to claim to Realms. They conquered kingdoms, enslaved the innocent, and stole the souls of many, entrapping them within red spirit gems. Over the years, they have gathered a vast hoard of souls, hoping to use their essence to freethe Dark Master on the Night of Eternal Darkness. As the dreaded night draws closer, the people of the Realms are losing hope.

In the last post, I mentioned this would be a retelling of TLoS. While that is at least half true - mainly for the events from TLoS: The Eternal Night and Dawn of the Dragon – a New Beginning is being almost completely omitted and replaced, with only a few aspects being borrowed from the story of that game. As I've said before, this is no longer Spyro's story, and a New beginning pretty much tells Spyro's... well, beginning.

Manyof the same characters from all three games will be returning, including the four guardians, Cynder, Gaul, Hunter, the Chronicler, etc. But, I will also be adding new characters; some good, some evil. There will even be a fifth guardian added to the roster, who acts as the Guardian of Wind. World building has also been massively expanded, with added realms (some even coming from the first three Spyro games),extensions on magic and the use of gems (such as how they can heal,but also weaken a dragon), different dragon types and cultures, etc.

Remember when I mentioned the word “crossover?”. Yes, this also acts as a crossover with another property. It will not just be TLoS, but it will strongly focus on TLoS. I know to some, the idea of crossovers can set them off. But I ask you to please give this project a chance despite this. It is not crossing over just for the sake of crossing over. This property plays an important role in the story and is an essential part to the main character's development and growth. I'm still not going to reveal what that property is just yet (I want it to be a bit of a surprise), but it will be hinted at and revealed in the coming updates.

I plan to make each episode of this series around 20 to 30 minutes. I'm expecting this to be ongoing for a bit, with maybe ten or so episodes being made. I can't say for certain right now. Also, while I am not recruiting right this moment, if you are interested in possibly voice acting for this project, feel free to leave me a pm with an example of your work. It can be for a particular character from TLoS with lines from the games, lines you come up with, or, even, just a random example from any other project you've voiced for. Just show me what you've got, and I may get back in touch with you once I do start recruiting.

Again,if you took the time to read all this, thank you, thank you, thank you! I know it was a lot. I'd also really appreciate it if you could spread the word about this somehow. I really want this to get out there and reach as many people as possible. This is something I've been working on for a very long time now and its very important to me.

Also, as a little bonus, I’ve included the first page of my story board for the first episode. Its not much, its mainly just an establishing shot, but its just a tiny something to show you all.

Hope you have a great day.

#spyro the dragon #spyro #spyro the purple dragon #dark spyro #spyro fanart #fanart #legend of spyro #playstation

[ladyiceflame-blog]

