#Hence her mostly speaking in descriptive paragraphs

[mushroom-for-art]

Hi @pokemon-ash-aus, I hope you don't mind I borrowed Peach, yes I put her in situations sorry, I think she had a good time though. This was basically my first thought since the plushie ask and you mentioning she'd be anxious with it out and about as an easy bullying target, I took creative liberties like assuming she went to college to get her Pokémon Professor degree because like idk if she did or just went I'm a Professor now binch. Enjoy!

Plushies and Public Transport

Peach couldn't help nervously glancing around, the plush that had been a comfort was slowly becoming a source of anxiety and discomfort as she held the soft charmander in her crossed arms close to her chest. She had already been a bit concerned about going out to such a crowded place in her human disguise, she squeezed the plush in her arms and was glad it didn't have a squeaker inside.

It was a bit odd walking with her feet rather than floating and she really really didn't want to have to do any mouth speaking trying to fake it where she could and use telepathy instead. Her eyes glanced around at the sounds of chattering, did she hear someone say charmander? She wasn't, sure if she was imagining judgment or if people were talking about her. She was glad the plushy was well built because with how hard she was squeezing it to her body for some sense of comfort and soothing she was surprised the head hadn't popped off comedically to make her even more of a spectacle to these people.

She sat on a bench taking off her backpack and holding it to her side while sighing to herself, she could do this all she had to do was make it through these first few commutes and she's sure the anxiety of it all would be non existent and she'd wonder what she was ever stressed about. She watched the feet shuffle past her, the chattering of many people and some thoughts managing to be so loud she couldn't block them out were starting to make her head hurt and an uncomfortable sensation grow in her chest.

She focused on breathing, in through your nose out through your mouth or something like that her exhale passing through her gritted teeth as she attempted to calm. She heard the footsteps before she saw them, a pair of well made proper looking brown shoes stopped in front of her and Peach screwed her eyes closed tight ready for some kind of mocking question.

Slowly lifting her head she quirked an eyebrow and blinked several times in confusion at the sight of another teenager about 'her' age (according to the disguise she was using), hiding their face, poorly, behind a small Spritzee, no wait, it was a plush Spritzee judging by the button eyes the slightly misshapen head fluff and how limp the wings were. Peach blinked once more as she noticed the movement of the others legs, seeing them anxiously shuffle on the spot as their hands gently held the plushies' wings and moved them for emphasis as they spoke.

"Um, excuse me but this dolt was perhaps wondering if she was at the right terminal to get the train to the professor learning academy?" Though they moved the plush for emphasis of the plush speaking rather than themselves Peach could see that she was avoiding eye contact rather heavily.

"...ah…" Peach's voice was very quiet, more of an exhale than speech so thankfully she didn't stutter but, as she looked at this other person likely another student starting this segment of their life watching them use the plush for comfort and as a speaking aid it seemed Peach felt a little chunk of speech anxiety chip away.

She, with slight reluctance, confirmed that they were at the right spot, trying not to show her discomfort at her stuttering or how her lisp affected her words and she watched the others shoulders drop in relief, clearly having been quite tense, though still holding the plush up to hide their face as they sighed and thanked her.

Peach gave an awkward unsure smile, she hadn't been planning for anyone to actually speak to her, other than the ticket master or the person at the ticket booth, so despite the feeling of weird anxiety over something out of script happening it wasn't necessarily unpleasant either, the interaction could've been much worse after all…

They bowed in thanks to her despite already verbally thanking her before watching them look around their hands gently squeezing their plush for comfort as Peach in turn squeezed the soft charmander a bit closer.

"Do, do, do you want to s-s-sit here?" Peach didn't like how her mouth struggled for words or how it emphasized her lisp but something about this individual made her feel a bit more comfortable in her own voice. They nodded through the plush and as Peach shuffled a bit to the side to make room they sat down besides her to wait for their train together. Peach glanced over and assumed by the looks of them and context clues they were also just starting their education just like her.

She did feel a bit rude side glancing at them but she was a bit curious, why did they talk to her of all people? She could spot a few other people who looked like they would have been heading the same way so why speak to her. She noticed as well they kept the plushie up to their face, and after a few moments she was certain she heard them make a quiet chirping sound. Peach blinked but, well they didn't comment on her lisp.

