#also at least to me part of the series' realism also stems from the idea that you don't always win in high school

[formashimataichi]

"His story has just begun".

I think this is the problem of the way you're thinking about it. Because yes, objectively speaking he's a very fortunate person. He's portrayed as smart, wealthy and handsome. And his achievment in Karuta can be considered impressive for how long he practiced in comparison to others.

But the manga isn't about being smart in school or good looking or rich. Those things while make a person fortunate are completely irrelevant to the crux of the story and the struggle of the character. So they do not really matter.

Same goes for him being impressive. Sure he won games and reached some places, but in the matches that really matter, especially against Chihaya and Arata, he lost. And it's not a loss that sets up a comeback like it is for Chihaya and Arata. He just loses and that's it.

You can say well he can always grow. Yeah that's true but how does it matter? You say "his story has just begun" but the manga is ending. What you imagine happens to the character outside the manga doesn't matter, nor would it matter if the author tells you that this and that happens. It really doesn't matter at all. What matters is the journey that you go through with the characters and the challange that you see them go through and experience with them.

I'm not saying that this or that is bad or unfair, I'm just saying that your way of thinking about it prevents you from understanding why those people are frustrated and unsatisfied.

How does what happens outside of or beyond the manga not matter, though? Yes, the manga ends, but the character’s lives themselves don’t. That’s the point of so many stories, that the end isn’t actually the end, and is simply the route to another beginning. There’s even an entire monologue about it at the end of Chapter 165. And I completely understand why people are frustrated and satisfied, it’s absolutely a hard pill to swallow when Taichi has suffered a lot to get to where he is, but as I’ve said many times before, I feel like very few people want to acknowledge the fact that these characters are teenagers? Part of the genius of Chihayafuru as a story is that it centers on a sport played by people of all ages, so it demands you to look ever forward. Life doesn’t just stop for these people in high school. A huge part of the narrative is centered on the characters needing to decide what they want to do with their lives as they move from childhood into adulthood, so what happens beyond the end of the manga absolutely does matter with regards to the central plot, because in general it’s a story about growing up and finding yourself and maturing. You don’t have to necessarily see where they end up as adults to understand the value in them looking forward and upward in terms of their own fate. 

As for the idea of “he just loses and that’s it,” would you say the same for Arata when he inevitably loses to Suou, or for Shinobu when she inevitably loses to Chihaya? Their theoretically “doomed” fates are even closer to the end of the manga than Taichi’s allegedly was, so per your premise that gives even less room for them to grow from what will be a very significant loss and blow to their psyches. But it’s still very likely going to happen, and it’s going to subsequently open Arata up to the realization that he needs help and that he needs to truly let go of his grandfather before he can ever expect himself to move forward, and open Shinobu up to the realization that she can’t survive if all she does is continue to push people who could care about her away. Taichi’s circumstances are obviously different, but it’s a similar set-up. He has to think about what karuta means to him at this point and whether he wants to define himself by that loss or continue to keep striving because his love for the game is now a genuine thing. He has to decide what the support and love of the people around him means to him and means for his own passion in terms of sport, life, academia, etc. The transition into adulthood is a very daunting experience, often because we have no idea what lies beyond that precipice once we have crossed it. The decisions we make by way of that transition are very much a gamble. But obviously. . . it’s a line that we have to cross at some point or other, and that requires anticipation and preparation. I don’t think any of the characters’ stories are rendered meaningless because we’re not necessarily going to be privy to what happens to them after they cross that line; it’s important enough that they’re thinking about what crossing the line means to them and how they want to strive and survive in the world once they’re beyond it. 

#chihayafuru #*meta #like. i think people are too focused on the idea of a loss being terminal. if that makes sense #when realistically (and esp for someone these characters' age) it really isn't #and like i do get that it's hard not to have expectations esp when comparing to other sports manga #where underdogs do often win out in the end in their own way #but i feel like if you compare chihayafuru to other series you're sort of dooming yourself from the get go #bc it really does take a very different approach #one that's not necessarily all beautiful or all ugly but that's just. real #like yeah the manga is ending but esp as a series so intent on looking forward #idk how people would get the notion that what happens after is unimportant #what happens after is absolutely important. it's why so much time is put into preparing these characters for adulthood #also at least to me part of the series' realism also stems from the idea that you don't always win in high school #so many sports manga show the characters winning big by the end of high school and yeah that's great #absolutely nothing wrong with it. but is it realistic 100% of the time? not really #and ig we can agree to disagree here #but i think there's worth in a story that says sometimes you lose when you're young but it's okay #bc you can keep playing and you can win even when you're older #like maybe to some people that seems like a bleak sentiment and dooming yourself to playing with no guarantee #but again. all of the adult characters are clearly still playing for a reason and it's not just the idea of winning #it's bc they genuinely love the sport #also i realize i was sort of redundant with the closing points i made in both paragraphs of this post so sorry for that gjkfdjhlgdf #ig it's just an important point for me to hammer in lol

[hunnybadgerv]

Writer Ask Meme 3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing? 10. Pick an author (or writing friend) to co-write a book with 12. Which story (or: stories) of yours do you like best? why? 17. What things (scenes/topics/character types) are you most comfortable writing? 29. Is writing more of a hobby or do you write with the intention of getting published? 36. Post a snippet 49. Favorite fictional world?

Behind the Scenes of Fic Writing: 30 Questions for Authors

3. What is your favorite/least favorite part about writing?  Getting started. Once I’m writing, I can usually find the zone. But it’s getting started that is always the hardest for me. Like this morning, I didn’t know where to even start. So, I opted to edit, since it is something I wanted to accomplish this week. And I know that in the revision process I also tend to refine my prose, i.e., write, so my editing and writing work today coincided. 

I have, however, written every day this month and I’m hoping to continue that trend. But regardless of the time of day, getting started tends to be my biggest obstacle overall. 

10. Pick an author (or writing friend) to co-write a book with. Must it only be one? Gosh. 

There are so many great writers I know, more than I could ever even try to consider for this.  

I’ve always admired @theoriginalladya for the uniqueness of her ideas and character development are second to none; I equally love and hate when she and I talk about her characters because I get super excited about them because of how amazing they are. Then I quickly become obsessed, which may or may not be the only “bad” thing. @painterofhorizons has angst super powers; even in a snippet of text she can rip your soul clean from your body. Her writing is so evocative and emotionally striking. Then there is @chyrstis, whose ability to seamlessly weave humor into her fics sparks more than envy. She manages to put characters into such believable, yet laughable situations that it only serves to endear them to readers. 

I’m not sure I could ever co-write a piece, but I would count myself lucky to write with any of the writers I regularly associate with, especially one of these three. Apologies to all the amazing writers I know who I did not mention by name, but I already didn’t follow the question in the first place by mentioning three rather than a single one. 

12. Which story (or: stories) of yours do you like best? why?  Oh gosh. This is so cruel. One story! Really? That’s all. Honestly, First Watch of the Night (Guardians in the Darkness Series) is one of my favorite. I think that might be in part because of nostalgia--it is Nyx Shepard’s WIP. I actually have it planned all the way through ME3, though I’ve currently stalled in the revision process in the ME1 timeline. I’m not sure why either. 

I find myself wondering if the reason I have not finished it is because once I know what happens, maybe I won’t have the drive to finish writing it. Maybe I can’t get past the block because I’m worried that finishing their story will vacate those muses from my mind, which I kind of don’t want. I really have grown quite attached to Nyx, Kaidan, and her crew. 

Honestly, I think that might be the struggle I end up in with all my longer fics. Short fics in collection are so much easier because the story never has to end. A long fic follows a certain line and has a definite conclusion, which I think worries me.

17. What things (scenes/topics/character types) are you most comfortable writing?  Umm, If you were to look at characters like Tayen Quick, Nyx and Feign Shepard, Furia, Remy McGinnis, Mari Ryder, Cyna Mahariel, and Laerke, you’d see a common thread connecting them. I tend enjoy writing strong female characters, especially those that are flawed or broken in some way. Honestly, Nyx and Furia, also to some extent Leah Rook, all share imposter syndrome to one degree or another--so does Mari. I always tend to have one or two characters that share a flaw. I have Mari, Laerke, and Furia who have all lost their entire families. Characters that come from big families. But I tend to write female protagonists more so than males. 