Chapter Seven: Playing with Ice Fire

Naruto had devoured three grilled fish, a bowl of natto, three bowls of miso soup, and was on his second bowl of steamed rice by the time Kakashi emerged from their shared tent.  And although he’d hardly thought it possible, his sensei’s lone, exposed eye looked more sullen than ever, as he took his seat at Konoha’s outdoor breakfast table. Perhaps he should have let him snuggle him a little more before panicking... Beyond the sheltering trees that ringed this clearing, the sound of deep drums, sonorous horns, stringed instruments, and good-natured commotion drifted into their camp.  Kakashi recognized this music.  Had it followed him from dreams into the waking world?  It seemed to be emanating from the small lake in the northeast of the grounds. “Good morning, Kakashi!” Kurenai greeted, obviously in higher spirits than he was.  “You were out rather late last night.  Did you find another obscure Shimogakuran sport to dominate?” she asked, sipping her tea. “No,” he returned numbly, as a bowl of miso and a plate of grilled salmon were set before him.  “But I did find a small hot spring bath house, just a little east of here, run by some farmers.” “Really?” his fellow jonin smiled brightly.  “I might have to steal Sakura and Hinata for a little ‘Girl Time,’ before the ceremony.  We need to look our best for the Lady Ice Flame, after all...” “I would like the chance to wash my hair properly,” Sakura admitted.  “Maybe have one of you pin it up in a nicer style.  I wish I’d brought something better to wear...” “Cleanliness is most appreciated,” Hiruzen began, “But please keep in mind that we are here to provide security, not to indulge our personal vanities.  But the Shimokhan and the Heron Sage-Priestess are due to arrive today, so do look your best.” “Lady Ice Flame’s parents?” Hinata asked. “Yes,” Hiruzen smiled.  “Her mother is renowned for her serenity and grace.  Her father...his bravery and loyalty.  They are both dear friends of mine whom I rarely get to see anymore.” “Well,” Kiba began, feeding his ninken the head and tail of his salmon portion, “Akamaru and I will be taking our baths in the lake.  Cold water sharpens the senses...clears the head!” Kakashi tried to suppress a shudder, as he opened his Icha-Icha Paradise novel to shield his mouth as he ate.  “You’re not alone in that belief, but I am not among them.” “You might be a fan of the Shimogakuran purification ritual then, Kiba,” Hiruzen began, his crinkled face brightening with a smile, born of some remembered amusement. “What is that?” the Inuzuka asked. “An ancient rite of deep, soulful cleansing that I had the honor of participating in–only once, with Ryuumaru Yaseiarashi himself, many years ago.  It is a serious test of one’s stamina, meant for only those of the strongest mettle.” “Then count me in, Old Man Hokage!” Naruto exclaimed.  “Where do I sign up?” “Hey!” Kiba commandeered, “Take a number, Uzumaki!  I get to go first!” “You don’t even know what it involves yet, Kiba,” Shino cautioned. “Doesn’t matter!” Kiba riposted. “I doubt anyone will be partaking anytime soon, being as how there is no snow,” Hiruzen chucked at the genin’s eagerness.  “But Shimogakurans are known for their resourcefulness.  If I hear otherwise, I’ll be sure to let you both know about it.” “–Wait a minute....” Naruto looked suddenly sheepish, “Did you say, ‘snow’?” “I did,” the Hokage smiled.  “You can’t have a Shimogakuran Sweat Lodge without it.  Still interested...?” “Yes!” Kiba exclaimed.  Akamaru gave a small whine. “Very well,” Hiruzen continued.  “You go into a cedar-paneled sauna room, usually as a group, and settle into meditation, breathing in the heady vapors created by various herbs that have been added.  Then, someone gets it in their head to start smacking you with a birch branch. Then  you return the favor, until nearly everyone is about to pass out from the heat and exertion.  Then someone opens the door, you all run outside and roll in the snow until you feel the need to warm back up by returning to the sauna, and do it all over again, and again, and again, until exhausted.  Once was enough for me.” “That’s madness...” Sasuke opined, picking at his fish. “I’ve heard that drinking heavily helps out immensely,” Sarutobi chuckled. “So, this isn’t a ‘family event’...?” Kurenai broached. “On the contrary, kids often attend their parents in these things.  They just don’t drink.” the Hokage answered.  “Little Lady Ice Flame was particularly enamored of chasing around her parents and brother...and anyone else with a birch switch...” “Wait...” Kakashi paused in his eating and replaced his mask, “She has a brother?” Hiruzen was struck solemn for a moment.  “Had.  He is no longer of this world.  I thought you knew this, Kakashi.” “How could I know this?” Kakashi demanded.   “Because you were in Shimogakure the night he died.  The night Miriyume’s Renkingen became active.” All eyes were fixed on Kakashi now, and he was at a complete loss for words or even thoughts.  What was Hiruzen saying?!? The Hokage sighed heavily.  “I can see by your expression that this is news to you, which I must admit, puzzles me, but I will try to explain as best, and as quickly as I can.  And please, do not breathe a word of this to any Shimogakuran, as speaking of dead, or misfortune, is believed to be an ill omen.  And this pain, in particular, runs deep: Miriyume-sama is the second child born to the Shimokhan, Ryuumaru Yaseiarashi, and the Heron Sage-Priestess, Renara.  The first was Ryuuyuki, the first to possess the Renkingen in over one hundred and fifty years.  It can only manifest in those whose blood can be traced to both Hagoromo and Hamura, and has access to incredible amounts of chakra. Its power allowed him to become one of the rarest classes of shinobi; the reviver-type, and the most powerful oni-taiji I’ve ever known.” “A demon-hunter?!” Kakashi gasped.  “Like that North Wind character?” “He was that North Wind character,” the Hokage clarified gravely.  “Did you ever meet him?” “No,” Kakashi bowed his head in respect.  He had heard stories of this man all his life.  Sakumo had raved about seeing the Tiger-Sage in action a couple of times.  He had compared his grace to that of the wind over the barley field. This had been her brother?!?  “But my father spoke of him.  He admired his sword technique.” “Ryuumaru traveled far and wide, sealing many demons, and strengthening ties with many lands in his short life-span.  He was virtuous, strong, clever, and a source of great pride for his family, but perhaps none so much as for his sister.  She clung to him so fiercely, and deeply resented his absences.  He was her best teacher.  From him, she learned swordplay, fuinjutsu, senjutsu....and a charming generosity with her overflow chakra.  They were both blessed with such magnetic natures.  You couldn’t help but fall in love with them.  And his cool demeanor was the perfect compliment to her fiery temperament.” Sasuke suddenly looked more interested. “I’m not certain of all the details myself, but the famed North Wind met his end somewhere in the Land of Hot Water, very near the same time as the mission that led you to Shimogakure, Kakashi.   Being a sage trained at the Cat Fortress, his personal summon, Prince Tosho, relayed the news of his passing to his family.  And that’s when Miriyume’s own Renkingen was activated, and she, in keeping with her father’s side’s engendered curse, went berserk.” “Is the Alchemist’s Eye a dojutsu that is linked with one’s emotional state, like the Sharingan?” Sasuke asked. “It certainly seems that way,” the Hokage continued.  “Ryuuyuki’s awakened while protecting Miriyume.”  He paused a moment, and cleared his throat. “In an explosion of suddenly-gained power, she put half the village into a chakra-coma that lasted an entire day.  Two days later, she was finally tracked to the ruin of an ancient, infernal temple.  She was covered in blood, ashes, and quite mad; utterly transformed under the watchful and concerned eye of the storm kami that adopted her in her own senjutsu training, and Prince Tosho, who had led her there.  According to North Wind’s famed white tiger, she had, ‘finished what Ryuuyuki had begun’.” “It took her mother nearly a season to bring her back to some sense of sanity, and the instruction of a kami, and the memories of a lost brother, to get a handle on her newly emerged dojutsu.  Her life’s path had taken a new turn, as she took on the mantle that Ryuuyuki had left behind.  She was no longer merely the storm sage-priestess who had befriended a minor god, she was now the Lady Ice Flame who had sundered an unholy temple at the heart of a mountain with a frightening new jutsu.  It was a dark time for Shimogakure, generally referred to as ‘The Year of Unspoken Hell’.” “So that’s how I lost track of—“ Kakashi blurted aloud, before stopping abruptly. “Lost track of what?” Sakura asked. “Nothing,” he amended, hiding behind his book again. “You know, Kakashi-san,” Kurenai smiled sweetly, “That is a very annoying habit you have.” “I can’t help it,” he returned flippantly, “I’m addicted to these books...” Naruto growled his frustration at his teacher’s lack of candor.  “Urrrh...Kaka-sensei said he met Priestess Ice Flame a long time ago, in Shimogakure!  But he thought she died, so seeing her here is messing with his already messed-up head!” “Naruto!” Sakura scolded, but ‘Inner Sakura’ thanked. Naruto chuckled nervously, as he regarded his teacher’s narrowed eye, “Well, it’s the truth!” “You foun– saw her back then, Kakashi?” Hiruzen asked, a mysterious light dawning in his wizened eyes.  Kakashi’s odd behavior since arriving was starting to make much more sense.  “Was she injured in the collection of that missing-nin?” Kakashi gave a quick bark of laughter at the unintentional absurdity of the question: “Heh, not at all.” “Then why did you think that she died?” Sarutobi pressed. “Because I went back to....formally apologize to her for the....trouble, and damage we had caused in carrying out our mission,” Kakashi answered.  “And I was told that I wasn’t allowed to say her name anymore, and pointed to a...an ash-stained pyre-stone...” The memory of that sooty, granite marker, surrounded by hundreds of white lanterns and teary-eyed mourners still sent a cold chill up his spine. “I can understand your confusion now,” the Hokage returned.  “Shimogakurans do not speak of the recently deceased as a rule of etiquette.  But they extend this taboo to the grievously injured, as well.  It has led to much aggravation in the past.” <<And since when did you ever feel the need to ‘apologize’ for Team Ro’s actions, Kakashi?>> the Hokage silently wondered.  It seemed that Ryuumaru’s ‘little angel’ had remelted Kakashi’s icy heart back then, too, huh?  And she still appeared to be holding a light out to his personal darkness.  Was fate so intent on tying these two together? The next two days just got much more interesting.... A sudden, clumsy, panicked clamber in the nearby trees spared Kakashi further investigation into his past associations.  A large swarthy skinned man, dressed in Shimogakuran body armor, was out of breath and on the run. Matsuko, it so happened.  He paused in his harried flight to rest his hands on his knees, and regulate his breath.  On seeing the table full of people, he waved a quick greeting before being bodily tackled by a dark-garbed missile, trailing a wild mane of orange-and-scarlet hair. “You’re out of bounds, Mat-kun!” Miriyume gleefully informed, as she perched her full weight between his broad shoulders on his prone form.  “Go back and face the penalty!” “Did you see what those farm kids did to Hisao?!” Matsuko quailed, squirming to extract himself from under her, not insignificant, buxom weight. “Well, he shouldn’t have been sitting there!  And it just took a little of our Winter Whiskey to bring him back round again....” she reassured, as Gekido and Aoseishin joined them. “Ha-ha!” Gekido chortled.  “Did someone’s famous courage go running off?” “I believe he caught it,” Miriyume smiled, as she helped her team mate to stand.  She then became aware of their audience. “Oh, hello!” she greeted, smoothing down her ruffled garments, as a blush bloomed along her cheeks.  “I didn’t see you there...” “Look what your cowardliness has brought!” Gekido intoned in his most dire-sounding sarcasm, and slapped Matsuko on the back of his helmet.  Matsuko retaliated with a simple punch to the shoulder, which sent the smaller man reeling, which set them to scrapping.  Aoseishin joined in the benign fray. “This is the Wandering Lights Brigade?” Sasuke smirked.  Sakura scowled at him. “Hard to believe, huh?” Miriyume acknowledged, as she approached their end of their table, abandoning her team mates to their regularly scheduled scuffle.  “Things have been a bit slow, in regards to missions, lately...” biting her lower lip in the most adorable way, as her eyes glanced at all the faces gathered.  Her eyes lingered on Kakashi a bit longer than the rest. Shino stood to face the noted kunoichi, and gave a polite bow.  “Your team is an inspiration to us all, for your genuine friendship and dedication to one another.  It is my sincerest hope to achieve a similar rapport with my own team mates.” The sound of the scuffle behind them lent an element of comical absurdity to Shino’s words. “You’ll get there, it just takes patience...and an occasional first-aid kit,” Miriyume smiled, regarding her companions over her shoulder.  “Good morning, Hokage-sama,” she bowed in respect to her Father’s friend. “Would your august company care to join us in our humble breakfast?” Hiruzen offered. “What are you having?” Gekido asked, pausing in mid-punch. “Miso....fish....tea...sticky rice...” Kurenai answered. “I’ll pass on the sticky rice, but the rest sounds good,” Matsuko answered, dumping his friend in the flattened grass.  Miriyume was looking all over the place, as if searching for something. “Is this everyone from Konohagakure?” she asked. “I believe so, my Lady,” Hiruzen returned.  “Is there someone you’re seeking in particular?” “You wouldn’t know a ‘Kaharu,’ by chance, would you?” Miriyume asked, as she was handed a cup of tea by one of the cooking-nin. Kakashi choked on a bit of his fish, and turned away for a moment to clean his face. “I know of a ‘Ko’ haru, but she is still in the Village Hidden in the Leaves, to my knowledge.  She doesn’t like traveling too far from there, as one of our Elders,” Hiruzen supplied. “An Elder?!” Gekido echoed, as he joined the two others at the table’s end.  He then turned to Miriyume: “You said she was a pretty, smut-reading kunoichi!” Kakashi quickly hid his book. “What gives?!” Gekido demanded of his team mate. “Clearly, we are not talking about the same person,” Miriyume quipped back.  “The woman I encountered last night–and may have...unintentionally given hypothermia to–was no older than the lady here,” indicating Kurenai. “Well, this one’s pretty, too,” Matsuko smiled. Kurenai blushed. “Why do you think this ‘Kaharu’ would be here?” Sakura asked. “She said she was a teacher from Konoha....” Miriyume answered, sipping her tea. “There are many who would claim such a thing, if they felt the need to impress someone,” Kakashi offered, crossing his arms behind his head, and leaning back.  “She was probably just some star-struck farm girl...” “I’m hardly that glamourous,” Miriyume countered. “I think you are, Lady Sage-Priestess!” Naruto testified, slapping the table for emphasis. “No, really, she’s not,” Gekido interjected. Miriyume tossed the last swallow of her tea in the Inuzuka’s direction. “Anyway, Camp Shimogakure is having an extended breakfast by the lakeside, so we can play ‘Kraken’.  You’re welcome to join us,” she smiled. “What....what is...’Kraken’?” Hinata shyly asked. “Its kind of like ‘playing ninja,’ only on water,” Matsuko answered.  “Its an excellent exercise in chakra control.” “Then I’m all for it,” Kakashi decided, standing up.  “Climbing trees without hands is probably getting dull for my three, eh?” “It was never that exciting to begin with,” Naruto muttered, causing Gekido to chuckle as the genin took a spot between him and Miriyume.  The Lady Ice Flame placed a hand on his shoulder.  There was something so...familiar about this kid.  Something comforting... “This will get your blood pumping,” she smiled conspiratorially, as Sasuke and Sakura also stood. “Can I go, too, Kurenai-sensei?” Kiba pleaded.  He was wanting any opportunity to hang out with the foreign Inuzuka. “I’ll keep my eye on him,” Kakashi promised. “Very well.  Just don’t come back smelling like ‘wet dog’!” Kurenai allowed. As they made their way to the lake, Hiruzen chuckled: “May the gods themselves preserve her radiant light.”