"I'm honestly really glad I spotted you," Peach glanced over again they weren't looking at her she could see their hands softly squeezing the plushie likely in self soothing, "I, was kind of worried I'd have to speak to one of those guys over there," she gestured with the Spritzee plush casually and Peach glanced over at the other group of people she had spotted who must were likely going the same way as them. Her bench companion made a little clicking noise, reminding her of chittering chattering bug types.

"But then I saw you, and you had a plushie too!" Peach held the charmander plush a bit closer at it being mentioned, feeling a wave of defensiveness run through her ready to hiss and defend herself from cruel remarks, "and I thought, hey! That, that looks like someone who I could trust," the tension in Peachs shoulders stopped rising and slowly subsided as she looked over to the other again, "cause well, I don't know anybody but if you have a plushie and I have a plushie then well maybe i'd be okay if I asked you. Plus it makes me feel a bit less anxious too.." They glanced over at Peach with an eye behind her plush and she watched them give an anxious smile before moving the plush to hide once more.

"Sorry! I'm bad at looking at people."

"It's ok-o-okay," Peach reassured, if a bit awkwardly as her fingers gently brushed the fluff of her charmander plush. Maybe it hadn't been such a bad idea to bring them after all.

They sat in quiet for a bit more as they waited, the sound of the daily commute around them, the other inquiring where Peach bought her plush and Peach very proudly telling them it was in fact made by her brother. Her companion seemed impressed and mentioned her brother must have been quite talented, telling Peach that her mother made her plushie for her to help with her anxiety and that it had a button on the back to open it up to fit in a pouch of scents, saying that at the moment it had a pouch of lavender in because it's meant to be quite soothing which is why she keeps holding it to her face. Peach made an understanding 'ahh', smiling a bit as they chatted, the other even offering to let Peach have a hold and smell of the lavender which even though it wasn't said she could tell that this other person must have trusted her a considerable amount.

The lavender scent was present but not overwhelming and Peach sighed softly at the comforting aroma before carefully handing the no doubt prized possession back to its original owner. They exchanged the names given to their respective plushies with the other having named their Spritzee after the person who first recorded the species and learnt how to use their aromas for perfumes which was incredibly fitting and Peach could only nod her head in approval trying not to vibrate with the fact she knew MUCH about how the aroma was made in the Pokémon body.

Of course the other casually mentioned a did you know fact about the Spritzee and Aromatisse line and the floodgates of knowledge absolutely spilled open as Peach enthusiastically began her deep dive into the history and biology of these scented Pokémon.

Even though her companion seemed to gape at Peach in confusion, when she faltered in her confidence they very quickly jumped in with, "no please keep talking!" And with newfound confidence and assurance she continued her knowledgeable rant with the other nodding along fascinated but mentioning that she couldn't even add anything because Peach was so well knowledged she was amazed.

As they got on the train Peach had managed to go from the scent of the Spritzee line to the Salandit line and it's aromas and how they're created and engineered to be perfume and as they arrived at their stop she spoke with great enthusiasm about the Muk scandal and how it's scent when processed the right way could ALSO be made into a irresistible perfume! And did you know it is said the Oricorio line also have distinct scents along with looks and typing and it's believed that that was caused by the same flower nectar they consumed to change form and type! Her companion did in fact not know this.

Peach more proudly held her comfort plush to her as they walked the hallways to the meeting hall and did notice dotted around more people with their own plushies of different Pokémon, and perhaps bringing her charmander along hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

#My writing #Not my oc #@pokemon-ash-aus oc #@pokemon-ash-aus Peach #Peach can have an infodump as a treat #I just thought the idea of someone else also having a plush and seeing Peach with one and thinking that she's safe to approach was sweet #And you know what Pokémon professors are fucking nerds you know damn well others probably have loads of plushies too #I say teenager in this fic but like idk when they'd start learning this shit I assume at like 18/19 so older teen #Peach can make a friend as a treat #I tried not to write too much actually spoken dialogue for Peach cause I didn't wanna misrepresent her stutter and lisp #Hence her mostly speaking in descriptive paragraphs #Also Peach can be something that's so autism coded whoops sorry I gave her slight overstimulation from all the noise #Also random other student can ALSO be something that's so autism coded #Honestly this was fun to write because I knew I probably wouldn't be able to draw it #But plz enjoy Peach making a fren #I realised I probably should've asked and checked it was okay to write using your oc I'm sorry

[beardycarrot]

Okay, now that I’ve finished the first book in the Youjo Senki series, I feel like now is a good time to talk about both it and its adaptations.