29. Is writing more of a hobby or do you write with the intention of getting published?  I published a short story in college. And I really would like to be published some day. Right now, I am mostly writing for me. I’ve got original fiction ideas, but I don’t work on them currently. I focus on my fandom work in order to practice and hone the skills and plans I have for future pieces.

I want to write something in the mix of fantasy/sci-fi. But I also have a strong sense of realism. I still hold tight to Mark Twain’s statement that the difference between real life and fiction is that fiction has to make sense. Things have to stem logically from one another in a story, and I always try to ground my writing in experience--sights, smells, sounds, textures that my readers can be familiar with--in order to add some sense of connection. I try to make my characters flawed in ways that feel accurate to them. 

A part of me screams in the back of my head that I am a writer. I can be an author, but a part of me worries that perhaps it may not happen. I keep writing. And I keep trying new things. I’ll always be a storyteller. I will keep writing and falling in love with fictional beings and places that I cannot resist exploring.

36. Post a snippet  This is from First Watch of the Night. I really love the characters and depth I managed to capture in this piece. Honestly, it’s one of the pieces of my own writing that intimidates me ... a lot. I don’t write the same way anymore. I feel like my writing lacks the same emotional depth right now. And I’m not sure why. It might have to do with how disconnected from other humans I have been in the last decade.

The scene here is Nyx Shepard and her father from Chapter 18:

The two Shepards watched one another for a long moment, before Taranis returned his attention to one of the soft cherries. The commander sighed, sipping her tea quietly while the captain waited. It was his usual tactic. He knew there was more and he could always wait her out. Nyx would talk to him in her own time, even if it had to be in carefully crafted abstractions. His daughter knew the drill. Taranis' methods were nothing new to her. He would take long pauses, allowing her to consider all the things she was not telling him. Then he would ask careful questions in case it was actually related to her current or a classified assignment--since need to know could interfere with her desire to disclose and his fatherly curiosity.

Whatever it was, Nyx held onto it much longer than usual, which told him she really did not want to bring it up. Despite this, Taranis knew she would relent because she kept glancing over at him with a look that suggested she was merely trying to find the way to bring it up. Nyx always came first for him; he redirected his career to give her the life she had, a life where there was always one parent there to hold her tight when things weren't just so. He knew it was not perfect, but he did everything he could to be there for her.

Nyx sighed as she set the tea cup on the table between them. "Fine," she breathed heavily.

It took another few moments for her to look up at him. Then she scooted a little closer, lowering her voice in discretion. Watching her carefully Taranis could not quite be sure what she was going to say, but she bit her lip and winced a little when she finally asked a question he never expected to hear.

"What did you do when you met Mom?"

Everything froze for a second or two as he stared at her. The little blush on her cheeks threw her father for a loop, but made him smile. "Well, damn."

The commander shook her head at him, trying to discourage him from thinking too hard about what she had just asked.

"Answer the question, please."

Captain Taranis Shepard rubbed his hand through the short stubble on the back of his head as he stared at his daughter in stunned silence. "I avoided her. Tried to just keep my distance. I even put in for a transfer," he admitted with a wry smile. "It got denied because I did not put in what command thought was a valid reason. Then, on leave, I talked to your Grandpa Shepard about it."

Nyx smiled and laughed. "And what did the old devil dog have to say about that?"

Her voice held a note of disbelief that her father was not surprised to hear. Taranis' father was a stickler for rules, regulations, expectations. He was strict and set high expectations. The captain could tell by the way his daughter eyed the dregs in her tea cup that she was as completely unprepared for what her father was about to say as Taranis had been when he heard it.

"He told me it was not a weakness to want someone to be part of your life."

Nyx's eyes darted to his. She was easily as shocked as he had been. Moving the tea cup, Taranis laid her hand out in his and covered it with the other.

"I told him all the things, I'm pretty sure you're telling yourself right now. All the excuses about regs, concerns, and bad experiences and stories you've heard," Taranis said quietly as he stroked the back of her hand lightly.

She leaned toward him. Her voice was tight with emotion. "And?"

Holding her hand tightly, her father smiled at her softly. "He told me that there are some things that outweigh the regs."

They were both quiet for a moment as Nyx let herself fall back in the chair. Her mind was clearly racing. Kirk Shepard had always stern, at best; he still was totally by the book in everything except when he met his wife. That was the only rule Taranis could think of his father ever even bending, let alone breaking out right. Nyx had been very close with both her grandfathers; she respected them as men and as marines. For her they were role models, people she that influenced her greatly.

"I'm going to tell you something you probably don't know. My parents met in the service, too. We Shepards seem to fall for our brethren," he said playfully. Nyx did not look relieved in the slightest. "He almost lost her on a mission. Even in love, your grandfather was still the same man. He couldn't justify risking the primary objective. The mission at all costs, you know?"

Taranis knew she understood it. Hell, he knew she lived that decree just as solidly as his father.

"She made it out alive, barely. Your grandfather, sentimental bastard, proposed to her when she woke up from surgery. Grandma Amelie was just as stoic as he was. Told him she would consider it, but only if he promised to do always put the mission first, even if she was in his command. She believed him when he said he would. Even lived up to it. Had to put her at risk once more in the field before they got married."

"And he told you this when you asked him about Mom?"

"Yep," Taranis said, nodding as he studied his daughter's reaction. "I was rather hoping I wouldn't have to tell it to you, but I guess it was too much to hope you'd break the trend of falling for servicemen."

She shrugged and looked at their hands for a long moment. "Seemed to be going well for a while," Nyx said quietly.

"Just tell me it's not the Zingel kid."

Her laugh made him smile, and brightened her eyes. "No, it's not Caz."

Taranis leaned back in his chair, fidgeting with his uniform for a moment. "So, tell me something about this fella."

The way she tilted her head at him suggested that the question might have been her maximum.

"At least tell me his name so I can start checking up and get a little peace."

"Da."

"Fine." Taranis let his hands fall on the arms of his chair. "Don't relieve your old father of the undue stress he is now placed under worrying about what kind of man his plucking his daughter's heart strings."

"Seriously?" she replied with a doubtful look.

They both knew she did not see herself as the type of woman who was plucked, but Taranis had a long and vivid memory and he could still recall the girl with the romantic sensibilities.

"What? I remember the shelves of Austen, Gaskell, and the Brontes. Then there were the sonnets your grandmother always sent you. And if I recall you were planning on marrying Captain Wentworth." He tilted his head at her slightly. "Perhaps I should have seen this coming after all."

They both laughed. Then Nyx sprang forward and hugged her father around the neck. "I've missed you, Da."

"I love you, Nyxy-girl."

Her lips were warm on his cheek. "Love you, too," she repeated before she stood. "I should probably go."

"We should do this again," her father offered, as he stood and proffered his arm. "Soon."

His daughter smiled and looked away for a moment. "Sure. As soon as I can."

Once they exited the little shop, they stopped and he touched her cheek before he bent and kissed her forehead again. He did not like her chosen phrase. Taranis knew she meant it, but he also knew the schedule she had kept for the past several years and there was little hope of relief given the most recent change.

"I'd prefer sooner," he noted.

It always killed him to say what he said next, the phrase was tradition, but always made his heart ache because he knew there was always a chance that he could lose his girl in the line of duty. He had been in her boots and hung them up for her. She had taken them up with fervor and so much more skill and determination than Taranis ever possessed.

"Good hunting, Commander," he said, a waver in his voice, as he saluted her sharply.

Nyx returned it as smartly as she would to an admiral. "Thank you Captain."

Taranis watched the girl with her mother's hair and his eyes weave through the crowds in the wards. He remembered meeting a boy once, at her basic graduation. Keith or Kyle or something that started with a K. He managed to stick around until a few months after her graduation from Exeter. Somehow the kid had stuck it out through three mission deployments before the relationship ended without so much as a whimper. The captain could not remember his name or much else about him. Even after a few years together, his daughter never hinted at the question she just asked. It elated and scared the hell out of him.

49. Favorite fictional world?  I really enjoy writing ME and in SWTOR. They are amazing worlds full of science, magic, adventure, and drama. Though I’m also drawn to fantasy for the same reasons. But I think futuristic worlds and space are some of my favorites.