Kakashi took a moment to observe the individual dynamics of the Wandering Lights Brigade, as they led the way to the lake. Matsuko was a serene, formidable warrior, walking with an easy, sedate stride.  He had powerful muscles, and a strong build, yet he projected a supreme sense of calm, even when engaged in combat.  Kohai had been a crude brute.  This man was a tranquil giant. Gekido was a polar opposite of this.  Not much taller than Miriyume, with a build closer to his own.  He seemed to be constantly wound-up; putting an extra bounce in every step, and an urgent tone in every word.  This seemed to be a common trait amongst those of the Inuzuka clan, whatever part of the world they came from.  His ninken seemed slightly calmer in nature, as he romped ahead of them all with Akamaru.  Aoseishin was doing an excellent job of playing with a younger puppy; mindful of his superior strength, and stoically suffering the nips and pounces of his canine fellow for the sake of social interaction. And Miriyume...?  Where to start?  Every moment he spent in her presence, he studied every movement, every aspect.  She was grace, yet she was also audacity.  She had the soft, womanly curves of a life of leisure, but it only belied the solid strength of her broad shoulders, her powerful legs.  And her chakra....  Even without the benefit of his Sharingan, he would sense it.  It captivated him.  Kept bringing him back to a place and time before the world had become so dark and dreary. And despite being denied the privilege of her association, he felt a deep rapport with her.  It was a mysterious connection that went beyond anything else he’d ever known.  Was it the ‘magnetic nature’ that the Hokage had spoken of just now?  She did seem to attract and keep people under a kind of unconscious charm... Her team mates were the clearest example of this: The bond they shared seemed as thick as blood.  He could see it in the way they looked at her; the sense of joy and strength that they gained in each other’s company.  She wasn’t some bridge between the gulf of the other two.  She was the light that inspired them.  How he yearned to be a fraction of that kind of light for her... This is what a shinobi team needed to be, he realized. The music became louder as they crested the gentle hill that dropped down to the lake.  A water-jutsu by the look of it, clung to its surface.  Musicians (did they ever get a rest?) were gathered together next to a half dozen picnic blankets, and a team of cooking-nin who fed anyone who walked up, be they shinobi or simple farmer.  Many seemed to be content with relaxing and keeping tabs on the mysterious game on the lake, which was deduced by the sounds of splashes, shrieks and laughter. “Kaka-sensei?” Sakura’s voice betrayed anxiety.  “What are the rules of this ‘kraken’ game, exactly?” “Stay on the surface of the lake, and try not to get...’eaten’!” Gekido teased, as he gave her a quick clutch on her shoulders, causing her to squeal a little. “‘Eaten’?!?” Naruto echoed in a worried tone. “Not literally,” Matsuko laughed, as they continued down the hill.  “The ‘kraken’ are shinobi swimming below who will try to drag you under, or ‘eat you’.  Miriyume-chan learned of this game in Kirigakure, and finds every chance she can to torment me with it.” “Oh, Mat-kun...” Miriyume sighed happily, giving him an affectionate side hug as they walked together, “You make such a wonderful kraken!”  She then turned to Sakura.  “If you’re ‘eaten,’ you become a kraken, and you get to attack with the others until only one person is left on the surface.  And that’s the winner.” “At least let me strip down a little,” Matsuko haggled, “This armor takes forever to dry.” “A little lightning-drying can speed that up,” Miriyume smiled, willing a few sparks to dance across the upturned palm of her hand. “Sparkler left scorch marks last time!” Matsuko replied sternly, using her nickname. “Very well, BE a shameless exhibitionist....” Miriyume teased. “Can I be one, too?” Gekido asked. “Since when have you required my permission?” “Whoo-hoo!” Gekido hooted.  “Race you there, Earthquake!” and ran off with his ninken.  Kiba and Akamaru followed behind.  Matsuko, in no particular hurry,  jogged dutifully on their heels. “Well,” Miriyume fell back to walk with those who remained, “There goes a large dose of mayhem.” Kakashi regarded her with a hidden smirk and a side-long glance as she walked beside him.  “‘Sparkler’...?” “It’s what they call me, half the time,” she sighed.  “Because of the oddness of my lightning affinity, I’m guessing...” “Do they....really strip down?” Kakashi asked. “Down to boxers, minimum,” she reassured.  “At least until nightfall.  Then all bets are off.”  Her eyes flashed with a mischievous glint.  “But most people don’t bother, as clothes need washing, too.” “I prefer using a washing machine,” Kakashi quipped. “I prefer using a water jutsu, a rasengan, and some soap,” Miriyume replied. “Not everyone can be as freewheeling with their chakra as you can,” Kakashi countered. “They can while I’m around...or, hadn’t you noticed...?” she smiled her off-kilter smile, and offered her hand to Sakura.  “Care to join me?” Sakura looked to her sensei for guidance, who nodded his consent.  She giggled giddily as Miriyume pulled her into a sprint into the swirling mist, leaving Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto alone on the shore. “That woman is strange,” Sasuke ventured aloud.  “Her chakra is very powerful....but poorly controlled.  It spills out of her like water from a ruptured pipe.” “That’s because she has no need to conserve it.  Her kekki genken is an ability to passively absorb chakra from any source, but her senjutsu training seems to have focused her mostly on Natural Chakra energies.” “Is she aware of how others can feed off her spilling energy?” Sasuke, as ususal, sounded critical. “I’m certain she is,” Kakashi returned, understanding the tone of disapproval.  His younger self would have seen it as wasteful as well.  “But such charity is common to people who have studied Ninshu.” “What is this....Ninshu?”  Naruto asked. “To put it simply, the transcendence of the spirit through the sharing of Chakra,” Kakashi answered. Naruto’s face was screwed up in confusion.  “Huh?” “Did you EVER pay attention in class?” Sasuke hissed. “Did you ever NOT?!” Naruto retorted. Kakashi sighed.  “To put it simpler, it’s the sharing of one’s chakra with others to achieve inner harmony.  Miriyume-sama’s mother is a priestess who is renowned for her devotion to Ninshu.  Its not often practiced anymore.” “Why not?” Naruto pressed. “Why not, indeed,” Kakashi smiled. A silvery peal of laughter, followed by a thunderous splash, erupted from deep in the mists before them. “She’s MINE, Matsuko-kun!  Find another victim!” Miriyume crowed proudly, as Sakura laughed. “I’ll save you, Sakura-chan!” Naruto proclaimed in response, and charged at the lake.  A loud splash signaled his failure to properly focus his chakra for water-walking. “That was embarrassing,” Sasuke commented bluntly. “Looks like its up to us to maintain the honor of Konoha,” Kakashi announced, before slipping into the mist.