Youjo Senki (written 幼女 戦記, basically “young girl’s war record”), is officially localized in English as “The Saga of Tanya the Evil”... which in my opinion really changes the tone of the whole thing. Obviously that name sounds better as a title than going with a more accurate localization like Girl at War, or, like...  The Accounts of a Young Girl’s Battles, but still, I’m not a fan.

Maybe calling the protagonist “Tanya the Evil” will make sense later in the series, but as far as I’ve read/watched, the only people who would view her that way are her enemies (who call her The Devil of the Rhine) and Erich von Lergen, who I guess could be seen as a minor antagonist, even though everything he does trying to halt Tanya’s career is exactly what she wants to happen as well... it’s complicated. There are also portions of the story set forty years in the future with a reporter trying to learn the truth of went on during the war, which could be related to the “Tanya the Evil” title, as you only get brief glimpses of it and don’t know what became of Tanya.

ANYWAY, the specifics of the story vary a bit between the different versions, but the basic concept is that capital-g God is unhappy with how faithless humanity has become. The protagonist (an HR manager murdered by an employee he fired) argues that, hey, why would I be faithful? People cling to religion in times of strife, and being a reasonably well-off man raised in a scientific society where Abrahamic faiths aren’t a very big thing, belief in God is a bit much to ask for. How Big G responds varies a bit between the light novel, manga, and anime, but it’s basically: “oh yeah? so if you were born a poverty-stricken female in a highly religious magical world at war, would you be faithful then?”, and reincarnates him as an orphan named Tanya in alternate-timeline Germany.

The biggest difference is the tone. In the anime, Being X (as the protagonist, refusing to believe in gods, calls him) basically just gives him a cool middle finger, and, speaking to him through the time-stopped people on the platform, seems pretty impersonal and detached. In the manga, you see full-white-beard God in person, where he’s pretty vengeful, going all biblical. In the light novel... well, Being X is just an old man, talking to himself as much as to the protagonist, musing and seeming distracted. The “oh, so if I reincarnated you in this situation, you would have more faith” isn’t so much about punishing the protagonist as it is just deciding the best course of action. The light novel is later shown to have an entire pantheon of gods, which the adaptations drop completely.

Again, very different tones... and that carries throughout the entire thing. For example, the anime is mostly about high-flying action and battles of wits, with lots of crazy facial expressions from Tanya. The manga, meanwhile... is much more a comedy than the other versions. There’s still action and stuff, sure, but for some reason the manga puts more focus on the “Tanya says something, and everyone misinterprets her intentions” aspect, and uses a lot of caricatures of historical figures and diagrams with cartoonie animals when explaining things.

The light novel... uh. Well, it’s literally unlike anything else I’ve ever read. In most novels, you would expect the content to be made up of descriptions of what characters are doing, dialogue, the viewpoint character’s inner thoughts, maybe the occasional soliloquy to wax poetic about ideas the author thinks are important to convey but don’t fit into and of the other categories. Youjo Senki is made up almost entirely of the latter, with bits of dialogue sprinkled in... but also unspoken dialogue that’s implied, and also, the tense used changes depending on the current viewpoint character?