#Behind the Scenes of Fic Writing #30 Questions for Authors #Writer Questions #long post #painterofhorizons

[vuelie-frost]

Living in the woods

aka, vuelie-frost verbally babbling why Elsa lives in the forest instead of Arendelle.  This is still a part of the ending that flickers my unease, even this morning after having slept on it. This isn’t a post to convince anyone, but literally just my own thoughts and processing. Hopefully by the end I’ll be more accepting, or even excited about Elsa’s development. I don’t like it, but it doesn’t mean it’s bad or the wrong decision. Separating the part of me that has desires (ie that Elsa would be queen in Arendelle forever and ever) and the part of me that recognizes cinema as a series of complex character arcs (ie what I desire might not actually be best, or in character) is REALLY HARD. But I posit it’s essential to interpreting media in a healthy way.  I 100% trust Jen Lee and Chris Buck, not because I idolize them, but because they so obviously care about these characters and this world. Maybe I’m too starry-eyed, but I don’t get the sense that they did this sequel for the cash cow. Now Disney execs probably pushed them in this direction for that reason (Disney is a corporation at the end of the day,) but Jen has stated that they didn’t want to make a sequel if there wasn’t a story to tell. They still felt parts of the story were left unsaid, and that’s why they pursued this film.  That said, the movie takes on a LOT, and I have a hunch that’s why it feels so fast paced. Not only is it a kids’ movie and therefore has to hold your attention at all times, but it packs in a lot of plot and character development into a short timespan. The sacrifice of a fast pace is the realism of some situations. Is it realistic that Anna would process her grief over Elsa so quickly? In the real world, no. Probably not. Is it realistic Elsa would so easily hand over the throne when it was something she enjoyed and was good at? Probably not. But (and the first movie had some similar issues too,) we have to suspend disbelief a bit. This isn’t exclusive to Frozen; it happens in all movies. You see it in small bits where someone hangs up the phone without saying “bye,” or when people make eye contact and something spoken goes unsaid. That doesn’t really happen in real life. But we turn a blind eye to those details because the larger purpose of the story is more important than those details. And as these details in Frozen are only rushed, not invalid or stupid, we can still accept them.  The idea that Elsa belongs in the forest/among nature is hard for me to accept, but again, that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It just means my vision for her wasn’t what the writers thought was best. And the writers know her better than I do. They did her such justice in the first film and even in this film (her poor skills at charades? GOD RELATABLE.) I’ve often fantasied, albeit unconsciously, about the Elsa I’d like to see. I realize that in the 6 years since Frozen, I’ve loved the idea of Elsa as a mysterious, snow-bound sorceress type, living a somewhat solitary life. Still as human, flawed, and precious as ever, but becoming “larger than life” figuratively. Someone revered, respected, maybe a little bit feared upon first impression, but ultimately gentle and warmhearted. Loved by all. Feared by her enemies. (In fact, I write an RP character who is partially inspired by Elsa and partially an infusion of my own personality, and to my own surprise, this character is on that exact path. Unconscious channeling much?) Maybe.. that’s exactly what she is now. The fact that I’m uncomfortable with this just development testifies that 1) she feels out of my control, which makes me feel vulnerable, which makes me feel angry and 2) I’ve at least partially idolized her for her job (queen) instead of her as a whole person Note that I’m not using the reasoning of “she belongs with Anna all the time” as a cause for my uneasiness. This is more about Elsa as a standalone character than their relationship. One, I’m not an Elsanna shipper, so the physical dislocation of two siblings doesn’t scream “heartbreaking” to me. It’s incredibly normal to have family you love with your entire heart and not live with them full-time, if at all. Maybe it’s because I’m the oldest sibling and can see this dynamic more clearly. Two, Elsa could not step into her new role if she didn’t have the unbreakable support system that is Anna behind her. If there was ANY doubt of their relationship’s strength, I’m positive Elsa wouldn’t leave her baby sister to rule alone. It’s not that they don’t need each other. On the contrary, and perhaps paradoxically, they need the other so much that the epilogue could not come to fruition if their bond wasn’t ironclad.  I’m still going to miss Elsa as queen. I’m not..... totally unconvinced that she’s not still a “queen,” someone with political leverage in Arendelle, as she’s still its protector and a royal by birthright. It hasn’t been ruled out that they’re co-rulers, just operating in different spheres. I’m waiting for more interviews/podcasts with Jen that I hope will address this detail. If not and Elsa’s technically a princess again, that’s cool too. She’s still part of the royal family and therefore can’t be a commoner or anything. But I wonder why I’m so hooked on her status as a queen, and I realize: it’s just a role. It’s not who she is. I’ve enjoyed it for the inflation of my own ego- seeing someone who’s like me in a position of leadership and reverence is incredibly validating. Watching her walk with beauty and grace as a beloved queen lets me live vicariously. But I have a working hypothesis that escapism in fictional characters is actually our attempt to connect with the real world better. I’ve so badly wanted her to remain queen because it validates ME. It helps ME believe that someone with her set of quirks and nuances can succeed. The issue isn’t with Elsa abdicating the throne- it’s with me assuming that she’s not herself if she’s not in a position of power, and then it throws my own identity into question.  And it admittedly has to do with the ambiguity of being the “fifth spirit.” I was worried Elsa would transform into a spirit being, or ghost, or ethereal creature that was no longer human. That doesn't happen, to as much as I understand the movie (she transforms her dress, steps onto a symbol that unites the four spirits, and then unfreezes after the dam breaks.... but there isn’t some spirit-world complete transformation of her essence.) The part of her that’s magic IS inhuman, which is self-evident (no other human in this universe has magic abilities LOL), but that’s not to say she’s inhuman.  I’ve also mentioned that I interpret this role as descriptive, not prescriptive. She was a gift to Iduna and Agnarr from birth. This is who she was meant to be from day 1- the potential was inside her the whole time, manifesting in the form of ice magic. I theorize she’s awakened into the 5th spirit role, but it was never something where she had to change in order to become it. (Now deeper lore, like how a 5th spirit existed when Agnarr was a kid and what subsequently happened to it, is still a mystery. I’m interpreting it to mean that the 5th spirit is a role of unification, not a spirit in and of itself. And once the forest became trapped, it dissipated by definition. Elsa was born to fulfill that lost role again, OR to be the first physical catalyst to hold it. Not to mention Anna is imperative here as well- they’re both the bridge.) Someone else mentioned that since their mother was Northuldra, Elsa’s actually among her own people. This is important too, I think. Imagine if Elsa went back to the castle canonically after all that happens. They’d be leaving a huge part of their family history out there, not to mention Ahtohallan which Elsa obviously has a mysterious connection with. I think if Elsa did go back to Arendelle permanently, we’d be having similar conversations in reverse by claiming that she really does belong near Ahtohallan and in nature with the spirits. We can’t win. She belongs in both places- among her family & among her predestined purpose. And she’s able to come and go among them both whenever she’d like. That’s her true independence. She’s FREE, wholehearted and integrated. I also mentioned in a previous post my penchant for a savior complex, probably stemming from my own issues with codependence and infatuation. I won’t get too far into those here again except to say: I liked “needy” Elsa because I wanted to envision myself as the one saving her. That’s my own thorn. It originates from a total infatuation with her that I’m still working on letting go (ha.) But I’m sure I’m not the only one who experiences this. It’s because she’s a character so meaningful to me that I care so much about her, even to an unhealthy degree. I know she’s not real. I know the fantasy of knowing her and “fixing” her is irrational, weird, unfounded, and impossible. But that’s ME, not her. Show Yourself, which is beautiful and emotional, unexpectedly made me feel a little sad to know she’s no longer aching to find herself. Maybe I want that kind of certainty for myself, especially as I’m on the cusp of finding a new job & moving. Maybe it’s my unhealthy fixation on her that wants her to remain insecure so that I can feel validated as her “protector” (again, weird and irrational. I can’t explain my brain’s projections.) Maybe it’s not as clear cut as I want it to be, and I just need to- brace yourselves- let it go. ; ) Granted I still have reservations about her new role, like how someone who was pampered all her life & is known for her pose & grace will adjust to essentially camping 24/7, but those are details and inherently flexible. You can’t say she doesn’t belong in the forest just because she’s not acclimated yet.  Now what I feel a lot of people feel unease over is the loss of the first movie’s ending. And by that I mean, we have to disregard our previous headcanon that Elsa remained queen for her lifetime. I mean, we assumed that for 6 whole years and had all that time to flourish in our creative exploits built on that premise. So it undoubtedly feels a little dissonant to have a sequel that goes “nope, not true.” I think that’s normal, and it’s the kind of thing that becomes accepted with time. Shifting our mental framework of Elsa & Anna’s respective futures will take some getting used to. Again, it doesn’t make it a bad ending (you’re free to think that, of course! But something unexpected =/= something bad.) tl;dr vuelie-frost has a lot of feelings and concerns that are pretty indicative of her own issues, not the movie’s. Frozen 2 isn’t perfect but a lot of my grief could be alleviated by focusing on my own projections and expectations, and shifting my perspective to be more open and accepting. You know how people say attitude is everything? It’s annoying but it’s true. And I mean, I still love this movie and want to buy all the merch and draw Elsa endlessly, so my love for the franchise is obviously still THRIVING