At first, Sakura found the thick fog unsettling.  Ghostly forms moved all around and beneath them, and her thoughts wandered back to that awful battle on the half-completed bridge in the Land of Waves.  When Matsuko made a grab for her ankle, the Lady Ice Flame had deftly lifted her out of his reach, a split-second before Sakura had even noticed any attack, and sent her team mate splashing back below the surface with a solid kick of her laced boot. “How did you know he was there?” Sakura asked, as Miriyume set her back down. “I ‘sensed’ him,” she answered.  “I’m sorry....I don’t think we were properly introduced yet.  What is your name?” “Haruno, Sakura, Ice Flame-sama,” she returned with a respectful bow. “My name is Yaseiarashi, Miriyume,” as she kept a vigilant eye on the rolling clouds that surrounded them.  “But most call me Miriyume, or Miri-san.  Use one of those, please.” She then executed a graceful, sweeping kick out into the fog, and was rewarded with a yelp and a splash. “Try harder, Gek-kun!” she laughed. “Does your....Renkingen allow you to see them?” Sakura asked. “No.  It’s more of a ‘feeling’ than a sight, for me.  I’m sensing them through the chakra-absorption kekki genken of the Yaseiarashi clan.  And Matsuko and Gekido are easy for me to pick out of a crowd, due to our long association.” “So, you’re a ‘sensor’ type?” Sakura pressed. “Only in the simplest sense of the term.  Gekido and Aoseishin are much, much better at it than I could ever hope to be.” “You’re damn right, we are!” Gekido called out, somewhere beyond the mists. “...But he’s kind of useless when this happens....” Miriyume whispered, and performed an odd sequence of hand jutsu, some of them one-handed, as her eyes flashed briefly with the golden seven-pointed star that indicated the use of her dojutsu. “Aurora-storm jutsu!” she announced, as the fog suddenly came alive with bright flashes of color.  Sakura gasped at the beauty of it.  It was like finding one’s self contained within an opal.  Someone close by erupted into violent sneezing. “Sudden bright lights make Gek-kun sneeze...” Miriyume explained with a wicked smile. “Stop—“ Gekido fought to speak, “—talking about me!” Sakura laughed.  These adults still played like children, only with a better understanding of each other.  “It must be wonderful to know so much about one another...” “It takes time, and effort, on all parts...” Miriyume returned, regarding her newest friend.  She seemed so profoundly sad all of a sudden.  “...and patience.  Things between me and the guys weren’t always so easy, you know.” “Really?” Sakura seemed to regain a little joy in her jade-hued eyes. “Yes,” Miriyume nodded.  “In fact, Gekido was outright hostile on our first day together as a team.” A strong hand broke the surface of the water before the storm priestess, who clasped it and assisted its ascent to the lake surface. “He actually bit me,” Matsuko continued, as he wrung water from his shirt front.  “And he had Aoseishin tear a hole in Miri-chan’s skirt...in an embarrassing place....” “Are you giving up on being a ‘kraken’?” Miriyume asked. “I am,” Matsuko sighed.  “There are more people below than above at the moment, and water games just aren’t my thing....” “I read you,” Miriyume smiled tenderly.  “Let me introduce you to Sakura Haruno, one of Kakashi Hatake’s students...” “Oh, that reminds me–“ Matsuko began, but was cut short by a shadow that slipped up with ridiculous ease behind Sakura. Matsuko tensed as Sakura gasped.  Sasuke held a lone finger to his lips, and pointed ungently downward with his other hand a second before four Narutos exploded from the water, shouting: “You ALL belong to the Kraken, now!” and latched onto someone. Sasuke easily dispelled his and Sakura’s shadow clone assailants with basic taijutsu moves.  Matsuko held his clone aloft, and gave his nose a simple flick, making it vanish in a puff of chakra smoke..  Miriyume gave the real Naruto a sympathetic smile, as he tried to lift her from the lake surface. “I can barely budge her chakra, little man,” Matsuko informed.  “You really have to catch her completely off her guard to even hope to try.” “I would have had you ALL, if it weren’t for Sasuke ruining it!” Naruto fumed, crossing his arms obstinately, and scowling at his rival. “Sounds like ‘sour grapes’ to me,” Gekido opined as he and Aoseishin joined the group, then sneezed. “Sasuke!  Sakura!” Kiba called, as he and Akamaru followed the other Inuzuka’s lead.  “Did you see those lights?!  It was like a dream!” “More like a nightmare,” Gekido returned, scowling at Miriyume. “That was Miriyume-sama’s doing,” Sakura replied.  “Weren’t they beautiful?” Naruto suddenly tackled Kiba, attempting to douse him. “Naruto?!  What are you doing?!” Kiba demanded. “I’m a Kraken!  And I’m taking at least one of you down to a watery grave!” “You are really getting into this game....” Gekido observed. “Technically, you need to be underwater to be a Kraken, Naruto,” Miriyume ruled, as she laughed at the free-form wrestling match before her.   “Speaking of which...” Gekido attempted to warn his teammate, before a strong pair of hands clasped both of Miriyume’s ankles, and yanked her beneath the surface.  She barely had enough time to gasp for a quick breath. Naruto chuckled in triumph.  “Our plan worked!  The Kraken wins!” She looked strangely at ease in this watery realm.  Perturbed, but otherwise unconcerned, as she floated beside him in his Water Prison Jutsu.  Her blue-and-green eyes flared with the star of her Renkingen as she sought the exact boundaries of the bubble of denser water. “You can talk and breathe in there,” Kakashi assured, as a tendril of her amber-gold hair slipped silkily through the fingers of his hand that maintained the jutsu.  “I”m not a real Kraken...” “That was clever,” Miriyume complimented, as she adopted a seated lotus position within the water prison, “...Using Naruto as a distraction.  His chakra easily eclipses most, blinding me to your own.” “Am I on your radar now?” “You mean, sonar?” “I suppose so,” he shrugged. “At the moment....  So, am I your prisoner, or are you going to let me play the monster already?” Kakashi laughed.  “Victims are looking rather sparse at the moment....and you could never be a monster.” “You obviously haven’t seen my sage-form yet,” Miriyume quipped. “Care to enlighten me?” “In a lake...?! ....that contains my friends and allies?!  What the hell kind of teacher are you?!” “A bad one, I’ll admit,” Kakashi returned.  “But then, I’ve heard tell that you aren’t the ‘most eager’ of students, either.  Perhaps we could....mutually benefit from a better association?  Your style of jutsu intrigues me....” “Oh no...” Miriyume intoned, as she performed a set of hand jutsu that created a sphere of air in her hands.  “I stopped calling anyone ‘sensei’ a long time ago.  Its better...and safer that way.”  There was a tinge of sorrow in her last statement. She expanded the air sphere, absorbing and transmuting the chakra nature of the Water Prison Jutsu, replacing the dense water with a fresh, spring-like bubble of oxygen, firmly under her control. “Experience....and an itinerant storm-kami, are my only teachers now.”   “Then perhaps you could teach me...specifically about your Chidori technique.  You call it ‘Storm Gauntlet’...?  You’re a Lightning Affinity, aren’t you?” She gave him a look that she reserved for those who feigned ignorance.  It wasn’t pleasant. “Yes...and....” she sighed. “Then why did it....’latch’ onto mine?” She took a moment to review the strange incident in her mind.  It was so long ago.  Nearly buried under a flurry of unpleasant memories... “I don’t know,” she admitted freely.  “I have worked in conjunction with many lightening affinities, but have never experienced that....melding before.  My Mother once tried to explain it.  Something about resonance....or convergence....I can’t remember exactly,” as she went through the motions of yet another jutsu technique, and briefly enveloped herself in a wreathe of flame that dried her clothes and hair.  Kakashi had rarely encountered such a casual usage of chakra before.  “But then, quantum chakra theory was never my strong suit...” “But you seem to have quite a talent for Nature Transformation,” Kakashi complimented, as he examined the Air Prison closer by uncovering his Sharingan.  “Who’s the prisoner now?” “I don’t like this,” Gekido announced, as he scanned the surface of the nearly fog-free lake.  The game had finally ground to a halt, with an ice-using shinobi from Shimogakure being declared the winner. “What don’t you like?” Matsuko obediently asked, as Aoseishin shook the water from his thick, white and pale blue coat, spraying a fair amount of it Matsuko’s way. “I can’t see Miri-chan anywhere.  Is she still underwater?” squinting his slitted eyes in an attempt to peer past the surface. “Sparkler’s a big girl now, Fuzzy,” Matsuko returned, as he lay back to dry himself in the noon sun.  “She’ll let us know if there’s any trouble.” Gekido scoffed.  “Like her brother...?” “Ryuuyuki was a stubborn man with a ‘lone wolf’ complex.  Miri-chan has never been like that.” “Yeah, but lately....I’ve been noticing some unpleasant patterns,” he resumed his measured pacing by the shoreline.  “Like the Getsugawa Cave incident?  Or the Hole-in-the-Wall, in the Land of Earth?” “Yes, well,” Matsuko returned.  “She has always been intrigued by rumors of treasure...” “....and need I remind you about her rambling around alone in the ruins of Uzushiogakure every chance she gets.  And her sage form seems to give her plenty of opportunities...” “Alright, point taken!” Matsuko gave in.  “She is getting a bad habit of striking out on her own, but, I have faith that she understands the consequences of going ‘full rogue’.” “I’ve never been much of one for faith, Earthquake,” Gekido returned.  “I require substance....like keeping her in my sights, or sense of smell....” he sniffed at the gentle breeze that blew over the lake, clearing it of the remaining fog.  “Where is she?” “Well, the last time I saw her,” Matsuko stood beside his antsy friend, “she was ‘eaten’ by the Kraken...and it was that Kakashi guy...” “That guy....” Gekido snorted, and kicked at the ground like petulant child, “...thinks he’s ‘so cool’ with his hidden face, and his silly crooked hair...and his mis-matched eyes.  I ought to plant a frost-star where the sun-don’t-shine on him, for disrespecting Miri-chan with his mask-thingie...” he mimed throwing a shuriken across the lake.  “Do you see him?” “See who?” Kakashi asked, suddenly behind them.  Gekido nearly jumped into the lake. “You, you...cyclops!  Where’s Miriyume?!” the Inuzuka demanded, as Matsuko tired not to laugh too hard. Kakashi lifted his headband to expose the Sharingan for a moment, making the other two men flinch.  He regarded the lake surface. “She’s still down there,” he returned, having easily seen her unique chakra beneath the tranquil waves.  “But don’t worry, I left her in good company.”