For example, when it’s focusing on Visha, it’s pretty normal, third person past-tense. Visha DID this, Visha THOUGHT that. When it switches to Tanya, it becomes present-tense... but also first and third person? Tanya does this, I think that. The protagonist consistently refers to themselves as “I” internally, but when it’s something happening externally, it’s happening to Tanya. “I can feel Tanya’s small body shiver”, or whatever. As if Tanya is something that the protagonist is piloting. Take this paragraph... I took this screenshot while reading on my phone in the middle of the night (hence the dark mode) because I was like 90% sure it’s a reference to Vermouth from Detective Conan, but it’s a pretty good example of what I’m talking about:

Which conveniently brings me to the next big difference, the Elinium Type 95. The characterizations of Being X remain consistent here: in the anime he’s just being a dick (in the form of a nutcracker), in the manga he’s being all biblical and vengeful, and in the light novel... honestly, I don’t even know if the same god from the start of the story is involved. What happens is that the Type 95 computation orb (a piece of magitech that allows mages to cast spells) has been blessed to give Tanya some proper OP Isekai Protagonist Powers, but only if she prays for it to happen.

In the anime and manga, it’s as simple as that: she just has to pray, and this orb gives her crazy boosted magic. She doesn’t even have to mean it, she just has to say the words. In the light novel, it’s the other way around; any time she uses the orb, the protagonist loses control of Tanya’s body, which starts praying. That’s a bit of an element of body horror right there, and while I personally like the vindictive nature of the “if you want to use this magic to keep yourself alive on the battlefield, you MUST pray to me” angle from the adaptations, I’m curious to see where the light novels go with their version.

Again, I’m not even sure if Being X was involved in that case... the gods all decided to make a new holy relic as a way to increase faith (since all the old holy relics they’d made in centuries past had ended up in museums), and I guess decided to use Tanya’s computation orb for that purpose since they were doing an experiment with her faith already? I’m not really clear on that... due to how it switches between characters and rarely describes actions as they’re occurring, a lot of specific details seems to be left to the imagination of the reader.

Despite being kind of a pain in the butt to read, I think I’m going to get the next one in the series. While I enjoyed the anime as I watched it, and would probably watch a second season (which is likely to come, considering the spin-off series Isekai Quartet seems to have been popular), I need answers sooner than that. Tanya is basically this world’s version of The Red Baron, but in the flash-forwards to the 1960′s, the reporter doing research on the war never really seems to find any concrete evidence that she or her unit existed. Why is that? Did she become a top general and have all reference to herself wiped from the records? Did she commit atrocities so terrible that the “technically not a war crime” workarounds she was famous for no longer held up? Did Erich von Lergen finally put an end to her career? Is she still alive in the 60′s, and if so, will the reporter eventually find her??

...So yeah, you could say I’m kinda invested.

#youjo senki #the saga of tanya the evil

[joannalannister]

Beginnings

Below the cut is a selection of GRRM’s opening sentences (or opening paragraphs) from his various stories. This is not a comprehensive list, though it comes close.

The purpose of this compilation is to reflect on the compelling nature of GRRM’s writing. I would like to gain insight into why GRRM’s beginnings have such power to reel so many people in. I would also like to see if any patterns or commonalities emerge, though I am not sure if any exist. Finally, I hope such study may inspire me to improve my own writing.

Findings: GRRM’s beginnings vary: deaths, warnings that go unheeded, loves lost, arrivals of unexpected guests, lots and lots of things. I would say a death or three is GRRM’s most common opener, used multiple times throughout his career, but he opens with anything. 

Typically GRRM’s opening sentences have a signifier that we’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto. Sometimes this signifier is small and subtle and easily missed (see “The Glass Flower” below), while sometimes GRRM hits you over the head with a sledgehammer. His better intros imo are the more subtle ones that we’re not on Old Earth any longer, and the reveal that we’ve fallen into Faerie takes place more slowly, and we have to gather worldbuilding clues along the way. (Think of the low-magic of the first chapters of ASOIAF; compare it to the reader being bludgeoned with the “volcryn” descriptions in the opening paragraph of “Nightflyers” below. I prefer the former.) 

GRRM’s opening sentences are bold and evocative. They’re typically active rather than descriptive. They often tell a Hemmingway-esque short story all by themselves, and I think that’s a large part of what makes them compelling. (A lot of GRRM’s writing feels episodic, self-contained, such as when even a single chapter of ASOIAF tells a story all its own, such as Aeron’s TWOW chapter. Perhaps this is a vestige of GRRM’s career as a tv writer.) GRRM’s first sentence or first paragraph perfectly encapsulates what the story is going to be about (a poetic version of his thesis, if you will), but it leaves you asking all sorts of questions about what the story will entail, drawing you in. His beginnings are often strongly emotional: shame, anger, fear, despair, joy, love. 