#frozen 2 #frozen 2 spoilers #elsa #rambling

[hellzyeahthewebwieldingavenger]

Spider-Man: Life Story #4 Thoughts Part 1: Doc Ock Disservice

In retrospect issue #1 of this series was a mixed bag, issue #2 was bad, issue #3 was hot trash and now issue #4 is...

 Well...it depends.

See I usually try my best to write these basically as soon as I’ve read an issue. However a trip to my LCS and back is at least a 2 hour round trip and I had to head into work practically immediately after getting back. Consequently I’m writing this several hours later than I would have liked.

My initial gut feeling during and immediately after reading the issue was that this was a mixed bag. But ruminating on it more it’s gone down yet further in my eyes.

Maybe I’m not diving deep enough into it but my gut feelings on this (which is what these posts are, they’re not reviews where I try to be more actively analytical rather than ‘free style’ it) it’s...not AS bad as prior issues; issue #3 being the absolute nadir thus far.

Perhaps that is due to now knowing how messed up this series is I knew what I was getting into and what to expect thus I was less aghast by what I saw. Perhaps it was the fact that this issue, unlike issue #3, didn’t slap my intelligence in the face with asinine historical politics and the most aggressively stupid attempt to homage my fav Spidey tale, KLH.

However some of my...I don’t know the right term...my feeling less disdainfulness, towards this issue might stem from Peter’s age.

See when you do the math canon Peter Parker’s lifespan can be viewed as encompassing the amount of time covered in issues #1-3, that is to say ages 15-mid 30s. Thus there was a certain degree of precedence involved, a certain roadmap for us to compare LF Peter to.

But in this issue Peter is around 48 years old. This is well beyond the age of canon Peter Parker and only AU versions of the character have ever approached that age and being AUs they aren’t great sources for comparison. The closest thing we have is MC2 Peter Parker who was in his early 40s and different in his attitude and outlook to LF Peter. However that could be due to being younger, having his family and being retired for 10+ years thus making him more positive towards the prospect of being Spider-Man.

LF Peter is fed up, tired and wants to stop being Spider-Man. Any of the old enjoyment he ever derived from it is long gone. As is apparently his desire to remain ‘relevent’. Guess he got over that early mid-life crisis he went through in issue #3. You know that mid-life crisis that led to him using an alien performance enhancer that was allegedly addictive.

Actually more than a few of this issue’s problems can be owed to older issues, and specifically issue #3.

First of all...so America is still around. Um...yeah wasn’t there a war with Russia happening last issue? Wasn’t there a nuclear arms race that was hotter than the Cold War ever was in real life?

I suppose given how utterly unrealistic it was that Russia nuked an American town and then nuclear Armageddon didn’t ensue in issue #3, this issue is consistent in it’s boneheaded lack of realism.

And it does offer an explanation. Tony Stark’s weapons ended the war.

...Okay...we need to talk about this again and this time I’m going to spell it out.

So there has been no end of speculative fiction presenting stories revolving around a world where historical events happened differently.

A common example, embodied by the acclaimed show Man in the High Castle, is ‘What if the Axis powers won WWII’.

Life Story has at various turns presented real life historical events but injected superheroes in them whilst also showing them playing out differently.

Iron Man, Giant Man and Captain America went to Vietnam.

Captain America went rogue in Vietnam.

The Vietnam War lasted longer than in real life history.

Russia launched nukes at the USA and destroyed a town resulting in a super hero invasion on Russia and open warfare.

Said war was won by America apparently thanks to Tony Stark’s weapons.

Do you know the difference between Life Story and Man in the High Castle, or indeed most speculative fiction?

It actually explains what happened!

In Man in the High Castle we learn various pieces of the alternate history, among them being that the Axis powers developed atomic weapons before the Allies and nuked Washington DC, eventually winning the war and dividing America between the Third Riech and the Empire of Japan.

In Life Story we find out the Vietnam War lasted longer. Somehow.

In Life Story we find out Tony Stark’s weapons won the war with Russia. Somehow.

WHAT HAPPENED!

At best this is a pointless tease, it’s like sidestory world building. What’s the point of bringing the fact that this world’s history is drastically different but not bothering to elaborate on it at all.

Tony’s weapons won the war. What weapons? How did they win? Give us some details for God’s sake.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, the story isn’t about the Russian war or the alternate international politics, it’s about Spider-Man. But then...why the fuck is it in the story?

Shit dude, redraft Life Story a little bit and you could more or less exorcise ALL the stuff about international political conflicts and lose nothing. In the case of Kraven’s motivations last issue it’d be an improvement!

Look maybe I’ve got a bug up my butt about this more than most people because I studied history at university, but even putting that aside...it just feels superfluous to this story.

What gets me is that it’s veeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeery good money the only reason this shit is in the story is to evoke Watchmen (which ‘coincidenally’ is being revisted in Doomsday Clock by DC right now) which was also an example of speculative historical fiction involving superheroes. Which also explained what happened!

Superheroes existed. So they intervened in Vietnam. And they won because of their overwhelming power.

In Life Story we don’t even know who won the Vietnam War or even if it’s over yet!

Moving on a little, so Tony Stark and Peter are at logger heads. Now I dislike Spider-Man’s involvement with Iron Man in recent years but I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand seeing Iron Man not be Peter’s mentor is lovely, but I wonder if Zdarsky was banking on audience familiarity with that dynamic from the films to create a shock moment by portraying a relationship between both men so at odds with what you see in Homecoming.

That wasn’t my first thought though. My first thought was Zdarsky is trading off of the Peter/Tony relationship from JMS’ run...which had nothing to do with the 1990s at all; we’ll talk more about that in a minute.

Finally, not content to write Peter out of character, Zdarsky apparently wanted to write Tony out of character too.

I am no Iron Man expert but by the 1990s...hadn’t he kinda sorta stopped making weapons!

I could forgive it in the older issues because Tony apparently didn’t get out of the arms business in the comics immediately like in the films, so it wasn’t inaccurate to the time periods. But I’m 90% sure he had stopped making weapons by the 1990s. Tell me if I’m wrong please, but if I am not....holy shit what is Zdarsky doing? How does aging in real time = Iron Man would still be a war profiteer?

Let’s leave Stark and the real life history alone and get into the real meat of this story.

Okay so we have Ben Reil-

Wait what?

*re-reads Life Story #4*

...there is something off with this...

*checks Life Story #2*

...um...Life Story #2 clearly states that Peter and Gwen’s clones took on the names Helen and Ben PARKER not REILLY!

Now Reilly makes a lot more sense from both a practical point of view (a guy who looks like Peter Parker with his last name raises questions) and from a referencing canon POV.

But what the fuck is up with the inconsistency?

Who was asleep at the wheel for that one! Oh...but it won’t be the only inconsistency by the way.

So Ben Reilly (who looks more like Ben Urich) is a photogra-

Wait, wait, wait. What again?

Ben Reilly is a...photographer?

...WHY??????????????????????

Look...Peter does have a certain passion for photojournalism, but he prefers science.