“So...what was the big celebration about...?” Kakashi began, grasping at any straw to keep this alluring woman all to himself for a bit longer, in this private little realm.  “The night we met...back in Shimogakure?  I never found out.” “I believe it was the Trueheart’s Festival,” Miriyume answered. “What is that, exactly?” “An excuse to party,” she smiled back with that off-kilter smirk that snared him tighter every time she used it on him.  “Officially, it’s a day to prove one’s affections.” “Like Valentine’s Day?” “Kind of...but less...specific,” she continued.  “People do wind up on dates, but your affections are supposed to be for everyone who goes out of their way to be nice.” “...and the kissing...?” “What better way to signal one’s affections than by kissing?  On the cheek.  Sometimes on the lips.  A small bit of warmth in an otherwise cold world.”  She looked almost wistful. “Shimogakurans seem so casual about them...” “And you seem so ardently opposed.  You certainly have built up your bulwarks against them.” “Not everyone can afford to live life so free...” “Not every village is as enlightened as mine.”  A note of indignance was creeping into her voice.  “We pride ourselves on our ability to live our lives to the fullest, knowing that to do otherwise is to insult all we defend.  So yes, we drink.  We dance.  We kiss strangers in our midst....” “....you skate on cracking ice....routinely consume vile whiskey....nearly let it drag you off an icy waterfall....” “No one throws a party like Shimogakure; and DON’T insult our winter whiskey!  It’s a holy sacrament! And damn good at counter-reacting most poisons,” she defended hotly.  He swore he could see a bit of static crackling about her.  And the air had suddenly become drier... “Okay...sensei–ur...” he tapered off, “Kakashi apologizes,” holding up his hands in a gesture of peace.  Her ambient chakra had gone from a passive billowing to a menacing flare, and back again.  Stormy aspect was an apt description, and he was finding her more and more fascinating by the second. “So...” he continued, trying his best to sound nonchalant, “Did you...have a date...that night?  The night we met...?” “No,” she seemed a bit self-conscious in the admission.  “No one liked me in that way up there.  No one serious, anyway.  But candy and flowers and kisses can be for platonic friends, too, and even strangers who wander in, who aren’t rude, and take off their masks when asked!” glaring back from across the air bubble. “I had no choice!” he reasserted, “Anbu agents are forbidden to reveal their identities!” “Rules or not, you denied me, which I’m not inclined to forgive so easily,” turning away. She could hold a grudge, alright.  And her pride was off the charts.  He could see the questions waiting in those jewel-like eyes, but she wasn’t about to ask them.  He plainly saw how her mind was a chaotic torrent of memories concerning that night.  Now that he knew the full story, he figured that their strange introduction to one another that night, on the cusp of such horror that followed, may have been the last ‘positive’ recollection she had.  He gulped at the realization.  He’d met her right before her brother died.  He elected to be charitable: “I returned, Miriyume-sama,” he volunteered softly.  “A week later.  Without the others.  Without the Anbu mask.” “You....what?”  She turned back toward him, chakra aura guttering. “I came back to look for you,” Kakashi repeated.  “But no one would speak of you, or what had happened.  And they showed me the funeral stone.  I thought you were dead.” She turned.  Eyes wide.  Face a whiter shade of pale.  “No one....told me.”  She then hung her head in a sorrow so pervasive that it made him clutch at his own heart. “But why would they?”  Kakashi struggled past the sudden pall, “I was a foreigner, intruding on their grief.  They had just lost a hero, and very nearly lost a heroine....” She wiped her eyes, and summoned a not-quite-genuine laugh to alleviate the sadness.  That act alone nearly broke Kakashi’s heart all over again. “I am no heroine,” Miriyume corrected.  “I’m just a misfit with noble intentions, floundering in the wake of the North Wind.”  She tilted her head slightly sideways to release the welling tears in her shining eyes. Again, she forced a light chuckle, as she wiped the glistening trails from her flushed cheeks.  Laughter through tears; a rather masochistic coping mechanism.  Kakashi was struck speechless with the enormity of the moment.  She didn’t hide her pain...she taunted it. “So, I guess I can forgive you,” Miriyume began, forcibly shoving aside her sorrow.  “I’m sorry my village wasn’t more helpful.  Its not the first time our customs have caused trouble.” “The only trouble was my pessimistic attitude, and that was gained long before that moment,” Kakashi returned.  “If only I had some capacity for hope...I’d have keep looking....” So many years wasted, he inwardly scolded himself. “Well, here I am,” she smiled, stepping closer, arms folded across her chest.  “....Wherever I go.  Where are you?” “At the moment....here,” Kakashi replied.  It wasn’t a complete lie...  She stepped closer. “Well....?” “Well, what...?” Kakashi rebounded, confused. “Do you want your Trueheart’s Night kiss, or not?” she scowled up at him in the most adorable way. Kakashi’s staggered slightly at the question, exposed cheek instantly bloomed crimson.  “You’d....you would still grant that?!  After all this time?” “You’re the only one who really deserved it that night.  Saving my life on the lake,” she reminded.   <<And you’re the guy who’s haunted my dreams ever since,>> she added silently. “...and I like to settle my accounts....” she joked, drawing yet closer. The only one.  Never had those words sounded sweeter to Kakashi’s ears.  He took a deep, blissful breath, closed his eyes, and compensated for her shorter stature by leaning down a bit.  Following an awkward moment of giddy anticipation where nothing seemed to be happening, he opened his eyes to find her scowling again. “What’s the matter?” “There’s another mask in my way....” she growled back. “Oh, this?” touching his trademark garment, “Don’t worry.  Its soft.” “That’s not the point!  What are you...afraid of germs, or something?” “No...” he backpedaled from her rising ire...and chakra....slightly.  She only matched his retreat. “Are you horribly scarred by acid? Or deformed?” “No! At least, I don’t think so...” he was backed up against the wall of the bubble now.  Her bubble.  And she was right up against him, chakra-aura fully banked.  Its light made him squint. “...Then, why hide?!” she demanded. What was she really asking here? And why did he suddenly feel like he was on the inside of a rasengan? “Because I like to appear....mysterious...?” he offered blithely, as watched the stars flash in her eyes, and her chakra aura resolve into opalescent flames.  Why was it suddenly so cold in here...? “And I like to be....honest,” her smile had taken on a more sinister aspect, as she began to coalesce an odd energy in her hands before him.  A deep, dangerous hum began to sound in his ears.  Something that he hadn’t heard since their last meeting...  “I’ve refined my Storm Gauntlet Technique somewhat, since you last saw me, blending my lighting nature with every other chakra I’ve come across.  But I’ve grown rather fond of one mixture in particular that can’t seem to be replicated by anyone else.  Probably due to the enormous amounts of chakra required.  Would the ‘mysterious’ Copy-Ninja like to try?” “Do I have a choice...?” he winced, as she held a large orb of dark, opalescent flame up to him for uncomfortably close inspection. True to its name, it was made of ice and fire....but there was also a massive amount of lighting in its composition, making it a fusion of no less than four types of chakra. Everything about this jutsu told him it would burn if he touched it, yet it radiated a cold energy, akin to a winter storm’s gale. “What’s the matter, Hata-sensei....?  You did say that you found my jutsu-style ‘intriguing’, didn’t you?” He could feel his own chakra that held his being together begin to unravel in the event horizon of her radically increasing power.  A power that seemed intimately tied to her emotional state. Oh gods... The surge of her Ice Fire Jutsu scattered Kakashi’s Shadow Clone’s essence into a deeply frustrated puff of smoke, leaving Miriyume alone and rather agitated in her Air Prison.