There is a pattern to opening novels set in the Ice & Fire universe: time. The Dunk & Egg prequels begin with a season (spring in THK, summer in TSS & TMK). I would venture a guess that the first sentence of The She-Wolves of Winterfell will mention summer or autumn. (I would put my money on autumn, tbh.) (There may be reasons for this.)

The main ASOIAF novels begin with a time of day, although perhaps it would be more accurate to say they begin with a measure of light or shadow. The first sentence of the prologue of AGOT begins with a darkening of the world as night falls, but the true opening of the series -- Bran’s POV, the first POV -- is a dawning. (Insert rant here about how ASOIAF is not nihilist; dawnings symbolize hope in fantasy literature, and ASOIAF is above all hopeful.) 

The first sentence of ACOK is another dawn, while ASOS speaks of day, “grey and bitter cold,” as we move from the bright light of dawn to a cloudy day toward night. The FeastDance, originally intended to be a single volume, is a special case imo. The first sentence of ADWD refers to night, in keeping with the Battle for the Dawn drawing ever closer, but AFFC speaks only of dragons in its short first sentence. However, the prologue of AFFC occurs very late at night / very early in the morning, matching up to the time set by the ADWD prologue. I theorize that the opening sentence / paragraph of the prologue of TWOW will mention “night” or “darkness” in some way. 

I know GRRM says he’s a gardener rather than an architect, but if you reread his openings after you’ve finished the story, you can always see the ending right there at the beginning. GRRM's beginnings are usually excellent imo. But I think his endings are better. The endings are what stick the knife in me. I forget his beginnings -- they get folded smoothly into the story like butter into cookie dough, hence my need for this list -- but his endings haunt me. GRRM’s endings -- the ending of a character, the ending of a chapter, the ending of one of his novels -- his endings linger, long after the rest is gone. (“No, don’t, don’t cut my hair. Ned loves my hair.”) But its the beginnings that set it all up.

GRRM’s first sentences:

The Prophet came out of the South with a flag in his right hand and an axe handle in his left, to preach the creed of Americanism.

--And Death His Legacy

Outside the walls the Jaenshi children hung, a row of small gray-furred bodies still and motionless at the ends of long ropes. 

--And Seven Times Never Kill Man

The crossworlds had a thousand names. Human starcharts listed it as Grayrest, when they listed it at all—which was seldom, for it lay a decade’s journey inward from the realms of men. The Dan’lai named it Empty in their high, barking tongue. [...] But mostly it was the crossworlds to the beings who paused there briefly while they jumped from star to star.

--The Stone CIty

When he finally died, Shawn found to her shame that she could not even bury him.

--Bitterblooms

“Heresy,” he told me. The brackish waters of his pool sloshed gently.

--The Way of Cross and Dragon

There is a girl who goes between the worlds.

--The Lonely Songs of Laren Dorr  (this story was so beautiful, i love it so, it killed me)

Adara liked the winter best of all, for when the world grew cold the ice dragon came.

--The Ice Dragon

You can buy anything you might desire from Gray Alys. But it is better not to.

--In The Lost Lands

They came straight from the ore-fields that first time, Trager with the others, the older boys, the almost-men who worked their corpses next to his.

--Meathouse Man

Simon Kress lived alone in a sprawling manor house among dry, rocky hills fifty kilometers from the city. So, when he was called away unexpectedly on business, he had no neighbors he could conveniently impose on to take his pets. The carrion hawk was no problem; it roosted in the unused belfry and customarily fed itself anyway. The shambler Kress simply shooed outside and left to fend for itself; the little monster would gorge on slugs and birds and rock jocks. But the fish tank, stocked with genuine earth piranha, posed a difficulty. Finally Kress just threw a haunch of beef into the huge tank. The piranha could always eat one another if he were detained longer than expected. They’d done it before. It amused him.