Ben Reilly in canon never even considered photography as a job to my recollection. He worked as a lab assistant, a barrista, a bouncer/body guard, a teacher but never a photographer even though that would’ve been an obvious profession to consider.

When Peter began working that job it was a way for him to earn the money he desperately needed to provide for himself and Aunt May whilst also not having his time eaten up with a 9-5.

Sure Ben is also a superhero (the Red Mask...I hope he didn’t dream that up himself...in the middle of a Cold War...) in this universe, but what is motivating him to do that? He’s got science smarts, he has legal documentation from issue #2 allowing him to hold jobs. Why would he not go into a field he both prefers and one that you’d think in a world where there was a war raging with intangible nukes would be of greater use?

I can think of some No. Prize explanations...but that’s the problem.

I  have to think of those explanations. The story, like so much else in this shitty series, doesn’t elaborate.

This goes beyond the characters being different for the sake of being different from canon.

Ben Reilly is doing something that demands an explanation within the context of this series’ unique continuity as established. It’s not even a matter of established characterization based on canon, it’s a matter of established characterization based upon the last 3 goddam issues.

This lack of thought equally applies to our main villain of the issue, Doctor Octopus.

So in issue #2/1977 Doc Ock had reformed because of a heart attack and all that good tender luvin care he got from a woman at least 20 years his senior; Zdarsky does know most people enjoy the May/Otto relationship ironically right, nobody actually thinks it makes sense or was a good idea, but no here it’s the crux of his whole character.

In issue #3/1984 he was...clearly a villain again because he’s obviously attacking Spider-Man in the double page spread depicting Secret Wars.

In issue #4/1995 we learn that Otto was at May’s funeral and this was the last time Peter saw him. Also according to Peter May left Otto long before she died and that was when he just disappeared, Peter presuming he retired in Florida.

So going by issue #4 alone we have something of a contradiction. If Otto disappeared long before May’s death...how could the last time Peter have seen him been at her funeral.

Maybe that’s just phrased a little badly and I’m nitpicking. Fair enough.

What isn’t fair enough though is either Zdarsky isn’t paying attention to his own writing, Bagley and he are not communicating properly or the editor is severely dropping the ball.

May and Otto were clearly NOT together in issue #3 when Otto was also clearly a villain and Peter clearly was aware of this because Otto was attacking him.

Which means Otto must’ve disappeared before then which means Peter would’ve known he hadn’t retired, he’d returned to villainy.

Now a point of praise, Otto blaming Peter for May leaving him, I think that rings true to Otto’s character, let alone an old aging Otto. This is the guy who often saw what he wanted to see, who infamously once wanted to nuke NYC to prove how he wasn’t to be taken lightly even though it’d also kill him too.

Too bad that point of praise is drowned out by his plan in this story which is all wrapped up in the clones.

Okay, okay, Doc Ock had a important role to play in the 1990s Clone Saga so what’s the problem?

The problem is that...I heavily suspect this isn’t riffing on the 1990s Clone Saga.

I think it’s much more likely that it’s riffing on the Ultimate Clone Saga in which Doc Ock was the mastermind behind the clones; coincidentally Bagley drew all three of the Ock Clone Saga tales which is a nice piece of historical symmetry.

Why...is....Zdarsky....riffing....on....a...Ultimate....Universe....story....?????????????????...from the 2000s!!!!!!!!

And in case the jury doesn’t accept that criticism here is another one. Otto feels he’s dying without accomplishing anything.

Um...wasn’t he working with Reed Richards in issue #2?

Otto working legitimately with a big brain like Reed surely would’ve in like 10 years accomplished SOMETHING! He invented so much crazy tech he really didn’t patent any of it, release it to the public?

Couldn’t his arms alone do wonders for disabled people?

I know this is comics so you should suspend disbelief because if you don’t you have to ask why fossil fuels even still exist.

But that’s the problem with this series.

It wants to have it’s cake and eat it.

It wants to show superheroes having a world changing impact on the world as they realistically would...but not go all the way with it.

It wants to have superheroes go to Vietnam and Russia have and use super powered people and intangible nukes but it also wants to ignore the obvious ramifications when it’s inconvenient.

This gets even stupider when you contextualize it within wider Spider-Man media. In the recent, heavily publicized Spidey PS4 video game (that Marvel is adapting as a comic book right now) Doc Ock creates his arms specifically to help disabled people and uses them because he himself is losing control of his motor functions. And in Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon (for 5 year olds) Doc Ock is disabled from the outset and entirely relies on his arms to move around.

So why the fuck did Otto at no point consider using that tech to help the disabled and thereby accomplish something in his life. It’s an obvious idea Reed, Peter or even May must’ve suggested. It probably could’ve helped someone as frail and infirm as May specifically.

We’re also told May left Otto due to his anger. Great use of telling not showing there Zdarsky. Remember how angry Otto seemed in his one other speaking appearance before now?

#spider-man: life story #chip zdarsky #mark bagley #Spider-Man #Peter Parker #doctor octopus #doc ock #otto octavius #Clone Saga #Ben Reilly #Scarlet Spider #Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon #USM cartoon #Spider-Man ps4 #spider-man playstation 4 #insomniac games #insomniac spider-man #Reed Richards #aunt may #may parker

[megacatstudios]

THE HARDEST RETRO GAMES WE'VE GROWN TO LOVE

Glide on the Pain Train The hardest retro games we’ve grown to love there is plenty of nostalgia to be had when it comes to retro games. Some of it might come from the times of your life when things were simpler due to how young you were when you played them. Or maybe some of it was because these retro games were some of your earliest forays in terms of video gaming experiences. After all, the reasons for nostalgia vary from person to person. However, this also means that someone out there will have nostalgia for games because of how insanely hard they were. Video games have had leaps and strides when it comes to handling difficulty, with more accessibility options than before. But during the retro gaming era, developers were limited by both hardware and development experience. Since there was limited space to do things, games tended to be hard so that there would be more replayability, even though this was artificial in a sense. And since plenty of game development back then usually stemmed from arcade experiences, developers came with the mindset to make games harder to increase penny munching. Despite these limitations, however, players have increasingly grown fond of these absolutely difficult games, accepting their difficulties as gauntlets were thrown at the face of their gaming expertise. So join me today as we walk through some of the hardest retro games that have been thrown at us by the video game developers of yore.

GRADIUS 📷Not quite bullet hell, but hellish nonetheless Let’s start with one of the few games on this list that I have actually finished without using save states or cheat codes. Usually cited as one of the most important shooter games due to popularizing the horizontally-scrolling shooter genre, players are seated into the cockpit of Vic Viper, blasting their way through levels filled with enemies trying to ram you and plenty more that shoot bullets at you. At the end of each level, you will be confronted with a boss, and you’d have to shoot their weak points to defeat them. However, a lot of these points are actually protected by an additional layer that you have to destroy before being able to shoot at the weak point. The creativity of these boss battles is a highlight of the original game, as is the difficulty of each one. My favourite part of Gradius has to be the power-up system, though. Unlike most other shooters, Gradius only has one kind of power-up, and when you pick it up, it will advance a power meter at the bottom of the screen, and if you reach a point in the meter that you would want to obtain, you can do so anytime by pressing the power-up button, but doing so would reset your power meter to zero, creating a mini push your luck game of trying to survive as long as possible with a weak weapon to reach as far as you can on your power meter.

GHOSTS ‘N GOBLINS 📷Jumping in your boxers debut game of one of the most underrated franchises from Capcom, Ghosts ‘n Goblins sees a knight named Sir Arthur try to rescue Princess Prin-Prin from Astaroth, the king of the Demon World. While that plot is pretty thin, it is often referred to as one of the most difficult video games of all time. Unfortunately, much of that difficulty is either a love it or hate it kind. Sir Arthur can only withstand one hit before losing one life, and each life is also timed. What’s more, once Sir Arthur jumps, he can’t change directions until after he lands, which is maddening if you’ve played literally any other side-scroller. What’s worse is that each level only has one checkpoint, and that checkpoint is always smack dab in the middle of the level. If you die before reaching that point, you’ll be thrown back at the start of the level! Sure, there’s plenty of additional weapons that you can pick up along the way, and the game is still pretty much beatable, but right when you thought you’ve gotten the hang of it, a very nasty surprise will meet you at the end of your playthrough because now you need to do everything all over again with a higher difficulty to reach the true ending of the game! Sure, it’s nasty, but it wouldn’t be notorious for its difficulty if it was any much easier than this.