#kakashi

[3one3]

The Sequel - 897

Methods

André Schürrle, Juan Mata, other Chelsea/BVB players, and random awesome OC’s (okay they’re less random now but they’re still pretty awesome)

original epic tale

all chapters of The Sequel

“Which one do you want to jump?”

“Socks. Rio has tomorrow and Friday to get sorted before it counts. Can you fix-“

“Do you want to switch to the other bridle or just use this one?”

That’s a good question, Christina decided while Tom freed her scrim sheet from where it got stuck on one of Socks’ fetlock boots when she threw it way too far over his back. The fine netting was caught on one of the tiny silver CWD buckles. I jump him at home in the loose-ring sometimes but never seriously. The warm-up isn’t really serious either though. It’s open.

“I guess I’ll stick with this one, but can you put his martingale on?” she asked her groom. Socks and Rio each had their hacks in the competition arena during the free training period offered before the warm up. The free part was open for anyone to ride either or both of their horses on the flat, with everyone else. In a few moments, “ticketed” warm-ups would begin, meaning the arena would empty and each rider who entered the class would go back in, one at a time, for 90 seconds, to jump anything they wanted, in any order. They could stop, turn around, do the same combinations multiple times- whatever they wished to do with their time. Each rider could only do the warm-up with one horse though, and most, like Christina, were going to use their mount for the Champions League event, which began on Thursday. There was another class before that which wasn’t a big, difficult, or valuable event, and it could serve as the warm-up for horses jumping in the other feature- the Grand Prix of Doha- later in the week. Christina was to ride 10th in the warm-up order and Socks was already there, dressed, and warm. Having his usual jumping bit- an eggbutt snaffle- wasn’t worth the effort to swap one bridle for the other, though Tom would have been ready to take him back to the barn and swap him for Rio if the rider had said she felt he were more in need of the extra schooling time than the horse she’d just hopped off.

“Yes. Juan has it,” the groom said about the martingale, which was easy to add. “Let’s go over there.” He nodded toward where the Spaniard was standing on the outskirts of the schooling area with Tom’s backpack of tools and supplies, and some extra equipment. The sun was just going down so it was still quite hot, and the first thing Christina wanted from Juan was her water bottle.

“I enjoyed the bucking fit, cariña,” he told her while she gulped water and fanned her neck.

“He always does that in the beginning. Because he’s a punk,” she replied with affection in her voice for the shiny and cute black and white face trying to avoid having his slimy mouth wiped. “An adorable punk.” She handed the bottle back to her friend and held onto Socks’ leather lead so that Tom could put the yoke of the martingale over his head, attach it to the breastplate, and feed each of the reins through its rings. The part that went through his legs had a snap fitting at the end so just clipped onto a metal ring on the girth, and it was easy to unbuckle the reins. The equipment could have been added without Christina even having to get off the horse.

She always appreciated the ease of jumper equipment compared to hunter stuff. Running martingales aren’t permitted in hunter classes. A standing martingale sits on the neck the same way, but it has a long leather loop to pass the girth through, and it’s not wise to completely unbuckle the one thing holding the saddle onto the horse while there is a person in the saddle. A standing martingale also attaches to the chin part of the horse’s noseband rather than the reins, and again, requires unbuckling it to pass the strap through another, smaller leather loop. And again, you don’t really feel great about undoing a major element of the bridle while someone is on the horse. When Christina wondered if part of what used to make showing so much fun was still being able to do those hunter classes- to do competitions judged on form and style rather than determined by time and faults- she neglected to remember all the things she hated about that, like unfair and biased judging, trends in favorability, the robotic-natured horses that had become so popular, and the repetitive outside-diagonal-outside-diagonal courses. She did remember how annoying it was to take a martingale off for the under saddle class though- the flat-only class judged with all of the horses in the ring at once, given collective instructions to show at the walk, trot, canter, and hand gallop. No martingales allowed. Even un-judged hunter warm-up classes required full show attire too. She didn’t need to switch from her dark gray breeches and white and black adidas tee to do her warm-up class in Qatar.

“Do you want a towel?” Juan suggested as she wiped sweat from her neck with the back of her arm. It was way too hot for a show jacket.

“Nah, I’m good. They’re gonna go walk for a few minutes and then it’ll be like 15 minutes before I have the ring. Then we can get out of here.”

“There’s no rush,” he shrugged. They’d been together all day, from the gym and the breakfast buffet to the horse inspection and the draws. Then they left Al Shaqab for a while to get lunch and check out the marina with a mix of commercial boats and pleasure craft. They hung out in the barn too, and played Uno with Tom and Daniel. They all wanted to be in the barn just because they could. It was fully air-conditioned, and that was hilarious to them. Christina hoped for a little down time post horse show, pre dinner w/his friends. They were going to a Latin American restaurant and lounge at some other hotel for Brazilian steak, Peruvian lomo saltado, and Argentinian wine, among other things. “What happened with that guy who fell off his horse?”

“He was fine. The horse just wigged out about an invisible monster,” she shrugged, turning back toward the arena. It was unlike any other in show jumping. It looked more like a state of the art football stadium, with first class hospitality suites, great lighting, and yet more air-conditioning. There were trusses and beams and things everywhere. There was a lot to look at, and it could be even more distracting to the horses than the humans. The indoor arena, attached on one side, was slightly less dramatic an experience, and thus not the chosen venue for the main event. Bigger shows used both simultaneously. The facility had 5000 permanent equine residents, so the rings got plenty of use during the rest of the year. It even had a stable specifically for ponies. Christina put a tour of that part of Al Shaqab on her agenda for Thursday, having missed out on it the last time she was there because she was spending most of her free time sulking by the pool and trying to figure out which football player she was supposed to be with.

“Chriiiiiis,” a German voice behind her called, almost whining.

“Whaaaaaat?” she whined back as she turned around. Daniel was standing there on Cornet, his new, ugly horse. Cornet, called Cotton around the barn and not to be confused with his old, beautiful horse Cornet D’Amour, was white like both horses’ sire, Cornet Obolensky, but had sprawling patches of steel gray fur with a bit of a brown tinge. They almost looked like scarring from burns. He had weird, very pronounced eye sockets as well. Christina thought him the type only a mother could love. He was very talented, and had been in American Lauren Hough’s program for a few years after she selected him for a younger client. They had limited success because, Hough admitted, she made a series of bad choices for him that hurt his confidence. Daniel took the ride over the summer at one event in Belgium, as a trial, and the owner decided to place him with Daniel long term. Cornet D’Amour was making his big comeback too after a long layoff. It was all change for the many progeny of Cornet Obolensky. Steve Guerdat’s Corbinian was back in action after an incredibly long injury-related hiatus, Daniel had also recently taken over the ride on Cortani, another Stephex horse right in his own stable, and the legal dispute between Athena Onassis and Doda de Miranda over Cornetto K was one judge’s ruling closer to settlement. People teased Christina for not having one.