--Sandkings

When Jesus of Nazareth hung dying on his cross, the volcryn passed within a light-year of his agony, headed outward. When the Fire Wars raged on Earth, the volcryn sailed near Old Poseidon, where the seas were still unnamed and unfished. By the time the stardrive had transformed the Federated Nations of Earth into the Federal Empire, the volcryn had moved into the fringes of Hrangan space.

--Nightflyers

The Pear-Shaped Man lives beneath the stairs. 

--The Pear-Shaped Man

On the high ramparts of Vargon, Colonel Bengt Anttonen stood alone and watched phantasms race across the ice.

--Under Siege

Willie smelled the blood a block away from her apartment.

--The Skin Trade

Once, when I was just a girl in the first flush of my true youth, a young boy gave me a glass flower as a token of his love.

--The Glass Flower

The spring rains had softened the ground, so Dunk had no trouble digging the grave.

--THK

In an iron cage at the crossroads, two dead men were rotting in the summer sun.

--TSS

A light summer rain was falling as Dunk and Egg took their leave of Stoney Sept.

--TMK

“We should start back,” Gared urged as the woods began to grow dark around them.

--A Game of Thrones

The morning had dawned clear and cold, with a crispness that hinted at the end of summer.

--A Game of Thrones (i included both the prologue and the opening chapter of agot because i love them both)

The comet’s tail spread across the dawn, a red slash that bled above the crags of Dragonstone like a wound in the pink and purple sky.

--A Clash of Kings

The day was grey and bitter cold, and the dogs would not take the scent.

--A Storm of Swords

Dragons,” said Mollander.

--A Feast for Crows

The night was rank with the smell of man.

--A Dance with Dragons

#lannister thoughts #beginnings #first sentences #/ #// #dreamsongs #asoiaf #dunk and egg

[snaliap-blog]

Project in Practice - Design and Layout

For the Design and Layout for the book I used the following:

Adobe Photoshop - to edit and adjust images as well as to create a few of my own.

Adobe InDesign - for the layout of the inside of the book

Adobe Illustrator - for design the cover of the book

The first thing considered for the design of the book was what size it would be. We did not want it to be too large as we wished to have each character have at least one page each and if the page size was too big there would be too much empty space for some entries. We also decided against having letter sized pages as it would feel too much like a magazine and we didn’t want it to be too small. We wanted the book to feel comfortable in bot the small hands of a child and the large hands of an adult. After cutting sheets of paper we compromised on 15 inches x 9 inches open or a page size of 7.5 inches x 9 inches. The orientation would be portrait.

Cover

For the cover of this book, I passed on the mood board I had created as well as verbal instructions to the illustrator explaining I wanted an eerie silk cotton tree to stretch across both the front and back cover. To give her a better idea of what a silk cotton tree looked like I also shared with her a video of one that I took in Lopinot. 

Link to video

The initial cover she gave us was this:

I explained that it was too dark for a cover and that the red sky didn’t fit with the theme of the book, even though Chinelle liked the red. I also wanted there to be leaves on the tree and for the branches to spread more widely across the cover to allude to how massive these trees are. To further highlight this, smaller trees should be seen in the background. Also as the silk cotton tree is said to house spirits I wanted the glowing eyes of jumbies to be seen in the branches. Something bright on the cover like a soucouyant would also be more eye catching.

After a few more drafts she came up with the above image. I directed the illustration to add more light to the tree itself to make it more distinguishable as when printed the the tree would be drowned out by the dark night sky. Chinelle asked for the soucouyant to have a more feminine form and to be rising from the tree so that it would be that she is in transition from woman to ball of fire.

The last image she gave was the one below.

I used Adobe illustrator to take the image she gave us and added the text to create the final version of the cover. The only colour text that would stand out on this image was white. So the title and the text on the back is in white. The font chosen was Baskerville. Also the words Folklore and Superstition was chosen to be a larger size as there were the key words of the book and if the whole title was in that size it would drown out the tree.

I chose to put our names on the front cover in a pale yellow so that it would stand out from the title. The font chosen had no serifs so as to contrast the tile.