CONTRA: HARD CORPS 📷The bad news that the title is not just a silly pun. This entry to the popular Contra franchise is actually very hardcore. If you thought the original Contra for the NES was hard, the first and only Contra game released for a Sega console is even harder. Despite the prettier graphics, it has more things to master with its multiple characters, each with its own different sets of weapons. The Hard Corps also features multiple branching paths, with each providing a different ending. While that may all seem like an enticing ride, at the end of the day, multiple endings will only have players trying to finish the game multiple times. That wouldn’t be much of a problem if it’s not a Contra game that we’re talking about, especially one that is already considered one of the hardest entries in the franchise.

CASTLEVANIA 📷Don’t let go of your holy water! While not the most difficult game on this list, the original Castlevania will still take you by surprise, especially if you were able to play future entries into the series. Unlike the newer games, Castlevania doesn’t take an entire map and let you explore it to your whims. This was way before the series popularized the Metroidvania genre, and is instead a classic linear side-scrolling platformer. Like Ghosts ‘n Goblins, part of why this game was hard was because of how it handles jumps. You can’t change your trajectory in the middle of your jumps, and while that is absolutely realistic, none of the other aspects of the game is chasing for realism, so this seems like a design choice that is made to make your play sessions harder. However, this game has one neat trick that you can keep to heart to make things easier. When you acquire the holy water, hold on to it like your life depends on it. It will make quick work of most enemies within the game. All that’s left for you to do is to practice your jumps. You’ll be beating Dracula in no time.

SUPER MARIO BROS.: THE LOST LEVELS 📷When both launch and landing are problems only game in this list that was both difficult to finish and difficult to acquire, this Japan-only release is the actual sequel to the original Super Mario Bros. The reason why Nintendo never gave this game an international release was because of how absurdly hard it was, to the point that one of Nintendo’s consultants in the west back then called the game an undeserved punishment. However, this spike in difficulty was by choice, as the game was sold with a label that said it was a game “For Super Players” and plenty of tricks for infinite lives were included in the opening levels to provide additional room for players to breathe in the latter levels with insane difficulty spikes. Obviously, none of that helped in easing the game’s difficulty, and up to this day, The Lost Levels remains one of the few blotches of the Super Mario franchise. Still, there are people who regard the game as fun and clever and view it with fondness. While there’s no denying Nintendo’s excellent level design is at work here, there’s also no doubt that this is one of the hardest games in their entire catalogue.

MIKE TYSON'S PUNCH-OUT!! 📷He’s the least of your problems while not as notoriously difficult as The Lost Levels, Nintendo also had you reeling in terms of recovering from its punches with this game, later changing its name to “Punch-Out!!”. This is the easiest game on this list, with the different opponents that you face having distinct patterns that you need to figure out in order to beat them. However, people still remember it as one of the hardest Nintendo has ever released due to how you would need to restart the entire game from the beginning if you get knocked out in the middle of a fight against any of the fighters. Besides, if you experienced this game at a younger age, would you even think that boxing is a cerebral experience? You probably wouldn’t even think to see if your opponents are fighting with a pattern. You’d just mash the punch button in hopes of getting a hit in. That would most likely be the reason why people remember Punch-Out!! as one of the harder games to have ever existed. Still, I wouldn’t count out the times when one was able to identify Mike Tyson’s pattern and still be hit with one of his uppercuts that will instantly knock you out. That kind of experience is infuriating, and even so when it brings you right back at the beginning of the game.

BATTLETOADS 📷Prepare to crash over and over again And finally, we come to the one game on this list that is definitely considered by many to be the hardest game to have ever existed. Battletoads’ main problem is not in its controls or how friendly fire is enabled throughout the game, but in how it was designed. If you have noticed, most other games will give you an idea of what’s coming before it happens. For example, enemies would appear at a significant distance from your character, which gives you an ample amount of time to react appropriately before they do some damage to you. The problem with Battletoads is that it skips all of that. Enemies and obstacles inadvertently appear at a near-instant speed, which turns the game less of an exercise in hand-eye coordination and more of an exercise in memorization.If you’re absolutely convinced that you can finish Battletoads, though, you’re in luck. The game itself is fairly short, so memorizing the patterns of each level is easier than, say, memorizing all the names of stars within Capricornus. You just need to prepare yourself to lose some hair in the process.

HOLY ROLLER While people play games for different reasons, there are a certain magic too difficult games, especially when you are able to overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds associated with them. There is a reason why difficult games have been on the rise recently, with games like Cuphead or Celeste taking centre stage. These modern games are now unhindered by the technical limitations of the olden times. So with plenty of ways to adjust these games’ accessibility while also keeping true to their word for the gluttons for punishment, these games have truly transcended the barriers between being a game only the hardcore can muster and a game for everyone. However, despite the inherent difficulty that comes so often with older games, the design practices have evolved along with them, paving the way for all of the newer games in terms of designing for a larger audience in mind, and in turn, growing the industry. Which of these games have you finished? Or maybe we missed out on something harder to finish than any of these games? How about you let us know via our Twitter Page or head on over to our Youtube Channel to see more retro gaming goodness.

#blog #article #blogging #retrogames #hardgames #original photography blog #megacatstudios #mega cringe #gamingculture

[aion-rsa]

Mycroft, Eudoria, Enola & Sherrinford: How FanFic Expands the Sherlock Holmes Family

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Author Nancy Springer invented Sherlock’s secret sister. You might remember back in 2017 when Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sherlock Holmes met his secret — and criminally insane — sister Eurus Holmes (Sian Brooke) in the 4th season of the BBC’s Sherlock, but Enola Holmes (Millie Bobby Brown) came first. Springer’s Enola made her splash in the 2006 middle-grade book The Case of the Missing Marquess (upon which the new movie Enola Holmes is based) which makes her the reigning champ of secret Holmes siblings, at least in the 21st century. Are there other secret Holmes siblings? What about the Holmes parents? Did Sherlock or Mycroft have any children of their own? 

Mostly, the answer to these questions cannot be found in the canonical 56 short stories and four novels written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Instead, the tapestry of the Holmes family tree has been woven over the years, almost exclusively by fans. Because Sherlock Holmes fandom is so much older than most other fandoms, it’s tough to find the line between amateur fanfic and professional pastiches.

Sherrinford Holmes, the Eldest Holmes Brother

So, when I say that fan theories about a secret third Holmes sibling began in 1962 with the publication of Sherlock Holmes of Baker Street by William S. Baring-Gould, I could be wrong. But, in terms of published mainstream pastiches and fanfic, it’s the easiest place to start. Because that’s where we get the notion that someone named Sherrinford Holmes lived out in the country, far away from London, and looked after the ancestral home of the Holmes family.

“Sherrinford” was one of the earliest names Conan Doyle considered for the character of Sherlock. Famous Holmes scholar Baring-Gould used this idea as the basis for there being a third Holmes sibling, the eldest of the three, and that he — Sherrinford Holmes — managed the family’s country estate. Some fan theories even suggested that after Holmes returned from the dead in “The Empty House,” that he wasn’t Sherlock at all, but instead, Sherrinford taking up the mantle. For Batman fans, this would be kind of like when Jean-Paul Valley became Batman after Bane broke Batman’s back, only in this scenario, Jean-Paul Valley would be Bruce Wayne’s secret older brother. 

The notion of Sherrinford and the idea that Mycroft and Sherlock’s family origins are unclear in the Doyle stories created fertile ground for fans to casually assert random theories as pseudo-canon. Holmes fandom is not like Star Wars fandom or Batman fandom, and that’s because, for at least a century, a huge amount of the scholarship precedes from the premise that Holmes was real and that Doyle was merely Watson’s literary agent.

This is why, if you read the superb The New Annotated Sherlock Holmes by Leslie S. Klinger, you’ll start to slowly believe all of this is historical fact, when in fact, you’re reading well-woven fanfic that represents a “consensus” of what fans believe about the early life of Sherlock Holmes.