“May I borrow your crop?”

“Where’s yours?”

“At the boxes.”

“Why can’t Sean go get it for you?”

“Because this place is the size of Berlin. It takes 20 minutes to go to the stable and back.” Her teammate tried to look endearing. It didn’t work for him the way it did for André, Juan, and Lukas. His face was, by all conventional standards, incredibly handsome, but Christina couldn’t be swayed whether he used it to woo and persuade or to guilt and get sympathy. She rolled her eyes and pulled her short bat from the back of her belt nevertheless.

“Danke, mein Schatz. Ich kaufe dir später einen Drink.”

“Ich hoffe du stürzt nicht zuerst ab.”

The other rider tried to swat her with her own crop and only managed to spook his horse, which made her laugh for a couple of seconds before she felt bad for the animal and gave him a reassuring pat. They went back to their schooling, and she went back to thinking about the rest of her night.

“If we get back to the hotel by like, a little after 7, do you think there’s enough time to nap before dinner? I would shower, nap, and then get ready. And by nap I mean...short enough that my hair wouldn’t fully dry.”

“Depends how long it takes to get ready,” Juan smiled. He also started to reach for her waist, and stopped himself. He grabbed her wrist instead, as if to check the time on her watch. The current time really had no bearing on what they were talking about.

“Not that long. It’s just dinner, right? We’re not doing a red carpet.”

“Right. I think you’re fine.”

“I think you’re fine too, Juanin.” The rider winked and blew a kiss at her companion, and then immediately announced her intention to go get back on her Dutch horse.

Her time in the schooling ring was mostly just to get Socks ready to go jump around in the real ring, and he too was fine. There were some disagreements about pace and leaning in the real ring, which stemmed largely from that loose-ring snaffle in his mouth. It’s an active bit that moves around, and he was sensitive. What he tolerated while working on the flat, when subtlety and considered were easier and more plentiful, he was less amenable to while jumping- while he was asked to do more things at once, with less delicacy. His eggbutt snaffle was better for turning as well, as it provided a few inches of straight, fixed bar that would put pressure on the side of his mouth when the opposite rein was pulled. They worked on a few things together and used up all of their allotted time. Christina talked with Tom on the way back to their stabling about the Thursday agenda, and got out of her boots and spurs right away so that she could leave. She always felt guilty bailing on her groom when he still had a lot of work to do, but he didn’t mind. Sometimes she just got in the way and slowed the process anyway. The horses got goodnight kisses. The athletes headed for the Four Seasons, where the more recent World Cup winner raced into the shower.

“I feel so much better,” she declared afterward, naked, with her phone and a towel. She stretched out on the king size bed to check her messages, and used the towel as a pillow. Juan had been sitting up by the headboard. He scooted down to lie beside her on his elbow.

“Is it naptime?” he inquired, already in nap appropriate clothing.

“In two seconds it is.” The naked girl was telling her husband to have their son call her in an hour.

“Are you sure?” A warm palm reached for her tummy, and settled just under her belly button.

“Mhm.” Christina didn’t really notice it right away.

“Positive?” Then it slid lower. She turned the phone down, away from her face.

“Watcha doin?”

“You can’t walk in here nude with hard nipples and lay yourself on the bed like a gift and think the activity I’m most interested in with you is a nap.”

“It’s cold,” she argued defensively, a hand instinctively moving to cover one breast. “And I forgot to bring clothes in with me before.” As another hand moved instinctively between her legs, she put her iPhone down on the bed and prepared to be more animated about her dismissal of the Spaniard’s insinuation that she was deliberately trying to tease.

“So sexy, angel,” he mumbled on his way to kissing her cheek. Oh I love that voice, she groaned to herself. The sound was a much bigger influence for her in that moment than the fingertips padding around where she’d literally just shaved and moisturized. Her skin there was softer than Dirk’s velvet nose, and if she were alone, and not desperately interested in napping, she probably would have been naked in bed because she intended to touch there herself. He smells good too. I haven’t been this close to him since this morning, before we got up. Eyeeerghhh, I just got all nice and clean, and I wanted to nap. There was a battle going on between the rider’s senses and her plans. Juan’s perfect fingers were getting ever nearer to being inside her, which tickled but in a good way, his broad lower lip was sort of slowly stroking up her jawbone, which meant his breath also tickled but in a good way, his Gucci Guilty Black was infiltrating her nose, which put her under a special kind of influence, and her ears were impatiently waiting to hear more intimate mumbling. Ugh, fine. I’ll nap when I’m dead, I guess.

“Make it quick,” Christina advised as she turned on her side and curled up to her Chelsea man. She smooched him properly on the mouth and hitched her left leg over his hip.

“There’s plenty of time.” He kissed at her neck, and hugged her close, and squeezed her butt, and nothing he did gave any indication that he was interested in hurrying. They never got past the food blockade and into the back-stretching sex she planned out the night before. They couldn’t get past the nesting phase. Cuddling and making out and talking was too good, and then it was bedtime. If the Spanish player always told the truth, it meant he somehow found a way to not just rip the clothes off his long-distance girlfriend and demolish her in 5 minutes to indulge all of the sexual needs gone ignored in her absence. “There’s time to fuck my sexy girl now, to take her to dinner...feed her dessert...bring her back, and to fuck her again. On her knees. On her back. In my arms. In my lap. There is time to love every beautiful part of her the right way,” Juan told her as he moved his kisses and touches around, and eventually got on top of her and between her thighs.

Her arms were around his neck when he pushed his hips into hers, and she bit the left side of her lower lip- hard- to try to contain the big cheesy, anticipatory grin that wanted to show him how into his plans she was. It was one of the best kinds of feelings- that knowledge that you’re getting something really good later. It was almost like the couple of seconds before an orgasm, when she knew it would happen no matter what else did. The right line was crossed and nothing could ruin it. The Spaniard told her once that the look on her face in that moment was special to him, because it was the only time she ever looked completely sure and at ease. His agenda for the night wasn’t as guaranteed as that, but the feeling was still good, and kind of awakening. Nothing turned Christina on faster than the attraction of someone she loved and wanted to impress.

“Hurry uhhhhp,” she giggled when his beard tickled her cheek while he kissed the top of her right shoulder. He bit it just hard enough to make her squeal and laugh, and then rolled over her leg back to his spot to take his shorts and underwear off. The rider sat up to help, or to offer the services of her mouth once the clothes were out of the way, in hopes that the return service might then be forthcoming, but watching him push his shorts and briefs down gave her a mildly unpleasant flashback.

Note to all wives or girlfriends of footballers who are interested in having a second, simultaneous relationship with an additional footballer: probably you should choose ones sponsored by different shoe companies, she thought. The gray adidas shorts with black stripes around one leg plus Calvin Klein waistband combo visual was one she had at home all the time. Those were André’s favorite shorts. He had the matching sweatpants and hoody too, just like Juan. They got all the same free clothes from adidas, usually on the same day. Lots of players did. I’m gonna miss boyfriend so much by tomorrow night. The one shitty thing about your relationship with your husband being really great for a change, besides that it just automatically makes you feel extra guilty when you’re with your approved boyfriend, is that it’s really hard to be away from him for like a whole week, even when you have a really good replacement to keep you company. Even when he has a really nice dick, she mused as she absently laid back down on her side, the opposite way as Juan, and reached for the really nice dick. He wiggled closer to her, twisted over, pushed her right leg up in the air, and applied his tongue in a manner that ensured she forgot about missing André virtually immediately.