Inside

In approaching the Layout of the Book (Inside) I decided that each of the following categories would have different styles (i.e. margins, image sizes paragraphing, etc.):

Folklore characters

Tales of Lopinot

Superstitions 

Bush Medicine

Carnival Characters

However for uniformity ans continuity throughout the book, the font would remain the same. When considering fonts I narrowed it down to 5 different fonts (three serifs and two sans-serifs). We decided to go with a serif font as it is considered to be easier to read in print media. Ultimately I chose Minion Pro for the variety of options it has available (bold cond, bold cond italic, regular, italic, medium, medium italic, semibold, semibold italic, bold and bold italic) as this would give more options and make formatting easier for titles, headings, sub headings and highlighting certain text.

To determine font size I took into consideration that large blocks of texts should be between 11pt - 14pt (advice from printer) for an easier read. I also decided, after speaking to a few older acquaintances of mine who has trouble seeing to not use the 12pt font or lower. However I did not wish to overwhelm the images and the reader so I refrained from using 14pt font. Therefore the middle ground of 13pt was chosen.

Another design element I tried to maintain throughout the book, is that if an images was not facing the front, it would face towards the edge of the book. As shown below:

Folktale Character Section

When planning for this section I had asked the illustrator to do dramatic drawings that could be used as a full page. Thus this part was meant to have a full scale image on one side and the text on the other. However when doing the layout, I realised that some entries did not have enough text to properly fill out the, thus I decided to place the text and image on the same page for some characters. As the entries for this section was done in alphabetical order, I also had to keep in mind that for the Mermen and Fairymaids entry I planned to have a two page spread (as there were two illustrations for this entry). Hence all of the entries before this spread had to be laid out to accommodate this.

This affected the layout as the pages where text was superimposed on the images had different margins than those pages with text alone. Another effect was that with mostly black images, the text would have to be white. To make this easier to read, the white on black text was became semi-bold.

I personally had to do minor edits some of the illustrations, using Adobe Photoshop, that were provided to better suit the layout of text in the book. These edits mostly consisted of changing the position of the some of the elements of the image as well as stretching and shrinking other parts.

Another thing that came up in laying out the text was that the testimonials looked to similar to the description of the character. 

I felt that to give it the essence of someone speaking or writing a script font might be best. We considered a few texts but felt that Gabriola was best suited as it was easiest, did not clash with Minion Pro and looked a mix of italic (fancy) and handwritten (flowing).

Tales of Lopinot 

This section was not planned out much in advance as it was decided to make it whilst transcribing the interviews. During our visit to Lopinot, Chinelle and I took some great photos that we wanted to include in the book. Thus this section was actually designed to incorporate coloured pages. Originally Chinelle wanted all the images to have a sepia tone, but dues to the image of the graves having a some red I suggested that we use colour for that one and to do photo of the house in sepia. I used photoshop to adjust each individual photo. Chinelle also had taken a photo of a cocoa pod that she wished to include in the book. To accommodate this and keep the content to six pages I cut out the cocoa pod and places it in the upper corner next to the heading.

Original Photos:

Edited Photos

Superstitions

For this section the text took centre stage and the images added acted more as an enhancement. The layout also differed from the other sections as the paragraphs on this page were only 1-3 sentences long. Also as each paragraph discussed something different, the image on the page could only be applies to one of the paragraphs. The illustrator was thus given only a small selection of images to draw, depending on which items we felt would stand out the most or was the most familiar to the reader. 

Some of the images in this section I composed myself as when doing the layout as I realised additional images were needed that exceeded the amount we had paid the illustrator for. The images I did were:

Bush Medicine

Ideally for this section, each entry would have an image associated with it, and thus could be given its own page. However we decided against using the illustrator for this section and instead used photographs that we had taken, as we felt this would make identifying the plants easier, thus this section also used colours. Unfortunately we did not have enough images for each entry, so they were instead separated by small spaces between them. To prevent too much empty space and to give a symmetrical look to the content, the images were centre aligned vertically to the the page.

Carnival Characters

Due to the nature of Carnival being a festivity in our country I instructed the illustrator to use a white background for all of the images except the Midnight Robber. Even though the literary content in this part was more sparse, I still decided to give each character their own page as I wanted this section to have a lighter feel to it than the Folklore Character section. Even though there was a good bit of empty space for each entry I tried to layout each two page spread evenly, so that one page did not overwhelm its partner.