For example, according to these books, Sherlock’s father died in 1860 when Sherlock was just six years old. This book also tells us that Holmes’ father was named “Siger Holmes” and his wife, the Holmes mother, was named Violet Sherrinford. Enola Holmes gives the siblings’ mother the name Eudoria Holmes, which, arguably sounds better, since there are a ton of other Violets in the Sherlock Holmes canon. (There are a ton of Marys, too, at least one of which became Watson’s wife, but we don’t need to get into that, right now.)

Read more

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Can Eudoria Holmes and Violet Holmes be the same character? Can Enola Holmes somehow coexist in the same universe in which Sherrinford Holmes is also a secret Holmes sibling? The answer is yes, but it requires even more layering to your own personal fan fiction narratives.

Arguably, the patient zero for a more contemporary psychological take on the Holmes family comes from Nicholas Meyer’s 1974 novel The Seven Per-Cent-Solution. The primary conceit of this novel is that Watson’s stories “The Final Problem,” and “The Empty House” (which featured Holmes’ death and return to life) were fabrications to create a cover story for what was really going on.

In Meyer’s version, Holmes was actually being cured of his cocaine addiction by Sigmund Freud during this time. The big denouement of the book is that Holmes suffered from severe trauma stemming from having witnessed his father (maybe Siger) murder his mother (maybe Violet) after having discovered that Violet was having an affair.

This novel brought a brutal dose of realism to the pantheon of Holmes pastiches but also suggested there was something horrible lurking at behind Holmes’ zeal to become a kind of vigilante. In a sense, Meyer gave Holmes an origin story much like Batman’s, but in this version, the hero sees one of his parents act horribly, in response to the other parent committing a lesser “crime.” Sherlock’s occasionally inconsistent sense of justice could be described as having stemmed from this.

Or not. Meyer has written three other Holmes novels since then, with another new one on the way next year. In 2019, after the publication of his newest Holmes book The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols,  Meyer told me: “I’m sort of trying to have it both ways. If you want to stick with Arthur Conan Doyle’s version it still makes sense. And if you want to stick with me, it makes a kind of alternative sense.” 

Mycroft Holmes

This notion of overlapping narratives is probably the easiest way for a casual (or serious) Holmes fan to sort out the competing truths. In Enola Holmes, brother Mycroft (Sam Claflin) isn’t much like the Mark Gatiss Mycroft we love in Sherlock, but neither Mycroft resembles the version crafted by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in his novels and comic book series focusing on Mycroft Holmes.

In 2017, talking about his graphic novel Mycroft Holmes and the Apocalypse Handbook, Abdul-Jabbar told me that creating a more “roguish” version of Mycroft allowed him to be more “adventurous with [his] approach.”

But, even within Abdul-Jabbar’s Mycroft stories, there are some tonal shifts. The Mycroft who appears in The Apocalypse Handbook is a subtly different man than the Mycroft from Jabbar’s prose novels; Mycroft Holmes and Mycroft and Sherlock. For Abdul-Jabbar, this hardly matters, because “More important [than continuity], though, the Holmes stories are about the triumph of reason and logic over superstition and mob mentality, which is the basis for modern civilization. That struggle between reason and group-think is the major social issue in our country. To me, logic is the key to saving humanity from its self-destructiveness.”

Spock Holmes?

A literal interpretation of the Holmes family tree might not be possible. Throughout the Doyle canon, Sherlock constantly berates Watson for embellishing the truth, which, of course, gestures at a deeper, hidden truth beneath all the stories. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (directed and co-written by Nicholas Meyer) Spock mentions “an ancestor of mine,” before quoting Sherlock Holmes. Spock is half-human, so did he mean, on his mother’s side, that he was descended from Dolyle or Sherlock? In 2010, Meyer told me it was the latter, and that Irene Adler was probably Amanda Grayson’s great great great great great-grandmother. 

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So, the Holmes family tree could extend far back into the early 1800s with a variety of different siblings with different names, and parents who did, or did not, love each other. And, that same family tree might push forward into the 23rd century with familiar characters connected to Holmes by their half-human green blood. The entire mystery of this family tree will never be solved. But, as the film Enola Holmes proves, that fact is just part of the fun.

Enola Holmes is streaming now on Netflix. 

The post Mycroft, Eudoria, Enola & Sherrinford: How FanFic Expands the Sherlock Holmes Family appeared first on Den of Geek.

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#aion-rsa #Den of Geek

[yingqilin]

Where Do I Even Begin?

Well, first of all, I’ve LOVED LOVED LOVED Qilin ALMOST as much as I loved Unicorns, and Dragon. I say ALMOST because I first saw a unicorn on TV when I was 4 years old in the EARLY 1980s! But, I’d never even heard of a so-called “Chinese Unicorn” since about the mid-late 1980s when I saw a children’s magazine called “Cricket” which had a WHOLE SPREAD about UNICORNS, including the Chinese & Japanese versions.

(I don’t believe this was the actual cover. I can’t remember what year the Cricket Magazine issue was, just that it was in the 1980s. This issue was cited in many books written about Unicorns as well, following its syndication. It had a full on spread including many kinds of unicorns from many cultures... if I recall correctly, there might even have been an French Unicorn story as well.)

When I was a little kid, I actually didn’t like to read (which was an issue by the late 1900s, and even the government would talk about it, the trouble was they’d demonized comic books in the 1960s-1970s, which resulted in that problem, because even tho’ “correlation doesn’t equal causation” they didn’t know that and thought that the act of reading comics made you into a criminal. My experience was the exact opposite, because I read super hero comics a lot and was more interested in THAT than things like doing hard drugs, vandalism, and shoplifting which was rampant in NJ where I grew up.) So, by the late 1980s-early 1990s children were encouraged to read, read, read. Well, I liked pictures, and I LOVED: unicorns, dragons, and dinosaurs, ANYTHING FANTASY, but also Sci-Fi. (I also loved Marvel Comics/X-MEN, and Disney Adventures Magazine, and nearly all the Jeffrey Katzenberg hit Disney Films)

So, whenever it was something of interest to me, I would read a lot, and I had stacks of books, which I also used to practice learning art, and I was self taught. (I have A.D.D.)

I graduated in May 2001 from the Art Institute of Philadelphia (Majored in Computer Animation AKA CAM). And, by the GW Bush Era, I had already been active online since 1994, and had been blogging, and using many various art websites.

By late 2001, and most of the early 2000s (2001-2007) I spent months and even years sketching and drawing Qilin, interacting in the Furry/Anthro Fandom, and published a lot of my works to GeoCites/Yahoo, and had even created my own message boards, and so on. I even had one called “Qilin Savanna” Altho’ much of these sites are gone, my original works still remain on DeviantArt in my gallery HERE. (I also LIVED IN CHINA many times in the GWB Era often.)

Since that time I’d also written a lot of things, multiple times over, about my research into Qilin (which are not all unicorns, just some).

If you were to type in “qilin cartoon” into Google you can actually see the many many photo images that come up since the time I’d first started publishing my work ONLINE, FOR FREE, you can actually see how my works have influenced people. Back then, there was a MAJOR mix-up with the term, because MOST information available in ENGLISH regarding CHINESE EVERYTHING was often inaccurate, used the dead Wade-Giles Chinese language, or were often confused with JAPANESE. Another issue was that I actually could speak standard Mandarin Chinese, but many people wrote the Cantonese names, or FREQUENTLY confused them with Japanese name for the exact same character (AKA kanji, AKA Hanzi), which is “kirin” in Japanese. Also, the majority of NON-Chinese speaking persons don’t know how to pronounce Mandarin pinyin. (Example: Can you pronounce?: chi, qi, shi, xi, zhi, zi, qu, chu, er, ri, ren, si, ran, yu, you, bo, po, zhou, zhu, cao, zui - Most Non-Chinese speakers CANNOT pronounce these correctly at all. “Chi” sounds like “Tcher” and “Qi” sounds like “Tchee”, “Shi” sounds like “scher” and “xi” sounds like “schee”. There are also variations on pronunciation.)