The Spaniard had a method. Christina had secret names for different parts of it. For example, he always began with what she called “The Cross”. With his tongue flat, he licked a straight line up and down a couple of times, and then stopped in between the top and bottom, a little bit closer to the top than the bottom, and shifted the tip of his tongue back and forth to get in between the folds. That spot happened to be close enough to her clit that it felt really, really good after the teasing of the prior licks. Then he “Check[ed] the Weather”. His tongue, inside the growing puffy lips, slid down until it reached an opening, which it stretched into on an exploratory mission, at least in her mind, to see how much wetness was in there, how turned on she was. If there was anything there to kind of scoop with the tip of his tongue and spread around, he went back to moving it up and down the puffy parts. If there wasn’t much there, it was “Spiral Time”, in which the narrowest part of his tongue did laps around her clit and occasionally paused to go back and forth, up and down just one side of it. There was also usually a period during which Juan ventured away from all of that and kissed her inner thigh, higher up on her public bone, and even as far down as her calf. There was always a phase involving two fingers inside her while he licked at her clit, and most recently, a time dedicated to traveling south, into butt-territory. After the first couple of things, he mixed it all up and kept her unsure of what was coming.

Christina had a method too, but like Juan, didn’t get through most of it before he got on top of her again. He didn’t get close enough for her to hug his neck again though. With his hands flat on the bed and his arms straight, he could look down at her body- the toned, lean, hourglass form that so turned him on before that he just had to have it right away. She got that, so she ran her hands all around her stomach and chest, and held onto her breasts, and reached down to rub at herself to further improve the sight for him. She held onto his arms sometimes too, when what he was doing was too overwhelming to care about what he was seeing. In fact, as she got more and more into what his hips could do for her, she wished he’d stop watching and come down closer and kiss her, or kiss her neck when her head was pushed back, or lick at a nipple.

“Draw it out or get it over with?” the blue-eyed Blue asked.

“Wait I want to turn over- Or-“ His girlfriend waffled in indecision about what she wanted, mumbling with one eye open and the other squeezed shut. I guess we could do that later. I need time to get ready. “Get it over with I guess,” she shrugged at him with a little smile. “Don’t get it over with for you in there though.”

“Why not?” He sat up straighter, on his knees, with her thighs on his forearms, and studied her totally unsexy expression. He stopped moving in and out of her, and stilled his hand down by where they were joined instead of rubbing at her clit, the original purpose for its arrival there.

“I don’t want to be all icky when we go out. I’ll feel cleaner if I just wipe it off my tummy.” Christina laughed because she didn’t realize how much skepticism and suspicion was looking back at her. It was right there waiting for her when she finished being amused by herself. She reached for his waist, and pushed his t-shirt up a little so that she could hold onto him there. “Or you can cum in my mouth if you want. Whichever.”

[taurusversant]

The Devil - Jezebel Ray

I’m still doing these! Doesn’t matter how slow I am, still getting them done!

TBH if I really tried I could probably write twice, three times as much for Jezebel, my most beloved OC, but this is good. It sets up enough of the character and also talks a little about the Alightened setting which, gosh dang it, I need to do something with.

Anyway I’m sure by this point everyone following this blog has seen a few Jezebel arts and already appreciated her, so here’s some more about this good rowdy fight girl. I do so love her very much.

"If I want it I will have it. That's just how I live."

Those few who are true friends of Jezebel are told to call her "Belle", a name she gives out only to those she is closest to. Some who might just have met her would think to shorten her name to Jez, but in truth she doesn't much care for that shortening. An easy way to tell if someone is of great importance to her is if they call her Belle and she allows it. The sign of true acceptance.

Jezebel Ray is an Alightened, a subset of humans who can control the Light, an omnipresent source of magic within the setting she is native to. The Alightened consume food rich in Light to strengthen their own internal source, and ultimately live to satisfy their unending hunger. Each has their own quirks, unique tastes and drives, but it's rare indeed to meet an Alightened who won't move heaven and earth for their chosen meal. That's just the type of person they are.

Black of hair, dark-skinned and muscular, Jezebel was raised within a tropical island community, having washed up on shore as a baby. Her parents are unknown and, despite the fact it may very well be possibly to identify them from records by doing some digging, Jezebel has never once felt the urge. Her family were those who raised her and she grew up with, and that's all she needs. Her first home was that island and the people who lived upon it.

Her adoptive father was a retired Hunter, a class that existed just under the Alightened. The rarity and requirement for natural birth of Alightened, coupled with their flighty and whimsical natures, made for the necessity of people who would actively volunteer and serve to maintain the borders of the human world, borders defined by great magic and threatened by the terrifying beasts that would be willing to cross them. That man, Andras, saw in Jezebel the Light and raised her to be an Alightened, taught her to use the power manifest within herself. Jezebel's respect and love for him is unquestionable.

The Alightened are identified by a phrase, a description of their eyes. It goes: "It is not that their eyes glow, simply that they look like they should glow." Jezebel's vibrant crimson eyes immediately gave her away, the moment Andras found her on the shore as an infant. In quieter moments Andras wondered if fate was real and it delivered Jezebel to him. He raised her with everything he could give to her. She appreciates it.

Jezebel lives in adulthood on the shore of the Corbian Inland Sea, a massive body of water cut off from the ocean. It is incredibly deep, filled with all manner of life, and allows her to support her lifestyle. A natural in the water beyond compare, Jezebel is an expert hunter of the aquatic, able to wrangle all but the greatest of creatures on her own. She fishes, swims, boats, dives, and lives a sizable portion of her life in the water which she so loves.

She wears clothing of the same form as those on the island she came from, a black sarong with flowers of blue and red and a simple top which bares arms and stomach. The tooth of some form of great beast, something sharklike, can always be found hanging from a cord she wears around her neck. Both cord and tooth come from extremely resilient sources - Tiger King Shark and Decanium Tree roots respectively - and Jezebel has no concerns wearing them no matter how much danger she gets into. If something ever did happen to the tooth, she'd be incredibly heartbroken. The tooth was found clutched in her hand when she first washed up on the island upon which she was raised.

When Jezebel left her home to strike out on her own - the driving force behind Alightened demanding they carve out a niche they can hunt within - she found her way to the Corbian Inland Sea, took over an abandoned beach shack, and made her life there. However after a year of living in that territory, she made a journey to Fundament, the central city of the human world. There she sought appointment as an Alightened of Fundament, hunters who would maintain a quota of food delivered to the city. Most Alightened align with the city and its Royal, for the benefits provided - both in the city welcoming them and the global politics favouring them - are significant, and in turn do their part in meeting their requirements. The demand pushed Jezebel to master the Corbian Sea even more than before, and allowed her to discover many new ingredients and foodstuffs within its environment. She is happy to have the role.

As an individual, Jezebel is not specificially unkind however she is, as most Alightened are, more than a little selfish. The priority of self stands above all else, and Jezebel would require significant motivation to inconvenience herself in any way for another. She enjoys others, likes a good party, and has forged friendships where she will always answer the call - knowing they'd do the same - but on her own Jezebel will still always think in terms of benefit to self. It isn't a surprise to anyone who sees her eyes though, and most wouldn't hold it against her.

The Alightened can be called enigmatic, but most who'd say that simply don't understand that they're just obeying their hunger.

Jezebel is confident, headstrong, very easy to accuse of being arrogant, ready to fight, ready to play, and always ready for some good food. As I've mentioned Alightened have favourite flavours and tastes, and this is more than just something nice, it's outright the case that consuming their favoured foods grants stronger reactions and benefits for their own power. Jezebel's preferred foods are, of course, anything that exists beneath the water - seafood, sea plants, the works. She loves it and lives for it. She's one of the premium suppliers of water based food to Fundament. The various cooks, restaurants, and eateries around the Corbian Inland Sea can always rely on her to fulfill requests, and Jezebel takes to the demands of others for ingredients with relish, knowing it will all come back to benefit her in the end.

Her personal goal in life is to assemble a Banquet of incredible quality. Banquets are a special goal some Alightened take on for themselves, a perfect collection of dishes that harmonise and create greater reactions when consumed. Tales of ALightened who complete a grand Banquet and from it gain incredible strength are common, though often the chance to partake is rare - the ingredients no doubt requiring incredible effort to obtain. She has two dishes in mind so far, but that's not nearly enough. She needs more. Her hunger demands it.

Though not afraid in the least of great depths in the water, Jezebel isn't a fan of significant heights. She can swim, not fly, you know?

#tvcharacters #Jezebel Ray #arcanaquest