But, I still stuck to the facts. my father-in-law in China,The late Wang Zimin, actually had special access to a restricted library, and wrote letters to me about Qilin, and the 4 major Chinese magical deities: Qilin, Long/Dragon, Fenghuang/Phoenix, Bixi/Dragon-Heard Tortoise.

Back then, mostly you needed to search “kirin” especially because M. Peña called her artwork “Kirin” but still also called them “Chinese Unicorns”. Her gorgeous sculpture works were sold everywhere for years, nation wide, from the boardwalk to Spencer Gifts, to Flea Markets, and Christmas season mall kiosks.

But, as you scroll through all the works produced since that time, not only the ones titled or tagged as "kirin” but over time “Qilin” starts to replace this as more and more people growing up actually start to study Chinese, especially artists and customers, and many of these young artists are either my fans or students, but fans or students of my students... after a while, people forgot who I was... but my work BECAME PART OF THE CULTURE.

You can SEE that many people emulated my poses, my styles of doing hair, and many other details. Over the years, a number of my fans, and friends would send me private messages FREAKING OUT that either someone stole my work, stile my style, or ripped me off...

That’s actually NOT TRUE. No one ripped me off. THOSE ARE MY STUDENTS.

You guys ASKED ME things like: How do you draw _____? so I made countless cheat-sheet style tutorials (because paid classes don’t ACTUALLY TEACH). Also, if someone wants to learn, (like myself) they try to draw from WHAT THEY LOVE. That means ME. MY ARTWORK. How else will they learn if they don’t copy, ask questions, etc.?

I have many many open source materials in my DeviantART gallery (which are STILL MY MOST POPULAR WORKS OF ALL TIME despite the hours of work I’ve produced artistically.) I have also licensed much of my line art works FOR FREE for people to practice coloring with wither digitally, or to print them out and color with real media like markers, color pencils, pastels, or whatever because people kept asking me.

Actually, I would like to credit a number of artists whom are my biggest influences as well:

Susan Dawe

Glen Keane

Alan Davis

Those are my biggest ones, but I also loved artworks by Burne Hogarth,  Auguste Rodin,  Edward Degas (I especially love his ROUGH sketch work), Frank Frazzetta, Boris Vallejo & Julie Belle, Fred Moore, Vladimir “Bill” Tytla,   AND the film The Last Unicorn was especially the #1 thing that got me actually DRAWING when I was 4 years old.

SO much of my work, especially ANYTHING with unicorns, has been tattooed onto people bodies. Many people personally asked my permission, but I honestly DO NOT MIND. I have found over the years more examples of my artwork tattooed onto people than I can count. It’s LOVE.

However, I’ve also many many times been the victim of theft FOR REAL. Many people have tried to rob my sketchbooks, and many companies have illegally robbed my artwork online. It was the cause of MUCH online fights, wars, and battles. There’s also impersonators: People pretending to be ME, or claiming THEY did my work: also the cause of much much online fights and flame wars.

-Then, of course, there’s LOTS & LOTS of kids online that “rob” my work for RPGs, and fan pages... Honestly, I’m NOT going after children, or fans, for harmless things like that... I’m NOT Metallica.

So, where am I going with THIS?

Well, for one, there’s both ART and PHILOSOPHY which are BOTH a MAJOR part of my life.

I had a number of setbacks, delays, and many other strings of very unfortunate events in my life. Needless to say, I was very depressed. However, I did find myself back in college, first for Philosophy, and then for Art, especially Video... which somehow saw me thrust forward into Animation HEAD-FIRST. Suffice it to say, I’ve worked through, blew threw, and past, all of my blocks, and have been doing animation again. (lots more long stories, but not writing them here)

Many many times, you can’t always reach, yet, what you want. Other times, other persons, or groups want to change you, or make you something else.... and not you. But, it kills you inside...

At some point, you need STOP listening to everyone, and everything else, ESPECIALLY if that’s not FLOWING in the direction are are INSIDE.

I’d already WANTED to produce at least 2 series/films of my own. (”Eyewitness” and “Zenith Beyond The Dragon’s Rue”) Well, THIS is a branch off that tree. This stems from my concepts for “Eyewitness” but sort-of... I had ALWAYS wanted to produce my own small animated shorts, especially with music, like the old 20th Century animated works such as “Silly Symphonies”, “Merry Melodies”, and even Disney's “Fantasia”, but also a number of influences from Far East Asia including PR China, and Japan.

I’ve been multiple times inspired by Socrates, Plato, Laozi, Bruce Lee (Li Xiaolong), and many fusion artists/dancers on the American West Coat including my teachers: Zoe Jakes, and Alyssum Pole, as well as Rachel Brice, Carolena Nericcio, Jamlila & Suhaila Salimpour, but also Matahari, and Kerli Kõiv. People that think differently, question things, or create their own ideas, or even fusion artists.

Well, this project has been on my mind since at least 2001.

In fact, my actual name (Ming Zi) in Chinese is: 任思麒 (Ren SiQi)

It literally means: Duty/Task [to] Think/Contemplate/Dream of Qi[lin]!

Also, as an artist, there are a number of things I believe in, whereas other things I’ve shed like a snake molting its skin. I’m a fusion artist, an eclectic artist, but I still firmly believe in art fundamentals like life drawing, practicing one’s skills, and I use bot digital and real media. I LOVE TO DRAW. I firmly believe in Quality OVER Quantity, yet, in some instances I also think too much detail is overdo, and somethings look better less refined. I like realism, stylization, cartoons, and beautiful things.

I want to create content that is LESS about “being a big success” or ego driven ideas of “stardom”, and lavish money making, but more about THE LOVE OF IT.

I do NOT want to be part of any establishment groups, crowds, clubs, or institutions, and DON’T want to be mainstream, NOR corporate. I have found all of those things to be negative and destructive to my life and therefore regret pursuing those avenues. I’m NOT interested in walking those paths, nor dunking helplessly into those turbulent or stagnant flows, but RATHER Flow my own way, because I have my OWN PATHS. I don’t need to buy their metaphorical light bulbs, because I have my own light that I can shine inside of me.

And, if I am being completely frank & honest, another MAJOR influence on me WAY BEFORE HE WAS EVEN POPULAR was Bernie Sanders. I am a Berner. Sanders actually GAVE OF HIS HEART & HIS TIME FOR FREE. He crowd funded for what he believed in with SMALL MONEY because he was against BIG MONEY.

I have no care for being in exclusive film festivals or galleries. People whom already LOVE my work find their way to it. People HAVE found value in my efforts and work.

Therefore, I wish to begin producing this animated short. It is not cheap tho’. But, I will gladly share my process, my concept work, my practice work, and everything FOR FREE. Free to ALL ARTISTS, and people whom just live beautiful things, art, and QILIN.

I wish to pursue an independent direction in my art. But, I would very much like to include people, if not the world or those in it that care about these things, to interact with me. A long time ago I’d created my “Qilin Savanna” site to interact with people whom also loved Qilin, Unicorns, Dragons, and other things, but also a love for art, or learning art.

This year (2017) while interacting with MANY MANY young people, and young artists, I often found that people WANTED to learn to DRAW, to improve their techniques and practice them, but despite having paid money to attend art classed (including “drawing classes”) they did not actually get what they paid for, did not actually get instruction for what they wanted to learn, but either had to fend for themselves, try independently, or got resources online for free... so, why then were they paying for it?

I have many many times, spent just a short moment with frustrated peers, students, classmates, friends, and fellow artists whom couldn’t draw what they wanted to, and teased me for being some kind of special person... when in fact, whatever I do, others can too. I sat with them, explained, and demonstrated (AKA Using The Feynman Technique) and after that moment of AHA THEY COULD DO IT. And, they didn’t need to come back. 

I did THAT FOR FREE.

I did THAT FOR LOVE.

And, NO, I DON’T HAVE A MASTER’S DEGREE. Honestly, at this point, I don’t feel I actually want one. I DON’T want to be a part of that club, nor establishment either. In this way, I’m somewhat like Socrates, Diogenes, or Bruce Lee... only NOT. I’m ME. 

I have a lot more to say, but I think I will leave it here for now.

#qilin #kirin #Kylie #Chinese unicorn #animation #cartoon #drawing #art #Kandice Zimbleman #Black UniGryphon #BlackUniGryphon